On the fourth day of Christmas....

I’m on my own. No radio, no tv, just the gentle hum of the washing machine and dishwasher. Soon, I have to prepare for lunch guests and that will be lovely. But now, this minute, coffee at hand, I’m basking in some quiet. So quiet that for a second, I became all reflective and wondered if you’d like to see some of the cards I made for Christmas. I had two phases of making, the one that I felt was necessary but too early and another where I was actually ‘in the mood’. I can’t now tell which cards came from which phase. That says a great deal about the consistency of my erm, style. Same old same old!

A Sizzix die (which does not cut well at all) and a little bit of stamping required. I like the simplicity and did several of these in alternating colour ways. ie red text on a white card and this white text on a red. Then the difficulty with the die made me gnash my teeth and shout HUMBUG, so I moved on. One thing I can tell you from this pic is that these were clearly made after the poinsettia card!

Wonderful Penny Black stamps. Look at that, an entirely stamped card! And the ‘old fashioned’ felt pen coloured onto solid stamp’ technique. You can rely on me. It’s in a cellophane bag because it was one of the ‘designs’ for the Card Marathon which now seems about a century ago. Despite the colour and re-colouring of the stamp that was required, I think this was my most popular card on the day.Also a Card Marathon make. Nothing but die cuts and a bit of embossing on a die cut. Fascinating fact.....the silvery grey paper was ‘hung’ by a single strip of tape across the inside top behind the ivy cut aperture. I found if it was stuck on all 4 sides that it overwhelmed the text and it couldn’t be read so well. Interesting, huh? I also tried this silver and white colour way with about five other colours of paper on the inside and had the same problem with all of them. At some stage I may get around to trying it on a green card with gold embossed text. The point of this is though, I will now look at my text dies as potential fab embossed texts!

Lastly and seriously, just to jolt you awake on this fourth day of Christmas. Creme Eggs on the counter at my Post Office on Christmas Eve. The world may continue to turn, but today, I’ve been happy to share my quiet moments. Because of course, it’s not actually quiet in my head. 

What’s On Your Christmas Workdesk? Wednesday 551

Happy Christmas! I hope that whatever you’re doing, that you enjoy a lovely day. At some point, some of us may well manage some quiet time and the chance to visit you on this special day is too good to miss really, you that are a such a steadfast and warm presence in each other’s lives. This is scheduled. Mr Dunnit said that however busy a day we have planned (and we do), we simply must not get up at working times. I won’t. I need waking. He will though, he can’t help it.

I haven’t even turned the light on in my workroom today until now.

The red berry lights on the chair are actually supposed to have been put away, I must have been distracted. I can’t get enough of fairy lights at Christmas, but I have to admit defeat with these. So a non-action but non-tidied desk. Elsewhere in the house, there was action. Wiring in of a new kitchen appliance caused a failure on the sockets circuit. Took ages to work back and find out how/why, and at one point the circuit that controls the new heating system was also affected. Just as I thought I was going to have to pack up all the food and drink and presents and take it to the sweet Mother In Law’s house, it was corrected. He was stressed. I suggested a lie down in a dark room. He chose to test the underfloor heating in the new bit.

I had to ring Jan to check that I’d done enough sprouts, and as with best mates the world over, she said she’d have some spare if I need them. I’m not counting, but have promised that there will be a minimum of 10 sprouts each. Of course, the potential for bubble and squeak is enormous.

If you’ve time, please show us what you’re up to this Christmas, and allow some time for visitors! Season’s Greetings and very much love to you.

All lights and no baubles..

Well now, some weeks ago, I chatted about making some small gifts for the staff at my Mama’s care home. So here we are on the Friday before Christmas, which for a lot of people this year is the last working day. How lovely, if you’re one of these worker bees, I hope you enjoy the small extension to your Christmas break. A small procrastinating-type diversion there. A good indication of what happened to my intentions. I decided this year that I wouldn’t make edible gifts. Too many gluten, nut, alcohol, dried fruit, veggie, vegan requirements to trip over. So I hit on the idea of cookie cutter baubles. Not too difficult and relatively easy to source. Yeah, right. I could only get them in sets, so already there are erm, ‘choices’ for the recipients to make. Which takes the stress of wrapping doesn’t it...I can just present them all on a tray for people to choose from! Cool Yule.

So I chose my weapons, and soon realised that it wasn’t the quantity that was going to make things slow. It was what I wanted to do. Ergh. I wanted to glue the cookie cutters to sparkly (non-shed) glitter card. And the only glue that would grab properly was silicone. Ergh again. I hate silicone, it’s so difficult to dispense and a steady hand is not one of my skills. Good grief, I haven’t got good enough eyesight for steady anything! so, once all were stuck fast to the sheets, I cut round them and used red tape to hide the join, especially useful on the messy ones. Red tape was then dusted with glitter. Punch a hole with the trusty cropadile and thread some ribbon for a hanger. Then a little bit of decoration. It hasn’t been too complicated. 

I found some MDF shapes in the back of my Christmas stash and decided this morning to make a few more ‘just in case’. They are very different to the cookie cutter style, but hey, choice is good. Today was to be delivery day, but I failed on that. My glue gun needed recharging and doesn’t work plugged in, only charged. So I had to use more silicone. Lots of silicone.

And that means drying time. So Monday will be delivery day. It’s all good- after all, I know with amazing certainty that however many people did finish work for the holiday today, a lot of people don’t finish work at all. Saved by other people’s vocations! And don’t fret gentle Christmas holiday reader, I too have noticed the lack of ribbon in the slow drying MDF baubles. Cool Yule. And phew. 

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 550

I can’t show the whole thing - it includes unwrapped presents, wrapping gear, half finished hand made gifts and some piles of card stock that I had a sudden and ridiculous urge to sort out. And amongst all of that, I’m trying to make a scrapbook page for a challenge. Lawks Marge, what makes me do these things? I committed to this scrapbook challenge a while ago and I don’t intend to let it pass me by. So there! 

Meanwhile, in the land of real life and preparing, this is a shot of last night’s desk. 

It was a busy day and I had a panic on that with a week to go, I hadn’t made any mince pies. A WEEK TO GO. I mean, that’s a ridiculous situation to be in. We all love ‘em. So for now that situation is resolved. I give it till Saturday. But that’s ok, all the other deadlines will have vanished by then too. I may be in Christmas clover!

Yah, famous last words. Share then, gentle desker; let us know how this countdown to the big two-five is going for you,and of course, we need a photo! Link your WOYWW post here and visit if and when you can. in honour of it all, I will side-step the kettle and head for your drinks cabinet. Sherry’s good. Thanks.

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 549

I'm typing this on the PC and not through the App I usually use on my iPad. It means I've had to remember stuff and that's been a bit of a test! Did anyone else experience difficulty with Blog Touch I wonder? Ah well, no matter, it's not as if I can't access the blog one way or another.
So , in glorious (relative) close up:

I'm making Christmas cards. Because I'm in the mood and discover I'm a few short.  I'm doing stuff in the evenings now, as the light is the same quality whatever the time. During the day I cut and colour match at the dining table in real light, and then in the evenings I'm doing the sticking and collating. And still making a mess. The cookie cutter ornaments are taking shape - in the green basket at left. Just noodling over how to add a little more embellishment, then I'll let you see them. The die being weeded on the glass mat is a lovely one by Sizzix, but not often used. To cut it from scrapbook paper it requires 3 different angled placements and six turns through the Big Shot. As much as I like it, it doesn't get a lot of use and certainly I don't make many multiples! I'll show and tell when  the painful part is over! 
Show and tell from your place too please, it's a very interesting time of the year for the likes of me. Link your WOYWW entitled blog post here please. Thank you. It'll get you onto the NICE list!

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 548

Well gentle Deskers, welcome to December. Season of goodwill and enormous workloads. Please be kind to yourselves; remember that this Wednesday thing in particular, is so flexible and so full of understanding that as long as we know you’re OK and not missing through sickness or stress, you should dip in and out as pressure permits. It’s unrealistic to expect 100% visiting, so do what you can, be calm, be comfortable and enjoy the run up. Feels like a run up to a long jump, huh! So, look at me - 

I’m in a state of near tidy! Allow me to show you around....the little square box at right, behind the scissors contains tiny candy canes, about an inch and a half. I’m tying them onto gift tags as I wrap. And I’m wrapping as I buy. For years I’ve fixated on the finish of the shopping, then spent I don’t know how many hours just wrapping. No pleasure there; this little and often thing is much better. 

At the left is a pile of Christmas cards: I’m ready to write! There’s about three gifts partially hidden next to them, and then weirdly, a lot of star shaped cookie cutters glued to silver glitter paper. They are at step one and after a couple more steps, will be hanging gifts for the staff at my Mama’s care home. Different sizes, but I couldn’t get the number I needed unless I bought sets of three, so am hoping that some will want smaller than others for their tree! I’m getting used to the lack of daylight. Largely because I’m actually dragging stuff round to the table and working in the new room when the skies are bright! So, if you’ve time to share please link your WOYWW post here, as usual. 

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 547

I’m scheduling this, so this is actually last night.  Look at this lot, stuff from a Crop at the weekend, stuff from the ‘mini’ marathon, also at the weekend, stuff from not clearing up properly, stuff from another person using my desk and stuff on my desk to remind me that it needs to be posted. Are ya shocked? I am! The woolly pulley on the back of the chair is a chunky waistcoat type thing. The ground floor of the house has been very very cold recently. The child that masquerades as our plumber has finally managed to marry the old and the new in terms of heating systems and so we are comfortable again, which is quite lovely. When everything has been properly put away, I will put the sliding doors back on the cupboards. That will go a long way to making the place look a bit better. I’m sort of in the mood to make some cards for the sheer pleasure of sending some nice cards now, so I’m going to. Just as soon as I get back from being out tomorrow. Today.

Help me out will you, with this timing thing. Reassure me it’s Wednesday by linking your WOYWW post here. It will stop me panicking when I wake up tomorrow. On Thursday. Argh.

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 546

My darlings and I used to complain about certain film directors using ‘darkovision’ as a lighting choice. Clint Eastwood is one. We often used to throw popcorn at the screen and moan because we were missing details because of poorly lit scenes. Well, the irony is not lost on me, as I have had to turn on overhead and desk lamps in broad daylight to take this photo!

Looks as though I’ve set up in a cupboard! It’s fine. When I need daylight I will work in the extension. So my desk shows all sorts of things. A six pack of curling ribbons propped on the iPad stand. Overseas presents need to be wrapped and posted soon and they are a timely reminder. The pink basket contains the ingredients for one of the Marathon cards, it went very well and now I’m checking and tidying and cleaning prior to using them again on Saturday.  The perfectly placed and intriguing looking white thing near the heat gun is just a screwed up wet wipe. Probably the most real art this desk has seen!  Here’s a twofer. Last night Ink Blender Gal Shopkeeper Gal and I got together around a real workshop table and did a few of each other’s cards from the Marathon. Lovely couple of hours making cards that had been prepared, die cuts ready, mounts pre-cut. Brill. 

So there we are, gentle Desker, I’m sort of desk hopping!  Show and tell do, it’s the important part of the day! 

Link your WOYWW post here please, all as usual and entirely for other people’s viewing pleasure. Thanks!

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 545

This photo was taken last evening. My daylight hours are numbered, as you can see. And look closely, the guilty party is peeking around the wall....attention or guilt?

It al looks a bit covered up - but not intentionally. I had moved the A3 desk pad to the right hand pile earlier because I had to use the Big Shot and my ‘cutting station’ is quite narrow, and because I needed 24 cuts, I moved to my desk for space and erm, light. I’m in the process of kitting cards for our annual Christmas Card Marathon which is this weekend. You can just see the next card to be kitted - the one with the Penny Black Poinsettia at right. I see two pairs of glasses and two pairs of scissors...balance is good, huh! Newly added to the desk..the purple and blue boxes at the end. Long forgotten photograph boxes unearthed whilst moving stuff around for building. My word, I think they represent another 30 years of scrapbooking! So there you have it, not actually producing crafty stuff, but ever so productive this week. 

Please will you hold Shaz Silverwolf in your thoughts - she’s in hospital learning to breathe again. The filthy chemo has temporarily  got the better of her. She feels improved since being admitted and her wonderful Doug has enabled her to do a post. Seems like they are inter-enabling! I just hope that there’s a reasonable coffee supply near the ward. Makes me wanna put the kettle on. Take your time Shaz dear friend, and be well.

So link your WOYWW post here please, all as per. May your day be full of daylight.

What’s On your Workdesk? Wednesday 544

Ah now, hmmm. If you thought I’d dropped off the face of the earth,  I sort of had. So sorry if my name didn’t appear in your comments this week...I went off to a scrapbook retreat on Thursday morning and that was it. No routine, totally threw me out! You can tell I’ve been away, I had to tidy up!
Taken in the dark. See those vertical timbers? framing for the stud wall. It will be dark in here all the time soon. Temporarily, but definitely till next year. Anyway, in a small distraction from doing bookwork,I had a coffee and used my snowflake mould and foamy clay stuff to make twenty five teeny snowflakes. They are to go in the kits for the card making Marathon which is now at the end of next week. Really, it went from being two months away to the end of next week in minutes, frankly. I don’t get it. Anyway, they’re drying now and makes me feel as if I did a good bit of multi tasking yesterday! That ink pad there, all on its own, is waiting for me to try. It’s a hybrid. Apparently I can stamp with it and it’ll fade away so you can’t see the stamped outline after I’ve coloured. I’m cynical for two reasons -will it work and what images will benefit from not having key lines? I’m going to have to seek enlightenment before I go any further I think. So that’s me.....if there’s anything else vaguely interesting that I haven’t talked about, ask me. I’d be delighted! 

Please join in, post a pic of your desk, work space on your blog and link your blog here. I need to see.

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 543

How much faster can it go?!  

My lovely Jan came to visit with her gorgeous G. They were valiant in living with the upheaval. It was great to have them here, lots of light relief! I’ve had to have a tidy round and clear my desk for some re-jigging of card ideas. You can see one at left...still not right, but I have an idea. At last. There’s the usual detritus but not so much of it. The bright pink tissue paper indicates the presence of gifts and the nuvo drops are in the the basket to make moving them a little easier...I’m off on scrapbooking retreat this weekend. Also in this horrid temporary light, note the floor in the extension has been tiled. So now, that hole behind my desk which was a door will magically become a stud wall.  And finally..I have no idea why the packing tape is on the desk. How odd. Amazing what you notice in a photo!  Please chime in and show and tell, as usual, put WOYWW in your post title, it makes finding it so much easier. Link here. I thank you. 

So now can we talk?

It’s very nearly November, so sod it, I wanna talk CHRISTMAS. Specifically, cards. If you aren’t a card maker, keep reading anyway. It may help you remember why you HAVE TO appreciate and love the hand made cards you receive. Sorry to dictate your required reaction, but well, you know. Hand made.  For me, this particular year, I had to start early because Shopkeeper Gal was getting demand for Christmas card workshops earlier than anticipated. And oh boy, even with all the lovely new stamps and dies that have been released since August, it’s been like pulling teeth to get an idea onto a card!

I bought a couple of the most lovely 3d embossing folders. I went to a lot of trouble (A LOT) to fashion suitable thicknesses of shim to use them in my Big Shot. And then I couldn't think of a thing to do with them. I had - well, have - a problem with the size of the embossed images in relation to ALL of the stamps I thought would go with them. Oh boy. Bad lighting and navy card stock means you can barely tell that there is an embossed forest below and surrounding that big old silver moon. You’d think that new stuff would inspire me, it always has before. I think I’ve got early Christmas card fatigue. Seriously, in the best tradition of it being all about me, I’m worried about me! 

Shopkeeper Gal has a traditional card making Marathon day. She, me and Ink Blender Gal present 8 original cards each to as many people as want to book themselves in and they make the cards from provided kits. I can honestly say that I have never, in about 10 years of doing this, had so much trouble making 8 cards I think are suitable. I’m in a state of worry that the techniques I’m using aren't really interesting, the images I’m using are too ‘samey’ and my colours are questionable. I can’t say I’ve ever deliberately used black ink for Christmas images on a card. Not for any reason in particular, I think I just used (or overused) other colours, including the traditional. Now I see the most beautiful cards with black stamped text or images and wonder if it’s a trend that I’m missing, or if I’ve just completely ignored the obvious! See why I think I’m fatigued!  Last weekend, I allocated a whole day to making Christmas cards. For the Marathon, for friends, for our business clients, for family. I made 3 in the whole day. And I’ve since sought judgement about them from others and re-made two of them! I’ve lost it.

See what i mean about the size of the folder in relation to the stamps, or is it me?

Like magic though, I think I have the solution already. It’s straightforward innit. Do them. Do them my way and move on to whatever it is I intend to do after Christmas cards. And stop whining. Seriously. Sod it. 

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 542

No sign of panic here! Shopkeeper Gal told me last Thursday that it was just a month till the Card Marathon. It made me feel a bit queasy and gave me an urgent need to get to my desk. So at the weekend, I spent way too much time making this mess and have only three cards that I think are worth submitting for others to copy. Why, another week of uninterrupted desk time and I might be ready! I think the only thing that might need explaining is the empty cotton bud pot next to my ATG gun.  It’s there because Zsuzsa had a fab project on Marit’s Dutch Summer series and I intend to copy it. It will make an excellent and useful pot to put things in, as Winnie the Pooh would say. I intend it to hold my lovely foam moulded pieces. I love a plan. 

So lovely desker, when your eyes are less sore from the shock of my desk, please show me yours. It’s all about reciprocity. Put WOYWW in your post title and link here, the one part of my week that stays routine and makes me thankful.

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 541

Well hello whizz day! This week has been even shorter for me, we ran away for the weekend and left the plumber and his mate to take up floors, drain down the system and connect new heating areas into existing systems. I can’t tell you how nice it was to be out of the house! It means however, that I’m behind with stuff. Nothing major, but my desk shows a hybrid of work and play. Ignore the ledger, that’s boring. The shapes on the iPad stand are Quietfire Design pouch gift bags that I cut out on Monday morning and haven’t got any further with - the trial is on the drawers, really sweet, isn’t it. The plastic files that are still in their packet are flap-closure plastic sleeves which I thought would be very useful for my latest problem. I’m doing a lot more scrapbooking these days and I find having the 6x6 or 8x10 paper pad version of a collection I really like is a very useful tool for layering, and doing that mis-matched-matchy thing. But I like to keep scraps together rather than in my ‘general’ patterned scraps folder, so I will be trying to do just that with these files. Ask me again in a few weeks. So come on then, show me how much more successful your work areas are looking, I honestly could do with a push back into getting it all done! Please put WOYWW in your blog post title and link it here. Marvellous. 

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 540

I hope you’re all easing into early Autumn. I cant say I’m easing in, but hey, if it stays this busy, autumn and winter will be over in a jif and I will be back in my favourite season before I get the house clean! You can see more clearly that the missing door leads into another room now. The rubbish in there is totally down to the plumber and Mr Dunnit. The furniture comes out tomorrow - underfloor hefting to be put down over the weekend. Meanwhile..the mess on my desk is quite extraordinary. The lovely printed Arteza box contains self adhesive vinyl - me and my Scan N Cut are going to make some pressies. The alphabet at far left is remnant of a scrapbooking session over the weekend. The plaid paper on the iPad stand is still there. 15 sheets of it for a card marathon card. The brown paper bag contains gifts that you can’t see, but that I have to do something to, so onto my desk they go. Just below that and left of the mug of early coffee is a very old wedding photo. It’s practically black and white even though its been in an old fashioned album these last 34 years! We look like ghosts! Then there’s the usual detritus. Stencil paste...yep. I do do mixed media, just not a lot! So while I wade in and tidy up, please show me what you’re space reveals about you. As usual, put WOYWW in your post title and link your blog here!  Oh and please Polly, put the kettle on, it’ll stop we whining about tidy up time!

Impressing myself.

Remember ages ago on a WOYWW post there was a packet of moulding foam and a mould? Remember I said I’d report back as soon as I’d done something with it? Well. I totally forgot. Was too busy impressing myself with the new embellishments I was making and choosing new moulds. Honestly, this is the easiest and possibly the most effortless way to make an embellishment that I’ve come across. And so quick. So you can see why I’m sold! 

First of all, I bought this from Shopkeeper Gal. It’s white. I figured that I’d make a couple of frames and lose interest, but I was quite keen to make frames - I’d been at a workshop with the Scan N Cut genius who turns out to be a mixed media genius too, and she had these frames.....and I wanted some. Anyway, here we are. I couldn’t find a frame mould so I bought the twirly leaf thing instead, I do like scrolls and such. It takes a tiny amount to fill one of these silicone moulds and I quickly realised that I NEEDED more moulds and fast. 

I filled ‘em and left them overnight because I was busy. I cant say they actually dried out because they remain pliable and reasonably foamy. And boy, don’t they hold the detail well! They also colour well. Which is great for spur of the moment requirements. I used a teeny bit of sponge and Distress Oxides to colour the stars on this LO.

Incidentally this LO is a result of a difficult Challenge for October Festival on Facebook at Scraptastic Inspirations by Jux Creates

- you should join in. It would help me. 

Last time I was there, I bought a packet of coloured foam - blue, I think. And Shopkeeper Gal told me that I could blend it with the white to make different shades. Well! That’s amazing value. I would of course be delighted to show you the size of the smaller, blue bar, and the result of some blending. But I can’t; I can’t find it. It’s a victim of all that is going on around here. To distract you from disappointment, here’s a couple of tips. Fill the aperture, but don't leave any foam spread across the mould - when you turn them out, they’ll need to be trimmed and that’s just plain fiddly. (Look at the snowflakes in the middle picture.) It cuts beautifully, but its easier to avoid having to really! Second tip: make loads. If you have different moulds to mine, we could trade!

Save the Date!

Can you believe this:

Wipso and Twiglet have offered to host the WOYWW Crop next year! 

6th June 2020. I think it must be like having a baby...you forget about the hassle and pain in the fun of the moment and then look back on it with warmth and affection, so doing it again seems like a good idea! How marvellous. 6th June 2020.

Seriously, huge thanks to the Sisters of Stitch and really, try to come and see some of your fellow Deskers...my word it’s a lot of fun. And food, actually. A lot of both! 6th June 2020.

No commitment required for ages yet...but do make up your mind to join us for some fun. I cant guarantee you’ll do any crafting to speak of though! 6th June 2020. If I say it enough, you will automatically write it in your new diary at Christmas. 6th June 2020.

There was a um, crowd of press photographers at WOYWW Crop 10. Actually,  it’s some of our lovely partners taking our group picture once or twice.

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 539

Welcome to October, gentle Desker. And that is all I have to say about the passage of time. Now, through a haze of dust, electrician work, dust, brick cutting, dust, plumber work, dust, moving furniture, dust and planning, I bring you an alternative view of the chaos. Please don’t say too much about what a good idea using a dust sheet here and there could have been. I wasn’t there. The noise drove me out, and look - *pouf* no door to the outside, so a new angle! 

I didn't say it was a better angle! So thats what we call the workroom, hence the Workdesk!  The door at the back is nothing more interesting than access to the garage and this missing door will be panelled to form part of the wall in the new room. The workroom will have a window or door in the wall at left. AT SOME STAGE. Meanwhile, the days of natural light on my desk are looking a bit numbered! 

Show and tell, do. We wanna see what you’re doing and read about it too! Thank you very much.

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 538

Seriously, this marking of a mid week seems to hasten the weekends which hastens the midweek - who can I blame?

Here it is taken in the gloom - it is untouched since Monday evening. And the reason for that is  - well obviously I didn’t clear up, but yesterday was spent with our Margaret! Her travels brought her to Gloucestershire so we each travelled and a little and met in north Wiltshire. At a Garden Centre which was a shopping experience of gifts and clothes. We didnt actually step out to look at the plants - oh my, the rain! We talked and talked and talked. Her ‘sabbatical’ draws to a close at the end of this week and so we shall see her when she’s caught her breath. I am really looking forward to the diary and photos.

I was wrangling with a Christmas card at the table, and top right, using my lovely WOYWW gift from Annie to make notes because this is Card Marathon season and I need to know which ingredients I’ve used for each card so as to avoid the need to buy doubles!  Anyhoo dear Desker, share your current space please, it’s time for a large coffee and a browse. Please put WOYWW in your post title and link here as always. I seriously thank you.

Review. Unsolicited, no gain here.

If your memory is like mine, you won’t remember that some time ago I purchased an App to enable me to blog using my iPad, and I said I’d talk about it after testing. It’s taken external prompt on Facebook to remind me  - I went into the cobwebs to discover that it was January. I think eight and a half months is a good trial period. 

I was always frustrated that through the browser, blogging on a tablet was impossible. Even editing an existing post was difficult. More than once I’d swear that Google and Apple were going to cause me to do something really rather rash in a fit of temper.

I’ve tried a couple of Apps - the Blogger one, which I didn’t get on with, and another free commercial one which was pretty good...but relied on symbols instead of words to navigate and as I only needed it when we were away with no PC access, I could never remember which meant what!

Enter the App that I’m using right now. Blog Touch. I’m using the one for Blogger, for that’s my blogging platform.There’s a BlogTouch for Wordpress users too. 

It’s available from the App Store and cost me 6.99. Best nearly 7 of Her Majesty’s pounds that I’ve spent on my gadgetry for a long time.  The set-up process, which created the link to my blog, must have been easy and relatively painless because I can’t remember it. I was born under the sign of Cancer which means I can hold a lifelong grudge, and these traumas over technical stuff come under that category, believe me.

 If you (try to) blog on iPhone or iPad, this is an enabler. The symbols cross from iStuff to Blogger stuff and words are used where necessary. If you can operate your blogger dashboard and write messages on your iStuff, you will be familiar with it without much effort, it just takes a tour and a dry run or two. 

Adding pictures, links, setting a scheduled post...all easy and obvious....and the designer has used Blogger colours for text so you’ll immediately feel familiar! I really do recommend BlogTouch and I congratulate Denk Alexandru for coming up with what Google or Apple seem incapable of.

If you don’t use iStuff, I suspect this review is useless to you. But if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll be used to that.

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 537

Look familiar? I sat down to make a card and the whole afternoon went by. I got the card done though.

The paper pad at right is there because I finished a scrapbook LO and neglected to put that part of the stash away...I must have been keen to just clear the desk and start on the card! On top of that is the empty hot chocolate powder drum that I use as a bin. I haven’t covered it yet. It’s doing the job, see, so there’s no rush! In front of the acrylic drawers are some more silicone moulds filled with the foamy ‘clay’ stuff. I spent a very pleasant five minutes kneading and squishing. There will be swirls, feathers, stars and flowers. I hope, anyway. The trial I did a couple of weeks ago worked perfectly well...but I can’t find them. I probably threw them away on a wild tidying up spree. The mini guillotine at the front of the pic isnt as precariously balanced as it looks, its actually sitting flat on top of my ‘everyday’ dies storage file. It will be magically tidied at lunchtime today, I have workshop kits to prepare and I need to stick to my plan of trying to make at least one decent card a day! 

I’m incredibly sorry if my name didnt appear in your comments last week...the days just got away from me. Whilst we come to terms with the speed of time, please post your WOYWW and link here; thank you very much.

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 536

Well, how do you like these onions? It’s not quite going to er, plan. I’m just transferring some Christmas stamps into a basket that takes up less than a quarter of the floor space in my room. It may help my Christmas mojo mood. Also, I need to get them ready for re-homing. And loads of other stuff...the floor in this room has to be partially pulled up by the electrician in a couple of weeks and I want to be in charge of my stuff rather than leave it to Mr Dunnit and the Sparky to do it. Perish the thought that Mr Dunnit realises quite how much is crammed into this room! So it’s sort of official, with 15 weeks to go, I am definitely making workshop cards on a Christmas theme. Or I will be just as soon as I free up the space to actually use my desk. Watch this space? I’d rather watch yours! Put WOYWW in your post title and link here please. Thank you, and enjoy, it’s a visual feast!

IWSCS

It Was Something Carol Said -  probably without knowing the impact her words would have on me. Describing a small pile of stuff to be put away as a pile of ‘goodness knows what’. Well if that isn’t an acronym waiting to happen! It nearly made me spit coffee at the screen, it so totally sums up how things accrue on my desk.

The good thing is that as soon as its tackled and dealt with, it becomes individual things and I know why I got it out in the first place.  I’ll probably never be able to explain why I didnt put it away when I decided not to cut it up, stick it down or turn it into ‘art’, that’s for the psychologists amongst you to explain. It’s not just idleness though. I think it’s about being in the erm, throws of inspiration and the need to create rather than tidy. Isn’t it? You get that, I know you do.

You could just stick it all down in a random fashion....

That tidying up thing; where there’s a pile of GKW that breaks down into fifteen pieces of YNKW (You Now Know What) and that requires fifteen different boxes, cupboards, pots, drawers, boxes to be opened. Sometimes, it’s just easier not to. After all, as soon as you YNKW, you can perform an assessment about the likelihood of needing it tomorrow - and there’s always that likelihood, n’est pas?

This logic is brought to you as a public service. The acronyms....well, another of the hazards of reading this blog. 

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 535

According to my diary, this is the first Whizday of September. I dont know if I have a legal case or not, but I would like to argue that it’s occurred too soon. TOO SOON! That’s my mood today, sort of capital letters day!  Luckily, you wont have to suffer it because this is a scheduled post. Im off for another day with Miss Dunnit and her Current Squeeze. It will involve Ikea, so think of me as you settle in with a cuppa and your feet up. Particularly as I’ve decided to swing the camera round and show you what a bit of tidying and trying to sort out has done to me. 




I’ve tidied my desk in an effort to shake off the ridiculous number of erm, ‘drafts’ that I ended up making before the card with the houses on came together. I want to use house stamps, really like them. Turns out I can’t do a thing with a solid house stamp! And I’m trying to organise the scrapbooking cupboard ahead of a crop at the weekend..which is why the plastic boxes are teetering...they contain embellishments, ephemera and erm...GKW.  And then spin again and a box of card stock is supporting the box of Christmas stamps. I cant even recall the contents of the baskets; good grief. No wonder I’m running away to Southampton for the day!

Make my day by sharing and telling just as I have done won’t you please, put WOYWW in your post title and link your blog here. Job’s a good ‘un.

This...

This. This. THIS is what happens when I tidy up.

All I wanted to do is create some space for the next splurge of inspiration. (!).

Cue a lot of sighing and eye rolling and some wishing that there was someone else to blame, stamp my feet at and generally be childish. These silly candy things have lain unused in a draw for I don’t know how long, but long enough for me to have forgotten that the bag was open. Even more annoying, I wasn't looking for those, I just picked them up to move them! Fret not though, gentle reader, I really have sifted them from the rest of the dustpan contents and put them in a ziplock and they now nestle nicely in a box marked ‘donate’. And clearly I was in a bad mood, because I then made this Layout, and it appears that I shouted on it.

But you really can see why, huh. I would have shouted at the time, but I didn’t have the breath. 

It’s OK though, that was then and everything’s fine now. Really. 

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 534

This is scheduled for your viewing horror. Luckily, when I get home, I really do PLAN to tidy up. Unless somebody can come up with an alternative that isn’t housework, that is. Last week was a write off for me, I hope you’ll forgive. I’m battling an ongoing trapped nerve in my shoulder and some days are written off simply by doing the normal chores of day to day house-ness. I’ve got medical assistance now,(Mr Dunnit got tired of the yelps and bad tempered lack of sleep). So this weekend, I took part in an online crop and made a huge mess . It was great. Price to be paid....so much clearing up to do before month end! But, here’s something - some of you were involved without knowing it! 
 Ignore the wonky placement of the background words, I genuinely cannot do straight or even anymore. But I don’t much care. Scrapping Crop 10 made me smile. So I did another, unfinished for now....I have to put the story on it....there’s so much to say that it may well go on a separate sheet of paper clipped to the back of the LO, not sure yet.

The colours are stuffed up by a rubbish photographer, but you get the gist. Now sweet Desker, gimme the gist of your work space this week then, please. And by gist, I mean the hi-low, history and current, the what’s On, what’s In with you. Now that’s clear, see ya later.

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!