WOYWW 891

Welcome to Wednesday - WOYWW time again. I am so glad the awful heat of last week has gone (temporarily it seems)  even if it did mean a couple of days when we left work early to avoid the heat. Head to Sarah's for the link

Anyhow I hope you are all well.   

I treated myself to some new stamps last week - a kind of birthday present to myself - thank you for the FB wishes and the cards

It's  not a good photo sorry.  

the journal page I forgot to include last week is - I think - now finished 

 and here are some step by step shots of the progress of it. 

sprays (distress oxides) and some marks made with the end of the nozzles

tissue (the faces) and transparencies (the letters) and stencilling 

I just kept adding.  marks made with paint pens 

close up 

 

I also had a go with the grasses stamp set

background is Paperartsy Infusions powder spritzed with water (I need a new water spritzer, my Tim Holtz one has stopped working - again, it is the second one that has done that.  No idea why. It's not locked in it's travel position ) 

I managed a very short visit to Kew on Saturday before the humidity got too much. 

was delighted to see the gorgeous deep magenta dahlias I loved so much last year, are back in the same bed again

one of the many resident foxes from Kew

thanks for looking - happy WOYWW   July already!!!  

WOYWW 887

 Welcome back lovely deskers,  to another week's WOYWW - now in the hands of Sarah.  

I had to go to the shops on Sunday to take some trousers back toM&S  and on the way back up the high street I called into the Works, i was looking for a big white Posca paint pen but they don't sell them....

however I spotted some bargains....

a black art pad, the paper feels quite thick.  I thought it might work well with neon colours. 

a large box of coloured pencils.. 120 ... half price £20... I couldn't resist

when I got to the till, the assistant had a stack of 12 x 12 paper pads on the counter that were about to go on the shelves... I couldn't resist the dusky pink flowery one!  

as you  know I regretted not buying the full set of Prismacolours some time ago, and in fact was going to source out a bigger tin online.

but I saw these and thought, well the quality won't be as good but we'll give them a go.

I have tested a few and they do seem to lay down colour nicely, so hopefully will be a bargain and not a waste of money.

Saturday at Kew was lovely, fortunately not quite as hot, but still pretty warm

the roses were simply stunning 

since then the weather has changed a bit and Tuesday just before hometime a huge thunderstorm hit with torrential rain.  (the start of meteorological summer, of course it is going to rain)

Looking forward to seeing what you've all been up to this week, happy WOYWW .  

WOYWW 882

 Welcome again for another Wednesday desk share - with Sarah for WOYWW 

I treated myself to some new Paperartsy stamps last week 

I got them from Stampers Grove as usual, superb service - more so because I managed to add 2 of one of them to my basket, but rather than just sending them, James messaged me to check and then offered to refund the payment.

All that and sent within a day, and when he was about to come down to London to run in the Marathon on Sunday. 

I carried on with the previous journal pages I'd been working on 

the face is another piece cut out of the Paperartsy tissue

I did however forget that the background was Distress Oxides, so of course when I added matte medium to the reverse to clue it down, the face turned yellow...and that was after I'd gesso'd it. 

still, it looks a bit funky (if jaundiced!)

I stamped and laboriously fussy cut two of the berry branches from the background - not something I'll be doing often, I can assure you... I did cut off some of the branches as they were too fiddly.

Saturday was gorgeous at Kew 

the swans were in attendance again 

the tulips under the (now finished blossoming) cherry trees were looking good, the earlier white variety have finished so it looks bit empty. 

Friday is 1st May (how!)  but which  delightfully sees the start of Kew's member early entry at 8am -   I have booked a long weekend round the Bank Holiday to get in an extra visit to enjoy the early light - hoping the showers now forecast, wil wait till I leave... 

I hope you are all keeping well or at least recovering!  Happy WOYWW.  

WOYWW 878

 Welcome to another WOYWW and happy April fool's day. I hope you don't get tricked into anything nasty today!    As ever Sarah will have the link for you. 

I have new goodies today  Paperartsy release time last week! 

stamps, a stencil and some tissue












I opened the tissue so you could see the whole thing - it's a map of Paris from 1615 and is gorgeous. You should have seen the way Leandra used it in a journal page - when you add colour the features really pop. 

I did get as far as stamping out the images too 

but no time to play 

I've got the new Versafine Clair inks on order now - I only say they were being launched at the end of the week and had to have them... hoping they come before Easter. 

Kew was of course lovely on Saturday although cold. 

so much blossom 

and wonderful blue skies.

thanks for looking,  I will be round soon to check your crafty goings on. 

Sending love to Neet for continued recovery. 

WOYWW 856

I can't believe it is Wednesday again and time for WOYWW ... as always Sarah has the link to join in 

I bought more goodies... Alison Bomber had some new stamps and stencils out with Paperartsy.. I only got one of the stencils (such restraint!!!) 

I've not had a chance to play with the stamps yet 

although  I did stamp each set out 

Straight from the laminated sheet they come on - something Alison said in her FB launch that she does just to get an idea..

but then it was back to Christmas cards...

I got 2 paper cuts in making these from attempting to remove tightly packed card from storage boxes... blood was shed on one of the card blanks before I realised but luckily some judicious stencilling hid the damage!  

so there are another 13 made, and I found some small square envelopes to use for 3 others... I need about another 14 or 15 so well on the way. 

Kew on Saturday started chilly, but was sunny.. for a while

Loved the shadows of the vines 

sadly the blue sky didn't last all morning, but long enough for some great Yoshino Cherry backdrop

the heron has such a funny face!

thanks for looking, happy WOYWW  

WOYWW 855

 Hello again deskers,  time for another WOYWW with Sarah and the gang.. 

first off the new goodies... the new Dina journal - smaller size; (about 6 x 9 inch) with watercolour paper.  Not had time to play yet  some more collage tisssue - photographed the back of the pack this time so you might (if you enlarge it) be able to see all the designs!  

I spent a fair part of Sunday cutting down images and assembling Christmas  cards

22 in total!

it took almost as long to find the right colour card blanks for the images I'd prepped!  

before that of course, it was Kew on Saturday

there was no blue in the sky, but the trees were gorgeous..

and a gull kept a close eye on me on the bench by the lake!  

and we sat under red leaves for our refreshments!

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

Happy WOYWW 

WOYWW 853 OMG she's started C..mas

Welcome to another WOYWW - hope you're all well.  Head to Sarah's for the link... 

 I was at a loose end on Saturday because my Kew buddy Kim and I (wrongly as it turned out) assumed Storm Amy would force Kew to stay closed...  so once it sunk in properly that it was October I decided I'd better start getting some Christmas cards sorted... well, started, anyway

I got stuck into some masterboards - the big (A3) sheets are quite thin sheets from a cheap paper pad I bought from The Works lots of years ago, the A4 sheet is much thicker weight card.

I used my favourite Magenta wooden stamps I tend to go to for Christmas  

and I stamped out 9 A4 sheets of designs (mostly Paperartsy JoFY mini stamps 

I tried to get them all in one photo... but you can't really see them 

I have plans for the grid squares and the little hearts and stars..

so here's a couple closer

these are actually designs by Sara Naumann, for Paperartsy from several years ago, I've used these lots 

lots of different colour ways 

must have photographed them in bad light on Saturday!

Now all I have to do is cut them down to individual images and find enough matching or contrasting card blanks to mount them on. 

Just before I stamped that lot out, I also gave in and ordered 

some of the new JoFY minis launched a couple of weeks ago (I was SO not going to buy any more Christmas stamps, but I happened to see a blog post from a Paperartsy contributor that gave me so many ideas..

they arrived whilst I was writing this post during Bake Off, (just as I was checking my emails and thinking, oh they haven't been delivered... postman was late today obviously; unless they went through the wrong door... )

whilst I was giving in to temptation I added the leafy stencil (one of Alison Bomber's that was out of stock when i wanted it before) just because it was there!

we did go to Kew on Sunday - you didn't think I'd miss a weekend completely, did you?!  the weather was stunning  but I really don't like to go on Sundays because I feel I don't have a weekend; Sunday is my chill day.  

The colours were glorious, rich reds and oranges in the trees

taken through the gate whilst waiting for opening 

love the colour of these 

my favourite autumn spot 

Thanks for looking, happy WOYWW; 

WOYWW 840

 Welcome fellow deskers another Wednesday has rocked up - time to meet at Sarah's for WOYWW 

I was watching the Paperartsy new releases launch on Facebook last week and ... of course - went shopping (I was restrained though, and only got Alison Bomber's new stamps and not the Christmas themed sets... was severely tempted so there is still time!)  

there was also a new script bases set of printed tissue which I did go for! 

I stamped out the new designs, loving the poppies and the coneflowers,  

and did some colouring

the poppies were with the Dina scribble sticks (Jan, they are pigment sticks, so although they look crayon-like they are very blendable )

the coneflowers I used Prismacolour pencils 

the thinnish card I used to stamp them on, doesn't take water very well so only blended the poppies, not the others. 

Didn't have time or energy for anything else, I did managed to get out and replace my fan - I think I will be needing it in the days to come!  

Kew was forecast to be wet but luckily, kindly, the rain held off till Kim and I left around mid-day! 

these shaggy looking flowers are some of my Broad Walk favourites in the summer. 

there were SO many bees last weekend

hopefully the weather will allow a decent visit before it gets too hot, and also me to do some crafting on Sunday!  

Happy WOYWW and see you soon!

WOYWW 838

 Happy WOYWW once more lovely deskers. Head to Sarah's for the link and all the details - come share your crafty spaces! 

This week seems me hit qualifying for state pension... not sure how the hell that happened!  Unlike Sarah however I haven't decided to stop working (although it's tempting sometimes!) but tomorrow, 66 it is. 

So, of course, I had to treat myself - luckily Dina brought out some new goodies last week! 

they turned up on Tuesday (well, would have been Saturday but the office is closed so RM couldn't deliver, and the parcel turned up at work Monday shortly after I left for home...)  

New colours of Scribble Sticks, new stamps and new clear gloss spray... can be used as gloss in the normal way, or a resist (have seen some great YT videos already) 

Can't wait to play!  

there wasn't a lot of crafting at the weekend, it was a bit hot (and my electric fan broke, the casing fell to pieces (I really shouldn't have stored it on a window sill in full sun - or the cold come to that!) 

but, layers of colour in the ledger journal.

the white stencilling is paint - turns out my Dina white paint (original bottle) had set solid and it was like spreading chocolate spread... I had been having trouble squeezing it out of the bottle, and thinking it was nearly empty, cut the bottle open, to find a lump of paint! I found a little container to transfer it to as I don't intend to throw it away! 

oops!  

I had a very hot and short visit to Kew on Saturday -  gave up about 11.30, it was too hot to walk around any more.  

 

Thanks for looking,  I'll pop round soon to check out your creativity!