WOYWW Week 896/116 - Trip to Callender House & The Falkirk Wheel

Good Morning Everyone,

Happy WOYWW to you all. I hope it proves to be a good day for you wherever you are, here in the south west of Scotland it's cool and damp after the storms yesterday. Just how I like it. :) 

Correction. The heavens have just opened!

On my desk today are the supplies together with a selection of photos for the next layout. I'm trying to decide which photo(s) to use for my niece's album. Decisions, decisions! On the back to the left is a wee pile of scraps and a very scruffy stamping block. I intend to punch circles out of the scraps. Circles often come in handy as the base for clusters and it's so much better than tossing them in the bin. The block will get cleaned. 

Oh, and I've just notice on the far left, by the table lamp, is a tube of Nippon ant killer. There was an attempted mass takeover from a nearby nest of flying ants last week. I've nothing against ants when they are outside but to have them swarming all over my home, that's entirely different.

I've had less time for scrapping this week but here's one of the last pages made.

One of my niece for her album. The inspiration for this layout came from a sketch by one of my favourite YouTube scrapper's, Moira O'Reilly. I think she might have said it was her first attempt to create a sketch. Of course, I tweaked it a bit - I always do. The supplies were all I found in one of my kits - not a lot, but enough. 

What kept me from the craft room was that my daughter and son-in-law decided it was time to make the trip to Falkirk that had to be abandoned a month or so ago when the car broke down. That episode was recorded in this page. 

This time all went well and we were able to not only visit the beautiful Callender House in Falkirk, but also visit the Falkirk Wheel - a fantastic feat of engineering that might just be the eighth wonder of the world! I took 'hundreds' of photos of course. Here's a just a very select few,

I could post so many more from Callender House but best I stop now. Here's a couple from the Falkirk Wheel.

All such a brilliant experience and one I can heartily recommend to any of you planning to visit Scotland one day. 

I almost forgot, here's one for those of you over the pond. Smores cake on sale in the cafe in Callender House. It is the first time I've seen it outside the US! 

Note: I did not try it this time. Next time, for sure!

Finally, here's Silver keeping an eye on me in the craft room. 

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 895/115 - New Desk Shelving

Hello Everyone,

Happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday to you all.

I've been busy changing things around on my desk this week. 

I even managed to overcome my dislike of flatpack furniture to make up the shelving you can see at the back there. I was so fed up with the decreasing size of the area I had to work on. Something had to be done and this is it. Look at all that space! 

All I have to do now is keep it that way. 

With all that clearing and reorganising I haven't had much time to do any scrapping but I did manage to create just this page. 

The photos are of Rothesay Castle on the Isle of Bute taken just a couple of weeks ago when we visited the island. It's a ruin but it is still possible to cross the moat to look inside. 

Yet more lovely old stash and leftover scraps were used in this layout. The base paper came from a very old collection from Craft Sensations, 'Capture This Moment'. It's another of my 'so old it's not dated' supplies. 

Most of the embellishments are from Simple Stories collections, 'Simple Vintage Meadow Flowers ' and 'Take Note', and one of the sets of Alpha letters from Alison Kreft's 'Sprinkled With Love' is also undated - purchased years ago from an online store now closed. 

There's been a lot of changes in the scrapbooking world in the 30 years I've been scrapping. It makes me sad to think of all the lovely makers and suppliers that are no longer operating. 

It's just as well I have this little one to make me laugh. She's got no sense of modesty!

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

Scrapbook Page No.47 - Snoozing All Together

Hello and Happy Sunday Everyone,

Hope you have had a lovely weekend. Mine has not only been cooler than of late but we've also had rain. Mostly through the night. It's almost like we're in Camelot!

This is the only page I've made this weekend. I thought I'd used a homemade kit but, on checking, I find it was in fact Hey Little Magpie's Dotty About Flair Crop Kit from a few years ago - possibly 2021. 

The kit came with a page of layout inspirations, one of which I used to create this layout.

The papers and embellishments were mostly in the kit - Maggie Holmes 'Market Square' collection and American Crafts 'Together'. All from 2021. I did add two papers from my stash - Photoplay's 'Notting Hill Bookstore' collection and Bella BLVD's, black 'Florence' letters. 

The cream paper is actually the reverse side of a sheet of wedding themed patterned paper. I've more than one sheet of this so I had no problem tearing into it! 

The photo from 2019 is of my daughter, Juli, with her puppy, Max, and Ziggy the kitten. All having a midday snooze. Don't they look so peaceful and companionable?

Have a great week everyone. 

Take care

Elizabeth

WOYWW Week 894/114 - The Rose Grower

Hello Everyone,

Happy WOYWW to you all. I hope you are well. I'm happy to report that the temperature has dropped to a much more acceptable level up here at last. 

So what's on my workdesk today? That is, apart from the usual muddle of stuff around the working area. I think I need some shelving put up above the desk to hold all these untidy yet essential bits and pieces. Something definitely needs to be done!

Well, there's  a pile of recently completed pages. Yesterday, I forced myself to sit down and add journaling to each page and now they are ready to be filed in the relevant albums. 

On top is a stack of the lists I keep with details about each page made. They come in very useful when I'm posting pages online. 

Just under those is a plastic bag containing the the bits and pieces used in the making of the last scrap page. It includes some dies I used to make heart and butterfly embellishments for this page. The blue letters used in the title are from a set that are so old they are not dated. Producers didn't date scrapbooking products until fairly recently. 

The layout is based on a Premium Sketch from Scrap-a-Sketch. The photo is of my beloved Alan posing proudly under his favourite climbing rose.  He was a keen and knowledgeable rose grower. 

And finally, because I know she has her fan club among you WOYWWers, here's this week's pic of Silver.

This one was taken just after I'd brushed her coat. A service she demands regularly! She's  a very fastidious cat. 

As usual, I'll post this to Sarah's Craft Shed where you can see many much more creative workdesks every Wednesday. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk today. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

Scrapbook Page No.43 - Paws for Thought.

Hello and Happy Sunday Everyone,

I really meant to post this yesterday but I was so busy I just ran out of time. Do you have days like that?

This page is the one I made for Lesson 4 in Shimelle's 3x4 class. 

The photos, just a few of Maggie's Scotties in the City, made this a fun page to put together. Right now, there's 40 large and 52 wee sculptures distributed around Glasgow all to raise awareness of Maggie's Hospice. 

I enjoyed working with the cheerful  blue/green/yellow colour combination and letters from an alpha set that's been in my stash since 2018! 

This self-imposed spending freeze is actually so enjoyable. I'm discovering long forgotten goodies that deserved to have been used long before now!

Hope your weekend has gone well, and that maybe you've been able to squeeze in some serious crafting time too.

Take care everyone, 

Elizabeth 

WOYWW Week 893/113 - Visit to the Isle of Bute

Hello and Happy Wednesday Everyone,

We're having a heatwave here in Scotland. It's nowhere as hot as down in the south of England, but with temperatures around 25C degrees it's more than hot enough for me. 

Today's desk, actually Tuesday night's, is a bit messy. Nothing that can't be cleared up pretty quickly. To the left are a few layouts I started months ago, last year in fact, but never completed. Mainly because they are Project Life pocket style and I've come to realise I don't really like scrapping that way. 

In the middle are a couple of page protectors containing bits and bobs left from the last two layouts made. My system is to pop items in the protector as I finish with them. It makes it easier for me to record them once the page is complete. 

This is a page I made at the weekend. The adorable puppy, Leigh, one of my grandson's fiancée's, is 6 years old now and quite grown up. The patterned background paper is an unbelievable 21 years old. Bought from a shop that shut down a long time ago. For the princely sum of 50p! Perfect for these photos of Leigh but I can't think why I've been hording it for so long. 

Yesterday, my daughter, SIL and I, took the ferry to the Isle of Bute for the day. We had a great time sightseeing round this small but beautiful island.

We especially enjoyed visiting this lovely house, Mount Stuart, and the gardens surrounding it. 

This stunning 'hedge' of hydrangeas edges the car park!

As usual, I'll just leave you with a photo of Silver, my early morning wake-up call today, and post this to Sarah's Craft Shed where you can see many more creative workdesks every Wednesday. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk today. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

Scrapbook Page No. 38/2026 - Do Not Disturb

Hello and Happy Saturday,

I thought I'd share this layout Ive just completed with you today. 

It's the latest layout from me for Shimelle's 3x4 Photo Love classes using three photos of my cat Silver. I swear she thinks the bed is hers! 

Most of the papers used are from 2022 - not as old as some I've used on earlier layouts recently, but old enough to mark up as a win in this my year dedicated to using up what I've got. Anybody else, like me, on a spending freeze and using up only what you have already? 

Only one full size sheet (12"×12") of black cardstock and one of the heart patterned paper was used. All the rest came from my stash of leftover scraps. 

The punched floral trim has touches of blue and the cat in bed sticker is yellow, so I did a very Shimelle Laine like trick and added a few embellishments in shades to match. 

I plan to share more layouts in the future now that I've got back in the way of things. If only to prove here that I'm sticking to the 'no buy' resolution. 

Thanks for looking. 

Take care

Elizabeth

WOYWW Week 892/112 - Don't Eat The Daisies

Hello & Good Morning Everyone,

Hope you've all had a good week wherever you are. It's been a cool, cloudy and damp Ardrossan here. Perfect weather for watching the tennis at Wimbledon! 

Which is why I'm really late today. I had to, really I had to, stay up very late last night watching, with bated breath, the battle between Djokovic & Auger-Aliassime. I'm sure it did my blood pressure no good whatsoever but what a match! 

Not that it stopped me scrapping altogether. This is my desk this morning. 

Under the folder full of the leftovers from the page made yesterday is a pile of homemade kits waiting for me to decide which one to work from next. They are surrounded with all sorts of bits and bobs that are slowly amassing around me. I can feel a time fast approaching where it will all have to be sorted out and filed away. Only to be brought out again I'm sure. 

Here's yesterday's make. It features two pics of the daisies that grow up through the cracks at the base of the retaining wall in the back garden. They remind me of among many things, times in my childhood spent picking them and making daisy chains to wear in my hair, and of Doris Day singing that song. That lovely piece of die-cut paper, from My Mind's Eye's 'Quite Contrary' collection, is, I'm embarrassed to admit, 16 years old. I've been hording it far too long!

Having completed one course I'm on to another. This time it's the 3x4 Photo Love classes again from Shimelle Laine . These concentrate on using photos half the size of the more usual 6"x4". The benefits are that I can print off two photos per page from my Canon Selphy printer - with the help of the collage setting on the new app - and more photos can be used on a 12"x12" layout. It means all the difference between having to either make double page spreads or having to reject many photos down to lack of space. In fact, space is the real problem. I'm running out of room to store my many albums and I have had to admit I need to put a limit on how many to keep. That's a sorting task waiting on my to-do list for another day. 

Given that I'm so late this morning, I'll just leave you with this photo of Silver and get on with the job of posting this to Sarah's Craft Shed where you can see many more creative workdesks every Wednesday.  If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk today.  You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

WOYWW Week 891/111 - Organising Stash

Hello Everyone,

I hope you've all had a good week whatever the weather. Here on Scotland's west coast we've had rain which has brought the temperatures down - much more comfortable to live with. 

This morning my desk is looking reasonably tidy. That's because I've been sorting through and organising papers, scraps and embellishments in the hope it's easier to make better use of it all. This started with me looking for what I call background papers, i.e. those with little or no pattern on them. I'm not sure how fascinating this is to you as it is to me all but here's where I've got to so far.

Up until now the papers in these trays were sorted by colour and I'd got into the habit of shoving all the scraps in with whole sheets. It got messy, and time consuming, to sort through. Now it's just whole sheets sorted by theme, e.g. the seasons, special occasions, and, on the top tray, suitable background papers. 

Sundry patterned papers are now easily accessed on a trolley to the left of the craft desk, out of the weekly shot. On the top shelf there's the full 12x12 patterned sheets together with a few full size sheets of stickers, and, of course, essential treats for Silver!

Larger sized scraps are now in the middle shelf and narrow strips on the bottom. 

That left all those much smaller ones that are too good to toss but difficult to file tidily. 

It's scraps like these that got me in to cardmaking years ago, but I don't make cards now so I am trying to incorporate as many as possible into my layouts. Being environmentally conscious prevents me from tossing them in the bin!

The homemade kit I pulled out yesterday included a fabulous paper from the 'Carefree' collection by Heidi Swapp which now forms the base for this layout.

The theme of the collection is of a dry sandy desert. I'm nowhere near a desert but there's plenty coastal sandy beaches. The two photos here, from 2022, are of scenes from Ayr. The boat is of MVF Watchful, a historic herring ring net fishing boat which, though it looked abandoned in the river estuary, was in fact intended to be a monument to all the souls lost at sea. Sadly, since the photo was taken the boat has been, having been found unsafe, demolished and removed.  The second photo is of the South Beach sand dune area that was used in the making of an episode of the TV series, 'Shetland'. Both photos are mounted on scraps of paper - that's a few more saved from the bin!

Finally, as Silver isn't posing in the desk shot this morning, here's a pic that made me laugh.

She clearly thinks I've no right to be laughing at her!

To see more creative workdesks pop over to Sarah's blog, Sarah's Craft Shed. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk this Wednesday. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

WOYWW 890/110 - We're Having a Heatwave ...

Hello Everyone,

Happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday to you all!

Oh my, but it's hot here in Ardrossan! Too hot for comfort. I thought I'd spend the day in the garden yesterday but had to give up as the temperature rose to an uncomfortable high. Today looks as though it's going to be just as hot giving me no option but to stay in the craftroom where it's cool. Oh, what a shame!

This was what was on my desk yesterday. It's what's left of homemade kit no.9. That doesn't mean I've worked my way through nos.1-8 already. I'm just pulling them out of storage in no particular order. More fun that way. This kit had some Disney themed papers and sticker sheets in it which had me stumped for a while. The only time I've ever been to a Disney park was in 1984 and the photos from then were scrapped a long time ago. 

One thing I've learned from following Shimelle's scrapbook videos, it is that it is possible to ignore the theme of a paper collection, in this case Echo Park's 'Magical Adventures', and adapt it for use with non-themed photos. On this page the photos are of Alan cuddling our great-niece way back in 2012. She won his heart from the first too. Her mum has reminded me of how his singing of a naughty ditty made Arihanna laugh much to my embarrassment! Happy days. 

This is what my desk is like this morning. Silver has given it the once over and approved the next kit I'll be using. This one is no.116 and I had the foresight to label it with details of the contents, Echo Park's summer themed papers purchased from Hey Little Magpie in 2022. Just before we moved house. 

I'm still struggling to sort out the garden after months of neglect but despite that the roses are in full bloom and this one is a real favourite with the bees. This is a rose I inherited with the garden and I've no idea what it's name is. It's beautiful whatever it's called. 

You've already seen a pic of Silver today so I thought this week I'd introduce you to Glasgow's Scottie Dogs. 

And finally the one with the cone, of course!

There's a total of 40 giant Scottie sculptures and 52 wee ones on this free art trail around Glasgow. The large Scotties were designed and painted by local artists, the wee ones were created by local schoolchildren. All in support of Maggie's a charity that provides support to people with cancer, their family and friends. They will be on show until 16th August and then the large ones will be auctioned off to raise funds for Maggie's. The wee ones will be returned to the schools. 

Well, I think that's enough from me today.  More than I intended but I hope you enjoyed those photos of the Scottie Dogs. 

To see more creative workdesks pop over to Sarah's blog, Sarah's Craft Shed. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk this Wednesday. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

WOYWW Week 889/109

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all well and enjoying time at your craftdesks. Thank you to everyone for all the lovely comments welcoming me back last week. They were much appreciated.

This was my desk yesterday morning after I spent some time reorganising and clearing a space for Silver to sit/snooze on while I work. She loves to pop up and see me at work but she usually plopped herself down on the pile of materials that were kept over to the left. I think she likes making herself snug under the shelf. She clearly likes sitting on paper so I've forfeited that 12x12 sheet for her own personal use. 

My desk just a few hours later. I had been working on a layout and these are all the materials and scraps leftover once it was completed. Notice there's no furry friend keeping me company after all my efforts to make her welcome. It took no time at all for me to clear up so it's now as organised and tidy again as in the first photo. 

The photo in today's layout is of my middle grandson, Joshua, and his girlfriend as she was then, now his fiancee, Annie. It's dated 2019 - seven years ago and they've hardly changed at all! Having finished the first homemade kit I pulled out another to work on. I will just keep working through these kits for now because it is fun to discover stash I'd forgotten I had. The design is based on a sketch from Shimelle's Start With a Sketch classes - from a few years back. 

The last few days have been a bit warmer and drier too, Just a few light showers to keep the grass green! We take advantage of any good days and get out into the garden to potter. Well, I potter while Silver chases around after bees. 

And there are plenty of bees to see popping in and out of the foxglove flowers. I grew them from seed but, as they are biennials, I had to be patient and wait until now to see them in bloom. 

Sadly, much has been neglected and the weeds are threatening a takeover but I can only do a little bit at a time. I'm not fretting about it. It is what it is!

Now, I know some of you are just here to see Silver so here she is.

 As you can see she was hissing at another cat who had the temerity to stray into her territory. You can see her hackles are very much up. This is the kitty that used to welcome all her furry friends into the garden of our last house! The episode passed off without fur flying and the trespasser left unharmed. 

To see more creative workdesks pop over to Sarah's blog, Sarah's Craft Shed. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk this Wednesday. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth