WOYWW 105 - The PIFs!

There - we're now into year three and isn't it fabulous?

I had high hopes last week.  I promised myself I was going to make it round to ALL the desks.  *hangs head in shame*  I suppose I can't really beat myself up over only making it round to 60 though - the great demon known as Summahcold brought me down in a Herculean tackle on Friday night, wiping me out for two whole days.  So much so, in fact, that whilst Mr B pottered around in the garden Saturday afternoon wearing nowt but his shorts and a smile, I was spread out on a picnic rug dozing in the sun, dressed in combats and a thick fleece.... oh, the joy of being warm for five minutes....

Well, we're really here for another round of WOYWW, and have I got a picture laden post for you!  Firstly, if you're new to this, WOYWW is the brainchild of Madame Julia Dunnit, Desk Diva Extraordinaire.  To find out more, head HERE to have all revealed.  Quite literally in fact - last week Julia stripped her desk right back to a blank canvas.... LOL.

OK, first up, my desk this week is a bit dull. I had a tidy up! Yup!  So I've given you two shots - one to prove there's some daylight (taken at 8.55pm Tuesday night) and then....

....one taken with the light on because the quality of the picture is so much better!

Aside from the usual, on my desk you can see a fab Joan Elliott cross-stitch magbook which Mr B bought me for my birthday. Joan's designs are just gorgeous but I don't know when I'll get time to stitch them! I just like admiring her work...

 

...and as I promised a progress report on the hardanger this week, here it is.  Sadly it also fell victim to the fallout from Summahcold so I didn't get as far with it as I would have liked.



Lurking there at the back of my desk, on my WOYWW easel, is my WOYWW 104 PIF from Shaz in Oz.  I couldn't believe it when it arrived today - 5 days only!  Two of those were weekend days too!  Astounding.  I've known first class in the UK take longer....   And what did I get?  A beautiful stamped card and a stamped tag.  The tag is gorgeous - I think Shaz has coated her work with holographic EP and though you can't see it in the photo, the whole thing shimmers beautifully.  I love scenic stamping (remember a certain CJ, anyone? LOL) and this design is great!  All in my fave colours too!  The bit that says WOYWW is on the back.... this one is getting pride of place in my collection.  The card that came too is equally lovely - with a great poem inside it, penned by Shaz herself...

WTG Shaz!  Fantastic - I LURVE it!

Ok, so what of my own PIF sent to Kay?  Well I finally heard today that it's arrived safe and sound - I kind of knew it had got somewhere because I sent it by Recorded Delivery, but it's always nice to have proper confirmation that it's arrived, its ok, and the recipient liked it.  Poor Kay has had pooter problems - internet linked - and that's why I'd not heard sooner!

So, what did I do?  Well, Julia said do something with WOYWW on it somewhere, so I just thought, hey, I'll actually do WOYWW.....!

  

 I have to confess that occasionally I have these ideas that sound good in my head, and then about a third of the way through I wonder what on earth possessed me.  This was one such occasion - however, the finished result just makes me want to make more.

So, how did I do it?  We've all seen the slightly bland papier mache letters in places like Hobbycraft and The Range (and I daresay Michaels has them too) - well, I wanted to do something with those, but couldn't get hold of an interesting shaped letter.  Enter Aunty Google who led me Here where I found a tutorial on making one's own papier mache letters.  I might make my own tutorial up - which will include things like DON'T pick too ornate a font when your letters are only three inches high, DON'T use texture paste if you want to sand them perfectly smooth..... I could go on.  Anyway, I did it, I enjoyed it, and Kay likes 'em.  Nuff said!

Oh, Ok, a bit more info then!

I thought I do them so they reflect me, and past things I've done....  so the first W is done in the style of my Bad Peg (can't find the link for the mo, but it's on here somewhere!).  I would have put pins in the top, but wasn't sure they'd hold well.

The butterfly is very me - a personal story there for another time, but suffice to say that they are hugely important to me.  I also saw the stamped tissue technique in Craft Stamper a couple of weeks ago and thought this was a good time to try it!

I quite like distress techniques, but did this in a very very simple way.   Plus, blue is my fave colour and lifts the rest of the letters....

Somewhere on my blog there is also a post about a piece I did for an art raffle.  I made something wooden look like it was stone, and here the texture paste helped me!  I thought I do this one to be reminiscent of the art raffle piece -  I love this particular letter.....



Lastly, something just a teensy bit steampunk.  I love taking chipboard and using UTEE to make something very metallic looking.  Not too sure how the gold leaf crept in on the top right of the letter, but I'll go with it!  Yep, they're real watch parts.... I liked the date ring, thought it was appropriate for what WOYWW is about....

And there you have it!

Catch you on the hop!