WOYWW 190

It's been so long since I've had the time to participate in WOYWW – so I'm glad to find a couple of minutes to spy on other people's desks and work spaces today :)

For anyone who wants to join in the nosey fun, just pop over to Julia's at The Stamping Ground and follow her directions (though I cannot believe that there is anyone at all left in the blogosphere who hasn't heard of Julia and her Mister Linky's Magical Widget *lol*)

I'm at a bit of a standstill for creating right now... in between projects, and unable to decide what to do with either of them.

The clock is still there.. not yet stuck together, and the album (or whatever I do finally choose to place in the clock box) not even started yet. Finding myself at this impasse, I decided to tidy up (I must have been desperate!) and I found a KaiserCraft chest of drawers to make up and decorate. Only, I can't make up my mind on how I want to decorate it. Should I paint first then glue... or glue together and then paint? Do I want to decorate the drawers with wrapped patterned paper... or paint them first and have blocks of paper? Oh dear! I really don't know!

So... that's what's on my work-desk today (or rather 'tonight')... and even if I did want to craft a great deal, I think I might find it quite difficult. Baby wants to play on the desk so much (after being out in the melting snow and getting her paws all dirty!), and if she's not on the desk then she'll be playing around in boxes or hiding behind tools and glues on my shelves - as the following medley of piccies will show...

 

See what I mean?! She's even claimed my Blackberry Playbook and Kindle as her new toys!  And they're my toys! *lol*

Still... it's hard to get annoyed at such a cutsie-pie :)

A Shop I Like

Seeing as I LOVE to share a good thing, I want to tell you about a shop I found online. When I desperately needed a Bo-Bunny collection of papers, I couldn't find them anywhere in the UK, and the shipping from the U.S was a bit high ($28!!!). I eventually found the barcode number and put that into a well known search engine. Hey Presto! I found a U.K store that supplied what I needed. The owners of the site are so sweet, so if you're looking for beautiful papers and scrapbooking supplies, maybe you should take an online trip to

Crafty Charlie

They also have a

Blog

for extra news and stuff.

They post items really quickly, and you can collect points to redeem against future purchases.

So, there you go - a shop that I enjoy spending my money in :)

Need Some Crafty Advice Please?

I've been thinking about this clock I'm making - well, more about what I'm going to put in it, and I'd like some advice on some ideas - whether they're any good or not?

Seeing as I have several compartments inside the clock, maybe I could make an 8x8" scrapbook to go inside, with a year planner and then pens and pencils?

Or how about a large calendar and an address book?

OR... I could use it as a sort of writing set... address book and/or letters I have recieved (mainly from my Aunt Lorna) and make a scrap album with photocopies of the letters and the news we swap?

So... what do you think - or are there any other ideas out there that might be better?

You see, my problem really is that I make all these albums and then I don't use them. I use my pink and brown Christmas House album... and I gave away my large A Chest Full Of Memories to my LouLous on her birthday last year. Apart from those two, all other creations are unused - and I want to be able to use this clock as it could look fantastic in several of my rooms at home.

So please... put me out of my misery - help me decide what to do?

:)

Someone's Got A Brand New Toy

Oooohhhh... that would be ME then!

This is NOT a crafting post :)

I am uber-excited with my Blackberry Playbook - a pressie for me:)

I don't usually like technology - basic rule of thumb is:

 The newer it is, the more confused it makes me...

But this has (so far) been really easy to use.

 

I have slept so little , and I'm shattered (check out the bags in the photo - under they eyes! *lol*), but having a play around with this little bundle of techie-joy seems more fun than going to bed and catching up on (much needed) beauty sleep.

I really should be working on my clock project too... maybe later!

Crafty updates next time... promise :)

A New Project

When I posted about my new storage boxes, you may have noticed sat on my desk some oddly shaped chipboard boxes beginning to take shape:

When I was sorting through my huge amount of stash, I came across some leftover pages of a paper pad I had used in a project ages ago (Memory Trunk)... one of my very favourites - "Mariposa". The problem with many of these scrapbook pages, is that they are just too pretty to cover with photographs and journalling, and it's hard to embellish a page that is already so ornate with decoration. So, they've sat in a drawer waiting to be rediscovered. I also had left over a clock mechanism, torn book pages, scraps of chipboard and so many other bits and pieces! I grabbed a whole load of inspiration from Kathy Orta (Paper Phenomenon - see link on the right) and have started making a mantle clock. It's a bit on the large size, as the clock mechanism I had needed about a 6.5" diameter clockface. Kathy's version is about 8 or 9 inches wide I think... Mine is nearly 12 inches - and just as high too! At the moment, it's in pieces as I'm doing this project slowly - adding and re-jigging things as I rediscover what's hidden away in my stash pile. Even the mod-podge I'm using to 'lacquer' the project is leftovers - a mixture of what I found in the bottom of old bottles. Instead of numbers for the 'dial', I've used some brads leftover from a previous project.

As I wanted this clock to be different from the grandfather clock I have recently finished, I decided that after covering it with the torn book pages, I would paint the edges (Gesso so thick it needed to be thrown out, but mixed with very cheap leftover childrens white paint to thin it out) and then age the edges a bit with some ink. I'm being so frugal that I even washed out and re-used a dilapidated old blending sponge that really had seen better days! The paper I chose for the back would have lost a lot of the wording - which is my favourite bit - had I cut it as is... so I used the top part of the paper for the bottom part of the clock base.

The inside is still a bit 'bendy', something which I hope will better itself when the middle banding is attached. I'm keeping the inside just as the torn pages design. I knew that the leftover pieces of chipboard I have really wouldn't be big enough to fill the whole space - so I put in dividers. I thought that I would use the long space for envelopes and letter paper, and the smaller spaces for pens and pencils - leaving a space large enough for an album that can be made from scraps - the space is about 9"x3".

The album will be bound with rings - as I found some lurking in a drawer - so that's just more leftovers to use up! What a shame my New Years Resolution wasn't to use up as much of my stash as I could - I'd have been doing brilliantly with that :)

I'm actually doing quite well with my resolutions...well, a couple of 'mantras' really:

Housework before Craft work!

and

A tidy desk is a productive desk!

We'll see how long those last! *lol*

Well, I've rambled on for a while now, so I'm off to look for Miss Violet - Baby does love to play in the snow! (Unlike Callie, the sensible cat and Lily the old dog).

Keep Crafting Happy!

Storage!!!

I am no longer an Ikea-Virgin!

Hubby took me there today so that I could buy a few storage boxes for the craft room. It's been so messy here, that I wanted something co-ordinating and big to store away (read: "hide") all my little bits and pieces.

I also decided to finally have my scrapbooks ready at hand. They have always, up till now, been kept in a cupboard downstairs... and it feels great to have them handy where I can look through them whenever I want to now.

So... a piccie of what the shelves used to be like...

Violet making good use of any space available for her to snuggle up in and sleep - though I can't imagine it was too comfortable!

I bought just plain black boxes, and because they were quite big (!) I used some luggage tags I had, and wrote on them what was inside the boxes.

I bought enough boxes to store all the jewellery making items I have too,

and I also used a couple more for 1:12th dolls house items and for bits and bobs (shown in the previous post).

I think that Ikea could be fun, as long as you're not looking (in the wrong area) for something specific, and you weren't on a time limit. I found it quite stressful, being my first time.... but I am going back next week just for fun!

Actually, I was a little bit of a rebel in Ikea. For anyone who's never been, I will explain that there are huge arrows painted on the floor, and this is what you follow to get around, only being allowed to divert off the path if you come to a designated 'shortcut'. Now I don't know how they do it in Scandinavia, but I was quite offended at being told which direction I must walk around and browse a shop in... so I purposefully went against the arrows. I felt quite naughty! *lol*. Me and Hubby wandering around as we pleased whilst everyone else kept to the 'proper' direction, following those darned arrows!

Next week, I shall use the restaurant as a shortcut... it's not a designated shortcut, so I may get into trouble *lol* They can't really ban me though... I have family working there :) Not that I'd put it past certain family members trying to ban me anyway *rofl*

So... here's hoping you're all having a fantastic weekend - enjoying the snow (if you have any) and not suffering because of it.

Happy Crafting, peoples :)

The Clock

I finally found a way of gettng photo's on here, so here it is...

Inside where the pendulum should be in a real Gandfather Clock, is where I've hidden my album...

It's simply decorated to fit nicely into the space.

Of course, you can see the drawer at the front - but it's actually two drawer spaces, not one. Under where the large album goes is also a little secret compartment for a mini-album.

It's very sturdy, and keeps wonderful time too :)

Not bad for a project made up of almost entirely leftover pieces of cardboard and chipboard. In fact, everything came from my stash except for the clock workings.