WOYWW #223

Hi everyone and welcome…

It's Wednesday - yippeee!... which means we go blog hopping around the world to see what you have on your desk, all thanks to the lovely Julia at THE STAMPING GROUND.

To join in the WOYWW fun aka 'Whats on your work-desk Wednesday' check out the info over at Julia’s place.

I've not WOYWWed for a few weeks - spent a lot of time trying to get my head around my new laptop with Windows 8 and re-installing programmes etc - say no more about that !

This is my desk this morning

Two projects on the go - some painted cogs drying - punched out on red fun foam (instead of having to paint an undercoat red first) this is just the first bit - lots more of paint and ink to add still to get the metallic effect I want.

Aiming to recreate my digital avatar I made of the steampunk owl.

Secondly I made a sheet of music yesterday which still needs to be aged/distressed. But first I took a photo of it and made it into a quick digi-paper design just to show one of the things I am going to use it for.



Also this is the first opportunity to show my lovely ATCs and things from SaraJ over in Alaska - from the ATC 4th anniversary swap - I love them Sara thank you x

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your comments
have a lovely day x

WOYWW #212

Hi everyone and welcome…
it’s that time of week again...Wednesday ... which means we go blog hopping around the world to see what you have on your desk, all thanks to the lovely Julia at THE STAMPING GROUND.
To join in the WOYWW fun aka 'Whats on your work-desk Wednesday' check out the info over at Julia’s place.

My desk is a bit more messy today as I'm working on a 90th birthday card and there are some white die cuts for a challenge piece that I've started to do as well. 

On the other part of the desk is a blue box I haven't looked in for a while and yippee! I found my stencil cutter that I'd been looking for, along with a glue gun, wood carving tools (err why do I have those?) and a glass/bottle cutting tool too.
I should have been born an octopus maybe with so many things on the go (as well as the digital pages I am making too and a 25th card still to make for July) I need so many hands.

OK that's my lot for now. Will try to visit as many desks as possible next.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day... Gill x

WOYWW #211

Hi everyone and welcome…
it’s Wednesday once again (don't they come round quickly) which means thanks to the lovely Julia at THE STAMPING GROUND we go blog hopping around the world to see what you have on your desk.
To join in the WOYWW fun aka 'Whats on your work-desk Wednesday' check out the info over at Julia’s place.

So whats on my desk today? it's fairly tidy as just finished making a wedding card and also a birthday card for an eleven year old boy. Males are always hard to think of ideas for and for an eleven year old even more so - ahhh panic!
I wasn't happy with the one I'd previously made with a design of London, woke up early thinking about it so got up (at 5.30am yawn) to make another.
Desk also shows what I did with some excess rubber.

Printed out letters with black lines around edges onto card, which I made using Craft Artist software. Then stamped over top of each letter using black archival ink and sport theme mini stamps by Hero Arts and coloured with Inktense pencils.

Used See D's birthday stamp for a border and added some random splodges of Inktense pencils paint also.

cut off some excess rubber from a stamp and wondered if I could use it for anything.

So on two pieces I punched random holes and on the other I painted some structure gel.

Quite like the effects it produced when stamped, the picture not showing the one with the structure gel very well as it was more delicate. Going to have a play with some fun foam next.

OK that's my lot for now. Will try to visit as many desks as possible next.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day... Gill x





WOYWW #210

Hi every one and welcome…
it’s Wednesday which means thanks to the lovely Julia at THE STAMPING GROUND  we go blog hopping around the world to see what you have on your desk. To join in the WOYWW fun aka 'Whats on your work-desk Wednesday' check out the info over at Julia’s place. 

So whats on my desk?  well there is an ATC as sadly I missed the WOYWW anniversary blog hop and although I sent some to people who I promised, I still have one left (at the front of my desk) if any one is interested I'll send to the first person that asks.

Further down below are some lovely ATCs and cards I received from Heather and Ria  which I just have to show you as they are so amazing - thank you so much for them xx

I have a wedding and a silver wedding anniversary card to make for July, so have just started getting some bits out to play around with.

I was playing with the Marianne butterflies I punched out - they work nice to make frames - that was just using 4 of them, but with more butterflies you can get varied shapes. 

I also have some new boxes and blank photo frames to play with. I decorated one box with some Tando Creative chipboard pieces that I recently won.

Over on the right is the tag and 2 ATCs given to me by Ria - aren't they gorgeous?

Far right is an IndigoBlu clock blank - but that's going to take a bit of planning first so I don't mess it up LOL. Also shown are the beautiful ATC and card from Heather and also some fabulous chipboard locks, which I will be saving for an extra special project - thanks Heather x

my lovely WOYWW 4 surprise from Heather

my lovely WOYWW surprise from Ria

the box decorated with rabbits and butterfly from Tando Creative

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a good week and happy crafting x

WOYWW #202

Hi and welcome - unless you are here via the  Stamping-ground blog you may not know that WOYWW is  ‘What’s On Work desk Wednesday’ and involves lots of blog hopping fun by lovely folk from all around the world. All this is thanks to the lovely Julia over at Stamping Ground, so for more info and to join in the fun do check them out.

So whats on my desk?

 There's a small journal where I'm just finishing off some doodling.

Had a sort out recently and found some forgotten things to play with like the fancy free stencil from a magazine, an iridescent medium (now used on my MOO-mania number entry) and some Fimo glaze - no Fimo but sure it'll be handy.

Two new stamps not tried out on the left - one is that lovely 'IndigoBlu' blazing poppies that I've seen on  lovely inspiring projects on so many of your blogs. 

 

this is my other usual little space on top of the cupboard. In front is the card that's going to be for my Great Niece who is soon to be 2. The lovely card and ATC at the back along with the goodies on the right was a lovely gift/prize from The House of Bears - thank you again.

Ted at back (he's a bit shy sometimes) with the lovely card from The House of Bears

and a fabulous wooden file folder crying out to be decorated soon. They were so pleased with their prize they wanted a picture for their album.

This is the card Ted instructed me to make for Podgy and The House of Bears

Lots of other fun this week playing with a  lovely new digi-kit from Algera Designs called 'Romantique'.

I added a free Tube lady to layout and applied some effects in the software to change to this greeny tone.



That's my lot for now - Thank you for you visit, will try to get to as many desk as I can soon... have a lovely day... Gill x

WOYWW #200

Well it’s Wednesday which can only mean one thing, Happy WOYWW… and for anyone not knowing - WOYWW means ‘What’s On Work-desk Wednesday’ and involves lots of blog hopping fun by lovely folk from all around the world. All this is thanks to the lovely Julia over at Stamping Ground   

so for more info and to join in the fun check them out. And today even more to celebrate - it's the 200^th  one  – Congratulations  Julia and thank you. I’m so sad that I’ve only discovered this in January.... but I’m addicted now!

So what’s on my desk?



  

This is my cupboard top work area and at the front is the card from last week that I asked if I should add the dark butterflies (over on left) or leave them off – well firstly can I say thank you for all your comments about that, it gave me lots to think about.
Yesterday I tallied them up and there were slightly more ‘leave it on’ - however the things said that hit me were; Butterflies too dark and large and takes the eye away from the fairy unless they are the focus of the card which they weren’t. Maybe try just adding one, or make them lighter and maybe iridescent.
So I punched out a couple of butterflies with a Martha Stewart punch and covered them with iridescent glitter and just laid them on the card to get a feel for how it might look and yesterday I sorted out a couple of sets of stamps with butterflies in to have a go at adding something smaller and lighter. I think something is missing and that maybe the answer-thank you x.
Also at the middle back is the now finished frame from last week and if you would like to see more of that, the full post is here

  

 

Haven’t showed this before it’s the cupboard opened up to show one of the places where I keep my stamps - yes I know needs better organising to find them LOL





  

On my main little desk there’s not much going on as found a box with some ink re-fills including a black Stazon which I didn’t realise I had.  Not having much surface area to work on things tend to get putinto cupboards and if they are tall and I can’t reach over back, things get forgotten. So having a sort out. Also found some ‘Radiant Pearls’ – remember them? Haven’t used these for years – not even sure if they still make these embossable paints.

Also been sorting out leaflets and books with techniques in to refresh my memory on what things can be used for…like the great ‘Liquitex’ little booklet and ‘Marvy Medium’ leaflet..

Also on desk is some small silk bits I was trying to get Inktense pencils to stay on after washing, but that's an ongoing experiment.

right that’s it for now – So thank you again for your butterfly help, I’ll be off trying to visit as many of you now.

Thanks for stopping by and any comments are very much appreciated.

Have a good day……. Gill x

 





WOYWW #199

Well it’s Wednesday so that can only mean one thing …it’s WOYWW time! Yipee!

Welcome and Happy WOYWW to you… no I’m not going nuts..mmm actually that’s probably debatable LOL. If you don’t know WOYWW = 'Whats On Your Work-desk Wednesday' = lots of blog hopping fun by folk from all around the world.  All this fabulous fun is wonderfully organised by the lovely Julia over at Stamping Ground so for more info and to join in, do check them out.

so... what's on my desk?

So on my main desk I have a couple of finished cards(including the ‘wishing you well’ started last week, made with the stamped bits I sorted out a few weeks ago. The fairy one is almost finished.
I used my Martha Stewart punches on some patterned paper for the borders and found matching colours in my promarkers to colour the images, and added a little peach colour glitter glue on fairy and flowers. The stamped butterflies lying to the side of the card, I added antennae to and a bit of metallic wax over top – but I can’t decide if they would work on the card – have laid them on it in other photo below

..... so what do you think, add them or leave them off ?





On my cupboard top that I craft on, is a project being worked on for the alcohol challenge over at ‘Artful Times’ blog. I inked the back of one of the printable acetate sheets I designed a few weeks back. There's some grungy flowers drying on the left, (painted over them with copper acrylic paint) they still need working on and will be added to frame with some other bits…more on that another time.

So that’s it for now – I’ll be off trying to visit as many of your blogs as possible now.

Thanks for stopping by and any comments left are much appreciated.

Have a good day……. Gill x



WOYWW #198

It’s that time of the week again to say Hello, Welcome and Happy WOYWW to you all.
WOYWW? this means that we would love to know Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday. This lovely blog hopping fun is
kindly hosted by Julia Dunnit at Stamping Ground blog  and all info on this can be found on there.

So whats happening on my desk?

 

 

Saturday I went to a Docrafts demo at our local Range store. My DH was going to buy another easel but changed his mind so I spent his money instead...LOL There's the Inktense pencils I got - can't wait to play more them and especially try them out on fabric.

 

So my main little desk is quite cluttered, there’s a card I am still working on using some odd bits I’d sorted out last week. I made an embossed background for the card and added distress inks, some aquatone stick colour, wax rub ons and also used my new inktense pencils that I got on Saturday too. Infact it was a bit damp with all the playing so I put embossed it again which made it look quite interesting.

Over at back on right is a piece of artwork I made also using aquatone sticks and inktense pencils too. You can see one of the things I used it for at the end of this post.



 



 

 

 

So on cupboard top (craft area #2) some of the new crafting goodies; paint brushes, plastic palette knifes/spatulas etc, X-cut Nesting dies and Build a scene 'London', Windsor & Newton sketch book, Graphatint pencils and some baking paper that the lovely DoCrafts lady said was good for helping intricate designs ease out of the dies.

 

 

Top right is the piece of artwork that is on my desk and below is something also made using left overs* from canvas project a month or so ago, I took photos of the projects and made them into this digi-scrap page. The main background is 2 photos of the background before I added the Inkadinkado steampunk stamps.. the 2 photos are blended together to give the effect.

The swirls and the elements (on main page and in book) to make the lady are from a digi kit called 'With Love' by Heather, over at *Algera Designs.

 



Right that's my lot for now -  thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. I shall be trying to get to see as many blogs as I can, although may be a bit delayed today as having fibre optic broadband installed and told this takes about 3 hours. Hoping this will speed things up as my current broadband sooooo sloooow.
Happy crafting and have a great day.... Gill x

WOYWW #197

Pinch me – am I dreaming or has Wednesday come around already.... Welcome and Happy WOYWW to you.  

Whats WOYWW? It means...‘Whats On Your Workspace Wednesday’ and this is where we all have a nose at each others workspaces and have a lot of blog hopping fun. This is organised by the lovely Julia over at  Stamping Ground     blog and definitely worth checking for info and to join in the fun. 

So whats on my desk?

 

 

On my desk at present are some Easter bits for a few simple cards. Used the Spellbinders dies in two different sizes, stamped on to watercolour paper and used watercolour pencils and some pink and yellow glitter glue. Just going to add a small peel off greeting.
Stamps are 'Some bunny loves you' (Candyfloss and Marshmallow) by DoCrafts.


 

 

Cabinet top/workspace 2 looks pretty much the same at back as last week.
Got some new storage boxes from The Range and the one with Green lid has all my small boxes of alphabet stamps in. To the right of that are two small stacks of clear Knorr & Bisto stock pot containers that I have been saving to mix paint, glue etc in.
I like to save things to re-cycle; the clear plastic jar with blue lid (with beads in) had peanut butter in and the oval shape container with dark blue lid that I have decorated with inks had 'Andrews' in it.

 



 

 

 

At the front are some stamped images that I have had for ages and its time to either use them or bin them... but me thinks will use them though as need to make some cards.
 
Right, I'm off now to start visiting as many places as I can and see what you have been up to and have on your desk.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and for any comments left...
Have a good day and Happy Crafting... Gill x



 



WOYWW #196

Yipeeeee it’s Wednesday again…. Happy WOYWW to you…
Unless you are visiting via Stamping ground blog you may be wondering what on earth is WOYWW – well, it means "What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday" and it's the weekly blog hopping adventure which is kindly organised by Julia over at Stamping ground for us to have a nose at each other’s workspaces. Pop over to Stamping Ground for the details and to join in the fun.



Craft space 1.- not quite a desk - as its the top of a cupboard but when short of space anything will suffice. Had a few treats this week including some little alphabet stamps, chronology tri-boss folder, Urban bird print stamps and some X-cut nesting dies… plus some Galeria structure gel which I’ve never used before – but it looks interesting.





Craft space 2. – also not quite a desk, just something my husband knocked together but I can sit at this and it does have some shelves underneath too. I’ve made do with this for a few years but having seen all your lovely craft spaces/rooms DH doesn’t know we are in for a major change pretty soon LOL.

So..on the desk I have a yellow grungy card made from some bits that were on my desk last week and using that acetate I printed out a few weeks ago.

Also made my mums card for Mothers day, but not sure about it, as not my usual style.



Not certain where the Mum stamp came from – probably free in a magazine. Coloured little flower with Gel pens and added some glitter glue. Made flower and painted it with Twinkling H20s put brad in centre. Also painted bird on the branch die.

The acetate and bits I started with



The finished card



The A5 piece of yellow card already had red and black ink splodged over it and the acetate seemed to look nice over the top of that without any alterations. Just had to decide on a design that wouldn’t cover my granddad(as a boy) up completely.
I cut up the yellow card and stuck it onto a another card, the bits left over I put through a 'ribbler' and used black permanent marker pen to accent the edges, then added some glitter glue randomly in the creases.

The small flower stamped square I already had; I added some glitter glue to and layered it to some black card with a Martha Stewart punch used on one side and some ribbled black card stuck on opposite side. Again added some glitter glue.

Butterfly was coloured black and yellow and then added some red rub-on over top and glitter glue around edge of wings.



Well that's my lot for now - I will be trying to get around to as many blogs as possible today and during week, to see what you have been up to.
Thank you for visiting, and for any comments left. Have a good week, Happy Crafting...  Gill x

WOYWW #195

Hello everyone Happy WOYWW and welcome… what’s WOYWW? It means ‘Whats on your workspace Wednesday’ and it’s the weekly Wednesday blog hopping fun kindly organised by Julia over at Stamping ground - pop over to Stamping Ground to check out the info on this and join in the fun.

 

Well I don't know where this week went again, if it keeps going this fast it'll be Christmas next Month.
I seem to have spent ages going through drawers and cupboards trying to work out how to re-organise my craft space - but no closer to answer yet LOL and only finished a few bits of crafty things.

So this is how my two little crafting spaces look this morning

edit - sorry I seemed to have messed up 3 or 4 of the top photos and lost the view where you can flick through them so have made the view larger instead.

 

 

It's a bit of mess.  Not done any more on the placemats I started stripping last week as still thinking what to do with them.

Got some old pieces out of stamped and inky bits to do something with and some left over bits acetate that I’d printed out a few week back. 

 

 

But talking of the acetate/transparency film that I printed out from my digital design.. below are the finished card and tag that I made using this.. and also last week I showed a digital card that I was going to print out and make into a proper card which is completed now too. 

 

My digital design acetate with alcohol inks behind. Micro beads and glitter on the ribbled black card on left side.
Made a flower and added some swirly die embellishments too.

 

 

 

 

Tag using the same acetate design... that's my grandfather top right probably about c 1899

 

 

 

 

Had a digital design of this last week made from my 'Grunge en rouge' kit
and this is the proper card printed out and  put together.

 

 

 Well that's my lot for now - I'm off to check out your desks and see what you have been up to.

 

 

Thank you for stopping by and looking and thanks also for any comments left ....Have a good day and Happy Crafting... Gill x

 

 

WOYWW #194

Good morning everyone...well I thought last week went quick but this week flew even faster… so it's time for the Wednesday blog hopping fun again ....known as WOYWW (Whats On Your Workspace Wednesday) all thanks to the very gracious Julia over at Stamping Ground… -thanks Julia x.
No idea what I’m talking about? Check out the Stamping ground blog for details.



 

So whats on my desk? 

 

So last week I had some acetate on my desk that I’d designed on my p.c using some old photos and printed out to have a play with… well I have started but not finished with them as I got side tracked playing with ‘loo paper’ I altered a Nesquick container (it's at back of desk with butterfly on) and covered container with loo roll and Klear and made butterfly in a mould with loo roll too (see previous posts this week). I also started stripping surface off of some old place mats too as they are sturdy and look like they have lots of potential for something or the other. Also have little book mark unfinished too which can just about be seen in photo.
Lastly been digitally designing a grungey card ready to print out in pieces.



Close up of butterfly on Nesquick container - love the texture

 

Acetates printed out, added some alcohol ink on back - half finished card using it too
which has some micro beads on the left hand side of it... what a pain they are when they go all over the place LOL

My other little space with placemats, managed to punch through a coaster
to make holes for a ribbon to hang it. On the left a chocolate mould and some
more butterfly 'loo roll' thingies in it.

 

 

digital design ready to print and make into a card
used my own kit called  'Grunge en Rouge'





Well that's my lot for today, so thanks for stopping by and I hope to visit you too today (or probably over next few days)... Happy Crafting - have a good week... Gill x

WOYWW #193

It can’t be Wednesday already can it? Yes it can…
Happy WOYWW to you - and welcome - but if you are wondering what’s WOYWW? It stands for WHATS ON YOUR WORKSPACE WEDNESDAY  - the Wednesday blog hopping fun, seeing what inspirational things are happening on other crafters workspaces.
This has been kindly hosted by Julia at Stamping Ground blog..  thanks Julia.
Take a look at Stamping Ground  for all the details and to join in the fun.

  

Well it's total mayhem on my desk after enjoying a good swivelling around on my chair and knocking stuff off a little side table. There I was crawling around floor picking up cocktail sticks and all sorts, thank goodness lids were on the glitter pots. Bunged it all on the desk to sort out.

The white plastic tray in middle is the bottom part of a bread bin. In the top left hand corner of it is a clear flower soft container with cotton wool and cornflour which is my thrifty ant-static pad when stamping.

The blue fleece is being cut up to make the little squares to replace the white ones to use with my ink applicator. 

Many thanks to those who mentioned last week, that they had successfully used the Pledge multi-surface wax in the same way of the Klear floor polish * which may no longer be available. 

The two pieces below are using the 'caught in crystal technique' which has been mentioned a few times recently and using * Klear.

The top one doesn't show the detail that clearly but I will be using this on a card shortly.



Caught in Crystal

 

Caught in Crystal

I'd forgotten how to do this so used instructions from Craft Stamper magazine Oct 2009 and also there's a really great tutorial on fellow WOYWWer Shaz's blog.

'I can see you' digital page made using Craft Artist software

  

The above is a digital scrap page I created using some of my own photos and stuff I designed. Using photo software I also altered this to 'threshold effect' to get the black and white look.

I then thought if I could print this onto acetate it might be great to cut up and use on projects and colour the back with alcohols inks etc and also use the 'caught in crystal' technique too.

Couldn't stand the mess, so had a quick tidy up ready to play with the two inkjet transparency films I printed out.

Not sure what colours this will be and where this is going as yet...
typical of me LOL
but popped a piece of shaded card underneath and also the pink piece
of caught in crystal to see what it looked like.

 That's my lots for this week.

Many thanks for stopping by and any comments left are very much appreciated... Have a good week.... Happy Crafting ...Gill x