WOYWW #438

Our weekly meetup of show & tell workdesks ...... love this little get together every week..... in the comfort of our own homes ..... come and join us ..... our Hostess Julia (deets at the top of the page) won't mind - I'm sure she'd say 'more the merrier' so come on in .....

OK!  I'll admit it ..... I am going to make a start ....
Start on what do I hear you say .......
.....this ......

I have opened one of the boxes!
Yes!
That's right!
Lost for words aren't you?!
So am I ..... but I must make a start ... I've signed up for a Christmas swap .....
But I have to say ..... it's very exciting as I haven't seen the inside of these boxes since last Christmas!!!
It's like having a small shop all of my own ..... think I'll sit and look at it all for a bit longer!

BTW - the scaffolders came and then the next day, the roofers came.  
Mark and Luke (the scaffolders) were a bit shocked at the way everything had been left, really spent some time resetting the guttering, fascia and sofit.  AND THEY PUT AN END PIECE ON TO THE GUTTERING!!!
They did a really good job and I am thrilled with the work but now we are waiting for the surveyor to came and pass it.... 
No flooding since even though we have had so much rain.  Can't wait for the scaffolding to come down. 

Good to have some good news for a change ....

October Colour Swap

Autumnal Colours
I was stuck for ideas until I saw this post on Gecko Galz Blog so had to visit the Blog concerned.  

I purchased the papers that Electra recommended, they're digital, and went to printing.  These papers were great to work with and I was spoilt for choice, I printed and cut and spread them out on my desk and slowly pulled them into some sort of order!




I loved the little boy on Electra's third card so that's where I started.

I used the sunflower paper for background, the beauty of digital papers is that you can resize the images.  I edged the little boy image with blue and attached it with a 3D pad.  
Tim Holtz's words are 'enough'. 

The fairies had to be used, they were edged with a deep red ink and decoupaged onto the centre of the background paper.  I smooshed some 'autumnal' colour inks across the sentiment .... guess where from?!?! lol

I just love Art Deco so this image was a 'must use'.
I edged the lady image with black, the circle with gold and the whole card with brown ink. Decoupaged it all onto the background and realised I hadn't left room for the sentiment.  I trimmed the words and managed to fit them onto the card.  Hurrah! for Tim Holtz spacing!

I love this image of a couple having fun in the leafy wind.  I edged this image with red ink and popped it onto the centre of the leaf background with a 3D pad.   I placed the smooshed sentiment across the lower edge to finish. 

My swapped cards came in a variety of themes:


This leaf is diecut from foam - brill idea.
Thank you GwynethRose.

Love these shiny toadstools.

Thank you Mel.

Beautiful coloured peel off.

Thank you Philippa.

October Swap

Using papers from stash - may have been free with a magazine - I cut out three oblongs slightly small than ATC size. 

 I attached these to plain cards - probably cut from Cinamon Toast Cereal box (my fave at the mo) - and put them to one side to dry.

I stamped these absolutely fantastic images - stamps from Julia, it has been hard waiting to use them!! - fussy cut them out and then coloured just hats and left them to dry.  
When they were dry I attached them to the backgrounds with 3D foam tape so they stood proud.
I added my sentiments plain and flat to the lower edge, I want nothing to detract from my beautiful gals!

 I have had a fine selection by return.


Lots of diecut hearts on a lipstick background.

A small wooden owl on a painted background.

Inked seagulls on an inked background.

Love these cards.  

Thank you so much GwynethRose.

WOYWW #437

Our weekly meetup of show & tell workdesks ...... love this little getogether every week..... in the comfort of our own homes ..... come and join us ..... our Hostess Julia (deets at the top of the page) won't mind - I'm sure she'd say 'more the merrier' so come on in .....

For Desk read Dumping Ground ...... well, it isn't really.  
The pile to the left of the desk is going to be sorted and a lot binned - there are things there that I will never do, definitely not WIP more like BTL(Bin The Lot)!!

To the right is a pile of papers given away free with magazines and an idea for an O for Owl ATC.  Moving on to the right of that are completed ATCs ready to be labelled and posted.  Creeping in at the top are a few envelopes I have been trialling, don't know if I prefer these envelopes or the clear plastic ones ..... think I'll think a bit longer on that subject.

For those that are interested - the scaffolders did not turn up last week, Adams Askey didn't give them the correct telephone number!?!?!?!!
They hope to come this Thursday and then AA will, not holding my breath, come on Friday.
Maybe then this sight will be gone .......

....... and the water will flow into the drains!

Thank you to all my visitors last week and for all the desk shares, some of the things you lot get up to ......well!

October Theme Swap

The Theme for this month ......STEAMPUNK!!!!!!

I found a piece of stencilled paper left from another 'session' so I cut this to size and then had a good stamp around the edges with a small stamp and a Versafine Onyx ink pad.  

At least doing this I don't have to try to be 'arty'!

I placed these pieces of paper to one side and stamped some of my Chocolate Baroque images onto a separate card, fussy cut them out and painted using watercolours and mica powders.

I sorted some chain links, cogs and gears cut out from an earlier die cutting session and added several to each card.

I then searched through Tim Holtz Word Book and, after adding them to the cards, highlighted the words with a black gel pen.

Looking at them now, I think I should have maybe used a paler ink for my border stamping .... ah! well!

My returns featured really different ideas:


Love all the elements used on this card.
Thank you Kathleen.

Subtle steampunkin' colours.

Thank you JanS.

Change of mood with the purple glitz.

    Thank you Barbara.

September Swap - Anything Goes

I created these cards using up offcuts from some paper pads, which were lying around on my desk.  I then had to decide on a theme so decided to use a few muted colours ....


I added a stamped sentiment in Versafine Vintage Sepia, smooshed ink along one edge of a Craftwork Cards border then attached it to the righthand side of the card to finish.

I stamped and fussy cut a steampunk flower and attached it along the left side of this card.  I then stamped the sentiment.... almost central!

I had some small diecuts of leaves and animals, which came with a tag die freebie, so I attached them onto the third card.  The sentiment is again from Tim Holtz word book.

My returns were comprised of the following cards:

All the details are on the back of this card, I quite like that idea, it's a big help to likes of me who is still learning!
Thank you Alison.

Another card from inkyfingeredcat!  How lucky can a girl get!
Thank you Cathy. 

Beautiful stamping and embossing.
Thank you Lesley.

WOYWW #436

Our weekly meetup of show & tell workdesks ...... love this little getogether every week..... in the comfort of our own homes ..... come and join us ..... our Hostess Julia (deets at the top of the page) wont mind - I'm sure she'd say 'more the merrier' so come on in .....

...... before I go any further I want to show you my gift from the Crop, I forgot last week and I can assure you Annie, it was not done on purpose.  
I treasure this Journal because of  ...
...the cover ....

.... just look at it...

.... photos do not do it justice, I LOVE it.  Thanks again Annie.



My desk is getting ready for the post, cards completed and now just the envelopes to be addressed.

The joker printout is in readiness for one of my Alphabet swap ATCs .... any guesses which letter?  lol
To the left is a Dress Form Die and some diecuts - I have cut them out in readiness for a small project with my Craft&Chatter group.

At the top of the desk you can see a very smart little bag - filled with goodies which were given to us the day after the Crop ......

Will you just look at that!  
There were balloons and flowers and we all had a great catch up over a delicious meal.
PJ and I cannot believe that we have been married that long ..... how did that happen? 
We are two very blessed people with a most marvellous family - we are only together because we were called by God to be so, and we have done so many marvellous things, thanks to His Good Grace.

In between enjoying the sunshine and clearing the gardens ready for their long sleep, I shall pop round to visit your desks .....

Alphabet Swap - G,H, I

Chosen from the list this month:
G is for Grape

I stamped the 'label' stamp - all the stamps on this card were free with Creative Stamping Magazines - and corner vine onto some watercolour paper with a purple ink, coloured the images with Inktense pencils but decided to attach the sentiment proud.  I stamped the banner and text onto a piece of card, fussy cut and attached with a strip of foam tape.



H is for Harbour
I used some free stamps again for this card, using Versafine onyx and adding some masking fluid to the lighthouse, house and wave tops.  When the mask was dry I added watercolour to the rest of the card and then removed the masks.  My first time I had tried this technique and I learned that the masking fluid needs to be quite thick and the watercolour completely dry!!!
I is for Italy
I love this Stamping Up stamp so it was perfect for an image of Italy.
I stamped the image with brown ink and used my Inktense pencils to colour.
I used a darker brown ink and some individual Alphabet Stamps, placing them in the correct order on a Acrylic Block, to stamp along the side of the card.

I received the following cards:
G is for Gin



and Good Tidings, and Gucci...
Thank you Mel

H is for Hens

What a brill subject!!!

Thank you GwynethRose.

I is for Insects

Embossed, stamped and fussy cut!

Thank you Kathleen.

WOYWW #435

And on my desk today ..... all my lovely swapies from the Crop.

 A gorgeous pink ATC from Dolores, beautiful Mug Rug from Annie, A steampunk Tag from Sarah, an Alice ATC from Neet,  Welsh gold from Margaret, a small tray with the bee ATC (below) from Elizabeth, a Stitching ATC (in tray) from Anne and a painted stone from Jan. 
I also have a smashing WOYWW badge from our Hostess, it isn't in the photo cos it is still pinned to my coat!
Aren't they just a beautiful collection?  Love them all, thank you girls so much.

We had a super day at Llandudno, thank you Margaret. I have blogged some details already in my previous post.  

But back to the day, I managed to ramble round the 'Take me away with you' table collecting some papers and diecut sentiments.  
I feel I must apologise to Julia here who had carefully counted papers and placed them into bags.  
Unfortunately I didn't see the labelling until I (with the help of Mrs D!) had had a good rifle through them all and extracted that which had to come home with us.

I also brought home some stamps - precious cargo this indeed.
These are not just any stamps, they are Julia's Mama's stamps and treasure indeed, I can already see how to use them.  
I love oriental stash, those three ladies will be perfect for my ATCs, sentiment stamps are always welcome (providing they will fit onto an ATC) and I couldn't resist the tiny Angel.  The jacket reminds me of a wonderful day I spent at the Workshop with Julie Watts, joy of joys.
Thank you Julia for being brave, I love them all.

Short but sweet for today, I will try to catch up with you all later.

Crop 2017

We left home about 06.30hrs on the day of the Crop, we knew we had a long day ahead of us but we couldn't stay overnight because of our little girls, the chooks cannot be left out on their own any longer as the next door's cat has already had a taste of chicken unfortunately.
The rain started to fall as we reached the edge of town so when we arrived it was macs on and a quick run for the door!
Inside the hall, the tables were being set out - we were a tadge early  - so we just joined in.....


....choosing where to sit...

.... placing our bags on chairs and tables ......

..... start crafting or, in my case, chatting......

Then it was 'business as usual' .....

.... photographs to be taken .....

.... the men chatting......

....the ladies discussing and catching up......






.... 'Take me home' table...

... 'quiz' prizes....

 ... and then I forgot all about the camera so you have to find out more from the other deskers...... 

We left about 16.00hrs, driving through the rain back to Brum, when it stopped raining and we arrived home safe and happy.

Thank you to everyone who shared and laughed and chatted and helped and taught and explained and ..... a big THANK YOU MARGARET!