Fusible Film Bauble

I can't get enough of these bauble overlay stamps designed by Barbara Gray!

WOYWW 543: NEC Here I Come

Welcome fellow deskers to my weekly contribution to WOYWW care of Julia at The Stamping Ground.  Here desks from all around the world can be ogled and envied, messy ones, tidy ones and everything in between.

As you can see, I have been doing a little more work on the Advent Book that I started at a Workshop with Maria Moorhouse recently.  The matchboxes are all now glued together, ready to turn into the daily drawers of the book.  Maria's workshops are well worth attending.  She has one each month in Preston, one in Catterick and the one I attend in Shrewsbury.

Over the last three days I have been sharing the full projects from my sneak peeks last week.  I shall be sharing the last two tomorrow and Friday before I head off for an early train to the NEC.  I won a couple of tickets and decided to go on Friday as it is half term.  Hope to see some of you there.

Finally, the latest additions to the extended family.  My parents adopted some kittens and their mum from a cat rescue last month.  Pickles (top) is mum and the two kittens are Pearl(L) and Pixi (R).  They have settled in really well.  See you all soon.  I will have some time to visit today between samples as I am not at work this week.

Peace on Earth Bauble Trio

I used a second set of Barbara Gray's overlay bauble stamps to make this card.

Colourful Bauble on Kraft

For my second sample using the overlay bauble stamps I used one of the outline stamps only.

Purple and Blue Christmas Baubles

The new overlay baubles designed by Barbara Gray are simply gorgeous.  For my first sample I played with only one stamp, the masks and some Distress Oxides.

Wishing You Well: Farewell to A Colleague

Yesterday saw a colleague's last day at work.  I will be sad to see her go, as we have a shared interest in crafting and have also worked together with some classes.  I made this card for all her colleagues to sign and to remember us by.

Merry Christmas Card: Holly and Ivy

The first Christmas card of the year not made as a sample or at a workshop.  I had a play with some stamps from Clarity that I bought in the recent Christmas sale.

Pink Hearts Double Journal Page: Up to No Good

I had another play in my leather bound journal with hand made paper.  This time I created a double page spread.

WOYWW 542: Less than a Week to Go

Sorry I didn't make a visit last week folks, I was wiped out by the extra long day last Wednesday (14 hours door to door) and never quite managed to catch up.  I also had samples that needed urgent posting (shows on Sunday 2-4pm).

My desk shows some items that I have just got out in order  to try out ideas for Christmas cards (there I said it).  I haven't really made any for myself yet to send this year and thought I might try out the new stamps that I got in the recent Clarity Christmas sale.  I am not sure which stencil I will use in the background yet.

Hubby had a last minute hospital appointment yesterday and the other side of the desk shows the empty cups from crafty visitors, who popped over after the appointment was done and dusted.  It made up a little for missing the JJAMMMA meet up in Stockport which I would otherwise have been to.
Why am I sharing my desk?  To join in with the weekly blog hop hosted by Julia over at The Stamping Ground, where desks from all over the world can be visited.

To finish, here are sneak peeks of the samples which kept me so occupied last week.  See you soon at a desk near you and happy WOYWW.  Only two more working days until half term!

Christmas Arch Card

This is the last sample card that I made using Tina's Christmas Centrepiece stamps.  I decided to emulate the arches that are traditional at Christmas.

Blue Christmas Roses

This is my favourite of all the samples I made using Tina's new Christmas stamps.

20th Birthday Card for a Skateboarder

This was the birthday card that I made for our youngest son's 20th birthday yesterday.  He is into skateboarding so the theme was easy.

Masking Off Part of a Stamp To Create A Christmas Card

I chose not to use the whole of the centrepiece stamp from the Tina's Warm Wishes set for the rectangle panels on this card.

Sparkling Christmas Tag

I made a Christmas tag with the smaller stamps which come with the Tina's Sparkling Christmas Centrepiece stamp set.  I went for a grungy look, but I wish I'd stuck with clean and simple.

Christmas Kraft!

I made this 5" x 5" Christmas card using one of the new Christmas Centrepiece stamp sets designed by Tina Cox for Claritystamp.

WOYWW 541: Some Sneaky Shopping

I may have indulged in a little sneaky craft shopping recently.

My desk shows the Floral Friends Aperture Dies and accompanying ii (inspiration and ideas) book that I purchased during a recent blitz offer from Claritystamp.  Every so often Barbara Gray decides that something should be made available at a really good reduction for a couple of days.  My Christmas sale order hasn't arrived yet.  I was really restrained and kept myself to three stamp sets and a set of four dies.

Eva and I bought the die to make this matchbox and case between us at Maria Moorhouse's recent workshop.  I may have a few still to put together for a project that we worked on: one of my plans for half term the week after next.  Maria is on Hochanda today at 12pm and 4pm with some new Christmas stamps.  These are my sample sneaky peeks.

I am joining in with Queen Julia and the WOYWW gang over on The Stamping Ground for another Wednesday of desk sharing.  It is a late night at work this evening (prospective parents evening) and I have to pick up my new glasses in the morning, so it may be the weekend before I can visit everyone. Happy WOYWW!

September Tag: All Geared Up for Leyburn

Having not joined in with a challenge on Tag it Tuesday for a while, I went back and completed September's challenge belatedly.  As I went to my first ever Clarity Open Day in Leyburn N. Yorkshire at the end of September, I decided to celebrate the event.

A Traditional Christmas Card

I love a traditional Christmas image, in this case, Jayne's Carol Singers from Claritystamp. Rather than stamping and colouring the image in a more traditional way,  I decided to give it more of a water coloured  look.  I then created a background to turn the topper into a Christmas card.  Many of these stamps are in the Christmas sale at Claritystamp until midnight tonight.

I stamped the image - designed by the late Jayne Nestorenko for Claritystamp - onto a piece of card (10.5cm x 13cm) in Antique Linen Distress Oxide.  It is a technique that I have seen which allows the line art to fade into the background once the image is water coloured, creating a more painterly effect.

I used my Ecoline pens from Royal Talens to add colour,  scribbling them onto an acrylic block and picking the colour up with a water brush.  I started with warm grey and warm grey light for the stone work.

Next I used sepia and sepia light for the pew.

For the girl's outfit I used scarlet and for the boy's deep green.  The foliage was coloured using fir green and the mittens in ultramarine deep.  Once I had finished the remaining water colouring and the topper was dry,  I drew some of the features back in using a Sakura micron pen.

For the background,  I stamped and heat embossed six of the Clarity Christmas carol music staves onto a piece of card measuring 13.8cm x 20cm.  They were stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed in detail white embossing powder.

They didn't stand out from the background until I blended a layer of Festive Berries Distress Oxide over the top and buffed up the embossing with a clean piece of paper towel.  I used the German version of Silent Night, but the English version is also available.

This was matted onto a piece of green paper (20.5cm x 14.3cm) and added to a piece of A4 hammered card stock, folded in half to create an A5 card blank.

The topper was matted onto another piece of the same green paper and added to the background with foam pads for extra dimension.

Twas The night Before Christmas: Quick Cards

I had a set of Christmas cards to make for some friends and wanted them in the same style but each one individual.  The colour of the mat makes a big difference too.  I used the Night Before Christmas stamps from Claritystamp, currently available in the Christmas sale.  

Halloween Tag: Play on Words

It's been a while since I joined in with the monthly challenge on the Tag It Tuesday FB page.  Here is my tag for October.

A Shaker Card with Bokeh Background

I made this card in response to the current challenge over on Country View Crafts.  I also wanted to use one of my recent Clarity die purchases.

Cherry's Dragonfly with Fusible Film Wings

The fusible film wings put the finishing touches to Cherry's dragonfly on this card.

WOYWW 540: A Visitor to the Shed

It's that time of the week again when I get to drop in on peoples desks and share my own, courtesy of Julia at The Stamping Ground and the WOYWW blog hop.  I shall be brief today...

And now that you've all stopped laughing, here is my desk.  I was working with some of the lovely Indian Summer designer paper from Claritystamp.  On the left is my coaster that shows the club that I support (3 points last weekend for the first time this season lol).

As it was Eva's fortnightly get together with me in the shed, I thought I'd better show you the other side of the desk.  She was getting suitable messy with Brushos and Pixie powders trying some of the new stamps that she bought at Port Sunny last weekend.

And finally, as we were requested to show our teddies this week, some of the sporting bears who keep me company when Eva can't make it over.  From left to right: Stokie Bear, Werder Bear, The Olympic mascot from 2012 and of course my very own Pottermus (looking happy because we finally managed to win a league game on Saturday).  Happy WOYWW, I'll be over to visit in the morning if I don't catch you before work today.

A Panel Card Using Small Stamps

I decided to use some of the smaller feather stamps which come with the Cherry's Bird of Paradise stamp set to create this panel card.

Dragonfly Garland Candle

I decorated the last of my small pillar candles for this project.

Brushos on a Gel Plate

I used a technique that was new to me for the background of this card. 

Hat Ladies Journal Page

I haven't worked in my leather bound journal with hand made paper for a while.  It's surprising what the paper will take if given a base of gesso to work on.

Get Well Card for a Colleague

A colleague at work was injured just before the start of term.  Thankfully she is now back at work and well on the way to recovery.  This is the card I made for everyone to sign.

A Clarity Day Oop Norf

Last Saturday I finally made it to a Clarity Open Day, the one 'oop norf' in Leyburn, North Yorkshire at the Tennant Auction House.  What a day out it was as well!

WOYWW 539: Flat Out then Flat

Welcome to my weekly contribution to What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW) c/o our illustrious leader Julia at The Stamping Ground.  Many apologies for my lack of desk visiting last week. On Thursday, when I usually visit, I was flat out completing samples for an up coming show with Barbara Gray.  On Friday Eva and I headed straight up to Leyburn after work, ready for the Clarity Open Day on Saturday (and a chance to hand deliver the samples).  By the time we had driven back on Saturday evening, I was far too flat to do much more than flop and catch up with the washing on Sunday.  Yesterday I spent nearly all day at various medical appointments (not all mine) so barely had time.

My desk today shows my total restraint at the Open Day as I spent far more time catching up with people and watching demos than actually shopping.  I couldn't resist getting these paper pads for my own stash however.

My guests on the other side of the desk (in Leyburn) this week are Jane Telford and Marley. Hi Marley!  Jane kindly gave Marley her own special make and take session as she had been given a Groovi starter kit and wanted to try it out.  She is a natural and maybe one day will be joining in with WOYWW herself.
Still no progress with the shed.  I am hoping we may get a week of decent weather over half term in a few weeks and then I will probably try and finish it off myself.  This week I will make the effort to visit everyone, but not until tomorrow as I am working today.  Happy WOWYW everyone.