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

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 836

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all well and you've had a good week. What's on my workdesk this week is a series of part done project life style pages. Apologies for the glare from the plastic pockets. They are for a very special project I've been working on for fifteen or so months now. It's an album in memory of Alan for his eldest nephew who also appears in a few of these photos. They are all original - I've kept copies of course - that I think should be kept in his family. 

12/2025 - The Oban Games

This is the last of the scrap pages completed recently. The photo is another taken on our holiday in Scotland in 1995. We stopped off in Oban for an overnight stay on our way north and just happened to arrive in time to attend the town's Highland Games. Alan was really impressed with the pipe band, particularly the outfit the drum major was wearing so insisted we pose together for this photo. The rowan sapling I'm clutching was free from the Scottish Woodland Trust, distributed as part of a drive to encourage the planting of more trees. 

Once again I've matted the photo onto a bunch of leftover scraps before adhering it all on to a tartan patterned paper, 'Nantucket', from a Carta Bella collection from 2018. The base of the clusters are made up of punched circles, again from scraps. Alphas, stickers, fussy-cut flowers and enamel dots from stash. 

Seen on my walk to the shops yesterday was this demolition in progress. Bear with me, I have good reason to show you this. 

It's a 1970s block of flats/apartments that I'm told were in a bad state and no longer fit for habitation. 

This is the far end of the block. I looked up and had to laugh at what I spotted in the second window on the right.

Someone has a sense of humour. That dummy head must have had more than a few passers-by giving it a second look!

And almost finally here's a couple of snaps of a sleeping Silver.

Love that smile!

And she has the cutest paws. 

Finally, that's all from me this week. I will be late commenting today. It might even be tomorrow before I'm able to because I'm off to an all-day conference that is being held by the Carers Gateway here in North Ayrshire  It's a service that provides support and resources for unpaid carers in Ayrshire. When Alan was ill, the Gateway very kindly provided me with advice and support when I most needed it. 

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

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 835

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have all had a good week finding lots of time for crafting. There's not been a lot of crafting going on here. Too busy elsewhere, unfortunately. Because of that, all that's different about my desk from last week is a pile of pages waiting to be filed. They are waiting because I can't decide which album to put them in. The photos on the right are old ones found when I was sorting out a box of framed photos brought from the old house. We had a lot more wall space there but it's much more limited here so I've had to decide which to keep and which to sacrifice. Not that I plan to bin the photos, just the frames. I hope to scrap the photos eventually. 

11/2025 - Misty Loch

The two photos of Loch Linnhe were taken on the first morning of the holiday we had in the Scottish Highlands in 1995. The B&B we stayed in was almost on the shore of the loch. Only a road separated the house from the loch shore. That morning we were both enchanted by the sight of the loch partly shrouded in mist. Magical!

The inspiration for the layout was simply the leftovers that had accumulated after making a few earlier pages. After choosing the base sheet, from Jen Hadfield's Peaceful Heart collection, 'New Day' 2021, I juggled the scraps until I was happy with the way they looked. Once I had the photos in place all I had to do was build the embellishment clusters from bits and pieces found in my stash.

Materials - printouts from Scrap-A-Sketch, 49 and Market's Vintage Artistry Mango Ephemera Stack, flowers fussy-cut from various patterned sheets and wooden buttons from Cocoa Vanilla's Storyteller collection. Title made up from Simple Stories Snap Studio's alphas. 

Due to the change in the weather, from heatwave to deluge, not a lot of real gardening has been done. However, I'm pleased to show you the work my daughter and SIL did, while the weather was good, to the patch of garden to the front of the flat. Above is the before shot. That grass was hiding a very uneven base. It was difficult to maintain and equally difficult to walk on for someone like me with dickie hips. 

And here's what they have accomplished so far. They've removed the grass, levelled the ground, cut the hedge, removed the dead ivy that was adhered up the wall, and laid the weed suppressing material. They have done a brilliant job, don't you think? The only thing I've had to do was weed and tidy up the plant pots. The next phase is to choose and order the gravel which will cover the entire garden. The idea being to make it as low maintenance as possible with only the pots to take care of, leaving most of my time for the new back garden. 

Speaking of which I have been enjoying watching and photographing the antics of the starlings that visit the birdfeeder there. Alan bought it when we moved in here but, sadly, never got the chance to see it erected and enjoy his birdwatching. 

And finally, no funnies this week but a photo of Silver out in the garden with me.

She's my constant companion whether inside the house or out in the garden. In fact, she would be happy if I spent much of the day out there with her. 

That's all from me for this week. Apologies yet again to those of your posts that I didn't manage to leave comments on. Life just got in the way. There's a story there but I'm not ready to tell it just yet.

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  

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 834

Hello Everyone,

Happy WOYWW to you all.

There's nothing on my desk right now. Instead, this is what was on my desk yesterday afternoon. The latest page in progress using an Ella Bonella kit. There's also, under the pencil, a checklist which I created using MS Word. If I didn't keep that list, I'd forget the details I do know, never mind those I don't! At the back on the left is a box containing packs of embellishments. They are there to remind me to use them. They are all lovely so the deserve to be used, not forgotten. There's also the obligatory cuppa. 

This is the sticker sheet used with the letters for the title and the stickers that formed the base of the embellishment clusters on the page. It's and oldie but a goodie from Crate Paper's Farmhouse collection. Here's the finished page.

13/2025 - We Made a Garden

I think it's very timely that I'm scrapping photos of the garden we made together, given that I'm now making another garden. The photo on the left was taken in November 2013, just after we moved in. It's a bit crumpled and creased because Alan kept it in his pocket to remind him of the 'before' while he admired the 'after', something he did often! The one on the right, the 'after, was taken about seven years later. 

 

Details of items used:

The layout was inspired by the Premium sketch #98 from Scrap-a-Sketch. Materials used are as follows: the background is made up from a Cosmo Cricket paper from the Hansel & Gretel collection dated 2007 and Circa 1934 'Chaplin' paper dated 2010. The photos are mounted on Bazzil Cardstock with the delightful title, 'Granny Smith' and then backed with 'Victorian Rose' from the Kaiser Kraft Devonshire collection, an unknown green paper, and 'Cross Stitch' from Crate Paper Farmhouse collection.  The clusters were constructed using stickers, wooden buttons, and fussy-cut flowers from a variety of sources, e.g. the sticker sheet photographed, Maggie Holmes 'Market Square', and Simple Stories 'Garden Party' from the Bunnies & Blooms collection.

I think I may have mentioned in my post from Monday that we've been enjoying rainy weather. Torrential rain, in fact. It started on Friday afternoon and just kept coming steadily until Monday, since when we have had a few dry and sunny spells, interspersed with yet more rain. Nice!

It forced me to get myself some wellies. The cross-stitch was a gift from a friend who is sadly no longer with us. It's waiting to be hung up but that's easier said than done. The walls here are solid so it's not simply a case of knocking in a nail. It requires an electric power tool. A piece of equipment I'm less than confident, or competent even, using, In the meantime, Mary's gift will continue to grace the porch at floor level. 
  

You may have noticed that my in-house quality controller, Silver, is missing from the desk photo. I took advantage of one of her frequent snooze periods to get it done. 

Here she is in deep sleep mode! 

And finally, the funnies for this week.

That's it from me for this week. I hope you had a great Spring Bank Holiday despite the change in the weather.  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  

Scrapbook Page - Recording Memories of the Scottish Highlands

Hello Everyone, 

10/2025 - On Honeymoon

Now that the heatwave has ended and my garden is soaking up the much needed rain, I suddenly have more time on my hand to do some scrapping and I'm using it to catch-up with recording all the lovely memories I have stored away in my photo collection. It's an extensive collection and the chances are I will never really catch-up. Just as I am unlikely to use up all my old stash. Especially when I'm so sorely tempted to buy some of the new collections released each year. 

However, that's the two main aims for this year and this page is one that combines both a happy memory and old stash. Tick! 

The photo is of my beloved Alan taken when we were up in the Scottish Highlands on honeymoon in August 1996. We got married in July but had to delay the honeymoon until we could both have time off work. I'd just returned in June from a year of study in America - a great experience but an expensive one. To recoup some of what I had to spend, I did some temping in a GP's surgery for a few weeks before the trip. It wasn't the first time we had been to Scotland together, We'd gone up the summer before stopping to introduce him to family in Ayrshire on the way. Alan had completely fallen for both my family and Scotland and couldn't wait to return.  I think you can tell from that lovely smile that he was delighted to be back in the Highlands. 

The layout was inspired by not much more than the materials that I had available in a kit I had put together prior to packing up and moving house in 2022. Though I should mention that Shimelle's classes, Half and Half and New Pages from Old Stash, have clearly influenced the outcome. I just built up layers of scraps to mat the photo and then created a half and half page for the background. It's a tried and tested formula that works well when using up scraps. 

I wish I could give more precise information on what's been used but I all I remember is that most of the papers are from an old Project Life collection. The light green scrap is from 49 and Market's Kaleidoscope Solids Pack 3 from 2014 - that is old. The alphas are from Elle's Studio Jane collection of 2021 - not so old. A few of the stickers are from Dear Lizzy and the wooden button is from Cocoa Vanilla Studio's Storyteller - one of my all-time favourite collections. 

I thinks that's enough from me now. There's so much more scrapping waiting to be done.

Hope those of you in the UK are enjoying the Spring Bank Holiday despite the inclement weather! And those not in the rainy UK, have a happy Monday no matter where you are. 

Take care

Elizabeth 

Visiting Alfie - Rainbow Challenge No.2

Hello Everyone,

I'm back with the second layout for the Facebook challenge mentioned in yesterday's post. The colour to use for this layout was blue which I found more difficult than expected. I have lots of material in shades of aqua, turquoise and teal but very little in what I call real blue. So I scraped the bottom of the barrel for this one. 

I love the photo, dated 2019, of Alan feeding carrots to Alfie the donkey. One of last taken before he caught Covid and became to ill to drive. Alfie was living alone at the Ballantrae garden centre by then, his last companion had sadly died, so we visited him as often as we could back then. 

The challenge includes a sketch. I always find sketches inspirational even if I don't stick rigidly to them. This one included a heart shape which did prove a problem. I still haven't unpacked my large die-cutting machine - it's in the shed in one of the last boxes somewhere and, in all honesty, I'm in no hurry to tackle the unpacking just yet. There's too much stuff and nowhere to put it so it can stay in the shed for now.

Fortunately, already unpacked is this set of templates. It's ancient! It's what we scrappers used before dies and die-cutting machines became available. Yes, I've been scrapping that long. Twenty-eight years or so. The advances I've seen in papercrafting in that time is, well, amazing! The largest heart shape wasn't really big enough but I made it do. 

The papers used are from Heidi Swapp's 'Set Sail' collection except the floral one which is from Hobbycraft's 'British Garden' paper pad. Embellishment items for clusters from various sources, some old (e.g. 2017), some new. 

That's me done wittering tonight. I'm getting the 'time for bed' look from the resident furry nag. After all she has a 4am start in the morning!

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 779

Hello Everyone,

I'm determined to not only join in with WOYWW over on Julia's Stamping Ground this week, but to be bright and early too. It's time to get up, dress up and show up!

But before I get on to this week, let me show you last week's desk which never made it to WOYWW because there's a very important little person in residence. Our lovely Annie, Wipso on here, made this sweet little memory bear from Alan's favourite shirt. The tie, a reminder of his career in chemical research, is pretty special too. Thank you, Annie.

Now on to this week's desk. Photo taken yesterday.

I was putting a page together for a Facebook challenge. The first I've been up to participating in for a very long time. It's proving to be a great way of using up old stash and leftover scraps that I've been hanging on to for no better reason than I can't bear to throw any of it away! 

As can be seen, stickers I think I might include in the embellishment clusters get stuck temporarily to any available surface while I think about where and whether to use them. Not all got used on this layout. 

The finished layout is based on a photo taken of us 22 years ago, when my hair was still dark and Alan still had some! His big sister, Margaret, put on a get-together for the family to wish us good luck when we made the big move from England to Scotland. Margaret loved to entertain and she made the most amazingly tasty pink cake too. 

Silver is still a happy distraction in my life. Here she is cuddling up on my lap, preventing me from doing anything but enjoy the moment. 

And finally:

This is the message printed on the side of the box of tissues that's on my desk today. 

Sent to me on Facebook. So appropriate!

Wishing you all a very creative and wonderful week. 

Take care, everyone

Elizabeth

Stretch - A Scrapbook Page

 

This is the last of the pages made and not posted during my blogging absence. This one is dated May 2022. In the photo Silver looks as though she's scratching the wall but, in fact, she's just stretching after a snooze at the top of the cat tree. 

The layout is another scraplift of a page, this one made by Melanie Marshall, that appeared in The Scrapbook Magazine. I do wonder what inspiring scrappers like Melanie, and Sam featured in yesterday's post, are doing now that the magazine is no longer published. 

Materials: Papers from Jen Hadfield's 'Peaceful Heart' collection and Pink Fresh's 'Right Now' & 'Time To Chill' collections; Nuvo Crystal Drops 'Red Berry'; Embellishments from stash. 

Today's shot of Silver. I've brought the scrapping trolley through to the living room. I plan to watch YouTube videos on the big telly while I scrap.  Well, that was the plan but clearly Silver has other ideas. It would seem the camping table makes a perfect perch.  

I'm still getting used to the lighter evenings - it's almost 8pm and it's still nowhere near dark. The weather has been better today - windy, not unusual here on the coast, but sunny and warm and, in my experience, that is unusual! Hope you've enjoyed better weather today too.

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth