WOYWW 255

Well it may not be the messiest desk on the block this week but neither is it the tidiest or the most productive.  The selection of letter stickers was out to finish the little book you can see near the parcels there.  It is not supposed to be visible yet so you'll have to check back of you want to see more :-)  

The packages might seem interesting and you'd be forgiven for thinking that they contain new crafting goodies, however, you'd be wrong.  I'm being exceptionally good about new stash, even in the face of huge sales on my favourite brands.  I simply cannot fit any more into what we hope will be our new house.  No, the packages contain a chocolate protein shake sample and a bag of powdered superfoods.  Both things to be taken together in a shake with oats and peanut butter as a breakfast before training.  I'm really hoping that the green powder (which contains things like spirulina) will boost my system and general health and help me get back into some sort of fit shape.  I'm back at the gum today after over 2 weeks off while the children were on Easter holidays and I know I will hurt tomorrow but I've really missed it.

The magazine cuttings are also going to help towards my goals but they are crafty too.  Its part of Ali Edwards class for One Little Word which I have done nothing about recently.  I'm really hoping to tackle it on Saturday at the Artful Angels 12 hour charity crop.  I'm also hoping to finish the couple of layouts you see on the left there before then so I can start some new ones but one of those is for my OLW album too.

You might be wondering about the white blobs with safety pins on the back.  So am I.  They are fairy badges, created from plaster and painted by Miss Bella but the pins provided won't stick as they are supposed to.  Luckily Mummy has a supply of a variety of glues to try so that I can wear whichever one she chooses for me.  All day.  In public.  With pride. :-)

This post is brought to you by the powers of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday at Julia's Stamping Ground. 

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 245

Its Wednesday, so its WOYWW, so let's get straight down to business - no time to shilly shally.  I have officially finished all of the layouts I can possibly get from the collection I've been working on through Shimelle's class.  The one you can see on the desk is the penultimate layout.  I just about have enough scraps left to eek out a Valentine card for Management - ssshh don't tell him, just between us 'kay?

I was enjoying a little play (hence the full cuppa) Tuesday afternoon when I took this during a brief moment of sunshine - hurrah!  I really feel for anyone experiencing floods etc right now - it is truly awful.  There can't be much more water left in the sky to fall can there?!

Last week I mentioned that I was heroically trying to log all my layouts / blogged projects / photos etc and part of that is filing this pile of layouts!  You can see the spotty tablecloth that I used to have on my desk which some of you might remember.  You can also see why I choose to use Taffy pink albums by American Crafts :-)

Its been a creative hive of activity here at Crazy Towers.  Miss Bella wanted a friend to come over to make a Facebook page!  Kinda cute that she got it mixed up but she did actually mean a scrapbook page obviously. I knew I would have to tackle the children's art room in order for this to take place - gulp!

Being by the back door means all manner of outside items get left here.  It leads through to the utility so it bugs me that it is so messy.

There was nothing else for it.  It had to be done.  I put some funky music on, grabbed another cuppa and set to it.  I'm pretty pleased with the results but I just need to keep on top of it!

The insect home you can see on the windowsill there is patiently awaiting our baby stick insects to be big enough not to be able to squeeze through the holes!  We have 6 so far of just under an inch long.

The trolley on the left is what I sort the washing into, nothing to do with crafts at all.  The basket on top is full of Slimming World magazines that I need to sort through and pull out the recipes.  The shelves there are also the place where I keep my vases etc.

Our little guest took to scrapbooking like a duck to water and was overheard to say "I love your house.. I really love doing this!"  Also Louis finished a lovely page which I promised I would show on the blog very soon and said he had forgotten how much he enjoyed scrapbooking!  This all made my heart literally sing!  I find it hard to have little friends to tea but it is part of my One Little Word progress and I have to say that it was lovely to see the three of them sat there singing along to the radio and cutting and sticking while I pottered about at the stove.

Anyway, enough about the crafting going on here, what's going on where you are?  Pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground to link up with other desks around the world.

Bye for now
xx

One Little Word - Part 1

For my One Little Word project and documenting my 40th year, I knew I wanted something vibrant that I would love using for a long term project.  As part of my birthday present I treated myself to the Daily Grind collection by Simple Stories.  I first saw it when Sarah bought the S J Crafts shop to the local crop and I totally fell in love.  Alongside the full collection pack of papers, cut apart sheets and 2 sets of stickers, I also bought the 6x4 Snap cards, the ephemera pack and the chipboard pieces.  Having everything coordinating like this means I can keep it all together for the year and it also makes for speedy scrapping - win win!

I wanted something striking for the title page to separate it from my normal pages in my 12x12 album (instead of the conventional albums used for this class by Ali Edwards).  The dark woodgrain with the printed elements was perfect for this page which doesn't need journalling because the written parts are all to follow.  

I used the circular calendar sticker to signify the year long project and I obviously used lots of hearts because that is my word for the year.  The little woodgrain letters are part of the collection pack and I added a few Thickers for dimension.

The printables that come as part of the class are meant for specific page protectors but I wanted to make mine work with my normal size of album.  This means I have to tinker with the arrangements a bit and fill in blank pockets etc or, like here, use the printables on a standard layout.  I matted the Intentions page onto green cardstock and then matted that onto that fab speech bubbles paper.  The red frame is the reverse of the title page.

 I am really enjoying using the bold happy colours and I know this will help inspire me to keep up with documenting this project through a year which I hope will be full of positive changes.

I've almost completed the next couple of tasks which are in pocket pages so I'll share that here soon and then it will soon be time for February's prompts!  I'll let you know how I'm getting on with actually living with my word then.  Wish me luck!

Bye for now

xx

One Little Word

So far being forty has been a bit of a mixed bag.  I'm still suffering with this awful cold but I think it is finally on its way out - hurrah - so that wasn't so good.  On the very very up side, my wonderful husband threw a surprise party for me!  Boy was I mad at him, making me get dressed up and go out for dinner when all I wanted to do was have a takeaway in my onesie.  He was so determined to get me out that I suspected he had managed to arrange a late dinner with someone.  Little did I know that it wasn't last minute at all - he'd been planning it for nearly 4 months!!  After lots of hugs with some wonderful people and a couple of glasses of wine, my nose stopped running and my head stopped pounding for a bit and I had a fabulous time with lots of dancing.  

Its a bit odd having a birthday just after Christmas because there's the whole healthy eating / must get fit / New Year's resolutions thing going on.  Not for me though.  I've learned that any new start type things have to wait until after my birthday celebrations have finished!  For me this year with the very extended celebrations it is after next weekend but it won't be a new start with resolutions such as "Run 3 miles every day" or "Only post on Facebook once a week".  No.  Both of those would be very silly for me indeed.  No.  

I wanted to make some big changes this year and I needed some sort of guidance and accountability without the failing side of things you get with very definitive resolutions.  I'd heard things about Ali Edwards One Little Word class before but this year it really grabbed my attention.  You choose a word to kind of "live by", something that embraces the things you want to develop.  People choose words such as flourish, patience, health, up, focus, smile etc, whatever is the area of your life or your self that you might feel needs a bit of work.  

My word is heart.

To...
live with heart
look after my heart
be true to my heart
put my heart into it
make time for love
do what I love
love what I do
love what I have
and to absolutely follow my heart

Each month we have various tasks to try help us live with our words and embrace the changes we want to make.  As the year goes on I'll be sharing more about what my word means to me and how I am living with my word and using it to help my fortieth year be the best year ever.

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 240

Happy New Year!  Lets get life back to some normality shall we?  The children went back to school yesterday but I am suffering with a horrid virus so it doesn't feel quite like normal yet but it is getting there.  Also I am 40 on Friday *twitch* so there are still a few celebrations to come.  I shall be spending the day in my studio, crafting for me, not making things for other people but me!  There will be lots of cups of tea too.

Don't worry that there is no tea in this picture, it was taken in a hurry this morning and I have hardly been in my studio since Christmas.  This photo is as new to me as it is to you!  Lets take a look around.

Top left is my Christmas present - a Selphy printer.  Not had time to try it out at all yet but hoping to very soon.  Sellotape dispenser, which I wouldn't be without, that it looks like Management was using for my birthday presents and couldn't "manage" to put away.  Next to my ATG gun is a Christmas card with what looks like Elvis on.  Its actually a picture of Lord and Lady Montagu dressed as Elvis. In the middle there is my Festive Planner. It is looking a bit worse for wear because it had an entire glass of Bucks Fizz tipped on it on Christmas Day.  Thank goodness for the Mod Podge!

My cake stand with my bits and pieces for Journal Your Christmas is still there and that is ongoing but I do have another project on the go too.  This year I really wanted to make some changes in my life so I signed up for Ali Edwards One Little Word - I thought it would be cool to do this for my fortieth year.  I'll be working on that on Friday, accompanied by tea and biscuits - well it is my birthday ;-)

This post is brought to you by the wonders of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday with the lovely Julia.

Bye for now
xx