WOYWW - 106

Before I show you my desk this week, I have one more important thing to do, and that is to publicly thank Becky Horn for my lovely pif.  It arrived on my birthday at the weekend, which was extra good.  So much work and love in it.  Thank you again, Becky.

I had some lovely cards and pressies, not least the complete set (until No 5 is released) of Barbara Gray's DVD's, which I have been coveting for ages and ages.  They came from my very very kind husband, who is so supportive of my crafting.  If you have a look at Silverwolf's blog, you will see the picture of the beautiful card she created for me, and how she did it.

Now to my desk.  Last week, it was so tidy thanks to a hurricane which hit it.  This week is not quite so good, although it is better than it was an hour before.  Some time ago, I started removing all the horrid sticky cushioning from all my unmounted rubber stamps, and finally finished today, thank goodness.  While the last batch were on my desk, I decided to start cataloguing them, by stamping them in sets into an A5 loose leaf file.  By the time, I had finished , my fingers were totally black and covered in Adirondack black ink.  So far, nothing has removed it, despite my best endeavours.  Any ideas?

I also started a "reflections" card, inspired by Barbara Gray.  As you can see, there is still a lot to do to it, but by then I was so inky, I thought I had better leave it alone for today.  You can also see some of the sheets I have started to print for my stamp catalogue.  I might have another go tomorrow, either at the catalogue creation or just playing with pictures and techniques.

I have also had company for most of my working today from our biggest pup, who suddenly realised I had a small bag of dog food on my desk which might be worth keeping an eye on.  He has be partially responsible for me not getting too much crafting done over the last couple of weeks.  We have just found a new trainer, who is teaching us all the things that really suit a working bred dog, tracking, retrieving and general searching.  Flash loves it and really puts all his effort into hunting.  Gemma, on the other hand, is a little blonde about it, easily distracted from the job in hand.  Never mind, she can only improve with work.  Our trainer, Madaleine, is very strict with us, and gives us lots of homework to practice.  I come back from  training class absolutely buzzing with excitement.  It is just great fun, and so rewarding when you finally coordinate all the things you are trying to sort out.  (I need 4 hands to deal with a clicker, a treat, and a lead, and a few more brain cells to allow me to "get it".)  It is not the dogs who are being trained, it is us as handlers.

By the way, are there any others of you out there who think that things have gone too far in the type of clothes being sold for young children, such as padded bras for girls of 5 and upwards, and the way they are being encouraged to be so much older than their years.  I did hear that pop videos are to be given ratings in a similar way to films, to try to protect young children from being exposed to salacious things while they are too young to cope.  My daughter already tries to vet whatever pop videos that her children watch.

Having had a bit of a soap box moment, perhaps you might like to slip over to see a few more desks at Julia's place, which you will find at  http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/  Thank you to all those who came to visit me this week, and apologies to those I did not get round to visit myself.  Hopefully, I can do better this week.