WOYWW #304 - Wednesday 2nd April 2015

Hello Friends and WOYWW visitors!

Gosh, 1st April already and I promise not an April Fool insight on here I promise!

Well, it's been a while but I'm back with a WOYWW post! For those of you who don't know what this is, it's that time every week when we get to share what's on our desks courtesy of Julia and Stamping Ground   - click the link to find out all about it!

So what's on my desk this week?

Well, there are some water coloured sketches I've been playing around with for a  special project that I'm working on and will be posted in a few weeks time...and that's all I'm saying at the moment!

The mini album die will be making up the main part of the project...I'm just still deciding what to do with the cover...

 and as well as some CAS cards and Easter cards, my Annie Sloan workbook is tucked behind the art pad....I am a big fan of Annie Sloan chalk paint and 'Annie Sloaning' something is a bit of a buzz phrase in our house...well you can guess why!

Tom(my husband for new visitors) gave me the book one of my Christmas presents; it's  a place to put ideas, cuttings and record projects....

Last week I finally got around to putting photos of my first big furniture upcycle from last summer; an old desk we picked up for very little and I "Annie Sloaned' for use in our little summerhouse that I use as an outside craft area. I was thrilled when Annie looked at the photos on my blog and sent me a message...of course I've put that in there...I was pretty pleased with it for a first attempt at a furniture worker and I really enjoyed it.

Finally a few photos of one of the projects on my desk...a little Easter card. It's tiny, 4x4 inches square and made using kraft card. For the front I die cut a Spellbinders Scalloped Oval die and inked the edges with Shabby Shutters distress ink. I used a cute little die that one of my friends gave me as a birthday present for the images..it's 'Bunny Stuck in a Flower Pot' by Cottage Cutz, but the little bunny on the front is from a little set of bunnies by Impression Obsession and the leaf is from Spellbinders 'Sprigs'.

The main part of the card is inside, where I created a pop up using the bunny die, coloured with Promarkers...just  a bit of fun!

Thank you so much for stopping by, it's so nice to be sharing my desk again!

Love and Hugs

Carole X

WOYWW #268 - Wednesday 23rd July 2014

Hello Friends!

I hope you are still enjoying the fine weather! Thank you for your comments yesterday and especially for popping over to Sam's blog and leaving a comment. Quite a few commenters mentioned that they can't make CAS cards...well neither can I!!! Honestly I was determined for that post to make three cards from the stamp, that had the same kind of 'theme' but were different. I knew the only way I could do that was to make three CAS cards...well those cards took me much longer that one card using stamping techniques, dies etc would have taken!

The thing is that I really like CAS cards, I follow some of your blogs where you make them regularly and I am in awe of them, honestly. I love using all the 'techniques' on tags, plaques, canvases and art work, but I definitely want to practice more CAS on cards...here's a thought to end on...I showed those cards to a friend who isn't a crafter and her remarks were that they were gorgeous and must have taken me ages to make....I told her that they did, because I took a while to design and  get them right, but I could replicate them quite quickly now...so she asked me to make her some..doh!!! So there you go! I need to get quicker with my CAS!!!

Anyway...on to my WOYWW post... 

WOYWW is our weekly chance to show what's on our desks courtesy of the lovely Julia over at Stamping Ground.

Last week I unveiled the old desk that I had been transforming into a new desk for my craft room out in the garden...I must say that especially with this weather it is nice to have a separate space just for artwork, away from my card making - and I can be close to our hens..bliss!

Just to prove that I am using it...here is my current project:

What is it you may be asking? Well it's going to be a lantern...I'm making two, one for Halloween and one for Christmas. Once I have finished painting this one I will 'rust it up' , decorate it, hang it from the stand and add a battery tea light! What fun!!!

Thanks for stopping by my desk today....I'll be doing my WOYWW rounds later!


Love and Hugs,
Carole X

WOYWW 240 - Wednesday 10th January 2014

Hello Friends and Fellow WOYWWers!

It's been a while since I took part in  WOYWW, so although I try and keep these post short, please forgive me for a lengthy one today and not just a desk but a whole room! WOYWW, for those who don't know, is where we get the chance to share our craft space with blogland, courtesy of Julia over at Stamping Ground...please click the link for all the deets!

 For a start with all the Christmas paraphernalia, my desk has been hardly visible for months and I've been quite ashamed of the state of my craft room:)..which is saying something as tidy craft rooms are a rarity..aren't they?

However, as my regular friends will know, for a few days over New Year when the rain was really lashing it down and the winds were howling (hence there was no going out), I decided to completely declutter my craft room. Of course, most of the time to us crafters, 'decluttering' simply means moving stuff around!

I'm lucky: several years ago Tom and I built a summer house in the garden, which was supposed to be my craft room. It worked okay for a little while, although I was still semi working in a spare room (aka craft room!) because it was just too small and over the past few years it has sadly been neglected and mostly used or storage. 

During our lovely summer last year, I did use it a few times for some art work and decided that this year I was going to use the craft room for my paper crafts and sewing and the summer house for altered art and mixed  media.

So the reason my craft room is so tidy at the moment, is because my art parts and paints are all packed up ready for a new home when the weather gets better. It will be nice to use two separate spaces.

It's weird isn't it? I got all this stuff out, packed up a good part of it and then still struggled to get the rest back in!!! There is still a lot of sorting to do - papers and card blanks but at least it's easy to work in at the moment..not that I'm expecting that to last!

Now I want to ask you a question! How do you store your stamps? I have lots and lots and at the moment they are in boxes on shelves and in the cupboard. I've tried storage folders in the past, but the boxes seem to work best for me. However, currently I store them by make of stamp - I have House Mouse boxes, Creative Expressions, Crafty Individuals, Tim Holz....but sometimes I just want a butterfly and find myself hunting through my boxes for an appropriate stamp, so would I be better having a box for nature, for flowers etc..what works for you? I'd be really interested to know!

So, do come into my craft room....

I made this bunny a few years ago and he now hangs on my craft room door

 My desk..as you can see, it's quite clear at the moment....it's nice and big and was FREE many years ago when Tom's employer moved offices and it was a 'free for all' with the furniture!  It's good that it's so big, because I can just clear aside the keyboard, replace with a mat.... and craft!

 My sort of tidy shelves! The cabinet with the cutter on top was another 'throw away' - it's one of those old video cabinets. It now doubles as a cabinet for my craft CD's and is a nice height for cutting paper and using my die cutting machines.

 Yes, you guessed it the cabinet came with the office move and is used to mostly store household files (tho,ugh some craft stuff has crept in there). The plastic drawers are storage for my inks and next to it is the built in wardrobe where I keep my die cutting machines and some of my stamps.

 This is my sewing corner...my little desk and shelves for my sewing machine, materials and (mostly)Tilda books.

..and finally right next to the coop, our little summer house (and our four 'girls')..in need of some TLC, but watch out I hope to be posting a WOYWW from there later this year....

So that's it folks! Thanks for dropping in! I'll look forward to having a look around a few of your desks later...

Love and Hugs
 Carole X

WOYWW wk 211- Wednesday 19th June

Good Morning Friends and fellow WOYWWers!

Just a very quick post today as I need to get down to some crafting on my day off! My regular followers will know that I have recently rearranged the workspace in my craft room..I am still waiting on 'reclaiming' the cupboards in the room for craft stash, so am still climbing over boxes..but that's for another day!

This is my WOYWW desk this week..this is the time of the week us crafters get to show what's going on in our craft space..for full deets and to join in click this link to Stamping Ground and host Julia will tell all!

I wanted to show you my little messy desk..this my favourite space away from the computer where I can get inky and messy! I used to have a desk by the window and kept my  art work on the window sill, but I needed to have it on the wall! Do you see the big red heart card holder? Well some of you will recognise your work on here, because except for the three steampunk pieces at the bottom, which are mine, all the other lovely cards were sent to me by my lovely blog friends, plus a Create & Craft prize of a Hels Sheridan original card(the pinwheel).... and aren't they all gorgeous? I had to take a close up so you could see them better...

Thank you all!

The second close up photo shows a box I am currently working on....

Thanks for stopping by and I will drop by some WOYWW desks later!

Love,

Carole X

WOYWW week 203 - Wednesday 24th April

Hello Friends and fellow WOYWWers!

Today is the day when, courtesy of Julia at  Stamping Ground, we get the chance to unleash the contents of our desk tops...and one day I will share a tidy desk..but not this week!

This was my desk about an hour ago as I started my work for today (Wednesday for me means I don't go to work at the office so I get to craft, yay!). It seems to have been a week of finishing projects..I finally finished my altered dress form, Tim's Tag for April and blogged them both..today it is my Sunday Stampers project, Emergency Crafters DT card and then (if time) I will start my designs for our next workshop, wish me luck with all that!

I wanted to make some flowers using my Tim Holz tattered floral die to use on my Sunday Stampers project this week, so I had just cut them using my cuttlebug. The art work on the window sill behind my desk is (mostly0 not  mine, but cards sent to me by some of my lovely blog followers..always displayed in front of me!

Off to start the projects now, happy WOYWW all! 

Love,

Carole X