WWOYWW 445

Hi there all, really wanted to blog today, more to the point, I really wanted something to blog, and as Tuesday is a day when every one is out, I could use the dining room table all day, and do something I had been planning for days. So I started getting things out, all needing to be hauled out from under the bed.

And then I went back for the power cable, the plates, thecard, and the die I wanted to use. And that is where it all ground to a halt, couldn't find the die, I had it in my hand on Monday, and was absolutely sure I knew where I had put it, and with only two small boxes and a bag for all my craft stuff, it couldn't be very far.
Five hours later, I found it under the chest of drawers, but by then it was nearly supper time, and my worktop was no longer available.
I am so grateful to my daughter and her husband for giving us a home, when I couldn't possibly manage on the boat, but I do so want a craft room of my own. There is some good news on the house front, we have made an offer, subject to survey, on a house near Lincoln, with plenty of room for a dedicated craft room. The bad new is I can't see a quality craft shop in easy reach!!!
For those who want to know,  I am making slow progress, walking with just a stick, and can do much that I want to do, but cannot walk too far without hurting. The range of movement in my arm is still very limited,  I can't do my hair properly and certainly can't do my bra up behind my back. So there is still a long way to go.
So, enough of my boring crafters moan, take yourselves over to our host The wonderful Julia. There  you will be able to see posts of really crafty blogs.
Bless you for reading and happy WOYWW
Chris

WOYWW 435

Well I made it to the crop, really wonderful day, meeting such lovely WOYWWers. There was Julia, of course, and Lunch Lady Jan. Also Delores (Cardarian), Annie (Wipso), Anne (Copper Beeches), Elizabeth (Silver Scrapper), Sarah Brennan and her crafty friend Eva, Neet, Christine (Bishops mate) and of course Margaret (Glitter and glue), who organised everything and worked so hard to get things done.

And it wasn't just meeting Deskers that was so great about the crop, it was getting some lovely goodies. ATCs, a fabric tray, with ATC, a tag, a stone "ATC" and a "dumfed" note book. Felt rather guilty that I had nothing to take to share, but thought I could be excused, just this once as I have been somewhat indisposed!
On that subject,  I am making slow progress,  walking with a four footed stick, but not climbing stairs yet. (One additional bonus of coming to the crop was that we stayed at Margaret's house, and she has a fantastic wet room shower, of which I took great advantage, not having had a shower since I left hospital) My shoulder is still very painful and physio to improve function and full range of movement adds to the pain level.
 Now the title of this blog group is What's on your Worktop Wednesday, however, as I am currently limited to using my daughter's dining table for a craft space, and you really wouldn't be interested in seeing breakfast on it on Wednesday morning, I managed to grab a couple of hours crafting Tuesday afternoon, so that is what I as sharing now.
Anticlockwise from the left is the wonderful Tim Holtz Stamping platform,  which has given my stamps a reprieve from the skip, centre front is a card for my sister in law, and next a stamp I got out but then didn't use.
Further round is a pile of paper I took to the crop, on top of which is the only bit of crafting I did on the day, and at the back is my well used guillotine.  Then there is a pink folder with my stamps in and you can just see the box housing my dew drop ink pads.
Well that is all I have to share with you lovely visitors,  and if you are new to this and want to know more, visit the lovely Julia at her Stamping ground.
Have a good day and thank you for visiting me .
Bless you all,
Chris 

WOYWW 425

Well I was determined to blog this week, and first can I say thanks for all the kind messages via Margaret last week. We really are on the move, craft stuff all packed away, either in Margaret's attic, on the boat or ready to go into storage with the rest  of our furniture until we find our mansion by the canal, or at least a nice house.
So my worktop as it was on Monday, completely clear, apart from the glass mat, which I want removal men to take extra care of.

And I have scrubbed the surface clean, all the glue and paint and other gunk that missed the mat and stuck to the surface, all removed.
Initially we will be living on board the boat, and then, for about 6 weeks, in a caravan while the boat is out of the water for a repaint. During this time we will be house hunting, but we are very particular in what we want. Detached house or bungalow, 3 or more bedrooms, WITH A CANAL MOORING. That is absolutely essential, and properties with moorings are not quite as rare as hen's teeth, but very nearly. There are certainly not many on the market.
In order to be ready for the move, I have made sure I had made all the cards I need until the beginning of October, so here are a few of them.

For my daughter and son in law.

For a friend.
Ooooppps sorry about my feet.





























For OH's uncle who is 95 in August    

I was going to share a couple more but Blogger is misbehaving badly, and won't let me.
So thank you for visiting my blog, and thank you Julia for hosting this extravaganza of craftiness.

As we are moving on August 3rd, I maybe rather busy tomorrow, but will try to get back to any lovely soul who comments,
Bless you all
Chris

WOYWW 416

HAPPY 8th WOYWW Anniversary  everyone and a special thank you to Madame Julia for hosting this wonderful community of crafters.

As usual, we are away on our boat this time of year,

 so my worktop is the dinette table on the boat, so I can only do a bit at a time. Every time I get on a roll, I have to stop, cook a meal and clear everything away so we can eat. Or I have to go and operate a lock, or 3 or more, but I  couldn't miss the eight anniversary of WOYWW so I have to try and join in this week.

What you see there is that I have been playing with PanPastels to produce coloured backgrounds.

And then I stamped on them, which gives me something with which to make emergency cards quickly.

 And here you see Max very bored with the whole process.

And this was last night's sunset over the canal at Welford.
So tomorrow we are off to the boat show at Crick, where we may or may not have any signal for me to reply to comments,  but thank you for your visits and comments and I will try my best to respond.
Bless you all and Happy WOYWW.
Chris

WOYWW 410

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY OUT.

I know this is supposed to be about my work desk, but I just must share some amazing pictures of our day out with Margaret, last Saturday.

We left Rhos on Sea at about 10.30 and headed for Beddgelert, where we parked and then ambled along the river.

One of the individual gates along the river path.

View along the river

The weather was beautiful, warm and calm and just lovely.


































The river was clear and bubbling gently.

View across the river to the Welsh highland railway

And the sun went on shining.

Mr D and Margaret eating a picnic lunch

And then we walked up to the station and saw lots of trains at Beddgelert station.

Pair of Fairley steam engines on Welsh Highland Railway

 We had a really blessed day, and delivered Margaret home where she fed us a lovely supper.

Ah yes, I've just remembered. this is What's on Your Worktop Wednesday, so I'd better show you what was on my worktop on Tuesday.

 There a card I made for my great niece, she is 7 on Friday, sorry you can't see it very clearly.

And card I made for my great nephew who is 12 on Easter Monday. (Not the same family, so the similarity of the cards won't be too obvious)
If you would like to see more worktops, instead of a tour of the beautiful Welsh countryside, I'll direct you to  Madame Julia who hosts this thing called WOYWW where we are open our desks to snoopers and say 'welcome'
And I'll beat a hasty retreat before being castigated for having a picture heavy post.
Have a great day visiting desks and Happy Woyww.
Chris 

WOYWW 407

MESSY DESK ALERT

Well as usual my desk is so messy that I haven't shown you the bulk of it, just the working part.

Trying to keep it tidy is just beyond me, so I'll just share what I am at at the moment.

On the left you can see my box of inks, the dewdrop inks, I like those for stamping. Behind the box are some dies from China that haven't been put away yet, I think they have only been there for about three weeks. To the right of the box is a card I started making and reached 'Not sure what to do next stage' so it will join the box of 'unfinished symphonies' until I have further inspiration.
On the right front corner of the glass mat is something I have working on for a swap, so had to cover it with the glue before I took the pic, and then on the extreme right is a card I was playing with and was please with the result until I realised that I got water on it and there is a smudge in the top left corner. More inspiration needed to work out how I conceal that.
So why am I telling you this, because it is 'What's on Your Worktop Wednesday' hosted by the wonderful Julia at her Stamping ground. where we willing expose our crafty desks so that others can snoop at them, but more than than, we make good friends.
Sorry I have been AWOL for a while, we have been out on our boat, and while I do manage some craft work there, internet access for blogging is not always brilliant, and the time available for replying to comments is even more limited, too many locks to do!  As I haven't managed to share much craft with you recently, I will let you see where I have been over the past couple of weeks.

 Sunset over the Shropshire Union canal and

a spring morning on Shropshire Union canal.

And if you don't know what a lock is,

this is the type of lock that has to worked by hand and you can see the next one in the near distance too, and there are a lot of them on some stretches or the system
Thank you for visiting, I will try to reply to all your lovely comments.
and have a wonderful Wednesday.


Chris

WOYWW 400

So it is February and I haven't managed to blog at all this year so far. So here I am and what have I got to show you for WOYWW 400'th edition? What would you expect from me except this:

Yes chaos on the desk, I'm trying to sort it all and Margaret will testify that I have put a lot of stuff out,. She had a rummage in the bag before I send it to the children's ward of our local hospital. But as usual that term 'sort' has beaten me, I just can't get to grips with how to separate it into different categories, die cuts and toppers are fairly simple, but bits of embossed card and bits that have stamping on them and bits to go on toppers and bits of master board, and I would need about 20 categories to sort it all, so is will go back in a box or a bag for further 'sorting' at a later stage.
The problem with sorting is also as I pick up a piece, and then another bit, my brain goes 'click!' I could make a card with those two bits and a bit out of the drawer, shall I put them on one side, or shall I make it now? Much more interesting than sorting to make it now, shove the unsorted stuff aside and make a card, like this.

  Or this. Actually that looks quite pink there, and it really is very green.
And here are a couple of cards I made earlier in the sorting chaos.

So, why am I sharing all this nonsense with you?
Because it is What's on Your Worktop Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Lady Julia over at The Stamping Ground.  Do pop over  and see lots of interesting desks there,
and thank you for dropping by here
and bless you if you comment,

Chris