Happy New Year's Eve

 

 

Here's wishing you a great Hogmanay whatever you're doing to celebrate.

We're doing as advised and staying home. We may not even stay up to hear the bells - after all, it's way past our usual bedtime :)

So whatever your plans are take care and stay safe. 

See you again in 2022. 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 656

Hello Everyone, 

Hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas, with family if that was possible or if, like for us, that was not to be then lots of long newsy phone calls with loved ones instead. And here we are halfway through the holiday and it's time for another WOYWW get together over at Julia's Stamping Ground. Here's what's on mine today.

Not a lot though I've spared you the mess of stuff on the far left of the desk. You really don't want to see that. According to the old Scottish custom, known as redding the hoose, I should be up to my eyes in cleaning equipment. 

'Redding the house – rather than a Spring clean, the Scots have a New Year’s clean to welcome in the New Year. Starting the New Year with a dirty house is bad luck. When open fires were common, people would clear the ashes and lay a new fire for the New Year. Cleaning one’s house also extends to clearing one’s debts. And that’s all we’re going to say about overspending at Christmas!' (8 Amazing Scottish New Year's Traditions, Edinburgh's Hogmanay 21)

I well remember my mother spending much of the week between Christmas and New Year doing just that - even the curtains were brought down and washed. But then there was a lot of coal fires in Edinburgh back in the day - not for nothing was it called 'Auld Reekie'. 

Anyway, back to the desk. Just some packs of photos and a pile of stamp sets. I'll be looking through the photos to choose the next one(s) for scrapping. The stamp sets just need put away for now. 

If I had any doubts that having a kitten was akin to having a toddler spotting Silver totally absorbed in the film of Julia Donaldson's The Highway Rat has convinced me! Sadly, like any 'terrible two' her attention didn't last for very long. Once she spotted a bird through the window.she was off out on the chase. 

Now, this week's funnies. 

 

And just before I go:

Alan & I would like to wish you all 

Health, Wealth and Happiness in 2022

And let's hope its a much better year than 2021. Surely we are due a break!

Christmas Greetings

Wishing you all a

Happy Christmas 

wherever you are, whoever you're with and whatever you are doing. 

It's going to be a quiet one for us but that's okay. 

Enjoy the festivities. 

Elizabeth & Alan 

&

Silver

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 655

Happy Christmas Everyone

From Alan, myself and, of course, Silver. We're all joining in with WOYWW over on Julia's Stamping Ground, the last before Christmas. 

Silver is very taken with the decorations and like any typical kitten couldn't resist the tree. So much so, that we've been forced to take it down. We worried that she would do herself an injury, or worse make herself ill eating the fake snow. She's of the age, rather like human babies, when everything has to be tested with her mouth. Hopefully, next year she'll be old enough to resist. 

There's not a lot on my desk today. Just the page finished yesterday with the scraps of leftover paper, pens, ink pads and my tiny, but oh so handy, die-cutting machine that were used and now need to be cleared away. 

There's also the only magazine I have delivered monthly. With the ever increasing prices of magazines, I've cut back to just this one. Every issue has a word that is the theme of the month. January's word is 'rest'. Well, I'm happy to go along with that. Christmas and New Year is such a hectic time that it's not a bad idea to take some time to rest afterwards. 

Many thanks for all the lovely cards we've received. They are just about the only decorations that are kitten-proof! And they look fabulous strung up around the fireplace. 

And now, the funnies. I was spoiled for choice this week so I've limited it to four of my favourites.

And finally, 

Facebook threw this photo from 2017, in better times when Christmas was a whole lot more freer than it's going to be, given the restrictions, this year. Despite all that, I hope that whatever you're doing this weekend you will enjoy yourself and have lots of tun. 

Take care, stay safe and have a very Merry Christmas. 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 654

Hello Everyone,

And happy WOYWW to you all. It's my favourite day of the week, even if it does seem to come faster the nearer we get to Christmas - where do the other six days go? - when you all share your desks and/or the projects you are working on with our Head Desker, Julia, on the Stamping Ground. 

This has to be a brief share this morning. That's because there's not much on my desk right now, as you can see.

Just a few labels stamped with numbers 1-7. They are to add to the wrappings for the Week of Books I make up for my great-grandchildren every year. I'm not sure when they will be delivered this year. Alan's still not allowed to drive so we are not able to deliver them personally, as we did in previous years. We are in a form of near lockdown here so it's going to be another Christmas like last year ... dismal! I keep telling myself that it will pass, in just 6 days the days will start to lengthen again and in a few more weeks it will be Spring. There's still much to be grateful for. 

And speaking of being grateful, here's the kitten pic for this week.

Alan too. This was her playing peek-a-boo with him. She's quite the personality!

Finally, the funnies.

Hope these made you smile.

Take care everyone and have a lovely week.

December Scrapbook Layouts Nos. 8&9

Hello Everyone

I hope you are well and have had a good weekend. Around here it's been really quiet with not much going on now that the rules have been tightened again to cope with the new variant of Covid. It's such a shame for everyone, especially if their festivities have been cancelled as a result.

Happily for me, I was able to take myself to my craftroom whenever I had a bit of free time and work on pages for my winter album. In fact, I did really well on Sunday and completed these two layouts. 

No.8 - Merry Christmas

The photo is an old one, taken in 2007, of my two youngest grandchildren. They were such a cute pair, they adored each other and were inseparable back then. They are still quite close now they're grown up but no longer inseparable. 

I've added red machine stitching to this page and the bells, stars and poinsettias were fussy cut from a pack of papers that were included in an issue of a now defunct scrapbooking magazine. 

No.9 - Holiday Cheer

Another old photo here. This time from Christmas 2002. It's a rare shot of me with a glass in my hand. Not alcohol, but non-alcoholic mulled wine. We'd just left England and moved up to Scotland to live and I was celebrating getting the tree up and decorated. Moving home just days before Christmas is not to be recommended. 

The die-cut hexagons took time to prepare and I think I could have made a better job of keeping them straight. Too late and I won't be changing it now.

Most of the materials are, like the photos, old but still good. The exceptions are the base papers on both layouts. They are:

Merry Christmas

- 'Holly Jolly' from Photoplay's Tulla & Norbert's Christmas Party collection. 

- 'Tis The Season' from the Holiday Magic collection by Pink Fresh. 

Holiday Cheer

- 'Starry' from 49 and Market's Vintage Ancestry Peace & Joy collection. 

All from Mind the Scrap's December kit. The flairs are from a Christmas set from Dotty About Flair. 

I had a day off yesterday so I'm hoping to do a bit of catching up today. After, that is, domestic duties have been attended to. 

Have a lovely day and stay safe and well. 

December Scrapbook Layout No.7

Hello Everyone,

Another day nearer Christmas and another page for the record. 

This one has a photo of our beach taken in one of the few dry days we had in December 2019. The kind of day that, after days of being stuck indoors, makes a walk along the promenade so refreshing. 

Materials:

- Plain white cardstock, Mind The Scrap.

- 'Starry Night' stencil, The Dusty Attic.

- Tim Holtz distress ink, 'Iced Spruce'.

- Patterned paper pad, The Works Make & Create Contemporary Christmas 'Happy Holidays' collection; 'Reach for the Stars' from the Bella BLVD To The Moon collection; scraps of papers left over from previous pages. 

- Cutfile from Peartree Cutfile Designs.

- Snowman fussy cut from a other leftover. 

- The number 7 stamped from an old woodmounted set, origin unknown.

- Shapes: stars die-cut from silver card; circles punched from paper from the same pad as used to make banners. 

- Dies from Docraft's 'Stars' nesting die set.

This layout owes a lot to yet another of Lisa Sikorski's sketches. I think I was lucky to find papers that so matched the photo. It made putting the page together a pleasure. 

Hopefully I'll be back soon with yet another page in this winter album series of posts. 

Take care and stay cosy. 

Bye for now,

Elizabeth

December Scrapbook Layouts - No's. 5&6

Hello Everyone,

Back again sharing and recording the two latest pages for December. 

This is just a better pic of the one that was on my desk post yesterday. The background was made with two Brusho powders, Leaf Green & Orange. I had a moment or two of doubt whilst doing it but, once it dried, decided it would do. I kept the embellishments fairly minimal so the simple shot of rosehips in our frosty garden didn't get lost on the page. 

Page No. 6 features Alan in better times - 2018 in fact. Long before Covid. And he's wearing his favourite Christmas jumper. We'd stopped at the supermarket cafe for tea - our reward to ourselves after doing the Christmas shopping. 

As in the previous pages, I used Lisa Sikorski's sketch of the day in her Facebook Sketch-a-Thon for each page. I will continue to use her sketches for the rest of the month.

Similarly, I'm participating in the Scrap Backwards group challenge. This involves creating a kit from stash based on a sheet of stickers that has been broken into but not finished or, failing that, old embellishments like those ancient wooden stars in No.5. Admittedly, my kit for this month is enormous because I just dragged out ALL my Christmas stash. My aim is to use it all up so I can treat myself to a new collection for December 2022. 

And, because it's fun I'm doing my best to include each of the three items in Dotty About Flair's daily prompts. Day No. 5's prompts are, Texture, Rustic & Green, and No. 6's are, Water, 4 patterned papers & Silver. 

No doubt I could make scrap pages without participating in these challenges but it wouldn't be half as much fun. It also helps to see my daughter's inheritance shrinking some! 

Bye for now.

Elizabeth

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 653

Hello Everyone,

The days seem to be flying by now we are in December. I suppose it's because we're on the run up to Christmas and there's so much to do. But, hopefully, there's still time to join Julia over on the Stamping Ground for this week's WOYWW. 

My desk yesterday teatime after finishing the fifth page for this year's winter album. I used the stamp set for the number five, stamped with the green ink pad in the background beside the Brushos used to create the messy background. There's also a few bits and bobs but really it doesn't look too bad. But don't believe it ... there's more.

Yes, this is the hideous mess deliberately avoided when I took the first pic. And they say the camera doesn't lie! I could liken that pile at the back to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The pic lying on top of the front pile is ready to be scrapped next. First, a tidy up is in order. 

Now it's time for the kitten.

She's having a lazy morning. Could be because it's raining out. 

And now the funnies. 

Have a wonderful WOYWW everyone and a very good week too. 

December Scrapbook Layouts - Nos. 2,3,&4

Hello Everyone,

I hope this finds you well and you had a good day. We've had foul weather today - wet and so cold - and I stayed cosy indoors.

I'm back catching up with the next 3 pages made for my December daily. As before, all challenges and groups mentioned can be found on Facebook. 

No. 2

This page is based on Lisa Sikorski's for Day 2 of her December Sketch-a-Thon, as are page no's. 3&4. This photo of Alan was taken two years ago before he caught Covid. He looks so well. For him, putting up the Christmas tree is all about the lights. Will they still work after 11 months in storage? They did that year and they did this year too.

Everything used on the page is from the kit put together for the Scrap Backwards challenge this month. Once again the flair in the lower cluster is from Dotty About Flair. There's three daily requirements all this month over on this group - on this day they were hearts, snowflakes and the colour teal, all of which I managed to include. 

No. 3

Dotty About Flair's prompts for Day 3 - circles, florals, red - are all included in this page. I chose the spray inks, red and navy blue, for the background spatters after picking out the papers, from my kit of course. For more about the photo scroll down to yesterday's post.

No. 4

This page was completed today. The prompts for this one was Christmas decorations, sequins and Kraft. The beautiful background paper is 'Sweet Winter Season' from StudioLight which is so old I can't find a date for it. The cute Docrafts Papermania snowman and deer are a few years old too. 

The photos are of my youngest great-grandson. I'm not sure I've mentioned this before but Callum is autistic and he's amazing. His main interests are geography, space & the planet's and maths and he's ace at puzzles so this jigsaw of the world map is just perfect for him. He made it up in only two days! He wants to be a scientist when he grows up and I don't doubt for one moment that he will.  

Even though I'm not exactly up-to-date, I'm pleased that I'm not far behind and enjoying scrapping a mix of old and new photos, all taken in December. Having a monthly theme is helping me work my way through a ton of old stash too. 

Now it's late so I'll bid you all a good night. Have a good day tomorrow. 

Bye for now,

Elizabeth

Christmas Card Club Challenge - Anything Goes

Hello Everyone,

You might notice this blog is looking a bit different this week. I've brought back a  festive header from a previous year. I'd like to say it's because I'm getting into the spirit of the season but it's just not so - well, not yet! 

And here we are at the last Christmas Card Club Challenge of the year - sad or what? Especially sad for me because I'm way behind on the card count this year. Must try better next year. 

Today's theme is 'Anything Goes' so here's my offering. 

Just the one today but it has an interesting story behind it. I'd just completed a scrap page based on a sketch designed by Lisa Sikorski on her Facebook group, Scrap-a-Sketch, when it occurred to me that with a tweak or two it could provide the base for a card. 

I substituted a topper with a stamped greeting, from Docraft's Penelope & Percy 'Christmas Greetings' set, in cranberry ink for the photo. Matted in navy cardstock. Two lengths of the patterned paper, - the red is 'Blitzen Turtle Doves' from BoBunny's Blitzen Collection and the navy is 'Reach for the Stars' from Bella BLVD's To the Moon collection - made the vertical strips. The small circles were punched from the navy paper and 'Icon Dot Mistletoe' from Making Memories Mistletoe collection - one that's been in my stash since 2009!  The poinsettia is one leftover from the scrap page.

This is the scrap page featuring a photo taken of our frozen birdbath on a very frosty morning. Being so near the seaside, we don't get much snow but it does get cold, very cold, in winter. When we lived in Derbyshire it was claimed that Scotland was at least 6 degrees colder, always, no matter what the time of year it was. How true that is I'm not sure, but it certainly feels true! 

And talking about how cold it is, I hope any of you caught up in the power cuts caused by Storm Arwen are managing to keep warm and safe.

As usual, I encourage you to check out the cards made by the other members of the Christmas Card Club - the are linked on the sidebar to the right. 

Take care everyone and bye for now. 

Elizabeth

Friday Smiles

Hello Everyone,

And happy Friday. Once again I'm joining in with Annie's Friday Smiles and sharing some photos taken on my birthday on Monday this week. 

We went into town to celebrate. Unfortunately, the place Alan planned on, one of the oldest pubs in Ayr, wasn't serving meals that day. They'd given the chef's a holiday which was nice for them, if not for us. 

Because Alan isn't able to walk far we decided to go to the best fish and chip shop in town which was nearby. 

We had a lovely meal there served by a very nice waitress who couldn't have been more helpful. 

Afterwards, I took the opportunity to take a few shots of the Christmas lights in the High Street. They're not as flamboyant as in previous years but still very pretty. 

The following day, the 30th - the date of his death - was St Andrew's Day. It's a Bank Holiday in Scotland, though when I was born in 1947 - yes, people, I'm that old - the day was celebrated by Scots worldwide but it was not an official holiday. It wasn't until 2006 that our government decided to make it official. 

Here's a wee funny to finish.

Hope you've had much to smile about this week too.

Take care and have a wonderful weekend. 

December Scrapbook Layout - No. 1

Hello Everyone,

I hope this finds you well and keeping warm - unless, of course, you live in the southern hemisphere where you are probably trying to stay cool. 

Following on from my WOYWW post yesterday, I've decided to post the pages made in December daily rather than sharing them later when it could be way past the event. Here's the page for December 1st - all challenges and groups mentioned can be found on Facebook. 

It's based on Lisa Sikorski's sketch for Day 1 of her December Sketch-a-Thon. I tweaked the sketch to enable me to use the green cut-apart - it just had to go on the first page of the month. 

The photo is of the Christmas lights on Ayr High Street taken on my birthday at the weekend.

Everything used on the page is from the kit put together for the Scrap Backwards challenge this month. The oldest item is the 'Holiday Words' patterned paper from American Traditional Designs dated 2006! I'm chuffed to bits to have used it at last :) 

The flair in the lower cluster is from Dotty About Flair. There's three daily requirements all this month over on this group - for this month they are, paper layers, gold and a rainbow. I stamped and coloured the rainbow from the April Showers stamp set from Clearly Besotted. I forget where I got the gold enamel dots but it was a long time ago. 

Before I go, I just want to say that my thoughts go out to anyone who is still living without electricity. It's the sixth day for many and that's too long to live without heat, light and cooking facilities. In the meantime, I hope you're all managing to keep warm and stay safe.