Wednesday 30 May 2012

Important Notice re WOYWW bloggers

Hi Everyone

I've been making my way through the WOYWW bloglist and on three occasions so far I have been prevented accessing a blog and instead this warning has come up. It would seem that any blog with an association with shabbyblogs is possibly in danger of having malicious software installed on their computer. I'm no expert on this sort of thing, and I don't want to panic folk unnecessarily , but thought that you should all know just in case.

Warning: Something's Not Right Here!
dragon-dragonsweb.blogspot.co.uk contains content from www.shabbyblogs.com, a site known to distribute malware. Your computer might catch a virus if you visit this site.
Google has found malicious software may be installed onto your computer if you proceed. If you've visited this site in the past or you trust this site, it's possible that it has just recently been compromised by a hacker. You should not proceed, and perhaps try again tomorrow or go somewhere else.
We have already notified www.shabbyblogs.com that we found malware on the site. For more about the problems found on www.shabbyblogs.com, visit the Google Safe Browsing diagnostic page.
 
If you understand that visiting this site may harm your computer, proceed anyway.

WOYWW 156 - Celebrating Three Years of What''s On Your Workdesk Wednesday

Good Morning Everyone,

Wow, it three years of WOYWWing for Julia at the Stamping Ground - can you believe it? Now, that's something worth celebrating.

I remember Ilurking for a considerable time before deciding to join in the fun which is this weekly snoopathon :)  However, I finally plucked up the courage to join in on Week 71, 13 October 2010, and according to my calculations I've participated in 81 WOYWWs!

Over those many weeks I've 'met'a fantastic number of wonderful and inspirational crafters, made a lot of cyber friends, learned an incredible amount, not only about crafting in the UK but also, because of the International nature of the participation, what it is like for crafters around the world.

And the variety of crafting folk's are involved in ... not just the scrapping and cardmaking that was my thing, but mixed media art, recycling and upcycling, knitting, needlework, painting, book altering, etc., etc. It's been a revelation!

And all because of Julia's decision three years ago to host a weekly reveal of workdesks - thank you Julia and happy third anniversary :)


So what's on my workdesk this morning is mostly ATC related ... well, there are some blanks, my ATC stamps, an ink pad, all of which came out while I was working on the ATC to pass on as part of the celebration. The shabby chic flag cards are just there because I like them, but  the heart is a template from an earlier project that hasn't found a home yet, and, of course, there's my much treasured WOYWW badge. That's all there is to show today. I debated with myself as to whether to show the completed ATC and decided that it would spoil the surprise for the recipient, which is why it is out of shot.

Right, I'm off to add my name to Julia's list and join in this week's celebrations by visiting as many of you as I can today ... I'm aiming for 100% this week, do you think I'll succeed?

Enjoy your day everyone, especially Julia, who is probably sitting on a poolside lounger sipping something cool, basking in the knowledge that WOYWW goes on, even when she's got her feet up and enjoying a well earned rest :))

Edited Note: Just to clear something up ... the shabby chic cards are Cardmaker's Delight toppers and not ATCs - sorry for the confusion :)

Happy Crafting,



Tuesday 29 May 2012

Lovely Jenny - a scraplifted layout page

Hello Everyone,

Another hot day yesterday and thankfully cooler this morning. I had to go into town yesterday and it was so incredibly hot there that it was a relief to return to the car and turn on the air conditioning!

Once again, I spent much of the rest of the day in the craft space, keeping out of the sun ... you can have too much of a good thing :))

And here's the results of my day's labour:


The photograph is of my beautiful granddaughter, Jenny. It was taken in 2004 when she was 12 years old. Jenny isn't too keen on having her photograph taken but this was the result of a very good photo session.

I'd been wanting to scrap this photo forever but I couldn't decide on a layout, that is until I spotted a page created by Lynn on the Scrapology Challenge site ... perfect for scraplifting. In her turn, Lynn has scraplifted a page by Karola Witczak and you can see samples of her work on her Scrapbook.com gallery here. So, I guess, I've scraplifted a scraplift  :)

Fortunately, I had all the materials in my stash ... it just took me an age to select the DPs, but once I'd made my decision the page came together fairly quickly.

The base is a plain grey 12"x12" cardstock - it's been in the stash so long I've forgotten who the maker is. The DP is from Kaisercraft, the striped one with the white flourish is from the Blushed Collection and is called Passion, the pink one is Estelle from the English Rose Collection - I used my Martha Stewart edge punch on this piece. I used the reverse of Passion to create the one of the photo mats.

The punched daisies, butterflies and the other photo mat are made from black KanBan cardstock. The other flowers are from a variety of sources - the two large pink tipped daisies came in a candy win from Mandy at Crafty Fox Cards - Mandy is currently running a Best of British event which looks like fun. Back to the rest of the flowers, the rose and the spray are from Prima, as is the gorgeous frilled trim, and the pink heather is from the Works.  The leaves from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The journal spot, which has been inked with TH DI, Victorian Velvet and Weathered Wood, is from a DP that unfortunately doesn't have the makers name anywhere on it - it's one of those irresistible bargains I've picked up from my local craft store. It has a quotation from Goethe which reads, "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it."

The title has been put together using a KanBan topper and silver alphas from Papermania and, finally, the black doily from Poppy's Cabin.

And that I think is all ... I don't think I've forgotten anything :)

This has taken me forever to post as the writing had to be interrupted several times, the last to take The Boss to the vet's for her annual booster ... and she hates the car! While she was there she had her ears checked out ... some of you may remember she had to have polyps removed some time ago ... because her left one seemed to be troubling her.  It would seem that, unfortunately, another is forming in her left ear, not large enough to need surgery yet, but still big enough to give her waxy problems. After having them cleaned and ear drops applied, she now has even more reason to hate the vet!?!? I'm scratched all over!!! And so is the vet!!!

It's turning out to be another beautiful day, a little cooler than the last few days but still very pleasant, so I'm off for a stroll around the garden with the camera and a pair of scissors - I think a little posy on my desk would be very nice.

I hope you are all well and enjoying your day too.

Happy crafting,






Sunday 27 May 2012

Heart Teddy Birthday Card - Sunday Snippet Make

Good Afternoon,

It's hot here in Ayr, in fact, our back garden is a super hotspot at the moment ... the thermometer on the patio registered 90°F (around 32°C) yesterday! Much as I like the sun, that's just too hot for me. However, the craft space is a cool and welcoming refuge :)


The postie delivered the latest issue of Scrapbook Magazine on Saturday and I couldn't resist settling down with a cuppa for a good read. A lovely layout by Helen Eddie, featuring punched heart embellishments inspired me to make this cute little teddy card. Here's a snap of Helen's scrap page:


I just thought that the design would transfer well to a tall card, so scraplifted it, replacing the photo with a Cute Teddy Bear topper - from Cardmakers Delight ... another example of me being led astray by my friend Di! ... well, what are friends for after all :))

Helen has a blog, Little Miss Scrapper, where you can see more examples of her lovely scrap pages.

The hearts and the matting on my card have all been made from snippets qualifying it for submission to the Snippet Challenge # 22 over at Di's place, Pixie's Crafty Workshop.


Materials used:

  • White card measuring 8" square folded in half to form base.
  • Teresa Collins, Celebrate paper collection - free from Scrapbook Magazine - for the polka dot design paper and the sentiment topper.
  • Cute Teddy Bear topper from Cardmaker's Delight
  • Snippets of paper from various sources, the only two I can name with any degree of certainty are Cosmo Cricket, Earth Love Borders and American Crafts, The Colour of Memories.
  • Heart template from Memories Forever, maker Westrim Crafts - I've had these scrapbooking templates forever ... well, since 1996 at least - I think I brought them back from the US ... and they are soooo useful, especially when I haven't got a punch or die of the right shape or size.
  • Small Woodware heart punch
  • Buttons, black marker, ribbon and embroidery floss from stash


I worked on this card some of yesterday, and I thought I'd finished it ... I even took the photos ready to post early this morning. However, when I looked at the card in the cold light of day, I thought there was something missing ... it needed a little something extra. Here's last night's photo:


Spot the difference!

Right, I'm off to see what my fellow bloggers have been up to - if not soaking up the rays :)

Happy crafting,