WOYWW 616 - So where exactly does stuff go in here?

Well it is wednesday again, so that can only mean one thing , "Tuesday is behind us and we are one day closer to the weekend", and while that is true it is the one day a week that the crafting community shares what they have been up to on their desks, now that may or may not be some actual crafting, What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

This week I am afraid there has been no crafting, I am sure you can all understand as to why, but that does not mean craft related stuff hasn't been achieved.

Shaz had a load of tubs of stamps and stencils all over the shop in different tubs for either projects she had planned or projects she had completed, So today I have been mainly dealing with finding homes for all the stamps and stencils, Stuff and Things.

The binder is labeled Lavinia 2, it is reputed to store all the fairy houses, animals and trees etc.

So at the top of the desk you will note the lavinia stamps, they all look new and unopened, but they have all been listed in onenote (Shaz listed everything she ever bought including pictures) One note is something I am getting more and more familiar with as I have started using it for work. 

If you need something to keep yourself organised to prevent you buying duplicates i highly recommend it.

So what else have I been upto? 

I have been in contact with a womans refuge and I am awaiting them getting back to me with regards to some of Sharon's clothes (not the fancy stuff), things like leggings, socks, smalls and plain tops etc

Believe it or not she does have some plain stuff too!

I know right 😂 but it is true.

Things that can do some good and I won't feel a loss, baby steps and all that x

Ok so we are going to talk about the elephant in the room, the eagle eyed among you may have done, and those are the new stamps on the right of the desk too,  caught red handed.
What can I say? 
Well my excuse is LOOOOK at them trees, just LOOOOK at them!

So we have the Tree of Hope & the Tree Of Courage, then the sentiment one is called Magic Surrounds us 

Your welcome👍

They will be used with a future project I have whirling around in my head, just need the skills to pull it off, the choccy in the bottom, yeah I got that,  pretty sure I can manage that without trying 😋.

Anyway, that is our desk covered, what is yours like? head on over to our Julias for a link up and share what you have been up to.

Cheeky holiday snap, this one is from Kos in 2019, from the last working windmill on Kos, the tour guide said to pop your hands in the air, so we both did, Shaz let go of her walking stick to do so, this resulted in it falling to the floor ha ha  

so that just leaves ....

WOYWW 615 - my YouTube history is just wrong now

 Ok so I have a ways to go when it comes to doing this blog justice, but I am trying, and when I say I am trying I know shaz is grinning and agreeing with me as I type this.

Well as many of you know Shaz and I have a shared facebook account, we only started it in 2009 when we got married as everyone was uploading photos from our wedding, now you may be asking why am i bringing this up? 

Well it's simples 😀

I see all the craft posts, just like Shaz does, and all the new stash that are due out, and quite often I will tell shaz what I think will look cool and say she must have it, well that kind off hasn't stopped. 

Which means I kinda, sort off, did a thing...again 

So above the cutting board we have a bunch of distress inks used on the back ground
Wilted Violet, Chipped Sapphire, Frayed Burlap, Iced Spruce & Blueprint sketch.

The "One day At A Time" stamp just had to be bought

The "Rose Corner Stencil" (can't see a name for it, but it is the new one)

What can I say, the Clock and sentiment, and the stencil had to to be bought, the smaller was more of a free shipping filler but I liked the sentiments.

Well that could only mean one thing, videos, I watched the facebook video for Honey doo Crafts launch for the new stamps (after the fact), then went to Youtube on how to do some of the things I wanted to do with them, and more importantly the type of stock for stamping on Lavinia Stamps (Quality Card Multifarious Smooth and Supreme 20x A5 330gsm). 

I did make a mistake with the stamping towards the end by placing the stamp on the card upside down, when I flipped it round the it took some of the background away.

It was not the reason why I added the spiral stamp, I just felt it needed a little something there.

The spiral stamp is from a set called "Winter Solstice 71" from a company called Non Sequitur which I believe are still going under De-stempelwinkel Linky not a cheap set but a pretty cool one.

For the clock I used a versafine Clair - Nocturne ink, for the stencil more ink from Versafine Clair, this time "Shady lane" for the foliage & "Glamour" for the rose heads.

I also tried my hand at embossing, now I know what your thinking, and you would be right, thats a full on gallop.

Dang it, that is not as easy as it looks ha ha, nor is it easy to mask and use half the stamp when not using the stamp platform. 

That was my second mistake, my first was not to try it on a scrap piece first.

My third mistake was not putting enough embossing ink (is it ink?) on the stamp then you have to go back in and do it again (I digress) well lets just say the bottom part of the text is wonky and leave it at that.
 

Anyway head on over to  the Stamping ground for some more WOYWW goodness, but from some  real crafters, crafters that possibly plan and practice before commiting to the final project? 

Anyways, as is usual in my posts, a snap of us, this one was taken at Download festival  back in 2015 

That just leaves the and finally...

P.S

Check back tomorrow for the live view link for Sharon's funeral, I will be scheduling a post to go live at 7pm with all the details on it.

P.P.S

The funeral is Friday 19th March at 10:15

WOYWW #602- The Almost Christmas Edition

 I'm afraid its a bit more enabling this week- first is a set of Christmas stamps and stencils that were free with Creative Stamping magazine. I rarely buy magazines these days,but liked all the small stamps in this set. I can use them on smaller cards, and inside bauble shapes, which is what caught my eye. It also comes with a tree and stags head stencil, and also you get the mask shapes too.

Lots of images, so was worth the cost. Normally thats why I don't buy them, the cost is too high for the use I'd get from them.

 Had lots of Christmas cards arrive, thank you all, I'll try and remember to take pictures for next week!

More stencils, this time from Lavinia Stamps, I'm very keen on stencils for adding some extra interest to backgrounds, and these are quite different from the heaven alone knows how many others I have!

I mentioned this book to Zsuzsa last week, and said I'd post about it. I bought it a couple of years ago from Amazon, and it's one of the best books I've ever bought. Some amazing ways to not only make projects, but the different ways you can treat paper/cardstock to get some spectacular results. And at the moment, a real bargain, as Amazon has it used- mine was bought used too- for less than a fiver including shipping.

On Amazon, here.

EDIT: link here  to the blog post I did about it a couple or more years ago, showing some of the projects inside.

Hopefully there will be a few more crafting posts done, as having just finished a two week antibiotic course, I'm feeling much better. One of my Consultants from the hospital is also putting me on a longer course of low-dose antibiotics, so that should really help to keep on top of the problem. 

Just to make clear from last week, the Pineapple is claimed to be a great help in avoiding/getting rid of oral thrush, which is always a risk when you've been taking a lot of antibiotics, and I've had a stupid amount! 

 Regarding things to drink to help avoid UTI's, Cranberry juice isn't recommended any more, not sure why, but my Moms practice nurse recommended her to drink a glass of Robinsons Lemon Barley Water every day. Mom had a few UTI's a couple of years ago, and since she's been drinking this, she's not had one, so I'm trying that out too. It has to be that specific drink, apparently, the other Barley Waters, or lemon squashes don't work.

 Which brings us round to.......And Finally.......

WOYWW #601- The After Zoom Edition.

 Still nothing much happening craft-wise on my desk, so looking rather tidy apart from a few new Lavinia stamps. I almost got thrown by our recent Zoom meet, and only just realised today was Tuesday!

Still quite gutted I couldn't make it to post for week 600, but I was literally lay on the sofa, with no energy to move, from Sunday till I think, Friday. Just happy I managed to pull a bit of energy from somewhere to join the Zoom Crop. It was lovely to see so many other WOYWWers, and to 'meet' so many new faces.  So far this week I've managed to get pretty much all my Christmas Cards written,addressed and stamped, just need Beloved Hubby to drop them in a post box for me.

 Sat here at the moment drinking Pineapple juice- fortunately, I love pineapple- as I'm now on a second week of antibiotics, and it's supposed to help a lot with getting rid of/preventing thrush. And hopefully a second weeks course will finally see the uti's off completely.

Next item on the desk is a new laminator. The old one had decided it wasn't going to heat up properly anymore, so, Amazon to the rescue. This one has a fast heat-up speed, a fast release button, and probably a couple of other fancy, but unnecessary bits. £23.

Popping back to the Zoom crop, I'm sat here unsure whether I should be quietly pleased with myself, or hanging my head in shame, for enabling our lovely LLJ into purchasing a Tim Holtz product! as she showed she's bought the deckle edge guillotine. I suspect it should be the latter! So, until some crafting happens, and hopefully it will in the next few days, thats me done.

Which brings us round to.......And Finally..........

Particularly apt, in light of Kirsty Allsops comment, I thought.

This did make me laugh-LLJ and Annie, I trust your hair & make up is in order, rofl.😆😆😆😆

WOYWW #599- The Shameless Enabling Edition

 Back again for our regular Wednesday blog fest, thanks to our lovely leader, Julia over at The Stamping Ground.  Just a week until our HUGE 600th edition, and just over a week till our virtual Crop via Zoom.

 So, my shameless enabling then- a few new Lavinia stamps- loving those owls- and some of the new Distress pads in the latest colour. 

 The reason for nothing but enabling on my desk is that once again, I was back in UTI land, and then I decided to round that off with a weekend in Sciatica City. I like to get around, lol. But so far the UTI seems to have gone, and the Sciatica as well.So, fingers are being kept extremely crossed.

Next item has a bit of a back story. A set of 24 Zig Clean Color markers. I'd seen them used on some HoneyDoo cards, and also by Jennifer MacGuire, and being water based, looked fairly easy. They run out at about £1.30ish a marker, so finding a pack of 24 on E-Bay for just under £20 was a bargain. Shipped from a UK seller, so no long wait. So I thought. After having the delivery date pushed back twice, I messaged and asked if they could give me a definite delivery date. Next thing I know, I've got a refund for them, so that was that. Moving ahead about 4 weeks, and I get a package from Japan. No idea what it is, not ordered anything from there. Turns out to be the Zig markers! So, thank you, unknown Japanese company.

Which brings us round to .......And Finally.......

WOYWW #575- The Actually Finishing Stuff Edition.

I am, finally getting this batch finished. These ones had needed a bit of colour adding, and one needs fixing, as I stamped the quote, realised it needing stamping again. Didn't check my cardstock hadn't moved, so got a blurred repeat.


By the way, using the new Blogger update this week, so we'll see how that goes.











The one bottom left. So, how do we fix the unfixable? We just restamp on a separate piece, and matt it on top,lol.

Not totally happy, I think I should have just binned it, to be honest. But I expect in a couple of days and I'll be ok with it.










Made another batch, as I have more ideas. And there's always the UFO box.

For Belinda, I didn't use watercolour paper, it's just ordinary white card for stamping on.

Christmas cards using a Jennifer McGuire technique, Distress Oxide resist, in the post below.



Regarding the issue I had with my cardstock being lifted and moved out of place on my stamping platform- I have bought a bigger bar magnet off Amazon- just a rare earth magnet, not a special 'crafting' brand one-and that does help,most of the time. But, the absolute best solution I have for you, I came across on I think, SCS. Sizzix brought out some Sticky Grid Sheets, to use on Big Shot plates to hold dies in place, saves using tape. Well, some ladies had started using them in their stamping platform. I had a pack, so gave it a try.

You get 5 in a pack, they're the same size each as a Big Shot plate, so I'd guess roughly A5. On the Sizzix UK site, £7. Beware if you Google for them, as their are specific ones for the Sidekick too, which are much smaller. They really do work, they are tacky, rather than sticky, and hold your cardstock completely still and in place.

And so I'm done for this week, I'll be adding my link at Julias place, The Stamping Ground and popping round to see you all later.





Which just leaves.....And Finally......

WOYWW #574-The More Stamping Edition.

I have indeed done some more stamping of those inked panels from last week. Actually, a few weeks ago, but only started using them last week. As always on Wednesdays, we share our desk with the world at large, courtesy of the The Stamping Ground, home of our lovely leader, Julia.

The desk of Untidiness-working on the 'push to one side' method of crafting today.

One thing I did discover, apart from how brilliant these are for making a lot of cards really easily, is that I have a shameful amount of quote stamps that have never seen the light of day, let alone ink.

All the image stamps- apart from the large butterfly, are Lavinia stamps, the butterfly being an old Papermania one.

All the stamps have had a little colour added with pencils, then matted onto a toning cardstock. Still not brave enough to stamp directly onto a card base, lol.

 


The actual panel idea I saw done by Eileen Godwin, she posts lots of really easy, but stunning, technique videos on her Facebook page, well worth a look.

I'll be stamping an insert for these with 'Thinking of you', so they'll be useful for a lot of occasions.



 I'm also making another batch, so I can do a 'How to', and have more to join my UFO's!

All use Distress Oxides, and the make up brushes.

 A few I've tried flicking water on and blotting, for a bit of added oomph.
 Doing 3 different sizes again, two for 5" &  6" square, and one for 'notecard' sized cards.




Talking of Eileen, she's responsible for this weeks enabling from me. I saw her making a couple of 'age' cards, using a fab numbers stamp set from Bee Crafty stamps.

You get the TH etc, to go with them in the set.

The stamps are a good size, which was what appealed to me,they are 1¾"(4½cm) high, and , apart from the number 1, they are 1¼" (3cm) wide. All the number stamps I have are much smaller.

Shoulder seems to be improving, today it actually feels normal, but I've had that happen before, then the next day I've woken up and it's back, so not getting overly excited about it yet.




So that brings us round to this weeks.....And Finally.........


Shockingly true, both of them!


Sad to think we'd have been preparing to haul our stash along to the crop this Saturday, but hopefully maybe later in the year when it's deemed safe.





 One other thing I'll mention for those who like to go, or may be interested. The Spring Happy Stampers was cancelled for obvious reasons, and at the moment, is tentatively pencilled in for Saturday 3rd of October. All details are on the site, and if it's going ahead, that will be confirmed in August.  This is potentially the last one, I know when we've chatted with the organisers in the past, they were finding it a struggle, but they do say there may be a possibility of it continuing, so that would be great, as it's a fabulous show.

WOYWW #573- The I stamped something Edition.

I did indeed, and I'll show you that in a minute. As always on Wednesdays, we're here to share our desks with the world, courtesy of our much loved Leader, Julia, at The Stamping Ground.

As you can see, folders of stamps open here, there and everywhere.







 


 I have ideas, you see, on what to do with these backgrounds I did a few weeks ago.

I have really bright sunlight coming through the window next to my desk, so apologies for the shadows.

This is the first one stamped up, I just need to add some colour to the butterfly, and probably the toadstool too, I will do that with pencils.
 Amazing thing is, it came out exactly as I had the idea in my head. Not too often that happens, lol. The caterpillar & toadstool , as well as the words, are all Lavinia stamps. The Butterfly is an old Papermania stamp.
My shoulder seems to be improving, thanks to a bit of Googling- despite
 the fact you should never Google medical symptoms, rofl- my shoulder pain, which we'd started to suspect was caused by a trapped /pinched nerve, well that seems to be precisely what is causing it- a pinched nerve in my neck, and after Doug feeling about on my neck,  I have one very sore spot on the right side. So, still going with the pain relief gel & painkillers.
Which brings us round to.....And Finally.........

WOYWW #566- The Bored with UFO's Edition

 I am so done with my UFO's again, so the ones left are going back in their storage wallets till the urge to finish them comes round again.This is what the desk looked like while I was doing some finishing off.
Just about to stamp up the inserts, then the backs.

A small selection of them ready to bag and put away.

Which means I can create some new ones, to replace the ones I've used, lol.

Did a small batch of those inked panel backgrounds, ready to do some stamping on in a while.


And now for what's been missing for a few weeks- The Enabling section.




Two batches this week- A few new Alcohol Ink colours, and one of the blower thingys. I've been using a straw, but apparently thats not ideal, as you can inhale fumes when drawing breath, plus, I run out of puff too easily.
So bought the gadget. Also two of the Alloys, slightly different to the older Mixatives, these are much thinner, more the consistency of normal Alcohol ink.

And a few supplies from Lavinia- some stamps, two new Clair inkpads and some Lavinia Glitter. A few of these will get stamped onto those backgrounds above.

I hope everyone and their families are keeping well and virus free.


So, apart from leaving my link over at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, I'm done.

Which just leaves.....................And Finally.....................