Happy WOYWW to all. I think I can say with a great degree of certainty I did not catch Covid from my knitting mate. And I hope that her recover will continue today as it has so far. She is my best mate and I have been quite worried about her. I will begin with what you came here for, my desk:
I was doing a bit f a tidy up on one set of bookshelves and came across my Nick Bantock books. That made me think of faux postage. Which made me spend far too much time hinting on my studio space for the Hair Mail aux postage I made years ago. And then I had the dawning realization that I think I binned it, as it had been more than a decade since I even thought about them and found them during the Grand Tidy. That made me obsessed with the idea of making a set, perhaps as I am sending out so much mail with the ATC trading. I’ll do a fuller post on this tomorrow but the process will end up a mix of hand made bits and the scanner and some digital bits. On my other desk (much cleaner) I have a variety of stamp images that may (or may not) factor in to the project:
As it is half-term, darling daughter is extending her birthday into the week and has outlined a busy movie-watching schedule thru Friday. So not much more than this to say today. Unlike last week, I did manage to remember to grab the If You HAD to… cards. Again a clear winner, I think.
Given how worried my poor friend was that she might have given me Covid, and how worried I was about the very small get-together (only three people, all tested, all vaxxed) we had, I can say having Paris Hilton narrate my life would be amazingly annoying but a far better choice!
Happy WOYWW y’all! Happy Booster Jab Day is here for me. I have been reading that recent studies are showing that the AZ jab followed by a booster of Pfizer or Moderna is a great combo but since I had two Pfizer jabs to begin with I am very much hoping this one will be an AZ one. I’ll know soon.
Desk is pretty much as it was left last night. I had plans to tidy up but never managed it – something got in the way.
There are some more stamp images scanned and printed in better sizes for ATCs that may appear on cards or coins some time soon. I am happy to say my other desks are still quite tidy, so not a complete black hole of messiness. Yet. Even my so called messy desk remains tidy!
The other desk has a bucket of birthday gifts for darling daughter. It may look like a small pile but those damn Orly nail polish’s are like £12 each so, no inconsequential in cost, if small in size. A handmade card with extra gift cards hides the loot, in case she pops in to my office for any reason. I will be hiding them a bit better once I finish scheduling my post.
Other than that, I have another notebook in review, and selfishly, this one is more for me. There are loads of log books on Amazon but generally they are either full of blank pages, or have inner pages listing projects. I gave a lot of thought to what I wanted in a stash notebook and sent it past another knitting friend before settling on the final design. I’ll probably share it at some point but it takes about a week for the Look Inside feature to be working on Amazon. All in all it’s quite fun! I bought one of Ali’s notebooks but darn it I can’t share it lest I ruin a surprise. Grr. Check her ones out. Super cute design! Here’s mine:
Wish me luck with the jab and see you round at your desk hopefully sometime today! Happy WOYWW.
Happy desk-hopping day! I am edging closer to the dental appointment I am both dreading and anxious for. Last night I broke my (fairly new) glasses (thank god for washi tape for a temporary fix) and everything seems to be going all Pete Tong! A bit fed up really. As a result, my creativity has taken a nosedive, and my desks, all a mess. Where to begin. Main desk is still full of the remnants of the last set of ATCs
My side desk has a bunch of ATC mailing and packaging debris and my album, which needs some new pages added to house recently received swaps. I’ll pop those in here, while also showing my one mostly clean desk, where my computer sits:
Also some WISH dies I’ve yet to show or play with.
My little seen side desk, where my Sizzix sits, is also a bit disorganized. The shelf under has my little LLJ trash bin, recently emptied and not yet placed where it needs to be) and my bins of collage fodder.
A desk way over on the side has my massive pads of A2 and A3 paper, hiding under some stuff I pulled out for ATCs and have not yet sorted back into their rightful homes.
You can just about see the weird peculiarities of this house, which is a sink and a fireplace in virtually every bedroom. The sink gets used, the fireplace, never. So yeah, today is pretty much going to be all about the tidying so I can hopefully have a weekend of creativity!
Knitting was yesterday, so I should have a clear shot at desk visits for the day. I had a great flurry of activity early last week, as knitting got cancelled, but I missed out some later arrivals when the week got crazy. If I didn’t manage to get to them all before today, I vow to do better. I mostly hit my goal of visiting every desk and commenting on all that don’t make me sign in to Google to do so. I hate to break my streak.
I have had a mad week. Need a root canal (What fun!) and then there were Drs. appointments and admin stuff around the house and all manner of …stuff. I also had a bit of a mad ATC trading session, and trying to get everything sorted and packaged up for the next time I am near he post office resulted in my desk looking like THIS:
Chaos. With a bit of dedication – scuppered for a bit as Facebook was down for a long time, and many of the trades were in private FB groups, where I wanted to double (and triple) check to make sure that I was sending the right cards to the right people – I managed to get everything packaged up, the envelopes constructed, the extra goodie bags compiled, and quite a stack of the extra-bits-bags pre-made for future trades!
The clear pouch is full of all I have left to trade, so I will aim to update my page at the top so it only has items available. If you want to trade, feel free to let me know here!
Now, I have hinted over the last week or so that I was waiting for a bit of news. Here it is, and I have to thank (blame? lol!) fellow desker AliWade for mentioning KDP, which is Kindle Direct Publishing. Who among us has not received, for some occasion, a blank journal, with a clever title on the front, that reflects an obsession? I think I have gotten 4 or 5 over the last year or two, all knitting related. I love them and have used them. Well, KDP is the way those get made. Google it or look for it on YouTube. Basically you make a cover (to the exact specs from Amazon) as a pdf, then make interior pages (and 120 pages seems a sort of norm) with lines or dots or grids or whatever, the upload it for sale. In theory you passively wait for the money to roll in. In reality, it’s a lot more complex than that. But fun. I now have three for sale – and long time readers will note that the Life is so Daily image is based on a planner I made back in…2015 I think, so not very hard to make.
Part of the reason I was delayed was first I made a typo in my subtitle on the bright one (and you cannot correct that yourself, only Amazon can do it) which will surprise regular readers not one little bit and then my slightly buggy and no longer supported program didn’t save a change I made to correct the spacing on the pastel version and I didn’t notice. The two line-a-day journals and for journaling (surprise, surprise) so are what they call “low-content” in that they have pages full of date blocks and journaling lines, plus a little intro page about establishing habits and journaling, etc. The Walking one has a much more complex interior, and is sort of a log book for walkers. I have a lot more to say about this whole Low/No-content KDP publishing phenomenon but I’ll save it for another day. So yeah, thanks Ali! It’s been a fun process. I may never sell a copy, but I know someone who loves what was on YOUR journal and that may end up as a gift in December…..
Lastly, If you HAD to…
Oh dear. No a fan of alcohol (diabetes and all) OR pain, but in the hopes that the LIGHT means less sugar, I guess I would have a big lunch as an actual MEAL then graze for the rest of the day. It doesn’t say “with every bit of food” so as long as I can justify eating not-a-meal I figure I can game the system well enough. How about you?
Oh and PS if you didn’t listen to Julia’s interview by her daughter that she linked previously, do. It’s entertaining and interesting. Happy WOYWW!
Happy WOYWW to all – once again I am knitting on a Wednesday, and next week too, as my mate had a conflict on Tuesday this week and I do next week. Bah! So we have a couple of messy desks, but actually sort of in reverse. As I mentioned yesterday, my main desk was quite tidy
with only a few thing hanging about – like this set of gel pens my daughter decided she didn’t want to use, and didn’t want them cluttering up her space so she announced I should have them cause she knew I needed them.
I’m sure I can find a use for them… Also my junk journal. It’s getting used, not every day, but more often than it was over the summer. Lots, maybe even all, of the tuck spots are full and I am down to writing on the backgrounds or adding tip-ins.
The other desk is a bit of a mess:
It is littered with ATCs and coins and stuff that needs sorting out. Problem is, that sort of spilled over across the room to my MAIN desk so that looks like this as I schedule the post Tuesday night!
Literally as I was creating this post, I got some news I was waiting for so I hope I can share something soon.
So just the cards. An easy one this week!
I don’t watch sports, really so if I had to limit myself to only watching the Browns or not watching sports at all I could live with that. I suspect you would have to think long and hard about what sort of business could be successful with only swans, talking or otherwise, as employees….
Happy WOYWW to all. Lordy, lordy I did such a bad job last week of WOYWW visits. For some reason Wednesdays seem to be jammed up with stuff. And then I manage to let it slip my mind until I am not in a place where I can just start my hopping. BAH! This week I have a meeting that was rescheduled from last week, about darling daughter and her transition to adult services. I have shifted my knitting mate to Tuesday so I am hopping it’ll be smooth sailing for the first time in a while. So we begin with messy, as ever.
What a chaotic shot! If yo looked at my post from yesterday, those dapper gents are from the Livbrayr of Congress free-to-use images. Printed on the 170gsm version of the coated cardstock, they work great for coin-toppers. The other bits are from my pile of swap-fodder. I thought as I had done the vintage ladies I would do the vintage gents as a companion set.
Next has to be the tidy shot!
What a difference an hour makes…well a bit more as I have completed the coins in the interim but will save them to add tomorrow, as I have more to show. The ATCS there are a pair I made using a digital stamp from Wonderstrange. I edited out the words on the mask so I could (digitally) add my own. I saw a mask with Schrödinger’s Smile on it and decided it was the best mask ever. It’s on my birthday list cause it is just too perfect! I used that as one of the mask words, and Ceci n’est pas un masque is the other, riffing off Magritte (hence the green apple!)
The background is, of course, a mask, cut up. And there is a lovely tag/card that I got along with one of my ATC swaps. It is so pretty I had to share!
And lastly, the If you HAD to… cards. An odd pair this week
I cannot image it would be tolerable, having a drunk leprechaun in a baby sling (or even a sober one!) on you 24/7 and while I might be tempted to go for the frozen/revived option, I can’t see leaving my family behind. Both options suck. Which is worse? I can’t decide!
Have a great WOYWW day and hopefully I will hit a number of desks early then finish up later!
Happy WOYWW to all. What a mess I was in last night! The re-cap of my play will be here tomorrow because I am not quite done with what I am making for some experimental Distress Oxide bits. But my desk at then end of yesterday was in a state.
You can see the bits from the final contest coins I showed yesterday still hanging about. I had a quick whirl of cleaning (even hoovered the floor!) and …
The little magazine journal is made from an old issue of Vamp Stamp News (an old stamping mag from, gosh, the 80s I think) and it may get used at some point, not sure for what. It was the making that interested me not what I might do with it. A couple of other coin options for the contest that are, for the moment, unfinished. Up at the top you see my folder of dither. I had begun a set of ATCs on the topic of Dystopian quotes, all from 1984 (a great book that I love, love, love) and as I was making them I was feeling a little sense of unease.
I was feeling like the casual observer might take it to mean I was anti-vaxx, anti-mask mandates, anti-government, whatever. I am not. I am very much PRO vaxx, PRO mask mandates, and while I am not ANTI-government, I am not blind to its failings. Hence the putting in a folder of these. If I make one, I suspect I might opt for the two quotes at the top:
War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.
Stupidity was as necessary as intelligence and as difficult to attain.
but for now, they will stay tucked away. Just the If you HAD to.. cards left, I think, then off to knitting with my mate.
Hummm. Tricky. Voldemort is pretty horrible and has no sense of loyalty, so I’m thinking I get to be a billionaire then spend my money just to pay my family all of it. Then *I* don’t have to spend anything anymore! Of course, that depends on my family having that loyalty I mentioned…. LOL!
Happy WOYWW all! Last week’s WOYWW seemed to be riddled with technical issues so fingers crossed this week it will be back to normal. Let’s see – what is there to talk about…I am still into the ATC thing. I am really enjoying nearly daily Happy Mail from all over the world trades. My desk, as of yesterday, was in a bit of a state.
Perhaps not as bad as it could have been but not tidy in the least. The trimmed is acting up a LOT and I’ve ordered a couple of new ones but although I have had a notice it was shipped in the 30th, nothing has arrived yet and when I check the site, it tells me I have placed no orders! I did one of the online contact forms and no reply as yet. Annoying. Other stuff is all collage fodder, and did result in a set of cards that I really like a lot:
Keen eyed British folk might recognize the text. I found it amusing that Tim Holtz and Timmy, the dog from the Famous Five books share a name, and that bit of (exact) text from The Famous Five – Five Run Away Together worked so perfectly on that card with Tim Holtz paper dolls! Made me laugh anyway. I call the series Bad to the Bbbone but it probably should have been Bbbad to the Bbbone, as I sing it in my head. Ah well.
And speaking of trades, I did a set of oddly shaped coins and traded one of them with WOYWW mate Bishopsmate! Here is hers:
Pink is indeed good. And these two really made me smile, from a trade in a Facebook group:
Let’s see…If You HAD to… cards for the week:
Seems like hair-trigger harpoon arms are pretty deadly, and having to make multiple trips to the store is good exercise, so a clear choice for me. How about you? And a final shot of my desk after a good clear up – much better!
My junk journal (that I am managing to write in most mornings, well on my way to establishing that habit) and a pile of cut but not decorated ATC card bases. What’s on YOUR desk? Do share, I’m dyin’ to have a look….
Happy WOYWW. Time is rocketing by at the speed of light recently. Can’t believe where we are in the calendar. Crikey. My desk is tidy because I have been quite busy with not-crafty things. Bra shopping for my darling daughter, a couple of also shielded people coming for a visit (not as shielded as we all once were but everyone with reason to be a bit more careful than most) and lots of pre-start of school prep . I still find time to work early morning, when all still sleep, but it isn’t as much time as I’d like. Both desks looking good.
On one desk we have my bottles of glue and free-flowing matt-medium used for sticking that both need re-filling. I will take a moment to add a tip that I always do when I am dealing with glue! After filling the bottles, I makes sure I wipe the threads on both the bottle and the screw on lid carefully with a wet wipe, then rub just a bit of Vaseline around both. This keeps the any stray glue from sealing the bottle and lid. I also do the large tub of matt medium – and I do this with my tubs of gesso as well!
Ready for filling
Clean an dry
A little bit of Vaseline here…
…and here
Don’t forget this one!
I also have a little pile of foodie photos from a Waitrose calendar of years past. I thought they might make interesting additions to my ATC coins.
Not quite 2.5 inches but still potentially useful. On the desk-by-the-window is the beginnings of a “magazine journal” but I first have to address my much ignored junk journal. More on that in a post tomorrow, even if today is a sort of goal day regarding that!
Finally, let’s see what terrible choices we have in the If You HAD to… cards. Do tell me which you think is the worst option! Sometimes’ it’s obvious, but not always…
Both seem pretty bad, but I can’t even imagine what being on meth might be like – having watched Breaking Bad it doesn’t sound good, so that one is my worst pick!
Happy WOYWW y’all! Another knitting day but I will hit all the desks on show before that begins! Oh my desk was in a right state after the masterboard/ATC card backs play of yesterday. I did a rubbish job of taking process photos, but really I am beginning to think it doesn’t really matter that much. I don’t do videos, people don’t come to my blog for step-by-step instructions (not usually, anyway) and I know from experience that you can’t follow someone else’s process and get the results they do. You are always going to bring yourself into the mix. You can probably pick out the stuff I used (I listed it yesterday if you can’t)
And here is the final masterboard again, and the final ATC card bases.
Now, what to top them with?! Always tricky, but I have an idea (look back to yesterday for a hint!) that I think will be just the ticket.
But first, a tidy. So much easier to work without the chaos.
I have been feeling a little guilty that Kyla started the MBD card thing and I copied her. I have always loved them and when I found a full set for like £2 at the local SCOPE shop I snatched them up. But they are her thing and I think they should stay her thing. Finding a different card-drawing game that looked fun at the same SCOPE shop reinforced that! Here it is:
It actually smelled totally new when I opened it, and maybe it was. I think it’s a hoot. So I will share the 2-card draws and you can pick between them. As the box says, If you HAD to… choose between:
what would you pick? Technically this isn’t how you play the game – you are meant to justify why YOUR card flip is the worst one. To be honest both of these are pretty bad, but one seems way worse than the other….right? RIGHT? Happy WOYWW!
