Dolly's Dreamings

Brownsea island

In spite of having lived so close for the past 40 years, Nigel had never visited Brownsea Island. Now I LOVE Brownsea - I really do - and I used to visit often as a child.

We rectified this a year ago and went to visit the island. It is a really beautiful unspoilt place. there is a lovely church, the castle, the open air theatre, the peacocks and the wonderful views from around the island. You also get a really nice trip round the 5 islands of Poole Bay on the way back.

I made the page as part of the DT work for ATDML a while ago and it never got uploaded.

I am busy working on my maya Road bungalow and am loving how it is coming out. I want to try an finish it this weekend.  Apart fromt hat it's been a quiet day - apart fromt he hair dye. yes - that time of year again! The old grey temples were a little too much to cope with. The last time I dyed it it was way too red and I hated it. So this time I just went for plain old dark brown and it is gross.

My hair has been reddish tinged for so long that going back to my natural very dark brown is a bit too much to take. No highlights, no low lights, no variations no nothing just a solid lump of brown. Oh heck - back to washing my hair 6 times a day to ear it off quicker I guess.

A friend of mine who I have known for a long time and who has been a teamie of mine for a long time too has just started a fab new forum for cardmakers. It is very new but will be buzzing with challenges and sketches and inspiratiion. Do go check it out cos it looks awesome. See you there by clicking this link or the blinkie below .

Shooting Waves

Well - what a day thtis has been. I really am pants at all this housewife stuff. We have established I can't cook or sew and now I can't run a house very well apparently. I spent 3 hours this morning tidying up the mess in the house. Oh - you couldn't SEE the mess. It was all stowed in every available gap, crack, hidey hole and junk spot. I can't bear the house to look untidy so stuff everything everywhere it can't be seen. Then I forget which hiding place I have stuffed it in so it remains lost for a long time. It drives Nigel nuts.

Toady I unstuffed. Took ages. Turns out my Mom was right - if you put each thing away at the time you NEVER have to do what I have spent today doing.

But it is clean and tidy, the Tesco shop from hell is done and now I can play with my Maya Road Bungelow kit and not feel any guilt.

I have done the roof (but may re-do it) and am starting ont he main house. I don't like the pretty pretty cutesy style so mine is a ramshackle mess LOl

I can't show it yet as it really is pants so this - in true Blue Peter style - is one I made earlier ... a page not a house.

It was made for Craft Obsessions DT last month and the papers just shouted waves and the sea to me so here they are. It was a picture of Nij taking pictures at Ringstead Bay and couldn't resist the title.

The patio man came last night and it looks a little more hopeful. Mind you - we haven't seent he quote yet. May need to sit down for that envelope opening.

Domestic Goddess .... sadly I don't think so

Not quite sure what is happening to me. Do I have delusions about becoming a domestic goddess????? I wish I did! The other day I baked. Amazing. Today I discovered that my sewing machine .... my scrapbook sewing machine .... also sews fabric!!! I was trying to make a Roman costume for Roman day. However, as the costume is so utter pants I may not wear it at all and as the baking was so dreadful Nij wouldn't eat it (and that is going some) I think i will stick to NOT being a domestic goddess at all. I mean - quit whilst you are ahead (or at least only a little way behind!) I admire people who can cook and sew - my Mom could. I try but I just can't do it. I'd love to be a Nigella in the kitchen (I think Nij would like that too but for totally different reasons) and I admire Deliah. I'd love to make my own clothes - maybe then I would get something to fit me properly. But I guess my machine was just destined for paper.

I consolled myself with making two quick cat pages for my A - Z fur babies journal.

We are on K now (how the year is speeding away) and so it had to be K for my little Kira monkley (although technically she should be S as her name is Scarlett Shakira)

I used some Basic Grey Urban Couture and a bit of bling (doesn't show well on the scan of course) as she is a girly girl. She has changed so much since her illness and was always so independent and would not, under any circumstances, look you in the eys. Now she is clingy, affectionate, devoted and meets your gaze endlessly. I like the new Kira!

K is also for kittens. we have had 4 kittens - Pebble and Cinders, our first two little sisters, and Kira and Fiki. Boo and Simba were grown up when they joined our home. I love kittens so much (and I hope that one day we will do it all again - though I don't think I'd have the strength to do Bengals again) I love the special kitten smell. I have no idea why they have a special smell. Our cats have all been very clean from the word go - no accidents and nicely washed bottoms, and they are long since weaned so it is not milky but they do have a special kitten smell that I love. I also love their winnie the pooh tummies. They have little pot bellies that just demand to be kissed. The other thing I love - that they lose when they are less than 6 months old - is their utter flakiness. They just fall asleep anywhere and everywhere. I have a great photo of Kira asleep across the top of a video recorder with her head hanging down, dead to the world. So the K pages were funt o do - way way better than sewing! And making them meant I got to use my sewing machine for its intended purpose .... scrapping!

I know it's wet but .....

Ok - so the weather isn't good and it has rained all day ....but herons in the garden!

I was sat in my scrap room and Boo and I (yes she was sat with me - actually on the page I was scrapping but hey ... it keeps her happy - when the sky darkened. (OK I am exaggerating now) We both looked out and there was a huge bird sort of hovering just above the window. I thought it was a massive seagull but then noticed the long legs and it came to rest by the fence and it was a heron.

Must have been straffing someone's pond but boy was he a big one! He walked around on the heath for ages.

Nij and I went patio slab searching - to no avail really. the man is coming back tomorrow night and we have no clue on design, slabs, walls, bricks, colour etc etc. I am all for saying let's forget it till next year. I have waited 16 years for it. One more ain't gonna matter and the last thing I want to do is spend thousands and then not be sure. I fear more discussions tonight!

The page here is one I made for A Trip Down memory Lane. It was one of those pages where yout hink you have had a fab idea. The papers 'speak' to you and you know exactlyw hat you want to do. And you do it.

 But then the finished version doesn't look anything like you imagined - not nearly as good as you pictured in your mind.

And it's a design team piece and you haven't any more of the same paper and you just have to go with it.

Sorry Mel and Jill - not a good effort this one - but it WAS a nice idea!

I think the problem was that the pictures were too small (and it took an age to meld them together like that and get the measurements right.

I quite liked the lettering mind you.

The pictures are all from Florida 2005 - the sun rays seemed to shout Florida.

Oh well - I feel yet another patio discussion coming on. Speedway has been rained off so Nij is in tonight and we have plenty of time to discuss and come to no conclussions.

Busy Baking .... yes it's true!

I have had a busy day today and - those of you who know me and my pet peeves - will understand how shocked I am by my own behaviour.

I have baked!!!!!

Yes ... me. The girl who hates cooking of any description. I had the urge to make cheese scones. OK - so I know it is not rocket science. Dead simple but heck. I baked! And I quite enjoyed it. Just fancied cheese scones for lunch so there you go.

And whilst I am on the topic ..... I have recently been feelingt he urge to bake a cake. Well maybe little cakes. Start simple ... you know. My cake making days are limited to the odd Victoria sponge and a lemon drizzle cake now and then. Maybe I am becoming a housewife after all these years. Not felt the urge to clean yet mind! And I have to do that this week.

I have made two pages so far today and am into my third - but can't post them here yet. Surfice to say they are baby pages but they are also for a DT so will share when I can.

These are the pages I did for the 25th April. I finished them on 25th May mind you! Not so speedy there then.

I followed Shimelle's plan but adapted it slightly as my pages are 6 x 12. I am planning to make my cover today - if I get time.

The picture of me lifts up and reveals 4 pages packed with photos. I did take a lot that day - unlike 25th May where I had to scrabble round a little more for pictures.

I am loving this project. It will be so cool to look back on at the end of the year and see what I did on all those 25th and the consistent and disparate elements of the days.

Scrap Your Day - 25th May

I am loving Shimelle's Scrap Your Day. (Actually i love every class she does but that is an entirely differnt matter!)

I thought May would be easier than April as I would be off work, enjoying a Sunday. As it happens it would appear I don't do very much when I am off - just slob around really.

Nigel mowed the lawn but there is a limit to how many pictures you scrap of that! In the end we were reduced to going to Sandbanks to take some pictures before eating out. How odd that two months running we ate at TGI Fridays on the 25th. Mmmmmm - do I see a pattern forming.

I am loving the stock shots each month like the wake up and go to bed time. I have added a few more stock shots which I want to replicate every month.

I am including a  picture of the fireplace each month. Last month is had anniverary cards on, this month it has part of a beautiful bouquet I received from a past pupil, in July and October it will have birthday cards from 2 days earlier, christmas .... well christmas cards obviously. Just thought it would be fun to record. I am also getting Nigel to take a picture of me reading in bed last thing at night. I do this every night without fail and it will be interesting to see the books change. Though as a book rarely lasts me more than a few days it certainly won't be a complete record.

I will upload April tomorrow. Yes - I know that is backwards, but I wanted to show I can do things on time if I need to!!!!

The Dash

Well - it's the 25th again and not so many pictures being taken today.

Firstly I am tired - but am going to get up and do things once I have done this blog entry.

Secondly I am suffering with the leg again .... but I have decided I am not goingt o let it ruin any more days

Thirdly not done much to take pictures of as yet LOL mmmm - will address that in a minute.

Fourthly - have I done my pages of 25th April? um ...... no LOL

I will address that this week though.

I want to share two things with you today. The first thing is a bit of silliness. Usingt he new Puppy Love kit by Dawn Inskip I made a hybrid card. Well there was a limit to how many doggy pages I could do and it turns out one was that limit! I just don't have doggy piccies. But I thought that the doodles were lovely and they made a great hybrid card.

As ever I am pants at showing the 3D nature of it all, but here is what I managed.

The second thing I want to share is thanks to Steph who passed it on to all of us.

I had heard the words of THE DASH before but never with such beatiful music and photography.

So I want to share it with all of you, because it is beautiful and it IS Important.

THE DASH

I urge you to go and look and to keep it as a firm focus in your mind. Not just today, but every day. I know I am going to try. It won't always be easy to remember it, and I am not known for my optimism, but I am sure gonna try and live these words.

Whatever you are doing, who ever you are with, smile and be happy and enjoy today.

Wonderful Wedding

We have been to a wonderful wedding today - a truly beautiful occassion, if marked a little by a tinge of sadness too.

It was the wedding of Claire and Mark. Claire is Pat's daughter and Pat is my friend - the person who keeps me going on a daily basis and without whom I could not do my job at all.

Pat lost her husband almost a year ago. You may remember me writing about how awful it was. He passed away after a very short but very awful battle with renal cancer and she was - and still is - devastated. They were truly soul mates and every day is hard for her. The wedding was being planned when he was still alive and it was a wonderful day today but obviously hard for them all that her Daddy wasn't there for her. Claire was truly amazing and made a terrific speech in the place of father of the bride and gave such a wonderful tribute to her daddy. And Pat was so brave all day and gave Claire away herself.

The other sadness was that her brother could not be there. He is away on active duty in Afghanistan at the moment - another burden for them all to bear.

But today was a wonderfully happy day too. Claire looked beautiful, Mark looked very handsome and I am totally and utterly in love with Claire's little niece who is just so adorable.

Nigel and I filmed all day as we are making a DVD as a gift for them, but I also managed to fit in the odd couple of hundred photos and these are just a few of them.

They are such a wonderfully close family and I am sure Mark and Claire will have a life filled with love and laughter together.

Puppy Love

Dawn Inskip has designed a wonderful new kit for those of you who are canine fans as well as or instead of feline fanatics. I'm a cat lover through and through but would also love to have a dog, but it is just not practical for us. So I loved this kit. I had a wonderful picture of Kyla (linda's daughter) with her gorgeous little fluff ball puppy, Buttons. He is a bit bigger than this now but as adorable as ever and such a friendly little chap.

The kit just worked wonders and, before anyone else says how fab the scalloped journalling is - it was from the kit. The only credit I can take is plopping it on the page.

I can't wait to have a go at a hybrid card with it too.

I have just bagged myself a fab bargain too. We saw a patio set we wanted ages ago. (Still living in hope of the new patio LOL) and when we first saw it it was at a Garden centre and was £699 for the table, four chairs and parasol etc. We like it but it was too expensive.

We then saw it in Homebase and it was quite a lot cheaper, working out at about £530 and we were quite tempted but resisted. Homebase then reduced the price and it worked out at £450 and we were very tempted. I mean - it was a saving of £250 on the one we had first seen. But still we resisted. Today Homebase have a special 10% off day and a further reduction so I have just been and bought the set for £370 - almost half price. So I am well chuffed. The table looks tiny but it actually is very big and the chairs are all recliners as well.

I haven't got it here, mind. No way will any of it go in my car. But it is just waiting for collection.

Now - here's to a luscious long weekend. Have fun whatever you are doing xxx

Kira Monkey

My little girl cat is going through the mill again. She has been very subdued the last few days - when she gets these outbreaks I think it makes her feel rotten (or does she get the outbreaks BECAUSE she feels rotten!) Thankfully no more spots developed. She just has the four and they look like they are not going to be too awful.

I thought it was apt to share the page I made for Make the Moment Last which was about Kira. Well I couldn't do a Fiki page and not a Kira page now could I!

 

I don't have as many pictures of Kira as I do of Fiki. She doesn't like having her picture taken at all. I think she is embarrassed because she is a teensy bit cross eyed at times LOL

But whenever you do take her picture she always seems to look quite regal (and a little bit disparaging of her people subjects whom she looks down on!)

I would like to say thank you to everyone for their comments on here yesterday and today. I didn't post my rant with the intention of seeking those sorts of comments. I hadn't posted before about the negative comments on the smack blog as I really just tried to forget them. It just seemed apt to mention it when something so nice happened yesterday. But thank you for all your support and kind words. It means a great deal.

I scrap because I love it and I blog because ... well because I have to really. My day wouldn't be complete if I didn't blog. I ramble a bit at times, but I do love my blog and am glad that people visit. I like having all these friends.