What a lovely day for a wedding.... and a draw!

I got up at 4 a.m. here in Canada and watched the wedding of Kate and William... what a lovely day it was and everyone looked like they had a great time.  It's snowing here again... so glad it managed to stay dry and sunny in the UK!!

Now to draw the name for the little teabag book I was giving away on Tuesday...
So I printed the names out and removed duplicates to keep it fair...
Put them into the pyramid box I made...

 its one of those UFO's as I have yet to figure out how to get a book to open inside it.... and I am here on my own except for the cats.... so I let the cats choose the winner...

now... I have to admit that neither of them seemed overly enthusiastic about the honour bestowed upon them...

Tom-Tom did oblige in the end.... and then Panda ran off with the stick with the bead on it...

So Halle it is!!  Congrats Halle, if you can let me have your address I will pop the teabag book in the post to you!

I Got Post!!

It snowed today.... yes, that is correct, it snowed, to say I was unimpressed would be an understatement... it's the Royal Wedding tomorrow... we want sunshine!!  (Completely ignoring that the wedding is back in the UK and I am not, it's beside the point... I want sunshine)!  But  the snow coming down made me forget to check on the mail box across the street till late so you can imagine the happy dance I did all the way back when I opened the mail box to find a big yellow envelope completely covered in beautiful stamps from Elizabeth!   The pretty exterior gave way to even better and prettier contents....

This is the journal front cover.

and the back... it is stunning! The colours and textures are lovely.

 the lovely journal that I won on the One World One Heart blog hop was inside and I love it!

Elizabeth has put so much thought into this journal, it speaks to me... the odd piece with a putty cat, all the sewing and little pockets, it is a gem indeed and the covers are gorgeous.

Then I find my jigsaw!!  Oh my goodness... I sent a jigsaw to Elizabeth and kept one for myself, we had to alter them and then send them to each other....

Elizabeth has raised the bar on this little project which I haven't actually started yet! So much work in these little pieces and she has all the things I love on them!!

Little meeces for the fur babies from the lovely Bleubeard, and some stencils and a little toy doll outfit to alter... oodles of loveliness, thank you Elizabeth, I am one happy dancing bunny!! ;)

WOYWW 27th April 2011

Another Wednesday has come around at break neck speed and its week 99 of the 104th!!  My PIF is done and dusted so that bit is out of the way.  It rained today... which is fabulous!!  Why would I be doing a happy dance about rain?  Because you don't have to shovel rain off your driveway and sidewalk...
On my work desk today is a tin....

It looks very much like any tin... but its not the tin that excites me but the contents!!

I was talking to my neighbours and asked if there were any junk shops as I was looking for watch bits and other odd bits of throw away stuff and Arn said, no problem if you want watch bits and disappeared into his house returning with the tin....

It seems that Arn repairs and builds clocks!!! Wooo Hooo.... Happy Dance, Happy Dance!!

Oh my word.... I am just chuffed to bits with them all..... I have a steampunk session planned for later... I have the papers and the now I have enough cogs and wheels to sink the Titanic so it should be fun! (and I may even decorate that tin)!!

If you want to take a peek at an exceedingly huge number of desks and see what people are up to then pop on over to Julia's for the Mr Linky list and start nosing...

Tea Tuesday

I think spring has finally sprung as the sun is shining and there is just a narrow strip of snow left to melt in my garden!!  Yay... it was a long winter, especially as it was my first in Canada and I am so glad to see the end of it!

I still have my Easter table cloth out... it is so cheery I don't want to put it away too quickly and I made carrot cake so there is a slice of that to go with your tea if you want.

In fact, there are two of them... so help yourself!! ;)

and my tip for getting a frosted cake out of the tub without getting frosting all over?  I lay a piece of aluminium foil along the bottom of the tub and drape it over the edges... that way it lifts out perfectly! ;)

So to celebrate Spring and Tea on Tuesday I made one of my little teabag books to give away.

It has little pockets with 6 different teas...

and all you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I will pick a name on Friday and pop it in the post.  No rules, no have to do anythings, and I will post to anywhere... of course, if you don't want the one I made you can make your own with my instructions if you wish!! ;)

Click your heels and whoosh.... over to Kimmie's for the linky list of Tea on Tuesday types!!

Happy Easter!

Thought I would bring out the Easter tablecloth with the rabbits and chickens on... it doesn't get much use otherwise!! LOL

Chris is still away working in Fort Mac so I am home alone... well, except for the two cats!!  My neighbours felt sorry for me and have invited me for Easter turkey dinner this evening, so there are bonuses to being home alone!!  I thought I would make her a tea bag book as a thank you.  Not sure she drinks tea but its the thought the counts... I hope!

Nice sort of Eastery colours?

Little pockets that contain different teas...

I had to laugh this morning as I couldn't find Pandora... 

Not in the posh cat bed in the bedroom...

Not in the pink sheepskin bed in the scrap room...

Not in the cat tree in the dining room...

Not in the twin beds next to my desk....

Not in the small cat tree in the bedroom....

Aha!  With all the available options she chooses to squish herself into the bottom of the condo.... typical....

Happy B(earth) Day Elizabeth!

Sadly, the birthday I card I made for Elizabeth went via Pony Express instead of airmail... so it's still trying to get there!!

and as her birthday is also Earth day I thought this was appropriate!! ;)

I love the way the earth turned out... I used dimensional paint on the chipboard to make the lumpy mountain ranges and then printed the earth onto tissue paper and mod podged it over the paint. 

Sorry it didn't get there in time Elizabeth.... :(

April Dress Up

The challenge for Dress Up this month was to use Art Deco as the style for the dress... I have had a real problem with this theme and I really don't know why as I love the glamour of the period.  I abandoned my first attempt and almost abandoned this one as well but in the spirit of the challenge I am going to say it is done and move on to something else and hope that I can do better next time!

Don't forget to click the link and see all the other dresses at Angela's place Sew Loquacious.

What's on Your Work Desk 20th April 2011

On my work desk today is another attempt at the Dress Up for April!!  I abandoned the first try and this one is going pretty much the same direction as it just isn't saying Art Deco to me... I don't know why I am struggling with this one as I love the high fashions and glamour of the stars of this period but leaky elbow syndrome has snuck up on me and what is in my brain is not translating all the way to my fingertips!! :(

When this happens, I normally start tidying the scrap room so I gave that a go as well.... when we were out shopping last week Chris picked up these fab containers for me to put 'stuff' in and they stack one on top of the other and I think they look quite nice on my shelf filled with metal bits and pieces.

Being square means they take up less space too! Oh and look what I found the other day... aren't those penny farthing bikes just too cute??

I have sorted the containers by silver, brass, cogs, clock faces and keys etc so it should be easy to see what I have when I am making something.

So this is how the shelves now look.

If you are wondering why I am showing you my work desk, pop on over to Julia's where you will find the explanation and the links to all the people that once a week reveal all the lovely details of their desks... it is great fun to snoop freely and you are sure to find some brilliant ideas as well!!

Hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend!!

Tea on Tuesday

I hope that everyone is basking in Spring sunshine and enjoying a nice of cup of tea... I have the sunshine this morning but there is still snow all over the ground from the last bout of weather that had me shovelling the driveway.  I have been MIA for a couple of weeks, it got a bit manic here and I had Chris home with me... neither of those things is conducive to a quiet cup of tea on a Tuesday morning!! ;)  Now Chris has left for his first stint of two weeks working away in Fort MacMurray and the house is quiet except for the cats fighting over the sunny spot on the lounge carpet.

This is my cup of tea, a plain old Yellow Lable and my attempt to persuade myself that Easter is a few days away and everything will be springing into green-ness soon!!

Don't forget to pop on over to Kimmie's for the links to other tea partakers!!

Edit:   Psssst.... no I do not have hundred dollar bills sitting on the table.... it is a paper napkin!! ;)

WOYWW 13th April 2011

What's on your work desk Wednesday is here again, this week seems to be going at a rate that makes my head spin.  We have had a few nice spring days and most of the snow has melted which is lovely.  What is not lovely is the fact that we are due 14 centimetres of the white stuff over night and during the day... so those poor little daffs and tulips that have bravely poked their heads through the frozen earth are in for a bit of shock!

This is my work desk this morning, I have been playing with the Bisto Gravy Granuals tubs again!!  I wanted to make Donna something as a thank you for making and sending me my little hoodie doll, Kruger.  The project I started sort of stalled as I was trying to make it in Donna style, which just didn't seem to work when I did it.  Then she said she would like a snippet roll.... so I have made a cotton reel to hold it.  

Now MaryAnne left me a comment a few weeks ago saying that the gravy tubs might work with the Tim Holtz bird cage die, the first attempt of making the entire thing a circle of bird cages is still in pieces on the side of my desk... it was not going to be very sturdy!!  So I had another attempt with this and cut the cage shape from the side of the tub leaving the rest of it intact.

This is the top with all the 'bits'.

Whilst at the dollar store on Monday with my friend, Odelia, I mentioned that I was looking for the little flickering tea light candles that work on a battery.... and voila, she found them!! So if Donna wants to hang the snippet roll she can have a little candle holder of a cotton reel....

Only I can't decide whether to leave the cage bare so you can look inside as in this photo or back the cage with the alcohol inked transparency as in this one below???

What do you think?

and I got my prize from Graphic 45 today - such lovely stuff to play with... :)

Don't forget to pop over to the Chief Inspector of Desks, Julia to get the links to all the lovely desks!!

Hoody Arrived Safely!!

Kruger, my hoody doll from Donna was in the mail box when I checked it today... she didn't think much of the trip over the pond and I am putting the 'attitude' down to jet-lag, I am sure that after a nap and a chip butty she will feel more at home in the school room - and the pile of books she kicked off the chair are just fine!! ;)

Here she is in the little school room I made for her.

She is so cute... in a weird sort of way and I love her stripy stockings and little grey boots with the buttons and she really has the wildest hair you can imagine.  Donna, thank you so much, I promise to let her play in between lessons. All work and no play makes Kruger crankey...

Graphic 45 Challenge Winner! Wooo Hooo!

Guess who's doing her happy dance????  Yes, moi!!  The lovely peeps at Graphic 45 have chosen my altered mailbox as the winner of the Metal Staples competition... happy dance.... happy dance....  and the prize is loads of lovely Graphic 45 supplies to play with!!  

WOYWW 6th April 2011

Looking rather boring today... I have had to hide the fat book swap pages that were on the back of the desk... finished but for one small thing which is hopefully winging its way to me in the mail... but I have the start of my April Dress Up laying there... not sure what I am going to do yet!  and another piece of chipboard which I was playing with to see what the new Mod Podge with a glimmer in looks like... it has a beautiful sheen and I think will add something extra to odd bits and pieces!!

and look what arrived in the post today!!  Thank you Julia... you are a star, I love the chippie house and I will truly enjoy every single one of these foam bananas!!  LOL  I saw some on her desk one Wednesday of snooping and was so jealous as I haven't seen those banana sweets since I left the UK!! 

On my other desk are some finds from Michaels where I went shopping this morning... Easter is coming... yes, really it is!!  So we may still have snow on the ground and it doesn't feel very spring-like but I had to buy these...

aren't they cute?  Little paper cupcake favour boxes!!  Perfect for my cake stand and calorie free!

and these large EAT letters were on sale for $3.50... probably because of the yellow colour... but that's fine by me... they can stay yellow till Easter is over then I will alter them a bit!

and backwards they spell TEA... which is fun too!

and it spells ATE if you happened to allow one of the Easter eggs to fall into the wrong hands!! I think I will have some fun with these over the next couple of weeks.

Don't forget to pop over to Julia's for the linky list of desks to visit!!