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

A bad few days

I always try and find the positives to post about and even when things are not great I try and put a positive spin on them.

But do you know what. I am too tired and too much in pain and too depressed to do that today - so sorry, depressing post ahead.

I went in to have my wisdom tooth (the one that had broken) out yesterday. I was terrified. I am dental phobic, have TMJ so cannot open my mouth properly and had to wait to go to a clinic to have it removed under sedation. I was lucky to get a cancellation appointment for yesterday as the next available slot was 4th April.

I was terrified and it was every bit as bad as I dreaded but also not as bad as I dreaded. The wisdom tooth was huge and they did say they might not be able to get all of the curved deep root out as it was very close tot he nerve that could cause loss of sensation in my lips and tongue. Great. It was also next to a crown and there was a risk the crown would come off. It is a crown that has a filling through it. Awesome.

Thankfully the crown didn't come off, but there appears to be quite a lot of tooth left and I am not sure if that is right or not so I am off to see my own dentist to have it all checked out on Tuesday. It's a long wait untilt hen!

Last time I had sedation I didn't know a thing about it. This time I heard everything. There was no pain - then - but I didn't like it much. Since two o'clock yesterday I have been in pretty much agony. I live from one painkiller to the next and had an awful funny turn in the night. I managed - goodness knows how - to get to school last night for the final of our school play, but I was there in body only really. We broke up today which is just as well as I am in pain, exhausted, depressed and am much better being away from people and wallowing in my own misery to be honest.

To compound issues we have been without heat and hot water since Monday morning - perfect. And Nigel pranged his car Monday too. It's not been fab in our house this week.

However - I WILL find things to be thankful for.

I have a bit of catchup on photo of the day as I was doing advance posts this week.

 Yesterday's photo of the day - my new best friends. I live for the next time I can take them. Along witht he gauze pads I have come to hate!

Celebration cake after the play - I so wish I had been able to enjoy it.

 

I do have new scrapping to share though  -  Dawn has a brand new kit out at her Scrapbookgraphics store. It is called Enchanted Garden and is so lovely.

We have an enchanted garden here at home. Fairies live in our garden - honest - here is the photographic evidence. But faries are magic and so when you take photos of them they often look they are made of stone!!!! Seriously, I love my hidden fairies which were a gift from Nigel and I just know that if I let them they will weave their magic on us this Easter holiday and we will get back on an even keel.

 Today I am thankful for

• breaking up for Easter
• Not losing the crown
• Being able to cope with the pain - thus far
• Nigel being OK even though his car was bumped
• The heating going at a time when it is not so cold
• A successful play done and dusted

See - I knew I would find things to be thankful for if I tried.

And my one minute devotional is

“Don’t forget the Wedgwood,” Aunt Kate said shortly before her death. “It’s out in the storage room in a big wooden crate. You can just throw away those old dishes in the kitchen. I’ve been saving the good china for you.”

That was one hundred percent Aunt Kate. She paid careful attention to every game the Cincinnati Reds played, but she was also always thinking of me and worrying over what she might pass on to me and to our children, Brock and Keri. But the material things weren’t really important. I just wanted her to stay with us. I wanted to hear her stories and enjoy her unique approach to life.

But finally I knew it was time to let her go—because she told me so. She slipped away quietly, and then it was time to clean out her apartment. In her kitchen cabinets, I found only one plate and one cup and saucer. The bowl of the once-white cup was brown with coffee stains. It was chipped in two places, and the saucer had a tiny hairline crack that wrapped across its rim. As Aunt Kate had said, these dishes weren’t worth keeping. But before I realized what I was doing, I found myself carefully wrapping and packing that old cup and saucer.

Now when I need to feel close to Aunt Kate, I go to the china cabinet and pull out that old cup and saucer. Every crack speaks to me of unselfishness. Every chip reminds me of the joy that comes when you consider someone else’s pleasure more than you think of your own.

Aunt Kate left us many things, but the least valuable of all her possessions, a simple cup of kindness, is the greatest heirloom of all.

Father, how can I look past myself and give someone a cup of kindness today?

—PAM KIDD

	Thursday	March 2012

 

Another fabulous day

The weather has been lovely here, although I am prepared to admit it looked more lovely from inside than it did from outside as it was considerably colder than it looked.

We decided we ought to make a start ont he garden. Neither of us are keen gardeners and we have a large garden front and back and so it needs some tlc from time to time.

We have what I laughingly refer to as a 'naturalised' garden which roughly translates to not looking much different to the heath that it is adjacent to.

Over the years we have learnt that little grows due to poor soil, poor drainage and poor care! So it is heathers, azaleas and rhodos all the way really. However, grass and weeds thrive terribly well and it was time to give the lawn its first cut and clear out some of the dross.

Our gardening usually involves moving large parts of it to the tip and today was no exception.

However it did look so much better when done.

The fact that we have only tackled three beds out of a total 8, one of which is massive and about the size of the other 7 put together, is immaterial. We started and that is the main thing. We had to stop as the bin was full. That's our excuse and we are sticking to it.

So one of the weeded beds is my photo of the day

 

However, THIS was meant to be the photo of the day. It is mother's day today; a day I always find really hard for two reasons. I don't have my beloved Mom any more and I miss her every single day and I never was a Mommy myself. It is a day I struggle with.

However, I did have an amazing card today from the three fur babies and what was amazing was that Nigel made it. And properly made it. He used stamps and letter stamps and inks and my Promarkers (gulp) and foam squares and punches and I think it is just fabulous.

 

I have a new page to share today which is another made as part of my CT commitment at Pickleberrypop. (Gosh I wonder if I will ever get tired of saying that or used to saying that!)

I used the following kits - all from Pickleberrypop of course

Day of Grace Clusters by Trixie Scraps Designs 

Day of Grace Full Kit by Trixie Scraps Designs

Charming Photo Masks by Indigo designs  

Elinor looked so pretty on her christening day - just like a little porcelain doll - and she behaved impeccably too.

 Today I am thankful for

• a very thoughtful husband
• a tidier garden and hands and knees that ache due to good honest hard work
• The West Wing - we are so enjoying that and I am sad that we are on our final series of DVDs.

 

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.

Looking back, looking forward

New Year’s Eve is an odd time isn’t it; that moment when the clock ticks round past midnight and whole year ends and another whole year starts. It is nothing more than any other second in our lives and yet so often we set great store by it. We so often see a new year as a whole new beginning, a time for making new resolutions, for starting new things and giving up old ones, for trying to become better, fitter, healthier, slimmer, braver, stronger, more optimistic, more faithful, more thankful.

I guess the fact we do all of this at all is a good thing, and 1^st January is as good a time as any.

However, this evening is also a time for reflection on the past. January is named after the Roman God Janus, the god with the two faces, the god of doorways, the god shown looking back and looking forward.

I actually like the Jewish concept of New Year; that celebrated at Rosh Hashanah. I like the idea of thinking of God balancing he books, weighing the scales, seeing whether there is more good than bad, more positive than negative.

And so I sit here, when I should really be starting to prepare dinner, reflecting back and looking forward.

2011 has been a great year – one with so many blessings and so much to be truly grateful for.

First and foremost we are both fit and healthy, we are safe and warm and we still have the three fur babies we started the year off with. There are many years when we haven’t been able to be thankful for all of those things.

 

This year will always be remembered as our 25^th anniversary year when we renewed our vows in such a special way, taking part in a high mass at Sacre Coeur and then reciting our vows to each other, before God, with the nuns singing. We are both blessed to have married our best friend and soul mate and we thank God daily for that blessing. Our marriage is by no means perfect; we argue on occasions, one of us gets snappy at times, we don’t always see eye to eye, but our marriage is blessed with a great deal of love and a lot of laughter. I can honestly say there isn’t a day go by but that we laugh … a lot… and that laughter is so important. So as I look back, that 25^th anniversary is a great milestone and I pray we enjoy another 25 together … at least.

I look back and am thankful for the ever growing faith I have and the way in which that sustains me through everything. It has given me a changed perspective on life and any trials that come my way and I feel a sense of peace that I have rarely known so much before.

I am thankful for the friends and family that bring so much to our lives in so many ways

I am thankful for the opportunities Nigel has had this year, the determination he has shown with all of his new ventures and, if I could hope for anything, it would be that he gets the success he so richly deserves.

I am thankful for the joy I continue to get from my creative pursuits and from my work. Both bring me joy, though the work hours are long and some things are challenging. I have to say, however, that I love my job and whilst I do look forward to the day when I join Nigel in retirement, there is nothing else I would rather be doing.

I am thankful for all of the great trips we have made this year and the joy that being outside brings us. It doesn’t matter if we potter next door on the heath, walk the local neighbourhood or travel further afield, we love being out and doing things almost as much as we love being home.

I am thankful for the things we have achieved at home too. Our home is now finished with every room refurbished (some more than once) and we can now just sit back and enjoy it.

Finally I am thankful for the lovely people I have met through my scrapping and through my own blog and those of other people. I have had so many wonderful comments on my blog this year from people who come by and read on regular basis. I have met people who read the blog and have stopped to tell me so. I always say I blog primarily for me; it is my way of recording my life, collating my scrapping, stories, quotes and photos, but it is so nice that I get so much positive feedback from you. Thank you. I plan on continuing my blog and again, for the third year running, having my daily thankfulness on there as it does make me stop and think each day about the many things that happen, often very minor, for which I need to be thankful.

And so I look forward to a new year in 2012. Yes there are things I will be promising to do, to change, to develop and to start this year and no I won’t be sharing them as I would hate to publically fail!

I wish you all a very happy New Year’s Eve. I hope that 2011 has been filled with more positives than negatives for you and your loved ones and I hope that 2012 will be a year filled with health and happiness, love and laughter for all of us.

It up up up

Ok so the tree is up up up.

Why am I not optimistic that it won't stay up! He is such a little monster (well actually a 21lb monster) that I see disater looming ahead. We'll see!

I have a couple of pictures to share but they are not great. The tree either looks too stark if I use flash or too blurred and orange if I don't!

 

 It is all green and white and gold - like last year.

Today has been spent making Christmas preparations. we did a big supermarket shop, we did the tree and I have been busy making Christmas presents.

I do have my JYC page for today to share - all about gratitude today - and it opens so there is a closed and an open view.

 

I also have a page made for the UKS House challenge this month. I did the sketch for it so I figured the least I could do was have a go t the page.

I used photos from this time last year when it was very snowy.

.

It uses the awesome new Peace collection by Dawn Inkip which I just know is going to be one of my favourite ever kits of hers.

Today I am thankful for

• the joy of Christmas preparations
• Tidied kitchen cupboards
• a tree that is, for the moment, up!

 

It's the holiday season

Yey - it's the holiday season.

Its official. I am on holiday and sooooo ready for it.

I have had a lovely final day in so many ways. Spoilt, entertained, manically busy and now .... on holiday.

It has also been an odd day in that I said farewell to my dentist. Regular readers will know how much I panic about the dentist, but I have had the same dentist for 30 years and whilst I have terrible trouble with my jaw, none of it is down to him. He is great fun and a nice guy - despite the fact he is a dentist! I joined his practice as soon as he opened it and he has looked after me, my parents and Nigel too. 30 years is a long time and it was really sad to say farewell to him today when I had my final ever treatment from him at lunchtime today. The dental nurse, who is wonderful, tells me the new owner is lovely but I know I will be extra nervous when I go for my first visit with her. A new dentist after 30 years when you are dental phobic is a huge deal.

Anyway - I digress.

I have the best most excited husband in the world. I really do. Even though he is semi retired he won't just sit and enjoy himself when I am at work - he feels guilty even though I tell him he shouldn't. So now he really looks forward to my school holidays as it is a holiday for him too.

So I came home to surprises.

Firstly when I ppened the garage door, the imside of the garage was all decorated with an old set of fairy lights. It was magical.

Then when I went inside there was Christmas fragrance everywhere and the kitchen all lit and a tray with two glasses of Christmas spirit, stollen and it was just so special.

I am very very lucky. He even had his Disney antlers on

I am so far behind in my JYC but will catch up tomorrow. Meanwhile ... Merry Christmas everyone - holidays are here

I know because the kitchen cat that marks events and days in our lives says so!

Today I am thankful for

• a busy but good term
• wonderful children to teach who make each day a joy
• a pain free dentist vist
• so many wonderful gifts and cards
• a wonderful, excited, caring husband
• HOLIDAYS

 

Calendar Part 2

I know I won't get a chance to post for real this evening so I am setting this in advance and have more of the calendar pages to share from yesterday's post.

The more I look at it now it is done, the happier I am and I do think I may make a couple as gifts - obviously witht heir own photos LOL

 

Now that I have made this one I do fancy making one with numbers that flip over and months that flip over so I can make it into a perpetual calendar -although I guess you would get fed up of the same pictures each year so maybe an annual one is the way to go.

 

and finally - and I can hear the sighs of relief - here is the final page (which just had to be in there because I don't expect I will ever get to sit on santa's knee again.

and this is absolutely my sort of humour - and when couple with a cute kitty ... what's not to like!

Simple Desk Calendar

Today I want to share a simple desk calendar I made. Well it looks simple. And I guess the next one would be simple to make - if there ever was a next one!

It took ages, because I had to figure out all the templates and then make all the calendar templates too. That is what took so long.

Making the pages was the easy bit.

The stand was simply very thick card - more like chipboard. It was folded to make a M or W, depending on which way you view it.

I had to make joins, but you don't see them when it is finished.

The whole thing is then bound together - you could use book rings but I used the Bind It All.

The pages are all photos from 2011 from the right month witht he exception of November (it was just too good a picture to miss) and december as they were both taken in December 2010.

 

 

 

That's probably enough photo overload for today - I will post some more another day, but you get the idea. And yes, it would have been far quicker to have had one printed at Photobox .... but not as satisfying as I am a tenacious little madam when I want to be LOL

Today I am thankful for

• a finished project

A little Christmas wreath - Scrap 365

I haven't had a scrapbook magazine for years. I used to subscribe to Memory Makers, BHG and Creating Keepsakes and get them each month (Oh and Simple Scrapbooks and Papercuts too) I used to have all the UK magazines - heck I worked on four of them as a DT member.

But then I stopped.

I just never had the time to read them and when I wanted inspiration and ideas I went on the internet as there is so much out there. But then the new one was released and I just happened to be at an on line store and they just happened to have it and well ... you know how these things work.

It was a great magazine. Even though a lot of the articles were not my taste or style as they were quite messy and art journally, I loved the articles and enjoyed reading it from cover to cover and even felt inspired to make something from there.

I had a polystyrene circle kicking around and so make a quick and simple Christmas wreath inspired by the idea in the magazine.

I would have covered it with natural hemp or twine but my big role of that was at school from making dream catchers, so I ransacked my wool box and found some greenish greyish boucle that actually looks quite mossy when used to cover the circle.

 

The flowers were of two different types. There are two roses made from different double sided Christmas papers and then two tissue paper flowers - another idea from the magazine.

I finished with a simple bow and loop for hanging

This morning was good - I enjoyed crafting. But this afternoon was not so good as my Kindle appears to have broken. I have contacted Amazon. I LOVE my Kindle - it has transformed my reading. I have read over 50 books on it this year (as well as about 30 paper books) and I will have to replace it if they are not able to fix it. I know now I can't bear to be without it.

We will see what they suggest.

Today I am thankful for

• fun crafting
• accepting things far more philosophically than I used to