Dolly's Dreamings

Mojo Holder challenge

As I couldn't find my mojo (and believe me - I have looked everywhere. I need to start using some of the stash I bought) I went over to the Mojo Holder blog and had ago at their challenge number 28.

It was just the kick start I needed as it was a really linear design - very me.

We had a wonderful evening at Huntington Beach in California whilst we were away. Although we were staying at Newport Beach down the road a way, we went to Huntington Beach to catch some sunset pictures. We know Huntington Beach well as Nigel's cousin lived within walking distance of the beach for many years (what an amazing place to live eh!) and so it was our obvious choice.

The lifeguard station looked fab in silhouette and the surfer, catching the last few waves of the evening made a great image. I kept it very very simple as I loved the pictures. Apart from coloured chipboard letters - my usual technique LOL - I used a sticker and a rub on on the large picture as printing it int his format meant there was a lot of solid black that needed breaking up.

Thank you Mojo Holder for giving me the kick start I needed to press on with this album.

Still no news about Kira. Apparently it can take up to a week for the results and so it could be any day this week. She is still eating well, but still a little skinny mini. The good news is that her scabs seemed to have dried up and she is no longer looking so bad round her poor little face. I am wondering if the whole thing - the 'allergy', the weight loss etc was stress related and she just pined for us being away. It has made me thing I am never leaving them again!

Boy am I tired

Well, we had a lovely evening yesterday. It was Alice's (Jakki's daughter) 18th birthday and we went to her party, which was wonderful. It was a balmy evening so we all spilled out onto the patio as well. Jakki and Gary had made a wonderful buffet, the champagen flowed freely and it was just perfect. Most importantly of all, Alice had a nice time.

Today has been long and hard and I'm pooped. Apart from the fact my mojo has up and left, I am too tired to sit and scrap. I want tea, a bath and an early night.

 

I am sharing a page that was in Scrapbook Inspirations last month. It was a page completed for the sketch challenge, which I had not taken part in before. I swizled the sketch round a little and then did the page digitally. It was a conscious decision to do a digi page as I think that digi scrappers sometimes get a short straw with magazines as there is little digi in there. I would never ever ever give up my paper and glue, but I do like digi scrapping as well.

The page shows Emily growing up - and my my my is she grown up. She started school last week and turned 5 on Saturday. (The card on this entry is the card I made for her) She is as beautiful as ever and more like her Mommy every day. I am totally smitten! The words around the edge of the page are the words fromt he song, 'What is a girl' which just went well with the page.

The card was just a quick cutie - it has three layers (You can't see that in the scan) so is a decoupage type card all 3D on foam pads.

The challenges are back

Well - the summer holidays are over and the Collectively Yours dares are back. And what fun we are all going to have.

I loved the dares when they started as the original Speshal dares and was thrilled one week to be asked to be a guest designer for a dare when they were still very new. I was even more thrilled when I was asked to become a full time member of the team in January. (Although due to the school inspection I had to delay my involvement a little)

We took a  break for the summer and are now ready and raring to go. I am sure you are ging to love what we have in store for you all, and remember, there is a new member of the team whose work will inspire you and enthrall you. It is Heather Pearson, not only a great friend but a scrapper who I so admire. She has a stunning new web site, blog and gallery all so brilliantly combined - so you should check it out. You can find it here

The first challenge will go live on Friday - so be sure you don't miss out. there are some sneak peeks on the blog but I am adding my own here too, from my page.

You can also check out Heather's work if you sign up to The Design Collective as she is also our new partner and designer over there. I can't wait to see her first class. I know it will be stunning. One of the benefits of being part of the design team over at the Design Collective is I get to have all the classes too, and I kid you not - they are fabulous. I love seeing what everyone comes up with and then trying it out myself. I have been scrapping for almost 4 years and I still learn new stuff, get inspired by new ideas and get that all important support when my mojo has gone astray. Talking of which ..... if you see it wandering around looking lost, please could you re-direct it home. I NEED it back!

Anyway - I digress. Lots of exciting things coming up from both Collectively Yours and The Design Collective - it's going to be a fab fab Autumn.

Gift boxes and progress

I have just finished a little gift box for my best friend's daughter. She was 18 on Thursday and has a whole weekend of celebrations ahead and I wanted to make her a gift as well as giving her the 'bought' present at the party tomorrow.

She is just about to set off on a great adventure - going away to university. I know she is going to find it challenging as she has such a perfect home it is going to be a tough act to follow and very hard to leave it. She is an only child, as I was, and I found university hard as I hated leaving home, no matter for how short a time. I am still not good at being away from home.

I decided to make her a tiny box with some cute pictures (she loves animals) of animals I had taken and some words of wisdom as she becomes an adult and prepares for the great journey ahead of her.

Some of them are thoughtful and I hope they will give her strength and courage at times. Some of them are funny and some just plain silly.

I do hope she likes it and Jakki - if you are reading this you have blown the surprise of seeing it!!!!

Kira seems a little fatter today. It's odd that the cat we always used to tease for being a little on the portly side, is now the one we are watching like a hawk to see if she is putting any weight back on.

I was a little worried yesterday in case it was anything sinister but also very amused as she lost her voice. She had this funny croaky cry - and this from the cat who has the loudest cry I have ever heard - and it is fairly constant when she puts her mind to it. I think it was simple overused at the vets and in the car and she had a sore throat. I laughed when I first heard it, then paniced in case it was another 'condition' she had developed, but it seems louder today so I think she just plain wore it out with the crying over the past few days bless her.

When I picked her up fromt he vets and she was screaming so loud I said I hope she hadn't kept any of the other residents awake during the night. The verterinary nurse laughed and said they had had a parrot in over night and in the morningt he parrot had been trying to imitate her - and doing a pretty good job. I had visions of the poor owners returning to collect their beautiful bird and finding it caterwauling like mad, spoilt by my very loud and naughty little girl!

Ah well - more scrapping calls and then as it is Saturday it's take-away night and feet up in front of the telly. I LOVE Saturdays.

Boy what a week

Wow - this has been one hard week one way and another. But I have reached Friday and, although I am shattered, I made it!
I simply need longer holidays and more time off. My body is no longer designed to work long hours and to wake up at 6 am.

Kira seems perky today and I don't know if I am imagining it or wishing it or if it is real, but she seems a teeny bit fatter today. Oh I do hope so.

I think it is going to be a long weekend waiting for the results on Monday. But at least we can devote the weekend to giving her - and the others - lots of love and cuddles .... just like always!

As I have worked so hard all week I have just placed an order for a swish new Kipling laptop case. I have hummed and ahhed at the money but have decided - int he words of the advert - I'm worth it. I now can't wait.

I plan on scrapping this weekend as I have some peices to get done for DTs and blogs and things and I am looking forward to that. However, this is an older page to share with you that you haven't seen. I made it for Mel and Jill at A Trip Down Memory Lane last month. Their new gallery has just gone live - you should go check it out as it is lush lush lush.

The page above is of my cousin Richie in America and his beautiful bride Angie. We were not able to attend the wedding but it was a wonderful event and their wedding pictures were superb. I ended up buying quite a few LOL

I loved the soft delicate papers and the flower, with all the little punched hearts, was cute to make.

The other page I am posting here also has a flower on it. The picture is of two of my favourite people in the world - hence the title. It is Nigel and Samantha (my wonderful god-daughter who is Emily's Mommy)

It was just a daft impromtu picture and I really like it of both of them. So often you like the picture of one of the people and not of them both.

When I first saw the papers I was a bit scared of the colour and wanted to zing it up a bit, but simply. The acid yellow sure did that LOL.

The chipboard lettering and the chipboard star are coated in different colour inks and then embossed with sparkle which, in true form, doesn't really show up on the scan. Its quite a bit 'blingy' for me. I don't really do bling!

The flower is made up of different images using Banana Frog stamps which I adore. It is the build a bloom set and I really like it.

So - off to do more new scrapping, most of which I won't be able to share for a couple of weeks. Seems like so much I scrap can't appear until much later. Maybe I will also scrap some Canada work as well. Who knows!

Whatever you are doing, have a great weekend.

Kira's home

Well -she is back. I went and fetched her at lunchtime (thank you Auntie Jakki!) and it is so good to have her back.

The vet has already run the test for Feline Aids and feline Leukaemia and they were both negative, so am thankful for that. The rest of the tests results are likely to be here Monday. It is hard waiting and the awful thing is the dilemma. I don't want her to be sick with ANYTHING, obviosuly, but on the other hand I am hoping that the tests show soemthing up. That way we will have a reason for the weight loss and will have a 'condition' we can then start to deal with and treat. We are used to porrly cats. We had Simba, who had an accident resulting in the amputation of her tail and a leg and who needed medicine for the next 12 years. Pebble had hyperthyroidism and needed daily medication and Boushka has her piriton every day. The hardest is when you have no idea what it is. Cinders (Pebble's sister) was ill for months and they tried everything. She was on a lot of medicine and nothing worked as they could not identify the problem. Eventually they admited her for an exploratory op (not a great idea as she was 14 so it was risky) and they found a massive soft tumour deep inside and we let her go on the operating table. So I hope it is a 'condition' as then we can treat it. Worst case scenario would be for her to keep losing all this weight and for no-one to know why!

Because Jakki came with me Kira did not have to go in the carrier - which is a cause of great distress. However, she does have a new  smart (and hopefully safe) carrier. Pets at Home were great. they are writing to the manufacturer and I even had this swish new carrier for free. (It was never about the money or a refund or anything .... it was about making sure it never happened again) The picture is Kira inspecting her new carrier - which is very princess like and I think I may put my princess bling sticker on there to complete the look. You possibly don't notice, but she looks gaunt in the picture. Her usually round face is so thin.

I had an e mail today and I am not sure if this link will work or not but it was such a wonderfully cool video - I loved it. So here goes - trying to share it here.  If anyone knows how I can share it so it looks like a little video player and you press play please please let me know.

Download Puppet.wmv

I finished two other pages of my Colour Your World book this week, in spite of everything. I think they are easier to do than a lot of scrapping as it is colour coordinated.

The colour was green but I needed to do two pages as I love green and I wanted to do straight-forward green and also lime green.

The lime green page is of some horse-chestnut leaves just unfolding and to me it is a real fresh new spring colour. Very simple page with a frame tied with ribbons and lots of stamping.

The other green page features a fibre and fabric border and I also mounted the pictures on fabric. The fabric did not cut straigh so frayed at an odd angle and I keep telling myself it gives it a rustic whimsical feel. In reality it is just not straight. Jakki had to be on the page as her fave colour is green and I asociate her with the colour.

I have very few pages left to do and I can't wait to finish it and then complete the book, bind it and hopefully admire it.

Poorly Kira

I only have two cats at home this evening as the vet has decided to keep Kira in tonight for tests - and I am desperately upset about it.

She has lost so much weight. The vet even said she had lost weight since friday when he last saw her. She is skin and bone really and it seems to be all muscle tone that has gone. You can feel every little bone in her body so clearly.

He doesn't know what it is. It could a million things - including my biggest fear which is cardiomyopathy. I have been worried about her having that since she was 12 weeks old.

He is going to do urine tests and a full blood test for her liver, pancreas, thyroid, kidney and also test for feline aids and feline leukaemia (although they have always been vaccinated against these)

Two other cats at home and the house seems empty. Fiki is like a little lost soul.

I took the pet carrier back today and she now has a new princess carrier, although we didn't use it. I carried her there in the car in my arms. She hates being caged so a night in a cage at the vets isn't going to be much fun is it! Pets at home were very good and are going to send it off the manufacturers and write a letter etc.

They will let me know what happens. The manager was very supportive and quite shocked when he saw how many sharp points there were on the grid.

Sorry I didn't feel like sharing new scrapping today, so everything here is of Kira but isn't new.

She isn't as famous as her naughty brother - or quite as photogenic, but she is all Bengal, all wild child and is my special little girl.

Keep everything crossed for her that they find out what is the matter, that it is something minor and that they can fix it.  We will not get the test results till Monday so it is going to be a long long weekend.

Bit disappointing

I have to say I am disappointed today. Kira was doing so well. Her face was healing and drying up nicely and I have just come home and one side is bleeding again. I wouldlike to say she has scratched off a scab and it is bleeding because of that, but it seems to be in a whole new area so I am not sure. But whatever, her face is sore and bleeding again. I feel so sorry for her and hope it does not result in another vet visit as that is not a positive experience for her. .... or for us!

I did my first digi scrapping on the new laptop in front of the TV last night. It is a page using a Shabby Princess kit and features one of the totem poles we saw on our trip to Canada. The quote on the side says

On our journeys through life we see glimpses of things that will stay with us for ever. These fleeting images are the tiny stitches that combine to make the fabric of our lives.

I was quite pleased with that!

The page uses the Pencil Lines sketch #48 which was just a dream to use. Thanks ladies.

All sorted out

Finally managed to get the computer sorted out with everything on it that I wanted. The last thing to sort out is the bag. I am after a nice Kipling laptop bag ... do it in style I say. I just haven't quite settled on which one yet.

News on Kira is that her face looks less inflamed, her ears are less scarlet and the scabs are healing. Poor little mite - it sounds horrid doesn't it.

I wonder if any of you watched dumped last night on C4. Apart fromt he fact it made me want to be sick at the thought of it, there were some very very sobering facts, weren't there. We all throw out too much stuff and as they said, the phrase, 'Throw it away' is misleading. there is no away. It all stays on our earth and much of it doesn't rot down. the landfills are filling up fast and, as a race, we have to learn to stop wasting so much. I do recycle a lot, but i know there is more I could do. I know my 'carbon footprint' is way bigger than it should be (But then all of me is way bigger than it should be!!!) and I plan on trying to imporve. To waste less. To buy more local produce. To save energy. I know I won't achieve it over night - but I am going to try hard.

No new scrapping today, but this page was completed for the A True Friend blog. I love doing things for the design team over there. we all have such different pets who share our lives and scrapping them, their personalities and their links with us is an important thing for so many of us. The theme this time was cuddles. I debated doing a page with Nij or I cuddling one of them, but I went for the CFH cuddling each other instead. They love to nuzzle up together and really are inseperable. They were only babies when this was taken - about fourteen weeks old I think - but they still do exactly the same bless them.

Computer Stuff

We bought a new laptop on Friday and most of yesterday - until about 1 am (and I don't DO after 10 pm remember) was taken up with me transferring files, downloading programs, setting stuff up etc etc. It was a long long job but I think - I reserve judgement a little - I THINK it was worth it. I can't get MSN messenger to work on it - which is a bit of a drama, but everything else seems good to go. And because we placed a special order we didn't have to have Vista - which we really didn't want. It is still XP Pro which we preferred.

The new laptop is slim and light and fast and I will look forward to digi scrapping on it. We have bought it for several reasons. The old laptop was a bit slow for digital graphic work. Nigel enver gets to surf in front of the TV as we fight over the laptop and I ALWAYS win plus my desk top machine has been playing up a lot and I fear being without everything. This way we both get to play in the lounge which is much better as we can be with the cats (they are still banned from the study due to bad behaviour LOL) and I get a new faster machine. I just have to get the nice pink Kipling laptop bag now and my computer needs are fulfilled.

I can now upload the page of Nigel outside Angel Stadium. He looks so happy and proud and he did the journalling on the pull out tag. I found it a hard page to scrap as red whita and blue are not really my colours, but he loves it and that is why I made it. It was such a big day for him. There are quite a few more angels pages to come as well. When we looked at it we realised a missed opportunity. The title looks so much like  A NIGEL in the outfield. Just missing the I really. Ah well - next time eh!