WOYWW #551- The Happy Christmas Edition.

 Here's wishing everyone a warm, safe and very Happy Christmas! I'm writing this post on Tuesday, and will schedule it, as most of us will be gift unwrapping/cooking/visiting on Wednesday.
 Not a lot to show on my desk today, I've spent some time doing a bit of organising, and making up more of those striped backgrounds.
My last bit of shopping for the year, the few items I bought in the Country View Advent sale.  The bottle next to the mini inkpads is Gel Plate conditioner,then an Archival re-inker, a Black spray mist from Dylusions, 3 bottles of Stickles and at the bottom there is 1 Liquid Pearls, and 3 Wendy Vecchi Enamel Accents, which I think are the same thing. So thats me done, very short & sweet this week, but it wouldn't be the same without an ........And Finally.......


I think we can all relate to that!

WOYWW #550- The Almost Christmas Edition

Indeed it is, and I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas. Many thanks to all those who have sent cards- I should have made a list, but didn't think of it till now. But you all know who you are.🎄🎅.
I've finally done some crafting- making a batch of backgrounds using up strips of cardstock cut from scraps & leftovers. Something I saw Jennifer MacGuire do. I did a post on it a while ago, you can find it HERE if you're interested. It's something I can do either in my craft room, or sat on the settee, so works well.
 And believe it or not, that's me done this week. Not a single enable in sight! I have got an order at Country View Crafts, in her Advent sale, but I'm waiting for that, and it's only Archival re-inkers.
And a blog post wouldn't be the same with an And Finally...............


True, Dat.

WOYWW #549- The die sorting Edition.

And here they are in their new home. So far I've only filled the top layer, and the second layer with all the Christmas dies & Embossing folders, leaving the bottom one empty. Thinking I *may* just be able to get my BIGZ dies in there, leaving me with a free drawer in the tower beneath the desk. So, it's working out fine.

It's cleared off the desk I use for die cutting, just have a couple of things left to put away.
  


On a good note, I got out the box that had left over Christmas cards from the last year or so, thinking I will at least have a start on this years, to find I actually had enough to do all my card sending this year!

Huge bonus, as time was definitely slipping past me way too fast.

This weeks only bit of enabling is some coloured cardstock from Papermill Direct, as well as some of their super smooth white cardstock, which is excellent as a stamping cardstock.




And that pretty much sums up everything for this weeks WOYWW, hosted as always by Julia over at The Stamping Ground.


Which only leaves.....And Finally.......

How true is that?

WOYWW #548- The Getting Tidier Edition.

Exhibit A- the desk where my die cutting is done. As you can see, my Big Shot is barely visible below all the stuff thats got dumped on there. So clearing this was the start.

 

   Not perfect yet, but much better!
And I have a plan for making it better- thanks to Hobbycrafts Black Friday deals.  I'd considered getting another rolling cart to put all my dies in, thus clearing two boxes off the surface. Only real issue was it was a bit too tall to go under the desk, which was what my plan was. But decided to go with it anyway, I could always roll it to one side, over by the big unit.



 
 So I went online and ordered one. Great deal, they were £15, instead of £30. Still available till midnight tonight! 
The larger ones are £25.


Big surprise when it arrived, it wasn't the same as the one I already had- it was smaller! Result. Now it will go under the desk.Still plenty big enough to take all my dies, main ones at the top, alphas in the middle and Christmas stuff in the bottom. For once, pleased something turned out smaller than I expected.😁








OK, let the Black Friday Enabling commence!

Some Honey Doo stamps to start with.

This Christmas die from the Paper Edgers line. Should help with some fast Christmas Cards.

These word die & stamp sets from Crafters Companion.







And finally some stamps from Visible Image, including the fab Erikas Maple.

And that's about it. Still plodding along slowly, I recall last time this happened it took me weeks to fully get back to normal, so it's slow but sure. Little bit of tidying and sorting each day at the moment.


  Which just leaves us with .........And Finally.........

Ain't that the truth!

WOYWW #547- The 'I'm in my craft room' Edition.

Indeed, and here is the proof. Finally made it up into my craft room. As you can see, an almighty mess from stuff just being dumped or left out as I hadn't got the energy to deal with any of it.
 But I did finally get to sort out the stuff bought at the NEC, so let the Enabling commence!

First off, some loose glitters, some foils, and the big roll is Double sided adhesive sheet, someone was selling it in a variety of sized rolls, this one looks to be about A4 in width.

A few stencils, dies and stamps from Sweet Poppy.

The octopus is new, looks a bit like a Kraken, I think. Very large Dragons Eye stamp.

A few new stamps from Lavinia, they've had quite a few releases lately.

A stencil and number stamps from Honey Doo, both outline & solid. They've had a Black Friday 20% off sale this week, so will be a few more stamps to share next week.

 A new heat gun, a dual heat one from Wow! My hairdryer type is good, but they're not really meant for heat embossing/melting stuff, more for drying, so the hotter heat of this type will help prevent a lot of warping of cardstock!














Some glitter cardstock, the non shed, die cuttable type.

And lastly some of the fab 'oil on water' type cardstock. And that was it. As you can see, very little was actually bought.





So, moving on, something I wanted to share, as I think it may interest those who do Mixed Media work, or shadow boxes/ filled jars etc.

  My eldest son Ant had been working on these a few weeks ago, I've just kept forgetting to include them in my post.

What he did was to take some of the tiny seed type fairy lights, then around each light stem he moulded a 'stalk' using Translucent Silicone Sealant, the sort you'd use in a kitchen/bathroom.  After the stalk had set, he moulded a mushroom cap from more sealant, then stuck the two parts together with a tiny dab of silicone when the caps were set.

The white ones are 'as  is', the green have had a little ink/paint added to the silicone. When it was all fully set, he's mounted them onto pieces of bark picked up on local woodland walks. Pictures don't do them justice, they look awesome in real life.
So, running late today but finally done, I'll pop over to Julias place, The Stamping Ground, and leave my link in a minute.


But that brings us round to this weeks ....And Finally, and theres more than one for you here. Came across these amusing Garment washing Instructions!

WOYWW #546- The 'Hi Honey I'm Home' Edition.

Indeed I am, I was released Saturday evening, so just working on getting stronger now. And I am much, much better today, so thanks to everyone for all the good wishes last week. I have a step counter to give me a visual on how I'm improving, and also a Pulse Oximeter to measure my blood Oxygen level- one of those things they clip onto your finger? Anyway, I was at 91% oxygen when they released me, and yesterday I could manage 20- 30 steps before needing to stop to get my breath back, resting for a minute or so. Today I'm on 95%, and can do 80-100 steps, and only takes me a few seconds to level my breathing, so well on the way to recovery.
Still not up in my craft room yet, that'll probably be over the weekend I'm guessing, so no unpacking yet.
As you can see, a whole mountain of stuff to be sorted, old & new. One new thing I can share is the stamp and die set, front left corner. In true crafting dedication, this was ordered from my hospital bed,lol. I saw Jennifer MacGuire using it a few weeks ago now, and looked for it online. In the UK, there is a site called  Dies to Die For, and she has loads of stuff from many American companies, such as Pretty Pink Posh, Mama Elephant,Altenew, and many many more.

 I don't normally buy stamp/die sets, as I'm not a fan of the white border they leave around designs, but the beauty of this one is having a design stamped out onto the letters, which you can either then mount on the card, or use it for an Eclipse card. Plus you can just die cut the JOY and use as is. So, anyway, when I first looked for it, it wasn't in stock, but I got an email when it was,so I jumped on it straight away. Quite possibly won't get used this year now, but I'm ready for next!
So thats this weeks enabling sorted.
To circle back to last weeks comments I made on the NEC show, the problems seem to be that the organisers are pricing Exhibitors out, many I spoke with are finding the fees exhorbitant now, and when they are also finding out that not everyone is being charged the same for the same size stand, they are starting to drop away, quite understandably. Plus, it's not just papercrafts, they have all sorts of craft and hobby stands, and as in previous years, I'm finding I'm only interested in perhaps 1 in 5 stands, maybe even less. I also noticed a rise in the number of £1 stands- more than theres ever been before, they seem to concentrate on DST/ cardstock packs/odds and ends in the main. Not helping that they charge £12 if you pre book parking, £16 if you pay on the day! Normally we'd go to Happy Stampers, but I thought I would be better avoiding crowds at that point, however that didn't really work out so well. If I'd have given it enough thought, instead of booking for the NEC, I'd have waited a few more weeks, and gone to the Papercraft Show at the Motorcycle Museum, which is just across the island from the NEC. Thats free parking, and just £4 entrance, I can't recall what the NEC was, as I got disabled & carer rates, but I think the general price is in the £15 range.So the MM show will definitely be on my list for next year, as will probably at least one of the Stamperama shows for a change.
So I think thats all from me right now, I'll link in with you at at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, and visit in between naps on the recliner, lol.
Which just leaves.......................And Finally.........................

WOYWW #545- The Normal Enabling Service will be resumed as soon as possible Edition.

And it will, eventually. This WOYWW is coming to you from a hospital bed at the Alexandra hospital, Redditch. Been here since about 3.00 am Saturday, and probably here till Fri/Sat.

So heres my desk- Dougs idea!
Or maybe you'd like to see my new bruise collection?
I know my usual shade is black but I think I pull of  this years shades of blues, greens and browns rather well,lol.

The result of trying to get blood from my veins. easier to get it from a stone.Looks like I've beeen the pinboard in a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey!  😀

🧛🧛🧛🧛🧛🧛🧛🧛🧛

Trying to get a canula in here, all thats happening is I'm starting to look like a junkie.

 💉

All of this is the result of having my chemo session, which gave me a chest infection again. Was getting over that slowly, and I caught a cold which made it harder  and harder to breathe, and i ended up in here.



|
We did go to the  Hobbycrafts show at the NEC,and I know I have said it before but this time I mean it, I won't bother again. Very unimpressed, the papercrafting side of things seems to be shrinking every time we go. Noticed this time that Inkylicious, Chloe and Indigo blu were not there, and I know one other company who told us this was there last show. All my purchases are still in bags on my desk, not even had the strength or energy to unpack. So thats the Enabling to come.😀

 There has to be a selfie , its the rules :)

 A blog post is not complete with out the

And finally........

WOYWW #542- The Fighting Back Edition.

Yep, because I am. Slowly. The last chemo totally wiped me out, and I'm definitely still not even close to ok again, but for the first time in over a week I'm back in my craft room, and linking up at Julias Place, The Stamping Ground.
 No crafting done, apart from some colouring I've sat doing, but there has been some internet shopping done, so normal Enabling Service is resumed.😇
 I mentioned new Lavinia stamps a couple of weeks ago, and here they are.
Pegasus- or is it Pegasi?-  and mushrooms.


I also paid a visit to Country View Crafts, and as well as a TH Christmas cardstock pack, which I don't actually NEED, but they were too gorgeous to resist, I also got a couple of bargains in her end of summer sale, so worth a look.

Some TH Tissue papers, and a fab waves stamp.

This older Chocolate Baroque set, because the words were used on ATC's from a Halloween swap I was in, and loved them. Is it wrong that I read them in the voice of the great Vincent Price, lol?

A Pegasus stencil from Sweet Poppy, many of their stencils have been designed by Tracey from Lavinia Stamps, and match up with stamps.

The Embossing Powders are by Lindys Stamp Gang, part of the range of Two Toned Embossing Powders they make. They used to be called MoonGlow Two toned when I first bought them many years ago,  the Lindys brand seems to make them now, but they are not very widely available in the UK, so these on E-Bay were a lucky find.

I don't have this one yet, they are pre-order for 31st October, but you all know we lost a lovely friend in Erika earlier this year. Erika was a huge Visible Image supporter, and Mark & Helen were at her funeral. Mark has designed this stamp set in her memory, and Helen has added words that reflect Erika.






This was the anniversary card I actually managed to get done in time a couple of weeks ago. I'll try and find the energy to blog it later in the week, with the products used.

This weeks chemo is put off, I'm needing another 3 or 4 weeks recovery time. This one really flattened me, I spent 18 hours or more asleep last Wednesday & Thursday! Still not even close to having any strength, but at least the worst of the brain fog has gone, and best of all the neuropathy in my mouth has gone so I can have cold drinks. Nothing worse than desperately wanting a cold drink but not being able to have one for at least a week.



Which just leaves..........And Finally........

WOYWW #540- The New Stuff Edition

Back again then, as usual our regular wander round the desks of the world, seeing what everyone has been up to. Leaving our blog link along at Julias place, The Stamping Ground- feel free to come join us, we're very friendly! As always from me, there *may* be some enabling.











And here we go with the first. I have seen so many people with the IKEA Raskog carts, but they're a bit pricey I thought, although they have just dropped the price by a tenner, ( to £40) I also had a look at the Hobbycrafts one, which was a very sensible £25, and as they had a promo running of 20% off online orders, means I got it for £20. And I was very pleasantly surprised when I unpacked it. You have to put it together, but that literally took me all of 5 minutes. It is a very good size, neither ridiculously large, nor uselessly small. Trays measure 15½ " x 11½"(40x29cm), and stands 31" (77cm) tall.  Also, very sturdy. Comes in a few colours, I went with the grey. I think the others are mint, rose gold, and white. It has two lockable wheels. Love how much stuff I've now been able to remove from my desk, but still keep handy. The baskets are really strong and deep, and there is plenty of access room between them. I've been able to remove my two boxes of UFO's from the desk, and they all fit in the bottom tray.
So, very happy with it.

I'm waiting on some stamps arriving from Lavinia, as they just put out some more new ones. They're not here yet, so I'll share them next week.
I've also bought myself a new toy I'm waiting to arrive, so I'll do an unboxing and some testing when that turns up.

These did arrive, I'm so far behind on Christmas cards this year, and thought these are going to help make a supply pretty quick. I reckon some foil/glitter card behind those baubles will look ace.

 But it's desk shots you want to see, and this actually doesn't look as bad as I thought it did. It would look better if I got my act together and concentrated on one thing at a time.  Like the 10th Wedding Anniversary card I need to get done for Thursday!
As well as tidying stuff into the cart, I got distracted by something in a video from WOW! embossing powders I watched. She'd made little circular swatches that she'd stuck onto the lids of her pots so she could see what they'd look like embossed. Which is something that I thought was brilliant, as it's not always easy to know what some powders will look like. So I got sidetracked. Some pots have split swatches on, as some, like sparkle EP's, or these 'two-tone' ones, look different on light or dark cardstock, so I punched out a bunch of circles, and then cut some in halves to match up on the lids.

This is the 'craftermath' on the desk behind the desk, the Christmas glittered images I'm gradually matching with background stamped pieces, more embossing powders than any sensible person needs, and generally anything I'm trying to find a new home for.



Received a fab card from our lovely ShazinOz the other day, thanks Shaz, it is so appreciated.

And so I'm almost done. Two more Chemo treatments to go, and I shall be able to stop hiding away from people with germs, like the hermit I've been for the last few weeks. Missed 3 gigs last week, as because of the treatment break I had, they now fell in the week my immune system was at it lowest, so the risk was too much.They were all in small halls where you're really crowded together. However, we are off the the Birmingham Arena on Friday to see Alice Cooper!

Which just leaves......And Finally.....

I think this pretty much sums up the state of my craft room this week!