What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 825

Hello Everyone

It's been quite a while since my last post. Too long really. I don't want to bore you for too long with the explanation but I think one is due. It's that I've been chronically unwell from fighting a recurring infection, since the end of 2024, that just wouldn't respond to the various antibiotics prescribed. It didn't help that I'm allergic to penicillin and react badly to most other antibiotics. Finally, just after Christmas, when I was beginning to think I was going to have to go into hospital, an alternative medication was suggested. Since then my health has been slowly improving. In fact, I was planning to start posting again when, just three weeks ago, I had a fall and am now nursing a couple of cracked ribs. Crossing a road would you believe! My first time out in weeks too. Anyway, I'm on the mend again and ready to get going once more. 

Needless to say, I've not been scrapping much at all recently. I think I've only finished two pages in all the time I've been "off". This one is entitled 'Life in Pictures', one photo being of an organising job I was in the process of doing way back last August and the other of a mood board of my ideal home I'd optimistically put together. It's a dream but a very nice one. 

Here's a few shots taken on that fateful walk. Before the fall, of course.

The first three shots were taken of the South Shore in Ardrossan. It was a cold, grey day, but the view out over the Clyde Estuary and over to Arran was as beautiful as ever. The last shot is of the daffodils blooming in The Plantation, a one time wooded area just down the road from my home. The way they have been planted in great swathes always makes me think of Wordsworth's "host of golden daffodils". I like to think that's what the gardeners were trying to achieve. 

Of course, I just have to add this shot of Silver.

She's always determined to provide quality control on whatever job I'm working on. In the photo it's a plan for the garden. More of that in a future post. 

And finally, do pop over to Sarah's Craft Shed to visit the many other WOYWWer's desks. You could even join in and show us yours. 

In the meantime, thanks for reading this far and I wish you all a very good week. 

Take care everyone

Elizabeth

Creative Blog Hop

Good Morning Everyone

I've been invited by a good friend of mine, many will already know Di, to participate in the The Creative Blog Hop. I have to admit that until Di contacted me I hadn't heard of this blog hop but was intrigued enough to do a bit of research only to find that whoever was the originator appears to be lost in the annals of time. What I did discover, however, is that this continuous weekly hop, scheduled for Mondays, is enabling a host of talented and inspiring folk to reveal the whys and wherefores behind their blogs, and very interesting reading it is too :)  After finding all that out, I agreed, thinking it might be fun for you to learn some things about me, as well as get to know a few new bloggers too!

So, make a cup of your favourite brew, switch of the phone, sit back and take a moment or sixty to read this post.

My Tagger

I had the good fortune to 'meet' Di, Pixie's Crafty Workshop, a few years ago now, through the snippet challenge, which at the time was hosted by lovely Jules, now hosted by Di herself, and we quickly struck up a long distance friendship. She is a very talented card maker, with a marked penchant for pink :), who has been blogging since 2010. In 2012, I got to meet up with Di (along with Jan and Julia) for real and to my delight I found she is every bit as friendly and lovely in person. We remain firm friends and I am so pleased to be tagged by her.

My Interview
Oh dear, I have to interview myself and answer four simple questions. Easy, you'd think!  Well, maybe not! I have to admit I got a little nervous over the questions ... after all I really don't think of myself as an artist and I'm not sure I even have a genre. Instead of being allowed to take art class at school, I was sidelined into the 'art appreciation' class - no talent required!!!

some of my early crochet work still
in use today

I've been crafting since I was a tot, only I didn't think of it as crafting, still didn't think of it as that until recently. I come from a knitting dynasty. My great-grandmother, grandmother and mother were all knitting machinists who were also expert handknitters. At 4 years old I was taught to handknit by my grandmother, making tiny clothes for my dolls. At 7, I was taught at school to embroider, an aunt taught me to crochet at the age of 9 - I crocheted the doilies on the left more than 45 years ago -  and I think I may have learned sewing by simply watching my very talented mother make clothes for the family because not long after my son was born I began sewing little outfits for him.

my son and daughter wearing
machine-knit sweaters

When the children were young I worked from home as a machine knitter. A friend and I formed a partnership designing and producing bespoke knitwear. Unfortunately, I developed arthritis which made knitting difficult and I was advised to stop for a while ... it's now more than 20 years since I did any knitting! 

scrapbook Albums

However, I like to learn new crafts and will try just about any technique that appeals. As a keen family historian I was delighted to discover scrapbooking 18 years ago when on a study year over in the USA ... at last, a fun way of preserving personal and family history.

one of my first scrap layouts!!!

And what a revelation this form of scrap book was to me ... nothing like the ones I remembered keeping as a child, when it was my delight to collect pretty scraps rather like those in this illustration.

sample of an old scrap book
like the one I kept as a child

We didn't keep photographs in albums ... not that there was a lot of photographs to keep. My father had a Box Brownie camera but photography was an expensive hobby then and the few photos that we did have were kept in a box, not an album.

my first stamps and first card blogged

At the same time as I discovered cardstock and pretty patterned paper for scrapping, I discovered stamps. In a shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I bought three wood-mounted stamps and one black ink pad ... I treasure them still. Of course, I had absolutely no idea what to do with them but that purchase, together with the leftover scraps of paper and card, inevitably led to cardmaking.

More recently, I've taken up crochet again, and even more recently, with the acquisition of a lovely new sewing machine, I'm in the process of reviving my sewing skills.

I began this blog almost 4 years ago, initially to give me a place to record my craft projects but now it includes other interests ... family history, trips out to beautiful spots, holidays, visits to open gardens, my garden flowers, and even recipes for favourite dishes. When I’m not in my craft room, I can be found, weather permitting, in my garden tending my roses.

1. What am I working on now?

Oh dear, the short answer is LOTS! I always seem to have several projects on the go at any one time. For example, this is what's on my desk today:

I recently enrolled for two online classes; one a video based scrapbooking class, Return to the Collection run by Shimelle Laine. I've gone through my stash of papers and put together my own kit for the class. This part-finished layout is based on ideas from the second video. I should say that I am the slowest scrapper on the planet. However, with a photograph collection like this:

three drawers packed with photos

I'm always on the lookout for ways that will speed up how I deal with all the photos and information I have gathered whilst reseaching the family history. Recently, I've been trying out the Project Life system in the hope that it will help me get it all in order quicker.

The other class is Watercolor for Cardmakers. Again, my progress is slow but I'm thoroughly enjoying experimenting with techniques for using watercolours :)  Other techniques that have been keeping me busy recently are Gelli plate printing and Creative Palette printing. These are similar but different.

It's all in the quest to create beautiful and/or interesting backgrounds for the stamping and stenciling I like to do. Until recently I was able to create backgrounds by sponging inks on to card but the RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) I've developed from years of banging away at keyboards has become an increasing problem so I'm trying out these new methods - so far, so good :)

As well as making cards, I make tags and even ATCs, and sometimes I even alter items too - like the large letter 'E' here.

Now that I've revived the skill, I always have a crochet project on the go. Currently I'm working on a throw I've designed myself in the colours of my grandson's favourite football team, Celtic :)








2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?

I'm not sure that I can claim that my work fits into a particular genre. I have eclectic tastes and I think this is reflected in my work. I find inspiration everywhere; books, magazines, YouTube demonstrations, Pinterest, the many other very talented and inspirational artists who are also bloggers ... the sources are endless. 

3. Why do I create what I do?
Because if I didn't, I'd die of boredom ... it's as simple as that! I need to be doing something, preferably creative. Before retiring I was a workaholic ... I loved my job and being freelance I tended to work long hours just because I could and I was in no hurry to retire. However, ill health forced retirement ... time to find new challenges. Creating projects that are beautiful is now part of who I am ... it's my way of  expressing myself.

4. How does my creative process work?
Well, I wish I knew. I don't sit down with more than a vague idea of what I'm going to create but whatever it is, it will usually begin with a stamp, a paper, a background, some pretty fabric or yarn. Of course, there are the deadlines, such as birthdays, anniversaries, and so on, that can fairly concentrate the mind and sometimes I'll create something for one of the challenges I participate in but more often than not I just make something to please myself.

Phew! I'm sure after all that, you'll be delighted to know, that's me done! :)

What happens next:
It is my absolute pleasure to introduce you to the three fantastic bloggers, two of which I've tagged, and the third I so wanted to tag but someone had beaten me to it. The first two of these wonderful artists will continue the hop next Monday, August 25th. Please make a note to return to their blogs and follow the hop next week!

In no particular order we have:

Charlotte of The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady: I chose Charlotte because her patchwork and quilting is beautiful and I find her blog, which she has been writing since early 2009, is highly entertaining ... especially when she is regaling us with tales of domesticity and her proposed new home :)

This is what Charlotte wrote:

My name is Charlotte and I'm a quilter.  For other quilters that probably says it all:  I'm addicted to fabric, colour and texture; I love thread in all its glorious weights and I have far too many projects on the go.  I make quilts that double as art pieces, they hang on the wall and beg to be touched and I make more traditional quilts that go on the bed or couch and are perfect for snuggling.  I design, make, write and teach and it's my dream to do it all for a living one day!  Somewhere in amongst the fabric is my family.  We live in rural New Zealand and our current exciting project is the renovation of an old Navy minesweeper boat - shortly it will become our home!

Cindy of Plant's List. I chose Cindy because she creates the most fantastic and varied artwork using a variety of techniques including altered art and mixed media. She also has a great sense of humour which shines out from her blog.

Here's what Cindy wrote about herself:

My name is Cindy (well that is a joke in itself because that is actually what I wrote in the box when I set my blog up many years ago. But it amuses some people so I have left it.)

I live in West London with my husband and son (now 20) and I also have a daughter who has left home (23) – I see her now more than when she was living here!!

I have had a few different jobs but the one I really loved was when I worked for the University of London at The Hammersmith as the Personnel and Training Officer. This century(!) I have been working as a Library Officer in Ealing and you will not be surprised to learn that I get to do lots of crafty stuff with the kids. In between somewhere I trained as a garden designer and ran my own company for several years, building (with help!) and planting (with rather less help - that’s why I know have a bad back!!) many beautiful gardens. Whether its mud and grass or paper and paint there’s nothing quite like looking at something you’ve created and thinking ‘ I did that!!’.

I have always been arty/crafty and I am a terror for looking at something and thinking – I wonder how that is done. The trouble is it makes me an awful dilettante because something else catches my eye and then I’m off in another direction and never really master anything. I initially got involved online when looking for people to swap cards with – I discovered an amazing online crafting community and was completely hooked. In addition to cards I have dabbled with ATCs, Altered Art, Mixed Media, patchwork and mosaic. I work in all different types of styles and I'll try my hand at pretty much anything. I’m still too scared to use the soldering iron though!

I did open an etsy shop last year with a few bits which sold immediately and haven’t had time to do much else since - something I really regret as I would have liked to see if that worked out long term. There are so many things I would like to try and never enough time. I would love to run a craft club or even offer kids activities professionally…. ......One day?

And finally, I'm breaking with the rules here in introducing Jan of Jan's Arty Junk. Jan is the lady I hoped to tag for this week only to find that someone had already spotted her talent and got there ahead of me ... way back in July before I'd even heard of the Creative Blog Hop. If you haven't read her post before, I urge you to pop over and enjoy finding all about her and the artists tagged in her post.

And finally, if you got this far, all I can say is that you have gone way beyond the call of duty and demonstrated amazing staying power - my grateful thanks and mwah, mwah, mwah!!!

Craft Exhibitions at SECC Glasgow on Thursday

Afternoon Everyone,

I hope this finds you well and having a super Sunday.

The weather here is appalling ... much rain and the wind is revving up more and more as the day progresses. I hope those of you who are down in the south of England have battened down the hatches ... I hear you are in for a big one ... gale, that is ... the forecast is for 80mph! Hope you all get through it without too much damage.

I'm happy to report that the weather was kind to my daughter, Juli, and I when we tootled off to Glasgow, to the craft exhibitions ... there was two going on at the same time, Crafts for Christmas and Hobby Crafts ... at the SECC.

Check out that blue sky :) And what about this building? It's the recently built SSE Hydro which just opened on September 30th this year ... in plenty time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. It's a sporting and entertainment facility ... see a photo of it lit up at night here.

Our first port of call was the Crafts for Christmas exhibition which had a display of items from the various stands in the hall. I liked the Christmas tree and Julia loved the 3d picture of The Waverley Steamer - the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world ... she's been going since 1946 and hopefully will keep on going for many more years.

We were both agreed that this dragon is spectacular ... it's made entirely of recycled metal components ... so we went off to find stand E21 - Roosters Creations - and were totally wowed by what we saw ... here's just a montage of some of the many photos I took.

I think you can click on the photos to enlarge them ... the hand in the second montage is amazing. And if you want a much better look at Scott's (that's Rooster) creations made from discarded cutlery, teapots, spark plugs, tools, scrap metal, etc., check out this YouTube video

We spent a very enjoyable hour or so checking out the various stands and loved everything we saw ... we could have spent a fortune but we exercised great self-control, saving ourselves for the Hobby Craft hall :)

Almost our first port of call was the ClarityStamp stand where Barbara Gray, seen here chatting to a couple of fans, very kindly showed Juli just what can be done on a Gelli plate. And I learned a new trick or two too :)

This chap is the Decopatch Penguin ... he looks very smart in his floral waistcoat. Juli was fascinated to discover some of the crafty things her mother gets up to in her craft room. Some, like this form of decoupage, she had never seen before. I think we may have a crafting convert now after watching demos on everything from air brushing to Zentangle!

Here she is, almost at the end of the day, having a rest and a cuppa ... it seemed that we had walked miles around all the stands. And what did we buy? Juli found some fat quarters of fabric for the patchwork she is working on and, though she didn't buy it there and then, she also found the sewing machine of her dreams ... one specifically designed for quilting and patchwork. And here's a pic of my haul.

As you can see I was remarkable restrained - a Clarity stamp I'd had my eye on since watching Barbara demonstrate it, two pots Pinflair Buff-it, gorgeous stuff, and the sponges for applying it, an Imagination Crafts stencil with thistles I couldn't resist, some fat quarters - love the red one with the wee Westies on it - a patchwork strip, a quilters quarter inch measure, a reel of very nice Christmas ribbon from Designs on Pine and a Pigma Micron pen ... to try my hand at Zentangle some time.

So that's it. I hope you enjoyed our trip to the SECC. We chatted to a lot of lovely folk, watched some brilliant demonstrations and all-in-all had a lovely day. We came away tired but happy and planning return in March for the next Hobby Craft exhibition.

Take care and happy crafting,

Christmas Garland - a very quick make

Evening All,

Second time this evening ... it's great to be finding time to craft.

I've had the makings of this garland sitting on my desk for weeks ... months, actually!

I wrapped the base, a polystyrene ring bought from my favourite garden/craft centre, with red organza ribbon. The silk Christmas roses, bought in bunches, were in the reduced section so a bargain. A few clips with wire snips and I had enough leaf sprays and flowers to cover the ring. I've just pushed them in so hope they stay put - so far, so good. The gold baubles have just been folded - they come as a bauble on each end of a length of wire - and again just pushed into the base.

The ribbon was already in my stash - just waiting to be put to good use. I bought the gold/red patterned ribbon whilst on holiday in June on a visit to Shopkeeper Gal's shop with the girls from WOYWW. I couldn't resist the ribbon even though I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with it back then :))

The whole thing cost less than £5 - a bargain, I think, and so pretty.

Materials: polystyrene ring base; bunch of large red silk Christmas roses; bunch of smaller white Christmas roses; red organza ribbon; gold satin-edged organza ribbon; red/gold patterned ribbon; gold baubles

Well, I think I could get another half hour crafting before bedtime - I hope to get a bit of scrapping done now :)

Take care all and have a great Saturday.

Happy crafting,

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012 ... Day One

Happy New Year to you all and I sincerely hope it is going to be a good one for you too.

2012 has started off well for us already. Today is my great-granddaughter's first birthday so I'm celebrating here with my favourite snap taken in Rhian's first year. The quality of the photograph is not perfect but the tender moment caught within is perfect.

To make the day even better my grand-niece, Arihanna, and her lovely mother were allowed home yesterday - great news and a wonderful start to the year. Louise is still recovering from the affects of the pregnancy but hopefully she will be back to normal soon ... and Arihanna has lost a great deal of weight - she went from 6lbs 5oz to just 5lb in the week after she was born - but she is feeding better now and has started to gain weight again - what more could any of us ask for :)

For the EM and I, the last few months have been something of a trial what with the nasty accident he suffered in November, from which he is still recovering, the death of not just our SILs best friend but also that of a dear old friend of ours who passed away in rather tragic circumstances mid-December, and not forgetting the wee dog, Mac, who also lost his fight for life. For all those reasons we are more than happy to say 'goodbye 2011 and hello 2012' ...  we have plans, lots of them, the main one being a road trip taking us on a meandering route through Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Oxfordshire, into the Cotswolds and then on down to Wiltshire - we may even venture down to Devon, time permitting.  We could be gone some time so the Boss is not going to be pleased - she clearly equates the cattery with cat hell so will give us such an ear-bashing when we pick her up at the end of the trip ... ah, such is life :))

On the crafting front, I have lots of projects planned too. I'll be making fewer Christmas cards this year, but that's because there are so many other projects I want to work on instead ... e.g. scrap page layouts, digital and hybrid layouts too, photography, altered items, etc. I also want to use some of those stamps I have in my collection that have never seen the light of day, e.g. Clarity, Crafty Individuals, Lavinia and Sheena Douglas, Tim Holtz - bought because I loved them and yet have never found the opportunity to play with them :(

So what are your plans for 2012?  I don't mean resolutions ... they are a quite different animal altogether! I don't make resolutions because I know fine well I will never keep them beyond the second week of January ... so why set myself up for a fall. And, I'm quite capable of beating myself up for a host of entirely different reasons believe me ... I just don't need any extra self-imposed grief :))

Right, it's almost the end of day one, 2012, so I'm off for a cup of Horlicks before turning in. Unless, of course, you were up all night bringing in the New Year, when you will have been sleeping the excesses off all day today, I hope your day has been a happy and fun-filled one celebrated with family and friends. And for those of you who are poorly, I hope you are well on the road to recovery, and for those of you who went to work as usual today, you're our unsung heroes, without you the rest of us could not enjoy the holiday - many thanks :)

Whatever, you do in the year to come, I hope you all keep crafting, blogging, and following because otherwise I would be sitting here typing to myself and I would miss you all :)

It's Christmas Eve ... we've had an unexpected delivery ... a baby great-niece!

Happy Christmas Everyone

Yes, my great-niece, Arianna, decided to make an unscheduled arrival. She wasn't expected until the 19th January. but clearly didn't want to miss all the fun of Christmas. I thought I had a couple of weeks yet to make this little gift for her.

Arianna arrived at 7.22am today, 24th December, weighing in at 6lbs 6oz. This is my niece's, Louise, first baby and, as Louise has been insulin dependent since she was a little girl, Arianna is something of a little miracle. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as though mother and baby will be home for Christmas Day - Louise's diabetes has to be treated and Arianna's blood count is giving cause for concern ... hopefully they will both do well and get home soon - we can't wait to visit. Margaret, my sister and Louise's mum, is just thrilled to bits with Arianna, her first grandchild - telling me she is so little :)

I've not decided exactly how I'm going to decorate this papier mache letter A - I think it will just evolve as I go along - but I've given it two coats of white gesso to start with. The baby's nursery  is decorated with Tatty Ted so the colours I have to work with are white, grey, pink and blue.  The letters are made of wood so I've given them a couple of coats of gesso too - and I'm not sure how I'm going to place all the letters on the capital A - I'll have to think about it :)  

I don't know about you, but I've been on the go all day - the morning was spent doing housework ... I know, the dreaded word, but it had to be done ... and the afternoon was given over to baking.

Trifle sponge - all ready for putting all the ingredients together tomorrow morning.  I'm making Nigel Slater's version this year ... it has no jelly, but has custard, lemon curd, double cream and topped with pistachio nuts. Nigel used cape gooseberries to decorate too but I couldn't find them in the shops so will be using raspberries instead.

Orange mincemeat cake - made with leftover trifle mixture which has mincemeat included in the ingredients.

Coffee Kisses - these were so popular with my children when they were young but it's years since I made them.

That's us ready for any visitors, expected or otherwise ... the EM thinks I could feed the five thousand with the food I've got in, but after the last few years, when I wasn't really well enough to do much in the way of Christmas preparations, it makes a nice change to be able to do it this year. However, I think I need a week off now!!

We usually stay up late on Christmas Eve, waiting until the clock strikes twelve, then open one present each before going to bed ... we're never tempted to open every package because we enjoy the anticipation ... like a couple of big kids really :))

I think it is highly unlike I'll be on-line tomorrow so I'll leave you with this message:

MERRY CHRISTMAS

TO EACH AND EVERYONE

OF YOU AND

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!