Dolly's Dreamings

End of Scrap Your Day

I have loved doing the scrap your day project.

Conceived and run by Shimelle, the project started as part of the cyber crop on UKS last April.

It has been a year long project but broken down into manageable pieces and I have loved it.

The premis was to scrap your ordinary everyday day on the 25th of each month. There were stock photos to take like the meals you ate, the views from your windows, the time when you woke up and pictures of you.

I didn't do so well on the stock photos actually. I forgot most of the meal photos. probably just as well as I am sure I should not be shouting out to the world what i eat.

But I did do other stock photos. I always took my clock on waking and on going to bed. I always got Nij to take a picture of me reading in bed at night. I always took the fireplace (and as it was the 25th there were many special occasion cards such as two birthdays, an anniversary, mother's day and of course christmas) and views of the window.

I wish I had thought to take the car display every time as well as that had the temperature etc on it as well as the date.

The album is a 12 x 6 and isn't the most dynamic thing I  have ever scrapped. The events are mundane and boring, but then so is my life by and large. But I already love it as something to look back on and enjoy.

Today I finished my March pages and made my cover page and my end page.

A completed album.

Brilliant.

My photo of the day is of my new sunglasses. Now I have new ordinary glasses I have treated myself to new sunglasses which fit over my sunglasses and still look OK.

It has been a gorgeous day so i needed them when i was driving out and about.

25th january pages

I have finally gotten around to making my pages for 25th january.

There are few projects I have enjoyed as much as this one.

true the pages are not awesome, being very basic and simple, but I am just loving having this year long record and dread it finishing. I won't know what to do with muself.

I fear I will have to continue in some way.

January 25th was a bit grim. It saw me at the end of a reasonably horrible virus. I had been off work, had a massive cold sore (thankfully by 25th it was less than a quarter of its original size ... and no i kid you not)

It was cold, damp and dull, but i had shiny new red boots, a drum kit, Nij and pizza. What more can a girl ask for!!!

Had a not going out day today which has been lovely. we have both been creative and we have also had time to play band.

My picture of the day is my very own Guitar Hero!!!!

Scrap Your Day - 2 for the price of one

I had not managed to get my November pages complete and so it was a mad panic on Christmas Eve to do them as I just HAD to get them done before the 25th December.

Now I know the world would not have ended if I hadn't managed it, but that's me. Just have to get it done.

I struggled a lot with the prompts for November. I don't like pictures of me - but managed to get a few - even though I don't like most of them.

It was a boring day so was really stuck for things to do for photos.

As luck would have it it was dark when I left and dark when I came home so Nij managed to do the window shots for me. He also took photos of the TV so I had the news, the weather, a headline and I took photos of my dashboard so I guess November was really a sort of - your world today - page.

I really like the pictures of the news and weather and plan on repeating those for other days. If I had thought of it in time I would have done it every day.

By takingt he photo of the plasma screen rather than the regular TV it also meant we got clearer shots - not with the usual lines down them.

This morning I did my December Scrap Your Day pages.

I have to confess to getting to the stage where I am sick of Christmas scrapping. I am sick of Christmas papers and colours and words and so wanted to get these pages done before the Christmas stuff gets packed away for another year.

I still want to do a few more pages of my Christmas journal, though am not planning on scrapping every day till the 6th Jan. I plan on a couple this week and ending with New Year's Day.

I had stacks of pictures I wanted to use and so there is a lot of journalling on tags which pull out.

I need to explain a couple of things LOL.

The pictures of the cat at the dinner table are not of one of my cats though they are my fault. We do not usually have cats eating at the dinner table (and please note all plates used for the pictures were disenfectanted afterwards)

 However, the cat in question is meow (yes that is his real name) . Meow is a very old gentleman now. He has to be lifted onto the chair he used.   

He was a rescue cat some 15 years ago so is probably 17 plus now. He is very thin, very arthritic and totally deaf. But he is very very happy and very affectionate.

I love spoiling Meow and there is a distinct possibility that this will be his last Christmas. So Aunty Karen spoilt him rotten.

There is a chance that, if he is still here come the latter part of the year, he will come to live with us as his Mommy may be going away for several months. Not sure how the CFH will cope but I wouldn't see him go anywhere else.

Happy digital scrapbooking day

It is a fab day for digi scrappers across the world as so many stored have so many great offers on at the moment. I am trying hard to resist - and failing LOL.

Dawn Inskip has a sale on at her stores at NDISB and PBP, Weeds and Wildflowers have a sale on everything, Designer Digitals and Sweet Shppe all have sales too.

This is the second page I made with Pat's gorgeous J'Aime Chocolat kit. We have so many beautiful cottages int he New Forest and this is just one of them. It is especially nice in the Autumn and looks like the sort of cottage you should see on the top of a chocolate box or biscuit tin.

It just begged to be scrapped with the kit.

I have made my 25th October pages today as well. I was worried that the 25th October would be another bad one photography wise. Nigel was going to an away match for Speedway and the forecast weather wise was grim. However, I had a fab day.

We headed out into the forest and had a lovely time at Lindford Bottom. The fact there was one of the pigs there (they are let free to graze and roam ) was just a bonus.

On the way home we called into Hobbycraft and the Range (what's not to like) and did a little scrap retail therapy. Actually I didn't really shop for me - I was buying goodies to finish off Jakki's advent box.

We then went for a late lunch at Pizza Hut - what's not to like there - before coming home. Nigel went off to his away match and I had a lovely rest of the day and evening. I scrapped, I watched Saturday night TV which is the best ever at the moment with Merlin, Strictly come dancing, X Factor (Yum - Simon Cowell) and Casualty.

And it is Saturday again - so all that great telly to look forward to again.

I am glad today wasn't the photography day as it is grim and wet and miserable out there. We have only been out to drop a lot of things off at the charity store  - clothes I sorted out, piles of DVD's and Videos amd books. We made three trips from the car - it was a lot of stuff and should help. We can never be bothered to try and sell things at car boot sales and it is our way of giving to charity as well. we always take them to the shop for Julia's Jouse which is our local children's hospice.

I was thrilled that an interview I did a while ago has gone live on a great blog.

This is the link to MY INTERVIEW but the whole blog is fab and well worth a visit.

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy whatever you do xx

Linford Bottom

Today is the 25th which means I need to take pictures so even though it wasn't a fab day we headed off out and ended up at Linford Bottom in the New Forest. I hadn't been there for years and even on a grey day it was lovely.

The pigs had been let out to graze the forest which is a very old tradition, and there was a beauty we were watching whilst walking around.

The amazing thing about this page is I made it in PSE which is still so new to me.

The challenge from Jessica Sprague today was to complete a page with pictures taken today in 30 minutes - and I made it without having to look back at the notes on how to do anything.

It means I must be getting better!

The other amazing thing is that our heating has mysteriously come back on. Very strange - but awfully welcome.

I am kind of hoping it stays on as well!

I need to go and do some washing now I have hot water and a warm airing cupboard again - I guess every cloud has a silver lining or do I mean every silver lining means there is a cloud somewhere on the horizon!

X Factor, Casualty, Stricktly and a warm house - what more can a girl ask for!

Have a great Saturday everyone.

25th September

OK so I KNOW it's not the 25th September today. I do .... really!!!!

I am just so far behind with everything that this is the first chance I have had to upload my 25th september pages.

In all fairness I think I was keen to forget the day completely.

It wasn't the greatest of days, to be honest. I was pretty poorly so there were no food pictures as food was still a bit of an ordeal. I didn't get out other than work. I didn't do anything nice. I still had workmen in my house.My kitchen wasn't finished.

Everywhere was thick with dust (I had to wash all my new kitchen walls and units that night but I was too depressed to take a photos!)

I suppose the good thing is that having this in my album means I can look back and think - gosh, that was a low point. How much better life is today!!!

You have to REALLY want to see it LOL.

The theme was reflections and I didn't have the energy to find any. Managed a half hearted picture of me in the mirror and the car but that was it really. I have to say I laughed and laughed and laughed witht he medication picture though! I was at the stage where I would take ANYTHING to try and sleep and stop coughing LOL

25th September

Well this double page in the album is going to be fabulous. It's the 25th and I have done very very badly!!!!

No photos of meals .... forgot them all. No photos that are pretty. No photos that are fun. Um not a good day really.  Still I guess it will show that some months the 25th is fairly deadly!

The picture is of the new floor! Once the skirting is done tomorrow I will atke a photo of the whole thing. The cats love the floor as it is so much nicer and softer and warmer. I love it to as I always have bare feet.

This page is one I made for ATDML but didn't manage to get into the gallery. It will appear later.

It is Emily just being Emily! Love her.

It is also the first (and I might add only) time I made something akin to a Prima beauty mark.

I bought a BeJeweller last month and have only used it the once but I did love doing it.

25 days - August pages

I am loving this year long project.

I love the fact ot makes me focus on one day

I love the fact it makes me take photos

I love the fact there is a theme each month

and I love building up the album stage by stage.

The 25th August fell on Bank Holiday Monday and so I thought - when I saw it coming - it would be a fabulous day filled with so much I wouldn't know where to begin.

Mmmm - didn't look like it was going to pan out like that. The morning was damp and grey and fairly yuk. We stayed in and played witht he Wii - the first time we had played with the Wii fit since ... the incident!. The knee incident.

Then Nigel said he needed to find someone to help him at Speedway that evening.

me me me - I volunteered, regretting it as soon as the words had left my mouth. However, I am so glad I did volunteer as it was great fun and a chance for me to see what my man does when he puts on a show each week,

I enjoyed the prompt of the details. OK - so the ironing was a little staged. I mean, let's face it, it has never happened before and it is not likely to happen again now is it.

I even did the ironing when I was on crutches!

The scan had cut off the ends of the pages so they do look better than that in reality.

The patterned papers are not actually patterned papers at all but K and Co Blue Awning adhesive ribbons I had left from my bumper DT kit from Charmed Cards and Crafts.

25th July

I have now managed to get July done - I have had a busy busy scrapping day today - trying to finish things off and clear the decks.

I have been trying to take my mind off the ever increasing nagging toothache that is bothering me and feels sort of rootish. I am so dental phobic I am terrified it is going to erupt into something horrible. Please keep everything crossed for me.

Anyway, back to July. I thought it would be fab to do this in the holidays but I guess the day just fell wrong. we had had two fab days out on the 23rd and 24th and the 25th was very mundane. I did debate doing a - look what we did yesterday - page but felt it would have been a cop out.

I loved the idea of black and white and colour but went a little differently with some of the pictures, using some spot colours. This was largely inspired by the vibrant bouqet I received and the gorgeous sunflower in it.

The pages will go bigger if you click them - they are rather small in this format as the album is 6 x 12.

London calling and catch up

Had a fabulous day yesterday and will explain here. Firstly the pages sprinklled through this prompt are pages made for the month in my life book. I would call it a mini book but it is quite fat now!

We had promised ourselves a trip to London for ages and as we are having a holiday at home we took that trip yesterday. We drove part way up, parking at Sunbury and then getting the train in to waterloo. We usually drive into London, park and then do whatever we are doing. It was far cheaper to do this - the train fair and the low parking costs were way less than the petrol (the angst) the congestion charge and London parking. So much better.

We went to see what the chances were of going on the London Eye first and we were first in the queue for tickets and in the first car of the day. It was a hot sunny day and visibility was good. I had expected to be disappointed and although it was not earth-shatteringly fabulous it was a good trip and I am glad we did it.

The thing we really went up to do was to do the open top bus tour. We have done bus tours in a lot of cities, especially in the US in places such as NY, Dallas, Washington etc. I had lived in London for 4 years and had wanted to do it then. So yesterday was the day. It was nice to be on the top of the bus as there was a little breeze on what was a blisteringly hot day. We opted for the live comentary and were so glad we got a wonderful guide for almost all the tour. (He changed to have his lunch break and the guy we had for the remainder was not a patch)

He was a genuine cockney, incredibly proud of London, England and his heritage, very very funny and so unbelievably knowledgeable. It was a fabulous tour and we learnt so much and had a great time.

500 pictures later and we were off the bus, back on the train and we headed out to Staines to the Outback Steakhouse.

  Now the Outback is one of our favourite places to eat in the US. There are only 3 in the south of England and Staines is our nearest and so we were very keen to see if it was as good.

In a word, no

It was not a patch on the US restaurants, though the menu was almost the same. It was expensive and lacking any of the nice touches. I guess it is for the best. At least regular trips to Staines are not needed now.

The good news is that as a response to my blog about Starbucks I have since found out we have one due to open soon quite close to home ... and even closer to work. Mmmmmm - I can see THAT becoming a problem.

Now - for the first time in a couple of days I have had a chance to play and have been looking at the prompts from Shimelle for this week.

One of them really tickled my fancy and I have been having a play. I loved the concept of a superhero alter ego. I could do with one of those so I had a play at making my superhero alter ego.

So meet SuperHead

She would be totally unflappable in any situation no matter how bizarre. She would be able to dispense words of wisdom at any given time, whilst juggling a dozen alternate responsibilities as well. She would have true x ray vision, able to see into little girls minds and hearts to a) know who was telling the truth when two children fell out b) see where a problem with learning lay so she could ensure learning was right for every child and c) know who had chocolate when we had picnics so she could pick her seating companions well.

She would be able to mark with both hands simultaneously and regulation documents could be read, understood, acted upon and filed in a special 2 minute slot at the start of each day. She would be immune to putting on weight when consuming school puddings, could deter sales reps with a single flick of her cape, take 60 assemblies a term with no planning involved and would always have the right props available. Her ability to calm down anxious/irrate/upset/disgruntled parents would be legendary and she would be a marketing whizz One flap of her cape and rain would stop for every playtime and ensure no wet school trips or cancelled sports days. OFSTED would ask her advice and know they never ever needed to inspect any school she was in charge of as it would be exemplary. Oh and she'd be able to magically move school holidays around to suit her other commitments and never need to miss out on anything major like a friends wedding or a free holiday because it fell in term time.

Now I had two goes at creating Superhead. The first was the obvious play on SuperTed but let's face it - even when you squish him up his body ain't fab. It's fine for a bear but heck - we are creating fantasy here so my second attempt - sexy superhead is the one I am going for. I mean all of those superpowers above AND a great body. What's not to like!  Shimelle - thanks for such fun

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