What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 665

Hello Everyone,

It's been a while. I didn't realise until today quite how long it's been since I joined in with Julia's WOYWW. My last post is dated 12th February - that's weeks ago! Alan has been poorly again and consequently needed a lot of TLC. He's been better for a few days so I'm hopeful he'll be fine for a while but we can never tell with long-Covid - finger's crossed.

Right, onto the desk. 

What's on it is an almost completed page. It wasn't until I viewed this photo that I realised I'd missed out the inners of some of the letters in the cut-file! 

They have been coloured with a watercolour pen - Spectrum Aqua 'Spice'. I'd almost forgotten I had this collection of pens, and they are lovely.

The kitten bit:

Introducing the Licky Mat. Silver loves eating her food from it. I'm told it makes food more interesting for her. 

The book bit:

And it's not an audiobook today but a real printed paper book - 'Little Stories of Your Life' by Laura Pashby. This is a delightful and beautifully illustrated book, in which readers are encouraged to look for the magical moments in our everyday life. 

Sorry, given what's happening in Ukraine, there are no funnies this week. Words fail me. My thoughts are with everyone caught up in this terrible war, in particular the children. 

Finally, we were saddened to hear Julia's sad news about her beloved Mama this week. Alan and I will be thinking of her and her family during this difficult time. 

Bye for now

Elizabeth

WOYWW 423 - and book giveaway

Afternoon Everyone,

It's another wonderful day here. Casa Worthington is basking in sunshine and the roses are recovering after the many, too many, days of persistent precipitation we've endured recently. Just the kind of weather you'd think to potter around the garden. However, the sun has brought out what I think are a swarm of flying ants and I've taken refuge in my craft room to share what's on my desk with Julia and all over at the Stamping Ground.

There's not been a lot of activity over the week. I did finish the layout that was on last's Wednesday's desk but the leftovers are still lying there waiting for me to do something with them. I do want to use them up rather than put them away in the scraps drawer so I've pulled out a page of sketches (saved from a 2013 issue of Scrap 365 magazine). It's a plan.

That's a new stamp set from Shimelle Laine. I thought the words and phrases were quirky and different enough to merit a place in my collection.

Also on my desk is this book from Carole Matthews - my holiday reading. The story is based on the life of cardmaker Christine Emberson. You may know of her from her association with Spellbinders and her appearances on craft shows on TV. It's a light but fun read, not least because of the many references to cardmaking. Now that I've read it I've decided to make it a giveaway. Just let me know in a comment if you are interested. If there are many of you, I will do a draw and I'll let you know the result next Wednesday.

Not exactly a desk but it is what I am working on in the garden this week. This is my mini nursery by the kitchen door and those plants are waiting for me to find time to plant them out.

And finally. The herb patch is doing so well that I have a bit of a glut so when I spotted the instructions on how to make flavoured oils in a garden centre recently I thought I'd give it a try. The tall one (an empty Worcestershire Sauce bottle) has rosemary in it and the jam jar has a mix of thyme, marjoram and rosemary. Haven't tasted them yet but looking forward to some on salads later.

That's my various 'desks' for this week. I'm looking forward to seeing what is on your desk and I will comment on as many as time allows. I did look at everyone's desks over the last week on my husband's tablet but I found it takes forever to type up a comment on it, unlike bashing away on the keyboard I'm using now, so I gave up. Sorry about that. Knuckles duly rapped.

Take care and have a great week.

Saturday Book Giveaway #5 – The Encyclopedia of Scrapbooking Techniques

Happy Saturday Everyone,

Welcome back to another Saturday Book Give Away – Week 5.

This week the book up for grabs is The Encyclopedia of Scrapbooking Techniques by Karen McIvor & Sarah Mason. This is the perfect introduction to scrapbooking terms and techniques for anyone who would like to dip their toe in the water.  It’s one of the first books I treated myself to when I first started out with scrapping. Back then I there was a lot in the craft of scrapbooking that was a complete mystery to me ... this book helped to unravel the mysteries :)

There are no special hoops to jump through though, if you want to, and, I stress, you are not obliged in any way, you could add the photo to your sidebar with a link back - just to ensure that as many people get to know about the giveaway as possible. Oh, and leave me a comment to let me know you are interested, of course!

Nothing to it, really :)

There will be another book to giveaway next Saturday, 4^th May ... which, coincidentally, just happens to be National Scrapbooking Day ... you would think I planned these things J

Look forward to hearing from you.

Happy crafting,

Just saying hi! ... and catching up

Hi Folks,

Well, after a bad week or so, I'm back and over the worst. I'll be taking it easy for a wee while but hope to resume normal service in time.

I hope you are all well and, indeed, been having a great crafting time while I've been out of action :)

So there's a bit of housekeeping to be done ... I mean on this blog, of course. But, there again, you should see the layer of dust here in Worthington Towers! For those of you who have not tested the theory that dust displaces itself if left long enough, you will probably not be entirely surprised to hear there's no truth in it ... the layer just keeps building :(

First thing for me to do is to at long last answer that little teaser I left you all with way back in this post here. I asked if any of you could guess what this was.

Lots of clever suggestions - a boardwalk, a pallet, a bridge, etc. - all wrong, though. Only Lynn, Lynn's Crafty Corner, got it spot on:

It's a very modern beach bench! Clearly maintenance free and stylish. But, I think it would be singularly unpleasant to sit your sit-upon down on it after the sun has been blazing down on it for a couple hours ... particularly in a bikini. Ouch!

The other pressing item that needs to be attended to is the book giveaway, #4, Artist Trading Cards.

Without further prevarication ... only because while I was feeling so grim I forgot to photograph the proceedings ... the winner is:

Dormouse

Congratulations Dormouse ... if you will kindly email me at ellie.worthington@sky.com, giving your postal details, I will send it out to you as soon as possible. 

Dormouse mentioned in her comment that she is just getting into ATCs ... I think this little book is the perfect starting off point so should suit perfectly :)

I'll post another book giveaway this coming Saturday, #5 ... one with a scrapbooking theme this time. So if you are interested in scrapping be sure to look out for it.

I haven't crafted a single thing for over a week and my desk is cluttered high with a mix of various projects I was working on, mail that has come in and not been put away and anything else that the EM could find a home for. 

Talking of the EM, he has been an absolutely brilliant carer - I don't know what I'd have done without him ... oh, and the Boss is eternally grateful to him too :)

I'll leave you with this photograph taken of the Kerria, Golden Guinea, growing in our garden ...

... the bright and cheerful yellow flowers certainly light up a dark corner. I could almost believe that spring has sprung :)

Take care everyone and keep crafting,

Saturday Book Giveaway #4 - Artistic Trading Cards

Happy Saturday Evening Everyone,

Here we are at week 4 of my book giveaways already ... how time flies! 

This week, because many of us have ATCs very much on our mind (due to a certain blog hop's 4 year celebration) I've chosen to giveaway this super little book, Artist Trading Cards by Leonie Pujol. Yet another beautifully illustrated book filled with inspiration, ideas and instructions for creating ATCs of all styles. So if you are into making ATCs - and I know many of you are - this book could suit you perfectly.

There are no special hoops to jump through though, if you want to, and, I stress, you are not obliged in any way, you could add the photo to your sidebar with a link back - just to ensure that as many people get to know about the giveaway as possible. Oh, and leave me a comment to let me know you are interested, of course!

Nothing to it, really :)

There will be another book to giveaway next Saturday, 20th April, so if this one doesn't rock your boat, keep checking - there's still a pile of lovely books up for grabs.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Happy crafting,

WOYWW - Week 108 + My Favourite Lily Blooming at Last

Good Afternoon Everyone,

There's lots on my desk this morning - I think I've found my messy streak at last! That's because I was working on this week's Christmas card when the postman delivered my latest edition of the Craft Stamper. Needless to say the makings of the card were abandoned until the mag had been read and digested - I'm just too easily distracted : )

Under the magazine there's the paper intended for another card which will feature the cute little baby sitting on the easel (actually there's two - one coloured in pink is hidden behind). There's also a sheet of cream card lined up for a scrapbook page of the sea view photographs taken on holiday.

I've been increasingly drawn to vintage work I've seen recently on so many of your blogs so I raked out the book you can just see at the top of that pile - Vintage Greeting Cards by Maryjo McGraw. I've had it for sometime and, yes, I have looked through it before but not studied it deeply until now. Ms McGraw has packed the book full of techniques - some I would simply never have thought of - ever. For example, using brown shoe polish as an overlay to age photographs, or using a patterned paper napkin as a background or that a fragment of sea glass, the stuff we can pick up from the beach, will make an interesting embellishment when adhered to a photograph.

Some of you might be wondering why there's a roll of  aluminium insulating tape balanced on top of my tub of gilding flakes. Well, the EM spotted it in one of his favourite haunts - the building suppliers. He recognised it as one of the materials seen on a recent steam punk themed TV demo and thought it would probably be a handy addition to my crafting arsenal . Most women get flowers, I get aluminium insulating tape  - and I'm definitely not complaining!

Well, that's me for today but, before I go over to Julia's Stamping Ground to hop amongst the workdesks of the world, I thought you might like to see this photograph of my favourite lily, taken just this afternoon.

This pot of lilies that sits on the deck and last year it didn't do too well, but this year it has gone mad!  There's been dozens of buds just waiting to pop for simply ages so we have been awaiting the grand opening with baited breath - you see, we'd forgotten what colour these lilies were. They are simply the most gorgeous deep red - fabulous!

Happy Crafting,

Valentine Card

Good Afternoon

This must be a record for me - three times in one day. I've just managed to photograph the first card made using the marbled cardstock I made on Sunday using the shaving foam technique.

Materials used:

• rose coloured pearlescent cardstock for base
• the marbled card in shades of pink & green
• green gingham chipboard frame
• green gingham heart-shaped topper and gingham edged insert created on PC using Basic Grey's 'Carlie' digital paper from the 'Oh Baby Girl' Collection
• embellishments: pink heart-shaped toppers from The Works and pink & green ribbon from Funky Scrapbook Barn

Sticking to my resolve to use up some of the stash I've got before buying any more I finally found a use for this chipboard frame. I bought it in a collection when I was making a scrapbook layout, used everything else but not this frame but I thought it would look really good with the pink and green of the marbled paper.

The pink heart shaped toppers were a cheap find some time ago at The Works but really pretty and a perfect match.

The insert and the heart shaped greeting were made using My Craft Studio's graphic programme and Basic Grey's digital paper. The ribbon is gorgeous, green on one side and pink on the other - not sure it shows up too well in the photograph.

Apologies, especially to Ciara, if my photographs are dark but it is dark here in Scotland today (and most days, if I'm honest) - even with the lights on. I shall have to look into the possibilities of investing in a daylight lamp. It would be nice if some kind person would run a course or tutorial on how to photograph cards because I'm useless at it :(


I'm at the reading group tonight so won't get much more crafting done today. We are reading 'A Fine Balance' by Rohinton Mistry. It's a thick book, a very thick book, but it's proving to be very good. It's a family saga, set in India in the middle of the 20th century, the period after the British left and in a time of great political unrest for the country. I'm only half-way through - I did say it was a big book - but I have to finish it because I want to know what happens to the people in it - I'm well and truly drawn into their story. 

Hope you like this card - it's a departure from my usual style, no stamp, no colouring, very little paper, no ink, though I did sand the edges of the frame to distress it a bit. I'm not even sure I like to rely so heavily on toppers for effect - my fingers are too clean :)

Bye for now
Elizabeth