Dolly's Dreamings

What's in a Name?

I loved the latest brief for A True Friend - nicknames for your pets.

Now I don't know about anyone else, but my cats have always had loads and loads of nicknames. In fact - they are called by their nicknames far more than by their real names. And no idea why they have all been assocaited with another animal either!

Pebble was Poodle most of the time, or Pebble Dog or Big Bear.

Cinders was Cinders rabbit or Polly Pinders

Simba was Simba mouse, baby bear, mouse or baba bear

Boushka (that's not even her real name - it is Baboushka) is Boo, Boo Boo Bear, Boushka Bear, boushie boushie bandera

Fiki (Properly called Mustafah Rafiki) has a lot of unrepeatable nick-names, many of them too rude to post (but sooooo fitting) and is Fiki Fox, Mr Fox, mummy's boy, monster and probably thinks his name is 'NO!' or 'STOP IT!'

Kira (Scarlett Shakira) is Kira Monkey, monkey, chunky monkey, porklet, wild childe and - no idea why this one really .... it just happened ... Kira Ti Kanawa or Tiggy Nala. Sadlys he is still so thin she doesn't suit her chubby nicknames any longer. I hope one day she will live back up to them.

We need to get out more! Anyway, I digress. It was fun making a page about her nicknames and you can check out what everyone else has come up with on the blog. There are some fab pages, as ever.

Well - at least it is the weekend - though not for my poor hubby who has to work through it. I hope that whatever you are doing at the weekend it includes something fun you are looking forward to xxx

feeling 'sore'

I am feeling sorry for myself today. I have a sore throat which feels like it has open wounds along one side of it and ulcers all down my tongue that side and swollen gums plus I am going through a bad TMJ phase at the moment. I crawled into bed early last night and I can see the same coming tonight.

I am also feeling so sorry for my Hubby as he is going through a horrid time at work at the moment. I have no idea how he is staying as positive about it all as he is. I wouldn't be. He is a true star.

I have now finsihed all my DT work for the month and so plan a weekend scrapping away. Sadly Nij will be at work which is a real bummer for both of us. The page here is the other final piece I did for Jill at Jillybeans and is another Canada picture. I can tell you, I have sooooooo many pictures of Canada it is not true. I think I might be scrapping them for a fair few months to come. I know I don't have to scrap them all but there are so many I like I want to do them! This one is Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park. It was the one dubious weather day we had and so the lake looks more threatening than beautiful, but it was still picturesque. I kept it very simple, just using some of the pieces cut out of the paterned papers.

I was also thrilled that I had work that is currently being shown on the Banana Frog blog. I love Banana Frog - their stamps are second to none. So to be asked to do soemthing for the blog was a real thrill. Do pop over and check it out.

Happiness is ....

On holiday I re-discovered that happiness is about simple things - in this case the simplicity of just enjoying a view so beautiful you know you will remember it forever.

I have said already - and am sure I will say it again - I loved Moraine Lake. It was so beautiful. It was magical.

I scrapped this page for my last months assignments for Jillybeans. It has been wonderful to be a part of her design team and I have enjoyed the work I have done. Jill I wish you every happiness in your much deserved retirement and thank you, despite the problems initially, in giving me the chance to be on your team.

What a star

Had a lovely evening yesterday. Nigel's cousin Norma, a great friend of mine, was down in our neck of the woods yesterday so came round for the evening. It was just great to catch up with her and spend a bit of time together and it was totally unexpected - so more of a bonus.

Consequently I didn't do my blog yesterday evening (shock horror) and didn't scrap so I am sharing a page I did this month for Mel and Jill. The picture was a new one of Fiki sitting basking in the sun - ON THE WORKTOP! No - he is not allowed to sit on the worktop. So what did I do. Fetched the camera of course.

I loved the stars on the paper and so decided to go plain and simple - and more than a little daft - and make him into a star. Well, he thinks he is one anyway so why not play up to it.

I added a crown, scalloped the edge of the paper and used a flourish stamp and even though it is quite different for me, I have to say I like it. And I don't very often say that about my work.

FREE Life word art overlays

I was playing around with these yesterday and thought they might be of use to some of you.

The overlays feature an inked edge and this word art in the corner. They are available in both dark and light for different coloured backgrounds.

They are here to download if you would like to use them

Word art overlay

Colours of My World - COMPLETED!!!

I loved this class so much (I MAY have mentioned that before LOL) but it has taken me a while to get back into it since returning home. Somehow, the morivation wasn't there when I was not doing it at the same time as everyone else.

It was easy to do the pages when the prompts were fresh each week and when everyone else was working on them.

However, I have persevered and I have finished. I did a couple of extra pages that were not part of the class, namely Silver, Gold and Lime, but they were colours I HAD to have in there so I added them anyway.

I considered binding it using the Bind it All (yes I am prepared to have another go with it after a lesson from Jakki) but the pages were too thick to go in and it really wasn't worth risking it, so armed with my trusty new Crop-a-dile, it is bound with book rings and rainbow fibres.

I really enjoyed doing it and there are some pages int here that I am really pleased with. I LOVE my aqua and blue pages (I think they may be my favourites) and I love the black and the white as well. The gold had to be int here as Jakki, one of the cats and Mom and Dad were in there. I could not leave Nij out and it seemed fitting to make him the gold page - the most precious of all. (It is all gold and glitter and bling but I scanned it so it killed all the sparkle (apart fromt he twinle in his eyes that is!)

Well - I had an excuse not to do the housework as I HAD to finish this book today (I used the DT work I had to finish as the excuse yesterday ... mmmm need to think of an excuse for tomorrow) so now I have finished it that is me done scrapping for the weekend. I am chuffed, however, as I have done 6 pages this weekend. I guess I can't complain about the chores now!

A Big First

The Collectively Yours dares are back and WOW - the girls have come up with such great pages again.

Having been off for the summer then it was obvious that the first week back should be Back to School. Goodness knows that it is what the end of summer always means to me!

I couldn't wait to scrap these pictures that Sam sent to me. Emily is growing up so quickly - and so beautifully too. She looks so like Sam did at that age. I can't believe she is 5 and at big school.
I used Basic Grey Oh Girl papers and lots of chipboard letters; pressed petals, my own hand cut and the QVC small ones. I also used a lot of chipboard and hand doodles flowers. I wanted it to be good and girly as she is such a girly girl, but it didn't work with pinks. The lilac just added that bit of femininity I wanted.

I plan a weeked scrapping. I want to finish my colour book. I punched all the holes last night - piece of cake with the new crop-a-dile - and have just one page I want to do, though I have finished all the class pages. Once it is finished I will take some pictures of it. It has been the best class I have ever done. I have loved it. It has also been fun to have done a class with Heather and to know we have both loved all the prompts.

I have just been out and bought a new chair for my office. It is lush. I sat in loads of black leather executive chairs which looked smart but just didn't offer the lumbar support. This one is a mushroom velour that looks like nubuck suede and it is awesome. It is so comfortable - I can't wait to start using it now.

Well, the washing is done and out on the line, the chair is bought, the cats are fed and sorted and I'm off to scrap. Have a great day, whatever you are doing. x

Bad bad day

I have had a horrible day - just plain horrible, but I have cried my tears and am now determined it will not ruin my precious weekend.

I made a page sat in front of the telly last night. It was completed for the house challenge on UK Scrappers. As I organise all the team stuff I try hard to be quite impartial, but i am a red ribbon and occasionally I take part. The theme is summer sunshine so I used a summer sunny picture and sunny colours. The frame is from Shanny Princess, the papers are by Dawn Inskip and the alphabet is courtesy of Atomic Cupcake.

The picture is one taken in Canada at Maligne Lake. There were so many butterflies there it was incredible.

I am aiming to finish my colour your worl book tonight. I only have one page to finish and then need to bind the book. I think I am going to use book rings as I have loaded on too much thick stuff for it to work int he bind it all.

I received this e mail too, which I thought was good .... and very me. It's not a new one but it is a good one. So just enjoy.

AAADD - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder

This is how it manifests . I decide to water my garden.  As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the front veranda table that I brought up from the letter box earlier, just after the mailman had been.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I put my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage bin beside the table, and notice that the bin is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the post box when I take out the garbage anyway (and the mailman picks up the mail at noon).  I may as well pay the bills first.  So, I take my cheque book off the table, and see that there is only 1 cheque left. My spare cheque book is in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking earlier this morning.

I know I going to look for my cheque book, but first I need to push the Coke can aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The Coke is warm, so I decide to put it in the refrigerator to make it cold again.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the dining room table catches my eye -- they need water.

I put the Coke on the dining room table and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.  I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to put more water in the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the table,  go to the kitchen sink to get a jug and fill it with water and suddenly spot the TV remote on the window sill. Some-one left it there.

I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the window sill, so I decide to put it back in the lounge room where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. 

I pour some water in the jug, but spill some on the floor. So, I set the remote back on the kitchen bench, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

            the car isn't washed

            the cheque's aren't written for the bills to be paid

            there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the dining room table

the flowers don't have enough water

there is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses

the garbage hasn't been taken out

and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired now.

I realise this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

           GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY.

                     GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.

                        LAUGHING AT YOURSELF IS THERAPEUTIC.

Right - I'm off to find my Diet Coke and all the other stuff I have 'lost' int he house.

Good news - I Think!

The vet phoned last night - after I had blogged - with news of Kira. I was so worried when I heard his voice. Nigel was meant to talk to him incase it was awful news and then he could break it gently so I was shaking.

All of the results were clear apart from the fact she had a raised white blood count which meants he was fighting soemthing - but no idea what. It could be it was as a result of fighting the allergy - which may not be an allergy! The fact she had steroids may also have skewed the results a little. There is nothing wrong with major organs so that is good, but we are still back to not knowing what is wrong with her. The vet thinks it may possibly be stress with us having been away. It may even be that stress was the cause of the rash and scabs etc. Well that's would be an easy one to cure. I just won't ever leave her again. that is not a problem. We are both happy to forgo any more holidays for her. However, I still find it odd that her back end is so wasted.

Now don't get me wrong - she can walk and run and jump etc but her hips are so tiny and thin and her tail - we always used to comment on how thick and strong the base of her tail was ... we'd never known a cat like it .... is all thin and feeble. It still moves fine, she holds it up etc but it is thinner and weaker. Like a normal cat's tail. And hers wasn't

She is starting to put weight on, but not across her back end.

The vet says he is happy to leave her for now - no more traumatic trips for her at the moment, but we have to keep an eye on her and take her back at the first sign of any problem.

So ... I THINK it is good news. I'd like to know what IS the matter, but at least she is here, she seems happy and we are not in any immediate danger of losing her.

Thank you again to everyone for your thoughts and concern for her.

Prizes and pussy cats

Had a lovely day today - well lovely since I got home LOL

My Kipling bag arrived and my laptop fits in perfectly. It is a totally different colour than I was expecting - much more fuschia than raspberry and I was a bit shocked at first, but it has grown on me and I love it now.

I also had a wonderful parcel. I won a competition last month at Banana Frog (and you know how I love Banana Frog) and my prize was a voucher which I used, of course, on stamps LOL. It was a bit of a toughie as there are not THAT many sets I don't have, but I had been coveting the fanciful set for a while and so I had those as my prize plus ..... and it is a big plus ... the most lovely bag. It is a black material bag which fits 12 x 12 and it is so bling and wonderful. It has Banana Frog in all different crystals across the front. Now I am not a bling girl - but I could change my view very very quickly because I LOVE this bag. It is fab.

Thanks so very very much Bev.

I am sharing a page of the CFH which I made for Mel and Jill this month. Do go and check out the september gallery at A Trip Down Memory Lane as it is wow this month. The other girls on the design team have done gorgeous stuff. I need to share this one as it has Kira on it and I still have not heard from the vet with the results. Surely they have to come tomorrow. Surely!

The letters are chipboard letters painted and embossed , the papers were all in the DT kit and available over at Mel and Jill's  but I printed the cardstock with star all over it and the transparent floral overlay was just gorgeous - I love it. You probably wont recognise it but Kira looks so thin in the picture. Her face was never that shape  - it was alwyas much more rounded. It is also rare to get a picture of them both together. Camera out usually equals Kira run and hide, Fiki pose! It was when they were snuggled up on my holiday laundry last month.