WOYWW!! Sixteenth Anniversary Edition #832

 Morning deskers, welcome to a special edition of our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself. 

This week is the 16th anniversary of sharing craft, fun and friendship. Thank you for everyone who just turns up. Even if I don't make it myself every week I love to think that someone is there. Well here is my ATC.

The desk itself is empty as I am about to start packing for a crafty retreat and a few days away from Friday. 

Off to say hi to everyone now.

Have a good week, love n hugs

Cindyxx

What's On Your Work Desk? Wednesday #831

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself. 

Here's a photo of my desk from craft club yesterday. I had a bag of pre-cut pieces in my WIP box (probably done for a class as there were 8 sets) to  make up an exploding card. There was no sample and the pieces I had cut made no sense with the card size. Managed one but it turned out pretty iffy so finished 3 more as just side folding cards. The rest of the cut bits have been 'filed' or put away for another day. Life is too short to try and figure out what I was doing yesterday never mind 5 years ago. 

I forgot to pick up my 'happy's. Rectified now.

So short and sweet for me - won't bore you with a photo of my studio desk but let's just say   -      the inks are out.

If anyone wants a physical trade for the Anniversary let me know in the comments as I shall be getting to these this week!!

Have a great WOYWW, love n hugs

Cindyxx 

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #830

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself. 

Such a busy week though I can't tell you what I did!

Sunday was the highlight - my DiL managed to complete the Marathon in just under 6 hours - she took it fairly easy so as not to aggravate her injury and she did brilliantly. It seemed like hubby and I were racing all over London all day but the only time we managed to get to the front and catch up with her was around mile 23 - we were so glad we were able to do that!!  She's still recovering but in high spirits despite the aches and pains!!

Was going to take a photo of my Tuesday craft club desk but forgot but here is what I managed to achieve this week, all from my scrap box!! Apart from these, my actual desk is empty again, with just the samples for Friday's craft class that need finishing off with a sentiment. The 'technique' this month is embossing with a stencil.

Hubby is on his way to Helsinki for the Mayday celebrations and seriously miffed that he might miss out on some nice weather while he is away. 

Some people are just never satisfied!!

Have a good week, love n hugs Cindyxx

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #829

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself. 

Sorry I've been AWOL again, hope everyone had a lovely Easter. Last time I posted I was bemoaning my lack of inspiration. Thank you all for your helpful comments. Of course eventually I got my act together and produced my double page. Didn't enjoy it and not entirely happy with it but it's done and ready to post but I said I would wait until the recipient gets back from holidays. Oh well, another few days lying around in my studio won't hurt I guess.

My actual desk? Nothing much happening, just been too busy to craft and only managing the odd card from the clutter of bits on my desk.

In other news, my DD Chelsey (a visualiser/stylist with M&S) and little Splodge have started on a new adventure. They have a company instagram page showcasing children's and women's clothing and guess who has a starring role? Pop over here to drop them them a like or a follow. 

Excitement is building here for my DIL who is running in the London Marathon on Sunday for Teenage Cancer Trust. As a survivor herself she is a big supporter of the charity. Sadly despite rigorous training for MONTHS she has been plagued by an ankle injury for the last two weeks and yesterday came down with some random bug that has laid her low. Unlike this little chap  she is not a happy bunny. 

Have a great week, love n hugs Cindyxx

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #827

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady -Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself.

Here's the desk. Not much has happened here this week but I do have something looming. 

Oh the horror of the blank page.

I am in a swap, indeed have been in it for some time. 

I have had this  'art journal' in my possession upward of six months. 

Way upward. 

I need to create a double page spread but have no idea where to start.

I need it done, I need it gone, I need some inspiration!! 

The only prompt I have is it should be something uplifting/positive. 

Given the state of the world that might be an ask. 

So, gentle deskers, give me an idea, a prompt, a pithy quote,  a line of poetry ... something to spark my creativity!!

I meanwhile will continue to scroll through pinterest and get distracted by recipes for feta cheese or minced beef.

Have a lovely week,

love n hugs, Cindy xx

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday # 826

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself. 

April already and my brain still  hasn't caught up with the fact it is 2025. Still, weather's lovely, not too much drama going on, and my mood is good.

The desks are fairly cluttered but no real projects on it, just the hiatus between craft club and tinkering. On the left you can see my new big bag to take all my stuff to Tuesday craft club, it can take a lot so hopefully I can get away with just the one. Love the colours!!

Mother's day was nice , a cheeky bbq in the sunshine (but my, that wind got nippy!!). DD and I are going to catch the 'Naomi' expo at the V & A this w/e before it closes with DD treating me to lunch. Lots of tulips (my favourite).

Not a lot of crafting this week but I did finish my commission. 

I had those flowers out so made a few more cards. 

We survived the Monkey Music but Splodge and I were both a bit overwhelmed! I'm sure it won't take long to settle in (BUT - the noise!!). A nice group and I wasn't the only Nonna. Tomorrow we have to go on our own but granddad is going to meet us afterwards and we are going to explore the park as it should be a nice day.

Have a great week, love n hugs Cindy xx 

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #825

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself. 

How these weeks do fly,  but lovely to see some slightly better weather and unmistakable signs of Spring. Might even make it into the garden soon!

Desk has been fairly quiet until yesterday when I used up some pieces that had been stamped and coloured pre-covid I swear!! This is my standy-uppy desk. 

Today my other desk has evidence of me testing out a layout for a commission (the blue one) , and why not make a couple more cards while these flowers are out? All scrap bits!!

Hope to do a better job of getting round this week as I don't have a lot on though I am having a short drive to check out the new Range that has opened nearby and also to check the parking near a local 'Monkey Music' that I have agreed to take Lionel to every Thursday. Which of course let's the old man off of babysitting for the whole morning so not best pleased. Heaven help me, sitting in a room full of toddlers and singing for 45 minutes - what was I thinking? 

Hope you are well, have a lovely week, love n hugs Cindyxx

WOYWW 824 - late late late!!

Morning deskers, (or should I say afternoon, very late on parade) welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself. 

Needs to be a quickie!

1. Lionel's  finished birthday  card

2. Two commission cards I managed to get done this week. I have 3 more to do, then I think I am going to stop - they take too long!!

3. We'll ignore the desk, it's just piled with boxes!!

Instead couple of pics of the birthday boy. I'll try and get some photos of his trip to diggerland for next week. He really enjoyed it!!

(He also loved his birthday cake - first time eating chocolate cake!.)

I won't be round till later, have a good week, love n hugs,

Cindy xx

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #822

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself. 

Well I'm back after 3 1/2 weeks of lovely Tenerife sunshine, rested, refreshed and suitable chilled, (or would be if I wasn't so bummed out by the activities of a certain orange haired clown and his cronies but I'm trying not to let it kill my vibe for a few days).

The internet was terrible in both places we stayed so I had zero motivation to join in WOYWW. I'm guessing that is not a surprise. I've not got much crafting to show but here's my desk anyway.

Aah, well I did go to craft club Tuesday afternoon and made a start on a card for a very special boy. 

Did I mention Little Splodge will be 2 on Sunday? 

And he's crazy about diggers? 

I'll let you see how the card turns out. Meanwhile here's a pic of him on a beach in Mexico. DD wanted to do a long haul flight before they have to pay for his seat and they had no babysitters as we were away ...I'm sure it would have been cheaper to pay for extra childminding but I think they had fun.

Hope you are all well. I have a clear day and everyone else should be gainfully employed elsewhere today so hopefully I can dash round to everyone without interruption - first time for everything.

Love n hugs, Cindy xx

What's On Your Workdes? Wednesday #817

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself. 

Apologies to everyone about last week. I just didn't get round due to visitors. And Lionel. And the fridge freezer breaking down. 

You know, life.

Well this week I remembered it was Wednesday , but still here I am posting at lunchtime.....

I know it's constant excuses but I just can't seem to get a handle on life at the mo, the days just seem to slip away dealing with stuff. Another reason I didn't get round as planned was at the last minute I signed up to to the (Create with Your Stash) Card Making Summit run by Justine Hovey. It was pretty intense from 2.00 pm Friday until 2.00 pm Monday.  3 sets of 24hrs of content, videos and challenges. Even more if you paid the fee to unlock extra content and have lifetime access. Which I didn't do, mainly because I have paid for courses I haven't even opened yet. Each day's videos expired after 24 hrs.  The time limit pushes me to get things done. 

So I was very selfish, no cleaning. outings. shopping, cooking and very little communal TV watching for the best part of four days.

One day I never got out of PJs. But I had a great time, made lots of cards and have lots of ideas for more as I didn't manage to do it all. Broadly the focus was on using your stash, using sketches, papers, focal points, all in a variety of styles from cutesy to MM. There were several aha! moments. Also using colour and discussion of the colour cube. 

Now I know I said no shopping this year but my will is weakening. I'm sure someone here has bought it/them (probably Angela?). Are  they a good investment? Will decide when I get back from holiday so for now I need to finish a couple of cards and put my craft room away. I'm also sure someone was going to be in Tenerife in the same time frame (February) and we talked about meeting up? Was it this group? If it was give me a DM. 

So here's a few things I did. Not sure if I will see you for the next four weeks. I will have time, but I may not have internet. Or inclination. Sorry.

So see you when I see you.

Love n hugs Cindyxx

Whaat's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 816

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself.

EDIT: I forgot it was Wednesday this morning. Hence joining in very late. Being organised the day before only gets you so far. Will be visiting tomorrow

Hello all. I am writing this post on Tuesday evening before I have a quick tidy up. I have a guest coming for some crafty play today (Weds) so I need to make some room!! 

I am prepping a sample card for my craft class ladies at the end of January. It looks most unprepossessing in the photo!! 

Hopefully I can jazz it up a bit before then. 

Had quite a good couple of days tidying and managed to clear 5 (almost complete) pads of K&Co paper purses and boxes, some (kids) alphabet stencils and two of my son's Warhammer presentation boxes on a local re-cycle page.The purses etc were very pretty but once made up very easy to damage and I finally acknowledged I was never going to make them. That's half a shelf cleared in my paper tower and better than going to be mushed up. The WH boxes would make a great MM project but I have a hundred of those in waiting already and no space to store them, glad someone can make use of them rather than breaking down for re-cycling. I also managed to sell some of my son's books. Got a pittance for them but somehow seems better than just giving them away - they are a bit LOTR artwork/niche. 

I am less happy with this box. It is actually worse than it looks in the photos and doesn't include all my new Christmas stuff...........oops.

A whole box of new dies, stamps and embossing folders that have not been used yet........

I read an article today about decluttering. Apparently you don't declutter then straight away go to the store and buy different stuff just because you have space.......

So that's me on a 'no new stash' regime for the foreseeable. Maybe I can use the money I save for a nice weekend away....... 

Have a great week,

Cindyxx

What's On Your Workdesk ? Wednesday #815

 Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW,  now being hosted on Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself.

Here's my desk:

On the right you can see my samples from craft group last Friday. The ladies all enjoyed making this card which I think was inspired either by Tracy Evans or Christine Stokes - can't remember now!! I ended up with a few,  just need to add some sentiments and of course they all turned out slightly different. It was nice to get a  bit inky. 

In the centre are some sentiment strips and a little set of shimmer watercolour paints - haven't tried them yet. On the left is a new stamp and die set - another NBU that I should get on and use (though tbh that's only just arrived, there are probably a few more waiting).

I was given a list of commissions by someone whose friends are all hitting sixty this year!! 

I did 2 before Christmas, now these 3 which will be picked up tomorrow and there are still 3 to go.  The briefs were Lavender, afternoon tea, and beach huts. 

So that's pretty much me. I will be in and out on Wednesday as I am hosting a lunch for 7 of my ex work friends. I do it every year around this time (originally it was always on Black Monday as we didn't work on Mondays but now pretty much everyone is retired people's schedules are more varied!!). We just have soup and sandwiches and a good old natter. 

And just because I haven't posted the little guy for ages here's some photos of little splodge. He was so adorable over Christmas!! 

Goodness!! Halfway through January already! 

Have a great week, love n hugs Cindyxx

What's On Your Workdesk ? Wednesday # 814

Morning deskers, welcome to our weekly Wednesday Blog Hop WOYWW which is now being hosted at Sarah Brennan's blog. Here's the link for that lovely lady - Sarah's Craft Shed - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about and join in yourself.

 Well, belated Happy New Year greetings, missed you all last week as I was babysitting. Didn't even stay up to watch the fireworks though they did keep me awake for a while.

First week of the New Year gone already and I have been working on some  commissions and. as usual, having a bit of a tidy up. HERE'S MY DESK.

I have recently put my monitor up a few inches higher as it occurred to me the reason I was finding it difficult to focus might be because I was looking through the wrong bit of my varifocals. Been a few days now and does seem better. 

The 3 house cards to the right were left from a class in the Autumn and the black basket is full of WIPs which I need to do or bin. I probably need to try and sell a lot of stuff too as everything is overflowing (had another load of clarity stuff given to me) but can't remember how to do ebay!! Can't have been that hard.....

Anyhoo,  just got to pop out for a quick appointment this morning then hopefully I will get round everyone. Hope you are all well,

love and hugs, Cindy xx