WOYWW 285

Hey, hey, hey!  After a difficult month moving Granny and trying to get her some occupational therapy, we are now there and for the first time in months, I find myself with a complete day off!  What better to do than take part in this week's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?!  You can join in here.

My desk (and other spaces) this week -

 Christmas prep has begun in earnest.  On my desk today, is the second half of finished presents for my colleagues.  The first half is already sitting in my locker at work.

 All of these bags have presents in various states of wrapped-ness.  I ran out of commercial wrapping paper and just have brown paper left that needs to be printed, so I've stopped for now.  Plus, I'm a little bored of wrapping anyway.

Dining room table - Family hampers are go, go, GO!  All jars are done, now just for homemade chocolates and peppermint creams, which I'll do the Sunday before the main event.

While wrapping the presents, my monthly shop arrived and I had to quickly sneak away all the tasty treats I've got in for Chrimble before O/H spotted me.  Looking forward to the three bird roast.  Oh, and the sprouts.

Still to do:work out when to decorate and what to use, figure out the impossible task of how to split myself three ways on Christmas day for different parts of family and more importantly, when to get my roast in the oven.  I have two weeks to get the fabric advent calendar made, hung and filled, To make a batch of relish or not (?), Will I find decent priced maple syrup for the bacon jam in time (?),snowmen earrings to make, Christmas CDs to burn, blah, blah, blah.  Ultimately, there is still lots left to do.

With a bit of luck, I should be back next week.  Tatty-bye all! xxx

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday 275

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, where we take a peek at crafty desks from around the world.  You can join in by clicking here.

My desk this week -

On the bottom left my my desk are two Christmas greeting cross stitches I am making.  They are on my desk as I featured them in my Creative Blog Hop post this week.  There is jam sugar on nearly every surface and shelf/cupboard of my house.  Well, not quite but it feel like it as there is an awful lot of it about, with it being jamming season.  Two batches bitty blackberry, one batch blueberry, two batches plain plum and one batch plum and port jam down, another batch of plum and port jam (or two), one batch Doverhouse chutney and one/two batches non-bitty blackberry jam to go.  That's if I don't get suckered in by Mr. Marketman beforehand.  Likely.

The purple in the middle is the remnants of a birthday card making session I indulged in at the weekend.  Face wipes are essential at all times.  Surprise, surprise, the yellow stars are still there.  They probably need dusting by now.

Coming up this week - more jamming, looking into starting a fabric advent calendar ad getting on with the Christmas cross stitches.

Hope you all have a great week! x

WOYWW 271

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, where we take a peek at other craft desks from around the world for inspiration.  You can join in here.

This week...

 I'm on annual leave this week and thank goodness, Mr. Mojo is staying with me!  It's been a while since I last saw him.  On my desk (In a fairly hushed tone) are 6 laser cut wooden stars being decorated for C*******s.  Sorry about that.  The spice rack at the back doesn't actually hold standard sized spice jars (how rubbish is that?!) and OH forgot to A.  Keep the receipt and B.  Remember to take it back within the allotted time, so now we're (I'm) stuck with it.  So I thought I'd turn it in a better jewellery stand that the one I've currently got.  There is also cider and chocolate.  Yum.

 I've made three toilet roll holders for each bathroom out of this fantastic nautical themed fabric.  I used interfacing but struggled with it in the sewing machine, so each one is slightly different from the last:  the first was too big, the second was slightly shorter than it should have been and the third has two rounded corners instead of right angles, but is just right in size.  How Goldilocks of me..

I'm about to start this longstitch I bought in a sale.  I'll make it for my wall.  I finished the robin longstitch we bought back from Grannies and I would show you, only I left it in the front room, which is currently being used as a den for four men playing an all nighter Risk board game and I just don't want to go in there.  You understand.

I hope you have all had a great week and look forward to getting around as many desks  I can while I have a chance to.  X

WOYWW 235

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday 235, courtesy of our Julia.  You need to join in the fun by going here.

This week, my desk is on the floor.  I'm mostly wrapping presents.  The bottom right of the picture is the sack of presents already wrapped.  There are various gifts lying around, ribbons for tying, handmade gift tags recycled from last year's Christmas cards.  The cardboard box in the middle back of the shot is full of jars of chutney and jams waiting to be doled out.

There will be more of the same for the next two weeks, probably.

Have a great week, everyone! xxx

WOYWW 234

Hello and welcome again to another fun week of international snooping of crafty desks, courtesy of our Julia.  You can join in the fun here.

This is my desk this week:

I'm still stamping the Christmas paper.  There are various presents on the table in varying degrees of wrappage.  The blue and white box at the back is a sewing kit I bought from work that was partially filled and I am adding a few more important bits.  It's a Christmas present for my sister who has never shown any aptitude for sewing and calls me to sew on a button for her.  I think this sets a bad example for my niece, so I have bought them both a sewing kit in the hope it might ignite some inspiration.  I will be on standby for the constant advice I envisage will be asked of me.  IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN HOW TO SEW.

There are newspapers on there for no reason.  Oh, and a tin of Plop Trumps (Yeah, really) that I bought because I felt I should, however I have no one as yet to give it to.  Plop Trumps, to the uneducated, is a version of Top Trumps that features pictures of animal excrement that each player uses to outdo their opponent to win the game.  Yeah.  Oh, and it is highly educational;  marketed toward men and boys of all ages.  You'd understand why.

This week, I carry on with stamping my wrapping paper to wrap more presents, make 3D Christmas decorations and Stormtrooper snowflakes.  Mmm hmm.

Yep, so that just about wraps up this week's edition of Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  Please take part and add your own desk! x

WOYWW 224 (FESTIVAL AT THE END OF THE YEAR ITEMS WARNING!)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!  You can join in the international peekfest of other peoples' craft desks here.

My desk (of sorts) this week...

This is part of the cross stitch commission from another branch of the shop I work in.  It's a table runner and I've been asked to only complete half of it.

This is what the warning is all about.  I spent ALL (6am-10pm) on Sunday making preserves to be given away as Festival at the end of the year presents.  I made 20 pots total of the following:

Blackberry jam

Apple and blackberry jam

Crab apple jelly

Plum jam

Chilli jam

Green tomato chutney.

Last night, I looked at my forlorn garden.  Summer has taken her love with her and now everything look wilty and sad.  I took a carrier bag to collect the last of the tomatoes and was astounded to completely fill it up.  I have a shedload of chutney to make.  I've estimated that I have at least 36 pots worth of tomatoes.  Eep.  Waste not, want not.

The sky from my playroom this morning.  Just had to share it with you.

Have a happy crafting week all! xxx

WOYWW 221

Hello and welcome to another week of WOYWW!  This is where we all have a look at crafty desks/workspaces from all over the world, courtesy of our Julia.  You can join in the fun here.

This is my desk this week...

On the left of my desk is Fifi's baby sampler.  Not long to go on that until I just have to wait for her to give birth at the end of next month so i can sew a name to it.

Then there is a book showing pictures that are useful for the Festival At The End Of The Year.  The aida on the frame is me starting some of those pictures.

Last week I promised pictures of the cross stitches I've been asked to do by another store.  Well, they forgot to send them, so I hope they appear on the van this week.  Instead though, I was asked today to knock up a little design to stick in our shop window this Thursday for the Festival At The End Of The Year theme.  They were going to stick the window in at the end of September, but three other stores have had stonking results since putting their windows in early, so we're being made to follow suit.

That's it from me this week.  Now go and have a look at all the other lovely desks that have put in this week.  xxx

WOYWW 219 (Sorry I'm late!)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!  Each week we peek at crafty people's desks from around the world and you can join in the fun by clicking this.

Apologies for being so late to the party this week.  I'm on a week off work and my time keeping skills have vanished somewhat.  You don't care about that.  Here's what you care about, my desk this week...

Set the party poppers off - the behemoth (biggest one yet) is now finished and framed.  I have mostly solved the issue of the join line by sewing over it.  Yes, a line can be seen but not so much anymore as I've covered up all the white bits.  Now I have to wait for the lovely couple to get back from their honeymoon.

Halfway through the walk to the wedding venue, my beloved left black strappy wedge broke.  We stopped at a nearby shop for superglue but it just seeped into the fabric sole.  I had to take them off and carry them back home over 3/4 mile of broken tarmac in just my tights.  Which was painful.  OH is trying to save said wedge by using decorator's caulk on it.

I got to the wedding eventually though and through the fug of champagne, white wine, black and white rum, I did manage to take a pic of the wedding cake topper...

The groom is into model making and he painted these himself.  An alternative idea.

This week I have already enjoyed a hangover, gone bowling and visited Avon Beach in Dorset.  I hope to prepare some glass jars for the festival at the end of the year.  I also have to pick up where I left off with Fiona's baby sampler and Nathan's (now Christmas present) Diatoms cross stitch.  Oh and it's my birthday on Saturday, so quite a busy week - hurrah!

Have a great week everyone! xxx

WOYWW 207

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  This is where we all take a curious peak at other peoples work/craft desks.  It is good fun and you can join in here.

Well, this is what I have been up to this past week...

On the left is Nathan's Diatoms cross stitch.  I've done a fair bit to that this week, although I'd be guessing it's difficult to tell that.  I'm starting to doubt whether I'll get it done in time for his birthday in August.  May well end up as a Christmas present then.

The middle one is a birth sampler for my friend Fiona's baby, who is due in September.  I'm not saying what it is - it's a surprise and you'll have to check my desk every week to see how it gets on.

The one on the right is the Cat Pile cross stitch.  It has been started, at least.  If i'd been clever, I'd have stood back a bit so you could get a view as to how big that piece's Aida fabric is.

I was going to start another one for another friend's birthday (Nathan's mother, to be exact) but the design of a cat in amongst  mosaics and flowers comes out of a hardback book she bought me for Christmas and the picture isn't very clear.  It requires me to sit down with some square paper to knock up the pattern properly.  As I also want to turn it into a lavender bag, it's a project for the near future.

I hope you have enjoyed taking a look at my desk this week.  I intend to look at as many desks this week as possible.  Take care all of you!

XxX

WOYWW 189

It's Wednesday again, so it's time for you to peek at other folk's desks by going to the lovely Ms. Dunnit's blog, Stamping Ground.  We do this every Wednesday and it's fun.

 My desk this week.  To the left is a cross stitch I'm making for my friend Amy's 30th birthday.  She is in a band called Scarlet Soho, so I Googled one of their promo shots and found someone had made a b+w outline picture from it and I am now sticking that down in aida.(cross stitch fabric).  The female on the left is her, I'm in the middle of sewing Jim's neck, before attempting Stu.  I intend to sew the band's logo under Amy's feet.  It's got to be done and framed by 16th Feb when her party is.happening.  On the right of the shot is the sixth batch of Christmas card's I'm harvesting for new Xmas cards and tags for next year.  Current  tag tally:  Ready to go - 610  To decorate - 447.  One of my problems in life is not knowing when to stop:)

You'll all be glad to know I hoovered the playroom floor last Thursday:)

Over and out!
xxx

WOYWW 186

Wasn't sure if there would be a WOYWW today or not, so made a small blog entry anyway

Here is my desk today.  Obviously no crafting going on as there is no time to at the mo, so I thought i would pop all my crafting goodies for you all to see.

Top left is the Big -Ass Book of Home Decor from Lou and Naomi, back middle is a big book of craft from my other half's mum, top right is the calendar from Fairy Thoughts, bottom left isn't a craft product but are Manic Street Preachers coasters from my sister that are just so amazing (please don't be offended by the bottom right coaster, the girl does not have a nosebleed, it is just the style of artist Jenny Saville's painting), middle is a cross stitch called Cat Pile from Fifi and Glenn (baffled as dimensions appear to be huge of the gigantic sort), bottom are two pin cushions left one from Anne and right one from Maggie and on the right, the book of Christmas rememberings Fairy Thoughts found me which is going to have next Christmas's present and card giving organised (haha, yeah right:))

I encourage you all to hop over to Julia's blog over at Stamping Ground to see a lot of other people's desks today.

xxx

WOYWW 185

Well all i can say is, it's a good job i'm not walking in to work this morning, because I wouldn't have had time to write this!

My desk today (well, 6am.)

I am so tired, I just tried to post this picture as a link.  Doh!  These are my Parliament of Tupenny owls that i found in a book called Microcrafts from the library.  They are called 'tupenny owls', because after the first one I made came out to lightweight and floaty, I stuffed the rest of the owls with a two pence piece each to give them some weight.   A great use for fabric scraps.  I've just speed wrapped all 24 owls into trios and gave them all a name (In this shot, we see Octavia, Orla and Odysseus).  I'm giving them to some of the part timers at work and to a couple of friends I know would appreciate them. They have a large length of 3mm black grosgrain ribbon by which to tie them to things and decorate an area with.  I love owls.

The mystery tins get revealed a week today!  The reason why I've opted for a comfy bus ride this morning over a 3 1/2 hour walk in the cold and dark, is so that I can transport all the mystery tins to my colleagues.  It also means, and this was not planned at all, that I will be able to swing by Nero's for something nice to drink before starting work.  I am looking forward to a complete day off tomorrow (NO INFERNAL ALARM CLOCK!) so I can put my playroom back together and take stock of what presents are going where in the upcoming days.

See you all next week for the big reveal (So as not to give the game away for Fairy Thoughts)!

Go and check the other WOYWW desks here.
xxx

WOYWW 184

Hello, and welcome again to another What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, where you can hop about to your heart's content checking out other people's projects and spaces.  All hosted by the lovely Julia, and can be found here.

To all those who commented on my blog last week, that is indeed a hula hoop behind my desk.  I got it for my birthday this year.  It comes out from time to time and is great fun, but after about 100 hulas, i seem to forget how to hula (or I've noticed a bee flying past the window, or similar) and it falls to the ground.  Meanwhile, it stays behind my desk so i don't forget about it.

This week, I have cleared everything off my desk and have begun making my Christmas cards (finally!).

Here, we have 15 white cards that I cut yesterday, 15 mini cross stitches of various designs that i stitched last March and a pack of removable double sided tape.

After they've been done this evening (and signed and enveloped), I shall be cracking on with wrapping the rest of my family's presents.

Coming up:  More work on the mysterious tins, paper chain-making, Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts for Dan's family and plotting new cross stitch designs for the new year.  Yee haw!

I hope you all have a fantastic week and check out the other blogs over at Stamping Ground.

xxx

WOYWW 183

Wednesday again and another WOYWW!  Click on this link to see a whole raft of creative desks:)

Here's my desk...

Not tidy this week!  Right then.  We have handmade Christmas gift tags in top left corner, tub of wallpaper paste, tissue paper, ribbon and button embellishments for, Oh what are they at the back of the table, Fairy Thoughts2?!  I feel the mystery is unravelling:)

At the front of the desk are the cross stitch decorations I have been making for the charity do my other half is putting on in aid of Child's Play.  The characters are:  Poison mushroom, two life hearts, star, Piranha plant, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Mario, Green mushroom and two space invaders.

The plastic envelope package is my other good deed for Christmas this year.  I'm part of a Random Act of Kindness (or RAK) group on Swapbot and i was recently invited to a swap called Sending Christmas Cheer For a L'il Girl.  The girl in question is seven year old Lilly, who suffers with Guillain-Barre syndrome, or ascending paralysis that starts in the limbs and migrates to the torso.  She is very poorly so i am sending her two colouring in books with pencils and a Christmas card after a conversation with her Grandma over what would be an appropriate gift.  While she can still use her hands, I am told, she loves to colour things in.  If you'd like to join in and send Lilly a Christmas card (gifts are optional), you can get her address here.  Check on your country's last Christmas postage dates to the US (where she lives) first to avoid disappointment.  For the UK, it's Monday 10th December.

The charity do is this Friday, so normal Christmas decorations etc will resume thereafter.

Have a lovely week everyone and see you next week!

WOYWW 182

Hello everyone!

(I managed to turn WV off!)

Every Wednesday, i join up to What's On Your Workdesk over at Stamping Ground.

This is the state of my desk today.....

I'm still working on this.  So far, I've applied black electrical tape to the sharp part at the top of the cans (after opening them with a can opener) and have begun papier mache-ing the two at the back with purple tissue paper.  The fourth can is just out of shot, and i have another 4 after that to make!

Dan (the other half) asked me if i could help make some Xmas decorations for a charity evening he's putting on in aid of Child's Play.  Dan runs a retro gaming night every Friday at a Winchester pub called the Railway Inn and Child's Play use their donations to provide poorly kids in hospitals around the world with gaming consoles to help take their minds off their illnesses.

I asked when he wanted stuff by.  Yup, two weeks.  So, in time for 7th December.  Bang goes the other stuff i was doing for Christmas then, well at least until the 8th, when PANIC MODE will kick in swiftly.

Of course i'm only too happy to help a good cause and have begun in earnest...

This will be a mushroom hanging decoration.

I knocked up this Assassin's Creed logo in cross stitch last year and will be selling it at the do once i find a frame...Anyone remember this little internet meme...

That's going in too.

In other news, the papier mache bug has struck again as i begin to construct a wreath...

Yes, there is a floor there somewhere.

Now, i must be off to work.  I've heard 40 coaches are piling into Winchester to visit the Christmas market today (Did you hear that, Fairy Thoughts?) and I want to be ready to greet the mayhem.

Please go and check out the other desks on Julia's Stamping Ground.  Bye! xxx

WOYWW ~#3

Hello all! This will be my third (or fourth?) attempt to get my desk on WOYWW with much help and despairing from Janet at Fairythoughts. I may well have cracked it.

This week on my desk, I am starting a new project, which is why it all looks neat and a little laid-out. I'm not going to say what it is I am making as they are going to be presents for some of my friends and I know that they look here sometimes. Best not to give the game away, I say.

The item will comprise of a tin can, electrical tape, tissue paper, wallpaper paste and the plastic tube innards from the inside of till rolls I've been saving at work since about March. I like to recycle.

So, tonight I will be seeing if I can knock one of these together. Tomorrow is my day off and I am hoping to be able to find the time to start getting my homemade wrapping paper together. I still need to find the cross stitch motifs I made earlier this year as they are going on Christmas cards. Then, more decorations and stockings to be made, AND WRAPPING EVERYTHING!

Have a look at the other WOYWW desk at Stamping Ground

See you next week!

xxx  

WOYWW? #2

Do you know what?  I may have actually taken a picture, written some words and posted it all up in the right place this week!

I've been determined to get on with making Xmas decorations for my new house, but have been struggling with inspiration of late.  The red discs toward the back of the shot were inspired by my colleague, Janet (Fairy Thoughts).  She is holding a Christmas craft workshop at work this Saturday and had course info leaflets printed out which showed a picture of Xmas decs she'd made, so i used the round design and sewed anything that came to hand on them (yarn, buttons, safety pins, beads, ribbon, etc).  I've attached ribbons to them and am hoping they make their way onto the as yet, non-existent Christmas tree.

Next to all that is a template for the two Christmas stockings I'm making for my partner Dan and I.  I got the fabric from work.  It's thicker than cotton, but not as rough as sacking/hessian and has a delightful print of Santa and Rudolph on it.  See -

I'm going to line the stockings (for no real reason, other than extra work for myself) with the spotty multi-coloured fabric seen in this picture.  I'm hoping to give them drawstring openings but shall see about that when i'm a bit further down the track.

Other things to do this week include: Cutting stock card into Christmas cards, figuring out what I've done with all the Christmas themed cross stitches i did earlier this year that are meant to go on the aforementioned cards, cut gift tags out of old birthday cards, potato print brown paper for  gift wrap and wrap the presents bought so far.  Fun times!

Go and have a look at the other blogs that Julia stamping-ground has signed up while i get on with this mountain of craft!

What's on your workdesk? Wednesday

Well then.  I think i've been fobbing Janet from work off long enough while i keep forgetting to look up how to add a picture to a blog.  Very lame.  I've been promising to become part of this What's On Your Workdesk?  Wednesday for ages.  Then i moved house and actually got my own crafting room, so no excuse anymore.

I apologise for cheating now, as this is Tuesday that i write this, not Wednesday, but there isn't time to put it together when i get up tomorrow and as it's Halloween tomorrow, i'll be out in the evening.

This week on my workdesk, you can see felt remnants and various accoutrements that are the beginnings of a lot of hanging Christmas decorations.  I've cut discs out of red felt using tailors chalk and a drinking glass (pretty lo-fi) and have been sewing buttons to them or just free-hand stitching designs like snowflakes on them.  There are also the remnants of an unfinished but not forgotten Christmas teatowel project (stencils and dye pens).

However, Christmas quickly gave way to Halloween.  This is my attempt at a design i saw on Google for Jack Skellington i saw last week.  My mother thoughtfully bought me a bunch of steak knives at the weekend and the one i used worked a treat.  I was even able to do the intricate cutting around the mouth area with it.  Smug.  I used an old bent dressmaking pin to punch the nose holes out.

I wonder what'll be on my desk next week?!