What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

Wednesday is here again and that means it's time for another WOYWW.  Doesn't time fly so quickly when you are not at work?  I go back to work tomorrow after 13 days off and I just can't believe how quick time has flown.  I'm quite sure the next 2 weeks until half term, when I have another week off, will not fly by so quick.  There is no picture of my desk after last weeks viewing because, despite being off work, it still looks exactly the same. Nothing added and most certainly nothing removed!  I have done some crafting; crochet on the sofa and scrapping in the kitchen.  

Here is my last LO that I completed:

I have used the My Mind's Eye range Lost & Found 2:Blush for this LO plus some mini alphas, large glitter alphas, a doily, gems, Jenni Bowlin's weathervane ink and Studio Calico's Mr Huey in Piglet.  I originally had these papers as part of a class at Sarah's Cards Retreat last November but I have purchased more as I just love them.

The design is based on this very beautiful LO by Lisa.  I just love Lisa's scrapping especially her use of embellishments. Lisa lives in Germany and although we live many mimes apart I have had the pleasure of meeting her on a number of occasions when she pops in to Bromsgrove Crop which her sister Libby runs.  Do pop over to Lisa's blog and take a look at her fantastic and creative work.  One month I will try to join in with the Counterfeit Kit Challenge.  Just need to find the time at the beginning of the month to pull a kit together; lets face it, there is plenty to choose from in my house.

If you fancy seeing some other great crafty spaces pop on over to Julia and take a look.

One A Day Tuesday Tallies (24 January 2012)

I have been spending sometime crocheting this past week but I have not had the chance to do as much as I would have liked on the pram blanket.  I have decided to do 5 rows of dc instead of 3 either side of the cream stripe.  I have now completed 3 blocks of colour and 2 blocks of cream.  

The pram blanket looks like this:

I have started to sew some of the ends in but with 5 single rows of dc in each colour block there are alot of ends and I don't like sewing ends in!

I think the blanket will need 7 blocks of colour and 6 of cream which means I am 1/3 completed plus a border.  I was hoping to have progressed more than this but sadly life got in the way.  


However, I have been working on my squares for Stocki and also squares for the Charity blanket the knit group I attend in Stourbridge are making.  We are planning on making a blanket for the local hospice in spring colours.  

I have been using Rico Creative Cotton Aran Yarn which I purchased at my LYS.

This is what I am making; Granny Daisy Squares:

And stripes:

Three squares made to date:

You will be pleased to know I have sewn the ends in on these squares.  One thing I am struggling with is getting them to be 6" exact.  Any ideas on how I can achieve this?


Don't forget to pop on over to Gingerbread Girl Carole's blog and see some other one a day projects.

Scarappy Sunday

Yesterday I spent the morning scrapping.  It seems forever since I scraped but in reality its only a week.  I put it down to all the madness going on here right now.  Work has been a big issue in my life the past few months and the last 10 days have been hell.  Until things are settled, I am hopeful it will be a positive outcome, I am plodding on and trying to live with the stress of it all.

Scrapping on a Sunday morning was just what I needed.  These are the LO's I created with the help of Sarah's Cards DT:

It was nice to scrap some older photos from back in October 2010 and fill the spaces in my albums.  

When I first received December's Sarah's Cards kit I really thought that is not me, I am never going to use this kit.  

However, I used some of the kit for my Project Life title page and then surprisingly I made the above 4 LO's.  I add the piece of Kraft and some small alphas but apart from that everything is from the kit.  I think I have another one or two LO's in this kit and I'd like to get them completed this week so I can say I have finished a kit in its entirety.  This is a very rare thing in this house!

Pass The Page Blog Hop

Last year Julie put out a plea for people to join in a pass the page game.  The idea being that Julie would make a lo then send it on to the fisrt person who would make their interpretation.  Then the second person would make a LO based on the first person's and so on.  

Julie designed and made a LO and then passed it on to me as first participant.  This is the page I received:

After I had picked myself up off the floor and realised my comfort zone had just just got up, walked off and ended up in outer space I then went in to panic mode!  No patterned paper, paint, mists, words can't express how not me this is!

Anyway, I finally gave in to the panic and made this page:

I placed the photos and just could not do it with no paper and just paint there.  I just had to add a little paper and some hessian.  I then proceeded to cover the hessian and paper but felt comfortable with that.  Strange I know but knowing there was paper there made things so much better!

Although it really is not me I have enjoyed pushing myself to try something new and have gained a little bit of courage to step outside of my comfort zone.  

Thank you for arranging this Julie and I hope the other ladies enjoyed taking part as much as I have and I can't wait to see all the finished LO's.

If you would like to see the finished LO's too, pop on over to Lea or if you have come straight here the first stop is Julie.


Don't forget to have a look at Deb's blog where there are details of a giveaway.

Here is the full list of participants:

Julie: http://jsquaredscrapspot.wordpress.com/

Candace:  wannabescrapbookaddict.blogspot.com      <---  You Are Here

Lea:  finallyscrappin.blogspot.com 

Helen (Hosted by Lizzie below)

Lizzie:  http://lizziemade.blogspot.com 

Sian:  http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com 

Clair:  http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.com 

Helen:  http://craftimperfect.blogspot.com 

Alison:  http://alisonslife-in-the-slow-lane.blogspot.com 

Ginger:  http://gingerslifeofspice.blogspot.com 

Jemma:  http://www.Just-Jimjams.blogspot.com 

Lisa-Jane:  http://comeinsidemycrazyhead.blogspot.com 

Deb Clark:  http://debisjoy.blogspot.com 

Alexa:  http://simplyalexa.typepad.com 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

No words required.

Pop on over to Julia to join in or have a look at some crafty spaces which you are not seeing here.

One A Day Tuesday Tallies (17 January 2012)

Its Finished!!!!  

My first Ta Da of the year!

The first of many!

This year is the year of COMPLETION

and I will complete lots.

Here it is:

My finished cot ripple blanket.  Made using Rico Baby DK wool in cream, purple, turquoise, red, petrol, grass green and denim blue.  

I was able to crochet 5 stripes from one ball; 27 stripes in total plus boarder which is equivalent to 10 stripes.  

Just over 7 balls in total at £2.25 a ball.

Just loving this snugly blanket and I can't wait for Baby Hyde to arrive to wrap it up and hug it tight.

Now my one a day blanket is finished, its time to move on to a new one!  To accompany the cot blanket baby Hyde needs pram blankets.  This is my progress so far:

I am using Rico Baby DK again; this time in cream, red, petrol and green.  There are 3 rows of dc in the red, petrol and green followed by 4 rows of tr in cream.  

I am then going to do 5 rows of dc (red, petrol, green, petrol, red) before 4 rows of tr in cream.  Final row will be 3 rows of dc in red, petrol and green.

I plan on getting this blanket finished this month as I have some time off work and plan to concentrate on this as I have lots of other crafty makes I am eager to do this year.

Pop on over to Carole to see lots of other one a day tallies.

A Make A Month

This year I have set myself a goal to make more handmade items and to also give as Christmas and Birthday presents.  Therefore, in order to help me achieve this I have signed up to a lovely group where everyone pledges to make something handmade every month.  You can make anything you like.  Knit, sew, crochet, paper crafts, bake.  You name it, as long as you have made it by hand it counts.

If you fancy joining in, head on over to Annie and sign up.  Each month you upload a picture of your hand made item to the appropriate flickr group.  Looking forward to this new adventure.

10 Things on The 10th (January 2012)

This month I am going to share 10 amazing places we visited last year:


Cologne

Prague

Warsaw

Krakow

Venice

Bravaria

Bruges

Arley

Stratford Upon Avon

West Midland Safari Park

Although we absolutely enjoyed our European adventures last year I can honestly say we did visit some amazing places in the UK as well; too many to list here sadly.  Having reviewed the finances :0( I can honestly say we are probably looking at staying the UK this year.  This does not disappoint me as I would love to introduce some amazing places to Liam and Freya and also visit the many places in the UK I have never been.

Pop on over to Shimelle for some other 10 things.

One A Day Tuesday Tallies (10 January 2012)

Are you ready?  I don't think you will believe this, I am struggling to!  I now have one very nearly finished ripple!!!  I have decided to end my ripple adventure at 27 stripes.  this make a nice square blanket.  On Sunday I had finished those 27 stripes:

I have since completed 1 1/2 round on my border and I am just loving how this blanket looks.  The plan is now to complete the other 3 1/2 rounds of the border and come back next Tuesday with the finished item.

The only problem now is which WIP will be my new one a day project.

Pop on over to Carole and see some other one a day projects.

Project Life Wk 1

Last thing Saturday night after the kids had gone to bed I used my new photo printer and printed off some photos for both JYC and Project Life.  Just love that I can print a small number of photos out the minute I want and then just scrap.

I have sorted the photos for JYC into the album and am a little unhappy that I may be a few short to complete the album.  Having said that who is going to know they are taken a few weeks in to the New Year.  I'm not going to tell!  Anyway, I need to catch a few extra photos and hope to work on the album over the next few weeks.  I printed the photo for the first week of Project Life and finished the first week's pages.

Surprisingly I could have filled two page protectors this week but I am going to stick with my decision of one a week as I know this is unlikely to be the case every week.  It was so easy and quick to complete with the pages prepared in advance.  Going to get on top of some more pages this week.

Project Life

In my 'This Year I Will' post I listed Project Life as a goal for this year.  If you have not heard of this project you can read all about it here but basically it is a weekly scrapped project detailing the every day activities.  The project comes with special pockets and paper packs that are pre cut to fit the pockets.

The scrapping goodies can be purchased on Amazon but sadly are not available for postage to the UK and as I don't know anyone to post to in the USA then post on to me I have adapted the supplies I can get in the UK and will try to dent my mega stash pile.

I just love the different page pockets available and so wish they were available to buy here and the paper packs just make this project so simple as there is no cutting involved.  Having said that I like choosing my supplies and having control to use what I like and just love to make my project me.

I have completed the opening page which has 3 spaces for photos.  I am not adding photos yet as I want to add photo's from 2012, this is a 2012 project and photos from this year should be used in my opinion.  

I am using American Crafts page protectors; a 10 x 12 and a 6 x 12 for each week.  Project life also does a double spread each week.  I know that I struggle to pick up my camera and take photos and feel a double page needing 8 to 10 photos every week will be too much.  The last thing I want to do is give up because I didn't take enough photos that week.

I think the key to this project will be organisation and intend to make pages in advance so I just need to add photos and journalling.  This is how I started the year with the Document 2011 and managed to keep on top until I got behind with preparing the months pages in advance.  This is one of my pre preprepared pages:

I certainly think making these pages in advance will be the key to this project and I hope to use up lots of old stash by completing this project.  I want this project to be about the everyday and still plan to complete a Document 2012 as well which will follow last years format.

I am also hoping my recent purchase in the New Year sales will help me; I treated myself to a photo printer.  It works out more expensive than using photobox which is what I usually use but I find that sometimes I just want a few pictures and want them now!  This is where the new printer will come in to its own and I hope that only needing 4/5 small photos a week I can keep on top of Project Life.

One Little Word

It came to me during the night, that one little word for 2012.....

COMPLETION


com·ple·tion  
1. The act of completing or the state of being completed

Yes, 2012 will be the year of completion.  Not just crafty projects, not just house renovation projects and yes there are many of those to complete.  But also the year I complete personal goals.  


The year to bring the last 39 years all together. It really is something I need to do before that big 40 hits in 15 months time (OMG!!!!!).

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

I know I shouldn't start any new projects and I included on my This Year I Will list last year that I would finish crochet projects before any new were started and I have also included this aim on my 2012 goals.  But just between Christmas and New Year I was getting a little bored with the cot ripple and fancied something new and quick.

I also know I shouldn't buy any yarn either but I did on Friday.  Lots of it to be precise but I'll show you that when it comes hopefully later this week.  Just to tease you more I'll also be back with some sales bargains I just had to have.  Totally needed you know.  Needed to help me with this stash mountain I am hiding under.  Needed to help me achieve crafting goals for 2012.  You know, I just NEEDED!

Every crochet project I have on the go at the moment is large and I have around 95% to complete on all of the projects I have started.  I want something quick to complete.  The two scarf's I made for presents have given me the finish bug and I need a quick fix project.

As I started this new project last week, the last week of 2011, it doesn't count towards the breaking of finish crochet projects before new ones are begun goal I have set for 2012.  Well I have completely ripped off Heather's Pink Daisy Blanket.  I did try to make it a complete granny but during blocking I thought no, no, no.  It was just not right:

So I ripped it back a round and thought I must rip Heather off completely:

One little daisy round.....and then it multiplied!  I have 4 finished squares now, which I am really happy with for a few days work.

Look, I've even sewed in the ends as I've gone along.  Can't quite believe it can you?  Well neither can I.

Wonder how long I can keep this dedication up?  Probably not long as I go back to work today after a lovely 2 weeks off.

Pop on over to Julia to see lots of other crafty work desks around the WWW.

One A Day Tuesday Tallies (3 January 2012)

This is the first Tuesday Tally of the New Year and I am starting off with a complete 7 this week which is what I would like to achieve each week this year.  I plan on completing lots of projects this year and I have plenty of WIPs to keep me busy.  

This week I have completed 7 stripes (14 rows) on the cot blanket which is now 24 stripes long and looks like this:

I think I have about another 15 stripes to complete.  I have also sewn in about 1/3 of the ends; the thing I hate most about crochet!  My aim is to get this blanket finished by the end of this month.

I have been off work for the past 2 weeks, sadly today is my last day at home and I go back to work tomorrow but during this time off I have began another crochet project.  I know I shouldn't have as I need to complete all the WIPs I have, but this is a gift and I had already purchased the yarn for it and wanted to get ahead.  Plus I was getting bored with ripples; too many of those on the go at the moment!  Pop back tomorrow where I will show you the progress made so far.


I have also updated the photos on the left sidebar to show you where I am on each of the projects.  a little progress has been made the last month but not as much as I would have liked.  This, I promise you is going to change this year.  This is the year for completion!

If you want to have a catch up and look at some other one a day projects pop on over to Carole at Gingerbread Girl.

Scrapping Catch Up

I thought it was about time I concentrated on Document 2011 before I find myself at the end of this month and at the point where I should be concentrating on this years project.  Apart from the printing of a few photos I have completed up to August.  This is a little photo heavy but here is my Document 2011 project:

Album Cover

January

February

March

April

May

Page 3 is in need of some photos and only consists of news and weather at the moment.

June

July

August

Really love this project and I am certainly completing another album this year.  Just 4 months to catch up on now for 2011.