Return of the indeterminate crafting womble

Hello again. How is everyone? needed an excuse to visit again and today seemed a good a day as any. We have been in our new place for just over 3 months and it took me until the end of last week to finish getting the craft room sorted........ A combination of being on an adrenalin (I don't care if it is grammatically incorrect it sounds better to me) fuelled emotional high for 6 weeks after we moved in followed by 4 weeks low then high, low, high, low oh yes and the tansforming of my garden from nothing to productive! - mostly portable so we can take it with us when dh gets the long awaited permanent lectureship thing that he really deserves - although not the proper established one because that has to involve living by the sea and none of the current chances offer this. Anywhoo I have a desk and mostly I have somewhere to put everything (hurrah yay) or possibly not enough stuff.......... ;)

So crafting has been little and sparse, mostly stamping because it is small and highly portable. There was a new addition to my storage crafting space shown below a final treat before the drawing in of the coffers (unsurprisingly the flat is still unsold despite its bargain price tag.......).

There are a number of projects still on the go go and once the exam marking and moderating season has ended (that would be the growing (and still growing) piles scattered about) and the garden is maturing nicely the rains shall be picked up once more. So much to do and so little time. Of course it would help if the dear chiil stopped waking me up in the earlier hours of the morning (it is 4am as I write this) he was fast asleep 5 secs after he was returned to his own bed that was well over an hour a go. Oh well on the plus side it is my birthday today :)

Oh Gosh has it been that long?

Hello everyone - I'm still here I've been doing the mountain and valley thing emotionally since we moved at the beginning of February.  Things are so much better now (nice neighbours for a start).  It has been an entertaining catalogue of disasters too though - nothing I wouldn't take over the last nearly 6 years of my life though :D

The day we moved in the washing machine and fridge/freezer packed up (took 2 weeks to sort the first and a month to properly sort the latter). At this point the shower stopped being able to turn itself off so we had the landlord round at 9:30 at night trying to locate the stop tap (it was hidden behind a panel - at least he did the bashing - I'd already had my fill but more about that later.  Then the next day the boiler packed up (and it was still pretty chilly at the beginning of March.  Still we have shiney new replacements of most things and only the cooker left to pack up (so far it seems pretty solid - touchwood).

Timothy has been delighted with our new place and settled in straight away. He sleeps through the night and everything now :D The instant relaxing of his parents has been attributed towards this.  He delights all by taking them up to show them his bedroom when they visit.  He has, however, been rebelling about the amount of time mummy is spending unpacking and building furniture etc so we have had a number of 'exciting' incidents to deal with, from flour over the floor (makes pretty patterns mind you)

That was the first week, then there was the sanitary products floating in the bath that was 3/4 full.  Followed by the spreading of shredded paper through the whole of downstairs.  The locking of himself and a friend in one of the bedrooms - that would be the door banging part -I had to smash a door panel to get them out (then the shower packed up later that day...........), still need to replace that.  This week we ended up with a bottle of salad cream emptied over the railway tracks and all over the livingroom floor.  Got to love them though right :D

Crafting has largely taken a back seat - there is only so much a girl can do in one day and still need to finish sorting the craft / office space.  There have been a couple of cake decorating moments though:

A couple of scrapbooking classes and I've dug my stamping stuff out and did a trial run for creating mothers day cards.  I've also been trying my hand at gardening the last few days and I managed to remove a very nasty prickly thing and dig over the whole border, next I need to create again :)

border before

Border after

OK it is not quite WOYWW but I'm building up to being back

I promise something handmade to the FIRST 5 people* who leave a comment here who want something. However, to be eligible, you must repost this status, offering something handmade to 5 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade (or homemade) by you and it must be sent to your 5 people some time in 2011. Ready, set, GO!               

Anyone who wants an update on the neighbourly (or lack of situation) please look at previous post.  I've tried putting in some pictures but blogger is not playing at the moment and I have not the patience........

An update long overdue

Hi everyone, hope you all had good christmases or survived the whole thing depending on your take and your health.  By the time it arrived I was ready for the break and the away.  The hardest part was getting out of my sisters driveway on the 23rd as Rugby area had an extreme snow fall on the 22nd.  The motorways were clear and my laptop and Toystory made the whole journey painless.

I'm not really sure what is being dealt with as regards downstairs. He was due to be arrested last week but then yesterday I got a call to say he was being invited in for a chat. One of our neighbours agreed to give a statement to the police (anonymous) regarding the intimidation he and his family have recieved and all that has been said / done regarding ourselves - however (I suspect) as we plan to move on indefinitely (they don't know how soon just the for sale sign board) he failed to show up to the agreed meeting. There are rumours that downstairs is a grass which could explain a number of things. Whitefriars as ever are silent at the working end - we do have one lady who phones up to find out what is being done (but she is not allowed to step in until her colleagues are seen to be failing to do their job............)

So crap out the way.  We are moving out on the 1st Feb, we did the maths and reckon we can just about swing a mortgage and the rent so financially 2011 will be pants BUT, in every other way things have got to be better.  We are moving to a 3 bedroom terrace with a garden, 20 doors down from one set of friends and over the common and across the railway bridge from another.  I CAN'T WAIT -  the reason I haven't posted before is I'm terrified of jinxing the whole thing. The paperwork is now in my hands the rented sign is up and everything set up bar the gas and electricity so I am taking the risk.  So my friends it will go quiet again until we are packed, unpacked and set up but then there will be a shared (office space for dh) dedicated room for crafting in - let the productivity commence and start to build our lives again. All we need to do is get the flat sold - surely that can be accomplished in 2011 - surely.

WOYWW

HI everyone, a quieter week this week.  This is not the time to bog people down with personal stuff but in very brief. Whitefrairs incompetent and useless, West Midlands Police fantastic won't hear a word said against them, there will be an arrest and HE will be tried in the criminal or civil courts and lastly we plan to run ASAP after New Year the flat will end up being empty for a month or 2 maybe but safety is paramount and no one can offer us any protection or methods to obtain proof.

The mini book  - thanks to anyone who stopped by and the handful who left comments :) Hello to the couple of new followers I have acquired and thanks for the support. I tried to persuade T to pick out the name but he resolutely shook his head and said NO! not even for a read of his favourite book. Anyways ONEOFF can you send me your address by email and I'll get the mini in the post to you.

My indeterminant surface is a disaster at the moment. There is some crafting stuff a foot when T will let me between lurgies and insecurity etc.

I have a couple of finishing off bits to do and the assembly of both sets of parents presents the folders of which are visisble here.  I have to take a break as it is DH birthday this weekend and there is much food to be eaten we are escaping over night and then heading for the Birmingham Christmas market on Monday :) Hope you are all having a good week wherever you are and thanks for all the supportive comments at the sucky time.

WOYWW - 78 at least last week was no 77?

Another Wednesday and this one is the start of the Christmas Countdown.  My workdesk this week does not contain craft stuff.  If however you would like to know how to make this:

 

then take a look at the previous link.  If you would like to have this mini book then you just need to leave a comment and check back here next WOYWW -79.  Thank you to the 3 people who have looked in and hello (wave) to my 2 new followers, if you just looked and didn't leave a commnet then that is grand to.  Need more desks check out the link on the right.  If you have turned up here randomly you can ignore the rest for those of you who drop by regularly it's got worse.

I know a number of people who factor in Karma, the thing is if all this crap is happening to us then does that mean we deserve it?  We had to have the police out twice this weekend.  The 1st was a public order offense number 4.  The '__________' (insert suitable expletive) responsible should be arrested at some point this week, I'm afraid I have little faith in many things at the moment so it means very little to me.  I was verbally abused on my way out of my flat and into the street words beginning with F and C were used and I was repeatedly told I wasn't welcome, I'm lucky that T didn't pick up on it because he sure doesn't hear those words at home.  Having reported it all to the police on the Sunday at midday, we left to go to the supermarket to discover that both wing mirrors had been ripped from our car.  I can't tell my 2 year old son why it isn't ok to go back into his room once he has come out in the morning. Or why the piece of scum downstairs doesn't take our wheeley bin out then shouts abuse at one of us for having to take it out before 7 in the morning. Or why mummy is scared to leave the flat and if she does leave why she is frightened to go back. Or why mummy is crying a lot because he only knows crying is because you are hurt or because you can't get what you want and neither of those apply.  The police can do very little as there are never any witnesses. Whitefriars so far have chosen to do nothing, we have a meeting with them on Monday.  We are looking at the best way to try and rent out the flat so that we won't have to foot 2 lots of payments (one mortgage / one rental) because have no doubt this man wants us gone and if we just went (which I would dearly love to do) he would make sure no one else would move in. We have also sorted out a garage to lock the car in from Monday ( the car is called Humphrey and he is away being mended at the moment).  So what ever you believe in please give us a thought, I know there are people who have and will go through far worse, but my little universe is very important to me and at the moment the thing keeping me together is that it is just stuff and I've lost stuff before and that can be dealt with.  My worry is what happens if it changes from stuff to one of us because all the causes and triggers are not going away and can't so where does it end?

Tutorial for an Interlocking Accordion Fan Book.

These mini books are a great quick make for christmas (and numerous other occassions.......). You can put one or more together in a couple of hours.  As has been already been noted they would hold seed packets, recipes, ATCs to name but a few, have fun!

Supplies

2 sheets of 12 x 12 double sided cardstock sliced into 10cm x 30cm (4” x 12”) strips

Coordinating 12 x 12 sheet for book cover

Coordinating cardstock for embellishment and tags

2 of 10.9 x 15.2 (41/4” x 6”) Chipboard or board book for book covers

Double sided tape and glue

To make me

1. Select one strip from each of the different papers, cut them  down from 30cm (12”) to 22.5cm (9”).  Score these pieces of paper at 1.25cm (1/2”) from either end and at the centre point to give two 10cm (4”) squares (left picture).  Score the remaining strips at 10cm intervals (4”).  So you should have 2 pieces like the picture on the left and 4 like the one on the right.

 

2.  Taking your first 3 matching strips. At the midpoint of each 10cm square make a cut from the edge to the centre (5cm or 2”) from the bottom.  Attach the 3 square strips along the tabs using glue or double sided sticky tape. Repeat with the other strips of paper but this time make your cuts from the top to the bottom. N.B. Be aware of directional paper.............

    
3.   3. Interlock downward cuts with upward cuts (you may need to reverse your folding at this point to make it work.  It will start to look like this:

When they are all interlocked you will be able to fold the whole thing flat from each end.

4. Working from the bottom, and ignoring the first piece of paper i.e. selecting only 2 pieces either side of the fold staple about 2.5cm (1”) from the edge near the top. You will have 7 stapled pockets on each side.

5. Taking your choice of paper for covering your chipboard, cut 2 rectangles 13.4cm by 17.5cm (5 ¼ ” by 7”).  Apply glue or adhesive to one side of the chipboard and centre on paper (you will have a ½” border all round).  Cut a diagonal at each corner as shown leaving a small gap to the edge of the chipboard.

Apply double sided sticky tape to all 4 sides and wrap to cover, then  use a coordinating (in my case the reverse leftover piece)  cut two 9.5cm by 12.5cm (3 ¾ “ by 5”) rectangles, cover in glue and centre to complete cover. I use a bone folder at each stage to make sure the 2 surfaces are well adhered.

6.  After deciding which cover is the front and which way round you want your ‘pages’ to face.  Apply adhesive to the top surface of your pages.  Align the bottom of the pages with the base of the cover and centre before adhering the 2 surfaces. Apply adhesive/ glue to upper surface as shown in left picture  centre top book cover over bottom cover (check that you can’t see any of the inside) then adhere together. 

     7.  To finish cut a strip of coordinating paper 10.9cm by 7.5cm (4 ¼ “ by 3”) and score in 1 ¼ “ from either end (approx 3cm) to leave a ½” spine. Glue down aligning book cover edges with edges of score.  Decorate and embellish your book as you want :)

So for your chance to win the above book leave a comment before 8th December, winner will be selected at random and announced on my blog.

 

WOYWW - 77 a mini surprise giveaway

Good morning lovely people.  Have you had a good week? Ours has been a mixed bag, it is all going well with Timothy in his cot converted to bed form, we put him there and he stays although yesterday he 'need truck' this thing is nearly half as big as him, so I snuck it back out once he was a sleep.  On the downside someone threw a full bottle of Groschl through our kitchen window smashing it, (we are a ffirst floor flat so unlikely to be random) we were out, with friends babysitting, so that was a crap end to the evening. Anyway enough rambling thank you for all your lovely comments last week, the papers are this years and last years Imaginesce, polar expressions (2009) and Christmas Cottage (2010). So here's the thing - Julia, I do have a finished book to show you but after some thought I decided to go a stage further.  I will show you shortly the finished minibook - then later this week I will post the tutorial I have written to make your own.interlocking accordion mini. It will be my first tutorial and if you leave me a comment then I'll enter your name into a draw to win the very mini you see below (winner announced in 2 Wednesdays on Dec 8th in WOYWW 79). What's WOYWW where have you been all this time, there is a link on the right head on over and start the journey of a lifetime..........

Enough procrastinating without further ado...............

I used the same idea to produce a holder for some pockets to make a year planner for one of my lucky relatives :)

So if you want the christmas book check back tomorrow night onwards and leave a comment for a chance to have it all to yourself.  Happy Wedneday

WOYWW 76 - 2 ATGS (don't shout)

Ok ok ok, the more eagle eyed among you spotted that hey - there is a logical reason honest.  You buy an ATG for yourself and figure you'd get your mum one for Christmas because she would find one useful too.  So you set your own up as a 6mm, buy the adapter thingy and ship your tape in from the states because you can't get it in the UK.  Then it turns out your ATG tape is better than your doublesided sticky tape at sticking chipboard to paper - all of a sudden you are going through 6mm tape like it is water through your hands or money through a crafting person (ha ha) so then you have an inspirational idea - you have already got your mum more than agreed budget so run her ATG gun with the 12mm tape which you can get here in the UK and therefore buy in much smaller quantities.  So then you have 2 ATGs that you are using both very helpful in their own way - see (my mum's bestmate has ended up buying her one for Christmas anyway when I told her about them!) - well they are on sale at the moment. Simples see!

Right so workdesk space thingy.

My workspace is a hive of Christmas activity - it's ok after bonfire night now :) I'm making some lovely quick album thingies that were inspired by a Laura Denison design and in the back is a card - I'm mainly a Lavinia stamps kinda girl, the father christmas stamp was a gift from a friend of my mums when we went to the NEC so I wanted to make her a card to say thank you.  The houses were stamped with versafine black, coloured in with promarkers then coloured over with a viersamark pen before being clear heat embossed so that I could brayer over the top. Moon was made using a post it note mask. One desk not enough then head on over to the Queen of it all at the Stamping ground and find 2, 3 or probably a hundred and something more!

Now for those lovely few of you who have been following T exploits.  Climbing on to the chest of drawers turned very quickly into a bid for freedom and so the cot has been converted into its bed form.  So far in 2 nights we have had 2 nights slept through and it only took us 45 min to get him to stay in bed and go to sleep (the first night we kinda cheated he fell asleep in the car when OH took me to my scrapbook class and didn't wake up until the morning........)  So it is bye bye lovely 2 hours afternoon of freedom nap time but hopefully he will now sleep through the night.  I really must post more often so that these WOYWW don't turn into a tome.  Have a lovely week (can't you just spot I've have more sleep recently!)

WOYWW 75 - reorganisation

Where to start this Wednesday morning.  Sleep deprivation has been high on our agenda still.  I think it has been cold related but OH and I have been woken up or kept up too many times to count by the 2 year old terror.  Yesterday through his choice not mine there was no afternoon nap (I went into his room to discover he had climbed out of his cot on to the chest of drawers (which is above the level of his cot.......) pulled down the curtain rail and was proudly declaring mummy mummy).  However last night we ALL slept through the night - I'm sure many of you have been there where young person sleeps through and you lie awake at the times they have been disturbing you for the last for rthe last however many weeks. Please let it be over and normal sleep resuming.  Then however many weeks (think it is being counted in days now)until Christmas - it's ok bonfire night is over now we are officially allowed to start thinking about it. I get a debtors letter claiming I owe £90 to Orange from 2007 -n what I want to know is as I have lived at this address since way before then why oh why is this the first I have heard about it (and I haven't been with Orange for a good while).  Lastly there was my trip to the NEC which was a lovely if not elbow bashing day out toooooooooo many people.  Yet I was disappointed I think maybe because the needlecraft section was in the craft section this time the papercraft etc section was much much smaller.  Good deals on Martha Stewart punches but then I couldn't remember where I had seen them all and soooo many people (I don't really like lots of people much happier with a few special ones - you know like you guys) I'm sure I over spent on the punches I got by about 5 quid. other than resupplying my sakura glue pens it was a poor buying session (still manages to spend enough mind you). Is that enough words D???

Anways if your still here I did get a shiny big (much better for chopping 12 x 12 than an A4 mat .................. sorry about that dragged away to put nutella on baby boys (I know 2 is not a baby but he is my baby) toast. Where was I ah yes shiny new cutting mat, however there was no way yesterday I was going to get mat in place with previous chaos so rearrangement time.  Which led to more rearrangement - especially with the curtain pole coming down in the boy's room so I took a mid craft tidy break to sort out and rearrange the bedrooms - I'm sure I am not the only one to be so easily distracted.  Still with the appalling weather it gave me the opportunity to work on the above beautiful butterflies (A Bug's Life is currently no. 1 on T DVD list).  So today the sun is out, there are no packages to be delivered, the flat is in a reasonable state, we may just have to get some fresh air, mind you  that cold has settled on T chest maybe we should stay in the warm and I should craft?.................