WOYWW #449 In mid flow...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW to you.

The time of the week where we join Julia and the gang for a desk nosy.

This week you see my desk in action - I was in the middle of smooshing a background or two for a card for a friend. You can see the stamp set I am going to use, my waterpot (recently cleaned..it was GROSS), my wine and on my computer screen is a tutorial for my new Heatwave tool that I bought in the Black Friday sale for $10 with a stencil and a pack of foils...great value.

Here is the finished card -

I heat embossed the stamp and the sentiment ( Kinda, Sorta Miss You by Unity Stamp Co.) and then added some gold heat embossed hearts. I love that big blue streak at the top of the smooshed panel.

With the weather in NYC being so cold I am pretty glad about my forced time off meaning I don't HAVE to go anywhere. Last Thursday was ridiculous - minus 16 and the wind was so strong that our apartment windows were covered in SNOW!!

Me + Mr G venturing out..

Anyway, so far my forced hiatus has been great! I am taking an online yoga course, so did that this morning and I'm heading to Macy's now to return some stuff. I've been to the gym, cooked healthy dinners and had oodles of fun time at my desk. As long as I stay inside for the bulk of the day I can resist the urge to spend money LOL.

I'll be nosying at your desks later.

Cx

WOYWW #448 - It's total chaos...

Hey,

Bit late to the party today, but still managing to play along with WOYWW.

Today is my last day at work - I am having an enforced hiatus, due to my work permit not turning up in time (sigh). I have decided to not be a slob and have early morning gym sessions planned and lots of crafty projects to keep me alert and out of mischief.

Yeah, so my desk is a hot mess...this is the result of an epic playtime on Monday!

So what can you see? Me!! My computer, my keyboard - which is covered in bits of scrap papers and papers I have pulled out for something else. To the left of my keyboard is a planned out card teetering on top of all the stamp sets I pulled out for my DT makes over at Retro Rubber. At the front you can see punches, cardstock, small trimmer, scissors, some silhouette couple cards I am mid-way through, stamp block, headphones, mouse and pens. That disgustingly coloured pot to the right is my waterpot..sometimes when the things start to grow out of the top I empty it..

Obviously with my first day off tomorrow I'll be trying to tame this beast.

Here is a different colourway of the silhouette couple..I'm thinking Anniversary cards.

See you later for a nosy.

Cx

P.s - any WOYWWers going to Crop on the Cape in March? Because if you are I want to smooch you and buy you Gin!

WOYWW #446.. Pretty tidy for me..

Hey,

Hello WOYWWers!!

The last time I played along was July 2016 (WOYWW #370)...

I can't believe it has been so long.

I recently sent Julia a Christmas card and I was delighted to receive one back from her, but her note made me think about you all and the delight I've always taken in seeing your desks.

I stopped playing along as I was traveling so much with work, I really wasn't able to comment on all your desks and it upset me to not return the compliment of a desk visit.

I have also been a bit poorly, cue major op, large complication, 8 weeks off of work - but let's not worry about that, as I am now 100% fit and well and better than ever.

So here I am back for right now..

My desk today (well last night..) is pretty tidy for me! You can see my stamp perfect in action (faux MISTI) I was making baby cards last night, there has been a ridiculous amount of baby arrivals in the last 2 weeks! I have a fave design I always seem to default to for Girl Babies.

Also you can see my wine, water pot, some misc bits of paper for things I am supposed to be working on and some stamp sets for the baby cards.

Here is the original card that I was recreating last night -

I am looking forward to a desk nosy later on today.

Cx

WOYWW #370..Momma arrives..

Hey,

Happy WOYWW!

Time for the weekly global desk nosy, currently hosted by the lovely Lunch Lady Jan at her blog. Whilst our leader Julia recovers from her op.

I'm all wiggly with excitement today as my Momma arrives for 2 weeks tonight - yay.

My desk photo was taken just as I was finishing work yesterday, so my work keyboard, mouse and desktop (on the computer) are visible. I was getting stuff ready for colouring for Kathy Rac's 30 day colouring challenge and I got out some stamps for the art journal spread I'm working on.

Here is the finished card from yesterdays 30 day colouring..

I love this stamp, it is by Stamping Bella and it reminds me a bit of me lounging in the sun LOL.

Some of you asked me to show you last week's art journal spread in progress finished, so here it is, along with a close-up shot -

I am not 100% certain that it is finished, but it's done for now..

Have a great day, I will be checking out desks after Yoga before Ma arrives.

Cx

WOYWW #369...Getting ready for a holiday weekend...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW to you.

We are still hanging out with the lovely Lunch Lady Jan, at her blog, whilst Julia takes the time she needs to recover.

WOYWW is that awesome time of the week, where we nosy at desks from around the globe..

My desk photo was taken before I started working on my art journal page.. So it's quite tidy, you can see my hand wiping towel, some oval stitched dies, a halloween stamp (for a DT make), my Lawn Fawn stamp shammy (get one they are awesome), my mouse and a scrap of fabric..it's a piece of an old shirt of Hubby's, when they get discarded, I wash them, cut them up and use them for craft cleaning..best thing ever.

I've been absent for a couple of weeks..I was in London and then the last week and a half back at home has been crazy! Looking forward to the long weekend (4th of July) that we are about to have :)

Whilst I was away the lovely Lynne sent me this -

Isn't it gorgeous!! She also sent me some items to use in my art journal. I plan to make a spread around this lovely piece from Lynne, so watch this space.

And final pic for today is off my art journal in progress last night, complete with a view of my toes..not sure why I still had my sandals on...

Have a great day, see you all for a desk nosy later.

Cx

1,000th Post...the ramblings of a crazy crafty 40something..

Hey,

So today is a big freakin' deal for me...

It is my 1,000th post.

I actually can't believe it..

I started this blog in 2010 having no idea what I was doing or what I wanted to achieve with it and here we are six years later.

My Husband is a constant source of wisdom and he said a while ago that he thought it was cool that I had a blog that was an outlet for me, my makes and my chitty chat..

This blog has given me so much, that I actually don't know where to begin or how to explain what it means to me, but let's give it a go shall we?

I have met so many wonderful people via my blog, people that I wouldn't have met under 'normal' circumstances, they have become friends and in some cases daily companions (Sue and Cara, I love you guys..).

These are the people that helped and guided me through some tough times - when I was out of work, when we moved to NYC, when my Ma had Cancer.

They also celebrated the joyful times - becoming DT for Moving Along with The Times and Retro Rubber, when I turned 40, when I got a new job, when I won challenges.

There are also the wonderful people that have taught me and subsequently became my friends - Jenn Shurkus and Cheiron Brandon what the hell would I have done without you over the last 2 years!?!

Let's not forget the gift that is WOYWW (What's on your workstation Wednesday) - hosted by Julia on her blog Stamping Ground.  There are no words to express what a wondrous thing a WOYWWer is, you should join us on a Weds sometime and find out for yourself.

I also have to give a big shout out to my Retro Rubber family. What an amazing bunch of ladies they are - I love being teammates with them and our FB exchanges are comedy.

This blog has also given me the chance to constantly express my gratitude for JT.
I mean how on earth can I express how amazing she is?! Seriously though, she's as crazy as a bag of cats and she is my exact mirror image - so I guess that makes me crazy as a bag of cats too!  What I like, she likes, what she loves, I love, what I dislike, she dislikes, it's so weird, she is like an actual real life sister, born 12 years after me LOL.

So much joy has come from this personal piece of blogland and I never knew burping my life onto a blog could be so rewarding.

Anyway, as I wipe away my tears of joy, I want to give you something to say thanks. Send me a message via my contact form in the sidebar and I will send you a card and a little 1,000th post care package - who knows what it will contain, but isn't that part of the fun?

Cx

WOYWW #366..Learning and Laughing...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW to you!!

It is that time of the week when we pop over to join our leader Julia at her blog Stamping Ground for the global desk nosy.

She is still recovering from her op, so Lunch Lady Jan is still hosting us and doing a marvelous job.

My desk is a teeny bit dull after the excitement of the last 2 weeks.. Just my computer, my sippy cup, glasses, die pokey tool and a little pile of paper, cards and dies at the front of my desk. This little pile is something I am working on for a swap with Scrapbook Lynne...a fellow desker..

On Sunday I went to a great class taught by the one and only Dina Wakely (swoon), she is my new crush, she is awesome, hilarious and a great teacher.

Class was fun, as I sat with Cheiron, Jamey and Lisette (an unexpected surprise). I love these ladies, they make me laugh (out loud and a lot!), make me a bit braver in class and are just all round fun..needless to say margaritas and Mexican food followed...

Below is a little collage of my pages from class (and a pic of Moi and Dina)...

Here are a couple of pics of my finished pages, so you can see them in their entirety. We cut windows, so you could see each spread and Dina taught us a whole load of techniques, some of which were new to me..Like rubbing off paint using a baby wipe through a stencil - and my mind was blown!!

Warm spread, using 3 warm paint colours (pinks, oranges, purples)

Cold spread, using 3 cold paint colours (blues, greens, greys)

I'm off to London on Friday for a week, so no WOYWW for me next week - I schedule my posts when I am in London, it's easier that way.

See you all later for a nosy.

Cx

WOYWW #365.. So many reasons to be happy...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW..

As you know our fabulous leader Julia is in hospital recovering from her op, so the also fabulous Lunch Lady Jan has stepped in again so that What's On Your Workstation Weds can continue..

I had great fun catching up with many people during the Seventh anniversary last week. I didn't make ATC's, but several very sweet people sent me ones anyway..I will be send you something else in the post ladies and thank you - WOYWW spirit just making me smile as always.

So what's on my desk? Well it looks pretty similar to last week right? My art journal front and centre, waterpot (full of dirty water), tea towel for cleaning brushes and various partly made items strewn around my desk..

My journal was actually supposed to be two individual pages and not a spread..but actually turned out looking like a spread, I think it's because of the colours..

As per the title of my post today, I have a lot of things to be happy about - I just spent a really nice weekend with Hubby, chilling out in the Sun together, holding hands, drinking, eating, giving up smoking and hanging out with old friends. 

My Dad is actually coming to visit us ON HIS OWN in NYC in Sept (he has not been on a foreign vacay for 30 years!!). These things all make me happy and realise how lucky I am. If you get a chance today just smile at yourself..it makes everything better :)

A few people wanted to see the Pocket Letter I had made for Nikki C. Now that I know she has it, it can be revealed!

I used a co-ordinating paper stack to cut the inserts and all the little icons are wooden and hand painted by me! I chose symbols for my two Cities - London and NYC and wrote a little story about what each one means to me on the back of the insert. There are also little tiny gifts behind the inserts too :)

I'm swapping things with a few other people, so just message me if you are up for a swap :)

Have a great day.

Cx

WOYWW #364..Seventh Anniversary...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW, it is the Seventh Anniversary of WOYWW today and ATC swap day.

Our illustrious leader Julia is away this week and so Lunch Lady Jan or LLJ is the hostess with the mostess, over at her blog Lunch lady Jan's Fabric Frenzy.

I am not joining in the ATC swap this year, I just didn't have the time this year with my large project at work.

I think Cara will be happy with my desk this week, she's always telling me it's too tidy.. I signed up for a Dina Wakely art journal class run by The Inkpad NYC and so I wanted to have a little play before the class. On my desk you can see my art journal front and centre, my paint pallet, waterpots and brushes, my coffee from the local deli, a piece of scrap grid paper for stamping on and various other bits and bobs.

Because I work from home from my craft desk, my enthusiasm for staying at my desk to make cards is not there. I felt I needed something more unstructured, but I am SO linear that it can't be too random..

So I thought painting would be good and then I was turned onto the idea of Art Journaling by Cheiron.

I am loving what I am creating and it's such a fun, messy way to spend 30 mins immediately after work, then my mojo returns and I spend another hour or so playing at my desk before Hubby comes home.

Here's the spread you can see on my desk..not sure if it's finished or not, but that's the fun part of art journals, you can come back to a page if you want to.

Because I like structure in some shape or form, I traced around oval dies to create the egg like shapes. I then die cut tissue paper in the two sizes and stamped over it. Before collaging the stamped ovals onto the page, I broke out the water colours and painted around the egg shapes. 

The stamped tissue pieces got applied using Liquitex Multi Matt Medium, as did the butterflies.

I then used a Faber Castell Pitt Big brush pen in black and white to draw around all the shapes and add some interest to the blue watercoloured eggs..

I love bling..so...

Here's a close up, so you can see the details.

Fun times right? Best bit is..because of all the different techniques I love to try, I have only had to buy a journal..I have everything else in my craft room.

Happy Seventh Anniversary everyone, especially big shout out to Julia, you are awesome and WOYWW gives me so much every week, even if I don't join in.

Cx

WOYWW #362...Double life...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW.

I have decided to reward myself for working so hard, by making time to play WOYWW this week - yay!

I love this time of the week where we go and visit Julia over at her blog Stamping Ground and nosy at lots and lots of lovely desks and hangout a bit with our blogland buddies.

My desk photo shows how my craft desk lives a double life as my work desk..I know shocking right?!

You can see my laptop, my keyboard, my mouse - because I am a geek, I don't need a monitor, I have jacked him into my massive Dell all-in-one, which is working a giant monitor for the odious Mac thing. My notebook, notepads (because I walk all over the house taking calls and these are very portable and magnetic, so I scribble notes here and do not mess up my notebook....) and pens.

Doesn't look much different really, but I have found putting odious Mac thing away at night means the work day is over and playtime can commence - hence the twofer shot, showing my desk back to it real purpose :)

It's always this clean after work..

Also, I wanted to give you a sneak peek of the Pocket Letter that I made and sent to Nikki C - can't see it all because she hasn't received it yet :)

What a pocket letter looks like all folded up for posting

All wrapped to prevent damage and for a bit of a surprise..

The New York paper was bought shortly after we moved to NYC..check out my desk 3 years ago..

Fun times, I love to swap stuff :) Message me if you want to swap things.

I am super excited, tomorrow is my Friday as JT arrives, so we can go to Providence for the Mixed Media Loft Art Retreat..I think this constitutes the world's most expensive playdate, but I don't care, it will be fun to see JT and play together.

Cx

WOYWW #360...Now I can see clearly...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW to you.

It's that wonderful time of the week, where we join our fearless leader Julia over at her blog Stampin' Ground and share our desks..

I am happy to be back at my desk. My photo was taken last night and you can see the final pieces of the pocket letter I have just finished for Nikki C. I hand painted all of the little icons, as they were just plain wood and I find it very therapeutic to paint them.

Nikki and I met via WOYWW and agreed to swap pocket letters. I got Nikki's a few weeks ago..unfortunately due to my travel / work schedule I have been a bit behind with mine for her..

When I got back this weekend, I sat down at my desk, looked left and realised that my card blank box was a hot mess...

I realised that I hadn't been in there in several months and had infact started a new box to my right, which was neat and tidy.. Hmm two lots of card blank boxes felt unnecessary.

So I ordered another Fridge Binz and voila! neat and tidy card blank box -

Isn't it pretty!! I folded a batch of A5 ones, so I could keep some out, but the rest have been put away. Now I can easily see what I have and USE what I have..

I'll be nosying after work this week..

Cx

WOYWW #358...Fun at the retreat and President Clinton...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW.

Yes, it is that time again..how quickly the week's whip by..

Wednesday's are when we join Julia over at her blog Stamping Ground for a weekly global desk nosy.

My desk this week is blah..because I was away all weekend, so it's just got my work keyboard and mouse on it..creating will be happening tonight - promise!

As some of you know, I spent the last weekend in Providence at Jenn Shurkus' loft art retreat. As usual it was a lot of fun, my companion for the weekend was Cheiron and she is an absolute hoot. If you are in NYC and can get to the Inkpad, she teaches there, you should check her out.

We made 15 cards...

It was a long day, but lots of fun, my table was a riot and as always I learnt some new tips and tricks.

Now about President Clinton. Remember that I was supposed to teach at the local community on Monday? Well..it was cancelled because President Clinton was visiting the centre?! So I waited, saw him, shook his hands and complained to him about the disruption to my plans..for which he apologised..Now that's how to spend your days off :)

See you later for a desk nosy.

Cx

WOYWW #356...Pocket Letter...

 Hey,

Happy WOYWW.

Bit late to the party today, forgot to schedule my post!!!

That's what Easter in Tampa does for you :)

For those of you unfamiliar with WOYWW. It is that time of the week when we join our Hostess Julia over at her blog Stamping Ground for a weekly global desk nose - its fun.

My desk is from last night. I was mid create for a guest blog post I am working on, you can see the card peeking out from under a set of stamps. You can also see my glasses, a stenciled piece of paper, glittery washi tape, scissors, glue, embossing paste, ink, my mouse, a notepad and my sippy cup :)

Not complete chaos, which is good.

A couple of weeks a fellow WOYWWer Nikki C mentioned that she was making a pocket letter and wanted to swap. I reached out, because I have been wanting to make a pocket letter for ages..

Nikki's arrived in the post this week :)

Pretty Envelope

First view of the letter 

Full view of the letter

It's so lovely and full of wonderful little things in the pockets. Thank you so much Nikki - proper thank you coming your way.

I am mid-way through mine for Nikki, it's fun so far and less complex than I had thought :)

One last photo for you - of Aligators in Tampa - we had so much fun, it was warm and it was exactly what we needed :)

Have a happy WOYWW. See you later gators for some nosying.

Cx

WOYWW #355..Fixing an annoyance...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW everyone.

It's my fave time of the week where I get to join Julia at her blog Stamping Ground and hang out with my desk buddies and see what they have been up to!

My desk today has a story. This is the photo I took on Sunday morning. I never leave my desk like this anymore, because it is in my bedroom and it's not fair on Hubby to look at a hot mess. So imagine my surprise when I went off to my desk on Sunday AM and was greeted by this mess. I don't remember leaving it like this..LOL..late night Furcrafters perhaps?

Last weekend, I finally solved a problem that has been bothering me.

Like most people I use clear pockets and fridgebinz to store my stamps -

Picture of my Fridgbinz in their Ikea Expedit home..

It's simple, effective and easy to use and build on.

But I have a few stamp sets that are taller than my pockets...man has this been annoying me!

So I spent Saturday morning looking for a solution...I came across this - genius idea..

You cut up the cover sheet and then collage onto the paper insert you use and then laminate it. I didn't use my Zyron to laminate the sheets (as per the link), I used my laminator, meaning I could do x2 stamp sets at once. I did 10 in total.

Here is the result -

I forgot to take a photo of the before, but I did keep the paper sleeve that the stamp set was on. See how much taller than my clear pocket it is!

I am super pleased, it works really well, means everything is neat and tidy and my inner OCD friend can go to sleep for awhile.

Here is a little card for you WOYWWers -

Stamp by Little Claire 

Have a great day and have a Happy Easter (Hubby and I are off to Tampa for Easter), see you for desk nosying later.

Cx

WOYWW #354...What it means to me...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW.

It's my first one in a while and I thought given Julia's news last week, that it was only fitting that I talk about what WOYWW means to me.

Julia's weekly global desk nosy (at her blog Stamping Ground) has introduced me to some wonderful people - including Julia.

Before I talk about some of the lovely people I've met via WOYWW lets look at my desk - from Tues night..
Mid 'creative' flow it was a bit chaotic, you can see a tin of mini distress inks ontop of a pile of stamps, there is a drawer from my Promarker unit (there is one cube with mini drawers for stuff), this drawer has all my mini stamp blocks in it and some misc mini stamps, in front of my Filofax you can see some of the mini stamp blocks, peeking out from under the Filofax is a project I'm working on.

I have a great set of friends that have come from WOYWW, Superstamp Girl, Kim Young, Carole and Darnell to name a few of them. 
Today I'm 'showcasing' Darnell.. just before I went on holiday last month, a little envelope arrived from Darnell -

In the envelope was the cool card and Papertrey Ink Balloon dies!!

She sent them to me because I commented on her blog that I loved a card of hers that featured balloon dies and that I had to get some. She said she thought it was a shame I didn't have any and she had too many for one girl.

How sweet is that..it came just at the right time :)

I made this card for a class I am teaching next month, using the new dies -

I thought it would be a simple make for my class of beginners.

Thanks to all the wonderful friends I've made via WOYWW, you all rock.

Have a great WOYWW see you all for a desk nosy later.

Cx

WOYWW #350...Birthdays and Holibobs..

Hey,

Happy WOYWW.

For those of you that don't know what WOYWW is..it is that magical time of the week where we join Julia over at her blog Stamping Ground and share our desk space.

This is my last WOYWW for the next three weeks, as I will be on Holibobs and working in London for the next two weeks.

It is going to be hectic, but fun and it's nice to get to travel with Hubby, as so much of the traveling I do now is solo :(

I took my photo whilst I was colouring on Tuesday night for the current The Daily Marker colouring challenge. JT's Mom bought me a colour a day calendar and it's been a lot of fun. You can see my Promarker colour chart, a couple of Promarkers and the sheets I am colouring.

I also wanted to share two very different cards with you this week..

One is the finished 'hunk' from last week - you all seemed to like him :) He is winging his way to a friend already.

Second card is for our Nephew Otis, he was 5 yesterday!! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown.

He loves Football, his Dad like me is a lifelong Spurs fan, so I coloured the image to match their current kit. I believe he is having a football party on Saturday..complete with 29 friends - the horror of 29 kids under 5..I do not envy my SIL.

Fun cards that both use digital stamps.

Have a great day everyone, see you for a nosy later.

Cx

WOYWW #349..Valentine's Day Series..

Hey,

Happy WOYWW.

So much fun to play along last week and be back again :)

If you don't know what WOYWW is, go here and learn about all the fun we have with Julia and our desk buddies every Weds.

This post is the start of my five day Valentine's Day card series..

Before that what can you see on my desk? Under my main computer is work related Apple items (ugh, we are a resolutely PC/Android household aka geeks), the big black thing is my bluetooth speaker - a gift from Hubby a couple of Christmasses ago, on my cutting mat is a semi-finished card for a friend - stamp by KennyK, I am practicing skin tones, a sheet of paper that I use as the backdrop for my photos and my glasses (current fave's Tom Ford knock-off).

I love making Valentine's Day cards..I don't get all the fuss - I love you, should be 365 days a year..

Despite this I made so many cards, that I thought I'd just show them all over the next five days..

These two cards both use stamps and stickers from the February Simon Says Stamp cardkit.

Distress ink resist

Giant sticker by Crate Paper - love this!

That's all from me, come visit over the next 5 days to see the rest of the cards :)

I am looking forward to a WOYWW nosy later on today.

Cx