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!!

Tea on Tuesday

Thank you for the lovely visitors that popped in for tea last week, it was a pleasure to partake with you and return the visits - I had lots of tea!!

I only have shortbread biscuits on offer today because the cakes are actually paper ones I made.  This cup and saucer is one of my favourites, my friend Ping gave it to me when I left Saudi Arabia and it has a cmic history.  In Saudi we expat ladies had to find ways to amuse ourselves so we would have naughty lunches where each person bought a gift to a certain value and placed it on the gift table.  When the time came each person went and picked a gift and opened it... the next person could either go and pick their own gift or 'steal' the one from the previous.... Ping 'stole' this before I had a chance to as I wanted this beautiful tea set so badly!!  When I was packing to leave.... Ping put this into my shipment and whenever I use it I smile at the memories and laughter we had.

They do look rather nice on the cake stand and they have nil calories!!

If you would like to visit the other ladies for tea pop over to Kimmie, who is the keeper of the tea leaves.

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.

What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday 2nd March 2011

Just keep telling me spring is coming... it snowed hard straight after I finished shovelling the driveway and path so I had to go and do it again and it was cold - I mean really really cold!!  The temperature barometer thingy was telling me -29 degrees C but the weatherman on the TV explained that with the wind chill factored in it was more -42... and let me tell you, -42 is COLD!!  I couldn't feel my face or fingers by the time I had finished and now I want spring to arrive... please?  But... you probably aren't here for a weather chat and as it is Wednesday I guess I should show you what is on my work desk....

To the observant amongst you it may look familiar... but the last time you saw it, it was in one piece!!

Yep, I had a catastraphe in the scrap room... namely a little furry person known as Tom-Tom!!  He knocked it off the ledge and it crashed to the floor and lots of the bits that had been painstakingly glued into place either jumped out or broke off.... :(  OK... it was not entirely Tom-Tom's fault as at the time he was being chased by Pandora so she must take some of the blame!!

So I have decided to spend the day fixing it... and maybe making it a bit more stable... by adding a wider chipboard box section to the bottom - yep, my little house is going to get a basement!! LOL

The two culprits... investigating their toy bin....

Don't forget to pop over to Julia's for the list of fellow desks to peak at...

Tea on Tuesday - My first!

Elizabeth has been inviting me to share Tea on Tuesday for quite a while... but I only drink 'proper' tea and figured visitors might be a tad disappointed  to find how boring I am!!  Anyways, I promised I would have Tea on Tuesday this week and see if I get drummed out of the tea club or not!! LOL  Of course, Elizabeth then decides to go gallivanting (isn't that the most wonderfully descriptive word)? off to California where the sun is shining and she can have freshly squeezed orange juice with her breakfast and has left me to do tea alone...

and one is a lonely number when it comes to tea because half the fun is sharing it with someone else... so, please, pull up a chair, let me pour you a cup of tea and we can chat of mundane things like the weather or why a certain actress thought that dress was a good idea at the Oscars...

and I will even find you a cake or shortbread biscuit...

and yes, it is a very plain tea... each time Chris and I end up in a new country our first shopping trips are to find my tea.... or a reasonable likeness to my tea!  This entails buying all the teas and then trying them out till I hit on the one that resembles 'my tea' the most!  I was quite lucky when we got to Canada as I spotted the Yellow Lable packaging in the first supermarket we went into and as it was the one I drank in Saudi Arabia I knew everything was going to be fine and I could live here!! ;)

If you would like to check out the other ladies who are partaking of tea.... Kimmie is the hostess with the mostess!!