A Messy Desk!

 A bit of a messy desk this week - I haven't managed to finish anything and horror of horrors I actually have pushback!  The shells at the back have been pushed out of the way while they wait for me to varnish them, and some gentle collage making has been going on.  I say gentle because the tennis elbow in my right arm has now be joined by a frozen shoulder - they certainly make crafting challenging!

And on that note, can anyone please recommend an accurate guillotine - I always use a steel rule and a Stanley knife but that is just out of the question at the moment and it seems 90% of my crafting requires cutting straight lines!

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

UPSIDE DOWN COLLAGES!

 Just to keep the creativity flowing I decided to dip into the Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman.  I've had quite a break from it but enjoyed doing these two little collages - the requirement was to use two images and flip one upside down.  

The most exciting part of my week has been obtaining a new storage box for my sewing threads!   The 4 Gutermann boxes that I previously had were fiddly, the lids fell off frequently and I had an extra tray of loose reels that wouldn't fit in the boxes.  This one is great, and has freed up a lot of drawer space.  It's also got me doing some long awaited mending!

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

A Small Burst of Creative Energy

 Goodness, in the blink of an eye we are half way through September and I don't quite know how I managed to take a 2 month break from blogging and creativity.  The tennis elbow hasn't helped and although it's a fair bit better again, it's still frustratingly hanging around. 

However I've had a few 'word of mouth' commissions for some jewellery, and that has got me busy again.  It became a two man job, with help from the Hubs because of the elbow problems - he's been a star!

These are on my desk at the moment, waiting for the lids to be decorated - as you can see I've built up a bit of a stock!  All are made from old china that has been damaged and unable to be used for purpose.  I love old china and I've been collecting it for years with the vague and unrealistic idea of making a large mosaic garden table!   

 

Such sad news this week with the death of our beloved Queen, very strange and unsettling times - I have been far more affected by it than I expected to be.  It's been so very emotional and my heart goes out to the Royal family.

I am linking up with Julia over at WOYWW.

Buddleia Card and Book Collage

 

I've achieved quite a lot since I last posted considering we had my step-son and his family visiting from the USA last week.  

I've completed another collage using the prompts in The Collage Workbook - it was all about using bits of old books - which was lucky, as I have loads!  

 I also had to make a sympathy card and I found this Buddleia stamp set in my stash that I'm sure I've never used ...

 ...and I've been gold leafing some prints too!  

Housework is next on the agenda! 

But before that I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW for the weekly desk hop.

Blue Mono Printing and the Midnight Garden

A bit of a printing fest going on this week, and it's all a bit blue!  I've continued with the mono printing from last week but changed the colours to suit my midnight garden theme - I seem to come round to that each summer as I really do love the muted colours and beautiful shapes of my garden as it goes from dusk into night.    

The bright sunshine we've been having has meant I can get some more cyanotype printing done - topping up my stash for card making and collages - always a favourite activity!

 

  I've also been running low on notecards so I have printed off another run of them using some of these photos of old and new cyanotype prints. I need to trim them all up - about 30 in total - a job I don't enjoy so we'll see if it gets done by next week - I'm betting it doesn't!!

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

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