WOYWW #92

Just a very quick one from me this morning as I’ve lots of jobs to get done today.



Here’s my desk and if you look closely you’ll see that my threat to do a scrapbook page last week actually did happened, although I’ve not yet put it up on my other blog, Family Footprints in the Sands of Time

The page is of my Great Grandfather James Gowers, who was born, in 1863.



Now the reason it’s still out on my desk this week is because last night I decided that I would do a coordinating page for my Great Grandma to go next to it in my album.


As you can see the pad of papers is out and I think I’ve settled on the Blue and Green stripy paper for the background and then it will tie in with the other LO because I’ve used some of it on there too.

Oh well, on with my long list of jobs……….…I can only put them off for so long!

Don’t forget to go over and visit Julia’s blog if you haven’t already and join in with ‘What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday’ and I’ll be over as soon as I can to see what you’re all up to this week.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving such nice comments and ………

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

WOYWW #91

Good morning all you WOYWW’ers!

You know, I never believed my dad when he used to say to me that as you get older the time just seems to fly by but he was right you know because another week has gone in a flash and here we are at the start of March already……….it’ll soon be Christmas!

It also means that Wednesday is here again and it’s time to hop around the craft desks of the world, courtesy of
Julia and the phenomenon that is ‘What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday’.

You’ll be pleased to hear that I finally managed to put away all the holiday leftovers that were still on my desk last week so my table is looking very tidy for once.


I’ve been busy making cards too but I had some very sad news yesterday that my good friend Sandy’s mum, whose birthday cards I had just made, had passed away suddenly, so I had to stop making the birthday cards and make a sympathy card as well.
It’s come as such a shock because I only saw Rene just before we went on holiday and there was no sign that anything was wrong.
Sending love to the family Sandy (if you’re reading this) and I’m thinking of you all at the sad time.
R.I.P Rene.


I always worry when I make Sympathy cards that I go a bit OTT so I tried to keep it as simple as I could by just using Mauve and White and adding the detail with the embossing and the little crystal flowers which I colour tinted with Promarker. Hope I got the balance right with this one.


I won’t show you the birthday cards I made for Rene but here are the other two I made.
Didn’t realize I had a bit of a ‘Blue’ thing going on until now!

The first one is for my God Daughter.


She in Thailand at the moment, volunteering at an Elephant rescue centre so I thought a card with a paper pieced elephant on would be apt. The Basic Grey, Marrakech papers were perfect too, with all those little elephants over it.

The second card is for an old work colleague.


Again I’ve used Basic Grey papers, this time from the Marjolaine pad and a stamped flower image.


Now I hope you’re sitting down............... because for the rest of the day I plan to try and do a page for my Family Album. I’m not really a scrapbooker so I never find these at all easy to tackle but when I see the beautiful pages that Angie makes over at Glimpsing the Past, I always feel a tinge of guilt for not making more of an effort, so today’s the day.
Hopefully I’ll have something to show you very soon!

In the mean time, I hope you all have a very crafty and productive week and thanks for stopping in to see what’s going in my little corner of the world.

Sue
x

Back from the Rockies……..and a scrap lift.

Hi all, well I’m back from my much needed holiday and my desk this week is covered with bits and pieces that still need to be put away.

I’ve just had ten wonderful days in the snow having spent my break in Breckenridge, Colorado on a skiing trip with some friends and boy did we get snow….......more than 12 inches in just one night and that was just the start of it.
As it happens we arrived in Denver at just the right time because the day after we got there we heard that they had to cancel more then sixty flights in due to the weather conditions, but I’m not complaining because the most important point to a skiing holiday is snow, right!

Here are a couple of pictures

Our apartment was right on the mountain so the skiers in our party could literally roll out of bed and get straight on the slopes.


There was lots to do for us non skiers too because Breckenridge has a lovely main street with lots of interesting little shops to investigate. Sadly there was only one very small Bead/ Scrapbook shop and a Wal-Mart to satisfy my crafty cravings but I did manage to bag a couple of bargains to bring home with me so I was happy.



We also had a couple of days out and about exploring the other ski resorts in the area, namely Beaver Creek and Vale so all in all we had a busy time of it.


Just look how deep that snow is!


I got back home last Wednesday and straight away had to prepair myself for the cataract operation that I was due to have on Friday.

I’m pleased to say that's behind me now too and it all went well, so I can breath a sigh of relief knowing that all the months of worrying that my sight had been permanently affected by the detached retina are laid to rest and I can look forward to the future.

I now have perfect distance vision in my Right eye again and although I will still need reading glasses for close work it’s a small price to pay after all I’ve been through.
Things are still a bit difficult at the moment though. While I’m waiting for everything to heal I’m having to manage with an old pair of glasses, which aren’t perfect but when I go back to the hospital in three weeks time they’ll sort out my new contact lenses/ glasses and hopefully everything can get back to how it was……..crafting included!

Anyway, back to what’s on my table this week…..



As I said it’s a dumping ground for my holiday bits and bobs this week, including the crafty goodies that I brought home with me.

The first thing that stands out is the gorgeous Lilac hand luggage bag that I brought just before I went away. As if I didn’t have enough bags…........but this one was just calling out to me so I treated myself, as you do!
The Lilac theme didn’t stop there because I also treated myself to the document wallet and passport cover that you can see just behind the bag.

There was a mostly uninteresting pile of mail waiting for me when I got home too, which is now waiting for the shredder, but in amongst it was a lovely surprise, a £25cheque from a Premium Bond win, how nice was that!

And last but not least on my table is the pile of crafty goodies that found their way home with me.

Even thought the exchange rate isn’t that good any more I was still pleasantly surprised at just how much cheaper things are in the USA so I came home with two $5 Colorbok (A4) paper pads, that’s just £3.30 each, two sets of rubber stamps, rub-ons, two cards of hemp cord, blooms, chip board flowers and some beads, so that little lot should keep me quiet for a while.

So there's what's on my my desk this week.
If you want to join in with What’s On Your Work Desk Wednesday than hop on over to the Stamping Ground where Julia tries to keep us all on our toes each week and have a good old snoop around the craft desks of the world.
It’s really fun!

I do have something crafty to show you too this week.
You may remember a few weeks ago I mentioned that while looking at peoples desks I came across a layout made by the very talented Lisa


At the time I was looking for inspiration because I wanted to make something for a special friend who had just sadly lost her beloved dog Tosca and my idea was to make something around the beautiful Rainbow Bridge verse. As soon as I saw Lisa’s layout about ‘What’s at the end of a Rainbow’ and saw all those flowers I know I had to have a go.

Here's her masterpiece



And this is what I came up with



Thanks Lisa for the inspiration.


Last but not least I want to tell you about some great blog candy that's up for grabs.
All you WOYWDW fans might want to stop off at Jude’s Blog, especially if you’re a Tim Holtz fan because she’s giving away some great Half Term blog candy.




Well that really is it from me this week. Thanks for dropping in.

Sue
x

In the Pink

It’s another Work Desk Wednesday and as you’re reading this I’m somewhere on the M25 heading for Lakeside shopping centre hoping that Blogger has done it’s work and automatically posted this for me.
Darn it…..…..Blogger didn’t play the game and this didn’t get posted after all, so as you’ve probably guessed I’m back from my shopping spree and I'm having to do this myself now, so sorry it’s a bit late in the day.
Thanks to every one who stopped by last week and offered some suggestions regarding my new trimmer.
Impatient as ever I returned the trimmer to shop in the end, but not before sending another scathing email to Purple Cow. This time I did get a reply (on the same day too) saying they were looking into it. Shame…..if they had told me that in the first place they might not have lost a customer who was about to spend in the region of £60…..their loss!

I’ve had a busy few days making cards and trying to get ahead of myself before my holiday……it’s almost upon me Yah!
There’s just eleven days (and counting) until I go away and the need to be in front with everything has never been more important because I’ll be away for ten days and then two days after I get back I go for eye op, so who knows when I’ll be back to crafting again. My fingers are crossed that it won’t be too long, but you never know so the pile of cards you can see are all orders for March and are awaiting their inserts.


My desk is a little cluttered with inks and stamps and clearly the ice cream tub I use as a desk top rubbish bin needs emptying but at least for once there’s actually a gap in the middle that I've been able to work in.

The papers and card kit you can see are from one of my favorite Basic Gray collections, Cappella.
I think they have a shabby Chic feel to them and the colours although darkish are quite subtle if you know what I mean.
I’ve used the card kit, which incidentally is intended for weddings, to make an anniversary card but I don’t like just following the instructions in the kit to the letter; I like to make it my own so I've used the original card (the square on the front)and made it into an A5 size by adding the background and another greeting.


The rest of the cards I've made have a distinct Pink theme going on because I'm still trying to use up some of my old collections. The good news is that I've succeeded in using up all of this one now and with the final tiny bits that were left I made two more card blanks that are ready for an image to be added when I need a card in a hurry.












Julie is presiding over things as usual over at the Stamping Ground, so get on over there and join in the fun that is What’s On Your Work Desk Wednesday.

Thanks for dropping in and I’ll be calling in to see as many of you as I can manage later in the week.

Bye for now.
Sue
x

Stylish Blogger………..who me?

A couple of weeks back the lovely Ady very kindly awarded me this Stylish Blogger award and it’s taken me until now to add it to my blog and pass it on to no less than fifteen other ‘stylish’ bloggers who deserve recognition.

There were a couple of conditions that went with it, the first being that I share seven things with you about myself that you may or may not already know, so here goes…………

1) I’m 54 and retired.
Actually I retied at 47 when I found myself in the lucky position of being offered severance from my job with the Bank of England and being over forty I was allowed to take my pension. I can happily say I’ve never looked back.


2) My first love hobby wise is cross stitching, although I have always crocheted and knitted for as long as I can remember. But I can’t sew a straight line on a sewing machine for toffee though!

3) I’m mum to this good looking little fellow.


His name is BoJangles and he’s a 7 year old rescue cat who’s been with me for five years now. He’s very loving and would eat all day long if I allowed him too.

4) I had my first major operation at the age of four after swallowing a cherry stone. It got stuck in my appendix, which had to be removed in an emergency operation but it burst while they were removing it causing an abscess and I then needed to have another operation a couple of days later to clear up the infection.

5) My favourite colour is Lavender and has been for as long as I can remember.
I must admit, it’s not a colour that wear very often, because it doesn’t go very well with my very White hair but from a very young age my room and other belongings have been in those shades.
In fact, only this week I have brought myself a lovely Lilac overnight bag to use as hand luggage when I go away to Denver in a couple of weeks time…..and it’s sooooo scrummy!

6) When I was 7 I almost crushed my Left hand by accidentally putting it through the electric wringer/mangle on the top of my mum’s washing machine.
Bet not many people can claim to have done that!

Picture the scene………It’s Sunday morning.
Lunch is in the oven and mum is in the kitchen finishing off the last of the washing. I arrive home from Sunday school and want to help her finish up. Mum says no but I keep on worrying her so she relents and gives me a Blue face cloth to put the wringer. She waits to retrieve it at the other side but instead of the face cloth, my fingers emerge and panic ensues. Needless to say lunch was ruined because the rest of the day was spent in A & E but thankfully there were no broken bones and I had escaped with no more damage than bad bruising.

7) I’ve had my fifteen minutes of fame.
It was when I submitted a picture of one of my cross stitch projects to The World Of Cross Stitching and became their ‘Stitcher of the Month’.

The project was of my first rescue cat Emily.


I had taken a digital photo of her and turned it into a graph using a computer program. I think they liked my story because Emily used to sit on my lap while I was stitching to keep an eye on my progress. I think she wanted to make sure I was doing her justice.

Well that’s my seven facts about myself; I hope you’ve found them interesting.

Now onto the fifteen people I would like to pass the award onto…not an easy task when you visit so many different people over time. Still, I’ve managed to whittle my list down to the number needed and if you’re not on my list it doesn’t mean to say I don’t find your blog inspirational, more that I would be here all week typing this.

So here goes.


1)Slightly Squiffy
The first spot has to go to one of my very first blog mates Lythan who is not only a crafting pal but has become a very very good friend over the seven years I have known her. Her craft work is simply beautiful and that’s borne out by the fact that she has just been awarded Runner Up in the Scrapbooker of the Year competition which is well deserved if you ask me. Please pop across to her blog and see yourself, I’m sure you’ll agree.

All the rest are in no particular order but all have inspired me in one way or another over the years and I thank you for that.

2) Kathy’s Waffle
3) All That Glitters
4) A Stitch in Time
5) Twiglet
6) Paula’s Paper Playground
7) Lisa’s Craft Garden
8) Manic Stamper
9) Lynda Loves Crafting
10) Glimpsing The Past
11) Stamped Smiles
12) Simply One Of A Kind
13) Simply Sue
14) My Crafty Outlook


So there you have it.

Thank you again to Ady for thinking my blog worthy of such an award, I really appreciate it.

Sue
X

The King’s Speech

Have you see this film yet?
If not, I can really recommend it.

I went to see it yesterday with my cousin and was a little skeptical about just how good it would actually be given all the hype, but I can honestly say it’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen and Colin Firth so deserved his award for his portrayal of King George VI.
Go and see it, I’m sure you’ll love it.

While I was in town I popped into Poundland and WH Smiths, so my work desk shows the spoils of my little shop. Nothing very exciting, just essentials like double sided sticky pad, staples, Magic Tape, smooth plain White card for stamping onto and two new Black Sharpie pens….last of the big spender, err?


The eagle eyed of you will have spotted something else that’s new on my desk…..yes, I’ve joined the ranks of the lucky crafters who own a glass cutting mat……and I love it! Don’t know why I didn’t invest in one of these before but at least I have it now.

And there's something else....my new Purple Cow Ultimate Trimmer that you can see in the box at the side of my table, but as it goes I’m not very happy with that new toy.

I had been specifically looking for a trimmer that measured to at least 30cm, which according to the picture on the box this one does but when I got it home (after a round trip of an hour) I found that the measuring platform is marked out in inches and not centimeters. Don’t know why they can’t put both on there as my old trimmer has, but no, just inches.
I emailed Purple Cow on Friday to see if it’s possible to buy a new measuring platform, (thinking that if there's a picture on the box of one then they must make them) rather than return the trimmer to the shop but I’ve not heard a peep and I’m still waiting for a reply from them, so I’m not very impressed with their customer service either come to think of it.

Now I’m in a bit of a dilemma because tomorrow I’m going over to near where to the shop is that I brought it from and I don’t know if I should just return it and have done with it or wait a bit longer to see if Purple Cow get back to me. Trouble is if I take it back I need to start looking for another trimmer that goes up to those measurements and I’ve no idea where to start…..it’s so frustrating!

Sorry, rant over……best get back to my desk.

There’s just the usual mess on there that I manage to leave after a card making session. Pen’s, ink pads, piles of backing off the double sided tape that I've used and a big box of cheap eye shadows. Why the eye shadows…….I use them like chalks and very well they work too!

There are also these finished cards.

I was trying to do a few birthday cards using my cupcake stand stamp but they all turned out looking almost the same, mind you the Green one standing up on the shelf in the main picture looks more like a Wedding card if you ask me.
Oh well, back to the drawing board!





Then last but not least was this easle card.



Oh well, that’s it from me for this weeks what’s On Your Work Desk Wednesday.

Pop off over to Julie’s and join in why don't you, it's all good fun and you get to have a good nosey around too!

Bye for now.
Sue
x

What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday

Well, it may be another year but these Wednesday’s keep coming round faster than ever.
It doesn’t seem two minutes ago that I was telling you I had a clear desk ready to do my tax return, which incidentally is now done, and now I’m here again with a desk that’s looking a little more cluttered.

So what’s there to see this morning?


Well, there’s evidence that I’ve been busy in the last few days because there’s a box full of stamps and wet’n’dry foam that needs cleaning and putting away in their rightful places, there’s my spice rack full of gorgeous colorful flowers and there’s also my latest copy of Craft Stamper that postie brought on Monday.
I subscribe to this magazine each month in the hope that I will learn some new techniques and be more adventurous in my card making but sadly that hasn’t really happened yet and more than a year down the line I still always manage to stay inside my comfort zone.
Hopefully things will change…..one day!


The magazine is actually strategically placed on my desk, hiding the project that I’m working on.
It’s going to be a surprise gift for someone who often visits my blog so all I can tell you is that it’s a 12 x 12 layout (not something I make often) that is destined to end up in a frame and the inspiration for it came when I was blog hopping for last weeks WOYWDW and visited Lisa’s blog, Lisa’s Craft Garden

Whenever I visit a blog for the first time I like to spend a while looking back at the all the projects they’ve made. Lisa’s work is simply beautiful, especially her gorgeous boxes and the sugar craft work she does but what really caught me eye while I was snooping was this layout that she had made over a year ago.



It’s a stunning piece of work and seeing it gave me the idea for my project, so I scrap lifted it…I hope you don’t mind Lisa.
That’s all I can say for now without giving away what I’m up to but when it’s finished and the person has received it I’ll show you the finished article I promise.

Thanks for stopping by this week………and all the other weeks, your comments are always welcome and most appreciated.
I’m off to Julie’s Stamping Ground now, where our great leader Julia presides over the biggest weekly blog hop ever.
Why not come and join in!

See you all soon
Sue
x

Feeling Archaic

Yes folks, that’s how I’ve been feeling this morning, old and crotchety.
I ache all over and I’m hoping that it’s mainly due to the fact that I had a restless night and could really do with a new bed rather than I’m coming down with something.

My challenge to myself this week has been to try and use up some of the rements of my ever growing paper stash, instead of keep buying new stuff, so the last couple of days have been spent making cards.
Some are needed for orders but while I had my Basic Grey ‘Archaic’ pad out I decided that I wouldn’t put it away after I’d made the cards I needed, I would use it all up instead……a scary thought! Mind you, once I had got into it I really enjoyed myself trying to use the tiniest of scraps as it goes.

So alas, Archaic is no more but on the bright side I have a little collection of ‘spare’ men's cards, which I always find hard to make in a hurry and there will also soon be room for new stash at a later date, yah!

Here’s the little collection.


And here they are close up.









On an even brighter note, I had a visit from my lovely friend Lythan yesterday.
We’ve been trying to get together for ages but all my problems, Lythan’s work load and the weather all scuppered our plans to get together before Christmas. We finally managed it yesterday, so I made lunch, we had a good old natter and exchanged Christmas gifts before she headed off home for an evening at the pictures with her family. Hope you enjoyed the film hun and thanks for my beautiful necklace……I have it on now!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you soon.
Sue
x

Happy New Year!

.
Happy New Year everyone, I hope you all had a great Christmas.

Before I get going I just want to say a Big thank you to everyone who visited my blog over the course of last year and to thank those who gave me some much needed support.

Can’t say I’m sad to see the back of last year, what with all my medical problems and then loosing my dad so quickly after he was diagnosed with cancer, so I’m keeping everything crossed that this year will be a better one with a lot less trauma.
I do still have another eye op to look forward to in February but on the positive side, I hoping it will restore my sight enough to make my card making and some scrapbooking (I hope to really get stuck into that family album at long last) a lot easier afterwards.

Anyway, it’s the start of a New Year and hopefully lots more fun over on the Queen of Snoop’s Blog, where I’m sure that Julia will still keep us on our toes by keeping a look out for what’s on our work desk every Wednesday.

Here’s the fist photo of my desk this year and I’m sorry to say it a very boring one this morning.


It’s all very clear and tidy by necessity really because it’s that time of year again when the old tax return needs to be filled in, so that’s exactly what I plan to do today.
Now if it had been What’s on your Work desk Tuesday that would have been different story because I spent most of yesterday clearing up the mess that I made while making a few urgently needed birthday cards …..and what a breath of fresh air they were after making all those Christmas cards!

The first few cards are made using the Craftworks Cards set Ooh La La papers and Die-cuts. The colours are just so scrummy and go together so well….I love them!




These other cards are made using scraps and I can’t remember what they were, sorry.





Right then, I’m going to grab a cup of coffee, hit the tax return and then hopefully I’ll have time later to do a spot of hopping to see what you’re all up to.

Catch you later.

Sue
x

Baby, it’s cold outside!

And getting colder according to the weather forecast.

I shouldn’t complain because my little South East corner of the UK always seems to miss the worst of the bad weather and on the bright side the snow will help me acclimatize ready for a trip to the snow in Breckenridge, Denver. No skiing for me this year due to bad hip and knees but lots of Après-ski and shopping I hope!

Anyway, it’s Wednesday again so that means a photo of my desk today.

As it goes, there’s not much on there because I had a tidy up after finishing a couple of cards last night.


The stuff that’s on there now is all ready for me to make my Christmas tags this afternoon and when they are done I plan to wrap a few pressies.

The card that’s lying on the table is a card for my neighbor Pat from Bo Jangles (my cat) to say Thank You for taking such good care of him and feeding him so many times this year while I was otherwise occupied with family things.

He’s such a clever cat because he also brought her the most beautiful White Orchid in a Snowflake container from M&S!

I’m so lucky to have such a good friend on hand to help out at the drop of a hat and give me one less thing to worry about....I can’t thank her enough.

Here’s Bo Jangles card.


The two cards that I finished off last night were an order from a friend.
Each year she asks me to make her Christmas cards and every year she sets me a challenge with the two cards for her twin Grand Children who are 3 this year.

Last year it was Bob the Builder and a Princess which wasn’t too bad but this year I was stumped when she asked for Christmas cards with Buzz Lightyear and Woody on them........where to start!

Seeing as I’ve been experimenting with different folded cards this year, Easel Cards, Step Cards, and Swing Cards, I decided to have a go at something different again and went for Tri fold cards.




Oh well, that’s it from me this week as I’d best get on if I’m going to get these tags made and my pressies wrapped.

Don’t forget to stop by our leader Julia’s Blog and join in with ‘What’s On You Work Desk Wednesday’, it’s good fun having a good old snoop at other crafters workspaces.

Bye for now and thanks for stopping by.

Sue
x