Dolly's Dreamings

Just a quiet weekend

Sometimes it is nice to just relax and that is kind of what this weekend had in store for us - although I did do some sorting in my scraproom which turned into a bigger job than I imagined. I seriously have too much junk and need to thin it out, but I just can't seem to part with things. I will get there - seriously - I will.

I did manage some scrapping but some of the pages cannot be shared yet as they are for the next virtual crop at ATDML.

 

I made these two pages about Sedona a little while ago

 

 

We knew we would love Sedona and we did. It was stunning.

 

And one of the most amazing places was the chapel of the Holy Cross. It was stunning and very moving.

 

 

and these are two  I made today

This one was for a challenge on UKS

I enjoyed the challenge of making the large title.

 

 

and this was also for a challenge and uses photos from last week.

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a quiet weekend
• a little tidiness

I hope you enjoy these

 

 

 

 

Oh for more time!

I have no idea where my days go. Seriously.

When I worked - full time and exceptionally long hours - I still scrapped, and read and watched tv ... I guess I didn't sleep.

But heck.

Now I am retired my days just vanish.

I know part of it is down to the fact I don't get up early - so I guess I lose three hours there (I used to be up by 6 am)

Today is another day that has just vanished - along with every day this week.

We went for a walk round town this morning. Very sad to see that it looks like Beales really is going and that is the end of an era. I am saddened by that. However, I did buy a new handbag. I have been searching for a new bag as my current one has now become very tatty but I am very picky about bags. I fell in love with a reduced one today so have a new bag ut I can't bear to part with the old. It was very odd when we bought it as they didn't wrap it and so we walked out with a handbag with labels on that looked for all the world like we were terribly brazen shoplifters. We had the receipt clutched tightly in our hands but no one stopped us.

By the time we had then been to Curyy's as there was a problem with our brand new dyson - they simply replaced it - it was lunch time. We then boxed up and posted my Cricut which has a new home, sorted a mess of stuff out in the scrap room, finished a challenge page and now the day is almost done. No idea where it went. Maybe I just move all the more slowly these days.

Anyway - new pages to share

This was a scraplift of Ann Freeman's class done with my own papers  and is another example of how we cannot take selfies.

 

 

 

One of the many great characters we met on Route 66

 

Finding the atrium used on Grey's anatomy which was in Supulveda California at the ambulatory care centre. Hard to find - so worth it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

today I am tthankful for

• some extra pennies to buy new things with
• retirement - however would I have fitted in work as well!

 

 

 

 

 

A Bumper Berry Day

Today the new Berry Big Deals have been released at Pickleberrypop and the colours are just awesome. I am not a girly girl really but I am loving the pinks and lilacs and mauves and soft blues and I worked with a whole mess of them this month . They are all on special offer and the picture of the collection is a link to the store

 

 

I painted this picture last Thursday - we are focussing on flowers this month and this was my free choice piece.

 

 

it worked perfectly with the collection too. Don't you just love it when things just work - they are simply meant to be.

 

 

 

 

The miracle of new life - the third bundle of joy for my cousins

 

 

 

We bought this Eeyore back from Florida for Emily and she loved it

 

 

I have a word I focus on every year and this year my word is FAITH

 

 

 

This was fun to use for some coast to coast selfies - we are getting better at them

 

 

 

I absolutely loved this collection and the big masks were awesome

 

 

 

I still have a lot of wedding photos I haven't scrapped from last summer yet

 

 

 

and this was just such a fun page to make

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• being terribly lucky to work with such great designers and collections - so happy to be part of Pickleberrypop

 

 

What beautiful weather

The last two days have been gorgeous - very cold but beautifully sunny and totally wonderful. My favourite sort of weather ever. I like the cold. I like wrapping up, and I love the cold crisp sunshine.

 

Yesterday we walked along Sandbanks beach and along the harbour

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we went to Hamworthy Park - I absolutely love it there and on many many occasions we have had unusual light. Today was no exception. When we arrived, about 10.30, it was very very misty and there were very unsual clouds that looked like a veil. It was odd as the sun was there but hidden and it made the light look like sunrise (though it certainly wasn't) And as we were there the sun burnt off the clouds but there were some terrific colours, some spectacular skies and still mist over the hills. These photos are NOT with filters or anything - just taken with my phone (and I love the new camera BTW!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also have a couple of other January photos I never downloaded and shared. Nigel doing his thing at his quiz night for Dorset Cancer Trust (and we have been re-booked)

 

 

a swan - because

 

 

I hope wherever you are the weather has been kind to you too.

 

Now on to scrapping and some more pages with A Little Bit Lovely for ATDML

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had fun making layered flowers and using watercolours to colour the flowers that were black and white.

 

Today I am thankful for

• living by the beach - can't imagine not
• nature in all of her splendour
• the kindness of strangers
• the surprise meeting, whilst out walking, of old friends

 

 

and finally - my three new FTLOPP pencils that I won recently and arrived yesterday

 

 

 

and my prize winning pencil stash (and as you can see I DO use them)

 

 

Definitely Lighter

The days are definitely getting longer and as I type this at 4.30 it is still light - though there is a gorgeous pinky sunset developing. It has also turned much colder which I am happy about. Winter is meant to be cold and it has been impossibly mild. How am I supposed to get the use out of my coats and hats if it isn't cold!

Yesterday we seemed to be very busy. We popped out and ended up being out most of the day. We went to buy a new vacuum cleaner as we blew ours up this week. We intended to buy another Shark but in the store were advised against it as apparently they are known for being unreliable and they said they have more returns on Sharks than anything. So we ended up buying a cordless Dyson that I think might also make the tea! We have just tried it and bearing in mind we hoovered on Wednesday the amount of dust and dirt and cat hair that has come up is unbelievable. Clearly our Shark failed a long time before we thought it did!

We also went to the cinema yesterday to see Bombshell which had all the makings of a really good film but somehow just missed the mark for us.

 

I have new scrapping to share- make with the wonderful new PinkFresh Studio A Little Bit Lovely for A Trip Down Memory Lane.

 

I fussy cut the centre and outside of the wreath.

 

 

 

 

 

And then I used the inside I had cut out (plus made another 'splat' from white card and inked it for the bottom, ) and used it on this page

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a new vacuum cleaner (and the fact Nigel does floors!)
• cold weather - I love it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pet Portraits

I was thrilled last night that my latest pet portraits reached their new home and I had another delighted customer.

I do love doing the paintings and can lose myself for hours, but it is so stressful when you send them off and you hope that you have captured the essence of the beloved fur baby you have painted.

 

This was a gorgeous pair of labradors - a black and a golden and I was quite pleased with the finished piece. The dogs were facing each other so I include a picture of them 'hung' but bear in mind these are in their plastic packaging and so there is a lot of glare on the pictures.

 

 

 

 

I am so pleased she was thrilled.

 

We have a pretty major storm going through here today with 60 mph winds. we did go down to the sea to sit int he car and have our lunch watching the waves crash (including over the car at one point. Not often we have had seaweed debris on the car! I love the ocean and really don't think I could ever live far away from the ocean. Summer or winter, I love it, and when it is rough it is one of my favourite times of the year.

I have some new scrapping to share too

 

This is a page for the holiday album as it was taken at San Diego Zoo but also resonates very much with me currently. I have been so heartened by people throughout the country who are crafters rallying together and sewing, knitting and crocheting to make things for the animals who fell victim to the awful wildfires in Australia.  There are thousands of people crafting to help and I have been crocheting things for them too.

 

 

 

 

I also want to share this which just about broke my heart.

 

 

 

This is another holiday page - it was our favourite retro building on Route 66 ... the lovely Conoco building in Shamrock Texas.

 

Today I am thankful for

• rough sea but a safe home
• successful commissions

 

 

 

 

The calm before the storm

It's been gorgeous here - very mild at 10 degrees and lots of sunshine, but it is all set to change with gale-force winds and heavy rain. So we made the most of today and went out to Poole Park to put Nigel's new camera through its paces - and it is good. It is the grown-up version of my little Panasonic Lumix and it is really really good. I hope it will re-awaken the photographer in him. He used to like taking photos but these days he only ever takes them on holiday and even then doesn't take many. I am hoping now he has a super-duper new camera he will take more. He has a very good eye and so the few he takes are always cracking. we will see.

It was gorgeous in the park. We took our lunch - delicious fresh baked bread he made. Oh yes - he is a man of many talents!

I finished two commission portraits on Friday and they have been sent off to what I hope will be a very happy customer. Please consider me if you are thinking of having your pets painted. I will

share these two once the person has received them.

We were meant to go to the cinema Friday to see 1917 but I wasn't very well so we had a quiet day instead (and I spent much of it in bed) but was all better Saturday.

I have new scrapping to share - of course. My aim is to do at least one page a day this year (and hopefully not too many more though that isn't going well as I have made more than 30 this month so far!)

These are two Grand Canyon pages (there will be more int he fullness of time as it was a terrific trip)

 

 

 

 

This one was based on a page I did for a previous holiday album and really liked so decided to scraplift it. it is a good page to get a series of photos on

 

 

 

and this is another using one of my all time favourite collections - Simple Stories Vintage Traveller

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely day
• fresh baked bread
• sunlight

 and I share these amazing works of street art (Yup Bored Panda again)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New releases and Oh my goodness

I was back at work for the first time since the start of December (don't feel too sorry for me ... I am only working 2 mornings this month!) but heck ... what a start.

It was over a three hour exam with just one student and I found it so hard to just be there and do NOTHING. Obviously invigilating you have to be vigilant - the clue is int he name. But with one sixth form student who worked solidly for over 3 hours it was hard. Bored doesn't come close.

Anyway, it was done and there are far worse jobs put there.

 

Today is new release day at Pickleberrypop and I have some new kits to share - the kit picture is a clickable link to the store

 

 

Our wonderful godson and his beautiful bride.

 

 

 

Me at Sedona

 

 

 

I think this page oozes our happiness as we achieved our goal - coast to coast. On the beach in San Diego

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a productive day
• new goodies to play with

 

 

A bit of sketching and a bit of scrapping

We went out for a walk this morning - just around town. I would like to stress I don't really buy clothes any more - I don't need any ... probably ever! But for the first time in almost a year I bought two new tops in the sales that I just fell in love with.

I also bought a new pair of boots - for the cupboard. I fell in love with my new boots I had before Christmas. They are like wearing slippers - so soft and light and fab. They are so comfortable and so I have bought another pair - for Ron (we always say things for later on are for Ron) I know if I wait, by the time I need them they won't be available any more so heck. New boots too.

Other than that I have made a start in my next commission (nervous about this one but then I always am when I start) and did a couple of pages in my traveller's notebook sketchbook of Route 66. I would have sketched when I was there, but there seriously was not time to do anything other than be there.

 

These are the first two pages (I will do the cover at a later date. ) They are very very very simple and sketchy as this is a technique I am trying to master. They are based on photos I took for this purpose.

 

 

 

and some scrapping from this week too

We didn't get many photos from Montreal so the pages will be few and far between

 

 

This was underwhelming - the floral clock at Niagara

 

 

Our first sunrise of the trip - Nubble Light

 

Beautiful sunny Balboa

 

and another Paige Evans cut file and Vermont in the fall.

 

Today I am thankful for

• new things - doesn't happen a lot ... I am very restrained these days
• starting my sketch book - was a bit scared to take the plunge

 

 

 

 

And the year is speeding by

I seem to have lost three days of the new year already. I could have sworn I blogged yesterday but apparently not. I think I lost the three days scrapping!

I have loved playing with the crop they had on FTLOPP and there were 18 challenges and games and I am thrilled I managed all 18. It got me over a bit of scrappers block. I was a little hesitant in starting the album properly for our holiday. The holiday was soooooo good I was nervous about scrapping it badly. But at least now I have made a good start. I have already done 48 pages so I am well underway. (I have a LOT to do though - I am thinking it will be three D ring albums)

 

Here are another few of the pages made for the cyber crop

This was a lucky photo ... we didn't stop in Toronto but Nigel said I might be able to get a photo of the CN tower as we drove by! I did! Hence the title

 

This was a challenge involving shiny or glittery - neither of which I really do - but it seemed apt to record that we were so lucky to get to hold a proper genuine Oscar (and it was really heavy)

 

 

This oe I don't like and it might not last in the album. I was trying to do something very different and it is so not me. Yes, it is fun to try new things but I think your comfort zone is comfortable for a reason!

 

Couldn't resist scrapping this one. At one point our trip was going to take us to the real barn and museum from the American Gothic painting.

We had to re-route and yet I still kind of saw it. These cute cute scarecrows were in Plainville Kansas where we stopped for a snack.

 

 

 

And I couldn't resist this one of Nigel re-fuelling - well it was a road trip.

 

I will share some more tomorrow.

 

Today has been a chillax day with a little scrapping, a little scrapping and a little travel journalling. I will share the sketching and travel journal when I have done a little more of it.

 

We are recovering - but I have to say it is slow. Nigel has had two relatively cough free nights now after a really dreadful 5 week stint and I am getting there, but I am a couple of weeks behind Nigel. I had the flu jab this year so I don't think it is flu but it is nasty and so very many people seem to have had it over Christmas. However, I have been lucky as I think this is the first cold I have had in the 3 and a half years since I left work.

 

Today I am thankful for

• hobbies that fulfill me
• groups like FTLOPP which encourage me
• lazy days
• strepsils and covonia (still)