Dolly's Dreamings

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 that Friday feeling

You gotta love that Friday feeling ... well I guess not if you work weekends as then you'd love a different day but you get the general idea.

I have a weekend stretching ahead and whilst there is work to do there will also be time for play and relaxation, starting NOW.

The great news is that Nigel has sold his car and as I type it is being driven away by its new owner. It was ont he market for exactly three hours LOL He already had his new car (which is exactly the same as his old car just newer) so we are all set. It is a weight off his mind as although the car was a high end luxury lodel it was very high mileage as he had it when he worked with a long commute each day. Now he is back to a low mileage car and it will stay that way.

I have another page to share made with the Home Makeover collection and I just could not resist this. I LOVE Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Well actually I love any programme about home renovations. Nigel once said he was fed up that every time he came into the room our TV screen had a little house in the corner (The home channel with all the makeover programmes on LOL)

Anyway, this has to be the daddy of them all. Not just the odd room painted, or a bit of new furniture, but the ultimate makeover ... knock it down and start again. It is always for such nice people who have faced such tragedy and so as well as the home makeover there is the touching human story which always, without fail, makes me cry. And then there is Ty Pennington - so what's not to like!

Today I am thankful for

• a good day
• a Friday
• a short break for a walk to clear my head
• a clean house
• the smell of fresh baked bread
• a new scrapping magazine
• a very very good boy cat who took his medicine extemely nicely, just sat there.

Home makeover

I have had such brilliant brilliant fun recently. Many of you will know I am a bit of an addict witht he old home makeover stuff. I hate the upheaval but love the projects and the finishing off. And it IS addictive. So I have loved working with a brand new collection that Dawn has just released.

The collection - and it is stuffed with goodies - is called Home Makeover, and it is fabulous.

There will be a series of pages, I fear, and this is the first of them, documenting how our bedroom and bathroom changed. It was one of the biggest projects we have undertaken - with help of course - and one of the biggest transformations. I still come into the bedroom and bathroom every day and love it. It has gone from very pink and cottagey and old fashioned to clean and cream and streamlined with the  aqua I love so much.

 

It was so much fun to create.

I said I would update on Fiki today. He had to go to the vets yesterday with a very delicate little boy sort of problem. He had to suffer an undignified examination of his most private 'bits' (and of course he doesn't have all the bits he was born with!) and he has an infection, bless him. He had high dose antibiotics and anti inflamatories and we have to monitor his urine production. Oh boy is that easy to do when you are a three cat household. We have to move the litter tray around the house so it is always within earshot so we can monitor when he uses it - if he uses it. I was actually very scared that the vet said if a little boy cat become 'blocked' it is very serious and they can die within 24 hours. Yikes. I don't feel I want to take my eyes off him ... ever. Bless him he was so good at the vets and everyone there admired him. He is a huge cat (and not JUST overweight though he does need to loose some weight) and a stunning colour and so adorable.

Today I am thankful for

• remembering all of my lines ... almost!

 And finally an e mail. It's amazing how these e mails land in my in tray just when I need to see them.

I love that!

Here  are some great ways of
dealing with the burdens of  life:

* Accept  that some days you're the pigeon,
And some days you're the statue.

 * Always keep your words soft and sweet just in case you have to eat them.

*  Always wear stuff that will make you look good If you die in the middle of it.

* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be "Recalled" by their maker.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

*  It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, Because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

 *Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

 * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

* The second mouse gets the cheese.

* When everything's coming your way, You're in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

* You may be only one person in the world, But you may also be the world to one person.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

* We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.   

  
Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today...

Friday and Finally Finished

Yey -a  huge huge cheer.

Not just because it is Friday - though it is always nice to have the weekend to look forward to

The work

is

finally

finished!!!!!

 

The carpet is still to come in the hall stairs and landing but all building work is done done done. No more painting. No more papering, no more moving furniture, no more packing boxes, no more sorting. Just a finished house. Fresh, clean, tidy and relatively minimalist.

The final room - the downstairs cloakroom.

I love it. Very simple but I think it is lovely.

 
The odd shadow on the wall is only the bounce back from the mirror as I used the flash to take the picture.

And I came home to a wonderful garden all spruced up and cut back too. He's been incredibly busy.

My LSNED is a little indulgence. My reward for almost a month of abstinence was a little shopping trip. I went for a grey jumper. I ended up with a heck of a lot more LOL

 
I didn't buy it all today LOL. Just seemed apt to take a picture of one of my wardrobes to go with the lesson.

Now the weekend stretches ahead. The forecast is good. I don't have too much work to do. Life is good.

Today I am thankful for

• Getting back in shape
• a finished house
• Friday

 
And finally I was sent this e mail yesterday - Thanks Mike.

I had never seen or heard of this and it is beautiful. Do watch the presentation and enjoy.

And have a great weekend

Download Russia_Honor_USA911

 

 

A Happiness Post

Funny isn't it how the smallest things can brighten a day. Little things that can bring  joy and make you smile. Good though!

Today the little thing that brightened my day were tiles. I have tiles on the walls, on the floor and they are all grouted. Yey! How cool is that.

After doing a bit of 'An American Werewolf in Paris' stint, where everytime you see something it gets worse, the downstairs cloakroom has turned the corner and is looking ... well more like a downstairs cloakroom really.

Of course it doesn't boast things like a loo or a sink, but I am reliably informed they will appear, as if by magic, tomorrow.

So my LSNED today - happiness in the little things.

 

The photo is poor as it looks a lot nicer in reality. The tiles look like chocolate brown suede. They are really lovely - I would never have had them in a full bathroom with perfume and deodorant etc as I think they will show every mark and speck, but hopefully in a cloakroom they will be fine. And besides which - I am not responsible for cleaning floors anyway LOL.

The other good news - so far - is that it is just after six and ... thus far ... no IKEA delivery. We really were dreading that the whole order would somehow arrive on 21st as orginally promised before it all went wrong. No idea why the two random doors came, but heck. Small price to pay.

And as we are having a happiness post today I ought to tell you the other reason for happiness. It is the name of a new kit, released today, by Dawn Inskip at her Scrapbookgraphics store.

 

It was inevitable I was going to love this kit as it is very Autumnal and you all know how I love Autumn.

This is one of the pages I made with the kit.

 
The photo is of the gorgeous Tamir, from WHF. He is one of my favourite tigers there and is so photogenic.

 Today I am thankful for

• tiles I guess
• I am also thankful that my faith continues to grow and strengthen.

 

An appropriate LOL Cat today

 

Finally - and I guess it fits with the happiness theme of this post. I had this e mail today from a very good friend. Thank you ... and I thought I would share it.

Thoughts for Today.........

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you humble and, enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

 When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.Live your life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling while everyone around you is crying.

Colour inspired home decor

It's been a foul day weather wise buta  fab day scrapping wise today.

I want to share a home decor post I did for IACW last month.  As part of a class by Shimelle I was introduced to this amazing site

http://www.design-seeds.com/

 Design seeds has the most amazing colour combination cards and they are just so beautifully showcased.

Apart from making you want to scrap and giving you hand to do that – they are just beautiful to sit and drool over.

I was inspired by this one.  

I used the colours to make a clock for our newly decorated library.

The clock was one I had had for years, always meaning to decorate it. This was the perfect opportunity.

I painted the edges of the base board cream and then used a truly gorgeous piece of K and Co paper from the Blue Awning range (my favourite range ever!) Part of the paper is flocked and lightly glittered as you can see here.

 

 

I used some scraps of wallpaper samples (the paper that never made it to the decor in the room) to cut some butterflies and to add to inked and stamped papers I had made to match to make the flowers.

 

 
 

I also used scraps of the same sample wallpaper for the text (well it is in the library so it had to mention books). The paper has a gorgeous shiny stripe that looks lovely in real life.

 

I hope you can see how the colours in the sample inspired the piece of work.

 

 I have made several pages today that I can'ts hare yet as they are design team pieces for soon to be released loveliness, but I can share my LSNED.

I loved having a forbidden Starbucks yesterday but the lesson is, when you break your diet and come off the wagon, it is awfully hard to climb back on the next day.

 
Today I am thanful for

• Lovely Sundays indoors
• Pale Autumn sunshine just bursting forth

 

Well he did warn you

Some lessons you shouldn't really need to learn, because they should be completely obvious. But somehow you still appear to need to learn them.

Being very busy at the moment, I didn't really want to spend precious weekend time searching for tiles. But I did. And we bought the floor tiles and we bought the wall tiles and we couldn't find the border tiles.

In the end I said I didn't want to go out again and Nigel could go and pick border tiles and just get them so I didn't have to.

'But what if you don't like them?' he asked.

 'Of course I will. Whatever you pick will be just fine so long as I don't have to go to any more DIY stores.'

'I'm not happy doing this,' he tried again.

'It'll be fine', I reassured.

Mmmmmm

I needed to listen.

He went and bought border tiles and because he was so concerned that he didn't want to buy anything too much of a statement, he bought the blandest, plainest, quite frankly horrible tiles ever. And I looked at them and said they were not quite what I would have chosen, but they were OK and they'd be fine .... probably.

I looked again later and said they were a bit bland, but they would probably be OK ... probably. I just needed to get used to them and they would grow on me .... probably.

I looked a third time and said I really was quite unsure about them and didn't really like them but probably, if he felt they were OK and really liked them, then probably, they would be OKish .... probably.

So on the way home from work today why did I find myself in a tile shop getting new border tiles that were what I wanted and what I should have done in the first place, going together instead of saying I'd like whatever he chose knowing in reality I wouldn't.

Some lessons you shouldn't need to learn - but you do.

 

Thank goodness he has the patience of a saint.

 I shared the cover of my CJ yesterday so here is my introduction page and then my own page on Nature's Beauty.

 

 
 Today I am thankful for

• an understanding husband
• the right tiles

 And I love the LOL cat today - welcome to MY world - something I see all too often when I am trying to sleep ... and bear in mind the cats had us up at 4.30 am this morning howling about something ... no idea what but it gained them entry tot he bedroom LOL

 

The joy of coming home

 
Coming home is always a joy, but recently coming home has been to things not where they should be.  In the great scheme of things that isn't the end of the world, but when you are quite as fixated on a place for everything and everything in its place as I am it is a bit of an issue.

Today was the first day I have come home from work to a completed dining room. And it was a lovely feeling. I just went and stood int here and smiled.

Lovely.

 

Nigel went and picked the border tiles for the cloakroom today - so that is one job less that I have to do (and I am sure they will grow on me!) I really do feel the end is in sight.

I have a new project to share today. I have signed up for a digital circle journal. It works on the same principal as a regular circle journal but without the hassle of posting and the additional costs that incurs. There are ten of us doing it (well actually there are 30 as there are 3 groups) and I am sure it is going to be great fun.

I thought I would share my cover for the journal on here. My theme is, not surprising, Nature's Beauty.

 

 Once everyone has completed their pages I will have the book printed and bound. I am looking forward to completing pages for everyone else's journals and seeing what they come up with for mine.

Today I am thankful for

• finished rooms
• two framed photos which were kind of fun

 

As the world remembers

News across the world has been focused on the 10th anniversary of that fateful 9/11 ten years ago today. It was a day that changed the world forever and changed how many people think and feel. It was a day when so many people showed such courage and self sacrifice and when so many people lost their loved ones.

For me 9/11 is irrevocably tied up with Daddy. I was packing his suitcase to go into hospital whilst we watched those twin towers fall. Nigel and I stood by his bed on 14th September and held the two minutes silence whilst Daddy lay beside us on what would be his final few hours and he lost his battle the following morning. As the people across the world mourned the loss of their loved ones, I mourned the loss of my beloved father and the two are forever linked. So my prayers today are both wider ranging for the many strangers I have never met who are grieving and for myself and the loss I still feel so keenly.

Needless to say, my lesson for today is marking that anniversary.

 

I do, however, have cheerful things to share too. And in part still linked with Daddy as he was a man who lived and breathed DIY and he would, I think, have been proud of what we have done in our home.

We seem to have been renovating for a long long time, and to be honest I have had just about the right amount of mess and change and upheaval. Our downstairs cloakroom is being done the week after next and then that IS IT! No more. We will have done every room in the house and we have done all but two rooms int he last three years. Quite some going, and enough is enough. But the house is looking clean, fresh, more modern and less cluttered and we are proud of our efforts.

The dining room is, at last, completed. So a few snaps to share. There were times when I felt the black curtains were a little too much of a statement - but they work well. There were times when I felt the light shade was a little too dramatic, but I love it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I do have scrapping to share. Dawn Inskip has a new kit called Diva out and it is bright and bold and lovely. It mixes black and hot pink - which I love 9(now there's a colour scheme for decorating....)

And this is our own little Diva. She is totally adorable and I miss her to bits. (And she pretends to be cross when I scrap her but is now of an age where she loves seeing her pictures scrapped.)

 

Today I am thankful for

• People across the world praying for peace today
• Finishing our dining room

 

Finishing touches

I seem to have had a day of adding finishing touches to things. But that's a good thing. The finishing touches are often the things that are the most fun to do and bring the greatest reward when completed too.

I am not quite at the final stage witht he dining room, but have only pictures to hang now and then we will be complete. Home is almost finished. We just have the downstairs cloakroom which is being ripped out and replaced later this month and then finally new hall stairs and landing carpet and we are done. Every room in the house will have been done, and all but two of them in the last 3 years. It is clean, bright, fresh and modern, de-cluttered and I am shattered enough and fed up enough of renovation after renovation to be satisfied to just sit and enjoy it. Mind you, what will I do without the never ending visits to B and Q, Wicks and more importantly Dunhelm Mill, Home Sense and Laura Ashley!

Anyway I digress.

My lesson today was all about finishing touches.

 
The photo is of a little - well quite big actually - heart shaped bowl on my sideboard filled with some gorgeous vanilla pot pourri.

Val you posted and asked about IACW. It is such a fun blog offering inspiration on a range of crafts on a daily basis but it takes a great deal time and effort froma  lot of people. We are taking a  break for a while but don't write us off yet.

Today I am thankful for

• finishing touches
• productivity