Dolly's Dreamings

A slightly more normal day - getting used to it.

I hadn't really appreciated I was retired until this week. The school had gone back as we left for our holiday and so I hadn't been at home when everyone one else was back at work. It is only since I have come home that I have started to realise all my friends and colleagues are working and I am not. It's a strange but very nice feeling.

We forced ourselves awake at 9 (we don't like to sleep that late really but jet lag is getting to us) and had a quiet morning before ambling down to Poole for a Starbucks and sitting ont eh quay int he sunshine watching the boats (OK Nigel was watching the boats and I was catching Pokemon).

There was a massive new boat in just built ... we watched it sail in and think it had been for a test sail. Incredible size. Sunseeker King Power

115.49ft | Sunseeker | 2016

The 115.49ft 116 Yacht motor yacht motor yacht 'King Power' is being built by Sunseeker in United Kingdom at their Poole, Dorset shipyard , she is scheduled to be delivered to her owner in 2016. Her elegant exterior and interior styling are the work of Sunseeker, who is also responsible for her engineering.

Accommodation

King Power's interior configuration has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 10 guests overnight in 5 cabins, comprising a master suite, 2 double cabins and 2 twin cabins. She is also capable of carrying up to 5 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience.

 

 

Bit bigger than your average dinghy then!

I also did a little scrapping with a new collection by Jumpstart designs called Our Magical Place - can't think why it appealed to me LOL !!!

 

 

First scrapping of our holiday - well first I can share

 

 

There are loads of bargains out there for Digital Scrapbook Day.

Don't forget to check out Dawn's bargains in her store HERE

 

 

and you can snag things like Vagabond

 

Petrified

 

 

 

 

and Little Things Matter Most

 

 

 

 

 

 

and loads of bargains at PBP HERE

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely day - liking the sun and retirement
• a nice smart lawn
• getting back on my scrapping horse

 

SATURDAY 10th  September 2016

Starting mileage 36130

Day started 7.40

 

Ending mileage 36334

Day ended  3.40/6.50

 

Total miles 204

 

We enjoyed a very good night’s  sleep... No fleas we knew of ... and a later start at 6.15 ...whoooo. That was almost a lie in. It was the sort of holiday where we would be up and off early making the most of daylight hours.

 

Breakfast was fine ... Though the knives were the thinnest plastic I have ever used. They made Amsterdam look robust! Maybe they are trying to cut down on waste products and that is why they make them so slim. If that is the case then maybe they ought to consider silverware and a dishwasher! Mmmm …. Just a thought.

We stopped for our first Starbucks on the road .... I am hooked on their unsweetened green tea lemonade. It is so refreshing. I also snagged a lovely Seattle Starbucks card ... I collect them ... No idea why ... And gained a dozen new ones this trip including a California, a Portland and an Orange County.  Once collected, Yes I am aware it is sad. We then headed towards Seattle, a new place for us to visit and we were not sure what to expect from it.

The bridges in Washington were quite iconic ... We saw so many of them. We hadn't seen anything like them before and there were so many. They were beautiful in their own way and we wanted to capture just a couple of them as they were such an iconic part of the state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first glimpse of Mount Rainier was impressive ... The mountains keep getting bigger. First there was Mount Shasta then Mount Hood and then Mount Rainier. We later learnt from Chris that they were all part of the ring of fire ... The same ring of fire that formed Hawaii too. We also learnt that it was not common to have clear days where Mount Rainier was visible from the city so we were very lucky.

 

 

 

Hold that thought for tomorrow’s installment when we actually visited Mount Rainier. The weather was perfect ...blue skies ... No clouds and little traffic.

The sat nav was apparently set to shortest route … I later corrected that … as it took us to the Boeing factory a hell of a way ... Though we did get awesome views of Seattle. However if we never see traffic lights again we won't mind. It was a long long long road with literally dozens of sets of lights. I think we just might have traded the great view of the city which lasted for five minutes for a road that didn’t have lights every quarter of a mile that went on for miles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived in good time but no chance of an earlier tour. Nigel looked round whilst I sat on the sun deck, sorry, observation deck.

I saw the BA 787 Dreamliner take its first flight, do an aborted test take off and then a real take off. I filmed it for Nigel though I didn't have a clue how significant it was. I was just following what everyone else was looking at. It was only when we were on the tour and they explained what had been happening in the morning that I realized what I had seen. See, I knew it was worth just filming what everyone else was filming with no idea what it was. It meant Nigel got to see it too.

 

 

 

I even managed to buy Nigel birthday presents from the Boeing store. No mean feat as he is jolly hard to buy for. Then we did the tour.

It was fab. There was lots of walking but it was truly fascinating. The building is the biggest in the world and it was huge. It was big enough to house the whole of Disneyland and have room for 7 acres of parking. We saw 747, 787 and 777 being built. It was awesome and so interesting to see these huge beasts in different stages of production and learn so many facts. The facts were fast and furious and there is no way we will remember them, but we will remember the experience. It is one of a kind and I would recommend anyone to do it. The tour was not at all expensive and even for someone like me not really interested in planes it was a great experience. Nigel loved it – it had been a dream of his for a long time to go to visit the factory.

 

 

 

 

 We came back into Seattle and found the hotel and garage really easily. It really was right off the interstate.  We checked in but didn't even go to our room as we had stuff we wanted to see whilst it was daylight. We went  straight down Pine Street to Pike Place. Interesting that it was filled with all the posh shops like Tiffany, Barneys, Nordstroms, etc yet one block down was scummy. I didn't like Seattle much as it had lots of homeless and a feel like San Fran. Neither of us are really ‘city people’, far preferring to explore the open spaces. The designer shopping doesn’t interest us at all, however there was ONE shop there that DID interest us!

 

WE arrived at Pike Place when it was brilliant sunshine and very very humid and it was crowded and vibrant. It was so colourful with all of the flower sellers and I especially loved the stalls selling multi-coloured peppers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we queued in the sun listening to street performers waiting to go into the first ever Starbucks.

 

 

 

The store itself was tiny and the queue was long, but we were well entertained whilst we waited. It was a bit of a pilgrimage for us and yes, we bought souvenirs. Of course we bought souvenirs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we walked to the Hard Rock for dinner and more souvenirs and on to Cheesecake Factory for take out dessert. Could a small area of any city have been more perfect for us. Starbucks, our favourite drinking venue, Hard Rock, our favourite dinner venue (veggie leggie … superb) and The Cheesecake Factory our favourite dessert venue. (I am shocked at how many cheesecake factory trips we had this holiday … it was a little extreme)

 

We spent the evening catching up on photos etc.  and having an early night in gorgeous room with city views, an awesome shower (the bathroom was bigger than some hotel rooms) and the coolest blinds ever. I loved I could open and close them from bed. It is very rare for us to stay in a higher end hotel and whilst I felt a bit uncomfortable in the lobby areas, I could get used to the luxury of the room.

 

 

 

We usually stay budget and this was our luxury stop. We wanted to be in walking distance of everywhere so paid the premium for a fab hotel. Never ever had a bathroom that nice even in Vegas. Bigger than some of the rooms we have stayed in. Love it. I could get used to it. I won't!

 

 

Slowly slowly - and Trip Day 1 and 2

I am slowly slowly sorting my computer out.

Goodness me it is taking an age.

There is so much to copy and transfer and upload and organise. It took me over an hour just to find the font programme I use, which is now no longer compatible, to reinstall the new version, find all my font, decide which to use and install those. I do like my fonts though. Then there was the issue with the Silhouette, the printer and so it goes on.

And I am still without Office. I hope to have that installed by the end of the day.

All of this when what I actually want to do is just scrap.

 

Obviously I don't have new scrapping today but I do have scrapping news.

 

 

 

Do check out Dawn's store here

 

I am also not sure if - due to being away and the computer crash - I ever shared this page I made with Dawn's Artful Imagination ensemble

 

 

 

or this with her Precious Moments collection

 

 

the best thing to do is go visit her store - seriously!

 

Today I am thankful for

• sleeping for a couple of hours! I thought I wasn't jet lagged but I lay awake until 2 am and then was dead to the world when Nigel forced me awake at 8 knowing it was the right thing to try and re-set my body clock. I am guessing the hour nap at lunchtime was a bad thing!!! Ssssh don't tell him
• my new computer slowly starting to take shape

 

 Now on to the trip and two days today as they were not really holiday days but 'get there' days. When we planned the trip we had originally planned to fly to San Francisco and then get a connecting flight to Seattle where the holiday would start. Good plan. Trouble was we couldn't get a guaranteed connection flight that day so would have had to stay overnight in San Fran and fly first thing int he morning thus not getting to Seattle until the Friday. The costs of the flights were cheapish at about £100 each but we would have to pay a lot in excess baggage as the luggage allowance was nothing like the allowance we would fly the Atlantic with. Then the real killer was the car hire. They were charging us a £400 surcharge on top of the hire costs of we wanted to pick a car up in Washington and leave it in California. So it was a no brainer. We decided to fly to San Fran, drive a few hours that first day, sleep, drive most of the way on Day 2 and thus see more of the country, save hundreds of pounds and start exploring straight away. Well that was the rationale. Consequently the first two days saw a lot of travel as a means to an end. We didn't expect to enjoy it as much as we did and our holiday really did start early.

So the rationale of the trip - see as much as possible of the West Coast of America prompted by Nigel's desire to see Boeing, mine to see Crater Lake and our bucket list must do of Hearst Castle and the Redwoods. The trip was built from those ideas and it grew. Oh my it grew. I have never done so much research for any holiday and in the end - some of it we just winged!!!

So, as they were just travel days and we didn't do anything other than travel really, two days in one today.

 

 

THURSDAY 8th September 2016

Starting mileage 35463
Day started 4.10

Ending mileage 35638
Day ended 9.40

Total miles 175 driving 6000 flying

Tim collected us just before 6 and apart from missing the turn to the M25 it was all good and we arrived Just after 8. We never even touched our cases! It is such a nice way to travel and it means we don't have so many trips but they are special...and thanks to our Virgin miles we earn with everything ... All is good. You have to love free stuff - well free-ish stuff.

Bought vodka and new aftershave and then enjoyed breakfast. Nigel enjoyed a full English whilst I prepared for the trip and had pancakes and scrambled egg .... With syrup of course.
Two champagnes and we were ready to go ...relaxed, chilled and ready for our biggest road trip ever.

We Boarded very quickly. It is so much nicer turning left ...8A and 9A .... And getting a champagne to smooth the take off. We were held a little at the gate and took off 30 minutes late but we knew they would make up the time.

 

 

It was a very smooth flight ... Perhaps what they say about the Dreamliner is true ... and we managed a little sleep. Nigel watched Jungle Book and last man on the moon and I watched Me before You and Joy. We were both surprised and pleased with the Dreamliner Windows ...no more pull down blinds as the lighting and opacity is centrally controlled.

All in all it was a very nice flight which seemed to go more quickly than we dreaded. The West Coast is such a long way with an 11 hour plus flight.

Food was good and although we took off late we landed early. The tail wind and pilot skill pay off every time.

I think it was the smoothest arrival we have ever done.

We did auto check through immigration and car hire and we were in the car in an hour. Amazing. All our luggage made it to the car too ... no missing rucksacks left behind this year. We were extra vigilant this trip. They didn't have a mid size SUV that we had booked so we ended up with a 7 seater van for no extra charge ( we later found out it was cheaper anyway) which made it even better.
It's massive but perfect for our luggage. It was a white Kia Sedona and it meant wouldn't have to worry about our luggage being visible which was good as we had to everything with us in the car for the next 11 days. The windows were blackout out at the back so no-one would know we carried everything wherever we went. It was the sort of vehicle that would have looked stupid in England - in America it was by no means the biggest car on the road.  It did look like a brick though and I was too scared to drive it. Nigel said it was our tour bus.

 

It was a clear day - we were not expecting that in San Fran - and we had lovely views of downtown as we drove through

 

 

and onto the Bay Bridge - not so photogenic as its golden counterpart we would see later in the trip.

 

There was a major hold up from the Bay Bridge to Vallejo which took us almost two hours. Nigel coped really well bearing in mind it was 6.30 pm but in UK time it was 2.30 am he must have been shattered although we both felt the sleep,on the plain helped and we did genuinely feel like it was afternoon when we landed.

We stopped at Vacaville which was a really nice town and had a very quick Panda Express partly to re-fuel and partly as we had been longing for one since last August - and headed back out. Thankfully the traffic had gone and we saw a beautiful sunset behind the hills as we headed to Corning and our first night. I must have been tired as I forgot to take a photo of the room until the morning when we had slept in it. Most of our hotels on the trip were Best Westerns. We have always found them to be very reasonably priced ... not absolute budget and basic but nothing fancy. They all offered breakfast which was usually very good and they are always nice with spacious rooms and often really nice extra touches.

 

We arrived at 9.30 and repacked for the trip which meant everything back out,cases reorganised so only one ever had to go into hotels along with the electrical cabin bag and the toiletries cabin bag and in bed by 11... We didn't even feel shattered despite being up for more than 27 hours. Road trip here we come.

 

FRIDAY 9th September 2016

Starting mileage 35638
Day started 7.15

Ending mileage 36130
Day ended 7.40

Total miles 492 .... a big day and long

I managed 5 hours ...Nigel 6 but much better he sleeps as he is driving ...no way can I drive the huge van. It's a monster ... But it was transformed to an official tour vehicle .

We headed off in the sunrise on our way to what we hoped would be an amazing trip. And the sun was indeed shining.

First stop was at Shasta Dam, the second biggest dam in America and beautiful in the morning light. We went into the visitors centre which was beautiful ... So well thought out. It was huge and there was lots to read but we had lots to see so we didn't linger.

 

 

 

we walked around a little, enjoying the warmth and the views and a chance to stretch our legs

 

 

 

 

and we also captured a picture of our 'tour bus'. It was nice and shiny then. I wish we had taken a picture of it when we ended the trip. She was a little dirty with an impressive collection of dead bugs on the front!!!!

 

Went to another stop and took photos then went via Shasta Lake to Mount Shasta. We were going to go up Mount Shasta but the road was a little more than we could stomach and closed off. Just as well ... We would never have made it in the tour bus. Mount Shasta was the first of our many mountains of the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

We popped through some construction where they were doing pavement rehabilitation ... Got a love that phrase .... to get a drive through coke and then headed off to our first stop at Medford to buy trip supplies. We didn't know at that point that Medford was known as Methford due to the seedy nature of the town.Medford meant Oregon - a new state for us.

 

 

Medford provided plenty of opportunities, although it was very shabby to,begin with.

We had lunch at Panda Express ... Do you see a theme there? We do like their orange chicken and I like their chow mien.

WE saw a Michaels from there. Seriously ... I didn't search or anything (though I did already have a map to it as luck would have it) so it would have been rude not to call. The 12 x 12 albums were stupidly cheap and I bought three plus three packs of page protectors, plus 3 huge paper pads and 28 sheets of paper for $65 ... About £50

From there we went to Walmart to really set the road trip up. Snacks, Pepsi (I know we never drink Pepsi but they have take. Aspartame out so we have switched)water, air fresher ... We have to do,something about the smell in the car ... Stale smoke and air con. Not nice. We also bought windex to clean the windshield for, photos. And amazing bonus ... We got the nutter who stopped us in the aisle to tell us about McDonald's being a cult forcing us into canabalism by using embryos,in their food. Amazing ... It must be our built in nutter magnet again.

 

Back on the road and our first gas stop taught us it is state law in Oregon to have someone else do your gas. Handy.

 

We drove the I5 to Portland and the scenery was amazing... We climbed up to 4000 feet, down again, up again through endless glorious forests and small farming communities. Not a cloud in the sky, a steady 80 degrees and totally wonderful. Nigel was brilliant.Today was the day of the long drive and he must have been tired, but did so well. The scenery was wonderful  with lush forests, swathes of farmland, beautiful barns - just beautiful to drive through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The forests were endless - just amazing to see. Thick dense forests on all the mountainsides. 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner at Denny's was lush ... Really liked it ... We will be doing a Denny's again ... Huge choice, fast delivered and the sort of stuff we like.

 

Mount Hood was spectacular ... Just like bread and butter mountain. Nigel was sure it was... Turns out though it wasn't. But it sure did look like the Paramount logo ....it wasn't until after that I thought it might have been Mount Adams not Mount Hood.

 

 

 

We also saw an amazing huge pumpkin patch ... Massive field. I tried to snatch a photo but not great.

 

 

 

Portland was a city of bridges ... Quite amazing ... I was sad I didn't manage to capture them but it was dusk by then - and every other time we drove through Portland the sun was in the wrong direction or it was dark! Take it from me - bridges! 

A fascinating day

We had decided to stop at Vancouver (That is Vancouver Washington not British Columbia) The reason for choosing Vancouver was not because it was a beautiful town - it wasn't - but because it was the right distance. Many of our stops were based purely on convenient places along some very long routes. It meant as we left Portland and we crossed one of the bridges we entered Washington.

We had driven right through Oregon and not even stayed there - but that would come later.

 

 

I had initially booked a more expensive hotel but in the end went more budget - lesson learned! La Quinta ... Beautiful lobby but pet friendly means dogs have been in every room . I was terrified of fleas ...mental note never ever to stay in a pet friendly hotel again ... Unless I ever have a pet I can travel with. To be honest it was nothing to do with the fact they were dogs - I would have felt the same about cats. I know my cats have never ever had fleas except for when we bought the Bengals home as kittens and they were riddled and treated immediately. The vet checks every time and no - nada - never a one. I never worry about my friends dogs or cats as I know they take care of them too - it was the thought of random people who may not be so vigilant using the hotel. I also worry about any infections. When we take the cats to the cattery we have to show they are vaccinated etc. I'd worry taking my pet in case they caught something from the previous occupant. I mean hotel rooms are not like cattery kennels - they can't be cleaned down between each occupant. Anyway - enough of that. This is meant to be a holiday blog. Suffice to stay I wont be staying in a pet friendly hotel again. The lobby was stunning however.

 

 

No light in the bathroom, that didn't help the experience ... It was fixed when I was asleep after we had waited a looooooong time.

 

Actually a good nights sleep... and no bites!

And she is back in ALMOST every sense

You may have noticed that the blog was a little different of late.

That was for three reasons

1) I had no computer and I couldn't do a lot of the things I wanted to do without it including blog properly but I have picked up ,y new computer today and whilst I have a lot of work to do on it, I can at least access the internet and type

 

2) I wanted to celebrate my retirement with free stuff and classes

 

3) I have been away on what was really the holiday of a lifetime for the past three weeks.

 

But I am back now and normal service should be resumed soon. Once I get everything on my new machine I should be good to go.

 

However - the holiday ... wow!!

We knew it would be a biggie as it was a combined celebration for Nigel turning 60, our 30th wedding anniversary and - did I mention it - my retirement!!

 

We called it our WOW America tour (yes we like to have names for our trips and we make tour t shirts and everything) and the WOW stood for Way Out West as that what the trip was - a tour of the entire west coast of America - and inland bits between too.

 

 

Picture of us in tour t shirts at Gretta's house (Nigel's cousin) in Oregon.

 

The trip saw us fly into San Francisco and back out of LA and do some 3500 miles between, stay in 11 hotels and with family (the last hotel for a week thank goodness), take 6500 photos (and no I won't post them all, visit 4 National Parks, loads of state parks, two theme parks, shop ... a lot ... eat out endlessly and have a thoroughly amazing time. 

 

Word of warning, the next few days will have trip reports as well as usual scrapping so feel free to skip the trip reports and get to the usual stuff. It will all be posted here as this is my log of the entire trip for me to keep.

 

Highlights were many and included the Boeing Factory seeing 747s and Dreamliners being built,  seeing the first Starbucks in Seattle ( a bit of a pilgrimage for us), visiting Mount Rainier, Columbia River Gorge, meeting family in Oregon, visiting Crater Lake, seeing amazing sunsets over the Pacific, driving Big Sur, seeing the redwoods, falling in love with Carmel, seeing San Fran and LA again, staying in beach hotels listening to the ocean, doing a tour of Angel stadium ... his team for the past 35 years ... and going to Disneyland and California Adventures.

 

One of the things I did - just for fun - was keep a record of some f the places with the app Instagram weather so these are just a few of the highlights from that app. Not the best photos as they are quick snaps, unedited and reduced size. But it gives a flavour of three of the most amazing weeks we have ever had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 and the last week was a heat wave - all over the news and breaking California records ... this was the temperature in the car on Monday!

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• the most amazing holiday ever - such special times together
• travelling safely
• being home - no place like it
• my fur babies back where they belong, safe and well
• a new computer - I think!
• my washing machine - been running non stop today.

 

 

New Photobook

It is always exciting when a new photobook plops through the letterbox.  I love it. 

 

I never used to print my digital pages - probably just as well as to be honest they were not very good to begin with.

I had no idea about layers and shadows.

 

However, for the past two years I get them printed. People often ask what I do with them so as I have just had a new book delivered, here goes.

I use Photobox and have 8" x 8" square soft cover books printed. They are always 60 pages and a 60 page book is usually in the region of about £50 ... however, I just buy credits when they are on offer and get the books for £20 whenever they are on offer.

 

If you think how much it would cost to make 60 paper pages the cost is very very reasonable. I have 8 x 8 as they are smaller to store and plenty big enough to enjoy. The quality of the print is excellent and I am always really pleased with them.

I usually have 2 or 3 a year of the regular scrapping books and then will often have specials for example I did a Florida special for Nigel and a 60th special for Nigel.

 

This is the cover I made for the most recent one I have just had.

 

 

It just seemed like an apt cover for this one.

 I cannot wait to get the technology here sorted out so I can return to digital scrapping again. I am missing it so much.

I can also recommend their photobooks for photos. We have had two done - again on special offer. They were 160 page hardback A4 books and I spent £45 on each. When you think about the good old days when a roll of 36 film was about £3.50 and the developing costs were about £5 and for that you would possibly get 15 photos you liked, having 160 pages of high quality photos, many with two or three on a page makes this great value too. I have very strong feelings that today we are guilty of taking more pictures than ever but hardly anyget printed and framed and shared other than digitally.

Today I am thankful for

• Photobox
• special offers
• postmen... emails are nice but real mail is fabulous.

 

Home decor quickies

Firstly apologies for the lack of daily news. It is hard to do the blog properly without a machine and much easier to use things already formatted for posting that I can just copy and paste. I am sorry that it isn't as fresh as usual. I have everything crossed I will have a machine sorted soon.

 

So, in keeping with what I have been doing all month, I have a really quick and simple home decor fix for you today.

 

We redecorated our bedroom in a  completely new colour scheme a few years ago and I wanted everything to match and, just like now, I had time on my hands, though not as much as it was just a holiday, not a lifestyle choice.

 

The bedroom was aqua and cream and I made a heap of stuff including this clock and these little boxes.

 

 

Decorated Boxes by Scrapdolly

The two boxes I decorated were very cheap and ripe for decorating. The first, the hexagonal box, was made of balsa wood with a hinged lid. The second, the little chest, was papier mache board,

 

Let’s deal with the hexagonal box first.

I used acrylic paints to paint the box, inside and out, mixing the colours I wanted. It takes several coats of paint to base coat it and, if you are impatient like me, use a hairdryer to dry each coat thoroughly before moving on to the next. As the box is wood you need to sand it lightly between coats.

 

Once it was all painted I then sponged it with various shades of cream and blue to give it a bit of definition.

 

I inked the edges with white Brilliance ink to give it a more worn look.

 

I wanted the stamping to be very faded and delicate in keeping with a worn feel so I used a light brown ink to stamp the flourish round the sides and to stamp the design on the lid.

 

I used liquid pearls in a platinum colour round the lid and added thin cream rik rak round the centre as well.

I finished it off with a flower and gem stone brad.

 

The small chest was painted in the same way using acrylic paints, but you don’t need to sand this one down between coats.

I wanted a different effect on this box – a light splattering.

 

I use a stippling brush, but an old toothbrush will work just as well.

Cover the area with newspaper and use a cocktail stick or a scorer or similar to rub across the brush to flick and splatter the paint drops onto the box.

Not only does this give a nice effect, but it is very satisfying as well.

 

I used the same platinum liquid pearls to look like studs along the chest and some cream dots along the edge.

I stamped the word ‘enjoy’ on card, added eyelets and then tied this round the box with ribbon.

 

I stamped a butterfly twice on cream card, painted it to coordinate, and then stuck them back to back. I curled the wings slightly and then added him to the box with a foam pad.

Both boxes were really simple, but coordinate perfectly with the room and give that handmade touch.

I hope you have a go at decorating some for yourself and cant wait to see them.

 

Having little accents to pick out the new colours really tied the room together.

 

I did - of course - go a few steps further and repainted the table lamps, made and trimmed new shades and made a tissue box as well!  They were burgundy to begin with - before I sprayed them with stone effect cream paint.  I couldm't find lamps the right size and colour and I did like the size of the ones I had. Seven years on and they still look good as new

 

 

 

 

The tissue box was just covered with some of the wallpaper and the same trim I used on the lamps.

 

 

and the full effect of the room! The photos were taken before we changed the carpet to a cream which matched the new room. It only stayed pink for a week!!!

 

This was the before

 

 

and this is after

 

 

 

 

and my favourite bit of the bedroom decor - something I didn't make - my butterfly fairy lights.

 

 

Free accordion album class

I promised I would celebrate my first month of freedom with some freebies so I have another today - this one made as a part of a blog hop promotion - a very simple accordion album.

 

This is a very simple accordion book to use as a display item at home. I used a Woodware base for mine, but it would be just as easy to cut the squares from a very thick cardboard. If you want it to stand up you need to make sure the card used is reasonably thick and substantial.

The step by step here is very simple as the design is very straightforward. At the end of the post there is also a PDF file you can download that has all of the instructions and pictures and makes for an easy reference sheet if you want to create this project. The supplies given are for the book I made. Obviously you will vary them according to what you want to create.

Supplies

 

• Woodware accordion album (4 sheets of wood with slots pre-cut)  My ‘pages’ were 6” square.
• K and Co Amy Butler papers
• K and Co Amy Butler mat stack
• K and Co Amy Butler chipboard letters
• Assorted ribbons, some of which need to be sheer
• Assorted blooms, stickers, die cuts
• 8 photos
• Journalling pen
• Stickles glue
• Herma permanent adhesive
• Double sided tape
• Sewing machine
• Hole punch/cropadile/sharp knife
• Corner rounder

Step by Step

• When making any sort of mini book I find it is much quicker to assemble all the supplies before you start. That way you have everything coordinated and ready and you can complete the book really quickly.

• Having everything coordinated means that the book works as a whole thing. It doesn’t seem disjointed.

• There are so many coordinated ranges out there that the job is made even more simple, although there is a thrill putting together your own selection mixed and matched from lots of different ranges.

• When making mini books I prefer to think of each page as a separate scrapbook page, work on it as a separate page and then assemble them all together as a final stage.

• I cut all of my background papers first – 8 squares each 6” x 6”. This meant that I knew what colours my 8 bases were and could ensure they were balanced before I started.

• 6” x 6” is a perfect size as it means you get 4 ‘pages’ out of each 12” x 12” sheet.

• One of the things you can do to make a book work better together as a whole is repeat ideas and designs throughout. You might want to have several elements which are used on many of the pages. For this book I used doodled photo mats, doodled flowers, glitter, scalloped edges and stitching as my repeated elements. Not all elements were used on every page, but by mixing and matching them you get a cohesive look at the end of it.

• The doodled mats are simple to do and quite effective when making a mini book.

• Cut the mat to the size you wanted

• Using a black journaling pen draw two parallel lines all round the mat. You are NOT looking for perfection. The beauty of doing this is that it is hand drawn and whimsical. You don’t want ruler straight lines.

• Once you have drawn the lines, use the pen to colour in small blocks between them. Again, you are not looking for a regimented design of small small large etc. Mix the sizes and spaces up so it is as random as possible.

• Once you have finished your mat add the photo to it and you are good to go.

• I didn’t use doodled mats on all of my pages and I did vary some of them using dots and swirls instead.

• One of the ways of tying something like a mini book together as a whole is to use scraps of the papers to make the embellishments.

• In keeping with the doodled theme I drew doodled flowers for many of the pages.

• Again you are not looking for perfection. You are looking for a freestyle where petals are uneven and double lined.

• Once you have doodled them cut them out leaving a small border.

• As the letters I used had little bits of bling on, I added stickled glue to the edges of the petals and to the centres of the smaller flowers. The larger flowers had tiny felt blossoms stuck in the centre.

• I love sewing on pages as it gives extra detail. It is very easy to use a sewing machine, but good effects can be achieved with hand sewing and with faux stitching where you just draw or stamp the stitches on.

• Faux stitching is very simple – if you are going for a faux zigzag just stick the shape to the background and use a regular journaling pen and draw the zigzags over the edge of the shape to make it looks as if it is stitched to the background.

• Big simple shapes make good background detail to the page. I used circles which were sewn on for several of the pages and also used a large heart which was stitched on to the background paper.

• Once you have completed all the pages it is time to assemble the book as a whole.

• The album I used had slots cut in the wood so that the book could be joined together. If you are using a book like this then it is much easier to cut the slots in your pages before you mount it all together. I marked where the slots had to be on each page by using a pricking tool to prick through and then cut the slots with a craft knife.

• If you are making your own base from thick chipboard then you could punch the holes with a crop-a-dile either before you mount the pages to the base or after if they are not too thick.

• You need to make sure that your individual pages are stuck down very well to the album. I prefer to use Herma permanent adhesive as it is just my glue of preference. I lie the page on top of the base as I glue so that I can go right to the edge each time and any spare glue only goes on the base – which is a good thing!

• If you have ‘lumpy’ pages, which I often do, or simply if you prefer to use it, double sided tape is the answer.

• Make sure you lay the tape right up to the edge of the page as you want a good firm stick right along every edge with no loose bits.

• Once you have assemble the individual pages to both sides of the base boards you need to join it all together to make the display album.

• I joined mine with ribbons. I chose to use very sheer ribbons for joining the pages so that if they were in front of pictures they would not detract from them.  I used fancier ribbons on the ends.

• A good tip I was given, and always use, is that I burn the edges of the ribbons,. I keep a lighter in the craft room and just flash the cut edge of the ribbon in front of the flame. This seals the edge and stops it from fraying and is the most effective method I have found.

• Do be CAREFUL though. It is a naked flame and the ribbons catch and melt very quickly.

  I hope that you enjoy making one of these.

If you find these instructions at all useful and if you make one I would love you to let me know and share it with me if possible. Just drop me a line on my blog.

If you want to download the full PDF which can be printed easily then you can download it HERE

Thank you for stopping by and do please visit again. I often have free downloads and classes on the blog.

Old class and new class news

I have enjoyed browsing through my old classes - though some are terribly dated and not what I would do now. It has been quite cathartic to look at the old back up files.

However it has made me decide I will be doing new classes later this year. If I ever get a new computer that is. Looks like it may now need to be a new machine. Oooh goodie - just when I have stopped earning I get to buy a new computer!

I cannot believe it was 6 years ago that I did my 52 in 10 class. I offered it as a freebie and kept up a whole year posting a prompt and a page for everyone every single week for the entire year.

 

So please ... watch this space if you are interested in some new classes I will be offering.

 

Meanwhile ... and old class page that still works and is still something that might kick start a few mojos.

 

 

Obviously mine is a page about the Fiki monster but you can make it about any topic and there are some interesting tecchniques you may want to use on other pages and projects.

 

The PDF is here

 

Download Action by Scrapdolly

 

or download here

 

and this is the text for the intro and supplies list  if you can't download the pretty PDF

Action … by Scrapdolly

This is a really quick and simple page that can become as fancy as you want it to be.
The supplies are limited and it is the sort of page you could leave quite plain or dress up and go to town with.
You can adapt this page to suit any theme – the only limit is your imagination.
The supplies given are for this page here, but you can adapt them in so many different ways.
The great thing is it uses scraps and part sheets of papers! dig into that scraps box and get creative.
Please remember this class is provided free so please don’t use it an call it your own. Share the blog address with friends so they can download their own.
And once you have made your version, please share it by uploading it and do let me know by sending me a PM or by posting on my blog. (http://dollysdreamings.typepad.com ) The reason I love doing these classes is because I love seeing what you all come up with.

 

Supplies

• One sheet of cardstock for the background and one sheet of black cardstock

• Scraps or part sheets of coordinating patterned papers.

• Chipboard/felt.vinyl, die cut letters

• Various buttons

• Embroidery floss

• Journalling spot or large scallop punch

• Journalling pen

•Journalling pens in black and white • Scallop edge punches – optional • 1 photo approx 7” x 5” and 3 photos 2 “ x 3”

• Stamnps and ink – optional

Have fun and do watch out for new classes coming later this year

 

Today I am thankful for

• the number of people in the scrapping community who have inspired me/had faith in me/ laughed with me/shared with me

 

Epcot - but other uses too

OK - in keeping with my month of giving classes and ideas away now I am enjoying a life of luxury - and I have had a lovely leisurely day today -  this one is perfect for those of you who, like me, love Disney.

 

I knew there was a reason I kept all of this archive material. It was for the days when I had no decent computer to create with. I am missing my digital scrapping enormously and am grateful to Dawn Inskip and also everyone at Pickleberrypop for being so understanding about the fact I cannot keep my commitments at the moment. There is no way this machine could cope with Elements!

 Anyway - on to the class for today ....

It is an Epcot Page that is really simple to do

 

 

 

I often do pages with just one picture, but then I also go to the other extreme and do crazy pages with lots of pictures. There are 11 different countries represented at Epcot and I wanted to use them all and include information about them. Then of course I also needed to include the iconic Epcot image – the geosphere. This page crams it all in. Each of the tags – sewn on at the edges – lifts up to reveal journaling about that land.

It would be a great page to use for maybe a birthday party or event where you had lots of pictures which were not good enough to be included as full size shots but which told a story and needed to be included.

I loved the fact that I could use both portrait and landscape shots. If you have index prints from developed pictures they could be used on the tags, or you could just crop and print your own.

All in all it’s a fun page and a neat way of using 12 pictures and loads of journaling without it looking horribly busy.

 

Supplies

• 1 sheet of patterned paper (I used a K and Co map paper to fit my theme)
• 1 sheet of cardstock  (I used a cream Bazzill)
• Scraps of card for journaling under the pictures
• Rubber stamps
• Journalling pen
• Chalk inks
• Circle cutter
• Sewing machine (optional of course)

 

Step by step

• I printed 11 small pictures (you don’t have to use 11 – use whatever number you fancy)        2 ¼ “ x 1 ½ “ making some portrait and some landscape. You don’t have to use this size – work with what you are planning for your page. Or use ready printed index shots
• I printed one picture 5” x 7” but then I cropped it down a bit.
• Mount the main picture on white card to make it pop.
• Cut a circle from the cardstock approximately 7” in diameter
• Write or stamp your title. I used clear stamps for mine but you could use letter stickers. The Basic Grey stickers would be a fab size for this.
• Slot the picture through the circle and trim off the excess picture from the left hand side so it doesn’t poke out of the circle frame.
• Cut 11 (or however many you are using) strips of cardstock just a tiny bit wider than the pictures and mount the pictures.
• I didn’t want the pictures to look even so I varied the length of the strips.
• Journal a title on each strip if you want one then stick just the very edge of the strip to the background paper.
• I then sewed my strips onto my paper using a simple running stitch. You don’t  have to do this. If you use a small strip of double sided tape it will secure it, but I thought the stitches looked kind of cute.
• I then decorated the blank spaces on the tags with postage stamped impressions. Use whatever suits your theme. Primas would look cute on a girlie page.
• Journal on small strips of scrap card and stick this under the tags. The journaling can be read when the tags are flipped up.
• Stick the main picture and its circular mount onto the backing paper and you are done!
• If you do use this class and upload it anywhere, please credit it as a class and please post a comment on my blog with a link as I really really do like to go and look at what you have done.

 

And just for the heck of it - this is another variation

 

 

 

 

and a third ... I do have a serious number of Disney albums!!!  Including an entire Epcot World Showcase album just showing the features of each country.  I really ought to stop witht he Disney - but let's face it - it is never going to happen.

 

 

Technique Tuesday - an oldie but a goodie

OK - so I am sticking with the Technique Tuesday for a while - just to see how it goes - and this week I have a class I ran oddles of years ago which I still get asked for.

 

 Exploding boxes make great gifts and they are really easy to make and such fun to fill and give as gifts.

 

I have uploaded a file you can download if you have never made an exploding box and would like to try one. They are really simple, great fun to make and great little gifts.

 

Download Microsoft Word - exploding box class for blog

 

It was actually written for this box here which was used in a magazine.

 

 

 

These are others I have made

 

 

 

 

I guess writing a  post like this I am thankful for

• keeping files for years in a relatively organised way

 

Quick and simple mini book

Still trying to post freebies this month as I am really enjoying being free myself.

Some questions first.

Do I have a new mother board .... NO

Is my computer back ....NO

Am I happy about it .... NO

Am I getting better at being chilled about things .... ABSOLUTELY 100% YES

 

However, onto a class.

This is a really simple mini book and it was a class I used at school when I ran scrapping classes for the children. So many girls have made these little books and loved them.

It is a very very simple book and uses many ideas that I have gleaned from around cyber world. I am very keen to stress it is not unique and I owe credit for some of the techniques - the little tab and 'buckle' page to the Sleeping Under canvas mini book by DeeMo that was part of the most recent UKS cyber crop. The flap and fold page was also in that class but I have used that before and I picked that up from another mini book I saw on You Tube. I guess there are few new and unique ideas, the differences are how they are combined.

This mini book uses a very simple binding rather than a stitched or matchbook binding that I usually do.  

 

This is the front of the mini book - cats of course.

I have used the book to record the cats in 2012 so all of the pictures were taken last year.

Here are the rest of the pages

It uses just two sheets of 12" x 12" cardstock, two pieces of chipboard and scraps of card and patterned paper and is really really simple to make. I like simple!

These are the downloadable instructions in a PDF

If you make one I would love to see it so drop me a comment and a link so I can come look.

 

Enjoy creating and celebrating my freedom with me