WOYWW 291 Happy New Year Everyone

Oh, I cannot believe I have been in America for a full week.  The time is going to go so quickly and before I know it I will be heading back home to the snow - no more sunshine!

We have done so much and yet I have been doing lots of crafting.  Went to a Christmas Eve meal (fabulous), had our own (huge) Christmas Day Brunch, been to a "Texas Hold 'Em" evening (is that how you spell it?) and it is almost the New Year.  Been to Walmarts too but not been to a craft store as yet.  No worries, there are some on the horizon.  And CHA is not far away - be sure to look in then.

This coming weekend I have two workshops where I am showing them how to mold flowers, or is it 'mould flowers'.  This is my desk at the present - just a portion of a huge desk that I have taken over.

 



Here are some of the flowers I have been working on over the past few days

 

 



 

 Now I just have to come up with a couple of cards for them to make so they can choose which flowers to use to adorn their creations and someone has requested a "rose" so I have to perfect one of those.  (Funny thing is that when I did cake icing and learned how to make flowers from pastillage I detested making roses, I felt mine looked like cabbages..  I feel the same about the paper ones - but I will persevere and try.)

Want to see what others have planned for 2015?  Head on over to Head Honcho Julia and see what is going on in various parts of the world.  But before you do may I take this opportunity to wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR and may your year be filled with lots of friendship, love and happiness.

WOYWW 290 and A Merry Christmas to You All

Well, I am all inside out and upside down - and only just, as I was dropping asleep, realised that it is Wednesday morning and WOYWW will be publishing any time.  Visit here to see what I am talking about if you don't know.

Well, not got a desk to show you as I am so pooped I cannot get out of bed to take a photograph but I can show you a photograph I took earlier today.

and one from tonight

Some of you may know, and some of you may realise that I am not at home.  This Christmas we are spending it in quite a different way - we are in California, sunny California - quite different from home and the first time we have had a warm Christmas.

Only arrived yesterday, and it is still Tuesday here so I am totally muddled and still suffering a bit of jet-lag although the main jet lag will be when I get back home. 

Tomorrow will be spent getting ready for the visitors, as our friend Mary, has Open House on Christmas Day and we can expect anywhere between 50 and 75 people.  Phew!  So I must get to sleep and then I can be of some use to her as we try to get some things done in readiness.  Tomorrow night, or I guess I mean tonight, we are out at her Sisters for Christmas Eve with party games.

Expect more pictures as the days go on but for now I am craving sleep.  We were up, unpacking at 4 am and have been out for a meal with her nephew and family tonight.

Have a Wonderful Christmas every one of you and see you here for New Year's Eve if not before.

Merry Christmas came early

Just before we left for Manchester we had a visitor to our garden and I was thrilled to bits as we have only seen him once before and that was months ago.  May not seem a big deal to a lot of you but I was ecstatic.

Hope he does not start on the blue tit box as they are nesting, or getting ready.  He was sniffing around it later before he took off.

The first time I saw him, a few months ago, he was closer to the house (this time on a tree on the perimeter of the front garden) and I had not a clue what he was.  Rang a friend of mine who is keen on birds and she told me it was a woodpecker.  I was blown away - but he only stayed a short while so no photos.  Imagine my delight today when he stayed, knocking hell out of that branch by the look of it. Lots of piccies!

Must look up and read about Woodpeckers.

WOYWW 289

Well, it is almost Christmas so I hope you have all got your cards in the postboxes and things are coming together for you.  I said last week that I thought I would have some cards left over - ha ha ha - needed another 38 so it was back in the craft room.  Some got photographed and some didn't as I was rushed so here is a selection for you of the ones I did manage to snap.

the two with the flowers are extensions on one I did earlier - I think I did about five of these - still not in the mood for making really elaborate ones so I guess one of these is for my GP.

I have done quite a few cards with a black background card - the poinsettia ones above are also black cardstock.

I've actually taken two off from the photo of these as I realised the one by the side of the vodka drinker might be a tad too rude for some to take in this morning.  Anyway, this concludes my card making for this year except there were some die cut ones that I just didn't get photographed. Definitely CAS ones.

Guess what someone said to me yesterday?  "I bet it's not that much cheaper to make your own than buy them" - makes me wonder if it is worth all the hours it takes to make the cards, buy the products and the envelopes when you can pick them up for a song in the January sales.  Don't think I will be making as many next time!

Right, off to see what everyone else has to say via Julia, Desk Queen - next week will be Christmas Eve so I wonder just how many will still be posting.  Will I?  Will have to wait and see.

Merry Christmas!

ps thank you to Julia, Jan, Shaz in Oz and Darnell for their lovely Christmas cards.  Muchly appreciated and loved!

WOYWW 288

Thank you to Krisha and to Annie (Wipso) for the delightful cards which popped through my letterbox.  Nearly ready to post mine.

Cannot believe that it is so close to the Big Day itself.  Now getting in a real panic mode.  Typing this out Tuesday night as I am uploading some photos of Christmas Cards I have done - yeah - almost finished!  In fact I probably will have some left over so there will be a good start to next year as well. Must remember to keep sets of cards together and not split them or I could be sending the same ones out to the same people next year.  Just one or two 'special' ones to do now - the other half, my GP (who is lovely with me) and my son.

So this is a view of what is in my craft/stamping room - which is being abandoned at the moment

This is Chloe's card - still waiting for some words - must find something suitable.

there are quite a few of these girly ones

I like these three blue ones - all folds

The end one needs a poinsettia yet

Nearly forgot these three

So that is my neglected desk in my craft room as it stood last night - whist I tried to do a mail merge on the computer for addresses.  Pages no longer supports mail merging - what the .......  can you believe it?

So this is my desk this morning - I am in the utility room - got some sewing to do.  Making a cape for Chloe and altering a skirt for myself.  Chloe's cape is Black with a pink lining (although I bet she wears it the other way around, she loves pink) and my skirt is too big.

Don't think I have been losing weight, I wanted this skirt from M&S but kept on thinking I would make one - even bought some fabric.  Didn't!  Then found they had all sold out.  I found this one but it was a size 20 so I bought it and took it in but didn't take enough in so now I am doing it all over again.  If Annie saw how I am doing it she would scold me something rotten.

Now the confession is over go and see what others are confessing and showing on their work desks today.  Visit Julia, our Queen of Desks for the list of where you can go.

Artful Times Challenge 70 Wrapping Paper

Wendy chose "Design your own sheet of wrapping paper" for our final challenge of the year.  As usual I was last minute with it, had an idea in my head and was reasonably happy with the result until the other half looked at it with obvious disapproval.  Well, "like it or lump it" as they say, he will find his Christmas present wrapped up in it.

I just used some copy paper and scrumpled it all up and then undid it and swiped all over with Brilliance Peacock Ink pad (tri-colour greens and blues).  Then I scrumpled it all again, opened it up and went over with the Brilliance Gold.  Then the iron came out next day and I smoothed it out on the wrong side.  Next I stamped some tiny holly leaves in black because nothing else seemed to be showing and went over the berries with some red Stickles.  Still not jolly enough for himself so I went around each holy leaf and the centre vein with a green Gel Pen.  "Needs red" says he, so I stamped some words in Red Rocket and said "told you it wouldn't show'.  Here it is:

Feeling a bit more like trying again this morning I took a large, really big, sheet of paper and my Brilliance Jade Green ink pad (what's all this with Brilliance all of a sudden?) and stamped these images in a brickwork pattern all over.

Sorry about the photo but I guess Brilliance and a bright utility light don't work very well.  This was the best of the bunch.

I lined the stamps up (you need stamps of similar size, I messed up with the snowflakes) and stamped them in order, moving two along to the other end after each row.  Didn't take too long to do but it kept wanting to roll up so masking tape was the order of the day.

He liked this one - still not bright though for me this time.  Wonder what Wendy has done?  Wonder what you will do, and whose gifts will be wrapped in your own paper.  Hurry over to Artful Times and join us with this challenge - please.

In the meantime I would like to thank those of you who have joined in with the challenges during 2014, special thanks to Sam for helping out and always being there when I was down - and to Wendy for coming along and joining in.  Two good friends!  And now:

Here's my "C" card for you all

Merry Christmas!

WOYWW 287

I just cannot believe how quickly the days are going at the moment.  I think my feet are stuck in treacle the whole time - well something is happening as I do not seem to get any closer to being ready for Christmas.

Went to the Christmas Market in Manchester on Friday with my friend Paul, it was lovely to see him as we haven't met up for a while.  Photos lower down in my blog.

Anyway, I am here to show you my desk, aren't I?  Yesterday I actually made four Christmas cards - I now have a grand total of six ready.  I am sure if I get going in earnest I will reach double figures before long.  You might just about be able to see the four on the right hand side and two on the left.

Now I am hoping to make some flowers and I have my EBosser out, I have cut some ordinary flowers out in the hope that I can have a stash for after Christmas.  

The cards on the right are using a stamp that my friend Lorraine chose out of my old stamp box and it just didn't get put away.  I really like what I did but I am waiting for the berries to dry as I used quite a bit of Stickles, in red, on them.

Well, that is it for today, I must get on so it's toodle pip from me and I hope you all go and visit Julia in her craft room and see who else has called in and bared their desks for you to see.  If Shaz in Oz calls in she should be able to see my new crafty baby, Monkey - and look who has come down from her usual perch to sit with him - it's Katie Koala.

If Eliza (Yoda's mum) doesn't get on here today she says "Hi, Julia, and everyone else" - she's been busy at work and driving her truck around to get presents and things for the needy.  Bless her, she is never still.