Dolly's Dreamings

Happy Thanksgiving

To all of my American friends, readers of this blog and family over in the USA (who I know visit) we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

I absolutely loathe that the UK has adopted Black Friday in a big way and yet not thought at all about Thanksgiving. There is no national day of thanks but there are endless days of pure glorified consumerism as if Christmas hadn't been taken over enough by the shopping gods. I find it sadder each year.

Thanksgiving - every day not just today - is a central part of our lives . I end every blog post I make with thanks. I have a sign by my bed which is the first thing I see each morning and the last thing I see each night that says 'hem your blessings with thankfulness'. There are so many hardships in life. So many people are suffering in the world as a result of war, poverty, ill health, loss and we are suffering with health issues here at the moment but there is always, always something in every single day to be thankful for. Some days it might be harder to find and may seem very transient. Some days it may seem to take a lot of thought to find it. But it is there if you look, I am convinced. And so thanksgiving is important for us. We may not be celebrating the settling of the pilgrim fathers and the founding of a nation, but we are certainly celebrating our many many blessings.

The turkey is in the oven, the trimmings are prepared and it is a lovely thoughtful day.

We began our day with a walk by the sea as we so often do but today oh my goodness it was wild. We went to our favourite beach and for much of the walk we could not be on the promenade as the waves were covering it - but it was glorious in its roaring splashy beauty and yes - I got wet taking pictures!  I love the power of the sea - not by any means the roughest we have seen but rough for this secluded little beach and it was high tide too

No promenade left here

 

 

 

Doesn't he look happy to be asked to stop in the wind for photos!!!

 

 

 

This was one of the ones that 'got me'

 

 

I have new scrapping to share too

These were all made for my design team pages for A Trip Down Memory Lane this month

 

 

 

 

 

The birthday boy is a huge Taskmaster fan and got us into it too so it was fun to make him a taskmaster card with him and his wife on

 

 

 

 

 

And I love these two people so much

Today I am thankful for

• so so many things every single day and I do try to focus on them each night
• thanksgiving day
• turkey and all the trimmings
• living close to the beach

 

 

Another day - another beach

Not as warm as yesterday so we headed to 'our' beach. the beach we most often visit. The tide was right in and there was no actual beach but I loved seeing it rough

 

 

 

 

 

I have more scrapping to share too

Both of these were for scrap squad challenges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can tell I am loving Autumn, as always

 

This was another page for being guest designer this month at Peartree Cut Files

Like the previous page it showcases the firelike colours of the Japanese Garden at Kingston Lacy

 

 

 

 

 

 

And because I haven't been able to share my art either - a little painting done two weeks ago with my bestie

 

Today I am thankful for

• living by the coast - I couldn't not see the sea
• chilled days
• a working blog

 

 

We may be back - fingers crossed

Well readers ... thank you for your patience. we may be back.

 

I think - against all odds - I might be able to share pictures again so - here goes.

 

I have been playing along with Scrap Squad's 12 days of Autumn scrapping and these are three companion pages made for different challenges but using the same collection because they are meant to go together int he album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and I promise I won't overload you with lots of pages all at once but I do want to share two more.

At The Flair Hut where I am on the Designs Team, the team were all given the same set of flair to work with and I was the first to share my design using these gorgeous flair which are available in the shop at The Flair Hut

 

 

 

 

 

and finally - for today - I am a guest designer this month over at Peartree Cut files and this was my first Guest DT page

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• visiting wiith an old friend (well she is young but you get what I mean)
• not suffering any damage int he recent heavy winds
• being able to blog again - thank you so much for sticking with me

 

 

Pumpkin Patch Perfection

We had a lovely day out today visiting a pumpkin patch to select the perfect pumpkin for Nigel to carve and me to bake with

We don't celebrate Halloween so like to get our pumpkin early and on a day when there are not a lot of people. We were the only ones there which was awesome. It's yet another Autumn tradition I love

 

 

 

 

 

Nigel pickingt he perfect pumpkin, not too small, not too 'medium' but good and big and perfect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have also been scrapping.

3 pages with photos taken Monday!

This is for Day 5 of 30 days of sketches with Christy's Beautiful life - a sketch by Lisa Sikorski

 

 

 

 

Our DT kit from ATDML this month was papers from Vicki Boutin Fernwood and these are two pages using that

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely morning at the pumpkin patch
• scrap time
• Autumn (think that is going to be every day for a while!)

 

 

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.

 

Credits

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

 

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

 

 

Still stupidly hot

We have worked really hard today to keep the house as cool as possible, but it's like living in a cave - a hot cave - with everything closed up. I find it awfully depressing.

Nigel and I took a drive this afternoon just to enjoy some respite in a cold car. They have now declared an official drought which is something new. Most things in our garden have died and I just want it to end and rain - a lot.

I do have some nice scrapping to share though - from a day that was hot but not as hot as this.

I am so very very thrilled to be bringing my first page as a full Design Team member over at Scrap a Sketch. I have loved every single one of Lisa's sketches and so am thrilled to be a part of it. I stuck very closely to the sketch for this one as I loved it

 

I used very old simple Stories botanical bits and pieces and some coordinating papers which I distressed at the edges and faux stitched. I used white card - which I tend to do a lot, but added some platters of ink. The title was printed on card and cut out and there are flair of course too. The photo is from Abbotsbury Sub Tropical gardens and the little boat with the owl and the pussycat in was so unexpected and so beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• only having another 4 days of this hellish heat!

A busy day

Very short post from me today as it's been busy and it's hot and I don't like this heat - it makes me grouchy (Nigel's words not mine!!!' )

Our art exhibition is on all week and so I have been there this morning then playing catch up - slowly - this afternoon.

I do have a new page to share though - made for a challenge at Bramble Fox this month and for a challenge at Twilight Crop and Crafts. I used the left overs from one of my class kits at A Trip Down memory Lane.

 

The challenge was to use an old and a new photo and so I went for these two, 20 years apart, at the Grand Canyon. It was interesting to see what had changed - or not changed.

We are older, greyer, more experienced in travelling and - sounds corny but true - even more in love than we were then. Love grows and deepens over time. We are also colder in the second photo. Much much colder. The first was in August and it was hot, even at the high altitude of about 8000 feet. The second was in late October and  -16 degrees when we arrived. Nigel had laughed at me for packing gloves. we wore one each and kept the other hand in pockets. It was bitterly cold - but just as beautiful.

 

 

The class kit was Prima Marketting Inc Golden Desert and was just perfect for the many many desert photos i have over the years

 

 

 

 

I will share the class pages now too as they have been published.

 

This is one of my favourite pictures ever taken on my 50th birthday trip and in Death Valley. We have a huge canvas of this in our bedroom as we both we loved the photo so much.

 

There is a flap that opens revealing two more photos and journalling

 

 

 

 

and just to show it is not only suitable for deserts this is the second page

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a successful exhibition - everyone has done such wonderful work
• fans - I am way way too hot
• the opportunity to created classes

 

 

Our wonderful coast

It is no secret to anyone who reads here regularly that I love the sea, I love the coast and so my design team kit from A Trip Down Memory Lane this month is Simple Stories Simply Vintage Seas was perfect. I have already used the collection before and so it was lovely to have more of it to work with

 

This one is from Lulworth Cove

 

 

 

 

and this from the Minack Theatre in Cornwall

 

 

 

 

I also made another coast page - not with the same collection - of the walk to Durdle Door - a piece of cake walking down there - harder walking up - much steeper than it looks in that photo

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely DT kit
• Nigel getting a cancellation appt for his check up today
• scrapping

 

and some cute photos of people interacting with some great sculpture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of the depths

Well I am pleased to report the light is shining brightly at the end of the tunnel/ No not THAT light, the light you don't want to do towards!

We are over the worst and recovering from Covid, however unlike so many people who have said 'oh it's nothing, just a couple of days', we seem to have had a worse version. Maybe it's our extreme age! However, we avoided it for 27 months, we have now had it and apparently this variant gives no immunity - well we do NOT want it again so will again be very cautious. I have never had a cough as persistent and life disturbing. And the lack of sleep just made everything worse.

BUT - onwards and upwards. We are recovered, though I am still tired.

I haven't done a great deal of scrapping I can share - well I have done a lot of scrapping but most of it is for the ATDML cybercrop next weekend, DAF and SAS design team projects.

But I can share this which was for the DAF insta hop on Monday

It used the fabulous sketch from Lisa at Scrap a Sketch and I loved seeing the whole team have a different take on it.

 

The photos were from the Wimborne Folk Festival in June and I love seeing all the people dressed up.

 

The red paper is Vicki Boutin and so are the flowers but they are from the digital collection which I printed and watercoloured.

 

 

 

 

 

I also have a page from a new release today over at Pickleberrypop

 

Credits

Yesterday is Here by Dutch dream designs

 

The photo is Nigel's stunning grandmother who, when she was young, was an artist's model.

Today I am thankful for

• recovery
• scrapping therapy
• being blessed to be on design teams

 

Cyber cropping

I have had such a lovely time today taking part in several cybercrops - predominantly Hey Little Magpie and Under the Influence of Scrappy Adam.

But before I share the pages I want to share this which was a guest design team page for Lottie Loves Paper. I am lucky that this is the second time I have DT'd for Sarah and I was thrilled.

I used Simple Stories Vintage Seas which is one of my current favourite paper ranges

 

 

 

 

 

The theme for this week is transport and you can enter by going to the Lottie Loves Paper facebook group

 

I am only going to share two of the pages today for cyber crops as I think that is quite enough overload for one day

 

 

The challenge was handmade embellishments and these are mine

 

 

 

 

and this one and I just love the colours and I even got my sewing machine out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news Nigel is still positive and I haven't tested because what is the point, though I have developed a cough now. Good job it's not Covid eh!

 

Today I am thankful for

• Nigel having covid but NOT being poorly poorly
• a gentle breeze before the expected heatwave
• cybercrops