WOYWW

 Hello peeps, if you saw my "desk" last week then you would have seen my bolt cutters!  

Caro asked to see my finished shelves under my decking and my journal-so here they are!

The very old metal frame was an old greenhouse staging from my childhood (so a good 40 odd years old). I cut the galvanised steel to fit so I can use it for storage.  As it sits under my decking/balcony it gets really wet (watering the plants etc above) the old fencing wood I used finally gave up the ghost so I am hoping the mesh will last until the fame finally rusts through.

My 365 Journal for July has been finished too, not particularly well decorated but just a few strawberries and paint flicks

Now my actual desk has an upcycled  stamp block.  A few years ago I unmounted all my stamps (and i have a LOT) and kept the wooden block because they are nice and thick and smooth and they seemed too good to let go.

So I decided to use one of the largest ones to make a sign for my allotment.

I stenciled Plot 12 and stamped a basil plant, garlic and bumble bee.  When they had dried I added colour with a mixture of sharpie pens, inktense pencils and posca pens.

I then need to apply a couple of coats of yacht varnish and drill it onto a post on the allotment.  So, what's on your workdesk today?

Kyla

ps - sorry just realised i forgot to include my "Man Bites Dog" cards this week-will try to remember for next week

Allotment update

I have been loving my allotment and slowly it is coming together.  

I am sure that it will change in layout over the next year but for now I just wanted to get as much of my seedlings etc in the ground as I ran out of space at home!

We were lucky enough to get some strawberries from the plants we inherited with the plot.  The plants only tend to be really productive for 3-5 years so we were really surprised that we got quite a good picking from them.  I will plant some runners from them this year ready to make a new patch next year.

The potatoes are 2nd earlies (charlotte) and I dug these up to see how they were developing, the rest (another 3 rows) will stay in the ground for another month and i will just dig up a plant at a time as and when I need more spuds!

The broadbeans tasted delicious, I have about 15 plants which I now know is SO not enough so next year I will plant more.  I bought them as seedlings and they worked really well, even after being totally attacked by blackfly earlier in the season (I made a garlic spray to keep them at bay and it seemed to work, so I will spray earlier next year).

The beetroot are golden beetroots.  I bought about 9 small plants and they are developing really well, I also sowed lots of ordinary beetroot seeds and these seem to be growing ok.

I also have lots of herbs and micro greens I have been picking and am looking forward to the crops as they develop.

Kyla

WOYWW

Hello deskers-I couldn't resist but this was my desk this week!!  I was outside (we have been having some fabulously dry weather for a change) so I was in the garden using bolt cutters to cut up some galvanised steel mesh to make some shelves for under my decking across a really old (about 40yrs old) green house staging (the wood has rotten but the metal frame is just about hanging in there!

When I posted this on FB Shaz Silverwolf asked if this was this weeks desk - well, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss!!!!!

Whereas this is my actual desk today!

Bit behind in my 365 Journal challenge pages but at least I made a start!

How is your desk this week?

Happy crafting

Kyla

Art Abandonment in Spain

 Sorry I have been absent for a while but it all got a bit too much so I had to cut a few things, but I am back!  During my time out hubby and I went to Sitges in Spain, only 40 mins by train from Barcelona.  

Barcelona is amazing, the architecture is fabulous and the street art is almost as good as Bristol!  We also did a street art tour and lucked out as it was only the two of us so we got a totally personal tour!  Fantastic.

Sitges is amazing, right on the coast with a long promenade and is seen as the gay capitol and is a beautiful town with amazing views and places to eat and drink.

Whilst we were away we did a few more Art Abandonment drops so I thought I would update the blog with a few of these.

This is a watercolour postcard I painted and it seem fitting to abandon it in Sitges

 These two tags are with coloured with posca pens and were created and abandoned in Barcelona in an area that is dedicated to public street art where people are legally allowed to paint!  

Then whilst we were on the beach at Sitges we decided to paint a few pebbles and leave them (hubby also took part)

 This is my lizard that I often paint

 Hubby drew a whale and a face using the jagged edge as a part of its head bit off!

 I drew a face using the natural hole as an eye!

It was a lovely holiday and great to be able to sit and paint too (I also did a couple of urban sketches and will blog these soon)

Happy crafting

kyla

Free art update

 Only just realised that whilst I posted these on my social media sites I had forgotten to update my blog-so here is a catch up.

I love taking part in Free Art Friday and Art Abandonment as well as Bristol Rocks and Sidmouth Smilestones.  Basically make art and leave it for someone to find, easy.

This was a small watercolour I sketched whilst at a hospital appointment recently.  You sit there, often for a couple hours so I tend to sketch as it keeps me off my phone and my mind occupied.  I then usually leave the sketches (unless they are my urban sketches which tend to be in a proper sketchbook) for someone to find, pass on or leave for someone else.

I also tend to have some posca pens and a small clear nail varnish with me in my small travel kit.  These come in really handy if I spot any pebbles/rocks that I can draw on and  leave for others to find.  The nail varnish providing a clear protective lacquer. 

 

I never really know what I am going to draw, it depends on the shape of the stone but I tend to have half a dozen "go to" designs that tend to work on various shapes.

I usually leave contact details of the groups mentioned above (usually via Facebook/groups) and people can register a find online and also post a picture if they then move the stones to a new location and abandon them for another to find.

I think it is a lovely idea and a great way to spread a smile.

Do you do anything like this, I would love to hear what you do

kyla

WOYWW

Happy hump day so that means another "What's on your workdesk Wednesday" no desk from me again BUT I can show you some more fabulous ATC's I got for the 10th Anniversary (SO looking forward to seeing more photos of the crop from the weekend).

The top row is a fabulous lavender bag (smells lovely and the fabric is SO gorgeous) and ATC from Elizabeth (aka Silver Scrapper) and on the bottom left is one from the fabulous Helen (aka Stamping by H) and on the right from the 'enabler' herself, the lovely Shaz (aka Shazsilverwolf)

Thanks ladies it is so lovely to receive post that are not bills, junk mail or voting papers!

Kyla

WOYWW

Greetings deskers!  Wednesday again, no desk from me as I have been in the middle of a field with little or no signal/access for a few days BUT when I returned home I had a fabulous gift from Lunch Lady Jan (LLJ)

I was SO lucky to be the recipient of LLJ pass it forward ATC for the 10th Anniversary of What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Not only an beautiful ATC and gift card but a fabulous handmade mini poppered pocket (try saying that after a glass or two!) perfect for storing plasters and meds in my handbag (lets be honest the bottom of my bag is a dumping ground so this is SO perfect for me).  

I was lucky a few years back to go round to Jan's and spend time with her teaching me how to make a fabric handbag, she is such a great teacher that I still have that bag and have made MANY more since then for presents.

Thanks Jan, I love it.

Happy crafting

Kyla

Japanese inspired card

I am trying to use up my stash as I have amassed far too much over the years.  

This card is made using a page from a book (love the script) as the background and I matted and layered a Japanese image adding a dimensional topper (I cut the back post off so it sits a bit more flush against the page.

A clean card which for me is unusual (I nearly added some ink around the edges but resisted!)

Happy crafting

Kyla

WOYWW 10th Anniversary

Happy 10th Anniversary of us baring our desks as part of "What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday" started by the queen of desks the lovely Julia.

Not sure how many years I have been taking part (i think I joined in 2010 after lurking for a few weeks) but I have made some great friends on here both virtually but also in the flesh!

I managed to make 7 ATC's  so hopefully I will be able to swap them with a few people 

Only a quick up date as once again I am running behind and I am sure there will be MANY desks to visit this week so short is probably better (well that's my excuse)

Happy WOYWW 

kyla

Allotment update

Thought I would catch up with what has been going on at the plot.

The past few weeks we have been busy weeding and digging.

We decided to keep the black plastic on the top left of the plot as there are some thick deep rooted weeds under there so in an effort to break this into smaller tasks to help manage my Rheumatoid Arthritis we have decided to leave this until later in the year/winter to think about dealing with it.  I plan on planting some courgettes/squash in the tyres and through the plastic so the space won't go to waste.

The top part was very stony and heavy so we planted potatoes to help break up the soil.  Yes, it is old school with the long trenches (remember I was taught to garden in the 70's so I am old school I suppose) and they do resemble buried bodies-but it is main crop spuds!  Honest!

We planted some onion sets in the front of the plot and put down some weed control fabric pinned down with some metal wire and piled with bark chippings that the council kindly donate to the site.  This will help me with my stability on the site and make it easier for me to walk on a slightly firmer ground.  Later in the year I am thinking of edging it with some wood to help keep the chippings in place.

I also bought 4 pallet collars.  A bit dearer than I hoped BUT I think this will make life a lot easier for me, easier to reach the middle without stretching and as they fill up I won't have to bend down as much, and if my mobility gets worse then I am thinking I can add another pallet collar on top easily to increase the height even more.

So far so good, I am also toying with the idea of growing some plants for dying fabric too, but that will probably be next year as I need to do a bit of research and see how much space I have when I have my fruit and veggies all growing.

Kyla