WOYWW

 Hello peeps and welcome back to another Whats on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

This week I have not had much opportunity to craft as I have been busy with my pay the bills job and my brother and sister in law came to visit for the weekend, which was lovely and meant we were able to show off our city to them a bit more!

The other week my hubby brought home a sheet of wrapping paper with vinyl records all over it.  We are both vinyl junkies so I had loads of ideas on how to use it.  I decided to create a record with my nestability dies and a peel off.

 I used glossy card stock so that it shone like vinyl and was pleased with how it turned out. Not bad for wrapping paper!!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards are 'Tourist Saves Romantic Movie Singer'......a nice headline for a change!

So, why not join us and share your desk and enjoy a legal snoop at desks across the globe.  All the details are here

Happy Crafting

Kyla

UFO's and 'Shrooms

I finally have finished a UFO (unfinished object).  I made these leather and suede mushrooms a couple of years ago and wanted to find some wood to drill holes into to mount them.  When my Dad was alive we looked for wood but didn't find anything suitable, but we did find a thin piece of attractive bark.  Then life happened.

It never occurred to me to use the 2 items together!  It never even occurred to me to attach the mushrooms with hot glue and hang the wood rather than have it on a shelf!  Odd isn't?  I have had all these pieces lying around not being able to see the wood for the trees (so to speak) when suddenly it all fell into place!

Now it hangs pride of place in my dining room, another UFO finished!

Happy crafting

Kyla

For the love of cards

 Hello peeps, I am finally getting back into the groove with some card making and using up some scraps.

This card used up some left over toppers I've had hanging around for AGES and some off-cuts of ribbon.

The next card has 3 different coloured leather flowers that I die cut from leather leftovers (I love Sizzix Bigz dies as they cope so well with leather).  

The pink flower in the centre is such a small off-cut I wasn't sure what I could do with it, but bright pink leather no matter how small it just too good to throw away!

Both of the cards are bright and cheerful but I think they would be ok for Valentines day or even for a birthday. 

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW

 Happy What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday.  How has your week been?

After all the Christmas presents I spent the past few months making I can finally get back to trying to find some time to experiment and play.

So I decided to treat myself as its been AGES since I have bought anything crafty that wasn't from the scrap store!  So I bought a 1/2lb grab bag of lucky dips stamps from The Artistic Stamper.  You don't know what you are going to get so it is a gamble.

So on my desk I am mounting the stamps.  I use stick away to coat my scissors so they glide through the sticky stamp mount.  I also have my Hudl2 tablet that my hubby got me for Christmas.  It is perfect for listening to spotify or podcasts on whilst I am crafting.

 So what stamps did I get?

  I got 2 sets of letters exactly the same, whilst this was disappointing I decided to use one as a background stamp and the other set I cut up so I can use the letters individually.

I also got a large snowflake background stamp and Christmas star stamp (not sure if this will be used as its not one I would normally buy, but hey, that is the gamble).

There was a cute key, some script (nice size), some leaves, a circle of butterflies (I already have a good idea for this one) a saying "Art is Life", a bird (again, not one I can see using much-but you never know) and a paper doll articulated body stamp which I think will be great fun to use in journals.

 The individual letters were taking up quite a bit of room and I was worried they would end up getting lost so I came up with a cunning plan to store them.

This is old packaging from a cutting die and I cut it down to size.

The stamps stick on there really well and it takes up hardly any space in the drawer so problem solved! 

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Lost Star Burns' which is an interesting one as the Mars Rover 2 was found this week and the late great Professor Pillinger who was synonymous with the Mars exhibition came from Kingwood in Bristol (my current neck of the woods).

So why not join us over at Julia's blog (there is a link over on the right) and have a legal snoop at desks across the globe!

Happy crafting

Kyla

Painting with thread

Hello peeps, my final update on Christmas presents that I made (honest!!).

A few years ago my brother decided to leave his job in the city and volunteer across the other side of the globe in Ecuador.  As it was this was the making of him and he met the love of his life up a volcano!  Now, she was not a local girl but came from only a couple of miles away from where he lived in London (such a small world!).  Zoe is lovely and they got married and currently live in London again.

Zoe loves hummingbirds and my brother used to show me them on Skype when he lived over there, flying around in their garden, so I decided to have a go at making her an embroidered hummingbird.

I haven't really done much free hand embroidery before so I was winging it so to speak.

I added some iridescent thread to help it shimmer like the real thing.

I kept it in the hoop, finishing it off on the back by gathering it up and stitching some white felt across the back to neaten it up.

So there you have it, the last of my Christmas makes....time to start next years!!!!

Happy Crafting

Kyla

 

Raindrops keep falling on my head

"Raindrops keep falling on my head" so the song goes-I don't know about that, but it has gotten mighty chilly recently (but then it is January in the UK so I am not sure why I should be surprised!)

 I thought I would take a break from posting Christmas present makes (I think there is only one more to go) and post the finished cards from the colouring in I was doing on a previous WOYWW.

To the stamped and coloured image I also added some glossy accents and a strip of scrap paper with some scrap lace over the top (I am trying to make cards from mainly my scrap box in January and so far I have made about 15 - its a big scrap box!!)

 The leaf is made from a tomato puree tube cut open, cleaned, flattened, dyed with alcohol inks then die cut.

 This one is using my new rain drop stamp as a background (at the last WOYWW crop I saw Shaz Silverwolf's stamps and fell in love with ALL OF THEM!!). I thought it would add some interest to the background without having to cut up any more precious card!

I thought these cards would be good for a variety of occasions from Valentines right through to "I'm Sorry".  Cards without words is sometimes all you need to let someone know you are thinking of them.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW

Welcome, I don't know about you but this week seems to have gone really quick-I am not one to wish my life away but I blinked and before I knew it Friday was here! 

But more importantly we are into the run up to the next celebration.  

You know, the one where we get cards, gifts and hopefully flowers-yep, that's right its my Birthday next month (and my baby brothers too-his is actually on Valentines day-a lesser known celebration than my birthday!!).

So on my desk this week I am mainly cutting up last years calendars to use as toppers for cards.

I will keep this short and sweet as there are many desks to get around.

 

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week 'Dog Attacks Crazy Lover' or even 'Crazy Dog attacks lover' or 'Crazy lover attacks dog'!!

So, why not join us and show us your desk of shame and enjoy a legal snoop at desks from across the globe over at Julia's blog (link over on the right)

Happy Crafting

Kyla

 

Lip balm holders

 Hello, finally getting through posting all the presents I made for people at Christmas (sorry, I keep trying to mix the posts up with some journaling and cards).

These were an idea I found on Pinterest, they are lip balm holders using some scraps of fabric left over from previous projects, some cotton inside (so they are lined even though the only way you can see the lining is if you take out the balm and peer inside), some thin stabiliser and a D ring.  They don't take too long to knock up and I think they make a really cute stocking filler.  

I also made a bright and cheerful desk calendar (free standing A frame sort-no idea what they are called!).

 Just a couple of small fillers or handy gifts for friends (I even had a male friend who is a cyclist mention they use lip balm on the morning commute to work so I think I need to keep my eye for 'manly' prints so I can make one for him).

A short and sweet update today, happy crafting

Kyla

A couple more presents

Hello peeps, so I can finally show you some more items that I have made.

These items were made for my Mum's birthday (which was yesterday-Happy Birthday Mum!) so I had to wait to share them.

As you know, I have been making bags during the later half of last year and in the run up to Christmas this was one of the bags I made.  Pale greens and turquoise are my Mum's colours so when I sorted through my fabric stash I knew just who I needed to make one for.

 The bags are all the same pattern, but this one was slightly bigger so that you could fit knitting and a book in it, ideal for mum.

 I lined it with some cotton fabric and the bag is once again made using fusible fleece so it has some structure to it.

The other gift I made her was back in the summer when I did my Glass Fusing course with my friend Val.  It was a great day and I made coasters, necklace pendants, keyrings and this, my very first sun catcher to hang in the window.

Across the top is a tubing of glass so that you can feed some thread through to hang it up and the sand coloured glass between the waves is frit, which is a very fine ground multi coloured glass.

I really enjoyed the class and one I will definitely do again this year (ready to make Christmas presents for next year I was thinking!).

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

 

January 365 Challenge

Hello peeps, I hope the new year is treating you well?

I decided once again to join in with Kate Crane's 365 Calendar challenge as I have loved looking back over the past few years worth and seeing short little snippets of my life or how I was feeling on a certain day.

This is my January layout

 

The letters are once again cut out of a cereal box and coloured, glittered then glossy accents over the top.  The main pages are coloured with Dylusion sprays dribbled and the icicles along the top are distress stickles and glossy accents with some of it dripped down the page.

Right....I am going to try and get ahead of the game and start February's pages this week (fingers crossed).

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW

Hello peeps.  This is the first What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday of 2015 so in honour I cleaned my desk!  I know, please feel free to take a seat if you are feeling faint from this news (believe me my hubby struggled to take the news in too!) AND I vacuumed the carpet but I thought I would spare you that boring photo!

On my desk this week is some colouring I am doing for cards.  I have spent the holidays using up as many scraps from my scrap box and came across these stamped images I forgot I had when we had a stamping sessions at our weekly craft coven (we all bring some stamps and swap them for the evening so that way we increase the images we have without the need to buy or store yet more stamps!).

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Fake Scam Attacks Wall St. Again'.....ooh, will we see another cyber attack like the one Sony had over Christmas?  If we do people really will think I am getting insider knowledge!!!

So, why not join us and bare all (well your work space) over at the lovely Julia's blog (link is over on the right) and turn the weeks hump day into WOYWW.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

A fern handbag

 Hello peeps are you ready for another update?  This time it is another bag.  After making that one in the summer with Jan I have been loving making them.  Again they take ages but even though I say so they do look really professional.

This one is slightly smaller and is made from a lovely fern stylised fabric that I made for my sister in laws birthday (the week before Christmas).

Again it is lined with an inside and outside pocket and has a inset zipped gusset  and I have used iron on fusible fleece to make the bag quite sturdy so it stands itself up.

I do love these bags and I admit I find it hard to give them away but regardless what I tell my husband a woman really can have too many handbags (but shh...don't tell him!).

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Knitting needles and brag books

Hello peeps, so here we go again with another roundup of some of the Christmas presents I made this year (looking back I didn't realise I had made SO many!).

This photo isn't brilliant, but its a knitting needle roll that I made my mum.  Its made out of quite heavy upholstery fabric so that it should withstand needles being poked in and hopefully stand up to quite a bit of abuse.

 This is a brag tag book for my Nan in NZ.  Its a chipboard tag mini photo album that my Nan can keep in her handbag and contains recent photos of me, my hubby, brother and his wife too.  The fern leaves are made out of air drying lightweight clay with a Martha Stewart (I think) mould and coloured with Dylusion sprays.

The letters are cut from a cereal box, coloured, glittered and then glossy accents to finish them and make them shine.

 

For family I also made a few more fabric covered notebooks

 

 and another quilted one (these really are a pain to make though as they take me SO long!)

I have more books to cover during 2015 but at the moment I cannot bring myself to make any more as, I think I need to concentrate on another craft for a while!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Mens gifts

 So, did you all have a wonderful New Year?  I always find its a bit of a damp squid where a taxi costs £40 and pubs charge you to walk through the door to spend money!!  Plus living in a City with 2 universities (yep, 2) it means we are over-run with students so town is  a bit of a no go area.  This meant we stayed in and watched a TV dramatisation about Tommy Cooper!

Now the tree is down, the Christmas cards cut up and I have already made some re-purposed cards ready for next Christmas (Sam Hettie you would be proud of me!).

So, this means I have had time to upload some more photos of the gifts I made over the past few months.

This time its mens gifts.  Me are SO difficult to buy for let alone make for.

So this year I made 2 of the mens gifts, both basically the same with a few tweaks.

I covered a note book in leather.  This one was for my Uncle in New Zealand.  I added a binding to keep the book closed and I created end papers for the book with a map of wales (where he used to live before emigrating).

 The next book I made was similar and for my brother.  I made a wrap out of Ecuadorian fabric that he brought back for his wedding (he and his wife lived there for a few years)

 I used maps of London (where they currently live) for the end papers.

So there you have it, a couple of presents for men-now if anyone has any other suggestions I have my brothers birthday on Valentines day!!!

Happy crafting

Kyla