Dolly's Dreamings

I do still scrap

I am aware that the last couple of post may have lulled you into a false sense of the idea that I just go out all the time and I don't scrap. Nothing could be further from the truth actually. I still scrap - a lot!

 

For the last few days I have been scrapping with my design team kit from ATDML which was Simple Stories (I love their ranges) Autumn Splendour and Cozy Days (both is store now so do check them out)

This first one was fiddly as I fussy cut the entire wreaths o I could make a smaller frame - but it was well worth the effort.

 

 

 

 

 

Fiki is still not well and we think the real issue is old age. We know, sadly, we are on borrowed time and so I used lots of clocks and yes, he is a boy, but I still like floral pages of him.

 

 

 

 

 I couldn't resist the pun on this one - we did visit in the fall and it was too good a chance to miss

 

 

 

 

Iowa was the penultimate state to check off our 'states visited' list and the visitor centre with the boat was a delight.

 

 

 

 

 and Kansas, our final new state - the sunflower state. I went a bit mixed media mad here and wish I hadn't but heck!

 

 

 

 

and finally we have a new designer in store at Pickleberrypop ... Kiana Fitzpatrick of Love It Scrap It (you can find her store here) and I made this with one of her lush collections

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• every day we have with our cats - each is a bonus
• gorgeous papers to play with courtesy of ATDML
• my car passing its MOT (I hope!)

 

 

Berry Big Deals Day

It is Berry Big Deals day - well several days actually - over at Pickleberrypop and I have been blessed to have been given lots of bundles to play with and they are all wonderful - or should I say wonder-fall as they are great for those autumn pages.

The deals are all on offer for either $8 or $4  until 18th September so do go check them out. If you click the image of the bundle it will take you right to the store.

 

 

 

 

Pictures from Lake Erie last fall on our mega road trip

 

One of the gorgeous cheetahs I spent my birthday with!

 

 

 

my favourite place of course

 

 

One of my gorgeous American second cousins

 

 

 

 

another from Fall in Vermont last year

 

 

The photo paper just worked so well for our trip to Sedona last year

 

 

 

and this time a gorgeous English second cousin.

 

Do go check out the offerings in store and snag a bargain and - even more - check out the gallery - it is amazing

 

 

Three days and counting

No pain killers for three days - to say I am thrilled is an understatement.

It woke me int he night but I powered through it!

Fiki had blood tests today and despite having PKD since 2012 he is still stage 2 kidney disease which is better than we expected and his thyroid is fine.

Kira started her thyroid medication today and she took tablet no 1 very very well. Long may that continue.

 

In other news three new pages of scrapping to share

As fans of Lake Wobegon we were thrilled to drive through the Minnesota countryside and assign names tot he places in our minds. It was great fun and very pretty

 

 

The Teepee Curios in Tucumcari is another iconic Route 66 venue and we visited early one morning in the freezing cold.

 

 

And I couldn't resist the title for this one. The very friendly Minnesotan sheriff who helped us find the Lake Wobegon trail head and stayed and chatted for ages. He was really lovely.

 

 

Yesterday we went to Blandford for work and had a short walk along the Stour afterwards.

 

 

The circle marks one of the very rare otters - yes it is a dreadful photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• haircuts
• healthier cats
• no pain killers
• pleasant walks

and I came across these ont he internet - the emptiness caused by COVID. Amazing pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to admit it has been hard

I am not quite sure what is going on in my mouth,jaw and throat but I suspect an infection. I was reluctant to call my dentist as she did say it would hurt for a week and she doesn't work on Fridays so it is now a case of waiting until Monday. However, I heal very badly. Malignant melanoma removed - infected wound. Nose issue removed - infected wound. Ankle operation - infected wound. And so it would stand to reason root canal - infected wound. Thankfully I had antibiotics the dentist prescribed last time that I hadn't taken so am popping those alongside the painkillers but oh my. And the pain isn't in my tooth at all. It is in my jaw and neck and my glands feel swollen and the sensation of burning is awful and unrelenting. But there is no swelling, no heat, no sign of infection outwardly so who can tell! But I am not a happy bunny and life has been tough the last couple of days.

 

I have scrapped but a little half heartedly as I can't concentrate

 

I realised I hadn't really scrapped much of the route 66 part of the trip yet and so have made a start

 

This is the very iconic Blue Swallow motel in Tucumcari that was just beautiful. I also found some old postcards on the internet which I printed as embellishments

 

 

and as Eagles fans visiting the corner at Winslow Arizona mentioned in Take it Easy was something we simply could not miss at all

 

 

and today I made another Mini book for the FTLOPP challenge in conjunction with the amazing Cal Summers from paper Scissors Story

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• the hours passing
• pills
• Nigel being calm and insisting I take the antibiotics and being very supportive making me soft stuff to eat

 

I thought these buses were clever

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and who knew wavy walls were a thing - apparently a very strong structure

An interesting few days

It's been an interesting few days!

I had the second part of my root canal work on Monday - another hour int he chair and although she didn't hurt at all when she was doing it - she really is very very very good - it hurt like mad yesterday. I think the deep anaesthetic wore off late Monday night so Tuesday was horrid as it built and built all day.

Am popping the pain killers but she did warn it could be painful for a week. Oh my!

I do have new scrapping to share though

This is a new collection from Chunlin Designs and it is called Be Happy and it made me happy to play with it

 

 

 

 

and I knew what I wanted to do wuth this one by Kathryn Estry

 

 

I love the story of Waterbugs and Dragonflies and sow e have lots of dragonflies around the house to remember Mommy and Daddy so I scrapped a picture of them and the end of the story.

 

 

I made this for my team challenge which was shiny. The art deco buildings in Chicago were beautiful and covered in gold so I used lots of gilding wax on this one

 

 

 

and another of the gorgeous Ngosi

 

 

We have had a busy morning with the cats at the vets for routine vaccinations and health check, Nigel's hearing test and some petrol station work. Hopefully tomorrow I will get to scrap!

Today I am thankful for

• £10 off at Pets at Home
• cats safely checked, vaccinated and fussed over
• Nigel's improved hearing
• painkillers

 

 

and in keeping with a catty theme - cats hidden everywhwre.

 

This dog must be horrified to realise his shadow is a cat

 

 

a cat shaped bruise on a banana

 

cat in the stain on concrete

cat shadow

 

 

cat grass

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a bit of a breeze

It's a tad breezy out there - well 50 mph winds to be exact but there is no accompanying sound of banging as our fence just doesn't bang any more.

We are thrilled

I have had a scrappy day today playing with the new Simple Stories Simple Vintage Great Escape which - full disclosure - I was given as a DT member for A Trip Down Memory Lane.

Do check out the store HERE for these products

 

I have made three pages so far - expect more with this collection

 

This was a visit to the Painted Desert in Arizona which was really lovely and totally deserted

 

 

 

Poole Park - a little closer to home

 

 

 

And a trip to Moreton walled Garden last month

 

 

I had great fun doodling the border

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• lovely new stash to play with (though I have had to give in to my stash ban and buy more)
• safe fences

 

and how amazing are these

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrappy weekend

I have had a lovely weekend - mostly scrapping but also doing an impossible jigsaw we have still not completed. And I have just been excited as we have had a kestrel in the garden. Never seen one int he garden before and he was there quite a while and was stunning especially when he flew.  It's been quite the wildlife weekend as we had a dear just beyond our wall the other day - he was a young stag and was stunning.

Anyway - onto scrapping

 

A photo from our visit to Mottisfont

 

 

Playing catch up with my holiday albums too. This was the windmill museum we loved. We sneaked in at about 7 am one morning with snow on the ground so we did leave a trace of our visit.

 

 

Me and the beach. Yes Barb I was definitely a mermaid or a dolphin in a previous life

 

another from the holiday album - Luna Pier and lighthouse in Michigan

 

 

 

This one won't mean anything to anyone but us. It is the Lake Wobegon trailhead in Holdingford Minnesota. Thanks to Jim we love listening to Garrison Kellior and that takes of Lake Wobegon. We are the proud owners of every single episode and listen to them a lot. When we knew there was a Lake Wobegon trail we had to visit. We knew the town was fictitious but we had such fun visiting the error, making up names, identifying things from the stories even though they were not real and assigning the farms and churches to the various people. There is another funny story to go with it - all about the Sherriff.

 

 

This is another for the holiday album which is the El Rancho hotel in Gallup New Mexico, one of the most iconic of the Route 66 motels.

 

 

Celebrating their 17th birthday with cat cake of course.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely weekend
• rain at last
• wildlife

and these are very irreverent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A waterfall for a waterfall

I have had fun this morning making a  different sort of page.

 

Cal Summers, who owns Paper, Scissors, Story does the most amazing classes and this month has teamed up with FTLOPP for a great challenge making a different sort of mini book each week.

This week was a waterfall fold mini to use on a scrapbook page and I had such fun.

 

This is the completed page

 

 

It seemed so apt to use a waterfall book on a waterfall page and I had way way too many photos of the falls from when we stayed there ina room looking right over the falls.

 

This is it open and then there should be a video - yes a video!!! - of how it opens.

 

 

 

 

This is the second class of the month and I haven't shared what I made for last week's class so here you are - a very simple tri-fold book

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a wonderful class to play with
• a great dentist - she rang me back last night, I now have another course of antibiotics and a new appointment for late August. It seems the infection may be back and I have pain again and a horrible metalic taste in my mouth. But she is so kind and has me sorted
• a cooler day - still very muggy but not so blistering hot and there is a rumour we may get rain (more than the 15 minutes we had yesterday!

 

 

 

Too hot to blog

Well it is ridiculously hot. Our thermometer is showing 33 here and that is in the shade. It’s also the same in the house. It’s killing ... and American friends and family remember this is with no air con anywhere. 
I don’t like it. 
I like the cold. 
I am a fall and winter girl. THIS is why. 

we tried to do a special treasure hunt with friends today in Poole old town but it was tooooooooo hot. I felt ill. 

so short blog as the scrap room is way too hot 

 

new page ...one only as I have been doing my classes for ATDML and can’t share those yet ..

 

Nigel was so thrilled to see this when we visited Chicago. 

today I am thankful for 

not having this heat often 

fans 

water 

 

 

Another birthday

We are celebrating another birthday - this time not mine and not such a big number but still an impressive one.

It is Pickleberrypop's 14th birthday and you can buy the amazing lolly bags (goody bags) at rock bottom prices and believe me, these are stuffed with so much stuff. You get great kits for a great price (and in the interests of full disclosure I do not pay for mine) They are all just $6 each

There are so many but here are a selection I have worked with this time - You need to go HERE to see them all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do go and check them out - they are lovely.

 

Today I am thankful for

• no twinges thus far from the teeth (had a few yesterday and confess to being scared)
• being on the CT at Pickleberrypop. They really are the best group of girls and so great to work with