Blogoversary Give Away

This post will stay at the top of my blog till the 15th September so you will need to go down to find any newer posts!

On the 15th September this blog will be 7 years old.  So as a thank you to all the lovely people that have been on this blogging journey with me, my time in Saudi Arabia, then Canada and now, Australia, and have been so supportive and kind about all of my mini books, weird projects, tales of abayah wearing and snow shovelling, I thought I would do a blogoversary give away.

I did think perhaps the way to go was to dig into my stash (it's not like there is a shortage of the stuff) but then I thought perhaps the person who won it might not be into stamps and paper and stuff... so I made something instead. The person who wins might now be thinking why didn't she stick to the stash idea!

So I found one of my precious Bisto Gravy Granual tubs and made a cotton reel...

This is the lid that lifts off...

The decorated sides... with dangly bit... gotta have a dangly bit!

and inside is the snippet roll I have been working on...

There are beads, bling, buttons, lace, Chinese coins... paper beads... yep, I flung the lot at it!

Close up of the paper beads I made... I love them!

I used Graphic 45 Communique papers for the cotton reel and Communique fabric in the snippet roll.

So if you would like to win this.... it is very easy! Just add a comment to this post....   which if I am successful will stay at the top of my blog till the 15th September, which is the anniversary and on the 15th I will use a random number generator to pick a number.  yep, that's all you have to do... no jumping through hoops and I don't mind where you live.... 

T on Tuesday

I am joining Elizabeth for T on Tuesday with frothy coffee in my Keep Calm and Keep Crafting mug!  Oh and yes, that is one very large Bisto gravy tub that I am planning to have a play with.

I did alter this Pringles chips tub earlier... it is a small one as I have learned that I if I open a Pringles chips I tend not to know when to stop! I now only buy the little ones... and I stop that much sooner! ;)

This is what it turned into... I used Graphic 4 Secret Garden papers and it turned out a very pretty little cotton reel.

This is the top of it... and the flower was made using my tattered florals Tim Holtz die... see, I am still trying to use all my dies!!

This is the other side of the reel showing the dangly hanging from the lid.  The little chipboard bits on the dangly are the offcuts from the bird cage die I cut a few days ago... and if you look closely at the lid...

the little chipboard petals? They are the offcuts from the top half of the bird cage die... LOL... waste not, want not... 

I gave the cotton reel to my doctor when I went to see her yesterday as a thank you, she has been so sweet removing my mole thing and then having to go through the allergic reaction to the non allergic tapes and half the stitches one day and the other half a couple of days later because she couldn't re-tape the wound and then it got infected... poor woman probably wonders what she got herself into agreeing to treat me! LOL

If you would like a chance to win a cotton reel, go to my Blogoversary post!

What's on You Workdesk Wednesday 21st September 2011

Jeepers creepers... I have been a busy bee today!!  I woke up and decided that I needed to move the scrap room about so that I got some actual daylight on my desk.... so I have pushed and dragged and shoved and emptied and refilled and it's done!!  OK... nearly done as I am still sitting at my computer desk which is in the same place and needs to be moved but I am a scaredy cat... Chris is away for two weeks and if I don't put the pc back together properly I will be without the interwebs until he gets home.... 2 weeks without the interwebs is not something I wish to even think about... maybe I'll just wait for some poor unsuspecting visitor to ring the doorbell and then get them to help me move the entire desk with everything still connected...

So this is where the desk started the day off...

and under that window is where I want it to end up...

and this is the mess I made moving everything about...

but by mid afternoon things are beginning to look a bit better and Pandy decided to investigate all the new spots that can be climbed up...

and here she is trying to decide if she could make the leap to the other work desk...

but most of the time she sat quietly...

and TomTom just wished I could do all the moving quietly...

So this is my new corner set up... and the window light makes a huge difference!

and the other desk which gets used for larger stuff that requires laying out.

and here it is all tidy and sorted once more...

and the lounge area is now moved over to where the desk used to be.

I did manage to finish my cotton reel made from a gravy tub before I started moving everything about.

It's Graphic45 Le Cirque papers

and when you lift the lid there are some hanging bits... a penny farthing is in the centre.

Don't forget to check out all the desks over at Julia's!!

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!!

More Cotton Reels/Spools

Finished the one that was on my desk, using Graphic 45 papers.

This is the top with all the sewing bits in place.

and this is with the lid removed showing the inside.

More Grpahic 45 papers for this version.

Showing the decorated top.

This version used the bottom half of the large Bisto tub so I had to come up with a lid that would stay on... used a circle of chipboard raised on foam pads which works a treat!

Here are the three completed ones... now just need to get the sewing machine out and make the snippet rolls!

WOYWW 9th March 2011

This is my work desk on this WOYWW - obviously in the middle of making something and its all a bit of a mess at the moment... but it really is fun turning something mundane into something pretty!!

Well, I had another Bisto Gravy tub empty so I thought I would have a play and make another cotton spool/reel box like yesterday's version.

It's not finished yet, needs some bits and pieces here and there... and I have to make a snippet roll to go inside so that should keep me out of trouble for a day or two!!

The good news is that I finished the basement of my house!!

I added lots of bits from Saudi and a little Inukshuk for Canada...

and a red phone box and London Underground sign for England.

Re-glued all the bits that come apart after Tom-Tom knocked it over and it is almost as good as new!

I keep seeing all these photos of spring bulbs and stuff on peoples' blogs but there is no sign of it arriving here yet!  Though I am informed that we may actually get above zero in the next couple of days... well, I can hope, can't I??

Don't forget to pop over to Julia's and check out the list of WOYWW-ers... it will keep you busy for a week!!

Reel It In...

Isn't it weird how small the world has become?  Internet and mobile phones have reduced the distances to seconds... I grew up as an expat child in Libya (I can mention this now because people all of a sudden actually know where I am talking about) and distances were truly distant back then, we couldn't phone friends and family (most didn't have a phone), there were no computers and Interwebs or VOIP phones and we had to rely on snail mail for any news from back home.  We went home once a year during the school summer vacation, visited Grandparents, bought everything we couldn't get and then went back for another year... it was just the way it was and whilst we also didn't have televisions, news took a while to seep through and was old before we learned of it.
A few weeks ago I got a message on Facebook from a lady I have never met who mentioned that she had been reading my blog and would I be kind enough to tell her where the British Chippie was in Calgary that I mentioned going to!!  LOL  It seemed her husband was out here in Calgary working and rather fancied a nice fish supper and that she lived in North East Scotland not far from where my home is!!
Anyways, a few emails back and forth and Frances asked if there was anything I couldn't get.... YES!!  Bisto Gravy Granuals!!  So she kindly went shopping and bought me some gravy granuals and got her husband to bring them out to Calgary after his next trip home.  How cool is that?  Aren't people nice, especially scrapbooker type people who in my opinion are amongst the most generous and friendly types of folk that exist.
So I thought I would make her something to say Thank You... but what to make?  I made a small canvas and then wondered if it was her style... I thought about making a mini book but then decided that perhaps the weight might be an issue... then a light bulb flickered dimly for a few minutes in my brain and I made her this... now, I will point out that the cotton reel box is not my idea.... I saw a version of it on a blog a couple of weeks ago and loved it and I would like to be able to point you in the direction to see the original version but I can't find it again... do you have any idea how many blogs I visit in any given week?  I'm hoping that if she sees this, perhaps she would leave me a comment and I can then add a link to the original and thank her for the inspiration.  Oh how I love the blogging world!!  Michelle saw this and realised I was referring to her lovely cotton reel box!! Thank you Michelle, your little box was truly inspiring!!

Yes, it's a cotton reel (or spool if depending on which side of the pond you happen to be)!! And don't you love those teeny cotton reel hanging from the big one?

and the lid comes off and inside is a snippet roll.

Here is the snippet roll...

I had fun decorating the top with sewing paraphanalia...I painted it so that the chipboard would have a wood effect look about it.

and look what I made it out of!!  LOL  A Bisto Gravy tub... it seemed fitting to upcycle it for her.