WOYWW 765

 The last Wednesday of January - who stole that month?!  Welcome along for another round of WOYWW with the deskers at Julia's  

I had my new goodies come.... both on the same day, one to work (too big for the letterbox) and one at home (did fit the letterbox!)  

all courtesy of Paperarty's new releases and Stampers Grove for speedy service...

I put some of them to play straight away (well at the weekend)

a journal page

a  card (I need a birthday card for a friend but not sure she'll quite appreciated being labelled "aged to perfection" although she is the same age as me!) 

another journal page... I was watching You Tube and saw one of the Paperartsy followers playing with the new stamps from Seth - the words particularly.

she had inked the words in (black ink) and then added some of the paint - I used the tomato and the rusty fresco you spread a bit of paint over a surface (she used an acrylic block I used my craft mat) and then stamp the stamp onto the paint before transferring it to your journal page  - only tried it on the "tortured texture" words  but like the grungy effect and will be using it again. 

then I finished the pink page from last week - added a few bits to the little tag and fixed the tag to the page. 

I did start another page but I think this is enough for one week - and besides, I might not do anything this weekend and will be forced to stage a desk next time!! 

I also had a nice morning at Kew, it turned sunny and almost felt mild!  

the witch hazel is coming out nicely

Next Saturday is the first day of the orchids festival so there will definitely be colour then!

Thanks for looking, will catch your desks very soon.  Happy WOYWW.   

WOYWW 764

Happy Wednesday deskers,  I hope none of you suffered damage from Storm Isha (or Jocelyn who is hard on Isha's heels...)  that means it's time for WOYWW again 

I had a bit of a play in the small kraft journal again at the weekend 

I added to the blue page.. 

and added some more to some "waste" paint on the adjoining page 

there's a small tag started to add to this page but it didn't get photographed!

I made a birthday card for a friend (she won't see this so it's ok to share it) 

the background is a sheet of paper that I overstamped  and the butterfly is stamped on tissue 

Neet, you wanted to know about the Sacred bamboo plant that I shared last week ... luckily, Angela (Crafting with Jack) checked it out and left a comment which I've copied here  - thanks, Angela.  

" I had a look for you: This Flower Essence is for opening and aligning the main chakras to receive light energy. It helps us be a heavenly bamboo, a wonderful, flexible pillar of light. - Helps us stay grounded in our divine identity especially during spiritual growth spurts.

It’s not at a bamboo and the berries are poisonous to people." 

it is a member of the berberis family and it's true name is nandina domestica (that's my contribution! )

 I had a much happier day at Kew on Saturday, no more January blues - you can see all the pics here   it wasn't as cold as I anticipated (or perhaps it was all the layers)

the pond was frozen - it had been a very cold week!

It will have thawed out by now.  

Thanks for looking, happy WOYWW 

There will be new goodies next week, Paperartsy are on a new release week (ordered from both of the first 2 days, one more to come...)  They are also celebrating 20 years of business... and I am probably responsible, given how much of their stock I own!  

 

WOYWW 763

 We find ourselves at Wednesday again, WOYWW day... head to Julia's for the links   

I hope you are all keeping warm, it's turned a tad cold hasn't it!  Luckily we've had no snow here, and not meant to.  

there is a wide angle view of the floor-desk  today. 

I was playing around in the small kraft journal at the weekend 

I did mean to finish the page before today's WOYWW but ....

why break the habits of the last few weeks!

Saturday was a very grey day at Kew and I was feeling as grey as the day, so didn't take many photos - hopefully the coming Saturday will be brighter and with more colour! 

there were a few pops of colour....

berries on the Sacred Bamboo  (I must find out why it's called that)

and the bright yellow Mahonia

thanks for looking - it's likely I'll be late visiting, unless you link before I head to work,  as I probably won't get time at lunchtime to stop by.

Happy WOYWW! 

WOYWW 762

 Happy Wednesday, fellow deskers. We're gathering again for WOYWW at Julia's.  

 My non new year's resolution to create more art didn't last long... 

I added some birds and some dots to this page I started some weeks ago...  there's some pink stamping of the same text too, only some of it is upside down as I didn't check the stamp properly!   I did try to rub it off but fairly unsuccessfully.  I don't think it shows though.  still it's all "texture" isn't it...

I had my first visit of 2024 to Kew... and I even set up a file on my computer for possible DIY calendar shots with one of the pictures I took too... finally!  (Been talking about doing this for years) 

you won't be surprised that it was a "moody sky" photo.. 

it may not make the final cut for a January shot, but it's a start!

Maybe next week I'll have some more crafting to show you (don't hold your breath)  but till then, happy WOYWW and I'll see you soon.

WOYWW 761 - Happy New Year

 Happy Wednesday deskers, time for another WOYWW  and I'd like to wish a happy 2024 to you all - I hope it brings you health and happiness. 

I don't make resolutions, but I was inspired by Julia's post Christmas/New Year blog to create something not just for a Wednesday WOYWW post!  (it's the post below this one) 

this was the journal page I made (not one of my photos but a page from my Kew calendar for last year)

and I made my brother's birthday card which is now on it's way to him (his birthday is on the 6th)

this is for Mary Anne - not sure if you can read it, but it's from the book I got for Christmas that she was surprised at... it's kind of a potted history of the notebook..I'm not quite sure what you thought it was....

I've read a bit so far ad there was an interesting bit about the history of the Moleskine.   

it's a dip in and out thing not a read from cover to cover book, I think.

I had Saturday at Kew and did get to London as well during my time away from work, I think some of you saw the photos. 

most of the colour at Kew was in the glasshouses 

It was a struggle being back at work on Tuesday after a nice break, but no doubt I'll settle back into a routine soon enough!

Till next time, happy WOYWW  

New year - let's craft!

 I took down the 2023 Kew calendar yesterday but couldn't resist saving this page, one of my favourites...  I had to do something with it - no time like the present 

help yourselves to chocolates whilst I faff with a journal...

when I found a journal that it would fit in - trimming was  necessary top and bottom (I used the Dina black journal and two of the linen paper pages )

I got out some Paperartsy paints and painted the pages to tone with the colours of the calendar page

I used a regular gel glue to add the calendar page to the journal for strength

I found a tree stamp (That's Crafty) and used Potting Soil archival ink to fill the edges of the pages 

after gluing the calendar in place I stencilled the birds on branches (Stencil Girl)  with Pinecones Versafine Clair ink

and some sentiments from the stamp set that comes with the tree 

This is the first standalone post I've written apart from WOYWW posts in over a year, and I am determined it won't be the last!

I would love to be able to take a photograph like this in real life - but sadly Kew isn't open at the right times of day for sunset/sunrises.