What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW Week 360

Hello Everyone,

Before I get on to the business of the day, i.e. the desk shot for Julia's WOYWW, I'd just like to pass on our heartfelt thanks to all the kind messages Alan & I received since we lost our beloved Bonnie, aka The Boss. They were all much appreciated. As many of you said, she meant so much to us and now the house seems very empty without her.

Now the desk:

There's not been a lot of crafting going on but there has been a lot of tidying and reorganising of stash, all to fill the gaping hole left by the absence of my wee crafting companion. It's looking a lot better but I can't promise it will stay that way once I get my crafting mojo back. I did find some new storage boxes at the newly opened Poundworld, though I'm not quite sure what I'm going put in them yet but I've an awful lot of ice-cream boxes that could be emptied. What I have made progress on is that piece of embroidery ... there's nothing like a bit of slow stitching to keep the mind and hands busy.

And that's it for this week - short and sweet, I'm afraid. We're off to have lunch with our grandson, Josh, before he flies out to the Shetlands again on Friday. I'll be back later this afternoon to do some blog hopping.

In the meantime, have a great WOYWW.

Bonnie - The Boss - RIP

Our lovely girl gone forever.

22 April 2016

Garden - Plum Tree blossom and the Weeding of a Bed

Morning Folks,

It's another beautiful day here so I thought I'd share a little bit of sunshine.

Blossom on the plum tree the EM planted last year. If the flowers are anything to go by he's going to have quite a harvest in the autumn.

This is the bed Annie and I worked on yesterday. Well, in all fairness, Annie did most of the work ... my input is more directorial rather than sweat inducing toil these days :) Very frustrating but, hey ho, that's how it has to be for now. Anyway, what you are looking at is a newly weeded bed planted up with some 'new plants' ... that is, plants that have been in pots for many months just waiting to be moved to a more permanent site. We also divided a potentilla that had got too large for it's pot and found homes for the divisions in this bed. I'm really pleased with how the bed, which was carved out of the lawn at the end of last summer, is shaping up. It just needs a top dressing of compost and daily watering to help those plants settle in and all should be well.

I hope the weather is being kind to you too and you are getting out and enjoying the sunshine.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW Week 359

Morning Everyone,

I was up bright and early this morning, 5.30am actually. Housework all done - for now - so no reason not to reveal what's on my desk for the delectation of WOYWWers far and near.

Yet another page kit in process. It's the same project/mission I was on last week ... choosing a photo(s) and then picking out papers that I think will work with it to create a layout. The photo on the desk is a family, one of the few to include my late father and his siblings all together taken at a wedding sometime in the 1980s. I'm thinking that I might find something in the packets of stickers that would be appropriate. I found the CD, top left, in a charity shop. It's an unabridged Alex Gray novel which runs for 12 hours - and all for 99p.

Must rush now - our gardener, Annie, will be here any minute to do the weeding. She promised sunshine and, by jingo, she has been as good as her word. I'll be planting up the herbs that have been waiting weeks for some attention. I'll be back later to do a bit of blog hopping. Looking forward to seeing what you and Head Desker, Julia, are up to today too.

Happy WOYWW,

Saturday in the Garden

Hope you have had a lovely Saturday.

I've nothing crafty to show you today ... I had a long overdue appointment with my hairdresser. It was busy, even busier than a normal Saturday because there was a big racing meeting today - the Scottish Grand National - and the ladies were very keen to look their very best.

Being that I've not been crafting I thought I'd share a few pics from my garden instead. There's lots of lovely fresh spring growth to enjoy right now.

Narcissus Thalia - a semi dwarf variety with a very strong perfume. I have a special liking for white narcissus.

Dames Violet, Hesperis Matronalis, in the foreground and Honesty, flowering early, in the background. These were grown from from seed last year.

Appropriately enough this shrub is called Forsythia Weekend 'Courtalyn'. Planted last year so still young but doing well.

This is the young red foliage on an Astilbe - gorgeous colour.

A couple from the herb patch:

Chives

Lemon Balm

And finally there be dragons - well, to be precise, a dragonfly:

He has been given a new coat of paint, plus a couple of eyes - from craftroom bling - and is ready for the summer.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Friday Smiles

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I missed posting last week but it turned out to be a very busy long weekend.  Anyways, this week there's been lots to smile about so here's a few photos.

This sewing basket was a real find. We were in Portpatrick on Sunday, on our way to the Lifeboat shop when I spotted this on a secondhand stall that is often set up on the harbour. I know it doesn't look anything special and I almost missed it but I'm glad I didn't ... just look at what was inside.

Lots of reels of cotton. Obviously very old, a couple had labels for 38p (.54USD) on them so not much use for machine sewing today but still useful for tacking/basting. That's only the top tier.

Underneath was a treasure of haberdashery items and I counted four thimbles! Everything has been stashed away and I'm using the box for my embroidery equipment.  I paid just £10 (14USD) for it and it looks heaps better than the old Quality Street tin I've been using up to now :)

Next up are just a few of the many photos there are of Callum - my great grandson - who's developing quite a character.

I wish you could hear his laugh - it's infectious :)

Choosing lunch!

He really doesn't like this cup.

Happy little boy.

Loving all things polka dotty this photo of a vintage sewing machine really caught my eye.

I'd love to have this in my craft room.

And talking of my craft room, here's my funny for this week.

Describes how I used to feel when I had just the dining room table to work on.

That's it for this week. If you want to see what Annie and others are smiling about this week then hop on over to A Stitch In Time where you will find plenty to smile at.

Take care, have a great weekend and keep smiling.

Snippet Card - Big Red Bow Birthday

Afternoon Everyone,

I've been creating a lot of scrap layouts recently - well, a lot for me given how very slow I am at scrapping - and now the leftover snippets are starting to pile up again so that prompted me to make this card for Di's challenge over at Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 224. It's a wee while since I've nipped over to the playground so I'm keen to see what everyone has been up too.

The design is very loosely based on a card I spotted somewhere online recently ... sadly, I can't remember where but many thanks to the designer for the inspiration. The original had a paper bow, possibly made using a die but, as I don't have a bow die, I've used another of those fabulous bows from the bagful my great-niece gave me ... shown in my last Snippet post - the link is here.

Supplies & method used.

- a white 4"x 6" card base

- a scrap of red card (Paper Reflections) left from a 12"x 12" sheet trimmed to fit the full front of the card

- a large snippet of patterned paper - not certain what the pattern is called but I'm fairly sure it is from American Crafts Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic collection - trimmed about a ¼" smaller all round than the card front. This was then adhered to the red card layer

- a small yellow snippet cut from a strip of leftover patterned paper to create the band across the front that has had faux stitching added using a red fineline marker - this time I think it's an Echo Park paper, possibly from the Summer Bliss collection - again I'm not sure because once the manufacturer's strip has been trimmed off, and quite probably cut up and used elsewhere, there's no way of telling and my memory is totally unreliable!

- the birthday greeting was created using a die from a pack of Mini Dies from Tattered Lace. This greeting is a long one, too long to go across the card front, so I split it by cutting the two words apart  and adhering one above the other which made a better fit

- to embellish the card I've added the red bow and a twist of pink/white baker's twine. 

Truthfully I haven't made much impact on the snippet pile but every little bit used up counts and this is such an easy card design that it might just become my go-to one when I need a quick make.

I've now joined a craft group that meets on Thursday afternoons at the Community Centre in neighbouring Prestwick. I found details about the group at the quilt exhibition in Alloway my daughter and I went to a couple of weeks back ... scroll down to see the posts covering the lovely quilts and projects ... many made by the ladies that also come along to the craft group. And a lovely, and lively, bunch of crafters they are too :)

Right, time for lunch and then I'll be right back to do a bit of blog hopping.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW Week 358

Afternoon Everyone

I hope you are all having a great WOYWW day. Now that the housework is done I can join in too, so here's what's on my desk today.

Just a huge bin containing photos and a bunch of papers I've put together to make a layout for the two photos on the right. They were taken at my graduation and that was almost 20 years ago. I think it's about time I did something with them. The last few days I've been pulling photos out of that bin and putting them together with a few sheets of patterned paper ready, hopefully, to turn into layouts this weekend. Well, that's the plan but I am the world's slowest scrapper so we shall see.

And just for fellow WOWWYers that like to see how messy my desk is here's the long view. Note, my furry friend is absent today. She's out enjoying the fresh air even though it's an exceedingly dull day - no sunshine for her to bask in :(

Once again, many thanks to all comments left last week. I hope I got back to you all but if I didn't I apologise and I'll try to do better this week.

Patchwork & Quilting - Blue Patch Quilter's Exhibition - the smaller projects

Back with the final set of photographs from the Blue Patch Quilter's Open Day Exhibition. This time just a few showing some of the smaller (and possibly more doable) patchwork projects that I couldn't help admiring.

The teeny weeny quilt on the washing line caught my eye on this fabulous bag.

I came away from the exhibition in awe of the work of the lovely ladies who made all the fabulous quilted project, large and small. Being able to see, and inspect, the work close up was inspiring and I came away with my head full of ideas for things I'd like to make in the future.

Hope you enjoyed seeing what the Blue Patch Quilters have been making. To see the exhibits in more detail do pop over to the Blue Patch Quilter blog where Sheila has provided a lovely slideshow to view and a whole lot more information about the exhibition. The funds raised go to a very worthy cause, Glasgow Children's Hospital, more commonly known as Yorkhill.

Patchwork & Quilting - Blue Patch Quilter's Exhibition - the smaller quilt

Back again with the second post about the quilts seen at the Blue Patch Quilter's Open Day Exhibition. This time it's the smaller quilted projects, many of which would make perfect wall hangings. Apologies in advance for the quality of a couple of the shots ... I blame it on the photographer :)

All superb little works of art.

Edit note: I read recently in a blog - sorry, I don't remember which one so I'm unable to provide a link - that some don't consider you a real quilter until you have made a large quilt. Well, I think these tiny quilts prove differently - only a real quilter could have made any one of them!

The third and last follows soon.

Patchwork & Quilting - Blue Patch Quilter's Exhibition - the large quilts

Hello Everyone

I hope it's a better day than it is here today wherever you are. Not that I'm complaining because if it is dreary outside then I get to stay cosy here in my craft space. And while I'm here I thought I'd share some of the photos I took at the Blue Patch Quilter's Open Day Exhibition that took place nearby in Alloway, near Ayr, earlier this month.

There were so many beautiful quilts and projects to show you that I have decided to split them into several posts ... otherwise this post would go on forever!

So here are the shots taken of the larger quilts.

This quilt was made by a beginner quilter but you'd never guess. The work is quite lovely.

My daughter pointed out the quilting on this one. Closer inspection reveals that it has been done on a sewing machine using a twin needle.

Here's a close up of the twin needle stitching.

That's the large quilts. Coming up are the smaller ones.