Wednesday 22 May 2019

WOYWW 520 - we're 10 - happy birthday us!

It's here, What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday, week Five Hundred and Twenty.... started 10 whole years ago with an innocent question by our leader and friend, Julia - at Stamping-Ground..  
A big, big thank you to Julia for keeping it going through good times and bad...
People have dipped in and out, and back again.   We have laughed together and cried together and - importantly, I feel - eaten cake together!

So. what's on MY desk this birthday week?

new stuff, obviously...

. I've always had trouble finding the first week I joined in with this lovely group, as back in the day I was a very novice blogger (with a film camera, how hard was that to get photos ready in time!)  and didn't label my posts... but fairly close to the beginning I think.

And, as you know, those of you who've been on this "journey" with me, for "quite a few" of those, there has been new stuff on show!!
I test cut the lace - this is go number 3 the first two were a failure - despite using wax paper and multiple passes through my big shot, it wouldn't release from the card - the first card was way too thick, the second a bit thinner and more successful, but an added layer of card under the cutting plates finally worked!

I have done something with this, but it's on it's way somewhere and I can't reveal it yet.


I took the idea that Angela had used on a card, with the flowers, and converted it into a journal page - only because I had a test cutting of them and wanted to do something with them


the background is a mixture of distress oxide sprays and inks and the stamp is a Paperartsy one, from one of Courtney's leaf sets.



I have been dithering about whether to share the atcs I have made for the swap, or leave them till they are received... as this anniversary post is already quite long I think I'd better leave it here...  I should have enough for everyone at the crop (not sure how many are going) but I think I'll have some leftover so if you're not going and would like to swap let me know by email and I will see what I can do.  I know we are meant to get them in the post immediately but I'll be at work when most of you read this and don't do email on my phone so won't be able to read your email with your address so there'll be a couple of days before I can dispatch them.  (especially if I have to go to the post office to buy "foreign" stamps - I don't always get out of the office at lunchtime and the post office is not close to the office but they'll go as soon as I can)

So once more with feeling, thank you to Julia for keeping this going, and thank you to everyone else who has dropped by to say hi and share your desk, and for making Wednesday such a FUN day of the week! xx   oh and yes, there was a Kew post - longer than ever - last Saturday

44 comments:

Sarah Brennan said...

Happy anniversary Helen. I will see you at the crop with tags to choose from as a swap. Nice new dies, glad you finally managed to get them to cooperate. Happy WOYWW 10. Sarah #4

Miriam said...

Happy anniversary. Love your dies! Wonderful journal page.

Neet said...

What a gorgeous die that is - difficult is well worth it.
See you soon - our second meet up but first at a Crop.
Thanks for the friendship over the years.
Hugs, Neet xx

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

Happy 10th Anniversary Helen & Thank you to YOU alongside Angela that moved my creative side towards participating in the beginning. Love those dies and I agree about the difficulty in judging the cut but they are beautiful designs.
Your ATC's will be fabulous. Hope to get to meet you one day!!
Happy WoywW Tracey #10 but I think the number may change :))

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I can't believe I hadn't already left you a comment. I was going to then saw Julia had posted. If I hadn't had to fiddle with finding the asterisk, I would have been either 2nd or 3rd. LOVE that lace die. I can't get embossing folders to work no matter what I do, so I was impressed with it only taking you three tries to get a PERFECT image. Happy 10th from # 5.

Lynn Holland said...

I’ve been messing with lace myself this week. Recycling lace curtains from one room to another haha
Happy anniversary Helen
Lynn

brenda said...

How time flies, had no idea WOYWW was also ten years old, we are celebrating the same at Allsorts this week, how time flies.

I'm pleased you eventually for those intricate patterns to cut as they are so pretty.

B x

Lunch Lady Jan said...

I knew we'd get on from the moment you saw that masked off area of the hall floor at the first Crop :-). Thank you for being such a strong supporter and friend over the past few years - long may it continue!
Hugs LLJ 9 xx

Julia Dunnit said...

It’s the likes of your blogging and joining in that make it H, so it’s thank you, not me! Love those dies, my word they’re pretty. The lace is going to be one of those that you use all the time despite the problems....at least you seem to have worked it out, infuriating isn’t it when it’s trapped on the die!

Bridget Larsen said...

Wow that lace is so intricate. My email is bridget.larsen@gmail.com for my swap
Bridget #2

Marit said...

Happy anniversary Helen, so glad we 'meet' almost every Wednesday - I feel blessed to be part of this crafty, creative, nice and supporting tribe! And so you were 'testing' too last week... love how your lace-piece came out! Enjoy your day! Hugs and kisses from the Netherlands. Marit #17

glitterandglue said...

Hi Helen. Happy 10th WOYWW anniversary!! What a celebration. So happy that you are coming to stay in just over a week's time - it will be fun to see you again, and have the opportunity to properly catch up. I'll be there at the station on the Friday afternoon. Teehee - the thought of you being in the van... it's currently in Nottingham, in storage, on someone's drive! I can put up with football noise, shouting at a screen, headphones on - whatever! You should maybe NOT see us as a family when Wales is playing in the 6 nations!
Love that lace die - it's very beautiful and so very intricate - well found - but I'm not surprised it took a few attempts to get it to work.
Take care. God bless. See you soon.
Margaret #5

Debbie Rock said...

Can never go wrong with a little Tim Holtz! Happy 10th WOYWW to you - if you are going to the crop then Shaz & Doug already have some ATC's from me and Julia will be monitor so be sure to get one if you would like one ... would have loved to have been there but, alas, vanity prevents me as I now look most unsightly indeed thanks to my tummy troubles! Enjoy your floor crafting although I am sure desks will be available. Much love to you Helen, from Debbie #25 xXx

shazsilverwolf said...

Hi Heln, I reckon we should be sharing Enabler honours! lol. I do love that lace die, another thing on my shopping list! Bit of a pain when they don't work straight away, all the faffing about figuring out the shim is annoying. We'll see you at the crop, Have a lovely week, Hugs, Shaz #7 X

Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith said...

The lace cut looks gorgeous - those intricate dies are always a labour of love and very fiddly to remove the tiny bits stuck in the dies as well, but so worth it in the end! Happy 10th anniversary! I've only been around 5 years but feels like forever! zsuzsa #26

sandra de said...

The lace and flower die cuts are absolutely stunning. Happy 10th amazing to thing you have been around since the start I think I am up to 8 years.
sandra de @33

Annie said...

My plan is to get round everyone today to wish them a very happy 10th anniversary and to thank you for your friendship and lovely comments over the years.
See you soon :-)
Hugs,
Annie x #10

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Ohhh Helen,
How I love that lace die, it’s sooooo gorgeous, wonderful, well done.
Have you tried the metal shim also called metal adapter plate, made especially for cutting fine and detailed dies? See here https://youtu.be/ccQMnzr1ET8

I was delighted with difference with my big shot. That video has right sandwich on it. Some don’t have same way round bit this is most common and most effective.
Happy WOYWW 10!! Yay! Shaz in Oz.x #24

{Wonderful Words of Life - Shaz in Oz}
{Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz}

Diana Taylor said...

Those dies are absolutely gorgeous - like you I sometimes have problems with getting dies to cut evenly and I've now ordered a metal precision cutting plate which will hopefully help with the thin ones - lots of good reviews so fingers crossed! Love the lace one, I could see that being a real 'go to' die for a huge number of projects.
Happy WOYWW,
Hugs, Diana x #22

Robyn said...

Happy 10th! looking forward to photos of ATC's sent and received!
Robyn 7

Stacy Sheldon said...

Happy Anniversary Helen, ooh I am glad you shared how those cut. I did not order those ones in particular but the skinny long lace dies from him. ( will have to try that when I get them the wax paper and so on.) :) Love how the colors peek through the petals too. ~Stacy #37

buterfliecrafter said...

wow, that lace die is so pretty and intricate. Happy anniversary, Vicky #31

Lindart said...

That is an amazingly intricate die! Good for you for trying until you got it, I probably would have ripped it up and thrown the die away!These things take patience! Have a wonderful week, and Happy Tenth Anniversary! Lindart #57

Dorlene Durham said...

Wow, what a beautiful die set. Happy 10 year anniversary! Have a lovely week. Dorlene #42

Caro said...

Wow! That dies set is lovely. I am so looking forward to seeing you at the crop where I will be bringing bookmarks for everyone. Happy 10 year WOYWW anniversary. Have a great week. Love & God Bless, Caro x (#27)

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Hi Helen, love how you've used the dies and know you will have lots of fun with them. As I still need to do all my visits today you wont be the only one that may be a couple of days sending the ATCs off but it will definitely be before the end of the week so I shouldn't worry too much. I've sent you my address and look forward to receiving yours. Have a lovely woyww and a very special creative week, Angela x19x

Sue said...

Hi Helen, Beautiful lace effect.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Happy 10th Anniversary WOYWW
Sue #10

My name is Cindy said...

Hello there! Love that lace die but boy that is detailed I can see how it might have given you problems. (Now explain to me how only poor old Shaz got mentioned as a new product enabler?) Have fun at the crop, I'm sad to be missing it. Happy Wednesday Anniversary, Cindy #43

Heather M said...

Hi Helen, happy WOYWW 10th anniversary! I avoid such detailed dies as I could never get my 'sandwich' right in the Big Shot. Now I have a Gemini as well, I might try again! That is a beautiful place die. I'll be at the Crop so will exchange ATCs there. Have a lovely week Heather x #32

Anne (cornucopia) said...

These WOYWW posts are always fun to see. (I'm just a lurker, who visits a few of the people who participate, when I get a chance.) Lovely artwork.

Nikki said...

Hi Helen lovely new dies you have there they will make the such pretty stencils too must be tough putting all the punch out to create a flower
HAPPY WOYWW #10 Hugs Nikki C #46 ish :P

Twiglet said...

Happy 10th anniversary! So looking forward to meeting up next week and so glad everyone is happy to leave their stilettoes at home - lol! xx Jo

pearshapedcrafting said...

Ooh! They look rather lovely! Looking forward to seeing you at the crop! Hugs, Chrisx

StampinCarol said...

Happy 10th Anniversary!
Those are gorgeous dies but all that detail does cause issues with cutting. Sounds like you have the right "sandwich" figured out. Great look page, too. Those dies would make great stencils!
Have a wonderful day!
Carol N #36

Glenda said...

Lovely lace dies! I imagine they would make a lovely card for sure. The journal page is amazing! Happy WOYWW!
Glenda #32

MaggieC (Silvercrafter) said...

Happy 10th anniversary, Helen. Looking forward to meeting up again at the Crop. xxx Maggie (Silvercrafter) #38

craftytrog said...

Happy anniversary! Those 10 years flew!
Your page looks great with the diecuts.

Anne said...

Hi Helen. The lace die is gorgeous. Looking forward to meeting you! Anne x 24

My name is Cindy said...

Back again. Had a sudden panic that I hadn't actually left you a comment but seeing that die I'm pretty sure I did!! However, I did forget to say - 10 years and you are still crafting ON THE FLOOR!! You must be a lot bendier than me!! Hugs, Cindy

Cardarian said...

Happy WOYWW birthday Helen! I am the last one joining the party and you are the first one so I guess I am your swapping buddy! Will send the ATC asap! Love and hugs Cardarian (Dolores)

Shoshi said...

Your lace dies are stunning, Helen, and I love what you've done with the samples! Gorgeous page. I've got a funny little rotating brush thing that's good for getting bits out of complex dies. Thank you for your two lovely comments and thank you for taking the time to come back and read the rest of my post! My posts do tend to be rather long but I always try to put the WOYWW stuff at the top so people don't have to bother with the rest if they don't want to. I agree totally with your expletive regarding PIP. The whole thing is taking its toll on my health and I'm feeling absolute rubbish at the moment. My hubby is being so lovely and supporting me through it, and he thinks I deserve treats like while I was having my chemo, and says we ought to just go and get that power chair regardless, and sell stuff later!! So we may get it sooner than expected! Thank you for all your good wishes for our birthdays etc. I've no idea how our sis-in-law got the photos on the cake icing! Clever stuff. So glad you liked the card I made for my hubby, with little Lily floating up into the clouds! He does have such weird dreams!

Happy 10th anniversary WOYWW,
Shoshi #15

Craftyfield said...

Wow 10 years... Quite an achievement! Both the dies on the desk appeal to me and I have been dithering... but I hate the effort involved in cutting detailed dies and I'm not quite sure how to use the flower set as really it cuts a negative shape.
I must return to see the ATCs...

Words and Pictures said...

Those cut-out dies are so beautiful - the lace is unbelievably intricate... but oh, the irritation when they won't cut properly!! And then pressing out all those little bits. I did buy one of the brush/sponge combos to knock out the bits, but it's disappeared into the maw of the craft stash, and didn't seem to work very well anyway...

Happy 10th anniversary - what a WOYWW milestone!
Alison x

Kelly said...

Hi Helen. Just getting 'round to everyone. Been too busy creating things to hit the keyboard trail. :-) So happy you joined us. Creative Blessings! Kelly #35