WOYWW 235

I LIKE COFFEE, I LIKE TEA,

I LIKE THE JAVA JIVE AND IT LIKES ME....

Hello there, lovely Deskers! 

Chaos reigns as usual! I'm sewing two tote bags for friends...

I'm making the two side by side if that makes sense...here's a pile of handles.

Topstitching the contrast spotty fabric...

I adore this dusky pink/chocolate spot combo....

You may remember this shot from back in August...gorgeous Drops cottons in yummy colours....

Well, this is what they got turned into...a runner for our bed. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It even echoes the colours in the duvet cover (all planned, of course.......cough.....)

Ron approves too :-)

And this beauty turned up yesterday...the most gorgeous steampunk/Belle Epoque artwork from SandraDe in Australia. Apparently it came by sea mail, which I think sounds quite romantic!  It is gorgeous, Sandra, thank you so much! And the tape ribbon has been carefully saved for future use...I hope you approve!!

*Happy Dance*

WOYWW 234

ABC, EASY AS 1-2-3

Isn't 234 a satisfying sort of number?!  To the desk, LLJ, and don't spare the horses........

C for......Crisps? Carnelian? Cormorant? Just kidding.... ;-)

MICHAELMAS!!

Bless you...........

Oh, go on then.....

Can't fool you lot, can I??

Now, if I can just get my act together and go buy some presents, then life would be peachy.  But I can't and I haven't.......sigh

The craft fair went really well..forgot to take any photos though, doh. These reversible headbands went down a treat; easy to make and uses up scraps, the perfect crafting item in my opinion!

Just after I'd joined in WOYWW last week, the postie came bearing Happy Mail:

A beautiful card with a Real Tree on the front from Lynda B (whom I'd met up with in Wales, together with her accomplice, Ali H!)  Lynda was going to teach her neighbours (virgin crafters the lot of them) how to make these. Hope it all went well!

Lynda also enclosed these beautiful cards for the Refuge..which I have now sent off together with the crocheted stuff and two boxes of toiletries.  That's a good feeling...I wrote a note which explained how the cards came about and how they have come from all corners of the world.  

Once again... you are WONDERFUL! And thank you xxxx

WOYWW 233 X 3

SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY.....

(Donna Summer)

Whaddya mean... x3 what?   Desks of course :-) More on that in a minute.

Oh, you lot made me laugh with your guesses as to what the fabric strips were for....from the sublime to the ridiculous!

They were actually napkin rings but stoopid me forgot to take a pic before they were sent off...doh! The winner with the daftest guess of Onesies for Elves was KYLA. Yay! Let me know your addy and I'll get something Festive off to you!


After not getting up to much crafting for the past couple of weeks, I was asked if I'd like to take a stall at a local craft fair. Oh why not, I thought...and then realised I'd given all my stock away for various charities this past year...ooops.

So that explains the variety of Christmassy fabrics etc on view this week.  I'm mid-stuffing a doorstop at the moment, having just completed the little Christmas trees.....

These were fun to make (if a little fiddly to stuff!)

Here's some I prepared earlier..... 

A little fabric bucket having a handle attached...

Right, I'll take you downstairs to my ground level work station - aka The Dining Table (though we haven't used it for such as I've covered it in essential items)  I've been making wine glass charms, handbag charms and bookmarks - all quick and fairly easy.  Those little trees are multiplying, I swear......

And Downstairs Workdesk2 - aka, my kitchen.  This is a pic from last Friday when I was prepping the food for Julia's Calendar in a Day workshop.  This was the Sticky Toffee traybake prior to being shoved in the oven. I'd already done the Fudge flapjacks, Choccy Brownies and Lemon Cake. :-P  It all seemed to go down well the next day, though I did get told off for not doing my usual coffee cake. Ah, plus ca change......

And finally, I met up with two lovely WOYWWers when I was back in Wales last week...Lynda B and Ali H.  I don't think we drew breath for two hours :-) The waiter at the pub was slightly bemused at being asked to take a photo of folk who had met on t'Interweb!  This lovely ATC was made by Ali and pretty much sums up what WOYWW is all about. Hettie...you need to get in touch with these two gals and form WOYWWiW...the Welsh Cadre of desking!!



BETH SYDD AR EICH WORKDESK DYDD MERCHER has a certain ring to it, don't you agree??

WOYWW 231

FOR WHETHER WE ARE WHITE OR COPPER SKINNED,

WE NEED TO SING WITH ALL THE VOICES OF THE MOUNTAINS,

WE NEED TO PAINT WITH ALL THE COLOURS OF THE WIND.

(Pocahontas - Disney)

Revenge of the Teabag....mwahahaha.....

Avert your eyes - it's not a pretty sight. You know how things have to get worse before they get better?  Well, it did...

Crafting again - wahoo!  I've been asked to make some Christmassy stuff so am having fun! Any ideas as to what the linen and red/white strips are for??
Go on, have a guess....there might be a small prize if you make me laugh :-)



Variegated yarn, I love it. The way the tones change, the excitement as a colour I really love comes into view, the relief when a detested colour is sent on its way (until the next time of course...)  How sad is that?

I fell in love with this...the fact that it says Passion and Chunky on the label has nothing to do with it....  ;-)  Look at those yummy colours.  As I often have several projects on the go at once (flutterby brain, you see) I am using this yarn in both crochet and knitting. And it's really interesting to see how the colours appear quite differently between the two.

The crochet appears to be so much darker than the knitting - you wouldn't say they came from the same dye lot, would you?

Even when I matched the exact colours together, they looked different - I definitely prefer the knitted version.  I found a different sort of rib pattern whilst browsing on the net - would you believe that there are no purl stitches only the occasional purl slipped stitch?  It makes it a much quicker process and I really like the effect. Almost like a loose Fishermens' Rib....and you know what they say about loose Fishermen....their tackle is never taut :-)

To end...just take a peek at this:

What can I say, except THANK YOU!!  They will be heading off to the Refuge very shortly.
You are wonderful  xxxx

FRIDAY SMILES

I just thought you'd like to see my Ron in his new cat cave.....

Makes a change cos he's normally straight out the cat flap as soon as I pick my bass up!!

I'm joining in with Annie's Friday Smiles  :-)

xxxx

WOYWW 230

TEA FOR TWO AND TWO FOR TEA.......

We have a phrase in LLJ Towers; it was first coined by Mr LLJ and it is TEA BAG SYNDROME.

It all started when he was making me a cuppa - good chap that he is - on opening the bin to deposit the used bag, he found it overflowing so decided to change it. When he took the bulging bag to the dustbin outside, THAT was overflowing too, so he had to change that too....and so Tea Bag Syndrome began - one simple action that descends into stages of madness...

Why am I telling you this?  Because Younger son decided to swap bedrooms and Tea Bag Syndrome was initiated...because before you can start decorating, everything has to be removed from the room etc etc.  And that is why my desk/craft room looks like this:

So, no desk crafting this week!

My son was sorting out 17 years worth of STUFF; the cat was supervising.....

So Teabag Syndrome was:  Clear room, sort stuff, dismantle furniture, go to the tip, prepare for decorating (Yuk), decorate, shift furniture and refill with teenage accoutrements. Love it :-)

But crocheting is still happening!  I can't watch telly without doing something so here is my downstairs crafting area (that sounds SO wrong.......)

There's a big bag of granny squares, I've almost finished them and then blanket creating will commence. But there's a whole load of yarn stuffed into that basket that are interlopers. Hopefully, inspiration will strike.

I had a wonderful load of Happy Mail from Kay (see previous post) which more than made up for the leak in the central heating system and flood in my dining area. See, it's been one of those weeks.
But some more happy mail arrived today from Brenda (Butlers Abroad)

Some really beautiful cards for the ladies in the Refuge and...

...some beady bling for me!! Yay, thank you soooo much Brenda..you know me so well. I shall put them to good use!!


So, this week has most definitely got better :-)

HAPPY MAIL!

It's been a testing week, the worst thing being a huge water leak from the central heating system...carpets up, gushing water etc etc but thank goodness for a husband who is brilliant at fixing things!

Anyhow, I grabbed a chance to chat with Julia this morning as she was en route on a task...that cheered me up to start with.

Then when I got home, this was waiting for me.

Even the postman was grinning as he handed this over!

From Kay in New Mexico..she insisted on sending something in return for a parcel from Di (Pixie) and myself. A couple of fat quarters is what I thought I was getting....instead, well, see for yourselves....

Gorgeously bright fabrics (I think Kay and I might be Aging Hippies together!), beautiful ribbons whose colours and patterns are fantastic. And I may never get to New Mexico in reality but the mug will brighten my tea drinking :-)

Thank you, Kay..I just feel so happy and thankful to have you as a crafting friend.

I'm joining in with Annie's Smiles on a Friday spot.

xx