WOYWW - Where Does Inspiration Scamper Off To ?

So why is it, when you finally have a couple of free hours to get creative & even a pile of stash to hand, that somehow all inspiration goes AWOL !

On Sunday it poured down here in West Wales - and after swimming & before the delights of my weekly date with the ironing board I had a whole 2 hours to play - but could I create ?

Nothing.

I have read art journalling books that say - just play - things will come together .. so I inked, I got out my new Roman Lettering stencil - I sprayed - and still nothing came together !  

I think I have discovered that the trouble is I have to have something to say ... the imagery bit isn't enough in itself  - I have to express a thought, a mood or a feeling ...

I suppose I have lived in my "wordy" world for so many years & the whole "arty" thing I am exploring is relatively new - that I can't get away from needing the words too !!

So this week my desk is a mess !

 
The pink tag book is my failure from Sunday - maybe it might become something else if my inspiration finally makes a reappearance !!

The list on the left is my crafty stash list - now updated with my Ally Pally purchases !
Ready to be kept in my purse to try to prevent duplicate purchases !!

And you can also see a couple of scrapbook page I have been working on - these are about my youngest nephew, Tom - firstly in the adventure ground in  Llyn Llech Owain our local country park ...

 And Tom lost in thought walking through the waterfalls cascading down in the caves we visited on Good Friday ..

And I have a new toy ... DH finally admitted I would never get a look in using the Samsung Galaxy tablet "we" had bought for "us" back in September - and decided it would be easier to get me my own handbag sized one - so I don't keep niggling on about never getting to use "his" one !!

I took these photos on it - Dropboxed them to my laptop to resize them & now here they are ...
I expect there is a way to do it all on the tablet - but I think lots of playing lies ahead to work out how it all works & what it can do !!

Hope you all have a great crafty week !
Ali xx

WOYWW - Ally Pally Stash !

Last Saturday my friends, Lynda & Theresa & I headed up to Alexandra Palace for the Big Scrapbooking & Stamping Show.

It's a long drive - 3 1/2 hours each way - but it's a lovely venue - just a shame that the weather wasn't good enough for us to sit outside & have our lunch as we have in previous years - the view over the city is stunning.

We thought there seemed to be less stalls there this year - but there was still plenty to see - good demonstrations and of course loads of shopping !!

So this week my desk is covered in yummy stash !

And a couple of projects I managed to squeeze in between getting back on Saturday night and having to head back to Bristol Airport on Sunday afternoon !

So at the front is a ring binder album with Project Life style pockets plastic folders in it - I have seen some lovely examples of this on the WOYWW blogs - so I am keen to have an experiment !!

To the left is a new alphabet die - the whole show was awash with dies - loads of different brands & hundreds of designs !!
We were commenting in the car on the way home how crafting fashions come & go !!

I found some lovely stamps - as usual Tracey at Lavinia Stamps was doing some lovely demos of her fairies & landscapes !!

I found 2 new fairies that I liked - and had a quick play with them on Sunday morning too !

So here's a page in my journal - using some of the new Dylusions inks - including White Linen which softens down the vibrant colours ! - and some new colours of Sparkle Medium I used through a new stencil I found.

Its just a playing around page - Never Stop Believing Magic Can Happen !

This fairy caught my eye as well - gathering pollen from the flower - with an Inkylicious Twinchie of rudbeckia stamped at the bottom !

Stencils were the other big thing at the show - they had many from several companies - which is fine by me as I love them !!

The Peacock & Owl I had on my wish list but the others were just pure temptation !
Looking forward having a fun time experimenting with them !!

Anyway - hope you all have a fun crafty week ! Looking forward to seeing you desks & projects this week !

WOYWW - Is it okay for this to be fun ?

Speaking to friends, I think many of us have something that we worry about, about ourselves - whether it be something about how we look or how we come across to people and so on ?

One of my niggling concerns is that I have never felt I am very good at having fun !
Not the sort of "fun" that other people seem to find fun - nights out, parties and all those gregarious things !

On Saturday the sun shone & I set to on my vegetable bed - I ripped out all the old, bedraggled and frost damaged veggies and dug it all over - adding bonemeal and a big bag of Alpaca poo !
So am I just wierd or is it okay is for that to be fun ?

I had wanted to have Sunday as a playday - so I had purposely attacked the ironing (my normal Sunday afternoon task) on a couple of week nights to give myself free time !
So Sunday I was able to indulge in myself in some serious scrapping !
Is it okay for this to be so much fun ??

I was determined to finish my Africa Scrapbook - so here are my last few pages !

One of the days we squeezed in a visit to a wildlife park - we saw all the animals they call "The Big Five" plus Imperial Ibis, Springbok, Gnu's and Ostrich !

Of all the animals I loved the Elephants the most - I could have watched them for hours - but didn't realise quite how smelly they would be !!
You can see that the lovely tag Bella mad for me finally found it's forever home !

 



Each day was crammed with our planned activities - but early on my last day we were able to take a quick trip up the cable car to the top of Table Mountain - it was an amazing place.

It felt like I was on top of the world at the bottom of the world !

The views from the summit were stunning - all across the city and out across the ocean - next stop Antartica !

And then in the opposite direction down the craggy mountainous coastline - mountains plunging towards the sea ! 

 

 

I still had a few souveniers left - so I made these two pages where I could tuck my various bits & bobs and memories !

I used the fun African Musical Ladies stencil that Bella gave me and the chipboard map and Baobab tree I had bought at the scrapping shop in cape Town - some stamps, banknotes & coins and a few others things I had hoarded away ! 

 

 



And one last page was all about meeting up with Bella after reading her blog on WOYWW - and remembering how amazing it was to meet someone at the opposite end of the world who loves the same crafty things that I do !

 

 

So after all that scrapping I felt the need to indulge in a little arty project !

 

I had seen a project in this months Craft Stamper using the Crafty Individuals Bunny stamps I had bought used in a box project.

 

I had already painted up this box to upcyle it and this seemed a fun thing to do - so here's my little bunny project ! 

 

Hope you all have a fun crafty week !

Take care Ali x 

 

 

WOYWW - Busy Easter - no crafting !

Hi
Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend !
I had my sister, brother in law & 2 nephews down to Wales to stay with us - the weather was still freezing cold but at least it was mostly sunny !

So what with heading out and about with the boys there was no time for crafting - well Tom, my youngest nephew, loves to make a scrapbook of his adventures when he comes down to see me - so we had a happy Sunday afternoon scrapping - snug from the cold in the sunny conservatory !

We had a fun day Friday at the Dan-yr-Ogof - the National Showcaves of Wales - with some amazing caves to explore and a whole array of huge dinosaurs !! Tom knew the name of them all !!

Then yesterday we headed for Techniquest, the science museum in Cardiff - all hands on stuff for the boys to do ! And some for us grown ups too ! 

They had a thermal imaging camera set up which you could stand in front of & see your own image - yes that weird figure in the picture is me !!

So on my desk today there is only some new arrivals ... my new copy of Craft Stamper arrived today - and the new Art Journaling magazine. 

Also I had ordered Dina Wakely's new Journaling book - and as I have a weakness for the Tilda books - I just happened to drop her new Fairytale book into my basket !

At the back are a couple of sheets of alphabet stickers I grabbed when we took Tom to Toys R Us on Saturday ! My journal is to the left - hoping to get back to it this weekend but have a mass of things to scrap now !! And on Tilda's book a funny note from my sister - she is teasing me about my hoarding tendencies - she has said "here is an interesting little jar to keep interesting little things in ! " 

WOYWW - Guilty Secrets !

Hi there
Hope all of you affected by the dreadful snow in the North & East of the UK are managing to to stay snug & warm - and maybe trapped in the house with only crafting to cheer you up ?? !!

Thank heaven we have escaped the chaos down here in West Wales - but did see a bit of the white stuff when I went to my sister in law's in England last weekend !

Being away all weekend - and consequently having no crafty time at all - is the source of the guilty secrets on my desk this week

Yes - shock, horror - those ARE shop bought Easter cards on my desk !
I usually love making my Easter cards but having been away earlier in the month & all last weekend - plus 11 hour days at work - I had to be realistic & acknowledge it just wasn't going to happen this year - so had to buy some if I was ever going to get them posted in time !!

I bought them at a lovely garden centre I went to in Surrey near my sister in law's home - they were also  selling all sorts of Easter decorations - it was like Christmas revisited - just with chicks, eggs & bunnies !!

I got lured by a little bird & bird house - and did think I could use them as templates to make some more of my own !!

The little bunny was being sold if you made a donation to the local hospice - and as he was so cute & it is such a good cause how could I not give him a new home !

The only creative venture on my desk this week is my little shadow box

I have recycled a box that came with chipboard letters in it - painted it & used some of the Chronology papers, embellishments & stamps to decorate it !
So at least I have something hand made to show you !!

Despite escaping the snow it has barely crept above freezing for weeks here - we are all so sick of winter !

I am using this picture to lift my spirits & to think that at least I did escape for a week earlier this month ! This is me in my "celebrate life" mood !! Thought it might make you smile !!

Anyway hope you all stay safe & warm - and for those of you in the Southern hemisphere - just to remind you to savour every last morsel of summer - winter will be with you all too soon !!

Have a fun time over Easter ! Ali x

WOYWW - Will Winter Ever End !!

No blog post last week as I was away in Spain - and we had some lovely sunshine even if the northerly wind was pretty biting at times !

I had this crazy optimism that spring might have crept in a bit back here in Wales whilst we were away - but sadly this winter seems to be endless - week after week of cold - will I ever get out of fleecy tops & thick warm trousers !!

We got back at the weekend -and I was able to have a bit of time playing at my workdesk on Sunday !

So there is a bit of a mish-mash on the desk today !

I finally got around to playing in my journal - haven't seemed to be in the mood for journaling for ages ! More later !

In the middle of my desk you can see the new Alphabet set of stamps I had been lured by - can you ever have enough alphabets !?!

On the right towards the back is a little red box - this was a present from my friend Jan in Spain which she has filled with loads of cute die cut pieces for me - these are going to be great fun to play with on my layouts & cards or journal !!

I love the arched windows especially - I have some ideas bubbling in my head for these !

I have a few packets of seeds piled up - can't believe it will ever be warm enough to sow seeds !

You can also see lurking a couple of little blue die cut butterflies which were on the table at a Gala Dinner we went to with our friends in Spain last week... fellow scrappers will know the compulsion to squirrel away little mementos which can be used on layouts !!

And a couple of freebies - some little buttons & a mini stamp from the front of this month's Craft Stamper magazine are waiting to find a good home !

So some play time in my journal ...

To tell you the truth, I don't really know where this page is going !!

They say that inspiration can strike from anywhere !!
I came across these apple shapes as labels on some mini chopping boards we bought last week - and they really took my eye ! So I snaffled them, brought them home and used them as a template to cut the shapes in some papers ... I am hoping the page will tell me where it wants to go next !!

As you might be able to tell I am obsessing that winter is dragging on - and on and on - with so few signs that spring is coming !!
But these snowdrops did cheer me up when we found them bravely blooming away in the National Botanic Garens of Wales near us last month - how could they not make me feel hopeful for the spring to finally be around the corner ... please, please !!

And one last page playing with my new Bunny stamps from Crafty Individuals ... and my collection of grasses stamps, the new alphabet set - and the stars were also a freebie on a recent Craft Stamper magazine !!

Well that's me for this week ... have a great crafty week !
Take care Ali xx

WOYWW - Scrappy Days !

Well we had a lovely sunny weekend here in West Wales for once !
It never got above about 4oC but at least it gladdened the heart to see some blue skies & sunshine !

I did get a couple of hours done in the garden - just general tidying and then replacing the cover on my little plastic greenhouse & scrubbing off cloches so I could sow some salad leaves seeds - mind you they may just freeze rather than germinate !!

Once I got too cold to work outside, I set to on my scrapping .. as for the last month this has been all about my trip to Cape Town !
Kind of some of you to say you are not yet too bored of it all !!

Anyway here are a few more pages - I am being fairly basic with the designs - with so much to scrap I don't have the time for lots of layering & embellishing - although I think I will go back through at the end & add in bits & bobs that I collected - like bank notes, coins & postage stamps !

First - here you can see why I was blown away by the stunning scenery !
A drive through the mountain coast road was breathtaking - as was Hout Bay below ..

The little fish at the top is washed out & recycled from an M&S sushi lunch pack !!
And the compass embellishment I bought at the scrapping shop Bella took me to ...

And then as you may know it was a Food Inspiration Expedition for work - so many of the pages feature food - it's not just me being greedy !!

Firstly a fabulous seafood restaurant in Kalk Bay ...

Then we had a fascinating afternoon visiting food venues in a Township just outside the city - our Tour-guide was a local guy, extremely articulate (spoke 5 languages !) and a passionate advocate for his community.
We met some great ladies running their own businesses & saw some sights that - for me with UK Food Hygiene regulations drummed into me - were more than a little challenging !!
This tour was one of the highlights of the trip for me ...

And with my job I am fairly adventurous with food - but the local delicacy  of sheep's heads was too far ! Especially as they tucked into the eyeballs with gusto ! I couldn't bring myself to sample it !!

 I have used a lot of my own handwriting on these pages - I waiver back & forth between thinking this makes a page personal & authentic - a testimony if you like - to thinking my writing is scruffy & not sure if it works !!

What do you think ? Is handwriting a good thing or should I have typed the journalling out ?

Anyway one last crafty bit on Sunday - my DH asked me to make him a new case for his iPod & earphones - so I whipped one up from a few scraps of fabric & quilt wadding.

I love lime green with black - so thought the music black fabric was appropriate - and won't get too grubby if he shoves it in his pockets !! - and the lime lining livened it all up !

Well that's all on my desk this week - have a fun week yourselves ! 

Take care

Ali x