What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 533

Welcome to Whizzday. Actually, every day of the week could be called that, coudn’t it! I’m reporting in from messy desk land. It was a very productive messy desk over the weekend, although I did nothing with the embossing folder and inks problem mentioned in my last post. Instead, I just made some cards. It was fun! I tidied up a little bit and found the foamy modelling clay in the moulds that I was trying out weeks ago. My memory..sheesh.Don't rely on me for R&D!! Anyway, thats my next job...
I had a lovely day yesterday involving three stationery shops and I bought something in each. You can just see the spoils on the right edge there. I like to buy a handful of funny, loving, motivating postcards and send one to her now and then. Just to keep her Mummy in the forefront of her mind! The pencil case at far left is full of sparkly gel pens. Remember them? Now I have to do some tidying. Workshop preps and a need to stay productive are on my to-do list. Yeah that one - the one that’s longer than my leg! Show and tell then please, we wanna see what you’ve been up to. 

Watercolour is messy.

The fabulous blue that a lot of you saw on Wednesday’s post came from two pots of Spectrum Noir Sparkle inks. Incidentally, if you saw the post about a messy workshop where I managed to get ink on my face, these are the culprits. Trouble is they are too nice to resist and so I plough on, making a right old mess.

The graduated light to dark with a watercolour feel was not quite what I achieved and so this is an/the experimental piece. On that basis I’ve foiled the windows in the embosssed houses and scuffed some pearly white stuff over the sleigh in the sky. Too hit and miss; it looks a mess. And not enough embossed definition if you ask me. 

I actually found it hard to crank through my Big Shot in the plate sandwich which was going to achieve any embossing, so am now in considering mode. Of course, I’ll get better definition if I don’t use a watercolour card stock. But I still need to use something reasonably thick to withstand water and ink....the edges of that cut out portion particularly. Buckled supports are rubbish supports, lets face it! For now, I’ll soldier on with this; I know others will wonder what the problem is as a first draft, but I’m not a great reasearch and development type crafter - I really like to sit down and MAKE something, even if it’s only one card after a couple of hours of cutting papers and choosing stamps!

If this works out at some point, I’ll show you, of course. Look for a blog post entitled ‘triumph’ or ‘smug’!

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 532

Although this photo is newly taken, the desk state is almost gathering dust. I had just settled in for a ‘session’ on Saturday after lunch when my amazing skill set was required elsewhere and I didnt get back to my desk. And still haven’t. 

I was trying to figure out what to do with a cut and emboss folder after it was cut and embossed. Clever idea, but making me struggle; I wonder if it’s the subject (er, Seasonal) or just that it’s too much of a finished thing. Making nice with some of those lovely inky inks though, I might even use the waste paper for a change! I had a birthday present to buy from Amazon and suddenly found myself looking at stuff for me too...shocking selfish. Those aqua brushes were a bit of a bargain and have wonderful broad to teeny brushes. It doesn’t mean I’ll be able to use them effectively, but it may help. At any point. I must have had those inks on my mind - which, I should say, make wonderful dense watercolours. I don’t know when I’ll get back to this particular desk, but the longer I am away from it, the more I yearn to be there, and that’s good, because usually when I have to do this slightly experimental stuff, I get bored...very easily.

Come join then, you less bored by your own work Deskers, show me what you’re up to. Link your WOYWW titled post here please! Lovely.

Call me prolific.

It used to be that I would go to a crop and make a few Layouts. Then me and the Coven hit on the idea of a weekend away to scrapbook and so our ‘retreats’ added to my LO Numbers. The thing is, I never scrapped at home. Weird huh. I think I associated the whole scrapbook thing with chat, company, food and escape. Sometimes, I didn’t even unpack between monthly crops! 

Well, under pressure from my special friend Lolly, I joined a Facebook group called Scrapbook Inspirations. It involves challenges, competitions, team games and other online stuff to get you scrapbooking. I hovered for a while and then thought I might as well unpack and try a couple of sketch challenges. After all, no point in joining and then not joining in!

My word, my output has increased. At Christmas I was given a beautiful box to hold photos waiting to be scrapped. Do you know gentle reader, I’ve had to top it up!  Now the thing is...can I be bothered to pack everything up and go to Crop? I know a few who don’t go for precisely this reason. If you want a cut file or to compare ribbon colours, you’ve either got to be prepared to the point of making up a page kit or leave the idea till you get home. I’m not that prepared - surprise!

Well here’s the thing, I will always be packing up and going to Crop. I love being in company that gets the whole cutting and sticking thing. I love being in a room full of people that will collectively ‘ooh’ at a bunch of new embellishments in a pop-up shop. I love the chat with my girlfriends, making new friends, having lunch out, and I love the inspiration and ideas that swirl through the room.

So on a Wednesday when you see the same old same old on my desk and wonder if I do anything but make excuses for not tidying up, at least the mess is legitimate! I admit though, that after a session making one scrapbook page, I have to clear up before I can start again, there is simply too much ‘stuff’ balancing and teetering on any surface! 

My creative process involves getting everything out of everywhere. And likely not using it after a lot of consideration. I may need more photographs in my ‘to do’ box (and I have them, believe me), but I am still a fairly slow page maker! I haven’t set an annual, monthly or weekly target, but I find myself averaging two LOs a week which is prolific for me! 

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday 531

This is a genuine left over from Tuesday afternoon. I’ve been a bit poorly and thought I could easily spend time at my desk, but after about an hour I realised I wasn’t in the mood. It’s funny isn’t it, when you’re off colour and therefore have access to the time to fiddle around just for the sake of it, even that isn’t what you want to do. Such a waste of time, isn’t it! 

As you can see, I’m working on Flamingos. It’s a set of stamps that has three steps to each image. Ideally I should have bought the pale, medium and darker ink pads to do the ‘mingos with, but I thought I could probably rustle something up. I have, and I rather like them in anything but pink! Don’t know where I’m going with them, but that never stopped me. And of course, I have no intention of tidying up. After all, if I’m not in the mood to make a card, I’m certainly not in the mood for tidying! Still got a floating acrylic block, but you can see more clearly now that it’s just part of a pile waiting to be put away. Surprise! 

Join in do, show and tell that work area..take your lead from me, it really isn’t too messy to show us!

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 530

I’m out early this morning, delivering bespoke timber products. Doors, today that means doors and frames. Glamour central. So, to assuage the disappointment of having to schedule a post, I’m offering a twofer. Mainly because I surprised myself so much I wanted to create photographic evidence.....

I tidied and put away all the scrapbooking stuff. Then I emptied my Saturday shopping bag onto the desk. I had already forgotten about the mould and modelling clay, so immediately set to. Didn’t read any instructions, just opened the wrapper and got stuck in. It’s white air drying clay, but it’s not really clay. It’s more a foam. Incredibly light and amazingly mouldable, flexible etc. I was surprised, and will show and tell the results, I’m going to presume that I need to give it 24 hours before I attempt anything too arty with it!

You can see that Shopkeeper Gal, and some of you actually have me in a panic over Christmas stuff. She even wanted to get me to commit to a Christmas Card Marathon. I let her flatter me into saying yes and then felt slightly appalled when she forced me to help set the date! It’s going too fast! So then, my thoughts on Christmas, I did some Christmas style shopping. You can just make out a couple of C6 ish size dies and a 12” pad of Poinsettia papers. I’m not a huge Poinsettia fan to be honest, but the sheets are double sided and the reverse patterns are great for card making. 

It’s not glittery or even easy to see on the pad of paper that became my work surface...but I made a Christmas card just by messing about! Before the end of July. I’m on a roll. And apparent magic...look how that acrylic block is ‘floating’ by the acrylic drawers! So share and tell then, let’s have your stories of tidy and productive desks to make me feel right at home with my single card achievement! Please put WOYWW in your post title and link here. Thanks!

To whom it may concern

It has come to my attention that your colleagues need to be granted extra-ordinary paid leave forthwith.

The less-than-usual climate makes working for a living distinctly difficult; night time temperatures mean that sitting in the garden in the beautiful warm, velvety evenings cause late bed times. Need I remind you about the difficulty of sleeping.  I’ve no doubt that when unable to sleep, you too lie in a muck sweat, considering the chores that weren’t done that evening which must now be attempted before leaving for work in the morning. It’s not at all conducive to mind nurturing, replenishing sleep patterns - and a summer cycle of sleep loss begins. 

The commute has become increasingly difficult. The sun is causing roads to blister, overhead train lines to buckle and a fear and horror of strap hanging on public transport. Stepping out of the front door into the day’s sunlight is fraught with difficulties, there’s so much more to remember for our beleaguered commuter: should I have used sunscreen? If I use sunscreen, will I just look shiny and sticky all day? Has my lipstick got any SPF in it at all? Does my mascara contain anti-melt magic? Where are my sunglasses? Can I remember not to push them onto my head? Especially when I need to use my readers... Is my hair already flat? Is a floppy hat too much? Perhaps I shouldn’t be wearing a sleeveless dress....my upper arms could knock chips off a plate if I reach out. These are genuine extra stresses for your colleagues.

Office temperatures are a problem. Air conditioning is actually a negative; there’s always a colleague who wants it set at ‘Arctic’ and another who prefers an open window. Even when it’s blowing hot air and Saharan sand onto her desk whilst spoiling every ‘to do’ pile across every other desk. The understanding, tolerance (note my use of a trending management word) and indeed, smiling celebration of and between the different office personalities will be at risk. 

A slightly warm packed lunch because of the overloaded, dodgy fridge won’t help either. Nor does a desperate trip to Marks for a decent sandwich in a time limited period. All the stress of a commute and leaving the building as detailed above, but compressed into a ridiculously short time line. Unless you’re buying as a prelude to granting time off, don’t bother suggesting a pub by the river either. It will be packed full of people who don’t have to go back to work, the staff will have suffered from the heat too and be rushing around trying to satiate their bosses desire to ‘rake it in’. And those that manage a rare pub lunch break will be too hot, possibly sun burned and totally unable to stay awake after 3pm.

A good summer does not provide you with a motivated and productive workforce. Cut your losses, and see the big picture. You won’t have to work either. It’ll be fine and you’ll be so popular that production, sales and graphs will immediately spike at the onset of autumn. 

I mean it most Sincerely.