A Little Bit of Crafting

A week of crafting!  Sounds bliss to all you crafters out there.  No cooking either (unless you had drawn the short straw and had to provide a meal).  Actually three cooked last year so the other three cooked this year and I was one of them.  Luckily I did Monday and took it ready and the other two, Mary and Liz, took theirs for freezing so there was no major cook out at all.

The theme for the week was "Trash to Treasure" so a bit of recycling was called for and Monday evening we did some cutting up of old t-shirts.  I won't embarrass the ladies by showing you the poses we did but I am hoping these two will forgive me for putting this one on my blog.  I just had to include it as they are laughing so much:

All the t-shirts looked great after being cut and woven, or whatever

Next day was Mary showing us how to make a patchwork bag from an old cotton shirt.

The squares are from different parts of the shirts, the pocket is the actual pocket, the decorative panel down the front is the button bit cut off and the handles are made from the neckbands with the collars removed.  Is Mary clever or what?  (It's all fully lined too)

In the afternoon and the following morning Wendy led a two part session making books from Lutrador but as mine is not yet completed I don't have a photograph for you.

Then we used Paverpol the next day with Liz and made faces from Cloud Clay to decorate these pots.  It was great fun making the faces and I think we could have carried on into the night enjoyilng ourselves.

Close up of the faces

Mary did hands too

Love this one

The next day we did some clay tiles but I didn't make any but in the afternoon I played with Adrienne's Gelliplate and made some backgrounds.  

Then she showed us a technique to turn card into something that looked totally different.  I loved this but didn't finish it.  Bought some translucent paints on Saturday so hopefully will get it finished later.

WOYWW 205 and Flat Susan

Well, this is my desk as last night and probably all of today - a view just for all you WOYWW'ers out there

Yes, the sewing machine is out again.  I so enjoyed my sewing session last week with Mary that I am determined to do some more and this time I am pondering what to make with the two Gelliplate pieces of fabric I did with Adrienne.  Apart from book covers I cannot think what to do - each piece measures approximately 6" x 5".  Not sure it is washable so any ideas out there?

I haven't blogged my sewing piece I did whilst away so here it is - my patchwork bag

All made from recycled mens shirts

Pop along to other blogs linking to Ms Julia to see what the great big blog hop has in store for you today - see you there!

If you have not offered to host "Flat Susan" please go to the post above this for full details and think about signing up - she really wants to travel the world - or mention on here that you would be a host to her and I will add your names to the list.  For those who do not know, she is small (made of shrink plastic) and is hoping to travel in a matchbox starting her journey shortly.  All I ask is that you blog once and include a picture of her visiting you (and maybe places of interest) and make a tag to send to the next host she is visiting.  Any takers?

Please let me visit you

One Hundred and Eighty

Yep, it's the 180th edition of WOYWW this week - pop over to the link if you want to know what I am on about.  I think most of you know it is the weekly snooping of workspaces that takes place, courtesy of Ms Julia Dunnit every Wednesday.

Nothing of note on mine - was going to have something crafty on it but I got involved with buying books on Amazon and reading text books from the library - crafting is definitely going to happen today.

Have been busy doing a bit of sewing and here's my desk this morning, just as left last night

My new iPad cover is the fabric on the left - not sewn yet as I did it wrong so many times and now have forgotten to put a flap on the top so it is back to the drawing board.  The red underneath it - that's my laptop and Chas' laptop covers and the rest is a selection of tools I guess with my machine peeping in at the corner.

This is the floor behind me

A couple of nappy boxes (didn't we all set off with them in the old days?  Remember Mothercare, followed by a car boot sale?) that holds some of my sewing stuff/fabric although there looks to be a considerable amount on top and a bit on the floor.  The purple topped box used to be my demonstration box when I first began working at shows.  It's great for my sewing stuff but I wish I knew what had happened to the third plastic container that fits in the drop down section.  Remember ArtBins like this one?

Well, I must get my worktop tidied up a bit and then I can get something crafty done.  Bah Humbug to the iPad cover that I messed up - it can wait another month or two like it did last time.

See you on the circuit!

SORRY TO SHOUT BUT SPYDER AN YOU PLEASE GET IN TOUCH 

175th WOYWW

Thought I would change the heading around a bit and put the number first.  Can I please ask that WOYWW'ers put your number alongside your comment, it makes life so much easier to find you and  comment back.  It is especially difficult if you have more than one blog and we have to sift through them all to find the right one.

What is a WOYWW'er?  Well it stands for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday and a group of us get together and show our work desks, courtesy of the boss Julia, and then have a nosey at what everyone is doing.  Join in, it's good fun and you make some lovely friends. Speaking of which lots of them are joining up for a GIANT CROP this coming weekend.  Sadly I cannot go :(   If you, dear reader, are planning on attending - have a whale of a time!  Sending my love to you all.

Just a reminder too that when I reach the double zero in followers I will be sending out a gift to someone (clue, it has pages).  Just one of my lucky followers will get the gift.  No need to apply by doing a comment to any posting - will just take a random person from the whole lot when it gets to 300.

Now to the real business - my desk - or as it was on Tuesday night:

My Tiny Stash of things bought at Harrogate

My bag that fits my Grand Calibur (new from a friend)

Shades of Bet Lynch?

Some of the Pan Pastel Diecuts 

Now this is really how my desk is/was earlier (10 minutes ago) - once Harrogate had been cleared away I once more tipped out my parcel of goodies from Jan (LLJ to you WOYWW'ers) and here are lots of trimmings for me to play with.

Sorted into colour families for ease of use when I get around to it. Well kind of sorted as some were so colourful they fit into more than one category.

And finally, here they are bagged up and ready to be put away. Thing is, I am so tired now that I think it will have to wait until morning.  It's almost midnight, I am shattered (five early morning get ups in a row) and bed is calling.

Night Night, God Bless.

WOYWW 160

Cannot believe that I am making this a short post this week.  Need to be up for the technician to come between 8 and 1 today and then I am due at the hairdressers for a trim so there will be no afternoon snooze for me today.  A quick Welcome to my newest followers, lovely to have you on board - I hope I have reciprocated with your own blog.

As you can see from this photo my life has been taken over with sewing.  I was sewing all day yesterday - in my head - sorree!  Yes, I fully intended to get some sewing done but as per usual I kept looking at the fabric and doing nothing.  In the end I did a couple of DT pieces but obviously they are under wraps at the moment.

The fabric in front of my sewing machine is for me to make an iPad cover.  Yes, I have one of those lovely black leather ones but I quite fancy a fabric one with a couple of pockets inside.  Thought I would treat Chas to one as well and that is his fabric alongside - quite appropriate for a man who is doing a maths degree for fun!

I think mine will be more of a bag than anything, with long straps so I can sling it over my shoulder.  His is going to be a wallet type with pockets inside to put his mobile phone and other things that he tends to carry about in his pockets.  There's some batting at the side, still wrapped up just as I got it from the store.  I had no idea it was so expensive - or maybe I am just totally out of touch with sewing things.

Well hopefully I will get some sewing done when I get back - at least make a start.  In the meantime, whilst I am away being pampered by my handsome hairdresser I hope you make the most of it and visit lots of desks who have also entered into the spirit of things with Ms Julia.  There's lots to see and the list just goes bigger and bigger.

Sewing Has Come To A Full Stop

Last night I was carrying on with my sewing, wanting to get my pages to a more completed stage when my machine jammed.  I thought it was an empty spool/bobbin but when I looked there was still a little on it and  it was something else.  The metal arm that goes up and down (don't believe it, now I cannot find my manual either so don't know the names of these things - update, found the manual - the cotton is jammed somewhere around the "thread take up lever") has some cotton well and truly jammed in it - there was a bit of wire came out when I was fiddling but I think that was from wired ribbon I was sewing close to, hope so and that it is not part of my machine.   Doh!

Today the shop is closed so cannot even get to there to see if Wendy can fix it for me and don't want to unscrew a panel at the back in case I invalidate the warranty.

So my book remains unfinished, but not to worry as I loved doing it and want to do more.  I am making more pages and then I can sew them back to back.  On my way back from the hospital I called at Abakahn to match some fabrics up that I had been using over the weekend - closed - and no opening times displayed.  I gave up!  Now I have decided it is NOT MY DAY so I am showing you Four of the pages I have done so far - will show you the others tomorrow - it may be that there will be more stitched on at a later date or it may just be more pages - I will blog them as I get on and blog the whole thing when (IF with the luck I am having) it is finished.

 

Image transfer (Church window)

  

Padded Heart

  

Painted Fabric (Lynn Perralla stamp)

(pinned and waiting to be sewn)

  

Soldered Fabric (sheer over image)

(pinned and waiting to be sewn)

Hope you enjoyed looking as much as I enjoyed making - it really has got my creative juices flowing - I just loved doing this and cannot wait for my sewing machine to get repaired and ready - in fact my mum's old Singer might just have to come out for a bit of straight stitching until this one is repaired.

WOYWW 157

Well, celebrations over more ways than one.  If you are in the UK as I am it has been a weekend (on and off wet!) of Jubilee Celebrations as well as all the WOYWW'ers celebrating three years of Julia's brainchild - What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

That meant that, in some cases, trading could not be done with the ATC's that we were swapping as addresses had to be exchanged and the PO's were closed for a long Bank Holiday Weekend.  Still, I got mine from Annie and Mary Anne so here they are - and both beauties!

This came from my partner Mary Anne and was wrapped up in purple tissue with a lovely bow on and then in a delightful envelope (shown below with the atc).

This came from Annie and was a picture of poppies (my favourite flowers - cups, plates and pictures are around in my house as well as silk ones) - done by dumfing!  I was well impressed!  Here it is with the lovely card that accompanied it:

Love the pot of gold the rainbow falls into

As all of mine have not yet been received I am holding back showing them but several have winged their way across the waters and along the roads to some very lovely people.

Thanks Julia for a wonderful idea that has culminated in so many friendships being formed.  Here's to the next  anniversary and here's my workdesk this week. Sewing is the order of the day!

And before I forget, for those who were here last week - my new cupboard - needs painting like the other one.

and lastly

My battered, wet Poppies in the garden

But look how many buds I have to come out yet - hope this rain stops and I can enjoy them.

If any of you want a scan of the template for producing the pyramid box in the previous two posts send me an email and I will scan one through to you.

WOYWW 151 and Last Call for Candy

Oops, this page has changed - what is Blogger doing?  Hope it uploads ok as I am off to bed, having had a late night and wanting an early morning for WOYWW.  (Crikey Mikey, had a problem with the link just then!!!)

Don't forget my blog candy - quite a few unmounted stamps there for whoever - it's just above this post and ends next Monday - or click the big hat opposite.

Thanks to those who put their number down last week, makes life so much easier.

Still cannot share my Jewel Goddess things from last week with you but they will probably be up by next time WOYWW'ers come to visit.  Spent far too long playing with these and not all that smitten with the end results.

So here is my desk, as you can see I have been playing with my new toy - the sewing machine.  Love it!  I managed to thread the needle about three or four times with the automatic threader, wound a bobbin (which I want to call a spool) three times and went through a full reel of thread.  I decided to go through the stitches that it performs and as some of them were a kind of satin stitch they used a lot of thread up.  In that process I had to change the foot - but the book called it a "presser", three times.  There are only two stitches I didn't do and that was because they needed yet another "presser" and I had had enough.  Might do them later along with the buttonholes and the eyelet.  Here are the ones I did (in the silk paper book I made with Annie):

I have to have my room reasonably tidy for Friday with stuff well away that will react to sawdust!  On Friday our local builder is coming to make me some shelving to stand in front of the door leading to our en suite bathroom (why would I want another bedroom having access to MY bathroom?  Maybe the previous owners had that room (my craft room) as a dressing room.).  It is going to be free standing and I doubt it will get painted to match in with the rest of the room for a while as I will be eager, too eager, to do anything but rearrange my room a bit.

Gosh, this was going to be so short, and yes, I like the new format, it lets me type on and on and I can still see the top line.  Ooh, try the bits at the side - there's all sorts of things.  What is this going to look like?

Right, off you go, visit the other WOYWW'ers who are spurred on by the Queen of desks, Ms Julia, and join the biggest blog hop I have ever been on.  Toodle Pip!