IT'S STARTING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS....

Every week Julia asks 'What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?' Well today mine is full of Christmas papers and packages. I have started to make Christmas cards:

 

and to put together my album for JOURNAL YOUR CHRISTMAS. This is a online course run by Shimelle Lane and I have 2 completed albums but I gave last year a miss. I don't want to do that again so this time I am trying to make it more manageable. I have decided on a chunky album because I know I get carried away, and I have made hinges that I will add the pages to as I complete them.

 

 

 

The pages are actually blank cards and more stash that I am using up. I will attach one end to the hinge, leaving a double page that folds back on itself so that each 'page' gives me four sides. I have added a double fold in the centre to give depth as I will also add flaps and pockets.  It will evolve as I make it as I have no firm plan.  I like to allow the element of flexibility and learn as I go.

 

 

I have chosen a selection of papers and chipboard shapes and I am continuing to try and use up what I already have.  Today I hope to put the first 4 pages together including a Manifesto.  My plan is to keep Christmas simple, to make as much as I can, and to spend time with friends and family.   

 

 

And last on my workspace are my new dies. I wrote last week how I had ordered these and this morning they finally arrived. I can now make more cards as I have been eagerly waiting for these to arrive!

 

 

Have fun with your own Christmas preparations and to see what others are up to pop over to Julia's here.

Explore WOYWW

I am finally moving into to my new craft space, very slowly and not in the organised way that I had hoped.  My  plan was to decorate and move storage in before I started working, but I realised I had missed birthdays and needed to make cards among other things.  So bit by bit boxes and paper crept in and I’m now partly installed.  And my workspace is as disorganised as ever!

On it you can see:

1.        My Journal Your Christmas Album.   Yes... the fat pages are finally held together by ribbon and I am pleased to have it finished.  Not relieved, because I enjoyed it to the end, but it will be nice to move on to something new.  I will gradually add the pages to the forum, so anyone who took part in Shimelle’s online course will have access. 

2.        A big pile of of cut mountboard bought for £1.50.  I love a bargain don’t you!!  I will use two sheets as front and back page for a new album.  The size was even a perfect fit for pages I cut this morning.  Perfect!

3.       Printouts of Shimelle’s new online course – Explore.  The focus is on discovering more about yourself, and so far I am slow in starting.  Nothing new there then!  But I have proved that I can finish, so my pages are waiting to be put together and I am keeping it simple this time. 
Remind me please if I forget I said this!

4.       One of the other things Shimelle suggested was to send yourself a postcard of one of your best adventures.  We could use a picture postcard or make our own.  There was one photo that stood out for me, of my Nan on the beach as a young woman.  If I could turn back the time I would ask her more about her life as it is only in recent years that I have learned more and feel it was an opportunity missed.  I don't know what I will be asked to do in this album, so this in itself is part of the adventure.  And because I like to follow my intuition I stuck the photo onto a post card and posted it to myself.   There was no room for writing other than the address, but I can do that in my Explore album next to the postcard.  I am interested to find out where this will lead, I just have a feeling it will be exciting though.


If you want to know more about the Explore course go here. 

It's not to late to join in and the thing I like about Shimelle's courses is that you can work at your own pace.  And it seems I am not the only one to have taken my time over my Christmas Album so I am in great company!  For the Explore course Shimelle has come up with the idea that we can sign up to be 'accountable'.  And so as well as having a network of online friends and co-students, I am excited to have not one but two partners for this course!  I have exchanged emails with Pauline and Ali today and we plan to support, encourage and prompt each other along the way.  What's more, Pauline lives quite local so we may even get to meet!

So here's to unknown fun and adventures as I go and Explore! 

I wonder what's on your workspace this Wednesday?  Go here to see what others are busy with.

RAIN STOPPED PLAY....

 

No, not at Wimbledon but in my garden.   Because we have been busy building my new craft space.  I wonder if I will take the jump one day and call this my studio?   At the moment I am thoughtful about what it will be called and hope that once it is filled I will know.  Meanwhile I have been busy on the outside, painting and making it mine, all mine.  

I wanted it to blend into the garden, so that it feels that it has grown out of the ground.  Once I have planted around it and added a plaque and lantern or two I hope it will look like it has always been there. Because,  it has in my dreams. 
But for now rain has stopped me painting.  I could go out and buy paint and start on the inside, but there is still small work to be done and so I will be patient.

 So instead, I will finish the last page or two of my Journal Your Christmas Album.  Yes, I am still working on it.  But you will understand the reason why it is not completed.  I still have two days left before I post my next 10 things on the 10th, so it will be done.

But before I start I am going to have a cup of tea and browse ‘Painted Pages’.   I was lucky enough to be picked for Sian’s ‘Pass the Book’ and have been turning the pages at every opportunity.   I will say more about this another time, but for now it has given me the inspiration to get out the paint instead of ink pads.  I also bought a template the other day, so my Journal Your Christmas album will be getting a new look. 

Best get started!

TEN minus FIVE

....  is five.  Five more things to complete on my list of 10 things on the 10th that is.  And my workspace today is still looking a crazy mess, but that's how I like it best.  Because I can dip in and out as time allows.  I have been busy finishing the last pages of my Journal Yours Christmas album and because I am enjoying it so much I decided to finish it on 6th January which is the 12th night. 

This page is a collage done on Picasa using some of my favourite photos taken during 2010.  Favourites because they trigger happy memories or special moments that I want to recapture time and time again.
That I wrote about here, here, and here.



I wouldn't usually do a college on a page, but this was an idea suggested by Shimelle as part of this course, and  it fitted perfectly with that I wanted to achieve.

I wouldn't normally print images off Google for my pages either.  But I wanted to create a page about Pantomine, and did not have any photos I could use.

The Cinderella poster opens and inside I will use the space to journal.

There are just a few pages to go and some more journalling to add.  Then I need to find a way of binding this very fat album together!

 
Happy Wednesday and enjoy what ever you are doing.
Oh, and by the way, if you want to see what other people have on their workspace go over to Julie's here.

10 things on the 10th

I posted here about things I want to change within the next 5 years.  That is a very generous time frame because realistically I want it to be more like 5 months.  But who’s counting?!

Then Shimelle suggested posting 10 things on the 10th of the month and I got thinking. ....  life has felt very chaotic and busy lately.  Things have been neglected because of the on-going building work and spending time with my Mum following her operation.   I have now started my new job and slowly, slowly, I am gathering my breath and trying to catch up.  And so, I am going to set myself 10 goals this 10th day of the month.

I am giving myself to the 10th of next month to complete this, that's 4 weeks.  So let’s start:

1.     Sort out my photos.   Since December these have been simply downloaded off the camera onto the computer.   Usually I sort each download into various albums and have a system that works for me.  I take lots of photos on a daily basis so this will be a huge task.  And best not left any longer!

 2.     Project 365.  Yes – I am still doing this even though my Flickr album only contains 30 photos this year.  This means I need to download a photo a day from February to now.  I once got behind with this before and made a mental not NEVER to do that again as it was so frustrating and difficult to catch up.  Some lessons need repeating!

3.    Start an art journal.  This is more pleasure than pain.  Something I keep saying I want to do, and now I have set myself a target.

4.    Finish knitting a bolero for my newest granddaughter.  I keep starting projects and not finishing them, and you know how fast babies grow.  Wren will outgrow it before I finish if I don’t get it done!

 
5.    Complete my Journal Your Christmas album.  Yes – you read right!  I know I have said this before and again I will be taking it to my monthly group.  But this time I plan not to be distracted.  The trouble is I see other exciting ideas and put the JYC album aside.  Not this time, because I really do want to finish it before I start another album.  And I have others earmarked so I have motivation.

6.    Start using my Wii machine again.  I did use this regularly for a while and enjoyed the fitness games and exercises.  I need to increase my physical activity and this suits my lifestyle right now.  In the future I hope to be able to get out more.   I love walking and gardening but for now things indoors are more pressing.

7.    Plan something for my blog birthday on 20th June.  I’m still thinking what I might do.  Watch this space!

8.    Plan a holiday or short break away.  A change of scenery would be very welcome.

 9.    Organise my work space.  You know how things accumulate and increase in piles?  At least it saves the need to dust.....

10.    Add a texture to a photo.  One of my plans this year was to experiment with Photoshop Elements and become more familiar and confident with using it.  Not so!  I have used textures before by layering and I even started taking photos specially to use as textures & effects.  Remember I said I download my photos into albums?  ‘Textures’ is one of them  and this is a photo I previously experimented with. I am setting this as my final challenge and hope I can remember how to do this.
Incidentally, if you don't have Photoshop, 'Picnik' offer a range of special effects, lots of them free and fun to play with.

 
I am looking forward to coming back on 10th of next month to celebrate my achievements, and I really hope I can do all these things.  Especially organising the photos.  I wonder what 10 things you would choose?

Comfort in the Choas....

I'm embarrassed to show my workspace this Wednesday but after a residential weekend, followed by a crop and time crafting with friends, everything has got out of hand.

So with some time off work I finally have an opportunity to blizt!  I have spent today unpacking the rest of the bags and trying to reorganize.  I have bought lots of new materials recently (to compensate for  the ongoing situation at work), and now I need larger storage containers.  So I have been reshuffling, relabling, and redesigning my work area.  A job that is long overdue!

While I have been busy, it's also been a lot of fun.  The residential was at Belstead and a 'Focus on Photos'.  Moira Neal showed us how to use Picasa, a free software that enables you to create collages and special effects.  We had much fun in the garden using a sheet of white paper to reflect the sun, and we took turns having our photo taken with the sun in each direction so we could experiment with light and shadows.  With everyones camera focused and clicking we each had our moment of fame.  And sometimes, amid roars and tears of laughter, Moira set her timer and did a quick dash so she could  be included in the shot.  If only learning was always this much fun!! 


On our way to Belstead we went on a mamouth shop, first to A Trip Down Memory Lane, where I finally spent the £20 voucher that I won back in January at my monthly crop, Eclectic Keepsakes.  Then we went to a recycling centre where we bought bags of wonderful goodies at bargain prices.  I was especially pleased with a huge bundle of lace and bag of fabric, it really is pot luck when you go to these scrap stores but we were not disappointed.  Then we met up with another friend who took us to Papermaze.  This was my first visit and I was very impressed.  Although small it had an amazing stock and even more to pack into the already bulging car.  Finally, with an hour to spare, we stopped off at The Range. And yet more goodies found their way into my possession.  Sometimes it is just too hard to resist!    

Here are just a few bits that I bought, and some books I took a long to the course.  We also looked at Photoshop Elements, and I was very excited to learn a couple of things I'd been wanting to do. 

I worked on my 'Journal Your Christmas' album while I was there and just have about 5 pages to go.  It feels like it has been on the go for months, which would be true, but I only pick it up now and then and still enjoy putting it together.  I love the overall idea and this has been my first  attempt at journalling. 
Also on the table you can see some Paper Artsy stamps - I LOVE these and managed to pick them up at a bargain price.  I also bought a set of gorgous papers 'For the Record'.  I plan to use these, not just admire, and they will be perfect for a family album I have in mind.  I have a lovely collection of old family photos waiting to be used.   But before I start I want to finish tidying and create a space that is good to work in.  Hopefully, I can take another photo and it will look much more inviting than the one I showed at the beginning of this post!

CREATING CHRISTMAS

Since my last blog I have been busy creating Christmas and coping with the snow. I love the contrast of seasons so in a way I relish the current weather and it really does feel like Christmas. At home we have had to contend with frozen water pipes which have now been lagged so hopefully no more problems. We have also been unable to get to work some days as the road conditions have been just too bad. This has given me time to do other things and for the first time in many years we actually put the Christmas tree up on 1st December and decorated the house. Usually I make most my cards but this year decided not to put myself under pressure and bought most instead. I tried not to feel guilty but decided I wanted to put my energy into something different this year. So I have taken part in Shimelle's Journal your Christmas. Being snowed in gave me the perfect opportunity to make my album and put my first pages together.

















Unfortuantely life happened, as it always does, so the rest of my pages remain as ideas and prompts ready to put together. I'm really enjoying the daily downloads from Shimelle and thinking about Christmas past & present.

This photo was taken last week for 'What's on Your Workdesk. Wednesday?' But I did not have time to post..... the table looks much the same, and much remains work in progress though my cards are now finished. One of the other albums on the table is 'Inspiration Everywhere', another e-course I have been doing. This was a free offering from the talented Jessica Sprague. It involved making an album to use for art journalling, and there were some lovely papers and ideas, including making a CD of inspirational music and doing hand prints which was a lot of fun.
If you share my interest in creative e-courses you may also be interested in Big Picture. They offer free classes as well as a range of others which are reasonably priced. One I am signed up for starts in Feburary and is called 'Embrace Imperfection'. A good way to start the new year!


One exciting event has been the recent arrival of a new granddaughter, Wren.

I will write about this another time but I mention it because a friend of my daughter did a wonderful photoshoot of the baby and her sisters. It was the perfect gift and I have used some of these photos for my Christmas cards this year.
The photos are very special and I can see these being used in lots of future projects.


TodayI received more dies through the post for my new Big Shot. Oh the excitement and anticipation!! I'm starting to experiment and getting to know what this machine is capable of. Today I have been making my own rubber stamps using a Tim Holzt alphabet die. I started by cutting the shapes from a sheet of funky foam and backed them onto EZ Mount so I can print using an acrylic block . So good so far....

Spot the not-deliberate mistake? I thought I had considered mirror image when placing the foam on the die, but forgot that this will be reversed again when it is printed! I always find it best to learn by mistakes and I can remedy this by taking the letters off the foam mount and reversing it. It just means cutting the backing all over again, tedious but at least I can watch a Christmas film on tv while doing it! I got the idea from a YouTube video. I love the way people are so generous in their sharing and I wanted to pass this on as it is so useful.
I will show you the stamps when I have finished them. I would not have thought to use my Big Shot in this way so am getting quite excited as all the possibilities. I have also been busy sewing and will share these next week as they are Christmas presents and I want no peeking! Tonight I have presents to wrap. Top of the Pops Christmas Special is playing in the background so it is feeling quite festive, specially with snow lying outside and the prospect of more to come.











Have a very Happy Christmas. Some people will have plans disrupted because of the weather & impact on travel. What ever you do, be safe, and have a happy and peaceful holiday.