WOYWW? 319

I had to scroll back in my posts to check what week we're up to... anyhow, it's time for another What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday... Mrs Dunnit's weekly ploy to make us buy stuff to show you... well that's one way of looking at it..anything to oblige then!

I failed to visit very many desks last week at all, after a very late night at the tennis, and then a weekend away (see previous post) crafting - there wasn't time... I am off work this week so will try harder this time!

 If you saw the previous post about my trip to the Peak District you may have seen the style of art journalling we were doing, and we had the opportunity to buy some Teesha Moore designs (no longer available in stamp form) so it had to be done..

the three bottom right, were a gift from James Sharp who ran the weekend course.

I've taken them off the wooden blocks and remounted them on EZ mount now..  I know I like wooden mounted stamps, but they were hand mounted and not very firmly affixed so I feel they'd have come off soon anyway!

here is my journal from the weekend to which I've added a bit more today, on my "desk", with the remounted stamps on a piece of acetate. I stamped the images directly to the acetate as an index (and so I know how they fit back onto it!)

er... more shopping... these new Paperartsy stamps "fell" into a virtual shopping basked just before I went away for the weekend and were on the doormat waiting for me when I got home.
Looking forward to having a play with these very soon.













I am heading to Kew Gardens one morning this week, to take advantage of a special Friends early morning entrance- they're opening at 8 (2 hours early) on weekdays during the summer.

The early light is so good for photographs, it is worth getting up at work time to visit so early... just not sure which day I'll go yet. (if I'm late linking it may well be today!)
*Edit.  in view of the devastating news on Julia's blog about Eliza, whose desk I visited every time she linked, I am seizing the day and heading to Kew today, life is too short. God Speed,Eliza, you will be much missed by your family and friends, and Yoda of course, but also by us, the Deskers, who knew you on a Wednesday and loved your tales of life.

James Sharp Art Journalling Weekend

I just got home from a great weekend with my great crafting pals, Emma, Sam, Lin S, Lin R and Chris from the Peak District, where we attended a James Sharp art journalling weekend (check his website here for details of what he offers..)  If you've got a car with good suspension and don't mind narrow winding roads (or live in the States where he spends a lot of time too) I highly recommend attending. The workshops here in the UK are held in the middle of nowhere (well just outside Buxton)  in Combs, in  the Peak District.

So Lin S and I took the train up to Stockport where we were staying in a hotel with Sam and Emma and they drove us to James's.

first things first, tea/coffee coffee... the workshops are held outside in the garden under gazebos, on Saturday we didn't need the sides down as it was reasonably sunny all day, and warmer than the forecast said...
Emma, Lin and Sam..

We were each given a paper journal to work in.

time to get started... the morning was spent stamping lots and lots of images on a variety of surfaces, we were told to choose one face stamp from a selection and during the day to stamp at least 50 of it, for what we would be told later.. some of us (Lin R) were less successful at this than others...

Sam and Chris standing to stamp, James on tea and coffee duty again behind Chris, and Lin R is sitting.
As we stamped on our various surfaces (different types of paper, prepared backgrounds with paints and sprays and all sorts,  and fabrics - we had been very keen to work on textiles) we were told to cut one image out of each surface and stick it to the first page of our journals.

the green gazebo doesn't do much for the colour contrasts, and I can't work out how to adjust it..

just look at the view of James' garden behind us!  (all round us, actually)

more stamping... James was quite amazed how many of us stamped standing up at the table... and no, I didn't work on the floor, it was dampish concrete slabs...

some of my fabric printing.

time for lunch, Emma catching the rays (sorry about the face full Emma...)


After lunch, time to cut out all those stamped images...

so, all those 50 images... we'd been told to cut them out and apply them, Andy Warhol style, to one of our double pages.  this is Sam's, looking fabulous.

this is mine.

and Chris's

another of my double spreads.  this one, we had to do with an irregular border with some of our images

everyone hard at work

and this one, a regular border all round  and some more of the images, collaged together, and some journalling (more to follow, pages aren't finished yet!)

another one of my pages, with some spraying through found objects for stencils (this diamond pattern was gorgeous) - we used metallic sprays, and then punched some of our patterned pieces and fixed them to the page, with added fibres.  This is a style Lynne Perrella uses, and then makes prints from.

another double page spread, starting with old football or cricket team photos and then adding extra images to blend into the teams.. I haven't got one of the finished effect yet.

Lin deep in thought..

James demonstrating the next page - on to Teesha Moore style now, with collages magazine images and journalling
Although I'd seen some of her work before, it was new to me, so took me a while to get into the swing of this part, but I shall be doing more now I know what I'm meant to be doing...

Lin R and Chris hard at work... we won't mention the secret supplies of her own that Chris brought to incorporate, will we, Chris??

Sam, writing in her journal

once the journals were in a semblance of finished, James bound them all for us, Chris is just applying some pressure with a brayer to help the glue stick fast.

time for another wander around the garden...

and a team photo...
it was a fabulous weekend, thanks to Chris and Lin R who sorted it out and to the usual gang for your excellent company.

I've borrowed this one that James took, from his blog



I will share the journal fully when it's all finished, hopefully later this week!

Now, hop over to photosbyh for the scenic shots I know you want... Lin R and Chris knew I'd want to see some of the surrounding countryside, and they were right!!