The desk has seen some action. I was in the middle of a zoom call yesterday when my internet failed, so it shows some bits and pieces that I was ‘working’ on. Using up ephemera and scraps to make some embellishments and journaling pieces. You can just see them next to the sellotape dispenser. When I realised that I wasn’t going to be able to re-join the zoom convo, I started to match photos to scraps in an attempt to put together the start of a scrapbook page, and that’s what is still on my desk this morning. Now, I know I’m full of opinion, and am given to being bossy, but I really need you all to promise me that you’re taking great care to avoid catching this damned virus. UK news really implies that it’s rampant here and even if you aren’t under orders to lockdown, it would make me feel better if you can. I know about work, I know about relatives that need your attention and I know about children who have to go to school. I’m just asking you to be extra super aware, wear the mask, clean the hands. Do what you’re doing, but do it harder. Please. Oh, and show us your post Christmas desk! Have you managed anything? have you a plan? have you a Looong list of cards required for January birthdays? I’m projecting....
The large file at right contains alphabet stickers. I haven’t bought any new sets for six months, so largely, this file is filled with part-used alpha stickers and they aren’t overly useful. Because I have hope in my heart and I’m too cheap to throw anything away, I flick through them and use whatever I can each time I make a page up. There were 6 crop challenges and the first required tissue paper. The LO you can see is for the sixth challenge. The tissue paper from challenge one is in the bag at left, under the roll of foam tape and word stickers. Would have been easy to put away, huh. No idea why I didn’t. That space would have been useful, huh. So that’s it, gentle Deskers, till Christmas is behind us. Here in the UK, things have changed for us all and no doubt everybody’s plans are affected by new rules designed to try to contain the rapid spreading strain of C19. Be careful, be safe. Enjoy a day off for Christmas, whatever your plans are. Meanwhile, please show us your pre Christmas desks. And for once, instead of a cuppa, I will allow egg nog or mulled wine. Except for me of course, I don’t like either. Although I have tried, honestly. No mines still a G&T, but I might drop a couple of halved cranberries in to make it more festive!
This card took way longer than I wanted it to, but once you start....! It utilises the leftovers from a sticker alphabet from a Basic Grey collection. Basic Grey haven’t produced scrapbook paper for some years now, so the stickerinessness of the letters was a bit dubious. So, to ensure that the recipient of this card doesn’t open an envelope filled with letter shaped confetti, I used a glue pen.I’m so so glad that I was listening and talking to you whilst I did this, otherwise I’d have noticed that I’m not really patient enough to do this sort of thing. Now here’s a thing...I only use papers I like, which means that saving the scraps to use is important to me. So if you get ever get a card from me and it looks like the scraps off my table...it probably is, and scraps or not, I liked them enough to use them again! The plain pieces of card that are scrap from stamping are a whole different matter and frankly, that’s the area I need to concentrate on in terms of using up scraps. Thinking caps on, and remember, it has to be simple and quick!
You can’t see because of the gloom, but there are five pairs of scissors under that lot. The paper in the centre is actually hiding the next present to be wrapped. The coffee cup actually had water in it because I had to take a pill, wrapping gave me a headache! I use the sharpies to write on the gift tags, there’s a red and a silver one on the desk too, somewhere. The strange black ‘thing’ at right is the iPad/phone holder. It took me a minute to work it out when I uploaded the photo, still not used to it being there! The deckchair isn’t retired, it was temporarily flattened to make room for all this other stuff. When all this wrapping nonsense has gone, I’ll show you the cards I put together on Crop day. They are as you can tell, deeply out of reach at the moment. 
This is the photo that proves I have it on display. I have others too, but they’re actually on my desk. For me, this is quite an arty shot. My Ma in Law bought me some hyacinths to nurture, so they are very busy making me nervous. Please let them survive till she’s seen them on Christmas Day! Would you look at the card though, a photographic collage of photos taken at crops. Obviously, that means that a lot of you aren’t on it, but by gum, an awful lot of you are, and it’s just so nice to look at you all. Brilliant card, and huge big up to Shaz Silverwolf for making it. Coming up with idea and wrangling the photos would have been too hard for me, so I want you to know just how much I appreciate it.
This is the back....the stacked cards are those I made on Saturday, and you can see my scandi-chic glasses case for December use. Jan made it for me. Of course she did! It’s one of many things I like to swap out for the month to remind me that even every day things can signal Christmas 
This incredible amazing star 
We were able to admire craft spaces too, and admire storage, quantity and neatness. Any danger of me putting myself across as cool and collected and in the image I’d like you all to have of me was impossible to portray, let alone maintain! I had to sit close to my screen to get a good look at everything and to keep pressing buttons, and I was so excited to see you, and we all worked out why my desk is constantly like it is. ‘I don’t want to work that hard’ was heard springing from my wonky lips more than once. There were a million questions I wanted to ask and somehow didn’t. I know that I’d have like to hear more from some of you, and will figure a way to do that, too. Meanwhile though, if I invited you to do it again, would you? 
Well I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to sitting at my desk for more than five minutes this week! So far it’s been tidied, photographed and then used for addressing envelopes and wrapping birthday gifts for December people. I did manage some die cutting for half an hour today, in preparation for what I’m going to make whilst we’re all chatting on Saturday. I know! I have a plan! I also have to be thankful for the wheels on the desk, for they shall go round and round...in order to have decent light, the two zoom sessions will see the desk in different locations! And talking of locations, here’s what you need to get into the zoom meeting. For the morning session, from half past nine, access by using the Meeting ID 946 581 8171 and the pass code is 783819. Don’t forget to enable camera/video and audio once prompted! Join us again or for the first time later in the day, from half past five, the Meeting ID is the same 946 581 8171, and the pass code is 675339. in both cases, the time zone is London GMT, so a quick google will tell you what time to erm, tune in. There are URLs available for the meetings if you’d like to join without downloading the App. They are long and complicated and I think it would be wise if I were to email them to you on request. I’m sorry this post seems long winded, I’m just trying to give it a familiar format to avoid over exposure. For once in my life!
I don’t mean to sound blasé when I say there was a second box...wrapped, protected and perfect, gin and tonic. And chocolates and peanuts. 
There’s always a story. When we did the electrical planning for the extension (the kitchen is one end of the new bit), I made a big thing about siting a socket in a particular place for the Christmas tree. 
In truth, I had a flip through the work diary and realised that I don’t have as long as I thought. Till anything. So I had a word, and now I’ve got all sorts on the go. I took this photo on Tuesday morning at about 10. I took the picture so early because I knew I wouldn’t spend so much as a minute at the desk before today. 
Then you do as prompted; add the Meeting ID, allow audio and video and click JOIN. Then at my end, (for I am the Meeting Organiser) a pop-up will magically tell me that you’re waiting to be allowed access, which of course, I’ll allow. In my experience there has been a short delay between clicking JOIN and me ‘granting’ access, so please be patient and don’t panic. It’s probably not more than 30 seconds but feels very long when you’re
A little wall around it! He calls it an ‘upstand’. Whatever, it stops stuff falling off and for that I’m very grateful and a little smug. It means that I can push back quite a lot - at least until it all builds up and fills my actual working area. It’s a great alternative to having my desk against a wall. Originally, the desk was parked in front of a glazed door. At some point it will be again. That’s where the upstand design came from...having to move the desk once in a blue moon to allow the door to be fully used meant that I needed to be able to move it without major spillage. See, even then I knew that it was never going to be tidy enough to move without effort!
I acknowledge that the mess is astonishing. I ‘work’ at this desk and even I’m having trouble. What is astonishing is that the piles at either end are still intact! It’s a different view completely. Since we put
I finally got my Christmas stamp box from the attic room and having raked through it and considered the few unused clear stamps from last Christmas, and having added the clear stamps I’ve picked up already this year, guess what spoke to me?...yep, a wood mount from probably ten years ago, by Magenta. Strange. Using the Tri Blends for colouring again. But I did mix it up a bit...here in the drying area are some gernomies that I actually painted with Cosmic Shimmer mica watercolours. 
Anyway, the point of showing you this is to illustrate the ‘sense’ of leaving it 36 years to use the photo on a scrapbook page. See, Mr Dunnit is known as Bart. It’s not his name, it’s a nickname that evolved after we married. See, his given name is Barry. One evening, in the pub with friends following the birth of Prince Harry, we ruminated that if Harry is short for Harold (it isn’t*), then Barry must be short for Barold. (Drink had been taken.) So, for a couple of months, we laughed and called him Barold. Then he and I went on a road trip to visit friends in Germany and they could not get their accents around the lack of consonants, so they called him Bartold. And he’s been Bart ever since. And if I had been a scrapbooker at the time this photo was taken, I wouldn’t have been able to come up with such a snappy title, huh! And that’s why chronological order and I don’t work. There is already a scrapbook page detailing the story of the name; I just think it’s important to be able to help you understand my erm, method in recording family life.
I’m trying to come up with some card designs for Christmas, using some of the new Woodware stamps. I’m a great fan of Francoise’s designs, but I can’t use them like she does, her colouring is amazing. Anyway, I decided to paper piece this little reindeer and that’s where I shall pick up after chores this morning. The stamped image is resting atop a basket full of Twinkling H2Os, pulled out and (literally) dusted off in a vain attempt to avoid using my TriBlend felt tips again. Still loving them! Behind the basket is some of the new air pump mica sprays from the Cosmic Shimmer collection, very nice they are too. I’ve got four, and used one, twice. When I’ve made something worth showing, I’ll show and tell. On the iPad stand is a set of Christmas sentiment stamps. Don’t know how or why they are there. Behind them, Belinda, is a couple of postcards from my daughter’s company, I’m a tier 1 sponsor and one of the perks is a couple of postcards featuring cells from the animate. Check it out on You Tube - High Hopes Low Rolls. It’s a thing of beauty. There’s a few completed cards at right back, with angels on them, and trying to use up scraps again. The rest of my desk is a mess of powders, discards and stuff I might need so don’t want to trot back to the other room. You can tell I’m trying to make some nice cards, even the box of ribbons has put in an appearance, peeking out from under the desk, show what you’re desk is accommodating this week will ya? Thanks!
A lot of you have started, and I was feeling the pressure, so I stamped a few Christmas images for colouring. The I got carried away and wanted to use glitter, pearly rub on stuff, foils, all sorts. So every time I had an idea, I had to trail back into my real work room to find whatever it was. Hence the mess..I never manage to trail the stuff back into the workroom. There’s a waiting to be stuck down fox on top of the silver foil flakes on top of the little pot of badges on top of the clear drawers. There’s 4 of the same, finished at right next to the fallen-over bin. (Empty, fortunately.) Now I’m colouring angels. You can only see one because I’ve dumped a small book and notebook on top of the second. Honestly, they’re taking me ages. I rather suspect that if I was actually in the groove for making them, I could do better! So I’m thinking that you’ll enjoy showing me up today....show your neatness, do. 
See at the right..I’ve got a new cutter. I had a virtual coffee with Cindy on Saturday and had to confess that I’d stood at the sink and quaffed the coffee before joining the party because there was absolutely no safe room on my desk. When we’d said goodbye, I knocked my old grey cutter onto the floor. Picked it up, dropped it. The corner shattered. I could have cried, it’s done me such a good service for years and although I was thinking of changing it because it was really getting a bit dull in the blade section, I wasn't ready. Separation anxiety looming, I ordered another..there are certain things 
A bit gloomier and a longer shot. Sorry if it makes you tut. See that cardboard box? When they’re all tidied away, my scrapbook supplies and papers are in there. Saves me trudging from the other room every couple of minutes. In full flow, the boxes with embellishments perch on the coffee table, my file full of alphas sit in the armchair at left of the desk and still the surface of the desk ends up like this! There was an online crop at the weekend courtesy of Scraptastic Inspirations on FB. I managed to keep up on Saturday, but didn’t get to my desk until tea time on Sunday so am now playing catch up. The challenges have really erm, exercised me. Here you see the remnants of a LO that I did with a Christmas theme which I don’t often do so had to dig very deep. The challenge was actually to document a photo that captured an embarrassing/unintentionally funny moment. 
It’s a very unflattering pic of me from 1992, but that’s the hazard in letting other people have the camera! Back to the desk....
That sheet of paper is destined to be cut up, you might just be able to see the pencil circles around the erm, circles. My guide for cutting. I’m taking things a bit slow and easy, see. I’ve had a hideous ear infection that whilst controlled, just won’t go away, and then yesterday, 15 days after I sought emergency dental treatment, my appointment led to the offending tooth being taken out and it’s made me feel battered and sore and a bit low. So, some good weather means fussy cutting whilst sitting on a deckchair. Not planned, but oh such a great opportunity to make the most! The small pile of papers under my ephemera folios are new ones; the one you can see is covered in Christmas text. I bought it for card making, because of the pattern on the other side. Let’s see if I remember I’ve got it when it comes to actually making some cards!
I did make a couple of scrapbook pages to try to catch up with an online crop I missed last weekend, but even they seemed a bit lacklustre. The ‘fun’ on my desk was supposed to look really good on one of them, but it didn’t. Thanks to Stacey, I’ll just pop it in my mini album for use later. *smug*.I don’t know if you’ve noticed over the weeks, but the bin that I painted has really faded.
There’s a good mix of gubbins and GKW, but generally it’s quite tidy isn’t it? For me! It’s only because I’ve only done part of one layout so far. The lovely boxes at right are packaging for a glass pen with a barley twist nib and lots of little bottles of mica enhanced ink in various colours. The idea is to dip the nib and the twist in the glass keeps the ink moving sufficiently to write without running out of ink after about 3 letters. Works too. Wish I had calligraphic skills to really make the most! Show and tell will you, I’m slow to respond, but I will! 
So my desk was sitting comfortably on the right, where you can now see the back of a stud wall. All the ‘stuff’ that was stored under my desk is piled up, and the blue bag is actually the start of a clear out. Because the stable door is going to be put back. Which means daylight and access from garage to garden without walking through the whole house. This time though, the hole for the door is going to be made in the wall where the cupboards, worktop and cutting station are currently doing a great job, minding their own business and it must be said, in a relatively dust free manner! There was a rumour swirling around this house that we might do it this week, but the weather forecast has caused a stay. Slightly grateful, to be honest. But it has to be done, so I think I need to clear out and just grit my teeth! I had a lovely cup of tea last week with Desker Sarah when she and her husband put Salisbury on their last minute holiday itinerary. I have a nasty feeling that she’ll post a photo, so I won’t. It’s barely stopped raining since, Sarah - please if you can, come back and stop it!
This bottle is empty, finished last night. It was a Christmas gift (..fab, huh). I want to point out here that Mr Dunnit is the butler and therefore drinks maker. He drinks gin cocktails, but uses an unbranded gin because he rather prefers the vermouth to taste. So we aren’t sharing a bottle, is what I’m saying. There was a point during lockdown that I thought I might well win the prize for rotund alcoholic, so I was verbal in my smugness that this bottle has actually lasted eight months. Yes, said Mr Dunnit, that would be a triumph if you didn’t count the one and half bottles that were used before this was opened. Ah. Have decided to consign this bottle to the erm, ‘up cycling’ section of my garage. It will have a place in the creation of the new patio area. A reminder of my assumed moderation!
Taken yesterday afternoon. About 430 after I’d come back from a supermarket run. See my reward? Diet’s going so well this week! So there’s the fixings for a Christmas card. The snowman image is one of a dozen that I stamped coloured and cut out early in lockdown, with every intention of making hundreds of cards before we were allowed out to play again. You know that didn’t happen. The heart ramekin holds a spoonful of holographic shredded plastic. (If you aren’t distracted by the iced bun, you can just see the bag full at left.) I bought it a couple of years ago and really love it as a snow effect, but it’s very coarse. So I put it in a handy container in a small amount and snip at it till it’s much less coarse. It sounds stupid but makes all the difference for me. And is a lot easier to glue on. But..it’s plastic so very static. VERY. Enough said. There’s a small handful of photos on the iPad stand, waiting. Then as you can see, new purchase on the right, the new brushes that everyone but me seems to be using with their Oxides. I haven’t even opened them yet, must find a video to educate myself. Wouldn’t hurt to find a video to help me stop needing stuff just because everyone else has it too. Hmm. With that in mind, show me your desk please...Usual rules apply!
Set aside the fact that you can still see building site through the glass door. In fact, get used to it really...we’ve started the clearing of that section but it’ll prolly be next summer before it’s proper. So the desk is in action, ta na! Everything sort of pushed back on top of other stuff so I could get to a challenge layout. I’ve got the snippy stickers out too...I’m going to use them to add a few words to the title. I think I said I was cutting them up because they are too snippy for real use. The packet of cards leaning against the drawer set is a workshop kit from Shopkeeper Gal. It’s been there a fortnight and I’ve just unearthed it. It’s a Christmas theme, so maybe it was a subconscious thing to ease it out of sight! You can’t see it, but my WOYWW11 snips bin is at the very far left. It would appear to be out of reach, judging from the state of the desk. So that’s it. A layout with a picture of my two year old daughter, completed on her 27th birthday. Seems about right.
The folios really make sense to me, and I will be able to test them a little this weekend as I’m ‘attending’ an online crop and looking forward to it, I must say. Haven’t made a LO for a couple of weeks now. See the empty plastic boxes at right? they were the ephemera boxes that I was wading through each time I wanted an embellishment for a page. Now I have a folio for tags, florals, words...you get it. It should work.
It doesn’t look too bad does it. Does it? Well, OK, mostly it’s just stuff pushed back and piled, but I really have to get these cards done. And, I got into the mood to do ephemera sorting. Our Kelly Desker had a video on one of her WOYWW posts about how she sorted and stored ephemera. Really struck a chord with me, and just out of the blue yesterday, I decided to have a go.
I was driving home when the need to do this came upon me, and I didn’t get in till after 4pm, so then I had to work fast and smart. Thats a joke, but I made a start. Commandeered the kitchen island and started sorting my ephemera. Turned out to be an interesting exercise. Loads of tags for writing on, a fair few floral things, some travel theme die cuts and a good few words and messages. So only need five folios. I’ll show you more when I’ve gone further. If you’re interested, visit Kelly, I have absolutely no improvements or tips to add to her excellent video, of course. The motivation for finishing is strong...I need the worktop back for proper domestic doings. Like food! So, in the same week - birthday cards, folios, blimey, am I mojo specific? it would seem not! show us what you’re up to please, it’s no fun without you. Put WOYWW in your post title and link it here. Ever so many thank yous.