WOYWW

Hello!  Glad to see all my WOYWW friends and others on this bright sunshiny Wednesday.  Just woke up...lazy me.  I didn't crawl into bed till around 6 am so getting out of bed at 2 really isn't a lay in just 8 hours of sleep!  My doctor upped my medication for pain control and I guess it is working cause I seem to be sleeping better!  I got up once to let my cats into the bedroom...DH doesn't like cats in the bed so he shuts the door...and within minutes I was back into deep sleep!  That's my reason for being late to the party again!  What party you say?  Well every Wednesday a group of us get together to share pictures of our desk so others can enjoy snooping around seeing what we have or don't have.  We share pictures of our works or projects so everyone can see what we are up to during the week.  Occasionally we share bits and pieces of our home lives.  What is this social group called?  Whats On Your Workspace Wednesday...WOYWW!  If you are interested in joining or just hoping around the blogs check out Julia's blog Stamping Ground.  So on to my desk.

I got so many positives about showing more of my desk I took even a broader picture of the mess for you today...take care piles of goodness have more stacked under it so careful and don't knock anything more to the floor because it is already loaded up too!

I really love having everything close at hand but I think it is getting out of hand because I don't have enough space to work.  The area I am working in is about 12"x15" maybe a little more.  Enjoy looking around!

I have been fascinated by the Gelli Plate craze but not willing to put out the money to buy one.  OMG!  I couldn't believe the price of these little beauties!  I did a web search and an 8"x10" is about $30 and that is without paying for shipping.  I looked around online for recipes to create my own and kept coming up with the same stuff about how it wasn't shelf stable and how it would mold and rot.  I found one recipe at Shaz in Oz blog that sounded promising but I was still concerned with mold and mildew on the plate.  Sooooo....I researched a little more and came up with my own recipe.  Alcohol, glycerin, and sugar are all microbial growth retardants so I figured I would use them all and It seems to have worked for me!  Try making one and let me know what you think!

Vickie's Plate
4 oz Gelatin
1 c alcohol
1 c glycerin
1/4 c sugar
1 c hot water
1 c cold water

Mix gelatin in 1 c cold water till mostly dissolved.  Add 1 c hot water and sugar and stir well till totally dissolved.  Add alcohol and glycerin.  Do not put your face over your mixing bowl cause the vapors can cause some respiratory issues if you have asthma.  The alcohol evaporates out a lot.    Pour the mixture into the container you want it to set up in.  I used a 9"x13" plastic container with a lid.  Refrigerate or just set out in a cold spot and wait a day or two for it to set up.
Here is what mine looks like now.  It is 6 weeks since I made the plate and it hasn't molded or deteriorated at all. The yellow color comes from the gelatin I used!

 I broke it yesterday washing it off in a little warmer then usual water and it cracked and broke in half!

So today I melted it down and refrigerated it and here is what it looks like now.   If you need to melt it down run it in the microwave till melted...about 1 1/2 minutes.   Let it set in a cool place till reset!  I think I will use wet wipes to clean it up from now on!



Here is a picture of a couple of my prints:

I think my homemade plate does as good of mono prints as the more expensive plates.

I was in a tag swap this past month with an online Yahoo! group called the Outlaw Women Scrapbook Emporium.  The group is very informative and a lot of fun.  There is also a retail store associated with the group that carries items for sale to members only for a very reduced price. 

It is a 1:1 swap where you are paired up with another member and you send one tag and get one from another member.  Here is the tag I received from Cindy a couple days ago.  The theme this month was cats!

 Here is the tag I sent to Robyn my swap person! 

I have probably gone over Julia's short post rule but a lot of words and a few pictures so I guess I had better sign off for now and go check out some of the blogs tonight.  If you visit me and leave a comment I will definitely visit your blog.  I am going to surf the blogs so hope to hear back from you!