WOYWW 537 - I made a card

Morning, all.  Did you miss me?  For those who are paying attention, you will notice I am typing this in Blogger.  I can’t remember the sign in details for Wordpress!  I will attempt to access my account there by next week.

If you are not aware of WOYWW (What is On Your Workdesk Wednesday), then go HERE and find out more.

It has been 13 weeks since I last blogged (go to read this at www.aliwade.com).  Simply, I haven’t been crafting.  My Instagram accounts (@iamaliwade and @big_old_farmhouse) and getting back into cycling have been keeping me busy.  My aim to live a simpler life means I often don’t do anything that I am not excited about.

Then yesterday I needed an anniversary card - and didn’t have anything suitable in my ‘card drawer’. So I raided my much more limited stash and made this simple card.  The photos have inserted themselves in the wrong order, and adding captions on my IPad seems to be a step too far, but at least you have pictures.  I used some papers and ribbon from my scrap box, then used the Crafters Companion Downton Abbey cd-roms to find a topper.  The flowery box is all of my tools/mixed media stash.  I have decluttered a lot and now my craft room is a lot more easier to get round.

I hope everyone is ok.  I have just started a cycling group and we are going out on our first lunch ride today, so it won’t be until this evening that I can read some of your posts.

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WOYWW518 - Embroidery

Happy WOYWW.  A bit late today, as I have been 'busy' with some self care (a shower and some skin/nail pampering), polishing up the kitchen sinks and Instagram (which I am loving at the moment - such a fun and friendly global community).  WOYWW stands for What is On Your Workdesk Wednesday and is a global tour around crafty workspaces.  Join in at The Stamping Ground.

If anyone wants to join in on Instagram, I have two accounts - one for general life stuff (farm, pets, Pembrokeshire, Spain etc) and crafting @iamaliwade, and another for cleaning/organisation/home decor/living a simple life/chronic illness @big_old_farmhouse.

Whilst sorting through one of the old wardrobes in my craft room, which I use for storage, I found this embroidery kit, which of course came from The Works!  I haven't done any embroidery since school (although cross stitching was a big part of my life for many years).  Looking forward to trying some different stitches.

The kit contains everything needed to complete this gorgeous floral design.

Progress photos next week.

This will be the last time that I blog on Blogger.  I started to set up a new Wordpress site yesterday, and will be transferring posts over to that.  It will have a few posts about my crafting, but that is not such a big part of my daily life now, so there will also be a mixture of posts about living with chronic illness, home management, living a simpler life and more.  Blogger has been ok to me over the many years.  There have been times when it refused to post, or photos, but generally it is a great way to get into blogging.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Ali x

WOYWW 517 - rock painting

Good morning from a cloudy Pembrokeshire.  I was awake fairly early this morning and decided to ignore computer work, and do some rock painting instead.  I pin to my Rock Art Pinterest board almost every day, so have plenty of inspiration.  I chose a simple flower design that would suit a larger rock I had already painted black.

Here is the progress so far.  I am using my favourite Posca paint pens.  I do have some cheap acrylic paints and brushes, but find the pens easier to use.

I am going to a craft workshop in Haverfordwest on Friday, so will take the finished rock with me to hide somewhere enroute.  All of the rocks I have hidden so far (well, not really hidden, but placed in full public view!) have been taken quickly, and a few have been re-posted on Facebook Rock Painting groups (travelling all over the UK).  It is a great way for me to be creative, as it does not end up with lots of my creations cluttering up the house.

If anyone would like to see more crafty workspaces, go to Julia's Stamping Ground.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Ali x

WOYWW 516 - needle felting on the sofa

Happy WOYWW to you all (What is On Your Workdesk Wednesday).  Click HERE to join in with this global tour around crafty workspaces.

It will be afternoon by the time I get this published.  I actually took the photos fairly early this morning, but our wifi decided to not work and I couldn't face the task of writing a blog post on my phone!  When the wifi came back on I had already started my daily routine and it has taken a while to get through the basics (emails, Pinterest, Tailwind etc).

My workplace today was the sofa in front of the tv early this morning.  I have done 2 sessions of needle felting so far, but the tail part is taking a while.  This is my first Felt and Dandy kit (purchased on Hochanda, but here is the company's website), and the instructions are very clear and comprehensive.  I am on step 13 out of over 100, so it will be a while before this gorgeous design is finished.

The final picture shows how it should look when completed.  Hopefully mine will at least be similar!

I am taking it easy today (at least with housework etc), as the last few days have been particularly busy.  Yesterday I did a lot of gardening to get it all done before the rain arrived.  I knew that I would be in more pain than usual this morning, so now I am mostly in my office (Pinterest and blogging stuff). 

I will get some more needle felting done later (starting on the body part).

I also really need to get some of the higher value crafty stash listed on Facebook Marketplace, as my bank account could do with a boost.  I might create a Facebook page for it all and will post a link on here if I do.

Stay safe and happy.

Ali x

WOYWW 515 - gathering more stash to sell/donate

Good morning to all of the WOYWW deskers.  I had intended to get on here early, but got distracted by the tv this morning, and then had to go and deliver the farm truck to get its MOT done.  It is that time of year.  We took the campervan for its service 2 weeks ago, on Monday I was there with my car and now it is the truck.  We perhaps need to move next door to the local village garage we use!  In May the Maserati needs to be serviced, and that involves a trip to Swindon (nearest dealership now - remind me to persuade hubby to sell it this year!).

There is absolutely no crafting going on at the moment (I have taken the needle felting kit downstairs every evening this week, but not got round to actually opening the box).  However, I am now getting really brutal with my decluttering (all sorts of stuff went to the charity shop and tip this week - stuff I had been displaying on shelves, but I realised that I did not need these 'things' to keep a memory).  In fact, I am going to be removing furniture from my craft room/office once they are completely emptied.  I think I will just call it my office, as so little crafting occurs (I am keeping my rock art supplies, pens/pencils and possibly that is all).

If it is ok, I will bring the best quality stash with me to the Crop, and it can go for donations to the Donkey Sanctuary.  My 2 Ikea Raskog carts will be needing new homes too, and happy to reserve them for anyone who needs more storage in their craft rooms (one teal, one cream).  I also have lots of the 'Really Useful' storage boxes - A4, A3 and 12x12.  Shout if they could be useful for you.  Everything will be less than half the new price.

My picture this week is the start of a pile of stash that I no longer use (or never used!).

It is interesting how our priorities in life change.  A few people have said but what if you want to do some papercrafting in a few months time?  I remind them that I used to spend 7 hours per day doing cross stitch (for myself and clients); I had an Ebay shop and market stalls selling cross stitch kits etc.  Then, one day I realised that I just didn't want to stitch anymore - and I haven't.  That was about 8 years ago.  I can always do some digital designs anyway, and I have a craft shop in our local town (plus The Works) if I suddenly need some supplies urgently.

I am just working through getting a domain name that I have had for a while transferred to where I have Wordpress sites hosted (Bluehost), and then I will be starting a new WP blog (a lot of the posts from on here will be transferred too).

Will do a post on here and on Instagram giving the link for the new site when it is up and running.

Enjoy the rest of your day.  I have a very long To Do list - including finalising my outfit for a wedding on Saturday.  Think I will need new shoes to go with the new dress, so perhaps going out to town tomorrow to do some shopping.

Happy Easter for all who celebrate.

Ali x

ETA - I keep forgetting to add a link to where WOYWW happens.  Click HERE.

WOYWW 514 - New Stash, but no Crafting Yet

Happy WOYWW to you all.  I didn't join in last week (busy with office stuff and nothing to share with you), but did visit a few blogs.  This week I actually have some new stash to show off!  Some of this was purchased whilst meeting up on Monday with the wonderful duo that are J&J (Julia & Jan).

Firstly, I saw a felting show on Hochanda and fell in love with their designs immediately.  Had not heard of Felt and Dandy before, but will definitely be purchasing a few of their kits.

Then, Jan & Julia dragged me into my favourite bargain shop (Bargain Box in Narberth), and I managed to buy a small crafty item for myself (everything else was for my presents cupboard - Christmas gifts!).  Not used these cute and glittery pups yet, but for now they sit on my crafty table and I stroke them regularly.

I love the logo design.

It was wonderful to see Jan again - and to meet Julia finally.  We had a fantastic lunch in my favourite Spanish restaurant in the UK, Ultracomida, and then a bit of shopping.  I was tempted by jewellery as usual, but resisted until I have chosen the dress I will be wearing to a friend's wedding later this month.  No photos were taken (my Psoriasis is flaring right now and I am definitely not photogenic), except for one of the High Street.  Narberth is very high in my list of favourite UK places.  Go and visit if you can - but have a few hours to stroll around the shops.  We didn't even get to my favourite shop, or the gin shop, or the antique shop .......

My days are full at the moment with Pinterest, blogging, helping clients etc etc, plus I continue with the spring cleaning of the house (and starting to tidy up the garden), but hopefully I will find some energy to sit down later and start the needle felting.

I am delayed getting this published, as I had to go and take Rich to the garage to pick up the campervan after its service, and then the usual issue that I have getting access to photos taken on my new phone.  They immediately appear in Dropbox on the website, but the laptop doesn't seem to want to sync and I end up having to download them.  Something else to sort out.

Enjoy the rest of your day.  It is sunny here.

Ali x

WOYWW 512 - Craft Room sneak peeks

Good morning to you all, from a dry and calm, but misty, Pembrokeshire.  I am loving this weather, but I do want to be outside getting jobs done (garden always needs something doing, and I am trying to get my car clean inside and out, ready to possibly sell it).  I also have lots of business stuff to do, and the spring cleaning/decluttering continues inside, so most of the time I am doing something whilst thinking about what I should also be doing!  My pain has been flaring as a consequence of doing so much physical stuff - with my right arm/shoulder making me stop and rest more than I want to.  Psoriasis is flaring too, which has not done for years.  GP has referred me to Dermatology, which is now in Llanelli (a fair distance from us, 60 miles, 1 hr and 25 minute drive each way!).  He told me not to hold my breath whilst waiting for an appointment.  It may well have cleared up of its own accord by then.  I was spoilt when I lived in the West Midlands, as I worked only 1 mile from the Birmingham Skin Centre, and could literally pop up there every day for treatment in my lunch hour.  I didn't have to have an appointment, as I was officially on their 'inpatient list'.  Again, I wished I was in Spain.  The fantastic new hospital in Denia is only 10 minutes from where we want to live, and the consultants there in all departments are amazing, and you can get an appointment within days.  Well, I will stop moaning about the state of the NHS in West Wales, as at least we have some sort of health service.

For the WOYWW part of my post, which is why I am sitting in my cold craft room/office (forgot that I turned down the heating upstairs yesterday and never turned it back up again - wondered why I was getting so cold yesterday evening!) at 8 am on a Wednesday, I am sharing some photos of an area that still needs some decluttering (I have paints etc that I never use).

If you would like to join in with What is On Your Workdesk Wednesday, then go to Julia's Stamping Ground.

The wooden 'bedside cabinet' at the bottom used to be full of finished cards and mixed media stash, but is now mostly empty.  I couldn't resist the small drawers on top, but do not use them for much.  The Mod Podge has only been tried once for rock painting and soon realised that it is not up to the job, so that will be going to a local charity group.  Same with the gessos.  Everything else is decorative and will mostly be staying.  The flowers in the jug are from The Range.  The cute teddies were made by a lady who goes to the craft workshops at the local craft shop

This used to be my sewing machine table (well, when I started crafting in 2004 this was my ONLY table!).  I now have 2 others - much bigger too.  Just has my basket of rocks waiting to be painted, and the other basket are my only stamping supplies (yes, I know, this will be a shock to you!).  Just a few ink pads, a few stamps and a couple of blocks.  Still plenty to play with though.  My pin cushion is there for some reason (a friend made that for me) - and 2 finished painted rocks.

Well, I have chatted on for long enough and I need my breakfast, so will come back and visit some blogs later.

Have a lovely day.

Ali x