Dolly's Dreamings

EXCITING NEWS - Shimelle Digitals

You have NO IDEA how hard this has been to keep this news quiet. No idea.

But I managed it and can now reveal ......

 

drum roll please .....

 

I am part of a Baker's Dozen.

Shimelle has a brand new CT for her digital designs and I am lucky enough to be on it. And I am thrilled like you have no idea.

OK - so you may have a little idea.

It's no secret how much I admire that cupcake queen. The very first class I ever took in my life, as a very newbie scrapper, in November 2003 at Ascot at Bonanza, was with Shimelle, and I have been hooked ever since. Although my style may be very different to hers, and I can't begin to emulate it, I find everything she says and does such an inspiration. Her classes, on line and in real life, are awesome. Her students at school were very lucky cos she is one heck of a eacher. I recon I could listen to her talk about pain dry and be fascinated. Her creativity, her ideas, her promotion of scrapping and journalling and crafting and writing and the fact that she is a thoroughly nice person on line and in real life all means I am just so thrilld to have the chance to be on her CT.

Why baker's dozen? Well, there are 13 of us, because it's a perfect number.

Now I guess, as part of a CT, I ought to start earning my keep.

All 13 of us have worked with one of Shimelle's kits .... A Long and Winding Road .... which you can find on sale HERE and we have all come up with different ways of using it, both as a purely digital kit and using it for hybrid work too. 

Here is my page 

 

 

Go and check out the rest of the team and see what they came up with, because their work ROCKS.

You can find them all here

 

 

Alison

Anso

Avital

Dolly (ooh ... that's me!)

Elisa

Helen

Karen C

Karen M

Kate

Nadine

Rani

Sheri

Yvonne

You can find out more about Shimelle herself HERE 

and you can find all of her digital creations over at Two Peas HERE 

 

Did I mention I was excited!

Watch out for so much fun to come.

 

FREE Sunday class and home sense

OK - so the home sense doesn't mean I have suddenly got home sense, rather that i went shopping at Home Sense.

Home Sense has to be one of our favourite stores - we love it. You get really unusual and quite quirky things there and it is very American (well canadian actually but you get the drift)

We needed a new table for the lamp in the hall to go with the new decor and we had quite set ideas about what we wanted.

We didn't get it!

We fell in love with a 6 drawer black faux laquered leather caninet and just had to have it.

We were worried it wouldn't look right but it did.

My picture of the day is just a tiny part of it - it will be revealed in all of its glory once the new carpet is down on Tuesday. But surfice to say we both love it.

It is hard to photograph to get the beautiful design to show up.

I made my LSNED page as well (plus some DT work and a fair bit of very hot sunbathing)

I have had enough of home improvements now. Once the new carpet is down that is us done .... well for this year at least.

In 12 months we have had a new kitchen, a new bedroom, a new en suite, new windows and a new hall stairs and landing. Time, energy, money and creativity have now all run out.

What have I learnt today?

• Having always wanted a laquered cupboard I now have one - well a faux one anyways

• The sun still burns in September

• New weight loss photos show my shape is changing .... for the better

• Weekends go too quickly

And so to the class page.

As usual feel free to totally disregard it, use the general idea, use the whole idea etc but please, don't call it your own.

You can download the class HERE

Home decor canvas supersized

 We hung a few things up in the  new bedroom today and one was a big canvas I had made for the room.

I wanted to create a piece of abstract art but Nigel was quite keen on a scrapbook page.

A 12 x 12 page would have been too small in the space we needed to fill and I wasn't convinced so gave it some thought.

Then, when I was wandering in Dunelm, as I so often seem to be LOL, I cam across this

 

It is a firly horrible canvas and the packaging was ripped and it was reduced to £1.99. It measures about 20" square and was just what I wanted.

Canvases are quite expensive and this was good and cheap so it wouldn't matter if I ruined it.

 

We had quite a lot of wallpaper samples at home from when we had been picking things for the new bedroom and so I utilised some of those and made the canvas to match the colour scheme.

 

Nigel picked the photo he wanted on there as it is his favourite picture from our canada trip. Us at Peyto lake.

 

The picture was taken before it was hung so it is just leaning against a bookcase.

Looks like a regular scrapbook page but i can assure you it is almost 2 foot square.

I cut out lots of flowers from one of the papers as they were the exact colour I wanted and were to scale - everything else was way too small.

 

 

The title was a little challenging so in the end I opted for a stamped setiment quote to put in an oval at the bottom. i used some of my lush Technique Tuesday stamps for it.

 

 

I would have opted for just a landscape view or soemthing more abstract but this was made for Nigel - his choice and he is thrilled with it.

 

My photo of the day today is my little boy who has been so confused by all the work going on over the past two weeks. He was so scared when he was finally allowed in the bedroom and bathroom (they had been banned for two weeks as there was way too much in there that was dangerous.)

He braved it again this afternoon and I loved this picture of him.

Production Line

It has been a veritable production line here today as I made 17 thank you cards  largely the same design.

I have no idea why I didn't go for a simpler design. the individually stamped and painted butterflies took an age to do and whilst the first 5 were theraputic, by 13 and 14 the benefits had worn off LOL

However, they were cards to thank the girls and the parennts for the wonderful gift and so I wanted to make them nice and special.

So my photo of the day was a sampling of them.

Last night I made a really really quick and simple page so I could say I had taken part in the Hero arts competition.

It is one of the quickest pages I have ever made - about 40 minutes I recon. I used quite a lot of my lush Hero Arts stamps that I love and it is one of my favourite holiday pictures ever.

Nij and I were at peyto lake very early. I gather from other people and from guide books that it gets very very busy there.

We were alone - totaly and utterly alone for quite a long time. It made it very special.

In the end a lone Japanese tourist arrived and we asked him to take this picture of us both. We had tried taking the photo ourselves but the arms were simply not long enough to get us and the view in!

I dyed my hair yesterday and went for a red shade as it is the holidays.

Don't know why i bothered.

The water was red - blood red - as was everything else.

My hair - it is just black.

There seems to be no hint of reddness at all.

Oh well .... phase two next weekend. I am buying a highlights kit and a very terrified Nigel is planning to add lowlights to my now black with no hint of red hair!

We'll see what happens shall we LOL

Maligne Lake - Free class

I was intending a different class page this week but time has got the better of me with everything that has been going on.

This was a class page I taught a while ago but I haven't shared the class on here and I hope it is something you might enjoy.

If you would like to use it I would love to know what you think of it. Just pop a comment at the end of this post.

You can download the class page HERE

I will be back later with my photo of the day

OK so we tidied out the top cupbaords over the bed in our bedroom this afternoon as a first stage of getting ready for bedroom and bathroom renovation.

I have a serious shoe addiction and quite a lot of the shoes that i wear arely - you know .... the sort you can only wear when you are planning zero walking and standing due to high heels that i just can't wear for long now - are in those cupboards. BUT I did get rid of 12 pairs of shoes (some brand new i am ashamed to admit and they have gone int he charity shop pile)

Friday - at last - and a couple of tributes

How can one week seem so long? Do they sneak in the extra hours? Do they extend it bit by bit?

It seems like an awfully long week.

I do have one page to share and it is a page for my Wild west album. I didn'tt like my original Wild west album. I had not been scrapping long and it doesn't please me so i am planning to re-scrap the photos in a different format that will bring me more pleasure.

The photo is of two moose in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was just one of those lucky finds. we were alerted by the fact there were several parked cars - always a good sign of some interesting wildlife. We were not expecting to see these gorgeous creatures and I was so thrilled.

I wanted to pay tribute to two people on my blog today. Today - well yesterday actually but the news hit today - sees the passing of two stars .... two very different stars.

Micahel Jackson's sudden death has been all over the  news today. He was a larger than life character and a bit of a marmite - you eother loved him or hated him.

I was quite stunned by the news - not necessarily because I am a huge Michael Jackson fan ... I wasn't. I liked some of his music but his oddness and behaviour coloured my impression of him. I would have loved to have seen him perform int he early 80's but I think life and media and fame had taken its toll on him. I was stunned because it is the first time a famous contemporary of mine has really hit home. He was just a little older than me. I grew up listening to the Jackson 5. I thought of him as 'my age'. Although I remember the deaths of Elvis and John lennon I was younger and they had little impact really. Somehow this one hit home.

I feel he spent most of his life unhappy and searching for something he was never able to find. I hope that he has finally found peace - a peace I don't feel he ever had in his life.

The other loss is Farrah Fawcett majors who died this morning having lost her battle with cancer. She was another star I 'grew up' with. She was the definitve action girl who combined skill and beauty for me in Charlie's Angels. The role made her world famous but I will never forget her part in one of my favourite films, The Burning Bed' which was superb and where she played the part so brilliantly. She never got to marry Ryan O'Neil in the end. Perhaps a warning to us all not to put things off.

I hope they both rest in peace and that their families are comforted by the outpourings of so many about their loss.

The other is one of Fiki's favourite toys. It is a - or was a - solid ball of nylon twine that dangles between the stair rails. It has a bell on and is obviously the most exciting thing in the world to pull and bite and tear, judging by the state of it. Its been there for the last 5 years and he loves it. He plays with it most days. Others have come and gone, but this is the one!

My Favourite Colour

I was inspired by Shimelle's challenge to scrap this page last night. I gave some thought to my favourite colour and now that I have I can see this has been coming for a long time.

When I was making my album from our Canada trip I found myself using teal and aqua and cream such a lot. The colours toned in with the senery and worked well with it. I thought that was it.

Increasingly, as I have been drawn to the colours more and more, I realise it is just that I love the cool calm of these tones.

I have just been and bought all new bedding for the bedroom ready for our refit in the summer and have bought these very tones. So this page just HAD to be.

The photo is of Nigel at Emerald Lake

My photo of the day is of the temporary shelter they erect for our polling booth as today is election day.

I thought that was very apt!

I am not sure if this next bit will work, but I had these cool images from cousin Cait in Oregon and they were just too cute not to try and share.

Good Friday wishes

First I want to wish everyone well this Good Friday.

It is raining lightly here and it makes me remember Mom, who always used to swear by the fact it rained on Good Friday because the world was crying. I don't know if it has always rained on Good Friday here, I truly can't remember; but it is raining today and it made me think of her as well as the significance of the day.

Poor Nij is at the Good friday speedway meetinga nd will no doubt come home wet and cold and exhilarated. It is a traditional derby match between Poole and Eastbourne held every Good Friday as they race at Poole in the morning and then all move to eastbourne for the evening match.

Now, I said i had more new pages to share but couldn't - well I can now. Dawn Inskip has just released three new kits at PBP and NDISB. One os a gorgeous cute set of clay buttons and the other two kits are more scrap layer masks which I love love love using.

They are really versatile and there are some fab shapes - though i have to say i think the circle is my all time favourite. I can see them being real staples of my digi stash and used over and over again.

The first page is of Canada. It is a shot of Lake Louise I really liked and it was tranquil - even though it was the busiest place we visited on our trip. It makes me laugh really, as the guide books all warn that the Canadian Rockies are sooooooo busy in August. If they thinkt hat is busy they ought to go to anywhere in the UK!

The second page is a little Emily - taken years ago but just such a cute picture. It won't be long before I have similar of Elinor - who is now walking.

I didn't come back on line to upload my picture of the day yesterday - which to be quite honest was a bit of a failure all round.

We went for dinner at TGI and were going to take a picture of our yummy meal, but as you will see, i failed and quite forgot until I had finished and Nigel just had dregs left. Hey ho - it is a memory if nothing else!

The picture for today is of a little statue in my kitchen.

It was bought at Disney World many years ago and was just the perfect souvenir for us. neither of us are huge fans of the mouse but he is important and so we felt we needed something. This was perfect.

We loved the whole concept of it - it is called self- portrait.

We loved the detail of it and so it is a great photo of the day.

Enjoy the rest of Good Friday and prayers to all of you that this Easter is filled with blessings for you all. xx

Scrapping frenzy in spite of the cold

I am having a lovely time scrapping and crafting, even though I have another cold. I feel disappointed that I have my second bad cold in less than a month.

When I went into the chemist today to get more Sudafed as my sinuses are all inflamed again, i was told that this particular virus seems to keep re-occurring in a lot of people. Oh Goody!!

The first page here is one of canada.

I have had the time this week to catch up on some scrapping i have been wanting to do. I printed the film strip picture ages ago (I think I might have taken it with me to ScrapFever last April! I knew I wanted to use it in my 6 x `12 landscape album so I finally got round to doing it.

It is very simple, deliberately so, as I wanted it to be quite a graphic page.

I have been making cards as well. I needed quite a few thank you cards and so set to making those before I threw my scraps away.

I am loving all the new stamps I have had recently and thoroughly enjoyed using them.

the new stamps are all either Hero Arts or Stamping up

The worrying thing is I am quickly developing favourites and ened to make sure I vary the stamps a little.

Both cards were made with scraps I had around on the desk in my 'put these in your scraps box' pile!

 

The second card is actually much nicer than it looks.

I am not sure why the colours have come out quite so add.

It makes it look all washed out and inspid, but in reality it isn't.

The final card at the end of this post is a very bad photo of a card I made for ATDML last month.

A good friend, Heather, who is a daily reader of this blog, is off at the moment on the holiday of a lifetime - a tour of the Holy land and of Egypt.

I made the card to send to her before she left on her travels.

She will be back soon and I can't wait to hear all about her trip.

Finally I am posting this as part of papercraft Thursday.

It is hosted by Kelli at Kelli's House which is such a fabulous blog to look to for inspiration and good down to earth enjoyment.

My last little bit here is, of course, my photo of the day.

Oh what a fun filled active life I lead!

My photo of the day today - the chemist I went to to try and get Sudafed.

they didn't have it. they said they were having problems getting the sudafed tablets and would I like the liquid form instead.

I didn't want to sound churlish so i accepted it and it tastes BAD.

Why do they have to add so much junk to medicine. It is the most lurid colour of pinkish red you have ever seen. i dread to think what they have added to it to make it like that!

Ah well - let's just hope it works.

An ethereal view

I made this page a while ago for Craft Obsessions DT and hadn't uploaded it here.

It is Agnes Lake in the Canadian Rockies and was a very mystical place. It was swathed in mist and we had had quite a hairy journey getting there. It was cool up high and very quiet and the picture seems to capture the feeling so well.

I also used a Hambly overlay which seemed to add to the misty feeling.

It's been a busy day here one way and another. I was very tired this morning as we had had a very late night. It was Poole Speedways end of year dinner and presentation eveing and Nigel was, of course, MC. He did a wonderful job witht he speeches and interviewing all the riders, the management and the sponsors. He is so professional. I am sure he should be doing it for a living.

Then we had our boiler fixed this morning and it is lovely and toasty here.

We finished off with a trip to the shops and I bought a load of new books (there is nothing on earth quite like a brand new book with all its possibilities, its crisp new pages and hours of endless pleasure to look forward to) and, and I know this is not earth-shattering, I managed to find a really really nice nighty! Been looking for one for ages and it is perfect.

Quiet night in front of the telly now I think.