One Week To Go...........WOYWW #103

With only a week to go until the big day and excitement is reaching fever pitch over at the Julia’s place where the Stamping Ground is a buzz with anticipation for the 2nd birthday Pay It Forward.
My gift is all done and dusted, ready and waiting to go in the post but I still need to make a little card to go with it, so that’s part of my plans for today’s crafting action.

But before I start on that, I have to pack up some cards to go into the post and as you can see from my desk photo this morning BoJangles is sitting pretty waiting help me.........ok, he’s really waiting for me to take that coffee cup out into the kitchen and hoping that while I’m there he’ll get a handful of food.
He’s such a gannet!

As I understand it, for most cats ,including my previous cat Emily, you can put down a big bowl of food and they will quite happily graze on it all day but not Bo, oooh noooo, he scoffs the lot in one go and still wants more. He’ll eat and eat until he makes himself sick, so I have to weigh out his food in the morning and give it to him throughout the day in a bid to keep him happy, but his constant worrying for food can really try your patients sometimes.

Anyway I digress, it’s been such a relief to get back to card making after the trials and tribulations of the curtain linings last week. I finally managed to finish them though and while the sewing machine was still out I also made myself make the pelmet for my lounge which I’ve been meaning to do for the last eighteen months and also take the curtains up a smidgen because they’ve been dragging along the floor for the same length of time.
I’m so ashamed of myself for admitting that but they are done now and just waiting to go back up at the window so all in all so I should be feeling pretty happy.

If you want a better look at the cards I’ve made this week here they are:-

I was playing with my new set of Kanban stamps and some clear embossing for this first one.

Next is another stamped and embossed image but I can’t remember who it’s by because it’s not in any packaging. I’ve water coloured this one with Marvy LePlume pens and added some Crystal Lacquer to the tops of the waves for effect.

For the next two I’ve used a Sketching Stamper digital stamps and coloured them with ProMarkers.

Then I thought I would have a go at making my own rosettes using my new 'Hougie' board. If you've not heard of one of those it's just a 12 x 12 scoring board marked out in 1/2cms on one side and 1/2inches on the other and it's the best piece of equipment that I've brought in ages.

And the last but not least are a couple just using up some scraps that I had laying around.

So that’s it from me for another week, I need to pace myself ready for the fun and games of next week’s WOYWW.

Look forward to seeing you all at the party, so until then………

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

For a little update us to why I’m not commenting on people’s blogs at the moment click here.
Blogger is being a pain

WOYWW #102

Just a quick blog from me this morning and a very different work desk too.

As you can see my desk is clear of all my card making things and in its place is my sewing machine, which rarely sees the light of day.
Now, I’m sure you’ve heard me exclaim loads of times that I can’t stitch a straight line to save myself but that just what’s needed here because I’m attempting to alter a pair of curtain liners.

Now hop on over to The Stamping Ground and join in the fun and I’ll be over in the next day or two to see what you’re all playing with this week.

Sorry I’ve got to blog and run but I have a date with Captain Jack Sparrow and the Pirates of the Caribbean!

Happy WOYWW!
Sue
X

Just two weeks to go until the 2nd anniversary and the ‘BIG’ P.I.F……..Yah!

WOYWW #101

Well, ‘that day’ is here again and as the work desks of the world go on public view for another What’s on your Workdesk Wednesday, mine is looking decidedly messy this morning and it’s not with a work in progress either, just the aftermath of yesterday’s crafting session.

The LO that I did of my Mum, which you can see better Here is sitting waiting to go into its final home next to Dad’s page in my scrapbook and at the front of the table you can see a printed picture of dads LO and the journaling that goes with it.

I’ve decided that I’m going to do this for all of my heritage LO’s because as I was working on mum’s page I was thinking about her life and the what to write about her when it suddenly occurred to me that not everyone who sees the scrapbook will necessarily have access to my Heritage Blog and therefor wouldn’t be able read the journaling.

By printing everything out there will be a written record that goes with each of the LO’s in the album but now I just have to decide the best way to present it. At the moment I have them in punched pockets but I don’t know whether I should find a way of keeping then in the album with the appropriate LO or if I should just keep them all in a separate ring binder to go alongside the album…........oh decisions, decisions!

As for the rest of my desk, well there’s paper, flowers and a pile of nesties all waiting to go back to their own homes!

So that’s it from me for this week. Pop across to The Stamping Ground if you want to join in with the fun and I’ll see you next time.

Happy Crafting
Sue
X

Yah…….only three weeks to go until the 2nd anniversary and the ‘BIG’ P.I.F!

And then there was Mum

Morning all.

Well, this scrapbooking malarkey is getting to be a bit addictive!

I've gone from not scraping at all to can't get enough of it, so much so that my card orders have been taking a back seat of late.

I never thought I would hear myself say that, but there it is!

So yesterday I had a wonderful day, I got up early, got the necessary housework out of the way and then headed for my craft room.

The first thing I did was this LO of my mum for my heritage album.

As you can see this is 'the other' Blue page I mentioned the other day and it’s Blue in an attempt to match the page I've already made of dad.
They look quite good in the album side by side.

Now, although I've just said that I'm getting addicted to scraping I'm still not brave enough to try and design a LO by myself yet so I found this old template on the Page Maps  site to work from.

The site is a great resource for page templates of all kinds, as well as cards.

Mum's Lo was always going to be done in these colours because they were one of her favorites, so when I visited the Stamp and Scrapbook show at Alexandra Palace back in April I was on the look out for things to use.  When I came across the beautiful pearl flourish and the paper flowers they were just crying out to me to be used and I'm so pleased that I brought them, they're gorgeous!



Now all I have to do is sit down and write her story which may take some time and then update my Heritage Blog.
Hopefully it will be done in the next few days, so don’t forget to call back and read all about her life.

Patterned Papers29th Street Market - My Mind’s Eye
Capella – Basic Grey
Ella Blue - G.C.D. Studios

Peel-Off Stickers –Craft Creations
Pearl & Iridescent Flower Stems – Craft Creations
Say it in Pearls Flourish & Butterfly – Prima
Small Mulberry Roses – The Hobby House
Medium & Large Mulberry Flowers - Prima
Journal – Computer Generated
Cotton Lace – Hobby Craft
Die cut lettering
Distress Ink – Ranger

EquipmentCuttlebug
Tag-a-Long
Nestabilities – Scalloped Ovals (sm) & Peony

Next I thought I had better tackle the every growing list of birthday cards waiting to be done.

I’m entering this card into the monthly challenge over at Craft Creations the place I get all my card stock from. The challenge is to use flowers so I think my little posy counts, don’t you?

Hope you all have a good day and I'll be back tomorrow with WOYWW (What's on your Workdesk Wednesday) when you'll be able to see the aftermath of a crafting session later today.

Bye for now
Sue
x

Here he is again!

The second page of dad in four days and yes, it’s another Blue page.



I just seem to be drawn to the colour for some reason but my excuse is that that it lends itself beautifully to the old Black and White photos that I’m using. And just to forewarn you, the papers I have for mum’s page are Blue too, so be warned.

Well as you can see this is a photo of my dad in his army uniform, aged about nineteen…….….wasn’t he handsome, it’s no wonder mum fell head over hills in love with him!
You can read his full story over at Family Footprints in the Sands of Time, my heritage blog.

For my starting point I’ve used an old page template from So Sketchy and used a combination papers from My Mind’s Eye, Basic Grey and G.C.D Studios.

The border was cut from one of the papers, embellished with eyelets (I always seem to forget to use those) and then layered with 3D foam and to give the LO some extra dimension I’ve also added some real and faux stitching.



Patterned Papers
29th Street Market - My Mind’s Eye
Capella – Basic Grey
Ella Blue - G.C.D. Studios

Alphabet Stickers – Basic Grey
Micro Mono Stickers (numbers)- Basic Grey
Card Candi – Craftworks Cards
Best Dad Plaque – Making Memories
Hemp Cord – Create Cousin
Journaling – Computer Generated
Brads from stash

First page of Dad & WOYWW #100

Morning peeps and a happy Workdesk Wednesday to you all.

This week I’ve taken my photo from a slightly different angle. It’s not much different because my room is so small you can’t swing a cat but it's given you a glimpse of the picture on my wall.

BoJangles is off to hide on the window ledge now just in case I give it a go but don't worry Bo I don’t plan to try it.

As you probably know, cross stitching is another passion of mine and this was something I stitched some time ago from a Butternut Road chart called Catch the Wind.

I’ve changed the colours of mine because I wanted it to go with the Lemon walls of my craft room, so instead of the dark Red, Green and Blue I’ve used Lemon, Pale Green and Pink and framed it in Blue and Lemon which I think worked well.

Original Colours


Changed Colours




Anyway, onto the main matter of the day and that’s what’s ‘on’ my workdesk.



Last week I mentioned that I was going to do a scrapbook page of my dad but couldn’t find the photo that I wanted to use. Well I did eventually do a page even if it wasn’t the one I wanted to do first and it’s sitting in the left hand side of my table.


Don’t you just love this photo!

Dad was just six months old when this was taken and who would have guessed then that he would live to the ripe old age of 87.

The papers I’ve used are all Lost and Found from My Mind’s Eye as is the large brad with the bird on.
I’ve kept the page quite simple, just adding the Tim Holtz Metal flowers and leaves that have been coloured with Alcohol inks and the building blocks.


I made the blocks by printing out a children’s colouring page and inking them with Distress ink before stamping them with some tapestry stamps and adding the die cut letters.

After completing the baby page I resumed my search and the good news is that I eventually found the original picture I was looking for and a lovely one of mum too, so spread all over my desk now are the papers and other bits and pieces that I’m planning to use on the next two Lo’s.
Looks like I have a busy day ahead of me. Lol!




Well thanks for dropping in, I hope you like what you’ve seen.

I’ll be making a few calls on some new blogs this week (my way of random visiting seems to be working for me) and see what craftiness everyone is up to and if you’re wondering what on earth I’m going on about, stop in on Julia, over at the Stamping Ground where everything will become clear…..hopefully!

Happy Crafting!
Sue
X
By the way it’s only a few more weeks until the birthday PIF and my little gift is all ready to go. Here’s a little sneak peek to wet your appetite.


I wonder what it is and who this will be going to?

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday #99

Good morning Workdesk Wednesdayer’s and what a fab morning it is.

Despite the weather forecast for rain, my little corner of the South East has so far missed it again and the sun is still shining here even if it’s not as warm as it was, so I’ve been making the most of it.

I’ve been out and about over the weekend visiting a sick cousin who’s been in hospital but is home now (Get well soon Ken) and also I was at a BBQ on Sunday with my very good friends Susan and Edd and my two God Daughters, which was lovely.

The consequence of that is that there’s been very little creativity going on because I haven’t really settled down to doing very much since.
I did come close yesterday though because I’ve finally decided that it’s time to sit down and do a scrapbook page of my dad.

I know it sounds silly but since losing him last August I just couldn’t face doing it for some reason, but now I ready and yesterday I started to sort out the papers and get everything together that I had brought to do it but I didn’t get very far.
I couldn’t find the old photos that I wanted to use and I spent the rest of the morning searching through drawers and cupboards looking for them.
I wouldn’t mind, they should be easy to see because all four of them are in quite big frames from when I had them hanging on the wall in my bedroom so they won’t have just been tucked away somewhere. All I can think is that they are still over at my brother’s house because we had them on show there after dad’s funeral.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that after all that searching the page didn’t get done in the end and the papers and things are still on the corner of my desk waiting to be used.



The only other things of interest on my desk are two cards, one of which you have seen before but is having a bit of a tweak.

I made the Fairy card a couple of weeks ago as part of a five card order and had them all packed up and ready to post when I received a reply to an email I sent last week asking if she wanted an age on the front of the card. When I didn’t hear anything back I assumed that she didn’t and packed everything up but it turned out she was waiting for a reply from Australia because she was checking the age, so this morning I’m just adding the ‘8’ to the front and then will post them as I go out.

The other card is for a wedding and is my first attempt at making crinkled paper flowers using Mr. Holtz tattered flowers. I love the way they turned out and they were so easy to make so you can expect to see loads more in the coming weeks.

So that’s about it from me, I’m off now to drink that cold cup of coffee you can see on my desk then get that card finished.

Don’t forget to drop by The Stamping Ground where Julia has the list of everyone who’s joining in this week and visit a few blogs.

I’ll be stopping by later to see what you’re all up to, so bye for now and ……………

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Ahead of Myself

I couldn’t make it to WOYWW last week and didn’t want to miss it two weeks in a row, especially as the excitement is growing as we get ever nearer to the big P.I.F in celebration of the second anniversary so here I am with a photo of my desk this morning.



I’m making no apologies for the poor quality of the picture.
The sun was streaming through my window leaving shadows over everything but I’m sure you will still be able to get the gist of what I’ve been up to.

The first thing you may notice is that there’s been a little change to the storage boxes at the back of my desk.

For some time I’ve been keeping my eyes open for a new container to store my distress inks.
Up until now I’ve had them all thrown into one of the drawers at the back of my table but they were often awkward to get to because of all the stuff that gets piled up in front of them. I wanted them to be within easy reach and found just what I was looking for in Hobbycraft last week. I think it’s meant to go inside a drawer but I’ve stood mine on its end, which meant I had to have a bit of a ‘rearrange’ and relocate a few bits but over all I’m very pleased with the way it’s worked out. Now I just have to reach out and grab the one I want!

Scattered across the rest of my desk are the working of my Nephew’s birthday card. I’m feeling quite smug because I’m ahead of myself in the card order stakes and already working on cards needed for June.

You can see the remains of my Basic Grey ‘Marjolaine’ pad lying at the back of the table and also some tickets, cut with the Sizzix strip and finished off with the coordinating stamps from Imagine That
Actually, it’s the first time I’ve used them and if I’m honest I think I’m going to need lots of practice with them because I had awful trouble lining the stamps up with the die cut even though I used a clear acrylic block.

There’s nothing else very exciting on my deck this week, just the usual crafting necessities.

I’ll be round to visit as many as I can during the week and be back next time when we will find ourselves a week closed to the second anniversary bash.
For everything you need to know to join in with WOYWW and the anniversary P.I.F. please hop on over to Julie’s blog The Stamping Ground.


Have a good week and a very happy Easter
Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Playtime at last!

Oh, I’ve had such a lovely start to my week.

My crafty pal Lythan came to call on Monday and we ‘played’ all day.
It’s been so long since we’ve been able to get together to craft and have a good natter, so you can bet that we made up for lost time. Lol!

We had a very productive day too.

Lythan was working on two 12 x 12 layouts that she had brought with her and I decided to make my P.I.F. for What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday’s second anniversary, which is coming up very shortly.
If you’ve no idea what WOYWW is all about hop across to The Stamping Ground where you’ll find all you need to know.


Now, for obvious reasons I can’t show you my P.I.F. yet but I can show you what’s on my desk this morning it’s something that I don’t often dabble with……………


I have my bead box out!

The beads may or may not have something to do with my P.I.F. but what you can see in the picture are the bracelets that I’m making for my friend Sandy.

We saw the beads in Wal-Mart while we were in America in February and it was a good job I’m not into jewelry making in a big way because I think my luggage would have been way over weight on the way home. There were so many gorgeous beads and all soooo cheap. A ‘real’ beader would have struggled to restrain themselves, I’m sure.

I picked up a big bag of various shades of Brown and Beige beads and this string of beautiful Black wired glass beads for myself.



Sandy decided on the two sets you can see on my desk……wish I had got some of those Blue ones for me now.


Well, it’s on with my day.

The ironing board is calling unfortunately but I hope to be back later to visit a few more desks than I managed last week and leave more comments.

Thanks to everyone who left comments for me last week too, they are always most appreciated.

Oh yes, my week is set to end well too, because Lythan and I are off to Alexander Palace on Saturday for the Big Stamp Show.
May see you there if you're going too!


Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Great Grandma Jessy

So everything is stuck in its place now and I can reveal the lay out that was strewed across my table first thing this morning when I showed you what was on my workdesk.

The WOYWW post is below this one)



As I mentioned before, I wanted this page of me Great Grandmother to match & complement the one that I had previously made for my Great Grandfather, so I’ve used the same K & Co papers from the Blue Awning pad…….I just love these papers, so much so that I even made the paper flowers from them.

I’ve also used some of the same embellishments on both Lo’s to tie them together, but I didn’t want the layouts to be exactly the same, so I’ve used this week’s sketch (231) from Pencil Lines.



I’ve used their card sketches many times before but never a 12 x 12 sketch, so this is a first for me and that’s because I’m a card maker rather than a scrapbooker and never feel confident when doing layouts so the sketch was a great help. With lots more of my ancestors pages still waiting to be made I can see myself coming back for more, time and time again.

WOYWD #95

Snooping day is here again and it’s a good excuse to grab a coffee and take a tour of everyone’s desk.
I bet Julia didn’t realize when she blogged a photo of her desk for the first time that it would go ‘global’, but it has and now she’s getting on for 200 of us joining in each week, which is amazing.

If you fancy joining our merry band of Workdesk Wednesday’ers then visit The Stamping Ground for all you need to know and maybe I’ll see you next week!

I’ve had a very quiet crafting week since last we meet, only making one card, which in fact isn’t even finished yet.
I kept getting distracted by the lovely weather and wanted to be doing things in the garden, drinking coffee and reading being two of them, Lol, but I did do a spot of gardening as well and I still have the aches and pains to prove it!

My evenings too have been taken up by another distraction, the hospice cross stitching project I’m working on.
It’s getting quite exciting now because seven of the quilt and cushion sets are completely finished and the project is nearing its end. I’ve just finished stitching all the squares for the eighth set and they will be winging their way to Nicki in Switzerland to be made up very soon. My good friend Sharon is working on the squares for the final quilt set and now my stitching is done I’ll lend a hand to get them finished too.

Here’s a sneak peek.

These are the squares (all the same) for the second Brown quilt.

Photo temporarily removed  - submission to The World of Cross Stitching

And this is one of the squares for the seating area quilt.

Unlike the other quilts, this one will have different squares on it but they will all be Gerbera’s because they are the logo for the hospice.




Photo temporarily removed - submission to The World of Cross Stitching







The good news is that it’s dull and miserable this morning and the garden isn’t calling me at all today so I’ve finally made a start on the LO of my Great Grandmother that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.
I want it to match the one I’ve already finished of my Great Grandfather which you can just make out on the back Right-hand corner of my desk.


I’ve decided on all the bits I want to use and sorted out where I want everything to go, with the exception of the flower. I don’t like that one very much and think I might make cut some distressed flowers with my Tim Holtz die, we shall have to see.


If you’re interested in heritage scrapbooking, visit Family Footprints in the Sands of Time where you can see some of the other pages I’ve done and read a little bit about their lives. I still have a few other finished pages to put on there but need to do a little bit of research first.

Well, the kettle has just boiled, so I’ll be off to make my coffee and then I’ll be round to see what you’re all up to this week.

Have a good week and ……….
Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris (WOYWW #94)

Well once again the sun is shining this morning and for some reason it brought to mind this little ditty that Spike Milligan used to recite quite often…..showing my age now Lol!

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris.
I wonders where the birdies is.
They say the bird is on the wing.
Ain't that absurd?
I always thought the wing was on the bird.

It certainly make me feel better when the sun is shining and the opportunity to finally get out in the garden and have a tide up is a welcome one.
I even had the help of a little Robin sitting by my feet yesterday as I was working out there. He was obviously looking for some tasty morsel to eat to be honest and not really craving my companionship but his presence never the less was a welcome one.

It’s hard to stay inside and work when the sun is shining the way it is but needs must and my desk today shows why.

On a follow up to last week’s desk, when I was franticly trying to get the Order of Service booklets finished after my blunder, I’ve now been asked to make some Thank You cards for the flowers.


Sandy's asked for something similar to the ones I made for my dad, so the old faithful Penny Black Single Iris stamp has come out again.
I just love this stamp and never get fed up with using it.

As you can see from the photo I’m just in the process of cutting the card to postcard size and then I’ll get onto the stamping.


Pushed to the side of my table is what I was working on earlier in the week…….yes, it’s another page for my family tree album.


This one is of my Grandmother (mum’s mum) and I think of all the pages I’ve done so far this has to be my favourite.
The colours are beautiful and the papers, Basic Grey ‘Curio’ are perfect for heritage pages.
I especially loved the flowered paper, which I’ve cut round and decoupaged and then added a little more interest with seed beads threaded onto wire to make the stamens.

You can read all about her on my Family Tree Blog Family Footprints in the Sands of Time.

Just sitting under the layout you can glimpse of yet another moment of weakness.


When I popped to Hobbycraft for extra card last week I just happened across these beautiful My Mind’s Eye, ‘Lost & Found’ papers that are also earmarked for the album.
They are almost too gorgeous to use and deserve to be stroked for a while before I find out if I actually have the courage to cut into them…..we shall see!

Right then, the sooner I get these Thank You cards done the sooner I can get back the garden with my little Robin friend.

Don’t forget to call in and see Julia, over at the Stamping Ground where you’ll find all the links to those join in with What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday.
It’s really great visiting all the different blogs but there are so many taking part now that it’s near impossible to visit and comment on every one, so I’ve come up with a random way to visit as many as I can.
Hopefully that way I’ll get round to everyone.......... eventually.
I hope that’s ok with everyone.

Special thanks to everyone who takes the time to call in on me and leave comments, especially those who stop by regularly. Your comments are always most welcome and often encouraging.


Have a happy crafting week until we meet again.
Sue
x

WOYWW #93

Well, here we are at Wednesday again and a wet and soggy one it is too, here in Essex.

As you know, Wednesday’s are the highlight of the week here in blog land because Julia takes us on a tour of the craft desks of the world.
If you’ve no idea what I’m going on about, that’s nothing unusual, but if you go visit the The Stamping Ground all will become clear and you’ll find the details of how to join in.


So my desk today is how I left it in the wee small hours of this morning after a very manic crafting session.


I’ve been making the Order of Service booklets for Rene’s (my friend’s mums) funeral which is this afternoon. Talk about cutting things fine!

I only got the final draft for the service on Sunday evening and because I had to be places on Monday and Tuesday, one being the hospital about my eye which I will tell you about in a mo, I had very little time make them in the end and it was all a bit of a rush really.

I was up until very late on Monday night setting up all the templates for the pages and I sent a copy to my friend so she could give it the once over…… I’m not known for my good spelling and this was all done in a hurry so it was best to get it checked.
When I got the ok from her yesterday afternoon I made a start on the printing and had just finished folding the fifty double sided covers when the phone rang.

It was Sandy with some bad news.

Her brother had just come in and spotted that there was a mistake on the front with one of the dates. I could really kick myself for missing it but then again several other people had looked at it too by then and nobody had noticed I had put the wrong month on it.
It was a complete waste of time, card and ink but I so glad it was spotted before the service because it would have been so embarrassing.

Anyway, I reprinted all the covers (luckily I had brought extra card and spare ink cartridges) and did the inserts which all come out ok in the end.

There’s something very satisfying about all those little piles of Order of Service don’t you think?

Now all we need to do is hope that the rain stops before the service this afternoon.


Now my eye………

I’ve been discharged from the hospital……Yah!

It’s been sixteen months of hell really, from finding I had a detached retina and needing emergency surgery the following day and a second op a year later, to my discharge on Monday but my consultant said that the outcome has been extremely good, given the severity of what I've just gone through.

Now all I have to do is go to my own optician to sort out my new contact lenses (this Saturday) and then it’s onwards and upwards and I won’t be boring you all anymore with my eye problems ……........I can here you all saying, thank heavens for that Lol!


Right then, I must go get a wiggle on because I still have a couple of things to sort out before going to the funeral.

See you soon and thanks for stopping by

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

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
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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
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