WOYWW - 136

 I can't believe we are on the second post of the year already.  The time is going far too fast, and I have far too much to do.  A couple of pictures of my desk to start with, exactly as I left it yesterday, having finally finished four cards, just as our visitors arrived.  You can see some of the cards, just sitting finishing drying the silicone glue, but there is also a lot of general detritus, the stuff that is left over at the end of each project.  A good clear up is required before I start the next project.  I want to do some card making for stock, but probably also fitting in with one or two challenges along the way.  The best challenge I have found so far is called Use it Up in 2012 (if you want to know more, look at my earlier post), which rather fits in well with my ambition to reduce the amount of scraps, and kit remnants etc.

The cards I did yesterday actually followed that line to some extent, although I did have to print the toppers.  As I needed three children's cards, I had nothing in the box to suit, but all the backing did come from the left over stuff.  The toppers came from Hayley West's Nursery Rhymes CDRom.  The first one is "What Little Girls are made of", and after decoupaging it, I embellished it with some glaze on the butterflies, the lollipop, and the shoes, buttons and bracelets.  The sentiment is a silver holographic.  Then, to finish it off, I added a few gems, including on on the flower on her dress.  The skirt, in particular, lent itself well to shaping to get a bit more depth.

The next card goes with the first one, as it is from the same disc, and is "What little boys are made of".  The backing paper and the card came from the remnants box, so I could carry on feeling a bit virtuous.  Again, it is decoupaged, with some shaping where possible, and the sentiment was from the same sheet as the first..  As it is for a boy, I did not think that glittery gems were really appropriate this time.

This final card is from the same disc, and is, obviously, Jack and Jill.  It tested my skills with the blade this time, to cut out the gaps on the well and on the bucket that Jill is carrying.  I was quite pleased that I managed not to cut through the very thin bits that are left.  The only embellishment was a bit of glaze on the red flowers.  The silver border was a bit of a pain, as I cut the silver backing too tight (I cut it off on one side) so I used some silver Christmas ribbon to create another border on top.

These three children's cards are also being entered into the Snippets Challenge, as so much was from my snippets box, and into the Use it Up in 2012 Challenge, as the majority was from paper stash, and the images were from an already owned CDRom.

My final card for this month's birthday is actually from stock, and most of the work was done on it on holiday last year.  It is one of the digi stamps I printed out and coloured in while away, using either water colours or Promarkers.  I glazed the design to prevent any damage from light or damp, and then mounted it on a remnant piece of pearlescent card.  The silver edging was done with a silver Krylon pen, which saves extra thickness in the backing - saves money on postage.  I think it is particularly effective on a scalloped edge as it follows the edge perfectly.

I apologise to those people I did not get to visit last week.  I really did try hard, but now we have two Wednesday's in each week, time goes too fast.  Last Wednesday was only yesterday - at least that is how it feels.  Having added bread making to the weekly tasks, time seems to be going even faster, but it does taste nice.  I am now trying to work out the easiest way to make bread in the caravan, so that we do not have to buy "plastic" rubbish while we are away. 

After I have posted this and linked up to Julia at Stamping Ground, I shall have a wander round as many of your desks as possible.  Why don't you join me?  It is fun and free