WOYWW #188

The week has flown by again and I have very little to show for it craft wise.  I always wonder what I have been up too and why more doesn't get done since I don't seem to be that busy.  I think I need to give up TV and computer time...at least part of it so I can get busy and show something for my time.  I won't go into what a pit my house looks like and I know the rest of the week it won't get  better.

So on to why we are here...to see my desk this week! If you would like to participate in this weekly desk exposures you need to head over to Julia's blog Stamping Ground and check out the other blogs this week. 

My desk is currently occupied by a project in the works.  I am working on a chipboard book made from toilet paper roll cores.  I am using the Graphic 45 papers for Christmas this year called Nutcracker Sweet.   I saw the idea on a You Tube video by Jacqui Chimes and My Creative Spirit, Charlie Jones   

Here is a picture of the front of the book.   Like I said it is a work in progress and I will put finished pictures up when I get it done but I think it looking good so far! 

I hope everyone is settling in now that the holidays are over and getting on with their crafty lives.  I look forward to hopping around to the blogs and seeing what everyone is up to! 

WOYWW #187

Happy New Year and Happy WOYWW!  

Welcome to the first Wednesday of 2013 and the first WOYWW of the new year.  What is WOYWW?  Well click on the link and it will take you to Stamping Ground and Julia where you will learn about all the fun we have each week visiting desks around the world!

Speaking of desks here is a picture of my desk this week.  It is a much neater and clearer place to crop.  I need to find some ink remover and adhesive release to clean up my desk and mat and I will be set to go again.

As one year ends and another year begins I sit here contemplating events and people that have occurred in my life that made me what I am today.  I used to find all sorts of things that I wanted to change or should I say reinvent to make me a different being!   I wanted to be thinner, taller, smarter, more beautiful, less needy, more giving, caring, helpful etc. and it was at this time of year when I would put together my plans for change!  So you say what happened to those plans?

I was locked in a no win situation and it never failed that in two, three, or four months down the line my good intentions would be for naught and I would be feeling guilty at once again proving what a failure I was!  This is the first year I don't have any New Years resolutions or plans to change who and what I am!  I think that I have reached a point in my life (thank heavens at 60 years) that I am comfortable in my skin and realize that it was a waste of time making myself into something I was not and that I wasn't a failure but a victim of the society in which we live.  If I like me and who I am why should I change to fit a mold I hear about on the news, in the ads, and around the town.  That's not to say I wouldn't like to be all the above things but they evidently don't mean enough to me to make me change.

Now that said you are probably wondering to yourself  what am I going to do in the new year?  I am going to take it one day at a time and prioritize what is most important to me and my family and accomplish those things that really matter. 

In my crafting and art world I have some definite plans that I will be going ahead with starting this week.  One objective is to finally move the craft rooms, to use up a lot of that stash that I have been accumulating or at least cull out what I won't ever use.  I want to grow in my art so I signed up to take a course from Tamara Laporte called Life Book 2013 which starts today.  It is an online course that is 52 weeks long and has various artists to teach each week.  I took the course last year also and enjoyed it immensely learning a lot but didn't do as much as I would have liked (it was because I got lazy not Tam) so this year I signed up again. 

Anyway that is me for today.  I am off to cruise around blog land and see what kind of desks and holidays people have to show this week.  Happy New Year!

WOYWW #186

Hope everyone survived the Christmas day festivities and are enjoying a prolonged holiday or if you are having to return to work today I hope it isn't a stressful or taxing day for you.  For me...well I am planning on having a lay about day watching TV, eating leftovers and enjoying quality time with loved ones.  First on my agenda today is a blog hop around the world seeing what WOYWWer's remember today is Wednesday and who posts what about their holidays and desks.  What's this blog hop you say...check out Stamping Ground and Julia will tell you what to do!

Nothing new on my desk from last week except a different pile of junk that needs sorting through and put away.  I bought a new 5 in Xyron and a bag of various metal bits last week that I need to sort through.  Stamps need put away, a kit from last weeks class, a box with my gift from the Secret Santa Swap on OSWE.  Fun stuff!

Anyway that's it for me no crafting has been done this week.  Too many things to catch up on and do!  Have a great week and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

 From my family to yours!  

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope all your days will be filled with love and peace in the new year!

WOYWW #185

Busy week and I am still behind and now wishing I was back on a leisurely boat cruise!  NOT!  If you would like to see photos of the cruise check them out here!  I am glad to be home and enjoying the day!  Heather and Michael are moving into their new home and I have been a little help to them but not as much as I wish I could be.  They are concerned I will over do and end up having a flareup  so I cat wrangle to keep cats in the house and help move lighter things about.

My desk this week is no different then last week.  Haven't done a blasted thing towards making anything creative.  It has become the depository for all sorts of bits and pieces.  Latest that my mail lady brought me is a case with magnetic sheets that I am hoping to organize my Spellbinders and thinner metal dies into.  Check back later and I will show you what I have done....maybe in a couple weeks.

Here is the last project I completed on my desk before my trip.  My button fairy/Christmas angels.  I just realized they are really monochromatic but hey...I like them!  

Button Fairy Christmas Angels made using buttons, petaloo flowers, and the Tim Holtz dress form die and wings dies.

Want to see more desks that have better things to look at?  Julia's blog Stamping Ground is the springboard for all the blog snoops...

Okay that's it for me! I know I am a little later then I usually am posting but hey...better late to the dance then not at all!   I am going to go make another cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal and come back and look through a few blogs. 

Hope everyone has a safe and uneventful holiday.  Happy Christmas, Happy Hanukkah,  Merry Yule!
Happy Holidays!

Caribbean Cruise 2012

Heather and I had a really enjoyable time on our cruise this month and several people have been asking for pictures so here goes a picture laden blog post.  BTW thanks for asking to hear and see what we were up to.  I enjoy sharing what I do but don't want to bore the followers!

Our first day out on November 30 we drove all the way down to Baton Rouge LA and put up in a Court Yard hotel for the night and in retrospect had we looked at a map closer we probably would have just gone to New Orleans that night too.   In New Orleans we spent a fun day visiting the French Market, Bourbon Street, and I finally got to the Cafe Du Monde and had a cup of coffee and some beignets!

French Quarter with busy traffic on Dumain Street!

 We went in several shops in the Quarter but the Voodoo shops were fun.  Marie Laveau House of Voodoo a little schlocky and touristy...no I didn't expect different but I didn't plan on spending money either!  Here are a couple pics of Heather in front of some of the shops props!

 FINALLY!  Cafe Du Monde!  What's up with the Cafe Du Monde?  A lot of the historical, paranormal romance novels I read are set in New Orleans and the cafe is one of the stops.  It is also a special place where blues and jazz musicians used to hang out at night...   The coffee is a strong hickory blend and the beignets were wonderful.  Not gluten free but since I wasn't doing anything but getting on a boat the next day I ate them anyway. 

Heather laughing at me for taking pictures of my coffee and beignets!

Navy Jazz band!

A cruise ship pulling out of port heading for the Caribbean!  Did you know it is between a 4-6 hour ride down the Mississippi river from New Orleans to the Caribbean?  A lot water!! 

One of the train stops for the French Quarter and Market.

The French Market.

I am going to devote the rest of the post to pictures with short captions by the day.  Too much writing... ;-)  Our cruise was a 7 day eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Conquest and while I had a so-so vacation due to some issues with service etc. I wouldn't recommend the Conquest as your first cruise on a Carnival ship because they aren't at all like the other ships I have been on.
Itinerary:
Day 1:  at sea
Day 2:  Key West, FL
Day 3:  at sea
Day 4:  Free Port Bahamas
Day 5:  Nassau, Bahamas
Day 6:  at sea
Day 7:  at sea

 Day One

Heather in the cabin

Pilot boat that took us down the Mississippi

life boat muster

Lido deck embark party

Good bye New Orleans see you in a week!

Heather and I goofin off in the cabin

 Second Day:  Formal dinner night and picture of our table mates.

Ray and Stephen

Me and Heather

Mark and Jeff

Bren and Susan...another mother/daughter

 Day 3:  Key West Florida

Coast Guard ship

Heather

Me

Sloppy Joe's bar a favorite haunt of Ernest Hemingway...another place I had to visit...not to mention they have awesome Margaritas!

Key West from the boat!

Day 4:  Free Port, Bahamas

Wynnward Resort.  There isn't a lot to see in this port and if you don't snorkle or dive then you hang out on a beach somewhere.  This is a protected resort and we had a blast.

Guess who?

see that little thatched umbrella to the right of the tree trunk?  That's where I sat and dozed away the morning!  It was a beautiful day but cool and then the rain came.

Beautiful pool...cool water!  Maybe 70 deg at most but the birds enjoyed their giant bird bath!

  Day 5:  Nassau, Bahamas.  There were 5 Carnival cruise ships and a Norwegian ship in port at the same time.  As you can see there isn't a lot of town and when you add about 10,000 more people to a smallish population it gets a bit crowded.  Besides the shopping is great if you have a lot of money to spend but for common travelers like us Gucci  and Prada didn't hold any alure!  So... Heather and I decided to no get off the boat today because it was raining and nasty out and neither one of us are shoppers!  Since I have problems walking the distances were a bit overwhelming too!

three Carnival ships here!

The building above and in the distance in the picture above is the resort called Atlantis...  very  posh I am told and about the best place on the island to go.   It has an amusement park, aquarium, many restaurants and shops...

The dock!

another cruise ship and more dock

and more dock!! 

This girl was feeding sea gulls french fries from the fish and chip shop on board and...

She soon had quite a following

Bridge spanning islands

 Day 6 and Day 7 were spent at sea heading back to New Orleans.  I didn't take a lot of pictures cause there was only so many water shots I wanted.  Heather and I had an after noon on day 6 at the spa having a massage and facials done because we had spent so little money on our journey and we felt we deserved it.  The rest of the time was spent seeing shows and musical events, finding desk space for reading or retreating to our room when it got too cold outside to sit out.  December in the eastern Caribbean can be a bit nippy I am told and now I have found that out for myself!

Heather reading book 3!  She is such a fast reader!

Every night the cabin steward would make animals up from towels often stealing bits of jewelry, sunglasses,  hats left laying about to adorn them with.  Tonight our towel creature was a monkey hanging from the light fixture!

View from our window the last night on board!  An oil well in the gulf way off in the distance!

WOYWW #184

I had a wonderful vacation the past couple of weeks but really missed snooping around the WOYWW desks!  My daughter and I went to New Orleans and then on a cruise to the Bahamas!  Lots of fun!  Wondering why I would miss a snoop around desks with a wonderful vacation like that?  Well go check out Stamping Ground and Julia will fill you in on all the deets!

My desk today!  Not much going on to look at.  I have been gone almost two weeks and there has been absolutely nothing going on.

I received my angels from Jozarts swap in the mail when I came home.  WOW talk about some awesome work!  Both of the angels are gorgeous and I love them!  I think I will hang them on the tree then after Christmas move them to the wall in my craft room.

Jozart sent me an angel she named Malayeka!  Love the beautiful purple colors!  

The second angel came from came from Neil and was named Celestia.  

Aren't they gorgeous!  I will be sending out my angels tomorrow to Jozart and the person I owe and angel!  The cruise caused me to put the mailing on hold as life got in the way but I promise they will be there very soon!  

Anyway that is all for me tonight and I will be up early tomorrow to do a hop around the blogs and get my fix before starting decorating my tree and getting the cards out!  Hope everyone has a great week!