Stamps Ahead

Completed for a challenge over at Soul Scrappers Challenges . The challenge is 'From Screen 2 Scrap".  Here is the inspiration:  The challenge - we are going BOLD and use BOLD patterned paper, BOLD title and two photos that dominate. I used my old Stampin' Up! large letter dies and Vicki Boutin Sweet Rush papers/photo embellishment - the BOLD curves called to mind Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House both visible in the photos of my great nephew and I on the rooftop atop The Rocks Sydney Youth Hostel in December, 2025. Looking for inspiration for your photos to put on layouts why not check out Soul Scrappers Challenges with the link above. Thank you for looking, 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

 A layout I have today created for a tic-tac-toe challenge at Soul Scrappers. The challenge grid. I selected stamping (2 favourite texture stamps applied with white paint and Arrows stamped in Archival Ink); Hexagons (die cut to various sizes - the smaller ones I scrunched up and applied Vintage Photo Vintage Photo ink to mimic the stones on the beach) and 1 photo of me taken on Llandudno Beach, Wales on 25th July 2024.    I used Unmistakable Creations Water's Edge collection papers and embellishments.   Thank you for looking, Margaret

 This weekend I attended the inaugural ScrapKat's retreat in Goulburn, NSW.  The landscape garden features a stationery Southern Aurora Railway carriage on its own private railway platform. Here are layouts I completed - sorry/not sorry long post: For a challenge over at Soul Scrappers - One word title starting with either 'D', 'A' or 'S'. Photos from my time in Florida in 2024 with my friend Kathy - taken a few different places.  The bottom left photo was a 'highway' of alligators, I had never seen so many together. Completed for challenge with Hillbilly Scrappers - a virtual mixed media retreat starts at end of the month and this was a warm up challenge - Monochromatic.   Photo taken last year, again in Florida when we visited Russell Stover Chocolates outlet. They are the makers of Whitmans Chocolates that are available in Australia and were a favourite many years ago.  Yes, I did purchase a supply. Completed this over the weekend - a layout desig...

 Well, I have been on a roll.  Here is another layout created for a challenge at Soul Scrapper Challenges : The challenge HEARTS...anything goes as long as you have at least SIX HEARTS on the page, you are good to go!   Heart bubble wrap and hand cut hearts - got it covered!  The photo shows a drawing my great nephew did recently when I spent some time with him.  Remember he is only 6!  I was drawing stick figures until only a few years ago and I am not 6!  I created a pocket on back of layout to put his original drawing in. I did find a quote that I want to share with you and that I have recorded on the layout that seemed appropriate for his artwork.   "Creativity is a lot like looking through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements the same ones everyone does but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into enticing new possibilities." Rosabeth Moss Fenton Thank you for looking, Margaret

Summer 2024 I was visiting my friend Kathy, and we visited Disneyworld on one hot day.  Here is another layout I have created for a challenge at Soul Scrapper Challenges This was a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge and here is the grid I selected 3-word title, summer theme and bold patterned paper.  We arrived as Disneyworld on opening and walked and walked all over Epcot, not to mention riding the rides and lunch Disney style - the heat was getting to us, so we decided to hop onto the monorail and head to Disney Polynesian Resort for some much-needed air-conditioning, putting up our feet and relaxing before heading out again.   I have used Kaisercraft Bombay Sunset collection for this layout. If you look closely at my photo in the middle, you will see I am wearing an ice-scarf a necessary accessory on this day.  Thank you for looking, Margaret

Layout for another challenge over at Soul Scrappers Challenges . The challenge ONE word either "O", "K" or "W".  I chose "O" for Ovation. On 31/1/25 I boarded the Ovation of the Seas for a scrapbooking cruise to South Pacific.  This photo was taken in Hobart - what I hear you say, "when was Hobart in the South Pacific!".  With Vila rebuilding from earthquake in December, 2025 and with cyclones in South Pacific there was a change of destinations - Airlie Beach, Queensland and then down the coast of Australia to Hobart. For this layout I decided to use circle die cuts and anything embellishment in my stash that had a circular shape (except for the film strip chipboard I was excited to find and Royal Caribbean image) continuing the "O" theme.  The challenge was to use only ONE word - no other words, word strips etc allowed.   Thank you for looking, Margaret

 Literally 'on board' the board game Sequence played on board the Ovation of the Seas. Layout completed for Soul Scrappers Challenges  from Screen 2 Scrap challenge. This month the challenge was to be inspired by the movie Wicked (okay, I have never seen the movie - am I the only one). The criteria for layout Use only pink and green (some black and white allowed). I used papers from 49 & Market Grove collection and Kaisercraft High Tea Collection. Add something that can fly - I used butterflies 2 x Photos. Tick A bit about the photos.  The two ladies in the top photo - Lyn and Jen - were on my recent cruise and in our group - Jen led a class on making a Christmas book (more on that in a later post) and they introduced me to the game Sequence. We played in Vintages Bar on 5th level of the boat.  These photos were of my first time playing and Mel was also interested so looked on and together we got the gist of the game.  I played several times more, often for ...

This is a layout I have created for White with 1 challenges - this month it is to use Orange (or any of its tones) and to use stamping.  There was a mood board for inspiration. This was the mood board: My inspiration - the windows in the building bottom right. A clean and simple layout.  I stamped the squares and needed to highlight them by going around with a black pen.  I used Abandoned Coral paint for stamping/chipboard and I did check and Coral is an orange tone (it is also in the pink tones but stronger as an orange tone). This mood board is also working, in conjunction, with Soul Scrappers this month so I have also posted to their challenges as well. Thank you for looking, Margaret

This is a layout I have created for a challenge over at SOUL Scrappers Challenges.  The challenge is a favourite of mine - Tic Tac Toe (TTT). Here is the TTT board - my selection die cuts, staples and tag (s) I went mixed media on this layout - gesso, Vintage Photo Crackle Paste, watercolour splotches and much more.  Die cuts/tags - all tags were die cut and covered. The orange cogs were die cut.  I also added some old and rusty 'things' I recently recovered, locally, from being thrown out! Staples - holding the title I stamped on calico.. Staples also on the tags to represent the cell bars.   This is what the layout looks like with tags tucked in the side.  Note: that gentleman you see is one of the exhibits in the ground.  Of course, he had to be included. Close up of the larger tags.  The pattern paper is actually photos I took, printed on matt paper and then chopped up!  I have also used tea bags that allowed to dry, removed the tea and t...

Here is a layout I created for Soul Scrappers Challenges .  It was a mystery bag challenge and to be inspired by anything Christmas.  Christmas was rather quiet in the lead up to Christmas Day.  My sister had tested Covid positive a week beforehand - and we were not sure if we could celebrate together.  Our brother and sister-in-law were travelling down to Sydney to spend time with her family, so we initially decided we would get together on 23rd for dinner at my home. Oh, well that did not eventuate.   The good bit - my sister tested negative on Christmas Eve, and therefore,on Christmas Day, our brother and sister-in-law came for morning tea (seeing as negative result) then returned to their home to await their visitors. I hastily put together a cold salad with ham and other bits and pieces and my sister and I enjoyed lunch together and exchange of presents. She then went home to rest. In the afternoon, I drove around to her place and made a stop at the be...

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...

I created this layout for a challenge over at Soul Scrappers Challenges The challenge is a sketch challenge, here is the sketch that formed the basis of the layout - you could flip it or rotate to suit whatever photos you had, as long as could see the sketch. The photos are of my great-nephew, not yet 4, and were taken today, Easter Sunday, by his mother. My sister and I had got together a few Easter surprises for him that we posted to his home in time for Easter, and you can see my gift in the photo on the left. He loves books of all kinds. Little Golden books were a favourite of mine as a child and I read them constantly - I remember The Twins (always reminded me of my sister and I, we are not twins but just 13 months apart, and dressed alike) and also Dr Dan the Bandage Man (I think because this one had a band-aid in it) and I hope that my great-nephew gets lots of enjoyment out of reading his Easter ones.   I have used papers from my stash on this layout. The chipboard is ...

 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...

When you think of cruise do you automatically think South Pacific, Alaska, Europe, Northern Lights, New Zealand?  Here is a layout I created today for a challenge on Soul Scrappers Facebook page .  The one word challenge  - use the letters P,C, or B. I chose C for 'Cruise" .  These photos were taken on a lunch time Nova Cruise of the Hunter River in Newcastle. The water was brown due to recent flooding. My sister  is enjoying her prawns and other goodies that were available to us. The photo far left is of the hotel we stayed in for 4 nights - Rydges Newcastle. This was one of the fun things we did as we explored the Newcastle that we remember from our childhood - so different these days. Not quite a South Pacific cruise, but never-the-less we were on the water!  The photos and embellishments (except) the chipboard cruise were from Journey collection by Kaisercraft that were part of my Christmas gifts from her. Thank you for looking, Margaret 

 Here is a layout I have completed for a challenge at Soul Scrappers Challenge page The mood board: I am in the process of removing photos from the old albums that we used to use!  When I saw the challenge I thought - my 21st the cake icing/candles were pink! Okay, I will use those photos.  The papers and embellishments (except for die cut numbers and pennants) were from Kaisercraft Breathe collection.  The tags had blue writing and so I went with that for die cuts I made. I like that the layout has a retro feel even though I was not really heading in that direction. The top two photos show me looking at the cake that had the candles arranged in the shape of 21. There is a little bow in my hair - well it came from the cake. The bottom photo shows my father and I, as I was cutting the cake at the local church hall that we used for the party - the church ladies catered.  There was dancing and a wonderful time was had by all.  And, somewhere I have the '21st k...

I created this layout for a challenge over at Soul Scrappers Challenges.  It was a mystery bag challenge - the mystery was to create a layout using 'baubles"  This is my new small tree for this year - it is only about 30cm high.  I went into my box of decoration memories and choose those with red in them.  All my decorations are special to me - there are some from holidays, some given to me by my sister, some I made and some given by friends.  Each decoration has a memory attached to it. I searched all my dies looking for Christmas themed ones that would suit my layout.  I also added some wood embellishments in red or unpainted. Thank you for looking, Margaret