WOYWW 615 - caution warning, stitched spiders ahead!

 Greetings, Desk Hoppers!  Welcome to What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!  All the deets are here, provided by our Mistress of the Hop, Julia...  Just a quickie from me this week, so I hope you'll excuse the brevity of language throughout.

I'm back. A brief absence, but an absence nonetheless.  No real excuses, just time gets away from you.  Plus the next bout of Stitch Wars is on, and time is a premium when you need to be a-stitching... LOL

So what gives at Morti Mansions this week?

The desk is a mess.  A proper mess.  What you can see front and centre is a stack of cards we've received over the last 18-24 months, including New Home cards!  they've been left to pile up on the Welsh dresser (hutch for our American friends) downstairs until I've had enough.  At the very least they're up here to go through, decide if any require keeping (like from the olds) and which can be thrown.  And if there's anything to be salvaged from them to make gift tags or components for other cards.  Do like a good recycled card, me.

Speaking of which, I never posted the outcome of my last Rudolph day, so here you are...

and a second one

Inspiration from Pinterest.  The ornament stamps were by Stampin' Up!, and  I used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen in white for the strings and doodle border.  The tall card was made using paper and components from various magazine freebies.  Again, inspo from Pinterest.  The next Rudolph Day is next Thursday...

I made these on 25 Feb, the day after my last blog hop, and I had a stark reminder of just how long I've been a crafter.  When I made the ornament card above, and heat embossed the ornaments in white, I managed to put my thumb through the lid of the EP pot.  Now, you could say it's French quality that caused it, LOL, but I've had two other pots go that way, brittle with age.  I've worked out, based on the fact that the pot is all in French, that I probably bought it back in 2004/5. The other two were bought for me by my mother when I was 15 and heat embossing had just become a "thing", back when it was de rigeur to use a toaster and judicious placement of fingers to avoid burning oneself.

Stitching-wise, I've been stitchin' up a storm.

Siren's Lament has moved on considerably...

As has Mr Moose.  He's looking adorable.  Won't be long before I'm done with brown and can do some other colours!

I've finally picked up the Peppermint Purple Stitch-A-Long, and am almost fully caught up with it.  I say almost - a new square was released today and I've yet to stitch that, but as of last night I was up to date with all the released elements at that point.

March Mayhem has not quite gone to plan.  I've managed three of my kits so far  The big spider needs to be fully finished off yet, with snipping out around the legs and a hanger attached.  A bit dismal, that we're halfway through the month and I've only managed three, but I tell myself it's three more than before and we still have two weeks left!  The first one I did, the lovely blue background for web and spider, has about 1300 stitches in it which is quite a bit, I can tell you!  The other two have about 700 and 500, for comparison. Considerably smaller.

What other news haveth I?  Well, the re-enactment season is somewhat upskittled but provided everyone plays ball and campsites can reopen on April 12th, we have a re-enactment social weekend where we can camp and see our friends, and spend some time ensuring kit is ready for the rest of the season, such as it may be.  Many events have been moved or cancelled - certainly those in April/May/June, but the July, August and September ones all seem to be going ahead at present.

Mr B has fixed the car - we needed a new fan for the heating and air con - t'was rather horrid driving along without it.  The windows kept misting up which meant we had the windows open and in January, was not fun!  The fan cost us a whole £330 new from Renault, but fitting was free as he did it himself.  I'm not sure what labour is at Renault, but at the garage 300 yards up the road its £50 an hour, and the whole fit from removing the old to replacing the new took about 5 hours.  Quite a saving...

The offending broken fan

Anyway, this is turning into a ramble, so I shall leave you with a lovely photo from a couple of weeks ago, sunset up on Carn Brea, 

and a "and finally" in honour of our lovely Shaz.

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 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.

WOYWW 146 - the non creative one....

Once again, it’s time for WOYWW – the weekly blog hop that sails round the world on the desks of the creative masses. For more deets go to Stamping Ground, where you’ll find a fab list of some of the best messes spaces ever!

I’m a bit late joining the party this week. I’m utterly WOYWW’d out. Or Mojo’d out. Not quite sure which. All I know is that last night didn’t pan out quite the way I’d forseen it (namely having been abandoned by all and sundry to sleep by 8pm) and I just didn’t have the energy to think about a post for today. Although that might have something to do with the chocolate fest that kept me company *blushes*.  Nor did I have anything on my desk, not having had the mojo to sit and create stuff.  That's not to say I've had a non-creative week, I did make two Mother's Day cards, and a Birthday card, but I don't have the photos of those to hand at work!

So today, you really get to see my workdesk – and on it we have cables and microswitches as well as invoices and a cup of coffee. Deep joy. What this means is that they need to get a part out to a customer, and it’s all hands to the pump to get it out on time. My task? To join the cables in the bottom right to the switches in the top right, giving us the united components on the left there. It’s not much fun – it’s quite tough on the old fingers as the male/female parts we have to put together are an extremely tight fit!

However, to cheer you up (or perhaps me?), I have to share with you a couple of fun moments from this week.

Firstly, we had Grandad B staying with us, and as Lil Miss B was visiting her real-Mum (we’re having Mother’s Day a week late this year), he took us out for a meal.

I opted to have the grilled Goat’s cheese for starters. Grandad B asked me what I was having, so I told him. He didn’t quite catch what I said, so I repeated it for him. Later, he told Mr B that I was having “goose” cheese, but he didn’t know what that was like…. ROFLMAO. Poor Grandad B – he is a trifle deaf and does wear a hearing aid.  * Remind me to tell you about the Smacked Mackerel Pate one day....

The second chuckle was a result of something that we usually do with Lil Miss B. - to make sure she has heard and understood instructions, we usually ask her to repeat them. This particular chuckle happened later on Sunday – Lil Miss B wasn’t coming home until Monday morning, and we were both going to have left for work. It suddenly occurred to me that she might not have her keys, and when I sent her a text asking, she said no. So, this was how the text conversation wound up.  It doesn’t read quite as funny as when it happened, but is always worth a haha…

And lastly – look at the shop that is in Andover – Sarah, is there something you’re not telling us? LOL

Hope to catch up with a lot of you on the hop today - but as I'm late joining, I think you all have a headstart!

Tell it like it is.....

My family is well known for getting its mucking furds wuddled.  Some folks are born with a spoon in their mouth - I was born with a spoonerism.  From Cargidan to Par Cark, I've always done a back-to-fronty when I'm in a hurry to say stuff.

This has continued with my new family.  Lately we've had wrist wormers, a wegging dress, and my personal favourite, Carrots of the Pirabbean.  We figured the main character in that one had to be Capt Jack Marrow (maybe with Rhubarbossa?).

But last night really took the biscuit, and I feel I have to share the full tale for you to appreciate the beauty of it, although it may go over the head of anyone not in the UK.

Once a a week, we have ice-cream factory night.  After dinner, out comes the ice-cream, usually two flavours, and all the squirty and sprinkly stuff we own.  Lil Miss B was asked to fetch the frozen part last night, and she came trundling back into the room with a tub of vanilla, and a tub of choc mint chip, leaving another tub of vanilla in the freezer still.  The one in the freezer was a much more expensive brand....

Says she...

"Do you want me to fetch the car door ice-cream?"

It took us a couple of beats to realise she meant "Carte D'or".

We're still laughing today.....

WOYWW 128 - Oooops......

Welcome to the worldwide wonder that is WOYWW - for deets go to Dunnit Dimensions! 

Well, mine is short but not exactly sweet this week.

You ever have one of those moments that is soundtracked by a sharp intake of breath?  You know the one I mean, where you can actually HEAR the horror that you've just experienced?  Yeah, that one.

Well, I did one of those on Monday.  Our Group Personnel Manager was stood at my desk distracting me.  On my desk were two piles of paperwork.  One for shredding, the other for filing.  Fairly important filing too, because it was personnel stuff.

Still talking to her, I picked up the shredding, walked to the shredded, selected the first batch of 7 sheets, and put them in the shredder.

The pages get three-quarters of the way through - and cue horrified sharp intake of breath as I realise I had picked up the wrong pile.

So, my WOYWW for this week is this......

To quote Lil Miss B - "It's a good job you like jigsaw puzzles!"....

Catch you on the hop!

The Dictionary of Mort...

... has come up with another treasure on the word verification thingy today...

FAKERSIC

which in the dictionary of Mort must surely mean pretending to be ill or swinging the lead....


ROFL

Monday Monday....

It's been an interesting weekend.  It started Friday with getting home form work and then dragging my sorry arse over to the pub for "ladies night", which is generally like pulling teeth.  I'm sure it's not so bad, but I've never really done the "lets all go down the pub and whinge about our weight/husbands/children/jobs/home/money/lack of money etc etc and so on and so forth"  But I'd invited L out (Mrs to Mr Hat down below) cos she's fab, and so we went.

Another L - ironically, same name exactly, but not married to Mr Hat - decided to join us.  Turned out the only reason she came to the pub for a drink was because I was going!  Not bad, considering I've only lived in the village for 8 weeks...

We all promised ourselves we'd only go for an hour or so.  Five hours later I crept back across the road and into the cottage, managing to get into bed without waking Mr B.  Not that it would have been a problem if I had, but he looked so sweet, out sparko, snoring gently.  Me n' the L's had a fab time.  A real hoot.  We were just gassing, but we managed to avoid whinging about our weight/husbands/children/jobs/home/money/lack of money and instead opted for lengthy discussions on weight loss, boob reductions, methods of hair removal, the delights of curry, Halloween parties and spreadsheets.  Yes, spreadsheets.  It appears Mr HAt and L#1 need some assistance in the merchandising department, and I agreed to help L#1 learn the art of Microsoft Excel.

Next day I get two almost identical texts from the two L's, each one bemoaning their hangover.  I managed to avoid one, though how I'm not sure...

Saturday Me and the B's went into Salisbury to do some shopping etc.  When we got home, before launching into a frenzy of cleaning and tidying, we found ourselves having to sit Lil Miss down and have a long chat on the delights of make-up and what she should or shouldn't be wearing at the tender age of 11.  And, more importantly, why she shouldn't be lying to us about wearing it  - she's taken to sneaking make-up on after we've left the house in the morning.  Mr B and I appreciate that if we lay down the law and demand that she doesn't do it, this is the result, so I've managed to talk him down from changing her school bus to one that goes from his school, and chaining her to her bed out of school hours (LOL) and we've agreed that she can wear some but she has to abide by what we think is appropriate.  Neutral, barely there.  Not Avril Lavigne smoke-eyes.  And only wearing decent quality makeup, not cheap pound-shop/market rubbish.  And she's buying it out of her pocket money.  Sheesh.  It's hard being a Mum. 

Hopefully, we've succeeded.

Saturday night was spent having a wine and cheese evening with a work colleague of Mr B and her husband.  Much merriment.  Except this time I had wine and if I'd finished my third glass, I'd have had a hangover to rival that of the two L's!

Sunday - quiet day.  We went to the tip, located a geocache en route, and then made ourselves known to PVADS, the local AmDram group.  As soon as we had, we were dragged into the current production, with Mr B working as a stage hand and yours truly standing in as prompt.  Nice to be wanted....

So today we are....

• listening -  to nothing - lunchtime silence in the office!

• eating – ryvita and reduced fat hoummous - mmmmmmm.
• drinking - a leukwarm coffee.
• wearing - charcoal grey trousers and blue jumper.  Having to be normal at work sucks.
• feeling - tired, but fairly chilled considering I'm at work.  Oh no, wait, that's cos the heating is off.
• weather - cloudy and a bit inclined to rain.
• wanting - the next three hours to pass at high speed so I'm not bored.
• needing - more sleep.
• thinking - I should be getting back to work.
• enjoying - rediscovering my goth/metal roots.
• wondering - if I can score any tickets to the gig at the Brixton Academy at the weekend.....

TTFN!!!!

Too funny...

You should go and check out what Simon has been up to on Penni's blog.  He's got some rubbish candy (except it's not) up for grabs.

I'm glad Mr B knows better than to have a tidy up, per se, but who knows whether or not he might blog on my behalf in future!!!

WOYWW 110 - the almost didn't happen one...

Well, hello.  I'm a bit late to this week's party, but I have a letter for Miss from my mum saying it's alright that I'm late.

See, I was wondering, at 10pm on Monday, whether or not I'd have desk to show this week.  Or rather, what exactly my desk would be.  The thought, at that time, that was running through my head was one of a certain blog challenge called The Month in Numbers.  And, ironically enough, as I was laying on my back on the hospital trolley looking up at the light I thought, well, 4 is the number of paramedics/first responders who attended the call, and 5 is the number of screws in the lamp above my trolley.  I knew at that point I was probably ok..... LOL

To put it into a nutshell, I've been having tummy troubles for a while, but it's never happened at work - 15 mins from the end of the day on Monday I had chronic belly ache and so my colleagues had me shipped off in a meat wagon.  They let me out again that night, with no defined clue as to the problem but they're now going to treat me for IBS and see if that works.  Currently, I feel like I spent two days having Mike Tyson rearrange my insides, I have a Dr's appt for tonight, and am off work because I can't stay in any one position for too long.  So I'll keep it fairly brief!

My desk this week is not quite, but pretty much, as I left it.

The tan box with doors (can you tell what it is yet?) on my work mat is part of Mum's birthday card that I'm building.  I'm trying to drum up the energy to finish it because I need it for Friday.  It shouldn't take me too long - I've done the really hard part, the cutting out.  Now I just have to colour the remaining card and glue the whole lot together.  Oh, and make the box for it to go in.

Just beyond the current project, to the left of that little blue punch and in front of Hel's tag (still in place of honour for I-am-not-worthy worship) is Mr B's current project - he's making double slider cards (oh yes, graduated from 3D decoupage we have, into paper engineering) for his leavers, which will hang from helium filled balloons.  They look pretty good.  What you see there is the front panel for the card but it's not showing up very well.  He's even doing stencilling and heat embossing.  Now I know why I hoarded stash all these years.

Ok, my tum is telling me it's time to go and lie down.  I wonder what's on Create & Craft today.....?

A funny thing happened on the way to the netball....

I had a surreal moment today.  You know, one of those chance things...

Today, Mr B took a team from his school to another school in the area (and an hour away from where we live) for a netball tournament at their annual fete.  I went along to support, like I always do - I like to see something of my fella at weekends you know.  Unusual, but true.

Anyway, I and another mum went for a wander in the direction of the coffee stall, and as I rounded the corner I was greeted with a sight that made me stop and do a double take.  At first, I saw some aprons.  Then I noticed the doorstops.  And lastly, the bunny did it for me. 

I wandered up to the stall, and noticed first one sign, then another, and then said to the chap on the stall...

"Lunch Lady Jan?????"

He smiled, and said "ye-es...she's over there, playing the tuba with the brass band."

To cut a long story short ( I went back and got this photo when she returned), if Jan hadn't done WOYWW this week, we would never have known that each other was at the event.  As it is, I have a new friend, a phone number, and an invitation to coffee. 

Thanks Julia!!!

Another non-word....

I had another one of those word verification non-words tonight....

Balkies

In the Morti Dictionary, that has got to be when you take a dog for a walk and he doesn't want to go, just tries to sit as you take him for a drag.....

(picture courtesy of Google Images search!)

Art Journal

I keep making myself these promises.  I'll ring my friends more often.  I'll keep more in touch with Mum and other family.  I'll do more art.  I'll do more scrapbooking.  So on, and so forth.  At some point or other, I'll remember these promises and actually do something about it.  Like pick up the phone.  Or fondle some 12 x 12 paper and put it back again thinking not enough time.

But finally, after nearly six months of procrastinating, and saying I will do it, I actually have.  I've finally started my art journal.  For some reason or other, on Thursday, I felt the need to rant and be creative.  Just to, I dunno, yack all over a page.  Nice imagery, huh?  Just express myself somewhat. 

I followed a prompt from the UKStampers forum, where they've been running this art journal week by week (this is prompt #1 and they're now on #24 - eek) and where everyone else involved has studiously and diligently been creating and posting their art every week.  Not me.  Week 24 and I finally make a start. It might just snowball....

Anyways, here it is:

The prompt was the title Goals, and you were supposed to write about three things you hoped to achieve this year oh the irony and include some handmade background paper and a photo.  Well, I did the title, and I made my background paper, used the same image of me as from this blog, but sod the middle bit.  This year?  How about generally instead?  LOL.

OK, paper was made by screwing up a sheet of ordinary cheap copy paper and then running DIs all over it.  The crinkles and creases picked the colour up beautifully.  I won't be dull by telling you which colours I used - you'd only need to use your own colours to suit your mood.  Stamps are a mixture - on the background there's some Cherry Arte, Third Coast, and The Stamp Mill.  The front note sheet has stamps by Smeared Ink (the type style, eg the Suck it up phrase).  I like it.  It's a bit of a tough-love kind of page, and I suppose really the journal is only for me but I'm sure I'll blog plenty.  I don't really want praise or criticism as it's an art journey, and a book full of techniques to try, and is also all about expressing myself.  If someone picks it up and hates it, well, at least the Journal came with a warning!

Now, today is Father's day, and this morning we woke up (at 8.20am) to find this outside our bedroom door. (please excuse the smalls, they are in fact the Small's smalls!)  

Bless. Why she didn't knock and bring the coffee in I don't know, but suffice it to say that we went and nuked it so we could drink it.

Even if it was so strong it took the enamel off our teeth.  We love you, Lil' Miss B! 



Chucklesome...

First up, it's always bothered me a bit about posting to my blog with the lack of a photo.  Sometimes I kinda figure that no picture can make for a dull post, so I'm now working on the theory that short and sweet will make up for it. 

Anyhoo.....

I was having a bit of a blurf this lunchtime and stuck my nose into Susan Raihala's blog, "Questioning my Intelligence".  Said blog is full of non-photo posts, and has some goodly words in it.  She has this fab link to something rather funny, and I thought I'd spread the word here.

So, head over to Lowering The Bar where we learn just how MI6 is helping to fight terrorism.  Laugh?  I nearly baked....

It's all about me....?

Well, this is the hot new topic on the block....er... I mean blog.  Jumbleberries, Deanne at Quirky Boots, and Julia at Stamping Ground have posted this fun list this week so we can all get to know them just a little bit better.



I figured if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! 

A. Age: 38 (but next birthday at the end of the month - just like Jumbleberries!).
B. Bed size: double - used to have a Superkingsize (so Queen is no longer the name, huh?), but hated it.  Go figure
C. Chore that you hate: cleaning the toilet.  Yack.
D. Dogs: None right at this moment, but at the end of July my ex is handing back my fur babies.  Yay.
E. Essential start to your day: Coffee.  Preferably in multiples (though in a mug is better).
F. Favorite color: purple  - in any shade.
G. Gold or Silver: Silver
H. Height: 5'6"
I. Instruments you play: Um.  This is where it gets embarrassing.  Piano, flute, recorder (soprano, treble, & tenor), used to play clarinet, learning to play the lap harp and desperately want a hammered dulcimer.....
J. Job title: Accounts Assistant and HR Administrator.  Or perhaps better would be general dogsbody!  I'm the Go-To girl, it would seem!
K. Kids: one - fabby step-daughter aged 10
L. Live: Currently in Corton, Wiltshire
M. Mother's name: Constance
N. Nicknames: Morti, Nant, Tish.
O. Overnight hospital stays: a week for a tonsilectomy aged 4, then three weeks for something else when I was 19....
P. Pet peeve: being interrupted
Q. Quote from a movie: "Wormsign?  We have wormsign the likes of which GOD has never seen!"
R. Right or left handed: Right
S. Siblings: two, one of each
T. Time you wake up: on a working day, around 6.00am
U. Underwear: Unmentionable!
V. Vegetable you hate: it depends.  What won't I eat?  I'll force most things into me but avocado is a no-no unless in guacamole.
W. What makes you run late: That ten year old I mentioned before.  And surfing the net.
X. X-Rays you've had: Dental, left wrist when I broke it, and many many spinal ones.
Y. Yummy food that you make: From the noises of appreciation tonight, I turn out an awesome omelette, apparently.
Z. Zoo animal: White tiger.


Go on, have a go!

WOYWW 83 - A Happy New Year to everyone.....

I'd love to be able to say what a surprise it is, how fast the year has flown, but that's not strictly true.  We've spent the last year commenting on how speedily the weeks have passed, so it'd be nothing new to say here.  It would, however, be correct of me to say that Christmas shot by faster that expected, especially as I completely missed out on last week's WOYWW.  (If that series of letters leaves you feeling decidedly ? shaped, go to Julia's Stamping Ground to find out what the Desk Diva Extraordinaire is up to.

Christmas for me this year did pass by in a blur.  I would like to thank my Operations Director Sean (not my personal Ops Director cos that would be me, stoopid, I mean that of the company I work for) for coming into work the week before Crimble with man-flu and duly handing it out to the staff like the florid-faced Santa he was.  Bah humbug.  Yep, I was one of the ones that got it, and as I write this on Monday night, I'm only really just over it enough to comtemplate work tomorrow.  Oh, how I wish to put a hex on he.

Yes, I'm doing this on Monday night cos we're still in the throes of panto and I won't have time tomorrow to set this up for Wednesday a.m.  Live with it.

So, to sum Christmas up in one picture and one word....

Random. 

That was what Lil' Miss B said.  "Sometimes, Santa can be really RANDOM". We're blessed in that she still believes in Mr Claus, despite having reached double figures.  It could be that she's playing along this year, but I'm guessing next year she'll be a normal secondary school kid.  However, it meant that this year we could still have the fun of the old mince pie, milk and carrot routine, and insist she went to bed early etc.  She still did her Santa list, and he was kind enough to oblige with most of the items on it (she's not a greedy kid, luckily!) and a few she hadn't asked for, like the above Jacob's Ladder toy.

Well darn me if that hasn't been the item most played with.....

Oh what, yes.... I'm digressing!  The real reason you're here is WOYWW, isn't it?

So, what did Santa bring you, little girl?  Aside from the whopping great credit card bill, that is?  Um.  Not that much actually!  I can't really recall what I got on the main day, for the reason that it passed in a paracetamol-and-codeine-induced haze.  I recall chocolate.  I recall a scarf.  I definitely recall jewellery.  I also recall, as they're in the pic below, that I got a jeweller's vice (aka helping hands) and a pair of crimp bead pliers.  Oh, and a nice Avenged Sevenfold CD.  And a couple of Jethro Tull ones too.  We'll pretend, though, that I haven't mentioned both those bands in the same paragraph.

Happy New Year!

WOYWW 81 - Merry Christmas one and all

Oops!  Nearly forgot about WOYWW today.  With all one's timetable being pushed out of kilter (no panto, Mum staying etc) I forgot today was WOYWW.

So, at the mo, no picture of my desk - I'll add one tonight before Lil Miss B goes to bed (she's sleeping in the office at the mo).  I'll probably also add pics of them ice-skating, cos it's my work's Children's Christmas Party this afternoon and there's an ice-rink at the holiday camp where it's being held.  Working in HR means I get to go whether I have a child or not (ROFLMAO) but this year it is nice to be there for the right reason!

For now, I will sign off and say Merry Christmas to you all.  I hope you all have a fantastic time, and may your waistbands be elasticated! 

TTFN!

General Randomness

They're coming thick and fast this week.

Mr B asked me last night what Marmite was made of... yeast extract says I.

"Yes, but WHAT exactly is yeast extract, and how does it get made?" he says.

"Dunno" says I, "but how in the heck was it discovered.....????

long pause...........

.....What would have happened if the first person to discover Marmite didn't like it?"

WOYWW 71 – going nowhere fast

Another week has whizzed by and here we are again at the behest of Ms Dunnit (see HERE for info), viewing a desk that has changed very little. Oh wait. It’s tidy!

Yup, you got it. Mr B put his foot down with a firm hand and pointed out that unless I tidy the desk, I can’t work on it. You see, I’ve been complaining that doing my studies at the table in the kitchen is a nightmare. It’s the main thoroughfare through to the fridge/larder/kettle, and so I was getting constant interruptions. I’d made noises about studying in the office, and lo, a tidy desk was born. (Working there also means I get to have X Factor on ITVPlayer – we don’t have TV reception here; long story for a different day)

And so, after Saturday’s card making session (see Tuesday’s post here) I wound up spending 7 (yes, SEVEN) hours in here on Sunday studying. It means I finally finished Lesson 1 at last. Modal Auxilliary anyone?  So, what is currently on my desk is my study book and a notepad.  And that CJ I STILL haven't done.  I will, Sarah & Alison, I will!  

Last Wednesday I had a card on my desk which was in the throes of being created. If you have a good hunt in the previous photo you might find it!  Here is the finished article. I like it; Mr B keeps asking me who it’s for – I say anyone who has a birthday coming up, or an anniversary, who might like it. LOL. 

Stamp: Flourish by The Fourth Dimension, + random corner I can’t identify.

Ink: Adirondack Cabin Fever (which I think needs replacing as the inks have merged!)

Glitter: Art Institute Autumn collection.

Punch: Martha Stewart, naturally.

I also have a confession to make. Last week I showed you all my ribbon storage. What I forgot to mention is that those hangers are only half the tale. The five sets of plastic drawers that run the length of the room have two drawers in them that are dedicated to the storage of ribbons on reels and fibres. I’ve not quite got around to sorting them out fully and displaying them on similar hangers, though I think that is in the offing shortly because I need some more drawers for the ever growing stamp population. In fact, all the drawers need a sort out really, and re-labelling.

Oh well.

So, this week it’s a welcome to pixiholly and Nicola Fail who have become followers of the Mad Rambler, and an apology to those of you I didn’t get round to. I know I suggested working my way backwards from the end of Mr Linky, but I actually ended up doing reciprocal blopping (blog-hopping). I think I’ve managed everyone who commented, plus a couple of extras, but otherwise….. sorry!

Once more with feeling – WOYWW 70

And so another week passes in Blogland and here we are on the merry-go-round of WOYWW. For those new to it, you can learn more here, over at the Stamping Ground where all will become crystal clear. Rather than mud like, which is no doubt how you feel after visiting my wallow hollow. LOL.

So what is on MY desk this week? Not an awful lot really. As per usual. It would be nice to have time to sit and craft properly. So you can see where I’ve had a stab at using one of my new flourish stamps to start work on a card (got some brown velvet ribbon to add to it next, and then I need something else – it doesn’t look right yet. There’s also some Kling on for mounting stamps. That’s Kling On, not Klingon. The image conjured up is quite amusing though, if somewhat unwieldy. Nail polish remover for getting the indexing off clear stamps. Some buttons which just appeared as well – methinks they came from Mr B.

In answer to a question or two from last week – no, not a SINGLE soul actively came up to me and went “oooh, WOYWW!!! Who are you?”. I did get a few curious looks, and a thumbs up from Hels, but that was it. Next time, it’ll be deely boppers at dawn, but by then I’m sure that all the rest of the WOYWWers will be clued in and it will become a national treasure. It would have been nice for one new person to pop onto WOYWW and say, I’m here cos I saw a nutter in a t-shirt at AP and wondered what it was all about. Mind you, they may have cos I’ve not got round to everyone this week… *hangs head in shame*.

As for how I came by the t-shirt – t’was simples! Word art in Word 2007, a small piece of clipart for the heart, and then it was printed onto iron-on transfer paper (not forgetting to mirror image it first, of course!) and ironed onto a t-shirt. I will quite happily email the file to anyone who wants to do their own, but it’s quite easy, and you can always put your own spin on it. Mr B has already said that next time he wants a t-shirt too. Not sure whether or not I should be alarmed by that!

Oh, and the only reason I didn’t stamp it was a lack of time – the design was done on Friday evening before travelling up to London, the ironing on Saturday morning after I had bought a t-shirt at Mum’s local Asda, finished literally minutes before leaving the house for Ally Pally! I couldn’t find the deely boppers in the loft, you see……

Elsewhere in my room I thought I’d show you how I store my ribbons. I have two hangers – one for ribbon, one for organza and rik rak – and can see all colours at once and it’s easy to cut a small length when I need it. They don’t tangle either. And behind the door – there! That’s the piano hiding. I see that Lil Miss B has purloined the music stand and put it in her room again, and not returned it. Tsk. Music in the Music Room, missy! Can’t say I blame her though – it’s a little dark back there, even with the lights on.

I had intended to post on Saturday/Sunday after a visit to Kraft Krazy in Tidworth, and an encounter with Julia’s Shopkeeper Gal. Except I didn’t take a photo of the shop when I’d intended to, and I hate pictureless blogposts. Anyway, Shopkeeper Gal is a lovely lady, very helpful, and the shop is a veritable treasure trove of goodies. I thought after AP that I wouldn’t need any more stash, but there were one or two things I didn’t manage to get at AP that were in fact on my list (Xyron adhesive for one) and needless to say it wound up in my basket. Oops……… I now have a nice list of workshops to um and ah over which I want to do.

Gosh – is that the time? Best get a move on. I’m never going to get round everyone’s desks, so this week I’m going to start at the end and work backwards, as they are the gals who get very few comments! TTFN!

*ok, yes, so the time is in actual fact about midnight, eh?  I 'fess up.  I did this on Tuesday and scheduled it to post just after midnight on Wednesday because last week my scheduled post of 6am didn't happen, and I wondered if it was cos Blogger works on US time..... Yes, the picture of my desk was taken on Tuesday, but that's how it's going to be until Wednesday night because tonight is panto rehearsal and we won't be in until nearly midnight......