What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 331

Good Morning Everyone,

There's a lot of sneezing and coughing going on in the Worthington household at the moment but I'm determined to join in with WOYWW today, no matter what! I can't believe that, apart from turning up late last week, I haven't participated for five weeks ... shocking!!! So without further delay, here's my desk this week:

Yep ... it didn't stay clear for long! True the stuff along the back remains as it was last week after the grand tidy up, as is the tin of tools centre right, but there's been quite a lot more added to the working area. I can't seem to help myself because there's two WIPs out at the same time. Most obviously a partially completed set of cards, WIP #1, using print outs of photos taken of the Monday's vase - so pretty I couldn't resist using them as card toppers. That's a box of ready-made punched paper trims ... unearthed during the stash unpack ... next to the bottle of PVA glue. The patterned paper and the ribbon holders are part of  WIP #2 - this ribbon storage:

I plan to decorate it with the pretty patterned paper once the adhesive has set - after I've worked out the best way to go about it.

A closer shot of the cards. The punched trims were bought way back in the days when I first started to make cards and before I discovered border punches. Long past time they were used up!

Right, off to blow my nose, yet again, dose myself up with cold/flu remedy and drink a soothing cup of soup, then I'll be back to do some desk hopping - can't wait to see what your desks look like this week. In the meantime, I wish you a very good week.

Happy WOYWW,

Baby Ruby's Wall Hanger

Evening Again Folks,

I know, it's not like me but I'm here again. Just trying to catch up on posting since I was absent for a few days last week.

This time I can bring you the wall hanger made for Sarah's new baby, Ruby.

It's a collage of all sorts of peachy/pinky/creamy/white embellishments on a base of pattern paper on cream card. To give the hanger stability, I've adhered it to, you're probably not going to believe this, a piece of floor tiling - the sort that comes with the adhesive already on the back.

Unfortunately I forgot to note the materials used for this project but I can tell you that the papers are from Prima's Romantique 6x6 paper stack. The image is digital and was, I think, downloaded from the Antique Images blog. I did stamp directly on to the patterned paper with a foliage stamp from the Spring Meadow stamp set from Kanban and Adirondack Peach Bellini ink pad, though it isn't all that clear in the photograph.

I used two sizes of cherry blossom punches to make the flowers - and glitter glue has been applied to the larger flowers on the front. The trims and lace, pearls, etc., are all from my stash.

The August tag is coming along nicely, maybe not quite as Timmy envisaged it but then I'm having to improvise like crazy! I have to confess that, apart from some distress ink pads and alcohol inks, I have not been too interested in acquiring TH goodies - and that's despite admiring his work - but this tag might change all that :)

All day it's been pouring with rain, or maybe I should refer to it as 'liquid sunshine' - it is summer after all :)

Right, back to the tag ... the inks should all be dry now.

Take care and happy crafting,

Altered Notebook Cover

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend and that Monday hasn't come as too much of a shock for you.

I didn't accomplish much yesterday but I did complete this little project.

I have quite a large collection of notebooks with fairly boring covers, leftovers from when the craft space was my home office, and this one was no exception. But it's no longer an office so my notebooks don't have to be so plain and uninteresting to look at so I'm on a mission to alter the covers of them all starting with this one.

I like green, or should I say, certain shades of green are my favourites, e.g. olive tones, hunter green, some pastel shades such as eau de nil and the duck egg shades, but there are other shades that are just not to my taste at all - the vile greens. And the cover of this notebook was very definitely the latter.

I began by painting with Adirondack dabbers, Mushroom and Juniper, around the edges just to tone the green down a bit, before building a collage on both the front and back covers. Then I brought together pieces of torn pattern papers, an old map print-out, a French dictionary page and a variety of antique images of flowers and birds, most from Green Paper, and put together a collage.

The flowers and butterflies were punched out of more snippets of paper and glittered up with yellow Stickles. The notebook is going to be used for pasting/writing in any words, etc., which I think could be used on cards or scrap layouts so the EM brought out his trusty Labelmaker and typed up the relevant words - all I had to do was randomly stick them onto the front.

The back - no flowers and butterflies here.

Being a thing of 'shreds and patches' the collage is definitely one for Di over at Pixie's Sunday Snippet Challenge #9 and as nothing new was used in the making - even the notebook was so old it had an address label from out years in Derbyshire on the front ... we've been in Scotland some 10 years now!!

If you've ever thought of doing something similar I can recommend it and can only urge you to have a go. You don't have to be a super talented artist - something I always thought you had to be - you just have to give it a go. If I can do it, anyone can :))

I think the collage has cheered up the notebook immensely and now it's a pleasure to behold.When I find the time those other notebooks are in for a complete makeover too :)

No headbanger on Dancing on Ice last night, but a few moves I thought decidedly chancy! And I'm not entirely happy with the result ... but then I don't phone vote so I can't be too critical.  It's many years since I donned a pair of ice skates, and after watching this series I've lost the yen to do so ... skating has got way to much like a blood sport for me!!!

Right, I'm off to do a bit of blog visiting ... I've a bit of catching up to do after a weekend of being out and about and generally playing hooky.

Happy Crafting,

Lovehearts Canvas ... and how it was made.

Afternoon Folks,

I hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend, even if we are in for a freeze here in the UK. Or so I've just read on Sky's news page. My DH, armed with camera, went snowdrop hunting down at Culzean Castle on Tuesday only to be told that he was too late, they'd been and gone. The warm weather at the start of the year had conned them into thinking it was spring. It's been a funny old winter so far.

With Valentine's Day fast approaching I decided I'd like to make something special with this miniature canvas I've had in my stash goodness knows how long. I have to thank RachO113 for her demo on YouTube for showing me the best way to adhere fabric to canvas ... simple really, but it takes a smart crafter like Rachel to show me how :)  Here is how it's done:

Materials needed: canvas, fabric, DS tape, and scissors. You will also need a strong glue for adhering the fabric to the back of the canvas ... I used a hot glue gun because it is a quick and easy method of getting a good finish.

Step 1: Cover the front of the canvas with strips of DS tape and lift off the wax paper covering ready to stick the fabric down.

Step 2: Lay the fabric over the sticky tape and press flat and outwards to eliminate air bubbles. Trim across the corners as shown.

Step 3: Turn the canvas over and, one side at a time, run the hot glue along the edge then quickly fold the fabric smoothly over on to the edge pressing down very carefully - the glue is very hot - secure it to the edge. Tuck the corners in as you go.

This is what the canvas looks like once covered.

This photo shows the canvas before I added the toppers ... oops! all those spots are a bit much for the eyes!! I was just deciding where to put the flower at this point. Oh, and you may recognise the flower here, it's included in the tutorial on heart flower making, posted here.  The other two elements are a stamped heart, gold embossed several times and then stamped with a smaller heart before the EP set hard. It's matted on to red card which is also edged in gold EP. The sentiment was stamped with VersaMark on to black card and embossed with gold EP, matted on to gold edged red card too.

The finished project, just a few black gems added to it and that's it. It's just a wee sentimental keepsake but I'm quite pleased with it and it does mean that the canvas is no longer in the stash ... I've used it up :))

Materials used:
- miniature canvas
- fabric scrap - from Very Crafty in Fife - I have my friend, Angie, at Shozzy's Place, to thank for the discovery of this fabulous source of scrap bags - Theresa, the proprietor, is immensely helpful.
- leftover snippets of two patterned papers
- tiny snippets of red, black and white card
- Studio g stamp set, VS4911
- VersaMark ink pad
- gold embossing powder
- red self-adhesive pearl and black gems
- tools - heart punch, daisy punch, hot glue gun

All the materials used came from my stash so the project qualifies as:-

For once I seem to be 'on trend', but then it's February and love is in the air :) Consequently, there are several challenges I can enter my canvas for.

My Mojo Monthly - February - Heartstrings - enough hearts to pull anyone's heartstrings

Allsorts Challenge Blog - One or More Hearts   - more hearts

Oldie But A Goodie Challenge - Have a Heart - the stamps and the punch used are all over 6 months old 

and finally,

Pixie's Crafty Snippet Challenge - Number 5  - apart from the fabric, and even that is from a scrap, nothing but snippets have gone into the making of this project. 

I've been scanning photographs today ... the ones that are framed and hanging on the walls. I forget that I should be making scrapbook layouts of these, after all they are on the wall for a reason, and that is that we particularly like them ... there couldn't be a better reason to scrap them than that, now could there?

Okay, I'm off to grab a cuppa and catch Pointless. I hope you all have a lovely, crafty weekend.

Happy Crafting,