The Creative Blog Hop Post

I was asked recently by Fairy Thoughts if I would be able to participate in the Creative Blog Hop.

Every Monday, crafters all over the world write a post about themselves and why they do what they do.  It's a great way to find other people who may interested in the same stuff as you are.

So this week, I'm writing my Creative Blog Hop Post.  Traditionally, I am supposed to introduce you to three more talented crafters, and will do so, but in a different way to what is supposed to happen as only one of them has a blog.

Who Am I?
I am Lucy.  I am 33 and live in England.  I am a Haberdashery Specialist at a local department store and this is where a large chunk of my wages go.  I am interested in cross stitching, small sewing projects, card making, jam making and recycling/re-purposing items destined for the bin.

I am lucky to have my own craft room, which is always in a mess, but I think that is the point of  having such  room.

I am part of an online community called WOYWW (What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday).  It is full of crafters from many different countries who upload a picture of their workdesk every Wednesday.  It's great to see how their projects develop every week.

Part of participating in the Creative Blog Hop is to answer fur questions:

1.  What Am I Working On Now?

I am currently cross stitching these Christmas messages on plastic canvas from a pattern in one of my books.  There are five messages in total and I hope to finish them all, back them and hang it before this Christmas.

2.  How Does My Work Differ From Others In My Genre:

The work I am currently involved in isn't my usual type of cross stitching.  I normally prefer making my own charts or using a website called My Photo Stitch, which is great for pictures that don't need wording.  I like to work on geeky/niche projects.  Here are some examples:

 Assassin's Creed video game logo

 Logo from my friend's band, Scarlet Soho

 Classic computer game character, Kirby

 Ermintrude and Zebedee from The Magic Roundabout

 Monty Python Dead Parrot sketch

Logo of my friend Joe's heavy metal band, Talanas

 A play on Magritte's painting for a friend's present

In recent times, alternative cross stitch design books have been published so I know there are people out there doing the same as me, just none of my local group of crafting friends.

3.  Why Do I Create What I Do?

I cross stitch because I like to see a picture forming as I'm completing a project.  I do it because it's theraputic for me to lose a whole day on a tiny piece of work.  I love the excitement of the initial idea, seeing whether it's possible to do or not.  Because no one I know is doing the same.

4.  How Does My Creative Process Work?

I find a picture I like and upload it to My Photo Stitch.  I will spend a good deal of time getting it how I like before I download the image onto my computer.  If it needs font, I will plot it out on graph paper using a book of cross stitch alphabets I own.  My Photo Stitch gives a list of DMC threads needed for the task and I will pool the colours I already have together and/or buy what I don't already have. 

I prefer to stitch my pieces on my days off from work, when I am able to start early in the day.  I rarely bother in the evenings after work anymore as I'm too tired and there isn't enough time to get stuck in.

 I will love the project from the outset right up until I've completed a third of the picture.  The second third is filled with doubt - have I counted one too many stitches?  Is this part going to meet up with that part or am I going to have to unpick it all?  It is about this time that I will have seen my next project.  The last third is filled with utter hatred for the piece.  This is because I wish to start the next project that I will have already stupidly plotted out with great precision.  So I try to go as fast as I can, which leads to mistakes, more unpicking and cursing and then when it is done, I don't want to look at it.  It's torturous at the end.

 Various Scandinavian Christmas designs

 Internet meme, Nyan Cat

Christmas candy cane

As I mentioned earlier, my three nominations for this challenge don't write blogs.  So instead of them posting an entry next Monday, I thought I would post a link for you to look at their lovely stuff. (Matthew came up trumps!)

Matthew Sergison-Main - Illustrator

Matthew is an artist, illustrator and designer living in Hampshire, England. He works in traditional media predominately, using some digital as needed, to produce a highly detailed style of artwork. In 2012 he won a national art competition winning a solo exhibition at the esteemed Pallant House gallery in 2014. He worked on the acclaimed indie computer game 'Amnesia: A machine for pigs', and has produced artwork and illustration for musicians, magazines and festivals

http://artserge.tumblr.com/

Kimvi Nguyen - Artist

http://kimvi.tumblr.com/

Zoe Davies - Keepsake Maker

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Made-With-Love-Keepsakes-by-Zoe/594185547307127

Thank you for staying to the end.  I hope you will take the time to check out my friends pages.  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 260! What A Week To Get The Title Wrong!

Hello all and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?  This is where you can snoop around crafty desks from all over the world.  You can do so here.

My desk this week -

I had bank holiday Monday off work and wasted most of it in bed nursing a hang over and peeing about on Swapbot.  However, in the evening, I got my act together and tidied my desk, so now you can only see a bunch of projects for me to get on with.

Fabric top left is the pile of handwarmers I'm making for Etsy/Christmas presents.  Pile of black in the middle are two pairs of work trousers I'm fixing the zip/2 buttons/thinking about lining the waistband of the pair that is made exclusively from sandpaper.  A bought of flu and 2 weeks of comfort eating mean that I am almost too big for the damned things again.  Must try harder.

Bottom right - jewellery set I bought from work on the cheap to get it off the shop floor.  My speciality is buying up all the 'tat' that has been through umpteen sales with disintergrated packaging and ended up being put down to mere pennies.  I then bring them home and wonder what to do with them.

Bottom right also, is three balls of yarn and a whole heap of cardboard rings I plan to make decorations with.

That's it for this week - see you all next week! x

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 230

Hello again peoples!  I haven't been about for a month or something due to my crappy computer, but it seems to want to keep it together for the time being so here I go...

Most weeks I join in with an online snoop of crafty desks around the world.  Please join in here.  You'll thank me for it.

Anywhoo...

I think it's finally safe to be mentioning the Christmas word now.  Here is my desk:

You can see my painstaking work of hand stamping a roll of brown paper for presents.  IT WILL BE WORTH IT.  Trying not to think about the fact that it's all going to get ripped up and thrown away at the end of it all.

You can also see paint, felt, some wooden decorations that I am decorating and a lot of bits of paper left over from making Christmas cards.  I made 60 in one sitting from the results of last year's Christmas card amnesty I held at work.  While the majority were shop bought and of little inspiration, the handmade ones were invaluable and went a long way.  I am looking forward to expanding my amnesty this year by asking my mum to involve her work colleagues in it at a big local DIY store.  So excited to see what I get - It's like poring through looted treasure!

I was going to show you the box of jams and chutneys I made but my camera's not playing ball today and frankly, I should be lucky it took a picture at all.

Next week, I'll probably be showing off pictures of a TV cosy in progress.  Yes, a TV COSY.  Once upon a time, we had a customer at work ask if we had fabric to make a TV cosy as her TV was too big for her room.  We all had a good chortle. OH asked me to make four (!) cosies for the small flat-screens he has to take to work every week.  I chortle no more.

Have a great week everyone - I hope you make all the things you have/want to get done: xxx

WOYWW 213

Hello and welcome to another week's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  If you would like to join in with the weekly global snoop into the desks of the craftily-minded, you can do so here.

My desk this week...

On the left is the guitar strap and metal shabby chic heart I bought for my mate Lou's birthdy.  next to them is the birthday cake cross stitch I've made for her birthday cake.  In the box in the middle of the shot are all my DMC skeins that are waiting for a new lever arch file and DMC plastic archive sheets.  There is about 150 in there all tidily wrapped around their stitchbows.  In the lid, however, is a whole world of hell.  These are all the bits of strands that are too long to bin, but are no longer attached to their appropriate numbers and so cannot be identified.  I'm going to wrap them all onto cardboard tags and will store them in this box to use for creative xstitching projects I plan to do in the future.  The cardi is still in the background.  I am still painstakingly colouring in what was black with a black dye pen in a hope to spruce it up.

Here is the wedding present I am still working on.  Getting a bit antsy about it now as I only have about 40 days left to get it done.  This hasn't been helped by the fact that there is virtually no time to be spent on it this week as I have been cat sitting for OH's mum's cat and this weekend is the Hat Fair here in Winchester and I have found that I am going out for it on both Friday and Saturday nights and am also joining in with the Sunday picnic, so that's the whole of Sunday afternoon/early evening gone!

When I'm working on it, it is just a mess of colour and is very difficult to see any detail forming.  Huzzah then for having a camera as I' seeing the detail in Tom's shirt now and can see his beard starting to creep into the shot.  It's starting to get exciting!

I hope you all have a lovely week.  I will visit all those who visit me and then some. xxx

WOYWW 203

My first time back in weeks, it's time for another What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  You can join in by clicking this link.

Here is my desk this week -

Two weeks ago, we had to have our cat Guinness put down.  She was diabetic and we'd rescued her and her sister, Taz, from my Dad who wasn't looking after them properly.  I gave Guinness a happy and loving last two weeks and miss her character enormously.  The vet and I decided to start her on insulin on Sunday morning two weeks ago as it was my day off and I'd be able to watch her like a hawk.  She was good as gold, no problems.  I went to work on Monday and got a panicked call from OH at lunchtime saying Guinny was limp and flailing around on the bathroom floor - she was having a diabetic seizure.  He rushed her to the vet, where I met him and I had to make the terrible decision to put her down as she had fully slipped into a diabetic coma by that point and the vet agreed it was fair as she was 14 an showing signs of liver damage, possibly bought on by years of untreated diabetes.

I am at peace with my decision now but as you can see from my desk, have completely thrown myself into my crafts.  I got out of my maudlin mood by making a felt brooch of Guinness's face taken from a photo, complete with whiskers! There is a very old tshirt belonging to OH that I have to sew the neck line back together, fix a hole in the armpit and patch a number of moth holes.  He refuses to believe it's had it.

Since I sold a batch of fused plastic bags to a lady in New Zealand last week, I've been experimenting fusing together different kinds of plastic and cutting discs and squares out of it.  There was a lot of interest in the bags so am thinking of opening yet another Etsy shop to cater for it.

There are cotton spools, scissors, repair tape and glue, a photo album my sister gave me for my 30th a couple of years ago made in the style of This Is Your Life and opened to a picture of Guinny and Taz when they were much younger.  Guinness has her arm around Taz, I love it!

I'm waiting for a friend to give birth this week so I can finish baby's nursery sampler.  Another friend has just announced she's expecting so am plotting the next one.  I've also got a leaving present and birthday present to magic out of thin air too:)

So sorry for the long post.  I hope life is treating you all well and see you next week:) x

WOYWW 198

Hello again friends.  Sorry this has been put together a bit late in the day, but at least I got here at all.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday is a weekly look at other crafty minded folk's work desks.  To join in the fun, have a look at Ms. Julia's blog here to take part.

My desk this week:

Here we have  the Diatom cross stitch attatched to a stand lent to me by Fairy Thoughts.  It's brilliant and I want one of my own now.  To the left of that are two Christmas cards with birds that have been painted by kids.  Chck out the robin Cuthulu-style card.  to the right, there is a black bag of ribbon, more of which in a minute.  Below that is a pile of my cherished postcards I got when I was an avid postcrosser. My decimated ribbon box, and a lot of other random rubbish!

There is so much going on here this week.  The dining room table is still unchanged from the previous week's photo.  I'm hoping to get all the items we're not keeping onto Freecycle just as soon as OH gives the signal.  However, I have finally just managed to load all the crappy items from Grannys into the back of OH's car in anticipation of a trip to the tip tomorrow.

****News Flash!****

I am proud to announce that we are getting two new additions to our family this weekend.  My dad is no longer able to carry on looking after the family cats, so on Saturday I will be collecting Guinness and Taz and will hopefully be able to provide a clean, loving home for them to live out their days in.  So excited!

Thank you for popping by to have a look.  If you leave a comment, I will be sure to check out your desk!  xxx

WOYWW 195

Hello everyone:)

Come and have a peek at all the lovely and creative desks on Ms. Julia's blog this week!

Sorry I couldn't make it last week, I've mislaid my camera charger.  I borrowed another one so I can keep up with this weekly blog hop.

My desk this week:

 This picture shows cough sweets and gum in top left corner, three postcards OH has sent me from Sweden, the new cross stitch and bottlecaps on the right that are destined to be taken to work for recycling.

I've not got a lot done yet.  It is called Diatoms and is a birthday present for my friend Nathan.  He is training to get his doctorate in Marine Biology and Conservation and posted the picture I got the design from on his Facebook page.  I made a chart from it and here we are.  It's on white 22ct Aida, which is turning me blind. Am actually thinking about investing in one of those around the neck magnifying glass things. His birthday isn't until August, but I'm already getting nervous by the scale of it.  Well, if it doesn't get done in time, he can have it for Christmas!

Thanks for coming to peek at my desk.  I hope you will go peeking at other desks too!  have a great week:))

WOYWW 193

It What's O Your Work-desk Week again and it's week 193.  It's your opportunity to have a look at the work desks of the crafty minded, and you can do so by going here.

Here is my desk this week:

The white expanse at the back is half a metre of 6 count Aida, waiting for the Minecraft pictures i'll be stitching on it.  Was going to start today but turns out my cross stitch pattern software has left my pooter and I'll have to download it again.

I got two books out of the library.  Techno Textiles is astonishing and is jam packed full of technological fabrics like Kevlar, Neoprene, astronaut suit fabrics, etc and is also full of pictures of brightly coloured and highly textured textiles.  I like to get inspiration from it.  The other book is Fleece Dolls and inspired me to get two dolls I made years ago out again.  When I can get some fleece, I'm trying out some of the designs.

The Diatom cross stitch for Nathan's birthday is carrying on apace.  I am currently working the perimeter of the piece and have had to baste the edges to try and halt the disintegration of the fabric.

My colleague Fairy Thoughts and I have decided to pack in the chocolate for Lent, which starts today.  I have also decided to pack in the fizzy pop, crisps, biscuits, cake and sweets and intend to throw myself into my crafting for that time, so hope to get more work done than I have done lately.  Hopefully the increase in crafting with replace the lack of sugar and results should be seen.  We'll see!

Go and be a nosey peep and take a look at the other desks! x

WOYWW 192

It's Wer-wer-wer-Wednesday!  Time to start looking at other crafters work spaces for inspiration at Stamping Ground, courtesy of Ms. Julia.

My desk this week...

What a mess - about four projects on the go.  Nothing new then.  Got the book out of the library.  It's really good, but covers too many bases.  Think I just want a modern needlecraft book.  Cough sweets for my sore throat. Still going with the Christmas labels as received too more bags of Christmas cards last week.  IT WILL NEVER END.  Lollipops are obviously for my sore throat.  New cross stitch for  friend's birthday in August.  Will be slow going because upon realising I didn't have any 14ct Aida left in the right size, I opted for the 22ct i had so I could get on with it.  It will look ace, but my eyes are unhappy by the smallness of it all.

Due to a very successful birthday party for OH this weekend just gone, I am starting to think about mine, even though it isn't until August.  I want to make fabric invitations and have a tutorial informing me what I should do.  That's why the felt is out, although I now think I will opt for a cotton fabric instead.  Time to save up for interfacing, vol-au-vents and fabric, which I can do soon as I am neither paying to have my washing machine fixed (my sister offered us hers) or buying OH flights to Sweden (OH's best friend is doing that instead).  Winner.

To those who have enquired, this is what my face looks like most of the time...sat in my little corner of Narnia, naturally.

Go and have a look at other peoples desks now - thank you for looking at mine! xxx

WOYWW 191

IT'S WEDNESDAY AGAIN!  That mean's you've come to have a gander at my desk, yes?  If you simply just don't understand what the last sentence means, or you are wondering who the hell I am, What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday is a weekly skip though a lot of crafty desks on the iinterwebs, courtesy of our hostess with the mostess, Ms. Julia and you can find more information here.

I have a conundrum.  On my desk today an item I'm making for a friend.  Unsure of whether she will check my desk out, I can't decide whether to post a picture (hiding giveaway bits) with no description, or write a description with no picture.  Then I thought sod it.  If she see's it, well that's life.  So here is the item that has been hurting my brain for the last two days...

 The making of...

 Well the surprise is well and truly ruined:)

 Inside the sewing roll there is a tape measure pocket, needles, pins, safety pins and buttons on pinked felt...

 fabric pen, stitch ripper, pin cushion, scissors and two colours of thread.  Should be enough for her to be getting on with.

 FINISHED!  Started this on week between Christmas and New Year.  Stopped briefly to make this...

FINISHED!  I put my own twist on it in the end.  I coloured Amy's hair, Jim's shoes and put Stu's mustache in.  I am very happy with this one.  Now just need to find a frame for it.

I'm on holiday this week so am getting lots done.  Have started another cross stitch, with another 5 in planning.  Busy, busy, busy!  Thanks for stopping by:) x

WOYWW 188 (Mystery tins revealed!)

Hello and welcome to WOYWW for another week.  If you don't know what i'm jabbering on about, see here.

I'll apologise now, so sorry I did such a bad job at visiting folk last week.  Thank you ever so much if you left me a comment.  I will try harder this week!

A few pictures for you this week...

Aerial shot of tins I made for some of my colleagues for Christmas.

Front shot.  I used the till roll innards from work to help the pens stand up.  They fit pretty well into a standard 330ml drinks can.  Names were hand cut ou of felt and stuck to the papier mached tins, along with buttons for decoration.

My desk this week:  still cutting out tags for next Christmas, and the one after that, and the one after that!  Current tally is 209, I've only been through three bundles of cards.  I have two bundles of cards waiting to be gone through on my playroom floor, offers of another bundle from a colleague, one friend from Leicester so desperate to help that she's posting her's down, and another friend has just piped up about this matter on Facebook. 

This is the current state of my playroom.  I was rather hoping to hoover the floor this week, but hoover day is Wednesday, so I guess that idea is out.  I now have a bookcase (out of shot) and finally got my hanging rails sorted.  Whoo-ha!

The rest of my week will be spent cutting tags, making new Christmas cards out of what I've gleaned from uncreative folk, and largely (I suspect), cleaning my playroom floor.

See you all next week!

xxx

***Blog candy alert!***

Candelle Creations have put together this amazing stash of cardmaking goods for you to win.  Go and have a look at their blog to see how you can get involved.  Draw ends Jan. 9th.  Good luck! x

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  

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?!

Treasured Days

Recently, i have become really interested in making treasuries on Etsy.com.  It is good fun and also helps to get yourself into other people's treasuries which in turn means more publicity for your own shop.  Winner.  Today i was offered free shipping from someone's shop as a thank you.  Nice.

Today i have been featured in this treasury by WeeBindery:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c754d9eb0436d91496e9844/orange-and-raspberry-sherbert
which features my Maisie the Christmas Fairy.

Treasuries i have made today (so far.  There may be more.  I never can tell.):

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c754284344a8eef137deaf4/rude?index=1
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c7555f4344a8eefa27feff4/meet-the-limes?index=0

Here's hoping for a sale.