WOYWW #127

It's WOYWW  and time to have a nosey at what is on YOUR desk. 

Come and have a nosey at all the crafters who have joined us over at Julia's Stamping Ground.

Sorry for being so tardy with my entry this week. We keep having massive outages on our internet service at the moment which is driving me bonkers. I love computers and technology but get so ratty when it doesn’t work properly GRRR

There isn’t any work in progress on my desk this week but there is lots of crafty goodness courtesy of the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC which I attended on Friday.

Starting from the top right you can see 3 Goodybags from Craftwork Cards, there is a Christmas one, a French one and a patchwork one and they are fab value at £10 each with loads of papers, card ribbons, die cuts, messages and I think each one has 20 cards and envelopes in them and a bag of card candi.

Bottom right there are some paper pads, 2 Dovecraft First Edition pads, and 2 Papermania ones that were a bargain at only £1 each. We have 3 embossing folders, a pack of Craftwork Cards oval messages, 3 Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads and a pot of gilding flakes.

Bottom Left 2 packs of 280gsm black card only £1 each with my special tree die cut that Kirsty Wiseman cut for me using the Eclipse. We have some Martha Stewart punches an some blending pad foam  thingies.

In the little paper bag we have 5 Lilli of the Valley stamps and a Little Clair stamp set. Out of the picture we have 20 rolls of sticky tape, some ink duster brushes, 4 sets of Nestabilities and the next set of brand new Flexmarker colours that I got from Polkadoodles

Other than doing a bit of colouring my mojo has completely up and gone so if you have found him can you please send him back to me, he is greatly missed. I'm hoping that once I have done the grocery shopping tommorow morning and can spend some time in my craft room he will come back out to play.

WOYWW #126

It's WOYWW  and time to have a nosey at what is on YOUR desk. Come and have a nosey at all the crafters who have joined us over at Julia's Stamping Ground.

After a whirlwind few days of shopping, cleaning, cooking and entertaining a guest last night this morning I have the dentist again. I was scheduled to go today for the rest of the my root canal but disaster struck on Monday when half of the tooth just fell out. There I was minding my own business and cleaning the windows and my mouth just felt funny and half the tooth literally had popped out with the temporary packing. I guess that will be another tooth out now :(

Anyhoo, knowing I will feel like crap this afternoon after definitely having one tooth out (and now possibly 2) I have printed some digi's out ready to colour in. I have a magazine open on my desk as I would like to have a go at the star shaped card, it looks so cool. We have the latest edition of Lets Make Cards. I took out the subscription at the NEC as it was a good offer but I need to cancel it as I don't even look at the magazine and just take the kits apart so it's a waste really. The envelope of felt pieces that was a freebie with Papercrafts Inspirations was a bit of a nightmare. It said in the magazine to use a nice sharp pair of scissors to snip them away from the backing sheet but I had to almost completely cut mine out as if they hadn't been die cut properly. I did them whilst I was watching the F1 race at the weekend as it was really boring this week. I love my F1 but I knew Lewis Hamilton wouldn't do very well with a 3 place grid penalty and it was a brand new track in India that wasn't terribly exciting.

I have my Polkadoodles rubber stamps which I want to use with the scraps of blue card I have out from a card I made recently and I have my Bakers Twine which need to be put away. I have a couple of DT cards I want to make and get out of the way as I'm going to the NEC on Friday to spend my birthday pennies and hopefully meet up with a crafty buddy :) I've got some items on my wish list and  will probably end up buying some stuff I don't really NEED lol....

I have already popped over to visit some desks and am planning to visit some more later. Wishing you all a happy WOYWW and that your crafty Mojo is in the house and coming out to play.

Thanks for visiting. Byeeeeee xxx


p.s. Update on my tooshie pegs... dentist managed to save the tooth that had broken with a temporary think that could last me 3 or 4 years and she decided not to take my tooth out today but then it broke later anyway.... oh well !!

WOYWW #125

It's WOYWW  and time to have a nosey at what is on YOUR desk. Come and have a nosey at all the crafters who have joined us over at Julia's Stamping Ground.

I had to wait in yesterday for a friend's Iphone to arrive and had tidies up and was preparing to do some DT cardmaking so I'd pulled matching papers put for my mushroom and glitters out for my tree only to get a call to say that It wasn't coming and was still in the depot. The poor lad has been really messed about by TNT, they said they had tried to deliver Saturday which was a complete lie as I was in all day and it has just got worse since then. He himself couldn't even pick it up as it was my name on the package so I offered to collect it yesterday so my planned craftiness has had to wait until today.

You will see propped up against my drawers the new issue of Papercraft Inspirations which has 4 sheets of felt Christmas shapes and a book of decoupage and just peeking out behind is a brown envelope which has a blog candy gift from Iris Zhou and she drew the cutest little bunny rabbit on the envelope. If you zoom in you can see it saying hello!

It's a nice sunny day here today but blooming freezing, I did the grocery shopping yesterday so don't have to go out in it today, something for which I'm really quite glad

I want to leave you with some photos I took on a lovely walk around Sutton Park on Sunday. It was a perfect crisp Autumn day with a lovely warming sun and a slight chill in the air. We are lucky that only 20 minutes drive away we have a massive park and woodlands and it was a great place to take a stroll. There is a big lake and a restaurant around it and there are signs saying that wild Exmoor ponies graze in the area and not to feed them. Everyone we know has never seen them but to be fair it is a large area that they are in so they probably hide from people.

Paul and I went off the main track around the lake and into the pine forest. It smelt lovely and you were walking on a bed of pine needles. There was a gentle breeze and the trees swayed and there was a noise as if they were talking to one another, it was so quiet and peaceful.

Then just up ahead from us we saw the most amazing sight, one of the wild ponies rummaging around for the acorns that were littered all over the floor of the forest. I was just overcome with emotion as we were really quiet and it was happy to graze only 3 feet away from us. The colouring on it was really beautiful. We couldn't believe it didn't run away and we were careful not to make any quick movements as we didn't want to scare it.

We continued into the forest and saw interesting little things like this funny knotted branch on the floor amongst the leaves

And gorgeous trees with the leaves changing colour, this was my favourite

All in all we had a lovely 3 hour walk and as we stayed off the main tracks it was just so quite and relaxing and then we saw this........

I cannot believe how lucky we were, there was no one else around us and it felt like they had come out to see us. It is hard to believe that literally EVERYONE we know who has been to this park has not seen these gorgeous animals, it really was a magnificent sight to behold.

I hope you like my piccies and enjoyed your walk with me in such lovely scenery. I'm off to see what some of you have been up to and then get my cards made.

Byeeeeeeeee and thanks for visiting xxx 

WOYWW #124

It's WOYWW  and time to have a nosey at what is on YOUR desk. Come and have a nosey at all the crafters who have joined us over at Julia's Stamping Ground.


You will note that my desk has stayed tidy :) I have been making lots of DT cards with the images I had on there last week and of course this lovely sunshine makes it easy for me to be in a good mood and stay creative. Hopefully it will last for a few more days as we are due to go in a hot air balloon ride which was cancelled right at the last minute in July. I have to phone a number at lunchtime on Friday to find out if it is on and if it is I need to get to Hereford for our 3pm meetup. The weather forecast earlier in the week wasn't looking good for Friday but this changed yesterday and I'm hoping it will go ahead. Please all keep your fingers crossed for me won't you? This was my birthday present from my hubby last year and we have had a bit of a mare to actually make it happen.


I've got new STASH!!! I had some pennies for my birthday from my MIL and Paul's Grandma and I have purchased some paper pads (yeah like as if I NEEDED any more.....) Anyhoo I went to The Range on Monday and purchased the Mariposa stack from DCWV, I have lusted over it for such a long time and Spyder has kept teasing me with it and it has got loads of pretty butterflies in it and they are my weakness, butterflies and pretty papers combined together, well I had no choice really did I?  I went to a local stationers and they had some lovely paper pads I have never seen before so I bought the brightly coloured butterfly one and the black and white one. Most are doubles sided and have glitter on them too. I also picked up the recent edition of Creative Cardmaking magazine and they had some back issues I haven't had for a £1 each.. There are some gorgeous free papers in there and they are more than worth that so I was a happy bunny :)


You will also see in the glitter tray some images I have coloured to make up into cards. I've had such a game with my teeth for the last few days all I wanted to do was veg out and do some colouring.


I had  to go to the dentist Monday as my extraction site had become infected over the weekend. The dentist packed it out with some tobacco like stuff that tasted of cloves and the relief from the soreness was almost instantaneous. I'm on some really strong antibiotics and was due to have a tooth out yesterday but the dentist decided I would be in too much pain. She started to work on a tooth that was to have a small filling in it and it has ended up being a full on root canal jobbie......she did most of the preparation yesterday and has put a temporary dressing into it. I have some swelling and my gums are sore from the infection so I had a terrible nights sleep. The ibuprofen helps a lot but of course when they wear off I really know about it. I have a lovely dentist though who knows how scared I am and works with me to allay my fears. I also cannot believe how effective my breathing and relaxation techniques are helping me to overcome my phobia.


Anyhoo, I'm going to skedaddle and have a mooch around some of your desks and see what you have been upto. Hope you have a lovely creative day, Byeee and thanks for visiting xxx

WOYWW #123

I took this photo at about 9am this morning, just look at the lovely sunshine coming through the slats of my blind. However the bloody tinternet conspired against me and I couldn't upload it this morning. I had to go run some errands and do shopping and then make bangers and mash for tea, watch a bit of telly and update my Iphone :)

Please note that my desk has been tidied up, it was totally overdue.... I now actually have space to make 'stuff' and all the little tiny white squares from 3D foam have been removed from the floor and will not be trampled through the house by hitching a ride on my fluffy slippers.

On the left just coming into shot you can see a couple of concertina folders which contain various free papers from magazines. On top of this is Paul's old Macbook Pro which I use to watch telly stuff streamed off our media server. I don't mind getting cast off's when it is a purdy computer like this one :)

All my sticky things have been collated together and are on top of my A5 sized Thomson Local which I use as scrap paper for inking on, I just tear a couple of sheets out or I can also just scribble within the book. It was only going in the recycling box so I saved it from certain death.

On my craft mat you will a lovely little package of goodies that came from my friend and Happi Sister Jennifer Scull. It was so nice to have a package all the way from America, I love it when I get happy post like that. Just next to this are lots of pretty images that I coloured yesterday whilst watching TV. I am still suffering with this stubborn cold and it was nice to just chill out and do some colouring all snuggled up in a blankie whilst watching old episodes of CSI. Watch out for said images in upcoming projects, some involving sweeties :)

On the far right you will see a pink box. This has some C6 cardblanks in it and on top was a precarious 'Leaning Tower of Pisa stylee' pile of all the paper pads you can see on my desk. I have spilt these into 6" and 8" square stacks. I would be a compete and utter liar if I was to say these these are the only paper pads I have............

At the back I have a plastic box which contains my most recent scraps. I would be a complete and utter liar if I were to say these are the only scraps I have...........

At the front is a tidy tray with miscellaneous odds and sods that I am using or haven't found a permanent home for.

It's WOYWW  and time to have a nosey at what is on YOUR desk. Come and have a nosey at all the crafters who have joined us over at Julia's Stamping Ground.

WOYWW # 122

Right, I have to be honest my workdesk has not changed AT ALL since last week. What with birthday and anniversary celebrations not only have I not had a chance to tidy it (sorry Jane) but I have also not made anything either. Went to bed on Sunday night with a tickly cough & sore throat and woke up with a full blown 'I feel like crap' cold and chest infection.

Then to boot I went to the dentist yesterday. I am absolutely petrified of going and admit to not having been for about 15 years. We started a program of treatment yesterday which involved taking out a broken tooth and today I am blooming suffering. It is so sore and on top of the cold all I wanted to do was snuggle up on the sofa and watch tv.

So for WOYWW I decided to show you my ribbon storage. As I alluded to last week, my craft space is very small so if there is an available, useable space, it WILL get used. I loves ribbon, I love textiles in general but ribbon in crafting is one of those finishing touches that can make all the difference to a project. Living in Birmingham I am VERY lucky that I have the Rag Market as a fabulous source of ribbons and trims, most very cheap too so of course, every now and again one makes a small purchase...... Please do not start licking the screen or drooling on the ribbon OK.....

This is the view at the back of my door. (I told you I loved Ribbon!!) I have a couple of those shoe tidies that hold large rubber stamps and ink pads and various bits and pieces. I have 2 really strong hangers that are made out of rounded plastic. These hold the longer lengths of ribbons, lace, trims and shoe laces. The embroidery floss ring holds the shorter 'card length pieces'

Close-up of this ring shows there are are clips holding the ribbons on. I tend to group them by colour so that I can pull all the similar colours together and lay them on my card to select the one I want to use. If none of the small ones are suitable then I go on to the larger section.

The close-up above shows how my ribbons are held onto the hangers. I used either the small crocodile clips that you can get for hanging lightweight curtains on. I had a load from when I used to work in a curtain shop but you can buy them from Ikea too. Another method is to use a large paperclip and hang a small bulldog clip from it. This then simply grips the ribbons you have grouped together. You will also see there are a couple of bundles of shoe laces. These were a complete bargain from Poundland. I had 4 pairs of assorted length laces, 70cm - 120cm for only £1. They are a really heavyweight twill and is another example of crafters being able to re-purpose something from it's original intended use.

I previously had them all rolled up in boxes but found I didn't use them so much. I think I am one of those crafters who uses what I can see so the stuff I have out or at least within easy reach tends to be what I use the most. I'm also very touchy feely so texture is important to me and I try to use it in my projects a lot.

Thankyou Julia for allowing us to congregate in one place and have a mooch at what is happening in other people's crafty worlds :)

WOYWW #121

After seeing many of my blogging buddies taking part in What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday I have finally took a really deep breath and taken the plunge to join in. Today is my 40th Birthday and they say life begins at 40 so here goes.....

I am very lucky to have my own craft room but it is very small, due to a curve in the wall and an old airing cupboard you can't even get a small single bed in there so space is very tight. Add in a large amount or crafty schtuff and well, space is limited. There is no room to swing a mouse, let alone a cat but it is my space, my sanctuary and I loves it.

This is the 'working' part of my desk where my craft mat goes. To the left is a stack of schtuff and my laptop goes on there so I can watch TV whilst I am crafting, to the right is a stack of cardblanks and paper packs so this is the only space I can 'work' in. 

I have some coloured images ready to make into cards, these are some of the larger ones or will invariably be DT work to be made up. I have my Baker's Twine, not much of it as you will see but loved nevertheless. In the middle we have my cannot live without Fiskars embroidery scissors. I have had these for about 15 years and they are used constantly. I use them for my decoupage and detailed work as they are just fabulous. To the bottom we have some scrap paper from a card I made last night for DT work, my trusty bone folder and metal ruler. I use this all the time with my Fiskars fingertip knife which is out of shot. There are 2 large pairs of scissors, one with a piece of paper on the handle. I always have a pair to use for cutting sticky stuff and add a label to them for easy identification. At the top right is a new paperpad that came with a magazine and my most used at the moment Martha Stewart Punch, all on top of a pile of scraps (there are many, many more of these I can promise you!!)

I am not convinced anyone us going to be interested in what is on MY desk but hello if you do pop by and I'll come to visit you too if you leave a comment.