Dolly's Dreamings

Almost the end of the year

I love this time of year - not just because it is holiday time, but because it affords us the chance to reflect on the past year. I am so happy and count myself blessed that I can look back on 2010 and think it was a good year. there is so much to be thankful for. We have both been happy and healthy; Nij is getting good steady work but still has time to enjoy semi-retirement; the cats are all well; I have had many new opportunities; we have had a terrific holiday and enjoyed some once in a lifetime events; we are financially solvent (that one gets ever harder) and we have much to be grateful for.

I used Chicken Soup again for the inspiration for my JYC page - taking the idea of both the stars and the music this time. It is about the frangrance that fills our home.

 

Dawn Inskip has a wonderful kit out today at her Scrapbookgraphics store called A New Start and I made a page about how proud I was of my 5210 year using it.

 

I took some cute pictures of the boy last night. I had a wonderful set of hangers as one of my Christmas presents. I have to tell you, these super slim hangers that are velvet and strong are lush. They take up much less room than regular hangers and hold the clothes beautifully. Nothing slips off and I am totally sold on them. More boxes are on their way. Anyway - I had a box of 50 as one of my Christmas presents and Fiki wanted the box so badly. He really did. Eventually, yesterday, I used the hangers and he had such fun with the box. He went in it, he put his sister in it, he put his toys on it, he tore it a bit, he had a lovely time.

 

 

 

 

and here is a picture of the foggy heath I just liked

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• A year of thankfulness
• Cowshed Cowpat hand cream (Mmmmm - the smell fo holidays and so luxurious)

 

Family travel

We have been up to newbury today -the half way point for Nij and his brother to meet - to swap presents and collect Nigel's Mom who has been in Coventry for Christmas this year. It was nice to see them and we all managed the journey safely which had looked dubious this time last week with 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground.

For the first time in over a week we have green on our lawn again. It is only today that the snow has started to disappear. Our drive and the road is still a little white and icy, but it is so much better.

I want to share my final page for the 5210 project.

This is what I came up with

 
The photo was taken at the half way point through the year - Jakki's birthday. I am not seen with a glass of wine on my hands much these days.

Thank you for allt he nice comments about the course. If anyone wants to donate to my local hospice they can still do so at my Just Giving page (I don't get the money - the course was and will remain free - but it goes straight to the hospice)

Here is my JYC page today - all about our trolley teas we enjoy over the holiday period.

 
I was inspired to make today's page by one of the challenges over at Chicken Soup - I just loved their gingerbread men for day 11.

Today I am thankful for

• Safe travel
• sale bargains
• Trolley Tea

 

Happy Boxing Day

OK - I am aware that Boxing day is quite a UK only concept, but it is one of my favourite days of the year.

Nij and I keep at least half of our presents to open together and we have a champagne breakfast, present openinga nd then a PJ day where we chill out, eat left overs and relax together. I totally love it.

We have had a wonderful couple of days and have both been spoilt. (I guess not having kids we do tend to spoil each other a lot) I have had so many wonderful presents - books and clothes and games and music and DVDs and jewellery and probably most exciting of all a new Willow Tree Angel (I will share that another day) and the most amazing Fairy Door (I so wanted one after our visit to Furzey) and some garden fairies for outside. It really is magical and I will share a post about it later.

We had a wonderful day yesterday at Gina's. Gina and I have been such close friends since were 12 years old and have grown up together in so many ways - not just in age but in spiritual and personal journeys we have been on too. we have shared some very special moments. She stayed with me the night before I got married, I helped deliver her first child, our wonderful godson and so on. We have spent Christmas day tigether, with 2 exceptions, for the last 20 years. We take it is turns to host the day and there have been anything from 4 of us (our smallest ever Christmas 2 years ago) to 12 of us - one of the largest. This year there were only 5 of us - Gina, her parents, Nigel and I, but it was a very special day, made all the more poignant because it is likely to be our last together for quite a while. Gina is selling up and heading off on an incresible journey. She is called to do missionary work - no idea where yet - and is unlikely to be here next year.

I made her a special spiritual book to take with her and this was her opening it yesterday morning.

 
I used a couple of other pictures (the less daft ones as we really did have a day filled with LOTS of laughter) for my JYC page for 25th.

 

We have both turned 50 now, and whilst we don't see each other that often, we are as close as ever. It is a very special relationship.

My page for today was 2 pictures taken yesterday actually.

Dawn (she of the awesome digital kits) sent the fur babies such a wonderful present. It was a fur tunnel made of leapard print fur (just like them) with one of their all time squeaky mice attached imside. They absolutely loved it and have played with it so much.

 
Fiki played so much he ended up zonked on Daddy!

 
Today I am thankful for

• All the blessings of the season. The wonderful filling of light, the sharing of time with family and friends, the generous and thoughtful gifts, the wonderful food and the chance to relax and really enjoy.

 
And so to the final prompt of this year long project.

I feel quite sad to be posting the last ever prompt. It has been an incredible journey. I have had to think hard about the structure of the project, planning 52 prompts which I hoped would inspire me and others to record a year in our lives.

 
It started as a way of getting through a year I wasn't looking forward to, and ended such a pleasure. I have had a great year in so many ways and doing this project and having so many of you along to play with it has been incredible. I feel I have made a lot of new friends (and one of my friends said I needed to check my Flickr mail and I can't seem to access it - sorry) and some of you have become such regular visitors and commenters. I hope you still come and visit when the project is done.

 

I am looking forward to seeing finished albums. I will post mine tomorrow. the last page is now done and in the album - just not photographed yet.

If any of you feel that the course was good and you would like to make a donation to say thank you then this is the link for my JUST GIVING PAGE. None of the money comes to me - it all goes straight to my local hospice - just a way of giving back to people far less fortunate

Enjoy and please, do take the time to let me know what you thought of the prompt, the whole project, the concept.

 

I hope to be running other classes - shorter of course - duringt he coming year and hope you will join me for those too.

Happy Scrapping xxx

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

So - who was it who said she almost never ever had snow? Who was it who wanted lots of snow to play in? Oh yes baby! We had snow.

We were both awake earlyt his morning and it was snowing - not heavily, but snowing. It was 6 am. By the time we had breakfast at 7 am it was heavy heavy heavy. It turned to icy sleet for a while then back to big fat white out flakes. It was the heaviest snow I have ever seen in this country. And boy did we have fun.

I feel sorry for all the people who are having plans ruined, who wanted to travel and can't, etc. But as we were due a day in anyway we just enjoyed the snow.

 

 

 

 

 
Needless to say my JYC page is about the snowman

 
I also have another 'warmer' page to share - my 5210 prompt 51

 

 
The page is really all about the journalling - and there is LOTS of it hidden away.

Well - we were due to go out for a meal tonight but it looks like it is off. Nij drove round the corner to some shops and said it was lethal. He couldn't get back up the drive so we have dug our drive and our neighbours.

Today i am thankful for

• Not having to try and get to work in weather like this
• The simple fun of playing in the snow

 

5210 Prompt 51

It's still cold here and we have had a few snow flurries but not bad, and nothing new is laying.

We have been for a walk - being careful as the pavements were pretty treacherous. I have also been scrapping and have caught up on all of my walk pages except today's.

I have also made my JYC page.

The photo is of one of my most special gifts from school. I am very very lucky and have lots of gifts  from the children. However, this was one that touched me this time. It was a bag full of home made goodies. there were four different bags of sweeties - all of which were beautifully packaged and tasted truly gorgeous (I have to get the recipe for the Brownies as they were awesome) There was also a beautiful handmade beaded star in white and green - the colours of my tree this year. Emily had made them with her Mum and it was a really special gift.

 
So - here is the penultimate prompt for this year long project.

I can't believe it has been going for so long - without a hitch too (Can I safely say that now I only have one more prompt to write.)

 
I hope that you enjoy the prompt and making the page to go with it.

 
the prompt.

 

poorly poorly

OK so the cough hasn't gone and someone has now replaced my nose with a tap. Every part of me aches, including my teeth. Off to bed to see if I can shake it and be ready for the last two days of term.

I did manage my page for today which celebrates my love of carol services and nativities.

Today was the carol service which was awesome and we had the nativity last week. My page records how I love carols and Away in a Manger is guarenteed to make me cry when little children sing it. As the boss I also get to make sure my favourite carol - Come and Join the celebration - is always included as the final one! Well there have to be some perks!

I couldn't include a photo of other people's children at the nativity so I have used a photo of Emily in her first ever nativity.

 

I would also like to share my page for prompt 50 of the 5210 album.

It si the last page I have made so whilst i have kept lots of steps ahead all year I am now at the same point as the rest of you.

That was a conscious decision - I wanted to do the last two steps at the same time as you all.

 

 

I really wanted it to mimic the awards envelopes you get.

Today my quote is

 
Today I am thankful for

• Only 2 more days to limp through
• Successful interviews and a new member of staff appointted

 

 

 

Lovely lovely Sunday and prompt 50

I have had a fab day today

It has been glorious weather - cold but really sunny and the cold wasn't the biting sort of cold - just crisp and fresh.

We headed off to the beach for a lovely walk. We were all bundled up and it was such a lovely day we snapped some pictures.

This was me where our old beach hut stood. (It is now vesuvio's restuarant where we are off to soon)

 
No I wasn't in fancy dress. My stetson is just a very practical winter hat. It shields the sun, stops the rain on my glasses and keeps me warm. Plus I just love it LOL.

We were struck, as we always are, by how like Santa Monica Bournemouth is with its cliffs and beach and pier. So we took a few pics to mimic those from Santa Monica ready for inevitable scrapbook pages. I have to say it was just a tad warmer when we were at Santa Monica beach last summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It was just fun to compare the different shots.

 
So we are on to prompt 50 - just two more to go.

This happens to be one of my favourite pages I have made for this album - just a lot of fun.

 

There is a challenge that comes with this one too.

 

I hope you enjoy it and like what you make too.

Back to work and Prompt 49 pages

Ok so it was kind of nice to have 4 days off instead of 2, although i did still doa  fair bit of work. However, the price for the extra two days hit home today. It was manic!

I finally had my lunch (very healthy comprising a granola bar, a few grapes and a cup cake!) at about 3.30!  During my lunch hour I - very sadly - went to the funeral of a grandma at school who was only 59. her grand-daughter, a pupil of ours, was so brave and red a poem she had written about her Nanny.

On to brighter things. The pages I made for prompt 49. I did say it was a double.

This was the first page - and I am sorry but the photo is of the house all decked in Christmas lights but i just don't post that on the web.

 
I handcut the title and just had to use the coke font as the sound of that music really does seem to herald Christmas for me.

The second page is the reason why our tree goes up late! There are only so many hours we can stand with both a tree and a Fiki.

 

 

I have another page to share today as well - my JYC for the 6th December.

I have scrapped my naughty and nice before so this was a chance to scrap a very special Christmas. i have very few photos of it - because I didn't know how precious the pictures would be.

 

 

The photo is of the first time we had Mommy and Daddy over for Christmas day lunch. I grew up in a hotel and Christmas was a busy time as the hotel was full. Poor Nij learnt the hard way what Christmas meant as he got roped in too. Our first married Christmas was like every other - working in the hotel.

The following year - 1987 - they sold the hotel and we had one Christams in the hotel with just us and family. It was wonderful.

1988 was the first year I hosted Christmas and the photo is from that day. I didn't know it would be so special. We also had Mommy and Daddy over for Christmas 1989 but it was, unbeknown to all of us, to be Mommy's last. She was just 58 when she was taken from us so cruelly and suddenly in March 1990. The funeral today for a lady who was just 59 brought it all back far too vividly.

My quote for today is

 
Today I am thankful for

• Having such wonderful parents. I may have lost them but their love lives on and fills me every day
• Managing to get an appointment for tomorrow.

 

On the 5th day of Christmas and Prompt 49

It's been a beautiful sunny day here and I have been scrap scrap scrapping.

It's been quite a scrappy weekend. I have made 3 Christmas mini albums in little boxes, 17 pages (12 digital and 5 paper) and had great fun as well.

On of the pages I made was this one - my day 5 of JYC

The theme was advent and needless to say, as I love Christmas so much, I have several advent calendars. I have my advent house, my cat advent tray, my school advent tray plus our lottle countdown Santa.

 

I will share the other pages I have made over the coming days but i especially liked this one, made for one of the classes.

 

I am loving the snow pictures I took the other day and plan a frosty snowy mini book.

 

Now I know a lot of you will have popped over for prompt 49 today. Just three more after this to go.

 

For me this was another double page spread. What the heck - i have room int he album left so why not fill it!

 

It was a fun double to make and I hope that the prompt inspires you to make your own.

I am busy planning my next class for 2011 and hope that some of you will join me in that.

It won't start in January but do keep checking back as I will post in good time before it starts.

 

You can download the new prompt

5210 Prompt 48 my pages and FREE DOWNLOAD

 

I promised there would be a download available to go with this prompt.

 

Tjhe download is a png file and it is easy to recolour as you can see I have done with my page.

It is of the word art on my page that says - hem your blessings with thankfulness.

You can download it HERE

 

 

It has been a bit of a struggle to count my blessings today - largely as I haven't had a moment to call my own. No snow here but it has been really really cold and no sign of that ending any time soon either.

My quote for today is

 
Boy is that an apt quote for me today - it really is.

Today I am thankful for

• such a supportive deputy head (plus the fact she is my best mate)
• Snuggly warm clothes