WOYWW 642

 RUB A DUB DUB, THREE MEN IN A TUB

Bit of an odd lyric this week - this old fashioned nursery rhyme popped into my head while I was thinking of a heading, you'll see why later!

I've had quite a productive week craft wise - I restocked the RNLI box and have been making a few more bits and pieces to have ready. And a friend asked if she could have a mask with boaty stuff on as she's just started volunteering in the RNLI shop down the harbour.

I found the template and set to!

There wasn't quite enough of the fishy fabric to the right so I just made the one from the seasidey stuff.

It looks complicated but is actually a really quick mask to make, there's only one fiddly bit and that comes right at the end. I wear a mask like this now, it's easier to breathe and my glasses definitely don't fog up, hurray!

You can just see some pins peeking up from behind the mask, I was given this handmade pincushion by my friend Kim for my birthday, it's so pretty...

...and very useful too! Thanks Kim, it'll get used a lot xx

I've been trying out some painting tutorials as well, some I like, some I don't, it's all trial and error. I need some white ink or gouache to complete the snow scene for a bit of splattering, doncha know!

Mr LLJ has joined a group in the town called Beyond the Shed - it's part of the national Men's Shed but they didn't want to do woodwork particularly, there are two local groups who already do that. This group wanted to be more outdoors so they've been walking, fishing, metal detecting etc and wanted to be useful in the community. So when G informed me he was off to scrub Amelia's bottom, I didn't react.  

Amelia Earhart's plane landed in the estuary just outside our  harbour (they'd been aiming for Ireland but missed!) It made national and international news:

It was an exciting event for this small town and there are various monuments to her. The main memorial had got very mossy and dirty and the information board had seen better days, so the good chaps of Beyond the Shed set to....

I haven't got a Before pic but this is how it looks now, it looks a lot better.

And the sign was cleaned too! So there you go, an adventurous woman is still remembered here, not long to the Centenary, there's bound to be some celebrations for that no doubt. Meanwhile Beyond the Shed will be tackling the Town Clock next.....it's like Last of the Summer Wine, lol!!

Have a good week and thanks for reading my witterings.....

WOYWW 640

 NOW IT'S TIME TO TIDY UP

AND PUT EVERYTHING AWAY.....

I can't believe it's been 40 weeks since our big WOYWW celebration, seriously I think there's a time stealing imp on the loose somewhere. Either that or I'm getting old - actually don't answer that, I think I know the correct reply, lol!

Short and sweet today - I've been inspired by quite a few deskers who are having a sort out and tidy up. The JanCave was in a right old mess, so let's make it worse before it gets better:

Out everything came and was (a) tidied (b) recycled or (c) given to the WI bric a brac stall. I even found the Trophy I won two years ago for the most points in the craft competitions so that's gone back to the committee.

It gladdens my heart to see this (sad but true). I had a spare wardrobe hanger so decided to keep my yarn in it, that makes me happy too! I've used a lot of my stash and gifted yarns up doing yarnbombing and charity squares, that blanket is destined for charity too. I haven't got much fabric either, those two boxes on the left are far from full.

I had a message from the Harbour Lights cafe that my RNLI box was running low so I've been doing a bit of sewing.

Neet gave me this b/w fabric a while back and this is the last bit being cut out to make some tote bags.

Two of each colourway - I already have cases/purses in stock which I'm very grateful for as the JanCave has been way too hot for sitting in and sewing these past few days!

Hope you have a good day desk snooping - roll on the thunderstorms tonight, I love them and it'll clear the air a bit!

See you next week xxxx

WOYWW 639

 I SAW A MOUSE! WHERE? THERE ON THE STAIR....

How can it be the 1st of September today? It was only yesterday that we celebrated New Year. Tempus Fugit extremely quickly, that's all I can say!

I haven't done much crafting at all this week, the weather has been fantastic in Wales and so we were seeing friends or in the garden, even arranging the schedule for the WI Craft Club which starts in October (hooray!)

G needed a new mask and I'd seen a different design (supposedly better for fog free glasses) on YouTube, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I found a nice blue bit of fabric, drew out the template and set to.

There was a bit of origami to do but it was straightforward...

It's an odd shape but seems to do the trick with the glasses so that's a result!

I also had time on Monday to do a bit of painting - whilst following my nose on YouTube, I'd come across Ellen Crimi Trent's tutorials and liked the ones she calls Mini Mondays (there's loads, too many to link) so had a bit of a play.

There were mini flower meadows:

Bit more practise needed I think! Ellen uses 3x3" squares but I just drew around a coaster as that was to hand!

Flowers in a blue and white vase.....

and a bit of nonsense but I needed something for a birthday card as well:

A mouse in some tea cups just because, lol! Not high art but a lot of fun to do :-D

So there you are, short and sweet today and I apologise if I've put a musical earworm in your head...*snigger*

Have a great week!

WOYWW 638

 OH...I....DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEASIDE!

It could only be this lyric today, you'll see later on in the post! It's been another crazy week, not helped by Rhys' boss testing positive for Covid, so PCR and lateral flow tests were the order of the day, thankfully we're all negative. So after 10 days in the job, he's on his own in the medical training library this week, he'll cope, he's a good lad!

Consequently crafting hasn't really taken place apart from a couple more Andrew Gleeson tutorials:

I do like the relaxed style and it's quite easy to achieve something relatively decent.

The difficulty is stopping yourself overworking things! And that is it, I've crocheted more squares but they're not very interesting to look at.

After a long and sweaty day sorting out my band's music library (well, the folders from A to E!) G and I decided to go down the harbour in the evening as the tide was in. The Yarnbombers had been busy in the week - there are probably too many pics coming up, you can enjoy or skip through!!

I made long stripey scarves which were sewn onto the railings and it was fun to see what other crafters had made, I loved these pom pom ice cream cones.

The fish that my SiL Jill and I made were swimming in shoals.

There were seahorses and octopussies.....

My little multi-coloured fishes were dotted about.

It just made you smile! It's brightened up the harbour, that's for sure, the next project involves yarnbombed flowers in the neighbouring village.

It was just such a beautiful evening, more pics (sorry!)

A puddle gave a great reflection of the newly painted lighthouse.

It was a warm balmy evening...

Loads of people were swimming or paddle boarding or sitting and gawping (us!)

Not a bad place to be!

Hope you're all doing ok, have a good week xxxxxxxxxxx

WOYWW 637

 IF A PICTURE PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS...

Thanks for all the fab comments last week, rightly so about Jill's gorgeous quilt, the photos don't do it justice! It's been a crazy busy week and so I don't have a huge amount of crafting to share but here goes....

I have done quite a lot of experimenting with my new paints which are awesome! Lots of tutorials and playing around.

These are from tutorials by Andrew Gleeson on Youtube and me just mucking around.

Andrew Gleeson has a lot of tutorials, he's a funny chap from the Midlands who has good tips on what tipples or snacks to have whilst painting, lol! Here are two I followed (tutorials not snacks!!)

He has a new sunflower tutorial up so that's what I'll be trying soon. These are very quick and easy to do, I'm enjoying them very much.

I've also been crocheting squares in the evening using a lot of the yarn that the wonderful Debbie sent me plus a few balls that my friend Helen passed on after her stash sort out:

There are 65 squares there - doesn't look like it - they are quick and easy to do and all the donated yarn tones nicely together. When I've done 84, I shall send them off to a lovely lady from The Gift of Warmth who is the sewer-upper, my least favourite part of any crochet/knitting project!!

And I always seem to post beautiful blue sky pics of the area but it wasn't like that when G and I did a litter pick a few days back:

It was definitely threatening but we were lucky and didn't get rained on! It still looks good though, I love our beaches best in the autumn/winter when you often have them to yourself and feel alive in the winds.

I have a huge task in sorting out my band's music library this week (with help) so am not sure how much crafting will be done. Maybe next week's pics will show a dust covered me, lol!

xxxxxxx

WOYWW 636

 A PATCHWORK QUILT OF A LIFE.....

This is a long, picture heavy post and I'm not ashamed about it *grin*

Wow, did I have a great birthday week, lovely things happened each day but amidst it all, some crafting got done - amazing!

The JanCave has been taken over by son No 1, he had a week's holiday but will be working from 'home' here for another few days. But there is some fabric amidst the tech.

Owen mentioned in passing that he didn't have any sewing equipment and needed to do some mending, so I made him a quick needle case with flap pockets at each end and put together a basic kit from my stash.

We'd been playing Newmarket (Card game) and always use buttons from the tin that was my mum's. It was that which prompted Owen to ask:

We picked out a few black and white buttons for future use, there's no danger of running out. Goodness, some of those buttons have memories, I remember Mum cutting them off old coats and cardigans....she'd be thrilled to know we still use them regularly!

I got out my new paints and was quite methodical in setting them up:

Tutorials on YouTube had mentioned labelled colour swatches so that's what I did because while I'd like to think I could remember what colour was what, you and I both know that it's not going to happen!! These Daniel Smith watercolours are light years away from what I was using before, far more deeply pigmented, I shall have fun getting used to painting with them.

Last Wednesday, we went over to the Gower to meet up with my brother and his family who were staying there for a week, the view from the cottage garden was incredible!

They kindly put on a birthday buffet for me, not a bad place eh?  I also received some amazing presents but the one from my SiL Jill was completely overwhelming:

She'd made me a bed runner quilt featuring a hare. The colours and detail are so wonderful, it's so beautiful, it made me cry.

Jill had gone round the house the last time she stayed and taken reference pics of the colours, so the quilt fits in beautifully - even the back is a work of art:

I love the patterns, so neat!

But the hare panel is stunning:

Jill said it's the first time she's done applique, you'd never know, it's amazing. The midnight sky has got very subtle sparkles in it.

It is GORGEOUS!!!!!

And Jill even thought of the perfect finishing touch - on the back is this:

An amazing present from my equally amazing Sister in Law, thank you Jill, I really shall treasure it for ever xxxxxxxxx

Sorry this was such a long post but there was just so much to share - have a great week everyone!

WOYWW 635

 THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY MUCH!

Hello everyone! I feel a bit of a fraud joining in the the desk snooping today as I have no crafting for you....it's been a busy week of seeing family and friends and celebrating the Big 6.0.

I had a marvellous time on my birthday, I'm such a lucky gal.

Some of the lovely gifts and cards I received, the balloons are from Julia!

I have quite a few thank-yous: Wipso and Twiglet for my lovely rose and gin (you know me sooooo well, lol!), Lynne for my gorgeous pendant, Kim for the beautiful pin cushion you made and Lynn for the vintage jigsaw, all so unexpected but very much appreciated. I got some professional watercolour paints (Daniel Smith), new palette and brushes plus watercolour papers journals and a useful book. I shall hopefully be able to show you them in a bit more depth over the next few weeks as I attempt to get to grips with them.

And some wonderful cards too! Thank you Lynne, Helen, Sarah, Debbie, Kim, Diana, Lynn, Neet and Eva from Austria xxxx

My old uni friend Jane sent me this amazing pop up card, she thought it appropriate - I can't work out if she means I'm an old Dragon or because I'm Welsh *grin* 

I spent quite a bit of time cooking for the party I had in the evening, lovely weather meant we were all in the garden. We had a fab time and some friends had clubbed together to get me this:

A hare figure! Apparently he sat in our friends' lounge for quite a while and they got rather attached to him and called him Tony, lol, so that has stuck and Tony is very happy sitting by my birthday pond! 

I made my famous trifle for the party and so the following morning saw this:

Trifle for a hungover breakfast whilst watching the Olympics on telly!! I know how to live...... It was rather good, lol!

Hopefully normal service will be resumed next week, thanks for putting up with me!