WOYWW 703

 LET'S WORK TOGETHER, 

COME ON, LET'S WORK TOGETHER...

After six weeks, I think I'm finally getting the bounce back, hurrah, it's been a long time coming. I had a go at short mat bowls last Thursday and enjoyed it very much, though I was tired afterwards. I'm just trying to do a bit more every day.

I've still been making items to get ahead though:

Stuff nearly finished and some new fabric.

I do love the red spot with the poppy fabric, such a bright happy combination. The Welsh flag is a doorstop which I use to hold long lengths of slippery fabric in place on my desk - it's perfect! The chutney is from the RNLI shop, I'm addicted to it, Spiced Tomato, it came up stairs in a bag by mistake!

And here's some new fabric:

I absolutely love this folk art heart print and am definitely keeping one of the four bags! I had to get some more linings and they all tone well with the main print - which would you choose?

G's Men's Shed have been busy installing their Gingerbread House in the main Town Gardens - this is for the Christmas fair on Friday:

Nice to see my 'windows' and bunting in situ! I did some designs to help the chaps and think they've done a grand job! I do love the Elf stuck in the chimney.

The old brass candlesticks, weighing scales etc were found in someone's shed, they polished up a treat!  Santa is in here for the Carnival night, then there are various children's activities like Gingerbread decorating on other weekends and evenings.

I hope everyone has fun ( I know the Men's Shed did, lol!!)

Have a great week everyone and enjoy your crafting xxxx

WOYWW 702

 THOSE WERE THE DAYS MY FRIEND...

Another seven days has shot past, filled with catching up with friends, getting flu and Covid jabs, a bit of gardening at the weekend and some crafting of course!

There's a pile of loveliness on the desk - 2 metres worth of a butterflies print polycotton made into 4 foldable tote bags, 4 purses and 4 glasses cases.

Butterflies aren't really my thing but I think this fabric is really pretty and all for £3.99 a metre!

I've done the same thing with the other new fabrics as well - I'm getting ahead because the JanCave will be taken over by my older son working from home for most of December.

And that's it, craftwise, but I thought I'd share some photos taken by a friend of G's from the Photography Society. Graham takes amazing pictures of old abandoned buildings over the world but particularly in Wales. He came across an old deserted woollen mill - I can't tell you where because the location is secret. Graham kindly gave me permission to share his work today:

It's like the weavers just left one day and never went back! Yarns, machinery, everything is still like it was all those years ago.

I wonder why it was abandoned like this? The mill is completely surrounded by woods, hidden away - it's like something out of a Frances Hodgson Burnett novel.

Faded glory and extremely poignant too - there used to be hundreds of woollen mills in Wales and there's possibly only a handful left. We have to support our local businesses!

Many thanks to Graham for letting me use his photos, I'm sure you'll agree they're amazing.

Have a great week everyone, enjoy your crafting whatever it is! xxxx

WOYWW 701

 SOME SUNGLASSES TO HIDE BEHIND..

I enjoyed last week's desk hunt very much and it was especially lovely that a few long lost gals took the time to catch up with me! I've been gradually doing more this week especially in the JanCave:

I've had a fabric splurge as I was getting very low - no really! The Scotty dogs are always a popular choice.

These are the others I bought, thought the sunglasses one was fun! I went through a pile of fabric odds and sods that was passed onto me recently and cut out what I could from the bits I liked:

Fun huh? I would never have picked the unicorns for example, but someone might like them down in the cafe. I have to do a big restock when Laura comes back from holiday so have been making a pile of these.

But when I run out of steam there's still the crocheting to do - the scraps blanket is big enough now, just the border to edge it and then it'll be for used for snuggling on our sofa:

I could have made the stripes narrower or mixed it up a bit more but couldn't be bothered sewing in all the ends *grin*

And that's it for this week, hope you're enjoying your crafting and keeping well. See you soon xx

WOYWW - THE BIG 7.0.0.

 CONGRATULATIONS AND CELEBRATIONS

Hello to all you lovely Deskers on this momentous occasion, it doesn't seem any time at all since it was 600! Congrats to Julia on keeping this all going, through the joys and triumphs, ups and downs, it's still an amazing achievement. And the friends made have been wonderful thanks to WOYWW xx

For me personally, that's 165 followers, 585 posts, 21606 comments and 401749 views - that's a lot of numbers! I hope that it continues because I for one never get tired of seeing what everyone is up to, desky snooping is a simple pleasure, lol.

You may not have seen Phil Rock’s post on FB, it’s a link to a page for Debbie where, if you want to, you can donate something in her memory, in aid of the RSPB, it’s here

I still haven't got my oomph back yet but have been doing a bit more in the JanCave.

Having come across a YouTube tutorial for a scraps quilt, I got all my bits and pieces together and made a start on sorting them out. 

There's some old favourites there! I also made a few bits for the cafe from an Ebay fabric purchase:

Fun huh? I've also continued to knit and crochet:

Using what was in my stash in tones that go together - nothing complicated, my brain won't cope with that!

Hope you have a marvellous week, enjoy today's celebrations xxxxxxxxx

WOYWW 699

 GOODBYE OLD FRIEND...

Short and sweet today, I'm still recovering from  Covid and am not doing very much at the moment. Whilst resting a lot, there's been knitting and crochet, the only thing I feel like doing!

Ribbed beanie hats and a scraps blanket for the Food Bank in town, hope they'll help someone.

One of the Men's Shed took this pic which pleased me:

They're just starting to get the gingerbread house put together, there'll be a stove plus chimney, bunting, large candy canes and all sorts to go in yet. But the window look ok, I'm pleased with that!

It has been a tough couple of weeks finished off by the fact that we had to have our old cat Ron put to sleep last Friday, he had started fading fast so it was the right thing to do but it was still so sad:

He was a truly sweet cat and goodness we're missing him, he may have been little but he's left a big hole.

I am really looking forward to WOYWW 700 next week, it'll be good to celebrate with you all. Hugs xxx

WOYWW 698

 FEELING STRONGER EVERY DAY...

I am getting there but goodness it's taking a long time - the Covid is almost gone but the breathlessness is still here. As many have told me, just don't overdo things too quickly, so I haven't!  I can still craft whilst sitting though and I've had fun doing a couple of different things this week.

G's Men’s Shed have been asked by the town council to convert a large wooden shed into a Gingerbread House for the Christmas festivities - it'll be sited in the Memorial Gardens throughout December. They are doing some fun things but needed some 'windows' on the inside showing scenes outside the cottage. I was made an Honorary Shedder and had a lot of fun converting two large picture frames.

Out came the acrylics and I just painted straight onto the picture frame backing. I finished off my Stickles giving some sparkly highlights!

Some cardboard strips and Gingerbread Man curtains finished it off!

I used the remainder of the fabric with some others I had already had to make some lengths of bunting for the Shedders to use inside or out:

Nowt fancy but I hope it does the trick.

The Balls of Fun Yarnbombing group I'm involved with are doing a crocheted Community Christmas tree a bit like this one:

So someone dumped a bag of squares on my doorstep yesterday and I've made a start:

The squares are all shapes and sizes, it's been a challenge getting them sewn neatly, a bit of brute force needed occasionally, lol!

We enjoyed a visit to the National Museum of Scotland whilst up in Edinburgh, the fashion galleries were great fun but this made me hoot:

The lady who wore this must have had to enter rooms sideways! It was so beautiful but totally hilarious - fashion is very much a thing of its time eh? I think of the flares and platform shoes of my teenage years and laugh. But as to the dress, the ultimate question would be 'Does my bum look big in this?'

Hope you have a good week - I'm sincerely hoping that I'll be feeling better!

WOYWW 697

 Oh you take the High Road and I’ll take the Low Road…

Hello lovely deskers, it’s been a couple of weeks since I shared my desk because G and I went away for our Ruby Anniversary to the lovely city of Edinburgh. I’m sorry I missed the Crop, it looks like you had a grand time, great to see all the pics to share the day. Unfortunately both G and I contracted Covid after we got back home and I’m not feeling great so today will be a short post and I’m not sure if I’ll even get round to commenting.

My desk pretty much as it has been for a fortnight!

We had such a good time in Edinburgh, walked our feet off and celebrated our anniversary in style. We might have had the odd dram too!

*Edit* Now for some very sad news indeed - Phil Rock and Margaret Craner contacted me on Tuesday to say that Debbie had passed away, it was very sudden and a complete shock, they asked that I let the deskers know. Debbie was one of the most generous souls I've ever met offering help with her time and her art. It was a real pleasure to meet her in person at the Crop in Burbage:

Debbie was never confident about her crafting but I thought it was wonderful and am lucky enough to have four of her pieces.

I am sorry beyond words to hear she's gone but really do appreciate the fact that our paths crossed via WOYWW, we'd never have met otherwise and my life would have been the poorer for it. RIP Debbie, my condolences go out to Phil and your family, I shall be raising a glass to you this evening xxxx