Dolly's Dreamings

Buttons galore and cards

I struggle with buttons .... I really do.

I never know what to do with them in the crafting sense of things. I love them on other people's layouts .... and like every stash item I love buying them of course. But when it comes to using them it is a whole different thing.

In the last DT kit from Mel and Jill there were buttons and for once in my life they just leapt out and begged me to use them. OK so I didn't use them on a page, I used them on a card, but none the less I still used them. This is the card I made for the DT last month and there are also two cards (minus the buttons) that I made fromt he previous kit too.

Having started my scrapping life as a card maker I then went so off cards I thought I would never ever get back to it. But recently I have been enjoying making them again.

I bought a kit from QVC (I almost never watch QVC but caught a craft day in the summer) and it was so lovely I was inspired to make quite a few scrapbook type cards. It also came with some nice clear stamps which I have used on quite a few pages. I think they were Hot off the Press stamps and they are really nice stitches.

Wanderers

I made the page here for one of the pencil lines sketches. I do find them so theraputic when I am sat in the lounge. I can just fiddle digitally and have fun without the mess.

Plus I have so many Canada pictures I want to scrap - one way or another.

Now I have to share something fun with you all - though I know many of you will have seen it already. I e mailed a whole host of you and a lot of you will have seen Jaffne's original - which was what got me started. Thank you so much - it has given us lots of amusement!

Click here to have a giggle which is good for your 'elf'

It is such fun and a great way to wish people good 'elf' for Christmas. I do hope you will check it out and have a laugh.

I have made two for you to giggle at. Make sure you have watched the first one before you take a peek at the second. It will only confirm the fact I am totally loopy anyway!

Proof that I am totally loopy is here!

It's YUK out there

Horrid weather today. The sort of weather to stay snugged in and watch TV in bed and read magazines and scrap. I LOVE weather like this LOL

We were awake early but lounged around and climbed back into bed for breakfast and Casualty recorded last night.

Finally got to see Kira's face and am so upset as she has two new big scabs - so we are not out of the woods yet. The new toys I bought yesterday were not the success I hoped. they were Willow toys and quite expensive and the two hessian mice were so badly made Fiki destroyed one in ten minutes flat and it can no longer be used. My friend Helen bought them for her gorgeous Bengal boy Kendall and his have had to go back too.

The page here was made an age ago and will probably surprise some of you. Not the mild mannered, aged Karen you expect eh! I made it for the Collectively Yours dare on chipboard and it is the other me! The me that loves driving a convertible and whose fave album of all time is Bat Out of Hell full blast driving along in the summer. I'm a real rock chick at heart. I cut my teeth on the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath etc and married my long haired rocker who, as you would expect, had been in a band.

See - you didn't know that did you! I used the gorgeous Creative Imaginations papers and then enamelled, in black and red so it looks like laquer, a load of chipboard to throw on there with the pictures and papers. I printed the picture on canvas paper. It is a different page for me but I love it and it is an important part of me to record for my Book of Me. The tag under the picture pulls out and has a whole load of journalling on.

OK - you have had the main event - now comes the adverts .... well advert really. Lifted from Heather's blog (thanks hun .... you made it so simple to promote something we both believe in)

We’re now taking payments for the December classes via bank transfers/cheques. For details please send an email to accounts.designcollective@googlemail.com

All payments need to clear before 3rd December, in time for the first class mailing. Therefore, please ensure that cheques reach us by 23rd November at the latest and that bank transfers are sent by 23rd November.

As always, all current subscribers are able to make a payment for the December subscription via the Paypal facility on the forum (in your User CP, under Paid Subscriptions). Payment can be made any time up until 11pm on 2nd December.

Payments Via paypal for NEW subscribers will open on 30th November until 11pm on 2nd December.

–^^– Gift subscriptions have been opened up to all registered members, not just current subscribers, to enable members to purchase the perfect gift for a fellow scrapbooker and crafter. Its so hard to buy the right thing for our crafty friends, we are always so keen to buy our favourite bits of stash as soon as they hit the craft shops. A subscription to vast array of inspirational ideas has to be the perfect gift. We all get a ‘block’ from time to time and this is a perfect way to kick those blocks aside too. –^^–

To register its as simple as visiting http://www.forums.designcollectiveclasses.co.uk

And don't forget that we are running an incredible bonus in the lead up to Christmas. In addition to the 12 classes there is also a bumper extra each week with great ideas for things to make for Christmas. The two small glimpses here are just little sneaks of things coming up in that.

christmas shopping

  have been christmas shopping today - largely from the comfort of my own home. I LOVE the concept of internet shopping so much. We did, however, venture out to buy some bits and pieces, mostly from Pets at Home. Needed cat litter very badly (the one benefit of the food trial is that it reduces waste and - in Fiki's case - the smell value is notably and thankfully less!)

Whilst there we bought a whole heap of toys for them (guilt I think) to try and keep the boy occupied as he is very very bored without his sister to play with (code in Fiki speak for totally terrorise)

They had a new rage of cat nip products which looked fab - and judging by the delirious state he is in at the moement must smell as good as they look.

Nigel - crazy guy that he is - also bought a cat harness. I was tempted to tell him what a daft idea it was, but decided it would be more fun to watch. He said he would teach Fiki to walk on the harness and then he could take him for long walks to burn off some of the energy. It's the best laugh I have had in ages. However, maybe it will work - he has had it on for about 20 minutes and hasn't freaked out toooooooooo much!

I scrapped this page this morning and I am NOT in love with it. I don't like the mix of papers but I wanted to use the quote. I had printed it on a transparency, painted the back white and then sanded it. It is something I hadn't tried before and I like that bit of the page but just not the rest of it.

Finally I want to share this e mail Jakki sent me. Apologies if you are young - you won't appreciate it nearly as much as I do, but I think it is fab. Enjoy!

The other day a young woman asked if I minded getting old,
she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an
interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let her know.

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be.  Oh, not my body!  I sometimes despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt.  And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving
family for less grey hair or a flatter belly.  As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra biscuit, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio.  I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk along the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful.  But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I  eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken.   How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car?  But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion.  A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning grey, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.  So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think.  I don't  question myself anymore.  I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I  like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become.  I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be.  And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

Two Days running

Not sure my little monster should feature on the blog two days running - but here goes.

I realised I hadn't uploaded this page and I had meant to. I made it for the True Friend blog a little while ago for the theme 'you and your pet'. I actually have almost no pictures of me with any of the cats. I have quite a few with Nigel and the fur babes, but I am usually the other side of the camera. This picture was taken on Christmas morning when I was all full of christmassy love for my little boy. He is a very handsome boy and almost makes you not notice his Mummy has just gotten out of bed and hasn't a scrap of makeup on or combed her hair.

The page was kept very simple with some chipboard letters and Cherry Arts papers and a bit of a doodle.

Before I disappear off to watch Children in Need (I love it ... every year) I must tell you about a delicious freebie I had through the door yesterday. It was one of those free samples and was for  Walker Sunbites. They were sour cream and cracked black peper flavour and absolutely delicious. Make with wholegrains and reduced fat and salt they are almost convincingly healthy. And trust me - on a Friday evening I don't need much convincing! YUM! I need to get more of those!

Finally a Kira update. Today we enter the fifth week of the food trial and  she is scab free apart from one old scab that she keeps on picking. I know it is early days yet - but I can start to see the faintest glimmer of light at the end of that tunnel.

I must try and remember this

I wanted to record how I felt about Fiki when I was away on holiday before he was so bad and in so much trouble that I forgot it forever.

I hate leaving the cats when we go away and I hate especially leaving them in the cattery. We are never ever doing that again and plan exploring the concept of someone coming to stay in the house with them in future. It will still be horrible being away from them but at least they will be at home and in a familiar environment. Mind you - whoever has to stay with HIM will need danger money!

Anyway - I digress.

I always miss them but this year I missed Fiki especially - I have no idea why. I love them all equally but he was the one who broke my heart this time, and on several occasions I cried for him. I missed him so much.

The page explains that and that I will TRY to remember how much I missed him and how much I love him when he is being a little *&%@@*

I have been christmas shopping today - cyber shopping - but my lips are sealed as the man of the house reads this and cannot know what Santa has in store for him.

Scratchy

Thankfully she doesn't seem to be so scratchy at the moment - and long may it continue - but this was the picture I took when we were at a real low point a few weeks ago.

I made the page for the UKS House challenge. the theme was circles and pink and I used a kit designed by Dawn Inskip (www.dawninskip.typepad.com) Dawn was a scrapper whose work I always admired - a very different style to mine but loved the soft watercolour effects. She is now digi designing and her kits are lush - I couldn't wait to buy and use one.

We had a very quick meal at TGI Friday tonight courtesy of sorting out and throwing out. Nigel sorted out a load of old clothes at the weekend but of course, beinga  bloke, didn't check any of the pockets. I did and in a pair of trousers was a £20 note. (How did he not miss that at the time!) So we dined out on it. Fabby. Scrummy Jack Daniels chicken strips - love 'em. We waited years to get a TGI in our home town - having eaten in TGI's all over America (we even have a TGI rewards car .... which you can't use here sadly) and they finally opened one. Now allw e need is a Starbucks and an Outback Steakhouse and we are finished!

Bit of a damp squib

OK I am referring to I'm a celebrity last night. I have to say, having been hooked on all the other series, I am not hooked yet. That may well be as I think the series  should be called 'I have a very tenuous connection to celebrity get me out of here'. I only know 2 of the people. Yes I know I need to get out more but hey - A list celebs they aren't, are they? Mind you, I am not surprised. I think you have to have a screw loose or a seriously flagging career to even contemplate it. The bungee jump in was insane and who in their right mind would live like that for up to three weeks. Not me - I freak when I see a money spider. So - I guess I will still be watching tonight!

We had Kira and Fiki together for a while last night. Not a long while! We stood about fifteen minutes. He would not leave her face and head alone and it was too stressful for everyone. She he sat in the lounge with us and proceeded to trash the joint.  He has an obsession with the TRAVEL word I made which stands on the fireplace ledge. Twelve times he had the T off and we put it back. Three times he pulled the fireguard down to get to it (It is only there to stop the little swine climbing the chimney - yes ... he has) He tried to pull the new votive candle holder off the shelf, knocked all the cards off in spite and then went and sat on the TV unit being as tall as possible (and he can be pretty tall) so we couldn't see the TV. We kept reminding ourselves how much we loved him, how he was only bored and how we would forgive him anything. We NEEDED to keep reminding ourselves of it as we seriously wanted to kill him .... several times! And Oh Joy! I guess we will get a repeat performance this evening.

The page here is a quick one I did at the weekend.

have so many pictures of canada to scrap I am going simple - big time.

The papers were from a cheap set of travel papers I bought on holiday. The sightseeing 3D sticker was from the same set.
The frame from the journalling is an Autumn leaves stamp with dots drawn in it. The sewing is fake  and the letters are chipboard inked in different shades.
Very simple

Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park

Kira has no new scabs and no spots developing. Maybe - just maybe - we have reached the end and soon we will be able to try a new food and then go back to square one!

Everything crossed - less itchy

I am reluctant to post this as I am sure she reads the blog and it affects her behaviour, but madam is less itchy and all but one scab has healed. We have had no new scabs for a while. So looking quite good at the moment.

She is obviously still secreting the sebum or whatever as Fiki is still obsessed with her head and face, but hey - maybe we are getting there.

I have been hobbling today and I have no idea why. My knees and one ankle are just pathetically weak and keep giving way. OK so carrying around the equivalent of a not so small elephant probably isn't helping but heck, they are used to that!

The pages I have added here are the rest of the Re book from Scrap Camp. I thought they should see the light of day really.

Did anyone watch My Boy Jack last night. I was quite excited to watch it and hoped that Daniel Radcliffe would impress me but sadly he didn't. Apart from the fact I do think the poor lad is terribly type cast, I thought his acting was stilted and lacked any real belief for me. I was quite disappointed.

I am, however, sad enough to plan to be glued to the TV tonight and for the next two weeks with I'm a Celebrity. Though I am not sure of the title any longer as I haven't heard of most of the people this time round! 

Just a typical Sunday really

  Love lazy Sundays and today has been kind of lazy. Done the chores and Nigel sorted out his wardrobe to get the new stuff in and threw a gazzilion shirts, t shirts and trousers out. He has space in there now. the hangers move and everything! Off to the charity shop tomorrow then.

  I have wrapped all of Jakki's advent presents up. I love doing an advent box for someone I know and love. It makes it very special and I hope she will love the things in there. I just need to get ribbon now and then I will be done.

Several people asked me about how I got so much for so little yesterday. Some of Nigel's things came from primark - how cheap is stuff there. Two bags full of stuff for the price of our saturday evening take-away. Most of my things came from Evans (yup - I need to shop there!) and they had a 20% off day plus I had a 10% off voucer. We also got stuff from BHS and they seemed to have a sale on.

The pages sprinkled through here - and I am sorry but there are still a few more to come tomorrow, are from the Maria Grace class at Scrapcamp. It was not really my sort of class as it had all sorts of paint and glitter and stuff and I don't do mess. I left out the glitter bits but ended up being quite pleased with the book. I adapted some of the pages and made it more of a scrapbook than it actually was.

The book was 12 x 6 and so it quite big. It also inspired me to order a 12 x 6 album to play with - which I have now done and am looking forward to trying out. I have only done 12 x 6 in digital format.

The book was a re- book, based on using all sorts of re words like re-member, re-flect etc.