Dolly's Dreamings

The end of Scraptember and a second birthday

I don't know where the days go - I really don't. Suddenly we blinked and the boyz were two.

It is always a mixed day when we get to the 28th. On the one hand we mourn for our beautiful Fiki Fox who passed away 2 years ago on 28th September at the age of 17. We miss him and his naughtiness, his love and affection, his huge green eyes terribly. Nothing could or would ever replace our first boy. On the other hand we also want to celebrate the second chance of feline happiness we had with the boyz. Born on the same day that we lost Fiki is no coincidence. Indy is so like Fiki but a smaller, calmer scaled-down version. And in so many ways Koda is like a bigger more nervous, more stubborn version of our little Kira Monkey. But Indy and Koda are their own selves too and they delight us ever day. They are loving and adorable and fill our home with joy every single day. We are both besotted by them and they wrap us round their little paws. Of course we celebrated their birthday but I won't bore you with too many photos. After the castle debacle last year where it was too too huge, Nigel was warned to scale things down, and he did. I requested a Game of Throne tribute and oh my goodness he did so well, building the boyz (and their mummy) an Iron Throne.

 

 

They are, of course, cats and so we haven't got the much longed photo of them sitting on the iron throne yet but we hope it will come

 

 

 

 

 

and birthday cake of course

 

 

 

and just because he is a poser!

 

I have some new scrapping to share all completed as part of the Scraptember challenges. 30 days, 30 different prompts and I love the pages that I created for it. These are the last few days

 

 

 

 

This is one of some of the 30 baby blankets I have made for the Ukraine relief appeal

 

 

and of course - the Iron Throne

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• all the love Fiki ever gave us - he was so special
• the joy our two boys bring
• a very clever creative husband
• autumn - it is truly here at last

and these were just too cute not to share

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mega new releases for Digital Scrapping Day

Wow wow wow - the goodies at Pickleberrypop today are awesome. We are celebrating Digital Scrapbook Day in style with loads of special value new collections and I was lucky as part of my creative team work to work with so many of them this week.

 

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Follow the fox collection by Jen Yurko

 

 

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DSD Grab Bag Friends for Life by Just Because Studios and Lorie M Designs

 

 

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Your Majesty Bundle by Kakleidesigns

 

 

 

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Calendar 2023 by Natali Designs

https://pickleberrypop.com/shop/2023-Calendar-All-in-One.html

 

 

 

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Beautiful Colors bundle and FWP transfers by Chunlin Designs

 

 

 

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Forest Treasures Bundle plus FWP gift by TirAmisu Designs

 

 

 

 

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Creative Soul Collection by Bellisae Designs

 

 

 

I had such fun this week. Do go and check out all of the special offers to celebrate Digital Scrapbooking Day - and remember - they work for hybrid projects too

 

A first and some art

I have been t art today - doing my own thing whilst I can as I am teaching for the next month - and am in process of an Autumn painting as our fall decorations will be going up on 1st October. I wanted to paint a picture to go up just for the Autumn. Not sure it will work but we will try.

 

I have also made my first ever process video (and no I am not sharing it here as I am not proud of it - but it is on my You Tube channel . I will learn and get better I am sure.

 

I have a bit of new scrapping to share. This is the page I made the process video for

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and these are a few other pages made recently

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• creative pursuits
• art and scrapping

 

And these were just cute pictures from the Internet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn is coming and I'm loving it

Firstly I cannot remember if I posted that I do NOT need to have my eyes redone. I had my checkup and the consultant said it was fine, the hole was there and was good enough and I cannot tell you how relieved I am. I am now back to annual check ups which is a relief.

 

We took a trip out to the forest today and we even found some glorious Autumn leaves. I can't tell you how happy I am that Autumn is coming - it is my favourite season of the year and it warms my heart.

Some selfies (Oh you should have seen the bad ones where we were looking at different places or barely in the picture) and the light was a wonderful soft light that made us look a little smoother. I would like that light all the time!

 

 

 

 

 

I also have some new scrapping to share.

 

This is from our trip to Lyme Regis

 

 

and these are a few more pages completed over the last few days or so

 

and the Cornwall album is finished (only took a year!!!)

 

I was also one of the creative team doing this week's sketch at Scrap a Sketch

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely day out
• eyes that don't need more fiddling with
• AUTUMN!!!!

A mini vacation

Yesterday we went out for the day - just the day - and yet we both said we felt like we had been on a mini vacation. It was lovely.

We headed off to Lacock Abbey and Village first of all and it is so quintessentially English and beautiful. Cue photo overload ... much of the village has been used in films such as Downton Abbey, Cranford, Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harry Potter's parents' house

 

a legacy of the window tax

 

And then we went to the abbey itself - again used extensively in Harry Potter films

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those new back steps for the patio are looking good!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there we went to Castle Combe which is another absolutely gorgeous village

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished off with some retail therapy at Swindon outlet mall and had some dinner before coming home. It really was a lovely day.

 

I guess, because most of you come here for scrapping, I ought to do some of that too ... one of the trip to Lyme Regis last week

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely trip out
• relaxation
• photography - we do love it

 

 

Berry Big Deals now active

It's that time of the month when the designers over at Pickleberrypop offer their Berry Big Deals, lots of collections which all coordinate and are at a bargain price.

In the interests of full disclosure, I remind you I work with these for free in order to promote them as part of the Creative Team at Pickleberrypop but they truly are aweome.

 

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The Stories we Tell BBD Bundle by Chunlin Designs

 

 

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Beautiful Autumn Berry Big Deal bundle by Palvinka Designs

 

 

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Early Autumn Berry Big Deal Bundle by et Designs

 

 

 

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Another Day BBD Bundle by Natali Designs

 

 

Farewell your majesty

Nigel and I spent yesterday in front of the television for pretty much the entire day and I can’t remember the last time, if indeed there was a last time, that we ever did that. We both felt very strongly that we needed to be present and be a part of one of the most amazing and moving historical events of our lifetime. To watch the incredible state funeral of her Majesty was a very sobering and yet uplifting experience. I think, as Boris Johnson said, we all had the childlike belief that she would go on forever and so, despite her age, her passing was such a shock to everyone. 

 

She has been a constant in our lives for our entire life and her loss is so keenly felt. Every penny we spend bears her image, Every letter we send bears her image and is posted in a box bearing her initials. Her initials appear in our courts, on our police force, on our military uniforms. At times of crisis, or indeed celebration, hers was the voice of the nation. She was so much more than a figurehead and really was the matriarch of a nation and the most perfect example of Christian service and dedication that we could see. 

 

So many stories have been shared of small meaningful moments of such an individual nature which merely serve to highlight just how special she really was. And we must never forget she was also a daughter, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, a cousin, a friend and, whilst the nation grieved as one for her loss, how much worse it must’ve been for those close to her. They even had to share their grief publicly. 

 

There could not have been a more heartfelt, detailed, stunning farewell than there was. It was pageantry and attention to detail in its finest form and we felt so proud to be part of her country. It was an honour to sit and watch all day and feel part of something so important. 

I leave with some images from one of todays papers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiet days again

We have had a few quiet days whch has been nice. A lovely beach walk in the September sunshine this morning and some scrapping and housework and relaxing. Still nice enough to eat outdoors too.

I have a couple of pages to share

This was for a scrap squad sketch and also Day 17 of Scraptember where the prompt was sequins - which I almost never ever use . It's another for the Cornwall album (only one page left to do!)

 

It refers to the nightmare of parking in Mousehole. There is only one car park and it is tiny and it was gridlocked and so I went to see if there were any spaces and there was and so I stood in it to hold it but there was no phone service, i couldn't tell Nigel where I was and so I just had to wait till he found me - yey me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Day 18 of Scraptember - selfie was the prompt and this was us at Lyme Regis earlier in the week. It was also using one of Lisa's fab sketches at Scrap a Sketch

 

 

 

It was the first birthday of Scrap a Sketch this week and I am so proud to be part of Lisa's creative team.  In honour of the birthday we all scrapped the first ever sketch again and this is mine. I had such fun recording our visit to Kynance Cove where they were filming House of the Dragon and making the clapperboard and embellishments 

 

 

 

 

 

and this is a page for Bramble Fox and is also Day 26 or scraptember and is a shameless scraplift

 

 

 

This was for this week's scrap squad sketch (You can see I am determined to finish this album - our trip was a year ago today!!)

 

 

and finally this is for Scraptember Day 24 (yes I am working ahead)

 

 

 

I will not be blogging tomorrow. Like much of the rest of the country our time and energy and our hearts will be tied up watching the funeral of our Majesty and quietly reflecting on what she meant to us and to so many.

 

Today I am thankful for

• scrapping time
• a lovely beach walk
• living during the reign of such an inspirational woman

The dentists' Chair and a trip out

Today has been a lovely day - yesterday not quite so nice.

 

I broke a tooth back at the start of July and the tooth was a dead tooth that the nerves had been removed from and it had been crowned. The crown came off taking most of the tooth, down to gum level. Thankfully as it had already been root canal filled it didn't hurt but it wasn't great and had a dressing on the top of it. The first hour and half appointment she had was yesterday (we were due to be on holiday but cancelled that so we could go to the dentist) I had been dreading it as I am quite dental phobic though she rarely ever hurts me. Nigel - who has to come in with me - said it looked like she had every tool out that shje owned and it was a big job. She had to put metal pins in the filled roots and then build a pretend tooth up around that so there was something for the new crown to go on. It was long and my jaw ached terribly. As it was a back tooth it meant a wide open mouth for the duration and when you have TMJ that's awfully hard. Anyway - part one is done and the temporary crown is on. Now just two weeks to wait for the fitting and I am relieved it isn't hurting too much at the moment. It's sore and battered but not too achy.

 

I have to share some photos of the Boyz this morning as the sun was blazing through the curtains onto the bed and they do like to join us first thing

 

 

 

 

 

Today we went out to Sherbourne ... just because we could

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have very little new scrapping to share though

 

I am making a combined Jubilee and loss of our wonderful queen album and this was the first page I have made - not the first page in the album - as it worked with the scraptember prompt of the rainbow.

 

 

 

 

 

And I also made two pages for my Design Team this month at A Trip Down Memory Lane using the lovely Let's Go by Simple Stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• the skill of my dentist - she is awesome
• days out
• all three of my boys

 

 

A day out, new releases and some scrappiness

 

Well it has been a bust few days and I have to admit it has been hard to drag ourselves away from the TV too. We have been watching all we can about the sad final journey of Queen Elizabeth 2nd and the proclamation of our new monarch Charles 3rd.  we feel, like so many others, a palpable sense of loss at the passing of such a remarkable lady and we are also keenly aware that we are witnessing an incredible and unique moment in history. This afternoon the Queen makes her way to her next resting place in Westminster Hall and we wish we could have gone to pay our respects too, but sadly the crowds, the worry about the travel and the wait have stopped us going but we will watch her final journeys and pay our quiet respects that way.

 

She would be the first to say life must go on and she lived that every moment of her life. And so, too, for us, life carries on with day to day normality. There are new releases out today at Pickleberrypop and they are gorgeous and were perfect for yet more photos of the most beautiful bride and her new husband.

 

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Cherished Memories Palvinka Designs

 

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The end of summer – Natali Designs

 

 

 

We took a day trip out to Lyme Regis this week too

 

 

 

 

We met these three lovely ladies from Virginia USA who were celebrating the Jane Austen festival

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have also managed to keep up with Scraptember and here are the next few days of pages (and I am almost finished my Cornwall album

and this one which I absolutely love

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a nation showing such respect
• witnessing history, though I wish we hadn't lost her