Well the Easter holidays flew by and I am back on my laptop three days a week working from home. I admit therefore, that my desk photo was taken yesterday afternoon and this post written after I finished the three cards that I had just started at the time.
The fourth card to the right hand side I had made earlier in the day. As no workshops can take place at the moment, Maria Moorhouse has found a virtual way to keep us going. A set of materials and four full colour project sheets through the post and an email link to private YouTube demos of the projects. I thought it was about time that I finished the remaining two projects as it will be time to sign up to the next class soon. I was so busy that I had no time to replenish my Toffee Nut Latte lol. As you can see, Tom and Peter are still keeping me company and occasionally I Face Time with Eva if the internet plays along. I also tune in to Barbara Gray's FB live sessions each weekday morning at 10am. Even though I am not doing the doodling, it is nice to have virtual company, whether I am crafting or doing school work.
These are the finished cards based on project 4 of the workshop.
It is only 4 weeks until the 11th anniversary of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday and I shall be making an ATC to share on my desk that morning. I can't see much getting posted this year as the royal Mail are so overstretched at the moment, but we could all share something on the day. Thanks so much to Julia over at the Stamping Ground for starting (and keeping going) this weekly get together. It is never too late to start joining in or just visiting desks if you are so inclined. Happy WOYWW and a shout out to my Y8 pupils. I will be round to visit desks once I have finished all my school chores for the day. I hope you are all well and that Elizabeth and Christine are fully recovered!
Today's blog post is a little different. I am not sharing a step by step, although I have taken plenty of close up photos of my finished project, because the idea is not mine but belongs to Maria Moorhouse. I do have her permission to share pictures of my finished project I can highly recommend her monthly workshops at Shrewsbury, Catterick and Preston where she shares ideas for cards and mixed media projects and she will be holding a Groovi workshop in January in Shrewsbury for the first time. We always complete at least four card projects during each workshop.
Although I finished this project at home, I took everything that I needed to finish it away from last month's workshop with me and had completed the bulk of the work there.
It is an Advent Book and holds chocolate gifts for December for my son and his girlfriend who hosted an amazing family firework party at the weekend.
I can't recommend Maria's workshops highly enough for value for money and fabulous ideas. She can be contacted via Facebook if you would like to book a place or find out more about her workshops.
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.
Whizzday has arrived again at its usual breakneck speed and I am once again sharing my desk via Julia and the Stamping Ground with my fellow desk enthusiasts.
My desk today shows some of the projects I have created at two workshops over the last few months. The finished card (top right) is one of the projects that Eva and I worked on at the Clarity retreat at the end of August. I finished the panel on the day, but needed to mount it on a card. I decided to keep the surround simple as the panel is so intricate. The Clarity retreats are certainly well worth going to if you have the time. They are not the cheapest on the market, especially as they last two days, but are crammed full of techniques, ideas and a chance to learn something new.
The remaining three pieces are WIPs started at the last workshop with Maria Moorhouse that Eva and I go to each month. This one is a full day and you leave each time with a minimum of four finished (or in my case almost finished) projects. Once again, worth driving a distance to go to, although Maria also runs workshops in Preston and Catterick, as well as the one we go to at Hadnall, Shrewsbury.
This is what was actually on my desk yesterday afternoon. The makings of a background using the bleeding tissue paper technique for an art journal page. I can't show any more until after the 27th.
I can show sneaky peeks of the projects that I handed over to Maria on Sunday, ready for her shows on Hochanda this evening and tomorrow. If you'd like to see them in full, they will be appearing on my blog over the next few days.
As you can see, the shed has nearly got a complete undercoat now and hopefully the top layer will be ready to show you (at least in part) by next week. I'm not holding my breath though lol.
I'll be round to visit in the morning if I don't make it this evening. I have a meeting after school so it's a long day. Happy WOYWW everyone.
I am celebrating today. My reports are finished for this school year. I wrote the last 46 comments yesterday and will transfer them over onto the school system when I get into work this morning.
As you can see, my desk shows why I don't usually take a photo on a Wednesday morning. This is the boring reality of my desk on a school day, early morning marking and a cup of Toffee Nut Latte to warm me up. If you squint, you can see the start of my sister's birthday present in the background. I got this far at a fabulous workshop with Maria Moorhouse on Sunday and now I just have to finish off all the decorating and embellishments. This week is a bit of a come down after the fabulous crop posts all over WOYWW last week. Thanks for sharing everyone who went.
Please visit The Stamping Ground to join in with the weekly desk share, or just snoop around other people's crafty spaces, I am sure Julia will welcome you with open arms.
I can at least share my sneak peeks for Maria's Clarity shows on Hochanda today (12pm and 4pm). I delivered them in person on Sunday as well as four more for shows a week today so you may get to see the full versions if you tune in. Happy WOYWW everyone.
In the spirit of finishing UFOs, I decided to make a start on the latest Maria Moorhouse Workshop, which I received three weeks ago and hadn't started. When the photo was taken I was in the throes of the first project, making two versions. The good thing about these virtual workshops is that I can click on the email links to the projects at any time and work at my own pace. I was enjoying things so much, that the two planned projects turned into finishing all four.
