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This is intended to be mainly about my crafting stories, as a personal record of what I do. However, I interpret crafting quite widely, not just paper crafting but other things too. I have a butterfly mind and like to change from one thing to another depending on what I feel like on a given day - knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, cards, baking and several others, including my favourite right now, parchment, both traditional skills and Groovi, very relaxing and calming to do.

I have decided to put some structure into my blog so that each day will have something of a theme.
Monday- for Mindfulness; Tuesday - Tidy Up Day; Wednesday - What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday; Thursday - Technique and Tips; Friday - Finish Off Day; Saturday - Start Something New; Sunday - Anything Goes
These themes are not hard and fast and will be changed if I feel the need.

Wednesday 31 July 2013

WOYWW - 217 Crafting is taking place

For anyone who has just landed here by accident, you may be wondering what WOYWW is all about.  Briefly, it stands for "What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday", and lots of us like minded crafters take a photo (or many photos" of just how our desk looks, without deliberate tidying up, and then we show all our other crafting friends what we are doing.  It is the brainchild and hosted by our leader, Julia, at Stamping Ground.  Anyone is welcome and all we ask is that you leave us a brief comment on what you see, so that we can call on you in turn to see what you are doing.  Any craft is welcome.  One warning though, it is very addictive.

This is the first time since April that my desk has really been used for its proper purpose of crafting.  quite a mixture, as you can see.  All these photos were taken on Tuesday morning, while the light was good, and I even had the window wide open (the scaffolding has all gone).  You may remember that, way back at the beginning of May, I went up to my son's presentation ceremony for his Chief Constable's Commendation for the work they all did during the Riots.  I took a video of the whole thing, and then burned it onto DVD for him, but I never got round to printing the discs or doing the covers for the cases (one for him and one for his pal).  I had also put together some small videos of his eldest daughter onto DVD, and needed to finish that off too.  You can see the work in progress on and around my lovely Tonic Guillotine.  

There is also a birthday card, which just needed finishing for my son-in-law.  All I really needed to do was the insert, and to put my label on the back.  If you want to know more about that card and a couple of others I have done, just look back at my previous post.
All my shelves are going to be cleared off, cleaned and everything sorted before the important stuff goes back.  That is where I need to start my great sort out and tidy up, before I bring back all the things that got dumped in the other room while work was going on.  The bright pink thing on my desk is my new phone.  I chose that colour of case so that I could find it more easily, and also no-one else would even want it.
This is now the view from my desk, to the side, with no scaffolding cutting off the view or restricting the opening of the window.






The dogs seem to be happy to settle down on the floor while I am working/playing, which is very helpful of them.  Flash, in particular, looks for the sun to relax in.







Gemma just has to decide that only one chew is on offer and when that is gone, it is time for a nap.  I really must make a serious attempt to keep the floor as clear as possible to give them room to stretch out, and to give me a chance to craft in peace.
Suddenly realised they were both lain down happily behind me


If you have had the patience to get all the way down to the bottom of this post, then thank you, and must send you on your way to visit some of the other desk on show this week over at Julia's place.  Have a great week, all of you.


PS Not a good start to the night and definitely not conducive to sleep. As I was about to get into bed, I saw it - the most enormous garden spider, less than two feet away. Well, she had to go. Catching her was the easy bit, keeping her in the pot was the difficult bit. I covered the pot with a piece of card, but as I got to the door, she forced her way out and jumped out onto my arm. You could have heard the screech throughout the land. Fortunately, I was saved by a spider eating dog - I just had to hope that she wasn't sick afterwards.  My next action was to log on to Amazon to search out a turbo powered spider vacuum, and, yes, they do exist -The Spider & Insect Vac with new Turbo Booster by Bug Buster.

26 comments:

Jacqui's little piece of England said...

Love to read your posts especially on Wednesdays
jacqui x

Debbie Rock said...

Really glad to see you crafting again and wish you luck with The Great Tidy Up!
LOVE seeing your doggies lying beside you ... have had various puppies (belonging to various nephews) here recently and was chuffed when I realised they were lying on my foot (had them on different days so was chuffed twice!)
Great to see the roof finally finished - such an upheaval but now you have the peace and mind of knowing it is done.
Oh, it was your screech I heard, was it? I'd have matched your decibels and had forty-fits had the same happened to me so thank goodness for spider eating dogs!
I'm not WOYWW'ing again this week ;( so do save your time and energy visiting your other visitors today ... I always read your blog but no need to comment back because nothing is going on with mine today.
Much love to you from Debbie xXx

Lunch Lady Jan said...

Hooray for clear, scaffold less windows and dozing dogs..both made me happy for different reasons!! Good luck with your GTU (great tidy up!) I love sorting out and am quite good at deciding what to chick or recycle. They always get me to do it at school...but I can be ruthless, mind!
Hugs, LLJ 20 xx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Is there such a thing as a turbo powered spider vac? If so, I want one, too. The rain in my part of the world has brought out the crazies: ants, spiders, flies, and most of all, mosquitoes.

I'm so glad you had a chance to get some crafting done. Now it's time to sort and rearrange. I bet you find things you had forgotten you have. That's part of the fun (about the ONLY fun, sometimes) of purging and rearranging.

Happy WOYWW from #2. Thanks for visiting already.

Anne said...

Hi Maggie glad you are crafting again and that the scaffolding has gone!!!At moment we are in throes of having boiler and a radiator replaced. Of course it's tipping down outside and cold. I can'y have a cup of tea as have to go for ultra sound at 12 . 30 and only allowed water till afterwards. What a joyous morning. Happy WOYWW to you. Anne x #24

Bernice said...

Glad you've got rid of the scaffolding and had a chance to do a little bit of crafting. I don't like the sound of the spider though!!
Bernice #39

Unknown said...

Lots of projects going on on your desk x

Karen said...

Oooh your poor dogs in the heat, they look so relaxed though which is a good thing. I have a kitty who lays down in the heat, just drops straight over on her side every time - very cute! Love your craft room, clean or messy, it's something I can only dream of for now! ♥ Karen ♥ 56 x

ike said...

OMGoodness - that guillotine !!! I wouldn't dare use it... I get a paper cut just looking at the paper !!!!!! So glad you scaffolding has gone and thanks for the lovely pics of the Fur Babies :-D
Happy WOYWW

IKE in Greece #58

House of Bears said...

No matter how much sorting and organising we do, we still seem to need to sort and organise!

Your dogs are so cute.

Waving hi from The House of Bears @#78

sandra de said...

Wow you have really achieved so much and then to have the spider scar. Thank goodness for spider eating dogs! Have a lovely week.
Sandra @69

Mrs A. said...

I'm beating Miss Di to your pink phone case. I so want one now. Glad your scaffolding is all down now. Ours was only up for two days but that was bad enough. Just got to get the window people back to fix the window ledge the scaffolders broke and the guttering fixed where they broke it but apart from those minor issues pleased with how our work went. Hugs Mrs a.

Winnie said...

I am sitting here chuckling as the first thing my hubby (then boyfriend) gave me as a gift was a bug vacuum! I kid you not. I get crickets in my basement in the summer and freak out! Now, I can zap them. (Now that we are married, he gets that duty..) Winnie#65

Unknown said...

Hoping all your building work is now over then, nice to see your desk properly at last.

Great how dogs like to be with us which ever room we are in, one of my dogs just follows me from room to room endlessly all day long, he loves the warmth of my art space even though I find it way too hot in there.

LOL about the spider, we had one in the bathroom last night too, I need a power thingy from amazon! would have heard me in another country if it landed on my arm, was too close for me just in the loo.

Lynda #59

glitterandglue said...

Just read all three of the last blog entries. Hey - well done - scaffolding GONE!!! Brilliant - it's just so good to be able to go to the loo in peace, isn't it?! Great art work this week - loved the card with the signpost.
Have fun crafting.
Margaret #9

shazsilverwolf said...

Morning Marg- neat touch with the signpost, love it. Told the tech dept that your room is clear now, he said will you email him a reminder of what he has to do? I'd blame the approaching Big 40 for loss of memory, but he's always had a memory like a goldfish!Don't envy you the spider. On your arm! I'd have been hysterical.Speak soon- oh,and I told him about the scone bribe, lol.Love, Shaz xx

Helen said...

oh my, I hat the big spiders... I try to help them escape too, when I'm feeling brave!
Glad you've got back to your desk for crafting - and hope the sort out goes well - don't rush it!! Helen 6

Annmakes said...

Sorry to hear about your encounter with that spider. Nice to see your space. #114 Ann.

Linda Simpson said...

How lovely that the scaffolding has all gone now. Lovely to see you crafting and your desk full of crafty goodies.

Big hugs
Linda xxx

Elizabeth said...

Hi Maggie, good to see you back in your craft room and doing some catching up. So nice that you can open the window and don't the dogs look comfy too. As for the spider, we have a gadget for scooping them up and transporting them to the nearest door/window - to quote my granddaughter, 'I don't do spiders'. I don't do moths either but the scoop doesn't work on them :( Sadly, I can't recall where DH found it but it has proved its worth over the years, as will your Spider vac, I'm sure. Have a good week. Elizabeth x #16

ddazzled71 said...

What adorable little helpers you have. I am loving the look of your guillotine, paper trimmers are my enemy, I had a good rotary trimmer which lasted for years but my new replacement isn't much chop even though I think I paid more for it. I also loved peeking at your wonderful shelves at the back of your desk too.......so fabulous to have everything within reach. Hope you have a great week! Danie #25

pearshapedcrafting said...

Hurray! Just been catching up, so pleased that you are getting back to crafting! Love the picture of the scaffolding disappearing dow the road! Chris46

Julia Dunnit said...

How marvellous to see you backat the table Maggie..and finishing up stuff - that alone is a skill..I've got loads of things just to be tweaked and finished. Don't the dogs look relaxed now..till you start shelf sorting and clearing!! Good luck with that!

Bridget Larsen said...

Your dogs are so adorable. That spider would have kept you awake not knowing if the rest of the family had come to visit you
Bridget #63

Nan G said...

Ok so here I am almost midnight giggling so hard I had to go....well you know. :) A spider vac that's for me. Been stomping on huge wolf spiders being driven in from the soggy and slightly flooded grass by all the rain. I know you said you were crafting but that spider tale just stole the show! Thanks for the earlier visit on the actual day! a late Happy WOYWW! Nan G #75

Darnell said...

I missed you last week, Maggie, so it was great to read that the roof is done and the scaffolding removed! Whoopie!! Good job on getting back to being crafty! The dogs look comfy and cozy and, well, one is a hero in my book for coming to your rescue with the spider dispatch!! Whew! Thanks for the link to the bug vac!!

Happy Belated WOYWW! Enjoy the rest of your week!! Darnell #118