WOYWW - CROP 2017

DIDN'T WE HAVE A LOVELY TIME

THE DAY WE WENT TO LLANDUDNO....

Well, it was a few months in the planning but Crop '17 finally took place on Saturday. Margaret Glitter and Glue had taken up the gauntlet of running the day and by gum, she made a cracking job. Thank you Margaret, you made it all seem effortless (though we know how much hard work you put in) 

The venue was very spacious with lots of room to spread out - we were fewer in numbers but the volume of chatting was no different to normal!  We were fortunate to have a few different faces this time, which was one of the nice results about changing location. The only folk who couldn't make it on the day were Shaz and Doug Silverwolf, much to everyone's disappointment. Shaz was still in too much pain after her fall and they decided it was too far to drive. We missed you both terribly but completely understood.

Doddy (David, husband of Annie aka Wipso) was helping to set up her Dumfing corner - he's showing my other half, what the various bits and pieces do!

LLJ and Wipso - we've met many times before but this was Annie's first Crop, she was sooo excited to meet everyone in real life!

It was Neet's first Crop too!  I was very excited to meet Neet in person as we've been friends for ever online and get on really well. Let me tell you - Neet is an absolute BABE! She's so glam and very funky indeed (loved her biker jacket, skinny jeans and assymetric hair)

Neet had bought quite a lot of stuff with her - you'll have to ask her yourselves if she used any! ;-)

The dumfing machine, felt, bags of wool roving and yarns - Annie had brought loads so that we could all have a try at dumfing.

There was hand dumfing too - it was really interesting to see how much detail Annie could achieve, but then she's an expert!

Sarah Brennan (Sarah's Craft Shed) was also a newbie to the Crop - she even gave up her ticket to see her footie team Stoke, in order to travel up and join us. That's dedication for you :-D

I love this girl!! Christine (Bishopsmate) is a regular Cropper and it was just fab to see her again. She's a naughty gal, lol!

And makes us all want to join in! Christine was crocheting blankets for preemie babies and had already completed one whilst travelling up - way to go, Missus!

Julia welcomed everyone to the Crop and explained how the day would pan out - nothing much different from the previous Crops...chat, cake, cake, chat, cake, craft, cake chat. You get the drift. 

Sarah and her friend Eva, who we've known as the 'Friend on the Other side of the Desk' up til now as I'd only ever seen her hands and craftwork on Sarah's blog. They're both funny, chatty women who really joined in the spirit of the day. We're trying to get Eva to start her own blog and join in WOYWW - Sarah is on the case :-D

Two other newbies were Anne (CopperBeech) and Chris (Mrs D). Again, it was so lovely that they made to effort to attend, especially as Chris was still recovering from the very nasty fall she had recently.

We've wanted to meet for so long - Neet was just how imagined her to be, really funny and interesting to talk to. We chatted for ages!

Then it was my turn on the electronic dumfer. I really really enjoyed it and was quite happy picking the different wools to have a go at making a flower. In fact, I snuck another piece of felt and had another go afterwards. Sorry Annie :-D

This makes me laugh! There's a good bit of gossiping going on there, don't you think?! Elizabeth (Silverscrapper), another Crop newbie, had travelled from Scotland to attend - she and Annie are particularly good mates online but this was the first real life meeting. 

Dolores (Cardarian) was the furthest travelled, having driven across the whole width of the UK from the south east to the North west! 

As is often the case, the time just galloped by and before we knew it, lunchtime arrived. Julia thanked Margaret for all her hard work.

All laid out ready for action. Adrian (Mrs D's other half) was a great help in the kitchen.

Julia presented Margaret with some gifts from all the attendees.

After lunch, Alan (Elizabeth Silverscrapper's EM) made use of the pool table!

Eva tried her hand at dumfing - Annie is a good teacher :-)

Look! Some actual crafting happened :-D  I'd taken some crochet to do, easy to carry around the table whilst nattering. This was the first time I'd not done the catering - it was a lovely change to be able to relax.

Well, I say crafting - more like Chatting whilst Holding Wool in all honesty :-D

Anne and Neet were heads together over a card!

The venue was very spacious - great choice Margaret!

Ermm, is anyone doing any crafting??

Julia was!! Woohoo, well done gal :-D She'd taken some stamped images and Copics. 

I think Annie's doing some palm reading here :-D

And Margaret finally had the chance to sit down and colour a bit too - I remember well the relief of having successfully delivered lunch too! I think that's a well deserved cuppa by Margaret's elbow.

Dolores had a go at the machine too...

..and produced a really good flower! I think she's got the knack :-)

You may notice a new WOYWW badge on Anne's cardigan, Julia had brought them to dish out.

I sat and got to know these two a bit better and to admire what they were doing...

Eva was doing some beautiful watercolours...

Sarah was doing parchment work...

Dolores was making a poppy for the Women's guild group she's joined in Kent..

Margaret had promised to show Neet how to do a ribbon weaving card...

They've got more patience than me, that's for sure!

It must have been six years since Elizabeth and I last met - there was lots to catch up on!

Great friends - and just think, our paths would never have crossed had it not been for WOYWW. 

Gradually the day came to a close, the cake was depleted but enough left over for the Church meeting the following morning.

Julia had brought loads of stamps and stash from her mum's collection so everyone had a good pick of them...

The obligatory group shot!

Back row L-R: LLJ, Eva, Elizabeth (Silverscrapper) Annie (Wipso) Sarah (Sarah's Craft Shed) Neet (Hickydorum) and Julia

Front row L-R: Dolores (Cardarian) Christine (Bishopsmate) Margaret (Glitter and Glue), Chris (Mrs D) and Anne (CopperBeech)

What a cracking bunch - and so generous too. The day made £150 which will go to the charity picked by Margaret. It's run by her church and helps fund food, clothes and schools for a community in Uganda.

I'd like to leave you with a last pic of some stamps that just encapsulate everything that's wonderful about WOYWW:

Looking forward to the next one already!

WOYWW 434

                                 I'M A LUMBERJACK AND I'M OK......

Another crazy week has whizzed past - two lots of visitors, our new patio began construction, band practises...I could go on but won't, suffice to say that a tiny, wee, small, little bit of crafting has been done.

Sorry, it's Christmas makings....I saw a pattern on Pinterest about wallets (sachets even, dunno the correct term) in which to put cutlery on the Christmas table. They look like small sleeping bags to me - possibly hamster sized?!  Very quick and easy to run up, they're for my WW class MacMillan cancer fundraising do on Thursday. Then my mate Helen suggested that napkin rings to match might be an idea and I knew there was a pattern in a book I already had....

So, this is what's next on the agenda - I bought the tartan quilting cotton recently and have really enjoying working with it. Gorgeous quality and worth every penny, I may well have to return and buy some more :-D

Some random pics from my week:

Bags of sand, cement and paving slabs were lobbed over my wall!

We went to a steam rally held in the Country Park where I live. It was a Grand Day Out with lots of fab engines, vintage vehicles and stalls to look at.

I was very taken with this scooter!  Lots of lights and...

Horns!! Bet they can blast out :-D I wonder if I could rig up a similar outfit to blow my tuba for me at band?? That would save me some puff, I tell you......

And crafting of any type is interesting, especially when there's an expert doing it:

Brilliant to watch, he made it look so easy! You can see the owl appearing out of the wood - I couldn't quite fit it in my backpack though ;-D

Only a couple of days to the Crop - I really must spend some time gathering some resources to bring and then ignore for the day!! Really looking forward to it now, woohoo!!

WOYWW 433

BURN, BABY, BURN....

I haven't done a huge amount of crafting again this week as it's been rather full of life events! But as I promised to make a few little bits and pieces for my Weight Watchers class Macmillan coffee morning, I'd better get cracking....

So, the table is full of lovely bright coloured fabric - how gorgeous is that?!  I sorted out all my Christmas materials and am going to leave them out so I can pick and choose as the fancy takes me.

I took a couple of samples along to class to see if they were appropriate for sale. I'm down to the very last bit of that Orla Keily type leaf pattern, maybe two more tissue holders and then it's done. I've had that particular fabric for ages and have made a fair few bits and pieces out of it. Same with that hearts material, which is particularly suited to making glasses cases I think :-D

Another project was inspired by Pinterest:

I'm having a go at painting pebbles - after all, there is a rather good source locally! I put a base coat on using a tester pot and it's worked quite well - the pebbles were scrubbed really well beforehand and left to dry thoroughly. We'll see, it may a glorious success or be doomed to disaster!

I was away at the wedding of my niece this weekend (the second in a fortnight). Clare and Darren had got legally hitched a couple of days before so this was a blessing ceremony. They asked me to lead the proceedings, so with knees knocking, I did:

It was outside set in a woods and was completely magical. It all went well and my niece was so beautiful - a wonderful day. They're a great couple and I know will have an amazing life together xxxx

Outside the hall was a metal globe that had been laser cut with trees and animals - after the sun had gone down, it was filled with blazing logs..

We sat around for ages just watching the flames flicker, quite magical....

I fancy one of these for our garden!

Hope you all have a great week - keeeeeeep crafting :-D

WOYWW 432

ONE KIND FAVOUR...

Actually, this week isn't about asking favours, it's all about friends surprising each other with RAKs :-D  The best sort of week, don't you think?

But first, the desk:

The scraps box is out again!  I've got a tutorial on the ipad on how to make cathedral window pin cushions - the last one I made was for Shoshi and that was a good while ago. I'd forgotten how to do the folding and ironing fabric origami bit so had to refresh my memory. You can also see the C*&%^$%£*s stockings I'm making for the Knit Stitch and B*tch charity stall - they're all sewn up but now comes the tedious bit of seam clipping and turning out the right way.....

Halfway through! This is for my mate Helen who needed a new pincushion as her cat Molly ate the last one (bet THAT litter tray was interesting!!). Helen loves spots so these scraps were my choice. It was nice to be able to surprise her with this...

as Helen had given me some jars of chutney, spiced jelly, lemon curd and carrot cake which she'd entered for a local show. I love getting cast offs if they're like that, lol!!

Some other lovely unexpected things that arrived this week were:

These beautiful roses from Sandra, a friend who came to stay recently. Gorgeous colour!

And a card and some buttons from Julia! She'd noted that my button stash had diminished and so shared a few of hers - thanks mate, they will definitely be used! It was just fab to receive these unexpected gifts :-D

Do you remember that I'd been dragged to a new shop last week? Well, I did buy a few things, it would have been rude not to....

Some more buttons for bunting and two pieces of quilting cotton. I thought they could be used for Christmas/Hogmanay double sided doggy bandannas! Or something else, see where my fancy takes me....

In the shop (which was very good btw) were a few quilts displayed on the wall - I loved this one and could think of a few deskers who would like to take this home:

It was the first ever quilt made by this lady - I think she's found her talent, don't you? The central panel was bought in the US and the other colours bought to match from this little shop. Brilliant isn't it? I wish I possessed the necessary patience.....

Have a great week everyone - I hope that any deskers in Florida are safe and well xx

WOYWW 431

                                       COME BACK AND FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED....

Hello! Sorry there was no post last week but I couldn't join in as (a) I hadn't made anything and (b) was away and couldn't return comments. But I'm back and raring to go :-D

Yep, it's bunting-time again. It's for friends of mine whose beautiful new granddaughter made an appearance a few weeks back. There's an a and an h...could be so many names but it is:

Pretty name, huh?  I decided to go all pink and girly as Charlotte has two older brothers and I thought her mum would like a bit of frivolousnessness.

I got all my buttons out to pick a few and have noticed that I'm definitely down on the spotty ones - oh dear, I may have to go shopping ;-)  My mate Helen was telling me about a new shop that sells yarn and fabrics - ooops, a double whammy!

I've been away at my niece's wedding up in Stratford upon Avon - it was a lovely family event. On the way up, we stopped off in Tewkesbury - it was the first time we'd been there and we loved walking around. There were lots of ancient buildings and charming shops but the thing that made me hoot was this:

Lolol - telling it like it is, huh?

We were walking down the beach a few days back and saw something a little way off... we thought at first it may be a whale or dolphin carcasse that had been washed up but when we got closer, found it was a tree trunk about 20' long, absolutely smothered in these:

They're Goose Neck Barnacles and are not normally found off our coast so goodness knows where this came from! They were interesting but obviously starting to die off unfortunately as the air was quite pungent.

It was an amazing sight - you just never know what's going to get washed up on our beaches. One of the perks of facing out to the Gulf Stream coming across the Atlantic, I guess!

Have a good week :-D  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx