...WOYWW - The One With The Tiny Mouse Bed

Yet again I'm scurrying in like the White Rabbit (muttering, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!") for Julia's weekly workdesk round-up. So without further ado, here is the obligatory photo, which reveals a positively miniscule area of workable space (soon to be rectified, see below*), surrounded by teetering mountains of materials. From left to right, there's a fabric/pattern book pile that has been there forever and really needs to find a better home, and a stack of mask-related stuff - yellow tin with rotary cutter, elastic, tailor's chalk and tin-ties and a box of sandwich bags for packaging masks - with a random bag of embroidery threads perched on top. The threads were used for a project (see below**) which also involved the paint, wire and pliers on the right hand side. Further to the right, a box of sewing threads (masks again), balanced on top of the paints, pencils, and daily doodle book which I try to keep handy ("handy" being a euphemism for "buried at the bottom of a rather precarious pile").

The little purple objects in the middle are the pressed petals of the gorgeous tulip on the right. The colour has darkened, but the "hand-painted" effect is the same. I'm just not sure what to do with them! My brain has just whispered, "Why not preserve them in clear resin?" Thanks brain! Might just have to give that a try!

* Being an All Round Good Egg and Wonderful Human Being (not to mention Tired of My Incessant Grumbling and Whining), this week my lovely husband came up with the idea of getting another work-desk for me, to put in the corner of our tiny spare bedroom. He even found the perfect little drop-leaf desk you see below ('Ingatorp' from Ikea) which is just the right size for my laptop, phones, notebooks and me. This means I will have a designated "Working From Home" space that I can just shut the door on and leave at the end of the day, rather than the current arrangement where work paraphernalia encroaches on my happy creative space and has to be packed away every evening to make way for the sewing machine. What a thoughtful man I married!

** Next some WIP pictures of the paint/wire/pliers project mentioned above and featured in the title of this post -  the tiny mouse bed. This is another of Ann Wood's wonderful creations, instructions for which can be found (very generously free of charge) here. 

I had so much fun making the little stripey tufted mattress, and best of all it turned out to be just the right size for the tiny patchwork quilt!

In other news, mask-making continues to take up most of my spare time in the evenings after work, and often half the weekend too. It is a bit like having a second job, but I'm getting quicker and quicker all the time, and I like the fact that they're jolly as well as practical. I love the thought of all these cheerful, brightly coloured face coverings out and about in this strange new world we're living in. The picture below shows some of the recent batches (XXSCat dog not included).

My latest 'order' included a request from a little girl for a rainbow mask. So I'm going to be playing with fabric pens and crayons to create my own design, as I don't have any rainbow fabric in my stash, and my husband will kill me if I buy any more - even the best and kindest of men has his limits!

Finally, a bit of gratuitous natural beauty - trees at the park after all the recent rain - lush, green, and full of birdsong...

...and a gorgeous Red Admiral butterfly that came fluttering into the garden and had me positively racing to grab my camera!