It's been a while - WOYWW

Back at the start of the year I made a recommitment to join in with WOYWW and managed to join in for a few weeks little knowing just what the world was about to throw at me.
February 2014 was one hell of a month for me and I did not even have my craft to turn to, however I did have some amazing friends that craft has brought into my life and with their help I am finally getting there and there is something crafty on my desk again. At the start of that hellish month the man I thought I would share the rest of my life with announced that he no longer wanted me in his life and so began a process that saw me go from being a homemaker to working fulltime and had me leave my home for a room in a shared house. There were times when I really did not know what I was doing, where I was going or anything and when I had the creativity of a stone.
However I am coming out the other side. My beautiful craft room might have been replaced by a multipurpose computer desk that has to be cleaered before I can do anything and most of my stash might be in storage but I am starting to create again and to enjoy living. I am no longer crafting among the landrovers and in a short time I am hoping to launch a new blog that reflects the new reborn me but for now in case anyone was wondering that is what has been happening to me and this is my desk this wednesday evening.

Hopefully this will become a larger version of this plaque that I made last week at my craft club, I'm still going even if at a different time!

And that phrase is one of the mottos that I am living my life by now. I have come this far and I am not going to be beaten.

WOYWW Something to see

Sort of. My desk this week is home to the second mini album that I started yesterday. If I get the time and the inclination it is what I will be working on today.

The actual mini album is on the right of the mat, I've made this one deeper than the first which I shared yesterday and it is going to get lots of pockets and decoration (maybe!)

Pop over to Julia's place to see more desks and to find out what WOYWW is all about.

Pictures Galore Mini Book Share

 Recently I have been scrapping and yapping a lot with my peeps online and there have been some challenges involved one of which involved a mini book created by Isbaha that some how became this.

Now I shared it with my friends at Crafty Bunch today but have had a request for pictures from one lady who wasn't there so please excuse me if I have gone over the top on the photos in this post.
The book is actually quite a simple construction and requires 3 sheets of 12x12 cardstock to make it at this size. It is also quite dimensional as the photo from the top shows.

Once it is open you can see that there is a bit of folding involved, which means measuring which could have been a recipe for disaster with my record for following instructions, but I am pleased to report that I got it first time.

It has two sets of pages that are attached to the front and back covers.

The pages fold out giving lots of space for adding photos. In my case I used photos of my mom's cat taken during 2013

The middle section of each side makes a pocket and I used the tags to add a little journalling.

This is as close as I could get to a photo of the album with both sides unfolded without getting my better camera out and finding somewhere other than my desk to take photos.

There are a few empty spaces in here because getting photos of Miss Willow has been increasingly difficult, she takes herself off whenever I arrive.

I pulled the tag out a bit on this one.

This is the flat outside. The papers I used were from a 6x6 pad and are by Studio Calico.

I decided when I came to finish it that I would give this to my mom because I know how much she loves having photos of her furbaby and because I wanted to keep the emphasis on the photos I added minimal decoration to the inside. At club I started a second, smaller, version of the same book and that one I think I am going to put more decoration on, at least that is my plan so far.

Happy Crafting!

WOYWW Dipping My Toe Back In

Now I dabbled in the What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday pond back when it was a puddle and kept it up for quite some time and through a couple of anniversaries if I remember rightly, however somewhere along the lines it got forgotten about as the numbers taking part increased and commenting on all the desks could take days and days. But I am looking for ways to give my week more structure and figured that a post in the middle of the week might be just what I need so here I am once more opening my craft room to the internet.

This is the scene this morning. No project in progress on my desk and no scraps, because I am going through a keeping it clear phase, instead there are envelopes of photos that I need to go through to pick out what I am going to work on next. That maybe later but I've got an application form for a job to fill in first.

Happy Crafting!

Sharing a Little

I've been feeling somewhat unwell this week but the bonus of sorts is that my craft room is looking nice and tidy. This is the proof taken this morning.

I tidied up in here last week and did some rearranging of things on the shelves and so forth. I also managed to do some crafting last week and after my dabbling in 3d items seem to be back firmly on the page.

This is the result of last week's craft club.

 

 I didn't get much of anything done at club because it was our first one of the new year and we were all too busy talking to really craft but I did come away sort of knowing what I wanted to do with the materials I had been given from the Prima Lyric collection.

I cut the central image out of the paper and mounted it onto black cardstock for impact, then I cut certain details so that I could slip the photo behind them. I added a word sticker and created a simple embellishment cluster with a chipboard piece, a wood veneer butterfly and silk flower petals.

The photo is my lovely in-laws at a formal dance over 40 years ago.

Happy New Year!

A little late I know but I've actually been too busy crafting to blog.

I want to start this year by sharing a couple of pages that I did last year. I forgot I had done some scrapping in December because I didn't put the pages into my holding box.

The amazingly talented Sue at Crafty Bunch asked me to have a go at some Layouts for her using the Kaisercraft Garage Days range because she knew that it was right up my street. These are what I came up with.

 The background for this is actually one of the papers turned sideways with the main motif covered up by my layers. I used 'oil change', 'tune up', 'tool box' and 'workshop' on this one and pieces from the sticker sheet and Collectables pack.
The obvious subject for this range was our Dee-Dee who seems never happier than when she is causing Himself work, honestly she is the quintessential awkward old lady but we love her and her frequent trips into the workshop.

My second page plays up the father element of the range.

This one uses 'shield', 'tune up', 'workshop', 'gas tank' and 'checker plate' plus again pieces from the sticker sheet and the Collectables pack. I also added a sheet of charcoal cardstock for the background.
The photo is of a very young me and my dad, the wording on some of the papers made me think about how he is still my go to mr fix it. He is the one I turn to when I know something can be done and want it to happen this century and my craft room would not be what it is without his assistance.