Dolly's Dreamings

Digital overload in a positive way

I love this time of the month as it means I can share things I have been working on.

It is the day all of the new special offer bundles are released at Pickleberrypop. You know the drill by now. The designers work with the same core palette adding some colours of their own and their own twist to produce ludicrously cheap bundles to snap up.

 

So first off - Colourful Summer by Tiramisu

 

another Portland photo

 

 

Tropical Vibes by Lorie M

 

I enjoyed playing around with a photo app and this picture of Kira

 

This was a really unusual lovely collection by Chunlin called Ikagi

 

And I had this picture of the beautiful Gemma for ages and it was perfect for this collection

 

 

Happy Days By Lara’s Digi World

 

 

and the colours just worked for this newly engaged couple 

 

Not everything in life is peachy and wonderful so I loved this collection called So Over It by Fayette

 

 

and a fun snapchat photo 

 

 

This is Smitten by Jumpstart Designs

 

and it is no secret that after 36 years together we are still smitten

 

I hope you enjoyed the pages and do go check out the bargains.

 

Now I am off to the tip with 12 boxes of books and two boxes of assorted junk and to the charity shop with 4 huge bin bags full of clothes - some of which still have the labels on. I will declutter - I will!!!

 

New toy

I have been struggling a bit recently for a variety of reasons and so we ordered a cheer Karen up and make her feel better present and it came today.

My Silhouette was 6 years old and was acting up and the latest Windows upgrade finally did for it as it messed with the USB it needed. So a new silhouette Cameo was ordered and arrived today and I went for the black and am thrilled. It looks very smart and it works! result. 

 

 

I was busy with a mess of things today but did manage to scrap this afternoon - a page that worked for the Mind the Scrap week 4 and for the UKS weekly. I love it when things combine like that.

 

 

The dog is one I fell in love with when we were on the wareham river cruise. He was adorable.

The other new scrapping I have done cannot be shared just yet as it is for the new releases at Pickleberrypop and I have to tell you they are lush this month.

 

Today I am thankful for

• medication which seems to be working
• a new Cameo
• sunshine - always lifts the soul

and I found these whilst surfing -really amazing innovative designs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all a bit of a do

This past week has been very mixed. I have loved our art exhibition at church and sold quite a lot of Dolly's Designs goodies and also sold a painting. I am staggered. Never expected to sell a painting.

It's been fun and nice to mix with everyone too.

But in other news it has not been a great health week and I finally saw a doctor, who was lovely, but did raise a couple of alarm flags and so I am off for blood tests next week, have new medication, and we will see what the bloods show. Hopefully they will show it is 'just' IBS. I say JUST IBS as at the moment that is quite debilitating and is stopping me doing a lot of things I would like to do. 

Please keep your fingers crossed or, if it is something you do, offer a little prayer for me that nothing more sinister is going on.

I do have some scrapping to share because that, at least, I can do form the comfort of my own home.

 

This was for the sketch challenge on UKS and uses the photos from our lunch in Poole Park

 

 

This was made for a digital challenge at Pickleberrypop

 

 

 

and this was a digital page using new templates by Lorie M

 

 

Today I am thankful that

• the art exhibition was a great success but that it is over
• the doctor is being cautious

And finally I loved seeing these - I bet youa ll remember these only too well - simpler times eh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy week and art of all sorts

It's been a lovely week with lots of art of all sorts. Working at our art exhibition, creating my own art and helping children create art for themselves.

And in that vein, I have to share a post someone made on facebook today which made me cry. It is SO important to allow children to be creative in their own way and so easy to destroy that creativity. I hope you enjoy this

 

I have been busy scrapping mixed media pages and I don't DO mixed media. I don't like the paper warping, I don't like the mess, and it is not me. I paint on my paintings not on my pages. But it was the challenge this week and so I have embraced it

 

This is another Graphic 45 Bloom page and our beautiful Boo, our rescue cat we gave a forever home too and she did indeed bloom where she was planted and grew with love.

 

 

 

 

Nigel and his outrageous toy tiger.

 

 

and me as a little girl.

 

Lots of cut files and mixed media and now I think I am going to just use paper.

 

We had a lovely picnic in the park today - amazing when I look out of my window now as it is bleak and cold and very very wet.

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely arty week
• picnics in the park
• feeling healthier and less terrified

 

 

 

Art Exhibition

For those of you who are local there is a FREE - yes free - art exhibition in St Paul's Church Canford Heath from 10 am - 4 pm every day this week including Saturday and I tell you what, it is pretty darned amazing. We are all amateurs and largely self-taught but the work from everyone is staggeringly good - it really is. And it is so diverse.

 

I can't share other people's as it is not fair - you will have to go see yourself - but I can share mine. I am dead chuffed to have 9 paintings up this time.

 

 

I was stewarding there this morning but this afternoon I have been scrapping for the next round of the Mind the Scrap challenge. This week it included wet media and I don't really DO wet media but today out came the inks and the texture paint.

 

Both are of Kira and this one uses more of the Graphic 45 Bloom collection from A Trip Down Memory Lane

The geometric square shapes are texture paste painted, inked and gold rubbed!

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a great art club to belong too - good fun and great inspiration.
• Kira - she is the quieter of our two - well Ok not quieter as she never stops talking, but more well behaved.

 

 

 

The worry about GPs

We have always been very lucky at our GPs - and we have the most wonderful GP too - as it is a large practice and so you can usually get to see someone. 

 

We have heard the horror stories from friends even in a close-by area of month-long waits but, until this week, had never experienced it. That was until I phoned on Thursday 8th August and was told that to see my own GP would mean a wait until at least the 20th September and to see any GP would mean a wait until the end of August. I was staggered. But I guess I ought not to be surprised. When we last went to the GP he told us they had been recruiting for a GP for 3 months and we are in a  really nice part of the country where the weather is always good, it is pretty, affluent, relatively trouble-free, a great place to locate to etc,  and in 3 months they had had no applicants. I was staggered. Anyway, I digress. I was advised to phone the next day - no idea why - and I have an appointment for next week. The sad thing is that I think our NHS is collapsing before our eyes. The people who work in it are all wonderful. They do an amazing job and we are still so lucky that we get treated for free (well not for free if we work and pay tax as we have paid for it all of our lives) but it is stretched to breaking point and yes, we are victims of health tourists too. There are simply too many people for it to cope with, with people living longer, numbers in the country rising due to immigration, longevity, fewer people dying of disease etc and it is at capacity and it worries me what will happen in the future. It worries me that conditions are often so bad and stressful for people working in the NHS that they cannot continue. It worries me that when we need it I think it will be gone. I genuinely think the doctors, the nurses, the phlebotomists, the radiographers, the physios, the ... every specialism and aspect you can think of ... are all wonderful, but they are trying to shore up a broken system and the government need to do something to help. No governmental party in particular but the government, all of them. Stop focussing on only Brexit and get on with fixing our NHS please. Rant over! 

 

I haven't been just grouchy - I have been scrapping too, in between bad bouts with my IBS which is starting to become a little wearing and is now stopping me doing things on occasions. 

At least scrapping takes place at home where toilets are plentiful and private! TMI!

 

I have been doing my Design Team work for ATDML and they always send the most wonderful goodies to work with. This month I was sent the Graphic 45 collection Bloom

 

This was a page which also worked for the summer scrapping challenges I am playing along with.

 

 

The photo was taken at Portland Bill last month

 

 

This picture was taken at Holmsley Tea rooms also last month. I had fun cutting out the little summer house and the fence.

 

 

 

 

I loved this picture of Fiona and her bridesmaids and really wanted to scrap it. The colours in the bloom collection worked perfectly for the colour theme of her wedding.

 

 

and finally - a fussy cutting marathon for a photo of us with our niece - the very beautiful bride.

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• our NHS - we are very lucky and I hope we continue to be very lucky
• Wonderful things to work with from A Trip Down Memory Lane

 

 

 

 

Busy days and the end of an era

We had a busy day yesterday with a hospital visit - planned for Nigel and then time with his cousins who came down from Oxford.

 

Nigel's eye is doing well but, belt and braces approach, there are still a few little gaps that they want to spot weld (laser) to ensure his retina remains fully attached. It should be in a few weeks but apparently, he could live without it - it is just to be safe and sure.

 

We had a lovely time with Nigel's cousin Don and his daughter Francesca. Don is almost completely blind now (happened very early on) but he is amazing and such an entertaining man with a wealth of knowledge and a great sense of humour and Francesca was just fabulous. We visited Nigel's mom - the purpose of the visit - and had a fab meal out with lots of laughter.

 

I have gradually been clearing all of my school stuff and today was the end of an era as I passed on the remaining precious things I had to a colleague I love dearly who I know will cherish them and use them. I think it feels good to have it all gone. I think!

 

I have a new page to share with a free collaboration kit you can get at Pickleberrypop this week for their birthday celebration. It is a huge kit called Good Vibes so pop to the store, shop and snag it for free.

 

I also made this for a challenge at UKS

 

Why are cameras so complex these days - we just really want point and press.

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely time with family
• a lovely time with friends
• getting rid of stuff

 

 

Put your fingers in your ears

I suggest you put your fingers firmly in your ears to protect yourself.

Because there is likely to be screaming

 

loudly

 

It has been a very very frustrating day - seriously.

I have had intermittent issues with my Silhouette to the extent Nigel has been on about buying a new one. Very kind of him - I am very lucky - but when it works it works perfectly and it was a communication issue with the computer. I would frequently have to switch it on and off anything up to 50 times until the thing was recognised and good to work. It had been getting worse. Today it wouldn't work at all as the computer could see it but the silhouette software couldn't. Thus followed three very distressing - and quite loud and sobby - hours. We followed the troubleshooting steps as described and deleted what was obviously a significant file which meant now the computer couldn't see the machine either! There was quite a bit of shouting after that. 

We backed up my library. We un - installed it all and reinstalled it. Nothing.

We installed it on Nigel's laptop and it worked perfectly thus proving it isn't an issue with the machine. 

I stamped a bit more and then we uninstalled everything - even going into the back end of stuff to find little bits we may have missed - then reinstalled. Nothing.

We tried to chat on their service line - they said they'd get back to me in a couple of hours. That didn't go down well.

We then scoured Nigel's computer for any trace of anything silhouette. Found the same on mine and deleted everything - and I mean everything (oh and we were emptying the recycle bin very time too) 

We resintalled and for no reason, at all, it saw the machine first time and worked.

Terrified to switch it off as I am sure it will vanish again.

So all in all a frustrating day - so frustrating I had to hand-cut letters! Goodness me - that's old school. I haven't done that in years. And no - it wasn't fun.

Anyway - now that I don't need to cut anything I am stepping away from the stash. 

 

I do have new digital stuff to share today though

 

This bundle by Cheryl Day designs is called My Favourite Place

 

 

 

 

 

This is Nautical Summers by Jumpstart Designs

 

You may remember the captain's dog I fell in love with on the river cruise.

 

 

and this terrific set of templates called Hey Hey Vacay by Tiramisu is just so glorious to play with I had to make two pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• still being married - it wasn't pretty here today
• being married to a man with the patience of a saint who deals with my anxiety disorder on a daily basis but some days are worse than others
• not quite ready to say I am thankful for technology!!!

 

 

 

Scrapping against the odds

We had a lovely day yesterday which included a walk in the humidity, a lunch ont he balcony, a cinema trip (Fast and Furious Hobbs and Shaw - I loved it!) and a meal out. It was a perfect date day.

Today I have a bad flare up of IBS again. I am so sad. I thought I had cracked it as I have been trouble free for over a month. I have been taking acidophilus daily which I feel helped but today has been a bad day and I can't see any triggers. So back to the drawing board.

Every breath in my body wanted to go back to bed but I persevered and scrapped.

 

The cut file is a Paige Evans, of course, and it took and age to fill. BuT i was pleased with it int he end.

And it made a good foil for the photos of the sunflowers and bumble bees.

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely day yesterday
• a supportive and caring husband

 

A bit of a square moment

It's been a busy few days just catching up on the everyday things of life but, of course, I have managed to slot in some scrapping too and have a couple of pages to share.

This is one I made this morning. I am taking part in a summer holidays challenge and this week one of the aspects is using square photos, which I am loving. However, this page was a bit of a square frenzy.

 

 

I used some much loved Lily Kate Basic grey but - and this was a good but - I used the supply sheet which has small blocks of all of the papers and just cut out squares from that (so I didn't have to use the actual Basic Grey - I can keep it and continue to stroke it!)

It took ages to glue them all on and then faux stitch but I was quite pleased with it in the end. 

I also uploaded this which was another page made for the challenges at ATDML

 

My little boy - studying!

 

Today I am thankful for

• catching up on things I needed to do
• Quiet times
• Kindle Unlimited - enjoying the extra reading.

 

I shared some beautiful embroidery style tattoos the other day - these are not so pretty but my goodness you can appreciate the artistic talent that has gone into them