WOYWW #356

This is WOYWWednesday - if you want to find out more then checkout the tab at the top of the page - and our thanks go to Julia for hosting this weekly meet up.

Another week and I nearly forgot, my mind is concentrating on having Little Soldier round to us for the day.  This is another trial day .... must get used to early starts on Wednesdays!!!
So here we have 'The Desk' in all its glory today ..... I received some new stamps from New Zealand so inked them up for my file.  The file was placed on top of everything else so you can see all the detritus around it.

Several ATCs 'hanging' around - Silhouette, Vintage Ladies, some received ATCs.  The wads of money - if only!! - are some serviettes DDC found whilst out shopping.  No doubt it will all get sorted once I can get back into my craft room.


The knitted egg went down a treat, I managed to finish it in time for the Easter Bunny to arrive!!!!

I am managing to connect up while Little Soldier is being entertained by Grandad!!

Thank you to all my visitors last week and welcome to my new Followers, I love that you visit and leave me comments.

WOYWW #355

This is WOYWWednesday - if you want to find out more then checkout the tab at the top of the page - and our thanks go to Julia for hosting this weekly meet up.

I have nothing really going on deskwise this week.... I have finished the ATCs so the desk is clear ...ish!

I have also finished the second jumper for Little Soldier, whisked away before photos were taken, and now moved onto Easter.

I don't want to buy a chocolate egg for LS, he hasn't been introduced to that sort of food yet, so I am knitting his Easter present.  With all my cards made and my chocolate eggs bought, I look like I am ready for Easter but we'll see.

I am going to bake a cake for his Dad; he's very partial to birthday cakes so that's what I am going to make ..... or attempt to!!

Short but sweet this week, no time for visiting though - LS day which will now include C.R.U.N.C.H. - hopefully I will be visiting later ....

WOYWW #354

This is WOYWWednesday - if you want to find out more then checkout the tab at the top of the page - and our  special thanks go to Julia for hosting this weekly meet up.

My desk this week is just loaded with 'schtuff' as a fellow blogger would say.  I have received some double sided ATCs - top right - sorting out some silhouettes - lower right - and images for inspiration are in the centre.  Then I happened into Smith's so my magazine and some new pens were added.  Some time ago I went into an art shop to buy some pens, ones that wouldn't be affected by watercolouring over the images.  They were great pens, good to draw with, but when I eventually painted, the ink ran everywhere!!  Hopefully these pens will be good to go and if they are not ...... back to Smith's they go.

The above photo shows how I show off my desk each week but the true story is here ....

Looking at it through the camera lens I wonder what happened ..... I did tidy up .... really I did.  The workspace is much larger than it looks .... or so it seems but ..... the camera never lies and all that!!  lol

Thank you to all my visitors last week, loved all your comments.  I'm sorry I never managed to visit anyone last week, I have to fight with this computer to do anything and sometimes ..... I just don't have the mental energy to battle.  It can be so slow while it thinks about things, and has taken me an hour to get this far. I am sitting here typing in a small area because I have another screen over this one which I cannot remove.  I know that once I switch off and then back on again it will disappear but  ..... really it is too early in the day .....
Have a good week and I hope I can get round to visiting this week.
x

Easter on the Horizon

I am trying to make up all the cards I need for the next couple of months as I will have a lot of gardening work to do soon.  I have a trellis and several windowboxes to paint ready for planting up in the railway garden.
I sorted all my Easter digis and, along with the sentiments, printed out as many as I wanted to use.

I fussy cut the image and my chosen sentiment.  I smooshed some bright yellow ink from the bottom of the centre cross in a triangular upwards motion. 

Various coloured inks were used to edge the image, smooshing some green and brown along the lower edge.

I smooshed brown along the edges of the sentiment and used a foam DS to attach.

I used this same technique for the next two cards, although the images and sentiments were different.

This image is complete in itself so I just added a fawn colour mat to the square white card. 

 The image for this cards needs no sentiment, after matting with a bright yellow card, I used my promarkers to colour up some flowers.  
I attached the yellow flowers, cut the green flowers into three / two petals to use as leaves, and attached them behind the flowers.  Once they had dried I used some gold stickles into the centres of the flowers.

I hope that I can remember to post these cards on time!!!!

WOYWW #353

This is WOYWWednesday - if you want to find out more then checkout the tab at the top of the page - and our thanks go to Julia for hosting this weekly meet up.

After all the 'excitement' of last week, stamps have been sorted, jumper been worn, cards posted and Mothering Sunday delivered, now I am moving on towards Easter ...... I send out a few cards to friends and family every year. 
I like to let folks know that I think of them at times other than Christmas, and remind them of the reason for Easter.  Much as our Government wants to make this time a Bank Holiday, shopping reasons you know, I shall still send out cards for Easter although I know that if the Government have their way, Easter week will go the same way as Whitsun Week.
I don't think so......  Take for instance this year ..... Whitsunday is May 15 ..... Spring Bank Holiday is May 30.   It never surprises me the number of people who will say that the Bank Holiday is Whitsun!!!

STEPPING OFF THE SOAPBOX.......

Here's the desk that I am showing, with the start of the card making.  I have a digital image, sentiments and peel offs so far.  I know that I have some more images 'somewhere'and, once I have sufficient items gathered, I will begin the crafting (not today as Little Soldier is coming to play!)

The more eager eyed of you might spot the brown/blue square at top left.....

This is where those who know me will not be surprised and others will wonder .....


The story goes like this ...
.... I was visiting a warehouse with PJ, just looking as it is a 'male' sort of place, when I spotted these sanding sponges.  One side is coarse, the other fine and they are held together with blue sponge.  Just right for distressing the edges of cards ..... at 15p ..... into the trolley they went.  
I usually manage to collect a few paint sample cards when here but they have had a clean up so no luck today.  The stationery department was still there, into the trolley went some glue sticks - large size - and two small bottles of glue.  Another successful visit!!!  
PJ bought some drills, overalls, paint brushes and other boring male stuff!!!!!

Once Little Soldier goes home I shall be round to visit as many as I can before bedtime.  Thank you for all the comments left for me by my visitors last week, you make my day.

Mothering Sunday

I always used to love Mothering Sunday.  I treated  my Mam every month from my wages to let her know that I appreciated her being there and all that she did for me.  It may be a bunch of flowers, a basket of strawberries, two chocolates from Thorntons, just something small to let her know I loved her.  Now she's gone I miss her dreadfully, more than I ever imagined and sometimes I find it hard to believe that she is not 'just up the road'.

So I have started a new trend in my family ..... I send a Mother's day card to my daughters.  

This year, I used ready made square cards, which is unusual in itself but, to be honest, I found a box of assorted cards under my desk so thought I may as well use them up.
I had seen my inspirational card on the web so it was just a matter of finding and preparing the embellishments and papers.  I managed to find my thicker brown paper, rolled up and stored on the top shelf .... of course!!!  I managed to get it down - it fell after a poke with a coathanger! - cut out a strip and put it under my cutting mat to flatten it.  Once flat, I used my Paper Wishes template to draw a selection of tags and cut some of the larger ones for my cards.  I wrote the sentiment onto the tag, added some threads and keys - I bought these from the Fruit Pixie years ago - and started making up my main 'image'.
I cut the background papers to size - one likes cows and the other likes daffodils - so the choice of backgrounds was relatively easy!!!


This paper, being black and white, needed a fancy key.

This paper was soooo fussy, I matted it with yellow and added a fairly plain key.

I love these cards, and I know that the girls will love them, I just wish I had made a note of the original designer......

WOYWW #352

This is WOYWWednesday - if you want to find out more then checkout the tab at the top of the page - and our thanks go to Julia for hosting this weekly meet up.

You're gonna love this one .... a busy desk!!!!

FYI
On the left there is left over scraps from making a St David's card for PJ's younger sister.  YS discovered all the ancestors were Welsh and promptly moved there to live, details can be found here.  Oh ... and my new paintbrush pot!  I'ts a baked bean tin but you knew that didn't you??  lol

In the centre of the desk I have some used postage stamps drying on a newspaper.  I hope to use most of them in a Postage Stamp swap soon.

Centre right there's a card nearly ready to post,  my images for another two swaps.

Further over I have the checklists, the swaps have to be marked off as I complete them, especially the posting dates. 

The jumper was a bit big on Little Soldier but he didn't mind - not the best photo of him but he doesn't stay still for long nowadays!!!  

I  have started another jumper, in a bright mixture of yellow, green, blue and white .....

Thanks to all my visitors and comments last week,  I really appreciate you dropping by.  Have a good week.

St David's Day card

I only have to make one card but it is for a very special person - PJ's youngest Sister.
I have a set of wooden stamps, many years old, so I chose the Daffodil stamp for the card.  Today according to the radio there is much discussion as to whether the daffodil or the leek should be the national emblem ....... I prefer the daffodil .... and not just 'cos I don't own a leek stamp!!!!

I thought that I would try the ink resist technique for this card - I have watched lots of videos on the subject - so let's go try ... 
I stamped the daffodil with yellow and green, using a mask so that one daffodil became a small bunch, and then clear heat embossed the image.  Once the paper was cool I watercoloured the image, choosing the background to be blue (sky).
I cut a piece of leaf green card to mat the image and then used a white folded card as a base..
I searched for a Welsh language greeting but in the end managed to print one out for myself.

I hope that YS likes the card - she is special to us both.