Posting this early early...just remembered a ridiculous appointment at the gym first thing on Wednesday morning (seemed like a good idea last week when the gym was encouraging us to 'squeeze' one session in between Christmas and New Year!)
And because in the run up to it, I was confused by the whole Christmas on a Monday thing, turned out that Christmas Eve found us ready earlier than anticipated! So, we went for a walk and then, I made a couple of scrapbook LOs! Colour you surprised? Colour ME surprised!
So here is how it looks right now. Not too bad actually! The sheet of tissue paper with the little charms in are a Christmas Day addition, a present from Elizabeth . I love them, thank you! The worktop sides are cleared and clutter free. Although, despite what you may think, it was just untidy; I do not feel the need to have a de-clutter in order to work better. What I've got, I like! The A3 paper has been successfully homed and all is well - even a little productive! Now as we turn our faces to the clean slate of a new year, there is some good news and I hope, a really fab way to start your new diary....A WOYWW CROP! On the 18th May. Save the date, details of course, will follow, but the date is set, and learn more over at Sarah's blog. a>, as she is to be our hostess. Fab, huh!
So when you've taken all that in, please remember to show us your desk, table, worktop....whatever you're doing: baking, writing thank you letters, crafting, eating, booking a holiday....please show and tell! Our last desk hop of the year. All the cliches about time passing and speed of time apply. Just in case you don't venture back this way between Wednesdays - Happy New Year to you, may it be all it promises and all that you need.
Here's the thing though. Paper crafting is my game, and more specifically, I make cards. I really like to make cards and I really, really like to make cards to send to people. I know the postage costs are dramatic, and when there are a lot of cards to post, at Christmas say, it can be prohibitive. This is how I look at it; a second class stamp is now a pound, I think. I cannot, under any circumstance, deliver a card to anywhere outside about a 20 mile radius for a pound. I hand deliver a lot. I post worldwide and nationally, with a blink or two to be sure, but I do constantly remind myself that a card posted to the USA for 3 quid is about 696 pounds and a lot of effort less than I can deliver it for. For me, this cost becomes a part of the gift of the greeting that I've made.
But before I tidy that, which really isn't too daunting, I have to tackle 
The baked bean container in the middle of the table has a couple of gnarly old brushes and some turps in it, fresh (stinky) from the workshop. I've been painting little wooden beads with red enamel paint to decorate these chopping boards...
In the pursuit of using things up, I found a handful of charity christmas cards from waaaaay back. I think I always intended to add to them, so at the weekend, I had a go. You can just about make out the ingredients, blue ink, silver leaf flakes, glue pen and stencil brush. Oh...you can't see the ton of patience I had to use.......
It doesn't take much to make a mess, but it's a vaguely ordered mess. I'm using buttons! Surprising myself, but trying hard to use stuff I've got and like, and buttons are certainly in that category. The gems are exploding from their box so they're getting some use too, gotta keep them properly corralled or they end up stuck to very random things. Like sleeves, soles, the floor....you know. 
I'm not sure why the mouse looks drunk.. he looks more upright than that to me...wonky eyesight! He might have to be a manipulated mouse! 
Before I garnered the strength to cut out more houses, I made a batch of other cards - the stack with green envelopes you can see...very simple, but I hope, effective. If I remember, I'll show a proper view of one at some point. The paper piecing was a bit tedious, but the cutting was done whilst on the phone to the many people I've been in touch with in the last ten days or so, so that part was more productive than just sitting about cutting! I shan't repeat this idea though, incredibly time consuming and as I've mentioned before, really rather heavy on the embossing powder. A lovely image though, happy to have it in my collection. Not to be doom and gloom about it all, because I love making cards, but I also realised that if I post them, they will qualify as 'large letter' which is another consideration these days, huh.
Those two little packets at the top left of the glass mat are tags, kraft and white. I ordered them in a hurry and inevitably, they are smaller than I thought they'd be, but nonetheless, are going to be used! Behind them at left are two card bookmarks from English Heritage, the text says 'step into England's story' and I snaffled them from my lovely Aunt for scrapbooking purposes - when the Kathys were here we went to a few 'old' places, so I can make them work! Also while they were here, we went to the Crafters Companion shop in Evesham. They had a bargain area where returned goods are sold cheaply. I bought two stamps from that section, the first of which is at the left of my desk...some smart text about coffee. I was going to make a bunch of cards with it but I think given my tortoise like pace, I need to stay with Christmas for a while! There's a folder and a plastic box of photos next to my cutter. Freshly unpacked from my crop bag, to remind me that I need to keep up the momentum! Blimey, making myself laugh now!
Now, here's another version of that picture, with some notation....it's important that you see that when I'm away, I don't take up all the space!
Hope the mojo hangs around to help during the upcoming silly season! Show and tell yourselves please, it may be a great help to me if you want to write some motivational words about getting on with the upcoming seasonal stuff. Elizabeth, hope you're benefitting from some down time. 
I used up nearly a whole pot of silver embossing powder in the preparation, so I really have to make these cards up now! I will show you, but not for a while because I'm away this weekend with the Coven for some scrapbooking and staying up late kinda fun. My desk is safe, I'll tidy a little but still leave the card fixings out. And that lovely bottle. It was Courvoisier and it came from my Papa's drinks cabinet after he died, seven years ago. It wasn't full then, and it's taken 7 years of making two or three Christmas cakes every year since to use up the brandy! Then, when the Kathys were here, we had a sandwich and a cuppa in our local tea room and admired a selection of bottles that were decorated with decoupage and had little fairy lights inside. Good idea we thought. So I didn't throw the bottle out, but knew very well that if I decorate it, it won't involve decoupage. I've actually had an idea (!), so now I just need to get around to it! I can see you rolling your 👀. That particular phrase and I are closely acquainted and so my eyes tend to auto-roll when I say it!
This will probably give BJ even more vapours ...I've finally done a page about last years WOYWW Crop! Underneath that are a couple of other LOs referring to other events in my life last year. In fact, I'm not sure the box of photos (just at the left by the glue) actually contains any of this year's pictures yet! After I'd taken this photo, I got a chance to get back to it, so I cleared up a little and yes, broke out the Christmas stamps. Kathy declared that I had a relatively small collection (by comparison, that is, to hers), which rather pleased me. It was also nice to go through them and both Kathy and Kathy admired stamps that I haven't used for years. So I've started with those stamps; so, far just experimenting. This photo is literally how it looks this morning..
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!
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! 
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 
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...
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?!
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!
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.
The Versafine Clair ink pad is positively perfect for the sketchy detailed Art Impressions stamp of the teapot, they cards are spread out because it's a pigment ink and so, however fast, it needs drying time. The pink of the background stamping is a Distress Oxide called Spun Sugar which is very pale and I really wondered how anyone would use it. That is until Sally Patterson did something gorgeous and then I had to rush out and buy it! Still don't use it a lot, but love it against the white with the blue. I finished these cards after I'd taken the photo yesterday...they are not as I planned. But things morph and change when you don't actually take size and shape into account. a bit gung-ho, but it was ever thus! There's no sign of it today, but lots of you asked what the egg cup was for....well, I water colour using a water brush and a distress inks or felt tips scribbled on glass as the paint. The egg cup holds the water in which I wash the brush, so as not to run out of water in the barrel. Bit crackers, but works for me. Also scattered on the working part of the desk is a new black pigment ink pad and four new stamps, freshly tipped from their envelope. Including the Kate Crane balloon dog. It's really quite small, but will appear relatively soon, I hope! Brilliant service from Stampers Grove, a company I would not know about if it weren't for several of you WOYWW enablers!
At left, where it looks as if it could be tidy, there's a basket of pens, so not so much of a miss if you don't see them. Of course, balanced on the basket is a bunch of cards made and finished yesterday. I used a Brayer to make a casual inky background. I almost couldn't believe it myself, even as I was actually doing it! You can just see the edges of the inking on my scrap paper, under the crabs. The crabs are waiting to be finished...slightly boy/male variety birthday cards I hope! Some of the stamps I've used in the last couple of days qualify as NBUS; I do hope Darlene will be proud! No doubt that I'm incapable of working in any way other than a mess, but I am actually clearing up between card sets. Yesterday I had the french doors open and a gust of wind just as I was shaking embossing powder onto an image caused me to have to clear up and actually sweep the desk off with a dustpan and brush - working on a gritty surface would make my teeth itch! Made me a bit sweary for a minute too, lost quite a lot of embossing power! Please show and tell then, weather 💨 stories and all! 
This much mess and I've only made five cards! I did stick to the rule of scrap which is something. But I need to be more productive, this sort of mess should really not happen for a measly five cards! I shall tidy up a bit and start again later, I want to make a selection pack of maybe three each of five designs, so need to exert some discipline! On the far right you can see my medium guillotine. Seriously, medium. It's smaller than the 12" one that I use for scrapbooking, and bigger than the A5 one that I use for little cutting. I know, I can't explain it, but little cutting is a thing. When it's a scrap but use-able enough not to be thrown out, or a mount that just needs trimming. Little cutting. You can't see it, but little cutter is on the desk, under the medium cutter. Both of which are balanced badly on top the the erm, big cutter. Bet you're admiring my imagination for naming equipment, huh! There's a new pair of glasses too, readers in a stronger number. Lordy. I bought them thinking that they would just send me a random colour choice. Turned out that I didn't have to choose, the price was for five pairs in five colours. I didn't see that in 
Rather a mess, but that's not news is it; I've actually made three cards (on the right near the pink tray) and spent a happy hour yesterday doing some classic stamping and colouring in. I'm trying to always work in multiples, and also to only use scraps. It isn't laborious, but sometimes challenging to make patterns and colours work. But when I can make it work, I'm disproportionately delighted. That is entirely because if I stopped producing scraps today, I reckon I could could continue to make cards from them for at least another year. It's not a challenge I'm about to take on to be honest...every time I make a scrapbook page it produces some amount of scrap, so it's a bit of a cyclical problem. As I'm typing, I wonder if I ought to make a LLJ strip quilt style mega masterboard. I may actually have to walk around that idea, it's not a bad one for a change! The lovely African gal and her pots are waiting to be cut out and stuck onto as yet undetermined backgrounds. I love her and her colourfulness, she cheers me. You can't quite see my felt tips in two baskets balanced on top of one another at left, but you can I think quite clearly see the layers at right, the cards and powder tray are on top of the stamps I used, and so it goes. Probably by the time I get to the desk this afternoon, I'll be fed up and horrified by the mess and will be forced to tidy. Another cycle. Ah well, it's not hurting anyone. Although that now very flat coke might cause you to grimace. Sorry!
Admittedly, this scene is a few days old, but the photo is fresh! I haven't got back to my desk since making a start on a couple of ATCS to swap. (And one to replace- Helen, I've assembled the parts...) I was having a chat with LLJ which is a great way to force me to sit still and do a bit of multi tasking. Obviously Jan was doing something with yarn, she never misses an opportunity to have busy hands. We touched briefly on the fact that I have cut up a Union Jack postcard to make the ATC background for my British bulldog. Is it treason? I hope not. I shall claim it's all in the name of art. And hope theres WiFi in the Tower! I'm not being a craft slacker, I'm working away from my desk, largely in the evenings, doing the thread journal and another time waster - the NYTimes mini and full size daily crosswords. My sister and her husband do the mini everyday and we now compete over the time it takes. On days where none of the answers rely on real American knowledge, I'm pretty reasonable, but where brands, politicians and different spellings are needed...epic fails! Nice bit of brain training though. To be honest, if you wanted to help me get back to my desk, you could consider a face time conversation!
I cleared it of rubbish and GKW whilst cooking some supper yesterday, which revealed theses anniversary ATCs that arrived from all corners, Kelly, Neet, Susan and Elizabeth. Despite my tardiness at acknowledging, I am truly grateful that you took the time and effort...honestly June has just been such a flurry of a month that I'm still revelling in it rather than catching up. I still blame my Sissy; coming over here and requiring a stringent re-Anglicising - it was a punishing schedule! Very far left is the Order of Service from the family wedding which was one of the reasons my sister was here. Of course it's on the desk now waiting to be cut up to accompany the bazillion photos that we have amassed. So now there's cards and lovely current up-to-date scrapbooking to do....all I need is time! 
Some' old' looking ephemera (freshly printed, for sure,) and facsimiles of account books printed on A5, I have no idea where they fit within my craft needs or style, but I had to have them because they were extraordinarily cheap. Likewise the roll of handmade stickers; the other roll is Washi tape postage stamps. Really nice. I got them with a very slow delivery off a website called Temu that kept bugging me on Facebook! One of those where they offer you stuff for a penny for your first purchase. It seems to sell everything, put me in mind of a dollar store or something like it. Happy with these bits and pieces....and at least while I'm too busy to be at the desk, I can be thinking about what on earth I can use them for! If you can force yourself into the house to blog, we'd love to see what you're doing and what shape your Workdesk takes in theses summer months!
My not-much-younger sister is my judge on this one…every now and then she goes through it and if she can ‘see’ what the icon is meant to be, I tell her the story attached to it (by looking in the little diary I keep for this purpose.) At the beginning, I was putting the little pictures very close together for fear of not having enough room, but now they are reasonably spaced. Perspective is a huge issue, but I’m not going to consider it. My attempt at Salisbury Cathedral is almost the same size as the pair of little chicks above it. Thirty years ago when I had 20-20 vision this might have vexed me. Now, not at all!
Now don’t faint, but this is a three-fer! I actually remembered, so am quickly going to tell you about the acrylic words that I had on my desk last week. Still there, but I have a pic of some of them by way of explanation. They’re about 4mm thick and laser cut. I buy them principally from two sources, Bramble Fox and Peartree Cutfiles. I use them for titles or additions to my scrapbook pages. Largely because I can’t bring myself to give them away on a card, but also because they aren’t always the right size for my kind of card making. In the picture, the ‘30’ set are actually mirror silver but have a protective film over them. They need a wet glue or silicone to attach, I find the silicone is better because it grabs the smooth backs better. The complicated cuts or thin, serif fonts are quite snappy, so they need reasonable storage if you end up hoarding them. Ask me how I know. I am however, over the innovation, and can use them with ease now, so you will see them on pages that I post here if you haven’t already. 
I could prolly ramble on some more, but I believe it was actually me that asked for a modicum of brevity for WOYWW posts, so that’ll be it for now. This is scheduled for reasons of ridiculously early appointments again, but it’s OK, I’m just the driver for this one, so I’ll try to log on whilst I’m waiting. Meanwhile, post and inspire please!
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