WOYWW 656

 Hi one and all, and a happy nearly New Year to you all...  I hope you had a great Christmas and Sana brought you some good gifts.  It's time once more, and for the last time this year - to meet with Julia and our happy band of WOYWW deskers...

I bought some extra (battery operated) lights for the window at the top of my stairs 

this is in daylight 

a small but perfectly formed pile of Christmas gifts  - I spent the day at home just me,  as is quite normal - having seen my brother the day before to swap gifts.

there's a lovely soft grey jumper from my brother & sister in law (and some edible goodies) and the grey/yellow thing at the bottom is a scarf from Monica (with a gift voucher and the selfie stick cum tripod for the phone.  The bottles were from a couple of people at work - champage and a clementine gin liquer. 

I had half planned to go to Kew today but didn't - the weather forecast said there was a fairly high chance of rain (and it was windy)  which after I'd not got up and ready in time to go, didn't materialise. so of course I could have had a good walk in the fresh air. 

after spending another day lounging around and watching TV I played in my journal for the first time in quite a long time... It's not finished I don't think,  it needs some hand writing or something else on it and possibly a main focal point... we'll see!

There is more chance of rain for the rest of the week until Saturday so it looks as if I won't get to Kew mid week as well as Saturday, but never mind, I am enjoying some relaxing days and not getting up early.

Wishing you all a very happy New Year and stay safe - I really hope that we can stop having to say it soon (not that I don't still wish it)  but somehow I fear not....

I'm posting early as having just gone to visit Julia for the link, her post is already up.  

WOYWW 655

Welcome one and all, to the desk before Christmas....if Julia thought last week that time was hurtling - well now it has well and truly hurtled!  Time for one more desk hop before the big guy comes down the chimney...

Head to the Stamping-Ground for all the details. Of course since last week I have been super busy and creative.. er not !  I did some speed-buying of Christmas presents and even have them wrapped and ready.

well at least the tags are hand made!

as always I didn't get round to clearing enough space to decorate properly so did the same as most years and just decorated the living room window sill but it doesn't photograph very well 

but my Powertex angel looks festive in her lights!  

I've received lots of beautiful hand made cards -thank you to everyome who sent one - they're hanging in the hall and are even harder to photograph so I haven't!  

I had a morning at Kew last weekend of course,  with hardly any photos - this is the link - 

I can't give you holly, but I can ivy - in flower.

Unfortunately Kew aren't opening especially for me this coming Saturday (cheek!)  but I hope to get a visit in, during the break between Christmas and New Year, Covid willing!

I'd just like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and healthy and creative New Year - see you soon!

WOYWW 654

 I'm writing this on Tuesday night, watching a programme about the making of Christmas at Kew and it does look magic!  I might get together a group to go again next year (it's definitely best enjoyed in a group and not on your own!)

But you are here to see my "desk"  for another week's WOYWW  - although I am not sure if Ihave a lot to show you this time...

last week after bemoaning how I would have to crack on and write my cards, I did just that, after finishing the round of desks...

and a short time later a pile ready for posting...in the end it didn't take too long! 

which they duly were, last Thursday morning  

I feel a lot better having got them in the mail!

This Thursday should have been our office Christmas party, but we've taken the sensible decision to postpone it for now to hopefully allow everyone to stay Omicron Covid free and not have their Christmas plans put into isolation 

Instead, some of us are attending a quiz night by zoom.  

in the meantime, for my own magic of Kew - head to last weekend's trip here (shortly before my Covid booster) 

I am afraid I can't give you a light display though!

see you soon at a desk near you.

WOYWW 653

It's Wednesday - time for another week's desk hop - WOYWW  with Julia -   where a group of us share our crafty workspaces... there's not been a lot going on here,  this week (as always)

I made a few more Christmas cards at the weekend, wrote out the list so I know who I'm sending cards to and now comes the bit I like the least - writing them out; which is why I am prevaricating! I did buy the stamps for them though today (ouch, pricey!)  

I made another candle card with a different stamp - another Magenta one -  and then used the same stamp in loads of different Versafine Clair colours to fill a masterboard -  I can't bear to cut it up now!

the box that has papers overflowing in it, is the one that my gloss sprays live in - the papers just kind of ended up in it as somewhere to store them - various stamped images and some part done tags 

I had a beautiful morning at Kew last Saturday - the weather disobeyed the forecast and was sunny and though cold, not too bad  

Photos are here if you want a look

I've got my booster jab on Saturday afternoon but will be able to get a trip to Kew in first

You can tell it's nearly Christmas - the double issue Radio Times (tv listing magazine) is out so it  was out with the pen marking off some things to make sure i'll be watching.  

I'll be round to visit soon - work might get in the way first.  Happy WOYWW 

WOYWW 652

 Welcome deskers,  it's Wednesday - and December!  Time again to meet at Julia's for WOYWW   

I made up some more cards at the weekend and had a count up and I may almost have enough soon.  

I added some glitter glue to some of them and spread them out to dry.. resisting poking the glue is so hard! 

I bought my guillotine/trimmer and am getting used to it - one or two mishaps where I've lined things up wrong,  but at least it cuts without tearin

when I was trying to squeeze the glitter glue out of the bottle, I thought, I must buy a new bottle.. went online and bought this little lot.. and forgot the glue!

DOH!  

Kew last Saturday was extremely cold, as those of you in the UK will know, but at least there was no rain (forecast)  or snow (shame, I'd love a really big snowfall at Kew!)   

photos here 

Happy WOYWW,  I'll be round to visit soon.  

WOYWW 651

 Happy Wednesday deskers,  once again time to congregate with Julia and the gang for WOYWW   

I can't quite believe this is the last full  week in November... I mean, where has the year gone?  

Are my Christmas cards ready?  are they heck.... I might have to send some (shh..). shop bought ones this year at this rate 

I have made some more since last week though.  Wonder if I took any photos of them....

Sunday I started by die cutting a load of reindeer (Tim Holtz) for some "quick and simple" assembly......... we all know how that one goes

but I did get a few thrown together!  

and look, here's a blast from the past - aperture card blanks!!  can't remember the last time I used any of these!

It was only because I was rummaging through the card blank boxes last week that I recovered them 

then because I was sick of kicking over the pile of wood mounted stamps I'd pulled out last week, I made some masterboards with one of my favourite Magenta stamps and 3 shades of Versafine Clair inkpads

I love these colours together

What I do need though, is a paper trimmer that doesn't shred the edges of the card (it's not even a very old trimmer)  I get so frustrated with it, and intend to replace it soon.  I think I am going to get a proper guillotine rather than a craft trimmer

but I did manage to put together some cards from one of the sheets 

Saturday at Kew was so colourful - the sky was so grey, pale grey not dark and foreboding, but the tree colours were anything but dull.

Finally, for fans of Diana Gabaldon and the Outlander series, (and I know there are a few of you amongst the deskers)  the latest (9th) book in the series was published on Tuesday and I made it back to Sutton from work in time to get my copy before Waterstones (book shop) closed... Looking forward to some bed-time reading 

I think it might take quite a while!

Don't you love the bees down the edge of the pages!

I read and re-read these books, and if I were ever cast away on a desert island, these are the books I would want with me.  

What a pity I haven't already finished my Christmas cards, I could see some weekend afternoons disappearing in the pages of this book 

I will be round to visit your desks soon.,  put the kettle on, mine's a tea with milk and one sugar.....I'll bring biscuits!  

WOYWW 650

 Hello lovely deskers, welcome back to a proper post written on my mended computer!  It's time for another desk hop day with Julia at the Stamping Ground  (oh look, links!)  

Thanks for all your comments last week, and if I didn't visit you (I may have missed a few) I apologise, it was a bit of a fraught week but one that ended happily with the restoration of my computer including the salvaging of my photographs.  I did discover though, that the external hard drive I thought contained the files from my previous computer,  (i.e more thousands of photos pre 2015) was in fact empty... so no idea what happened there!    A big thanks to Sarah for linking me up last week, I just couldn't work out how to from the phone 

So, today, let's get back to a proper desk (well, now, Helen, that's a bare faced lie, isn't it; not a desk in sight)  .... a proper floor shot.

it actually shows signs of action too...

a collection of Christmas wooden stamps ready for use!

and I have even made some Christmas cards - multiples of the same design for speed (so so behind!)

stamps by Sara Naumann for Paperartsy  in a variety of ink colours matted onto matching card blanks

i was chatting to a friend on Messenger at the weekend and looking through my boxes of card blanks and came across these candles...  so thought it was about time to use one - I've had them forever,  and never used one!

i must have bought them at a craft show after seeing a demo  - probably Craftwork Cards, and the demo would have been by Julie Hickey. 

and these owe everything in inspiration to Angela's Masterboard Monday post - hope you don't mind that I pinched the idea!

these are  my boxes of card blanks - well a couple of them have loose card (A5 size) in but mostly they're card blanks  - separated into colours. (and of course, as is the way of things, you never have the colour or size of card you need!) 

you can see through the door into the living/craft room too, the big boxes to the right are mostly Paperartsy stamps sets  -the A5 size.  

I will finish because I can, this week, with my Kew link from last Saturday -   

the callicarpa berries got a lot of interest on facebook when I shared them.  

thanks as always for visiting and I will see you on your desk very soon!  

Woyww 649

 Hi deskers.  I will be missing in action as my PC appears to have died on me. I am writing this on my phone but have no idea how to link it in the morning . I apologise if this is all over the place !

 Of course I haven't backed it up so I'll have lost all my photos.  Good job I put so many on each kew post.  

Here's a journal page I did at the weekend 

I can't work out how to add links but I'm sure you know where to find Julia

There is a Kew post too- click the fountain at the top of the  blog.  

I did get some new stamps last week 

WOYWW 648

 Wednesday  - another WOYWW  - desk sharing day. 

Now I may have intimated last week that I would have some crafting to share with you.... not so much!

But I did try out the new distress ink pads and one of last week's new stencils 

they're gorgeous colours, I do love a deep purple!

I used one of the purple sprays to create some splashes too.

and I also stamped out the Lynne Perrella images as well

they do stamp out very well -  and now I have some ready to use in projects at some stage

As some of them have vaguely Christmas theme I might use them for cards... at some time in what should be the not too distant future!!  

Last week's trip to Kew started wet and ended gloriously sunny and pics can be seen here  

Catch up with you soon,  happy WOYWW   

WOYWW 647 - it all came at once

 Hello fellow deskers - another Wednesday already..  The day of the week we gather at Julia's Stamping-Ground for WOYWW  desk sharing day.   

I've had a splurge on buying new goodies lately, and have had 3 deliveries since we last met!  

first up were the Dina stencils, collage tissue pack and chipboard shapes that just missed it for last week

then the new ink pad and distress sprays in the new colour - Villainous Potion  - such a gorgeous deep purple.  can't wait to try this out!  (I held out for a day before ordering them!)  

and finally some new Paperartsy goodies - the Lynne Perrella and Seth Apter stamps were launched last week and the stencil by Tracy Scott was from the previous launch that I resisted (at the time!) 

writing this Tuesday evening,  an email alert has just flashed up on the screen to tell me my parcel will be delivered today.... yes, about 10 hours ago!!  They normally arrive before the post!

so, lots of goodies to play with. 

At the weekend I had a bit of a play with one of the Dina stencils - the circle mosaic which is just gorgeous.   In honour of the new distress inks on the way (at the time) I used distress inks in my journal - on one of the cotton rag pages in the Dina journal 

I used some of my favourite, slightly muted colours - I can't remember all the colours now -  and then stencilled one of the flowers across the spread.

Added a collage tissue face - intend to doodle on this to enhance it a bit -  added some splatters and some cut up collage tissue phrase which I then muted with gesso.

Saturday's trip to Kew was fabulous - I spent half an hour in the Zadok Ben-David exhibition taking close ups - lots of pics on the blog and ages outside enjoying the rich autumn colours - my favourite time of year I think

this is one of my favourite autumn sights!

the detail is just exquisite 

Sadly the forecast for this coming weekend is wet, so I think I'll maybe not spend so long outside!

That's it from me -  not planning on new goodies next week, maybe I'll have used some of this week's!  Happy WOYWW  and I'll see you soon. 

WOYWW 646

 Welcome back deskers,  it's Wednesday again and time for another WOYWW  - Julia's is the place to join in at the Stamping-Ground 

the goodies I was waiting for last week, arrived, of course on Wednesday - but had to wait till this week for their starring role.   New stencils,  because of course, there are never too  many stencils!

the two on the left are in a series called "soulful scribbles"  and the other is a cityscape - you can see I had a play of the middle strip (you can't tell form the photo that the top and bottom edges of the stencil also has a city skyline border  (I haven't tried them yet)

 This week, I have more goodies on order - one will arrive today again,  and one is a pre-order of the new Distress colour launched on Saturday  - did you see it?  a really dark purple.  I wasn't going to get it -   but then looked again and hey ho before you know it, they pop into my basket!

I also had a play in one of my Dina Wakley journals, on the canvas page - gloss spray through the lattice stencil (obviously loses it's gloss on fabric, but the sage colour is gorgeous)  

it was a fun page to play at.

You may have seen some of the photos from Kew last weekend - I unexpectedly got wet as I wasn't aware it might rain!

but in the gallery out of the rain - a stunning new exhibition  (click the link for the Kew website details about this ) -  see the blog for more photos  (Kew) 

close up  - one of 17500 steel, etched , painted flowers based on Victorian botanical drawings

and from the other side they are brightly coloured!

Beautiful,  but I prefer the other side!  

I can't wait to go and look again this weekend  

there was plenty more colour in the gardens but you'll have to check the blog or I'll get in trouble with Head Girl!  

I'll be round to catch your creative spaces soon - happy WOYWW!