WOYWW 604 Happy new year 2021?!?

 My dear WOYWW friends! 

I have not blogged since August! So sorry I haven't been around! My plans for 2020 were to have 2 knee operations - one in April and one in November! Of course none of that has happened thanks to COVID so I am on crutches now - well at least if I go out of the house! Luckily  we are still healthy - my daughters boyfriend did catch the virus but he got over it and is well. We are very careful, don't go out much - except for a walk when it is sunny and to our little local shop to get bread and milk. 

To talk about crafting - I have made a lot of Christmas cards and birthday cards! I am having a big rethink about the way I will be buying stash and crafting. Maybe some of you ladies have seen a video from a lady called Justine Hovey! She was on various design teams and has made 700 videos over the years! She talks about how she has given up being on all design teams and how she is really fed up with these constant new "kits" coming out, pushing us to buy more and more. And I agree! When I started making cards and that is believe it or not now about 12 years ago new things were coming out twice a year or maybe 4 times a year! It was mostly spring and just before Christmas! Now it is almost every week ! And it is overwhelming! You try to keep up with the trends but it is just impossible! I am taking a new approach. I find that when I had less I was making nicer stuff or should I say more inventive! I still love all the dies I am a big fan of but I need to just try and use other techniques and use all the thousand things I have and have never used or used only once!!! I wonder what you ladies think about that. Do you still buy a lot or do you choose wisely? Let me know!

To show you my desk .....it is in a big mess, lots of leftovers from my Christmas crafting - ink pads, glitter, glues, dies, washi tape, bags of pearls and sequins, cards....

 

I hope 2021 will be better for all of us, although there will be a few more really tough months ahead! Covid cases will still be rising so please everybody stay healthy and safe and listen to the advise of the science! Research on this virus is evolving and they are finding new things every day, so be patient and listen to what they are saying!

Here is my last card of the year - I hope I will be back with more interesting cards and crafts  in the new year.

Happy New Year! Enjoy your holidays - see you soon...

LOVE AND HUGS,

Cardarian

WOYWW 584, Greetings from also hot Slovenia!

Good evening crafty friends! 

I hope you are not suffering too much in the heat! I am in Slovenia, finally got here and very happy too. Of course it was not all happy here as I came to a disaster on my terrace - the pidgins have taken it over and well I needed 2 days just to clean their mess up! I don't think they will be coming anywhere near my terrace in the future. It is hot here but bearable. I cleaned the whole flat now (you wouldn't believe how much dust gathers in 6 months huh!)and I will now be able to concentrate on my crafty stuff!
I managed to bring a few things with me and here they are all dumped on my desk!

In this bag above is exactly what it says! I have also brought some liberty fabric, a few dies and stamps and my new travel Tim Holtz glass mat ....in England I have the big one but here I only have space for the travel one!  Works fine for me.
Here are some photos of my desk from this morning.....

As you can see my Distress Oxide inks and sprays are always close, but in general a big chaos just because I haven't had time yet to tidy up. I did miss my crafting so I made a card - not anything fantastic but it is a start!

 I am going to mention the C word! Yes I will start on Christmas cards next week. I am going to spend some time with my mom next week - she is 86 - lives on her own and has just recently installed internet in her house! She can actually Whatsapp me! YIPEEE! This of course means that I will be connected and able to show what I have been making next week! This post is a bit short today - I am exhausted from all the housework so I will be commenting on your desks tomorrow!
Have a lovely week, connect to Julia and I will "see" you soon!
Love and hugs to all from Slovenia
CARDARIAN

WOYWW 582, The new blogger (no clue) and a slim line card!

Good morning friends!

First an apology! I haven't had time to comment on many blogs and I probably won't be able to do it this week as I am finally off to Slovenia. I will be leaving on Friday so there is a lot to do before I go. It is not just the packing but also visiting people, people visiting us before we go, going to shops to buy stuff we need to take with us - ah it is just an endless list! The biggest problem for me is to decide what crafty stuff to take with me! I am thinking of putting it all in a box and sending it via Hermes! I have stuff in Slovenia too but there is a lot I want to take with me! We used to go by car but it is risky this year (boarders might suddenly close) so we decided to go by plane which means 2 suitcases and no more! 
Anyway 2 things I want to talk about. First - the new blogger! I haven't got a clue! I reversed to the old one today as I didn't know what to do with the new one but they say they will get rid of the old version very soon. I really hope my daughter or her boyfriend will know what to do with it and will tell me when I get to Slovenia! Why did they have to change it? It was quite clear to understand as it was before! Anyway that was my moan. I am interested if any of you other people have a problem with it! I noticed Julia had to call in help from her daughter! 
The second thing I would like to talk about is the magic triangle. I think  a few of you liked it so I looked up what it is called and it is the MAGIC BEAD TRAY. You can get it at Bumbleberry Papercrafts, although at the moment they are sold out. How it works you ask! They have this pattern at the bottom of the tray looks like a hexagon and it is a little bit raised - I guess that helps the beads turn around! 
Ok then that is all my talking about things,  now back to the business of showing my desk....another messy one....

On the left there is my new project, which I will show in a minute, right at the front is an envelope I made to suit to the card, bone folder ( not the fancy one). and in the back there are new Dina Wakely gloss sprays. I did try them out and found they didn't do for me what they did for Dina on her video but still I think they will be useful. And now the big reveal....my first slim line card....they seem to be the in thing at the moment ...

I have been making cards for Alan's daughters and grandchildren for years - as I like flowers on my cards that is what I do mostly. It has been recently revealed to me that one of his daughters is not very keen on flowers - I could have taken notice of that before as she never wears anything else but  black and gray - no flowers in their garden and no flowers or color in their house!  I still can't give up color but I gave up flowers - no flower in sight on the card - only animals which she loves so I am probably good now! :-) Slim line cards? Well I am not that keen. Is it better upright or across? I fiddled with that for about half an hour...in the end decided this was the way to go....
I was going to make this  blog post short and sweet - turned out way to long! Sorry!
Don't forget to link up to Stamping ground HQ.
Lots of love and hugs to all, see you next time from my lovely home SLOVENIA!!!
CARDARIAN

WOYWW 581

Good evening friends!

I hope you are all well. They (the government) are now letting us do all sorts of things but the question is do we want to do any of what we are permitet? It almost makes me worried to go out to shops and restaurants - I did take the plunge for one thing - swimming! I will have two sessions next week - there are lots of rules to abide but for me it is vital! I am hoping to go home soon and get my op but we will see... you will be informed ha, ha...
Okay so lets get back to the reason we are gathering today and that is to show our desks...I now have a lot of cards ready for any occassion so I am quite happy with all my lockdown work...I haven't finished my new needle felting project yet - as I am hoping to go home soon I have been busy with other stuff but I am getting there....it will be reveled soon...
Sooo....first up my desk this morning...

and the otherside....

My MISTI there balancing on the big shot....I love the MISTI - I really find it a handy tool as I have messed up so much stamping over the years!
Here is a bit of my desk that is such a mess but I never get round to tidying it up I just push it back...

Spray bottle , a little dish full of die cuts, washi tape, glues, nuvo drops....a right mess....

And now I would like to show you my "spring - summer collection of stamps and dies"

This one box.....

They are all sorted by brands and in the original packaging....I don't put them in new plastic bags as I think one plastic packaging is enough - if it gets damaged I try to fix it with washi tape...
Here is another box full....this is mostly ALTENEW stamp sets and dies and some from the Works - I find their dies are cheep and some very good! 

Now I would like to turn your attention to this little tool I have recently discovered...Do you have a problem with sequins, pearls or jewels always being turned up side down and then really struggling to get them the right side up when you want to put them on the card. Well I do and so I have found this thing - I think it is called the magic triangle....you put your pearls or sequins in the triangle like this...

then you just give them a little shake and magic happens - they are all the right side up...

very practical and I recommend it!
Now to my cards of this week - I have been doing more CAS cards this week - well this is CAS for me....

Washi tape, dies and gold mirror card - love the combination.....

The background stamp is SSS and I bought it last year - first time it has seen the light of the day! This is suppose to be a more boy card...

I really like this one - background is watercolor through a stencil...and those two parrots really look like they have a lot of fun - I don't usually do "character" cards but I just love these parrots...
And now the last one which is my favourite....the dahlia is actually one I have in my garden...

Here is the real dahlia.....

This was a long post - I hope you have stayed with me till the end but I get it if you haven't. Have a lovely week - I will try to get round to all of you but to be honest I never manage it! I will try my best though! Don't forget to link up to the Stamping ground where the queen Julia reigns!
Lots of love and hugs to all 
CARDARIAN

WOYWW 580

Good afternoon friends! 

I am late posting! I didn' t post last week as I forgot it was Wednesday! That is what being retired or in lockdown or old age does to you! Huh! Anyway today's being late has a reason - I have been making a card - I will explain but first my desk which this morning looked like this - I would say fairly tidy...

two hours later this was what it looked like......

People who have seen my cards over the years know I am this straight forward background, focal point, A2 or C6 kinda gal. No fancy folds or anything like that. But since being in lockdown I have ventured into new things ( what can you do in this boring boring time?!?). As you saw recently I have made a peek-a-boo card and today I tried an easel card. I of course couldn't do it myself so I bought these dies from Tonic studio - it says they are for a three tier easel card - I couldn't be bothered  - even one tier was a lot of work! You have to get the "mechanism" right then decorate it then cut an extra bit so you can write the card - honestly I will only do this kinda card for my daughter or mother! No chance this would be rolled out more often!
Still here is the result.....probably not as Tonic studios intended it to be but "it is my way" (remember Frank Sinatra singing this?)

So that is my big project of the week...
I also played with brushos....made 2 cards similar but different.....

I never get tired of brushos exploding over the paper when you spray them with water - fantastic!
This card was for a friend who's cat died recently...she has lots of health problems and the cat was her life line really...she was really happy with the card and said she will always treasure it....very simple card ....cat paws and 2 poinent sentiments for someone who loves cats....

This card I made for my daughter just something to give her a bit of support for her recent studies...

And as last 2 ATCs....I am slowly building up my ATCs...want to have some ready to send off ...

I have started on a new needle felting project but I can't show it yet ...because it isn't finished and I am waiting for some curly wool to arrive...watch this space....
I leave you with a photo of 2 wood pidgeans have a kiss on the wire....love everywhere....

 
Have a lovely week , I will be around for a snoop and of course don't forget to link up to Julia's Stamping ground!
Love and hugs to all,
Cardarian

WOYWW 578

Good morning friends!

I am back from silence! Some days honestly I am really down and I just can't get my head around writing a blog, but I was thinking if I do a few inbetween WOYWW I might get into it more, so I will do that in the future!
This will be a very long blog post, picture heavy as I have lots to show. I have noticed a weired thing.On my last post some photos have dissapeared and there are now just some weird circles on there and I don't know what that is about! If any of you know can you please tell me what has happened!
Any way her we go....first up desk....new stamps...

This one shows the bigger picture as you can see I do have a messy craft room and since the lockdown happened it has gone even messier! HUH!
I have made lots of cards since my last post I will not show all of them but prepare for a lot!
This first one I think the sentiment is right for these days!

Tonic studios die for flowers and a Tim Holtz bird! The sentiment is Pink fresh studio!
This one has the same bird but was made for my special friend Jo. I used Liberty fabric for the hexies! Really like this one....

I see that there is a lot of cards with foiling around - I don't have any of those fancy machines for foiling but I have used my alcohol inks and some of these really nice rainbow foils and this is the result.....

It is extremly hard to catch the shine of the foil but I did my best...
Now this one is special to me - my friends daughter had a baby and I made a card for the new born .It is a peek a boo card I have tried to catch it on video - I am not sure I can put it on here ... well I couldn't because I don't know how but you can see it in the photo!

Here are a few more cards.....

This is a metalic watercolor one! I tried to be a bit fancy with my photo...not very successful!
Another lacy one which I like...It actually was made out of something I was going to bin but then got an idea and ta da!

Have I bored you enough???? No? Well this is my last bit.....I have made 2 new needle felting projects.....It is such a relaxing thing to do and what is great about it is that it looks a bit of a mess but when you put the frame on it it really looks good!
So here is my first one which I made into a card....

And my daisies...I know it isn't the best of work but I like it.....

I leave you with a photo from my garden...a lovely hydrangea...

Love and hugs to all - stay safe and don't forget that CV 19 is still around!!
CARDARIAN