the WOYWW 10th anniversary crop

I know Jan posted her pics yesterday but I got home from Margaret's in Wales at 3 (about an hour ago) and here I am posting mine! (watching the recording of the Liverpool win in the Champions League final whilst I do...)

 I travelled with Margaret, Mrs D (Chris) and Camilla (pictured)  from Rhos on Sea, through some fabulous Welsh scenery (separate post on the "other" blog to follow)

bagged a table and went to get tea and cake.. start as you  mean to go on.

 Sarah came to join us on our table, and it was great to see different people some of whom I'd not met before at earlier crops, this is the first one I'd made on it's journey into Wales.


Sarah and I had a good natter about football

 Mrs D proving it is possible to craft one-handed

 before I settled down to crafting I wandered round for some random shots!

Christine in her fab pink hair is hard to miss and PJ had his train with him

 Margaret, Caro and Annie (Wipso) chatting away as atcs are swapped

 Anne (Copper Beech Craft) Jo (Twiglet) and Neet with her back to me

time to get crafting  chatting

Caro was a newbie to the crop and it was so nice to sit and chat with her too

 Mrs D and Margaret - she was edging a crochet'd blanket and feeling rather warm under it!

 Margaret chatting to Jan (LLJ) who was on photo duty, she did a grand job as you'll have seen

Caro getting down to crafting

 lunchtime already!  we'd barely demolished any of the cake by then,  but what a spread Jo and Annie put on.

Shaz deciding what to have..

 lovely to see Chris (PearshapedChris) who turned up during the proceedings, was lovely to see her again.  she's having a good catch up with Margaret.

 the girls put on a photo booth this time... had to get Gordon and Doug in costume!

 after lunch I went for another wander... Catriona (another newbie) talking to Jo, Wipso is talking to Elizabeth (Silverscrapper and the EM) who'd driven down from Scotland (so had Catriona) - great dedication to the cause!

 Zsuzsa managed to pop in for a little while, it was lovely she could make it - here she is talking to Christine.

Neet taking pics on her tablet whilst Heather is examining some atcs

 Jo and Annie made a fabulous banner... now, who's going to host next year?

 getting ready for the obligatory group shot...No, Julia, you're the wrong side of the camera...

  thanks to Doug who took most of the photos for everyone whilst Gordon was doing the "official" ones for Jan

l to r top row.. Shaz, Christine, Chris, Sarah, Camilla, Zsuzsa, Annie,  Heather, Jo, Margaret, PJ (hiding behind) Anne, Caro, Elizabeth Neet and Catriona    (edited the list sorry Annie! )

seated - me, Mrs D, Julia, Jan, Dolores and Maggie C

 one two three smile!

 finally everyone's phone or camera had been used... back to cake/crafting!

 as it was the 10th birthday the girls had a surprise - Prosecco for a toast and a special cake (cos we hadn't eaten enough yet)


Jan ended up with two!  as you do...
Cheers!

 Jo made a lovely speech which was lovely but Julia, do you have something in your eye, lol!!

every word was heartfelt and much deserved!

 Chief photographer snapping the cake...
it was worse than a wedding!

 go on Julia, stab it!

 of course the Queen of Desks had to have a tiara on her cake!

 then it was time for a little pressie....

 Snoop Queen, WOYWW 10 in case you can't read it fully

 Cheers!!!   Julia gets the right of reply!

 photographing the photographers...

 Queen Julia has been crowned

 Shaz and Zsuzsa





all too soon it was time to pack up..

I am sure the boot of Margaret's car wasn't this full a few hours earlier!!

here is the link to the scenic bit!

WOYWW 521

Well that was a fun anniversary last week and here we are, starting the next decade of desk hopping for What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday... and the countdown to the crop this weekend .. cannot wait!

I've already received some atcs, including from my PIF partner, the lovely Dolores (Cardarian)

together with a gorgeous card too!









I arranged some swaps with some deskers who can't make the crop, which have also arrived - firstly from Angela (Felix theCrafty Cat)

and Zsuzsa who also enclosed some beautiful flower printables. 

 the big reveal - my rest of my atcs I'll be taking to crop for everyone

there's also a little message on the back

I went down a time theme - it being Whizzday of course - and friendship, because that is what we all are.  and just varied the colours a bit and the clock stamps which both came from new Paperartsy sets I was dying to try out!

Over the weekend I started gathering things that I thought I would take to crop, there is already a big pile!   You just know I'll take far more than I will use and want the very thing I don't pack!

Not sure if I will take the Oxide sprays (in case of leakage) although they should be fine,  but...
it will be ok if I put the in the case so they stand upright when the case is upright! 
I do seem to use them more than anything lately, so it is probably best I do..

the most important bit - the train tickets - are on top of the pile!
Looking forward to visiting your desks and then some of you on Saturday!  For those of you wanting your Kew fix, last week's instalment is here   - Crop day will be the first Saturday I have not been to Kew since July last year!! 

WOYWW 520 - we're 10 - happy birthday us!

It's here, What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday, week Five Hundred and Twenty.... started 10 whole years ago with an innocent question by our leader and friend, Julia - at Stamping-Ground..  
A big, big thank you to Julia for keeping it going through good times and bad...
People have dipped in and out, and back again.   We have laughed together and cried together and - importantly, I feel - eaten cake together!

So. what's on MY desk this birthday week?

new stuff, obviously...

. I've always had trouble finding the first week I joined in with this lovely group, as back in the day I was a very novice blogger (with a film camera, how hard was that to get photos ready in time!)  and didn't label my posts... but fairly close to the beginning I think.

And, as you know, those of you who've been on this "journey" with me, for "quite a few" of those, there has been new stuff on show!!

I test cut the lace - this is go number 3 the first two were a failure - despite using wax paper and multiple passes through my big shot, it wouldn't release from the card - the first card was way too thick, the second a bit thinner and more successful, but an added layer of card under the cutting plates finally worked!

I have done something with this, but it's on it's way somewhere and I can't reveal it yet.

I took the idea that Angela had used on a card, with the flowers, and converted it into a journal page - only because I had a test cutting of them and wanted to do something with them


the background is a mixture of distress oxide sprays and inks and the stamp is a Paperartsy one, from one of Courtney's leaf sets.



I have been dithering about whether to share the atcs I have made for the swap, or leave them till they are received... as this anniversary post is already quite long I think I'd better leave it here...  I should have enough for everyone at the crop (not sure how many are going) but I think I'll have some leftover so if you're not going and would like to swap let me know by email and I will see what I can do.  I know we are meant to get them in the post immediately but I'll be at work when most of you read this and don't do email on my phone so won't be able to read your email with your address so there'll be a couple of days before I can dispatch them.  (especially if I have to go to the post office to buy "foreign" stamps - I don't always get out of the office at lunchtime and the post office is not close to the office but they'll go as soon as I can)

So once more with feeling, thank you to Julia for keeping this going, and thank you to everyone else who has dropped by to say hi and share your desk, and for making Wednesday such a FUN day of the week! xx   oh and yes, there was a Kew post - longer than ever - last Saturday

WOYWW 519

And in the blink of an eye, it's another Wednesday gathering for WOYWW  at Julia's Stamping-Ground

 On Sunday afternoon, whilst waiting for kick off on the last Premier League game of the season, in an attempt to steady the nerves, I went back and finished this journal page from a few weeks ago.  I could only take 5 minutes though!

Didn't help, as Liverpool still finished second (so close, so close...and it was always going to end up that way)  but what a season!  (trying to convince myself here!)

haven't done any more to this journal page, and the pile of now assembled but not quite sure if they're ready, 10th anniversary atcs are sat on top (so I don't lose them)

carefully hidden by a pile of spare bits so you STILL can't see them!!

I also made a birthday card for my cousin using die-cut flowers and distress oxide brayered card base.

stamping on the base for another layer of interest



there would be new stash but it hasn't arrived yet.. ordered a couple of dies (blaming Angela totally for the TH flowers she used on her Masterboard Monday post - so hopefully that means they'll be here to play a starring role in next week's anniversary edition - seems fitting somehow - Helen, with new goodies!

I just read Julia's reminder post about the WOYWW crop on 1 June (here )  I will be begging Margaret, who I am staying with, to not throw me out if I listen to Liverpool  in the Champions League final on the Saturday night, on the radio.  They are my first love, Liverpool, before crafting even entered my head... so it will have to be done!!

last week's Kew visit can be seen here... my floral loves (alliums) are in abundance now!  I'll risk sneaking one in to tempt you over.

Catch you at a desk near here very soon.

WOYWW 518

Welcome deskers it's Whizzday again already!   WOYWW if you prefer...
An extra day in the UK for May Day bank holiday means a nice short working week but also that it's time to share our desks again so soon!

 but what's this?!  a piece of paper...

ha ha, it is hiding some atcs in the making for the anniversary swap and the crop..
I thought I'd better get a move on with them.

but I am not showing you yet!

I also did a bit more to the journal page I shared last week, the white stencilled flowers are the bits I didn't like (well actually I liked the white flowers, it was the outlining I did in black pen that I didn't, on the right hand page...) I had stamped a second image of the face I used on the 70th birthday card from last week,  on another piece of tissue, and fixed it over the worst part of the outlining.    I did mean to do more to it but the atcs took over (they're not finished yet either!)

I spent several hours at Kew on Saturday (of course!) arriving for the 8am opening... so beautiful at that time of day - even if it was flipping cold! -  the light is wonderful for photos, and it is so peaceful (apart from the Heathrow flight path)   I took nearly 700 photographs this time round and condensed (slightly) them into the blog - you can see it here if you have time! 

Several of you have commented how nice it is to live close enough to go each week (nearly every week)  - it takes me around an hour depending on the trains or the buses so it's not too bad at all.  As I don't have a car, I have no idea how much quicker it would be by car, but there is limited parking there anyway, so the train takes the strain as the old ad used to say!