What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday – #431

Hello, my crafty friends! I missed you all last week. But I knew weekly would be nearly impossible for me to keep up so here I am. I had expected to share a completed wreath with you all this week but circumstances have prevented that from happening. For one, I am busy planning final details for my son’s 10th birthday party for this upcoming Saturday. Another is that I found out on Monday that one of my dear cousins lost his battle with prostate cancer and passed on. So I am still in the midst of processing it and sorting out details to attend the ‘Celebration of Life’ event. I was a mess on Monday but yesterday I had to step up to my daily responsibilities and take my kids to school so I began working on a few things to keep my mind from spiraling.On my desk, you can see the glue gun. I have almost completed the assembly of the flowers. I used a little Wink of Stella clear on the insides of the flowers for a hint of glitter. On the left, you can see my continued obsession with the pencils in the dollar section at Target.  I definitely need to quit but now they placed it in your path to the store so I’m hopeless.  You also see the favor bags I am making for Apollo’s party. I designed them on my Silhouette. He is into Minecraft right now and we have rented a mobile gaming truck for the party so the kids will be able to play all sorts of video games for a few hours before yumming down pizza and cake. I normally don’t make such a fuss but 10 is a milestone so we thought it would be fun.This morning after I dropped off the boys I went to Starbucks (another guilty pleasure) and picked up a Chai. Just as I began typing this post I looked up and I have this little calendar that hangs in front of me and I read this months’ words (Every Experience is a Teacher) and had to stop and take it in. I am a big believer things happen for a reason. How timely these words are for me. Often I think we would only look at joyous occasions and apply them but I think these words are so much more fitting for my recent loss. Rather than shun bad experiences and push them away, perhaps I need to sit with the feelings and think about what it all means. I wrote a post yesterday on my blog and I think that was the beginning of that very process. So I won’t repeat myself. But I am a strong believer that we are all life-long learners and even in times of struggle, there are things to learn. I want to leave you on a high note so I will take some time today to reflect and express gratitude for my life and the great people in my life. Have a blessed day and I will pop on over to visit some of you over the next few days.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with WOYWW (What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday),  head on over to Julia’s Stamping Ground and you will find desks from all around the world for What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Belinda

What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday – #429ish

Good morning everyone! It’s already hot and sunny this morning. Yesterday was in the 90s and so humid out I moved like a turtle! So a lovely day to be in my craft room.

On my desk is my latest project I am working on – a fall wreath. It’s a cutfile I bought last year from the Silhouette Design Store. The flowers are mums which are one of my favorites so I can’t wait to see how this final wreath looks.  As I am typing, I am simultaneously cutting a few more flowers in a grayish shade and then I will begin using my burnishing tool to roll and shape the petals. I have a wild looking wreath I recently purchased that I may use these with our I may find the round flat one that is made of a very heavy cardstock as the base.  Another option is that I may cut out one in heavy cardstock that came with the cutfiles myself.

You can also see on the left a Prisma Color chart for my color pencils. I recently caved and bought the big 72 pencil set. I figured, I own enough coloring books to justify having a bit more variety in colors. Yup, that’s the craft addict logic…don’t judge!!

The chart that Cheetarah asked about last week on my desk is more visible today and it is a Hex Chart created by Sandy Allnock an amazing artist to assist people that use Copics with color selections. I have gotten so used to using it, that when I forget to bring it with me to a craft session with my girlfriends, I feel lost.

Underneath the lovely stamp and die set on the right is some new yellow shades of cardstock to use for the center of my flowers. I will be using that on the flowers I am creating for this project.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with WOYWW (What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday),  head on over to Julia’s Stamping Ground and you will find desks from all around the world for What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Have a blessed day!

Belinda

What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday – #429

Hello, I’m back WOYWW friends! It has been a very long time since I joined in the fun of snooping on craft desks around the world. My last WOYWW post was over 3 years ago. Can you believe it? Where does the time go?  I think moving forward I will manage my expectations and aim to create my WOYWW post a minimum of twice a month.  That way I won’t find myself overwhelmed.  For those of you that aren’t familiar with WOYWW (What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday),  head on over to Julia’s Stamping Ground and you will find desks from all around the world for What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Today I have a semi-tidy desk because I have actually been putting in some creative hours.  I spent much the first half of my summer vacationing with my family and neglecting my wonderful garden and now as school time has arrived for at least of one of my children, I am finding the pull to come back to my craft room and play.

So in the picture on the left are two books that I recently read that need to write reviews for to post in my Book Nook section. You can also see some cute stamps from the Target’s dollar section. I used the dumbell stamp in my planner for workout days.

One thing I also have been doing is revisiting online classes that I purchased and never completed. So in the center of the desk, you see the result of a bit of color theory with my Copics.  My goal is to complete all the courses I own this year over the next few months.

On the right of my planner is the most beautiful kit I purchased from Papertrey Ink in May. I received it right before I started my vacations in June and have yet to crack the seal and use them. So another item I have placed in my line of sight to promote action.

Well enough about my desk, I am off to come see your desks.

I hope you all have a blessed day.

Belinda

Learning Something New

I still like to read the summer reading requirements along with the boys each year and this year, Nick’s selections have stepped up. Our first book we read was “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. Now, I actually had purchased the e-book over a year ago so I was thrilled it was on the list (no new purchases necessary!). The book was fantastic and throughout he and I talked about the various topics it raised.

When we went to choose our second book, I picked one but after reading a few chapters felt the content was a bit too much for him so we went back to the list. I jumped for joy when I saw “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett. I own and read it a few years back and then saw the movie adaptation. So we chose this as our second selection and although I don’t read books more than once (simply because my TBR is too long) I have to say, I am still loving this book. We even found the overdrive audiobook version and have been taking turns, he reads, I read, we listen to the amazing voice talents read. So while they read, I have been learning how to create botanical line drawings. I really love using my hands and like learning new skills so I ordered this book and have been giving it a try.

It’s funny how you forget what it’s like to be a beginner and then you try to learn something new and you find yourself revisiting those old feelings of insecurity. But I know I have been growing over the years because I didn’t beat myself up for not drawing them perfectly like the examples. I just let myself have fun trying and when one came out pretty good, I would smile.  Another reason I know that I’ve grown is that in the past, I would never have shared a picture of my attempts online. So progress is happening over here.

Nick’s first day of school went well yesterday and I pray he has an amazing year.  I hope you are all enjoying the last few weeks of summer.

Have a blessed day!

Belinda

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