WOYWW - Chaos on the desk

Oh boy am I well over due a huge clear out on my desk - chaos & clutter reign supreme ! I have my laptop taking up most of the desk - hence the stuff piled on top ! To the left are some photo frames waiting to be altered, on top a Jersey £1 note waiting to be scrapped with our pictures from last weekend's rip to Jersey with Mum & Dad. And a couple of Home signs I have gesso-ed up to start altering - one for me & one as a gift !

Centre stage is my folder of printed out prompts from the new Shimelle EXPLORE class - signed up late & beavering to keep caught up ! So have made my Play-Book, taken my "me in the mirror" self portrait & have to find a post card to post back to myself about my "adventures" - such as they are for Mrs Risk Adverse here ! To the right is a Pringles tin which I have painted black & cut an aperture as part of a packaging mock-up for work! I really must make time to have a massive de-clutter at the weekend !!! Have a great crafty week !

Off Exploring !

Just found a new class from Shimelle starting yesterday & signed up for a 4 week project on the theme "Explore" - just been reading everyone's introductions on the forum & I love the feeling that girls are joining in from all over the world - all parts of the US & Canada, Australia & NZ, Singapore, Holland, Germany, Switzerland & Sweden - and even the Middle East & South Africa - big world becomes small village !!

We had been given a challenge to create a "no Scrap Club over the Summer" personal mini book - so this will keep me on track to do mine !

The Five Year Quilt - finally in Situe

Just to prove that the Five Year Quilt (vintage 2006 to 2011 !!) finally got made & found a bed to lie on - here it is in place on our spare bed in Spain ! It's strange how given that I love the colours SO much & am really happy how it turned out that it should have taken me 5 years to finish !!

I think I had just moved on or away from quilting as our life changed & we moved to Wales & I

became more engrossed in scrapbooking, altered art & papercrafting - making a quilt seemed such a huge project !

And it is time consuming but I was surprised how much I did enjoy it once I got going again (and somewhere deep in my brain remembered what to do !!) - so maybe there is hope for all the fabric still in my stash to one day get made into something !

Anyway - finding the time for any projects seems hard at the moment but whilst time in the garden is possible I don't intend to fret about it !

Who's On My Workdesk Today !

Hi - it's a "Who" not a "What" that's on my work desk this Wednesday !

My Mid-Summer Angel !

I made her to a "Good Night Angel" pattern from Tilda's lovely Christmas Crafting book - but she doesn't know she's supposed to be a Christmas Angel & as she was finished last night on Mid-Summer's Eve - a Mid-Summer Angle she is !

She is destined to be heading out to Spain to our new house at the end of the week & will sit on my new quilt propped up against my new Evening Angel/ Rising Star patchwork cushion !!

Hope everyone has a good crafty week ahead - at least all this torrential summer rain means we can craft without a guilt conscience we should be gardening !!

10 on the 10th !

What could my subject be for Shimelle's first - 10 on the 10th Blog Challenge than to say ten of the reasons it has been over a month since I last blogged - so here is my ode to my poor neglected blog !!!

Reasons or excuses - I'll leave you to decide !

1. I've spent many hours at the sewing machine making the 1st Quilt I've made in years ! In fact the centre panel of this was started in 2006 - the next border added in 2009 & now I have made a mad effort to finish it for our new house in Spain - just the binding to stitch & the label to create & add (and a big cushion with Angel applique planned to accompany it !!)

2. Artsy Crafty Weekend - a fun weekend covered in the new Paperartsy Fresco paints learning lots of paint techniques - really pleased with the

shabby chic & shading on my project - been hankering after this look but didn't know how to achieve it - so a good lesson learnt !

3. Journalling - may not have been blogging but have been having some fun in my Art Journal - as always more "journal" than "art" - but it's for my eyes only & I'm happy with the way it pans out - so it doesn't matter a jot !

4. The garden is at it's most verdant & rampant at the moment - so everyday is a constant battle with weeds !!

5. GYO - growing my own veggies is proving good fun & I have been more organised & disciplined about pricking out & planting & checking everything - so a better crop than in previous years - but all means no blogging time !

6. Ironing - I am trying to save our pennies by saving the ironing lady for dire emergencies only & tackling the weekly heaps of ironing myself - that's another non-blogging evening a week !

7. Reading stuff ! Sometimes after a day at the computer at work I really don't fancy logging on at home - so reading one of my magazines or my Kindle gets priority !

8. Work - just all those 10 & 12 hour days stuck in the office don't leave much time or energy for blogging once I finally get home !!

9. Travelling - a crazy couple of months for travelling - Spain on holiday - then Cologne then Dublin, then Cork - then back to Dusseldorf next week & back to Spain the week after that !! Poor old passport is just on permanent standby !!

10. Time together - with all the office hours & then travelling just spending time with Rich is the biggest priority - from trying to snatch meals in the garden on the occasional warm sunny day - to our afternoon on Pendine Sands last Saturday - weather being what it is - we need to make the most of any sunshine !

So my 10 reasons - or excuses - for my poor sad neglected blog - and full of good intentions to be more attentive & active in the coming weeks !!

WOYWW- Finally some crafting !!

Thanks to everyone who visited last week & your supportive comments for trying to keep on crafting even when life is at it's most hectic .. I was getting that restless, pining feeling I have when I don't do anything creative for ages !!

Finally Saturday I got straight with all my garden tasks & it was bright & sunny but far too windy here in West Wales to do much outside ... so I was able to spend the rest of the lovely bank holiday weekend at my craft desk with a clear conscience ! My ever indulgent DH left me to get on with things - I think he knows I need this as my "wind down time" bless him !

So I have my Configurations printers tray all finished - it is inspired by the quote on the Paperartsy stamp - "In all Things in Nature there is Something of the Marvellous" - I have loads of nature based stamps - one of my many weaknesses ! - and as I am not a card maker I often wonder how I can get to use these.

Hence this project using loads of these lovely stamps - lots of distress inks, Promarkers & Vivagold paints in new ways. Great fun & I am fairly happy with how it has come out.

DH said "very nice dear - what's it for! " - his normal comments !!

When I said - well it's just a bit of art - he said "lovely - we don't have to have it out anywhere do we ?"

Oh well - at least he's supportive of my being crafty if not of the end results - can't have everything !!!! What do your nearest & dearest think about your crafting ???

Have a great week ! Ali x

My Day in Pictures - Today's Class Assignment !

A normal working day in April - 6am up, shower, dress & make-up on. Pop out to the garden & open up the mini greenhouse so it doesn't over heat. Leave at 6.50 - five minute drive to work. Through the turnstile, up to the office - all day between the office, the NPD Kitchen & the factory. Presentations to get ready - sign off the new products, finish all the paperwork - leave for home- usually anywhere between 6.00pm & 7.30pm. Make a quick Thai noodle soup for tea- on a tray in front of the telly.

Maybe a quick trawl through my e-mails, catch up on some favourite blogs. Watch something I have taped for an hour - then to bed by 10pm latest.

Next day - same trip round the hamster wheel !!