WOYWW 358. a rather big spend..

Happy Wednesday to you all, time for another gathering and a-sharing of desks with Julia  the link will take you to The Stamping Ground blog and all the information you need about this weekly fun-fest.

So the Ally Pally show has come and gone... and with it a rather large wodge of cash.. lots of you saw the post from Saturday (read about it here if you didn't)  so you may want to look away now..
This was my workmat on Saturday evening after I had unpacked it all and after the blog had been written..

 but I have found room...no, that's not right, I have found spaces for most of it...
..teetering piles in some cases.



there was so much stuff I had to take several shots of it all to get it all in...  here they are again if you didn't see them before!

 reduced stock in a bargain bin... grab, grab, grab!!

 yes, more new journals... oops!

 although I have discovered I already had the stamp set bottom left (the quotes) so I've sent that back to swap....oops again!

(the binder I catalogue my stuff in is too big and heavy to take with me but I maybe need to.again...)

these first 3 pictures are all from Paperartsy the next one is what I got from the rest of the show!

safe to say, Paperartsy was still my favourite.

stencils (apart from bottom left which is a stamp)






I have had a little play with some of the stuff, not a lot to show for it yet though.  I was exhausted on Sunday and spent most of the day lounging on the sofa!

"Crafting at AllyPally" show - today

Hi guys, just home from Ally Pally and the crafting show... it was much better today than in recent times. Hope it continues to be so... Hochanda were filming live from the show so maybe that's why... there were certainly more people!

Anyhow, as I always promise, i tried to take lots of photos for you... here goes. Lauren, hope there are enough to help what you missed by doing your make and takes!

 Didn't start taking pics till after I'd raided the bargain bins at Paperartsy... and a few other things too (more of that later)
already quite a crowd round Leandra and JoFY doing the first stint at the demo table.  a long queue to sign up for the make and takes (which filled up so quickly!)

 Kim Dellow taking the first make and take

 Leandra was demoing with the new Tim/Ranger pastes - this is the opaque paste through a stencil, infusions dropped on a small area and spread over the tag,... we liked this one a lot!

 then she used the Crayola twistables crayons - blending into paint, great effect this and it helps spread the crayon having a layer of glaze or other product before you start adding the crayons we learnt.

 so I had to add a pack of the crayons to my second go through the PA till....

 after a good couple of hours and a bit more, I tore myself away to see what else there was on show.. I like this big wooden carved stamps (Lin S and I have seen these before, and they look great on the fabric at the back of the stand) but they're quite pricy so I didn't get any.

 Anna Marie Designs stand, looking gorgeous as ever.

 sat at the bottom of a pillar to eat lunch and grab a coffee before heading back to PA for some more Twits demos... bit of a birds' eye view, MDF man always gets a big crowd..

 the lovely Lucy demoing transfers... check out her beautiful apron she made.

went for another sit down and chat with Gabrielle.. PA still very popular...you may be able to see Alison (Craftytrog) in the red top and the other end of the demo desk in the pinky purple one, is Anna (not seen her for ages,was lovely to catch up and drool over the PA stuff!)

then it was Gabrielle's turn (left) and Kim Dellow (right) to take the demo stand..  Freya, Gabrielle's daughter grinning at me!

Gabrielle was demonstrating her "animal" tags using the Emma Godfrey stamps.. so clever

Jo V enjoying the demo too

 then after the end of the show it was time for the PA Twits drink in the bar - Jo and I managed to grab a table with enough chairs for everyone whilst they closed down the stand for the night... the heavy rain of the morning had gone and there was a great view out of the bar window (couldn't be bothered to go outside for you though!)

 group shot... Leandra tweeted one which made me think I'd better do one for the blog.. Everyone look at the camera... Emma!!!

 take two.. Emma still not looking...

 ok, let's call it done!
You probably recognise, from LtoR
JoFy, Emma, Alison, Jo,, Leandra, Milly (Leandra's daughter on Elf duty today) and Kim

Was a FAB day, and yes... I did buy a bit...

 had to spread to two bags today though, it would have fitted in one but was too heavy.. and you know how those handles dig in.. so spread it between two.. ahem!!

 the bargain box grabs... a pack of Prima cards (12x12 design, 6 different  - there was only one in the box, and I intend to use them in bits rather than the whole sheet in a project..) some wooden hearts, cotton reels, hessian fat quarters, black tags, couple of discontinued Frescos.

 I know Sam likes her close ups..

 this one's a bit less glary I think!

bit more of the Paperartsy haul - archival inks, couple of journals (oops) the rest of the infusions, some Prima butterflies and some Prima Artstones (for my next powertex project)

 Couple of Donna Downey stencils, the crayolas, some stamps, and the Christina Adolph rub ons that Leandra mentioned in her last scope.

 another close up

and the non PA bits.. (plus some double sided tape that escaped the photo)

and the tag from Gabrielle, her famous fish!

Might just need to put my feet up now!

WOYWW 357

Hi all and happy WOYWW to you again.  it's time for the weekly link up with Julia where we share our workspaces..  I had to take immediate action when a new set of Paperartsy stamps were launched on Sunday as part of the "Wanderlust" year long online course I'm taking part in through Everything Art and they arrived on Tuesday (today as I write!)

 I bumped up the order with a copy of Art Journalling, I love this magazine, I used to get it regularly but had missed it for a while.

and received the most recent one  from a different supplier, at the weekend!  Art From The Heart, you may recognise the snazzy wrapping!

So, lots to read and keep me occupied.

Not sure if it's Julia or Lunch Lady Jan who'll be hosting today - but it'll be one of them!

short and sweet from me, gearing up for the show at Ally Pally (Crafting at AllyPally) on Saturday- can't wait!  my credit card is ready!

WOYWW 356

Hi, deskers. Welcome to one of those rare desks (spaces on the floor) - no new stuff! I am saving myself for Ally Pally which is in a couple of weeks (must order my ticket!)  You're here for WOYWW the weekly get together organised by Julia Queen Desker herself

left open on the floor is the Wanderlust Book challenge with my last prompt (see here) 
(oh, and that "self portrait" that I hid the practice piece from you so successfully a couple of weeks ago)

Nothing much else going on here, had loads I meant to do over the long bank holiday Easter weekend, that didn't get done. (did get some Powertex play in for the Paperartsy challenge which meant I at last got to play with the fabric hardener I bought at Glasgow last year.

I did go to Kew on Friday though - you can see the photos here
I'll let you get back to Julia's now, have a great Wednesday..  I may be late home so will catch up later.

Wanderlust Book Prompt - my past

Another tough challenge for the Wanderlust journal challenge but it's done. The prompt is "my past".  just that.. no more clues or hints or prompts.

 My Wanderlust journal is a 12x12 Kraft journal, but I painted the page white, then
started by stencilling flowers (Carabelle studios) over the journal page
however, decided the white background wasn't right, so painted the background black

I wrote the title in the middle of the black space and then picked some words names and places that have significance for me and wrote them on the page, then hid them all with paper flowers from my stash, toning them with the stencilled ones.

Found this really hard because I don't normally do written journalling.

yes, you can see the before too!

Finally opened the Powertex - for Paperartsy

Hello and Happy Easter to you all... we're a week into the latest Paperartsy challenge - liquid sculpting mediums - and I was eventually spurred on to open the Powertex I bought last October (eek) in Glasgow.

So far, we've had frogs, canvasses and oriental ladies... I started simple, with an empty bottle... an old cotton vest and the bronze Powertex.

I decided not to put disposable gloves on, have heard they make it too fiddly to work in... this is the bottle soaking wet on my workspace. (and it is hard to do this on the floor, I think a table or raised surface would definitely help!)

hadn't thought to paint the face before I fixed it in amongst the folds, but went in afterwards and did so

 was quite pleased with some of the folds I got

 this is after it's dried overnight but before I applied some fiishing touches of treasure gold

 by which time I had trouble photographing it, due to fading light and the glare of the TG and my camera wanting to flash!

I had also tucked a tiny resin flower into the fabric too, I need to go on a hunt for little embellishments I can add next time.

but for my first attempt I'm quite happy with it!

Entering the Paperartsy challenge here

still got dirty fingernails, so next time may use the Ivory one if I'm working soon after, not so obvious!