Merry Christmas to all!

 2020 is almost over!  I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I don't blog as much as I used to but all things considered I get done what needs to be done and happy about that!

My desk this week is pretty much the same as it always is so don't think I will waste time posting a picture...it is a mess with all the crap that has accumulated.  Stormy continued to hold down the fort for me and keeps me on the straight and narrow most days.  Wonder why I am talking about my desk?  It is Wednesday and WOYWW silly!  Check it out on Julia's blog Stamping Ground!

We haven't been doing much but staying at home...too fearful to even get out to go to the pub.  It used to be an every Monday and sometime 2-3 times a week but now we are lucky to get out to go to the Doctor.

Chuck was back in the hospital again with the fib-flutter and has been started on more meds that seem to have more side effects then doing good.  He is having to walk with a cane because of weakness and doesn't feel like doing much of anything!  He is keeping a good attitude!

Christmas is rapidly approaching and I got the kids and grandkids covered but little else.  I got the tree up, the house decorated outside and in and did 3 Christmas themed diamond paintings.  Been having issues with cold and the arthritis I haven't done much in the way of card making or scrapbooking.

Christmas isn't Christmas without Dala Horses!

The Tree is up and the Snow Village is out!

The outside is done and we actually won an award and $25 check for being 1 of 3 houses on our block that was decorated nicely!  Not quite the Griswold Christmas but it was fun to do.  I love Snowmen and we have called Christmas Snowman Day forever.

Snowmen and tree diamond paintings

Okay that is it for me!  Got to get off here and get ready to go to the Doctors!  Never ending as we age it seems!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

WOYWW

 It is late in the day on Wednesday, November 11, 2020 and I decided to start my WOYWW today.  I will link asap but...I forgot completely last few weeks and that makes me vary sad.  I did manage to make it around to most blog posts but didn't leave comments on most cause I was on my iPhone waiting at appointments etc.  

It  has been an interesting year and even more interesting couple of months around the Doswell house.  Chuck has been in and out of the hospital having issues with his 75 year old ticker not wanting to beat as it should.  Last month they put a pacemaker in his chest and the beginning of this week I took him in cause his heart rhythm was 'beating like a drum' irregular and fast...is doing better today but has to be in the hospital for 6 doses plus 8 hours before he can come home.  Tikosyn...high dollar drug.  Here's to hoping it works.

The kitties haven't been feeling well and both have had trips to the Vet...I sometimes feel I run an sick infirmary in the Doswell house! 

Ankh had a hurt leg and had to go in for xrays and antibiotics...Stormy girl is old and having sniffles and 'bad' days.   Our white kitty Ghost is still missing.  It is getting cold so I am hoping that she has found a good home!

What have I been up to craft wise...a lot really!

I look a class with the Stamps of Life making cards... The three cards were a lot of fun.  The gatefold card is different 

I made some coins for a swap...I used Graphic 45 paper to make the coins...

Also made a postcard using G-45 papers and Tim Holtz dies...

Another swap was for Halloween tags... The first was for what is called 'chunky' tags...highly embellished so it costs more to send so we send them to a moderator to be swapped out.  The second is 'flat' tags...those are sent to the individuals.

I joined a calendar swap making 6"x6" calendars for 2021...my month was December!

I started another new hobby this past month also.  It is called Diamond Painting...a little bit like paint by number and a little bit like cross stitch embroidery!  My daughter introduced me to it because I think she thought I needed something to calm me down since my life has been in such turmoil.  This election, Covid-19 etc has messed with my PTSD and this stuff really has potential to chill me out.

This is the first one I did...I like the sugar skulls of the Latino Dia de los Muertos...a little freaky but a great concept...much better then rotting corpses! It is mainly rhinestones and what they call a partial drill cause most of the canvas is painted and the 'diamonds' accent it.

This is the second one I did is a full drill square 'diamond' picture and it covers the entire canvas like cross stitches...

This is the last one I just finished...it is a full drill circle 'diamonds'.  I was a lot faster to do then the other two.  The circles give a little more leeway for placement of the drills.  It was a lot of fun.  These canvases are small so detail is limited but I like them a lot!  I have already started another one with Heather that is a Snow family using the circle drills. 

Okay I am going to end this right now before I bore everyone to death.  I think I will get dressed and go over to my daughters and do some more on my Snowman family!  Hope everyone is doing okay and life is treating you well.  Hope 2021 is better...this year sucks!

WOYWW #586 and what's up around Casa de Doswell

 Yay!  I remembered to come back to WOYWW to visit other folks desks and to make a new post...I have not been the greatest in the memory department this month!  WOYWW? Go check out Julia's desk to find out what it is all about!

My desk this week continues to be a nightmare of sorts...I did get a couple cards made but just!  I got a couple new kits in and unloaded them and it makes a stack for sure...

I really like the Stamps of Life stamps and dies lately...I have never been much into cutesy stuff but I have been so depressed with all the isolating etc I decided to try it out!  Also bought some beach stamps and die kit from Queen and Co.  I miss being able to go on a cruise.  I guess feeling guilty over 3 last year is done cause I won't be able to take one for another year from the sounds of it.  

I made a couple cards this week prior to the deluge on the desk...This first one was from a swap!  We all kitted up and sent stuff to our partner for them to make a card with.  If you use glue on this glossy cardstock it will warp...should have thought it out but...anyway I think it isn't half bad considering!

This second one is a pick up card.  I was tied up on a wait on the phone and saw this stuff laying on the desk and decided to make a slimline card...now to find an envelope to put it in.  I had made a couple scrapbook layouts last year with this paper and how it got back on the desk is beyond me!  

It seems to be all the rage to do these slimline cards over here right now and I think it turned out okay considering it is a first.

I guess that is it for my WOYWW post.  I hope everyone has a great week and has a lot of fun doing whatever they are doing.  It has been very hot here...I am almost ready for fall!

I am kind of down in the dumps today cause my middle fur baby was outside on the deck and came up missing.  I have never seen her leave the back yard so I am assuming she went for a walk and didn't know how to get home.  I have "put out the word" so to speak and I hope people will let me know if they see her.   Ghost is pure white and such a sweet kitty...I hope no one has taken her.

I have been spending a lot of time outside and swim most evenings.  We had a new deck and pergola put in this year and it is just a nice place to sit and contemplate life...kinda like a vacation at home.  

The deck and pergola had been there for over 30 years so it was definitely time for new!

Chuck spends a lot of time in the garden during this time of year.  We are canning a lot of tomatoes and had some squash and corn earlier that I processed for the freezer.

The patio and deck look a lot different two months later...I am not so happy that this vine took over and killed out a lot of the other plants I had planted.

A good place to sit for a glass of wine or a chat.  I listen to music most nights and eat my supper out here! 

The swimming pool is also a good place to float and have a good time.  

Okay enough for today!  Hope everyone has enjoyed my back yard as much as I do.  Backing up to park makes it so nice...I don't have to care for it as much as if it was my property and yet I enjoy it like it is mine!

WOYWW etc...

 It has been quite awhile since I have participated in WOYWW...Time just seems to fly by with the never changing days that we have been enduring of late...For the first time since I have retired I am actually happy to be retired.  I worked 43 years as a RN in emergency rooms, ICU/CCU, etc.  I don't think I could physically or mentally face another disaster like what this Covid Pandemic is causing in the medical field. It has been a tough 4 years and the whole of the USA is a disaster at this point in time so we stay home and mope about!!

So I got off the subject of why I am here!  WOYWW is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!  Julia is the creator of this magnificent space and I have participated in it for many years off and on...going to try to be more on then off I hope!  My work desk this week is a mess...whole room continues to be a disaster zone and I think I am rapidly becoming a hoarder of sorts!  It has paid off though cause I have only been to the local Michaels twice in the 6 months since Covid entered our lives.

Stormy girl is my constant companion when I am in my "room" and loves to lay in front of the computer so I am always having to reach around her to get anything and that means some lovings in the mix.  I have 3 critters and most the time they are all in the craft room.

I have been staying busy doing various projects by haven't been doing much original anything relying on kits to keep me going artsy fartsy!  I did make up some tags for the yearly calendar swap I have been participating in a group that utilizes StamperAnpn stamps etc called Art Incorporated  We used to be on Yahoo groups but moved to group.io.  I don't know what I did wrong but only 8 of the 13 tags photographed and I know I took a picture of all of them but...well here they are.  They are suppose to be all the same...so there you go just a little bit different!  Difference is good right?

So that is it for me for this week.  I will check out some of the desks and see what everyone has been doing recently.  I have missed it and get way too involved in the BS of politics in the US!  It is a hot mess here for sure right now.

WOYWW

Well a little late...not months have passed...since my last post.  Been busy with all sorts of stuff...some essential some not so much so!  I really enjoyed WOYWW a couple weeks ago and promised to be here too and I am...Whats WOYWW?  Whats On Your Workdesk/space Wednesday!  Julia Dunnit started the group many years ago and it is a fun place...Check it out!

My space looks like more of a disaster then it did 2 weeks ago with me shuffling stuff around and back again trying to place this, find that, get rid of some stuff!  I just have more stuff then one person should have and keep getting more because people think I can't live without it!  My craft room from the door

 I truly am trying to organize but it seems I have to move 200 things to find a resting place for the one in my hand...I will persevere.  I have 2 boxes to go out sitting in the dining room waiting on pick up by a school teacher that needs supplies.

Some cards I made this week.  I really love the kits that Close to My Heart puts out a could times a year.  My daughter is a CTMH dealer and she lets me order them on her account!  This one is the Seas the Day card kit...a lot of fun to put together!  This kit makes 4 of each card type.

 I have since bought the layout/scrapbook kit and will show you that when I get it done!

A friend got the new Gemini from Crafters Companion...a bright sparkly metallic machine...tried out machine and the dies that came with it and made a couple cards!

I think they turned out really nice...6"x 6" but pretty much lays flat.  I love bright sparkly/shiny things and bright colors.  My daughter tells everyone that color is my friend...it does calm me down when a lot is available.  I don't do well with dull and drab...

Okay I guess I will end this missive here without adding a lot more to it.  I hope to make it around to see everyone this week...Don't know how I keep forgetting!