WOYWW 234....Busy Times

This week my desk looks a lot different from last week....I've been lucky to have a  fair amount of time in the Fun Room...and it's been, well....FUN. But my desk is starting to pile up.

 

On the left you'll see the old file folders which I'm using as the base for some pages in my December album (still under construction). In the center of the cutting map is a small gift tag. Last year at my office we started a tradition of paper crafting. This year I've been looking for something that even a novice can make and finally settled on gift tags. A couple of us will bring in extra paper and ribbons and we'll spend some lunch hours getting creative. We start next week!

Last year's project was snowflakes - similar to the one sitting on the right. It was a kick to see them throughout the building...but some people missed out so we'll be making these again as well.

We had a terrible ice storm here on Friday - got sent home from work early. An adult SNOW DAY!! It was four found hours. I was able to finish my December project for the Stamp Cace. 

The muse tokens hung a bit differently than I had envisioned, so I ended up adding another button - naturally I didn't get another picture. C'est la vie. 

On Saturday night I was looking around the web and visited Stephanie Ackerman's blog where I  read about the Brave Girl Truth Cards.  The cards are sent to women around the world who need some positive reinforcement. Having been in that position a time or two I got kind of excited and started making some cards on Saturday night. I was having such a good time, I stayed up WAY past my bed time until 1:00 am. I was back at my desk at 7:30 Sunday morning....and when I was done I had a Baker's Dozen to put in the mail!

It's Thanksgiving in the United States this week and I don't have to think more than a millisecond to realize how lucky I am and how much I have to be thankful for. One of those things is certainly the community Julia has fostered through WOYWW.  The internet is a powerful tool. I so enjoy seeing other artists and crafters and finding a world of inspiration and support. May you have a moment this week to appreciate the good things in your world, no matter where that might be!

A Clean Desk for WOYWW 233

Yippee Skippee. I finally cleaned my desk, just in time for the weekly sharing hosted by the wonderful Julia! I've been at the state planning conference for the last four days. I'm happy to report although I might be getting older, I am getting wiser and after four full days of talking and being "on" all the time (as one of the organizers) I took today off. It was blissful.

Here it is in all it's glory. Christmas bits and bobs to the left and ready to go. While I was cleaning I usually put things on my chair, but Ben the cat was there. Being the lazy cuss I am I put them there anyway. The most casual of cats, just kept on bathing. I did finally get him to look at the camera though.

He's just my best buddy. All cat ... all on his terms .... but I was told he missed him Mom. Big Smile.

On the things I'm working on is a Christmas Book. All three kids will be here at one time over Christmas and I want someplace to capture the memories. I was thrilled when Tammy Tutterow had an on line class....less thinking was just what a I needed. I don't have everything she's using, but I can get close enough. 

I had some time last week to play in an art journal....real quick....with lotz of colors. Super fun. Love the Zig Wink of Stella brush glitter pens. They make sparkles so easy and mess free. 

Life is good these days, and I am enjoying the journey. Hope you are too. 

I'm at the tale end this week, because it's 6:30 pm Wednesday evening here in Alaska. It's already Thursday morning (maybe even afternoon) and all my friends in the UK are probably fast asleep and will wake up in 4 to 5 hours to start their days. But as someone once said - It's Wednesday Somewhere in the World. And this time it's here! Have a good week everyone. 

WOYWW 232 or Not Much

Yippee Skippee. I got home from work early enough to enter my work desk into the que at What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, edition 232. Hosted by Julia Dunntt in the UK, she provides a space for us to post and well, let's just say explore sounds so much nicer than snoop,  around the world. 

This is my desk:

If you look carefully at the left side you may see some country red and green papers. Yes, I got to spend a wonderful Sunday, in the Fun Room, in my night gown. Too much information??  It's my favorite way to spend a Sunday....and here in the US we celebrated Veteran's Day on Monday - thanking all the folks who have fought for our country. We help the celebrating by not working - so we had a 3 day weekend. 

Winter finally arrived this weekend in all it's glory....we drove into Anchorage (about 40 miles), did some shopping and had lunch with our college age daughter. This is right outside her dorm at school. 

The winter colors in the north are the prettiest pastels - blue and pink. Just beautiful. We saw this gorgeous sky on the way home. 

Oh. Yes. Crafts. 

I continued on with where I started here. Using up all my little squares. I had a ton of fun. 

Hope this finds you all well and happy. 

Patchwork Christmas

I have been itching to start making Christmas cards (I salute those of you who are well along this path - but this is early for me!) Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge this week is patchwork which was the perfect inspiration for me.

I absolutely love the Graphic 45 Christmas papers so I knewI would start there.  They remind me of home spun fabric. The first thing I did was cut up A LOT of paper into 1" squares.

When I started I was going to use 1/2' squares.  Three hours into the project I was awfully glad I chose the one inch size! I started playing with designs and finally decided to use a simple pattern of squares on edge. In fact it's simple I can't find the name for it! Once I had them all cut up they reminded be of the beautiful quilts of Marsha McCloskey called Blended Quilts. I've made a couple of them and throughly enjoyed auditioning all the fabrics. However, they take a LONG time to complete. Hence why I'm drawn to paper - you can actually complete things.

Once I started laying them out I had some floral designs which helped me decide on the type of embellishment I wanted to use - flowers.I had these beautiful small prima roses and I paired one with some Ideology leaves I had melted embossing powder on (thank-you for another great way to use the products you already own Tammy Tutterow).  

I also used some alcohol ink on a metal tag, and a Tim Holtz Rub-on. To Becmake sure the squares lined up nicely I cut 1" strips of red paper and glued all the squares onto the strip. It also helped add more depth to the card. Because I wanted it to look like patch work, I used a micron pen to make some dashes between the squares and then around the entire design. 

As I was making the card, I had one of my sisters in mind. She once spent 12 hours making a beautiful birthday card for a member of the family....so happy this didn't approach that time schedule. 

Hope there is magic in your life!

In addition to SSS, I'm also entering this in the Try It On Tuesday color explosion - seasonal!