ATC Swap and WOYWW

 I so enjoyed last week's 14th Anniversary ATC swap for WOYWW.

These are some of the ones I sent out...

...and I've received these little lovelies over the last week - such happy mail...

...thank you so much Julia, with the fab little badge, Angela (Felix the Crafty Cat) and Mary Anne whose ATC is so ingriguing and clever I'm still trying to work it out!

I'm still sorting my rubber stamps and this is the floor by my chair where I'm chucking the ones I don't want!   The desk is clear at the moment before I start on the last box, but I think the garden might win my attention today as the sun is shining and it's in need of some TLC!   

I'm linking up with the deskers over at Julia's place at WOYWW

WOYWW 14th Anniversary Swap

  This week we are celebrating 14 years of WOYWW - what an achievement!  A huge thank you to Julia and Jan who keep this going each week - it's a wonderful group, full of friendship, creativity and fun.  

To celebrate we are holding an ATC swap.   I completed mine last night, forgetting that although I made them in plenty of time (smug face) I forgot I had to stamp and attach the labels on the back, then fill them in - so a last minute job after all! 

  

Here are some beauties that I received over the last few days - I do love getting happy mail and these were a joy to open - thank you Angela (Crafting with Jack), Jan, Helen, Twiglet and Wipso.

 

And now I'm off to join in the celebrations over at WOYWW!

Stamped Collage and Mono Printing

 A busy desk this week! 

A collage from the Collage Workbook challenges - this week incorporating stamping - I used some little seedling stamps that I hand carved a long time ago and gold leafed a few -I meant to gold leaf just one as a 'statement seedling' but I find it hard to stop leafing whenever I start so it reached 7 before I found my self-restraint!!

I also did some mono printing - here are a few that are still on my desk, out of what felt like hundreds I had printed!

And I received the last of the happy mail from the ATC swap - Jan very kindly sent me a replacement ATC as it looks like the original got lost in the post - I'm so thrilled to receive it and what a gorgeous card too - an absolute treasure, thank you so much Jan.

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

Word Collage and ATC Swap

  This week I've made another collage for my journey through The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman - for this one I had to use one word only in it and not a lot else!

In my newly reorganised studio I've 'lost' a sepia pen, two bottles of epoxy resin and a small office date stamp - each has been put in a convenient, logical and completely different place to where they used to live!  I am resisting buying more as I know that as soon as I do they will resurface!  However, despite having no sepia pen I've managed to start a new collage!

This week has also seen more happy mail - a beautiful ATC and card from Sylvia, it arrived more quickly than I thought and I love the little extras - thank you so much Sylvia.  That leaves just one ATC due and I have a horrible feeling it's probably been lost in the post but I'm keeping my fingers crossed it might still turn up.

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

ATC Swap for WOYWW

 What a lovely week it's been with happy (and beautiful) mail dropping through the door for the WOYWW 13th Anniversary ATC swap.

The theme was Connections, and here are some of my ATC's that I sent out, but more importantly...

 ...here are the beauties I received during the week!

Thank you so much for these gorgeous little works of art - they will be treasured - and I think a couple are still on their way so more happy mail to come!

There has been no crafting going on this week but we did do a trip to Exbury Gardens, which is about a 5 minute drive from where we live - I just had to visit the Wisteria while it was in full bloom!  We were early enough to be the only ones there, so we were able to enjoy our flask of coffee on the bench inside it without ending up in anyone else's photos!  

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

 

Typography Collage

I made this a couple of weeks ago, continuing my journey with Randel Plowman's Collage Workbook - I had to find a word or phrase and work it in to the collage, so I got out my old typewriter, found some old book scraps and set to work!

I then made some backgrounds for the ATC swap next week followed by some 'extreme gardening', tackling the brambles, ivy and next door's Leylandii that are trying to take over the garden.  The end result of all this hard work is tennis elbow! Not nearly as innocuous as it sounds!

Despite this I'm planning on taking part in the swap and will definitely make a few extra ATC's for anyone wanting to swap, especially now that I already have the backgrounds prepared!  

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW

Embroidered Needlecase and WOYWW

 It's been too hot to work up in my craft room this week, but it's been the perfect weather to sit and sew in a shady spot of the garden - so to be productive I've made myself a needlecase for my beading and tapestry needles!  

This happy mail arrived yesterday from Julia - what a gorgeous ATC and card and such a delight to receive - thank you so much Julia.

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

WOYWW ATC Swap

 These are the ATC's that I made for last weeks anniversary ATC swap.

  

But now on to the best bit of the week - sitting on my desk today is an array of gorgeousness, all the little treasues that landed on my doorstep during the week -  I am absolutely thrilled with them. 

    

These are from Annie, Jo, Cindy, Caro, Jan and Zsuzsa...

...and these are from Angela (Felix the Crafty Cat) , Helen, Debbie, Angela (Crafting with Jack), Neet and Lynne.

Thank you all so much for the beautiful work and the little cards and extras that came with them.

 I had problems with one or two blogs last week, I visited and tried to comment on all of them but one or two took several attempts and still didn't look like they had accepted my comments - I don't know what was going on, I'm despairing of blogger sometimes!  

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

WOYWW 12th Anniversary

  It's the 12th Anniversay of WOYWW this week - what an amazing achievement, and huge thanks and appreciation to Julia, our host over at the Stamping Ground.   It's still the amazing, friendly and fun group it was when I first joined in 10 years ago.

 Last week I started hand embroidering a couple of ATC's for this week's celebratory swap but it took me so long to make two that I had to forego that idea and re-think the plan.  All ATC's have been re-thought and made - amazingly for me most have been posted - and the embroidered panels are very slowly becoming card toppers!

 

Embroidery Threads and WOYWW ATCs

 After sorting out my ribbons and laces a few weeks ago I have tackled the last remaining area of utter chaos - my Coton a Broder embroidery threads!  The Sylko's are beautifully wound in their own box but I had a bag of tangled Broder threads that would make a naughty kitten proud of the mess.  Anyway here they are, colour co-ordinated, labelled and very user-friendly!

Along side them is the beginnings of some ATCs and my very old needle case that I made in primary school - I was so disappointed at the time when I asked for cream and got green background cloth - still I did a good job as it's lasted 50 odd years and still going strong!

If anyone would like to swap anniversary ATCs please let me know.

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

Boxes and Fun and WOYWW

I've been absent from blogging for a while as things have been crazy over here.  My step son and his family have been visiting England for the first time since they moved to the US over 20 years ago, and of course it was the first time the children had ever been over - we had such a lovely time with them.

To give the girls a memento of their holiday I made two little envelope boxes that held a silver pendant for each of them.

These are the front of the boxes...

 ...and the back of the boxes

Just when things were feeling a bit dull and the family had returned home to the US I received some lovely happy mail - an ATC and pretty card from Shaz in Oz arrived.  I love the green background, such lovely subtle blended colours that really make the black flowers pop, and the card is made from an original card and photo by Margaret - what a gorgeous image of the bluebell.  Thank you so much Shaz.

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

Art, ATC's and Organisation!

 I've been busy sewing this week, working my way through a big basket of mending that has been accumulating for about a year!  What this has to do with WOYWW is that earlier in the week I spent ages trying to thread a very fine needle only to discover despite glasses, that I was trying to thread the wrong end of it -  so as if by magic the Hubs found an old magnifying glass in his shed for me.  I really shouldn't moan about him never throwing anything out should I!

 Also on my desk is a small ATC storage holder that is waiting to be decorated - perhaps I'll get round to it soon - or perhaps not!

 I have had some wonderful mail this week, firstly this beautiful

piece of artwork from the super talentedTerri over at Art Life Rust.  I have been a fan of Terri's amazing work for such a long time and am thrilled to own one of her beautiful botanical pieces.  Thank you so much Terri, it will be greatly treasured.

 I also received some gorgeous ATC's.

This little bundle on the left is from Neet and I just love the painted cockerel card so much, I shall be framing it shortly.  The other ATC's (clockwise from top left) are from Lunch Lady Jan with a beautiful card she sent made by Debbie (Tattered Rocks), Sylvia (Little Treasures) who sent the prettiest ATC along with some gorgeous collage pieces and Shaz Silverwolf whose sparkly and celebratory ATC was gorgeous, and so appropriate for the anniversary! 

Thank you so much ladies. 

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

ATC's for WOYWW

 Here are a couple of the ATC's I made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of WOYWW...

...and here are some of the beautiful pieces of art work I received back...

I was overwhelmed at the gorgeousness of the needle felted creation made by Jo (aka Twiglet) who was my pif - she had even chosen my favourite colours and popped it in a sweet little frame.  Needless to say it's taking pride of place on my little shelf of 'treasures from others' (an idea inspired by Jan last week).  Thank you so much Jo.

And these two lovelies are from Heather (at Heather's Crafty Retreat) and Zsuzsa (Inky Dinky Doodle).  Heather included a lovely card and some inspirational die-cut words, and Zsuzsa printed her own envelope and note card to match the ATC and added a lovely sheet of collage images. 
 Thank you so much ladies.

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW, so why not have a nosey over there and see what other people have on their desks this week.

ATC Swap and WOYWW

 Last week's WOYWW 9th Anniversary swap was great fun, and I made a handful of ATC's, only to worry I'd made too many, then only to discover I hadn't really made enough!

These are the two designs I made this year using a little touch of copper foil on one and silver foil on the other.  The envelopes were stamped to match and I remembered to do that before I put away all the inks and stamps!

It has been such a treat getting beautiful mail through the post, and these are all the wonderful ATC's I received in return - aren't they fabulous.

From top to bottom they are from Jan, Shaz, Sarah, Ali, Angela and Zsuzsa.

And as well as the beautiful ATC's here are goodies that came with some of them - thank you so much for your kindness and generosity ladies - beautiful embellishments and dream catcher tag from Zsuzsa, a gorgeous piggy card from Ali and some lovely ephemera and die-cuts from Angela.  

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week to see what goodies other people have on their desks!

Diamante Cards

I've been trying to use up old stash before buying any more new stuff - well the good intentions are there but it's difficult!

I have an over-flowing box of diamante charms, a real mix of new and old, some are vintage earrings from boot fairs, with the backs cut off and some are new and what I call 'couldn't resist' buys!  Anyway, I've made a start and here are a couple of the cards I've been making for imminent birthdays!

Black glitter card used above and Ranger black enamel used below

I also wanted to show off the loveliest ATC, which arrived from Sandra de - it was such a nice surprise and really brightened by day.

I'm linking up with WOYWW this week.

ATC's and WOYWW

What a lovely week it's been - for someone who wasn't participating in the swap I received two gorgeous ATC's from Jan and BJ and I used a couple of ATC sized card toppers I'd made that were ideal to return.  All I had to do was dig out the stamps again and decorate the envelopes.   

Thank you BJ and Jan - I love the typing on the heart, so dinky, and I also LOVE that butterfly button in the middle of Jan's!

Have a good week everyone and you can hop over to Julia's at WOYWW here for this weeks snoop around the desks.

A Nature Themed ATC Swap

 I have recently been involved in a lovely ATC swap with Elaine over at
 Craft Shed Girl - I was so pleased when she let me know she was up for a swap, as we have similar tastes and a love of nature in our artwork! 

This is the ATC and matching box I sent to Elaine, it's based on my current work around the moonlit garden ...

... and this is the beautiful ATC holder and gift tag Elaine sent me...

 Elaine very cleverly designed and made the holder herself - it's absolutely ingenious and such an effective and beautiful way to present the ATC.  I felt I was opening a birthday present when it arrived!

As you can see once you undo the ribbon holding it closed, it opens up to display the ATC which is held in the card groove - and what a stunning ATC it is. Elaine thoughtfully and carefully worked with images, colours and subject matter that she knows I like and if I had sent her a list of my requirements she couldn't have got it more right!!!

This has been such an enjoyable swap - thank you Elaine!

I must add that for anyone interested Elaine has listed her supplies and techniques over on her blog.   

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