WOYWW #495

If you would like to share your mess desk with like minded friends, please link up with us at Chez Julia (Stamping Ground).  There's lots of us over there, sharing all our little (or not so little) hobbies.  Come on over and join in...............you've caught me being busy ...... for a change .....

Well, we welcome in yet another cold, wet dank day .........it's a good job we have Christmas cards to make to cheer ourselves up!
I have finally found the time to make the cards, but there is not much of it, so I have taken the simple 'recycling' road......

My hopes for next year's cards - as per usual,start early and create 'arty' cards - are not very high ....... but I might just get round to using up all that red and green!!
PJ has been busy helping out with the 'Polar Express' so hasn't had much time for his own train this week.  It sounds so exciting but, as with all new occasions, there have been several hiccups along the way.  There was so much demand that the website crashed the first day but they have now managed to get hold of more elf 'helpers' so things are going along nicely.  Quite exciting actually!
Short and sweet this week, I'm off to the Library to collect a copy of the Water Babies.  I'm hoping that the ordered copy has arrived and I can settle down to read a book which I haven't read since Junior School!
Take care and stay warm.

WOYWW #494

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 weather has gone from good but cold to wet, windy and cold!!!!  Jumpers out and heating definitely on!!

We have had another busy week here but progress has been made!


The shelves have been emptied.....

....The desk is covered....

.....more pieces have been added to the model on the windowsill!

...... sorry, PJ, doesn't look any different to me ..... maybe a few more cocktail sticks!!   lol




I shall create my cards this week and, hopefully, I will write and address them all ready to post next week - the words flying and pigs come to mind.......

Whilst I was creating my 12 Days of Christmas ATCs (post to follow), I realised that my scissor drawer was not closing properly  ..... the problem?  the whole area was in the act of collapsing ........

Doesn't show too clearly here but the left side piece has separated from the desk itself ....... I suppose even desks have a shelf life....
I am now looking for a small cabinet, I shall start with a plastic one I think .....

heigh ho!  that, with the increased motor insurance, will take care of our Winter Heating Allowance for this year! 

More jumpers needed!!!

Have a good week and stay warm, lots of cosy food inside bodies - unless you're in warmer climes .... in which case ..... stay cool and eat ice cream!!

I still haven't completed the ATCs that were on my desk last week but I have completed these ....

Christmas is a cumin, Christmas is a cumin, Christmas is a cumin .......

Catching Up III

Lots of swaps for this month of July ...........again.
Noobies

I decided to copy a couple of magazine cards. I'm not one for doing this as I'm don't follow the rules very well (as most of my family and friends will agree!)
I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Love all the glitter on this card.

Thank you LaVerne.

Style - Birds/Animals


I have been waiting for an excuse to use these stamps but why I don't know.  They were a delight to use, in fact I made a card with each stamp!!!

The sweetest portrait of a fox.

Thank you Olive.

ATC

These are some magazine free stamps, and a bit of masking.

This bird image was printed out on brown paper!!

Thank you Olive.

Colour - Pink


Another direct copy card from a magazine, very pleased with the result again.

A very delicate pink card.

Thank you Olive.

Recycled

I did ask for permission before I used these programme pages!   


I notice that a word has come unstuck from the top right corner - DREAM - to complete the sentiment.

LaVerne used an old card to make this one and it is very cheerful.

Thank you LaVerne.

Technique - Decoupage

I never tire of these Hunky Dory Decoupage pages........

A cheeky little owl with googly eyes!

Thank you Olive.

Catching up II

I have now sorted out all my files waiting to be published so, hopefully, my posts will be a bit more frequent.
PJ has had to have a new printer and so he is 'having fun'....... not!!  There is much banging and blue air coming from the Office as he 'introduces' the printer to his laptop and our internet ...... not the best internet we've had but I am NOT changing again ......
Heigh Ho!

Catch up notes:
Way back at the beginning of this Coin (ATCC - Artist Trading Card Coins) phenomenon, I joined in with one of the swaps.
It turned out that I had not read the rules correctly - no change there then! - and sent off three coins only to find that I needed to send out three coins to three partners.  
No problem, I just created more coins, experimenting with my paints and stamps as I went.  I have blogged about the previous swaps........here.... and here.

These coins were completed at the same time as my others.  This time I added a teddy bear stamp with the floral along the lower edge.  
A die cut butterfly from my stash settled on the second coin.

For my final swap that month, I received these coins by return from Debbie - Thank you so much.

Catching up

I have so many draft posts waiting to be published that I decided to have a look through them all and refile them ready to publish.  It appears to be in July 2018 that my Blog began 'slipping'...... life began to take over .......soooooo

Here's the first 'delayed' post.

Back in July, after much discussion among the members, our honoured Leader, Jan, of UKATC Group agreed to host some ATCoin swaps - we so appreciate this as there were quite a few members who were interested in trying them..........

This now means that once a month now we have five swaps.
Yeah! That's right .... five.

Members are allocated a partner for each month's ATC swap and this is compulsory - we agreed to this when we joined the Group.  Jan hosts two ATC swaps and two ATCoin swaps which we can choose to join or ignore.

I love creating so I usually join in all five swaps .......

I posted about both the ATC swaps - The Colour swap is here and the Theme swap is here.

Our Partner swaps are always a surprise as the design is left up to each artist.

This month I swapped with ChrisF who sent me some delicate diecut cards.

Thank you ChrisF.

I sent some stamped teddies which I received in a 'stamped images' swap earlier in the year.

The Coins were new and exciting ......  we had decided that there would be two categories - The Sea and Pot Luck.

 I used the free stamps that came with my magazine along with some oxide inked backgrounds.

I received this little beauty from Lin - Thank you Lin.

This pretty coin came from Thelma - Thank you Thelma.

Ruth blew me away completely and I am still in awe of such an artwork ...... look at it in close up  - Thank you Ruth.

Pot Luck gave us free choice so once again I used oxides and some more magazine free stamps.

I used the same background stamp but moved it along on each coin.

The smaller Tree and birds were stamped on the same principal and TH stickers used for the sentiment.

This purple beauty came from JudithAnn - Thank you.

I received this very pretty one from JanW - Thank you.

This coin arrived in its own very special envelope - Thank you Beth.

Now I am giving up with this post as Blogger is playing up and wont let me place my pictures where I want them.......  throws toys out of pram.......

WOYWW #493

This is What'sOnYourWorkdeskWednesday - checkout the tab at the top of the page for further info - and our thanks go to Julia for hosting again.

I haven't done much crafting this week, bits here and there.  I spent Friday visiting Weston Super Mare Carnival (see previous post) and the next few days in bed recovering!!

In the weak morning sunshine my desk looks like this .....

My latest issue of Creative Stamping - comes with dies as well as stamps this month!!! - and some ideas for a new ATCs For All Theme.........

I managed to get to the Doctor's on Monday..... (he was full of cold) .... and, needless to say, I am coughing and sneezing! 
It's good to visit the Dr and receive worse germs than when you went.....FOMCL   (Falling Off My Chair Laughing!)
I shall spend the day clearing my washing loads and filing my post - lots of scrumptious received cards to relook at and enjoy.

PJ has been working on his train, had to abandon it on Monday due to Vintage Trains work.

He works from the windowsill as there is lots more light there for all the intricate pieces of wood.  He is now thinking of Christmas and will be watching UGears on Hochanda next week to see how much the accessories, track and station, will cost.


Last weeks ATCs were completed and posted off along with the rest of the November swaps.

Here are the completed Realms of King Arthur cards - anyone guess it?

Bridgewater Carnival at Weston Super Mare......

Not bad for a title eh!???

When our friends moved to WSM many years ago, they found out about this Carnival and we have been visiting on and off for many years since.


This time we used a new Coach Company and had to travel some way to their nearest pick up point but, heigh ho!, we were going to have a good day.  We arrived in plenty of time so managed to wander round a few shops.  Once on board the driver continued travelling round collecting folks till all the seats were filled and then we moved onto the motorway.
We stopped at the Services for a comfort break and so the drivers could change over.  Our new driver, Steve, was very good and drove us all the way to the seaside.  
We couldn't get too near the carnival route as a hefty charge of £150 for each coach was being made, and our company preferred to keep prices low without losing any of the comfort ..... we all agreed that this was a good idea.

We climbed out and walked along the front to the town centre.  
By the time we had popped into the Rock Shop and bought our rock, the rain had begun to drizzle down.  
Not deterred, we went for a coffee and hot chocolate (have you seen the Christmas Chocolate Drink at Costa!) and then started off to move up towards the Carnival route.  

It was raining quite heavily, we managed to find some suitable wool for my blankets on the way, and ended up at the The Dragon Inn for Dinner.

It was packed out, I think everyone had the same idea as us!  We managed to find a table and ordered the usual seaside Fish & Chips, delish!

While we ate our dinner and drank our drinks, the folks across the table came and went.  The first couple came from Hereford and it was their initial visit, they weren't going to let the rain spoil their trip!

The second couple had come down from South Wales and had been before.  The atmosphere in the pub was now building and you could almost feel the carnival there ........ then we decided it was time to venture out .....

The rain was coming down in sheets.

There was still a party atmosphere but a bit muter than normal.  The pavement was like a lake so we decided we would watch everything from the comfort of the coach.
By the time we had reached the coach I was exhausted and soaking wet.  
Carrying a rucksack of rain sodden goods on my back did not help!!  lol

We were the first back for which we were grateful, Steve turned off the lights so I took off my skirt and hung it over the back of a seat to dry off a bit.  

Don't worry, I had a petticoat on underneath so it looked like I had changed my skirt!  

PJ decided he wasn't that wet .....

So we watched the floats pass along the route, the rain pouring down all the time.  
Here's a link - hope it works - 
https://twitter.com/i/status/1061035245053579264

Slowly the coach filled back up as others decided to watch from the coach ......

We started for home just after 23.00hrs, stopping at the Services where I tried to dry off a bit more of my skirt, and arrived home approx 02.00hrs  - who cares what time it was..... another good night had by all!!!

Thinking things through on an Anniversary Day

Ten years ago today I started a Blog.  I called it 'My Recollections'.  I set up the Blog in order to recall my childhood and other stories, add photos of family members etc.
My thinking behind this was so that if ever my Grandchildren wanted to find out about their past, then they could find my version here.  I wrote my stories, I added my photos.

On the first of November four years later I started another Blog.  Somewhere to record the cards that I had started to make ......'Cardius Bloggus'

Then in March 2013 I added a Blog for my ATCs, this one.

At the beginning of this year I closed my other Blogs deciding that I would amalgamate all three Blogs.

Now, on the tenth anniversary of 'My Recollections', I am trying to think through how to change the layout of this Blog so that I can combine the aims of my previous Blogs.  I am telling you all this because over the next few posts there will be a change in the layout and content of my posts ..... I have no idea at this moment in time how the finished layout will look ......

I am not an active person at the moment, but, I do have trips out and, some days, I do have lots of photos to show for the day ...... these are not always recorded on here ...... 

I am hoping I can now record a day's events, however small, and then add in some cards or ATCs.  For a few posts the time sequences of each part of the post will be different.......

Soooooo....

Shall I divide each post into three sections ....... this could mean a long title, even longer than today's title!!!  lol


Maybe I'll post the happenings of the present, some photos of swaps .......title length could be a problem again .......


BUT  the main reason for this post is to let you all know to expect some changes round here.....sort of Spring Cleaning in November! ....

Happy Anniversary!

August Theme

The Theme this month is Scenery.

I have these two digital images in my files, I just love them.  I don't know who created them as they have been in my files for years and, back in the day, I didn't save any names etc..



I used my Inktense pencils to colour these images and then a waterbrush to give it a final wash.  

Once they had dried I added some stickles  to the tops of the mountains.

I received the the following cards by return:

Hand drawn and painted.
Thank you Lisa.

Decorated  view.

Thank you Madye

Constable's Haywain.

Thank you JanW