What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 457

Afternoon Deskers,

Here I am back for another WOYWW after last week's absence. No reason for missing a week except that there really wasn't a great deal happening on my desk. Last week was, in fact, a bit of a write-off craftwise ... I blame the cold. It was freezing with below zero temperatures for much of the time, though we certainly didn't have anything like as much snow as many of you I'm sure. Not that I've been completely idle - it's just that I've been busy doing other stuff. However, here is a desk shot of sorts.

Not my usual workdesk but the worktop to the left of it. Usually this is my die-cutting station but, as the jigsaw is still on the desk, the machines have been temporarily relocated in the spare room and I'm using the worktop for the making of scrap layout kits. After sorting through my stash of pretty patterned papers and cardstock it is now sorted into coordinated/matching sets which are stored in plastic bags. Now I'm working on the next stage in the process which is to match up the kits with embellishments and alphabets. The pile to the right are the sets waiting for embellishments, etc., and the box that can just be seen on the left contains sticker sheets and alpha sets. That's my collection of enamel dots hanging above and just below that is a pile of index cards - useful for including notes in a kit if it occurs to me that there is just the right photo somewhere.

And talking about photos.

As mentioned earlier, I haven't been completely idle. I spent quite a few happy hours sorting through photos ending with three more albums filled. Each of the 12 album holds 200 photos - 2,400 in total - and I've only reached year 2005! There's an order for three more albums on the way.

Here's another job done.

I have quite a collection of recipes that my late mother saved. Some are cut from newspapers or labels from cans of food, others she has written out by hand onto index cards, post-it notes or scraps of notepaper. I've now collated them and put them in this recipe journal to be passed on to my grandson, the one that is a chef. Goodness knows what he will make of some of the recipes which date back to the 1940s when food was on ration!

There's been quite a few more hospital visits and clinic appointments for both the EM and for myself - mine much more routine than his but still requiring a lot of sitting around, waiting. And that means I've got through quite a lot of audio books - too many to share here so I've picked out two I particularly enjoyed.

I know! Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden is a children's book. But I've decided to take a trip down memory lane by listening to as many of the books I can remember from my childhood. This one is the first and I absolutely loved it. The story of the orphan, Mary, and her spoiled little cousin, Colin, and their discovery of the secret garden was even better than I remembered.

This is the book I'm listening to right now - At Home: A Short History of Private Life read by Bill Bryson himself.  In the book he 'covers topics of the commerce, architecture, technology and geography that have shaped homes into what they are today, told through a series of "tours" through Bryson's Norfolk rectory that quickly digress into the history of each particular room.' Absolutely fascinating!



That's all from me today. I'm off to make a cuppa and a bit of lunch before settling down to check out what's on everyone's desks this week.

Have a lovely WOYWW and a wonderful week ahead.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 415

Hi Everyone,

Where has the week gone??? ... I swear I missed several days this week because Wednesday has come round sooner than anticipated! Many thanks to everyone who wished my husband well. He's a lot better today, though still requiring a lot of TLC. Of course, it will be some time before he's completely recovered from his wee op. And providing a lot of that TLC is why I'm so late joining in with Julia's WOYWW over at the Stamping Ground today. I expect I'm the last this week but here's the mess that was my desk this morning.

I did find time to take a photo early this morning but then had to abandon all hope of posting until now. What you see is the remnants of a quick card made for my brother whose birthday is on Saturday. There's also a pile of print-outs of Studio Calico printable labels ... as I don't have any matching dies that will be a cutting out job to do whilst watching TV.

The photo sort out continues. This is three filled albums and I'm part way through filling no. 4. I've just reached the year 2000 so I've still a fair way to go before I can say my job here is done!

Here's the card I made for my brother - he doesn't read my blog so no worries about him seeing it before he receives it. This is another stamp from the Darkroom Door Bright Blossoms Vol 1 stamp set I've been using recently. You can scroll down to see the one I made earlier in the week or click this link here. I used Adirondak Earthtones Stonewashed ink for the stamping. The topper was made from scraps, cut using rectangle dies (made in China but no maker's name and I can't remember how I came by them) and the stars were also die-cut, using the two smallest dies in Docrafts XCut Star set. It's a simple card but it's all I had time for so will have to do - hopefully he will like it.

That's it from me today. I hope you've had a great WOYWW and have a wonderful week ahead.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 414

Good Morning Everyone,

Another Wednesday and another day to clock on at The Stamping Ground sharing with Julia, our Head Desker, what's on my desk this morning.

The clean up operation is still ongoing so still not a lot of crafting to share. As you can see I've been cutting up a stamp set, Darkroom Door's Bright Blossoms Vol 1 - not an easy job when, as I do, you have problems with your hands. Still, it's done now so I can ink them up later, test them out and maybe even create something. There's a pile of photo albums, each one for a different category of pics. The top one is for general ones, the red one in the middle is for all those photos taken during my sojourn in Massachusetts 1995/96, and the last one contains just a fraction of the last 22 years - since himself and I met. The best years. It's not going to be big enough, of course - I haven't even got to 1997 and it's almost full! There's another six albums out of sight and that's only photo albums, there's a whole bunch of scrapbook albums stacked on a shelf in the dining room. The digital camera has a lot to answer for! Under the pile of albums is another homemade scrap kit waiting to be made up. I did manage to complete the one that was on my desk last week - it's here if you are curious. The stuff at the back is much the same as last week apart from the addition of a box of punches which, because it seems vital, has found a wee corner to stay in - for the time being anyway.

So that's my desk today. Not particularly riveting, but then is it ever? What's going on in my garden now is far more interesting. Here's a photo that fills me with pleasure - hope you like it too.

Apple blossom. Promise of sweet delights to come.

Have a wonderful WOYWW and a great week to come.