A smiling soul

Hello peeps, just a quick update on a new card I made for a friend.

The saying just seemed to scream out for this happy soul to be used on the card!

I added a couple drops of glossy accents on the eyes and heart and a piece of ribbon to cover the join between the two pieces of patterned paper.

Nice and simple, but hopefully does what it says on the tin!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

 

WOYWW 6 Years!

Hello peeps....Happy 6th Anniversary of What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday!

6 years of mayhem and friendship made via the lovely Julia's blog.

There is a lot to get round this week so I will keep this short and sweet.

My desk has my 365 Journal pages for June that I am decorating, my paints are out ready to do some splodging!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Nude General Sues Lover Again'.....it is the "again" that makes it so much worse!!!

I have already got some lovely ATC's from the crop but have decided to share them with you over the next couple of weeks so that those that have been posted will hopefully get them around the same time.

So thank-you to Julia for creating and managing this weekly mayhem and Happy WOYWW

Kyla

 

WOYWW Crop update

 Welcome to WOYWW, and I admit this is not my desk but a round-up of the 6th Anniversary crop on Saturday (hope that is ok Julia?).

The day started with coffee and cake (Julia and Jan keeping us supplied and I think that is Cindy Cashplant in the back).

I brought a TON of stuff...but once again I have NO idea why I bothered as I spent the entire day chatting to everyone and not doing any crafting!!

 We tried to split ourselves into Clean and messy crafters.....Morti was sewing (a lovely cross stitch) and was heard to point to my stash asking who was sat there to exclaim "Oh Kyla...no she is dirty!!"...Now in ANY other instance this would mean something else...but I think we all know what Morti meant....her lovely clean fabric would not remain so if she sat any where near me!!!

There was some lovely crafting that others were doing (just not me..there was cake to eat and chatting to do!).

This was a canvas that Debbie Rocks was doing.....so beautiful.

 Cindy was very patiently forming flowers (and entire box of them!) with Helen in the background doing what she does best in her journal (after seeing it in the flesh, I now need to purchase some Fresco Paints...Helen, you are a bad influence!!)  :-)

 Julia very kindly chose my "Man Bites Dog" cards this week and this is the headline she chose!

 There will be many photo's I am sure of the group on other blogs and Shaz and Doug were there first thing before they left for a wedding and then in the afternoon we had a lovely surprise of Janet Fairythoughts and her hubby were able to visit (Cindy, Jan with her back to the camera, Zoe, Janet and her hubby.

 Janet had made some lovely notebook covers and some bracelets too and whilst I was chatting with her she said I could have this one...how lovely, it reminds me of the Paua shell you find on the beach in New Zealand where my family live.

Many ATC's were swapped but I will keep them a surprise until after the swap date.

It was fabulous catching up with people and I found looking through people's journals amazing.

Julia and Jan, you both done us proud.  It was a lovely day and who would have thought that 6 years later people would still be meeting and sharing experiences all through their love of craft.

I for one am so pleased I found you all!!

Happy crafting

Kyla
 

Masterboard ATC's and a right mess!

Hello peeps.  Yesterday was the WOYWW crop to celebrate 6 years of this tom foolery and what an amazing day it was.

Friends old and new met, chatted (some even got crafting done...not me, too much chatting) ate cake, learnt some new techniques, ate a lovely veggie lasagne and then some more cake!

I will blog about that on Wednesday and even got Julia to pick some "Man Bites Dog" cards for the occasion!  This post is the shame that was my desk the day I decided to make my ATC's for the anniversary swap.

I decided to make some masterboards so glued music pages to card and sprayed them with mica's and spray inks.

I thought the quickest way to dry the glue etc as it was a nice day was to hang them up on the washing line-goodness knows what my neighbours must have thought?!

 This is the chaos that was my room.....a total mess!

 Lots of die cutting, inking and splodging going on.

 The first few die cuts bits and pieces I just thought it would be quicker to brush onto the floor then pick them up when I finished....27 ATC's later I realised this was a mistake as the floor was littered with left over die pieces and some were sharp ones too!

 But it was worth it in the end. 27 ATC's all finished in time for the crop.  Many were passed round and I filled several of the envelopes that Julia had to send onto people and I even remembered to leave a few ready for the proper Anniversary on the 27th May and the official  swapee and a few to those of may visit and would like one on the day.

After yesterday I am totally shattered and am grateful that today is a day of rest!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW

Hello fellow What's on your Workdesk Wednesday crafters.....a bit of a cheat this week as my desk is covered with ATC's in production ready for the anniversary swap and crop. 

 So I thought I would show you my recent purchase.

Craft storage is something that many of may also struggle with.  I know that those pretty craft totes etc look great but I do have a theory that you put a craft twist on something and it appears to double the price.

This bag is heavy duty with outside pockets and a large strap.

 It has a full length zip which opens out to quite a large cavernous space inside with more pockets.

 All from rugged canvas and a plastic water resistant base.

Now how much would this cost at a craft show?   Well, in B&Q it is only £18, I thought that was really good value (and hubby seems to agree as I had to take his amp, bass pedals and cables out of it before taking the photo....he was 'testing' it and now wants one for himself!)

I also bought these clear vinyl zipped storage containers from the scrap store at the weekend (I bought 4) for 50p each!  They originally would have held goodies from Boots the Chemist, but for that price I had to snap them up.  I thought they would be perfect for throwing stamps, inks etc in to help keep my new craft storage tote nice and organised.

I hope to use it at the crop as last time I brought FAR too much and it was in MANY bags....I will try to be more organised this time!

No "Man Bites Dog" cards this week, but I will try to remember to bring them to the crop again.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Crotchet...I will conquer it!

 Saturday the Coven had an outing!

We went to a crotchet teaching at Emma Leith 

It was a brilliant morning where Emma (who is a great teacher with the patience of a saint!) fed us with brownies and coffee whilst teaching us how to crotchet.

It all takes place in her house in Box which is a beautiful, vibrant and artistic home.

 The room we were taught in was light and bright with some wonderfully crafted items decorating it.

 We left having all managed to complete some crotchet with a ball of wool and a hook to take home and continue

Emma also does other courses.  Check out her website

As it was a nice day we decided to extend it and the coven then went on to the Scrap store in Lacock.  A charity that repurposes items that would be sent to landfill (fabric, paper, packaging etc) for lunch (they won a grant for a small cafe)  and a look around the shop/warehouse and some fabric and storage purchases later we headed back to extend the Coven day with drinkies and a takeaway.

A lovely day out with friends, food, drink, crafting and supporting a local charity to boot-what's not to like!

Happy crafting

Kyla

Home is where the ART is

Though I would share a journal page I did recently.

At the weekend I was away and in the local free paper was an advert that had the coloured paintbrushes on this page.  I am always on the look out for freebies so couldn't resist!

So I decided to create this page.  It was made only from items I keep in my travel journal kit, it forces me to think differently about how I may use a product.

I coloured it with inktense pencils and applied a wet brush over each colour.  I like inktense as they offer a vibrant colour whilst still being able to manipulate the colour.

Happy crafting

Kyla

WOYWW

 Hello peeps, Wednesday again so that must mean it is time to join Julia and bare all!!!

On my desk this week is my journal (on the right), some air drying clay shapes that are drying, the cork camera embellishments I bought at the craft show are slowly being painted black and silver (back right in front of the Xacto knife) and a high gloss gel being painted over to seal it (Judikins gel is in the blue and white pot).  On the front left is a free leaflet about gin!!  Well, it has some nice images on it so I will be cutting that up as free ephemera!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Judge Sues Dead Cop!!'  I swear I hardly ever get a nice headline!

This is a close up of some of the air drying clay shapes I have made.  The grapes and bottles are from a mould I bought at the craft show. Once they are dry I need to paint/stain them ready for use.

So, why not join us and share your workdesk, over at Julia's blog (link over on the right).

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Plain and simple card

Thought I would challenge myself to a quick make!

I decided to make a single layer card in under ten minutes.

This is what I came up with

 I made a mask from waste paper by die cutting a large hole in the middle then stamped some script through.  I stamped the seed heads and sentiment and added 3 black pearls for a touch of understated luxury.

Plain and simple and I think is suitable for those difficult occasions when I really 

struggle to find a suitable card.

Happy crafting

Kyla