WOYWW

Well Julia, you asked to see the mess on my sofa when I'm crafting, so here it is!
Not the worst it's ever been, but still there's only just enough room for me to sit down. On the sofa there are three boxes of 12x12 papers and a HUGE K&Co paper pad bought from QVC. And my precious tub of  lovely ribbons.
I didn't see the red clip on the table until after the photo was taken so I'm caught out! It's from half a packet of nibbles I had been eating. Ooops.
There are My Minds Eye papers and stickers, my small guillotine and larger purple cow one. There's also a copy of Shimelle's UK Scrappers sketch which you can find here and which I had just finished using to make a layout. And, most important of all, my green carry-all that does what it says! It's filled to the brim with glues, scissors, rulers and pens.......the necessities any crafter cannot do without!

I thought I'd let you see the Christmas tree as we put it up at the weekend. Anyone else got their decorations all ready for the holiday? Unfortunately, the decorations are all that's finished in my house in preparation for Christmas!

If you want to join in the fun and show us What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW) just visit Miss Nosy of Blogland, Julia, at Stamping Ground where there are links from everyone taking part in this weekly madness.

New (Old) Photograph

I've been away, hence no blog posts lately, and have been staying with Mum and Dad in Milton Keynes.

Whilst there, Dad got out some of his photo albums to look through and out fell an old photo of me as a student at Oxford. I can't remember the photo actually being taken, but when Dad gave it to me to bring home, I decided it just had to be scrapped!

I wanted to use the UK Scrappers Sketch from their Challenge this week as it has just one photo, so I had a go with this layout.

I printed X-ray skeletons onto a piece of printable cotton canvas that I had. It's the first time I have ever used canvas and it was very easy to use. Then I used a piece of K&Company paper as background - quite appropriate as it is chalk writing on a blackboard and that was how I was taught. The other papers and journaling spots are My Minds Eye - Ooh La La collection. In addition I used cork to give the illusion of a notice board and 'pinned' items onto it with brads.

I wanted the layout to be quite 3D so I used 3D foam tape and overlayed different items to make it layered. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out as I don't usually scrap one photo on a page, and it was a challenge I really enjoyed doing.

So, how did I choose Radiography as a career? I think Fate played a part in it.

When I was twelve I was knocked down crossing a busy road and my ankle was broken. I was taken to hospital and an enduring memory I had thereafter was of the Radiographer (not that I knew what her title was then) taking x-rays of me to show the fracture. It was only when I had to make a career choice and I definitely did not want to go to University like most of my classmates, that I discovered Radiography. I read all about it and applied to two Schools of Radiography to train. I was accepted by Oxford and started training in 1977. When I did my practical training at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, who should be there but the very Radiographer who x-rayed me after my accident!

I am in my 30th year of working as a Radiographer, and although it's a stressful job that I now have, I can honestly say there is no other career I would rather have had all these years.