WOYWW - From South Africa with Love!

Well, I have been away from my trusty craft desk for a couple of weeks enjoying a fabulous holiday in the stunningly beautiful Western Cape Province of South Africa !!

We had a wonderful time and saw some of the beautiful sights - and had a lovely Sunday craft session with Bella in her amazing craft room !

Here are some of the amazing views we enjoyed !

Here is the view of Table Mountain and the city of Cape Town from Robben Island.
On our visit to Robben Island we were privileged to have a 121 tour with a former prisoner at the gaol who gave us a moving insight into his life there & took us to see Nelson Mandela's cell and the lime quarry where the prisoners laboured each day.

Ironically for such a famous prison island, it has some beautiful parts including the coastline & the views across to the mainland are stunning as you can see.

Equally when we ventured up to the top of Table Mountain on the cable car the views over the city were amazing too ! 

It was like being perched on top of the world - at the bottom of the world ! 

Next stop Antarctica !

Being a garden lover, I couldn't miss the opportunity to visit the world famous Botanical Gardens at Kirstenbosch - they call it "the most beautiful garden in Africa" and having visited I would say you would be hard pushed to disagree ! 

And a major highlight of our trip was visiting the Penguin colony which lives on Boulder's Beach on the Cape Peninsula - we were amazed to see them so close up and to find out they live in burrows in the sand ! 

They were so very cute !! 

Another great part of the holiday was meeting up with Bella once more - we all had lunch on the V&A Waterfront where we were staying - which has a great fun vibe whatever time of day to visit ! 

 Then Bella invited us back to her house for the men-folk to watch football on the telly whilst we had some brilliant fun in Bella's amazing craft room !

Here's Bella working on the Finnabair canvass we made together ...

  Sadly our time was all too short - and now we are tying to work out if we can set up some Skype along crafty sessions !!

Bella gave me some wonderful gifts - here they are on my workdesk back in Wales ready & waiting for me to work on the next project !

And finally here are some South African stencils I hope to use when I get round to scrapbooking our trip - I just have to work out which of the 1,056 photos we took will make it to the scrap layouts !!

Have a great crafty week !!  Ali xx

WOYWW - Packing !

A familiar tale of not much action on the desk this week !
This time it was due to a stinking cold which put me in a slump on the sofa all weekend !

So I only fiddled around with a couple of things ..

This week's Documented Life was to create a collage with recycled bits & bobs - I had these fish off Weird Fish clothing & these adverts from around my hometown were on the back of a menu.
My maiden name was a type of fish so hence the sentiment !
I think this looks thrown together & I am not really happy with it at all !
They say it is about the process not the finished page but it doesn't do it for me !

I have made a couple of ATC's - one to take to Cape Town & give to Bella when we go at the end of the week - only 3 sleeps to go !! Beyond excited now !!

And as well as our cases packed, here is my bag ready for Scrapclub tomorrow night - the boxes are to see if the girls fancy altering or decorating one each next month as a class project !
And the Bind It All will be on loan to Lynda whilst I am away !


Well hopefully will be joining in from the opposite end of the world by next week !
Love Ali x

WOYWW - Too busy but planning !!

Well not much actual crafty action on the trusty desk this week !

Much Beloved & I were in London this past weekend - my colleagues had given me a gift voucher for a meal out in London for my birthday last year & we finally got round to using the voucher - and made a trip of it !

We enjoyed our meal during the day and the weather was kind, so much so that in the evening we were able to walk from our hotel down to Tower Bridge.
We loved seeing the Bridge & the Tower of London all lit up with the lights of the modern City behind them !

So sadly having been away there wan't much crafting going on this weekend !

On my desk are a few goodies from the 20% off everything in store offer in Hobbycraft !

The stamps were a real bargain - virtually half price & then with a further 20% off them !
Well you can never have enough Alphabet stamps can you !
The seeds are packets that have come free with gardening magazines ... poppies & veggies !

And on the planning ahead front, I do like to make Easter cards - so have been lured by a few bunnies as you can see !!

Last week our Scrapclub went out for our Christmas meal - yes I know its February - but last year we didn't get our meal out until May - so we thought we were doing really rather well this year !!
We all had a fun evening chatting & catching up and it is lovely to have a group of girls to share crafting with - we all like differing aspects of paper-crafting but everyone encourages the others in what ever we choose to do.  Our next club outing will be to Ally Pally Stamping & Scrapbooking Show in April - so pennies need to be saved in the piggy bank for that !!

Have a fun crafty week
Ali xx

WOYWW - Not Crafting But Gardening !

Well not too much action on the desk this week - all because we had the first dry weekend on the year !
So the lure of the garden was too much to resist !
I managed a couple of hours out cutting back & tidying up on both days - and two trips to the tip with sacks & trugs full of garden rubbish for the council compost heap !
The oak leaves that fall from the trees behind our garden are my nemesis - they haunt me & taunt me ! There was a warm glow of satisfaction seeing them all piling down on to the compost heap & knowing that they were banished for another year !!
So just works in progress to see today - with a packing list for our holiday next month tucked underneath !!
On the left is the research I have been doing on colour symbolism for my Rainbow Journal, in the middle is a blank page ready for this week's Journal 52 - My Dream Job - its proving disconcertingly tricky to decide what that might be !

And my Documented Life journal lurking to the right ... this week's challenge was "add a flap" - so this is a happy Spring like page about being able to get get out in the garden & the hopefulness of seeing new shoots trying valiantly to push through the sodden, bog-like soil !

Finally, I can show you the Valentine's card I made for my Much Beloved !
I had never tried a to make a shadow box card before & just had to sort it out as I went along - but at least it went together - and stayed together !!

Finally - please Lynda look away now !! 

Here are my ATC for our Alphabet ATC challenge - I had "F" this month & this subject seemed topical for a fun challenge between friends ! 

Ready to swap tomorrow when our Scrapclub go out for our Christmas Supper out !

 Have a fun crafty week !
Ali xx

WOYWW - Home is Where The Hearts Are ...

Not sure how many weeks I can go on telling you I am huddled in the house due to the gales !
But I didn't step outside the front door at all on Saturday - and only to go swimming and a morning coffee out on Sunday morning !

The rest of the weekend was having a spring clean of cupboards & choosing what to take the charity shop, what to throw out & what to keep !

Then some play time at the craft desk -  firstly in my Documented Life book - it is proving a bit challenging because with it only being a normal diary the pages are very thin and grumble a bit at me getting them all wet with paint - but somehow the crumpled look is quite liberating - an invitation to get messy !

I was a challenge behind so this week I did " Be inspired by something you have pinned on Pinterest" - I have been wanting to paper-piece some houses for some time now - so this inspiration from Diane Salter's blog was a great excuse to create my page !


Then the 2nd challenge was "choose a shape, repeat, colour in" - so this is my page - ovals !
And an excuse to make a bit of a colour chart for my Luminate Silk Paints !

This week's Journal 52 was "the lost art of love letters" - Elisabeth Barrett Browning came to mind and I chose the these lines as a theme for this page ..














I have also had a go at my first Project Life monthly spread for January - a few bits still to add but not sure I am "getting it" - my pages look clunky compared to some of the lovely layouts I see about the web - but I suppose I just need to keep trying things until it starts to "click" !!





My Valentine's hearts are coming on - all painted up now - and I have made Much Beloved a card but will share that after the day !







On my desk today are the new Get Stamping magazine - with oriental themed stamps this time.
A new Tilda book - Spring Ideas - these are only slim mini books really but I love looking at the ideas !










And here hidden until I can give Lynda her ATC on Saturday is my February ATC Alphabet Challenge - I had F this month ! Show you more next week !

Have a great crafty week ! Ali x

WOYWW - Journal 52

Well another week of wild wet & windy weather !
And this morning at 6am an ice-storm - when we checked outside the curtains the whole street was thickly white with huge hailstones - it was like walking over a gravel drive !
Saturday was another huddle in the nest day - so I had a chance to have a little play at the desk !
I started a page in my Documented Life book - this week we were asked to "add a doodled border" - and I am going to try some of the techniques from this Zentangle Border book !


I am also enjoying playing along with Journal 52 - I did a couple of pages this weekend.

First was "construct a character" - as you can see drawing is not my forte (don't laugh at my efforts !) but rather than duck out from the challenge I did give it a go - and it was rather fun ! !

Secondly was "create a piece of abstract art" - we were advised that the piece wasn't to include anything naturalistic or representational.
This was really a new concept for me - I didn't realise it but I can't remember ever creating something like this before !
I wasn't really sure where to start - so I pulled out a couple of sheets of some Gelli-prints I had made back in the Autumn - these had patterns rather than anything of a "real" picture.
It was quite a strange experience - creating with abstract patterns - and the weirdest thing was that as I worked on it, something in my head was saying "that's right" or t"hat's wrong". I mean if its abstract how can there be a right & a wrong ? But something in my brain was telling me to change & tweak, cut & layer up - it was an enjoyable new experience !!
With Valentine's day looming I am working on some hearts !
I have been playing with these hearts for weeks - painting & crackling but nothing looked interesting - so I am trying them Finnabair style ! This is them part way through !

I am loving using the Luminarte Silk Paints - they are quite expensive so I have been saving the pennies in my craft piggy bank (a plump ceramic Percy Pig piggy bank which Much Beloved bought me from M&S for Christmas !) and ordered some yummy new colours from the guys at The Artist's Trading Post in Derbyshire - they have a great range and a brilliantly prompt overnight delivery service !

I am so looking forward to playing with them !
Red for the hearts is so predictable I know -but I will be starting with it anyway !


So that's it from the desk this week but I wanted to share a couple more things with you !
On Sunday the rain & gales abated long enough for an hour's walk in the National Botanic Gardens of Wales close by where we live. It was my annual "heart-lift" visit to see the snowdrops - it makes me keep the faith that spring must surely come soon !

This sign made me laugh !

And the gallery had an exhibition of stitched patchwork squares - called Project Patchwork Meadow - they were all of plants and nature scenes. I really enjoyed the display & thought you might too !

Have a great crafty week ! Ali x

WOYWW - Jetlagged Desker !

Hi Welcome to my WOYWW this week - missed you all last week with my trip to San Francisco for the Food Inspiration Safari.

You'll be happy to know that despite taking 1,238 photos in the week I am not going to inflict any of them on you !!

We had an action packed week with activities scheduled from 8am to up to 10pm each night !
But all worthwhile as we saw some amazing Farmer's Markets, Food Stores and Restaurants ranging from new wave Korean to modern Mexican, street food, contemporary Italian and the fresh produce displays were mouthwatering !
So as you can tell we got to try some wonderful foods !

On my workdesk today are an accumulation of magazines which arrived whilst I was away - can you tell I am a bit of a maga-holic ! Really looking forward to working my way through these !

Obviously having been away for 10 days, there is not much crafty action to show you but I did have a dabble on Sunday at catching up with my pages for Documented Life -this one was "include an envelope" and Journal 52 - this is "What Makes You Smile"  - still have more to do but I am enjoying playing !

Here is a pile of memorabilia which I have ready to scrap - if I can get to sorting out all those photos !!
On the last day we squeezed in a trip to Alcatraz just before we had to head to the airport - well worth the trip - a very strange place indeed.








And finally, I managed to grab an hour out of the schedule to pop into Michael's craft store - couldn't go mad as I was worried about my luggage limit but I did get the new smaller Project Life folder & journal pages and some Inkadinkado stamps that will work with my Stamping Gear sets - these were a steal as they were in their sale - equivalent of £2 a set !

Anyway am going to head off now - the old body clock is all over the place - the 8 hour time difference has been challenging with so much going on !
I am going to be very happy when the jet lag disappears as I have had enough of wandering around the house in the early hours trying to stop my mind from buzzing in overdrive despite feeling exhausted !!

Have a great crafty week ! Ali x