WOYWW #303

HUGE APOLOGIES TO MY WOYWW VISITORS FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS AS I'VE NOT BEEN ABLE TO LEAVE COMMENTS ON YOUR OWN BLOGS BUT I HAVE VISITED AND SEEN YOUR WONDERFUL WORKSPACES!

I always aim only to take part in WOYWW each week if I have time to blog-hop myself and at least visit all the workdesks of bloggers kind enough to visit me and leave a comment and for this reason I have not WOYWW'ed for a couple of weeks but love TRYING to join in so here I am with a weekly view of my workdesk and the promise to Do Better in replying to comments!!!

Thanks, as always, to our wonderful leader Julia over at The Stamping Ground for giving us this weekly opportunity of hopping around the world visiting fellow crafters creative spaces.

My desk is a huge shambles of "stuff" but, hey-ho, it works for me!

Biggest news to record is I made it to the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC!!!  Those of you who know me will totally understand what a big deal that was - I was persuaded by my dear friend Shaz (Silverwolf) to go and met her and my other dear friend Maggie (Silvercrafter) there.  We met at the FABULOUS Claritystamp stand ... the best stand there in my opinion ... and then split up to wander around at our own pace and to visit the stands that interested us most.  I got loads of lovely new stencils and other bits and bobs all vital to allow my creative juices to flow ... at least that's what I told hubby when he realised how much I had spent.  Ooops!

If it is at all possible I will get around as many blogs as I can - although I am battling a rotten sore throat and cough and sniffles and feel quite sorry for myself at the moment so it may take me a while to get round you all. 

Happy WOYWW'ing everyone! 

Time ... if only ...

Been working on a canvas all afternoon ... kinda, sorta knew where I wanted it to go and kinda, sorta got there but it is not quite as I had hoped.  

After seeing a canvas my friend did she very kindly lent me her clock stencil ... wasn't too sure at that point quite what I'd do with it but then inspiration struck and so out came the inkpads and now my fingers very much match the canvas but hey, all good fun!

Nothing dreadfully challenging about any of the techniques so won't bore you with a rundown of how I did this or that and I used so many Distress Inks I can't now recall which they were ... certainly my current favourite Evergreen Bough along with Iced Spruce and Gathered Twigs ... but there are also a couple more thrown in there too.  

My new favourite stuff to use is Grunge Paste so that is what got squidged through that wonderful clock stencil and I used one of my own Tim Holtz layering stencils for the background.  Raided hubby's washers box for the only rusty washers he had ... a most disappointing collection I have to say considering he has hundreds of the things and they have remained unused for the last 40 years or so ... oh yes, and how come the moment I start rooting through them to find any I might want to use he hovers behind me making sure I don't take the VERY ONE that he might use one day!  

Oh, I've not yet said, have I?  The canvas is for my mommy and the numbers are the date and time I lost her ... didn't want them as a date and time though - that would be far too painful a reminder ... so applied them quite randomly. I always intended to apply numbers and was just going to use any old numbers but then at the last moment I knew what I wanted to do.

Also intended to use a different quote ... one that was a bit of a turning point for me but will save that for another time (no pun intended!) - this quote seemed more appropriate for this canvas.

Bit drained and emotional now but "ok" ... I can do something like this nowadays, had a bit of a weep as I showed it to hubby and explained about the numbers but am now able to put it aside and move on.

And I am about to move on to Fairies!  Can't go wrong with fairies and back to my favourite wooden hearts!

Love and miss you so very much mommy.

WOYWW ... HAPPY 300 !!!!!!

SO 300 Wednesdays ago the incredible Julia over at The Stamping Ground launched the WOYWW concept ...WOYWW = What's on your workdesk Wednesday ... giving us bloggers the chance to hop all around the world sharing our creative workspaces.  That is the essence of it - the reality is true and strong friendships have been formed, support given, laughter and tears shared ... and then there is the crafting on top of all that.  We get a tiny glimpse into each others lives and we are able to share the good times, struggle together through the bad and enjoy our love of anything and everything crafty.

You were inspired Julia and I, along with everyone else I am sure, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I wasn't going to blog or WOYWW today but then remembered this special anniversary and so wanted to be a part of it ... I will be crafting today just as soon as I can get round to it so my desk is non-existent at the moment but I did leave out a few things ready

The cardboard box arrived yesterday and contains some new canvasses, three pots of Grunge Paste and a gorgeous stamp - all from Clarity ... not quite sure what I will do with the stamp but once I figure it out you will be the first to know.

You can just see the corner of two cowboy hats - a red one and a brown one ... call came from nephew and his girlfriend (grown up, I hasten to add!) ... "auntieeeeee - we need a Jessie & Woody (from Toy Story) costumes.

Done and dusted so they will be heading over to them as they need them for Saturday.

Back left corner is some cross-stitching that I must get done ... really I must.

Hopefully my workdesk will soon be a hive of creative activity but for now HAPPY 300th WOYWW!!!!!

Clarity Challenge ... January

Came as one heck of a surprise to find myself the winner of the "Things with Wings" challenge at Clarity Stamps for January ... especially as I had no intention of EVER entering a challenge ... that will teach me, huh?!?!?!  

As well as a lovely voucher to spend at Clarity I got to be "Guest Designer" for a forthcoming challenge and after having a mini-breakdown when I misunderstood what the theme would be I was told what the theme actually was and, well, "Anything But A Card" just set my juices flowing!  

Here is my offering ... I never make a note of what colours I use or how I actually do anything but this time I Kept Notes as I went along ... and then couldn't understand any of them when I came to write them up.

Hopefully there is enough info here for anyone interested but do, of course, leave a comment if you want anything explaining any further.

SO to begin with I did my favourite technique … ok, one of my favourite techniques as I have a few! … splodge some Distress Inks on one of those brown flexible crafty mat thingies and squirt with water and then just swish and swoosh my card through the colours!  Never quite know what I am going to end up with but am rarely disappointed and love, love, love the fact you never get the same effect twice. In this instance I used Walnut Stain, Brushed Corduroy, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire, Weathered Wood, Evergreen Bough & Iced Spruce … yeah, I know, probably way too many but I just love it when you swish and swoosh and get just a hint of a random colour appearing.

I use cheap PVA glue from the DIY store to stick the background to the heart and then trim to size when dry … same for the back! Edges were inked with Chipped Sapphire and Walnut Stain.

Next came another favourite product … Grunge Paste … spread through the Clarity heart stencil that I randomly placed here and there on the heart  - let it dry and then put the stencil back in place and randomly coloured it with the same colours as the background applied with both Clarity stencil brushes and blending tools then I just rubbed gilding wax in Autumn Bronze and Ultramarine to highlight the paste even more.  I am not a glittery, sparkly, shiny crafter and my PASSION is grunge but this time the gilding wax worked!

Another thing I love to do is emboss acetate … save all the packaging that arrives and then tear it into shape and emboss it … this time I wanted it less shiny so painted the back of it with Raw Umber acrylic paint and then wiped most of it off again … you use almost a whole roll of kitchen paper but, hey, needs must! 

Finally the sentiment was stamped with Versafine Black onto white card that had been stuck to a piece of Grungeboard and then heat embossed – tore the edge and then inked up using Antique Linen, Walnut Stain and Gathered Twigs and the two little hearts are Grungeboard which were coloured with Walnut Stain & Gathered Twigs and then partially embossed … everyone says they look just like tooled leather which is kinda, sorta the effect I was hoping for.  Garden string was wrapped around the top right hand side of the heart and there you have it!