WOYWW 334 And A Surprise Guest!

Well, the guest was not a surprise for me but she will be a lovely surprise for you.  But before you see who 'came to dinner' (lunch actually) here is something I made on Monday in readiness for my visitor and also my friend's little one who is coming on Friday.  Think I might leave the decorations up for bonfire night too (see later photo).

The backside of a canvas to make an aperture painted black with some corrugated card down the sides and along the top, again painted black but with some interference paint on.  On the back you can see a skeleton face (Skulduggery - Andy Skinner), plastic skelies inside and a rubber spider.  Do you like my spiders web?  Made from glue with a bit of Glamor Dust sprinkled in it.  One or two bits of laser cuts painted and added on the sides finished it off - for now.  No doubt will add to it as time goes on.  I want some Angel hair but cannot find any - maybe Christmas stuff.

Here is the worktop that this little canvas stands on along with what has been made previously - and purchased, like the witch at the back who is fantastic when her eyes flash and she cackles.  Love her, she came from Prague.

Below is my worktop (after all it is supposed to be a post about Workdesk Wednesday (click here if you don't know what I mean, or use it as a short cut to the greatest blog hop that takes place each Wednesday).

As you can see I have been busy painting another skull, some bats, witches and spiders - all in readiness for the canvas at the back which is going to be yet another Halloween addition, hopefully this year.

But at the left hand side you can see a gorgeous scarf which my friend (visitor today) brought me for my birthday, a notebook and some brooches for me to include on my Finnabair type canvasses and - that gorgeous bag.  Now that should give you a clue as to who my visitor was.

Who can make a bag like this?  Love it - bet you all do too.  Some of you will have guessed now, those who are newer to WOYWW may not quite get it but the ones who have been on for a few years will certainly guess right.  Ok, so now I have teased you long enough - here she is with her clay decorated jar that she came to make because she missed my workshop at Vickies.

 

 Yes, it's Jo of Jozart.  We haven't seen one another in ages, somehow our paths refused to cross but at last we made it.   Jo is holding her decorated jar - should have been a bottle but she forgot to bring it so now she is going to make a pincushion top for the jar and use it as a sewing aid.

It was lovely to spend a day with Jo and hopefully we will not leave it so long next time.  Thanks Jo for the lovely gifts, can't wait to go out later this morning with my new bag - it is gorgeous.

WOYWW 333

It's all the three's today - where?  Over at Julia's blog - and heading the posts for all her faithful followers.  Go and have a peek, nobody bites.

Well, as I said last week, I was away with a friend at weekend doing another of those Finnabair workshops that we seem to be hooked on.  Gosh she is a tremendous tutor and so nice with it too. This time it was up in Teeside and under the supervision of Sue Tucker.  Anybody and Everybody should do a workshop organised by Sue, there is such a lot we can all learn from her.  Nothing is too much trouble in the organisation, she puts 110% into it (and more if truth be known).  Thanks Sue, thanks Debbie (Sue's helper), thanks hubby, thanks Anna and thanks everyone who went - some real nice people participating.

So what did we do:

close-up of the brush part

I want to do a bit more to this canvas as I feel the rays need to be a bit wider and feather out a bit more - patience and I should achieve what I want.

The other canvas we did was also with a brush so I did it landscape to detract from the eye a bit - but it was using different colours and also a totally different method of working.  Looks much better irl as you can see the sheen of the powders, sprays and the tiny micro glass beads.

As is always the case when you have been to one of Anna's workshops you come home with lots of goodies and this was no exception.  Two workshops and we were given all that you can see used above plus most of what you see below on my desk.

The red bag at the back was a gift from my wonderful friend, Lorraine.  The suitcase tin was mine, the pouch was a gift (for every participant) from Debbie; the ArtBin pages, the cogs, wings and Texture Paste jars are what I bought.  I think it is safe to say the remaining stuff was what I had left over.  I just love those cardboard flowers - not seen them before.

So now my desk is getting ready for a couple more canvasses which is why I don't want to show it to you as I have them laid out in readiness for sticking down.  I would rather show you the completed versions ... but I have been spurred on by the two amazing workshops I attended at weekend.

Thanks everyone!  See you over at Julia's.

WOYWW 332

Am uploading early this week as I am off at the weekend with one of my friends on a workshop - think it will do us both good and we don't have full days, both are afternoon sessions - but more on that another time.

This is my tag made last week for Vicky Stampers.  It was the letter "T" - can you guess what it is?  I don't mean it is a Dylusion figure - why is it "T"?  The tag is coloured with Dyan's paints, the stamps are hers but for quickness I used my Promarkers to colour in the image.

I realised I still had a photo of the "S" tag in my folder so a quick run through my blog - nope, didn't show you what I did - and for once it was nothing to do with Dylusions.  I seem to be hooked on them! Instead it was a stamp I had seen by Sheena Douglass which I fell in love with, reminded me of Johnny Depp I think.  Pirates of the Caribbean??  This was entirely coloured with Pan Pastels and I did enjoy myself doing it.

Last week I didn't show you the contents of my bag of goodies from Harrogate (all bought from Oyster Stamps except the white card from Anne Marie - thanks Tim) and a few of you wanted to see what I had so here goes:

More of the tiny Distress Inks, unfortunately Tracey had not taken the tins so I will have to wait for those but these tiny pads are ideal for taking with you to crops.  At the back Compendium of Curiosities 3 for a friend of mine and a photo album for a Christmas present, some Finnabair metal bits, stamps and dies.  I had been demo'ing the step card quite a lot over the weekend and it finally got hold of me and jumped in my bag of shopping - makes a great A6 card with no messing about cutting with a scalpel, as do the other two .

Same stamps plus some sentiments and another step type card plus a really good card which I must do to show you some time and then a cobweb, a corner die and some of those that cut bits out.  Might seem a bit expensive but there are four different cut outs in each packet and they make gorgeous cards.

So that is my desk, last week and this. Now I dare you to show us yours over at the stamping ground - just a bit of fun and odd times you get tips too.

btw - T is for "Torn" - the image has been done on another paper and torn around the edges.

WOYWW 331 Please leave your number

That's a plea from the heart.    Sorry, but it does make life easier especially if you have more than one blog when I go to your profile.

Here is another page from my Dylusions Journal - quite a sunny page to remind us of summer:

Gosh, we are in another month and it is the tenth month of the current year - frightening how time is passing so quickly.  I am so looking forward to Halloween, got a purple wig for 'the' night this time. Scare the neighbourhood kids (we haven't had any callers for the last couple of years).  It will go well with my hat and I will show you the decorations when they are up - I never thought I would be drawn into this but I am.

One other thing I have been drawn into is WOYWW which is today, the day lots of crafters come together to show off their desks and maybe something they have been working on.  There are quite a few who have left or are having a rest but there are some of us who keep going and to be honest I think WOYWW keeps ME going too!  Pop along here if you don't know about it and hopefully join in, we are a friendly bunch.

My desk today: (first my bag of goodies I bought whilst at Harrogate Show (£170 worth)

and now my desk with my Promarkers wrapped in a poly bag and my art journalling stuff (untouched to the right.  Then underneath the pink tissue (a new top, or two, from Monsoon were wrapped in it) and a new book from Paperchase.

Yes - I went through some dosh at weekend.  Maybe a reveal another week.  I am just recovering today from another trip to Liverpool which was straight after the two days at Harrogate - whacked out!  More on that another day.  Am whacked out now!

WOYWW 330

Gosh, Wednesday has come around a bit too quick for me this time.  Well, it is really Tuesday when I am doing this but have a medical appointment at 8 am tomorrow (who starts work this early?) so will be flying by the seat of my pants in the morning.

Nothing been moving in the craft world and it should have been but I did do a skeleton and cut it out to use with one of the skulls I had done on holiday.  Didn't want the page to be like the other one with the two skulls on so this now wants sticking down.  Before I bare (like it) my desk I will show you another journal page or two in my almost completed art journal book.  Just need to think up witty words to put on each page in my journal and get it truly finished, sadly I am useless at that.

Made her from an umbrella and two toadstools - not sure whether she needs arms or not.  What do you think?

I call this one Evil Edna - I don't like calling it that but it sprung to my mind as soon as I saw it - my mum was Edna and she was the bestest mum in the whole wide world so why do I think of this female with the stare as having the same name?  Odd!  Still one page to be decorated on the left hand side.

Now my desk - well this is it - with the 'skelly' waiting to be stuck down.  Hopefully will do it before Thursday.

That's it as I must get an early night in and there are things to be done before I put my head down so I will leave you to pay Julia a visit, read all about the plans for the Halloween get together and visit other desks.

Night night!

Can't Believe We Have Been Home a Week

Wow, time certainly flies.  It does not seem a week since we were in sunny Spain and it was quite a shock to find how cool it is in the evening here, in fact we have had lovely mornings but it seems to have gone off in the afternoons leading to the cold nights.

Had a lovely holiday - our second visit to Nerja (outside Malaga for those who are not familiar with it) and I just love the place.  I think the views at Balcon de Europe take some beating and the ice cream is just amazing.  I had to have two blobs every time we went there.

We stayed in the same hotel as last time because we could have a sea view and I loved it.  There was so much going on that there hadn't been when we were there in April.  Entertainment each evening but we didn't join in until the last night when we played Flamenco Bingo - and I won a line.  That meant I had to wear a hat and do a bit of Spanish Ole dancing before I collected my winnings (or was that the drink that caused that?) much to the delight of the Spanish youngsters sat at the next table to us.  They were all boys, aged between 6 and 12, I would say, and they took great delight in bringing me their Bingo cads and telling me the names of some of the numbers IN ENGLISH!  What lovely children they were and so well mannered.

Chas joined in the water aerobics but because I have no balance on account of my injured ankle I just sat and watched but then I did do the exercises as best I could from my sunbed and was joined by my friend Sue (just met) and the next day we had two others behind us and one lady on the balcony joining in too.

Our guy was hilarious and so much fun

not bad on the eye either

Early in the holiday we caught the little town bus which goes round in a loop every hour and we went for a wander and came across this road where I fell in love with the lovely white painted homes

This led us down to a wonderful view of Burianna Beach

The road down was very steep and I think you need to walk back up which is an impossibility for me but I did read somewhere that it is almost like a little town of its own.

Oh dear, these photographs make me miss the place more than ever ... and I thought it was this bottle that I missed

For, virtually a non drinker, I did rather enjoy this.  Next time it won't be teabags I'll be bringing back - hard shell suitcase here I come.

WOYWW 329

I'm Home!  And got a sore throat, plus kind of symptoms of a cold (hot and then cold) - those damned flights get me time after time but I had a great holiday.  I even managed to get a bit of crafting done, in my journal on the plane, and a bit on the balcony of the hotel.  Had a great holiday though and met a lovely couple from Gloucester. did poolside aerobics on my sun-bed and won a line at Flamenco Bingo (despite the caller beginning with "37" whilst holding "47" in his hand).  Photos to follow over next few days.

Now to reality.  Oh the ironing is piling up, think I have more or less done washing for the time being and now it is time to put the summer stuff away and get out the winter woollies again.  Brrr!!!

Reality was also that I had not sent a birthday card to a friend so it was get down to it yesterday.  Had another to do for a lovely lady at the club so the first thing I did was to get them out of the way.  Here is my desk mid making

Thankfully, before they hit the post box,  I realised that my friend's birthday is October and not September - phew!  Can't even blame it on jet lag after a short flight from Malaga.

Special thoughts are winging their way to Shaz (Silverwolf) and thanks to her hubby, Doug, for keeping us all in the loop, good to hear she is progressing now after such a shaky start.

Want to see more?  Pop along to Julia's blog and see what everyone is doing.