WOYWW 494

Good morning all, we seem to be hurtling towards the end of the year at a rapid pace!  I had to check, but yes it is Wednesday once more and that means WoYWW.  Head on over to the Stamping Ground if you want to know what it's all about, and join in.

I am once again a Great Aunt.  This time to a beautiful little girl.  My main desk shows the result of this weekend's crafting, inbetween babysitting our grandsons who came for a sleepover (hence the tidyish desks).

A keepsake box - not sure if you can see the glittery pink letters!

Side desk has some crackle top coat and base coat, and some Adirondack inks that I bought to try with the Gelli plate!

Talking of which, many thanks for all the helpful comments last week.  What can I say - you are all so helpful and wonderful!

There are also 4 "C" card toppers.  I bought some fluffy stuff, so I wanted to try it and see how it turned out.  Not too bad.

No sewing work this week, so my plan is to catch up on Saturday when Mr M is out for the day.  Sunday we are off to Sunderland for a christening - great-nephew this time, so no crafting will be done at all.  Oooh, will I still manage 3 quilts before Christmas! Lol.

Have a lovely crafty week, and i shall be doing my rounds this evening when I get home from work. Please leave a comment so I know you stopped by, Heather x

WOYWW 493

Good morning all, I really can't believe another week has gone by so quickly and it's time for our weekly desk hop courtesy of  WOYWW .  Photos were taken last night, but my desk hasn't changed overnight.  I treated myself to a Gelli plate at weekend, watched a few You Tube tutorials and then got stuck in to have some fun.  I was a bit disappointed at first as the tutorials I watched all had lovely clear prints, and my first attempts were all dotty and splodgy, the ink 'beaded up' on the Gelli plate.  I was using Distress Oxides as in the tutorial, and a brayer.  Anyway I persevered, and although not as good as the ones I had seen, I did manage to produce some that I was happy with, for a beginner.  These may end up becoming backgrounds for cards.  I left them to dry on my main desk and they are still there 2 days later!  Some of the tutorials used acrylic paint, others used inks.  I'd be interested in your comments about the best results you've had, and what you used.

My side desk is still sewing station.  I've stitched all the quilt squares into rows and now stitching the rows together.  I've spotted my big mistake- I must have been slightly out on the seam allowance for some of the squares, as the rows do not perfectly line up. Lesson learned for the future.  For this quilt, I don't think 2 year old Emily will complain. 

Julia - my clear stamps were moved from the windowsill within 1 minute of reading your words of wisdom! 

I took a jar of my Apple butter to Leeds on Saturday to give my daughter.  She liked it, so maybe it wasn't too bad after all (although I will be checking next time I go over to see if she's actually eaten any).  Thank you to Shoshi for emailing me some recipes to try.

Thanks for stopping by,  and please leave a comment so I can be sure to visit you too. It will be when I am home from work before I do my visiting, but I will get to you. Have a great day, Heather xx

WOYWW 492

Good morning all.  Time for desk hopping courtesy of Julia and WOYWW .    Sorry I missed last week.  Mr M decided to share his cough and cold with me, so I've been wiped out for most off the week.  I did feel a bit better Friday, and managed to make a Get Well card for a work colleague who is in hospital.

First one looked a bit girly, so I will save this for when I need a female get well card!

I love the leaf stamps.  They came free  with a stamping magazine.  I used my stamp and die set for the flowers (the one that cuts to the right size).
I coloured the flowers with promarkers.

Back to the drawing board for something a bit more masculine.  I used the same leaf stamps and a few different distress inks.

I coloured some MDF letters gold and glued them on.  Job done.

The rest of my crafty week has been sewing.  I thought I had better make a start on the quilts I want to be ready for Christmas.  

I cut out all the squares for the first quilt and the strips for the sides, top and bottom, and a panel where I will add the name.  I laid them out on my bed to see what it would look like.

The layout didn't look too bad, so I took a photo to make sure I remembered where each piece should go.

And that brings me to my desk shot, which is why we are here.  My side desk has been converted into sewing corner, complete with a massive pink mat that almost fills the entire desk.  

I've finished reading the instructions, had a couple of practise sessions, and away we go!  Not sure how long a quilt takes to make, but I'm banking on getting each one finished in 2 weeks.

Lurking on the windowsill in the background is a new basket for my stamp storage, as I want the lidded box for material.  I think I might be a hoarder....

On my main desk is a "maybe" for the name panel.

 I cut the letters out on my scan & cut using freezer paper (as googled and found on you tube).  I'm not sure they are big enough, so I'll wait till I've stitched up the squares of the quilt and see how they look.

I cut a few extra letters to practise stitching the letters. The machine was hard to manage so I might hand stitch them on.

I also attempted to make Apple butter for the first time this weekend.  We had some when we were in Canada and it was lovely.  I found a few different recipes and tried one.  Not anywhere near as nice as the Canadian one ... I'll try a different recipe next time.  Or if anyone has a tried and tested recipe, please let me know.

Thanks for visiting my blog, please do leave a comment then I can be sure to visit your blog.  Have a great week, Heather x

WOYWW 490

Good morning all.  The weeks are flying by at the moment!  Time for WOYWW.  Photos taken last night, as I am on an early start this morning.  Thank you for the lovely birthday wishes.  My craft room has seen some action this week.  I unpacked, but have not yet used my sewing machine.  I'm still reading the instructions.  I visited a local fabric store and bought enough fabric for the 3 quilts I am going to make.  All washed and pressed and ready to cut!  Just need to decide on a pattern now.   So my side desk is currently home to my sewing machine, etc.

My lifesavers from last week were the paramedics who attended when I had a sudden cardiac arrest in February 2017.   It took a long while for me to be ready to meet them, and then took a few months to arrange.  I'm now fighting fit and keen to raise awareness and funds.  My employer is holding a fundraiser for Sudden Cardiac Arrest charity this week, as it is Sudden Cardiac Arrest awareness month.  When I nominated this charity I also volunteered to bring in some handmade cards to sell, so I've been sorting out a box full to take into work on a Friday.  

And .... tada.... evidence of a wee bit of crafting!  I had bought another stamp and die set and just hoped the dies would be better fit to the stamps.  I am pleased to say they are (see above pic).  I also played about creating some backgrounds.  Might use some for more cards this week!   I used the harlequin stencil I made (Jan - it's a stencil that creates diamond shapes), and a couple of bought stencils, and some sprays, all good fun! There are also some flowers coloured in with promarkers, ready to be cut out.

That's all for me!  Desk hopping will continue when I get home from work.  I'm so happy you called by, please leave a comment so I can visit you too!  Have a lovely week Heather x

WOYWW 489

I am bad, I am a full day and a half late!  Will I ever be forgiven by Julia and my fellow deskers at WOYWW

Not only am I late, but very little crafting has taken place. One card, pfft, not even worthy of a mention really. Here it is, in all its glory!

I fussy cut the stamps, as the die was too big.  I made a harlequin stencil on the Scan & Cut (oooh that counts as crafting!!) because it was raining and I didn't fancy going to the craft shop.

I mentioned to Mr M that I wanted to take up sewing again, and as it will be my birthday on Monday, he bought me a nice present!  I haven't unpacked it yet, as I have not cleared enough space for it!  My plan - quite ambitious for me - is to make 3 quilts for my grandchildren for Christmas.  I've got as far as buying The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Quilting, and this weekend I'll start reading!  Then next week I'll be asking questions no doubt of LLJ, Wipso and Twiglet!

I had a few special visitors on Monday. First time I had seen them since last year. It was lovely to meet my life savers, who along with Mr M are my heroes!

That's all from me, I'll be desk hopping as soon as I've made a cup of coffee!  Have a lovely week, Heather x

WOYWW 488

Hello blogging friends.  Time for a very late WOYWW!  This post is very late in the day as I am running behind this week!  That's what happens when I fall ill at work, and Mr M picks me up and decides to take me to the walk in centre rather than home, as requested!  A quick ECG followed by a transfer to Resus and then blood tests, chest xray and hooking me up to lots of things!  Everything came back normal so several hours later they finally released me!

My desk should have seen some crafting action this week, but instead I sorted my stamp storage.

I used the same idea as my die storage, just A4 wallets instead of A5.

At this rate I'll be totally organised,  and will then have to start crafting lol.
Oh my, the pressure lol!

I used some new stamps that I bought, Periwinkle Posy, but when I used the co-ordinating dies, Perwinkle Garden,  I was annoyed to find they don't cut out the stamps - they are way too big, so back to fussy cutting!

I had a practice with some texture stamps, and some spray bottles.  Didn't like the end result but it gave me some ideas for a base card for the flowers.

Mr M cannot believe I am running out of room so soon, but here is the evidence!

Boxes and piles of stuff everywhere.  Or is this normal crafting environment?  I'm having fun, so he's happy ... I just don't like having to move lots of stuff to get at other stuff.


That's all for this week!  We finally have a free weekend this week, so some crafting is on the cards, pardon the pun!  I will be late visiting, but I will get round as many desks as I can.  Have a lovely week, and please leave a comment so I know you stopped by, Heather x

WOYWW 487

I can't believe my holiday was over so quickly!  After a 3 hour delay at Manchester airport we finally made it to Canada, and my sister had an action packed 10 days planned!  Time now to relax and desk hop courtesy of Julia and WoYWW.  My desks have seen no crafting but I have emptied my suitcase and there are bits and pieces waiting to be put away.  First up my side desk .... Oooh it's the 'C' word!  We crossed the border from Canada to Michigan, USA and visited a year round Christmas store - I have never seen anything like it.  I love all things Christmas, and I love traditions - and starting new ones!  So I decided that we will need to buy a second Christmas tree this year, and adorn it with tree decorations representing all the countries that Mr M and I have visited during our 8 years together - we met on Christmas Eve in 2010, so Christmas really is extra special for us.  I bought 5 country decorations- USA, Canada, Italy, Ireland and Egypt.  All the other countries I will either have to make the decorations or visit again and buy decorations... Oooh that might mean another trip to Grenada, Jamaica, Barbados, Maldives, Morocco, amongst many others!  Also on the photo is a musical snow globe that plays Oh Come All Ye Faithful, one of my favourites.

I also fell in love with a few decorations for my regular tree, shown here on top of the light box/tablet that Mr M bought me for practising my calligraphy!  Not sure what I am meant to do with it, but I'll figure it out no doubt.  The Michigan at the back is a fridge magnet, I also collect them from wherever we go ...

No crafting on the main desk either.  Just a selection of goodies bought when I popped in to Michaels - two more storage boxes (I love boxes), some rolls of washi tape, 50c each! New square punched dies bought with my 50% off coupon, and two rolls of hessian/ribbon.  I also bought a notebook so my sister and I could start tracking our family tree/history, but not a single word was penned, so I will have to postpone that for a while.  The pink on white is a picture from my great niece.  There are two postcards for my travel scrapbook - both from Tobermory.  One is Flowerpot Island (how cute is that name), and one of two fantastic shipwrecks.  They are only in 7mtrs of crystal clear water,  so when we visit again Mr M is thinking of diving there, and I'm thinking of coming out of diving retirement!

Close up of one of the wrecks, and you can understand my excitement at wanting to dive there.

I will aim to have something crafty on my desk next week, but no promises!  I will visit as many as I can today, but still got a bit of jet lag, so may be Thursday or Friday. Have a lovely week, Heather.