WOYWW #469

WOYWW - All the deets on how to link up etc. and, more importantly, why you should, can be found at the top to the page.  Thank you Julia for hosting another week of fun and mayhem.

The party's over ..... but what fun we had!!!

Thank you for the ATCs received, will do a separate post on them..... all mine went into the post today, from the hopsital.
 yeah!  


Been visiting around again but I won't bore you with the details suffice to say.......a new moulded cast has been put on...

.... not very impressed as now his fingers have been immobilised ...

.....  but he's getting used to it .....

Back to the business in hand (?!?)

My desk .....
LOOK WHAT I HAVE!!!!


I have managed to find a punch for making ATCoins .... dancing and prancing round here I can tell you!!!
Couldn't wait to try it out .... used the packaging, then the cake box from Tuesday's lunch, then the empty treat box from Sunday ..... I am going to have such fun creating these coins and I have already joined a swap group ......
Let the fun begin .........

.....but until then I will say thank you to my visitors last week, sorry I didn't get round to all your desks (pesky hopsitals!) maybe this week life will settle back down .....

In the meantime - have fun but stay healthy!

Time Keepers Swap

Criteria
Create three original artist trading cards inspired by time. Start by pulling together materials you already have that fit the theme like items that show time or the passing of time: clocks, pocket watches, watches, sundials, hourglass, pendulums, the inner gears of clocks, clock towers, calendars, bells (arrival of time), etc. Also look for other types of materials that show time that you can use: rubber stamps, rub-ons, washis, stencils, etc.
Consider developing a unique character for each card as your “Time Keeper.” Your character could be quirky, whimsical, sweet, brilliant, powerful, eccentric, funny, human/animal/alien or robot (check your stash for unique characters that would lend themselves well to this to get your creativity going), etc. This character will be your fictional “Time Keeper” so feel free to embellish your character with personality clues on the character themselves or in the background. Try to keep most of your characters as positive portrayals of time. If you run out of ideas, you can include one ‘dark’ card portrayal of time (example: Death as a Timekeeper). 

I like the way this criteria is written out, suggestions like this are always constructive.

I made a Masterboard background using browns, golds Distress Inks through various stencils onto a sheet of printed paper.  I printed all my images from my files and went to work.

This print is from Dover and altered to fit the base card.  I just added some inks randomly.

 I fussy cut this image and attached it to the base card, when dry adding some ink to the clock face.

I love this image, again I fussy cut it out and attached it to the base card.  Once it was dry I added some pencil shading to various parts of the image and also some distress ink.

I used some distress ink through a brick stencil for this card and added some lines with a black felt pen.

All the cards have a sentiment from TH book added afterwards.




These are the cards I have received back:


Woo! Hoo! I spy steampunk!!
Thank you Bluevioletz.

Beautiful Collage

Thank you Miss.

Collage again and the perfect clockface!

Thank you Shoreart.

Thank you Bluevioletz for hosting another great swap.

So we had a storm .....

........ reminded me of the Monsoons in Africa!!  lol

It got very dark, there were rumblings about the clouds above ..... one or two large raindrops hit the ground .... the cat ran in......

Within a few minutes the rain was like a curtain of water, the thunder did what it wanted to do and the lightening kept giving us a quick flash .....

Outside our frontage the road quickly filled with water although both PJ, and the neighbour, across the road had been out first thing and cleared the drains of the debris brought down during the night's downpour.


The vehicles kept coming down the hill and hitting the water ..... soon slowed them down .... just the occasional nutter not reading the road ..... at least the majority had their lights switched on!


The flooding increased and pavements both sides of the road disappeared, I think there was more water coming INTO our gardens than running out.

It was a good job that our next door neighbour was out, his driveway was taking a hit....... possibly his back driveway as well!!

This is was the road at the back of the house!


And then the rain stopped, peace was restored and.....


........ within four minutes it was as though it had never happened!!!



I went out to see the damage in our back garden ..... flooded as expected ....

.... and the garage ....

..... at least the water was running under the garage door and out into the roadway.

Oh! to be in England now that Spring is here! 
I misquote Robert Browning deliberately, he missed the fun .......

4th May Birthday

I wanted to make something special for this lady.

I have had this kit in my stash for some time so now was the right time!

I cut out all the pieces and then tried to workout how to put them together to achieve what I had in mind.

Some time later I had managed to get to the adhering stage and managed to get the skeleton card to work. 

I cut all the design cards to size and edged with Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Cloud and put to one side to dry.

I attached all the finished cards into place and it worked perfectly.  

I needed a larger size envelope to contain all the folded card but it was so worth it.


Happy Birthday Doreen!

Age of Aquarius Swap No 2

This is the second part of the Zodiac Signs swap.
Cancer


After I had stamped and chalked the silhouette, I cut the card down to a slightly smaller size and then added another stamp in each corner.
I attached this to a chalked base card, recycled from a cereal box.

My received card is a glittered Zentangled beauty.

Thank you PouringDiva.

Leo



After stamping the Leo sign in each corner I then created a circle mask to cover the card.  Inside this circle I laid down the leo mask and used Distress Ink round it.  Once it was dry, I painted on the details using the same ink pad as before.
I then added this to a card base coloured with the same ink so that I left a small border round the image. 

I received this magnificent card by return.

Thank you BlueSkyHare.

Virgo


I found this image on the web and decided that it would be perfect for my Virgo card.  I stamped the Virgo stamps with Versafine ink around the edge and then made a mask for the main image.  Once that was in place, I used Distress Inks for the silhouette and outlined with a black ink pen.

I received this gorgeous card by return.  So well thought out.

Thank you wolf-moon.

Artist Trading Coins

I so love these!  
There have been lots appearing in my Facebook Group so I have now joined in.
The coins are 6.25cms (2.5ins) diameter.

I have pounced the purple background using Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Cloud, stamped the mushrooms in white  and then embossed with clear embossing powder.
The red flowers are freebie stamps from this month's Craft Stamper on a gelli print background.
Another gelli print background, the first I ever made with my Gelli, and freebie stamps from Making Cards were used on the third coin.
For the third card I used gesso over a painted background and then stamped with several small stamps.  I used highlighters to colour the images.

These are NOT for trading, they are 'feel good' factors!

If you are interested in having a go and would like to try trading, then my fellow blogger has started a Facebook Group - Artist Trading Coins UK swap  

WOYWW #468

What'sOnYourWorkdeskWednesday - if you want to find out more then checkout the WOYWW tab at the top of the page - and our thanks go to Julia for hosting this weekly meet up.

Anniversary day has arrived!!!

Let the party begin ...... I have crisps and sandwiches and cream cheeses and some fruit juice ......  Any one bringing the dessert?

My desk is sort of tidy today ..... well, yesterday actually!

So I ask you ..... what does Father Christmas, cogs & gears, the colours pink, blue & green have in common?
They add up to an Anniversary ATC!

I have made 8 cards, four of which have already be allocated to deskers, but if four further folks would like one then please ask in the comments and I will be in touch.

Thank you all those kind hearted folks who left messages for PJ over the last two weeks, they have been so appreciated.  Cheers a soul up to know that folks care.
  
I am sorry I haven't managed to visit many desks, been a bit full on round here!!  I hope to visit as many as I can this week.......

Good news corner.....


PJ has had a 'procedure' to pin his hand and is awaiting further appointments for a check up and for physio.

There is a plasterer on the premises as I type preparing my hall, stairs and landing for plastering ready for decorating.

We have a decorator/painter standing by.......

...... and the sun is shining!!!

Plasterer on site......

.......and you will be pleased to know that it is the wall kind and not the medical kind!!

The neighbour who gave us a lift into the QE hospital last week, told us about his son having his work tools and van taken.  Everything for his business.

He has managed to get some more tools but is limited with work because he has no van!

We asked if he would be able to plaster our hall, stairs and landing so he came round, had a look and said yes!

Today he has prepared the walls for the work - what a job he has had (my words not his).  
He just cracked on and voila!  I now have bare walls ready for him to fill in the holes and skim it up tidy.

Onward and upward as they say, I am confident that the majority of the house will be finished this year .... well sort of ..... perhaps ..... hopefully........

ABC & 123 Swap

Found some papers, various backgrouns created while trying oyt the Distress Oxide inks.  Looked for a swap and voila!  Found this one on ATCs For All Forum - sounds interesting...

You will be making three ATCs. The first ATC needs to have at least three alphabetical letters on it. You can choose any letters you want. They have to be noticeable. The second ATC needs to have at least three numbers on it. You can choose any numbers you want. They have to be noticeable. The third ATC will have three types of punctuation on it. You can choose any three you want. They have to be noticeable. If you want to put more than three items on your ATC that is absolutely acceptable but there has to be at least three noticeable items on each ATC. Get it? Got it? Good!!

I cut the paper to ATC size, added a little bit more ink to the design, some gilding polish to the first one and then attached them to their base cards.  

I then edged them with a bit more ink.





The second paper had various acrylic colours on it, I think there maybe a slight hint of a stencil being used!!
I inked up some stamps given to me by my friend Jill and stamped the letters across the paper.
Once again I attached it to the base card and then edged it with DO.



My third card is definitely a DO ink background using stencils.  I removed some punctuation marks from a book I have on the shelf.  It's called Pastel Monograms from Hot off the Press and I have had it years ..... and years......
Anyway the Exclamation Mark and Speech Marks were fine but I couldn't quite work out how to do the Ampersand.  After some thought, and trial and error on another piece of paper, I used the die cut as a mask and pounced some blue Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Cloud over it.
I then outlined this with a white Posca Pen to make it pop a bit more.
Once I had attached this to the base card, I edged it with DO inks.
Just the recreation I needed.

Apparently I didn't read the criteria correctly and my card are not acceptable.  If they are returned I shall use them for another swap or maybe alter them slightly (if I have time then I will resubmit them)

Solihull Hospital Visit

Another day, another hospital!!

We reported to the GP on the Monday as requested by the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston.
He promptly sent us to Solihull Hospital for further X-rays and diagnosis.
We had a 'lovely' day there, moving from department to department with a final diagnosis coming at 16.15 hours.


A broken hand and severe bruising to his ribs. 

His hand was given a temporary plaster and an appointment made to visit another clinic.......

All the staff were very good but it was good to get back home.  

DSiLA collected us and stopped at the chippy so we could have something to eat ...... 

To be continued!!!!!!

Mugenkyo 2018

Myuki fronting the Programme

We have been looking forward to this performance for many weeks.  

As many of my followers know, we are fans of this Group and really don't like missing their concerts when they are on tour - sort of Groupies I suppose!!

 The stage was set up when we entered the theatre and then, as the seats filled, we had the 'inhouse' entertainment of a gentleman taking a selfie with the drums in the background....... not once or twice but several times ..... then he had to show it to his companion ..... then he had to check it himself ...... then he sat down!
So we waited for the Drummers to come onto stage and they didn't disappoint.

The show had a new programme but still included some of the wonderful numbers that we know and love.

Waka Baka Daiko

There were additional performances this year, notably Waka Baka Daiko made their first appearance!

They are to be applauded for the facial expressions and the drumming, the timings of this act were just marvellous.  Wonderful folks to take the mickey out of themselves so much.

Well done all of you....... you put in so much to bring us such a brilliant performance.

Thank you.

Little Soldier is Three!!!

Happy Birthday Little Soldier!




Doesn't seem five minutes since I was announcing his birth!!

Then his first birthday happened .... it did ..... really!

.......and we had fun and laughter and cake and play and ......

He was two!!!

..... and here we are now ...... THREE years old .....

Love you so much.

I didn't think anyone or anything could make us feel as proud and full of love as you do.

Hope you have a wonderful day you gorgeous, kissingly, huggably, wonderful little boy.

The Journey Home

The couple in the van opposite were very good to us, popping over to see as we were alright and posting a few cards for us at the various places they visited.
We rested, me crocheting, walking about the site to see where things were and looking at the view.
The shop was very well stocked, thank goodness, so we could do most of our 'coming home' shopping.  There was a very good kiddies playground next to the shop, with which we were very impressed.

PJ decided that he would be OK to drive home, especially as we had tickets for a concert in Kettering!!
His hand was very swollen and there was lots of bruising coming out along his arm, fingers and ribcage, but he said he wasn't hurting quite as much as before so managed to change gear when needed etc.  
We came home along the 'straight' roads!

We arrived in Kettering, found the theatre and parked up, spending the next few hours resting in the car, seats laid back, and watching all the children arriving for parties at the Kids Play next to the Theatre.


This is a really modern building, the Foyer and seating beautiful.

After the performance we made our way home and finally made our beds - wonderful!