Plant's List

 Sorry, what day is it again? .....

Ah yes, hello deskers, here we are at the very end of this horrible year, sharing our desks for a final time before the New Year. I hope everyone had a lovely, if somewhat restrained Christmas with lots of crafty goodies. We finally got the all clear mid morning Christmas Eve and the celebrations began immediately - so I do apologise, I didn't get round last week!  I didn't get a huge amount of crafty stuff but did score some TH stamps, tools, some brushos and a substantial voucher to spend on Lavinia stamps so more than enough to keep me happy. 

We have had a lovely time, just us 5, ate, drank and played lots of games, we don't do tv at Christmas. For the game players amongst you my best recommendations for new games were 'Dobble' (pretty good brain exercise if you are getting on a bit as well if you get my drift), 'Dark Cranium' (I had to leave the room twice I was laughing so much) and 'Cat Chaos'. 

But you are here for the desk. Well, it's pretty bad.....in fact every surface is pretty bad....

I'm not actually crafting at the mo. I am using this dead time before the end of the year to go through every shelf, drawer and box, checking that what is in there is what is supposed to be there, throwing a few bits away (not enough I admit) and generally tidying up and rearranging. (Of course this means I won't be able to find anything in January). I've decided I need to get rid of at least 2 die cutting machines that I never use, my TODO and my XCUT but that's a drop in the ocean really as you can probably see. Tomorrow I will temporarily put Christmas away so that I can see the wood for the trees. I broke my big rollaround chair and I'm not sure whether to replace it - after all, I probably need the exercise - there's certainly more room without it. I'm also quite enjoying having the table 'free-standing' in the centre of the room but I'm not sure how practical that is long term. I need to clear everything that has been dumped on it to make a sensible decision. 

Well I doubt any of us will be going anywhere anytime soon so it's good to have a project!! Why am I telling you all this? Because it's WOYW Wednesday, the day when we go for a wander around the desks of the great and the good courtesy of the lovely Julia at Stamping Ground. Pop on over and join in why don't ya?

It's scary out there folks, Stay home if you can, Stay well, stay safe,

Cindy x

Good morning deskers, how is everyone 2 days before Christmas? I woke up late today and have a feeling it's going to be one of those not-quite-firing-on-all-cylinders kind of days. Good job everything is done. 

I hope you all aren't too disappointed if your holiday plans have been curtailed, it's an absolute nightmare. If anyone is now going to be on their own on Christmas Day do let me know, I will find time to get in touch. Nothing has changed for us as it was always going to be 'just' the 5 of us but.... all 3 young people who have been out working have been told they have possibly had contact with Covid so everyone is hiding in their bedrooms waiting for results etc. It's certainly all very strange. 

Anyhow, we are here for the desk.

As you can see I have been working on a few Lavinia style cards this week - these are to go in a Christmas parcel for a friend who sends lots of letters and cards. You can also see the book recommended by Shaz which has just arrived. TBH I haven't done much else this week, been a bit low with a UTI and the general situation but like everyone just trying to  get through each day at a time.

I have received some beautiful cards to brighten the festivities and I'll attempt to do justice to those in another post at some stage. For now just let me say 'Thank You' they are much appreciated.

 Of course before I go I  must link up, as WOYWW is is our weekly bloghop courtesy of the lovely Julia at Stamping Ground - pop on over and join in, we don't bite. 

Merry Christmas everyone,

Stay well, stay safe,

Cindy xx

Oops, I did it again..... totally forgot about Wednesday last week until late afternoon. So I missed all the post anniversary chat. I do better when I remember to prepare a post on Tuesday afternoon (as I am doing now) so I am ready to go!! But not to worry, the week flew by again and here we are at WOYWW 602 - well on the way to the next celebration already!

So I hope you are all well whatever constraints you are living under at the mo. In London we are going into Tier 3 today, but won't make much difference to me as we haven't been going out to pubs and restaurants or even visiting. I don't really see that it it is going to achieve much in the next 10 days whilst the shops are open and people are still going in to work. My DIL2B starts vaccinating today. It all sounds a bit complicated, it isn't just stick it in and shout 'NEXT'. It's gonna be a tough few weeks for those on the frontline as they try to turn protocol into action. Not that it's let up really. But hey, ho here's my desk. I don't know what to say really.

I am just about to tidy up, as I hope one of my cuttlebug plates is in this mess somewhere. (I kind  of feel all cutting plates should be coloured. I never lose the purple gemini one or the grand calibur ones). I have finished today's project and it's time to clear space before I start on something else. 

Today I finished the 'handmade' present we have to make for the family Secret Santa (pretty pleased with myself as usually still doing this Christmas Eve). As mentioned when last here I had picked out my nephew, a 20 something male - groan, my nightmare as far as craft presents go. This is what I have made.

I haven't laughed this much since I made my sock snowmen a few years ago (I still have an army of them that come out every year).  I was also surprised, when doing some research, that there are quite a few variations on this theme out there that are actually up for sale..... Not sure any of those use recycled prosecco corks though. 

Oh well that's me feeling rather Christmassy despite everything. In case you aren't, here's 3 of our Christmas trees. I may have shown you before but they are so pretty. The kitsch one deserves a close look, some of the decs are amazing, many many more than last year. As usual blogger won't let me arrange them nicely.  Or will it?.......

Hope everyone is keeping well, 

Stay home, stay safe, 

Happy WOYWW Cindy.

(UPDATE: Spotty internet again today, been trying to upload since 8.30. Never did find the cuttlebug plate.)

Well hello there deskers, it's certainly a day for celebrating big numbers today! It is actually my birthday today so I will be shamelessly cashing in on the celebrations to make my day a bit more special, heck, it's not like there's much else to do!! However what we are erally celebrating is the 600th WOYWW, no mean achievement and kudos indeed to those that have been there for the whole journey. So here's the link to the lovely Julia at Stamping Ground - pop on over and join in, see what it's all about, we don't bite. 

Must apologise for being AWOL the last 2 weeks - I blame the rain. I don't know why but whenever we have a period of continuous rain the internet just goes all flaky pastry and drops every 30 seconds. My blood pressure is already high enough and constantly waiting for it to catch up is just too frustrating.  So I have learnt to walk away. A week without rain and it seems much more reliable, didn't lose connection once yesterday. Here's hoping.

I'm writing this Tuesday evening as I can't get on with dinner as someone is baking me a birthday cake so thought I'd make a start on this. (GBBO recipe, no Betty Crocker for me!!)  Here's my desk, (only slightly staged) photo taken this afternoon.

At the beginning of the year I scored some Tim Holtz flurry dies in a sale but never got around to using them until yesterday when I cut a bunch out in various cardstocks from my scrap box (still using things up) and I decided to use them with a huge bunch of gelli prints I found in a file. These are the last few, special ones I was making for specific people. I have really loved making these messy MM style cards. By the end of play tomorrow I hope that all my cards will be written and ready to go in the post or delivered Thursday/Friday. It's a lot of hand made cards. I have never been finished the first week in December. My overseas cards have already left. I am slightly in shock. Well, that's one positive of being in lockdown I guess.

So that's me. I am however looking for an idea for a handmade present (budget £10) for a young man (21), slightly geeky, into Marvel big time (but that is getting so old, I've done Marvel variations for the last 10 years....). It's for my my nephew and part of our family 'secret santa'. I stupidly let my daughter have the gnome I had in reserve. So now I'm really stumped, so any ideas, even stupid ones, much appreciated. 

Happy WOYWW, stay well, stay safe, Cindy xx