What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 601

 Afternoon Everyone,

Another Wednesday and another chance to pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground to check out What's On Your Workdesks. I'm expecting to read lots of lovely reports on Saturday's celebration Zoom Crop which I was devastated to miss. I just don't have the technology. Yet! I'm working on it. Maybe by the next one I'll be all up and running. In the meantime, here's what's on my desk today.

It's a bit messy but I've just completed one page and am now working on another for the Scrap Squad's 12 Days of Christmas Challenge on Facebook. The Christmas tree shape is made up of hundreds of 1" squares of patterned paper. I exaggerate, of course. It's actually 45 squares. There is, I'm sure, several ways of cutting our so many squares - some more a fiddle than others but, thankfully, I just happened to have a square punch that was the perfect size. Sticking with my intention to use as much old stash as possible this month I've used papers kits that came free with the now sadly defunct Scrapbook Magazine. That makes them very old indeed but they are still too pretty to toss. There's a little selection of photos to the left. They're there because I can't decide which to scrap. I will. Eventually. 

I've not managed much in the way of crafting since last week - a few cards, scroll down to the previous post for a wee look-see, and this couple of layouts.

The title and some of the starry embellishments have been in my possession since I started scrapping some 24 years ago. I've been trying to find the perfect reason to use the title in particular and this photo is it. Putting up the bunting - beautifully made by our very own LLJ a few years ago - has become very much a Christmas tradition for the EM. 

Now for a very rare enabling spot from me.

Sequins are in, especially for scrapbooking, at the moment so I thought this punch would be very useful - for cardmaking too. The punched shapes are larger than the average sequin - just short of 2" wide. 

I tried these two different cardstocks - shiny gold and black glitter - and found the shiny card gave the best results. I did buy the black glitter especially just for this purpose thinking it would be perfect, but not so. 

And finally, the book bit, back by no special request. 

'Quite' by Claudia Winkleman is an entertaining read with more than a few laugh out loud moments. This is a memoir with a difference. It's more a sharing of Claudia's observations on topics that mean much to her, e.g. the wearing of black, melted cheese, and the importance of naps. The chapter on the NHS, and nurses in particular, is very moving. Even if you are not a total fan, I'd recommend this book - it's a bit of fun, and right now we need fun. 

And that's it from me this week. I hope you are having a brilliant WOYWW and the coming week is a good one. 

Post Christmas Catch-Up

Hello Everyone

And Happy New Year to you all.

My Christmas break stretched a few more days than planned but I was feeling, as many of us do at this time of the year, in the need of a bit more down time. We've tried to take advantage of any dry day - and if the sun was out, even better - by going for walks to enjoy some fresh, bracing even, air. Otherwise it can be too easy to just curl up on the sofa with one of the new books Santa left under the tree or, more likely, another Christmas film on TV. All very enjoyable.

However, I've not been slacking off completely. This blog needed a new header - the Christmas header with it's image of a sleigh, reindeer and the big man in the red suit no longer seemed right. After all, he'd done his job and was presumably back in the North Pole enjoying a well earned rest.

Instead, I wanted to welcome in the new year and the hotly debated new decade - I leave it to the pedantic among us to wait another year. As for me, it's a new decade, and hopefully better than the one just gone.

Supplies used: patterned paper,  'Christmas Cheer' from Heidi Swap's Winter Wonderland collection; 'Scenic Winter' border die set; scraps of white cardstock; American Crafts foam thickers 'Comfort'.

I use Serif Craft Artist to create the header these days since I gave up on MS Publisher when my old computer had to be replaced a few months ago. Buying the MS Office products would have been very expensive so it wasn't too difficult to decide to do without, after a great many years using it. I've been retired for ten years so just had to question why I still thought I needed it. Especially as I already had the Serif disc here. It does the job just fine. I'm happy.

Once the header was created and uploaded I was left with the panel. Usually, I'd make a card with it but, as it has the year 2020 on it, that wouldn't have been useful at all - 2021, yes, but not 2020!

So, I incorporated it into this layout featuring the first selfy the EM took of us just after midnight on the first day of the year. This page used up a lot of scraps of patterned paper - most from what was left from the December kit from Mind The Scrap. Loved the non-traditional combination of patterns and colours in this kit. The house and the robin were made from scraps of card and dies from two sets, 'Have a Holly Jolly Christmas' (Cardmaking & Papercraft, Issue 202) and 'Card Making Magic' (Simply Cards & Papercraft, Issue 197). The letters used to create the word 'hello' are AC 'Picnic' gold foil stickers.

I still have quite a few photographs from December to scrap yet, and I see that it's the first day of the Christmas Card Club again today, so Christmas isn't quite over for me yet. But that's okay. I love Christmas and it's so sad to see the trees and decorations coming down ... a job the EM couldn't wait to get started on. Sigh. Am I the only one to feel like this? Surely not.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, have a lovely Sunday. Take care.

Sunday Snippets - Oh Christmas Tree

Afternoon Everyone,

I hope you are all having a good day today. It's not been bad here - cold but bright - for a change. I have been busy making this scrapbook page showing our Christmas tree in all it's glory.

It's an artificial tree that comes out year after year to deck the living-room.  I've finally been able to use the huge die-cut tree from Pretty My Page - I only bought it last year so not bad going for me. Some of the embellishments are very much older, e.g. I've had the tree trim along the bottom edge for more than 20 years! Ditto the peppermint candy circles.

We have another, much smaller, tree in the hall, It's also artificial and even older than the one in pictured. There's also a couple of live trees in the garden. One is pot-grown and spends most of the year tucked away out of sight in the back garden but, at this time of the year, gets all decked up and takes pride of place by the front doorstep.

Last Christmas it did start life here at Casa Worthington covered with a generous dusting of fake snow. Now, one year later, our Scottish weather and a year's growth, there's no trace of the snow so we've decked it out with red baubles.

Now that the need for Christmas cards has eased, I've been finding more time to make scrapbook pages, like the one above, for my Christmas album. This is good - it's enjoyable, stress-busting and the memories are being preserved for years to come - what's not to like? Well, it's this. All this scrapping is creating ... scraps! Lots of them. I'm looking at the growing pile as I type. So, I've used up some in this tag.

I know it's only one little tag, but every little bit helps. A blue label from my local stationery shop, scraps of paper (Simple Stories 'Winter Wonderland' collection), a die-cut greeting (Tonic) and holly leaves (Tattered Lace), some ribbon, twine and red dew drops and I have a pretty label to put on a package.

I'm submitting the tag to Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #367

And that's me done for today. Though, I may just spend a little time to make another tag or two to use up a few more of those pesky snippets.

Take care and have a very good evening.

WOYWW - Week 547

Hi Everyone,

I'm late. I couldn't be later. To blame - it's the EM doing his Christmas shopping ... again! Why it has to be done on the same day as What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday is a mystery, but it does so here, at last, is what's on my desk.

There's a lot going on.

I have a new Mind The Scrap kit to play with and it strikes me that that 'Road Trip' paper is ideal to use with the photos of our first trip round the Highlands of Scotland. That was way back in 1995 - a lifetime ago.

I'm also debating with myself on whether to keep a record of Christmas in the small album I found in my stash. It's the ideal size. I've tried 12x12" Project Life style in previous years and always stalled but I did rather better in 2015 with the smaller size. It's full and almost finished!

And that's the reason for the two stamp sets that are out. They are new, of course. The Heidi Swapp alphabet, it came with the MTS kit, has both large and small letters - very useful. The Elle's Studio set - found at Hey Little Magpie - contains lots of Christmas related words, phrases and icons that are just right for using in the album. Especially, as I do not intend buying a Christmas collection this year but will use up what I have in my stash already. I suspect I have enough tucked away to last more than a few Christmases too.

And for the record, here's the layout that can be seen in it's part done state on last week's desk.

It wasn't until I came to file this page away yesterday that I discovered I'd already scrapped the photo - i.e. a blown up version - of Tuppence before. Forgetful or what!?!? The decorative trims top and bottom came from a page kit bought in America in 1996 - 23 years ago! They still looked as good as new too.

And now the book bit. This week it's 'The Break' by Marian Keyes.

There's not a lot I can say about this apart from it was disappointing. I downloaded the audio-book after seeing the author discussing her writing on The Big Scottish Book Club on BBC Scotland. She was entertaining but the book was rather less so.  It's the story of a relationship that was thought to be forever but hits trouble as the couple become middle-age, and one, the husband, decides to take a break and go backpacking around the world for six months leaving his wife to care for their blended, teenage, family. Sadly, I found the characters very difficult to like. It's also a very long read.

Okay, that's it from me this week. I'm off now to see what Julia and our fellow deskers have been showing us today.

Take care everyone and have a great week ahead.