WOYWW 708

 Here's hoping everyone had a lovely Christmas.  No mishaps, just lots of fun, family, presents, good food and a lovely warm cosy fuzzy feeling inside.

I think I read that it was a white Christmas as some places (five?) had snow.   That is in the UK as I believe some parts of the USA have had really bad weather with temperatures way way down low.  I just hope you all have been safe and warm.  It's been cold enough at home for me at times and I have been glad of central heating and warm clothing plus lots of good home made soup inside me.

Finally the last cards got sent off and there were far more Christmas cards received than I thought with the threatened postal strike.  I think our posties did a splendid job here as they seemed to call each day.  We don't seem to have one particular one nowadays and there was an assortment of faces, both male and female, dropping things off for us.

My craftroom has hardly been touched and I hate to say it but the dies that were out on my desk are still there.  Mainly because I have nowhere to put the largest one.  Here's the evidence:

You can see them peeking out at the far side of my desk.  Also on it is my pencil case containing my tiny background stamps, then my blog waiting to be done for tomorrow (just have to finish the story off).  The pile of brown paper are bits cut out from some fab wrapping paper.  It was around my Secret Santa gifts from the club and featured the 12 Days of Christmas.  For example the 'ladies dancing' were pigs in frilly tutu's, and the 'lords a leaping' were frogs twirling around.  Someone had started colouring them in but I can finish them off and use them for a layout in one of my journals for another year.  Then you can see the dies and behind those are my orange circle cutters.  A fiver from The Works and better than the one I paid a tenner for and certainly better than the £25 one which broke first use.  (Dare I admit I have had them for years and only just found that they have a lock on the back to stop them moving the size)

Now to see how the other WOYWW'ers have been over Christmas and to wishYOU ALL THE VERY BEST FOR THE NEW YEAR.

Jeudi Journal - Doubt?

My Journal today has a simple window looking out over the town where Holly and Ivy live and work alongside all the little elves who help Mr and Mrs Santa Claus get all the toys ready for the children all over the world in time to celebrate Christmas.  I finally found my Dylusion elf but as he does not have a body I decided to hide him behind a rocking chair.  I drew a simple window shape and masked the area off so I could use a stamp with Santa's sleigh on to look as if he was setting off on his journey.  Added a Christmas tree, the rocking chair and some presents and put a tiny floral border around the top of the living room where Ivy lives.

Today the snarky comment from Tim Holtz is "I may be wrong, but I doubt it" and once more we are back with Ivy who works for the main man himself in the accounts department.  I am entering this, as usual, to Art Journal Journey where the lovely Jo has chosen 'Snowy Winter' as her theme for this month.

"It was the 24th December and Ivy had finished work for a much needed break.  Work had been full on for weeks with the rush up to Christmas and all she wanted was to go home and put her feet up.  Maybe sit and watch "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV with a nice hot chocolate and her new furry slippers that Holly had bought her especially for Christmas Eve.  

"Surprise" someone shouted as she walked in through the door, "Surprise Ivy" and from just behind her favourite rocking chair a little head popped up.  It was Elvis the elf with a big smile on his face.  "I've just let myself in, hope you don't mind.  But I wanted to give you your present tonight."

"Oh no," said Ivy, "It's lovely to see you, I missed you this afternoon at the party" and with that she smiled sweetly at Elvis, as she shook off her party boots.  He was a favourite of all the elves she worked with and she was secretly glad of the company even if it did mean she couldn't go to bed too early.

"What you doing?" asked Elvis, "staying in and having a party?"

"No" replied Ivy, "too much partying today, I am about to have a nice hot chocolate - would you like to join me?"

"Ooh, are there marshmallows too?" queried Elvis.

"Of course there are.  And mince pies too if you want one.  The special ones from Aldi down the road, you know with the flaked almonds on top.  I think I have some gin and some rum flavoured ones."

Just then they heard a loud woosh and someone yelling at the top of his voice.  Looking out of the window Ivy saw Mr Claus heading off in the sky pulled by his reindeer with Rudolph at the very front lighting the way with his nose.

"I think that means Mr Claus has set off" she said, "I may be wrong, but I doubt it"

Elvis rushed over to join her at the window and sure enough they both watched as Mr Claus set off on his journey around the world with sacks full of toys for all the little girls and boys.

"Merry Christmas" they both shouted at the window, 

"Merry Christmas to You All 

and Best Wishes for a Happy Peaceful Year Ahead"

WOYWW 707

Phew!  What a week.  It's all go go go at the moment with Christmas less than a week away.  I've got the cake almond pasted but not yet iced I think it might be a hurried snow scene the way things are going at the moment.  Mince pies are still waiting to be baked and I have the red cabbage and baking apple ready for one of my favourite dishes.  The freezer is well stocked with soups (my favourite is called Pistou and is delicious, a kind of, thick with veg, minestrone) and there is a pan full of leek & potato waiting to be packed up and put in the freezer.  I think all the shopping is done.

The cards are all delivered, some to the postbox so no idea if they have been received or not, and some to the actual houses along with gifts to those we buy for.  I just had one for my other half to get and that should be arriving via Amazon today.  I had to take out a trial with Prime to get it delivered in time for Christmas, so annoying when we have Prime but it's under his name.

I thought I had made enough cards to send out but on writing the names in them I found I was sixteen short.  Thanks to Jo Rice and a workshop I did with her I managed to make some quick ones one morning and get them sent out.  Then I found I had two more to do two special ones and so I ended up making two like this :

Yes, it's a take on the birthday cards I made for members of our craft group.  I've three more to do, of the birthday cards, and then all members will have had one.  I actually enjoyed making them so might do some more next year for Christmas.

My desk contains only the new dies which arrived the other week.  They've been sitting on my trolley since then and finally got moved into my craft room yesterday.  One of them is for the four tags and the holder that I showed you a few weeks ago when Carol did it at the club.

There is also my Dylusion Journal showing the last two pages I did and I now have to do a page for tomorrow to fit in with the winter theme that Jo chose on Art Journal Journey and the snarky comment that Wendy and I chose for our Jeudi Journal.  That should keep me busy tomorrow for an hour or two, then I can ice the cake and write a note to Chas' brother.  (His brother has had a fall and is in hospital down in Gloucester with a broken fibula, operated on on Monday, so that's been a worry with him being so far away.  He rang me on Sunday so we were able to have a nice chat despite him being in pain.) 

The car front passenger window decided to play silly games and in all the rain on Monday it kept opening on its own.  Guess who got wet?  Apart from that we are relatively ready for the big day and so I am taking this opportunity to thank you all for the support over the past years and to wish you all ...

A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS, MAY YOU BE SURROUNDED WITH LOVE.  

Happy Christmas!

Jeudi Journal - vacation

 "I need a six month vacation twice a year" is the quote for this week from Tim Holtz' Snarky Comments and we are meeting up once again with Ivy who works for Santa in the Accounts department.  Once more we have a snowy scene so that we can enter this into Jo's "Snowy Winter" theme over at Art Journal Journey. This time I have used an elf from PaperArtsy as I cannot find my Dylusion ones anywhere.  Hopefully for next week they will turn up.  It's chaos in my craftroom as I've been rushing to get all my Christmas cards done and out in the mail.  It's an absolute mess!  My story continues from last week in a way.

"It was late and just a few days before Christmas when Ivy stood down the road from Santa's workshop waiting for her friend Holly to walk home when she noticed one of the elves standing just a tiny bit lower down and he appeared to be wearing a sandwich board.

"What are you doing?" she enquired as she got closer to the little elf, "and why are you wearing a sandwich board?"

"Oh" said the little elf, "Holly will probably tell you all about it."

"Tell me all about what?" asked Ivy, "surely you can tell me, you know who I am, Ivy from accounts"

"Well" said the little elf, "It's Leo you know, the lazy elf.  He's handed in his notice.  We all thought it a bit off as we are getting so close to Christmas and when we asked him what he was doing he just said "I need a six month vacation, twice a year" and with that he took off."

"What do you mean, he took off?"

"He just hung up his hat and walked out of the door.  The chief elf was angry and I think he had a word with Santa who was most upset.  Mrs Claus had just finished baking another load of gingerbread for us when all this happened, it put her in a right spin I can tell you."

"Poor Santa" said Ivy, "So that is why you are wearing that sandwich board, you are looking for someone to take his place.  I guess Holly might have to work a bit later in the purchasing office to help out,  I think I will go back inside and see if I can help."

"Could you ask Phil if he can come and take over from me" shouted the little elf, "It's awfully cold standing here and my knees are knocking - Santa did say we should only do ten minute shifts outside,"

And with that Ivy walked back into work to see if she could help out.  There was no way any little boys and girls were going to miss out on a visit from Santa if she could help it."

I hope you are all nearly ready for Christmas if you celebrate it - only ten more days to go!  Oh heck!

WOYWW 706

Another Wednesday has come around so quickly and that means another day for showing what is on our workdesks to all the WOYWW gang be it a lot or a little, and now, it is also another day closer to Christmas.  Today is the last day for posting Christmas Cards and as you can see I have been hastily making more.  I found I had not enough to send out and the commercial ones did not work for some people.

I really must apologise to you all for my blog post last week.  I should not have told you all about the trouble I was having with nasty emails but I had had another that morning and was really down.  I only try to give of my best especially when I am wearing my chair persons hat and to be so criticised for something that really was not anything to do with me hurt.  I am so sorry I blogged it all.  I was not in a good place but thanks for all the messages of support.  What a tonic you are.

Sadly I did not make it to the party as it so happened.  We had 3.5" of snow in our area and as I do not drive nowadays it meant I had to be taken and the car had to make a trip of 4 journeys which I felt was unfair for my other half.  I would have worried all the time about him travelling up and down the motorway (40-45 minutes each way), especially as it was snowing when we left.  So I called and dropped off all the things I had to take and came home.  The majority were lovely and said they fully understood why I could not stay.  I really regretted it but had peace of mind re my better half.

My desk showing some commercial cards, my marker pens bundled together with a band, my latest batch of four other cards and a couple of favourite books I had given to me on Saturday.  I love the stories about these cats and I will curl up over Christmas with them and read and read.

My small table which I use to stamp on is covered with a mass of things at the moment including my laptop which I used for getting this post out to you.

My dirty "binkie" (cloth for wiping my stamps on) a grubby baby wipe (also for cleaning stamps) some Oxides, other inkpads and those make up brushes I used for the cards above.  The plastic box has my used verse type stamps in and the black box is a hairdryer that does not blow hot, only cold.  I thought it might work on something in my craft room?  I needs a home finding.

So that is it for this week.  Hopefully I will have something good for you to see next time as I have one or two workshops saved for me to do when all the cards and gifts are out of the way.  See you next week hopefully.

Jeudi Journal - Email (a nice fictitious one)

 "It was a lovely winter's night when Holly and Ivy were walking home from Santa's office where they worked in the North Pole.  They had met outside because both girls worked in different departments, Holly working in purchasing and Ivy in accounts, but, as they lived close to one another they often walked along the edge of the wood to get home.  It was always better when they could walk together and have a chat.  Ivy had been admiring Holly's new beret which was decorated much like a ladybug.

"Oh, it was one of the reps from Hamley's in London who gave it to me.  She said they are all the rage there and thought it was a nice bright red so I would like it."

"Well, it really suits you" replied Ivy.  "Have you noticed my new cape?  I decided it was a good idea to wear it to and from work so that my hands could be covered and I wouldn't get cold"

"Yes, I had"  Holly said, "I noticed it straight away and was going to mention it to you but to be honest I am feeling a bit disgruntled.  I survived another meeting that should have been an email.  Honestly at times Mrs Claus goes on and on."

"And here am I envying you working in purchasing whilst I juggle figures all day" said Ivy, "I thought it would  be  fun dealing  with all the ordering of the toys for  the children  and meeting up  with important people from all over the world to distribute them."

"Yes it is, but oh those meetings we have.  This one went on and on, through my break as usual, and it does get a little tiring.  I wouldn't swap it for any other department though and Mrs Claus can be a perfect sweetie, in fact she is a perfect sweetie but she does like her meetings."

"Guess it all comes from Mr Claus wanting to get it perfect for all the little boys and girls, and don't forget, we do get good holidays."

And with that the two girls went on their way  home talking about the usual - fashion!"

This was a delight to do and quite a quick page and story as I have had so much on that I completely forgot what day it was and had to do it in a rush this morning.  I'd no idea what to do but seeing the lovely Jo, the Guest Host over at Art Journal Journey wanted a snowy winter scene, I decided to use some hill masks and create snow drifts at the base of my page.  A blue sky with a moon in the corner and some fir trees stamped in London Fog to give a misty look, a 'bashing' of my Posca White Pen for snowflakes and the background was done.  A couple of figures and a wandering mind whilst colouring them in meant the story was forming.  I don't know where their names came from but suddenly Holly and Ivy were born and as it grew they worked for Santa.

I hope you enjoyed my little journey leading up to Christmas, we are doing the tree today so some Gluhwein and a Mince pie will be in order around 11 am.  Have a nice day yourselves and think about a snowy scene for Art Journal Journey

Welcome to my new followers, sorry I just noticed you all.  Welcome to "The Happy Whisk', to Bobbie, Sylvia and Barb, I hope you enjoy my little stories and peeks into the depths of my craft room.

WOYWW 705

Another week has flown by and my Christmas cards are done and ready to send (those going abroad are gone, hopefully not lying in a sorting office somewhere in  the UK).  Such a worrying time in a way, to send or not to send is the question.  Are they going to arrive for Christmas or are they all going to be delivered some time in the new year if at all.

Not having a good time of anything at the moment.  My bil, in Oz, was diagnosed with bowel cancer earlier this year.  Has undergone intensive chemo then a spell in another city (they had to go and live there for five weeks) of intensive chemo and radio therapy at the same time.  On return he was informed the tumour has not shrunk but equally the cancer has not masticated.   Surgery was scheduled for November, the surgeon came down with Covid, so it had to be cancelled.  Yesterday he went in for the operation and when he went in for anaesthesia it was cancelled again because the hospital was on fire.  My little sis sent photos of him in his hospital gown, hat and slippers stood outside!  She's decided they are jinxed.

Last Friday a panel in our kitchen peeled (laminate peeled away from the backing).  This happened once before and they replaced the offending panels.  They have agreed to replace the panel this last time but we have to pay the fitter £100.  Saturday I switched the washer on, it was dead, I pushed the button again and the whole thing caved in.  Irreparable.  New washer arriving Monday.  Sunday I was using my new circle cutter (£25) for the very first time and a tiny important bit broke clean off.  Monday we were out shopping when the phone went from the caravan park.  The antifreeze level shows it needs topping up - approximately £200.  Happy Christmas!!!

This is not to mention the nasty emails (yes to the person who knows about the first one, I had another, yesterday) I have been getting from a member of our craft club who has obviously decided to use me as a scapegoat despite the fact that I am one of four members organising the Christmas party.

So you see, not a good week.  Here is my desk with my cards on display waiting for the envelopes to be done.  

and this (below) is the stuff I have to take to the club on Saturday - my box for my Make & Take

These are prizes for the raffle, Secret Santa gifts, my passing the parcel game which includes a gift for everyone, a birthday present for a friend, and a steamer which is not for the party but which Chas is using at the moment for his coughing spells.  Sorry that snuck in.

For now I will enjoy reading what all the deskers on WOYWW have been up to and do the card envelopes tomorrow, have a glass of  Gluhwein and put the tree up with my lovely other half.  Oh, and marzipan our Christmas cake.