What's on Your Work Desk 16th February 2011

It has been one of those weeks where I seemed to spend most of it chasing my tail.... so not much new on that front then!  Here it is Wednesday again where heaps of peeps reveal all where there work desk/table/floor is concerned and it is amazing the things you learn on the way.  If you want more details then pop on over to the Leader of the Gang AKA Julia where all is explained.

This is my workdesk today and as you can see, there isn't much in the way of scrapping going on which is entirely the fault of Margaret who had a lovely little snippet roll on her blog and then gave a link to the tutorial by Carole  on how to make one.  Well, I had to give it a go, didn't I? LOL  Just a couple of problems, I haven't got any wooden cotton reels and they want silly money for posting them to me here in Canada from the States.... you'd think I was five continents away instead of next door!  But, that didn't stop me attempting it and I even got the sewing machine out and had a play with it!!

So here is a photo of my first attempt...

I'm hoping the next one will turn out better...

This little photo in the middle of it is of my great great great Grandmother taken circa 1835 - her name was Anna Maria Parker.

This is a scan of the original which is on metal and has a weird name.  I think I actually look a little like her!!

The other thing on my desk is a card... and we know I don't really do cards but every now and again I feel I have to make the effort.  My younger brother recently had big problems with his leg and the doctors wanted to amputate it, so we were all dreading him going into hospital and awaited the outcome.  Luckily he had a brilliant surgeon who has used some new techniques and they have saved his leg, but there were doubts about the foot which had gangrene and he had to go back into hospital last week to see what they could do.  He is back home again now and minus a toe, the toe next to his big toe, and in normal circumstances we would have felt terrible at the loss of it, but given the alternatives he has had to face in recent weeks, a toe seems small in comparison and he is feeling much better and happier.  So I  made him a card...

I know, I'm terrible, aren't I?  It's a good job all us kids have a similar sense of humour, as it was my older brother who sent me the pic!! 

It was all change in the scrap room earlier this week, mainly because I needed to find a home for the new toys I got last week which included the paper stand.  So with much huffing and puffing and sorting I moved everything about and managed to fit it in!

I have turned the desk so that it now faces the wall and much prefer it this way as stuff doesn't fall off the back when I give it all a good shove out of the way.

and this is the other wall, which is looking pretty neat and tidy now too!

When I was out shopping the other day look what fell in my basket!!

OK... I admit, it didn't fall into basket... as it is as tall as I am... but you know what I mean? So I thought she could use some brightening up and got the embossing powders out and some chipboard circles...

so now I have to decide what to do with the other bits... I thought maybe hang some chipboard tags and some metal bits and pieces?  Any suggestions welcome... I am thinking of maybe using her to hang all my ribbons.

What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday 9th February 2011

It's been a busy week, with snow and shopping and finishing the chipboard book I started last week but none of that is on my workdesk today... no, I have been rejected.  Yes, totally rejected, I am crushed.  Last month I made a book for Chris to keep all his interwebs stuff in - websites, passwords and that sort of thing.

This is the book in question with its lovely big fat nobbly bead and leather tie.  OK, I admit, when I was adding the bead it did cross my mind that it wasn't really his type of adornment.  Anyways, I made a similar version for Alister, who's birthday it was at the end of January. But, being me, I cannot duplicate stuff, it's boring, so I made a few changes. I decided against a big fat nobbly bead as a closure and went for the hidden magnets instead which gave it a nice sleak clean look.  Yep, Chris saw it... and decided that he wanted the same thing!!  He gave me back his book with the request that it be like Alister's.

So I sort of ignored it and hoped he would forget and be happy with what I had made...

But it kept turning up on my desk.... so here it is...

dismantled....

with the circular section removed to bury the magnet...

and then covered with paper and the other matching hole made...

and finished.... with not a bobbly bead in sight!!

Now, I apologise for the weird colours of the photos, I am in the basement and depending on how sunny or not it is outside the photos change colours and I did mention last week that I would have to look into getting a light box to photograph things.

So I did! Got up early this morning and had it done and dusted in an hour...

It's about a foot and half wide and high and I had a couple of lights for shelves sitting in a drawer so used them.  Hopefully now my pics will be lovely and actually show up the colours they should be!

Happy Valentines Day to all, hope you get lots of chocolates and roses by the dozen!!  I won't, because Chris went to the scrap shop with me at the weekend and I got this....

and this....

to keep all my papers nice and tidy!!  I know, spoilt brat.... ;)

I Changed My Mind...

I'm female, I think it is our prerogative to do so? (ok, I had to check the spelling of prerogative as it ended up with a squiggly red line under it, I left out the first r because that is the way I say it)!!  Last week I was just starting on making a recipe book with October Afternoon papers and a Bo Bunny chipboard layered book and once I got started I realised that it was perfect for the late '50's early '60's photos I have of my family, so that is the route I went.  Only one small problem, the said photos are in a cardboard box in my scrap room back in Scotland.  They are pre-digital, obviously, and I have a horror of losing them so I don't pack them up and transport them about with me. So it's another of those little projects that will have to undergo completion when I finally stop hopping about the world.

I really had fun with this, love the colours and the designs of the papers and think it looks quite 1950's in style.  I cut a chipboard half apron (with some little wooden pegs clipped to the frill just like Mum used to do when she was hanging up the washing) and attached it to the front and used the ribbon ties to wrap around the back to keep the book closed. Added a little 7Gypsies drawer handle to the corner which is similar to the ones we had in the kitchen and dangled some little chipboard circles from it.

Now the Bo Bunny layered books only have 6 pages so I had to use pockets and pull outs to increase the 'real estate' for putting the photos in.

This page I made an envelope with tags inserted into the top.

Another envelope used sideways for tags inside and behind.

A corner picture with tags slotted into it.

I added a fold out to increase the space for journaling and pics.

This is it folded open and you can see a mini layered book inserted in a pocket.

This is the mini version.

Lovely big bright corner pocket for large tags.

This is another pocket with tags slipped into the side.

These are the tags, space on the back for photos and journaling.

This page has a concertina fold out.

Plenty of room for photos.

and the other side.

Another pocket with large tags.

Oh look... another pocket!

These are the tags, love the ad papers.

Final page has a pocket with tags.

WOYWW 2nd February 2011

Here we are at Wednesday again - I wonder how many people say wed nes day inside their heads when they spell the word?? Well, whether you are like me and do the wed nes day thing or not, it's that time of the week when lots (and I mean lots) of like minded folk pop along to peek into the world of other people's desks and what they are up to. My desk was tidied after the Dress Up doll got finished and I have just pulled some papers out to make a recipe book to hang in a kitchen.  I love these October Afternoon papers, they remind me of the school books I learned to read with - Janet and John.  Not sure any of our US and Canadian peeps will know Janet and John books but they were exceptionally proper wee folk and said things like:
"We can eat now" said Mother.
"Father is home from work.
Come children, we will eat our dinner."
The family ate and ate.
"This is a good dinner," said Father.
Thank you, Mother.
Thank you for the good dinner."
How we all ended reasonably normal after reading all that, I have no idea!! We certainly didn't talk that way in our house....

So, here is my rather boring desk... but hopefully you will see a finished book if you pop by later in the week!!

Ooh and on my other desk is this!!

Now, being English means that I have a fascination for mailboxes of this type.... because we don't have them! We have letter boxes in our front doors and the postman/lady puts the mail through and it falls on your doormat, which seems like a nice way to start the day unless its all brown envelopes with bills in them!

Chris took me to Value Village, which is a thrift shop and huge and it had loads of fun stuff in it.  I think he is trying to curb my spending and figures I can't do too much damage in a thrift shop!!  Now I have a problem... because someone has sat and painted this farm yard scene on it and it isn't my style so I want to get the papers out and cover it but every time I do, I feel bad that I am covering up someone else's artwork!

On Saturday we went out for the evening to a company 'do' and yes, we do this so rarely it is worth a mention so last week was a round of dress shopping, shoe shopping, hairdressers and nails and I now realise that I must be getting old as it was completely exhausting!

It was a good night and Chris even managed to get me on the dance floor.... even though my feet were killing me in my new lovely red shiny heels!! LOL

Dress Up 2011 - February

The Dress Up 2011 theme for February is Gustav Klimt, the painter.  Now those in the know will probably be saying 'ah, The Kiss' but as I had no idea who he was or what he had painted it was all a mystery, so I did what I always do when faced with a mystery... I Googled it!!  What on earth we all did before Google is another mystery - either hoped we had an intelligent friend or a set of Encyclopedia Britannica handy, I guess! ;)  Oh and if anyone out there wants a complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica, with updates to about 2001, just let me know??? which would leave people to presume that I have no intelligent friends, but you would be wrong, the Britannica's are immaculate!! LOL
Then I was in the local thrift shop perusing the book section and I found a book on Klimt!!  It must have been preordained... I swiftly purchased it at a ridiculous price and took it home in the hope that it would give me inspiration for my dress this month!

Completed in 1907, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is a painting by Gustav Klimt. It was painted in Vienna after being commissioned by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy industrialist.  It took Klimt three years to complete the painting.

Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model who was ever painted by Klimt twice, being also the model for the painting Adele Bloch-Bauer II, which was painted by Klimt in 1912.

Adele Bloch-Bauer II was painted in 1912 by Gustav Klimt.  Her husband was a big sponsor of the arts, including of Klimt, which probably had some influence on her sitting for Klimt twice. Both portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer were part of a protracted court battle in the United States and in Austria which resulted in five Gustav Klimt paintings being returned to Maria Altmann, the niece of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, in January 2006. 

So these were the two paintings that caught my eye, the first because of the colours and the eyes on the centre   panel of her dress and the second for the lines of the dress and the way the fur around her shoulders draped.

So here is my mannequin in her Klimt inspired outfit! As you can see, I have taken inspiration from both paintings to arrive at my one piece. I used Basic Grey papers and lots of bling plus a piece of fur from my lace bag.  If you want to see all the other dresses pop over to Angela or click on the Dress Up 2011 picture on the right hand side of my blog.