WOYWW not....

I'm not officially taking part this week but figured I should put up a quick post for anyone stopping by...

Thank you to everyone for your well-wishes - surgery went well and I am home being well looked after. I've not quite got the get up and go for crafting yet but I am most definitely at the point of having had enough daytime TV!!!  I'm not able to concentrate for too long on any one thing yet either, so this is about my lot on the blogging front...

See you all next week.

WOYWW 183..... it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Wooooo!!!

Here we are again for another round of WOYWW, and it's now December and we're 5 days into Advent.  For all the WOYWW shaped deets, head here for the fabulous Ms Dunnit, Mr Linky, and to join in!

I'm quite conscious of the fact that you lovely visitors pop by and see my desk in the throes of making something, but you never see anything actually finished.

Well, this week I'm doing a complete turnaround, and I'm going to show you something I have finished but you never saw it started!!!

I had a panic attack last Wednesday evening - I suddenly realised that we were only two days away from the first of December, and I hadn't started Lil' Miss B's Advent Calendar.  I'd bought a Tando Creative octagonal advent calendar, with a view to making it up, and then promptly forgotten about it.

Cue much panicked makings...

I started out with a coat of silver paint on everything - can I just suggest to you all that you don't do what I did?  Make sure you know what you're doing BEFORE you assemble it, that way it's a lot easier to paint!  LOL.

I've used Dovecraft Christmas papers, glued on and then Chipped Sapphire DI round the edges topped off with silver pigment ink to tie them all together.  Liberal application of glitter glue followed, and having bought Tando's advent numbers, I double embossed these with Personal Impressions Silver Dollar EP.  And edged them with a Krylon silver leaf pen.  Took AGES..... hehehehe

I stuck on a few snowflake buttons with the shanks removed, glitter glued those too, and topped it off with a star cut from Mirri board on my Silhouette.  To finish, fill draws....!

Ok, so Lil' Miss B ended up getting it late (on the 2nd) but she loves it and I just want to stroke it.....LOL

Oh, and while we're on the "finished job" tack - here's my finished labels.  I have a modest collection of Distress Inks, but as you can see, I have room for more!

 

Oh - and before I go, my apologies if I don't get around to you this week.  I'm in hospital tomorrow for surgery, and fully expect it to be at least 4 days before I feel like looking at a computer!  I should be home on Friday though....!  Happy hopping!

WOYWW 182

My WOYWW is another non-event this week really.  My apologies to all my visitors from last week - I did get round to many of you but didn't leave a message - it was mostly a quick hop and skip and you have my apologies for not spending more time at each of you.... bad Morti, BAD Morti....

Here's my desk, covered with the current debris of me trying to come up with some Angels for a certain swap... Mr Mojo has left the building and taken my muse with him.

I will be popping by sometime this week, that's for sure - keep a cuppa on the go for me!

WOYWW 181 - not...

Mary Anne, bless her, has left a comment on WOYWW 180 wondering where 181 is. 

That’s the thing.  This week, technically, there’s no 181.  But I’ve elected to slap up a picture of my work desk today just to keep up the numbers, so to speak.

 

Regrettably, family life is getting in the way more important this week.  Normal service will resume shortly.  And then be interrupted again when I go for my op (two weeks tomorrow!) but after that I’ll be off work for a while and I’m hoping to try and get round everyone at least once while I’m off.  Maybe on Boxing Day.... shhhh.....

Apologies to everyone I’ve not made it round to from last week – family life, like I said.  For those who suggested the Ranger labels as per the web for my Distress Inks – one jump ahead of you guys, one jump ahead. Thank you for your help though.  Folks should note that Ranger have yet to add the spring and summer labels to the PDF, you need to create your own.

TTFN!

WOYWW 180

Short and sweet from me tonight as there's a lot going on in the house of Mort, and it ain't crafting, sadly...

So, it's another round of WOYWW - for the deets go here - and whilst I've not done an awful lot this week I'm working on a fairly major project.

So, here's my desk.... you can see new storage for the distress inks.  They need labels!  Something else to do, eh?  And there's a lap tray - desk no 3 if you're keeping count - and the latest project on it. 

Come closer....

No, I do not have a tiny alien or robot on my desk, it's the light catching a red bauble behind a polystyrene ball that makes it look like two glowing eyes on a fat white alien with a red head....LOL

No, closer than that....

There it is!

I learned a new word this week.  Icosahedron.  I'd always known it, so to speak, but now it's buried in my mind.  It's a twenty sided shape, which just so happens to be the shape the black bugle beads make, buried under the 20 points of this star.  I know it well, because I had to unpick the lot and restart because the instructions were wrong at the very outset.  I'm sure Spellbound Beads don't think they are wrong, but I do - there is no way to make this whole star if you make your Icosahedron with double thread....  I digress...  This is a Gothika Tassel from Spellbound Beads and I'm making it as a gift for some friends of mine.  I'm sure they'll love it.

 

Edited to add - I've updated this blog with a picture of what the icosahedron part of the star looks like.  The shape above is actually a stellar icosahedron which is a 20 sided shape with star points added and is actually a 60 sided shape, or to give it its full name, a hexacontahedron.  My brain hurts.....

 

 

 

 

Adios - see you on the hop!

Drummed out of school.....

Scrappymo! asked me on Wednesday if the drumming out of school thing (see this post) is the norm where we live.  We-ell, it sort of is, and it sort of isn't.... let me explain:

 

At the time, we were living near a town called Warminster (clue is in the name!) and Lil Miss B went to one of several primary schools there.  For non-locals, Warminster is on the edge of Salisbury Plain (where all our military come to practice their war play) and is home to the 3rd Battalion of The Yorkshire Regiment.  Their barracks is there, and many of the army children go to primary schools in Warminster.  I think there's 5 or 6 primary schools which feed into a big 1000 strong secondary academy.

 

So, on the last day of term, the regiment split up and send several soldiers out to each of the schools and drum them out.  It's a lovely custom, and not only pays homage to the children themselves, but the links the schools have with the families and the soldiers themselves.  3rd Yorks in particular have suffered heavy losses in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the schools have to deal with the fall out on the children of the soldiers who have died...

 

We've now moved to the other side of the Plain, and it doesn't seem to happen over here, even though there are lots more barracks!  Hopefully, one or two of other Wiltshire WOYWWers will be able to confirm or deny if this happens in Larkhill, Tidworth or Bulford, or if it really is unique to Warminster.

WOYWW 179....nothing to see here....

....move along!

Oh?  You want to see my desk for WOYWW??

Oh, ok then!

As you can see, a right royal mess!

And here is the double layout that is lurking on here, waiting to be put in the album.  My one and only offering of scrapbooking from the crop on Saturday.  Granted I didn't get there until lunchtime, but Mr Mojo had left the building before I arrived.  I'd been meaning to scrap this for months, so it finally got done!  And the layout is of a truly momentous occasion - the day Lil Miss B left primary school, with the 3rd Yorkshire Regiment drumming the leavers out of school... I'm so glad I got to see it!

Nothing else for you today, so run along now....or head back to Julia's for the linky list and the deets about why I'm baring my desk to you today!

Ha!  Short and sweet, bet you weren't expecting THAT!

WOYWW 178 - Happy Halloween!

And that's as spooky as my desk gets this week! 

Just for a change, I'm not going to show you my usual desk.  This here is my other "other" desk.  Not my proper work desk, at work. No.  This is the "desk" in the lounge, next to the chair where I crochet and cross-stitch.  You'll see there's a bauble lurking, waiting for me to start beading.  And a couple of crocheted squares in funky colours....I'm using a random dyed wool at the moment.  My coffee cup, empty at time of shot.

Just for good measure, here is an update on the cross-stitch.  Slow progress, I'm afraid, but progress nonetheless.

The reason for not showing my normal desk?  Trial runs of wedding stationery are on it and I'm keeping them under wraps.... heheheheh

As for the lack of spookiness - Lil Miss B is in Turkey with Real-Mum, and we're off to see Fields of the Nephilim tomorrow night, so won't be in for the trick or treaters..... mwahahahahahahah... instead, spookiness is provided by Carl McCoy!

Have a good week y'all....

WOYWW 177....

Hello!

Here we are again, another round of WOYWW  courtesy of Mrs JD, and oh my the weeks are flying fast....

Short and sweet for me this week (literally, if you look at the end of this post!).

Here's my desk:

You can see the remnants of post-crop-challenge makings, including the ludicrously pink bag (think that was more the flash than the actual colour of the bag!) we got with goodies in....

As you've seen on other blogs of late, at the Big Crop 10 days ago, we were given a challenge card kit, with the mission of creating something (didn't have to be a card!) with the bits and pieces we were given.  For some reason, unusually for me, I felt the need to go BIG.  Oh, OK, not so much BIG as BIGGER than I normally make....

So here's what I made....

Mr B's reaction was "is it staying here?".  When I said yes, he replied "Oh good..."  I think that means he likes it!

I was asked by Karen T for the flapjack recipe last week, so here it is.  Another really difficult recipe, as you can see.  I do well at the "mix it all together and bung it in a tin" kind of recipes which don't require copious amounts of faffing.

Flapjacks

350-400g rolled oats

Add a quantity (to taste) of seeds/nuts/chocolate

Add 150g plain flour (sieved)

Mix well.

Melt 200g unsalted butter in a pan TOGETHER with half a small tin of golden syrup and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar.  Add honey or maple syrup if you like - don't let the syrup burn!

Pour thoroughly melted ingredients into bowl contain the oats mixture.

Mix thoroughly - should be stodgy/sticky

Spread onto a baking tray - at least 1 1/2 inches deep - compress flat.

Bake on the middle shelf for 20-25 mins @ 180 deg. C

When golden all over, turn out, and cut into squares once half cooled.

Dip in chocolate/decorate if required! 

WOYWW 176 - post Crop-fest....

I'm a bit late to the party this week - everyone else who went has already blogged or Facebooked their photos. I didn't actually get that many pictures - I certainly did a STOOPID thing and didn't take any pics at my house in the evening, when we played "see how many WOYWWers you can get round Morti's table....". It was 6 plus satellite family members, in fact.... I think Jan and Donna might have got a couple of pics of that though. I'll just have to beg a sneaky snaffle of those!

I expect by the time you've got here, you're fed up to the back teeth with "wasn't it a wonderful day" kind of remarks. I'll do my version later on in this post, but as we're here for WOYWW, I'll start with my desk... (scroll to the end if you're only here for the tiffin recipe).

Absolute mayhem - I've not yet had the opportunity to put everything away from the weekend.  There is however a new resident.  Perturbius Strop has come to live with me from Doone's house, and she's just ADORABLE!  Thank you, Donna!

I took part in the beaded tassel workshop with Janet (Fairy Thoughts), and finished mine off over the last couple of days.  Such fun!  I have always loved beading, and it's nice to try something new occasionally.

And so, onto the Crop....

Jan directing traffic in her able manner.... or telling one of us off maybe?  Heheheh

Fergus takes pride of place, dead centre of the photo between Helen (H) and Sam (Hettiecraft).  All of us beavering away at something or other.



Queuing for the amazing lunch you've already heard about!

And just to really upset you, gratuitous close up shots of the cupcakes - top one is the Physalis cupcake (like marmite, you either love it or hate it!), bottom one is the Black Forest cupcake.  To my mind, chocolate is always a winner, and these had black cherry sauce in the middle and the icing was fresh cream...... Yum!

As for the tiffin - here is the recipe as promised to many of you....

Fridge Tiffin

Put 225g of Plain chocolate, and 100g of butter in a large saucepan.
Heat gently until melted, and remove from the heat.
Quickly add a 397g can of Nestle Sweetened Condensed milk first, then 275g crushed digestive biscuits, and 25g raisins (optional). You can also add 25g halved glace cherries if you wish, or cranberries and nuts (whatever you fancy!).
Stir well until fully mixed.
Press the mixture into an 18cm x 28cm baking tin lined with greaseproof paper.
Chill until firm.
Cut into triangles and decorate with white chocolate (optional).

Yes, it really IS that easy to make.  Enjoy!  If you want the flapjack recipe, let me know.   See you on the bloghop!

WOYWW 175 - The Big Crop Week....

Woooooooooo...... it's here.....  The Big WOYWW Crop.  Can you imagine a 40 year old woman running around her lounge with her t-shirt pulled up over her head like an over-excited footballer?  No?  Me either.... LOL.... but that's about how excited I am.  I have Doone and Jozart coming to stay which is a scary prospect.  No, that sounds wrong.  It's a daunting prospect, as they are both such amazingly creative people..... will I measure up?  LOL.  I have a secret weapon or two, in the vague shapes of Mr B and Hamish.... hehehehe....


Anyway, you're no doubt here to see my desk, not read my witterings, so without further ado....

Ta dah!

One desk.  Not looking an awful lot different to last week, but I can assure you that Stuff has happened.  And also not happened.  The domino I was working on last week hasn't actually been finished yet, though it will by Saturday.  Providing my screw-eyes turn up.  Funny how you don't always know what you need until the very last minute.

See, we have a finished Christmas card!  I took Janet's recommendation to put in some dark card, and also surmised that I did NOT like the medallion in a base of white, so did it in cream instead.  Added some distress ink to...um...distress it a bit...  and there you have it.

It's also Mr & Mrs B Senior's wedding anniversary this week, so I took advantage of the current Sketch Saturday sketch to make them a card.  Here is the card and there are just a few more deets here.

The quantity of crocheted squares is gradually increasing.  I'm hoping to add a few more colours at some point!  That green, whilst pretty, is a bit dull...

And that's your lot for this week.  By the time we do all this again, we will have had The Crop and eaten lots of yummy things like this....

  

See you in a comments box (or a village hall!) near you....

Sketch Saturday #228

WELL, I needed an Anniversary card, and there was the Sketch Saturday sketch.... so here it is!  I am NOT going to be late entering this week, that's for sure.

So, here's the sketch...

 And here's my card:

What's involved:

Some DP, matting & layering, some embossing using a Cuttlebug folder, a little stamping, some DTP work with chalk inks (to get the plain coloured card to match), a little bling et Voila!  With the quantity of words on this card, I figured I could get away with skipping the sentiment!

Hope you like it!

WOYWW 174 - Happy October!

Wow – where IS the year going? 4 weeks to Halloween..... I’m not even going to count down to Christmas, it would scare me too much!

Well, the reason I’m here, and you’re here, is because it’s a Wednesday and it’s WOYWW.  If you don’t know about it – head here to the Great JD’s desk, where you will find all the deets and Mr Linky.

Once again, not a lot of change from me.  You can the domino I've been working on for The Big Crop, and also a Christmas card.  Yup, a Christmas card.  I'm partly doing it for the Sketch Saturday challenge, and partly because I need to pull my finger out and get making some cards to sell at work.  Yay.  I also did two more squares for the pile this week. This blanket is going to take me a while..... 

None of the bits on the card are stuck down yet (hence the wonkiness) as I'm not sure I'm happy with it.  In fact I'll go so far as to say I'm NOT happy with it and don't know what to do to put it right.  Watch this space...

 Here’s an update on the cross-stitch, for those that are interested...

 And a gratuitous shot of Mr B out with the dogs and me on Saturday...

So, there you, brief as brief can be, or at least my version of it!  Catch you in a comments box near you!

WOYWW 173

Another week rolls around and it seems that Autumn has finally hit us broadside with all she’s got.  It’s sad to hear of the recent deaths around the UK but one can’t help but wonder whether or not the drivers involved were driving safely for the conditions.  Having said that, I was driving to work yesterday morning and as I crested the brow of one particular hill, I drove smack into an unexpected vertical wall of water  - a full-on rainstorm.  Had my poor little car not practically ground to a halt climbing the hill (it thinks it's a truck!), I would probably have driven straight off the road, as at the top of the hill there is also a sharp bend, and visibility was down to almost zero for a few hundred yards.  Then the rain started to clear, but my thoughts are with the families of those poor children and adults who have become more victims to the British weather.  To all my WOYWW friends – safe driving out there, especially those of us in the Northern Hemisphere where the evenings are getting darker, and the weather wetter.  (I've borrowed the picture below from The Telegraph - it was taken in Lacock, Wilts, not too many miles distant from LLJ and I - Swindon is just as bad!).

Anyway, you aren’t here to listen to my spiel about road safety, you’re here to see the desk, courtesy of WOYWW and Madame Dunnit, the desk diva.  Visit here for Mr Linky and to join in yourself.  The Big Crop is just 2 and a half weeks away.... Ulp!

My desk isn’t particularly busy – but on it you can see.....

...alcohol inks and dominoes, plus a few Christmas bits I've dug out with a view to playing with!  Wobbly man seems very interested in my embossing powders for some reason and...oh dear... I see I've still not finished sorting out my stamps.  Best get on with that!

I’ve got an update on the cross-stitch (as per Sue’s request last week) and as you can see, there’s just a little bit extra done.  So many hobbies, so little time!

Anyone coming to The Big Crop who wishes to alter a domino – these are the sort of dominos you require for the technique I'm demonstrating.

You will need to bring a stamp of your choice – it will either be small enough to fit onto the domino in its entirety, or you will use part of it.  For inspiration, and to get some idea of what I’m on about, go here to visit Leigh, the Sharpie Domino Queen.  You can either turn your domino into a pendant, brooch or keyring/handbag charm.  I can drill them while we’re there, and if we do it early enough in the day, you might even be able to glaze them. 

Stash required:

Domino (or other similar game-pieces, e.g. Triomino)

Stamp

Stazon ink

Colouring medium – Sharpies, alcohol inks (plus blending tool and pads), chalks

Fine Paint brush

Glossy Accents or similar glaze

Choice of findings/stringing material. 

I think that’s all – I’ll bring some bling to add if you want to...

See you in a comments box near you!

WOYWW 172 - back to the desk....

Hellooo!  Welcome to WOYWW - and if you're clueless as to what I'm on about, head on over to Madame Julia's for all the deets and Mr Linky, should you be of a mind to join in too!

I've joined in again this week.  Not that I have much to report - the desk is tidy, so is the bed!  Wonder of wonders....  The pile of crochet squares is growing, slowly....

This week we had crop, and I managed to sort out two more pages of Project Life, plus a regular 12 x 12 layout.  My apologies for the terrible picture quality - my camera does NOT like taking photos indoors in the evening with flash/without flash. 

  

The cross-stitch hasn't changed at all, so I won't bore you with an update!

Only a month until the big WOYWW crop, and Mrs Julia has said I can do a demo/tutorial on altered dominos.  I'll work out what the heck I'm doing and let you all know, but if you are coming on the big day and want to join in, I would suggest looking for some dominos now.  You want smooth plastic ones (or bone if you find them) in a light cream or white.  There's plenty available very cheaply on ebay if you don't already have some.

 Catch you around!

WOYWW 170 - When September comes....

.....and OMG it's here!  Where is the year going?

So here we are on WOYWW once more - head on over to Julia's to see the deets and add your desk to Mr Linky.

Not much has happened on my desk since last week's creative flurry.  I can show you a shot of the cross-stitch I've been working on though!

I won the Third Coast Altered Domino challenge - YAY! 

I also won something else - the relief at finally being told that 50% of my tummy troubles are down to a hernia, and yes it can be fixed.  BUT I'm probably going to need a hysterectomy too, so now it's up to the General and Gynaecological surgical teams to co-ordinate so that they can do both at the same time.  Me, I'm phylosophical about it all.  I'd rather have the next 20 years pain and worry free than keep a somewhat redundant womb that has failed to achieve it's target, and now never will, only to have it removed in 20 years time anyway. 

So here's to health and fitness - however far off it may be.   LOL.