short break

Back soon to share lots of photos

woyww - all consuming fete

The all consuming fete has taken up quite a bit of my time and hopefully explains why I have been AWOL for the past two weeks.  Here we have an early morning photo of my friend Rhonda with our display of goodies.  We did quite well raising over $800 for the school.  The knitted goods, some plant and hats were donated by other crafters but everything else was made by the two of us including the plants and herbs that we struck/ seeded etc.  All in all a very pleasing result.  Normal crafting well now resume and I hope by next week to have something to show on my desk.

woyww - water, paint and a cannon

A photo taken late Tuesday as I splash around a bit of paint and water.  This started out as a wet on wet experiment and then I saw wisteria in the blue/purple blobs and went with the flow.  Really pleased in the end result.


Yesterday was our Labour day holiday and while out for a stroll DH stumbles across a celebration event for "Captain La Perouse, navigators and those who have died at sea".  A nicely timed pic of the cannon being fired and a storm brewing.  French sailors dressed in historical naval regalia.  It was quite impressive.

I will slowly visit woyww desks but it will happen over a few days and even the weekend.  Hope you don't mind.

woyww - butterfly canvas

A birds eye view of my desk with a few fete projects that are waiting while I strategically plan butterfly placement.   Hard to believe that I have used all those bottles of glimmer mist on painting a few butterflies. I paint the glimmermist direct from the bottle onto the stamped butterfly and it gives a perfect butterfly shimmer.

A few more blooms as a thank you for all the lovely comments last week.  The lovely "Frugal Crafter" gave me an explanation as to why water bloom happens.   Knowing why has really helped.  Even though there is a bit in the pic above I now feel much more confident in dealing with the dreaded bloom.

Off to visit woyww before it turns into Thursday. 

woyww - paper and roses

This week the desk is a slow work in progress.  Adding the paper inserts into the journal book started last week.   I also have the watercolour pallet left over from painting roses.  You can see them in the top  left hand corner on my desk shelf right next to the lamb and kitty.  Once again watching tutorials on youtube or glued to pinterest and then realise Wednesday has rolled around again.

The never ending problem I have with water bloom is on full display.  Could probably name this "Rose waterblooms"!   I still have to sort this problem out. I am probably overloading the brush with water and do not notice until it has dried.  Just have to move on, keep painting and visit a few woyww desks.

woyww - book covers

The c

A birds eye view of my desk with a canvas book cover that is drying after being sprayed with glimmermists.

The cover of another journal type book. The original cover was made by RosA from a Jatz biscuit box .... she is very clever.  I attached an image and  added a ring binder with rivets and then lots of different papers.  I knew I was keeping the ring binder part for something!

Finally the finished canvas that was on my desk last week.  Really happy with the graphic 45 papers and odd metal assortments.

Another week flying past but at least I am adding to the school fete box.  Have a lovely week and I plan to slowly visit lots of desks and see what everyone else has been doing courtesy of the lovely Julia.

woyww - canvas and stall stuff

Still working on things to sell at the school fete.  On the left a gesso canvas with a Graphic 45 image that I will glue on and add metal bits.  On the right is a book/journal that I have made, using gessoed canvas for the cover then binding in folds of mixed papers, tags etc.  Quite happy how it has come together.  A pic of the cover....

which has been coloured with paint and lots of glimmer mist sprays.

A busy week as I also did a workshop with Donna Downey and came home with two completed projects.  Still have to add a strip of black and white photos to the top canvas.  A fun bright canvas using gelatos, inks, tags, washi tape and pan pastels.   The final project was the pan pastel canvas.

Happy how this finally turned out and I like the effect.  But not quite sold on the pan pastels themselves.  I am very heavy handed so I ruined sponges, got pastels everywhere and at one point was ready to throw the insipid canvas out the window. Donna kept me persevering with my technique building layers of colour and the canvas and I came home together and the pan pastels stayed in the shop!

I am interested to hear what others think of pan pastels as I haven't bought any as our relationship is still not cordial....

Off to visit the woyww desks courtesy of the lovely Julia.

woyww -boxes

A quick post of the 3 boxes drying after the spray of glimmer mist.  I am still making things for the school fete and keeping it all pretty/ simple. Just using washi tape, bling, flowers and mist.  Will have to visit woyww desks over the coming nights as I am out and about.  Even less time now that I have to do a second post  grumble...grumble.

LO - 18 years later

I was going to say another quick layout and then realised that it has actually taken 18 years to get it done.  Better late then never.   Earlier this year I did a workshop with Finnabair and I really enjoyed her  style and mix of grunge and pretty.  Looking at it now I think it would of been better with a sepia toned photo but really when it takes this long to do the job I won't stress.  

woyww- recycled junk art

On my desk is a little box covered in rubbish.  I continue to tinker with it until it is just right.  Such a satisfying feeling recycling junk until it finds another life.  This little box started out holding stationary then it was subjected to folk art and now it has all been covered by metal bits and pieces, glimmer mist, gesso, plastic, bling, gilding paste and the odd flower.

It must be the week for finding life in repurposing, recycling and sharing it with others.  The lovely Doone has sent me the most incredible upcycled Junk Key fob.  

There are so many layers and stories within this amazing piece of art.  I keep turning it around and finding something new, layer upon layer of texture all encased in resin.  It has flown across the world and arrived just as I was adding the last piece of "treasure" on my box.  

Time to stop by woyww and see what others have on their desk.

woyww - 30 cards and still going

A quick pic of the desk with left over bits from the card making exercise.  30 cards made and still going strong.  I have stopped stamping and moved onto cards using scrap paper.    Once I get sick of these I will switch over to another style.  As you can see from the card on the top shelf nothing too fancy.  It is waiting patiently while I decide what colour ink I will use for the sentiment.

Thank you everyone who left a comment last week..... left over bits and pieces go to April Story.  Please send me your addie and I will pop it in the post.    Now on to visit a few creative desks on woyww.

woyww - makings of a card

On this beautiful sunny Wednesday I have the beginnings of a card. I have been using the Darkroom Door "full bloom" stamps with distress inks for years and still love the effect.

A very simple card that is quick and easy to stamp out and get in the post.  This time I am making a few extras to donate to the local school fete and have around 20 cards in a box ready for the fete.  Now on to more serious business........

whenever I start a project I always come across bits and pieces in the craft room that I don't use. Some of the items have never been used and some are left over bits that I am ready to send to a new home.   If you would like a surprise bag of goodies leave a comment.   No need to become a follower or answer any questions. I will randomly pick a winner before the next woyww post.  Just like my simple card I am aiming for no frills simple candy.  Enjoy your week.

woyww - kitty

My desk taken late on Tuesday night  has Kitty in a huff. Someone has left the laundry door closed so she can't put herself to bed and she has come demanding attention now!  Otherwise she drinks the water in the jars and chases things around my desk, jumps on my chair, swipes me on the head until I get the message.  Don't mess with this kitty.

Tried painting cone flowers but had trouble with water blooms.  All part of the learning process so I try not to get annoyed.

The finished painting of the seed heads which I had started last week.  That is all I have achieved on this woyww.  Looking forward to visiting a few desks this week.

woyww- wild seeds

A late photo of my desk with one of the watercolours I have been doing after watching a youtube segment on  "loose style watercolours". I watched it a few times then thought I can do that!  So far not too bad... but I have been known to ruin a painting with a few too many brushstrokes.  The canvas from last week has been set aside as I try to work out if I can print an old pic onto canvas.  Which is how I got side tracked by youtube and started painting.  It all started with the cat pic on my desk and I thought I have never painted the cat.  Watched a couple of youtube videos and then got out a couple of photos of the cat and tried to paint her.

Quite pleased with the end result although her nose and eyes are not perfect.  But really pleased I now have a pic of the cat.  Nothing like the lounging cat  photo on my desk but she is much easier to paint as an upright lump.  So that is my woyww for this week and I am going to try to visit lots of desks over the next couple of days.

woyww - canvas

The plan is to do a mixed media canvas using an old photo. I started by adding book pages and tissue paper as a background and  then painted a gesso wash to tone it all down.  What you see is a fairly clean desk with canvas and a bit of scrap paper towel just hanging around.  Hopefully it will develop over the next few days.  I also got some lovely mail from the UK.

Thank you Shaz for the lovely ATC which arrived at the end of last week.  Loved getting all the mail from woyww's and admiring all the different styles and techniques.

 Last and final pic is the orchid which is once again flowering on the deck.  Not the brightest of days but it is winter and rain was on its way.  Last year I posted a pic of the orchid and a lovely woyww had suggested I fertilize the plant for more flowers the following year.  OMGoodness it is true, this year 5 flowers!  Enjoy your week and I hope to slowly get around and visit lots of desks courtesy of the Julia.

woyww - decorated tin

A photo taken of another decorated "Body Shop" tin.  I decorated the lid instead of gift wrapping and just wanted to keep it simple.  The gift of soaps and creams are inside but I still wanted to make a bit of an effort.  

I have also been working on a couple of ATC's made using the my new ledger stencil and bits and pieces I keep in the little box on my desk shelf.  You know the box where you keep stuff that might be useful.  Well now I am trying to make something rather than keeping random stuff because it grows at an alarming ragte.  I think the image of the woman might make a good ATC in the future but have not thought past glueing her to a piece of cardstock.   So there you have my wednesday desk not great works of art but definitely signs that I have been playing with glue.

woyww- stuff and more stuff

Even I got a surprise when I took a pic of the desk.  Stuff and more stuff has arrived and been plonked on the desk.  On the left lovely crafty stuff from an online shop which is closing down and on the right cheap $2 craft stuff for DD to use when she babysits.  Which means I just buy more stuff so they don't use my stuff.

But I have managed to make a card using the Craft Stamper  freebie and the script stamp that I was looking for a month ago. Now I realise I have a thing for script stamps as it joined numerous other script stamps in my box.

The LO you have seen before when it was a canvas.  I had a Eureka moment and realised I could cut the canvas and turn it into a LO.  It makes perfect sense to me as I love doing workshops but not so happy to hang the end result on my walls.  The lovely tags on the LO are from RosA (thank you) and fitted perfectly.   Thanks to Julia I am now going to join woyww and see what you have all been doing since last week.

woyww - no desk

A big thank you to Lisa and Bella for the lovely atc's which arrived last week after my Wednesday post.  In the meantime my camera has stopped working with a system zoom error continually coming up on the screen.  So I am using Photo Booth to take pics and post for woyww.  

A messy sunset but I will continue to persist and not over think what I did wrong.  As the teacher constantly told me "it's only a piece of paper.... just move on!"

woyww -sunset mail

More wonderful ATC mail has arrived from Caro and Monica.  Thank you both ... it is just lovely coming home and finding art in the post.  I also received the katzelkraft stamps I was hunting for a couple of weeks ago and a set of TH "vintage things blueprint" stamps that were on sale.    Lots of plans to do a few stamping projects but as you can see the packs are still closed.  I did quickly make a birthday card and went for dry embossing rather than stamping.  Not the best quality photo but happy with the  card.  

I plan to visit quite a few desks courtesy of Julia and woyww. 

woyww -mail

My desk has a lovely assortment of ATC's and cards from the swap.  Wipso and Twiglet's atc arrived on the day and Claire's soon after and I am impressed on their organisational skills.  Women like that should be running the country.  The other lovely card is from RosA who always remembers my birthday.  Thank you.

A pic of the best of the landscapes I did at the workshop.  As my teacher commented "our brains learn faster then our hands" and I do agree. By the end of the day my hands could no longer follow any instruction given by my brain.  Quite frustrating but I have to admit to enjoying the process rather then the end result.  

Now I am off to visit lots of desks ......which is always fun.

woyww - early morning prep

Happy 4th anniversary to all the fun woyww's who take part.

My desk is full of ATC's all ready to be sent to far flung places via Australia Post and a little ATC parcel to mark the occasion.  My kindle is on the desk waiting for me to finish the tasks and on the right I have some mail to open from the UK.  I think there are some very organised woyww's.

My art workshop is on this weekend and if I paint anything half decent I will post a pic.  Have a lovely woyww courtesy of Julia.

woyww - unfinished tasks

The desk today is a mix of a half completed project and a half completed task.  On the left is a collection of embellishments which will be used to finish off the cover of a small book.  The book is hidden for reasons that will become obvious over the next couple of weeks.  

The task is the collection of pencils, sponge, scissors and watercolour box on the right hand side of my desk.  I was getting ready for a painting workshop and started checking the list of things to bring.  Of course I then got distracted and started making a cup of tea and neither project nor task have been accomplished.  

  LO from last week has been moved aside because I started painting when I had the watercolours out.  So I really have 3 uncompleted tasks hanging around my desk.   Hopefully I will have the LO finished and post a pic next week.   

But I did finish the painting.  Join in on the woyww fun ...

woyww - DD layout

My desk has a collection of scrapbook papers  as I prepare to start a school photo layout  of my "sweet" DD.  She rarely poses for a photo these days but this one met with her approval and I am allowed to do my crafty stuff.  You can also see another completed box on the desk.  Last week it was black this week shades of grungy blue/black with flowers and metal bits but no bolts.

Thank you to all the lovely woyww's who offered to help me locate the French stamp.  I had sent a few emails to different crafting stores in both the UK, Australia with little success.  But I did get a lovely reply from the French company who made the stamp and they were helpful.  It is being shipped to me in 2 weeks.  A whole lot cheaper then if I had bought it in Australia.

Looking forward to peeking at a few other desks this week courtesy of Julia.