WOYWW 471

Good morning all, and a most joyous WOYWW greeting to you!  Time to show and tell, and follow the blog hop courtesy of Julia and The Stamping Ground.  This week, I have something very special to show and tell  ... not really workdesk related, but an explanation of why there has not been much activity again this weekend.  I will reveal all after showing the tiny bit of crafting that I managed on Sunday evening.  I needed to make a birthday card for Mr M's brother.  I stamped bits on paper to make sure I chose the right colours.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the finished card, but you can guess the general layout. He loves cruising ...
Three shots of my main desk .... really does need a tidy up, but that is my mission for this coming weekend.

Left ....... some bills and correspondence to be filed 

Centre.... the remnants of the card making

 Right ... general dumping ground 

Now for news of what kept me away from my crafty retreat this weekend.  Mr M kindly drove me to Essex on Saturday to attend a Guinness World Record attempt!  The most cardiac arrest survivors to be gathered in one room!  And we did it - 127 of us from all over the UK.  Age range from 11 years old to 80.  Men, women and children.

We had a big celebration of life party in the evening and then drove back home on Sunday!  A very tiring, and emotional day, but a really good event to promote the need for people to learn CPR and for defibrillators to be more widely available. 

The poor survival rate in the UK is shocking (pardon the pun).  Only 8% of the 30,000 people who have a sudden cardiac arrest outside of hospital every year, will survive.  That's 2,400 ... the other 27,600 don't make it!  A big misconception is that heart attack and cardiac arrest are the same thing.  Heart attack is 'plumbing' and sometimes caused by blockages.  Cardiac arrest is 'electrical' and the heart stops beating.  Unless CPR is performed and the heart shocked back into rhythm, then the result is death.  I know how lucky I am to be one of the 8%, thanks to Mr M and his CPR skills!

At the event I learned CPR ... before my 'lesson' I performed CPR on a mannequin and my score was 69% - that's without any training.  After the training it was 79%.  Still some way to go, but as the paramedic said, bad CPR is better than no CPR!  After a person's heart stops beating, they are dead, so bad CPR will not kill them, but it might just keep them alive until the paramedics arrive!

Ok lecture over (can you tell I feel strongly about this? Lol).  If you read to the end then thank you.  Have a lovely week, and I shall do my visiting after work. Heather x

WOYWW 470

Good morning all, another beautiful day here in Lancashire.  It' a shame I have to go to work, but I have to fund my crafting habit, so needs must!  Time to show and tell - head on over to The Stamping Ground if you want to know what it's all about.

A true distance shot today as there is nothing of any interest on my desk.  Once again we had company at the weekend, my 2 year old grandaughter came for a sleepover, so the craft station was tidied and the side desk put back under the main desk.  I love how it gives the room so much space when not in use.  But ... It means I have to put everything away.  Hence no crafting!  But lots of fun playing with Emily.

Mr M has still not changed my light fitting!  I saw a teeshirt (which I might still buy him).  It had on it ... "I said I'll do it, no need to remind me every 6 months" ... that is how it is with me, Mr M and his list of jobs! Although he did fit out the shelves etc pretty quickly ...

I'll be round later to peep at desks!  Have a lovely day, Heather x

WOYWW 469

Good morning everyone!  Time for another instalment of WOYWW.  I hope everyone received their ATCs.  I was so excited to open all my envelopes, it was like Christmas!  Thank you to all who sent me, and those that included some extras (Is this a custom I was unaware of ...?).  Below is my haul of ATCs - now I need somewhere to keep them - they are too nice to hide away in an album! I'm thinking maybe a frame, I have plenty of wall space.

On my main desk to the right of the ATCs is ... erm, a mess!  I am still trying to decide how best to store my stamps so I can find them easily.  I pulled out some of my Lavinia stamps and then couldn't decide!   I have some in CD cases, some in poly wallets, and some in a Papermania binder.  Hmm, recommendations ladies?

As advised I cancelled my long overdue order for oxide inks.  Just need to get my money back now.  Monday, I reordered the inks from one of the craft stores local to me.  Tuesday I received them - hand delivered! I am impressed!  Here they are on the left side of my desk.  As you can see, some more Lavinia stamps fell into my virtual shopping basket, oh dear.... not again!!

Now on to my side desk.  This is tidier than my main desk.  It was cleared and put away at weekend as our grandsons were over for a sleepover, so not had time to mess it up too much.  It has seen some action on Monday though, and I have to say I have impressed myself, which to be fair does not really take much!

I had a blank mdf craft sign, which has been loitering around my desk for months.  Inspired by some posts on several of your blogs, I decided to have a go at decorating it.  I decoupaged with polka dot and butterfly papers first, and painted the letters ... they look nicer in real life than the photo.  I then stuck on a few things I like, plus some 'extras' received from Zsuzsa and Angela (thank you ladies).  Oooh, I felt like a proper crafter when I was finished.  This will go on my wall for certain! 

  

Ok, that's all from me.  Please leave a comment so I know you stopped by.  I do love to read them.  Have a lovely, crafty week, Heather xx

WOYWW 468

Good morning Julia and all the WOYWWers!  Congratulations on the 9th Anniversary.  That's a fantastic achievement!  Hop on over to The Stamping Ground  if you want to know what this amazing blog hop is all about!

My side desk has the ATCs all ready to go, some new promarkers that arrived yesterday and my little basket of 6x6 papers.

My main desk has the ATC for the next person on the list ... and a couple of spares.  I did a distance shot today, so you can see how all my cupboards are filling up! I need some more of the shoe boxes ... then I know where everything is!

Short post for me today .... have a lovely week, and I can't wait to see everyone's ATCs.  Please leave a comment if you stop by, I love to go read them! Take care, Heather xx

WOYWW 467

Good morning and Happy WOYWW to Julia and the rest of the WOYWWers!  I had to prepare this post on Tuesday night, as I have a very early hospital appointment in Manchester and would not have time otherwise.  My visits will be when I return from hospital!

Oh my, I can't get over it .... I've actually made some ATCs.  I had made a singular one a few months ago, and kept it out of sentimental value that it might be my one and only, but .... over the weekend, I just started tinkering, or should that be crafting and inspiration struck!  I settled at my desk, and blow me down with a feather, 9 ATCs were slowly born.  Obviously I cannot show them just yet, but ... I now have a little stash to take part in the swap! No need for panic, the crisis has been diverted!  They may not be the best, or the most colourful, and they may be a wee bit basic, I'm not even sure if there is a set thickness of card to be used! but ... they are my babies!  The unlucky recipients who have the misfortune to receive one, and will have to duly oooh and aaaah over them (To avoid hurting my feelings lol) are (in no particular order):

Julia
Angela
Shaz
LLJ
Annie (Wipso)
Jo (Twiglet)
And my PIF of course!
Neet - I'm not sure if you still wanted to swap, as I wasn't ready in time for Happy Stampers?

On to the reason we are all here, my desk.  Side desk has the finished ATCs on it, cunningly covered with blue roll!  There are also some pages out of magazines that I want to keep.  I had dozens of magazines and could not face looking through them all for that one card I know I had seen that I wanted to make, or a tip sheet on a technique I wanted to try.  So I am taking out the pages that interest me and binning the rest of the mag!

My main desk has the spoils from a Create and Craft order - some BoBunny glittery stuff, some jewelled card and a pack of glues/tapes, and my purchases from Happy Stampers.  It was great to see the wonderful Neet again, and also meet Sarah for the first time.  Both are lovely ladies, and I can't wait to meet the rest of you at the crop in September.

I was undecided about the big stamp from Inkylicious but took the plunge.  Lavinia Stamps lured me in as I passed by, and Sarah showed me some embossing powders she had bought that were a real bargain, so ... I had to, didn't I?  But I was well behaved.  I only took cash, and whatever I bought had to fit in the little carrier bag I took with me which was slightly bigger than an A4 sheet of paper!  How's that for willpower, self control, call it what you will.

I'm slightly annoyed that an order I placed online in March has still not been delivered despite repeat assurances that it has been posted.  I've ordered half a dozen oxide inks, as I really do like the effects - just frustrating now as its 2 months! Patience is not one of my virtues!  One more week and I will request a refund I think!

Have a lovely week, I hope the sun keeps shining!  Thanks for stopping by, please leave a comment, or a hi, so I can return the visit! Take care, Heather xx

WOYWW 466

Good morning all,

I'm back!  All refreshed and ready for another round of WoYWW!  The cruise was fantastic, and as soon as Mr M has done what he has to do with his photos, I'll put a few on a post.  Meanwhile... Room with a view in Barbados

With the help of the cruise line, I had arranged a couple of surprises for Mr M for our first wedding anniversary, which we celebrated towards the end of the cruise.  One was a deluxe breakfast in our cabin ... two large trays with 5 plates of food on one of them - I did point out there were only two of us! A surprise for me was that the cruise line had upgraded our cabin, which was quite lovely of them.

My desk is not quite as glamorous ... in fact quite boring, as I haven't done any crafting since I returned.  Side desk has a colouring book and pencils, and some artwork we bought in Barbados and Tenerife.

Main desk has some Sweet Poppy stencils I bought in the sale, and a Chloe die I bought on Sunday, which seemed to be a bargain price!  I managed to save a few pennies to spend on Saturday at Happy Stampers, and think I might just write a list of what I want to buy, as my mind goes blank when I wander round!  I'll wear my WOYWW badge, so please say hi if you spot me!

I'm hoping to make some ATCs and take part in the swap, but I've only ever made one ATC so nerves might get the better of me.  However, if anyone wants to swap, then please use the contact link to the right, to email me your name and address and that will undoubtedly force me into action.  

Have a lovely week, Heather x

WOYWW 461

Good morning fellow deskers.  Wednesday is here once more!  I hope you all had a lovely Easter and are ready for a round of desk hopping courtesy of Julia and WOYWW 461

Inbetween taking my grandsons for breakfast with the Easter Bunny, and meeting one of my daughters for a lunch and shopping date, I did manage to make a few cards.  Mainly because we are going on holiday for 2 weeks on Sunday, and we shall miss two grandchildren's birthdays.

One is a Batman fan, so there was only one choice for his card!

The other is a girly girl who loves pink and flowers.  Easy enough.

They were born exactly one year apart and share a birthday, which does help with planning the parties - apart from one lives in Yorkshire and one lives in Lancashire!

Ah well, such is life!

I made three birthday cards for stock, and then got adventurous with distress oxides and stencil pastes, and voila!

This prompted a visit to Sweet Poppy website to order some more stencils.  I also watched some you tube videos and now need to buy some mica powder to add to translucent paste to give me more colours! This crafting shopping list is never ending! But I am having fun!  I got my ticket to Port Sunlight, so my next shopping spree can wait till then.


Ok, the reason why we are here ... desk shot!  Fairly tidy as grandsons came for a sleepover at Easter.  I made the cards after they had gone, and generally (time permitting) I do tidy up when I've finished crafting.  Although I am getting tempted not to, as I now have so many drawers and shelves I can't remember where I put everything away!

There are my clean stencil and wedges that I left to dry.  Stencil paste pots, new water bottle and my distress oxides.  A couple of mags that I bought this week, and one of the cards I made.  The pic looks a bit dark and gloomy - must remember to put the light on next time!

I will be without a desk for the next two weeks, as we cruise from Barbados to Europe, so I will catch up with you all in 3 weeks time!

Apologies I didn't manage to visit everyone last week - work and Easter took up most of my time.  I'll try my best this week! Heather x