Stamps Ahead

 This is a layout I created for a challenge over at The Hut Creative  - the challenge Autumn. 20/3/26 Autumn evening in Longreach, Qld. Journalling is on the tag in the middle popping out of the bottom 2 photos. Rosebank homestead was a detour as planned Thompson River sunset cruise did not happen due to flood.   Beautiful views of sunset.  I used paper from Penelope Dee Sienna collection. Thank you for looking.  Margaret  Another quote from the collection, that I did not use. "Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire."

 Another layout for CSI Challenge 468 - January 2026. Here is my layout: Here is the inspiration photo: Here are the clues: In 2012 I was sent a Christmas card from my friends in the USA.  It shows her 2 boys on the cover - those boys are now adults and just as happy and love live as the 2012 photo.  I have used the following clues to complete my layout: winter/Christmas theme, stripes, labels, people, white gesso as snow falling, whimsical font (my friends writing on the card greeting), journalling in a plastic envelope (I could not find my vellum) and circles.   I look forward to what challenges are available in February and the remainder of 2026.  For more information visit  http://csichallenge.blogspot.com/ Margaret

 My first ever layout for CSI challenges - No 469 January 2026. Here is my layout  Here is the inspiration photo  Here are the clues  I was inspired by the photo and the story of then and now. I used case file colours (there is tangerine on background cardstock (CS) I used), sticky notes and a journalling prompt - what word/s would you bring into the new year. The photo was taken by my sister during dinner on The Anthem of the Seas cruise we took in November 2025, and it reminded me of the inspiration photo.  I handmade sticky notes from patterned paper (PP) and underneath each note I journalled following the words I added to the notes.  I used items from my stash to finish this layout. Thank you for looking and happy new year as we move into 2026.   Margaret

Ahoy , this layout was created for one word challenge over at Soul Scrappers Challenges . The choice of letters this month were K, V or A. Of course, I went with A or AHOY!  These photos were taken in November when my sister and I (the 2 small photos) were taking a scrapbook class with Unmistakeable Creations  as we journeyed towards Eden on the South Coast of New South Wales aboard The Anthem of the Seas.   All papers (excluding the 2 plain cardstock) and embellishments are from Unmistakeable Creations Cruise Control collection.   AI generated: "Ahoy" can be a playful greeting, a quirky conversation starter, or a nautical-themed twist in everyday interactions . Margaret

Here is a layout I created for a challenge at The Hut Creative.  Challenge was to use envelope/s and some script on layout. This layout, of me at the Jane Austen Museum in Bath UK last year, using papers that I have cut down from larger sheets.  I have also included some very old clear stickers, tape I made, rhinestones and fussy cut butterflies.   I am old enough to remember using pen and ink in Primary School, long before we were introduced to that new invention - the biro.  To this day, I still have a bump on my middle right finger from using the pen!!  This was the first thing I thought off when visitors could sit down at desk and write some Jane Austen quotes or memories of the day. Thank you for looking, Margaret A quote from Jane Austen "My  style  of  writing  is  very  different  from  yours.  Oh!  write,  write." This  quote  emphasizes  the  individuality  of  wr...

Week 6 over at Mystical Scrapbooks and the challenge is the TV show I dream of Jeannie here is my layout Here is the inspiration screen The criteria Pink and White; Tassel, Stencil and from kit - bling. Early this morning I was watching Queens Jubilee concert and was impressed by Jason Donovan singing his iconic "Any dream will do".  And then, I see that this weeks challenge included the word Dream.  The photo is of me at 11 months of age.   I used my stencil with white texture paste, added some white acrylic butterflies, tassel I made with lace and silk ribbon.  The bling from the kit I placed bottom right above those wonderful words.  Yesterday, as I was looking through my stash, I came across the Kaisercraft word "cute" and I immediately put it into the bag for the local op shop thinking I will never use that!  Well, of course it was right for this layout!  I used the only white alphas I could find.  Paper is from Kaisercraft Sage & Gr...

This is a layout I created for the May Mystery Bag challenge at Soul Scrappers Challenges The challenge was to add an umbrella or umbrellas to your page.  This photo of my niece taken when she was about 3 and half when we visited her Dad on a building site he was working on - if I remember correctly it was in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney.  I have recently been looking through old photos (to scrapbook, of course) when I excitedly came across this one - Yay, I can do the challenge!  This became a small stash busting challenge for me. Read on..... I delved into my stash - and found the painted kraft cardstock that I was going to use for challenge many moons ago - didn't use it and there it sat waiting for its day in sun! So I cropped it down to a 10" square. Then I found the background paper that I am calling the little umbrellas you put in drinks! The cut out umbrellas were all I had remaining from 2 sheets of Dare 2B Artsy paper and the felt embellishments were from a ver...

 Here is a layout I created for week 3 of Mystical Scrapbooks Retro TV show competition This week's inspiration - Lassie (a female Rough Collie dog) that ran from 1954 to 1974.  I remember as a family sitting down to watch together the tales of Lassie and her friends, both animal and human. What I here you ask - you have not a dog on your layout?  The design team were inspired by Lassie and the beautiful scenery in the show and that is what they used for their challenge. I have used Kaisercraft Marigold collection.  The photo of me was taken earlier this year and the papers suited the Boho dress I was wearing.  I have fussy cut flowers from 2 sheets of paper and layered them up on my layout. The string was used to create a banner. There was a sticker sheet in the paper collection I have used words that inspire me as I live my life.  Of course, I could not let the layout go without some 'bling'! Below you can see the layering of the fussy cut flowers. Thank ...

 Here is a layout I have created for Retro TV Shows Competition at Mystical Scrapbooks The challenge was to be inspired by the TV show "Bewitched" - twitch or wiggle your nose now! This is an 8 week competition that is points based with 1 challenge per week.  Bonus points if you use items from a embellishment pack that needed to be purchased, and I did - the stars.  Now I had a very big challenge - I do not do Halloween nor do I do witches/witchcraft, fantasy etc, therefore no papers on those themes, so I found an old piece of Stampin' Up! paper in my stash.  A little bit of research assured me that "teal" was appropriate Halloween colour.   The witch and broom was a free clip file that I printed out - okay it suited the title of my layout.  The black cat and the small quote were from a Close to my Heart stamp set You're the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).  My journaling is on the tag behind top left photo. On 19th April, I flew to Sunshine Coast in ...

This past weekend I participated in a Colour Cybercrop over at Mystical Scrapbooks.  Here are the 3 layouts I created for the 3 challenges. Challenge 1 - create a monochromatic layout.  Photo was of sunrise on 22nd April, 2022 at Coolum Beach, Queensland.  I loved the moodiness of the photo. Challenge 2 - a layout showcasing "Orange" Challenge 3 - be inspired by a colour palette above. My sister and I were on a short holiday over the Anzac week and we had limited scrapbook supplies with us. My sister had purchased a paper pack at Spotlight and I used 3 sheets from this pack to create my layout. Torn paper, simple line stitching, fussy cutting and a chipboard from another project I was working on. The colours are more muted than the provided colour palette. Thank you for looking, Margaret  

Here is a layout I finished today for a challenge over at Archiscraps Community Group on Facebook.  Archiscraps use architecture as the basis for their challenges.  This month we were to be inspired by this photo - with the additional challenge of using scallops and texture.  This is the first time I have completed a challenge on this site. I have achieved texture on my layout by using threads, pins, words and I have used an old 12" square canvas by Finnabar as my background. Whenever I hear the word "scallops" my mind always turns to a dress that I made in the late 60's.   I just loved a dress designed by Prue Acton, at that time an up and coming Australian designer, the pattern of which is above.  At this stage I was still making my own clothes and I fell in love with the scalloped hem (pattern shown above) and together my mother and I created a dress for me based on this.  We created the scallops on the kitchen table using various sized cups until w...

Layout No. 2 for Calvinball 2022 Rules used - Single layout, Green, Blue and Yellow (Distress Oxides Prize Ribbon and Mustard Seed smooched together), Stencil (Raindrops), Silver (Texture Paste and Glitter Kiss/Creative Expressions mixed together), Tropical flowers or leaves, stamping, date, arrow, camera. Record breaking rain over Australia's east coast has flooded towns and cities in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW), submerging thousands of homes and business and unfortunately there has been people who have lost their lives.  I live on the Central Coast of NSW and whilst I, my brother and his wife, and my sister are safe in our homes, we have not escaped the record rainfall that is expected to continue for several days more. Local roads have flooded, potholes have lost any repairs that have been made leaving big holes in lots of streets and laneways.  The photo above was taken on a street in Ettalong Beach.  I had attempted to take a photo of the ducks enjoying the ...

 I have completed this layout for a challenge over at Soul Scrappers .  More about the challenge below. The challenge was a mystery bag challenge - and we were to be inspired by this poem we could select one of the lines, words or even the whole poem to inspire us. I selected "P" is for presents. One of the gifts I gave my great nephew at Christmas was a 'paint a birdhouse' kit.  I recently received these photos as well as a video of him painting it.  In the video he said "thank you for my present" and when his mother asked what did you learn - he said 'how to mix colours'.   Not bad for a 3 and half year old.  Inspired gift I would say. Here are some close ups of the layouts - please note that they are straight, they have buckled slightly as I used sprays on the background - I will place between a couple of books to straighten up further. I used 2 stencils from Kaisercraft - Creativity is contagious and Raindrop.  Sprays I used were Dylusions Per...

In December, 2015 to be exact.  Here is a double-sided layout I created for challenge at White with 1.   The challenge was to use CRIMSON TIDE  and the sketch provided had to be used this month - either as a double page or a single page selecting one side for your layout. I went with double page layout.     One morning, I travelled by train, from the hotel where my sister and I were staying, near Heathrow, so that I could be first in the line and for a journey on The London Eye. It was a great decision as it was not crowded and it was a beautiful morning, you could see forever.  The zoom lens on my camera allowed me to catch up close photos. It has 6 long years to get these photos scrapped. That is not me waving from one of the carriages of The Eye! Now about my layout, this proved to be one of the most challenging all year - that colour.  You would think it was easy, however I searched my stash for colours that I could work with.  Remember, that ...

Lockdown is over, restrictions are reducing and a slow return to regular activities. On Saturday 13 November, my sister and I took a drive to Yarramalong (just up the M1) and whilst there we relaxed and had morning tea.  Here is layout I have created for Hello Spring Cyber Crop at  White with 1 challenges.  The challenge: So often we are behind the camera so please 'put yourself in the picture'. Take a selfie, ask a friend or family to snap a shot of you.  Add one colour of  your choice and be sure you add some flowers to your layout to give it a 'Spring' feel. My sister took this photo of me in the sunshine, reading a magazine and enjoying a cup of tea and a pastry. Afterwards we browsed the gift store and then headed on a round trip back home fitting in a spot of shopping! I firstly swiped Bundled Sage Distress Oxide onto an acrylic block and then smooched to my white cardstock. I then used all the stamps in the JOFY102 stamp set from Paper Artsy. Flowers, bra...

First off I need to say "I don't do Halloween".  There is a Pick 3 challenge over at Soul Scrappers Challenges  to create a pick 3 layout - more about the challenge below the layout I created The photo is not of me - it is of a friend of mine "J" that she posted onto her Facebook - it was taken at her workplace and she has given me permission to use it on my layout.   The Pick 3 challenge was to select 3 of the following - Halloween theme, people in costumes, pumpkins, black cat , candy, texture such as doily, cheesecloth etc, pictures showing outdoor decorations.  I used those highlighted.  The black cat stamp (where I will put my journalling) was the from a set of 8 stamps available from Kaszazz Happy Cats 2 uncut set (6065Q).  The background paper is also from Kaszazz Floral Stash collection - White Wash (7761) and is a favourite of mine.  I sprayed the cheesecloth with a spray I had in my stash (it was one that I had made up previously...

 I am a guest designer over at White with 1 challenges this month.  Here is my layout: The challenge was to use white with Lilac Lullaby colour and to use at least one of the following from the moodboard.  My first thought - oh no! Not a colour I usually use! I firstly sprayed my paper with Distress Oxide Ink sprays - Shaded Lilac and Wilted Violet.  I also sprayed cheesecloth, paper flowers and cotton thread with a mixture of the sprays and allowed them to dry. The photo is of my niece at age 4 (she is now a mother of a 3 1/2year old) playing with her dolls. This challenge made we wonder what her dreams were at that age. I recently got the Kaszazz Dreamcatcher die and stamp combination (KSK7300) and it seemed just right for this layout. Other Kaszazz products I have used are papers from the Nature Lover collection, Pearls Sticky Gems, Archival stamp inks, laces and ribbon and the Crafters Companion Dream die. A small stamp, from my stash, randomly applied completed...

SOUL Scrappers has moved their  monthly challenges to Facebook here.   This layout is for the Mystery challenge "Shapes" with inspiration of stars, hearts, crescents. I selected the hexagon shape.   I firstly used Distress Oxide Speckled Egg to create the background - smooched with pearlised water, then I used a The Crafters Workshop stencil (no name - but I will call hexagon) with the Distress Oxide ink.  The papers I have used are from Kaisercraft Serenity collection and I have die cut 6 hexagon and 1 larger for attaching the folded 6 hexagons. The finished shape looks like a star. I have put below a photo below of how I folded the hexagons.   A smattering of the smallest die and one for journalling then attached. Thank you for looking, if you like scrapbooking challenges head over the SOUL scrappers challenge facebook  and have a look.  Still in lockdown, Margaret

Here is a layout I have completed today for the April challenge over at ARTastic challenges The challenge was to be inspired by this painting by Evelyn Chapman titled "French Ruins with Poppies". The criteria was Remembrance and to include the colour Red. The layout did not have to be Anzac themed.  I know as soon as I saw the inspiration it reminded me of a photo I took on Anzac Day 2020. First, let me tell you about the photo.  Australia was in lockdown due to Covid and therefore Anzac Day events were cancelled. No dawn services, no marches, nothing. People around the country held front garden sunrise services.  My 94 year old neighbour, Lorna, every year would donate to service clubs the Rosemary, from her garden, for patrons to wear - alas she could not do so in 2020.  She came to me and said what did I think of her putting Rosemary on the bricks at the front of our villas.  I said go for it - a great idea.  Later in the day, she came to me and said no-...

 Here is a layout I have created for a Lift challenge over at Soul Scrappers   A lift challenge is where you are to be inspired by a layout that is posted.  Here is the inspiration layout for this month. As soon as I saw this layout I knew that I had a photo that I wanted to scrap and was just looking for the right inspiration to get started.   I have painted a circle with pink watercolour paper (yes, it did warp the paper slightly).   I then flicked a very old Chalkboard spray called Strawberry Shortcake.  The flower cluster came from a previous prize from Soul Scrappers.   To finish up die cut my words and numbers three times to give them dimension and scattered rhinestones around the paper. The photo is of my sister (on the right) and I and was taken at one of the functions she organised for her 70th birthday in January.  Here we are enjoying the cake she requested - meringue layered with fresh fruit and strawberries.  Thank...