WOYWW wk 139 ...and I have actually created another LO

Sorry ... my desk is as it was last week … except the area that I was crafting on... which now has a pile of boxes filling the precious creative space.

I had been searching for something so I thought I’d let you see the mess that is my desk, in all its glory…no holds barred …hope you ‘ever so tidy’ Woywwers have survived the shock. lol

During the week I pulled out my small canvases (is that right for the plural I wonder). I started them back when, and I hoped that I could finish them now …I thought I knew what I wanted to do…but then DD remarked in passing …’Hope you don’t spoil those by adding too much ..I love what you have done so far’. The seed of doubt was sown …nothing I was about to do seemed right anymore…has that ever happened to you?

To jump-start the grey cells I then sat down to watch an art class, linked to me by Pam at ‘Waltzing Through Life’… it was brilliant …such fun and I learnt so much but it made me even more dissatisfied with what I had created… I so loved the vibrant colours used in the class…. so I put the canvases away … again …and turned my thoughts to a LO.

I had sorted photos months ago, for several LO's…just before Mojo went on holiday.I started the hunt for papers that might work for me but my mind kept wondering whether I had suitable paper for the art class on paint doodling, that I had watched earlier …and then I started to look for sand paper in order to start on the little chest I want to alter. I think I’m going for collage on the drawer fronts but then I could change my mind …or just sit thinking about it for the next few weeks. lol

No I didn’t seem to have the right paper for the art project…I certainly appear to have no sandpaper anywhere in the house or garage …which is strange …but I did find 12x12 papers that pleased me, so I did finally create a LO…and here it is …

Ben and Jake … March of last year …taking a quiet few moments away from each other.

I hope to visit quite a few of you during the next few days …and I send loads of thanks to all who dropped by last week.

I am hoping the font sizes and colours are resolved this week,when I press publish …if not …SORRY.

Take Care xx

What light through yonder window breaks? …’Tis my mojo...that hath returneth on week 138.

I have managed to finish my double LO … yeah … and I really had fun with it. I’ve mused over which patterned papers to use … inked endless edges of paper and card … used Pro-markers and metallic rubs to colour chipboard …dug out one of my Nestabilites, my Bigshot and rub- ons …and even did a little hand cutting. I have to be honest and say I did askDD to stick the chip board letters on with glossy accents, for me. I don’t know what it is but the more delicate and careful I try to be with it, the more it spreads everywhere and I really did not want to mess my LO’s up.

This photo is actually Tuesday afternoon and is just as I finished the second page …if I don’t start organizing myself early, I would never get it posted …and then by the time I link on Wednesday I’m still well up in double numbers …but at least I’m on the list.

Here is my finished Double LO.

I used an embossing folder, two distress inks and a tiny bit of hand cutting, to create this wall effect I've taken a close up of …I felt I wanted to tie in the fact he was a builder too, … even if others will not know know the significance.

Ooops …I’m off to remove that cat hair…lol

I have put the LO’s on my ‘Glimpsing the Past’ blog with what I know of his life and have recounted the significance of the memorial in the photo. (Just click on the button at the top of the page if you want to know more)

I am hoping Mojo is here to stay …at least for a while … as I really want to finish my canvas’ and I want to alter a set of drawers…. not forgetting the hundreds of modern photos that are crying out to be scrapped.

The cats seem to be all well at the moment …maybe I shouldn’t have said that …tempting fate … …cant believe we had to take three to the vet in the same number of weeks.

I seem to be coping with the tablets even if I still am straying a little from the straight and narrow, with regards food …mind you …what is the straight and narrow? The only advice I’ve been given really is to eat healthily … use sugar free drinks and sweetener (which I do anyway), cut portion size, stay below the recommended total level of sugar in a day and to eat everything low, very low or Zero fat …trouble is …as you dieters out there know … products that are low fat are usually higher in sugar than the regular ones??????.

Thanks again everyone for your support and thank you for visiting here ….I love to read your comments and will always return the complement …unless blogger wont let me. lol

Take Care xx

Sorry about the strange variations in text ....have tried to sort it ...this is 6th time lucky ...but I doubt it ....so I am giving up lol

Rub on lettering …for or against? …and where are they anyway.??

As I sat at my desk trying to piece together my double LO ...yes I feel creative ...I found I needed lettering …lots …and I turned again to my favourite ..Making Memories alpha books.

Sadly my supply has greatly depleted over the years and I am not sure if I can find them … or anything in their place. I am thinking of raiding my DD supply but I'm not sure if she has any left now.

Many rub-ons do not survive the test of long storage times …they adhere themselves to the backing sheet …they float off before they are positioned …or they refuse to let go at all. I remember one make that you had to warm before they would work at all …many crafters used to sit on them.lol...but these did last and work as well as they did when I first bought them.I know the books were not cheap but they lasted and there are plenty of most letters in each book.

I like stickers …mini alphas …chipboard … and even stamps but I am gutted that I gathered a large collection of a particular makes letter stamps …that cost me mega bucks … only to find that after a year of not being used …many of the letters ripped when being removed for use.

What lettering format is your favourite? And does anyone know if those books …or similar …are still made …or are rub-ons just out of fashion!.

Take Care xx

Woyww wk 137....Creativity …. Where for Art Thou?

My desk is a mess …but then so is my brain … creativity is lurking …but has not properly settled in, hence the jumble of papers and photos. Ideas have been sparked by browsing different blogs…I just need to make it all come together. It is for a double LO of a distant cousin several times removed …I never can get to grips with the number bit lol. I have already roughed out the story behind him so that when this all develops into a reality, I can post it on ‘Glimpsing the Past’. I have several projects hovering in my head …just need to let them out and see where they go. lol

Above is the fantastic prize I received from Jo at JoZart …the papers make me think I should be making birthday cards …and the main prize …the pendant …is STUNNING …thank you again Jo. xx

Here is a better shot of it

Lucky has at last got over her second operation and Rusty has gone for the ‘chop’ today. We are praying that he has not been too friendly with either Marvella or Wanda and cant believe we have still to keep them apart for another month …maybe I just need to save up for their operations too as they are both four and really too old to have a first litter…and I am too soft to give kittens away anyway.

I am drowning in hospital appointments ….the calendar is full … but its all for the good of my health. I started the tablets and am on my second week. They are to be increased at one a week till the forth week…so far so good-ish lol …I still have to get to grips with the diet but have reduced my sugar intake dramatically….however… like when I gave up smoking …my appetite has increased, which does not help.

Thanks to everyone who left encouraging comments …sorry I am so rubbish about visiting …only manage 30ish at the moment.

Take Care xx

WOYWW 135 ….. The first of 2012

The purpose of the post …our work spaces … mine is a little sparse I fear…well on the crafty side… just making tiny in roads to the chaos …this bit looks ok-ish …still have presents to put away but you should see the rest of my space …or maybe you shouldn’t …not even I can bare to look at it. lol

No mojo as yet …but I can sense its presence, so I know some helpful soul has kindly told it to go back home …which is a start.

I got my Pink Gun for Xmas… which I have to say, the filling of said item defeated me totally… and then took DD quite a while …during which time she punctuated the air with some interesting adjectives before handing it back … filled. Does anyone else have problems with this one?

Catch up time

The cats ...We had problems with Lucky who had to have a hysterectomy on the 23rd, due to a huge abscess (not a bill you need at Xmas) and then when she was checked again just before New Year, she had an infection due to the internal stitches which caused her system to react badly and she had to have another operation …they said the tissue was necrotic ….we hope everything is OK now ...she is due to see the vet on Thursday …she seems a lot perkier. .

The festive season was a relaxed quiet one with some wonderful meals cooked by Vicki. The only thing that put a damper on things for me was that little Ben is under the weather again …being sick a lot …not wanting to eat ….all stemming from the colds that are doing the rounds in the family, so they were not able to visit on the Tuesday as planned. It seems so long since I saw them all and could give them a cuddle.

New Year was also quiet but we let Robbie and Kristofer stay up as a treat …and we chinked glasses at midnight to bagpipes on the TV. They thought it was so much fun and kept asking ‘Is it time for bed?’ and then beamed when they were told it wasn’t. They were so good …they played with games and their presents …and nibbled bits …then …as soon as the New Year was seen in ... went to bed … and slept.

Take two cats and a four year old …and the result is …..

Lastly …an up date on my health …some of you already know most of this.

The loss of balance gradually disappeared ….as did the cold /flu that had plagued me for over a month, so by Christmas Day I felt pretty good…considering.

My heart reading on the ECG had anomalies and they have no idea what it is …but I am not to worry about it as it shows no signs of strokes etc. …they may send a copy of the reading to a consultant to see what he thinks !!!?!!!. I just have to wait and see.

I am however … DIABETIC. Apparently I have been …they think … for sometime.

I know it was naughty of me but as I found out only a few days before Xmas with the cupboards and freezer groaning with yummyness …I thought … for the sake of a few more days … I’d enjoy myself… Today is the start of me watching what I eat …I see the Diabetic Nurse on Friday and then have to start taking tablets.

The thing that gets me down is that I gave up smoking 4 years ago (after 46 years) and my only real vice left were cakes. Visits to Tea Shops and Cafes for cakes and coffee …bakeries….home baked goods …and the odd deluxe chocs gave me so much pleasure.

Now that I don’t smoke I only enjoy tea and coffee with something sweet …I really am not a savoury nibbles type of person. As I have a silent gallstone I have to watch cheese …which I LOVE … but although chocolate can bother me …cakes never did. ….has anyone any ideas? Oh yes …they say the tablets can make me feel unwell for about a couple of months …great start to the year… not.

Sorry this was a long one …well done if you got this far….

And for those who remember …this reminds me of ‘The Goodies’ Kitten sketch. LolTake Care xx