What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 798/18

Hello and Good Afternoon Everyone,

I'd love to say I have a great excuse for being late but it wouldn't be true. As my mother would have said, I'm like the coo's (cow's) tail, all behind! I just can't seem to get organised and it shows on my desk.

See what I mean. It's a mess. To quote a fellow desker, Lynn of One I Made Earlier, I need 'to give it all a good coat of looking at' and and then just sort it all out!!!

Maybe I should explain a little of why things have got to this abysmal stage. As well as being the designated craft room, this room became my bedroom. I had to move out of the main bedroom when Alan was becoming increasingly disabled so he had the necessary space to move around with his walker or in his wheelchair. While I slept in here, I kept it reasonably organised, crafting in one area, sleeping in the other. However, recently, after many months of dithering, swithering and generally being somewhat unwilling, I have moved back into the main bedroom. And what an upheaval it's been. Stuff has gone from one room to be stored in the other. Result the main bedroom is a haven of peace and tranquillity but the craft room is in a real muddle. I dare not show you the rest of the room - it's the very definition of chaos! I'm ashamed. 

Unlike Jan of Lunch Lady Jan's Fabric Frenzy, brave lady that she is, I won't be posting a photo of the bed! See her post here. Like she says, it's just become an extra work surface. In my case it's a dumping ground! 

So if you'd rather see more organised workdesks than mine, and why wouldn't you, do pop over to the keeper of desks, Sarah on Sarah's Craft Shed and check out the many links thereon. Better still, why don't you join in the fun and let us see what's on your workdesk too.

As there's no show without Punch, here's Silver's contribution today.

'Me, shameless, not a bit of it!'

Best wishes to you all. Have a wonderful week.

Take care Everyone,

Elizabeth 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 449

Morning Everyone,

Another Wednesday another WOYWW and, as you can see, the desk is a shocker today.

For reasons of transparency - now there's a trendy term for today - I'm sharing the messiest shot as I continue to work my way through the STUFF! Right now I'm clearing out the drawers that, up to now, I've been stashing holiday ephemera. Intended to include in scrap layouts one day. Well, I don't scrap enough layouts to justify keeping two drawers full of this stuff. I need the space. It's got to go. Or, at least, most of it has and the EM has found room in his writing desk for the teeny weeny amount of very important stuff we couldn't bear to part with entirely. It's been decisions, decisions, decisions for days. I'm exhausted!

It's not all been sort out stuff. I've managed to make a few cards - see previous two posts - and a little sewing project.

Found this little felt kit during the sort out. Sweet, isn't it. I can't remember where it came from but I suspect it was a freebie with a magazine bought eons ago. It took less than half an hour to make. Easily made whilst watching an episode of Little Women - thoroughly enjoyed the whole series.

This card was just a bit of craft therapy when I got too fed-up filling black bags. The sweet little mouse topper is recycled from a card received several years ago. I've teamed it up with scraps of leftover card. The butterfly (Dovecraft's mini die, Layering Butterfly) was cut from the centre of the green layer ... the wee mouse is now hiding where it came from. I also got to use one of the dies from a set from The Works - this one features a heart design.

This week's audio book is Simon Dawson's Pigs In Clover read by Ben Allen. I'm missing Monty Don's dulcet tones but this book is very funny and I'm thoroughly enjoying listening to it too.












Well, that's me for the week. I hope you have a wonderful WOYWW and a happy crafty week ahead.

A Shiny-Nosed Rudolph - A Snippet Card

Hello Everyone ...

... from a very rainy Ayr :(

How's it for you wherever you are? I hope it's better than what we have here.

I've been working on some scrap layouts that I'm not ready to share yet but I did use a few leftover scraps to make this wee card.

A quick and simple card - enough left over brown card to make a base measuring 4" square, some left over Kraft Kuts ledger design paper; a snippet of red card, cut to a pennant shape, and a couple of KanBan Christmas Cuties toppers. The holly, from Inkdinkado Holiday set, is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa.

I added some red glitter to Rudolph's nose as a finishing touch.

Another candidate for Di's Snippet Challenge #36  ... she's off on her jollies, so goodness knows what is going on in the playground at the moment but I'm sure that's the sound of a hammer and a saw I can hear :))

And that's almost it for the day, except it should be noted that the EM has abandoned me for the weekend. He has gone to visit his sister in Manchester and left me to my own devices ... well, he has left The Boss to keep me company. Huh! Much company she is, so far she's done nothing but snooze the day away!

But before he hit the highways, byways and motorways, DH donned his overalls and put up this display shelf in the craft space.

Brilliant! It's especially for displaying some of the lovely cards I've received over the last year or so of blogging. There's space underneath for tags I've received or created too.

Now, that really is it for me today.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Happy Crafting,

WOYWW - Week 145 - What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

Greetings WOYWWers, Followers & Everyone,

Ah, Wednesday at last! On so many levels this has got to be the best day of the week - not least because it's the day an awful lot of us drop in on each other and enjoy the vicarious pleasure of a good snoop around each others workdesks. And this is all courtesy of the lovely Julia over at Stamping Ground - click the WOYWW icon, on sidebar to the left, to join in.

I hope you are all well and that last week was a good one, wherever you are. Welcome to my newest followers, Sandee, Karen,  Yvonne and Danielle ... hope all of you will enjoy reading my blog posts for some time to come.

So, what's on my desk?

Well, no actual crafting going on but then, as many of you will probably know from this previous post, I've been up to my eyes in muck and bullets :) Oh, but what a guddle I've been in ... I've promised myself never to do that again. However, now that it is all straightened out I have to say it was all worth it ... I have a lot more space to craft in. Just a few stats for you:  the old craft room (previously the home office) measured 9' x 7', that converts to 63 sq ft in area; the new craft room measures 12' x 11' - that's 132 sq ft - more than twice the area to craft in :)  Here's a photographic tour:

This is the view to the left after entering my lovely light and airy room - just love that aqua wall :) First left is the new shelving unit, the table is where the computer used to be (it stayed in the old room). That is a doll's house - it's scheduled for refurbishment some time in the future - on the CD cabinet, then there's a couple of drawer sets before you get to the worktop and the two sets of shelves that came out of the old room.

Under the window, and near the radiator of course, is a faux window seat  from which The Boss can keep an eye on me :) Next to that are more sets of drawers.

The armchair you can see beside the ancient set of blue Liberty drawers, the EM always refers to these as the Indian cupboard ... I understand the Indian, that's where they were made, but cupboard? ... I digress ... the armchair is the EMs ... he plans to sit there and chat to me on occasion, something he couldn't do in the old craft room.

The same card I was working on last week is now on the table waiting to be completed ... sorry for the glare from the windows in the photo ... I need to experiment to get the best shots. To the right is the album for the digital scrap layouts I showed in the previous post and behind that is this month's copy of Scrapbook Magazine. Under the mag you can just catch a sneaky peak of the card for Thursday's Handy Hippo share. A paper pad, a couple of rulers, an ink pad and a box containing the embossed bits and pieces make up what I'll be working with tomorrow ... got to get that card finished at last :)

I hope you enjoyed this wee tour of the new craft space. It's still a work in progress, there's still a box of stash to put away, but the worst is done. I'm sure over time I'll discover that I haven't made the best use of all this new storage space but right now I'm just pleased that I can see the table and the worktop again and I'm looking forward to hours of lovely crafting time.

At the time of typing it's still Tuesday but I'm hoping to be up bright and early tomorrow so that I can link up and get down to visiting as many of you as possible.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very happy WOYWW and happy crafting too,

WOYWW - Week 112 - Snippet Reveal + Something for Harry Potter Fans

Good Morning All,

It's great to be back in WOYWWer land - I missed you all last week even though I was off in the Highlands having a fabulous time. In fact, this was what my desk looked like last week . . .

On the Jacobite Express and not so much as a Timmy ink pad in sight.

This is what's on my desk this morning - and if you want to see more workdesks, kitchen tables, nooks and crannies, and there are even those who use the floor to craft on :) - hop over to the Head Keeper of Desks, Julia's blog, Stamping Ground - just remember to grab a cuppa first because you could be hopping for some time!!

So, what is on my desk this morning?  Well, there's my Hougie book - I'm making my first attempt at a tri-fold shutter card, that's the blue card at the back,  which will be covered with the deer covered design paper that's lying on top of my glass cutting top - Crafty Hazel's challenge this week is to incorporate reindeer(s) in our card. The new metal edged ruler is lying on top and a few other tools of the trade are lying about. Not much to see really. However, there's more.

For some time now I've been following Jules' Sunday Snippets posts on Always With A Heart, promising myself that I would join in with the fun one day. That day has come but it did require some preparation, i.e. sorting out of the snippets. Jules revealed her giiii...normous snippet collection recently - if you haven't already seen it, pop over and prepare to be amazed!! Now, there is no way I can compete, thank goodness, but, just for the record, I'm revealing mine. There's two pizza style boxes, one for papers and the other for card - all sorts but not white - that's sorted by size and stored in the 4-drawer set that can be seen perched on top of the new IKEA drawer set here. The white plastic box is full of strips of paper and card and the stack of white card on top is purely representational - there's more, a lot more.

Almost hidden from view, at the back, is the first snippet card made since I sorted that lot out :) I'll be doing a separate post on it later.

And, as promised, for all the Harry Potter fans out there here's a photo taken on the Hogwart's Express as it crossed the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Just one of the many photos taken on this fantastic train journey. We took so many that it is proving a difficult choice for a post, but I will narrow it down somehow and do a post later.

Now, I'm off to hang the washing out - too good a day to miss - and then I'll potter/wander round the garden, camera at the ready, and enjoy the sunshine for a wee while. After which, I'll arm myself with the proverbial cuppa and try to visit as many of you as possible.

I hope you will all have a wonderful week, wherever you are. For those of you who are not feeling so good for whatever reason, I hope that things improve so that you can enjoy some crafting the week away :)

Finally, I'd like to extend my sympathies to the people of Norway after the shooting that took place earlier this week. So many young people lost, so many families and friends affected - may you find the strength to get through this terrible thing that has happened to you.

WOYWW 110

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Never mind the week, where has the morning gone! It was the hairdresser's today and I've been rather busy over the last week. Apart from a trip out to see the Red Arrows do their thing and the Tall Ships set sail from Greenock - if you haven't seen the photos see my previous post here - and another trip to Dunaskin Heritage Centre, photos yet to be posted, yet another corner of the craft space has been made over and that took the better part of a week to complete. Which is why there is not much to see on my workdesk today - a few bits and pieces and a print of Jo's, better known as Twiglet, fabulous Postcard from Wales collage which arrived this morning.  Anyone interested in seeing other folks' workdesks should visit Julia, Headkeeper of Workdesks, at Stamping Ground, and follow the links - but be prepared, it could take some time! What follows is, for anyone interested, the makeover:

This is the old, well worn, falling to bits computer desk. As you can see it was compact. Everything was tucked under it - originally it had doors at the front which was fine when it occupied a corner of the lounge. However, it really took up quite a lot of space when the doors were open so they had to go for it to fit into this wee room, which only measures about 7.5' x 8.5'. As you can see there's a lot of stuff packed into that corner, computer and all it's component parts, laser printer and several reams of paper - and that's just the desk. On and under the shelf on the right hand side is a TV & DVD player (to watch crafting DVDs/videos only!) and the colour printer, underneath is a drawer set that not only holds all sorts of lovely crafty stash but had yet more paper, etc., on top. It all felt a bit of a muddle and there was just no room to stretch my legs under that desk - it had to go.

And go it did! All that lovely space to fill - but only after the EM did his handyman thing and fill a few holes, etc. And here's what we filled it with.

Not a desk, but a really sturdy table which gives me more usable worktop to play with and plenty of leg room underneath. The really useful plastic drawer set is tucked underneath it, and the TV is still in the corner when needed, but I have moved the computer screen off centre so I can see the birds at the feeder outside and the hard drive is on top of the desk - easier to see what I'm doing there too. When not in use the keyboard, etc., sits on top of the hard drive leaving space to work on. I've even got a dedicated Cuttlebug Corner.

And, here is the first sight of the set of drawers recently purchased on a trip to IKEA - now just in front of the Cuttlebug corner.

Ta Dah!!! All filled up and labelled with contents. The colour printer has been re-sited on the top of the long worktop next to the window.

And this is a view of my usual perch.

Makeover complete. And I'm really chuffed with the result - it now looks a whole lot less like an office and much more like a craftroom and, a real benefit, I can stretch my legs whilst blogging. And, best of all, was what it all cost, £19.99 for the drawer set and, bargain of the week, the table was only £7.49 from our local Age Concern shop - total £27.48! How good is that? : )

Unfortunately, I only managed one scrap layout this last week and was beginning to get withdrawal symptoms so, now that the makeover is done, I should be able to get on with some serious crafting. Besides, once more I need to catch up on making Christmas cards - I'm behind again :(  But first, I'm off to visit as many of you good folks as I can - I actually did rather better last week despite the disruption so, hopefully, I'll do better again this week.

In the meantime, I wish you all well and a very happy and productive week ahead.

WOYWW 94 - Nothing Doing Yet

Good Morning all you WOYWWers, Followers and Droppers-In

What's going on is not much. The desk is cleared - well, almost, there is only a wee tub of cut-n-dry waiting to be washed -  and ready for action. I had a clear up after the tag making section yesterday - see the tag here in last night's post. So that's the workspace - a place for everything and everything in it's place : ) Earlier this week, well Sunday actually, I had another re-organisation because the way things were was not working for me. I know, this must be about the fifth time but, it's like this, you purchase some goodies and you  find a home for them, then some more, and then some more and over time it all gets muddled up and then everything looks a 'guddle' (a good old-fashioned word for mess). That's where I was on Sunday - in a right old mess. So I re-organised. Most of the cardstock and all of the DP is now stacked on the shelf above the desk, next to the two boxes of ribbons and lace, adhesive and embroidery floss box.  The Cuttlebug is down on the right of the work area where she should be - my right hand girl  - and next to her is her box of folders, etc.

As it is all so boringly clean I thought I'd reveal another one of my drawers:

The basket is full of embossing powders and a few jars of flower soft (not used yet - something else to experiment with). Tucked down the side is my Making Memories thingy for hole punching and attaching eyelets - there's a box of those there too - and a geometry set which comes in handy occasionally. The rest you can see, Big & Juicies, stamp blocks, cut-n-dry and a purple sponge board - handy for punching holes without ruining the work surface.

Julia tells us there was a record number of WOYWWers participating last week so it will come as no surprise to you that I didn't make it round you all. I did my best but I would have to have been velcroed to this seat for the entire week to succeed and my arthritic joints would not have taken it. This is my long-winded way of apologising to those of you I did not send a comment - I may have looked but not written when time was really at a premium! So if you found it difficult to get to me then no worries - WOYWW is for fun and it is not crucial to drop in every week, it's just a bonus when you do :)

And if you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, please pop over to the Head Desk Keeper, Julia at Stamping Ground by clicking on the WOYWW link at the side and happy desk hopping.

Finally, it's a lovely day here, so the EM has suggested a trip out to the new Burns Heritage Centre here in Ayr - another photo opportunity methinks. So see you all later and happy crafting.

WOYWW - Week 91

Good WOYWW morning everyone,

It's a beautiful morning here in sunny South Ayrshire, the birds are tweeting and my garden is basking in early morning sunshine so I'm planning a trip out somewhere just for the pleasure of it. March already, where's the weeks going!!

If you are wondering what WOYWW is about click the link on the left, this will take you through to the Queen of Workdesks, Julia's site, The Stamping Ground. Go on, live vicariously, enjoy snooping through the workdesks of the world!

So what's on my desk this morning - well, a lot. After I'd completed yesterday's project, see it here,  I decided to take stock and look at the partially completed projects that were pushed to the side. So here they all are and hopefully later today, after my jaunt, I'll finish at least a couple - how difficult can that be after all? All I have to do is 'just do it' surely!!!

So from the left there's this week's Christmas Card, can't forget my one and only New Year's resolution! Beside that is my first experiment with TH's alcohol inks - not so good but I'll stamp it with the car stamp and a sentiment and see how it looks then. Under the ink pad is another first - a brayered scene which still needs leaves and flowers stamped. The reason it's still unfinished is that I wasn't too happy with it at this stage so it's lingered unloved till today.

Just behind the stamps are a couple of experiments - yes, more experiments : ) I've been following Debbi of The Crafty Cuttings of Wiccababe fame's blog and she has been showing us alternative ways of using Promarkers. This one involves recycling the clear plastic packaging that comes with embossing folders, etc, Promarkers and embossing inks. All I have to do with the couple I have here is emboss them with the Cuttlebug and make cards with them. To the left of them and in front of the chook cupboard is a tray with TH's inks and a water coloured stamp on an easel - it's there because I'm not sure I want to part with it in the form of a card - it's so cute I might have to keep it for myself. Finally, the yellow carton - I've saved it because it's a great shape so I'm going to make a template from the base and the lid. I had a bigger purge of the worktop at the weekend and got rid of the clutter that was in the left hand corner, making room at last for my guillotine so now it is handily out, ready and waiting for any time I need it.

I won't go over the clutter that's around it - suffice to say it's all useful stuff - really it is!!

That's it for today and time for my first cup of tea of the day - I've earned it : ) I wish you all a lovely day and a great week and I'll be popping round to as many of you as I can over the next few days. Many thanks to those who visited over the last week and I apologise if I didn't manage to return the visit. Hopefully, I'll do better this week.

Happy crafting,

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 87

Good Morning to you all,

It's still morning, but only just. I'm late to the party this week, my only excuse being that I've had rather a lot to do on the domestic front keeping me back from my craft space. If you are saying 'what party' pop over to Stampin Ground where our delightful hostess, Julia, displays the guest list. From there you will be able to blog hop your way around the crafty desks of fellow WOYWWers - you'll enjoy the experience and might even be tempted to join in :)

Firstly, taking due notice of Ciara's comment about the dismal quality of my photo last week, I tried taking the photographs with the Logitech camera I use for taking piccies of cards and they were terrible, so it was back to my little digital camera again. These photos were taken with the overhead light on and the blind pulled right up in an attempt to get as much light as possible - these are the conditions I have to work in. However, it is dull and rainy outside which does not help.

So what's actually on my desk then. There's the current project which is based on a 'One Sheet Wonder for 10 Cards' demo I saw recently on YouTube. You can see three of the the completed cards just in front of the chicken cupboard. To the front is some of the freebie magazine papers with my favourite glue tape on top that I'm using for this experiment together with the next card I'm working on. (Recently Wilkinson opened a branch here in Ayr and it has a craft section stocking these glue tapes which is terrific - I can just pop down whenever I need to stock up instead of waiting weeks for the postman to deliver.) To the right is the instruction sheet for the project and to the left are the remaining 6 cards waiting to be put together.

On the easel to the right of the chicken cupboard is Funny Sunflower - a new digi stamp from The Paper Shelter - coloured with Promarkers. I think she is so cute and reminds me of 'Weed' and the 'Flowerpot Men' - aah, takes me back a few hundred years!

There's numerous other items littered around, all being used for projects, a pot of gesso, a tube of white acrylic paint, dimensional squares, a greeting stamp with 'Thank You' on it, cream card embossed with the polka dots I love so much and a wee pile of oval shaped stamped greetings and matting ready to stick on the cards.

And especially for RosC in Australia here is a peek inside the 'chook' cupboard:

This wee cupboard started off life as egg storage in the kitchen but when my Estate Manager (aka DH) deemed it redundant I had to save it and find another use for it. I have to thank you Ros because when your comment popped up it made me look inside and it was full all sorts of bits and pieces but wasn't really serving a useful purpose. Now, as you can see, I've re-purposed it as storage for some of my ink pads - all neat and tidy and I can see what colours are there - and I'm really chuffed with it :)

I will be posting more about the 'One Sheet Wonder' project later in the week and will give full details of where I saw the demo and where I got the instruction sheet for those of you who are interested. And I'm certain the 'Weed' will also be featured at a later date.

Finally, have you noticed my new signature - I got it from the lovely Lynne at Sentiments for you - isn't it brill :)

Now. late as I am, I'm off to take a peek at your workrooms.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 85

Good Morning All,

Yippee, it's getting lighter earlier in the morning - I noticed this morning when I was taking snaps of my workspace that there was daylight outside and it was still only 8.15am! Two photographs for you this morning - I'm feeling generous : )

So far it's not been a very productive week but last night I started on the second of Barbara Grey's (Clarity Stamp) tutorials using this lovely Wild Poppies stamp. Needless to say, I was not happy with my first attempt so I'm ready to have another shot at it today - I've got a second piece of design paper prepared. It looked a simple enough exercise but there is more to this stamping lark than meets the eye : (

I did not have all the required materials but, as usual, I improvised! The main missing ingredients in this picture is the design paper from K & Co and Adirondack ink pad in Red Pepper so I've substituted the paper with Basic Grey Ambrosia, it's similar looking, and the Cranberry ink pad. Oh, and I had to substitute the sentiment stamp as I don't have the particular Clarity stamp for that either. I'm getting good at substituting and I think that the Sheena Douglass sentiment, Optimism is A Breath of Fresh Air, is just as appropriate.

And this is a rare glimpse of my paper stash. Most of it is stored by colour rather than make but I there are a couple of exceptions. Christmas themed papers are kept in a separate plastic 12 x 12 folder, as is fancy card, i.e. glittery, mirror, etc. There is also a Papermania folder up there with Henbury Lane Poinsettia and another holding black, white and Kraft coloured 12 x 12 card - I like to keep these basic colours together, and there is another holding just the Swiss Dot 12 x 12 card for the same reason. The rest of the boxes are filled with coloured cardstock, off-cuts and scraps, stickers and templates and masks. All very tidy and accessible.


So what else can you see? The Quality Street box, just visible on top, is empty of chocolates (sigh) but now holds fabric - fat quarters for card making. To the very right is my collection of scrapbooking and cardmaking books and below the shelf you can just see the boxes into which I have sorted the recycled bits from Christmas cards.

Now, if you have got this far and are wondering what this is all about, then I suggest you pop over the our noble leader, Julia Dunnit's blog Stampin Ground where you will discover a world of workspaces, desks, cubbie holes, and so much more of some incredibly talented crafters and, if you have not already 'dunnit' you can join in too : )

Now I'm off to take a look at what you are all doing today.

Bye for now
Elizabeth