WOYWW 800

Welcome to WOYWW - week 800.  what a milestone!   Sarah asked us to share the week we first joined in with this desk-filled fun... I had trouble searching back but found a post from February 2010 which I think is  when i first joined in  back in the early ish days at Julia's .  Not a lot has changed  - still working on the floor, still buying lots of stuff!  

I found an earlier week from 27 January 2010 when I commented but couldn't link due to not having gone digital so that was my first week almost joining in!   We are so lucky these days to have the linky tool, it makes it so much easier!  Thank you to Julia for starting this fun, and Sarah for taking it over. 

This week I have...... made a start on backgrounds for Christmas cards... yes, really!  

first off I went for a painted background and stamped images (Tim Holtz stamps, a rare outing these days) 

and then I went back to my more usual masterboard style.  

I think the snowflake shape was a Paperartsy stamp and the yellow swirly things are an Inkadinkadoo Christmas set 

it wouldn't be me on a WOYWW especially for a big week special, if there weren't new stuff to share... from last week's Paperartsy release week.

restrained I think!  the ledger patterned tissue was a must have and so were the new Mattints (not paints, matte tints,  glazes)  brings their numbers to 12 now I think.  

and some new Seth Apter mini stamps.

and finally... Kew.  

it was as you know the last 8am entry till next May - the only thing going for that is a bit of extra sleep and not waking at 5 to leave at 6... 

it was a glorious day, sunny, (cold to start but warmed up) and Kim and I had great fun... all the photos on the link above (lots!) here's a taster.

there was a touch of grass frost but amazing shadows... 

 

we couldn't resist having fun one last time with the sculptures.  Marc Quinn, you have been a blast at Kew this summer!

Till next week, happy WOYWW and happy crafting. 

WOYWW 742

 Welcome again, deskers,  tis time for WOYWW .   

It's been another fairly unproductive week (what's new!)  

I added some stamping  layers to the background I started and shared last week....keeping to the same colours and keeping to Seth's stamps.

it's sat on top of the journal I intend to add it to.. either in pieces or in halves with something in the background.... not sure yet!

had intended to play with it Tuesday evening (i.e now)  but I am falling asleep so  not going to risk ruining it and will carry on flicking between the cricket and the athletics...

Saturday of course was Kew,.  my Kew mate Kim wasn't able to make it (she's having problems with gallstones ) so I was on my own.  

I noticed this teeny teeny snail on the centre of an echinacea flower... smaller than my little fingernail.    so cute!  

and in the Temperate House I loved these passionflowers tumbling down the outside of a beautiful terracotta pot.

Thanks for looking, happy WOYWW.   

WOYWW 702

 Hello again deskers... time for another WOYWW  .  the happiest day of the week when we share our crafty workspaces.

There is less on mine than there should be,  I should be making Christmas cards every night...

my new Distress, Lumberjack Plaid, arrived,  and as you see I ripped off the wrapping on the ink pads to try out the colour... yum!!  

I did spend part of Sunday making some -  few more backgrounds - using the new ink pad

and then spent some time cutting up some of the masterboards

and turning them into Christmas cards - well you saw some of them last week but I've added a greeting to the front now

I die cut some deer (Tim Holtz)   from the red masterboard that I shared previously so they match in reverse the background.  

Angela (Crafting with Jack) asked if it was multi stamping or stencilling -  stamping, Angela - 2 of my favourite Magenta wooden stamps -  

the one on the right, especially as you can multi-stamp it much better and as you can see, in different colours too.

I'll do lots more of these they are speedy fast.  

Kew on Saturday turned out to be gorgeous again,  not that it isn't always... 

look how blue the sky was (eventually)  

and Kim and I found some giant mushrooms too, which several of you saw on FB  (Kim is one of the other every week regulars and we tend to walk round together these days) 

me included for a sense of scale!  

thanks for visiting, I'll be round after work to catch your spaces.

Happy WOYWW  

WOYWW 681

 Here we are again, Wednesday- WOYWW day. 

I had a slightly  more productive week - 2 things instead of 1...  First up a birthday card for my cousin Bridget who's birthday is Saturday, the day before mine.  No chance she'll see this so I am safe to share it here now

I used distress oxides in Villainous Potion and Peacock Feathers (I'd just ordered the new colour that was announced on Saturday and thought it about time I actually used some Distress again!!)

stamps are by Dina Wakley and Paperartsy (Seth Apter)

Hopefully, if the new colour arrives in time I'll be able to play with it before next week

then, because I liked the combination of the two colours I used them again 

I did add a little pink (Kitsch flamingo)  as well

I'm going to add some more layers to this before I use it, some script stamping at least and looking at the photo, possibly more depth of colour (although it's lighter in the photo than real life so maybe not)

the reason I used these 2 colours?  they were on the top of the pile of my distress oxides... what better reason!!  

I almost stayed dry at Kew on Saturday - just a few spots of rain - not enough to get me wet really which was as well, not having taken a cardigan or anything.  It wasn't unbearably hot either which was good! 

there was lots of yellow, especially in the rock garden

the eryngium (sea holly) is always a summer favourite

I was still in love with the poppies and found some more elsewhere

this weekend, I am having  cake and coffee for my birthday with at least one of the regulars (more if they are around)  I'll be spending my birthday itself at home

the forecast though IS for showers this weekend which will be a shame.

In case you missed it Julia has details of the crop in October  on her blog  - can't wait!  

Till next week, happy WOYWW  and I'll be round to catch your desk soon. 

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 556

Hello deskers, it's time to meet up again for What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday again.. Julia hosts as ever
I'm still on the masterboard kick at the moment, added a few more layers to the two I was working on last week and started another one... none of them finished yet

 since I took this picture I've added some white pen doodling,

 to the yellowy-green one, added some stamping in yellow and green archivals.

and the new one, done with paints and a brayer, and some stamping in archivals.


I intend to cut these up (once I'm happy with them) to make some more birthday cards, one of which I need to get in the post before the weekend

Kew link from Saturday here 


I'll be round to see what you've been creating soon

WOYWW 555

Welcome deskers - another WOYWW has rolled around!  Head to the Stamping-Ground for the link and other desk. 
So I've done a fair bit of playing this week - yay!! 
First up I had to make some birthday cards for some crafting buddies (but they won't see them here so that's ok)

both started out on mixed media paper (bought a pad in Cass Art yonks ago and only used 1 sheet before (it's still attached to the pad)  USING UP STUFF... wow, go me!!


masterboard type background with Distress Oxide sprays and multiple stamping 
this was part way through

 one of the finished cards.

I love the Tim Holtz paper dolls but always struggle to incorporate them, so am pleased to be able to do so here

second card, similar idea, different colours and stamps
(the background stamps are Tracey Scott for Paperartsy)  and the figure is of course, by Dina Wakley



then, because I hadn't had enough of distress oxides on this fab paper- it really holds up to sprays and water well -  I kept going

 they both started with this one, and greens and yellow sprays.  then I put a second sheet on top of the first one to blot/create a second page




I've done extra colours and started the stamping on this one

but not yet on this one. 


Really having fun with this (and want some more Oxide sprays in other colours now....)



I had a fantastic day in the sunshine at Kew last Saturday - really cold, frosty early on - but beautiful...
lots of pics here (as always) 

here's one to tempt you!







Looking forward to seeing what you're working on

WOYWW 511

Hi deskers, it's Wednesday again, time to share our desks chez Julia.. who is probably sitting in the sun right now...
You all know I've been in a spendy phase, right?    err....

 first up, stencils (I mentioned them last week, and both lots arrived at the same time)

the top 3 are by France Papillon (I've got the small version of the circles already, but fancied the bigger ones too.)

the bottom three are from the Crafters Workshop - they keep on releasing fab new stencils!
the tree, in the middle I blame on You-Tube...

then, I got a newsletter from Country View Crafts that tempted me .....
these papers arrived today
10 double sided sheets of gorgeousness - plus the backs of the front and back covers. 

sorry about the glare from the light!  I didn't want to take them out of the packet. 

it's a set called Mechanical Fantasy.



I did a little more faffing with the A3 sheet that is currently a bit like a masterboard...

 more oxide splatters, I love the drips

some white to make it pop, some more stamping,

it still isn't done as a background, it needs some black I feel.

May not use it for die cuts now, may use it in journals, or some of it.


I also flipped it over to dry it from the back too, I like the back as well!

I had a bit of a play in a journal with some of the new stencils too, and the colour is largely mop up from above. 



so, that's me.  what have you been up to this week?  I'll drop by when I can (after work unless you're a real early bird!) 

WOYWW 492

We're here again!  Gathering for our weekly desk-share desk-bare fun!   What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday
Julia has the linkup here... 

 the supplies I had out last week, have been put to use, I have created 4 sheets of tissue masterboard backgrounds


I abandoned the distress oxides after a couple of layers on the first one, and reverted to Paperartsy Fresco paint (my go-to!)  although one (bottom left) I did use Infusions. 

after that I stamped a layer of Christmas images - words, snowflakes, and some stars. 










Obviously, because that would mean I was far too organised, I haven't done anything else and actually cut them up and put them on card blanks!

but we have a little more progress!

So that's me for this week; I'll catch up with your desks very soon!  If you  missed it, last weekend's trip to Kew is here   Not sure if I'll go this weekend, I want to visit the Imperial War Museum (London) to see the Tower Poppies and some other exhibits in remembrance of the end of WW1; but the weather isn't meant to be great so I may force myself to stay home and make Christmas cards!!  Watch this space, as they say! 

WOYWW 387.. I've started; finally

..Christmas cards that is... kind of.    I decided on Sunday that with November rapidly approaching I had better get going...
First though, it's Wednesday, time for another desk hop with Julia at the Stamping Ground for WOYWW  -   no new toys this week.
But, as I was saying, I have finally started working on Christmas cards.. I got some masterboards started, which are always a fun thing to do, and a speedy way of getting several cards done (started anyway!) at once..

it''s only a little bit staged (I spread out the masterboards so you see a bit better) - I have used 12x12 sheets of tissue, so they remain light enough to stick to card blanks later on, and several colour combinations of Fresco paints, a red based one, a blue one and a greeny one.   Something else will happen to them soon!

The journal is my Wanderlust book that I have been using this year... way way behind on all the lessons but I loved last week's lesson from France Papillon so much I set too almost immediately.. Heavy white gesso and some texture stencilled on (no that you can make it out, as it is also white)  It's a pastel lesson so will be adding some layers of colours of pastels soon... (you get the idea, everything is happening "soon"!)

Not much else has happened to the soft cover journal either... although the pink page has gone through a bit of a change since you saw it last time; I didn't like what I'd done (or at least couldn't think what to do with what I'd done next) so painted over it... It also has some texture paste stencilled on, left over from the Wanderlust page!
That's it for me today, will be catching your desks later...  have a great week.

Paperartsy - topic 22 Masterboards

It's time for the last blog challenge topic of the year from Paperartsy - Masterboards - as you know I love making these, and had spent much of Sunday making them and turning them into Christmas cards. Sadly I didn't photograph any of them in the making, so would need to have another go (hurrah!) so I could enter the challenge. As always there was a fabulous video by Leandra to get us in the mood

But first, I'd like to say a big thanks to Paperartsy (and random.org of course) for the prize draw I won for the last challenge.  I have still to choose my goodies!

So, tonight, I have made another masterboard and even persuaded the computer to download the photos from the camera... eventually!

 I used shades of purple - starting with Eggplant, then Lavender and Moonlight, and a little Bougainvillea for some pink pop

I added a bit of Snowflake, as I wanted to be able to stamp on top.

Think there must be something on the underside of my craft sheet, that needs cleaning as I got lots of little dots where the brayer rubbed over the paper!

then I took some archival inks and some stamps - used Magenta Hue, Hydrangea and violet, and some circles (the large is a JoFY,the small joined ones are one of my fave SN plates) then some scratchy squares by Ellen Vargo.

took the Merry Christmas from HPXM08 and stamped it in black across the page, staggering the lines.
unfortunately the second row I managed to rotate the stamp for the first impression, so rather than throw the whole thing away (my first reaction) I embraced the imperfection and made it part  of the design..

It was looking a bit dark so I took some heavy white gesso, I was going to splatter it but it's too heavy, and wouldn't flick, so as I have an old toothbrush in my penpot, I used that and just dabbed the gesso over it - think it looks a bit like snow falling, don't you?

i'll make this into Christmas cards soon.  In the meantime I'm entering the Paperartsy challenge "masterboards" 

WOYWW 336 I should be making Christmas cards...

Hello and happy Wednesday, fellow deskers.  If you're not sure why I am sharing a picture of the mess that is my workspace today, check Julia's here

well as the post header says, I should be making Christmas cards... I'm not.. not right now anyhow.. I did move the masterboards that I've made (a couple at the WOYWW crop the other week, and one I did earlier at home) to the workspace to try and encourage me.. so far it's not working..  I had better stay in all weekend and get on with them!

So short and sweet from me this week, to make up for last time!  I'll see you at Julia's!

3UP - Masterboards

So today at Paperartsy, the 3UP favourite technique, is Masterboards... you've seen what I and my fellow 3UP-ers love about this technique, this is just to share a few more of the photos

 my supplies! (I did add South Pacific too)

 the first layers of paint added

 and after the addition of some extra Antarctic and Ice Blue

 and the first layer of stamping with paint - scratchy circles in South Pacific and diamonds in Antarctic

first layer of stamping with Watering Can archival and the Lin Brown branch from ELB10

second layer of ink stamping - black this time - the bauble and robin from the same stamp set

 coloured with Inktense watercolour pencils.

cut up into squares (I got 6 plus some smaller offcuts) and ready to layer on to some card blanks - I used the same tree branch and Cornflower Blue to tone with the shades on the masterboard - on my card blanks (they are approximately 6 inch square)

and a greeting from one of the JoFY early Christmas sets

with the offcuts I took a smaller card blank and images from the Hot Pick set HPXM05 and the stars from the ELB10.  9 cards from one A3 piece of paper - and still a little strip left.  Not bad - hope  you enjoyed seeing these, and have fun with your masterboards!

Thanks again to Leandra and everyone at Paperartsy for allowing me to play at being a 3UP-er again.

Happy Christmas!!