WOYWW - Christmas is coming - help !!

OMG ! This time next month it will be Christmas Eve ! And I have barely anything Christmas related done !

We are not entertaining at home this year - so thankfully at least I have that pressure off - but I have to get my act together on the present buying front !

On the work desk this week is a little Christmas shadow box in the making ... I had this idea way back at the Artsy Crafty weekend in October & I have been messing about with the pieces but have decided it's tipped the balance from being "colour co-ordinated & tasteful" into "all a bit dull & muted" !! So I need to have a re-think as to how I get a bit of - still tasteful ! - Christmas pizazz into it ! I think some metal work might be called for - or making some mosaic tiles from polymer clay ??

Anyway something to play around with ... and a week today Journal Your Christmas starts again - so I need to get my Album cover underway & I am determined to get all my date labels done up in advance - that prep paid off big style when I did Learn Something New in September - so if I really DID learn that particular new thing I'd be silly not to act on it !!

Oh - and place cards for the Christmas table are on my TO DO list too !

Anyway Happy Wednesday & looking forward to a snoop around your desks this week !

Finally Scrapping !

So at last I have had my 1st weekend at home since September - not that I'm complaining about all the fun things I have been doing - but it was nice just to have time to fuddle about !
I managed to catch up on some scrapping - I have had the idea to scrap a page about how exceptionally stunning the trees have been this Autumn sloshing around in my head for weeks - so here's my attempt - a photo I took looking out from the ramparts of Windsor Castle, grunge board leaves from Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die, a tree I decorated at an Artsycrafty Weekend but didn't really like the end project (so have teased off all the elements to recycle them !), and some Glimmermisted card stock & a bit of journalling. Maybe does do those stunning trees justice but at least I've had a go at homage !

Next up is a double page spread of our trip round Windsor Castle - hard to capture the vastness of the place - but a fun reminder of our girlie weekend ! And I tried something a bit different with the journalling - a sort of script of the conversation between Michaela & I deciding to have our weekend away - inspired by the True Stories course I did to experiment with different journalling styles !

So now I have these Autumn snaps finally safely scrapped I feel I can move onto a few Christmas projects with a clear conscience !!!

Sisters Doing It For Themselves !!

Finally getting round to scrapping some photos from the past month !

Here's the first page of my sister Michaela & I on our "let's leave the menfolk at home" girlie Sisters weekend in Windsor last month.

I am trying to do something on each layout that's just a bit beyond just sticking the photos down album style - which is what time constraints seem to be having me do lately !

On this layout I have used my new Martha Stewart "Iron Gate" round the page punch to create the paper strips behind the photos - thought the design of the punch reminded me of all the fancy railings surrounding the Castle !

A happy page of a happy weekend spent touring the Castle, eating, drinking posh coffee (& cava !) and shopping !

WOYWT !! Better late than Never !

Just don't know where the days go - the year is rushing headlong towards its end & I'm still trying to fit life in to days which seems ever shorter !! I haven't had a full weekend at home with no prior commitments since September ! What I've been doing has been fun but I am SO looking forward to a lazy weekend coming up ! Only a haircut planned in ! So hopefully sometime to craft !

I forgot my camera yesterday - so missed the WOYWW - so mine's a Thursday entry this week !

On my desk is the beginnings of the layouts of my sister & I in Windsor last month. And on my chair is the project box packed to take to club. We had a lovely chatty evening & I got the circles Christmas layout done - leaving the photo spaces free for this year's Christmas photos ! And also had time to do quite a bit of the Windsor pages - just the journalling & titles to put in - so a good evening all round !

WOYWW - Yummy Stash & Achy Feet !

Hi Happy Wednesday !

Sunny, bright & a frosty OoC here in West Wales this morning !

Have been so busy shopping haven't actually got to do any crafting !

Had a fun trip to the NEC Hobbycraft Show with Lynda, Cheryl & Theresa from Scrapbook Club - the journeys went much faster with lots of chatter in the car - much more fun to have friends to share the day with !

I did have a shopping list & got quite a few bits that I wanted - and some things I didn't know I wanted but just had to have !

So some new Lavina stamps - Tracy's work is so lovely - I can stand & watch her for hours ! The lady at Imagination Crafts was demo-ing Silkies - I had had some as a gift when I re-subscribed to Craft Stamper but didn't really understand what they did - her demo was great & I succumbed to another set ! And a brayer - really need to get practicing with that !

Martha Stewart punches were everywhere - and some good prices ! I got a couple of the Round The Page ones - one will be from my parents for Christmas ! A few other stamps & paints .. and saw these brushes being used as an alternative to Cut & Dry foam & the lady at Inklicious was not getting those hard lines you (well I !!) get when you use foam - she made it look easy - but I need to see how I get on with them.

So a fun day, good company - happy shopper - achy feet by the end of the day - and oh my the aisles were rammed with people at some points !!!

As you can see, when I got home my DH made me a lovely G&T to sip whilst I admired my stash & recorded it all in my book ... and he cooked our supper that night .... who could ask for more !!

WOYWW - Well not actually on the desk !

Hi - Happy Wednesday ! Now the second Artsy Crafty weekend is all done & dusted (and enjoyed by the sounds of the enthusiasm on the Yahoo Group !) we are allowed to show what we created - so this week (having spent a girlie weekend in Windsor with my Sister last weekend & so having done no other crafting !! ) here are my projects from my lovely painty, inky weekend with Leandra & Lin & the gang !

The flower frame was about ripping & using corrugated cardboard - a first for Mrs Neat & Symmetrical here - but I love the effect & would use it again - also the edging of the card using metallic embossing powders - I don't think I use these enough (despite having some in my stash!) - so that's on my - "must do more of" list ! The Book of Wisdom (with the owl) we made the niche using a bit of cardboard engineering & scrapbook papers which we then altered - again I had used pre-made niche boxes but not made my own - should be achievable with a bit of planning out first !

And the shadow box was something I had tried with my Autumnal Owl a few months back but I enjoyed doing this one too - and have a plan sloshing quietly around my head for a Christmas version - so I have a blank box & will be on the look out for a suitable nice big & bold Christmas stamp at the NEC on Saturday !

Anyone going to wear a WOYWW badge to that ?

Have a great week & thanks for stopping by !