Dolly's Dreamings

Back to the summer

OK I admit it. I am a scrapping addict. I scrap way more than I ever get the chance to share ... but that is good because when I hit lean times, like now when I am scrapping much less than usual, it means I still have some stuff to share that I haven't shared before.

The page below is one I made a while back for our 2011 album. I love having an annual album, especially in years when we don't go on holiday, as it reminds us of all we have done that year. And last year we did loads of things.

One of our trips was to Cambridge and I scrapped several pages of the visit and this is just one of them.

I confess to being totally enchanted by architecture at the best of times, but when it is so beautiful and so detailed it simply takes my breath away.

I have been on a curse today and I put my trust - ill advised as it happens - in my little friend Tom Tom. I knew where I was going .... ish .... but thought Tom would like to come along for the ride. I was headed to the police headquarters at Winfrith (and just for those of you who are local and know what else goes on there I was NOT doing a driver awareness course to say sorry for being caught speeding. I KNOW that is where they do those courses but I was on an e safety course NOT a naughty girl course. Promise.)

Anyway - I wanted to avoid Wareham as the delays at the moment have been legendary so I typed in Winfrith avoiding Wareham into Tom. I knew roughly the way - Bere Regis and Wool, but he was a security blanket. Some blanket!

It was minus 1 this morning and the roads out in the countryside were white. I don't like driving much. I see it as a means of getting from A to B and not a pleasure. I especially don't do small, winding single track roads.

So I was a tad dismayed when Tom told me to take a turn I was not sure was right and then led me down a series of single track roads in the back of beyond. Now I really don't like sat navs to be honest. I think they have a place but i am a map girl. I am a visual learner. I am good with maps. I only have to see a map once to be able to remember most of it and navigate there unaided. I have an excellent sense of direction once I have seen it pictorially. I kid you not. I have navigated us across America and did one whole trip with 'Dolly's map' (a postcard we bought - I kid you not) I also found our way back to our hotel in San Fran (which has some tricky bits) with no map after having done it only once and don't even get me started on navigating around Washington DC which is one of the most bizarre cities ever with its grid system intersected by diagonals and with roads that become one way at different times of the daya nd which has Dupont Circle!

Anyway - I hadn't a clue where I was because I hadn't seen a map - just the little segment Tom deigns to give you. So I had to just follow him. And yes - he took me to the wrong place. I ended up in the secure site with the silo - the one the public don't get to go to.  The very nice guard on the gate said 'yup - that often happens' when I told him I had put the postcode in.

Anyway - I got there in the end (and no it was not worth it) but Tom earned being photo of the day.

 
Today I am thankful for

• technology which, most of the time, is great
• Free gifts to play with
• A hospital appointment which has come through quickly

 

 

My one minute devotion page today is great and one we should all pay attention to

My wife, Sharon, and I were watching our first ballet, held onstage at our local high school. The white-clad dancers graced their way through a rainbow of spotlights, leaving us spellbound. At intermission, I sat listening to the adults around me rave about the performance. The most common comment was “I wish I had taken ballet lessons.”

Meanwhile, a number of children left their seats and wandered down front. Inspired by the performance, they began spontaneously twirling, twisting, leaping, spinning—oblivious to the crowd that was watching in amusement.

I whispered to Sharon, “Children don’t need lessons. We adults are always dreaming and wishing. Children just do it.”

As I lay in bed that night, I thought about all the things I wished I had done in my life. I wanted to learn to ice-skate. I wanted to plant an orchard. I wanted to make a movie. I wanted to bind books. I wanted to visit a South Sea island.

I couldn’t get those children off my mind. In the next few weeks, I decided to stop dreaming and do some things. I planted a peach tree in the side yard. I checked out a video on the South Sea islands. I borrowed a video camera and made a funny movie. I bound a book, in my own crazy, unorthodox way. Now, if I could just find some ice skates in size 13.

It’s nice to have dreams, but perhaps some of our dreams are keeping us from doing the doable.

Catching Dreams

I guess we all need to dream at points - and I don't just mean the sleeping sort of dreams, I mean the wakeful sort, the day dreams that usually make us smile.

We need those moments in our lives. Some days more than others.

I have a great respect for and fascination for Native Americans. I love learning about their culture, learning about their tribal traditions and heritage and learning about the wonderful art they create. And I love teaching about it too. And so my photo of the day links the two random thoughts together - a display of handmade, handmade today actually, dream catchers. They are way too cute and were great fun (and quite a lot of hard work) to make.

I couldn't get my act together much over the weekend to do any scrapping of any real magnitude, but I did enjoy making another page of my art journal. Do you know, I never thought I would say that. I really and truly didn't. But I am finding the UKS Art Journey very therapeutic and strangely liberating.

The prompt this week was to be inspired to create from packaging. I looked around and didn't have a lot of packaging to be honest, other than in the candle and air freshner cupboard! Oh yes - there is a whole cupboard. I LIKE smells - nice smells. I am actually quite fussy about the smell. It needs to smell of 'clean' and so I like candles of fresh linen, clean cotton, coconut and vanilla. In the winter I burn candles of cinnamon and cupcake and frankinsence. I also use the plug in air freshners. I think it stemmed from having cats and being terrified my house would smell of animals. I am assured by everyone that it doesn't but as I was worried about it when we had our first cats,m that's when the candle obsession started.

So I used that as the focus for my page

 
Today I am thankful for

• having positive moments (as well as some negative tearful moments)
• Nigel sorting stuff out for me 'just in case'

And this is my one minute devotional calendar today - I really like this one.

Before going to a friend’s house last night, I gave myself a manicure. I was taking a gift, but I couldn’t wrap it till the polish dried. I couldn’t get dressed, either, or work on my hair. I stood in the bedroom, fanning my hands in the air, helpless without them.

Hands. Those miraculously designed tools I used this morning for everything from hammering a picture hook into the wall to tying my shoelaces. Sensitive, strong, flexible, adaptable, surely the human hand is one of God’s most awesome creations!

Our life stories could be told as the record of what our hands have touched. These hands have held babies and washed dishes and worn rings, held flowers and pencils, scrubbed floors and gripped the hands of strangers.

What if they could do none of these things? I have a paraplegic friend whose fingers are curled against his palm. Watching him struggle just to hold a spoon or turn the page of a book, I think I’ll never again take for granted the matchless dexterity of “ordinary” hands.

But, of course, I do. Within an hour, mine are performing a hundred needed functions quite unnoticed. Until, that is, a coat of nail polish interrupts their activity long enough to remind me that hands are also active when they’re folded in a prayer of gratitude.

A lack of achievement but a Freebie too

Today is one of those days where I just can't focus, on anything really.

I think the worries niggling at the back of my mind, OK at the FRONT of my mind, are causing the lack of focus and so I think I am going to give in and give up and just vegetate with my Kindle for a while.

I did do a couple of things today though.

Firstly I took my photo of the day for today. As I am fearing there may be a hospital stay looming I figured, just in case, I ought to get myself some decent pjs - some that weren't leopard spotted really!

I only shop at the very best stores of course and so these are some of Primarks finest and at the princely sum of £9 they won't be a waste of money even if I never use them. They look a little odd in the picture as I folded them up somewhat - the bottoms are long with lace round the ankles - you get the idea.

 
I also caught up on week 4 - how is it week 4 that is completed of 2012 already!!

I decided on a very plain graphic look this week and I have also made a template which you can snag if you want.

This is the template you can download HERE. It is a layered png file - very simple but may be of use to come of you.

 Download Week 4 template

And this is my page for week 4

 Last night I veged out in front of the TV and watched the last Harry Potter film (Nij had bought it for Christmas) I loved the books so much and it is one of the few series that was as good in film .... almost .... as on paper. I think they were very well made and hopefully we will get to see Harry Potter World in Florida in the summer.

I also started on my new scarf (Nij bought me wool for Christmas) as I finally found the needles I had put away so carefully after the green one. I reall am NOT to be trusted when tidying!

Today I am thankful for

• time to chill out
• a very supportive husband

And finally today some more of that fabulous chalk pavement art.

 

 

No need for a lead

No amount of searching has revealled the lead to my camera and I despaired of being able to download the pictures.

However, all is well that ends well.

It turns out it is really really simple to transfer the pictures on the internal memory to the memory card.

Voila

So here is my picture of the day for yesterday. Nigel was at a training day for some work he has been doing and it involved working with Bourjois cosmetics. He was given, as part of the day, a fair few samples.

About £100 worth of free cosmetics and all very useable. What's not to like! Mind you - you can see why I don't buy Bourjois cosmetics - that seems awfully expensive.

Today we needed a bit of cheering up and so we went out for breakfast to the Holes Bay.

I love their granola cereal and red berries and a croisant never hurts. Nij loved the full cooked breakfast.

So picture of the day today

We had a two for one so it works out at very good value for two of us.

Not been feeling bnrillaint today so I have had a bit of a quiet day - not even done any scrapping to speak of.

But I do have this page from last week, made with Dawn's Photo Emphasis templates and also her Dream Catcher kit which is one of my favourites.

The gorgeous tiger is Tamir and he is so stunningly handsome.

Today I am thankful for

• being at home
• getting prepared and dealing with it.

 Now this was pposted by Hilary in our social group and you soooooo have to try it - I think it is fab

Click here and type your own name

You need a real regular name. It didn't work with Scrapdolly LOL

I LOVE it.

 

What a stupid girl.

Now it's not like I don't KNOW I am doing photo a day. I mean don't they say that something becomes habitual after you have done it for 2 weeks.

Obviously doesn't sink in that quickly with me does it!

I can't get my act together for this project and today was a good failure. I downloaded yesterday's picture and forgot to put the memory card back in the camera. So I came to take the photo of the day today and no memory card.

BUT - all is not lost - the camera has a built in internal memory too. Great

Well great if you know what the heck you did with the lead that came with the camera that you have never used and the camera is 6 months old and quite frankly it could be ANYWHERE!!!

So, there MIGHT be a photo of the day one day for today. IF I ever find the lead.

I do, however, have a new page to share which I kind of like. It was made using another of Dawn's wonderful Photo emphasis templates and also her happiness and nature walk kits.

The photo is of Nigel at Arne - a place we love.

 
I love the picture and so it was perfect to use on a page where the picture was the main emphasis.

Today I am thankful for

• keeping my focus when I heard something quite distressing
• being home, having Nigel and the cats and good friends

  

and finally - in those infamous words ... 'a little something for the weekend'.

These are some amazing chalk drawings on pavements or sidewalks. They are all completely flat and just look so dimensional.

 

 

Brand new goodies and a poor old bear

I am a bit of an arctophile .. a teddy bear lover.

We always say ...'no more bears' and somehow it just seems to happen. We end up with new bears. Some come and some go and some remain lifelong friends, such as this little chap who came to take assemblt today.

He didn't always look like this. Hew all new and shiny once. I had this teddy for Christmas when I was 2  as this photo shows.

He was actually one of twins. His twin brother was a little bit older, having been bought when I was first born, and was a little shabby and so I had a 'spare' that year. And just as well really. The twin bear (with a blue ribbon) slept with me along with his twin brother in the red. They slept with me for years and were still sleeping with me when I was 15 and went to Majorca on holiday. I only took 'blue' with me as two bears  was simply one bear too many to pack.

It was then that disaster struck. He got left behind in the bed. We tried ringing, we had friends who were still out there and they tried, but no joy. Poor teddy had vanished and I am sure was comforting a little Spanish child by then. So 'red' has the love of two lavished on him.

That's why he looks quite 'real'. Those of you who know and love The Velveteen Rabbit will know exactly what I mean by that. Much of his fur has been loved off, he has a few fairly serious holes which can't be repaired as the surrounding fabric is weak and tired, he has a very nasty stain from helping me make enamel badges when I was about 7, but he is still loved and cherished every single day. He is special and irreplaceable. And he made a great focus for assembly.

That's the old ... now I have some new. A new page made with stunning new stuff from Dawn released today at her Scrapbookgraphics store.

She has some new photo templates (I adore her templates) and also some more of those cute plastic pockets and a great set of nibbled and chewed masks.

This page took me ages to make as there are lots and lots of layers, but I am pleased I did it as it is a great summary of a fab year in 2011.

 
Today I am thankful for

feeling a little better

the strength to stay as positive as possible

a full fridge that is COOL in every sense

My one minute devotion today is lovely and reminds us of the special people who touch our lives.

Carmen is what Victorian novelists would call simple. She can barely read, she’s not very good at remembering names, and her conversation doesn’t go much beyond “How are you today?” Sixty years old now, she still lives with her mother, and when she comes to church and sits in the pew, there’s something of an eight-year-old about her. She alternates between rapt attention and fidgeting, her head swirling to the back of the sanctuary to see who’s there, her feet swinging from the pew.

And yet, Carmen has an intuitive sense about people. When new people come to church, she makes a beeline for them at the coffee hour, grabs them by the hand, and leads them to meet others. When a parishioner has been away for a long time, she goes up to that person with a big smile and puts out her hand. When a name has been read from the pulpit with a request for prayers, she’ll give whoever it is a hug later in the back of the church. I remember her best at our wedding, when she appeared at church in her prettiest party dress and shiny Mary Janes, wreathed in smiles as she celebrated our happiness.

Some people are a gift by their presence: the calming influence at a contentious meeting at work; the good listener who makes you feel better just by hearing your concerns; the enthusiast who adds energy to a room the moment she walks in the door. What is comforting about Carmen is her goodness. Her kindness arrives unedited, disarming everyone she meets. She brings out the best in people through simple warmth. That’s her gift.

Still on a 3

I guess life is about balance.

You weigh up the good and the bad and some days the balance tips one way and sometimes it tips the other and sometimes, within the course of a day it swings from one side to the other with no real rhyme or reason.

So let's not dwell on the negative swing today - positive thinking is the best healing in the world anyway.

Let's look at the positive. When I came home from work - sadly early again :( - there was a brand new shiny fridge in situ. It's not on yet as we have to wait six hours before switching it on, but it looks very smart. It is all silver and shiny and there are lots of different shelves and drawers and stuff. We are, quite sadly, very excited about the switch on later. Heck, based on past form we'll just be glad if it cools.

Photo of the day - fridge inspection.

I have something very different to share today - very unusual for me and a totally new departure.

UKS are having an art journal journey. I have never really 'got' art journals. They are generally not my style and the only ones I had ever seen were paper based and by their very nature not something I would ever do as it was messy and involved paint and gesso and glitter and ink and stuff. So totally not me.

However, it was made clear there are digital art journals and that this is fine too. And looking on digital sites - wow - there are loads of them.

I am not sure I am 'free' enough or 'creative' enough for this art form, although everyone says there are no rules and whatever you do is fine because it is you.

However, I figured you never know if you don't try. So on Sunday I did try and this is my first ever art journal page.

I'm not sure quite how I feel about it. However, I am determined to try and make myself  a digital art journal exploring my creativity. We'll see eh! What I will say is that I was very touched by the generous comments everyone made on the boards.

Today I am thankful for

• tentative reassurance
• a new fridge

 

My one minute devotional calendar is, appropriate to today, about art and life.

 When I was a little girl, I loved coloring books more than anything. I’d choose a purple crayon for the leaves of a tree instead of the expected green, and my mother, a first-grade teacher, would smile and pronounce it perfect. “If leaves look purple to you, honey, then that’s the color they are,” she’d assure me. “Don’t worry about what other people say.”

But when I grew up and had my own home, I found myself monitoring the trends portrayed in glossy decorating magazines. Before long I was succumbing to them. Better not paint the family room buttery yellow; hunter green is in this year. And Use an antique Hoosier kitchen cabinet for a desk? What would the neighbors think?

Then one day this year, when I was out shopping, the craziest notion came to me: Buy a coloring book and a big box of crayons. Before long, I wasn’t just coloring leaves purple; I was coloring outside the lines. And enjoying every minute of it!

As I ignored the rigid rules of Coloring 101, I experienced a wonderful new freedom. Suddenly the world looked full of endless possibilities. When I nailed antique wooden shoe forms to a board to create a one-of-a-kind hat rack, I received compliments galore, a few of them even from the neighbors. Armed with newfound confidence, I retrieved that forgotten Hoosier cabinet from the garage, scooted a ladder-back chair up to its porcelain top, and had the most serviceable desk ever. Its little drawers are ideal for housing pens and paper clips.

This year I’m celebrating both my Creator and my God-inspired creativity … and coloring outside the lines every step of the way.

 Thank You, God, for the wondrous world You created. Help me to be fearless in beautifying my little corner of it.

 I just thought that was so apt for today - funny how that happens isn't it!

Not a 10 - more of a 3

Some days are 10s. You bounce along - well not literally but metaphorically speaking - and life is good. You feel a picture of health ... well apart from the arthritic knees, the duff ankle and the short and long sightedness ... and life is good. Other day .... mmmm, not so much. Some days are just plain poorly days and much as you try to pretend they are not, it sort of catches up on you and you end up just having to give in.
Thankfully they are not the norm. Thankfully they are few and far between. Thankfully it is a very minor blip compared to the awful stuff some people have to cope with. And actually, they serve to remind you not of your own fragility, but rather of how lucky you are that the poorly days stand out as odd rather than the good days being the unusual ones.

Plus, along the way there is ually a very very kind hubby who, as luck would have it, was working in a chemist today, and so was able to shop for what you needed. See, every cloud has a silver lining.

 
I will get better which is more than I can say for our fridge.

It was just two weeks ago I posted that we were a little disappointed that having steeled ourselves that we would need a new fridge and picking one out, the fridge was mended after all. Mmmm .... seems not actually. It is back to not working againa nd the next stage would be to replace a fairly major part and we'd be looking at over £200 and still having a fridge that, to be honest, we didn't entirely trust. I am bored with throwing chicken away now and so last night, terrifying as it might be, we ordered a new fridge that arrives tomorrow. Bang goes any dreams of saving for an iPad!

However, we did manage to find it at Boots, £150 cheaper than the next cheapest, which was also a sale price at £200 less than usual, so a saving of £350 plus extra Virgin miles for shopping through their gateway plus air miles for using the Virgin card plus Boots advantage points - heck, it is almost like they are paying us to have the thing!

I guess it may - fingers crossed - be the picture of the day tomorrow.

I have a page to share today which was made for the weekly challenge on UKS.

It is very much a hybrid page as I made the butterflies digitally then printed and coloured, I made the word art digitally and printed.

 

The word art was fun to do and I had forgotten how much I like making those little title blocks up

The challenge included using butterflies and I do love butterflies. Not only are they pretty but they are also so symbollic.

 

Today I am thankful for

• giving in and being gentle with myself
• General good health ... too easy to take for granted.
• Nigel getting to do something he enjoyed today

 

My one minute devotional calendar page today was lovely and reminded me very very much of a trip we made to Big Pit in wales 25 years ago. It was the darkest blackest thing ever and I still can't beleive I managed it. My claustrophobia is worse now and I don't think I could do it now ... but I am glad I did it and could experience total blackness.

TOUR A COAL MINE! The billboard fairly shouted as we drove along Canada’s east coast. “Can we, Mom? Can we?” The two youngest kids, ages nine and ten at the time, were game to do anything that held even a hint of adventure.

“Oh, I suppose we could,” I replied without really thinking about it.

The grizzled old coal miner who acted as our guide handed each tourist a waterproof cape and helped us adjust the lights on our miners’ helmets. As we rattled down underground in the steel cage of an elevator, the guide proceeded to fill us in on the gory details of every disaster that had ever occurred in this particular mine. The elevator cage jolted to a stop at the bottom of the shaft. “Okay, everybody, turn the lights out on your helmets, so you can experience how dark a coal mine really is!”

The darkness was impenetrable. “Gee, Mom, I can’t even tell if my eyes are open or not!” our son exclaimed. Nor could I. We stood for a moment, experiencing the absolute absence of all light: pitch blackness. Scary, real scary. And cold, clammy cold.

“Okay, you can turn your lights on now and come this way.” The beam of light from my miner’s helmet caught the fluorescent heels of the running shoes worn by the tall tourist ahead of me. By bending my head just so, I could follow in his steps, while he, in turn, focused on the guide. Playing “follow the leader” spared me from succumbing to my absolute worst fear—being left alone in the twists and turns of that pitch-dark mine shaft.

The tour over, we squeezed back into the elevator cage. I held my breath as it creaked and groaned its way to the surface.

“That was neat, huh, Mom?” exclaimed our son. “What did you like best?”

“The fellow’s shoes who walked ahead of me,” I replied.

Father God, thank You for those whose lives are so focused on You that I can safely follow in their steps. And thank You for offering to be the guiding light to us all.

Week 3 completed

Today's post is brief as I have such a lot to do, but I did want to update my project 366.

I am managing, just about, to keep up with the Project 366 and I have completed my week 3 page. I meant to do it on Saturday but it just didn't happen. I managed to finish it last night.

I used Dawn's Muggles collection and also some of her Project 365 dates which I love. I also used some frames I have had for a while which I love.

It wasn't a very exciting week and so it is a very boring page, but I guess recording everyday life over the course of a year means a fair bit of it will be fairly  mundane.

I have been on a course about iPads todayand came home with a real burning desire to have one. I know I don't NEED one and I certainly don't have the money to buy one, but heck - they can do some cool stuff. They are certainly the way forward educationally too.

So here is my photo of the day - the closest I am likely to come to having my own LOL

Today I am thankful for

• emergency supplies I needed

Home Decor budget style

Today I have a home decor idea to share and some pretty general ramblings.

I did a fair bit of work yesterday so that I truly could have a day off - and a lovely day it has been too.

I have scrapped, I have read, I have watched TV and I have switched off and relaxed.

My photo of the day is the new bird feeder as Nij finished re-siting it where we hope it will stay.

I really hoped that we would see birds straight away but i knew that was unlikely and it would take them a while to get used to it.

So imagine our joy when we saw my favourite little bird of all, the robin, on the feeder. We had bought special robin suet cakes with mealworms (lovely!!!) and he obviously knew they were just for him and he has spent a lot of the afternoon on his little robin cake. So much so we doubt he can still fly!

We have also seen several tits - we think coaltits or great tits, but we think we have also seen greenfinches on there as well. I have spent a fair bit of the day just sitting and watching. And smiling.

I have a project to share today that I haven't shared before but was made a while ago. It is a clock for the library downstairs.

The clock was one I have had for ages and I think it was a Creating memories clock - just a big square piece of wood with the clock mechanism.

First I painted the edges and then I covered it with some beautiful paper. The paper is K and Co from the Blue Awning range  (my favourite range of papers ever)  It is just so subtle with browns and creams and blues - the perfect colours for the library. It is flocked and so has a lovely texture to it.

I cut several butterflies from an off cut of a wallpaper sample that we almost used int he room. The room is brown and cream with this bright peacock blue as an accent colour and it made the perfect thing to cut the butterflies from. I cut several and overlayed them to give real dimension.

I also made several paper roses from the same papers. I stamped some with text and added different inks to change the tones.

The letters were cut on the robo. I couldn't use chipboard as there wasn't quite enough clearance for the hands. They were cut from another paper sample we didn't use.

 

 

I love projects that are cheap to make and just take  little time to do.

Today I am thankful for

• a truly restful day and a good recharge of my batteries.