WOYWW 143

Do not adjust your sets.  Normal service will resume shortly.  I hope!  My table has gone to pastures new (my Dad's house was left very bare when his partners family removed many of her belongings and they tried to take some of his stuff too... gggrrr to the horrors that death brings about in people) so I am in the market for a new table to work at.  This is what my pink spotty tablecloth was hiding... no not Management and the children, just that gorgeous table.

This is the situation today.  Management is off and as B is at nursery we are trying to get this room completed so that we can move on to the bedroom which was the intended current task!  Oops!

I am very twitchy not having a craft room right now.  You'll notice a few baby pink things on the floor where I have been spraying.  I moved the mat out to spray in the garden and a pretty misted rectangle was revealed on the floor.  B then romped around in it and managed to clean the floor but end up very pink herself.  The previous evening I went to my Slimming World meeting with pink hands, and socks with a pink slipper shape misted onto them!

I'm taking the time in exile to complete some more pizza box storage and to plan a rather special project involving plaster cast.  If you have any ideas on this or you know what does or doesn't work on plaster then please let me know before I damage something that can never be repeated.

And here's a little card that I managed to sneak in before the table escaped.  One of B's preschool teachers left and so I used some Kirsty Wiseman inspiration because I love her cards.  I can't wait for the room to be finished so I can get back in there and get back at my scissors and glue!

I'm sure I will need a break during the painting today and what better way to relax than to have a peruse of other crafty desks around the world.  Check out the list with Julia but don't let your tea go cold while you snoop ;-)

Bye for now

Blog Love

I've been fortunate enough in the last couple of weeks, to have been given not one but three Leibster Blog awards.  Because things have been a little, ahem, difficult around these parts, I just haven't had time to think about it and so wasn't able to post up my badge, hence being given more than one.  One of the things I was busy with was Valentine's Day.  Management is a plain and simple kinda guy so this was right up his street.

Today though my craft room is out of action (more on that soon) but this means I am finally getting around to thanking the people who passed it onto me and in turn I will be passing on too.  

The Liebster award is given to blogs that you love with less than 200 followers.  It's a German word meaning favourite or dearest and its a way of sharing newer blogs and encouraging readers to visit the places where you've found inspiration, encouragement and motivation.  I'm really grateful to Lisa, Jan and E for nominating me, you guys made me feel all warm inside!

And now, for my part of the bargain, I have to nominate 5 further blogs which is pretty tricky really!

Alison - encourages my weight loss journey as well as my crafting journey.  We've become regulars on each others blogs and this is one of the reasons that I do it - I'm happy that crafting can be so sociable!

Louise - one of the first blogs I ever followed because I loved her designs and now I'm on a design team with her!  Her layouts are fabulous and each one so different from the next.

Fiona - I love her 5 Things I Love series and she has led me to other great blogs.  I like the fact that she dips her toe into different crafts.  She also showed me how to see if I had been Pinned which gave me a vital pick me up last week.

Jaki - now a friend in real life and someone who, like Fiona, has inspired me to get my fabrics out again.  She has been SO supportive of my crafty endeavours and has really encouraged me to keep at it.

Sarah - a chance comment on my blog at just the right time that I was starting to wonder what it would be like to be on a design team.  Since I joined her, she has been incredibly supportive and encouraging and given me real self-belief.

So this is for you guys!

Bye for now

xx

WOYWW 142

Happy Wednesday creative people!  I wonder how many of you purchased a little "something something" from QVC yesterday?  It was wonderful to hear the words "Tim Holtz" and "the WOYWW blogs" in the same sentence on national TV - thanks Dyan Reaveley!

And oh, what a fine mess of piles my desk is today.

At the central rear of the desk is "art-sediment" left over from my 2 year old doing her own special form of scrapbooking.  This involves sticking old photos, picture side down, to the nasty papers you get in some magazines or snipping a thousand bits of said paper onto the floor and then picking up a couple and sticking them on top of any photos that were picture side up.  Other than that there are a few layouts that need completing, the beginnings of some DT work and then centre stage is some micropore tape that I have been experimenting with stamping onto.

Among the piles is a layout that I finished after the crop on Saturday.  I didn't have a sketch or an idea to start with and it was the end of the day and I couldn't seem to access my Pinterest so I used the grid again which is a great fall back.  I ADORE these Thrift Shop papers from October Afternoon.

The photo was taken by L when he was not quite 5 years old so I think he did a pretty good job!  I love that he captured both myself and B smiling in the sun.  He loves his girls and was so pleased with the way this came out.  I can't wait to show him the finished page.

I tried something new for me but probably very old hat to many, with this paper clip and button embellishment and I love how it turned out.  Expect to see that again for sure!

Lastly I must apologise to the three people that have nominated me for a Liebster Blog Award.  I have not forgotten, I have just been swamped with various things and I am trying to decide who to pass it on to.  I am over the moon and thrilled to have been nominated - its a great feeling to know that the random burblings are appreciated in some way by other people.  I would also like to thank Fiona, who's blog I have been reading for some time.  She passed me details of how to check if you have been Pinned on Pinterest, and guess what?  I have!  I was so pleased that I did a little clap.  It was during discussions about Pinning from the original blog and not just re-Pinning - its a bit of an issue at the moment but for me I'm just happy to be Pinned at all!  It's one Pin and it has only been re-Pinned twice but it was one of those things that was on my crafting bucket list.  Hurrah!  It cheered up an otherwise pants day as my boy has been diagnosed with asthma out of the blue.  He is one of the liveliest people you could ever meet and it was the last thing I expected but at least now the poor chap might stop coughing and get some sleep, and me too!

Bye for now
xx

A layout I'm loving!

I THINK I'm starting to turn a corner with this horrid virus and tonsillitis - hurrah!  I've also managed to get a few layouts completed in the last few days, including some of my Christmas journal - hurrah again.

First up is a layout that I did with Paula at a crop class.  Its a photo of me and my baby boy L, taken at a wedding when he was only just over a year old.  I love the candid shot which caught us both smiling madly at something.

The photo is not quite as dark in real life although I am definitely in the shadows a bit (which suits me!)  I covered a chipboard butterfly with old music paper and I cut some of the branding strip from some Webster's Pages stickers for the side (thanks to Emma Trout for that idea).  It says "Your life. Beautiful."

I lost a wooden flower somehow when I had put it up at the crop hence the non matching gems but I kind of like this bit.  There is a little brown heart from an Amy Tangerine stamp set that sets "You Rock" and I've continued the aqua with the little heart there too.

The infamous camera from the same Amy Tangerine stamp set which I coloured with promarker and then added Glossy Accents too.  The papers are Prima and American Crafts and the background is, um, OLD.

This is the only LO that I've finished on the night of the class (other than the gems) and I'm really pleased with it.  I love the way it came together and for once I am happy with the colours and how they all work despite being from different manufacturers.

I feel like I am getting back into the swing of things a bit more now and I will be so happy once I have my energy back.  Apparently Spring is on its way and we will have warmer temperatures and more sun which can only help I reckon.  Here's to the Spring!

Bye for now
xx

SJ Crafts Monthly Challenge - February

Its challenge time again over at SJ Crafts and this month one lucky winner can win a gorgeous 6x6 paper pad of My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline Howdy Doody.  The closing date is 14th March at 1pm and the challenge this month is to use flowers and pink or red.  

I'm loving 6x6 pads myself at the moment.  The allow you to have a lot more patterns available and I often find that the scaled down versions can be a little easier to use when you have big and busy patterns.  They are great for using in a quadrant for a quick starting point to a layout.  My papers here are the original Dear Lizzy from American Crafts which are eons old now but I've mixed them with some newer techniques and products so that I am finally able to revel in their loveliness on a page and not hidden away in my piles of patterned paper.

I overlapped the squares for interest and inked all my edges (as usual!) with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a Blending Tool.  I liked the effect of the bright papers against the kraft cardstock which helps to ground the design and add a bit of neutrality.  The chipboard is old AC too (and yes I do seem to have lost one of my bunting flags between taking the photos for Sarah and then retaking them in better light this morning!)  I fussy cut some flowers and added Glossy Accents for texture in various places among the flowers and I used foam adhesive and finger curling to add more dimension.

 

I'm really trying to bust my stash at the moment and I love layouts with lots of "stuff" on so I went to town with labels from Crate Paper, various stickers and charms and badges, and some tiny letter stickers.

The page is about my cute girl pottering in the garden with her little watering can and her wellies on, just watering plants that really didn't need to be any wetter than they already were.  She was in her own little world and had no clue that I was watching her going about her thing.

So, what will your project be?  It can be a card or a layout or an off the page project and there are more details on the blog.

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 141 - more bleurgh :-(

I decided to join in at the last minute because I had been playing in my craft room and wanted to share other people's spaces too (and pop in and 'see' Julia), and I needed a rest.  I've been feeling poorly for nearly 4 weeks now so I went to the docs yesterday as I thought the virus was also tonsillitis and I was right.  With suitable powerful meds, I'm hoping for a recovery in time for my crop class and my day crop on Saturday because its been AGES since I last attended.

My desk is a mess in preparation for these events but I also just wanted to actually complete something, just for me.  Many months ago I did the Creative Stash Diving prompt from Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party class and made quite a few layouts to their first stage.  They need titles, journalling and embellishing so I pulled those out, chose one, and I've part way through it.  The others are scattered around with my on-going Smash book, some paint samples, and a very cold cup of tea.  I wouldn't ever have a drink on the table if anyone else was working with me but its my work I would spoil so I don't worry too much.  I was at a class once where a can of coke went over someone else's work and destroyed the last segments of the papers that were needed to complete a layout.  It was a very uncomfortable situation and I'm glad it didn't involve me!

Its half term here but B is at nursery and Management is off so the boys are watching The Empire Strikes Back while I rest on the sofa.  They've had a busy morning of fixing stuff and doing "blue" jobs and as a special treat, L got a burger from the awful van at B&Q like the "real workmen" do.  I pretended I wasn't allowing them to have one and that I would cross if they had a burger in secret and L was beside himself with excitement at a big boys outing and a secret from Mummy!  We've all been so poorly and jaded for the last few months that it is good to see him really giggle.  I love half term!

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 140

Good morning to you all from a very chilly Southern England.  We didn't have snow which really upset the children but who knows what the next few days will bring?

For your delectation this morning we have Slimming World magazines (I am trying to make a note of which books my fave recipes are in) and my Smash book which is going to be my weight loss and fitness inspiration.  Funny that the first page I opened was a picture of a cake...  Just behind the iPad, out of sight, is the current DT project for S J Crafts and next to that is an album that I made that I am repurposing into a DIY Smash book for ideas for the home.  I need to rejuvinate my desire to sort both myself out and get on with the decorating etc but I don't want to miss sticking pretty things together either.

I finished another of my boxes and I am really pleased with the way they are turning out.  Lots more to do though.

And seeing as last week's peek inside my drawers went down so well, I thought I would show you another one. This is my ribbon box - the larger bits are wound around card and the smaller bits are in jars sorted by colour - purdy!

I thought I had visited a fair few last week but the list on Julia's blog gets longer and longer - I do try though.  And we do love to see, because sharing is caring.

Bye for now
xx

Having a ball!

I am sat here perched on a gym ball at my desk instead of lounging on my sofa.  I am currently running the risk of not being to able to use my right arm at all and ending up having surgery so I am desperately trying to do anything I can to repair the damage.  Sitting on the ball means I am working my core and not slouching, so that's all good.  Except that every time I move, the rubber squeaks against the laminate flooring and makes constant farting noises.  I keep having to call out "It was the ball!"  The massage I had the other day was very nice except that we have discovered that I can't lay on my front for long enough for her to do her work.  The bottom of my back seizes up and I can't get off the couch because my spine is not used to being in properly straight, the natural curvature of my back goes the wrong way and curls under - another reason the ball is king.  Basically I think I am just getting old!  The massage possibly caused all my remaining viral toxins to come out though because I went from feeling better to feeling like I had been kicked down my back by a horse.  And my glands are STILL swollen and my throat is still sore.  All of this is not conducive to going to the gym or getting on top of my crafting projects, I can tell you!

One thing I have managed to do though, is to re cover the pizza box.  This time I just used straight PVA and plain book papers but then swiped over it with Distress Inks.  This gave me more of the look I was going for.

I heat embossed a little label made from an XCut die and attached it with a pearly brad.  Its not the neatest box on the block but I'm halfway through my next box and I am already much more pleased with it.

You can see the edges here have lifted a bit but these bits are mostly hidden once it is on the shelf.

Its quite a tight fit in the good old Expedit and I will have to chop the tops off of any pieces that have the barcode strip but this doesn't bother me.  I have a larger box in construction which will overhang the shelf but there is a gap at the back so it will actually line up okay and I can put the larger PP in there if the branding strips bother me.

You may have also noticed that I have started to fiddle with the blog design.  Its not going well and I can't get any of the header's to attach so I have given up for now.  I've also been thinking about why I started the blog in the first place and that I have neglected my "journey" a bit on here.  I am going to have to remedy that very soon but for now I must walk around and do some more of my exercises or my physioterrorist might sit me on the naughty step.  I should be so lucky! ;-)

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 139

Tra la la!  Look at my lovely neat and tidy desk!  Am I the neatest desk in all of WOYWW-ville?  Well you'll have to go and see Julia to find out.

Of course it doesn't look like that NOW but it did, for a while.  This morning I am having a deep tissue massage on the instruction of my physioterrorist so I had to take this pic yesterday (which is actually earlier on  today because I am actually writing this Tuesday night.. and... oh gawd, I'm confused!)  Anyway...  That pile on the left corner is my Christmas Journal which has had to grind to a halt while I await my photos but at least I cleared up and can now do something else.  The basket on the right is the "something else", a few odds and sods that need finishing up and some DT work for the next challenge at S J Crafts (current one still open).

Just in the background there behind the tea, you can see where I keep my scrapbook papers.  Next to the radiator.  Now some people tell me its fine, others tell me MOVE THEM IMMEDIATELY so I am going for "move them fairly soon just in case".  Except that as we all know, the wonderful Expedit system from Ikea (which sits behind me) doesn't house any of the well known holders.  So I am making my own.

  

1) Take one ex-craft delivery pizza box and pull off one end.  Secure all other sides.

2) Mix a teeny amount of paint with lots of PVA glue.  PVA is not like white paint and it will not dilute your colour much.  (I made an error here and put too much paint in and I need to re-paint the box because I wanted a lighter shade).

3) Get the children to rip up an old book.  Yes the children.  I am far too anal and cannot do "random" in the way it needs to be done for this.  Just paint the paper on like papier mache.  Get the children to stick it on too and then you get a better "random".  

You can see that the pink is far too dark here but this was just a test.  I will be going over the top edge with the paper mix to get a nice finish but this box hasn't been cut yet hence the funny angle.  I hope to do a couple with music print paper too.

And just for fun, while I had the camera out, I thought I would share a pic of my drawers - oo er.  The top drawer contains photos, printer stuff and repositionable adhesive for putting stuff through the printer.  Below that is my draw of punches...

And below that is my drawer of dies (and a random ex-recipe box that needs "altering", forgot about that...)

So come on, show us your drawers!  Because sharing is caring.

Bye for now
xx