Wednesday, May 30, 2012

WOYWW #156...Happy 3rd Anniversary!!!

Happy 3rd Anniversary to What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!  I can't believe that in the 18-20 months that I have been participating in WOYWW that it has grown as big as it has and I can imagine that Julia Dunnit is having an even bigger disbelief since this fun thing is her idea!  Visit Stamping Ground and check out all the awesome blogs that participate in this blog hop every Wednesday.  It is fun and informative and oh so addictive!  To celebrate this event we are swapping ATC's and I am looking forward to seeing some of the awesome work done by fellow WOYWWer's.  I will be sending one out to my designated swap partner and if you would like one please leave me a comment with where to send it or email me the address at okienurse@gmail.com.

Okay now to my desk...Well it isn't exactly my desk but... My daughter and I attended a workshop put on by a friend of mine down near Wayne Oklahoma.  The workshop was a learning experience for both of us.  We learned how to do Oxford Punch rug making.  The workshop was let by Frank Bielec and we made a basket that I plan on using as a yarn tote for my current projects. 

Group that attended the Happy Trails Workshop sponsored by Ginger Jackson of Primitives by the Light of the Moon
                      

Frank Bielec was the star on Trading Spaces a DIY program that lasted 8 years. 
This is one end of the basket, the first rug punching I have ever done.  Didn't she make up into a lovely ewe?
The second end to the wood slat basket.  I am still not done with it cause I want to bling the flower centers out with some beads and then I am going to adhere it to the end of the basket.  I see the way the loops go on the HOME that I still have some things to learn.  I used yarn for the most part but the house and roof are made from wool strips.

My next project is going to be this cat Frank drew for me.  He also drew another collage canvas with fall images that I will start after I get this cat done.

this is an Oxford punch needle if you were wondering what it is.  I did when I first heard the term.  The yarn goes through the needle and flows down through the eye in the stylus. 

I had a lot of fun taking making this project and can see a lot of rug hooking in my future...can I be called a happy hooker now?   Anyway...hope every one has a great week and I am off to check out the blogs and see what is going on.  I am going to be running a little late but thats okay I have until next week right....

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

WOYWW #155

It has been a busy week around here with a lot going on over the past couple weeks.  We are currently in the throes of renovating a bathroom that had been over run with the termites and they had damaged the wood support and caused the shower to start leaking.  Imagine a wall that came across here and a small door for the shower...we are enlarging the shower and putting glass doors in place and the whole room will look larger and more functional!  I will post another picture as time goes on.

 

 Here is my desk this week.  It has a lot of stuff on it that needs to be put away.  There is a lot of stuff that has been there for a long time too that has yet to find a permanent home.  I need to get busy and get organized cause I feel so claustrophobic recently with all the stuff piling up!  As you can see  there are a lot of stamps and papers piled up but I haven't really been all that busy crafting just not putting away very readily.

 This is my favorite toy in the room of doom...my Vagabond!  Love it.  Makes life so easy cutting out multiple die cuts and it cuts through chipboard and grunge board without hesitation!

Well that's it for me for this week.  Join in with WOYWW this week and check out Julia's blog to find out how.  

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Wizard of Oz book and WOYWW 153!

OMG!  I almost missed Wednesday this week...I am in a panic cause it is 5:50 pm CST and somehow this past week got away from me and it is Wednesday again!  Couldn't be all the crafting and fun things I have been doing since the cat's away...Oooopppss!  Sorry babe!  Meant to say I am so down cause my DH is out of town storm chasing and I have been busy doing work around the house and I attended a Scrapbook Day Crop on Saturday, went to the movies and saw the Avengers on Sunday night...etc.

What is WOYWW?  Oh my if you haven't visited Julia' s Stamping Ground you are missing a lot... Click the link cause you don't want to stay in the dark any longer...

My work desk....not worth seeing this week but I will share with you what I have been working on this week...  It is rather lengthy and photograph intensive but worth seeing I think...Grab a cup of tea/coffee and take a peek!

Presenting the Wizard of Oz Book!  Made using Graphic 45 Magic of Oz papers and Stampin' Up! Cardstock.  The idea came when I watched a video made my Clare Charvill a couple of months ago using this paper and black mat board and was overwhelmed at how she used the papers and little else to make the book.  Clare let the beauty of the papers speak for themselves instead of using a lot of embellishments.  My book incorporates some of her ideas and ideas I picked up surfing around the web.  For my book I used a ready made chipboard ring binder and did it my way!

Front of the Wizard of Oz book

Page 1 or the inside cover.  Magic Of Oz page with 2 4x6" photo mats in a pocket




Front of half-pg 1.5.  Corner Pocket with a tag.  The back  is adorned with cards.

back of half pg 1.5

page 2  Two 2x3" mats and a pocket that holds a 5x7" mat or two.  I only show one mat in this picture.




Page 3.  Dorothy page with OZ tag in a pocket made using the 6x6 square .

Page 4 has a window made using the Tim Holtz cabinet die and opens to a 3.5x4" photo mat

Page 4 with the cabinet window open.  I retro fit it with a magnet to keep it closed. 


Pg 5 the Friendly Lion Pages  Fancy cut the lion out and glued only the fee and far left side of the body down to make a tag pocket.  Clare Charvill does a lot of fancy cutting....


Page 6   Photomat pocket that holds a photomat


Page 7.  No pocket or pictures on this page.  I downloaded excerpts of the Wizard of Oz book for each character and printed them off so I wouldn't have to use a book...couldn't find one anyway less then $40 to tear up and this worked out well.  I distressed each piece and used it as a mat for the blue moon and scarecrow on this page.




Pages 7.5 front and back.  Half pages again...  Made using an 8 1/2x 11" piece of black cardstock folded in half and decorated with the Magic of Oz papers.

Page 8 the Scarecrow is fancy cut and glued down only on the parts that touch the blue so that I could use it over a matted photo later.  The pocket holds a small tag.  There are actually 4 different sizes of tags used in the book.  Both mats in pocket and under Scarecrow's hand are for a 4x6" photo.

Page 9   Another just pretty picture page.  I had originally intended to use the picture as a mat pocket for a couple tags but accidentally glued down all 4 sided.  The heart is a die cut from Tim Holtz again that I used multiple layers of black embossing powder on.

Page 10 is a pocket mat to hold the 4x6" mats in place.  I put 3 pockets on this half page to hold two different size tags.


Page 11 is the Wicked Witch page.  I made a pocket to hold mats then a corner pocket that holds a couple of tags. 
This is the half page 11.5 front and back.  I love the purple on this page.  Front is just fancy cut cute but the pocket holds 2 mats and when you turn the page there is an envelope pocket that holds a small journaling or photo album made using the smaller tags. 


Page 12 the Wicked block is one of the four that makes up the 12x12 page.  I love these blocks if you can't tell.  I loved the way Clare and others were using belly bands so I made up a Wcked belly band to hold a tag book. 

Page 13 What better way to follow the Wicked page then with the Poisonous Poppy page.  It is a photo window acting as a mat!  I had fun making this page cause I love the poppies!






The open picture window so you can see the tag pocket and I removed the mats so you could see the book excerpt and the flying monkeys.  I also left it so you could put a picture on the mat behind the tags and on the doors if you would like to!

Page 14 and the back cover is the balloon rising from the Emerald City!  Whew all done..almost!  This is what I am calling a flip page.  You can see the mat on the left side  and when you flip it open you get this...


The mat on the left will hold an 5x7" photo and under the belly band on the right is 4 4/6" mats.
On this belly band I made a scalloped band then cut a strip of stamps from the paper.  Did some finish work and called it done....



This is the outside cover.  I loved the poppies but didn't have anymore paper so I cut up the paper packet back and used that.  Probably more sturdy then the paper as it is a card stock backing.  I glued a picture of the crew on and now I am done.


Well and truly done now!  I am sorry Julia that this exceeds a short post rule but I just had to share my book cause I am really proud of it.

I am relatively tied up until Sunday so I probably won't be able to post or visit blogs until then but I am already looking forward to it.  Have a great week!






Wednesday, May 2, 2012

WOYWW #152

I seem to be having problems with blogger this Wednesday again or maybe it is the computer...haven't figured out which yet so will try an post and hope it works.

Welcome to WOYWW #152!  I hope this Wednesday gets a lot better soon!  What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday is always so much fun that I hope it isn't the computer so I can still travel around the world from the comfort of my desk chair and snoop on those other desk I love visiting.  Start out at Stamping Ground and Julia will lead you around the world!

My desk this week doesn't look much different then it usually does and I am wishing I had something more exciting to show you.  My transformation of crafting space isn't occurring very rapidly and might not for a while to come...I need more storage and time to go through what I have and organize it a little better!  I keep waffling back and forth about taking over the other spare room and converting it into a craft room or staying where I am.  Decisions, decisions, decisions...I am already in a 10'x12' room and the other room is 12'x14' so would increase my total square footage a bit but I wonder if it would be worth the work to move or if just reorganization isn't called for.  I digress...MY DESK!!

My desk is actually a 4'x2' piece of wood a top 2 three drawer file cabinets.  One drawer each side is a miscellaneous storage desk drawer and two of the drawers on each side store 8-1/2"x11" card stock in a rainbow of colors.  The four crates at the back have approximately 36-40 stamp pads in each one.  There are 47 Distress Ink stamp pads!  I have a bunch of those small Prima and Sei chalk pads and a bunch of alcohol, distress, and dye ink markers (144).  I think I can ink the world!
As you can see not much different...still cluttered and nothing to show how busy it has been this week but it has been busy!!  Some projects I have completed...

Tag made using my new bird branch and Tattered Flower Garland dies

metal butterfly cut using the Easter Elements bigz die

I enjoyed using my new Tattered Flower Garland die and the new embossing diffuser and Harlequin border

Gungy ATC for swap this month.








The next couple pictures were of a project I made for a friend to celebrate a event in her life.  L is a big Elvis fan and I thought this was appropriate for her. 

I thought a Teddy Bear might be right on track since Elvis made Teddies for big girls a very popular item!!
 
If I were a little kid I think this spooky bear would scare me to death...it has been a while since I made a cake!

That's it for me this week.  Hope you enjoyed snooping around.  I am off to bed and when I get up I will take a trek around the blogs and see what I can see!