Wednesday 23 November 2011

What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday 23rd November 2011

Oooh, that's the first time I have written the date down for a while and I just realised how soon Christmas is!!  So much to do and so little time... haven't even started on the dreaded Christmas cards... maybe I should just buy some and be done with it?  I guess if we have another cold spell like a few days ago I will be hibernating again and could get some done... it was -27 for a couple of days and I had to shovel the driveway on one of them... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!  We are back in positive numbers again now though... let's hope it lasts!!
My word desk today is extremely tidy... because it was such a mess I couldn't actually do anything and my green mat was so badly scarred and marked up with paint and glue that I have swapped it out for the much larger version that normally sits on the other desk... at least when I try cut a straight line now it shouldn't go off at a tangent!! You can see the prototype of a book I am working on... with matchboxes that slide out for hidden secrets...
This is what was on my desk earlier... I am easily distracted and as I had a couple of new Yellow Pages land on my doorstep a few days ago I thought I would have a play... it's supposed to be a tree... just in case you are wondering!!  It is going in one of my birdcages that live on the high shelf at the top of my stairs...
Hmmm, it does look better in real life... honest!! LOL  Of course, as soon as I was on the shelf playing with the bird cages I was joined by Tom-Tom who likes to take every opportunity to see if he can get at the fake birds that live inside them!!
and little Pandy sitting at the bottom looking up to see what was going on and was it going to be worth investigating???
This is what me made grab the Yellow Pages... it is going to be my version for Journal Your Christmas this year... I made it from one of the supermarket free magazines that come out almost every month... I thought this would be a fun way to remember my Canadian Christmas!  Each country we live in I have to get used to a new supermarket... and supermarkets are such a big part of our lives... at home I tended to be a Tesco shopper and in South Africa it was Pic n Pay, in Saudi Arabia we used the Giant store and here it is Sobeys...so I thought it would be fun to use the Sobeys magazine as the base and I can put pockets on the pages to add my journalling... which I am hoping will make the JYC thing nice and quick an nd easy to keep up with!!  If I fancy doing more elaborate pages I can finish off last years project!! LOL
oh and anyone remember the styrofoam/polystyrene head from last week from the thrift store?
This is her now...
and when I showed a photo of her to my son he said she was rather cool.... so I told him I would make him one for a shelf in his lounge...
So I did!  
so what did he say???   'She's better than the little evil dolly thing' I made a few weeks ago.... ;)
Don't forget to pop over to Chief Inspector of Desks, Julia's to check out the linky list!!

51 comments:

  1. I never quite understood that "journal your Christmas" from last year. Maybe I'll "get it" this year. Wow, that head is the BEST! Color me IMPRESSED! Happy WOYWW even though I don't yet have a number!

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  2. Cool head and a lovely use of yellow pages for a Christmas tree. I do like how your cats perch in the best places.

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  3. -27!!!! Oh girl. You better stay inside and make Christmas cards!! Lovin' the tree - reminds me of the old days when me mum would make them out of Reader's Digests. Think you've motivated me! I've got some old phone books around gathering dust.!!! Happy Woyww! Happy T-Day from the US of A.

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  4. Wow I love the split open head - very funky! love those birdcages too. -29 sounds very cold! I havent started my Christmas Cards yet either - maybe we can panic together (or just buy some!). Thanks for sharing. Sunshine Girl – No 19

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  5. I am so impressed with the stuff you are sharing this week... what wonderful thigs you are working on...Have a great week
    Frankie
    xx

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  6. Love both your heads they are fab no wonder your son liked it stunning!As for the tree out of the mag what a neat idea to do your journal that way.Have fab wednesday please pop by to say hi and enter my CANDY!
    hugs Jude 18

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  7. Wow the head is great!!don't panic on the Christmas front...I have given up the panic stage and am admitting defeat and buying mine!! Happy woyww trace x(30)

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  8. It looks like a tree to me and I think it's great... so is the altered head - much better!! Don't like the sound of your temperatures, though, not my idea of fun!

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  9. Hi, I'm just doing a quick whizz round a few desks while I eat my breaky and before my little grandees arrive [I've got 4 of them coming this morning now :-) ].
    Your life sounds as busy as mine at the mo. Really love your magazine christmas trees. Clever you. :-)
    Hugs,
    A x

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  10. Hi there. Thanks for letting us peek into your creative space this week. It's always inspiring seeing where and how we create! Hope the rest of your week goes very well for you. That head is amazing, great colours and I agree, it's very cool!
    Neil #31

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  11. Absolutley ADORE what you've done with the Styrofoam head! What a great and unusual piece of artwork! Just love that!!

    Happy WOYWW

    Jackie x

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  12. #I have to just say WOW.. love that head... it's amazing.... wow wow wow
    the trees are a brilliant idea also..and to use them as a journal !!! I would like to see how that works...
    Claire #60 and #62

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  13. What an amazing head. I could do with one like that to get me 'into gear' in the morning!!
    Hugs Joanne xx

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  14. At last something to do with all those free mags - very clever. Loving the head - very Monty Python - no wonder your son wanted one.

    Ann B
    #35

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  15. Great idea for the Cristmas tree, but those heads are absolutely fantastic!!!
    Have a nice week!
    Tuire #52

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  16. I'm really impressed with the transformation of the styroform head, especially the cut out brain works! Eeek! but great.
    JoZarty x

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  17. Those heads are amazing pieces of work...or should i say art ....not sure I coulld have given one away xx

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  18. I saw a bird cage the other day and thought of you. Your post was one of the first I read when I first started WOYWW and it had a bird cage in it. Love the head...impressive... Thanks for sharing! Hope you have a great week. Vickie #64

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  19. How very creative that head is! Love the picture of your space!

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  20. What a wonderful creative space this week! I love those folded pages. You're braver than me, allowing kitties where there's anything creative going on - they are banned from my ARTHaven because Beatrice is so destructive - pulling stuff out and chewing it. She's the nosiest kitty in the UK if not the universe. I used to have a wig head like that and gave it away to a bridal salon in Jerusalem... What a totally fun idea to open her up and show her "brains" working lol lol!!! Love the bronzy finish you've given her, too. Steampunk rules OK. Must look out for some of these! Happy WOYWW, Shoshi #70

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  21. I think the yellow pages tree is great! And love the pic of your cat stalking the cages for fake birds - he sounds as daft as my moggy!

    Happy WOYWW

    Debs #80

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  22. Great post Annette, I love the paper trees. Can't believe it's already that cold in Western Canada! Yikes! We've had a relatively mild November this year. That's an impressive head!

    Hugs
    Brenda 82

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  23. I have to agree with your son over the evil dolley thing and how much cooler this is.
    I thought the Christmas journal thingies were supposed to be done AT THE TIME and not a year later, or am I wrong in this. Been working on mine for this year but it is not on show yet as I only have one page ready! Yikes!! Maybe I will show last year's instead!! Hee Hee!!

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  24. P.S. If ever you move to Prague you can go to Tescos. Theirs is about 6 floors high and huge. What makes us laugh is you can buy snow tyres in Tescos!! Where else but Prague. They don't take the Clubcard tho!!

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  25. Ooh what a tidy desk, well done. Love the birdcages and heads, nice cats too. Happy WOYWDW :O) Viv xx (Daizy-Mae) #86

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  26. Your tree is co creative....I'll have to try that! I'm very caught up in those heads!!!! You've really done a fabulous job..oh my! I absolutely love the one with the gears and such....so cool! What a neat post today! Thank you for sharing your creativity it was awesome! Have a super week and good luck with those Christmas cards!

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  27. just love all your goings on, great space and wonderful art xx

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  28. Wow - I love the trees that you made from magazines/telephone directories. How clever are they?? I want to have a go! Honestly, the simplest designs are so often the best.
    I like the steampunk brain protruding from the model's head, great fun :)
    Hugs, LLJ #39 xx

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  29. Hi Annette - at stupid o'clock I noticed your name was just in front of mine but since then I have been busy. Had six men here all at once! Five of them workmen, one him from indoors. Taken me until now to get around to blog hopping and you are my first.
    Ooh, I love that head, especially when you remove a bit of it to see her "workings". I assume she has a lot of cogs and wheels in with her being a "she".
    Love your tree and what a fabulous idea, can't wait to see it with pockets. Where on earth do you get your ideas from?
    Really enjoyed seeing "your two". Little Pandy really does look to be seeing what is going on and weighing the situation up.
    Beautiful birdcages and such a wonderful tidy desk. Your green mat makes mine look so YUK!
    Have a lovely weekend. Hugs, Neet x

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  30. Great job with the yellow pages! I never would have thought of making it into a tree. OMG! LOVE that geared up head! Totally cool! I understand the grocery thing. With DH in the military, we moved 8 times in 12 yrs, and never got the same grocery chain twice! Happy WOYWW! Keep Warm! -Amanda#7

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  31. Snap! I have one of those magazine trees on my desk today too, Annette :) Made with the Asda catalogue DH picked up last week - he gets his diesel there - imagine how happy he was to have to go back for another one for the photo! So that's what the little grey matter really looks like - I always suspected as much :))Love the head. Have a great, and warmish, week. Elizabeth x 81

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  32. Wowzer - fabulous head...aren't you a clever thing. I couldn't even imagine what you were going to come up with.

    Thank you for the comment on my advent tower - it took about 6hrs to do Annette.

    Toni xx

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  33. Love the yellow pages tree ... very creative and unique. And the head is amazing including the workings!
    Happy WOYWW
    Hugs
    Cathy xx #3

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  34. Oh Wow !
    I was wondering how the head was and its absolutely fabulous :0))

    Have a great week Fuchsia@98

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  35. The head is just cool... the tree thingies look like a huge amount of work but again... very cool... loved snooping around your blog and laughed at the comments for the different grocery shops, as we have lived in a few countries as well and shorthand the countries to the shops too xx

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  36. Erm, is it OK if I agree with your lovely boy? The head doesn't freak me out as much as the dolly...it was the thought of the 'surgery' on her eye!! Love the JYC tree idea..brillo.

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  37. I am sure your birdies will be very happy with their yellow pages tree (can't think of any other good use for one these days with the internet). The head is great, glad it was appreciated.

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  38. Super cool head! Love what you have done with the supermarket brochure - very creative. Thanks for sharing x

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  39. You never cease to amaze me with all the ideas you come up with. visiting your blog is like opening Pandora's box. You never know what you might find inside.LOL
    Fabulous things to see and how could your DS not like that dolly?
    I am going to search out a new craft mat now having seen how clean yours is!
    X

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  40. Just love your christmas tree from the yellow pages, you have such patience. If I were doing it, it would be in a thousand little peices on the floor by now. That head is really brilliant!

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  41. oooh I love the Christmas trees! I remember doing something similar as a child, lots of fun. Happy WOYWW.

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  42. LOVE the tress - so fun and a great shape. Love all your creative thoughts and the head is a fab ide - well done. haven't started any cards at all...got playing with the computer designing some with funny fonts and symbols last night and might be tempted to print a few this year! Thanks for sharing a little of your life and desk! Sarah at 14

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  43. When I was in grade school we'd bring in Readers' Digest and makes trees out of them. The teacher would then spray paint them green. Fun memories!

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  44. Hi, me again... Thanks for your nice comment on my blog. Yes, this flu-y bug is a real pain and I can't wait to get over it! Still feeling quite rough. Shoshi #70

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  45. What a fab post - I love the C tree idea - you must be very patient! x Jo

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  46. yup your son is brutally right, but then we like evil dolls don't we?

    and I think you should send inappropriate Christmas cards there are far too many conventional ones around as it is...

    dxxx

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  47. Very steam punky, love it!! my son just bought home a pheasant, and a duck, which he shot last weekend, dont worry he's a trainee gamekeeper, and conservation is the name of the game, but the dogs went potty! they've never managed to get that close to any bird before, and they were so funny, didnt know wether to bark, sniff, play or chew on them!! Now I have the lovely task of plucking and gutting, ta son!! which I havent done for years, of course the son who shot them just happened to cut his thumb quite badly didnt he, so he now gets away with not doing it. If the catch/shoot kill it its their job to clean and prepare it!!

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  48. Since you have to read everything before you post it, I wanted to ask if you had a chance to read the post I did on Jan's color RR pages this month. Here is the link because you are mentioned more than once in the post:

    http://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/2011/11/inspiration-avenue-aging-beauty.html

    So do you have something similar to our "Black Friday?"

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  49. Crips, did I forget to leave the link? I can't remember. Here it is:

    http://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/2011/11/jans-tip-ins-for-color-swap.html

    I seem to be in a big hurry and that's when I make a bunch of mistakes. Best head out with my company.

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  50. Brrr -27 is a bit chilly. It has been so mild here in the UK it doesn't feel like November at all.
    This is the second catalogue christmas tree I've seen around the workdesks this week. I must find out how to make them.
    Thanks for sharing your love space.
    Hugs Lisax #84

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  51. Wow - love the heads you've done - very inspirational!

    -27 eh? I don't envy you. Mind you, to get to work this morning I drove through an area that was -6, which is a bit of a shock after temps of 14-15 degrees at the weekend.

    Not sure you've ever had a messy desk though! LOL

    Thanks for stopping by....

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Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment, it is truly appreciated - sort of confirms that it is more than my Mum and husband that read this thing! :)