WOYWW 191

Morning lovely crafters and dear WOYWW friends. I very nearly didn’t join the register this week, time seems to have run away somehow but the thought of not chatting with all of you and sharing your desks was making me unhappy so here I am. If you want to join in the fun of WOYWW then make sure you pop over to see the Desk Headmistress, Julia, HERE.

Before I share  my desk  this morning I just wanted to thank you all for your wonderful words of encouragement last week over my daughter’s art teacher. You reassured me that I was not being a typical  stressy parent. Thankfully DD is not the type of person to take it to heart and it won’t stop her doing her best. She made me a beautiful card for my birthday, but then I am biased!!

So, here’s my desk today.

Not very exciting I’m afraid. I have just been finishing off some cards I’ve been making with one of the free Craft Stamper stamps before getting down to some DT work. I’d already stamped and coloured the images and sorted out the card so wanted to get them done otherwise they’d sit in a box half finished for months.

I spent the weekend having a lovely time playing with a canvas. Again inspired by an article from the January issue of Craft Stamper by  Hels Sheridan and here it is waiting to find a bit of wall space in my craft room.

I have so many stencils that rarely see the light of day so it was great to find a new way of using them by pushing texture paste through. I love the result it gives and will definitely be experimenting further.

I mixed the flowers up with bought and handmade and didn’t have any metal cogs so die cut some and embossed them with brass WOW powder.  

Well, that’s me today so thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you at a desk near you later in the day.

Have a Crafty and Happy Wednesday.

A Little Bit Of Love

Afternoon folks. I hope you are all well and warm this Monday afternoon. We have replaced the snow with rain and wild wind here today, not sure which is worse. I just hope Spring isn't too far away. The good thing is the snow didn't cause too many difficulties over the weekend and didn't stop me getting to the cinema to see Les Miserable for my birthday yesterday which was a real treat. What a brilliant film.

I have been in full Valentine's mode in The Craft Garden last week and after a few false starts found something I liked and as usually happens decided to run with a theme and just tweak it here and there so these are the cards I've finished.

 

I've also done one in yellow and golds but will keep that back until after February 14th.

Short and sweet tonight as I'm in the middle of some DT work and must get on while the ideas are flowing, you just never know when Mr Mojo might just wander off for a short break!!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your evening.

WOYWW 190

Morning lovely crafters and dear WOYWW friends.

So another week has flown by in a swirl of snow and sledging, shovelling and gritting, hotwater bottles and extra layers. I bet our American and European friends must be laughing their soaks off at the way us British deal with cold weather & snow. Even we laughed at the extra news programme that was slotted into the TV schedule last Friday night  to make sure we knew how bad the snow was. Bearing in mind that at this stage, here in West Yorkshire, we didn't have any!!!!

I've stayed cocooned in my craft room and here is my desk as of yesterday afternoon. It hasn't changed since I took the photo!!

As you can see I am working in my usual state of mess surrounded by everything I need and lots I don't.The sun was out and it was lovely and cosy. Sun is such a rare sight that I had to prove it was out and it also gives me the chance to prove the rest of my room is still tidy!!

I am in the middle of a Valentine card making frenzy. I always struggle with the traditional reds as it is not my favourite colour but I've found that by keeping them quite simple I am actually enjoying the process this year. Here is one of the finished ones. I never make very many as I only manage to sell a few but I thought if I don't make them too Valentiny (is that a word??) they could be used for Anniversaries too.

So that's my desk this week. I can't wait to see what the rest of you have on yours.

Wednesday is always my favourite day of the week. If you want to join in then don't forget to pop over to see our Desk Headmistress, the lovely Julia, HERE. 

I couldn't go without at least one snowy photo so here's one I took last Saturday before our very big fall came yesterday. We didn't have much at home but out on the hills there was plenty.

Before I finally clear off I need to get something off my chest. My DD had some art homework last week where she had to trace a copy of an abstract picture and then colour it exactly as it was on the original. They are learning about shading. She has only been doing art since September and has so far drawn her shoes and some keys!! Anyway, she spent hours doing this particular homework and after initially struggling with it  I gave her some really good colouring pencils. The ones in her pencil case were quite hard. She was so proud with it and got it back from being marked yesterday. The teacher has given her a good mark but then shot her down in flames by asking her whether her Mum had done it because it was much better than her previous work and if I had then she was marking my work and not DD's. DD is now upset when she should have been really proud of what she's created. When confidence and creativity are being developed this seems a good way of destroying both in one fell swoop!! I am not a precious parent but I know how arty DD is when she puts her mind too it, it's a pity her teacher of a few months doesn't!!!!!!.
 
Sorry to bend your ear and thanks for stopping by and I'll be by after work to see what you are all up too.

Stay safe and have a crafty Wednesday.

Did someone mention snow???

Evening folks. Well, after watching the rest of the country get the snow, it was finally our turn today with around 18cm. DD got an unexpected day off school and DH, now being self employed, worked from home so we had the pleasure of an extended weekend.

The chilly weather was a good excuse to curl up in front of the TV and watch the first of Sheena's shows and I have to say I was totally blown away by the samples from the rest of the DT. It made me feel quite humble and want to start all over again with these gorgeous stamps and start playing with lots of other ideas.

However, before I do I thought I'd just share the rest of the samples I did make.

I created the background with one of the little vine stamps from the sentiments plate and then stamped & embossed the flowers onto acetate and put them over the cling background that was on my workdesk last Wednesday.

The next one was stamped with the branch and embossed and then painted with H20's. I used clear embossing powder over the top of the leaves to act as a resist and then used distress ink on the back ground. This was one of those were I had an idea and even after completing it I think there must be an easier way of doing it.

A quick and easy bit of basic scene building with Dusty Concord DI to show off the lovely sentiment.

 And last but not least a hanger using distress inks on glossy card which were then sprayed with Luminarte Radiant Rain and the swirl added.

I wanted to make some 3d flowers and this seemed to be a good way of showing them off.

 

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure you keep safe and warm and if you can stay in and enjoy some cosy crafting.

A Few More Sheena Sneaky Peeks

Afternoon folks. I have you are all keeping warm in this snowy weather. We seem to have come off lightly in our little part of Yorkshire with no more new snow since yesterday and what is lying is going fast. I know a lot of you are having more today. It's a great excuse to craft anyway!!

As promised here are a few more of the samples I made for Sheena's 4 day deal starting tomorrow.

It's ages since I've played with tags and as usually happens I spent ages creating the background and then covered it up with other stuff!!! The flower is stamped on grungeboard and painted with H20's.

I made some danglers from shrink plastic using the little heart on the sentiments plate. I have to apologise for the poor photos, they make the colours look really drab and they weren't...... honestly!!

I made the background for this with a texture sponge dipped into the H20's and then stamped one of the flowers using a different paint. The big flowers were also painted with H20's. I love the sheen on them.

Well, that's me for today so thanks for stopping by and don't forget to catch some of the shows if you can.

Stay safe and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

A Sneaky Peek at Sheena's 4 Day Deal

Afternoon lovely Crafters. I hope you are keeping warm, cosy and safe in this wintery weather. We haven't had as much as a lot of you with just about an inch, but it's enough to keep DD happy, especially as it came overnight on a Friday so she has all weekend to enjoy it.

I am about to retire to the comfort of my craft room but before I go I would like to share with you a peek of some samples I've been making for Sheena in readiness for her 4 day deal on Create and Craft starting next Monday, 21st January. She has four sets of gorgeous stamps, two of flowers and two of large sentiments which have been a real joy to play with.

Both these cards have been done with the first set of flowers and some of the sentiments.

I stamped the small solid flowers with various pale distress ins around the sentiment and added in some leaves from the branch that is also on the set. It reminded me of those old tapestry stamps you used to be able to buy.

For this card I stamped the flowers onto some pearl paper and cut them out. A romantic look seemed to suit that beautiful quotation.

I shall be back tomorrow with some more, this time more painty and messy but don't forget to have a look at the shows if you can to see what the rest of the DT have created, believe me they are stunning.

Monday 21st   8am, 1pm & 5pm

Tuesday 22nd 9am & 4pm

Wednesday 23rd 8am, 11am, 2pm & 6pm

Thursday 24th 8am, 2pm & 5pm

Thank you for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

WOYWW 189

Morning lovely crafters and dear WOYWW friends. Wednesday again. My blogging friend, Sylvia, who I have the pleasure of meeting for lunch regularly complained yesterday that I only blog on WOYWW nowadays and never show any artwork!!! I guess she's right and for that I apologise. The weeks just fly by and I am crafting, I promise, but at the minute am beavering away on DT stuff that I can't share so Wednesdays desk it is again this week. If you want to share yours, pop over to see our Desk Headmistress, Julia, HERE.

As you can see it's not as tidy as last week. I have been playing with my H20's making some backgrounds with cling film. The only new thing I have is my wire cake stand. I spent ages looking for one last year and had given up but just before Christmas spotted one in a local shop for the grand price of £6. Don't you just love a bargain!!

Short and sweet from me today but just before I go I never managed to get a good photo of the square mirrors I made for Christmas pressies but they were similar to the one I have on my craft wall.

This was the original idea inspired by Deby from Inkylicious. Mine has a sentiment stuck over the mirror, I don't want to look at myself all day, but for the pressies I left the middle as a mirror and each one was a different colour.

Right, I'm off to work now so I'll pop back later to see what you are all up to this week.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great Wednesday.

WOYWW 188

Morning lovely crafters and dear WOYWW friends. Is it really Wednesday again? I can't believe it's a week since I last posted. Hopefully, now we are back to normal I might manage to get more crafting done.

I am very proud to give you a tour of my work space this morning. I spent over two days sorting and re organising  last week and DH put up some new storage for my punches as the shelf they were on had started to bow.

I have even started some card making. I found a pile of old cards I'd made years ago that looked really amateurish but by taking them apart and re doing them they are now presentable, a bit of upcycling!!

Here's a view of the other end of the room. I added a lovely peg bag made for me by Lunch Lady Jan to the door storage and it now has my paper flowers in along with a spare heat gun.

And lastly, the new table that sits where the old chair was. At last I have room to have my 12x12 guillotine permanently out so that I can use it. Before it sat on a shelf and it was such a job to get out I tended to manage without it. The table is hollow and the lid lifts off so more storage!!!!

While you are nosing around my tidy room if you happen to spot my new Pebeo Prisme paints can you shout out. I've put them somewhere and now can't find them and I have a vase waiting to be painted. I must have wasted a good hour today hunting for them. Typical, when the room was untidy I knew where everything was!!

If you want to share your workspace with us, then pop over to see our lovely Desk Headmistress, Julia, HERE.    

Just before I go I thought I'd share the first 12 x 12 layout DD has completed. We had a visit to a local craft shop last weekend to see what was in the sale and she fell in love with this Bo Bunny paper. I was really surprised as it's quite a grown up choice for an 11 year old. Anyway, she bought it and when we got home she picked out the photos she wanted to use, set it out, picked the title and arranged the journalling and I just assisted with suggestions of what else she could use and helped cut the paper with a craft knife. We had been watching the very inspiring Mel Heaton scrapping on Create and Craft over the holidays & DD had obviously been taking it all in as she repeated several things Mel had said about picking out the right colour to mat the photos and making sure you journalled properly. I think Mel would have been chuffed.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your Wednesday and I'm on my way to have a look at what you are all up too.

EDIT   Just popped back to let you know I've found those pesky paints hiding at the back of that bookcase!!!!!

WOYWW 187 & New Year Wishes

A very Happy New Year to all my Crafty friends. I hope your Christmas festivities were very happy ones and Santa brought you all that you wished for and that 2013 has started well.

We had a lovely time with lots of delicious food and drink, generous presents and precious family time. I have done no crafting whatsoever and am now raring to go again. Trouble is the state of my craft room. I feel ashamed to show you but as it's WOYWW then here it is on all is disgraceful glory.

I hope that by the end of today some order will have been restored. We had a big sort out of DD's bedroom yesterday and she inherited the easy chair that had become a dumping ground in my craft room and took up valuable storage space. I had to move lots of things out so we could get it through the narrow doorway and just pushed everything back in last night and closed the door. There are also lovely Christmas presents waiting to find a new home. I think I will take the opportunity to have a big sort out and tidy up.

Before I go and make a start you might remember the oval mirror that was on it's way to becoming my MIL's Christmas present last time I joined in WOYWW and just to round things off here is the end result. She was delighted with it and we had a good laugh when I told her the story.

If you want to start off the New Year in some lovely company then there is no better way than joining in the biggest weekly desk snoop in the World so pop over to see our Desk Headmistress, Julia, HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you at a desk near you very soon.