What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 747

Well, this couldn't be a more appropriate number for this edition of WOYWW! A great big aeroplane has brought our friend Kathy Frantz to me for a bit of anglicising! Double whammy, because she's accompanied by her friend Kathy. We have a Kathy duo in our house and we're all coping well...probably because we're all answering to all names!

So my Workdesk is a little under utilised, I've cut up some papers into pennant type strips and foiled a border around some plain Kraft tags..I'll tell you why when that plan comes to fruition, it's part of a small collaboration that may or may not come to something! 

Yesterday was meant to be a slightly slow day on our itinerary because we decided to stay local and not rush about too much. So we did stay local, and we didn't rush about, but we did wear ourselves out!

It wasn't cold, but was very windy, which is probably what kept the rain away, we felt very lucky. We have plans for another day of reasonably local exploration today. It's fun, and because both of these wonderful Kathys are crafters, we have plans that involve beads, patience, magnifiers and patience. Oh, I said that. Well, probably if it gets hard, I'll distract them into stamping and colouring in, which as you understand, is easy and therefore what I do best! 

Please show and tell as usual, and I'll get the Kathys to chime in as I work my way round to your desk!

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 746

Well gentle desker, I thought things were getting back to normal. And then I laughed and laughed because there is no normal is there; and for that I'm actually very grateful. This is almost a throwback post because it involves a quick story about Miss Dunnit. I couldn't convince, cajole, bribe or force her to take part in my hobbies at any point. She used to dump stuff that needed my attention on my desk, and at most, sit at my desk to wrap the odd gift. With a LOT of tape. Dear me, she was a tapester. 

Anyway, she decided she wanted to make an outfit for an upcoming wedding, and found a pattern online. As she was at home, made sense to get on with it. Good grief, downloading and printing a PDF pattern for a jacket and a pair of trousers takes time, patience, a lot of cutting and a ridiculous amount of tape! There was a magical irony about seeing her at my desk (for many hours, I might add), cutting and erm, sticking! 

I don't know how much tape she used. But it took the better part of two days to put the patterns together. I'm definitely put off the PDF method for acquiring a pattern. Mind you, how often do I make any clothes nowadays! The real bonus of her work has been that she had to tidy my desk before use..and now it's empty tidy and waiting for me to make a mess! Please share and tell..this week I'm at home and have real internet. And it's raining, so actually, some things are normal! 

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday

 OK gentle deskers, here’s another post created on my phone. We’re on our way home from the airport and because it’s nighttime there are so many road closures that it could actually take us longer from plane to house than it did to get from hotel in Mallorca to car park at Gatport Airwick. Argh.

Oh well. For the first time in seven years. I didn’t add a single stitch to my travel embroidery. You know, the one I always show you. In my slightly improved, fitter shape, we are doing much less sitting about than I remember on previous holidays. Consequently he’s less bored and on the evenings I’m too tired to do much but erm, sit about and watch the world go by. Which is a legitimate hobby, by the way!

We’ve dived and snorkelled the crystal clear waters and eaten simple food that tasted like every happy memory you’ve ever had. 

We walked ancient city walls and visited bustling markets where we wanted to buy all the oddly shaped peppers and huge tomatoes to bring home and live on. It’s been great, with a healthy dose of bad photos, mosquito bites and rough Sangria to keep it all real!

As you’ve been holding the fort and showing the things I could have been making, please keep going. Non phone blogging will resume! 

What’s on your Workdesk? Wednesday

 Not only scheduled, but put together on my phone, so please forgive if there are more than normal amounts of typos and nonsense that you can’t make sense of no matter how many times you read it! Anyway, to business…

I went to the Craft for Crafters fair at Farnborough last weekend. With the majority of The Coven. It’s about an hour away and we set off to get there not long after opening. It had a decent parking arrangement and unlike in previous years, was held in a dedicated exhibition space rather than a semi permanent tent with shuttering and metal flooring. Makes a difference in weather that can’t be guaranteed! Anyway’ it’s no longer a paper craft only show, there was plenty of all sorts to look at. As you can see, I’m trying new things. I bought a box of ribbons and stuff to make a wreath. The stand holder said if I could handle a glue gun, I could do the wreath no problem.you will of course hear about it! I bought a couple of heading kits to make a bracelet and necklace….intended to be a gift at the end of November. We’ll see. This purchase is ‘hot’ off the success I had last Christmas when I made each of The Coven a beaded star to hang on their trees. And swore that I would never do beading again!  It I have a magnifying lamp now, and hope springs eternal! Lastly, I did but some stamps; used from a Stampin Up! lady and a couple of new ones from Francoise Reade for Woodware. Well, new to me. Almost every paper craft stand was loaded with stencils and mediums and tools for stencilling. Some fab samples, and an amazing example of what goes around comes around if you ask me. You’ll know what I mean if you’ve been paper crafting for more than ten or fifteen years! Brother and Cricut had huge stands, as did Janome, which had me lusting after a new sewing machine that would take me the rest of my life to learn how to use, and to pay for….!

So with an eye on all things waiting to be put away, please show and tell as normal. I’m in foreign parts with very sketchy internet at the mo, so please bear with!

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 743

Credit for this scenario goes to my lovely Sissy, who drove from her seaside home (call it my beach house, if you will) to show off her fresh and rather beautiful tan after a lovely holiday. I sat her just slightly out of the way with a coffee and tidied while she told me all about it. It was marvellous. The holiday, that is. The tidying, well, much less tedious.

 The basket is full of cards to be delivered to my friend's new shop. It's been fifteen years at least since I made cards to sell and I have no idea if they even will sell. There's a mix of styles and occasions. I'm more than happy to have them back if they don't sell, I figure that I'll know within a couple of weeks. I plan to change them quite frequently. There's four of each style, in two colours, so if any do sell, then I might be able to get a feel for popular styles. Who knows. Next to my glasses are two of the small brushes from an invaluable set that Kathy gave me -  they were in the kitchen after a hair wash, now drying nicely. Honestly, if you use ink in a direct to paper way, I can't recommend this type of brush enough, and as Kathy knows, you need at least one set. Not one brush. One set.

Here's a drawback folks...bank holiday gardening, some decorating, month end and a trip coming up mean that the desk will probably stay tidy! Ridiculous! Show and tell please, all absolutely as usual!

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 742

Well, this will set you up for the day. It'll make you glad it's not yours. It'll help you to appreciate your attitude to clearing up in between things. It'll relax you when you approach your stash, knowing you can actually find something. I've just realised, I'm doing a public service! You're welcome.

This taken at about six yesterday, isn't the sunshine lovely. I had decided to start tidying up but got totally distracted. Made an ATC that I've been mulling over for a long time. Frankenstein theme. In the end, I just sat down and did it, but it's amazing how many times I thought about how hard it would be! And...I didn't think to photograph it before I put it in the envelope and trotted it to the postbox. Doh! Ah well. Then, instead of tidying up, I got stamping again...and now it's all waiting for my return for a lot of fussy cutting! The only thing that isn't in the photo that was on the desk is the empty glass that I used to hold the brushes I was using to apply Distress Oxides to the ATC. I have actually taken them to the kitchen and washed them properly already. I know, I'm untidy but not neglectful. Here's a close up of my I inability to be tidy..

Don't fret, the brush you can see was unused. Good shot of the layers though, huh. So now gentle desker, it's up to you. I will take on board your tidy and organised spaces, but I cannot make any promises...

What's on your Workdesk? Wednesday 741

The work that caused a scheduled post last week has come to fruition and is causing a second scheduled post. I'm doing a lot of helping aren't I? We're off in the van to do the fitting of the windows that were In manufacturing progress last week. The lack of stew on a caused by not working very much over the last two years totally caught me out and my desk visiting did not happen. Epic fail, for which I'm sorry, because that may well be the case this week too, real work and possibly sketchy internet because of the location. Time will tell. 

Anyway, to make y'all grateful that you don't have to visit in person, I thought I'd show you the non-panoramic, panoramic view of the way I left my little workroom..

This is the 'centre' shot, the actual desk, although it's getting hard to tell apart from any other piled up space. There's a few cards waiting to go into cellophane bags and the mustaches and glasses are a NBUS set that I fancied trying whilst putting off something or other. Oh I remember, I was having a face-time with my Sissy because she felt the need to show off her high temperature, blue sky, swimming pool type holiday location, so I felt the need to treat myself to doing something for fun. Ha. Joke's on her, don't you agree?!

So, swing left..literally . My swively tractor seat means that this is at my immediate left, don't need to leave my seat...

A basket of card blanks in various sizes and a new scrapbook album, some empty 12x12 acrylic boxes and GKW else sit on top of a RUB set of drawers. The drawers hold all my clear and unmounted stamps with the exception of the top right one which is where I keep cards that I've made. Stock. Not for selling, for me to use or give away. I used to think that I could whip up a card that was personal to a recipient the day before their birthday/anniversary/cheer up need, but that was just naive. If I don't have a stock I can't cope. Actually, I can't cope anyway, but the chances are much improved by having a stash of made cards!

So, swing right. This is far enough away to require me to stand up and take a step to this worktop. But you can see, I just dump stuff on it until I can't use the die cutter anymore and it makes me want to yell at myself.

Apart from being the owner of all this lovely, gloriously disorganised stash, the really best thing about this little room is tan at one of its 3 doors leas into the rest of the house, so I can close it and no one can see what lies beyond. And out of sight means I don't have to tidy up if I don't want to! And I never do want to. Even when I tidy up.

Hope you've had a good week, please join in and link as usual. See you at yours!