WOYWW #579- The MINC Edition

So, back in the craft room for our regular Wednesday met up of desk around the world, commonly known as Whats on your Workdesk Wednesday, courtesy of our much loved leader, she of the recent birthday, Julia, at home in The Stamping Ground.

On my desk, is evidence I've been playing with the new toy I bought myself months ago, a MINC. I went for the 12" version- there's also a 6" one- as I often find myself working on 7" square cardstock, so I have some leeway.

The reason I bought the MINC is that I want to be able to use my stamps with foil, and I wasn't haven't a huge amount of success with my laminator. But to be fair, it's a really basic one- an on off switch and thats it. One speed, one heat. Works fine for it's original function, and is usually quite successful with  foiling over stencil paste, but was having no luck with stamping.
 As you can see, notes jotted on various experiments so far, just trying to find the perfect combo of ink/powder/heat for repeatable good results.
 So that's going to be an ongoing thing  for a few more days, a blog post will appear when I get the results I'm looking for.


The weekends Christmas cards were done with the tree stamps and various embossing powders.
The stamps are all quite old now, made by a company called Butterfly Kisses, but they seem to have faded away, can't find any reference to them or their stamps any more.


One thing about the MINC I do want to mention, is for anyone thinking of getting one, be very careful if you go through Amazon. Looking at reviews, I saw that a number of people had ones with the wrong plug delivered- now that could just be errors in ordering, as there are EU, UK and US plugs available, maybe the buyers didn't notice that- one person got a 6" one instead of a 12", and someone else had things missing from the box. So I ended up ordering mine via Hobbycraft for safety. I don't know if the sales pages have been changed since those comments were made, as now you get a separate page for each plug type, perhaps it was a 'tick box' system before? Like I say,most could  have been buyer error, but I wasn't taking the chance.
 And so I'm done for this week, nice and short & sweet.
Good news for Dougs family, Tim, Lyndsay & Curtis are all ready to be released, the council have found them a bungalow as a temporary solution until they can all safely manage stairs, when they'll move them to a 3/4 bed house. Friends & family have been in since the weekend painting & decorating, and furniture is being delivered tomorrow, so they should be home by the weekend. Livvy isn't ready for release yet, but she's doing tremendously well, I honestly think far better than was anticipated when she was admitted.
To all my crafting friends who shared the GoFundMe page, and to everyone who donated, a huge thank you from us, and from Tim & Lyndsay too, it is so appreciated.💓
Which brings us round to ......And Finally.......

...and that would be a catastrophe!

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 #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!

WOYWW #538- The Bit of Enabling Edition

Indeed, as all has been quiet on the enabling front lately, and I have a reputation to uphold, there have been a few purchases this week. First off, an 8"x8" Tim Holtz pad, called 'Abandoned'. Loving the colours in this one.
 Next we went to Webbs garden centre on Saturday, and they have a Hobbycrafts on site. Not a huge fan of them, to be honest, but occasionally they have some bargains.

Like these packs of Glitter cardstock, 20 A5 sheets, half price at £2 each. So, two shades of gold, a silver & a white. They have lots of colours besides these too.








   While we're on the subject of glitter, I came across some Glitter Fun Foam, and I'm thinking these will be great for a number of things- sentiments, for one, and die cut shapes for Christmas cards for another. I think they were 90p each.

Julias revenge, lol. The enabler was enabled. You may recall Julia was using moulds & air drying clay last week, which reminded me I have a tub full of unused moulds.
 Spotted these in there, the one at the bottom says Superlight, and it really is. Feels like a packet of air! ( Mind you, I haven't opened it yet, they might BE bags of air, lol).They were a pound a pack.
 The one above is heavier.

Got distracted from the Christmas cards to join in a swap in a FB group for Samhain/Halloween. Samhain being the old Celtic name for All Hallows Eve, and the Celtic New Year.
Made another set before this, but got carried away with the stamping, and decided they were far to crowded with images, so they went in the bin. There's only so much you can rescue! Linking as always on Wednesday over at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, where she will attempt to keep order.

 On the Chemo front, this time round has been much better, and having seen the Oncologist on Monday, they'll continue at the 80%, as I seem to have tolerated that much better. Good news is, it's clearly working, as the blood test I had two weeks ago- before the treatment and after the 6 week break- showed my cancer markers have dropped from 235 to 175, so it's looking good.

Saw Annies mention last week of the 2020 Crop, it's in the diary! Looks like June will be a busy month, as the following weekend will be Download, and having seen the Headliners announced on Monday- Kiss, Iron Maiden and System of a Down, plus so far, 10 other bands we always go to see on tours - we are most definitely booking.



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

 Love this Terry Pratchett quote from one of the Discworld books.

WOYWW #524- The After the Mudbath Edition.

Because it was. We had rain every day, at least once.This is what the fields looked like- and this was higher up the hill, where at least the water had drained away! A few acres of straw were put down every night, but it was a losing battle, to be honest.
Given that it normally looks like this:












 No idea how big the Festival area is, but the crowd capacity is 110,000! And most days were
a sell out.

  But, we are here to make our regular appearance at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, for this weeks desk visits.

We hired an off road mobility scooter for me, which did make the world of difference. Not only didn't I have to wade through mud- except for the toilets!- but it meant that we could get around the whole site, as there is not only music, of course there are multiple sound stages, but lots of sellers of clothing & other goodies.





Like discontinued lines of New Rock boots!

Which sort of followed me home. 😇
 

 So very little crafting has been done, and won't be for a few days yet, as tonight we are driving up to Manchester to see Metallica.

Two wedding cards have been made, a former work colleague had asked me to make her one in pink, white & silver a couple of weeks ago, then contacted me last week and asked if I could make two for a neighbour of hers. For this weekend, as she needs to post them! Fortunately, they could be the same as the couples didn't know each other, and it could be the same as the one I'd already made.


 I've just got the inserts to print now
 and they're done. She emails me what they want inside, as it's in Polish, so I can just copy & paste!

Later this week there will be another post with some cards, made using Paperbox cardstock. They contacted me some weeks ago, and asked if I'd be willing to do a post with cards made from their cardstock, and they sent me an assortment of pearl card & paper.

There was a purchase or two- I have a reputation to uphold-😎, this time from Hobbycrafts, which is most unusual. I wanted some darker colours of fun foam, as I like to use that to create dimension in cards & sentiments sometimes, and the pack I'd bought has pretty much all pastel colours. Following a bit of Googling, it seemed that Hobbycrafts had a wide range of colours, and at 50p a sheet, not expensive either. They do indeed have a huge range of colours, and finishes too, I saw a glitter finish, and a marbled one as well.





 I also spotted a pad of Tim Holtz Small Snarky Stickers, and had to get that.

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





















EDIT.
 I'm so sad to say I have some tragic news to share.
Yesterday, Erika Phillpott, who sometimes posted in WOYWW as Sumbunneh, passed away.
 I've added here the message her husband Ian posted last night:
I’m so sorry everyone but now I’ve spoken to the families and some friends I now have to give you all some very bad news. Erika’s condition has deteriorated significantly and neither surgery nor chemo are an option. She has been moved to end of life care as she is no longer responsive to input from me or the nurses. She said something to me yesterday, the last words she was able to speak but it wasn’t until today that I put the pieces together. It was her telling me her soul was leaving her body. Please all just join me hoping for a swift and painless end so she can move on to be with her dad.

This was followed by this message this morning:

It’s with the heaviest and most broken heart in the world that I have to tell you all that my darling Erika lost her battle and crossed peacefully to another life yesterday evening. Myself and her wonderful nurse were at her side as she fell painlessly and peacefully to sleep.
It was her specific wish that only I was there during the darkest days leading to this. She wanted everyone to remember her how she was during her life and not how she was in those last few days. I take some relief in that her passing came quickly and she wasn’t stuck looking out and unable to communicate for an extended period. I firmly believe that those last words she uttered to me on Monday were as her being left. Those words will stay with me forever.
You will forever be in my heart, my wife, my bear my everything.

We were lucky enough to be befriended by her,  and we 'met' at first on FB thanks to our mutual love of Visible Image. We met her in the flesh at a crop, and at Ally Pally. To those who didn't know her, she was warm, lovable, friendly to all. She had a huge heart, and shared her love with everyone she met. Our hearts go out to her other friends and family, and most especially to Ian, we simply have no words to say how sad we are.

To all our friends, those we've met & those we haven't, you are as dear to us as family. We love you all, and if you take anything away from this, let it be to tell the people in your lives that you love them. Regularly, daily. Because in the space of one week, we have lost Erika. We don't know ever, when we may see or speak to someone for the last time.

WOYWW #394- MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! xxx

And here we are at last- the Christmas Edition. Make sure to visit Santa Central, otherwise known as Julia's place, The Stamping Ground.
I notice Blogger has been doing stuff behind my back- I've got a lot of new buttons along the top. Time will tell what they are all for.
 The desk isn't particularly exciting, unless organisation gets you all a-quiver.

Stamps are what I'm organising, and thats been a bit of an ongoing thing, to be honest. I like unmounted, bare rubber stamps for preference, and there have been a number of ways tried to get them to stay attached to the laminated sheets. I've tried the Tack It Over & Over- worked fine on some stamps, OK on others, and not at all well on yet more. So I tried the Glue pens, same result. Switched to Tombow Mono Multi, and still getting the same mixed results. It's not just one brand of stamps that I have problems with though- some it works fine on, others not at all.
 Anyway, long story marginally shorter-😎- I was watching one of Kevin Nakagawa's Stampscaping 101 videos the other night, and spotted what he was storing his stamps in. Those wallets/pockets you get to store coins in, and ones for Trading Cards/ATC's, and Banknotes. Absolutely brilliant idea.So I ordered some, and am in mid swap of my Stampscapes stamps at the moment. Really love it for the small stamps, I'm forever finding ones that have dropped off, and not just in this line either. So all my small stamps will be getting this treatment.




I'll do a post on them properly next week when I've finished them.
 Talking of storage, a lovely Blogger stopped by here, having a look at one of my Christmas Card Club posts, and left me a message about the Avery Elle Storage Wallets. You can get them at One Stop Craft Shop, pretty much the same price as they were on Amazon. So, anyone who wanted them, the link is there for you. I bought the  Large, which are just under A5 size. I've seen One Stop at the NEC Hobbycrafts pretty much every time I've been, so they've been around a while. Talking of Hobbycrafts, we popped into their Wychbold store on Saturday, on the way back from Moms. I wanted some tape runners, the Stix2 ones. I also got a handful of their own branded clear stamps.

 Finally, a huge thank you to all the people who've sent us Christmas Cards, they have all been lovely. I shall get them all together for a photo next week. So from the two of us, have a lovely peaceful Christmas, and I'll see you next week for the Almost New Year Edition!

50th Birthday Card

Right, this was the card I was working on last week, but couldn't show as it was for a Birthday at the weekend. Visitors last Wednesday will remember seeing the embossed background, and the letter templates on my desk.
 The templates  are still available, from Clevercut, but I know they are having website problems at the moment,as something on their site has fallen foul of Virgin Media's' Virusafe, which has blocked the page. Just had a look on the FB page, and Ali has posted THIS LINK, which goes straight to the site.
 For making a special card, these templates are ace, as they measure 5 1/2" tall,and approximately 2 1/2" wide, so they can make a great impact.


Mine were cut from a black glitter paper, a pad I picked up once in Hobbycrafts.

Although it's a paper pad, the paper is more like lightweight card.

I already had a vague plan of what I wanted to do- you can see my notes on measurements, as I wanted to have different sized white blocks matted onto black card, which would all be mounted onto a white 8x8" card base.

With my 3 pieces of base card cut. I proceeded to emboss them with a new folder I bought from Crafters Companion, called Sunburst. Of course, had I actually measured the folder first, I would have realised it was 8x8", so could have just embossed one sheet of card, then cut it to size.






 I was quite impressed with how well the folder embossed to be honest. It came out lovely and crisp, with nice detail. No squishing or distortion of the embossing at all.

My next detail involved the use of two of the Sue Wilson Finishing Touches dies, the Classic Ribbon & Bow, and the Lattice Ribbon & Bow.
 These dies are the 'normal' sized ones, as it's worth mentioning they come in a second smaller size called 'Bitty Bows'.

I cut the Classic, which is a solid shape, from black paper, and the Lattice from white paper, to layer over it.





As my card was wider than the ribbon die length, I cut two pieces of each, and joined them together. This turned out to be a mistake, and something I should have remembered from the first time I did this.

Because of the orientation of the bow, you can see the join in the middle- I need to remember that I must remove the 'ends' of the Lattice ribbon, and join by the Lattices in future.

  I made a quick adjustment to my card, trimming down the bottom panel so that it was just long enough to allow one ribbon to wrap over the ends. Then the bow and tails, which again had the Lattice portion layered over it, were attached with a glue dot.

 I added a couple of black/white/silver layered flowers, which are cut with the Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia Dies, to fill the corners.
 Final touch was to add the greeting, a Happy Birthday cut with Poppystamps Dies Vintage Happy Birthday, and that's it.