What's on your workdesk? Wednesday

It's time to be nosy again and check out what everyone is making in their crafty space:)  If you want further details, pop over here to Julia's Stamping Ground for all the info.

Nothing much going on here this week as I'm getting ready to go on a retreat with my team on UKs - the Bijoux Belles.

This is my normal desk

the purple bag is packed with some crafting goodies.  Alfie the dog is peering round my tv wondering what's going on!

These two pictures show what is underneath my other desk which is going on retreat, as is the desk because we never have enough crafting space!

The two boxes on the table contain double sided tape and tape for ATG guns - my friend ordered it to come to me in case she didn't have enough room in her car for it.

I did have 2 more RUB boxes full of paper to take but decided I didn't need it.

Same picture as the first one but I remembered the bag I made for my friend Maria was on the back of the chair in the kitchen and would get left if I didn't put it in the pile!

This final picture is Millie, our other dog.  She's just been for a walk and had to be carried the last hundred yards as she started to limp.  We can't see what the problem is at the moment so we'll just have to keep an eye on her.

If you pop by next week, my desk will be at the retreat:)  

Beat the Christmas Rush

Wow! a month has gone by already - have you joined in with Creative Craft World's Beat the Christmas Rush?  If you're wondering what I'm talking about, here's the deal.  Each month there will be links posted on CCW to Christmas cards made by the design team and the target is to make up to 5 cards each month so that we Beat the Christmas Rush and have lots of cards ready to write when December arrives.

These are my cards for this month.  You might be thinking that the background papers aren't Christmassy but I've been having a declutter in my craft room and came across them, unused because they were too nice to use so I decided to challenge myself to make Christmas cards out of them!

If you click on the image it will appear much bigger.

Every one who leaves a comment on my blog every month until November will be entered in to my own prize draw and I will  send one person a little something.

Out of the cards that entered last month over on CCW my favourite was Alison and these are her cards.

RHPS

I saw this picture of Holly on Facebook and thought it would be perfect to use for this weeks challenge on UKs which was to use the sketch provided, use red or hearts or both, scrap someone/something/somewhere you love and use rik rak.

This is what I came up with.

It's quite minimal for me - I wanted to put some flowers and other bits and bobs on it but I decided in the end that for once I'd leave it quite simple.

New kit lauch

Just a reminder that the latest minikit has just been  launched  by Creative Craft World and you can find it here along with the newest challenge.

Birthday cards

I've got quite a few birthdays in March so I'm trying to get ahead of myself and get some of the cards made.  They are all basically the same but I've just used different colours.

This final one is a Mother's Day card.

I haven't made this type of flower before and I'm quite pleased how they turned out.

Another bag or two...

Since Holly started work she takes all her paperwork in a plastic carrier bag and as the bag I made the other week was successful, I thought I'd make her one for her work stuff.

I chose three different bright and cheerful fabrics from Ikea:

The finished result.

A darned sight better than a plastic bag:)

You can see the spots ad the stripes in this pic.

I've also made these camera/phone bags

and this Kindle case.

What's on your Workdesk? Wednesday 194

It's that time of the week again when we're allowed to be nosy and look at other workdesks.  If you are wondering what I'm going on about, check out Julia's Stamping Ground where you'll find all the details.

Today, I am finishing off my son's Evening invitations for his wedding in June.  I made them much simpler than the day time ones which took forever to make.  If you want a sneeky peek, they are here.

This is a finished one.

I have another desk which seems to be a dumping ground at the moment -

both on it and under it, however, before I do any crafting today, they are both going to be cleared.  Honest!

If you want a snoop at other desks or to join us, go over to Stamping Ground for all the gen:)

I hope to see you next week.

At last

Take calculated risks.
That is quite different from being rash.

George S. Patton

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.
Orison Swett Marden

One way to get the most out of life is
to look upon it as an adventure.
William Feather

The house challenge on UKs this month was to take inspiration from one of these quotes and make a layout.

It took me a while to come up with a photo and then I had a light bulb moment - last November/December Chris and I did a few craft fairs on the run up to Christmas.  It was something we'd been going to do for years and never got around to for whatever reason but this time we went for it.  Chris made wooden reindeer and I made lots of Christmassy stuff like felt decorations as well as phone covers/iPad covers and such like.  It was a bit scary at first and we weren't sure if we'd actually sell anything but in the end it was just great fun.

This photo was taken at Cranfield Christmas market where we were lucky enough to be given a wooden hut to display our items in.  Normally you have to take your own gazebo but because we had the little reindeer, the organisers thought a wooden hut would be appropriate:)

It was an absolutely freezing cold day and there had been snow in the morning and even though we had lots of layers on, we kept nipping in to the community centre to get warm! 

Camera case

If you read my last post, you'd know I started a camera case last night and here it is, finished.

It has a little pocket on the inside which would fit a credit card in.

Now... do I keep it or not?

WOYWW

Good morning and welcome to another What's on your work desk Wednesday and in case you're wondering what I am talking about, pop along to Julia's Stamping Ground to see what all the fuss is about.

I'm once again trying to organise my craft space better and have been sorting my fabrics into drawers and  was left with a whole loads of scraps that were too small to go in the drawers but still useful.  As per usual I got sidetracked and decided I'd make a camera case out of a scrap of camera fabric I came across.

I will finish it when I get home from work then get back to the clearing out (or not!). 

This is a couple of my tidy drawers:)

I hope you all have a great Wednesday and I'll visit as many desks as I can after lunch:)

See you next week.

The View challenge

If you remember last month a new challenge started on Lucky Snapping - to take a picture each month of your favourite view and/or a picture from your kitchen window.  I went with a view from my kitchen window and took my picture last week and here it is:-

It was actually snowing when I took this but it never amounted to much.  Nothing has changed since last month - the pots still need emptying and the football is still in the same place!

I took it again this morning:-

It looks a lot prettier with its white overcoat on:)

To sleep perchance to dream...

My teamie, the lovely Jen set the challenge on UKs for this week and here it is:

Last time my challenge was Shakespeare based and it seemed to inspire lots of you, he certainly does me. So as it is Valentines this week you could use one of his many love quotes, but you don't have to, any quote on any subject as long as it is from Shakespeare is fine with me for 10 points.

Green is a colour I like, especially in nature but I don't often scrap with it, so to get me trying it I have included it. 10 points for green, it can be the main colour of your photo, the background, the patterned paper or just some embellishment. 

I'd love to see pearls on your layout, no less than 3 please but much, much more would be brilliant, don't forget there are pearl pens as well as the self-adhesive ones and I would definitely allow enamel dots (so any colour goes). I'd love to see how you interpret this.

So in summary:
A Shakespeare quote 10 points
Use the colour green somehow 10 points
Use more than 2 pearls 10 points

This is my page - I chose to make it 8.5" x 11" as I have more room in that album lol!

Chris had been diving on Sunday morning, we'd had lunch and he was looking forward to watching the rugby - Italy v France.  However, he dozed off and missed the first 10 minutes or so.

I wasn't quite sure how to incorporate pearls in to the page but remembered I had some liquid pearls in an ivory colour and decided I'd put the along the arrow - I didn't want it to look girly.

The pull out tag revealing the journalling.

My first bag

I bought a My Mind's Eye bag kit about a year ago but until now, haven't had the confidence to make it up.  Last night I decided to go for it - nothing ventured...nothing gained so I started cutting it out.  It was all very straight forward but I wanted to add some interfacing to make it a bit more structured rather than floppy if you understand what I mean so I cut out some Pellon to iron on to the lining.

I sewed the handles before I went to bed and got on with the rest after lunch today and within an hour or so it was all done:D

I'm absolutely thrilled with it and am in my starting blocks to make another Lol!  However, I probably won't make one quite so big next time - this one is perfect for carrying around my scrapbooking stash and will fit a pizza box in nicely.

Family

I wasn't planning on doing the weekly challenge on UKs this week - I found the criteria difficult:

+ Make the subject an important person(s) in your life (can include pets)
+ Use a monogram embellishment
+ Journal and title about their character, your relationship or information about them

I had no problem with the first bit - an important person or the last bit, the journalling but to use a momogram?  I don't think so.  In the end I used a large letter as the start of the title so I hope this allows me to claim the points Lol!

Please excuse the dire photo of my page - I should probably have waited until the morning but hey I didn't.

I chose a picture of Adam and Lucy taken on Christmas day.  We were invited to spend the day with them and while the dinner was cooking, we walked to the pub for a drink.  Two firsts for me - the first time I haven't had to cook a Christmas dinner since we were married and secondly, I've never been to the pub on Christmas day.

The journalling is not to do with the day but about Adam and it reads:

I can't believe that you are 25 and getting married in a few months time.  How those years have flown by and how I have enjoyed being a Mum, far more than I ever imagined.

You and Lucy are starting out in your life together and one day you'll have a family of your own and I hope your children bring you as much joy and happiness to you as you and Holly have to us.

What's on your workdesk? Wednesday

I enjoyed my foray into WOYWW last week so I thought I'd give it a go again!  If you'd like to see what it's all about, pop over to Julie's Stamping Ground where you will find all the details.

I'll start with the robins I was making last week and show you the finished article.

Here is my desk

The layout I am making was for the weekly challenge on UKs but I'm not keen on the elements required so it will just be another page to go in my bulging albums.  The couple in the photo are my son, Adam and his fiance Lucy and the picture was taken on Christmas day.

Edit:  I have now done the challenge and it's here.

Oh and this is my other desk!

So, that's my desk for this week, why don't you go and check out some more?

Saturday scrap map - A cup of tea

It's February already!  Who knew it would come around so quickly?  I for one didn't and had to be reminded to make my page by Sue lol!

Pop over to Creative Craft World to see the challenge and as it's a blog hop there are prizes on offer too.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the fab sketch and my interpretation of it.

a close up

and a pull out tag with a photo on and journalling on the back.

As I said earlier, it's a blog hop this month so if you arrived here from Jen's blog Scribbles and Sticking you're heading in the right direction.  To be in with a chance of a prize, leave a comment on my blog then hop on to Creative Craft World for is the finish.

Here is a full list of the blogs you need to visit.

Creative Craft World

Alipeep's Art

Doodles and Swirls

Loopy Lou's Craft Mess

Love Lydia

Me and Mine

Mel's Mess

Sarah's Little Snippets

Scraps of Sarah

Scribbles and Sticking

Susibee's Crafty Mess

Creative Craft World

Good luck:)