WOYWW 208

So....WOYWW is four years old! Congratulations to Julia for 4 years of being the host who takes us around the World to visit  some lovely desks! That means I missed out for nearly three years, how I wish I'd known about this fun before then! Well actually, I think I did, as blog friends would occasionally have this strange acronym at the top of their posts and show off their desks - except that I thought it was exclusive and I needed an invite! I know better now, and if you want to know more about how to join in take look here at Julia's blog.It's been lovely to make so many friends, even though we never see each other!
So, this week it's my caravan desk and there's someone else working there!

My lovely granddaughter - she thinks her tooth may come out while she and her brother are staying with us while Daddy is having to work this week! We have decorated two matchboxes (one to take home) for the tooth fairy! Here she is adding stickles them!

We used Distress inks and Lavinia stamps and we've had a great morning so I hope you will forgive me for being a little late! We hope to get around a few desks this afternoon after we've been out for a leg stretch!!
Happy WOYWW! Chris (and Emily)

Squawk meets the tattered floral monster!

Feeling a bit low I thought I'd cheer myself up by just playing with inks and stencils to make some papers to use in my journals. Of course there were a few mop up papers! After cutting out some tattered flowers with the garland die there was a piece of paper that I just had to use along with Lindsay Mason's 'Squawk' from her Doo Lally Pip range.I stamped over the kitchen roll with a Lavinia stamps thistle head and added eyes.'Squawk' was stamped onto a piece of the paper I'd made. Hope it makes you smile....

 The background had been started a while ago so I just added a few dots through stencil some with ink and some with ferro gold. Couldn't resist doodling in some spiky flowers!
Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW 207 (film review update)

Really am going to be quick today! We are off to see the Gatsby film - it's not had good reviews but I've been looking forward to it since I saw the trailer!
If you don't know by now about WOYWW I recommend a visit to Julia's blog The Stamping Ground, I guarantee you will smile!
So here's whats on mine - be warned it's a bit of a dumping ground!

As you may know - we've been away so I hadn't had much chance to play with my goodies from Happy Stampers! I was due to meet up with friends last night but it was cancelled-found out after I'd driven along the motorway so….drove back and straight to my desk, cleared a space and started to make some tags - wonderful way to de-stress! Just using my new Lavinia Nigella seed pod and testing to see if Fresco and distress paints mix - yes, of course they do!!
So, that's it! Hope to get back later to visit(and give a film review if you like!!)

Update
Well, I really enjoyed the film, mind you I did expect to, I love Baz Luhrman's style and Moulin Rouge is one of my favourite films! It certainly was nothing like the Robert Redford version(or the book which I read years ago and now want to re-read)I did find Toby McGuire a little bit hard to accept as Nick but he grew on me by the middle of the film. I feel that the criticism of Carey Mulligan that I read in one review was harsh. It was altogether a typical spectacular BL production and I would recommend it! The costumes were great too!
ps hubby also enjoyed it!

Chrisx 

Doodling!

While I have been trying to finish the year books I have needed to chill a bit and that's where the doodling came in!
My 'Art Doodle Love book' is ideal for just picking up and, well, doodling! Although what I'm showing you was done a while ago I have been enjoying adding to a number of pages.

This page has the invitation to doodle around the background swirls, I saw a fishy scene!

This page had a few little doodles but was a title page for this section about childhood memories, I couldn't resist adding to them!

We have been trying to do a little bit to the garden while we've been here this time but as we have quite a few birds with babies we don't want to take too much cover away in case the kestrel comes along again. Talking of baby birds, we have had the siskins back again with two babies! Photos on hubbies camera!

I have been having a few gentle walks to get the legs back to full working order, although one week on my knee is still a lovely shade of yellow(scattered straw I think LOL!)

Thanks for looking, Chris

Just had to..

...use my new Paper Artsy stamps! Well, I started these pages when I came back from my son's last Sunday and then you know what happened(if you don't it's all in my previous post)and I've just got back to finishing it!

 I didn't have anything in mind to start with I just wanted to ink those stamps but the look on the lady's face made me decide to not actually ink the whole stamp but leave a gap alongside her face filled in with a small PA text stamp! On the other page is one of the other stamps from the set along with Wendy Vecchi gothic words, a Lost Coast Designs word, a Unity key and a cut off stamp from the Crafty Individuals bargain box at Port Sunlight. The small words were cut from an Enid Blyton book(just a bit mixed up!)
I have been a good Gran and worked on my Grandchildren's year books too and they almost ready!
This post has taken me so long to do, I have to tether via my phone and the computer is continually 'looking for networks', time to stop I think!
Thanks for looking , Chris  

WOYWW 206

That was the week that was!! So much happened it feels like two!!
I'm going to tell you about it if you want to hang around after I've shown you what's on my desk, because after all that's why Julia started this Desk watching thingy!!!You can find out more by checking out Julia's blog!  
So...guess where I am?

Just unpacked these - my pencil case, paper cutter, paper, stamps and three year books that MUST be finished soon!
Just in case you were wondering what I did with those papers last week - they were turned into atc's for friends!

Did I mention I'm going through a flowery phase?!!

Now, I don't mind if you leave now as I know time is precious, but I did say that I would explain why this last week has been so busy!

Sooooo....

Thursday - hair cut - at last! My son's ex partner cuts my hair and we hadn't been able to set a date so I was beginning to look somewhat dishevelled! 

Friday - A fabulous Andy Skinner Gelli Plate workshop - fortunately sitting next to my friend Pat who is a bit of an expert! Sadly not much time for chatting!

Saturday - A trip to Happy Stampers at Port Sunlight with another friend - a great day and much chatting, meeting up with old friends and spending far too much money!

Sunday - A barbecue at my youngest son's house in honour of my eldest son's birthday. Unfortunately the weather forced us indoors but my sons homemade burgers were still delicious!

My son's birthday card - there is a similar themed canvas - sadly not yet finished!

Monday - a real adventure day - ha! ha! A quick run into town saw me sprawling in the doorway of my favourite art supply shop, very embarrassing! I missed the little step! They didn't even have what I wanted in stock either! However after lunch my foot and knee were really hurting and we thought a trip to A and E would be a good idea - fortunately nothing broken! 

Did this while I was waiting!

Tuesday - had intended meeting friends for coffee but ended up with them coming to me(bearing cakes - Thanks you girls!!) 

Can I finally add a sad and rather disgusting tale - my lovely friend Lindsay Mason was at Happy Stampers demonstrating using her lovely Doo Lally Pip stamps. While she was at lunch with Sarah and I someone(a crafter obviously)took some of her sample tags and a canvas! If anyone sees these samples - Lindsay did not give them away they were stolen - not only that, they were needed for deadlines that Lindsay has been working for!! I guess I'm just naive, I though we crafters respected the time taken to produce work - obviously this person was not a  REAL crafter!! 

If you've got to the end of this epic thanks for staying!
Here's to a quieter week, Chrisx

WOYWW 205

Another week been and gone! It has been a lovely week though, and here we are are again daring to show what we've got on our desks! This of course, all guided by our Julia at Stamping Ground! 
I've been experimenting so what's on here may come to nothing at all!

What you see is torn watercolour paper sprayed with Dylusions then coated with Paper Artsy Fresco paints - they are now dry(did them yesterday evening) and the turquoise ones are waiting to have some Jenny Bowlin Ranger paints on them. As you can see I couldn't resist putting a couple of tags to be sprayed too!
Also at the back of my mat are some leftover flowers from a card - not sure what I'll do with those, but I'll pop them away into my little box and use them sometime.
We had a fantastic time with our grandchildren at the weekend - including a trip to Printfest in Ulverston! My GD and I got our hands messy(mine only because I was 'able assistant')by getting involved in a drop in workshop. I think I've mentioned before that she is an expert stamper and weaver but it seems that she's also a dab hand at printing!

Drawing her design - butterflies - no surprises there!

Putting her chosen colour on - red - next best thing to pink!
Then - guess what? - got so involved - forgot to photograph the finished prints! She did carry on to make more prints in different colours and then when we got back to the caravan got some more foam out and made more prints!!
Hope you have a great week, I hear the weather is going to change back to cool so on with the coat again!
Chrisx 

365/12 calendar journal

Whoops! So busy having fun forgot all about this! I don't know why because it's something I love doing! I started joining in with Kates challenge just over two years ago and often refer back to my journals to check dates! There have been such changes to my life over those 28 months! If you feel like taking up Kates challenge take a look here, and it's never to late to start to record your own changes!
This is May

I'm hoping that the weather will encourage the wildflowers to grow - our bees need them! I have used a selection of CI, Artemio and some of my own doodles with Distress markers and a water brush. The tree stamp around the edge of the page is a Sheena stamp.
This is April filled in

 I'm obviously going through flowery phase at the moment!
Thanks for looking, Chris

When all else fails...

make a tag! I had to make a couple of cards today but got to my craft room and Mr Mojo refused to follow me! So, I thought, what now? Well, as it happens I had bought some lovely napkins at the weekend, nice summery ones but also with the intention of using some of them for 'something', you know, like you do! lol!
Grabbed a tag, separated the top layer, stuck it to the tag with gel medium, cut round it - then what? MM still not there! Decided to check on new challenges - Whey! Hey! Grabbed MM by the scruff of his neck and dragged him into my craft room!
This is what emerged..

The little photo came from an old calendar, the stamps I've had for a while but haven't a clue where they came from, some tissue paper from my scraps that had been stamped with a text stamp. I used my MS hydrangea punch in the top corner and put more tissue behind the holes and then used the punched flowers on the bottom.
The scalloped edge was pink and is now blue, with a little bit of lace added underneath. I painted a little bit of cosmic shimmer paint onto some of the flowers and the bonjour as well as streaking a bit on the ribbons, however the camera hasn't really picked it up.
I'm linking this to 
Sunday Stampers - Blue
Artistic Stamper - Words
Simon says stamp and show - Travel
Our Creative Corner - Anything goes
Oh! and I did get one card finished and the other on the way as well as going for a riverside walk in the sun!
Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW 204

May already! The year is flashing by and it's time again(surely not a week) to show our all - desks that is! Julia at the Stamping Ground urges us to show everything - a case of the good, the bad and the ugly, although I must say I have never seen any of the last two - untidy desks maybe, but isn't that the result of  brilliant creative activity? I'm saying this to cover myself as what you are about to see is not good - he!he!

This was actually taken yesterday when I had the camera out - I had just completed the journal page on the post before this one and as you can see - stencils just shoved to the back, paint and sprays not returned to their shelves, and it's not like they're not in reach! I had just had a great time and had been grabbing at stuff - no time to waste!!
So, what's next? ATCs I think, although I still have those year books to complete! 
We are dashing out to the cinema now so won't do much visiting till this afternoon - we are going to see Iron Man (in return hubby says we can see the Great Gatsby when it's out)Robert Downeyjr is in it so I'll be ok!!
Thanks for looking, Chris