WOYWW - I blooming finished it at last

Hello lovely people it is nearly here oh yes the month of December. I have yet to see the town with its pretty lights and still need to organise my yearly trip to eat ham at the Birmingham Christmas market but anticipation is in the air my friends.

My desk this week looked liked this:

Complete and utter carnage and then of course I had to clear it for dinner - now all it has on it is some drinks and a laptop - why I hear you cry because my friends my task today was to finish the advent calender and it is done oh yes it is done and it has been presented to my dear son and greeted with much interest - we counted along the number of days and then yes there are presents at the end. Now it is hung and filled with chocolatey goodness so I present to you (sewers please don't look at the corners, otherwise rather a proud lady!)

The done could also apply to the finished making parts of all secret Santyness oh yes or the pile of Crimble cards you can see at the back all made and ready to be written in and padded out with the obligatory summary of the year (I am holding out ladies (and gent) for the hopeful news of the sale of our flat (enquires answered (hopefully well enough) paperwork returned, searches in, surely I can start to hope again now, surely it will all be over soon.  The only current blight on my cheery landscape - some bugger snaffled me credit card details - caught very early (John Lewis have a very effective monitoring technique) but now I am without a card for a week or so and I faithfully clear my card every month but I do spend it all so I am sitting very tight and hoping it arrives sooner rather than later (very glad we stocked up on food at the weekend.....). Can I just say though I love my new book binding glue where has this stuff been for the last 2 years of my life?

Right off you go desks to been seen, there is a WOYWW banner on the right click and enter a world of WOW (like you don't know about it all already ha!)

WOYWW - sssshhhhhhhhh

My desk for you all this lovely crispy morn. This was my facebook status yesterday
 '‎2hours cleaning and tidying, 4 hours tutoring, hour and a half making elves, santa, reindeer sleigh and snowy scene (with help of CBeebies magazine). Now for dinner. Another quiet day at the ranch. Watching Timothy fly a sleigh around shouting 'hee hoo' and 'another blooming Christmas'.............'  

It should go on to say ' eat dinner, try and persuade toddler (failed miserably - banned biscuits fed milk instead) to eat some dinner, hang up 2nd load of washing, wash-up, help put toddler to bed, craft for an hour and a half while watching Kate Crane DVD, go to bed, read book for 20 mins then fall fast alseep. Nothing to reveal on my desk this week- all secret santy at the moment (nudge nudge wink wink). The sleigh and accompaniments are visible in the background.......

Sorry I didn't get round to visiting everyone who came to me last week (I will do better this week), and helo to Shaz in Oz :). Durham was beautiful as always - not the visit we had hoped with the Lumiere festival on but we were all delighted by the snow globe in the market square (which is good because it really was all we got to see)

Next to it is the place we stayed in Durham - our favourite drinking place when we lived there (and I was fortunate enough to live on Hallgarth St for 2 of my 3 years. We also spent our wedding night there :) so lots of happy memories.  I will stick up a separate post about the image transfer (don't worry Crafty Elf I tend to post on Wednesdays and if I do a different thing I'll give you a heads up on a Wednesday!).

Right I think that is as brief as I can manage. have a good week and I'll see you all next week in December (ha ha ha - how many of you are panicking? - don't go and look at desks instead via Mrs Dunnit and the WOYWW link on the right (like you don't know how to get there already....)

WOYWW - Some of it is not even for Christmas

Only one thing for Christmas this week from me, still working on DS advent calender, all the stitching is in place and I am just quilting Santa - I am really pleased with the way it is looking.  The table of determinate purpose is getting more of a look in this week so I have something to display. At the end of last week I finished my card for the Quick Cards competition - 12 days of Christmas it is not as elaborate as my previous entries so not sure if it will get anywhere - but I scanned it in and plan to print off copies to send out as my cards this year:

Meanwhile on my desk today are these non Christmas treats:

On the right I signed up for a free course on Willowing with Guadalupe Brizuela Cabal learning how to draw and colour Mandalas. Very relaxing and an interesting experience, this was the result of the first lesson part 2 tomorrow . On the left is the start of my last memory box for a wedding this weekend in lovely Durham, I am intrigued to see what is going to happen I found an image transfer technique.  Basically coat a piece of cardstock with washable PVA glue in a thin layer and allow to dry.  Print picture on to cardstock (I had to flip my photo of Durham castle and cathedral in picture manager so it is the right way in the end). Apply a thin layer of mod podge to the area of wood that you want to apply the picture then press down while still wet and make sure picture is well adhered to the wood. Then wait overnight so here we are:

Tomorrow evening I will apply water to the cardstock and gradually rub away leaving hopefully the finished transferred image. If it works well then I shall do the same idea with the date - if not paint will be coming out!

Hope you are all having a good week and may you get round lots of desks and experience lots of goodness via Mrs Dunnit :)

WOYWW - a change of scene

Hello - are you all well? Me I am having a change of scenery at the moment. The table of indeterminate purpose has been temporarily abandoned for the sofa of most determinate purpose - that is I am hand sewing. That's because I wanted to make my little fella something adventy - I was toying with wooden and altering and then Wispo (oops nearly wrote twilglet and then twilight there, that is what is entertaining me - sorry Carmen the vampire porn is hilarious but something about the first book and film I love and you can keep RP but the whole Edward look - hello!). So soory very easily diverted I saw the lovely hand stitched advent calender that Annie had and then at the NEC my mum offered to buy one for me to make for Timothy - well ladies (and gents) in this time of frugal spending who am I to refuse so I give you my started advent calender on the sofa of determinate purpose........

Now stretching back a week - the pies - very very easy - take one silicon muffin mould, push a layer of pastry into cover so you can see no colour anywhere (no resting pastry needed or rolling  :) add in your filling, seal on pastry lid using water (more pushing!)  Bake at 190 - 200degC for 20 to 25 min, let them cool for 2-3 min upend on to a baking tray (they pushed out really easy without greasing). Egg wash the tops and put back in the oven for another 20 min. Voila!  We figured cherry filling with heart moulds would be good the possibilities are endless - now go find those silicon muffin trays and bake!!

Motivation - at the moment I think the reason I can do so much (out of sight on the table are two finished secret santy presents (first one done - just one thing to buy and then a wrapping - aren't you  just proud of me!) , The start of another bag, A card for a competition. Is that I have lots of different things so if one thing is frustrating or boring I leave it for something else, sewing, painting, papercraft.  Another is that I have some nearer deadline stuff and other 25th of next month  and last and I think this one is a no brainer - I love making things for people, it gives me so much pleasure and all that I make has a person who will receive it so everything is personalised to them no as in named but something important so hopefully will be received with love and appreciation.  Right of to sew(and drool a little).

I will post about how I did the bag (it didn't even get a look in oh well!) soon in a separate post but will give you a heads up on the nearest woyww post.  Have a good week you hear.

WOYWW- still juggling

Hello - thank you for all your lovely supportive comments. I did think I was going to have to have serious words with one of you this week, been looking everywhere for my Versafine black ink pad and rickety fence punch, I knew I had them the other week and then poof gone......... thought one of you nosey lot had run off with them, turns out I had stuffed em in a bag and put them upstairs when I had finished the competition entries......... so in advance sorry!

So down to business my desk this week:

Lets see some secret santy stuff on the lower left, one project finished and a second started. Some alphabet cutters (for the bargain price of £3 from Sainsburys - planning to get the fimo back out soon for a last memory box as a wedding gift). A finished bag for my sister-in-law for Christmas and the starting of another one for one of my best friends. Moving over  an open note book with ideas in it and then plans and materials for a competition card for Quick Cards, thought it was about time I had another go, fortunately got until 15th November. Oh and a little slip of paper with the winning name from the draw for the Wizard of Oz nesting boxes - what do you mean you can't see it from there?..........

Ok here it is closer up then:

If you go to my profile you will find a link for my email address please let me know your address and I shall get it on the way - sorry I couldn't give all you lovely people who wanted them one.....

Right and last but not least I just had to show you these (they were on the table of indeterminate purpose just on Saturday not Wednesday........) I was so pleased with the way they turned out I had to share - little Halloween sausage, onion, potato and apple pies :D

Oh and on the flat front - third offer lucky - keep everything crossed, we are.............