What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW Week 391

Morning Afternoon Everyone ...

... and a very happy WOYWW to you all too. As you can see I started writing this post this morning but I was whisked away to visit the Christmas shop in North Ayrshire. That was followed with lunch out so I've only just got home.  And, because of all that gadding about, this is going to be my quickest and briefest desk post ever - Julia, our Head Desk Keeper will be pleased. Want to know more about WOYWW? Just pop along to The Stamping Ground where you find everything there is to know.

Okay, so here's the desk this afternoon.

A muddle, again. There's the album described in Monday's post and two photos printed out that might be included in the album. A pack of long doll making needles, for a teddy bear I'm crocheting, and a pack of black safety eyes. The box you can see to the right has festive themed embossing folders.

That's almost it today but it wouldn't be right, as a Scot, if I didn't mention this:

To all Scots, home and abroad, and everyone who has Scots links - whatever they are and however tenuous - I wish you a very happy St Andrew's Day.

Take care and have a very good week.

A Year In My Life Album & In A Vase On Monday

Hello Everyone,

I hope you had a great weekend. It's been a quiet one here but that's okay - quiet gave me the time to make a few more Christmas cards, wrap a few presents, and check my 'to do' list to see what still needs to be done. And it's plenty!!!

One of the projects coming up is to complete an album recording a year in my life ... starting tomorrow, my 69th birthday. Why this particular birthday? Well, for no better reason than I'm saying goodbye to my sixties and I think it's a year that I should record.

This is the album I've chosen - I thought the cover was very appropriate. As you can see it will be a project life style but, as I'm not very good at sticking to anything too prescribed, the papers I'll be using will not be from any particular collection. Instead, I'll be mixing it up by choosing from the huge amount of fabulous paper and cardstock I've been acquiring for years. It won't bother me that the patterns are not current, after all those I have were chosen because I liked them. In fact, it's going to be a very good way of using up stuff I have had for ages.

The list you can see is a note of the week beginnings and endings to keep me right ... I could get very muddled without it. The plan is that each week will take up only one side of a Design A insert (Becky Higgins). I think that will be easier/more manageable than trying to keep it up on a daily basis. It should be fun,both  to make and to look back on when I get to my 79th birthday!!!

I don't plan to join in with Cathy's meme this week because, having a cold, I haven't been out foraging today. However, not to disappoint those of you who pop in to see my In A Vase On Monday I thought  I'd show you this little arrangement put together during the week just gone.

There's eucalyptus, ivy, skimmia berries and two rosebuds, one from 'Simply The Best' and the other 'Hot Chocolate'. Oh, and a cutting from the Christmas tree that grows by the driveway gate. I don't know how long it has been growing there but it must be a lot of years because it it huge - too big to bring indoors!

Time I got back to Christmas card making now.

Take care everyone.

 

Sunday Snippets & Rudolph Day Cards

Hello Everyone,

It's Sunday so time for my weekly visit to Pixie's Snippets Playground for Week 257 of Di's snippet challenge. It's also another month end and that means another visit to ScrappyMo's Rudolph Day Challenge - the last of the year! Mo has had  a run of bad luck recently, injuring both her hands, so here's wishing her a complete and speedy recovery because, as she says, she needs to be healed for the Christmas baking season.

Here's my cards for both these challenges. 

I have managed to include two stamped sentiments from my bits and bobs box, an old but pretty sheet of patterned paper, more than a few snippets, and the cutest little deer embellishments. 

The little felt reindeer embellishments, a great Make & Create find at The Works, were the inspiration for these cards. 

How they were made:

• Flicking through the basket of Christmas themed 8"x 8" & 6"x 6" paper packs I found the perfect patterned paper, featuring cute little deer in just the right colours, from Trimcraft's 'The Night Before Christmas' 8x8 pack. 
• The two 4¼" x 5¾"card bases were made from dark brown cardstock and then covered with the pattern paper trimmed to size, leaving a narrow margin on all four sides.
• A rummage through the bits and bobs box unearthed the sentiments made from two snippets of white card stamped with the greeting - IndigoBlu's 'I Wish You a Merry Christmas' stamped with Stazon ink, 'Jet Black' - just crying out to be used this year! 
• Another rummage, through the snippet mountain this time, produced scraps of gold, red and brown cardstock which were trimmed for matting and layering the topper which was then glued to the card base.
• The embellishments were made by die-cutting tiny leftover snippets of gold and red card using Spellbinders Sapphire Basic Set A 'Medallion' and 'Circle' dies. They were layered together with the little deer and then adhered to the bottom right corner of the card base. 
• The final touch was the three red gems top left of the topper. 

As well as submitting the cards to Pixie's Snippets Playground and ScrappyMo's Rudolph Day Challenge I'd like to submit them to the following challenges.

CHNC Challenge #309 -  use a sentiment

CHNC Challenge Extra -  for November 2016

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -  November 2016 

A Snowflakes Promise #33 - anything goes

The dreaded common cold has hit Casa Worthington ... the EM has been suffering since Thursday and now I'm starting with it. Not to worry, I've taken some cold & flu tablets - that should ward it off! I live in hope :)

Take care and have a great week.

Friday Smile

It's been quite a week for the family. My youngest great-granddaughter, Lacie, was rushed into hospital Sunday evening because she had difficulty in breathing. There followed a few tense hours while she was on oxygen, and not too happy with the mask - she's only a year old so it must have been very frightening for her. The diagnosis was bronchiolitis. I'm glad to say she recovered quickly and was soon allowed home again where she is now doing well.

I'm sure our collective sigh of relief could be heard all over the country. It was good to be able to stop worrying and smile again. And here's a few other things that have made me smile.

Each year when the Christmas lights go up these greetings, designed by the children and students of local schools and colleges, are also put up in the main shopping thoroughfare.  Here's just a few.

There are many more but I don't want to make this post overly photo heavy. I think that it is such a good idea to get the local children/students involved and their artwork is stunning.


No funny this week. Instead I have a stunning view of snow on the hills of the Isle of Arran. The photo was taken by my grandson, Josh, from Saltcoats where my daughter and her family live.

Surely waking up to a view like that would make anyone smile.

Those photos have got me smiling again - I hope you enjoy them too. Time to pop over to Annie's, A Stitch In Time, to link with her smiley post and see what others have been smiling at this week.

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend,

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW Week 390

Hello Everyone,

Well, Blogger has decided to mess with my head again! More changes! I couldn't find a thing this morning. I can't see what was wrong with it as it was but I'm sure the powers that be in Blogger HQ know what they are doing!!!

Enough of that, on to what I'm here to share with Head Desker, Julia at the Stamping Ground, you and the world - what's on my desk today.

Yes, that is a dazzling ray of sunshine you can see lighting up my desk - after the recent below zero spell it's surprisingly warm and bright today - temperature 4°C - pleasantly balmy even. And, yes, it's a right old mess again. I seem to clear up one mess just to create another. Today it's because I'm piecing scraps of fabric together. The backing fabric I have for the quilt I'm making isn't quite wide enough so an insert made from scraps is the answer. And I need to finish it today because I'm off to class in the morning.

However, it's not all been sewing this week. I have managed to make a few Christmas cards - some of which can be seen in earlier posts but here's one that hasn't.

It's possible that you might recognise the topper - it featured in an earlier WOYWW post. That was at the beginning of the month. I left it lying on the corner of my desk waiting for the time and inspiration to do something with it. Finding the time is the real problem ... one I think we all share at this time of year ... it's all go, isn't it. In fact, I'm still reeling from a day of Christmas shopping on Monday, and my feet hurt!!!

Happy WOYWW and have a great week,

In A Vase On Monday - A Winter Vase

Truly it is winter in the garden now. The hailstone and snow showers we had during the week have all but finished off what Cathy, our In A Vase On Monday hostess, would call the hangers on.  I had to tiptoe through the snow and frost to forage in the shrubbery for materials for this week's vase.

I filled my vase with greenery from ivy, holly and osmanthus, berries from cotoneaster and skimmia and one lone stem of the wine red penstemon 'Tubular Bells' discovered surviving in a sheltered spot. There's a red rosebud from the rose 'Simply the Best' - one of a few that are still there but, I think, not for much longer. The leaves on my little green beech are now a wonderful coppery colour. They will all be gone soon so a couple of twigs had to be included.

This holly is ilex aquifolium 'Golden King'

It really is cold out ... that thermometer is registering -2°C.


Many thanks, as usual, to Cathy for hosting In A Vase On Monday. Without her encouragement I would probably not be out foraging in my garden and sharing each week my finds with you.

Sunday Snippets - Cute Deer

Hello Everyone,

I hope you've had a wonderful Sunday, and weekend!

I've been out and about today - more of that later - but still managed to find time to make this card.

This card began life as a digital one - using Serif Craft Artist 2 and a Christmas Digikit, Betty & Bertie (Heart Designs) - but disaster struck when I tried to print it out on cardstock ... my inkjet printer hated the thickness of the card even though it has gone through okay before. I tried several times but the result was always the same - ink where I didn't want it. I was about to toss them all in the bin but then I thought perhaps if I trimmed them down I would have, at the very least, some half decent toppers. After trimming them, they were matted on to aqua coloured cardstock and then adhered on to a white card base - made from the cardstock the printer hates ... if it won't go through the printer I might as well make good use of it!

I made another mistake when I was designing the card front. I laid a snowflake overlay, digitally of course, over the image only to discover when I'd printed it out that one of the snowflakes had landed just over the little deer's eye ... it looked very strange. I've disguised this by gluing googly eyes where the eye should be.

It's not showing up on the photographs but I added Sprinkled Sugar Stickles to the 'furry' areas of the image. It does look sparkly in real life.

The holly leaves were cut with a Tattered Lace mini die from snippets of white cardstock. I picked out aqua and pink dew drops for the 'berries' ... unlikely colours but pretty embellishments.

Here's a photo of all three cards.

I'd like to submit the card to the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 256 - the holly leaves are the snippets this week

CHNC challenge 308 - cute or anything goes as long as it's Christmas - the little deer is cute

CHNC challenge extra for November 2016 - anything goes as long as it's Christmas

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #452 - Christmas/Holidays!

A Snowflakes Promise #33 - anything goes

Before I close, I did promise to tell more of what happened when we were out and about. We went into Ayr town centre because my husband wanted to buy a book. We have shelves and shelves of books in this house but none appealed to him.

The town centre was buzzing because it was being prepared for the Christmas lights switch on at 5pm, by which time it would be dark. Doing the honours was Ayrshire Paralympian Robyn Love. Also appearing on stage were the singers, Gareth Gates and Michelle Heaton. Traffic had been stopped from driving down the main shopping street so children's amusements had been set up too.

We popped in to Waterstones Book Shop for a coffee and a browse around, for that book, only to discover that it was a Magical day providing Wizarding World themed activities and to be greeted by none other than the Wizard Balthazar, Expert Swisher of Wands and Wrangler of Wild Nifflers. 

The lady with him is either Lady Slytherin or Nymphadora Tonks - I'm not sure which! It was all great fun.

At this time of year you just never know what entertainment you might find on a trip to the shops.

Take care and have a good week,

Cardmaking - Pond Skaters and Winter Lighthouse

Hello Everyone

I hope you are having a great Saturday. It began cold and bright this morning but now, 3pm as I'm writing, we have just had a shower of hailstones! The first of the year. Just the weather to stay indoors and craft.

Every year we receive many lovely cards that are just too nice to throw away so I save them. Result - I have a drawer full of old but beautiful cards! Occasionally, for fun, I go through the drawer and pull out a couple to recycle into new cards. Today I have two of them to share.

This scene of skaters on the frozen pond brought back happy memories from my childhood. There was a pond in the park near where I lived in Edinburgh that occasionally froze over. When it did it always brought the skaters out for a bit of fun.

To make it, I trimmed the front down and matted it on to a piece of aqua cardstock before adhering it to a Kraft card base. The only embellishment is the turquoise and white baker's twine.

The second one I liked because it is a beautiful depiction of a lighthouse on a wintry night,it's light beaming to warn sailors and keep them safe.

To make it, all I did was trim the topper down to fit a white card base leaving a margin showing all round. I then wrapped a piece of red ribbon around the topper and tied a knot. I had a rummage in a little stock of greetings I keep tucked away and found one that was just the right shade of red - how lucky was that!

I'm submitting my cards to the following challenges:

CHNC challenge 308 - cute or anything goes as long as it's Christmas - I think the first card is cute :)
CHNC challenge extra for November 2016 - anything goes as long as it's Christmas

Friday Smiles

Hello Everyone,

Another Friday and so another day to join in with Annie at A Stitch In Time with what has made me smile this week. This week I have a few happy photos of my little great-grandchildren to share.

Brodie and Rhian at the Riverside Museum, which is the home of  the Glasgow Museum of Transport, at the weekend. Brodie loves anything with wheels on it so the museum was just the best place for him to visit - I think he'd move in there in a heartbeat!

Callum with his dad, my grandson William, also had a trip to the Transport Museum this week. Here they are on board The Tall Ship that is moored outside in the Pointhouse Quay.

And finally, the funny for this week.

Says it all really!

Take care and have a wonderful weekend.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW Week 389

Good Morning,

I'm here again for our weekly visit to the Stamping Ground, and to link up with our Head Desker, Julia to see what's on your desks today. Here's mine.The desk this week is a tip!

The photo was taken late Tuesday evening but, be assured, it's looking no better this morning ... no little cleaning fairy has been in and worked their magic overnight ... I wish! The mess and muddle is the result of having made a few, only a very few, cards and not clearing up as I go. There's a pile of cardstock to the right, the trimmer, a pack of dies, an embossing folder, a pack of die-cut words, ribbon, washi tape, baker's twine and so much more lurking beneath. The finished cards are in a pile top left - scroll down through earlier posts to see close-ups. Truth is, I've been too busy making other stuff.

For example, I've finished the hat I was working on last week and knitted another. Not in the picture is a fifth hat made from the leftovers.

And here's the patchwork quilt top I've been working on, in the class I go to fortnightly, finished and ready to be put together with the wadding and lining before quilting. Frankly, it's the quilting bit I'm most concerned about ... I've never tackled anything this big before. I can't even decide how I'm going to do the quilting - straight lines, diagonal, in-the-ditch ... so much choice and no idea!!!

Of course, there's a reason for all this frantic creativity. It's the pre-Christmas panic ... I'll be fine, eventually, once Christmas is over :)

Take care everyone and have a very happy WOYWW

Cardmaking - Christmas Candle

Hello Everyone,

Hope you've as fine a day as we have had here where we have had clear skies, bright sunshine and no rain! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to visit my blog and leave a comment. I really enjoy reading every one of them.

I have another quick made Christmas card to share.

I was sorting through a box of photographs (looking for something else entirely) when I found this one that I took of a Christmas tree I spotted in a garden centre a few years ago. I immediately thought it would make a lovely card.

There was so little to the making of it that I won't go through all the steps, instead here's a list of supplies.

• cardstock - a sheet A5 (48x21cm) white textured cardstock (Papermania) folded in half to create the card base; scraps of green printed cardstock (Hunkydory) for front of card and holly leaves; dark red - to mat the photo on; gold mirri for greeting words
• embossing folder - Sizzix Hero Arts Dots for the red photo mat
• dies -  holly leaves and greeting words from Tattered Lace mini die set 
• embellishments - gold edged red ribbon and red flat backed pearls from stash

I used so many leftovers in this card, even the ribbon was an off-cut left from a previous project, that it was almost a card for nothing!

I'd like to submit this card to the following challenges:

CHNC challenge extra for November 2016

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper November 2016 challenge

Weekly Christmas Card Challenges - #48

Must fly - time for an hour on the sofa with a cuppa - Gareth Malone will be choosing another choir i so I'm off to watch the programme.

In A Vase On Monday - Winter Roses

It already feels like winter in the garden - we've had several days that began with below zero temperatures - but the roses are continuing to bloom (check out my post on Friday to see just how many). I have to admit they do look oddly naked without their foliage but they are beautiful and these pink ones, variety unknown, still fill the living room with their lovely fruity perfume.

I've also saved the last annual dahlia still surviving. I rescued it before my husband cleared out the summer bedding in the old wheelbarrow. It is planted up every spring to give the gravelled area that is directly in front of the house a bright spot of colour. I've added a few sprigs of eucalyptus gunnii and one of silverberry (elaegnus x ebbingei) plus several delicate fronds of fennel.

Many thanks, as usual, to Cathy for hosting In A Vase On Monday. Without her encouragement I would probably not be out foraging in my garden and sharing each week my finds with you. 

Sunday Snippet Card - Let It Snow

Afternoon All,

It's Sunday again! I hope you have had a wonderful weekend. I'm back with a snippet card made from the bits and bobs that were on my desk on Wednesday and a new (to me) embossing folder.

I like the colour combination - it's non-traditional but I think it makes a lovely Christmas card. It's based on one by Kelly Lloyd that I spotted in a recent edition of Papercraft Inspirations (Issue 159) using the supplies I had to hand.

How it was made:

• For the topper I dipped into a neglected pack of Black Magic Core'dinations. I chose a pink backed sheet for the base layer and several scraps, with a different shade of pink backing, for the small lower panel and the poinsettias, The full sheet was cut to fit the embossing folder, Crafts-Too's Let It Snow, and passed through my die-cutting machine (Cuttlebug). One of the scraps was placed at the bottom of the folder to be embossed - this ensured that it was embossed with snowflakes only. 
• Next, I rubbed the surface of embossed pieces with an emery board to reveal the pinks and then I gilded the surface with silver gilding wax (Pebeo) which covered up much of the pink but left a hint here and there. 
• Several sizes of the poinsettias were die-cut from snippets to make one large and one smaller flower. The petals were also rubbed with the emery board and silver waxed then layered up, glued together with silicone gel, and finished off with a silver card candy in each centre
• To put the topper together, I cut the smaller embossed piece to be a fraction smaller than the base piece, then matted both pieces on to silver cardstock before gluing them together in the way you can see in the photo. Next, a piece of pink ribbon - which really is much closer in colour to the pink card base than it looks in the photo - was wrapped around the topper and fixed to the back with sticky tape. I then tied a bow round the ribbon - I find doing it this way is the easier method.  
• The topper was then adhered to pink card base which was made from an A4 sheet cut to measure 6¾" x 5". 
• Finally, the poinsettia flowers were glued in place with silicone gel.

That's another Christmas card made! And I really enjoyed making it too - not least because I was able to use up some long forgotten supplies and get my fingers dirty with gilding wax.

I'd like to submit this card to the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 255 - of course! 

CHNC challenge extra for November 2016

No Poldark to watch this evening ... Sunday evenings just won't be the same! I'll have to console myself with the Strictly result show.

Enjoy your evening, whatever you are doing.

Friday Smiles

Hello Everyone,

Another Friday and so another day to join in with Annie at A Stitch In Time with what has made me smile this week. As usual, there's been a lot of good things happen but very few photos taken. However, something that has been making smile is the many winter roses in my garden. They have survived the below zero temperatures - amazing.

Here's just a few.

Just the thing to cheer me up at this time of the year.

Finally, here's a funny found on-line recently. As someone on a diet, the message appealed to me greatly.

There's nothing like a mug of hot chocolate when the temperature has plummeted!

Happy Friday,