Dolly's Dreamings

A bit of a square moment

It's been a busy few days just catching up on the everyday things of life but, of course, I have managed to slot in some scrapping too and have a couple of pages to share.

This is one I made this morning. I am taking part in a summer holidays challenge and this week one of the aspects is using square photos, which I am loving. However, this page was a bit of a square frenzy.

 

 

I used some much loved Lily Kate Basic grey but - and this was a good but - I used the supply sheet which has small blocks of all of the papers and just cut out squares from that (so I didn't have to use the actual Basic Grey - I can keep it and continue to stroke it!)

It took ages to glue them all on and then faux stitch but I was quite pleased with it in the end. 

I also uploaded this which was another page made for the challenges at ATDML

 

My little boy - studying!

 

Today I am thankful for

• catching up on things I needed to do
• Quiet times
• Kindle Unlimited - enjoying the extra reading.

 

I shared some beautiful embroidery style tattoos the other day - these are not so pretty but my goodness you can appreciate the artistic talent that has gone into them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Way way too much

It is way too hot for the UK. We are an uncivilised country, bereft of air conditioning, and me no like. I am a winter girl. 30 degrees and humid is not the weather I enjoy!

Last night we were so hot we went down tot he beach to coll off and it was much nicer down there and the sea was warm Trouble is you have to come back into the house.

And the heat isn't bringing out the best in the cats. Enough said!

 

I have managed some scrapping though.

This was with a new bundle by Jen Yurko called Are You Game by Jen Yurko - a great night of Mario Kart with Chris and Sam

 

 

and this is a new collection called Summer Sunshine by Natali Designs

 

 

And I made this page for the Mind The Scrap summer challenge

 

 

 

 

Today is too hot to do anything though so I am just floppy and reading - but that is good too.

Today I am thankful for

• living near the beach
• fans
• ice cubes

And I never knew this was a thing - embroidery style  tatoos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They came today

I think nature always sees it as a very special birthday gift for me - the flying ants always come around my birthday - they came today. Thousands of them.

A quick batten down of the hatches and I looked wistfully at my washing that was on the line, but when I finally send Nigel out to fetch the washing in when they had gone as I was too scared there was not a single one on it. Phew!

 

Nice ordinary day today - a doctor visit - nothing to worry about - Nigel's crown was fitted and I finally blitzed my school stuff.

Five boxes of stuff from the garage to the charity shop. Four bin liners of papers etc to the tip for recycling and a huge box for a friend who I used to work with of all the things that were so nice I never used them! Yes - not only scrapping stuff I hoard but also lovely papers and certificates for children.

 

I did manage a bit of scrapping though for a challenge to use pinks and purples. And it just worked with the wedding photo as Nigel's tie was perfect.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely ordinary day
• ants are gone
• good news at the doctors (not to do with health but with the GP we love so much)

 

And these are just awesome drawings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy belated Earth Day

I meant to post this yesterday but time ran away from me so you have Happy earth day a day late - but let's face it, every day is good to celebrate our earth and how wonderful it is and how we should protect it.

 

I made this with a new release by Chunlin Designs called Big Earth Little Me

 

 

 

 

Other new releases were fun too. There was a mojo challenge to find an unusual National Day and scrap it. Who knew there was a National Unicorn Day - but I am so glad there is!   I used Jumpstart Designs  The Art of Happiness

 

 

And finally, a wonderful new collection by Tiramisu called This is Us and I scrapped my little girl on her 16th birthday (it's OK - my children are fur covered!)

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful that

• my knee feels easier - not sure if it is just a good day, the pills, the dread of physio. But whatever it is -I will take it!
• my fur babies. They bring utter joy into our lives. They have to be with us all the time. I can't remember the last time I used the bathroom alone!

 

And some odd amazing stuff to end with - duped by marketing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little bit of freezing

It's been foul weather - rain and wind and gales - but it is still mild.

So where do I get the freezing from?

 

Well, Nigel and I had a FROZEN (and not the Disney version) day yesterday. We both had a little bit of cryosurgery on some pre-cancerous skin things. Nigel's looks no different at all, which is good as his is on his face. Mine - both on my thigh - look horrible. They are swollen and red and scabbing. I know that is what they are meant to do - but it's not pretty. However, having had a malignant melanoma I am just glad to get things treated early.

Two full days of work so far this week and I am shattered - and bored senseless.

But I have still made time to scrap. In fact, being under pressure forces me to scrap more quickly and decisively. Each of these was just a half hour job! 

 

This is the minute man statue and Old North Bridge in Concord where the shot that echoed round the world was fired - the shot that started America's journey to independence from the British. 

It is not only historic but a beautiful place.

 

 

 

I realised at the weekend that I had never scrapped a proper album of our amazing Paris trip in 2011 that was to renew our vows. I made a mini book I loved but not a proper album - so I am starting on that too.

This is a photo from The Hamlet at Versailles - a place I had longed to visit and which was just as magical as I hoped. Although it was April it was hot and sunny and beautiful

 

 

Today I am thankful for having

• a brilliant GP who is very kind and very vigilant.
• being half way through my work session for these mock exams. I prefer being indolent!

 

And finally - a very talented embroiderer and some utter beauty to brighten wet days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorting everywhere and poetntial prizes.

I am trying so hard to sort scrapping stuff so I know WHAT I have, WHERE it is and HOW I can start to use it up.

I think I am getting there but one thing is for sure. I have way way way too much stuff.

But I will get there.

 

In the hope of getting rid of more stuff I am thinking of runninga sketch compettionon here - perhaps setting s sketch challenge or somethinga nd offering some small prizes. They would be unopened things but not new. Sticker packs, embellishments etc. What do readers think - would anyone be interested in this.  Let me know and if it looks like people would be interested I will host a couple of scrapping competitions with prizes.

 

Yoday I pulled out a very old Three Bugs ina Rug pack that almost went in my last RAK but I decided I liked the colours. So I determined to make a couple of pages with it and also threw some very old Junkitz eyelet tape too.

 

 

 

I also have a couple of photos to share made from the cyber crop at the weekend

 

This was a challenge to write int he first person for someone else so it was Kira and Fiki of course who have been VERY cross to be shut out of the bedroom whilst we were painting.

 

 

 

 

This is a white space challenge which I was quite pleased with - a carriage driver from Colonial Williamsburg

 

 

We have also been sorting at the flat - today's challenge was to sort all of the clothes out. It was very sad as she had some lovely clothes but they are all too small for her now and she has largely new clothes in the nursing home. We spent a few hours sorting them and they have all gone to a new good home and we now have an empty bedroom. We are getting there slowly but surely.

 

Today I am thankful for

• jobs well done
• space
• roomy bins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a scrapping good time

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate time to scrap. I used to squeeze my scrapping in between work commitments, often foregoing TV and sleep to scrap instead. Now I love the luxury of scrap time. Maybe I willeven get through some of the mountain of stash. I have joined a sort of self help group with fellow scrappers where we are supporting each other with using up stash and not buying new. I so need to do that. 

Even though I have so much and could never use it all up I find I still agonise about each piece of paper or sticker incase I use it and then find something better I should have used it on! How stupid is that!

I have been using though and here are a couple of new pages

 

This first was to use a sketch and it included bunting so I managed to use up some more ribbon. Ribbon is the stash busting focus this month so expect to see a lot of it on pages.

 

 

This one used a page by Sarah Kentzer - lifted pretty much entirely  - and it uses a lot of ribbon. I cut the heart out of  thick card and then I covered it with different ribbons

 

 

The jewel at the top is from a piece of costume jewellery of Nigel's mom so there is a  little piece of her ont he page too.

 

 

I loved these photos. We are both really good at navigating and have driven all over the states, but the visitor map at St Augustine flumoxed us entirely. It was fun to scrap these two photos.

 

 

We have seen a couple of films since I last blogged too. Green Book was fabulous - really enjoyed it and it brought home how awful segregation was. I would recommend it to everyone. The film we saw today - destroyer - I wouldn't recommend to anyone. It was a one star from me (Green Book was the full 5 star rating)

There are a lot of films out at the moment that we want to see - and we have been to the cinema 11 times so far this year. Well there is no point in having an unlimited cinema membership and not making the most of it is there!

Today I am thankful for

• time - so valuable
• new opportunities
• cinema membership

and these made me smile - clever inventions and the cleverness and politeness of the Japanese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cases all stood up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No snow - just cold

There was a time when they thought we might have snow today - but no show not even for show snow! I know people hate it but, if we haven't to travel, I do love me a bit of the white stuff. It is bitterly cold though. We had a job in Weymouth today and had a lovely drive there and back but decided the walk along the beach was just too cold and the warmth of the car held more appeal.

 

Yesterday we went to the cinema to see Vice which was interesting - a very unusual way to tell a story but an enjoyable couple of hours.

Today I have been working on my next class pages for ATDML and have finished that now. Obviously, I cannot share that yet but I can now share the class pages I made for this month as the classes all went live. If you are not aware, A Trip Down Memory Lane, a fabulous British on line store, have a blog Created by ATDML and a facebook group. They are all worth a good look. There are regular challenges on the blog and the facebook group is reasonably active plus they have virtual crops every month and each of the design team design class pages and you can buy the kits and play along. 

Anyway - these were the three class pages that I taught for January - I do like to get bang for my buck and so getting three pages out was quite an achievement.

 

 

 

 

The papers were just gorgeous and it was lovely to have such fresh colours int he cold of winter.

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely day spent with Nigel
• a job completed
• snuggling up in the warmth

And today's random awesomeness from the internet are illustrations from an artist called dada who specialises in merging two characters- often opposites. I think they are amazing - not only terribly good works of art but so clever to merge the two

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great strides

It's been a busy weekend as we are in a wrk cycle but today has seen Nigel and I and his brother and wife clearing the flat. It is something I think we were all dreading but actually it went a lot more smoothly than certainly Nigel and I thought. There were lots of things my sister in law and I could get on with which were practical and non-contentious... we only had to make decisions about whether each item was a charity shop, sale or rubbish and we worked well together, had a laugh at times and managed to sort a tremendous amount out. We both came away with treasures too - of the unexpected kind. A lovely blanket for the cats, two telescopic umbrellas (we had been going to buy two for holidays) a cushion to help my sciatica and Viv's children at school have more costume jewellery than they will ever need. I did have a little cry when I came across her button box. I have no idea why button boxes are so important and so moving. I used to play with my mom's for hours and still have it. Seeing her's just brought tears to my eyes as every button is a memory for her really and the irony is she has no memory left. It was put back in a drawer to be dealt with another day. Whilst we did the practical stuff Nigel and his bother went through all the sensitive things, the things with real memories and decided what to keep, what to take, what to lose. What was wonderful was you hear such horrible stories of families fighting about things they all want and it wasn't like that at all. It was smooth and lovely and much of it is now done. We have piles for charity shops, piles for possibly selling for her and we have some things we need to have valued. There is nothing of any value at all but we may raise a hundred pounds or so which will pay for a few hair appointments and chiropodists if nothing else. The main thing is we have broken the back of it and with support from each other, the boys have dealt with doing it whilst she is still alive.

In other news we went to see The Upside on Friday which we thought would be pretty rubbish but was actually very good and we both enjoyed it and then we went to have a pizza afterwards - the first meal out we have had this year as we are trying to be very good and restrained both food wise and finance wise. (we have both lost weight - Nigel 5lb and me 12 lb! just by eating less rubbish) 

I have- of course - also been scrapping ... The Fabulous Fall album is almost ready to be split into two separate albums now.

This is another Animal Kingdom page prompted by the idea to make your own flowers. I used to make these scribble flowers a lot of years ago. It was fun to make some again to decorate this page

 

 

 

 

 

This is Alton Bay - a late addition to our trip through New Hampshire in the fall

 

 

and this is us on North Bridge. I just loved the photo of us reflected int he water with all the fallen leaves and I used a wonderful free cut file from Paige Evans and filled the leaves in with different patterned papers 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a hobby which brings me so much joy
• a job well done by the four of us. There is still a lot to move and sort but Nigel and I will do that over the next few weeks.

 

And finally - some more doors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting in whilst I can

Isn't is amazing - and scary - how much we rely on technology. I came down the craft room today to upload my weekly new releases for Pickleberrypop. No internt.

I thought I would paper scrap, which I do to TV programmes running on my comouter. No internet.

Oh well - I will listen to music on Alexa. No internet.

I started scrapping and needed to look something up. No internet.

I was bereft!

Thankfully it was brief and was back after a few hours. Apparently it was planned maintainence- would have been nice to have been told as it was planned! 

 

Anyway - without further delay - I have new scrapping. Fistlya new paper page I really like - and it is not often I say that. 

 

I have been playing along with FTLOPP stash busting month using as much patterned papers as possible and this page usedan amazing 6 pieces of patterned paper. The blue background sheet, the light blue strip, the dark brown, the cream background, the floral sheet I cut the flowers froma nd the ephemera sheet the bits and bobs came from. I was so proud. Unless you are a scrapper you have no idea of the strength it takes to use new sheets. The struggle is real my friends. 

 

Anyway the photos are of an early sunrise in Maine at York Estuary between Nubble Point and Ogonquit 

 

 

 

 

It is new release day at PBP and I worked with 2 cute collections - firstly Hi There by Heather T (and I also used the foundations Curcles by Fayette)

 

 

How cute was Emily with dessert all over her nose!

 

and this is Lovely Memories by Lorie M

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• the internet - we take it for granted all too often
• the internet being down and NOT the heating. It is blinking cold today
• alexa - when she works she is fab

 

 

Now I have a bit of a thing for doors and these are from a book Called The Doors of London by photographer Bella Foxwell and they are stunningly gorgeous. They fulfill my love of doors perfectly