Seedlings are taking over

When I was a kid I used to help my parents grow their own fruit and veg.  I was SO lucky as our council house had a big garden so we used to grow most of our own and from a very young age my mum and dad taught me how to plant, tend and cook them (I have fond memories of picking the spuds, placing them in an old biscuit tin and burying it in the bonfire, when the embers died down we had hot baked potatoes-and my mum's face as we walked in the house stinking once again of bonfires (sorry mum, I am no better these days)!

Then in my 20's I moved in with my now hubby and rented flats, missing the garden I spent my 20's renting allotments and growing my own fruit and veg, an experience I loved.

Then we finally were lucky enough to buy a house and I have been tending the garden since.  The past 8 years have been hard as being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis has meant I have had to learn how to pace myself and remember that I can only do short bursts and accept on bad days I am not able to!  Seriously, I have a REAL issue with trying to accept I am NO superwoman!!  Anyway following a year or so of struggling with my pay the bills job (too much work, not enough time...yadda, yadda....many of us know this but SO grateful I have a job and am still able to work with my disease) I decided I would expand my growing and convert a bit more of our small garden/patio to more veggies, I also put my name back down on the allotment waiting list, knowing it can take a long time to get near the top, but it costs nothing to put your name on the list so why not?

So a couple month ago my window ledges look like this, nice clean and organised. 

 A mixture of propagators and upcycled plastic containers from the kitchen and even the labels were cut from my yogurt pots.

However, in what seemed like quite a short time my window ledges looked like a mini jungle and the plants started to take over!

 I have a sneaking suspicion I may have sown the seeds a few weeks too early so they are still too tender to plant outside as the night temperatures are still a bit too low

They have gotten a bit leggy now and I have started hardening them off, not sure if they will be any good (so I have sown a couple more as a back up for a bit later and if push comes to shove I can always look to buy a couple plants, we often see them being sold from people's front gardens etc).

What have I learnt from this?  Well two things really, I need to remember to wait a couple weeks before I sow them next year (I have made notes this time of the date I planted them etc, whereas previously I just guessed!) and secondly my hubby has the patience of a saint!

I will be pleased when these can be planted out and fingers crossed they take, if not, well I can try again next year!

Kyla

Page Park Tag

 I decided to explore a different area of Bristol recently, Staple Hill is an area I drive through but don't often stop so decided to hop on the bus and explore.  

Lots of local independent shops and charity shops and a great library too.

There is also a great park with a cafe in the middle, which to my surprise did a good selection of vegan food, as it was lunch time I thought it was a perfect time to stop and sample their wares, and very nice too.

Whilst I was sat there I decided to sketch a tag.  I often have a couple tags and pens in my pocket so it seemed like a perfect opportunity.

I only had a white posca and a grey pen so thought I would doodle some leaves and the word "Respect"

I left it on the table for someone else to find it.

Happy crafting

Kyla

WOYWW

Sorry but the pay the bills job has been so crazy for so many months there has been very little crafting and even less blogging (last thing I want to do is go online when I get home!)

However, a day off last week meant I could do my April 365 Challenge Journal, BUT, as I was not totally switched off work it meant that I started cutting out the 30 pieces which I journal on and quickly realised I could only fit 20 on the page!!!  Doh! So, in an effort to claw it back I decided to cut some small random pieces and add them to the mix  and just about managed to fit 30 on the page, but no room for any decoration!

 That was Friday, it still looks like this now!  Not had time to clear it up so just added my "Man Bites Dog" cards on top!

This week the headline is "Feds wanted 1st Lady"!!!!! oooh!

So, if you are joining us via the lovely Queen of Desks Julia via here and bare your desk, be it clean, messy or mid make, welcome to the mayhem!

Kyla

Abandoned Tag

For a couple of years now I have been taking part in Art Abandonment and Free Art Friday. 

 The idea is you make some art and abandon it somewhere, leaving your details on the back so they can contact to register a find (if they wish), usually via the Art Abandonment or Free Art Friday facebook groups

Some people leave sculptures, painting, pebbles, canvass, jewelry all different things. 

I like to travel light so have a few tags and a couple pens in my bag or coat pocket so tend to sketch on the fly.  This is my tag I left in my favourite cafe in Cardiff the other week, Atma, a Buddhist Cafe that makes lovely food and a great atmosphere.

No idea if anyone has found it, hopefully if they did they will contact the group on FB as it is always nice to hear from someone who found them.

I like the idea of this as it forces me to take 10 mins out of the daily grind to sketch, which tends to be totally self absorbing whilst you are doing it and if it brings a smile to someone else then even better.

Happy crafting 

Kyla

Birthday cow card

I made this card recently for my mates birthday.

I love the saying "call when its time for cake"!

The background is once again my paint sprays this time with some watercolour splashed over the top.

I fussy cut the cow out and mat and layered the sentiment onto green foiled card and edged the card with the chisel tip end of a promarker, which if you draw it along at an angle is really easy to get a nice even line all around your card.

Happy crafting

Kyla

Quick card make

Just a quick update to show the card I made (well more a case of assembled to be honest as its just backing paper and a topper I found), but still, it is another card make in readiness so I am counting it as crafting!

Quick and easy and uses up my stash so happy with that, but I must admit I am getting itchy fingers for getting my paints out again soon.  

Kyla

WOYWW

Happy hump day again where we share our desks.

Get me, I am crafting!!  Well, only an easy Christmas card using up a topper I came across in the clean up of the drawer recently, but still, crafting albeit simple crafting.

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Blonde Suspect Strikes Lover'.....ooh

So, if you are joining us, full details can be found here, we are a friendly bunch and there is always something useful to spot on someones desk, a new technique, new stash or just inspiration for makes or organising skills!

Happy crafting

Kyla

This is a really late post as I just realised that I forgot to blog about the cards I made in February for valentines day (or any other reason as they are always blank inside so can be multi use).  I die cut some painted card and used my craft sewing machine (a small mini cheap one I bought a few years ago for paper crafting only rather than using my decent sewing machine as paper and card created a lot of fluff and blunts the needles SO quickly if you want to use them on fabric after-so I keep the 2 separate) to add a zig zag stitch all around the edge and left the threads dangling.

Then I added a strip of patterned card down the edge to bring it all together.  

Quite plain and simple but I quite like the added dimension of the thread.

Kyla

WOYWW

Hello peeps and welcome to hump day, so that means joining us across the globe daring to bare all and show our desks, clean, tidy or just as mine is, a dumping ground!

On my desk this week is a drawer from my unit that has been used as a dumping ground (my cleaning is often, pull open drawer, sweep arm across desk, shut drawer) so I have decided to have a sort out, only one drawer though, so no panic!

My goggly eyes (I love adding these as I walk around town to things that remind me of faces) were all spilt across the drawer so I have started sorting them into similar sizes of plastic bags so they are easier to grab.  

Next are my sentiment embellishments, I have some that I have had for years and not used so going to make some packs up for the charity shop.  

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Secret Romantic Naked Hero'......ooh, I will be watching the news bulletin with interest this week.

So if you'd like to join this desk sharing, all the details can be found on our lovely Queen of Desks, Julia's blog here

Happy crafting

Kyla

365 Journal Challenge

 Ooh get me, I have been at the craft desk again!

On my previous post I started my 365 Challenge page for March.  I decided to add some additional depth and colour to it, adding green, dark blue and red.  I spritzed water over and this enabled me to move the colour round the page, mix it up to darken and lift some off to lighten the effect.  I then sprinkled a bit more water flicker from my fingers to lift a few more areas of paint off the page and waited for it to dry.

Once it was dry I added my journal squares, stamped the date and then decorated the page

Nothing particularly detailed just some doodling with my posca pens (easily my favourite pen to doodle with as it can be applied to SO many different surfaces from shoes, glass to paper and more).  The main thing is I have finished the page so can quickly update the entries to date and I am all caught up with my monthly journals!

Happy crafting

Kyla