Dolly's Dreamings

Christmas 'Journal' preparation

OK so I KNOW it is still November but Journal Your Christmas starts tomorrow and so I wanted to share what I have made for this year's journal and so it seemed right to change the banner and everything.

I LOVE Christmas and we have had a couple of rocky ones int he kast two years so I want to really enjoy this one, God willing.

 

I haven't done journal Your Christmas since 2013 as I had done 2007.2008.2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. 2013 and coming up with new stuff is hard.

2007 - an A-Z 8" x 8" album ... really loved this one

 

 

 

2008 was a hardbacked comb bound book which was 7" x 9.5"

 

 

2009 was digital journal all printed out and bound

 

 

 

2010 was a smaller book with digital pages printed out again

 

 

 

 

2011 was a more unusual book with lots of tags and tabs

 

 

2012 was one of my favourites - again digital pages and printed out (digital was always easier when I was at work)

 

 

and 2013 was one of my favourites  - a little house box which I loved making and loved looking at

 

 

 

 

 

then I had 2 years off and now I am raring to go.

I gavce some thought as to how I could do it differently and then - on holiday - we saw an elf on the shelf. Now I KNOW this is for children really - but I am a just a big kid so we decided we would play elf on the shelf this year and so the journal will be a combination of Elf's mischief and my daily record.

 

So this year I have made a box - a big box. Big enough for a large journal and the elf when it is all over.

 

I used a kit called Elf Magic  by Simple Pleasure Designs

 

 

I printed bits out and then used Christmas papers and this is the box

 

 

 

 

 

It has lots of dimension and bling on it too

 

And this is the cover - all ready to be bound when the book is complete.

 

 

I am so looking forward to this December!

 

I have news about Dawn's sale today - Below Zero kit and overlays and papers and all sorts of lushness - all at 50% off

 

 

and this is my page

 

 

I was at hospital today again for a couple of hours for more tests but all is well that ends well and the good thing about Poole hospital is it is near Poole Park which was icy but totally gorgeous. I loved watching the birds land on the ice and do all sorts of skating!

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• our wonderful NHS. I cannot begin to imagine how much the tests I have had this year and the operation on my nose would all have cost. We truly are very lucky.
• The excitement of impending Christmas

 

 

 

Save

What a lovely start ... and a farewell

Holidays are here and I already feel lazy.

I had to go into work for a short visit this morning but now - I am officially OFF

 

We had a lazy frap a lazy mooch round some shops and a lazy lunch and a lazy afternoon. I can see a theme developing here.

I have new crafting to share too ...

I had to say farewell to a much loved colleague this week (though I will still see him often)

I wanted to make him something special but I found it really hard to create something for a man. I am so used to covering everything with flowers and butterflies that it was hard to embellish without them. But I was quite pleased with what I made int he end.

He is a chemist first and foremost  - hence the design.

It is a canvas for the wall with lots of distressing and stitching and stuff.

 

 

It is always a bit worrying when you give a homemade gift in case people don't like it - but thankfully he did

 

 

 

 

and the card was - of course - homemade too

 

 

Sometimes people come in to your life and make a real difference and whilst they may move they are never really gone.

 

Today I am thankful for

• friendship and laughter and support
• farewells that are not forever
• holidays

 

 

and finally - a beautiful video or two to share

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bon Voyage

I guess it is THAT time of year when everyone's thoughts turn to holidays. I know mine do.

Last year we didn't get to go to our beloved America. We did a 'stay-cation' and holidayed in the UK.

 

I would like to say I was sad and miserable and wished we had gone abroad - but the bottom line is I don't. I loved it. I loved being int he UK. I loved that it was still a road trip. I loved that we saw so many wonderful places and I loved that we were accessible and if the cats had needed us we were never more than 7 hours away.

And with sights like this

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what was not to like.  It was fab but this year - well I am afraid we are lookimg forward to a 'proper' American holiday in a 'proper' country - America.

Yes this year it is Florida all the way and we will be in heaven.

 

Anyway I digress.

Today I wanted to make a hybrid bon voyage card for someone going away on holiday and so this is what I came up with

 

Looks a bit flat like that but it is very dimensional

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used Orange Cream and Cabanas by Jumpstart Designs at Pickleberrypop - just the perfect collection for a bon voyage card

 

Today I am thankful for

• The fun of making different things
• so many holidays we have been blessed to enjoy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bird in a Gilded Cage

I thought I would share my post from Friday for It's a Creative World.

As you remember the blog is back and you really do need to check it out as the girls are posting something every weekend and there is always such variety over there. Do go and visit.

So this was my project for April ... and very different for me too.

 

I admit I am an impulse shopper and that was certainly true when I saw this chipboard bird and cage.

It didn't look like this, obviously - it was just plain chipboard.

 

 

I had no idea what I would do with it, but it was just so cute I wanted to have it and play around with it.

And it just goes to show what you can achieve with cheap embellishments.

I covered the cage with walnut stain and then different colours of distress inks. I added green as I wanted the cage to look like it was old and worn and had a sort of patina to it.

 

I added some gold glitter in places as I wanted a sort of tarnished gold look – not all over shiny and glitzy. I guess I was going for the bird in a gilded cage look.

The bird was covered with patterned paper and then I used distress inks and a text stamp on the top and inked the edges.

 

I added stickles round the heart and for the bird’s eye

 

I had a small ivy wreath I had bought a long time ago. I had hoped it would work for my dolls’ house, but the leaves were just too big and out of scale. I carefully unravelled the wreath and then wound it round parts of the cage, using glossy accents to stick it in place as the wire it was made of wasn’t really strong enough to hold it.

I then took apart a necklace I had bought from Primark several months ago. It was made of an old gold colour and had huge leaves on it in an old gold filigree pattern. It was bought purely to take apart and was just what I needed for this project. At £1.50 it yielded not only the chain but a total of 18 leaves – plenty for numerous projects.

 

I looped some of the chain round the cage and added the leaves to some cheap paper roses I had bought a while ago.

 

It was quick and simple to make and although I have no idea what I am going to do with it, it was fun to do.

 

Today I am thankful for

• being part of groups like the girls on IACW
• Sundays
• Good books - just started another two that look filled with potential.

 

And a few more of those wonderful photographs. My friend the photographer didn't take them - he just passed them on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are Easel-y made gifts

It’s been a lovely day for part of the day here. We knew the rain was scheduled for later (it said it would rain at 11.00 and it did!)  and so we made the most of the early morning sunshine.

Parking is free in the town centre every Sunday until Christmas so we parked and walked. We did the two bridge walk – not a long walk but a very pleasant one. As we headed towards the new – and very controversial TwinSails Bridge (which despite All the controversy we love) we passed the RNLI and stopped to enjoy one of our all time favourite sculptures. It is a striking sculpture, really beautiful, and although it has been a photo of the day before it was at night and so it seems fitting it has a day time appearance too.

 

and yesterday's picture ... I  DO NOT feed the cats at the table but it was Thanksgiving and Fiki wouldn't eat the turkey we put down for him. He loves chicken and hates turkey. He did manage to try a little of Mommy's though

 

We headed down and across the bridge and then back over the old bridge and into town. It would have been rude to miss Starbucks wouldn’t it!

I also popped into the Works for a few more of these little easels that are way too cute. They come in several sizes but these are the smallest at just 3 ½ “ x 2 ½”.  These are really easel-ymade Christmas gifts that have that personal touch to gift giving and make nice little stocking fillers. I loved making them when I got home, just before the rain started at spot on 11.00 am.

 

I inked the canvas with a variety of Tim Holtz Distress inks.

 

I made the word art, set it on a fancy frame and printed it off.

 

I mounted it onto thick card and cut out with a knife.

 

I added butterflies, flowers and beads.

 

 

Perfect little stocking fillers

Today I am thankful for

• the ability to make some personalised Christmas gifts
• wetaher forecasts being right
• my home town - I LOVE Poole

 

 

Have a great week everyone

 

 

 

 

Simply slow Sunday

School holidays are about relaxing and not doing very much. I am sure I read that somewhere. And if I didn't, I ought to have!

After a very heavy post with lots of photos yesterday, today's is very light on photos and content.

Dawn had a digital class on Friday and there was a free kit and a template and of course I got to work witht hem.

This was the page I made with the free kit and the template

 

 

this is a hybrid card I made with the kit.

 

 

 

 

It's A Creative World Blog Hop with freebies

 

So it is finally here - THE event of the Spring season. A very special It's A Creative World Blog Hop

You should have arrived from the amazing Sutty's blog (her work is awesome ... simply awesome)

In case you get lost, the full list of links is at the end of this post.

I am so proud to be a part of It's A Creative World. There are so many talented ladies who scrap, craft, sew, bake, crochet, ink, stamp, garden and just plain rock out crafts. And to celebrate Spring we have got together to do a very special blog hop where you can see so many different ideas that we hope will inspire you to be creative yourself.

And there are even some freebies along the way.

My little freebie is a $5 voucher for Pickleberrypop so you can snaffle up something for yourself to help you get creative for Spring. There are so many great Spring kits available and whether you are a digital scrapper or a paper scrapper you will see things you love. If you are a paper scrapper you could spend the voucher on things to print to add to your pages such as cool journalling blocks and word art or images to make cards.

 

So IT'S FREE  and it is money to SPEND. What have you got to loose? Just pop a comment in the box at the end of the post and a free $5 could be yours.

 

I will pick a winner by selecting a random comment on Monday morning. So ALL YOU HAVE TO DO is leave a comment below and you could have a little Spring bonus to spend.

 So now on to my offerings for the blog hop - a couple of spring pages and cards

 Firstly, I fell in love with this range from Prima called The Sun Kissed Collection. I think it shouted SPRING! I was lucky to get to go to a local farm at lambing time and, whilst we didn't see any lambs born that night, we did see lots of cute little lambs just a couple of hours old and the love their gentle mothers showed was such an inspiration.

 

I used lots of small flowers, adding beaded centres and also a cute chipboard butterfly stamped with brilliance shimmer inks and text to coordinate with the page.

 I don't know about you but no matter how many letters and alphas I have I never have the right colour to coordinate with my page. So for this page I inked some chipboard letters and then stamped them with text and then versamark ink before using clear embossing powder - several coats - so that they look like enamel.

and I also used some cute new dies I bought from Memory Box - some lovely swirls and a cute little picket fence die.

 

Never one to miss the chance to use up scraps I made a card with some of the leftovers.

 

I used one of the Prima Notecards as the background and added flowers and butterflies from the Hero Arts/Sizzix Framelits set - which is a joy to use.

and for those of you who are digi scrappers - or those of you who fancy a bit of hybrid and want to use your $5 voucher, here are some digital and hybrid ideas.

 

This card uses  

Day of Grace Full Kit by Trixie Scraps Designs available at Pickleberrypop

 

 and this page uses the same kit

and the spring freshness in Dawn Inskip's Enchanted Garden collection from Scrapbookgraphics is great for your spring pages.

and  this one using a lot of Dawn Inskip products from her on line store here

And finally this springlike page using a whole range of products from Pickleberrypop and was made using Fayettes template for this month's template challenge (You so have to check out their challenges -they rock!. Find them here )

So enjoy your Spring whatever you do and remember to comment below to have a chance at winning a $5 voucher to spend in the store.

 From here you are hopping off to MANDY's Blog 

I can guarentee you are going to love what she has in store for you! 

Happy crafting and, if you get lost, here is the list of all of the blogs from the hop

Start at IACW-

1-Laura-

3-Doda -

4-Gabrielle-

5-Eleanor

6-Erika-

7-Ifa-

8-Katherine-

9-Dolly-

10-Mandy-

11-Leanne-

12- Kerry-

13- Tracey-

Finish _IACW

New toys to play with

I got home to find an order I placed at the weekend waiting for me. It is a lush set of Hero Arts Sizzix stamps and die cuts and I am already in love.

I haven't really played, just stamped a couple of the images, cut them out - so easy - and had a quick colour.

The detail on the stamps is lush and I am loving the dies.

I can feel another addiction coming but I intend to resist.

I don't make enough cards to warrant this, but I can justify this set as I will use them on pages.

I also had another gift which Nij wasn't sure I would want. You may remember he has been doing some work and training with Bourjois Cosmetics (lots of lovely free samples) well he had a sample of a big bottle of Soire du Paris perfume and it's very nice. Yes please ... thenk you.

As I feel I don't make enough cards to justify more of the Hero Arts sets I figured today I would share a card I made at the weekend.

It was for the daughter of a friend of mine who has just secured a great job. She is a huge animal lover and so it was, in every way, a very appropriate card.

 

Today I am thankful for

• the fact there are so many wonderful crafty things out there - new ideas all the time.

and this is my one minute devotional calendar page today

It had been six years since I’d lost my left leg to cancer, and I had finally found a sport I could compete in: ski racing. I’d been skiing for years, but this was my first race. I was nervous. An official wearing a radio headset was counting down: “Five … four … three … two … one … go, racer!”

I pushed through the starting wand and accelerated out of the gate. On the first turn, I almost lost my balance as my ski scraped across the ice. I continued to flail through the course until the third turn, when my ski slid out from under me and I crashed. I looked down to see if my ski was still attached to my boot. It was, so I was allowed to get back up.

Three turns later, I fell again. I got back up. Then I fell again. In total, I fell five times before I finally crossed the finish line. At this rate, I was sure I’d never make the Paralympics, the quadrennial competition for athletes with physical disabilities. Then I remembered something my coach had said: “It’s not the falling that matters for you right now as much as the getting back up.”

That’s just the path my ski racing career has followed—a lot of falling, a lot of praying, a lot of getting back up. Five years later, when I did make the Paralympics, I managed to fall a lot less, but I never forgot the lesson I learned from that first race: Persistence, not perfection, is what counts.

Finally - another couple of those amazing photos (nearly done with those now!)

Airport in the Maldives is located on an artificial island in the middle of the Indian Ocean

Lighthouse guard in Mare , France must be one of the most courageous people on the planet! Not everyone will have a smoke in such weather, and in such a place!

Photo of storm in Montana , USA , 2010

 

Skyscraper-Crescent Crescent Moon Tower ( Dubai )

Heavy fog in Sydney , which enveloped the whole city

Not a 10 - more of a 3

Some days are 10s. You bounce along - well not literally but metaphorically speaking - and life is good. You feel a picture of health ... well apart from the arthritic knees, the duff ankle and the short and long sightedness ... and life is good. Other day .... mmmm, not so much. Some days are just plain poorly days and much as you try to pretend they are not, it sort of catches up on you and you end up just having to give in.
Thankfully they are not the norm. Thankfully they are few and far between. Thankfully it is a very minor blip compared to the awful stuff some people have to cope with. And actually, they serve to remind you not of your own fragility, but rather of how lucky you are that the poorly days stand out as odd rather than the good days being the unusual ones.

Plus, along the way there is ually a very very kind hubby who, as luck would have it, was working in a chemist today, and so was able to shop for what you needed. See, every cloud has a silver lining.

 
I will get better which is more than I can say for our fridge.

It was just two weeks ago I posted that we were a little disappointed that having steeled ourselves that we would need a new fridge and picking one out, the fridge was mended after all. Mmmm .... seems not actually. It is back to not working againa nd the next stage would be to replace a fairly major part and we'd be looking at over £200 and still having a fridge that, to be honest, we didn't entirely trust. I am bored with throwing chicken away now and so last night, terrifying as it might be, we ordered a new fridge that arrives tomorrow. Bang goes any dreams of saving for an iPad!

However, we did manage to find it at Boots, £150 cheaper than the next cheapest, which was also a sale price at £200 less than usual, so a saving of £350 plus extra Virgin miles for shopping through their gateway plus air miles for using the Virgin card plus Boots advantage points - heck, it is almost like they are paying us to have the thing!

I guess it may - fingers crossed - be the picture of the day tomorrow.

I have a page to share today which was made for the weekly challenge on UKS.

It is very much a hybrid page as I made the butterflies digitally then printed and coloured, I made the word art digitally and printed.

 

The word art was fun to do and I had forgotten how much I like making those little title blocks up

The challenge included using butterflies and I do love butterflies. Not only are they pretty but they are also so symbollic.

 

Today I am thankful for

• giving in and being gentle with myself
• General good health ... too easy to take for granted.
• Nigel getting to do something he enjoyed today

 

My one minute devotional calendar page today was lovely and reminded me very very much of a trip we made to Big Pit in wales 25 years ago. It was the darkest blackest thing ever and I still can't beleive I managed it. My claustrophobia is worse now and I don't think I could do it now ... but I am glad I did it and could experience total blackness.

TOUR A COAL MINE! The billboard fairly shouted as we drove along Canada’s east coast. “Can we, Mom? Can we?” The two youngest kids, ages nine and ten at the time, were game to do anything that held even a hint of adventure.

“Oh, I suppose we could,” I replied without really thinking about it.

The grizzled old coal miner who acted as our guide handed each tourist a waterproof cape and helped us adjust the lights on our miners’ helmets. As we rattled down underground in the steel cage of an elevator, the guide proceeded to fill us in on the gory details of every disaster that had ever occurred in this particular mine. The elevator cage jolted to a stop at the bottom of the shaft. “Okay, everybody, turn the lights out on your helmets, so you can experience how dark a coal mine really is!”

The darkness was impenetrable. “Gee, Mom, I can’t even tell if my eyes are open or not!” our son exclaimed. Nor could I. We stood for a moment, experiencing the absolute absence of all light: pitch blackness. Scary, real scary. And cold, clammy cold.

“Okay, you can turn your lights on now and come this way.” The beam of light from my miner’s helmet caught the fluorescent heels of the running shoes worn by the tall tourist ahead of me. By bending my head just so, I could follow in his steps, while he, in turn, focused on the guide. Playing “follow the leader” spared me from succumbing to my absolute worst fear—being left alone in the twists and turns of that pitch-dark mine shaft.

The tour over, we squeezed back into the elevator cage. I held my breath as it creaked and groaned its way to the surface.

“That was neat, huh, Mom?” exclaimed our son. “What did you like best?”

“The fellow’s shoes who walked ahead of me,” I replied.

Father God, thank You for those whose lives are so focused on You that I can safely follow in their steps. And thank You for offering to be the guiding light to us all.

Home Decor budget style

Today I have a home decor idea to share and some pretty general ramblings.

I did a fair bit of work yesterday so that I truly could have a day off - and a lovely day it has been too.

I have scrapped, I have read, I have watched TV and I have switched off and relaxed.

My photo of the day is the new bird feeder as Nij finished re-siting it where we hope it will stay.

I really hoped that we would see birds straight away but i knew that was unlikely and it would take them a while to get used to it.

So imagine our joy when we saw my favourite little bird of all, the robin, on the feeder. We had bought special robin suet cakes with mealworms (lovely!!!) and he obviously knew they were just for him and he has spent a lot of the afternoon on his little robin cake. So much so we doubt he can still fly!

We have also seen several tits - we think coaltits or great tits, but we think we have also seen greenfinches on there as well. I have spent a fair bit of the day just sitting and watching. And smiling.

I have a project to share today that I haven't shared before but was made a while ago. It is a clock for the library downstairs.

The clock was one I have had for ages and I think it was a Creating memories clock - just a big square piece of wood with the clock mechanism.

First I painted the edges and then I covered it with some beautiful paper. The paper is K and Co from the Blue Awning range  (my favourite range of papers ever)  It is just so subtle with browns and creams and blues - the perfect colours for the library. It is flocked and so has a lovely texture to it.

I cut several butterflies from an off cut of a wallpaper sample that we almost used int he room. The room is brown and cream with this bright peacock blue as an accent colour and it made the perfect thing to cut the butterflies from. I cut several and overlayed them to give real dimension.

I also made several paper roses from the same papers. I stamped some with text and added different inks to change the tones.

The letters were cut on the robo. I couldn't use chipboard as there wasn't quite enough clearance for the hands. They were cut from another paper sample we didn't use.

 

 

I love projects that are cheap to make and just take  little time to do.

Today I am thankful for

• a truly restful day and a good recharge of my batteries.