WOYWW 740 (sorry, His Birthday Edition - Long)

Whew!  It's Wednesday, that means it is WOYWW day.  Thank goodness his special birthday came and went without a hitch.  A lot had gone into the planning including me taking in three deliveries last Friday and hiding them plus lots of cryptic messages from his bestie who had taken him out for the day along with another friend.  

We have been at the caravan for his birthday week and, despite the weather (mixed), we have had a lovely time up to now.  I even managed to get some crafting time in so here is my desk

Or to be honest, the dining room table. I do have a table up here which I can put up and use (it's up now) but that afternoon I used the whole table to work on whilst he sat outside with his Kindle.  I soon joined him with mine as I am now on book 17 of a set of 29.  (I will probably put them to one side whilst I read yours Lynne, I have it with me).

Saturday saw us off to Arnside.  It was a glorious day and the ride to the small seaside town is always enjoyable, travelling through Milnthorpe with its lovely stream running alongside the road.  Whilst there we had to go in the shops and we bought some reusable drinking straws.  We decided to buy the large box (not realising it was more expensive than we thought.  Common sense should have told us that at £6 a straw this box was more than £18!!!  Oh dear where were our heads?  The missing two are now in my 

bag for when we are out and about.  These will be stocking fillers.

Arnside was quite packed being such a lovely sunny day and we walked to the end of the stone jetty and sat awhile. It was chilly with the breeze coming off the water so we didn't linger as long as intended.

Looking across the estuary as we left Arnside

Sunday was a chill day.  We did go into Morecambe as I wanted to buy a birthday card for my beloved (yes, I know I normally make them but as this was a special birthday I wanted nice words) and to get things in place for the next day.  Like his box of presents which had a box of chocolates added that day, note I had no birthday paper.  We had a lovely walk along the prom as well, not too busy up towards the Bolton le Sands end.

Then it was his birthday morning and that meant breakfast in bed but as we had slept in a bit (really - time on iPads/Kindles) we decided not to go for the full breakfast as Afternoon Tea was booked for 2 pm.  Now I know some of you have seen photos of the Afternoon Tea at the Lancaster House Hotel (which had been my second choice, so my first choice was now to be had at the end of his birthday week).  What a fabulous Tea it was.  A Lancashire Scran!

Morecambe Bay Shrimps (not beans Julia) lol.  You will note that the Tea was served on slate beds held together with empty cotton spools from the weaving sheds of old.  Clever!  Everything was delicious.  The top layer (below) - the tiny cups held the Creme Brulee.  The tiny spoons were the Parkin soaked in Toffee Syrup and to be honest, large enough - the taste was heavenly.

We took a doggy bag home and with a couple of tiny pork pies, a bit of cheese, it was enough for the evening before bed.

and so it was to bed after a lovely day

I well imagine there is at least one more card at home and there were other presents here apart from booze.  The owl card was telling him about the Afternoon Tea but it helped swell the fireplace so it's here in the photo.

Tuesday was a lovely sunny day and so Sizergh was his place of choice.  A leisurely morning with me thinking that Thursday's choice of Afternoon Tea would not match up to the one above, and off we went.  The first thing I saw when I got to Sizergh were these sheep - I wonder what breed they are?  Not seen sheep with black bodies and white heads before?

and I caught this dragonfly on a leaf, it stayed ages

and here is the birthday boy himself by a huge thistle of some sort.  I loved the fine stuff that is with the red flowers at his feet.  This is across from the kitchen garden where they grow flowers by vegetables.

This bit of the garden just needs some of Lavinia's fairies.  I am sure they are there in the night time by that water.

This is the Lake in front of the Castle

Because it is school holiday time, there are games around the Castle and we had a game of Croquet.  Not a clue what to do so our own rules meant that I won 20 - 22.  But I let him pose with his mallet as it's still his birthday celebrations.

I dressed up as if I was going to a party at the Castle.  I flatly refuse to let you see me with the hat on my head.  I looked like Old Mother Riley.  Maybe I chose the wrong hat!  That stole was warm.

Thanks if you have read to the end.  Hope you had a smile at my dressing up.  Promise - will not do another so huge again (for a while anyhow).

Jeudi Journal - Liquor

Today's Snarky Comment from the Tim Holtz Book is 'Nothing says "I mean business" like using a cart at the liquor store', and my lovely friend, Chris' topic, at Art Journal Journey this month is "Where in the World".  Which is something to do with travel - you need to follow the link to AJJ where you will see Chris' lovely sample and explanation of the challenge.

"Maddie is at the airport returning from spending five weeks with her good friend Marnie who lives in Los Angeles, California.  The girls have had a lovely time, Marnie showing her friend the sights and sounds and the two of them sampling all the delights of the restaurants around where Marnie lives.  

There were lots of Mexican restaurants close to Marnie's and Margarita's had become a favourite tipple of Maddies.  Nevertheless as she wandered around the duty free store, booze department in particular, she was totally awed by the vast array of beers and spirits.  Her father and brother would be in seventh heaven if they had so much choice of beers but Maddie was off to the spirits section where she could buy herself some Tequila to mix her own Margarita's when she got home.

Not speaking to anyone in particular, but purely because she could not believe what was before her eyes in the brightly lit duty free shop, she muttered to herself "Nothing says 'I mean business' like using a cart at the liquor store".  Then she smiled, she had picked up the lingo in the five weeks she had spent with Marnie and her friends.  Her 'mobile' was now a 'cell phone' and an 'off licence' was now a 'liquor store'.  What would they make of her when she got back home to England?"

WOYWW 739

 These days are coming just a wee bit too fast for me.  I've been organising some surprises for Chas for his upcoming 'zero birthday' and that has taken a lot of time up.  But boy have I enjoyed myself.  It's all secret for the time being and I. am as excited as I get at Christmas time.

My desk is in a state of being cleared up.  I need to get it back to some form of normality, if we ever have a normal desk.  Guess I mean 'tidy'.  Because next week is going to be a busy one with days out now and then I needed to get my journal done for a couple of weeks - not the pages that are open for you to see on my table - those are old ones.  Wouldn't be fair on the challenges I do to show what's coming up.

Here is my desk:

Those clear caddies come in two sizes and they are so useful.  It's surprising what you can get in them.  The top one, under the lid that has my Inktense Pencils in a blue holder, has 18 full sized ink pads inside it.  Six Versafine Claire and the rest are Elements from Lavinia.  You can see my Lavinia brushes between the two caddies.  At the back are all the punches that have been there for weeks now, they are waiting to be packed up in my case for my next class on the 12th.  If I move them I will not remember them all.

The white cream tea box just has some cardstock in and the red book at the far end contains all my passwords, written in cryptic form so if anyone finds iat they can't decipher what they are.

My table, that I have been working on has my Journal, Tim Holtz Snarky Comment book and what are left over of my Promarkers.  Here it is:

Some old journal pages.  My friend Wendy and I have a challenge between us.  We have a Snarky Comment to work to and whatever the challenge is at Art Journal Journey.  This month is not so easy to marry the two together but I'll try.  Sometimes it is not so obvious and so I write a little story to accompany.  My friend Wendy often says I don't write a story - I write a book!  I can't help it, I just get carried away.

Anyway, on the desk is the journal showing two old pages, my Promarker Box, some black markers for my lettering and the protective sleeve from a journal which I used to protect pages when painting others.  The Promarker Box is two old Felix boxes stuck together and covered in paper, something I used to do a lot of.

Well, that is it for today.  See you over at Julia's for the weekly meeting of the WOYWW'ers.  Join in if you want, right here.  You would be most welcome.

Just realised, I posted three birthday cards this morning and never took either a photo or scanned them.  Ah well, my loss.

Jeudi Journal - Coffee

 Well, the title might mean something to some of you and send you to the kettle or coffee machine but I suspect Valerie in particular could be reaching out for a cup.  This might just be a reminder for her that she is due for one shortly.

The Snarky comment from Tim Holtz this week is "Some days I rely heavily on coffee and my ability to ignore reality."  For this I decided to paint my page cream (as in coffee and cream?) and put some coffee stains dotted, in "Ground Espresso" Oxide ink, here and there.  I then sketched in a coffee cup and saucer and decided to leave it simply as a sketch and not use any colour.

I think we all have days when we like to escape reality by ignoring the things we don't like or want to happen - and maybe a good steaming cup of coffee helps along the way.

"Patsy was a mum, of three youngsters, the youngest had just started school at five years old, then there was an older brother at seven and another girl at nine.  Life was hectic to say the least.

It was a Friday and the children were all delivered safely to school but on returning home Patsy looked around her kitchen.  Dishes were piled high in the sink, there was a pile of laundry to be done sitting on the floor by the washing machine and looking through the window she could tell the garden was in need of a bit of weeding and general care.

She knew that upstairs were four beds to be changed, no doubt there would be some tidying to do because as much as she tried she could not get the children to tidy all of their toys each evening.  John, her husband, needed his shirts ironing ready for Monday morning and he had arranged for them to have babysitters Saturday night as he wanted to take her out somewhere nice.

She sat down wearily as she thought of all the jobs piling up.  "Some days I rely heavily on coffee and my ability to ignore reality" she said out loud.  There was no one to hear her, but she did feel better for that she thought as she dreamed of a fairy with a magic wand whirling around her home and all the jobs being done in the wink of an eye."

(Sorry, can't do it shorter)

I am linking to Art Journal Journey where the theme is 'come fly with me' - the two little fairies near the bottom of the cup are what Patsy is wishing for - to do her housework.

WOYWW 738

 It's WOYWW time once again - time for us to have a nosey at one another's desks.  Are you ready WOYWW'ers?  We just need Julia to set us off and then we can start running around the internet.  You are all invited to join in with the regulars, just take a photo of your desk and link in with Julia.

Yesterday I was at a funeral three and a half hours away so that meant going down the day before and an overnight stay.  It was Chas' brother who had passed rather suddenly and my favourite BIL.  I don't sleep well in a strange bed and so had very little sleep.  I will link up some time today but when..... rather depends on me and Sleep.

So what have I to show you?

Yes, I have been making some more of those DL owl cards with the mice.  This is Jo Rice's design not mine but i have enjoyed making them  that's four in total now.  The top one is my own and maybe I should have taken a scan of it on it's own so you could see it clearer - it might feature again next week.

Right, this is short because I am tired and it is Tuesday evening, past my bedtime (I had to catch up with Cooking with the Professionals).  Hope to see you all in the morning complete with your desk.

Jeudi Journal - Awesome

 This week the Snarky Comment is "Listen, before I had my coffee I didn't know how awesome I was going to be today either" and these two sisters are featured for Alison's Challenge at Art Journal Journey which is 'Come Fly with Me'.  

Sian and Lara are sisters, sharing the same bedroom in their parent's house.  Most of the time these two get along just famously and are often seen going out partying together on the town.  It was a Friday night and they were off to a house party in the wealthy part of town and so they wanted to make a good impression by looking their best, especially as the local heart-throb twins Ben and Bart, were known to be attending.

Getting ready in the bedroom Sian, the eldest girl, was wearing her newest accessory, a little pom pom hat with a tiny butterfly perched on it.

"Wait until you see what I am wearing" she shouted to her younger sister.  "Although I say it myself I do look rather fabulous tonight."

"Are you wearing your new shoes?" shouted Lara from the bathroom.

"Yes," replied Sian, "and they match my hair and hat so well.  I really do feel awesome."

Just then the door opened and in walked Lara.  Now both girls were lovely and slim and could get away with wearing almost anything but Lara had the edge somehow.  She was much taller than her older sister, with lovely long legs which she showed off whenever she could.  Tonight was no exception.  But rather than wearing a skimpy skirt she had the latest fashion in tights on ... and ... wait for it ... a pair of exquisite silky fairy wings which matched the jewelry she was wearing beneath her right eye.

"Listen, before I had my coffee I didn't know how awesome I was going to be today either" she said as she walked in the bedroom.

Her sister gaped, was this really her younger sister?  "Gosh, I am going to have to up my game" she thought, "My little sister is turning into a real beauty."

I wonder how they went on at the party?

WOYWW 737

It's Wednesday again, time for a nosey around desks for the WOYWW'ers who meet up regularly.  At last I have some stamping to show you.  Do you want to see my desk?  It has something interesting on it - I couldn't wait to get going on something with my new Owl stamps from Lavinia.

Did I show you the other week what I had bought when I went for a quick visit down to Ruthin?  Maybe not as I was absolutely shattered, having taught the day before.  Still it was lovely to have a run out in the car after staying in for so long but maybe two days out together were a bit much.  Anyway, here is my desk:

Here are the cards I have been making

The one below needs mounting 

Well, that's it for this week hoping to make some more cards with these cute owls and maybe a couple more samples for the next workshop.  Got a funeral to go to next Tuesday and certainly not looking forward to that one, for several reasons.