Dolly's Dreamings

a tissue a tissue

OK so I couldn't resist the title.

You'll see why!

And it is also in part as Nigel has a cold. Well a cough more than a cold but a really nasty cough.

And despite what many often think about men and man flu - he is just the opposite. he will never acknowledge if he is unwell. He looks poorly, he sounds dreadful but every solicitous comment results in an 'I'm OK'.

I think the cough, which he has had for several weeks now, is getting him down as it is getting worse not better so hopefully he will go to the doctors tomorrow.

The other reason for the title was to share the tissue box I made last week.

It was so simple it was criminal.

I bought a papier mache tissue box from Hobbycraft. Then I used mod podge (OK glorified PVA adhesive as I am sure that is all it is - and covered it with some pretty tissue or decopatch paper. I really liked the crazed crackled finish of it.

I the added a stamp and some flowers (I am in to these roses but they are too lumpy for my pages so this was a perfect chance to use them.)

 

I also added some pearl trim I also bought from Hobbycraft. It was a really quick and simple project but covered up a very bland box of tissues in my office.

The flowers were real bargains compared to the prices of things like the Prima flowers. The large white papery roses were from the wedding section at The Range and were £1.99 for 12. The small ones were approx 99p for about 30.

My photo fo the day is of the heath as we have just been for a really nice loing walk tramping up and down some pretty steep slopes.

I count myself blessed that this is literally on our doorstep.

two minutes from our gate and this is the view.

This was one of the steep lose and slippy slopes.

My  Today I am thankful for

• sunny simple Sundays
• living next to such beautiful heathland

Home Decor budget style

Today I have a home decor idea to share and some pretty general ramblings.

I did a fair bit of work yesterday so that I truly could have a day off - and a lovely day it has been too.

I have scrapped, I have read, I have watched TV and I have switched off and relaxed.

My photo of the day is the new bird feeder as Nij finished re-siting it where we hope it will stay.

I really hoped that we would see birds straight away but i knew that was unlikely and it would take them a while to get used to it.

So imagine our joy when we saw my favourite little bird of all, the robin, on the feeder. We had bought special robin suet cakes with mealworms (lovely!!!) and he obviously knew they were just for him and he has spent a lot of the afternoon on his little robin cake. So much so we doubt he can still fly!

We have also seen several tits - we think coaltits or great tits, but we think we have also seen greenfinches on there as well. I have spent a fair bit of the day just sitting and watching. And smiling.

I have a project to share today that I haven't shared before but was made a while ago. It is a clock for the library downstairs.

The clock was one I have had for ages and I think it was a Creating memories clock - just a big square piece of wood with the clock mechanism.

First I painted the edges and then I covered it with some beautiful paper. The paper is K and Co from the Blue Awning range  (my favourite range of papers ever)  It is just so subtle with browns and creams and blues - the perfect colours for the library. It is flocked and so has a lovely texture to it.

I cut several butterflies from an off cut of a wallpaper sample that we almost used int he room. The room is brown and cream with this bright peacock blue as an accent colour and it made the perfect thing to cut the butterflies from. I cut several and overlayed them to give real dimension.

I also made several paper roses from the same papers. I stamped some with text and added different inks to change the tones.

The letters were cut on the robo. I couldn't use chipboard as there wasn't quite enough clearance for the hands. They were cut from another paper sample we didn't use.

 

 

I love projects that are cheap to make and just take  little time to do.

Today I am thankful for

• a truly restful day and a good recharge of my batteries.

It's the real thing

I have a few things to share today. First of all I made a page last night for the weekly challenge on UKS.

I used some of the photos that we took of the coke truck

 

The same photos feature on my JYC pages for 17th too. In fact it was such a great thing to do that there are two inserts for the pocket for 17th and a whole mess of journalling as well.

The second insert is covered with special paper. It was wrapped round a present from our friend Mike in Florida. He had instructed us to open it to check it had travelled safely (and it was the most gorgeous set of Disney ornaments) and the paper was so fabulous I had to use some. It is really rich gold and red foil and was just perfect for the coke pictures.

 

I also have my pages from 18th and 19th to share. The 18th - yesterday - is about our Christmas trip to Avebury Manor and 19th is about our Christmas angel.

 

Finally this is a little gift I made for my mother in law this afternoon.

 I bought these cute little easels and canvases and so used a photo of her three sons and their three wives. I think it is the only photo of all of us together that exists as my sister-in'law has not been to the UK for 25 years prior to this trip and when we go over it is only ever either Nij or his brother who goes, not all of us together. So the picture of all 6 of us was special. We'd been out to dinner at one of our favourite restaurants (Vesuvio on the beach) and it was so funny that we even all coordinated with what we were wearing. Pure fluke. I think she will love it as an extra little gift.

 

 

Barb you asked if we might have snow at Christmas - I wish! We almost never have a white Christmas. Last year we did still have snow on the ground from the heavy fall on 20th but no snow in sight this year.

Today I am thankful for

• the toothache going ... phew

Finally I have a video to share which is awesome. It was sent by cousin Norma. Do check out the link HERE

It is about the murmuration of starlings and there are others available on You Tube too. Enjoy x

 

Summer came!

Wow

Just all of a sudden

With very little warning

Summer came .... all day!

It has been glorious here so I have sat and baked in the garden. I so needed to do that. I worked so hard yesterday and I needed some off time before the mammoth week I have a head hits hard. And it was wonderful and I should have put sun cream on earlier!

I also finished off a mirror I was making for a gift.

It is one of the small Ikea mirrors and I apologise for the fact that the colours are way off. If I used the flash it was too bright and if I didn't it was too dull and because it is a mirror you can either see me (in my leopard dressing down) or the door gate which stops the CFH coming into the study.

 
It is a little lighter and brighter than the one above but a little less bright than the one below.

 
The flowers and butterflies are very subtly glazed and glittered

 

 

 

 

Basically it looks a lot nicer in real life. It was really easy to make. I used a pateerned paper withthe flowers on then cut butterflies, printed off the quote and made the roses rom plain paper inked pink and then stamped with a text stamp.

It just makes a cheap and pretty little gift.

Today I am thankful for

• SUMMER in the garden

 
And today's words of wisdom from Sara.

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. 

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other. 

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want. 

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it. 

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye. 

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married. 

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight. 

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much. 

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely. 

TEN... In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling. 

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives. 

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly. 

THIRTEEN! ..... When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?' 

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk. 

FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze. 

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.. 

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions. 

EIGHTEEN.. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship. 

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. 

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice 

TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone. 

I'm back!!!

Well - that was Christmas then. Over and done and dusted for another year and back to the daily grind.

It's not so bad - it was a lovely break, I work in a nice environment with great resources and wonderful kids. Life could be so much worse. And there is half term and Easter just around the corner! Had a good first day back and am looking forward to the new term and new challenges. The new year resolution of staying positive is one I plan on sticking to whole-heartedly.

The bad news is it was weight day. I knew it was coming as I pigged my way through the whole of december living on a diet of largely choclate, cheese, bread, cake and wine! But I LOVED December. It was fab. And I will knock off the gained pounds in January (I hope) so am being focused and sensible.

 

Now a reminder that you can win Dawn Inskip's fabulous grab bag bursting with all sorts of goodies for both digital and hybrid scrapping.  You can find her store here . You can win over $21 of goodies in this grab bag by simply commenting in the post from Monday 3rd January. I will randomly pick a winner next week. Nothing to lose, just something to win.

Something different to share today. This was a small gift box I made for a friend this Christmas. It was made in a lip gloss box I bought from Primark just for this purpose. It had a mirror in it and I knew it would make a great box for a mini book. It was one of her Christmas gifts and she loved it.

 

 Today I am thankful for

A good job at a time when so many people don't have work

My wii fit

Nij making christmas vanish from the house today - it looks fab

 
 

Still so very manic

First i want to share another project I made for Karen at Charmed cards and Crafts, again using the fabulous Capella range.

It is a frame with the cutest picture of Elinor.

The butterfly was just too gorgeous for words and inspired the rest of the frame.

and this is the whole thing

 Isn't she just adorable?

I have made my page for the 13th and it is all about the lesson I am learning a little too often for my liking, that I have to swim faster as I am in danger of sinking - metaphorically speaking of course.
 

 

So what have I learnt today, apart from the fact the swimming need just gets worse or I am just too old to cope with the pace.

• I have learnt that simple things bring enormous pleasure. I have learnt that because we had new phones at home today with 5 handsets for different rooms and they have such cool changeable ring tones
• I have learnt men and women are very very different. OK so I knew that, but it was obvious today because Nij had spent ages setting up the new phones and he hadn't played with the ring tones. Not even once. He didn't even know there were 20 of them. First thing I checked. Oh I am glad I am a girl.

 

My quote today is

 

 Today I am thankful for

• A better relationship with someone with whom I struggled
• Ringtones (YEY)
• A successful operation for one of our parents

 

 

Paper Roses - a 'Marie Moment'

How many of you are humming the song now? Go on - admit it. You are all singing 'Paper Woses' now aren't you!

I think i am probably the only person in the world - well the crafting world - who has never made paper roses and today was the day. inspired by a few friends efforts I had to have a go. Now bear in mind I don't really do 'messy' with inks and glue and stuff, but actually they were fun to make.

I cut flowers by hand in several sizes and followed Sir Tim's guide. I used loads of colours of ink and new text stamps and I like the finished roses so much i was inspired to cover this little balsa wood box and add them to it.

I have news of a new kit out today by dawn Inskip too. It is called Ballet recital and has the cutest little ballerinas who also become fairies so easily as she even included the wings.

The kit was perfect for one of the challenges on PBP (where the kit is also for sale) and for a page about those cute fairy doors we saw the other day.

I also made another page but if you scare easily look away now.

I couldn't resist making it even though the photo is very scarey. Make up on a child! Horrid. In my defence the picture was a professional one taken when I was in a ballet show and so the make-up was de-rigeur but I still hate the concept.

I never did make a very good ballerina. I gave it up a year later and concentrated on modern, jazz and ballroom - which i have to say i was VERY good at and was a southern regional champion. Sadly (but maybe mercifully for the world) my successful dancing career was cut short when I shattered (yes literally) my leg. It was 2 whole years before I could dance again and I was only ever average after that so I stopped dancing. I so wish i had carried on now.

My quote of the day is

Today I am thankful for

• getting off my backside and cleaning and tidying the house

Two go tramping in Dorset

 
It was too nice a morning to stay in and so we headed off to Deepest Dorset - well Twynham - this morning.

Nig had done the cliff path walk to Warbarrow Bay from Tynham carpark with his brothers and walked back up the sheer cliff the other side. They had had great difficulty with Elfin down the steep path and it had become my personal Everest. I have no idea why - I was just daunted by the prospect. I had put it off several times. The day we went to Durdle Door we were meant to do the Tynham walk but I chickened out.

Anyway, today was the day.

Now there is a nice flat path the 2/3 mile down to the bay from the car park, but that wasn't thr route we were taking. We were going up up up and then down down down. Why? Welll because we could I guess.

This was the view over the bay in the distance when we started.

And this was the view up the hills

Doesn't look much but we were heading up those hills.

But the views were fabulous as we walked (and the poctures don't show how steep it was in places)

We passed cute cows

and even saw lots of beautiful common blue butterflies

the view back down to the car park about 1/3 way up

 

ah - a flat bit at last

and a stitch of the view

 

and then the bit I had been dreading. I have knee problems and going down slopes hurts my knees. And boy was this a slope. It was steep and quite scary. the pictures don't do it justice actually and I was concentrating so hard I only took a picture of the impending drop. once walking I forgot to take any.

 

You can just see the drop off we were heading for.

BUT I made it and I was dead chuffed with myself too.

OK so on a  scale of 1 - 10 it was probably only a 3 for most serious walkers but it was a huge achievment for me.

 

We came back the quick and easy way!!!!

I thought I ought to share my page for prompt 22 that went live yesterday.

 

I love my home town of Poole. I really do. I count myself very blessed to live in such a beautiful place. The two pictures I used are the new marina on the quay and the old town. The old Poole sign (made of Poole pottery tiles) and the new sign that is seen around the town boundaries are also photos. I also used the town crest.

Finally I have to share a gorgeous photo of my little monster boy I took just a few minutes ago. He was in the scraproom (rare as he is a bad boy in there) and sitting nicely on the windowsill.

My quote for today is

Today I am thankful for

• time off together to walk and have fun
• Fiki

And finally an e mail to share

It came with lots of lovely Peanuts pictures.

Schulz Philosophy
(This is marvelous!!   Scroll   thru slowly and read  carefully to receive and enjoy full effect)

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip.

You don't have to actually answer the questions.   Just ponder on them.
Just read the e-mail straight through, and you'll get the point.

1.. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

 

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.
These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields.
But the applause dies. Awards tarnish.
Achievements are forgotten.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………

 

 

Here's   another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special!!
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The   lesson:  
The people   who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials..
the most   money...or the most awards.
They   simply are the ones who care the most

 

Tando Creative House

The UKS Cybercrop was last week and whilst I didn't have the chance to take part there was one class that I just had to do. I sent off for the kit straight away ebcause it was so awesome.

The class was by Di using her awesome Tando Creative chipboard.

I had never ever come across Tando Creative and it is awesome. You must check out her blog here because her work is awesome and her chipboard is to die for.

Anyway - i sent off for the kit and have spent such a fun day.

I still have to add the photos but I will do that tomorrow

You can't really see well but the whole thing glistens with glimmer mists

There are loads of details

The insides come out and there is a little accordian album that I have yet to add the photos to

The roof is all gold embossed

 

Do check out Tando and Di's work - it's awesome.

A busy day

When it draws close to the end of the holidays I seem to go into overdrive. There always seem to be so many things I haven't done and I need to do. Today was one of those days when i got my act together and actually did stuff.

We are having a new bed any day soon - all singing all dancing, all folding, all massaging and sadly NOT all storage!!! The bed in the spare room has massive drawers which are ..... were ..... full. Our existing bed, which is the one we want to keep and put in the spare room, has smaller drawers which I had already emptied. Today was the day to transfer the stuff which meant quite a lot of sorting and throwing and rationalising. How did I ever acquire over 100 gift bags in assorted shapes and sizes .... I think I had kept every bag I had ever been given so I could re-use them and save the planet. And surely 20 rolls of wrapping paper will last me more than long enough! The drawers also contained not only my wedding dress, veil etc but all of the bookings for reception, the invitations, acceptances, cards etc. I really must get round to scrapping my wedding. I never have.

Anyway - job done, loads thrown out, everything sorted and old bed emptied in readiness.

I also had the dentist for the first of 2 fillings. next one next week! And I went into school to see how the playground was looking and sort the post.

I did, however, have time to make a quick card which I needed for a birthday. It is a hybrid card using new Lettering delights things I bought today. Couldn't wait to use them

Oh and I am tinkering with frames for my blog pictures. I have used some gorgeous frames by Dawn Inskip as a base. Not sure I have the frames quite right and not sure I can be bothered to use them to be honest but I have had fun playing.

I also found some scraps of material in my clearing out session so had a play with some flowers.

I can't wait to use them on a page.

A couple of cute cats for today

My quote for today is

That is quite heart-warming for an amateur like me.

Finally today I am thankful

• That the dentist didn't hurt
• That Nij didn't go too mad about all the junk i was keeping
• That I had a wonderful Daddy with me for 41 years .... it would have been his 83rd Birthday today and he is most certainly never forgotten