Dolly's Dreamings

The Beach is Back

It was a glorious morning so we headed off to the beach for a breakfast walk. OK so it was after breakfast and about 10 am and breakfast at the beach was ice cream but heck - we are retired. It works for us.

It was glorious and very surprising that in July the car parks were very quiet and the beach near empty. I love living in Poole. I seriously think the beaches there are the nicest in the area, much quieter and far prettier than its brash cousin Bournemouth.

It's new release day today and the first of the month so there is a gorgeous free with $15 purchase kit up for grabs which is lovely and summery

One Summer Day Berry Blends Kit by Jen Yurko, Just Because Studio and LorieM Designs
Free With $15 purchase, July 5-12

And I also worked with this one this week

My Lovely season full collection by Dita B Designs

Today I am thankful for

living close to a beach
my home town

Posted at 03:07 PM in 2022, Photography, Pickleberrypop | Permalink | Comments (0)

Belated 4th July Independence Day

Happy belated 4th July and a special place in our hearts not only because we love America and all of our family and friends over there but also it is now my own independence day anniversary. 4th July 2016 I walked out of school for the last time and it was walking into the unknown and it has been, quite honestly, the best 6 years of my life. Yes I know we have had a pandemic too, but still.

I had my second art class to teach this afternoon and I am really pleased because it went well. It was simple but everyone said they really enjoyed it and have asked if I will teach again so I am very happy.

I have been enjoying scrapping along with the 12 days of summer over at Scrap Squad and these are my latest two days

That was yesterday's and this is today's

Today I am thankful for

a successful art class
scrapping fun
watching baby foxes - I have a video with 6 of them in!

And these from the internet were fun and appropriate to share on an art day

Posted at 04:16 PM in 2022, amazing random stuff | Permalink | Comments (0)

More foxes, a day out and calamity

I promised I would share our day out yesterday

Nigel spotted an ad on facebook for an event in our home town of Poole taking place later that morning, It was a walking tour of old Poole with Michele O'Brien, a wonderful re-enacter who plays the part of the Countess Annie Francis Bankes. So we headed down with no idea what to expect but it was free so why now.

It was terrific. really really good. She was outstanding, remained in perfect character throughout, we learnt some things we didn't know about the town's history and it was just a wonderful way to spend an hour. It was the first event and so there was a photographer there and we were even in those too.

a couple of the photos the museum posted on facebook

and then we all danced in the street and she picked a very special partner!

It was a lovely day - nicer than some parts of today.

We had a lovely walk over the heath which is literally our back garden and we are very lucky to live right on such beautiful land. This is just a few steps from our home

That was lovely. Just losing a crown wasn't so nice. Thankfully it is not hurting - yet - and I will try and get an emergency appointment as soon as possible. Let's hope eh!

I have some more scrapping to share

This was for today's scrap squad lift

And this was for this weeks Scrap a Sketch sketch

Today I am thankful for

the tooth not hurting too much
a nice walk
a great re-enactment experience

Posted at 03:24 PM in 2022, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lovely day and last evening

I have had a lovely day today.

It didn't begin with a lot of promise but it sure perked up.

Yesterday evening first.

We had seen baby foxes a couple of times at dusk and so last evening we sat our on the balcony, cameras in hand, watching and waiting and we were not disappointed. There are two adults - possibly parents but we are not sure, and at least 4 babies. The babies are quite disparate in size so we are not sure if they are from the same litter. One is tiny - we have named him Indy as he runs and jumps and play and is so cute. They played for about half an our on the heath next to us, our drive and the road and we got a few photos. The photos were hard to get as it was dusk - but it captured the event.

Sorry - foxy overload

I scrapped a couple for the scrap squad sketch today

Rather than photo overload today you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out my excitement of this morning.

It is my turn to post DT pages for DAF today and so I want to share the two design team pages I made for Dotty About Flair this month

My little Indy and featuring Simple Stories Lemon Twist and some of the gorgeous cat themed flair

and I also made this one of the gorgeous Alice

Today I am thankful for

the beauty of nature and wildlife literally on the doorstep
an exciting event (for tomorrows post)
being on the DAF team
good friends. You don't always know how many you have until you need them. Blessings

Posted at 03:24 PM in 2022, Dotty About Flair , Photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mottisfont was grey

We decided that as the forecast was Ok we would head to Mottisfont as it is a National Trust we like and not very far.

The weather forecast lied! It was very grey and overcast and we had some short showers. It was also a somewhat disappointing trip. The house wasn't open and the whole place had a neglected air about it. It was the first time I have been to an NT property and thought the toilets were shabby and none to clean and the walled garden looked a bit neglected. The bridge was closed and so was quite a bit of the river walk. All in all a bit disappointing but a nice walk and some photos to share

I have also started my scrapping for the month with this page for a challenge at Dotty About Flair, day 1 of Scrap Squad's 12 days of summer and a UKS challenge - triple whammy

Today I am thankful for

a lovely day out despite the grey
the four fox cubs and their mommy we watched on our drive and the heath last night

Posted at 04:33 PM in 2022, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

New releases and a pleasant walk

We went for a lovely walk in Christchurch today and enjoyed the art exhibition (no photos allowed) and the gardens at the Red House museum.

and back along the cliffs, the entire span of Polle Bay (yes it is Poole bay not Bournemouth bay) visible from Hengistbury head right round to Poole, sandbank, Old Harry, Swanage, Peverill Point and Duslston Head. Incredible

And it is new release day at Pickleberrypop and there are some awesome new releases. I worked, for free, with two of them this week

Credits

Forever Bundle by Carol W Designs

My best friend and I being ladylike (doesn't always happen!!!) at her daughter's wedding last month

and the stunning bride herself

Credits

Life Stories Templates June TirAmisu Designs

Today I am thankful for

a lovely walk
the sea
being able to be on the creative Team for Pickleberrypop

Posted at 01:39 PM in 2022, Pickleberrypop | Permalink | Comments (0)

A successful day

I was worried about today and teaching my first art class. I am by no means an experienced watercolour artist and still at a very basic level and so teaching a session - which has ended up being two sessions - at my art club was a bit daunting. Today was the day and actually it went really well. It is a very mixed ability group and everyone got something out of it and everyone was very complimentary about it saying they enjoyed it a lot. Phew. I was very worried and now I have done one I am happy to do more.

I have been busily scrapping but most of it is for Alice's wedding album and so I can't share those pages obviously.

I did make this though using one of Lisa's sketches at Scrap a Sketch

I had a major issue with it for me though. The title was composed of two different length words and it affected my OCD terrible that it wasn't balanced at the top. First world problems eh!

I am loving the nautical theme though.

Today I am thankful for

my art class going well
courage

and I end with things found on the internet that are sad reflections and often all too true about modern life ... some are heartbreaking

This one reminds me of the brilliant brilliant book by Raymon Briggs about the Falklands war called the TinPot Foreign General

I thought they were very sobering

Posted at 04:42 PM in 2022 | Permalink | Comments (3)

A Design Team Instagram hop and general ramblings

It's been a quiet few days here after a very busy 'not holiday' and that is all good. It's nice to be home and relaxing.

Today is a special Dotty About Flair day as all of the new Design Team were given the same challenge to scrap our team photo. It was such fun to do

I was thrilled that one of the first projects was to scrap the fabulous team photo of the new 2022 team. Seeing the photo of us all made it all seem real.
I printed the image a little smaller as my annual albums are A4 so things tend to get a little scaled down.
It is no secret I am not good at mixed media, but I wanted a mixed media effect background and also wanted to show on my first page that I am very much a hybrid scrapper. So I made the grungy background by using various brushes in pinks and DAF colours and then printed my background on white cardstock which I then trimmed down and mounted on the aqua cardstock.
I have been scrapping for a long time and sadly have the stash to prove it and so the pink papers I chose were very old K and Co papers.
I thought it would be fun to make the group photo look like it was a framed photo hanging so used bakers twine and two of the new May release flair … the gorgeous terrazzo … to create this effect and then mimicked it with my photo.
Journalling is always key on my pages and so that tells how thrilled I was to have made the cut to be part of the team. The Bramble Fox perspective was just perfect for the title. I also added one of the new Rainbow Daze at the bottom to signify this team will certainly bring colour … and inspiration … to you.

The team will be uploading their pages using the team photo throughout the day on insta and in the group so check them all out.

Karen - @scrapdolly
Lisa - @sikorskiscraps
Jackie - @jakkii
Kelly - @kellys_scrapbook_xo
Moira - @mooreilly
Kathy - @scrappykathyy
Nancy - @thenickelnook
Vicki - @vdutchr
Jessica - @jessicascraps
Carina - @cbscina
Suzanne - @suus_creative
Helen - @helenrockabillygirl
Adam - @scrappyadam
#DAF #dafdesignteam #dafhop #dottyaboutflairhop

In other scrapping we have a page or two as well

This was for a scrap squad sketch this week

This was a UKS sketch challenge

and this was another scrap squad and Lottie Loves Paper challenge

It feels nice to be back into scrapping again.

Today I am thankful for

being able to rise above some very petty and quite toxic people ... life is too short and their lives must be very sad to be so petty (oh and I bet they read this and know I mean them!)
my boys - they are just adorable. Yesterday (the first time he has done it) Koda brought me two toys , his favourites, and just lay down with me on the floor (I was playing a game)
quiet gentle days
being part of DAF

Posted at 05:09 PM in 2022 | Permalink | Comments (0)

More of the amazing Jurassic Coast and some scrapping

Today I am thrilled to share that I was one of the people doing a sketch day for Best of 30 days of Sketches from Christy's Beautiful World

#BESTOF30DSCBL

I was so thrilled to be a part of the Best of 30 days of scrapping 'team' and had the gorgeous sketch by Susan Stringfellow from Sketch Savvy to use which was from Series 7. @sstringfellow

The photo is my little Indy doing what he does best - looking cute - and I used mostly Simple Stories Simply Vintage Weathered Garden alongside some scraps from other papers. Do check out the Best of 30 Days of Sketches because what Christy does is amazing

@christys_beautiful_life

I am so pleased I decided to do a 12 x 12 album of the holiday not a holiday as it's nice to scrapping 12 x 12 again, although all the boy pages are 12 x 12.

This is the boys at Jubilee time

The very scary Burma Rope Bridge where I was worried about breaking an ankle - again - as it was very hard to walk on

and one of the coloured sculptures from the Sculpture park

and I have some more photos of further round the Jurassic Coast at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove and boy was it a perfect trip - not a cloud and the water was impossibly bright and turquoise

The picture doesn't do it justice as to how steep it was. I wish I had taken a photo on the way back up as you could see how steep it was but I was too busy trying not to die!