WOYWW - What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday 446

Welcome one and all to What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday -  a chance to share our creative spaces.  Click on the badge to the right to have a look at other crafters' desks-it's a wondrous source of inspiration...

I confess this is my first post since, well, er, last Christmas!  Almost a year to the day!  Here's my desk today:

May I introduce you to my early Christmas present, the unmistakable, shiny, glorious guillotine!!  My poor, long suffering partner has finally put an end to my years of moaning and groaning over the annoyance of cheap paper trimmers producing wonky edges..!  That is now a distant memory!  I was speechless when I opened it and am loving my new addition to my craft family.  I really should stop gushing now..!  There are the remnants of Christmas card making to the right and my penultimate card waiting to be delivered.  Out of view to the left and on the floor are all my piles of paper-crafting mess waiting to be tidied-eventually...

Here are some of my favourite makes of this year:

Thank you for taking the time to visit.  Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, happy holidays and all good wishes for 2018.  I will endeavour not to leave 364 days before my next blog post!...  

Angela x

WOYWW -What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday 394

Hello visitors, thanks for dropping by :)

So, today I'm taking part in the fun blog hop - hosted by the fabulous Julia Dunnit http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/. An opportunity to have a good nosey around fellow crafters' projects across the miles from the comfort of our creative work desks..!

Hanging off the edge are a pile of Christmas cards I've been making for all 70 of the wonderful volunteers at Care for the Carers The charity, based in Eastbourne, are the local Carers Centre for East Sussex. They help people who are providing unpaid support for a family or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems.  Their aim is to improve the quality of life for Carers through enabling access to the support and services they need. 

I first heard about Care for the Carers 5 years ago when my wife and I were struggling with the impact of my illness and sadly, she lost her dad to cancer.  After some gentle nagging I eventually persuaded her to go down there with me, (jogging beside me on my mobility scooter!) as I really wanted to get some support for her.  The charity were a fantastic source of help, providing counselling and info on many other services we didn't know about.  For a few years I've been making cards for them to fund-raise -which enables me to give something back to the organisation.  I was daunted by the prospect of making 70 Christmas cards!! -But delighted and proud (not to mention relieved!) when I had finished making them.  I gave myself a lot of time to do it, intermingled with plenty of rest and chocolate!

We are looking forward to a quiet and cosy Christmas with the mischievous cats and daydreaming about decorating my craft room in the New Year and wondering if I'll actually learn to knit next year..!!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year.

Angela x

WOYWW -What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday 314

Hi everyone :) 
I've been moving house (hence, no internet last week) and am enjoying new experiences and new beginnings. However, previous packing and present unpacking have taught me that space and quantity - they're a funny concept!.. I am sure you can guess which one I over-estimated and which one I under-estimated!! But what a fabulous stash of goodies I have re-discovered...like many fellow deskers, - I am a craft hoarder and proud!!

Today's WOYWW is more what and who?!  Alfie, my glamour-puss assistant is making a guest appearance on my desk in my new craft room. He's kindly helping the epic unpack and providing great distraction!! 

Speaking of new adventures, I took part in my first ATC swap for the WOYWW 6th anniversary and am delighted to share with you my fabulous first Artist Trading Card, from my Person In Front, Kim Young -Gorgeous design isn't it, such a joy to open and also, out fluttered some butterflies :)  Thanks so much Kim!  :) 

To have a peek at others' crafty workdesks, click on marvellous Julia Dunnit's Stamping Ground blog to find out more or click on my WOYWW badge on the right...

Thank you very much for popping round today, I'll be a bit more sorted next time and hope to have reached my desk and resume creating! 

This lack of crafting and disorganisation is causing my twitching- I'm sure! 

Wishing everyone a Happy Wednesday and a sunny week :)

Angela x

Angel Greetings

WOYWW 312 - 6th Anniversary!

Welcome all to the 6th birthday of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday! Many, many thanks to Julia Dunnit: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/woyww-6th-year-anniversary-edition.html for creating and hosting this wonderful blog hop.  I have received fabulous inspiration and am lucky to have connected with fellow deskers across the miles sharing our weekly creative round-ups :)

This week we are immersed in packing and cathartic sorting for the big move.  Here's my last desk-shot in this craft room and I'm delighted that my cat Tigger wanted to share this moment too!...


My old desk isn't joining us, owing to a particularly dangerous wobbly leg!  Pleased I've found a replacement desk (see below) which will be delivered on Saturday.

Thanks everyone for your 'good luck with the house-move' wishes and great suggestions for craft storage in small spaces :)

Happy 6th WOYWW and here's to many more!!

Angela x
Angel Greetings

WOYWW 309 - What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday

Hello readers and a warm welcome to 'it's Wednesday - time to show your workdesk'.  This desk hop phenomenon is expertly hosted by Julia Dunnit, click on the WOYWW badge to the right or click here http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/ to find out more...See what's happening on crafters' desks globally!

So, now's the time to reveal the chaos surrounding me by sharing my workdesk:

Actually, it could look a lot worse (you should see the mountain of cardboard boxes and bubble wrap behind the chair..) and in the coming weeks it most probably will be...4 words...We're Moving House!! Help!! I have decided to leave packing up my craft room until last.  I am hoping that I will re-discover a stash that I've forgotten about and will use this as an opportunity to become beautifully organised for my new (much smaller) craft room..!  Any storage solutions gratefully received! Anyway, enough of that, back to business, my desk shows the making of a pop-up birthday card for my God-daughter, here's the result:

I got lots of inspiration from watching a docrafts.tv demo by Sarah J Read: https://www.docrafts.com/Projects/make-a-santoro-s-gorjuss-pop-up-card-in-the-studio/4030727

Thanks for visiting me today and thank you for leaving any comments :) wishing everyone a sunny, Happy Wednesday and a good, crafty week ahead :)

Angela x
Angel Greetings

Angel Greeting ATC Tutorial

Hello readers, thank you for stopping by :)  

I mentioned in my last post that I would describe how I made this Artist Trading Card:

I haven't made one of these mini cards before...but I knew I wanted to come up with a personal design that included an angel, a greeting and some techniques that I could replicate simply - in order for me to make a series of them to swap with other crafters :)  

I began with a piece of thick glossy photo card, 240gsm, measuring 6.5cm x 8.5cm.  I stamped part of a PaperArtsy Flora and Fauna image in clear embossing ink and sprinkled with clear embossing powder.  Having melted the powder from underneath with a heat tool, I then taped it inside a cardboard box. 

Next, I sprayed on some Cranberry Sorbet, Grape Juice and Candy Floss Inkadink inks. Using some kitchen towel I polished over the card and revealed the leaves stamp.  (You will notice some of this technique under the angel, this was a happy mistake as I previously attempted to heat emboss the angel, but the stencil image wasn't clear enough...I decided to keep some of the serendipitous result all the same!)  

I dismantled an angel from a spinning silver tea-light holder and used it as a stencil.  Using a piece of thick handmade paper, I inked through the angel using a square of cut and dry foam.  The inks I used are an Archival Brilliance pigment ink pad, Twilight.  I tore round the image and inked the edges with a hint of black and also some green tones from the Archival Brilliance pigment ink pad, Peacock.

Having attached the image with tape, I then moved on to the matting and layering.  I cut a piece of black card, 6.9cm x 8.9cm.  I drew a border with a VersaMarker watermark pen and scattered a mixture of Cosmic Shimmer Lapis Pearl Lustre embossing powder and Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder and heated.  For the back I cut out a piece of thick white card measuring 7.5cm x 9.3cm and attached the layers with tape.  

On the white background I drew a line of faux stitching with a very fine black pen and gently ran round the edges with the green inks. 

For the lettering I inked round some Tim Holtz Idea-ology 'Chitchat' stickers.

Thank you for taking the time to read this mini-tutorial.  

I hope you enjoyed your visit here :)

Angela x

Angel Greetings

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday 308

A warm and sunny welcome to all :) 
It's desk-hop day yay! -where we share a fascinating glimpse into our creative workspaces.  Jump over to Julia Dunnit's blog for enlightenment of this inspiring activity...http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/ or, click on my WOYWW badge on the right->

Here's my desk...I've been getting messy experimenting with Inkadink's spray inks...

I tried a technique Inkadinks suggested; I took a piece of glossy card (I used glossy printer photo card, 180gsm) stamped an owl image in clear embossing ink and sprinkled with plenty of clear embossing powder.  I shook off the excess powder (-gets everywhere by the way!  Hence, the handy purple tidy tray in the top right corner) and heated the image from underneath the card using a 'heat it up' tool. (There's a real purple theme on my desk I've just noticed!) Then, I had a rare moment of being sensible and followed their advice to spray the inks in a cardboard box to avoid staining the surrounding area!  Needless to say I ignored the advice to don an apron..!  I taped down the card in the box and sprayed some Beany Green, Cranberry Sorbet and Grape Juice inks.  I was delighted when I rubbed over the inks with some kitchen towel and out popped the owl!  -I don't get out much, really..!

Also on my desk you may have spotted my first ATC (Artist Trading Card) design attempt for the ATC swap taking place on WOYWW 312.
I played with the inks on thicker photo card, 240gsm and discovered a different background effect (The purple rectangle mat):

I'll add a tutorial on how I made my first ATC in my next post :) as my energy's waning now...

Thank you very much indeed for visiting me today and special thanks for any messages left :)  Time to start my journey of inspiration and to get round as many desks as I can between now and next week!

Wishing everyone a Happy WOYWW, enjoy!

Sending smiles and waves from Eastbourne! :)

Angela x

Angel Greetings