WOYWW 256

I do keep meaning to post more than my desk for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday but I still haven't properly recovered from the last few months and got back into a routine yet.  I did spend Saturday crafting in a good cause though at a 12 hour charity crop for Naomi House children's hospice and you can see one of the layouts I made after my desk shot.

And here it is...

 Points to note: I was finishing up some DT work (partially hidden under the letter stickers) because I didn't like it, it didn't seem finished.  I added some twine with some tacky glue and I like it more now.  I had actually put it away as finished, hence my AC album being out but every time I went to post up the photo to the DT blog I found I was holding back because it didn't seem quite right!

Anyhoo, its done now and will be up on the blog soon but it needs to dry and be photographed - which in itself is a conundrum with this incessant weather.  I usually take my pictures outside in the day time but I just haven't been home when it hasn't been raining!

There is an empty pint glass there but it wasn't full of beer - I take a soluble vitamin thingy every day mixed with another medicine that I have to take and together they taste quite nice and get me to drink more water so its a win win - except that it makes my wee fluorescent yellow which can be quite alarming the first time you notice ;-)

At the back of the table are two boxes of embellishments that I have recently been travelling with.  The Jo Malone candle box hasn't been unpacked since the retreat a fortnight ago and the clear box is everything I've been using on my Devon album.  If I don't have time or energy to gather together stuff for other layouts, I grab that box, my bag of papers and my album and I'm good to go.  It already has all the page protectors in with the photos appropriately spaced so I can pick it up and put it down and return to it as and when.

This was one of the 5 or so layouts that I completed on Saturday.

All the supplies are October Afternoon, some very old, some not quite so.  The divided page protectors are American Crafts and come in various sizes so much easier to play with in short bursts than a regular 12x12.

Gosh it feels like a long time since we first visited Featherdown Farm's Aller Farm and therefore a long time since I started this album.  I think I've broken the back of it now though... if I could just resist trying to use EVERY SINGLE picture of a cow then I would have finished by now...

Right, I'm off for another session at the gym and then I can come back and relax and peruse the other desks knowing I have done a good thing for myself - it really really helps my depression (more on that in another post).  If I can still use my arms afterwards I might even leave a comment or two so please do stick the kettle on ;-)

Bye for now

xx

WOYWW 232

I think I've just about recovered from Jennifer's Frosty Festivities blog hop at the weekend.  It was very busy!  The challenges are still open if you fancy joining in.  I haven't been able to do any crafting at all with NaNoWriMo (drastically under my word count :-(()  and the blog hop and normal life etc but I am going to a new (for me) crop at the weekend in Wilton so I am sorting out my bag a bit for that.  That's what you can see going on on the desk today.

I started packing a few bits to make my Christmas presents with - a couple of layouts for 8x8 frames, desk calendars etc, but then realised that I don't have the photos yet and I've left my owl punch for the calendars at the Artful Angels crop!  I went for plan B which is my Devon Featherdown Farm album to continue where I left off last week with the denim letters layout, but then remembered that I am due for a DT post about Christmas cards in a couple of weeks!  I've since abandoned plans for the Devon album and I'm taking my Christmas stuff instead!  Its always good to have a plan c!

I'm already feeling festive but I know that I am in the minority.  You can also see my festive planner on the side there that featured in the previous post for the blog hop.  I'm trying to do an instructional post for it for the weekend with a giveaway so do pop back if you can.

Time for a quick trip around a few other desks courtesy of Julia and What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 231

Ssshhh!  Pretend you haven't seen me here for WOYWW 'kay?  I'm supposed to be doing my 'novel in a month' for NaNoWriMo but it isn't going terribly well so I decided to take a little bit of time out and join in with the Wednesday fun.  

Of course I missed the ideal window of opportunity with which to take my photo so you've got a nice shade of yellow to the picture today.  

You can see the scrapbook page I finished off in the middle there for the album towards the top of the pic.  You can also see the 2013 diary page which has fallen out of my Festive Planner which you will be able to see if you pop back on Friday for the Frosty Festivities blog hop.

Here's the finished page.  Although the lettering took a while I'm really pleased with it.  Upcycling + memory recorded + page I love = what its all about.  I actually experimented with using some Mod Podge and some ordinary PVA to stiffen the fabric prior to cutting.  I found that there wasn't THAT much of a difference so if you fancy giving it a go without forking out for Mod Podge then that's another option for you.

The hexagons are an idea that I Pinned from JimJams - thank you!  Another memory of Aller Farm scrapped and I am still really loving all of this album and the way it is flowing.  Crafting makes me happy :-)

What's on your desk this week?  Don't be afraid to link up, whatever the state of your desk or your mind ;-)

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 229

This might well be my last WOYWW appearance for a while as we are in Wales next week (sans internet / mobile reception / TV etc - huzzah) and then we are into November.  For me this means NaNoWriMo which some of you asked about last week when I mentioned it.  It means National Novel Writing Month and the idea is that you write a 50,000 word novel (or the start of a novel if you want to write a long one) in a month.  Crazy huh?!  The basic premise is that we can procrastinate over the first sentence or a chapter or whatever for years and years and never get that novel finished.  This way you bash out that first draft using the word count / forums / collective cheer squad of other Nano writers etc to actually get it done.  Once that first draft is out of the way you can start tweaking it but knowing that it is finished, or a long way towards it, keeps you motivated.  Its going to be tough but I think it will really help to drive me forward and not keep knocking my writing down the "To Do" list.  But that is November...

This week in Crazy Towers we have been making um... crazy towers.  I was lucky enough to be told of someone getting rid of a load of 12x12 paper trays from an old scrapbooking shop so I bought some.  I've spent a happy few hours since then having a sort out and rearranging my papers and then shuffling them some more and moving them again.  This is the start of proceedings...

About halfway through when I was beginning to lose the will to live...

And then this is how it looks now.  Still a work in progress with a few piles of things to sort and put elsewhere but I am loving my crazy tower of paper trays.  The black box on the top is a box of scraps that I have to sort but my accordion file where I used to keep them (that black case to the right) exploded so I needed to find an alternative.  I've decided to file them upright in poly bags on one of the bottom shelves that is now empty, or will be after another little shuffle.

The A4 paper lid and the flowery briefcase are both Christmas stash that needs sorting more appropriately and the pile of plastic bags in the corner there are Christmas presents waiting to be wrapped.  I would have done them already but there is not much paper about yet because the shops are still full of Halloween stuff.  Don't they know time is cracking on?!

And my desk, seeing as that is the theme of the day.

Still haven't cut my denim letters but I have experimented this week with using normal PVA instead of Mod Podge to stiffen the fabric.  I shall let you know how it goes.  Stiffening it makes it a lot easier to stick the cut letters on to cut around and gives it a better finish.  The page I am doing this for will go opposite this one in my album so you can see how the denim ties in
.

Time to have a look around some other crafty spaces with Mistress Julia for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Story Telling Sunday - The One About The Cow(s)

My precious for this month's Story Telling Sunday is not an object, unless you count the photograph, but a memory.  Sian suggested something with a bit of mystery, so here you are... what's going on here?

Did you spot the calf making its first appearance there?  I can tell you that the head and hooves were out for about half an hour before the cow finally managed to birth him and we were all a little bit worried that he had got stuck!  Out of the 7 of us watching, 3 of us were mummies and we winced every time she had a strong contraction.  The cow kept sitting down but never sat on the calf at all and ended up actually birthed him to the side of her while laying down.  He didn't move at all for a while and she didn't seem interested but eventually started the licking process and before too long we heard his first little moo!  We kept checking on them both while the light was okay but we didn't seem him up and about until the next morning.  It was wonderful to see him make his way up the hill on his wobbly little legs, looking all white and dark brown like a proper Fresian calf.  

Obviously this wasn't in our back garden... We spent a rather lovely weekend at a Featherdown Farm in Dorset called Knaveswell for a stew pot weekend.  It was cheaper than a normal weekend price and included two wonderful stews with local ingredients and I can tell you that they were absolutely delicious.  It was rather strange to be in one of the tents that we know so well now but at a different time of year.  At the beginning of June, the days were so long and light that the children thought it was time to get up at 5.30!  This weekend though, the shorter days and the canopy of trees at Knaveswell meant that it still felt pitch black at 8am and that us adults were in bed, asleep at 9.30pm!  Considering it is October, we were actually quite warm in our beds too which was a relief.  The children always have such a wonderful time on these trips and never want to go home and I hope that when they look back in years to come, they will realise what a fantastic experience they had and what amazing things they saw.

Bye for now

xx

WOYWW 214

I know us Brits like to talk about the weather but boy oh boy what glorious sunshine we are having right now!  I've barely been in my craft room this week due to the sun and other general franticness but I did manage another card (which I forgot to photograph) and to begin another page in my Devon album.  I tend to leave the opposite page in sight (the one that you can see on the desk there) so that I can choose coordinating colours even though its not a double page spread, if that makes sense.

I realise this looks fairly tidy to some people and a total mess to others so I thought I would share some other images of the mess in my craft room.

Spot the difference?

There is a new cup of tea in the second shot!  Management made it for me in between shots but then I promptly forgot about it and it went cold :-(

A close up of the mess on the desk.  You can see the scrap of paper that I put in each completed page after I have blogged it.

Various piles to my left and in the floor.  The bright pink file under the wonderful Amy Tangerine album is actually for Parent Governor business which I was supposed to be doing this week.... ooops...

Things that desperately need putting away on the surfaces near the printer and die-cutting area.

The basket that is normally on my desk that needs a good sort out.

The side view of my desk that gives you a sense of scale and mess building up on the sides.

More piles on the floor.  The yellow box is full of stuff that needs sorting and putting in its rightful place.  I shall get around to it one day.  I could do with a week of finishing things off and putting things away really!

But alas the house does not clean itself nor does the food cook itself or the clothes wash themselves or stories write themselves whatever whatever.  But no doubt I will find time to be creative at some point this week, even if its just with excuses of what I haven't hoovered ;-)

This post is brought to you in conjunction with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday.  Clear here for more details.

Bye for now

xx

WOYWW 213 (really!)

Good morning, good yawning!  I know we always go on about how it can't be Wednesday again so soon but seriously?!  Both Smalls went up to their new schools yesterday because it is nearly the end of the school year.  THAT makes me nervous because it means we are over half way through the year already and I have only just put away my Winter coat!

Not much time spent at my desk this week, which won't help my mental state, but the sun certainly will so that's okay.  Although it ran away and hid again yesterday so I did some colouring with my girl and then almost finished another page for my Devon album.

Last Wednesday I mentioned that I was taking some photos of my niece and her baby boy.  I was rather pleased with several of the pictures, despite not being anything of a photographer really, and I will share some of the better ones in another post but I can't resist showing you this one.  Beaulieu makes such a wonderful backdrop.

Right oh, cuppa and a Slimming World cereal bar and then I will be around.  Don't forget to link up with Julia to see the rest of the desks around the world and find out more about What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Bye for now
xx

She makes cards...

Well at least she does sometimes...  I've made about 8 in the last couple of weeks and barely remembered to photograph any of them!  They were all a bit.. erm.. last minute!

I made 4 very similar cards for my Dad, my husband, my step-Dad and my Father-In-Law.  2 were in a dark green and 2 were in orange but all in this sort of steampunky feel.  The papers are Chronology by Papermania and the dies are by Tim Holtz.  I do still have one of the green ones so I will endeavour to get that photographed and posted up.  I thought I had taken a pic of it already but I can't find it.  Maybe its with my gym card that I haven't seen since last Wednesday or my large bright pink purse that I haven't seen since Thursday...

This card was for Louis at the start of the month.  I was really ill with another cyst the day before we went on holiday which was the day I had planned to make the card.  I asked him if he wanted a special Mummy card (which he would have to wait until we got home for), or one from a shop and he wanted to wait.

As it happened, this was a great choice as this sticker from Echo Park was perfect!  You might remember from this post that we stayed at Lower Roduish Farm for his birthday.  They played in the field of sheep with  a walnut tree at the top and a tyre swing!  The children collected lots of bits of wool from the fences so I used this to make some sheep and Louis was in hysterics when he saw the card!  "You've used REAL wool from REAL sheep!"  Of course, then he opened the card and realised I had stuck it all on upside down and he laughed even more!  Not very professional....

In other news, I have finally joined Twitter!  If you are a tweety sort of person then you can find me @paperheartcraft

Bye for now
xx

Road Trip

Our holiday to Lower Roduish Farm at the start of the month seems so long ago now.  I can't quite work out why life is so chaotic at the moment but I feel like we need another holiday!  We've spent the day at Legoland and we are all exhausted but happy.  I am loving time with my family right now.  I can honestly say that I really do feel positive at the moment and like the recovery plans are actually starting to come together and mean something.  Its taking a lot of time and hard work but I will get there.  In the meantime, with a week in Wales at Grandma's still a good few weeks away, I shall have to be content with looking at photos of our previous Featherdown camping trip at Aller Farm.

This is one of the very early pages from the album because it was the road trip down to Aller Farm.  We stopped off at West Bay for a leg stretch and some lunch and fully embraced the holiday spirit from the off!

Supplies are of course, October Afternoon, from various collections and a little stamp from Amy Tangerine.  I love that projector slide!

I think the alphas are some old Lilly Bee ones but it feels good to be using up some unloved supplies.

Is it wrong that I am having to resist making up the new Lego sets that the children bought today?  They are in bed.  I am itching to open the boxes!  I wonder if I will ever tire of that favourite childhood toy!  Is there anything that you played with as a child that you still love to play with now?  Do let me know.

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 211

Happy Hump Day!  It's time for the weekly trip around the desks across the world to see what everyone is up to at the moment.  

This was my desk late on Tuesday afternoon... untouched since late on Saturday afternoon after a day's scrapping.

I'm still working on my Devon album from last year using October Afternoon so that's what you can see scattered across the desk.  The chair on the other side was temporarily inhabited by the lovely Sarah on Saturday and she brought my order of albums with her. It was lovely to craft at home but have some company too as I'd forgotten what it was like.  I bought 2 of the Amy Tan albums in wood-grain chevron print that you can see on the corner of the desk there and I can tell you they are gorgeous so I am in the process of reloading my Devon layouts into that.  I managed a couple more on Saturday and this is one of them.

This is mostly the Sidewalks collection which I just love.  Its the facing page for a split protector about the ice-creams we all had on the way to our holiday.

I'm gradually catching up after my holiday, coursework and various other absences and hopping around lots of blogs to see what I missed.  Put the kettle on for me won't you, I'm gasping for a cuppa!

This post is brought to you in conjunction with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday with the wonderful Julia so head on over and link up your desk and see who comes by.

Bye for now
xx

Adventures in Exmoor

Warning - photo heavy post!

It seems like months ago since we came back from Lower Roduish Farm in Exmoor.  Of course its only been a week but the sun that shone for us all the time we were there has been sadly lacking since we came back and it feels more like Autumn than summer.

So, our adventures at this years Featherdown Farm location were just as wonderful as last year's in South Devon.  The tents were closer together but there was not such a hike between the showers and the tents and the children could play quite happily in the fields with the sheep right in front of us.

There was a bigger mix of animals here too.  Obviously there was the sheep, and let me tell you that sheep with lambs are incredibly noisy!  We ended up having little conversations with them because we listened to them for so long that we thought we could identify words!

They have a few cows there and this wonderful beast - Marcus the Bull.  He "works" for one month of the year having fun with his girls.  Its a tough life... ;-)

They have 3 larger pigs and then a little brood of piglets turned up in the afternoon.  The children absolutely loved throwing in all our food scraps for them.

It was Louis's 7th birthday while we were away so he had a few presents in our tent.

We were able to eat breakfast outside every morning.  Bella and I certainly enjoyed our fresh eggs from the 2 chickens we looked after for the week.  We are both big fans of "tappy eggs"!

The birthday boy chose to spend some change in the amusements at Minehead.

He ate LOADS the whole time we were away.  No more children's portions for this growing lad - yikes!

We walked up on the moors and looked for deer and The Beast.

The children were taught to groom ponies.

We had a delicious stew cooked in a cauldron.

Louis's birthday treat was to go pony trekking.  Can you believe they just let us walk off with two children and two ponies!  We expected someone to come with us but they told us the route and off we went.  They absolutely loved it and can't wait to go again.

We looked after 2 guinea pigs for the week.  This little one is Eilish.

I'm not a fan of these animals but I really fell in love with them and probably held them as much as the children!  One of the other children on the farm wanted to have a pet show so we all got our guinea pigs out and paraded them around and he judged a winner!  It was hysterical!

We were able to have camp fires and toast marshmallows on long sticks.  The close proximity of the tents meant that the adults could put the little ones down and then chat around the fire with a bottle or two of local cider.  Perfect.

We visited several beaches.  This one is Porlock and the stones were all huge and very rounded which made walking on them pretty fun!

Its a pretty little area with some really quaint houses and a tiny harbour.

Basically we had a ball just being together without work / school / coursework / housework etc.

Even though the tide was pretty much out, the children managed to catch 21 crabs in about 25 minutes!

 We hunted for fossils on Doniford beach.  There were quite a few set into large rocks on the beach.

You literally can't go more than a few feet without finding one.

 

We brought a few home for our bathroom collection but had to leave behind some truly beautiful and large ones too.

The kids had a great time on the farm with the huge walnut tree and the rope and tyre swing.  They played for ages with the friends they met, just romping around the field but where we could still see them.

Our other guinea pig was called Podge and she was the winner in the parade!  She got a carrot for her prize from the little boy - bless!  I have to admit that I rather fell for this soft little bundle.

I think our favourite thing was the little stream that ran through the field that they played in.  It was shallow enough that they could paddle happily with their wellies or crocs but flowing enough that they could race daisies and dried sheep poo along it!

It was wonderful.  All of it.  The relative peace (other than the wildlife!), the fresh air, the sun, the s-l-o-w way of life, the cream teas, the campfires, the Pimms, and generally just being together without the normal every day stresses.  Coming soon to a scrapbook near you ;-)

Happy days!

Bye for now

xx