Stamps for sale…

 These will be £2 each unless they are small, then £1. I’m the one who determines what’s small and what isn’t!

Happy to post anywhere in the world and will charge postage at cost, I’ll quote you the price before you commit. In some cases this will involve a trip to the post office so please be patient!

I will happily remove rubber stamps from their wood blocks for ease of postage, but I will not make good or provide new mounting foam.

Please email or message me, either screenshot the stamp or quote the handwritten number on the photo….anything to avoid me sending you the wrong one!

The following selection are from a company that made the stamps so that they could be used on their magnetic blocks. Each unmounted image has some metal or magnet in it, but they are perfectly useable without the specific make of block. Like nearly all of the stamps in this post, they are all unused.

What’s On Your a Workdesk? Wednesday 660

Change of scenery folks, not to shake things up so much as to display my utter flexibility and diversity of craft skills. Oh, who am I kidding! But rather than show you a pretty untidy but under-utilised desk, I thought you’d like to see my dining table instead.

I’m in the process of altering a few nighties for my Mum. She has tissue-like skin which can no longer tolerate having clothes pulled on over her head, so the lovely gals at the Care Home suggested I buy her some hospital gowns. I can’t, they are too impersonal and institutional. Emily administrator suggested cutting up the back of her nighties and adding some ties. Brilliant. Lovely soft cotton nighties and ties where they won’t throttle or expose! Mum is actually bed-ridden so exposure isn’t really a thing, but I’m pretty sure you understand my thought process here! I’m using her sewing machine too, mine is broken and Mr Dunnit has just been too busy to look at it for me. For years Mum had a big heavy Pfaff machine and I had no idea that she’d changed it at some point until I cleared their house out. It was where it always was, in the white box it was always in and my muscle memory kicked in and I lifted it with some force only to nearly throw it over my shoulder it was so light! This ‘new’ one is a good runner for sure, but you won’t find me replacing zips in jeans with it, it’s not the incredible machine that the Pfaff was!  I’ll be back at the colouring and sticking pretty soon, but not before I’ve uploaded more stamps for sale to the other blog, please have a look at it in a few days to see if there’s anything you might want to add to your collection. 

www.forsakenstash.blogspot.co.uk

Now, as with every Wednesday, please show and tell, seeing what you’re doing and reading about your days is a right old tonic! Please put WOYWW in your post title so those of us who are slow to visit can find you easily! Thanks!

Advertising Space

It’s time to get public! If you read here regularly and have crafty products to sell and better yet, if you sell your hand made creations, tell us about it by commenting. I’m occasionally asked who makes cards for sale, and I know some of you are SU! Affiliated and still some of you make and sell other things. I discourage direct linking and blatant promotion of Wednesdays because it’s meant to be about the desks and the inspiration, so here’s a chance to use my blog for a bit of that very thing for a few days. 

I’ll probably ‘catalogue’ your comments so that when asked or if it’s appropriate, I can refer people to you, that way this post doesn’t have to be saved by all and sundry. Go ahead, please!

The Unsung Hero

I have an unsung Hero. It’s been on my desk and on the workshop bench in the shop, quietly delivering. That means it’s been in my crafting armoury for nearly twenty years and I don’t think I’ve once acknowledged it! I’ve talked about all sorts of storage and products and techniques. If this desk tidy could talk, it would have a lot to share!

Its MDF and was sold to me by a Sales rep called Graham Hansford. It was years before any of the big companies had produced their own desk tidied and even more years before these sort of things came as kits to paint and stamp. I can’t remember why I painted it red, but I remembe and still have that lovely Dawn Houser stamp, I remain a big fan of hers, can’t part with any of the many wood mounted stamps she designed for Inkadinkado back in the day. She has a presence on Pinterest but I can’t find her on Instagram and her blog is out of date, but I still love to browse through it! 

An aerial view to make you giddy!

 I’ve no idea who made this sturdy and not about to be under-used desk tidy, but I owe him really. I expect at the time I thought it was expensive, but it has endured far better than some more considered purchases I can tell you! I’m mildly amused to remember that my entire felt tip collection of Marvy Le Plume used to fit in the grid holder along the back. The overall use has therefore morphed a little. Instead of being storage, it’s become a catch all and desk presence, used every time I sit at my desk, as you can tell from its contents. I note too that despite having a deckle edged cutter, I still hang on to the long faded deckle edge scissors (pink handles). Not the first time, isn’t it strange what you notice when you take a photo? It’s not a very tidy desk tidy, but my word it deserves a long service and good conduct award. I think it and me are rather attached, my desk would be bigger without it, but I’m not sure I could cope! I expect if I look around carefully, I might find something else overlooked, but I doubt it could be so overlooked and so useful.

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 659

Its 8:44 GMT which is vey late for this post. I had every intention of it publishing from a scheduled editor, but having typed it out and added the picture….surprise, I went to bed without hitting the Publish button. Then I dashed around a posted it. To the wrong blog. Sorry folks, it’s going to be a slow day! There are no computers that can accommodate this sort of stupid. Argh.

Anyway, here’s the desk

Sort of makes me happy that it’s back to some sort of normal. I still haven’t used the Clarity die at the back right, I might force myself this week as I’m making cards….might. As you can see I’ve added some text to the two notebook pages I stamped and coloured last week, and one of those has even found it’s way onto a card. I promise that the colours match much much better than it appears here! I’m doing a bit of a Cindy actually, there are four cards with already created backgrounds on my desk, (two now finished, two at left). I found them while I was looking for something else (of course) and so have erm, gently challenged myself to use them. If you’re interested, I’ve resumed posting stamps for sale on my other blog www.forsakenstash.blogspot.co.uk. They are another tranche from my late friend Mary’s huge collection and so the sales money will go to charity. I’m happy to post worldwide, whatever it costs I’ll quote you before making you commit! This first batch is largely Christian, St Patrick’s Day and some Christmas. Please check back now and then, I’ll be adding new batches every few days until it’s done now.

Before you run over there to have a look though, please add you desk post to the list so that us lesser mortals can be inspired!

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 658

I’m fiddling about with posting times to shake the list order up a bit…no specific reason, but I’m thinking that the overseas Deskers might like it for a while. I don’t know, but I am open to comments! 

Meanwhile, January is picking up a pace if you ask me. I’ve been making, forcing myself to address the birthday book so that I can prepare in advance. Or at least try, I really like to enjoy the making process and they’re easier to send. I do make in multiples - if I manage to get the idea from head to card and I like it,  I then send the original to the person I was originally making it for, and put a couple into the card drawer for panic requirements. You know.

I haven’t played with the now new-ish die yet. I moved instead to new stamps and spent a happy couple of hours last weekend plotting and planning and eventually, stamping and then spritzing. I used some Pixie Powders - had to take the seal off both the bottles. I don’t know when I bought them, but have silently promised that if I buy new ingredients for any technique, I will bring them home and at least try them before parking them on a shelf! 

So that’s pretty much what’s going on at my desk, can’t tell you why it takes three pairs of scissors, or two glue types, but hey, it may just be the habit of reaching to the useful holder which is at left and should be at right, judging from where I leave everything! Again, comments welcome!

Show me yours then, it will help me enormously.

Putting Christmas Away

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I like to spend December surrounded by Christmas stuff. Apart from the home stuff and decorations which are a given, I have a few bits and pieces of erm, mobile decoration. I have a couple of nice scarves to wear under my coat….one with reindeer and one with robins. I have a Christmas handbag, red wool, embroidered with nutcrackers, rocking horses and other ornaments. You have to get quite close to see them so it’s not too embarrassing to go out with me. When I can find them, I have a lovely scandi style pair of red and white gloves. All of these embellishments are in use from December 1st until twelfth night. I love having them and particularly love that they are useful decorations! 

This Christmas I had the ultimate accessories.

Yep. A glasses case, a foldy-in-on-itself shopping bag  and a little purse. Now, Lunch Lady Jan may have looked at this fabric and thought of my Christmas accessory thing with a bit of a tongue-in-cheek glint in her eye (pardon the mixing of metaphors), but I can’t tell you what a fab gift this set has been. The fabric just fills me with joy! I obviously don’t need to explain the virtues of a fold flat shopping bag. The glasses case has snuggled my essential ‘price label, shopping list and menu’ reading glasses without slipping or loss and the little purse has been home to a power pack type charger and some wires for my old and constantly needing charge mobile phone. 

When I’m out shopping or coffee-ing, being able to literally pull these out of the bag has been such a pleasure. Caused smiles, laughter, joy and conversation. And a few times, I could have sold them! I did direct a few people to the Harbour Lights Cafe at Burry Port for purchases, (Jan sells her makes in there, entirely for RNLI fundraising). Mostly though, I was unforgivably smug and on enquiry would just say that a friend made them for me. 

These 3 amigos are now in the airing cupboard after their wash and will finally go into the storage bag of Christmas napkins, table runners, bunting, hand towels and erm, bath mat and shower curtain to wait till next Christmas. It’s no wonder is it, that I look forward to December like no other month. Huge thanks to my mate Jan, as usual. Even though she ran away from living near me, I carry her laughing with me! Or at me, I can never quite decide when it comes to the Christmas stuff! 

Whats On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 657

Well, hello and happy New Year! I wish you a healthy, productive, creative and very happy year. It may seem that there’s plenty to conspire against these ambitions, but that’s all on a national and international scale if you ask me. Keeping it at our own level will be our way to keep control and enjoy. Obviously, you may disagree with me, but this is what we Dunnits have decided!

And so… to some desk action:

And there is action too! I’ve launched into January’s birthday card making, although to be completely honest, I’m not sure where this is going, I just wanted to stamp that lovely doodle border and fussy cut it. So I did. At left you can see my increasing collections of Janet Klein stamps, and a very arty new set which I only brought for the images with text in them. Top right is a new die that will, I hope, match to size of a stamp set I own. I bought it when Sarah announced Clarity Stamps was having a sale, last year, but definitely in the winter - it hasn’t been on my desk for that long!  I must get around to a play with it soon! The great thing about this photo is that I’ve found the blu-tack. It’s quietly sitting under the drinks coaster. I was looking for that on Sunday. And Monday. Not in a great, open-every-drawer way, but nevertheless, this is proof that a photograph can make you feel foolish without you even needing to be in it! 

Please share your crafty new year desks with us here - did you have to clear it off for a wild New Year party, or did you escape to your desk for some peace and normalcy? Show and tell, do!

Pearl drops on roses….

Now that the majority of my stash is on show and within reach, I find myself thinking about the products more whilst I’m scanning the shelves to see what I can use to embellish and adorn and potentially improve whatever I’m erm, ‘working’ on. I’ve already written about my complete inability to understand why I own Washi tape. I have no problems explaining the ownership of the liquid pearly stuff. 

I really like it! I’m not a slave to a particular make; it’s the colour that attracts me first, and even the fancy packaging of the Nuvo Drops didn’t sway my opinion. For once I didn’t panic buy into the trend: I must have evolved into a slightly smarter consumer just before they hit my awareness! All the makes are good, in my opinion.  You can spread ‘em, wipe ‘em or blob ‘em. If you blob them, they dry in dimension which is incredibly useful. The Nuvo Drops bottle makes a bigger blob and in truth, pretty much dries at the size you leave wet. The Liquid Pearls dry a little smaller, evaporation being the drying technique, but once you know, you kinda make allowances and your blobs naturally enlarge to take this into account. 

I add these little round dots to lots of things, and use them to stick down gems coz then when I press the gem down too hard, at least the glue is pretty as it squeezes out from underneath. And here’s a tip…if you can, leave a good 12 hours or overnight to dry. Don’t be in a hurry to put the adorned card in a sleeve…..as you can see, it flattens the top of the blob. 

Something incredibly unusual for me…subtle use of the pearly white, just look at them snowballs. Love em! And a last and extremely well researched and scientifically proven top tip : given the required drying time, assemble the whole piece, mounting, matting, sticking, folding, whatever needs to be done, BEFORE you apply the pearls. Believe me, you’ll appreciate the research I’ve done on this, but probably not until you ignore my advice!