Work Desk Wednesday - holidays are coming!

Here's what I've got on my desk today, I'm making holiday decorations and goodies!

I've been devising a gingerbread house made of card so you can see the prototype I made in the background there. I made all the templates so that will probably be a future CT project. I've also got a journal on the go and I started an embroidery last night while watching TV - and I saw that Christmas ad - defo gets me in the holiday spirit even if it is still only November! :)

xx Leo

Carry on your work desk journey from Julia's blog here, http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

December Daily Completed album!

Well I've (almost) finished my December Daily album. I say almost because I'll probably add some more to it - I've really enjoyed making it! It's beginning to feel almost like Christmas!

I thought it would be easier to see as a video so rather than upload loads of photos I've had a go at making a little video...

I've used leftovers to make the album and then goodies from the Hey Christmas Cupcake Quirky Kit to decorate. The cover is just a piece of fabric doubled over and stitched together. Once stitched together it was folded over and holes punched in the side. The eyelets have been added with my Cropodile, (using the page protector holes as a guide) and then I just popped the book rings through to make the binding. They look big book rings now but from doing a couple of December Daily albums I know the albums soon get fat so it's worth preparing ahead and going for a chunky binding. ;) On the inside of the cover I've added some cardstock for stability and then neatened up the edges with the deco tape from the kit. The inside pages are leftover page protectors cut up to fit, some were multi pocket 12x12 ones and some were 6x12 ones that have been trimmed down. The rest are cardstock pages. My layout is 3 dates per page and one page for the 25th. I've started the dates at the end of November to cover some Christmassy things going on just before December. Using the book rings means I can add some more pages, keepsakes or full size photos in between the pages if I find later on I need more room. I also like to add handmade cards received to it so it makes it easier to pop those in too. :)

xx Leo

December Daily Part 1

I've tried to cram some December Daily album making in this weekend. I told myself I wouldn't start anything Christmassy for myself till after bonfire night and I was so itching to begin December Daily I started on the 6th!
Well I've had a few ideas milling about for how I wanted to approach it this year. One of the main 'problems' I had last year was not having enough time to fill it out each day and falling behind with it. The one I made the year before was much less formally laid out so I thought of doing a combination of the two. I need the dates on the pages to be there to encourage me to complete it, knowing it's there with a space to fill makes you need to fill it. I didn't have time for everyday last year and some times ended up going back a week filling it in. So this year I've thought of making a page for every 3 days instead of every one. I also want to start it a little bit early to fit in fun things like light switch ons and pre-December Christmassy stuff so I'm going to start on the 28th November and work up to the 31st December making 1 page for every 3 days and leaving the last page for the 31st and to round up. That makes 12 pages, or 24 I guess if you count both sides.
I've got my pile of goodies ready........

Everything is from the Hey Christmas Cupcake Quirky Kit. I've also used some page protectors I had leftover, they're the American Crafts ones with separate 6x4 pockets. I chopped them down to make them a bit smaller and added the dates, 3 on each page. It made the largest pages 11x8.5 inches which dictated the size of my album.

I've not done the cover yet but I've made a start on an embroidered panel for it.

As the title says another thing I'm planning this year is making it more diary like with lots of journalling and little pictures and doodles here and there.

So that's kind of as far as I've got. I'm putting everything down here so I can look back next year!

Workdesk Wednesday

It's a gloomy workdesk Wednesday today. It's just gone really dark here. I was up at 7am and it was loads brighter I guess the rain is going to kick in anytime now. Anyhoo here's my desk today:

Well I've been up early mostly sketching out ideas today. I'm planning another Create 10, Create 10 at Christmas and I've been trying to fit in planning as much as I can, (that's kind of why my blog's been quiet for a while too, no free time!) I absolutely love creating at Christmas, there's so much to do! Baking tree cookies and treats, making decorations, making gifts, gift wrapping, wreath making, making table dressings, so much crafty fun! Well thinking about all the things I make every Christmas I thought that would make a fun set of classes.  :)
Well that's what I'm up to, I'm coming along to see what you're up to today while I have a  coffee/jellybean break ;) Pop along to more work desks on Julia's blog, http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/
xx Leo

Happy Halloween!

Have a fun Haloween time today.

I got the pattern for this pumpkin from the Martha Stewart site, http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/pumpkin-templates#slide_3
Loads of cool patterns on there to use if you're up to some pumpkin carving today!
xx

Yet another work desk Wednesday

Hi
I totally forgot it was WDW today until about 10 mins ago. I was getting all my card kit stuff out in front of me to sort out the DT kits and I remembered I was going to take a piccy of it all this week. I can't believe it's been a week already since I was thinking everything would have arrived by today.
So here's what I'm looking at today:

 It's almost a sea of kraft, lol! I went for a mix of kraft brown with bright fun patterns in the papers and a quirky font to add messages. I've got a kit to make samples with in that brown paper bag and something that shouldn't be on my desk, my cup of warm Ribena, eek! Drinks and paper don't mix I better move that quick. I'm trying to keep drinking, got a horrid throat/chest chill thing trying to take me down, I bet everyone is the same this time of year when the weather changes.
I love these little card blanks too with the messages already on and those cute mini kraft tags although looking at those did make me think I've not got a ribbon to put in the kit, I might pop some twine in to work with the whole kraft thing. I picked out some large blank tags too so when people are using the kit they can use up any small leftover bits to make some gift tags.

I've just got my Sass catalogue out too I'm thinking of adding a little bit more colour in and there's a fun tartan paper in there I'm thinking of adding in.I don't know why but I just love tartan and kraft for Christmas cards, is that just me or do you think it works for Christmas?

Pop back to Juilia's blog to peek at more desks today, http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

xx Leo



Work desk Wednesday

Hi!
Well the huge scrapbook I've been working on went out on Monday so that was a huge relief and it's freed up a little bit of time to indulge my own crafty fun this week. I ended up making 30 layouts then used some of those cool American Crafts multi pocket page protectors to slip in the rest of the photos between the layouts - can defo recommend those if you have tons of pictures to fit in one scrapbook.

Anyway so something I'm working on all this week is running through the latest Create 10 class project, you can see quite a few peeks of the project on my desk today. This time it's a minibook and if you're playing along with us we'll be making a little bit of the minibook through each of the 10 days. It all starts next week so this week I'm just running though the stages and taking photos to add in to the class pages. If you do want to play along it's all free this time and you can check out all the details here.

I hope everyone has fun with it anyway, I know I am at least making it now :) Other thing I'm doing this week and next week is sorting out the Christmas card kits. I refused to do them while it was warm it's just not good ordering Christmas stuff in July! I went for some of the new American Crafts ones, there's a peek of my design sheet right at the back with them on, there's defo lots of cute Christmas stuff to look out for this year and a good mix of traditional too. I didn't go for it this time but Pink Paislee have a lovely traditional Christmas set coming around next month, very whimsical and Victorian if you like that look over the bright and cute patterns. I got some other cute Christmas things from Etsy too and I'm waiting on my order from Lily Bee Designs that should be arriving any time this week, fingers crossed! It should be all ready to go together by next work desk Wednesday so I'll be able to share a peek then.
Catch up with more work desks up on Juilia's blog here, http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/
xx Leo

Scribbles 'n' Scrappin

So why did you call your blog what you called it?
Scribbles 'n' Scrappin came from my notebooks. I was twiddling my thumbs trying to think of something that wasn't taken as a blog name and then my eyes drifted over to my stack of notebooks. I have a thing that I think I picked up in art school where we had to forever sketch out our ideas before we put actual brush to paper. I used to hate it at the time but it's grown into a life long habit. Before I can scrap or do most craft I scribble down my ideas first. I suppose it is a good habit to get into because when inspiration strikes it's not always possible to drop everything and start creating so you can reach for your notebook and put everything down ready to work from when you can.
I have thrown lots of notebooks in the recycle bin but I have kept others and like to trawl back through trying to glean new ideas. Some of them are so haphazard I'm not sure anyone would be able to make any sense of them but me!

All the notebooks I've had I've made myself, you can grab some of your fave patterned papers and embellies and have fun creating. I made up some extra books to put in my etsy store last week. You can have a peek here. This one is my fave I used some pretty chipboard from American Crafts I've just treated myself to:

 

That chipboard and the sketches are coming in handy for the *massive scrapbook project I'm doing at the mo. I did this page at the weekend, one of 10 that I finished in 2 days, I haven't scrapped this much since the last UK Scrappers Cyber crop!

 

I hope the lady likes it when it's done. I've had to really draw back my style, no messy painty inkiness but I'm still managing to get a bit of me in the pages. I added some of the butterfly garlands I've been making.

I've also had to teach myself to make photo corners again so I can add the photos in a not so permanent way. I did want some removable glue so I could add the photos but they could be peeled away from the pages easily but I haven't had any luck finding any, I'm sure it must exist? As always any help much appreciated.

xx Leo

*see last post

Ever Get Scrapping Brain Ache?

So I love scrapbooking but I've got serious brain ache from my current project. I'm helping out my Grams making a scrapbook for her friends' 70th and while I'm really enjoying it - {especially looking though the cool heritage photos I just love} there are a lot of photos Grams has come up with.....

....so I'm getting serious scrappers brain ache. If anyone has any known cure I'd love to hear it. If you don't hear from me for a while you know what I'm up to. Anyway it's putting everything else I'm doing kind of on hold, at least it will for the next couple of weeks...

xx Leo

Just Another Workdesk Wednesday

Hi!
Lots of stuff going on today. First I was having a play with my new toy earlier. I got this Martha Stewart punch and stamp set. The stamps slot into the top of the punch for storage and the punch matches the stamp design so you can stamp and then punch out the shapes.

It's quite a clever idea but I'm not 100% satisfied with it. After I had a play I worked out that it's easier to punch out the shapes first and then stamp over them. I tried the instructions on the packet and found it too fiddly to match up the punch to the stamped image. The stamps aren't the best quality in the world so I probably won't use them that much.

I did make a garland I think is really pretty using the punched shapes and a vintage thesaurus. All you do is just pop punched out shapes under your sewing machine foot as you sew, it's quite fun. :)

I think I'll make another one and incorporate some other bits and pieces in it, maybe some vintage postage stamps.

Other desky things I'm up to today is getting the design teams kits ready to send out. These are card making kits, I've just got the ribbon matching up to do.

These papers are lovely I will defo recommend them. They're a mix up of My Minds Eye 'Alphabet Soup' and Cosmo Cricket 'Togetherness'. The Alphabet soup papers came in two designs, boy and girl but I went with the boy ones because they're not totally boyish they're actually quite neutral I think. They've got a lovely vintagey circus thing going on which I'm loving at the mo.

I added the little robots too, I think they're really cute!
Well that's almost it just got one more thing - the brooch draw from last weeks workdesk Wednesday - if your name is Rachel M and you love lime green I've got a brooch for you....

Mail me your addy at enquiries@craftyprincess.co.uk and I'll pop it in the post for you.

Happy crafting guys, whatever you're up to today! You can carry on your Workdesk Wednesday fun on Julia's blog here, http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/
xx Leo

Indie Girl

I've been really loving playing the the new stuff from Sassafras. I've done lots of cards so far so I fancied a change and decided to have a play with the lilibee Indie Girl class so I'm all signed up and raring to go. Hopefully I'll be able to start it at the weekend. Anyone else signed up to play along?

Speaking of new Sass I'm currently waiting for loads more of the new goodies, can't wait for them to turn up so I can have a stroke I went for both the Count Me In and Mix and Mend lines as well as the chipboard. I'm putting most of them in upcoming kits. There's a September card kit called 'Circus' and then the next Quirky Kit 'Rock 'n' Roll Star' that's due at the end of next month. I added a peek of it to the CT blog yesterday......

It's going to be really fun can't wait to play myself! Those ribbons are amazingly vivid in real life, neon taffeta = super yum lol! So that's what's keeping my creative brain busy right now, what are you up to?
I'll stop by tomorrow for Workdesk Wednesday
xx Leo

Work Desk Wednesday

I missed last week so I thought I better make an effort to get something up this week. Here's what I've been working on....

 I'm making brooches from different fabrics and using embroidery. This 'L' one I've finished now,

 This one's for me obviously but I'm making some other ones that I'll maybe put in my etsy store. I'm really loving playing with needle and thread it's another fun way to 'draw' I guess but using fabric and thread.

Here's another one I'm working on, a cute little sail boat scene.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hey, would you like your own monogram brooch? I'll make one to give away. If you'd like to win one add your favorite colour and initial to your comment and I'll pick one comment out at random to win and post it up next Wednesday - it'll defo work to push me to make a post next week too!

Carry on your work desk travels on Juila's blog here.
xx Leo

EDIT - Draw for the brooch has been made so I can make it up tonight and reveal it tomorrow (Weds 25th Aug) xx Leo

A little treat = yum new goodies

I decided I needed a scrapping treat after using up loads of leftover stash this past couple of months so I made myself up a kit over the weekend.........

I really love these papers, hoping to get some more of them for Quirky Kits! I accessorised them with these cute birdie brads, some of my fave badges and some Japanese masking tape, super yum! I'm going to add a few vintage buttons and some Thickers in from my stash then I'm good to go. Now I just need to find some time to actually do some crafting for myself! Will report back when I've had a play - if I can bare to cut in to it!
The vintage holiday album from the post bellow is almost done I'll pop some piccys up of it when I do them tomorrow. I've really enjoyed making it - it's surprising how many more ideas you can come up with when you confine yourself to the contents of a kit, makes you really think out of the box.
xx Leo

Workdesk Wednesday

Eek I missed last week, almost missed this week too since we're more than half way through Wednesday but never mind. To be fair I've only just sat at my desk to do some crafty work so it made me think to take a quick snapshot....

As you can probably see I'm working on a little album, it's for the Quirky Kits design team. The album itself I made with the packaging from the kit then the pages are made using a mix up of leftover card/paper from my stash then they're going to be decorated with stuff from the kit. It'll go on the CT blog when it's all done.

One more addition to my desk since the last wdw, I made some mini desk bunting. It's being used to hang stuff from too using mini pegs.

I'll pop around and visit some more desks while I'm working. You can visit some yourself or carry on your travels from Juilia's blog here.
xx Leo

Quick Card

Quick card made with one of my latest card kits, details are on the CT blog. I'm mega busy doing kits things right now. I'm experimenting with having some antique linens custom dyed next weekend so I'll try and get lots of piccys of that to share. I'm not sure if they'll work or not so it'll be one huge experiment :D
Ooh and look what I picked up over the weekend......

They're from an old line from Making Memories called 'hullabaloo' but I've never seen them before so I'm off to look up to see what else I can find - these patterns and colours are so me! :)

xx Leo

Workdesk Wednesday

OK I made it back for this weeks Workdesk Wednesday!
Had no excuses really today because I've been up since 6:30am this morning working so had plenty of time to squish in a blog post. I'm totally rubbish at early mornings and I'll be totally crashed out by 7pm but hey ho.

Doing something 'fun' right now even though it is work still. I got my first shipment of new CHA goodies for the store yesterday so today I'm having a good look and sorting out what is going where. Right now I'm picking out card that will match the papers to make the August CT card kit. I'm not sure whether to go for creams or to pick out the bright limes and pinks in the papers. At the mo I'm thinking it needs the limes!

Got lots of more fun Sassafras goodies in the shipment. Want to peek at a couple? Love these glitter alphabets!

And these Whimsies are going to make awesome calenders!

Oh and I got my clear stamps sorted! If you were here when I was pondering what to do with my stuffed stamp draw then thank you for the suggestions. I went with the folder idea and got clear pockets then all the pockets fit nicely in a mag file.

They'll have to spill into another one if I get anymore - if- yeah right lol!

You can pop onto Julia's blog to visit more workdesks here, http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/
xx Leo

Yikes busy busy busy!

Been too busy and crazy here to find time for blogging of late but I'm spending the next few minutes catching up. I left off the last time with the last of my not so usual storage in my craft space. This one is Cuttlebug storage..........

It started off life as a window box but now it's Cuttlebug storage! I found it in the now defunct Woolworths. I thought it was really cute but I didn't really want it as a window box but thought it would be great for storage and it worked out nicely when I got home that it fit in Cuttlebug plates and folders perfectly!

OK so one of the reasons I'm well busy this week is that Create 10 has started and there's lots to sort out there. This time last week I near had a fit when my computer decided to die on me taking all my Create 10 classes with it! Luckily I managed to get my work back but it was a tense time! Lesson of the day, always back up what you're working on at the end of the day....

This Create 10 is really practical as well as being fun because I've written classes that explore techniques that use up scraps of patterned paper, tools that we don't use much and long forgotten about embellishments.
Here's one thing I made for class #2......
All made from leftovers and my trusty Cuttlebug :)

Anyway best get on, got to get back to being busy! I'll try and make it back for work desk Wednesday ;)

More fun storage

Thank you for the stamp storage ideas, they gave me some great ideas and I've settled on plastic pockets in a mag file, then I can free the draw just for inkpads - going to get them sorted next week.
OK keeping with the storage theme this week here's more storage snaps.

This is where everything goes that hasn't got a 'proper' home. I rescued the cake plate from certain doom in an attic clearance.

Love the pretty 50's pattern. It's very handy because it's moveable so you can take it to your desk space and also you can just chuck things on it and they look kind of pretty so it's working with the whole 'decorative but functional' thing I try to stick to. The tins are from IKEA and are full of cotton reels. The little tubs are also from IKEA they're very cute and stackable, they used to be in the children's bit, I'm not sure if they still have them there or not. They're great for little embellishment bits and chunky things like chipboard. The noteboard we made in Create 10 class last time. The jar is full of fabric and paper flowers, that was from Dunilm Mill {minus the flowers!}.
I think I'll share one more bit of storage in another post then I'll move on from storage. A while ago I found a fun way to store my Cuttlebug stuff and again I found something decorative and repurposed it, it's defo a fun thing to try.
xx Leo

Workdesk Wednesday

Hey! Happy Wednesday :-D

I'm back for another round of WOYWW on Julia's blog. Ok so here's what I'm looking at on my desk today........

I just got this fabric delivered so I was stroking. I ordered a few different ones for a kit I'm working on and I think I like them all, what do you think?

Rest is the usual clutter, got another pile of leftovers ready for making cards on the left, a little book I've got to photo for the CT blog, that's my next job after posting this!

OK so I've been running with the storage theme this week on my blog and just to prove I'm not totally organised I have one big problem that I need to share. Under my desk is a set of drawers and they've got to the not shutting stage so they need sorting out BUT what do you do with these??

Clear stamps and inkpads? I've tried putting them in a folder with laminated pages but they just peeled off and got lost so I now I just keep them in the packets and chuck them in the draw but it's too full now - soon I'll have to resort to not buying any more - shock horror! Please help with your storage ideas, someone must have a great idea I can borrow ;-)

xx Leo

Fun things to do to keep your creative space looking... well.... creative!

Following on from my previous post about storing stash I just wanted to share some fun easy ways of dressing up your creative 'junk' to make it slightly more eye appealing. I'm not a total neat freak, (honest!) I think it's easier to make stuff around you look pretty so that it can be left around but looking decorative, I guess kind of like a purposeful decorative object but it's more of a practical one. Ok examples....
Plain, (used to be) white mag files. I have a load of these around to keep things in. They're functional but they can also be pretty just by adding a lick of paint.......

I love these colours - I added a couple of new ones recently to add a summery vibe, (yellow and pink). They're Dulux 'Grecian Spa', (turquoise), 'Banana Dream', 'Sexy Pink' and 'Chocolate Fondant' if you were wondering. You can change how your space looks by adding a different colour every now and then. Practical but decorative too, why not? Have fun with your organising!
OK so how about stuff that needs to be out all the time? Like say desk clutter, maybe the trusty old glue stick it's functional - yes but it's fairy uninteresting on the eye.

 Just by grabbing a couple of decorative tapes and a scrap of paper you can make it all prettified!
Tada.......

Now it looks super cute, even when it's rolled on to the floor, which is usually what happens in my case. Clutter doesn't have to be boring!
Once you have a look round your space for things you can 'craft up' it can get fairly addictive, maybe you can see something now that could be spruced up? Go on have a play!
I'll leave you with an oldie but a goodie. It's something I've had now for a long time and I think I have blogged it before. If you have a load of threads and needles, maybe you just keep them handy for sewing a quick button on a card etc. then this is an idea to keep them organised but in a cute 'prettified' way.....

It's made from a jam jar, an empty clean one , of course! Make a padded top for it by stuffing a ball of fabric with, well stuffing, I think I used cut off bits of felt for mine. To make a ball just cut a circle of fabric out, sew a running stitch around the edge of it, fill the middle with your stuffing and then pull it tight. Glue this to the top of your jam jar lid. Glue a length of ribbon or trimming around the edge of your lid. Tada! That's all there is to it. You can then use the top for your needles and the bottom for your thread. I can't tell you how handy this is and it's another one of those things you can leave out without it looking too much like junk.

There is one area of my creative space that I've not got sorted out yet - it's my ever growing stash of clear stamps. I might have to share on Wednesday.
Happy crafting!
xx Leo

Work Desk Wednesday.....

Hi!

Got super secret Create 10 class stuff going on on my desk at the mo which I can't share much of, just a ickle bit of a peek.......

So I thought I'd share peeks of storage stuff instead. This is how I store my scrapbooking stuff, it took me a while to figure out a good way of organizing it because I have to fit other stuff in here too and it doesn't always stay organized but I've found if you have a sort out around every month it keeps neat and organized otherwise it just tends to grow out of it's space! So if you're working in a small space that's defo a top tip to keep it manageable.

OK so this is a long tall unit, I got in in a sale in Tesco I think it was about £19. It was just the right size to fit in the space I had for it.

Top shelf, scraps of fabric and photos ready to scrap...

Next shelf, papers and cardstock. I try and only keep a small amount at a time. The sweetie jar is just there as a quirky 'book end' they don't actually get eaten!

Then there's the space for other organised bits and pieces and my current scrapbook album. It's almost full this one so it'll be moving soon.

Then finally there's a shelf for ribbons and other bits. The basket was packaging for a prezzie I got, it just fit in that space so I could re-use it.

So how do you keep organised in a small space? Maybe you've got a top tip to share?

Peek at more 'workspaces' today on Juila's blog here.

xx Leo