WOYWW #573- The I stamped something Edition.

I did indeed, and I'll show you that in a minute. As always on Wednesdays, we're here to share our desks with the world, courtesy of our much loved Leader, Julia, at The Stamping Ground.

As you can see, folders of stamps open here, there and everywhere.







 


 I have ideas, you see, on what to do with these backgrounds I did a few weeks ago.

I have really bright sunlight coming through the window next to my desk, so apologies for the shadows.

This is the first one stamped up, I just need to add some colour to the butterfly, and probably the toadstool too, I will do that with pencils.
 Amazing thing is, it came out exactly as I had the idea in my head. Not too often that happens, lol. The caterpillar & toadstool , as well as the words, are all Lavinia stamps. The Butterfly is an old Papermania stamp.
My shoulder seems to be improving, thanks to a bit of Googling- despite
 the fact you should never Google medical symptoms, rofl- my shoulder pain, which we'd started to suspect was caused by a trapped /pinched nerve, well that seems to be precisely what is causing it- a pinched nerve in my neck, and after Doug feeling about on my neck,  I have one very sore spot on the right side. So, still going with the pain relief gel & painkillers.
Which brings us round to.....And Finally.........

WOYWW #572- The Happy Birthday To Us Edition.

Yes, our 11th Birthday! What a milestone that is, eh? All down to our lovely Julia, over at The Stamping Ground. This is my UFO for the theme, and I thought I'd make it into a Birthday card to us all. The balloons and gifts are both Card-io/Majestix stamps, the 11th is Honey Doo Crafts, and I'm afraid I have no idea where the 'Birthday' balloon came from, may have been a freebie at some time.

This was the envelope I decided to work from, I can't believe how many of these stencilled sheets I have and not used yet.
 I used an assortment of Versafine Clair inkpads for the stamping, and although it's hard to see, I did cover the balloons with a coat of Glossy Accents, and sprinkled them with a little Glamourdust.
 And I learned a little trick that some might find helpful.
 When you're trying to place clear stamps on your background, ready to pick up with the lid, they can be really annoying, as they keep sticking to your fingers, am I right? Well, the 'string' on the balloons above is a separate stamp to the balloons, and was a total nightmare to get to lie where I wanted it, as it's really thin. It was driving me nuts, and I was sort of looking round my desk for a solution. And then I spotted my anti static bag, and the little dish it sits on has a good coating of powder on it. Dipped my fingers into the powder and rubbed it over my fingertips, and Yay!!! no more stamp sticking to my fingers.

 Got the Christmas cards finished, and the Caught in Crystal sheets worked out a treat.


 Nothing much in the Enabling Dept- just a 2" Speedball brayer! Came across these a few weeks ago, but couldn't find them anywhere in the UK. Not sure if they're new, or just not widely stocked. Got mine on Amazon- via Supermart USA, which are really good, as their prices are always competitive, and they ship worldwide for free.








  realised a few days too late last week that I completely forgot to add an And Finally! So this week there's two to make up for it.

So here you are....And Finally.......

Christmas Card Club Challenge #10- Door/Window

Well, I'm here, a week late, but my monitor giving up the ghost basically turned my PC into a giant paperweight! So, Margaret chose this theme, and she'd like to see Doors or Windows featuring on our cards. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and also that I didn't have any door/window dies, but I did have cutting files for my Silhouette. Which was when my monitor decided it had had enough.
When my new one arrived, I cut out the Gothic Arch window, and the Glowing Candles Memory Box die. I also realised the 'stained glass window' effect I wanted was going to show through the candles, so I grabbed all the waste off my cutting table to stick back in place.
 To back the windows, I used some sheets created long ago, using the 'Caught in Crystal' technique. I've linked to my original blog post about their creation, in case you don't know the technique.
I had to wait for them to stick and flatten, as you can see some had gotten a bit curled over time.

 These were ready for attaching to the window cut outs.

And this is after they stuck and flattened out.

 Stuck them down onto 6" card bases, after matting the card front- I changed the green one later, as I didn't like the narrow border, and also realised I'd not kept track of which window went on which card, as the one I used on it had no green in it at all!

 Next stage was to add the candles in front of the window, and some yellow Liquid Pearls for the candle flame.







Final addition was a sentiment peel off.

This one shows a little of the glitter added to the window background.

WOYWW #571- The Catching Up Edition.

I am, indeed, playing catch up. I was getting a bit concerned I wouldn't make it for this weeks desk round up over at Julias place, The Stamping Ground. Because last Friday- or it may have been Thursday, who knows anymore- my PC monitor decided it was going to the great Tech graveyard. Poof! just died on me. I've been able to access the Internet on my Chromebook, but that isn't Windows based like my PC, so I can't actually access anything I'd do on my pc, and it doesn't show me any pictures on there either. So, another monitor was duly ordered from Amazon, was showing Tuesday as a delivery date, so kept my fingers crossed. And here it is! On my PC desk which is over in the corner. I didn't get any cards made for the Christmas Card Club- thats something I need to catch up with in the next few days, as this challenge was 'Windows', and I knew I didn't have a die for this, but I did have cutting files on my Silhouette. So, having got a monitor again, I've just cut out the Window shape I want to use.

I also die cut 3 Memory Box candles I want to use with them.. I haven't poked out the waste for the windows yet. I'm currently having a think about the candles- I think I'm going to need to attach the candle bodies, otherwise the window will show through.

Sorted out some acetate sheets/OHP film I've coloured with Alcohol inks, and some using the KLEAR floor polish & tissue, to back the windows with, so they'll look like stained glass.

I've also got these inked card pieces I intend to use, not sure if I'll use them for these cards or not though. Probably not.

 Not really enabling(!) but have you seen there are to be some new Distress Colours? Just sayin.😈
 And that's all my desk related stuff done.
A few of you have asked what I did with my shoulder. It's not a new injury, some of you may recall I once snapped off a corner of my shoulder blade, where the rotator cuff is joined? Believe it or not, that was back in 2012. I had it in a splint for 12 weeks, then had physio, and it did all heal. The trouble is occasionally it will become painful- and the cold & damp really upsets it. We had some cold, damp weather a couple of months ago now, and it started aching. I then spent ages using my Rotary Cutter to give my card inserts a fancy edge, and that requires quite a bit of pressure to get good clean cuts. Anyway, I obviously aggravated it no end, and it's not been happy ever since. Been resting it, occasionally putting in a sling to support it, and it's gradually returning to normal. At it's worst, it's a bit like a cross between Sciatica but going down your arm- it'll extend as far as my knuckles sometimes, or having really bashed your funny bone! So, it's been getting a lot of rest, painkilling gel & painkillers,and I do think it's a lot better than it has been. Hope you are all still staying nice & safe, and that anyone who's been ill with this blasted virus, is getting better quickly.

WOYWW #570- Just a little Enabling Edition.

Well, despite us all being in lockdown, the weeks still seem to be flying past. Time to pop your link over at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, and bare your desk to the world! MIA last week, only because my shoulder has been giving me a lot of trouble over the last few weeks, and I've found that alternately resting it, and occasionally having it in a sling is gradually helping to improve it. So, no crafting as yet, although I do have cards for The Christmas Card Club due this weekend, so I'll have to get my ass in gear. One little bit of enabling- just a set of dotted Oval dies from Crealies. I do have a couple of sets, but they don't go up very large, and these ones are from the XXL range.

The box on the image gives you the sizes- the smallest is 2.5x6.5, the largest 12.5 x 16.5.( equates to about 1½ x2½, and 5 x 6½ inches). I struggled a little when I was cutting out those Gorjuss Girls a few weeks ago, I had to draw around the outside of my largest oval and hand cut it for a matt. By the way, have you ever noticed just how much ovals vary? There are long and narrow ones, and shorter, wider ones, so you can't ever mix and match between sets.

Actually, I got carried away with the enabling, and haven't put the desk pic in yet! And this week you get a twofer- my desk, showing zero stuff happening, and Hubbys desk, as he's working from home. Since he was made redundant last year, he's been retraining in IT, so having done a number of courses, he feels he'd really like to get into the tutoring/training side of IT, so he's currently volunteering as a tutor with the place he did his training, as to get a qualification, a number of tutoring hours have to be completed.
 All mine contains is the pile still waiting for inserts, and a reflection of the sunlight! Thats actually the one thing I don't like about the glass mat, it's way too reflective for my liking.



Hubbys desk- two screens,a laptop, a microphone & camera, and an assortment of other 'stuff'.




Which brings us to ......And Finally..............

Hope everyone is keeping safe, and anyone who's been ill is well on the way to recovery.😍