Dolly's Dreamings

Lettering Delights

I was so pleased to have had an article published in The Scrapbook Magazine which focused on Lettering Delights and how useful and versatile they are.

I have been collecting them for years ..... not prepared to say how many I have ... I am taking the 5th! I love them because I can use them on digital or paper pages, I never run out of any particular letter, I can have any size, any colour and they are all stored so well in the browser.

I had written the article a long long time ago but the magazine it was written for folded, and so did the next one. thankfully The Scrapbook Magazine were pleased to pick up the article and run it.

I hope lots of you will check out the site and see how fab they are for yourself.

  If you want to read the article to show you how to use the browser, how to play around with the size and colour and get a flavour of the things you can use them for then this is the downloadable word document you need. It is also downloadable as a PDF document if you prefer that. It is quite a large document but has screen shots and ideas as well as simple instructions.

Download lettering delights article .doc

Download lettering_article_for_blog.pdf

This was an opening page to a CJ - so versatile 

The pages on this post are all pages that have been made using Lettering Delights alphabets. It was hard to know which ones to use here as there are so many. I may HAVE a lot of alphabets, but I DO use them!

There are more pages in the article as well.

I hope you all have fun playing with the alphabets but - be warned - like everything that is nice, they are very very very addictive!

Ribbony Ramblings

I have scrapped so much this month I think my mojo is flat out suffering from exhaustion.

I did see a challenge I fancied though whilst blog hopping last night.  It was a challenge on Scrummy Stash cafe blog and involved ribbons. Now I have a serious .... and I mean serious .... ribbon addiction. I have three kitchen roll holders stuffed with ribbons all in little plastic baggies plus a few boxes of reels of ribbons. See the picture - well it was taken over a year ago and all three are now full to bursting. I have no idea what the fixation is other than they are pretty and they look so nice on the shelf. Trouble is I am not a ribbon sort of girl. I don't really use ribbons much.

So I made myself a promise in January - I am NOT buying any more this year. We will see if I stick to it.

So when I saw that the challenge was to use ribbons I thought I ought to have a go. I mean, it is all well and good not buying any more ribbons, but presumably I should try and use some of the ones I have!

I used a picture taken in Canada of a beautiful little butterfly and piled on a selection of ribbons for the photo mount.

Now, another couple of hundred pages with ribbons on and I should be about ready to shop! 

I am adding to this post to alert you all to check out Kirsty's blog here. Kirsty has had terrible trouble getting support for her daughter Belle's condition and is now raising money to help her. I know that some will view this positively and some negatively. Tis the way of the world I guess.  I guess we all have views about a lot of things and if we all agreed the world would be a very bland place. I don't know how I would have felt a few months ago, but I know how I feel now.

I can only say that my Kira has been ill. She is my cat, not my daughter. I am not meaning to compare Kira in anyway to Belle. But I do know, cat or not, I would move heaven and earth to help make her well, to get her condition diagnosed, to get treatment for her. How much worse must it be to see your little girl suffer and remain without treatment. Your child. Your flesh and blood. I can't imagine the angst they have all gone through. The little taste I have had of late is not pleasant and, as I say, how much worse is their situation than the taster I have had. Kirsty is a Mum first and foremost before anything else in the world and she wants to help her little girl. Kirsty, if you read this, I hope you manage to get Belle the treatement she so badly needs.

Taking the plunge

Well - I really have taken the plunge today. I have ordered Adobe Elements 5 and a book (I think I will need the book LOL) and plan to become a proper grown up digital scrapper.

I admire the work so many of my friends do with their digi work. Heather has only just started and her work is immense. I want to be able to do proper digital scrapping and so I am going to try to learn to use a genuine growded up program!

On my baby beginners programme I made this for the challenge on UKS to do a frosty page It was a picture of a spider's web from last year and I used materials from Weeds and Wildflowers. I am loving their stuff at the moment - I really am.

I have loved scrapping this month and am dead chuffed with my total for the month. I have managed a total of 52 pages of which 31 are paper pages. (I have not been able to post most of those yet as they are for various design teams LOL ) I have also made 22 cards (I'm selling them which is great fun!)

Always into everything

The good news is that Kira still has no new scabs. It is the longest we have been scab free and we are trying not to get too excited.

the bad news is the sickness. Darn it!

She has started being sick again amd we are not sure why. She was sick on Friday and Saturday - quite a bit but jjust one episode. It's not like she is sick every time she eats or anything. We fear it may be steroid related as it builds up in her system. So we have switched to one a day, two a day, one a day, two a day to see if it helps. Sorry to share too much detail but last night was not good. I woke at almost 1 am to hear that all too familiar retching sound cat owners know so well - you know .... the 'I'm gonna throw up real bad any minute' sound!

I knew it was close so leaped up, put the bedside light on and there she was at the end of our bed just about to do the deed. I almost got her off in time - but not quite! Most of it missed the bed! So at 1 am we were changing beds, cleaning etc and she was running around like a kitten playing with her blinking toys.

So far we have had no sick today!!!! Oh the joys of owning cats eh!

Then there is this terror! The Fiki monster. The A True Friend challenge this time was mucky pets. Now Fiki is a lot of things but he never gets really mmucky, largely as we never give him the chance! So I had to adapt a bit and go with the fact he is always into everything. A box, a bag etc etc

He is in it.

I used a cheap set of papers I picked up from the Range and chipboard letters from Crate Paper and Heidi Swapp  and kept it - as ever - very simple.

Teeny tiny brag book

I made this teeny brag book/handbag book for Sam for Christmas as part of my design team work for A Trip Down memory Land last month. The book was tiny - little bigger than inchies - but was so cute to make.

I was inspired to make it because of the little Doodlebug album (I added extra pages) I have on my bag. Sam liked it so I made her one.

The covers are chipboard but the inside pages were only cardstock or it would have been too bulky. The black and shocking pink just worked so well together.

As the book was so small and I didn't want it to be too clutered I printed the pictures in black and white.

Have had a quiet day today - well apart from the last hour where I went frantic with housework! We were out at friends last night and it is amazing how easy it is to drink a LOT more than normal when in good company and chatting away. I was a little bit delicate this morning LOL

I spent this morning making another couple of paper papers  - bringing my scrapping total for this month up to 50 so far! I am dead pleased with myself. I also made 6 cards so was dead chuffed.

The CFH have plenty to play with as well as we did our routine 'mouse sweep' today. They are indoor cats so thankfully we only get toy mice to contend with - but they do like to stuff them everywhere. We have to move the beds, use a long stick under wall units etc and we had a good haul today - 27 mice, two pens, a highlighter, two mini mars bars and the lighter I use to light my candles with! I put them all back in the bag of catnip and they will be doled out on a regular basis until I run out again when we will do another mouse sweep.

Kira has several special toys though, and we are convinced they are her babies. She takes them down every morning and lays them in a little circle round her food bowl (She has .... by then ... eaten all the food so not sure what the point of that is ) and then in the evening she brings them upstairs to sit with us in the lounge and then at night brings them up, one by one, to bed. Her other toys she likes to have thrown to play fetch with. You throw it, she fetches it, carries it back in her mouth and drops it in your hand for you to throw again. The difficulty is knowing which is a throw toy and which is a baby she bringing you to cuddle and stroke. And if you get it wrong and throw a baby you don't half get a nasty look.

Ode to Kipling

No - nothing what so ever to do with the poet I'm afraid. Or the cakes either - though I couldn't resist the pun along the side bar on the page.

I had a Kipling Christmas! Thanks to the influence of my best friend Jakki I was introduced almost 2 years or so ago to the joys of Kipling bags. They are hard wearing, modern and very very useful. They can be washed, are lightweight - and important element to me - and have loads of pockets. And, in case I ever forget (not likely) they have a cute monkey as well. I bought my first bag two years ago - a Firefly rucksack style handbag. Loved it. Then Nij bought me another handbag last year for Christmas. When I bought my new laptop I wanted a pretty but functional laptop case and found a Kipling one that fitted the bill perfectly. A funky raspberry colour and so lightweight yet protective. I think THAT is when the addiction began.

On visiting the Kipling Outlet store in Portsmouth I spotted a cabin roll on bag I craved. It had a matching vanity bag and I so hopped I would get it for Christmas. 

Before Christmas Jakki and Nigel plotted and we went to lunch and then on to a private Kipling party with loads of Kipling bags at vastly reduced prices. He treated me to a large camera bag for holidays that will fit both the camera and the video, a regular bag that he is going to put foam in for a camera, a small camera bag for the camera I keep in my handbag, a pencil case and it also came with a free gift of a bum bag and a mobile phone case. I was so pleased but thought it might have been a gift to make up for the fact that I didn't get my suitcase and vanity case. There were no suitable looking prezzies under the tree.

On Christmas Day I opened my presents and one of them was the Kipling voucher he had made on the page. He said I could exchange it at a Kipling shop and there just happened to be a new Kipling shop downstairs. We went downstairs and there were all my camera cases etc that had been taken away from me the day we bought them. He said he thought there might be more good out in the stock room and sure enough he produced the suitcase. The vanity case came later with another voucher. It made it really fun and special. I also had a Kipling brolly and mirror from Jakki, the person responsible for my Kipling addiction.

I know the bags are trendy, and not to everyone's taste, but I love them. I love the colours, I love the style, I love the chunky zips, I love the functionality of them and yes - I have to admit it - I can't help loving those monkeys.

Lush lush lush paper

For our design team kit last month Mel and Jill at A Trip Down Memory Lane included some of the lush lace cardstock. I got my fave colour combo too with jet black and shocking pink. (Yup - me who doesn't do brights ..... totally love this colour combination)

It was so lush but I was terrified to cut it and use it. Obviously I had to. I think if it had been stash of my own I would never have used it so I am so glad it was DT and I had to.

The picture is one of my favourite pictures of Emily which I printed in black and white. The cardstick was just wonderful to use. I loved it.

I also used ribbons from the kit and just a white journalling pen.

I wish you all a happy Burns night and want to leave you with a message that Annette posted on the pad this week. It is a lovely story. Thank you for sharing it Nets.

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24
hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonaise jar and the 2
cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in
front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very
large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf
balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed
that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into
the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the
open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again
if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the
jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once
more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous
"yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table
and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the
empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to
recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are
the important things---God, your family, your children, your health,
your friends and your favourite passions---and if everything else
was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your
house and your car.
The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand
into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles
or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your
time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the
things that are important to you.
"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take
your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be
time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf
balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee
represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

More Canadian pages

I am loving the new Prima hybrid kit and it is so versatile. I LIKE that in kits LOL

I scrapped this page last night (I do hate not paper scrapping int he week but it can't be helped!). It is yet more poctures from our favourite place in the Rockies - Moraine Lake. It really was a pure slice of paradise.

Good news about Kira - she is still scab free and this is the longest she has gone without a new crop since October so we are very hopeful. I did come home to a bit of sick tonight but it may be totally unconnected to the steroids and I am certainly not going to make a knee jerk reaction to it and lower the dose. She is bright, perky and scab free and I am - for however long it lasts - very relieved.

A bit of a shock

I had a bit of a shock this morning when I couldn't access my usual parking space. It was dark and no-one else was around so I was quite shocked to be thwarted by a beautiful deer stood in my designated space. We stared at each other momentarily before it skipped off into the woods. It made such a nice start to the day and reminded me of just how lucky I am.

The first page here was made as part of the challenge on UKS this week. One of the things it had to do was reflect courage. The picture is me on a hike - quite a LONG hike for me - to see a waterfall along Johnston Canyon. (not in the picture ..... much further on) Although it was August it was bitterly cold and I was aching and my ankle was bad, but I so wanted to see the waterfall and we did. It was with a certain sense of righteousness that, as we were making our way back, lots of people stopped and asked us if it was much further.

Made a change for us to be hikers who had been! Might not be the greatest achievement in the world, but I was awfully proud!

The second page was a quicky made yesterday using the new Prima hybrid kit I bought. I couldn't wait to play with it. I merged several papers and swirls and stitches to make the background and printed it off.

I then printed off the hearts, frame and butterflies and made it all into a very 3D layout using foam pads to give it depth. The colours have come out a bit off in the scan but you get the general idea.

Apart from the stitching, everything is from the one kit.

The first page - the courage page - is also made largely from this kit, tinkered with a little. The tag, star and journalling title and not from the kit

Explorers Club

Nij and I love to explore. We love the thrill of going somewhere new, seeing different things, being adventurous. So long as it is in an English speaking country with recognisable food that is! Limits us somewhat but as we love America and Canada it suits us fine.

This is my take on the pencil lines sketch this week. The pictures are all from Canada.

This other page was made last month for A Trip Down Memory Lane and is Emily, looking lovely as usual. She is getting very excited about the birth of her little sister now. They bought the travel system last week (Travel system .... yup ... not just a pram or pushchair or car seat but a travel system!) This state of the art piece of kit is now installed in their lounge as Emily will not allow it to be put away because Baby Annabel is using it - although she HAS agreed that when Mummy's baby comes Baby Annabel will move out of it! She has it sussed!