Gingham Card & Patchwork Block

Hello Everyone

It's been a wee while since my last post - I've been busy enjoying the last days of summer and a visit from my middle grandson ... the one that's a chef working away in Shetland - which meant that, unfortunately, I wasn't able to join in with yesterday's WOYWW.

However, I do have a couple of crafty makes to share today.

First up is this card.

It was made for the UKPC group challenge for August. The challenge BJ set us for this month was to use something gingham so I dug out an old paper pad and a some gingham ribbon as the basis for this card.

Supplies used:

• white square scalloped-edged card base - Make & Create from my local The Works shop
• a sheet of blue gingham patterned paper from the For Men pad (2010) from Wild Rose Studio, trimmed to fit the from of the base card leaving a small margin
• snippet of blue cardstock to make the base of the topper. 
• scallop edge square die from a set from The Works online store
• flower Stickeroo topper (Penny Black - sorry, no name) backed on to a snippet of white cardstock and trimmed to fit the inside of the scallop edge die-cut
• snippet of navy blue cardstock 
• butterfly die, also from The Works online store. The tiny hearts are the waste from the die cut
• navy blue ribbon to decorate.

Lots of snippets used here so I'm submitting this card to Pixie's Snippets Playground for this fortnight.

Also the current Butterfly Challenge where the challenge is for Y is for You Choose and/or Wedgewood Blue


And just because I've succeeded in making one here's my pinwheel block - the first I've ever made.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that the craft group I go to on Thursdays - Cake and Crafting with Shuttermonkey - has been challenged to make a quilt to be exhibited at a show, in the SECC Glasgow, in March next year. The colours we've chosen are black and white with a touch of red. I made this block with the help of a lady called Jean Truelove who demonstrated just how easy it is to make on this You Tube video.

That's it for me today. Apologies for being such an irregular blogger at the moment. I blame the summer - it's so distracting! Hopefully, as winter approaches I will find more time for the craft room and crafting. Today, however, I'm off out to the craft club to enjoy a bit of tea, cake, chat, oh, and crafting, with the ladies who craft.

You're comments are all welcome - I enjoy reading them immensely - and I will do my best to respond when I get back from the club.

I wish you all a lovely fun and crafty day.

WOYWW 429

Hello WOYWWers, Followers and All

It's Wednesday again ... they do come round quickly ... so the day in the week that I join in with Julia, Head Desker, and What's On Your Desk Wednesday over at the Stamping Ground.

WARNING! A photo heavy post follows.

After our weekend away, and a day working in the garden yesterday, there's not a lot of crafting going on here but I do have a few photos of crafty goodies, some found while we were in the Lake District.

A visit to the Derwent Pencil Museum in Keswick was fascinating. I don't know why I'd never thought of it before but the company Derwent has it's origins in the little town near the Derwentwater, In fact the original factory, now closed, is next door to the museum. The factory has now relocated to Workington, only a few miles away. There's a shop attached to the museum where I was spoilt for choice. As well as picking up lots of goodies for the youngsters in the family I got this pack of waterbrushes - these have been on my wish list for the longest time - and the pack of 12 watercolour pencils for myself. We also took the opportunity to visit the home of Beatrix Potter, Hill Top ... it's been on my bucket list for years ... and I just had to bring back that sweet little jug decorated with Peter Rabbit. It makes the perfect container for what is probably the last of the sweet peas. The postcards were hard to resist too, though I have no idea what I will do with them.

Here's a couple of items that weren't brought back from the Lake district. I found the ATC holder going for a song at our local craft/stationery shop. Sadly, it is closing down due to a slump in sales - too many of us have either cut back on purchases or are buying online these days - and a hike in council rates. I feel more than a little responsible because I'm as guilty as any for buying online. The two fat quarter bundles were ordered from an online source. The members of the craft club I attend has been challenged to make a quilt to be displayed at the Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts show at the SECC Glasgow in October. We've chosen black and white with a hint of red for this quilt and I plan to make a block or two later this evening.

Incidentally, and so exciting, the first quilt we made as a group was voted Bronze Place in the Lewis & Irene, Down by the River Competition. It was displayed at the Festival of Quilts by the organisers of the competition, Popular Patchwork Magazine and will be included in a feature on all the winning quilts in a forthcoming issue of the magazine. 

And now a few more photos taken at the weekend.

Here's DH leaning on one of the largest colour pencils in the world. Measuring almost 8 metres, it is massive. Also seen in the museum is the story of the secret WW2 pencils with hidden maps  - very James Bond!

Beatrix Potter's Hill Top, near Hawkshead, was bought with the royalties from her first few books. She wrote many of her famous children’s stories in this little 17th century stone house which is full of her favourite things.

Characters such as Tom Kitten, Samuel Whiskers and Jemima Puddleduck were all created here, and the books contain many pictures based on the house and garden.

When she died in 1943, she left Hill Top to the National Trust with the proviso that it be kept exactly as she left it, complete with her furniture and china. 

Finally, look what landed on my craft room window one day this week. 

It's a Forest Bug - otherwise known as Pentatoma rufipes. The photo was found online because all I could see on the window was 6 orange legs, antennae and it's underside so had to do a Google search to see what it looked like. Ugly looking creature but apparently fairly harmless - not that I put it to the test.

So that's what's been on my desk, and on my window, this week. I'm off now to see what's been on yours ... whatever it is it's bound to be more craft related, and inspirational too. 

Happy WOYWW and have a great week ahead.

Friday Smiles

Morning Everyone

It's smiley day over at Annie's again - that's at A Stitch In Time - and as it has been back to school week here in Scotland I have a couple of very happy photos to share today.

First up is great-niece Arihanna looking very smart and happy to be starting back to school in her new uniform. You can tell how much she loves school from that huge smile.

And here's great grandson Brodie with an even bigger smile. It was his first day at school and he couldn't wait to get settled at his desk.

Finally, a few photos of our youngest great-grandson Callum down at the seaside, at Seamill beach, with his gran and papa. He loved paddling in his little red wellies.

That's it for this week. So many happy pictures. We're off on another little trip - this time to the Lake District - for the weekend so there could be a few snaps to share in next Friday's smiley post.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend with lots to be happy about.

A Snippet Card

Morning Everyone,

Here's a close up of the card that was lying on top of my keyboard in yesterday's WOYWW post.

The topper was made entirely of bits and bobs from stash, including a recycled hedgehog image fussy cut from a card received one birthday. I thought it far too cute to toss.The white die-cut oval was a gift from a friend - also received a couple of years ago. The purple spot patterned paper is from the Heather Paper Pack by Docrafts Papermania from 2010. I can't believe how old some of my stash is which is why I'm trying to use it all up before I even think of buying new! The ribbon and lace came out of a box of snippets and the textured green card the topper is matted on to is also a snippet, albeit a largish one, again from Docrafts.

I've deliberately not added a greeting. That can be added later when I've decided on the occasion and the recipient.

It's been a while but, having used those snippets, I'm submitting this card to Pixie's Snippets Playground.

I'm sitting here surrounded by boxes containing card scraps, old paper pads - mostly 6"x 6" - and ribbon and lace snippets. There's also a shoe box filled with all sorts of images and inked pieces (UFOs) that I'm sure would make lovely card toppers. The plan is to bottom these boxes, or at least make quite a dent on the contents, before they are tidied away again.

First, I think I need a cuppa!

Hope you all have a lovely crafty day .

WOYWW 428

Morning Everyone,

After the lovely weather we were enjoying last week today it's raining. Never mind! There is always What's On Your Workdesk to console me. That's the fun meme brought to us by Julia our Queen of Desks. over at the Stamping Ground, in which a worthy bunch of crafters reveal all. Here's what was on my desk this morning.

Of course, I had to clear it, using the shove-to-the-side-method, before I could get to the keyboard. Inspired by Shaz's post last week I've dragged out a bunch of UFOs and sorted them out. I've even managed to make one card, resting on the keyboard in the photo. It's not much but it's a start. On the left there's a pile of die-cuts (just visible), Brusho splattered bits and alcohol inked bits. To the right of the guillotine is a pile of card and stamped images, some already coloured, others still waiting to be coloured. The horrible mess to the far right is a couple of boxes of ribbon and lace scraps which I dragged out thinking it could be useful. At the back are the boxes and tubs of essentials that are permanently on show.

I've also set myself a target to clear the backlog of needlecraft projects waiting to be finished. Here are two that were finished this week.

Crocheted pineapple patterned doily. The first one I've made for many decades. I did make a few, still scattered around on tables even now, before my children were born but this kind of crochet takes a lot of concentration - not the sort of thing to do when you have a house full of kids.

Zippered pouch. After the success of the scrappy bag I made for my daughter's birthday - shown in last week's WOYWW post - I've made this similar but smaller and simpler to make pouch. Forward planning for, dare I say it, Christmas. I found the easy to follow  instructions on Anna Graham's blog Noodlehead.

I think the pouch would make a lovely present, filled with goodies of course. And that reminds me that I had a few comments last week asking what the goodies were that I put in my daughter's bag. Well, they were skin products - all fruity perfumed, e.g. body butter, lip salve, hand cream, etc. She was particularly pleased with the hand cream because, as a quilter, her hands get very dry.

So that's what I've been up to this week. DH is taking me out for a spot of lunch now so I'll be over to see what's on everyone's desk later - just as soon as I'm back.

In the meantime, Happy WOYWW and have a wonderfully crafty week ahead.

Friday Smiles

Evening Folks

It's Friday and I should have joined Annie with her Friday Smiles at A Stitch In Time much earlier and I would have done if I hadn't had an emergency to deal with.

Yes, I've managed to damage my sewing machine! I cried. I love my sewing machine. So what happened. Well, I changed the needle (from one suited to knit materials to one for cotton) and I couldn't have tightened it up adequately. I've changed umpteen needles in my time and never made such an elementary mistake before but today I did. Of course, I was sewing with a zipper foot too just to make things a whole lot worse. You could have heard the crunching sound on the moon! And to top it all the automatic needle threader is no longer working.

Not much to smile about you'd think! Brother's customer helpline to the rescue. A lovely man answered the phone and calmed me down almost immediately. He knew exactly what I'd done and what needed to be done to get my machine up and running again. And he's popping a new needle threader part in the post - I should receive it by Monday - at no cost to me. He also talked me through how to take the damaged part off and replace with the new part when it arrives. Marvellous service!

I'm now a very happy smiler indeed.

And finally, because we have two tots who are in that 'terrible two' stage, this funny really spoke to me.

Have a wonderful weekend and, hopefully, a very smiley week ahead.

WOYWW 427

Hello Deskers and All,

Joining in very late with What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Why so late? Well, I swapped my desk today.

To this! The weather has been so changeable for weeks now that we have to grab the sun when and where we can. So we took a picnic down to the beach and just relaxed.

We enjoyed watching a father and his two daughters flying this kite. Aren't the colours stunning?

Here's himself posing at the start/finish of The Lang Scots Mile. Not that he walked all that way today. With his knees! X-rays were taken on Monday and depending on the findings he may be in for a transplant so it could be a wee while before he's up to his walking tricks again.

Not a lot of crafty stuff to show for this week then but I did make another of the scrappy patchwork bags.

This one for my daughter Juli for her birthday last Thursday. It was filled it with lots of goodies.

And here's the birthday girl herself. Not the best of photos but the best I snapped on the day.

Thanks to those of you who left comments last week. If I didn't get back to you I can only apologise. Apologies too for not having anything more craft related to show you but times are difficult. Several family members are ill and needing a lot of support. This means I have very much less me time, even if I had the inclination, to spend crafting. And whilst I do my best even finding time to comment is proving to be equally difficult. Heavens, I'm even finding less and less time for blogging! It won't always be so, I'm sure, so please bear with me for now and hopefully things will improve soon.


In the meantime, I wish you all a very good week ahead.

WOYWW 426

Good Morning Deskers and All

It's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday again and this week I do have a desk shot to share with you. After last week's non-appearance I thought my desk should feature today otherwise our Head Desker Julia might think I'm not playing the game.

Still nothing crafty to reveal just photos being filed in albums. It's a work in progress, and long overdue at that. In the time that DH and I have been together we have managed to accrue a ton of photographs, particularly from the pre-digital age when every photo had to be printed from rolls of film. They've all been stored in three drawers up to now but I thought it was time they were organised better and somewhere more accessible for us to browse through now and again. I have to admit I didn't realise what a job I'd taken on. It has taken me several months just to get to the year 2004!

The completed albums are now on a bookshelf in the sitting-room. Note, all are numbered. They are from a set of American Crafts Thickers and I'm beginning to run out as the number of albums goes into the teens. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can track down another pack of the that exact same set of alphas or it will have to be Plan B - whatever that is! The albums hold two hundred photos each and I have two empty ones waiting to be filled. I'm not sure that's going to be enough to clear the last drawer.

Clearly I'm never going to have time to scrap more than a fraction of our photos yet we still keep taking them wherever and whenever. Thankfully the more recent ones are stored digitally and I'm much more selective when printing them out on my wee Cannon Selphy.

Still, it is a blessing to have so many photos - the memories those albums holds are simply priceless.

That's it from me for this Wednesday. I'm going to be out much of the day, on a mission of mercy for my sister, but I hope to be back later to check out as many of your desks as possible.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very happy WOYWW and a wonderful crafty week ahead.