A Little Bit of Organising and WOYWW

 On my desk this week is a little task I've been meaning to do for ages.  As my eyes get older I'm finding it harder to read the sizes on some of my knitting needles and crochet hooks, so I've been embroidering the sizes onto the pockets.  
  

 I want to say a big thank you for all the kind words and good wishes about my hand - the healing has been a slow process and I've had a complication but I'm very lucky and thankful it's livable with and not too restrictive now - it's little steps!  

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Happy New Year

A Happy New Year to you all.  I hope the holidays were peaceful and happy for you.

Partly due to the festivities and partly due to the fact my hand is still suffering complications from a simple operation I had back in the autumn, I have done no crafting over the holidays at all. As I have nothing currently on my desk to show here are a few things I made before Christmas... 

Gift boxes to hold cash and gift cards for my nephews and brother-in-law...

...a few home made cards...

... and some crocheted cotton facial scrubbies for my sister and a couple of friends - I bundled them up in a little strip of stamped card.   Hopefully no more buying cotton wool and make-up wipes!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW.

Beaded Christmas Flower and WOYWW

My very talented friend Felicity from the little Craft and Chat group that I run kindly taught us all how to make this beaded Christmas Rose.  I'ts the first time I've attempted 'proper' beading despite using copious amounts of beads for pretty much everything I make from collages and embroideries to cards and tags!

It's now been added to the Christmas tree and just needs the leaf attaching.

It was fun and I will certainly be looking up more beading 'recipes' on line.

 Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and a big thank you for all you kind, lovely comments and support over the past year.  

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Autumn Ferns and WOYWW

I love ferns - they have to my one of my favourite plants, and right now the New Forest is full of beautiful bracken that's turning that rich, deep, Autumn rust colour.

Currently sitting on my desk (still waiting to be cleared away!) are some Autumn themed card toppers I've made before we go rushing into Winter and Christmas - I usually add a sentiment at the last moment when I know who the card is for.

 

I think I'm going to add the die cut initial of the recipient to this one as the centre seems a little too plain.

Using up all the left over bits - I think the tag is too big for the scale of the foliage but I was too lazy to die cut a new one!

    

I am linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Rust Printing, Book Making and WOYWW

I have spent the last few weeks slowly making a gift for my dear blog friend Terri over at Art-Life-Rust, which she has now received so I can show it!  She recently sent me the most beautiful water colour painting and I wanted to send her a little something back to show my appreciation.  I knew I wanted to make a little notebook but the blizzard binding needs very accurate folding so I had to wait until my hand was recovered enough from my recent operation to fold and put pressure on the paper.

Little by little it's come together - using rust printed fabric I stamped some text on to it, then embroidered, beaded and collaged.   

I remembered to add ribbons for closure just before gluing the inner lining to the covers - something I forgot to do on the last one I made (here)!

I have used Khadi paper for the pages but the nature of a Blizzard binding means the pages can be changed around or replaced with different papers.   

I am linking up with WOYWW and the Mini Album Makers Challenge.

October Birthdays and WOYWW

Not much crafting done lately I'm afraid, but I'll show a couple of birthday cards I've made this month - they were propped up on my desk waiting to be photographed for ages as I discovered a scratch on the lens of my camera and had to wait for a new one to arrive.  I was so disappointed to find that my 'new' camera was too old be mended but I've picked up an identical second hand one so I don't have to learn how to use a different one -  I'm soooooo lazy when it comes to reading instruction manuals!  

 On to the cards - this one has vellum leaves and stamped Tissue wrap which I adhered to a Khadi paper base for my sister's card...

... and this card for my nephew's 17th birthday is based on Dungeons and Dragons - he's a bit of a fan of it at the moment.   I cut and stenciled the D&D logo onto an embossed 'shield' that I edged with copper tape.  I made a small matching box to hold birthday money and gift cards, which is always preferable to anything I might go and buy him!!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Orange and Duck Egg Tag Cards and WOYWW

    Using my favourite tag stamp again and some left over bits and pieces.   

I found the rolled paper beads on Etsy and fell in love with them - I always knew I'd find the perfect use for them one day!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW - why not pop over and see what other people have on their desks this week. 

Midnight Garden Tag and WOYWW

I've been on a bit of a roll with these garden tags - I love the garden at night and this is another play with my favourite tag stamp (the other two are here and here).  I've enjoyed gently playing at tag making while my hand recovers but I really should move on to birthday cards soon as October is a hugely busy month in our family and I'm currently crafting quite slowly!  

I'm linking up with Julia this week over at WOYWW