WOYWW 8-2-17

So, do you remember how a couple of weeks ago I said that the family drama seemed to have settled down? Well . . . the very next day my daughter informed me that she might have to move back in. This is the daughter whose bedroom I had already converted into an office. Her roommate was letting people stay in the apartment who were physically and verbally aggressive toward  her, and she ended up having to break her lease and move back home. No amount of talking to her roommate or landlord had any effect. We had to have a police escort to get her stuff out of the apartment. She's now sleeping on our living room couch. There's some space in the office for her clothes, but not much else. We're making do as best we can, and hope she finds another place before Christmas.

Here is a picture of my workdesk this week.

Nice and cluttered, eh? Which is how a workdesk should look. If it was too neat I would feel like I'm not getting anything done.

Here is a quickie birthday card I made for my granddaughter, who turned 3 years old yesterday!

Nothing fancy, but I tried to use bright colors and a theme that a 3 year old would like.

And here she is blowing out the candles on her birthday cake.

That doesn't have anything to do with crafting, but she's so cute I can't resist! Now I have to get busy and make 2 birthday cards for my 2 grandsons, one who is 10, and the other 1, but they both share the same day as their birthday. Isn't that cool?

I also had a big birthday two days ago - I turned 60! I got myself some gluten free chocolate covered pretzels as my treat. We also ordered Vietnamese food, which was pretty good! I also gave myself a big present - I got said granddaughter enrolled in preschool - yay! It doesn't start until after Labor Day, but it's something to look forward to.

That's all the news from here. Be sure to go have a peek at some other workdesks at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com to see some really talented crafters.

WOYWW 7-19-17

Yay, I made it - another post in the same month! So far, things have been all quiet on the family front. Let's hope it stays that way.

 I got a new rug for my office/craft room! Here's a photo:

That's our cat, who can frequently be found on my office chair or the new rug. (Well, it's new to me. I found it on Facebook for a fraction of the price I would have paid on Amazon. And no offgassing!)

This week I started working on a scrapbook for our whirlwind trip to California. Here's a photo of the first page: 

Since I am the only driver, and my husband doesn't take cell phone pictures, and we were in a hurry, we have very few photos of the first leg of our trip. I relied heavily on stickers for this page. 

One more photo - this is a picture of one of those paintings that you do in a group and everyone paints the same picture.

I'm not going to pretend to be a great artiste. But it's been rattling around the house since we moved last year. I finally got a frame and hung it up!

That's it for now. Check out some talented people at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to see what others are doing this week.

WOYWW 7-12-17

Time for my monthly post! I hope to get back to a weekly schedule soon.

Unfortunately our family travail continued into June. My mother-in-law, who had end stage heart failure, passed away on June 17th. My husband and I went away for 2 weeks in May, right after the memorial service for my brother, and on the way back home we got the call that she was in the hospital. We spent a bit of time visiting her and running errands until she passed, and if you've ever handled funeral arrangements, you know what the next week was like! Not to mention cleaning out her apartment with a deadline of 2 weeks after her passing. We did manage to put together a nice service. We're still running back and forth settling the estate. Hopefully our family situation has settled down for a while,and we can get started living a somewhat normal life now.

I finally got a chance to work on my office. Here are a couple of pictures:

That is my writing area. Here is my crafting space.

I was going to use a long wooden table, but decided to use a card table that I got from my mother-in-law's apartment. The card table takes up about half the wall space (it's a small room). Eventually storage will be along the same wall. I decided to put my Cuttlebug and other cutters on the TV tray behind my chair. It's not done yet, I still have to hang pictures, shelves, etc. Along some other walls are furniture and boxes that still need to be moved to our daughter's apartment.

On the table I have a scrapbook, paper, and stickers. I'm starting to scrap our whirlwind trip to California and back. I just started on a page, so I will have more about that next week.

Have a great week crafting and check out some great people with lots of talent at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com.

WOYWW 6-14-17

I finally have a chance to post! It's been a busy spring, and I haven't had much opportunity to make any cards, even though there are occasions for them.

First, I wish to extend my deepest condolences to all my friends in the UK. You all have been through it lately. I think I'm going to add the whole country to my prayer list.

Below is a graduation card that I made for my granddaughter. She is 14 and graduating from eighth grade. (Yeah, I know, but around here they celebrate that.)

My granddaughter posing in her graduation dress. Isn't she cute?
 

And here is her card:

Not a good picture, but the best I could get with my cell phone.

Also, I'm including a picture of my workdesk, aka our dining room table. It is in a state of chaos for various reasons (okay, I'm going to work on it today). The good news is that I may be getting full access to my new office in a couple of weeks! I can't wait to start working on it!

Workdesk/table:

Yikes.

That's it for this week. Be sure to check out some really talented people at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

WOYWW 5-17-17

Just a quick post today. I haven't been making cards lately, because all of my time and energy have gone to planning my brother's memorial service and getting the house company ready.

We had the service on May 6th. Here is the bulletin I created.

I didn't take a picture of the inside, but on the inner front cover there was a short biography, and on the other page the order of service.

Here is the photo collage in its final glory. 

And here it is on the memorial table.

The Scripture on the table seems appropriate,  doesn't it?

I was very happy that all of my extended family was able to come. I haven't seen a lot of them in 6 years! Here is a group photo taken in our living room. 

I have a better photo somewhere but can't find it right now. Anyway, this is me, one hubby, 2 daughters, 1 son-in-law, 6 grandchildren, 1 sister, 2 nephews, 1 niece, and 1 great-nephew. Whew! The only person missing is my poor brother-in-law, who flew 500 miles only to get sick.

Hmmm, I  guess this post is a bit longer than I had planned! Hubby and I are taking a much needed break in Wisconsin for a couple of weeks. The service and the visiting with family was a unique mix of sorrow and joy.  We all vowed to get together more often and not just for sad occasions.

Have a great week and be sure to visit some very talented crafters at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/.

WOYWW 4-5-17

Well,  it's been a while, and there have been a lot of changes over here!

First, I changed the name of my blog from Papercrafts by Suzanne to Ingleside Home, after one of the Anne of Green Gables books. I eventually want to write about other things besides papercrafts, so a name change seemed to be in order.

I deliberately put aside writing and crafting during the holidays. Some family illness took care of January. Then in the middle of February,  I got a call from my sister-in-law that my brother had been hospitalized and was not doing well. To make a very long story short,  my husband and I made an unexpected road trip to California and were with my brother when he passed away on March 3rd from a very aggressive cancer. So that took care of February and March. And here we are in April.

I can't say I've been working on any cards, though I should be making an Easter card for my mother-in-law, since she always sends us one. We are having a memorial service for my brother in early May, so my writing/crafting abilities are going to that. It will be at our church, and I want it to be nice, since it will be the only one he'll have. Relatives are coming in from out of town to join us. Here is a picture of the photo collage I'm working on.

It's not really done, the pictures and writing are not pasted down yet. But that is the general layout. I think I will add some blue cardstock underneath the photos, and embellishments. I'll post a picture when it is done.

Here is a photo of my workspace, soon to be only our dining room.

My youngest daughter will be moving out soon, and I will take her bedroom for my office/crafting room. It's a small room, so it will require careful planning,  but I'm excited about decorating it. It's nice to have the distraction right now.

Well, I hope your Wednesday is going well. Please stop by http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to see some really talented crafters. Have a great week!

WOYWW 10-26-16

Whew! I finally made it here! I'm running a bit late, which I'll explain in a minute.

Here is a picture of my workdesk, aka dining room table. 

As you can see, I've made some minimal progress. I need to clear off the other end of the table. I have now found out that we will be hosting Thanksgiving for the immediate family, and perhaps my daughter and her family, so it will get done!

Two of my granddaughters have birthdays 6 days apart. Since they are small, and I was in a hurry, I made one card for the two of them, using some cute stickers I found in a discount store. It's kind of a lazy way to make a card, but I liked the stickers! 

See, I put two bear cubs, since it's for two girls!

Now, as to why I'm running late . . .

It starts with the fact that we moved six months ago. We're still unpacking, and the living room is the worst room right now, with a lot of stuff that needs to be moved/stored/shredded etc. Yesterday I wanted to work on that, so I went into the living room and proceeded to unpack a large box of linens I had already started a week or two ago. While sorting through various said linens, I noticed a very unpleasant smell wafting around me. I investigated, and found that our cat had a couple of small accidents in that area (of course). Unfortunately, I only noticed one of those accidents at first, then saw some footprints, made by me. I sat down and looked at the bottom of my brand new shoes that I bought a couple of days ago to wear exclusively in the house. Alas, they were brand new no more. I removed the shoes while in the living room, and embarked on some vigorous cleaning - no more unpacking for me! The shoes were very inexpensive, which is a good thing, since I now have a bleach spot on the toes of one foot, from a bleach solution soaking through the sole to the upper part of the shoe. 

Last evening, I noticed the same familiar odor in my bedroom, which puzzled me. I had removed my shoes in the living room, so as not to track my cat's lovely present all over the house. So why did my bedroom smell? I thought perhaps the smell had traveled down the hallway into my room. But after going to bed, the smell became much stronger. Finally at 2:00 a.m. I had to start poking around, and found out that the cat had also left me a present under my bed. On the far side, against the wall. After an hour of cleaning, I turned off my alarm and went back to bed. The originator of the problem must not have liked the smell either, because he was laying outside of my bedroom door, rather than sleeping on my office chair, as usual. As soon as I finished cleaning, he resumed his regular spot. Here's the guy who caused all the problems: 

See how innocent he looks!

That's all for now! Time to get started on the rest of the day. Be sure to check out some talented crafters at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-386.html?m=1  who hopefully have had a less exciting night than I did. Have a great rest of the week!