WOYWW Week 899/119 - Scrapbooking Supplies

Hello Everyone

Happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. I hope you've had a lovely week whatever you've been doing, and whatever the weather you've been enduring. Up here in my corner of Scotland it's been cooler but dry forcing me to get the watering can out again. It could be worse. Heavens, it has been worse, so I'm not complaining!

On my desk today a pile of photos. Just a fraction of my entire collection. It's only too evident that I am never going to scrap them all. But, I will do my best. For me it's the photos that come first when it comes to what I need for scrapbooking. That being said, the supplies used in making pages are many and varied. I know I go on about being on a spending freeze because of how much stash I have already but the requirements for scrapbooking are many and varied. For those who are not scrappers, but who might want to give it a go one day, here is a glimpse of just some of what I use in the making of pages.

Cardstock in various colours. Great for backing photos and layouts. Not absolutely essential as a starter, many of the plainer patterned papers make good starting points too.   

Patterned paper. I'd say this is absolutely essential. It can be bought loose or in themed packs. Often the packs contain other supplies, e.g. sheets of stickers, journaling elements, labels, etc.  The sheets can be single or double-sided. I prefer double-sided as it gives more choice. 

Letters, often referred to as 'alphas', and word stickers for creating titles. There are other supplies not shown in this photo - die-cut sets, stamp sets and even ready-made acrylic words to name a few.  

Sticker sheets and books used to create embellishment clusters. Oh, there are so many available to the avid scrapper like me. I'd say they are the sweeties of the scrapping world and just as hard to resist!!!

Die-cuts. Almost as hard to resist as stickers. These can be purchased ready-made in packs or they may be cut out using dies with a die-cutting machine. Alternatively, they can be fussy-cut from pretty patterned papers or downloaded printables that are specifically designed for cutting out. 

And last, but not least, the finishing touches. What some scrapbookers refer to as 'confetti'. For example: enamel dots, rhinestones, pearls, stencils, inks, washi tapes, punches, dies, stamps, Nuvo drops, wooden embellishments. Pens! I've almost forgotten the pens that are essential for journaling.

It's a lot for anyone contemplating becoming a scrapbooker. Be warned! As I know only too well, supplies have a way of multiplying! 

However, it's worth it to be able to create layouts like this one. Another first of the monthly pages for my 2023 album. This time for the month of March. The photos are a wee selection of those taken on walks and a trip to Glasgow during the month. Of course Silver had a starring role. 

She's been busy distracting me from finishing this post this morning. She wants to play.

How can I resist!

And finally a few funnies that I think are appropriate for today.

It's another long post today so if you have got this far this week give yourself another pat on the back. Next week is the big 900 and I'm so looking forward to seeing all your 00 memories. Such fun!  As usual, if you don't already do so, I urge you to join in with WOYWW. You can do this by clicking on this link, Sarah's Craft Shed, where you will be made most welcome.

Take care and have a fabulous week.

Elizabeth

WOYWW Week 898/118 - Burning Eggs

Hello Everyone,

Happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. I hope you are all well and enjoying a great crafty week so far. Here on the Scottish coast of the Clyde Estuary it is cloudy and there's promise of yet more rain. We've had a lot of that over the last few days. All of it very welcome - for now!

On my desk this morning - photo actually taken yesterday evening but nothing has changed so far this morning. I thought you might like to see the contents of one of my home made scrap kits. Not in numerical order - this one is No.67 - and possibly not the best example but it was the next pulled out of the pile. It consists of one sheet of yellow cardstock, one sheet of patterned paper, a wee pile of paper strips, embellishments and a photo. I'm not sure what I had in mind to do with all those paper strips when I put the kit together but I'm sure I'll come up with something. Just not today. 

I have another desk I'm working on today and for the foreseeable future. 

It's the table in the living room. It's a very old gateleg table. The Ikea craft desk is practical and serves it's purpose but it is no match for the solidity of this old table made of real wood. What I'm working on there is a pile of recently made layouts. They are almost complete. All they need is for me to add some journaling then they can be filed away in the appropriate albums. It's one of those jobs we scrapbookers tend to procrastinate over but eventually it has to be done!

This is the page last made and is there in front on the table waiting for that final journaling. The photos are of my youngest granddaughter Shari taken in her 20s in 2023. She was a guitarist and singer performing in a band at the time. I associate the colour purple with her so this, another of my kits, was perfect. All the supplies are from old stash, details of most long lost but I can say that the foiled background card used as a photo mount, 'Sheet Metal', is from Kanban Crafts. Now there's a blast from the past.  The foam letters for the title are from Shimelle's ' 'Main Character' collection, appropriately enough dated 2023. There's scraps and bits and pieces from Simple Stories and Studio Light Art. The finishing touch is the sewing machine stitching. I can't remember when I last did that. 

And now it's Silver time. 

Looks like she's decided that if she can't beat me, she will become a bookworm too. 

She's checking out the shelves. 

Spot the cat in the library!

It's August, start of the school year and time for me to begin the home study of Scottish literature. This term I'm concentrating on Scottish crime fiction. I'm doing it for pleasure so it has to be my favourite genre. Over summer I've been reading 'Read Yourself Happy' by Daisy Buchanan. I love books, and there's rarely been a time when I didn't have my nose in a book, but recently I went through a long spell where I couldn't concentrate on reading. Seems that it's down to something called "grief brain", a temporary condition that I admit I did find distressing. Happily, the love of reading has returned to normal and 'Read Yourself Happy' has helped. It's a great book to dip into with chapters such as 'Read yourself funny', 'Reading like a writer', Reading around the world'. The author recommends so many books to read - many of which I've added to my TBR (to be read) list. So many books, so little time. 

I realise I haven't added any funnies to my posts as I once did. I haven't been collecting them like I used to. But maybe this will make you laugh - it certainly had my daughter laughing out loud. Recently I was hard boiling three eggs to use in potato salad. I put them in a pot of water and on the hob to boil. I knew I had seven minutes to wait. Seven minutes can't be wasted. I thought I'd just do a bit of prepping for the scrap layout I was working on. I'm sure you know what happened next. I forgot the eggs. It wasn't until I smelt a strange odour that I remembered them. I found some very burnt looking eggs but I was just in time to save the pot. 

When my daughter stopped laughing she recommended that this electric egg cooker was the only way to ensure I never burn eggs again. I should add, this isn't the first time I've burnt the eggs. I've done it several times before. The first time I remember was when I was in the army and working shifts. When I came off a night shift I boiled my breakfast eggs in the kettle in our barracks kitchen. I burned out the kettle! Of course, I had the cost of a new kettle deducted from my wages that week and banned from the boiling of eggs in the new one. You'd have thought I'd have learned, but, no, I've repeated it many times since. 

It's a long post today so if you have got this far give yourself a pat on the back. However that's me for this week. As usual, if you don't already do so, I urge you to join in with WOYWW. You can do this by clicking on this link, Sarah's Craft Shed, where you will be made most welcome.

Take care and have a fabulous week.

Elizabeth

WOYWW Week 897/117 - On Photography and Cameras

Hello Everyone, 

Happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Hope you have a lovely day - whatever the weather.  

On my desk is the scrapbook world's newest recruit! (Photo taken yesterday), She's a quick learner.

This has now become a bit of a change for me - a layout with just one photo! It's of my only niece and I just have this one photo of her from that time, about 1984/5. This page just had to have flowers, butterflies, hearts and the colour pink - all so appropriate for such a pretty little girl. The spending freeze is still going surprisingly well and I've not felt the need to buy anything except the essential adhesive tape runners. The oldest supply used is the alpha set for the title - Dear Lizzy's 'Serendipity' foam letters from 2011!

I'm finding it increasingly wasteful to create a page with a single photo. Mainly because, as I may have mentioned before, living in a small flat means there is so much less room to store scrapbook albums, but there's also the inescapable fact that I have hundreds of photos to deal with. I've been sorting through all those photos, binned the ones that are no longer relevant for one reason or another, e.g. if I don't recognise the subject or it's yet more of the many beautiful plants in the beautiful gardens we visited. There's only so many pages of flowers anyone needs in their albums!

So, knowing this, the aim from now is to get as many photos on one 12x12 page as possible. I've completed Shimelle's 3x4 Photo Love class which has helped enormously. This page is an example of what I've learned. The photos are all of my late husband's mother holidaying on the Isle of Man. To make scrapping them easier, I used my camera to photograph the original, very old photos and printed them all out in 3x4 size. Much easier than trying to work with the variety of sizes of the originals. 

This page is going into an album I've been putting together for Alan's nephew. It's one of several I'm putting together for various members of my family, like my niece in the page above. Another way of dealing with the limited space I have for my own albums. 

Of course, I wouldn't have this problem if I wasn't such a keen amateur photographer. I just can't help myself. Ever since I watched my father taking snapshots with his old Kodak Box Brownie, I've been interested in all things to do with photography so found this exhibit in Callender House, Falkirk, fascinating. 

The photos are a record of the people and industry that were once seen in the area. 

Most of the pictures in the exhibition were taken with this Mamiya 545 from 1975, using the Kodak Tri x 400asa film. I believe the film is still available today.

It's totally different from this, my first camera bought in 1964 - an Ilford Sprite. I remember being so thrilled to have saved enough from my job in the bank to buy it before I went off on my first solo holiday that year. It's a world of difference from the digital cameras I have to choose from today - either my Nikon D3400 Digital Camera, or even the one on my mobile phone. 

As Silver has taken the starring role already today and after that trip down memory lane, I think it's time I left you with my usual message. If you don't already do so, I urge you to join in with WOYWW. You can do this by clicking on this link, Sarah's Craft Shed, where you will be made most welcome.

Take care and have a fabulous week.

Elizabeth