WOYWW #294

Well my desk finally has something different on it, even though its only new stash! Doug decided we needed a few hours out of the house, and as we also needed wild bird food, we drove over to Webbs Garden Centre, about 20 minutes away from us. Its quite a big, award winning centre, and there are coach trips all year to it from all over the country. It also has a Lakeland on site, an Outdoor gear centre, one for hot tubs, as well as a Hobbycrafts, and the Garden Centre itself is huge, with an amazing selection of stuff,an Aquatic area as well as a vast range indoors of all sorts of home/giftware. I did have a browse in Hobbycrafts, strangely enough, and for once came away with a few bits. One thing I wanted was some smooth watercolour paper, to try out my Brushos with some stamping. Got that, check. Some low tack masking tape, a couple of glue runners, the Stix2, I've tried Hobbycrafts own brand and didn't like them. Doug picked up some Glue sticks, called Blu sticks. Goes on blue and dries clear. 50p each. Bargain.I spotted a 3 pack trial size of Aleenes glues. I already have the Aleenes Tack it Over and Over for my U/m stamps, and love it, so thought I'd try some more in the range. Not a big user of 'wet' glues, but sometimes its what you need- these three are Tacky glue, Fast Grab Tacky and Quick Dry Tacky Glue.

The three pack Sellotape rolls were Christmas stock being sold off, so ready for next year. Assuming that I a) remember I bought them, and b) can find them. To be honest, neither option is very likely. A Tim Holtz die, Eiffel Tower and Fleur De Lis,which was £6.50, and as that's generally around the £12 mark another bargain. The feather die was a freebie with a crafting Magazine I spotted earlier in the day in Tesco.There is also a clear stamp there with a cute little bird and an owl.I have to say that over the last couple of years I've become disenchanted with Hobbycrafts- I generally rarely come out with anything other than adhesives- and this trip wasn't really much different, apart from the Bigz die.  To me, it seems like Hobbycrafts try to cover too much ground, and fall down, especially in cardmaking, by having a bit of everything, but not a lot of choice overall. For instance, they had only 4 different Bigz dies, and I think I counted 8 Nestie sets. But that's just my take on it.

The other items on my desk were a present from Marg, Silvercrafter, who brought them over to me last week. Clear Clarity stamps, as you can see, geometric shapes and bunting, as well as an Alpha set. I love the fact that the shapes have a 'positive' stamp, as well as open ones. The other pack is matching masks for the geometric shapes. Inky fun will be had very soon, I'm sure. Thanks Marg.
 A final note for you, I had my scans a couple of weeks ago, and a meeting with the surgeon last week. Mixed news, to be fair. Firstly, and the real positive from this, is that the cancer has not spread to my Liver or Lungs, its just confined to the rectum. On the downside, the radiotherapy has not shrunk it by as much as he would want before removing it, so I have to have another round of Chemo, this time IV. Don't know when yet, waiting for the Oncologist appointment to come through, so will have to wait to get more details of how often/when/how long for. The good side is that it will be at our local hospital, which is only a 10 minute drive away. Like I said, not what we wanted to hear, so a bit disappointing overall, but the news that it hasn't spread is fantastic.
 Have a great Wednesday everyone, and if you are new here and wondering what its all about, get yourself off over to our Head of Desks, Julia, at The Stamping Ground, and join in the snooping!