WOYWW 235

Stamping Ground - the one blog we all go to on a Wednesday.  Will give you more details about 'What is On Your Workdesk Wednesday' and a Mister Linky.

Today I have the news that I may have had the shortest running business ever!  I am no longer selling greeting cards etc.  I came to my senses and realised that I struggle to cope day-to-day anyway (as I struggle to get my fingers and brain to connect in order to type this post!), both physically and also time-wise.  I have so much in my little head that I want to do, and as I am lucky and do not NEED to earn money outside the home then I should take the opportunity to look after myself properly, and give myself time to pursue my interests.

I had already bought in craft stash stock (as I was also going to be selling that at the fairs/markets too), but that has given me the push to start selling on the internet again.  I will eventually get round to listing everything and pricing it up, and then I will let you know when you can start buying!  I have fab scrapbook papers, stamps, ribbon, topper sheets, card blanks, cardstock etc, etc. 

Therefore, I have managed to get some crafting done in the past 24 hours.  Well, one Xmas card and I also designed a label for an envelope.  Not a huge level of productivity, but it is a start.

My picture this weeks shows that card (made with my Silhouette Cameo), plus the designs that I have printed off on my laser printer ready to go through the trusty foiling machine.  A few people asked about that when I mentioned it recently.  It is a Letraset Hot-Foil Impressions.  You need to use either photocopied or laser printed images (which for me meant buying a cheap laser printer, but it is also brilliant for printing labels and other high quality mono prints, so my other printer can be saved for the colour printing).  It is very easy to use and the results are fantastic.

 

The rest of the mess is my Xyron Designrunner - proving very useful for

decorating envelopes.  Some spare designs off the Cameo.  Pink stapler.

Pile of notebooks/paper.  My new 'day' perfume (the bottle is pretty enough to sit in front of me!).

Basket of tape/glue/baby wipes etc.  Pots with scissors/pens etc.  Pink calculator.

Ribbon cut off a new item of clothing...................

 

 

Hope that everyone is ok as we get ever closer to Xmas.  I started to put the decorations up, but needed help with our new bigger tree, so only a few window stickers in the porch and the advent calendar are downstairs so far.  I wrote most of my cards out yesterday (stock left over from my business, so for the first time in years I used non-handmade!) and just have a few more pressies to purchase (going out shopping today or will be on the internet later).  Food is ordered for collection/delivery closer to the day, so perhaps I may actually get to relax a bit??

 

Happy WOYWW to everyone I do not manage to visit.

 

Ali x

WOYWW 234

Lets get the important bit over first - linking to Julia's blog (she invented this weekly addiction), Stamping Ground.  If you click on the link you can see more details and join in.

I am only showing a small part of my desk today, as I have actually not done any crafting - except for finishing off a birthday card for my niece.  I have started a new business, selling greeting cards/gift wrap/stationery gifts etc, and they are NOT handmade.  Sorry, I almost feel like I have betrayed my crafty friends - but I really needed to make some money and get out of the house, and this opportunity just seemed to leap out in front of me.  Already making new friends just from the other ladies doing the same thing in this area - and enjoying the challenge - but it is taking over my time whilst I get the paperwork/website/stock sorted - and most of my desks are covered in stuff I will not be showing you.  There will be a link to my website on my blog for those who are curious!

On my main 'deckchair' you can see my trusty notebook, which I write lots of lists in and projects to finish/birthdays etc.  In front of it are a fab ATC I received as a private trade through www.atcsforall.com (his name is Irving), a cute fox badge I bought at a Xmas Market on Saturday.  Not sure what I will do with the badge, but it was too wonderful not to buy!  On the little easel to the left is a glass owl tile, which I bought at another craft market in the summer.  To the right is Enid the momjii.  The funny ball-thingie is my fab computer mouse/tracker ball.  So much easier to use than a normal mouse.

I am thinking that now I will not be making cards, as it takes me so long to make just one, and also I have the choice of hundreds of designs in my brochures.  Any crafting time will be for scrapbooking and using my sewing machine - 2 activities I have been wanting to get on with for ages.

I promise to show you a more interesting deskshot next week!

Hope everyone is well and not panicking about less than a month to Xmas.  We know that it is on the 25th December, but each year we still are surprised!

Ali x

WOYWW 233 - The Morning after the Morning Before

Hello to everyone around the world.  For those who are new to the wonderful world of Wednesday blog posts, go and check out Julia's fresh and newly designed blog, Stamping Ground (she has big yellow polka dots and everything!).

Why "The Morning after the Morning Before"?  Well, I went out and rode a pony yesterday.  For those who do not know me, you will be wondering what on earth is the problem with that.  Well, I have Fibromyalgia and Hyper-Mobility Syndrome, and in 2010 I suddenly developed Hip Bursitis in my right hip.  It was such a severe case that an ambulance had to be called at 5 am on a Sunday morning, so I could go to hospital and get the morphine I needed.  My 2 ponies had to go to temporary homes for 3 months. as I could not cope with the physical work needed to care for them over the winter.  I have been advised for years not to ride, but had continued, getting less frequent and for shorter distances, until this June when I could not even cope with 10 minutes of slow walking.  My mare is very very wide, so we all wondered whether that was causing the issue.  I have started to train my mare to drive now and have a cute little 2-wheeler Chariot - but I kept being tempted to get my saddle on her on sunny days and try 'just once more'.  Then, yesterday I had the chance to go and try a narrower pony.  I had been having a few reasonable days for me and it was only a short drive away, so I got my riding hat out, literally dusted the cobwebs off my boots and headed off.  Well, I got on this sweet elderly pony and for a while it felt comfy.  He was definitely stretching my hips a lot less - but as we headed down a steep hill in a gale and threatening black cloud, I could feel my hips starting to complain after only a few minutes.  So, I turned back to the yard and tried a little trot, but he was stiff with age as well and not particularly keen to go that fast.  I dismounted, had a little chat with the owner and drove home.  I rested on the sofa for a while after preparing lunch, and when I went to get up I was in agony.  I had to spend the rest of the day on extra painkillers, using 2 sticks to get around (thankfully my 2 wonderful ponies came up from their grazing as soon as they saw me, and I had prepared their shed for the night in advance, so I could just put their feed buckets on the floor and shut them in) and perched on one of our bar stools in the kitchen.  By the time I went to bed the pain had eased slightly, but now my lower back feels like it has been compressed.  This morning, I feel like I have done a 3 hour ride, not a few minutes!  Lesson learnt - I CANNOT HORSE RIDE ANYMORE.  After 35 years of riding, it feels like a huge part of me has died.  My riding hat and boots are still by the back door where I left them yesterday, and I will need to carry them back to my tack shed when I am able.  I know that I am lucky and still have my ponies (and if I am sensible can cope with their care most days), and hopefully I will be driving my mare soon (she is recovering from a hoof abscess), BUT I loved to ride and still had ambitions (to ride across Wales for one).

Enough rambling about me - what you have come on here to see is my workspace.

 

 



My desk surfaces are not particularly interesting this morning.  I have done a lot of crafting this week (lots of ATCs for swaps with http://www.atcsforall.com/), but all tidied up and just the results of some birthday/Xmas shopping spread around now, plus a bulging 'Action Tray' to go through later.  Therefore, I am showing you the old bathroom trolley under my desk.  This holds my 2 identical paper trimmers (I had one and then won another in a draw at our local craft shop - seemed useful to keep both), cute wooden box with various spare glues/tapes etc, little Sizzix embossing machine, foiling machine, laser printer for said foiling and my graphics tablet on top of that.  Oh, and the plastic box of my embossing folders on the floor underneath. 

 

Hope that everyone is well on this dark and windy morning.  No snow here, but I know that many other areas of the UK are a lot colder/whiter. 

 

I was meant to be going out to a craft workshop this morning (shrink plastic), but unlikely that I will be able to drive the car, so I think that a day of sorting out paperwork and getting on with more Xmas cards will be a better option.

 

Ali x

WOYWW 232

Well, it is Wednesday again, the middle of another week - and getting ever close to Christmas.  I went into our local Lidl yesterday, and managed to do my usual, ie lots of Xmas goodies fell into my trolley (a stollen, some marzipan chocolate, ribbons, window cling decorations and those gorgeous chocolate-covered gingerbread).  It was dark when I came out and it definitely felt quite festive. 

I have been so jealous looking at the photos from the NEC and hearing all of your stories.  So wish I could have been there.  I treated myself to some new digital stash instead.  I watched some of the Project Life programmes on Create & Craft, and was tempted to buy one of the sets.  However, then I discovered it is all available digitally - so have got myself some sets of cards to print off and make up layouts when I eventually have some spare crafty time.  If you don't know what Project Life is - take a look at Becky Higgin's website (she was the clever one who invented it!).  This is the digital site.

For those who do not know what the strange letters on my blog title are - WHAT IS ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY was invented by Julia and you can find more details over at her blog, Stamping Ground. 

I am getting so upset at the terrible scenes from the Phillipines.  It really puts life into perspective when you see so much destruction and suffering.  It also made me think about how technology has changed this world so much.  We can now all see these images from so far away.  It is not that long since there was no television, telephones or internet. 

I am sharing a few photos with you this week.  I have been busy crafting - still making up cards from http://www.craftsuprint.com/, as well as some ATCs (some of which are being hand drawn/painted, wish me luck!) and charity cards.  I counted that I have 21 Xmas cards made now, and will be getting lots of digital designs printed up to complete the number I need to send out.  I have also been attempting to keep my craft room tidy, but one area is still woefully in need of attention.  My paper and card storage, as you can see on the photo below.  The chest of drawers is full, but organised, and I have started sorting scraps into the plastic boxes.  However, the pile on top is threatening to take over, and I will get that sorted next week.

 

 

 

A longer view of one end of my craft room.  The tables are reasonably tidy

and there is room to craft.  BTW - my bin is not so full this week!

 

 

Milky the Cat - who has decided that a bed next to the

radiator (just behind my chair) is a good place to snooze in the winter.

She loves to have some company.

 

 

WOYWW 231

A quick post from me on this slightly grey November morning (yes, it is November - getting ever closer to December and meaning that crafters all over the world are panicking as, yet again, they have not kept to their plan of having the Xmas cards and gifts made well in advance!).

I actually got up late for me (7 am - yes, gasp, 7 am!!), which means that I am now in a bit of a rush to get the usual morning chores done in time for builder and building inspector to arrive at 10.30 am to 'inspect' the farmhouse and sign it off.  I should not even be at my computer typing this blog post, but, oh well, I like to live dangerously sometimes.

For those who do not know what WOYWW stands for and would like to perhaps join in when they do find out what it means - go over to Julia's blog, Stamping Ground, and click on the buttons at the top.

This week I am showing you 2 photos - one more general one of my main desk area, and another of my overflowing bin, which desperately needs emptying.  It isn't Rock & Roll, but it is my life, which is even more important.

Crafting this week has been particularly busy for me.  What with ATCs to make for swaps, starting to make cards for Craftsuprint again, birthday cards for family/friends (how rude of them to be born anywhere near Xmas!), digital scrapbooking challenges and occasionally managing to make an actual Xmas card, my little brain and hands are never sure of where to go next.  Oh well, it keeps me out of mischief and distracts me from my constant and ever-changing pain.

Happy WOYWW to everyone I do not manage to visit (which becomes less each week, as my snazzy new phone really helps me to keep up with blogging in the evening).

Ali x

 

My Silhouette Cameo has been busy again, and I have the usual

'extra' shapes cut out as I like to fill the whole sheet of card.

My ribbon box is out, as I needed some 'ribbon'.

 

 

Lovely purple bin - very full, but I do find that

I can just keep pushing more on top, which saves on

actually emptying it.

 

WOYWW 230

WOYWW or What is On Your Workdesk Wednesday is the day when us crafters share photos of our workspaces and details of our lives.  Come and join in.  We are friendly!  Julia @ Stamping Ground has all the necessary details and Mr Linky.

My photo this week shows me taking over the kitchen island with my little box of toppers to be cut out.  I am making hedgehog-themed cards/gifts for a local rescue service to sell, and in between making cards/ATCs for family/friends (there are a lot of birthdays at this time of year, and I signed up for several ATC swaps) I am hunting through my CD-Roms and digikits for any sign of the cute prickly animals.    My aim was to keep printing sheets out, and then cut them out whenever I had a spare minute in the kitchen or in front of the tv.  However, my new Samsung 'phablet' has been very useful for Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest, and I end up on that for hours in the evening!

Happy WOYWW to everyone that I do not manage to visit.  I hope that everyone in the UK (or then Northern Europe afterwards) survived the storm on Monday.  It didn't come anywhere near us.

Ali x

Patchwork Owl

I love owls and was forced to buy the 5th Birthday Edition of the Hunkydory magazine just to get the free gift of gorgeous owl toppers and coordinating card (I am sure that I am not the only crafter who understands that need!).   It is a good magazine anyway, but not my normal sort of purchase.

I created this card for my sister-in-law's birthday.  I already had the base card in my basket of Silhouette Cameo designs (I regularly cut out more than I need, so I have some samples/spares).  This was cut out on Centura Pearl and is gorgeous (if you would like some of these, then get in touch).  I layered the owl topper onto some of the card that came with it, and then designed an insert with Serif Craft Artist 2 Professional.

 

I enter this into -

Created With Love Challenge - #64, Anything Goes

Fitztown Challenge Blog - #12, Things with Wings

Make It Monday - #164, Always Anything Goes


Ali x