WOYWW - photography

Hi all,

Sorry for missing out last week, I was battling a chest infection and it took all my energy to breathe between coughs. Luckily I had a doctor who actually listened to me and didn't just decide it was a "virus".

Antibiotics have now kicked in, and I am feeling a lot brighter.

For those of you who don't know what WOYWW is, it's a weekly chance to link up with other crafty bloggers via the lovely Julia at The Stamping Ground. We share a photo (or more) of our workspaces in all their glory.. and well..  you get the idea...

My desk looks like this:

My desk as at 9pm Tuesday night.. the photography mode

For those who craft and like to share their makes, it is often trial and error to get a good photograph of their artwork, and I was truly struggling getting good quality photos.

Then I discovered that the card on the bottom of my messy mats (they were desk calendars at work a few years ago that we had a huge surplus of.. so I took home as many as I could carry!) are a lovely white colour and are quite big.. so with one upright and one on my desk, they make a good "photobooth" for my cards. The other stuff on my desk ranges in tools and offcuts from two cards I can't share this week as they aren't where they need to be yet.

So, to show a little artwork, here are two things I made last week using up backgrounds I'd made months ago. It's always a happy day when I  can use up existing things :)

Paint pouring background on canvas with some heat embossing and some stamped images using starlight paints. The Dragonfly has microbeads under it (dream catcher but hard to see in the photo)

              Shaving foam and ink background with heat embossing card

I will share the cards I made Tuesday night with you next week.

Lastly, Jasper's turn to be the cat of the week.. fast asleep on my bunny hoodie... he loves it.

 Jasper is a cutie too!

Sumbunneh hugs x 

Erika 

WOYWW - Happy New Year and number 500!

Hello Fellow Bloggers and Readers, 

First of all, let me wish you all a very Happy New Year. May it be bright and full of creativity!

Today I am joining in on WOYWW hosted by the lovely Julia at The Stamping Ground. Apparently this is the 500th WOYWW edition.. how cool it that!! I am going to try to be here more often this year :)

Without further adieu.. here is my desk in its current state.

Taken just a moment ago!

Over the holidays, I spent a couple of hours tidying my space and no time creating in it... well apart from painting another cat treat pot green. This one will be used to hold various craft supplies.. paintbushes and palette knives.. the other one will be for my pens.. and the unpainted one.. well.. it holds scissors. 

So far, I am not sure where my green pot will take me.. but I think it may go the same way as my suitcase which I started at Pauline's Inky Workshop in December. (Blank MDF suitcase is available from Candy Box Crafts).

My Suitcase.. so far!

Anyway, I hope you have all had a good festive period... and as I know you will have missed her.. here is a little photo of Biscuit :)

Biscuit at 10 to midnight on NYE... she was so tired, as was I.. but we made it to see in the new year

Hugs,

Erika x

WOYWW - They're nearly here!

Hi :) 

Welcome to another visit to my chaos... linking in to the other Deskers via Julia at Stamping Ground.

My family is arriving from Canada on Saturday.. my Mom, brother, sister in law, nephew and Fr Jack (My Mom's best friend and special part of our family). I've not seen them for quite a while now as they were supposed to come last year but plans changed.

I'm excited as this is the first time my brother and sister in law will be here.. and I've been living in England for 19.5 years now!

Anyway I digress.. here is the all important desk shot.

Close up view as it is still not tidy... but I have Friday off!

The most prominent thing on my desk is my lovely mini distress inks holder which I bought flatpacked from Candy Box Crafts. I had a great time decorating it with stencils and paste and I use it for a lot of essential things. I'll post you a better blog all about it in the near future :)

The stamps are new ordered from Pinflair... can't wait to try them out!

As you know, the biggest project has been trying to get the garden finished.. and we have mostly been successful.. as you can see here.

Lastly, no post is complete without a visit from my kitties... this week is Petal's turn :)

Petal trying out the new Astroturf 

I may not be around much over the next two weeks... but you never know...

Sumbunneh hugs x 

Erika 

Our Garden.. 6 year transformation

Hi!!

In October 2011 we moved into a new build house which we loved. It has a beautiful view out the front, and had a big back garden... which was left with just a few paving slabs.

The company we bought from did offer to turf it for us.. but the garden slopes a lot.. so we knew it would need terracing.

We came up with a 5 year plan.. and most of the work was done by Ian, with the help of our neighbours. In fact, only the lighting was done by an external electrician.

I would love to post the various stages the garden has been through.. but instead I will just show the NOW photos.

This is a panoramic view. On the left we have a raised veg bed (against the house we have cucumber and tomato plants in tubs).

We have a beautiful cedar half shed, half greenhouse which we bought a couple of years ago. The back terrace has fruit trees and bushes. We have a cobnut, bramley espallier, apple tree, crab apple, plum tree, espallier pear, orange pippin apple tree, cherry tree, gooseberry bush, red and white currant bushes, blackberry and a raspberry.

The middle terrace is Astroturf.. and the front is paved in Indian sandstone. We have blueberries and strawberries growing in pots and tubs.

On the left is a swim spa (or 11 person hot tub) and some beautiful composite decking. I also really love the blue fence!

At night, the lighting really makes everything look beautiful. I can see us using the hot tub late into the night.

Lastly, no post is complete without a cat photo.. this one courtesy of Jasper vs. the ping pong ball... I think he likes the turf!

Don't worry.. we have left the cats a patch of real grass on the top tier near the cobnut... so the have some to eat and hide in!

Jasper is enjoying the turf

Petal and I are happy too!

Sumbunneh hugs x 

Erika 

WOYWW - How did the tidy up go?

Hi, welcome back for another Wednesday! Where did the time go?

As usual.. you can join in this lovely blog hop hosted by Julia at Stamping Ground.

Last week I mentioned that my family is coming and I needed to tidy my craft room... so how did that go...

I'm glad this isn't a panoramic view of my desk.. it gives the illusion of tidy!

Ok..ok.. so my desk is a little more clear, but that was mostly because I needed the space to pack for a Pauline Butcher Inky Workshop which I went to last Sunday, and a place to put my makes when I came home.

Inky Workshop makes using crystal technique and lolly sticks 

I really enjoy the workshops as not only do I learn new things but I get to see the lovely Inky Crew who are a huge part of my Crafty Family.

I mentioned that I participated in an art montage for our local YMCA. Mine is the small Community Spirit circle in this post.

My company are running a Wellbeing Week and have left us a pile of squishy Lego to play with.. want to see what I made? Click here :)

Lastly, as the kitties stole the show last week.. and the fame went to Biscuit' s head.. here is another snap of her being.. well.. her!

Biscuit is tired out from reading all her fan mail from last week's post!

Next week I will show you the garden... it's finally almost done after 6 years of graft!

Sumbunneh hugs x 

Erika 

Wellbeing Week - Squishy Lego

Hi  :)

The company I work for is hosting a well-being week for staff which kicked off today with the arrival of squishy Lego blocks for us to play with during breaks.

Look at the scale of the blocks

We have been challenged to make things with the blocks... and as I was alone for lunch today.. this is what I came up with:

My interpretation of Stonehenge (although others thought it was the Colosseum)

I took photos and sent them to the challenge, but also asked my team to join in with me on Wednesday to build something together... should be great fun!

Wellbeing is something which I find very important for my life balance.. and challenging people to stop for a break and make some memories.. to step away from worries and phones and desks for half an hour to just relax. It makes you more focused and productive in the long term.

I'll update you with what we have come up with soon :)

Sumbunneh hugs x 

Erika 

Let's go Outside...

After work today I spent a couple of enjoyable hours looking through the blogs of my fellow WOYWW contributors. I loved seeing comments on my own blog and left a comment for everyone where I could.

In my Top Ten Makes post, I mentioned making a circle for a local YMCA montage project, and promised to get a photo for you.. so here it is...

Mine is the small greenish circle on the right just under the tree of hands. 

I go to two Zumba classes a week, one at my local Community Centre on Mondays and one at this YMCA on Wednesdays. Same instructor and I love going and dancing and letting any bad feelings melt away.

Tonight, it was so warm that we took the class outside.. which was so much fun! It was almost like we didn't take it as seriously and we even had a slight giggle fit near the end... you just had to laugh!

Thursdays I return to my local Community Centre where I "run" an adult only (16+) bring your own craft club called Chatty Crafters.

We are a non-profit gathering of like minded people who like to get together to have a cuppa, a chat and 2 hours of crafting time. We have people who knit, crochet, felt, draw, colour, cross stitch, make cards through various forms of papercrafting.

Some weeks we craft loads.. others we just natter... but it's nice to enjoy being creative with others.

Sometimes we teach/learn new things.. but mostly we get on with our own projects.

 Unfortunate we have dwindling numbers and the price of our room went up in April.. so we are now charging £15 for 10 weeks.. which is still an absolute bargain.

Have a great evening and thank you for visiting me :)

Sumbunneh hugs x 

Erika