WOYWW 308 (17)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  This is where we can sneak a peek at other people's craft spaces and you can join in the fun here.

My desk this week -

Short and sweet this week - this is how far I've got.  

Next week there will be shots from the garden - the strawberries, nasturtium, peppers and peas are doing well, the beans are not.

I will also be showing off new toys I got in the 20% sale at work last week.  I'm saving them for my week's holiday next week.

Have a great week, all! x

WOYWW 307 (16)

Hello and welcome to another episode of What's On Your Work desk Wednesday, and what do you know?  It's Wednesday again and it's time to share all of our lovely work spaces to each other.  You can join in the fun here.

My desk this week -

 Two cross stitches for display at work.  This is the last of the displays I'm making at the moment, because there is nothing more to make.  At the end of this week, work is having a twenty percent off event and I hope to show off what I get to you guys in next week's episode of WOYWW.

 I remembered at the last moment of day light to take pics of my newly planted garden .  On the left we have the peas:  Back row left to right - Paula, Pedro, Priscilla and Pammy.  Front row left to right - Pete, Pablo, Phoebe and Paddy.  The Beans: left to right - Bert, Boris and of course, Bob.

 Here we have the strawberries - Sally, Celina and Serena.  Working hard to unfurl the leaf edges.  I think they are poorly.

 These are the peppers - Polly, Poppy and Percy.  they are doing well.  I am pleased to report that Honey the Honeysuckle is now better after last year's tile dust incident, although we are still waiting for her to bloom, which is late this year.

 Last week, I promised to get a picture of the recipient of the wall hanging I stitched for 3 months.  This is Naomi, and she was very pleased with her present:)

 The birthday card I made her.

This week, I'll be finishing the Tatty Teddy cross stitch and hopefully starting one of the things I get in the sale this week.  See you next week! x

WOYWW 306 (15)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, where we can all take a peek into the work spaces of crafty people all over the world.  You can join in here.

My desk this week...

 ...is the dining room table.  I've taken one of the new kits-in-a-tin range from work to make up for display.  I chose the Mini Mechanic set, which comprises of bits to make a plane, car and helicopter.  I think it is the best value for money out of all the kits in the range.  I've just spent two hours making a plane and half a helicopter with my fat fingers.  Hours of fun for a ten year old.  I also wish to promote that our shop has more craft kits for boys these days, by sticking them all in this week's window display.

At a loose end after finishing the birthday present, I couldn't help but start another.  This is the entire design.  It just gets bigger!  Currently sitting at about 10cm /4in squared.

I'm giving the birthday present to the recipient this Friday, so will hopefully try and get a picture of her with it for next week's blog.  I hope she'll like it.

In other news, I've started work on this year's garden.  Was going to take a picture but it got dark.  Doh.  So far we have strawberries, peppers, nasturtium, beans, peas and carrots.  Thinking about planting beetroot, broccoli and sprouts.  More next week.

Have a great week everyone!  xxx

WOYWW 305 (14)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  This is where we all take a peek at the work spaces of other crafters from around the world.  You can join in the fun here.

My desk this week -

 It's in another fine mess.  Nothing really noteworthy, just the scrap from various projects I did during the week.

 Wall hanging completely finished with bound edges and a tie at the top.  Glad it's over, it's been three months.

 Two more Christmas cards done.

 I made two batches of chocolate Easter nests for the kids at the pub and the kids at work.  I found they get better with age.

 I tried to turn this picture around, but as my laptop took two hours to let me get this far, I stopped being bothered.  Hope you don't mind turning your head to view it.  It's a made-a-bear kit that came in at work.  We got a memo through to make one up.  So i did.  Not sure a 7 year old would have a five hour attention span, though.  The bear's made of chenille, so the more he is handled, the more bare the bear becomes.

I can't move for wedding talk at the moment.  Three friends of mine are getting married.  One of them has asked me to make bunting for her wedding and I am thinking of offering to make cross stitched table place names as my wedding gift to them.  I don't know how many people they are inviting, but I've got until the middle of August next year.  What could possibly go wrong (oh yeah, if the other two want them as well!)?

My thoughts are firmly with Fairythoughts at the moment as life has dealt her some lemons.  Fingers crossed everything gets better soon.

Have a great week all!

WOYWW 304 (13)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On your Workdesk Wednesday.  Here, we take a sneaky peak at other craft desks from around the world and see what folk are up to.  You can join in the fun here.

My desk this week -

I finished it! I am pleased with it and wonder how I'll be able to part with it. I've just spent thre hours trying to publish this blog on my notepad that really is coming to the end of it's days and find myself finishing the job tapping on my phone's tiny keypad desperate not to break my new year's resolution of completing every woyww every week of the year. Tired now and off to bed.

Have a great week all xxx

WOYWW 303 (12)

Hello and welcome to anothr week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, where we get to bloghop over other people's crafty work spaces to see what they are doing.  You can join in the fun here.

My desk this week -

The girly Mondrian is coming along nicely.  Only a handful of spaces left to fill.  I have done exactly nothing else in the last week after discovering that sewing this goes well with watching The Returned and American Horror Story on Netflix.  The house work has suffered somewhat.

In other news, I still have a cold but the symptoms have eased off enough to let some motivation in.  Good times.

Have a great week all! 

xxx

WOYWW 302 (11)

Hello, and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  This is where we sneak a peek at craft desks and floors from around the world.  You should take a look and I think you should join in.  You can do so by clicking this.

My desks this week -

 I think I whined last week that I've been ill of late and as such, have been unable to do much crafting.  I'm back to a very sore, very dry throat that I can't seem to keep moist and has a habit of closing up on me.  I did get on with some more of the surprise birthday present.  I'm very pleased with it.  O/H  suggested a red, white and blue one, which I may do, but I can't help feeling that's ripping off Mondrian.  I look forward to making a yellow and green triangle piece.  In the far future.  This one is taking an age.

My actual desk this week - a dumping ground.  Cat treats, camera case, a desk tidy full of embroidery flosses I never find the time to put away, a useful chart that explains how much ribbon is required for cakes of different shapes and sizes (research for work), a lottery ticket (wouldn't THAT be nice?!) and felt tips I used to colour in a birthday card for my mum.

This week I plan to beat this wretched cold, get on with the surprise birthday present and a spot of gardening, while I wait for my crafting mojo to return.  Have a great week all! xxx

WOYWW 301 (10)

Hello and welcome to another wonderful week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  This is where we have a look at the workspaces of like minded crafters from around, all courtesy of our lovely hostess, Julia.  You can join in the fun by clicking this.

My desk this week -

It's a short post this week.  I'm enjoying round two of this brutal cold and had to take yesterday off work to spend most of it in bed.  I'm officially on 'holiday' now, but still not feeling well.  Never mind!  At least I now have time to drink all the nettle tea I want.

This picture shows I managed to get all the outlining finished on the wall hanging I'm making for my friend's birthday present.  The eagle-eyed among you will notice a nearly finished pink square.  I had to unpick the bottom of it as I had sewn the wrong colour in while stitching it in a dim room.  Doh.  I estimate getting it finished before April.

To the left is a couple of postcards I got this week from Postcrossing.  Germany, Netherlands and Czech Republic this time.

The jam turned out fine second time around.  In fact the original jam actually tasted like caramel apple and ginger, so will be using that with my ice cream!

I will visit all that leave a comment, and all that end on the same number as me.  Have a great week:) xxx

Happy 300th WOYWW! (9)

It has finally arrived - the big 3.0.0!  Welcome to a very special week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, where we all take a peek at other people's crafting spaces, all courtesy of our lovely hostess, Julia.  you can join in the fun here.

My desk this week -

 Stack of cards to decorate.  Big piece of plastic canvas/binca with a design i'm making up as I go along.  It is planned to become a cross stitched wall hanging and hopefully will be backed. I have used black acrylic wool for the borders and shape outlines and DMC embroidery floss to fill the shapes in.  It is for a friend's birthday at the end of April, so I have the time.  Friend is into pinks and purples, perfect!   It took 6 hours to stitch the border, which is two holes wide all the way around.  I had planned to work out a chart on squared paper, but then I couldn't be blowed with all that hassle  and just got stuck in.  So far, I'm 25 hours in.  It is good fun and has inspired me to do more, using different colours, different shapes and maybe even making it 3D by layering the canvas up.  The scratch-a-foil piggy is coming on, but I need to get a move on because I'm going back to the shop i bought it from at the end of next week and wish to buy another one.

A close up of the work in progress.

I did promise to show pictures of the charity bags I finally finished (forgot), the Bearscuits I made (forgot) and the apple and ginger jam (forgot to read recipe properly, putting sugar in at beginning, thus burning the whole lot and the pan to boot).  It seems I'm not predisposed to taking a picture of everything I made or do.  Must get better at this:)

Have a lovely week all.  I'll visit all those that leave a comment and pople ending in the same number as me.  xxx

WOYWW 299 (8)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. You can find out all about it and join in the fun by clicking here.

My desk this week -

Pile of outer fabrics for charity bead bags I'm still working on.  Pack of four cheap canvasses on frames.  Planning to make some fabric art with them.  More bags to make, apple and ginger jam planned in the next couple of days, and another batch of delicious Bearscuits in the mix too.  Will show them off next week.

Have a great week all!  xx

WOYWW 298 (7)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday! This is where we take a weekly peek at other crafters desks and floors to see what they've been getting up to.  You can join in here.

My desk this week -

1.  Cup of hot chocolate - check.  That's all that matters right now, I'm freezing!  Okay then.  Three more three wise men pictures to go in the scrapbook.  A scraperfoil of a pig that you can barely see in the front.  I went to the Range on Sunday with my mum and picked him up for a quid, and the scraper tool is evident that it cost a quid.  The sharp bit at the end hasn't been anchored properly within the plastic handle and so moves whenever pressure is applied.  Doh.

There is a black fabric marker which I've been using on a bleach stain on a black item of OH's clothing.  While it doesn't get rid of the bleach, it does bring the stark orangeness down to a vague stain.  The leopard tissue paper was used to make a birthday card at the weekend.  The cat bickies are for Taz.

I now know how to make the charity bags (thanks to Janet's FairyThoughts) and will include a finished picture of them on next week's blog.  I may have made ALL the wiggly bags slightly short, so will be making them larger and there is a small matter of getting on with the shirt I started in the new year for the Sewing Bee competition we're holding at work.

I hope you all have a lovely,productive week.  Now where's that hot chocolate (before lent kicks in!)? xxx

WOYWW 297 (6)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk, where courtesy of our hostess, Julia, we take a peek at crafting desks and floors from around the world.  You can join in the fun here.

My desk this week -

I spent the earlier part of my week off making wiggly bags for a children's cancer charity.  They are all in the orange bag awaiting Velcro to be sewn on them.  I have temporarily failed at making the lined drawstring bead pouches for them as I have been unable to understand the instructions.  I've never been good at flatpacking!  I am hoping the samples are still at work so I can borrow one to study.  I did find a video of how to make such bags on Youtube, but it's not quite the same design and I want to get it right.

There's a bunch of old postcards from Granny's and I don't know what to do with them.  They are not of any sentimental of financial value, most are in sets, but none are full sets.  I was thinking of taking Postcrossing up again, but I just don't know.  I did it for 5 years once, so I could get pictures back to decorate my wall with, but I don't want to do that now, so it seems a bit silly to send one out to get one I won't use.  Do any of you know any charities that look for people to write postcards to those in need?  I can't think of anything else.

I've bought out some of my nicer cross stitch books out as I have decided to knock a few up and see if I can't sell them on Ebay with a Buy It Now price on it.

I'm back to work this week, so who knows what there will be time for.  I'm also going to start walking the four miles in to work every day (no more bus money!!) again, so I'm sure I shall be quite tired, but will carry on with the charity bags:)

Have a great week everyone.  Take care.  x

WOYWW 296 (5)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wedneday, where we take a peek at craft desks from around the world.  You can join in the fun by clicking here.

My desk...

 This week, I have mostly been making Wiggly bags for a local children's cancer charity.  The bags hold Hickman lines and IVs and keep them clean and out of the way by hanging around the recipient's neck from a ribbon strap.  I'm on annual leave and got rather carried away - I've nearly made 40 of them.  I haven't even started the bead bags I'm making for them yet.  It's a great way for me to use up all my scraps that have been sitting around bugging me.

This one is waiting for its ribbon to be machine stitched on.

Not sure what else is on craft-wise this week.  All I want to do is loaf about.  Housework, decorating and cooking doesn't sound like much fun!

I'll do my best to get back to you if you leave a comment.  See you all next week:) x

WOYWW 295 (4)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, where we take a peek at other crafter's desks and floors and see what they've been up to over the past week.  You can join in the fun by going here.

My desk this week:

I was hoping to show you all the sympathy cross stitched cards I made last week, however it turns out that the picture file was corrupted and I have no evidence that I made them!  Iv'e given them out now, so sadly can't take another picture.  Boo!

Currently on my desk is a scrapbook with various designs of the three wise men and Bethlehem sat waiting to be inserted.  I've never scrapped before as it's not really my thing, but I have saved so many of these images from Christmas cards over the years that I thought i should document them.  I shall add written history of the wise men, their gifts, Bethlehem, hymns and anything else I find that is relevant.  I'll be starting another book for all the images of Christmas trees I've also got.

I'm hoping to get back on with the shirt I was making on my day off on Thursday and after two weeks of maniacal stitching, am giving all stitching a break.  You may have noticed the new food related cross stitch design book on my desk, so don't hold your breaths!

Have a great week all! x

WOYWW 294 (3)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, where we all get nosy at other people's crafting desks.  You should be doing it to, just click here to get involved.

My desk this week -

Much the same as last week's desk, only with new cross stitches on top.

Unfortunately, one of OH's grannies passed away last Tuesday.  I was very glum on the Wednesday and decided to start stitching five of these lily designs to put on condolence cards for granny's husband and children.  It felt like some sort of therapy to start stitching them straight away.  Perhaps a small amount of peace was obtained in doing so.  I don't know.

I haven't been feeling well this week (hello tinnitus!) so have done exactly nothing else.  Sorry it's so boring!  Shall endeavour to get back on track with next week's WOYWW.  Have a great week all! x

WOYWW 293 (2)

Hello and welcome to another week of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.   WOYWW is an excuse to look at other people's crafting spaces and see what's inspiring them, all courtesy of our hostess, Julia.  Join in the fun here.

My desks this week -

 I'm being a greedy little pig this week and making the most of the now Christmas-less dining room table to cut the pieces for a shirt I'm going to make.  Don't hold your breath.  I bought the correct size pattern, but it didn't occur to me that my bust would be an entire two sizes larger, which means sadly, that the finished item won't do up at the front.  It's okay though.  I'm hoping to team it with vest tops in the summer.

This is my real desk.  Stack of 74 envelopes at the back all have hand-cut cards in them for this year's Christmas cards (I'm allowed to mention the C-word until the end of January, right?!).  The purple card in front is for my sister's birthday.  The cross stitch at the front is going to be a cake band for the Christmas cake I hope to make this year.  At the back is a kingfisher long stitch found while sorting Granny's belongings.  I'm going to stitch it for her and have it framed along with the Robin long stitch I did before Christmas.

I have no idea what I'll be doing during the week, so check back next Wednesday to see what happened!  I'll visit you if you visit me.  Have a great week all. x

WOYWW 292 (1)

New year, new blog and a new resolution to take part in every Whats On Your Workdesk this year.  I'm ashamed to say I only managed a piddly 12 of them in 2014.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday is a weekly international trip to look at the other crafters desks and see what they are making.  You can join in the fun by going here.

My desk this week:

I know it's against the law in WOYWW, but I had to clean my desk before proceeeding.  It's why I hadn't joined in for a while, the pile of half finished stuff had gone past the picture you see on the wall.  Also, I hope a fresh desk will promote motivation.

I have postcards to send out on the bottom left, a button factory from my friend Nathan, a stack of blank ex-trimming boards from work that I plan to decorate and put on the walls of my playroom to brighten the place up.  The bag at the back is full of Christmas related odds and sods to be turned into magic for next Xmas.  A pile of card and envelopes awaiting the Chrimbo cards coming from my card amnesty at work.  CERAMIC MINION PINCUSHION - made by the lovely FairyThoughts for my Chrimble present .  Special Aida cross stitching band to start next year's cake bands, pile of stuff to frame and a recipe box looking for the correct size cards so I can fill with all my jam, chutney and sauce recipes.

This week, I'll mostly be tackling the button factory and cake bands  Go and have a look at more desks now:) xxx