Dolly's Dreamings

A little bit of floral joy

Today we went for our walk early as more rain (which is good) was forecast and the flowers everywhere looked gorgeous. We don't really have flowers in our garden as they don't grow. When we first lived here I spent a fortune on peat, topsoil and bedding plants. Did that for a few years and finally saw sense. We have lots of different coloured foliage bushes. the only flowers we have are azaleas, a few rhododendrons, a few roses and my new sunflowers.It works for us but I do enjoy everyone else's flowers.

 

On a floral theme I have new releases to share for Pickleberrypop

This is an utterly gorgeous collection called Summer Palette by Natali Designs

 

 

I used it to showcase the painting I did of my favourite flowers - sunflowers.

 

 

Wildflowers collection by Heather T

 

My second favourite flowers are poppies so they feature this week too

 

 

and finally

Foundations Rectangles #2 by Fayette       and also using her Get Lost Bundle by Fayette

 

 

Gosh I miss roads like this so much. This was Sedona last year.

 

TOday I am thankful for

• a lovely walk
• everyone else planting lovely flowers for us to enjoy
• great kits to work with
• the start of a new month - the month I hit the big 60!!!

 

 

It's a lovely Sunday

It's been a  nice weekend here. Not weatherwise of course. That hasn't been awesome. But other than that, lovely.

My best friend turned 60 and we went for a socially distanced picnic which was lovely.

 

 

 

 

I enjoy teasing her because for 6 weeks of the year she is a whole number higher than me. I will be joining the 60 club next month.

 

I was able to give her the card and present I had made. I painted her beautiful cat for her birthday and I think she was pleased with it. I hate seeing people get my art work as I am always very critical of what I have made.

 

 

 

We had such a laugh Friday night too at our family Quiz night. Sarah and Jerry set a fabulous quiz and one round was movie posters or pictures with our faces on - they were so well done and utterly hilarious.

Nigel, Sid Ant and Chris featured in this

 

This is my 'other mom' rocking it in style

 

Elly made a picture perfect Dorothy

 

Chris and Sam - a great love affair

 

 

and this was hilarious - esecially since the very thought of me singing is more like a horror film for anyone to be witness to.

 

It was such a laugh.

 

A little scrapping today

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely weekend
• a social distancing picnic
• cooler weather (I like the sun but not the heat)
• fresh strawberries from our neighbours garden

 

 

 

It's the weekend

It's the weekend again. Well let's face it, it is pretty much always the weekend here, but tis officially the weekend.

 

Shopping is done - I look forward to when that isn't a drama, but we are getting slicker with it. We have the process down to a fine art really.

I had a pleasant day drawing and scrapping - well I have a pleasant day drawing and scrapping most days to be fair. Plus we have started another jigsaw and been for a lovely walk too.

New pictures include

 

 

I also photocopied it just so I could play at colouring it. Well I wasn't going to re-draw it. They are small - less than A5 size, and so I used a 0.05 micron pen as the detail is very very fine.

 

Sadly I cannot share the new scrapping as it is for a class at ATDML. But here is some older work that I have not shared yet

 

This was Oatmas on route 66 and was one of the weirdest places we have ever ever been. Part old gold mining town, part old route 66 town, part wonderful, part (a bit part) tacky, full of wild burros and totally and utterly unique.

 

 

 

 

and this was getting our America the Beautiful pass at the Grand Canyon.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a family quiz night to come
• more baking ... photo below my first coffee walnut cake
• the weekend
• rose cava (a bit of a new obsession)

 

 

 

These are NOT mine - macaron works of art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the weather is glorious and we are fine

The coronavirus has been devastating for our world and yet it's impact has also allowed our world to breathe. I am sure it is no coincidence the weather has been exceptional, the waters pf the world are cleaner, the sky is clearer.  The impact on lives, on liberty, on finances has been terrible, but maybe the world needed a re-boot.

 

We had such a fun night with the family last night in a zoom game show night - the virus has helped many people connect a little more I think.

 

sunsets have been enjoyed with evening walks

 

 

 

 

 

There has also been drawing and scrapping

This was another doodle

 

 

 

I photocopied it and coloured it too but I prefer the black and white

 

And these were my latest class pages for a class I taught at ATDML

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• the speed of life slowing down and time to take stock
• time to let the earth breathe a little
• staying healthy
• family time
• beautiful sunsets and new dawns

 

 

 

and this is the google video from the day after Elfin's funeral featuring the song we all walked into - spooky cooincidence.

 

An easy rhythm

Our life has settled into an easy rhythm at the moment. we are waking a bit later since the change int he clocks but I don't feel any real need for the days to be longer so waking later is fine.

We walk for almost an hour everyday and now know our neighbourhood in quite a bit of detail! But the weather has been lovely so it nice to get our daily exercise outside - who knows, even that may be stopped.

We both have hobbies to keep us occupied.

I finished one of my most difficult paintings today - the Guildhall in Poole. There is leeway when painting fur. But a detailed building shows every mistake and this painting sure shows a lot of them, but what is life if not a challenge eh!

It is a watercolour from a photo I took last year.

 

 

I also have two new releases from Pickleberrypop to share.

 

 

I love anything with cameras and film strips so this was gorgeous to work with

 

 

 

And this one was just fun to make

I fear the lockdown is turning me into a domestic goddess though. Today I baked bread from scratch and didn't use the breadmaker and I batch cooked a load of lasagna for the freezer. And both were delicious.

 

I hope that wherever you are you are staying safe and well.

 

Today I am thankful for

• domesticity
• fresh baked bread
• a project finished
• Kira being no worse and possibly a little better

 

And int he words of Eleanor Farjeon's poem - cats really do sleep anywhere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strange times so bring on the crafting

These are strange times to be living in - for everyone, world wide.

I spend my time torn between thinking it is all an over-reaction and being a little worried. I cannot see this going on for months and months - surely? Deaths in China have slowed already and are slowing in the north of Italy and yet the US and the UK amongst others are saying  this could go on for months and months. I get the social distancing to slow it down but to cancel all public exams seems and over reactiona nd way too early to make that decision. Wouldn't it have been better to have said to the kids keep revising over your extended Easter and we will review mid April when we know more.  The kids and staff will all have been off - I know some teachers are still going to be working - for weeks, possibly two months, so could the schools not resume in June and run through to August or beyond to make up the time and then the exam group kids could sit their exams. They could be delayed not just cancelled. There are thousands and thousands of Year 11 and 13 kids - and Year 6 kids - who are suddenly potentially leaving their school forever with two days notice. It seems a very very hasty decision to me. Unless - and this is where my worries lie - unless they do know much more than they are saying.

 

However, at the end of the day, I can do nothing about it. It is out of my hands and all of our hands so I will do what I know how to do - I will scrap in the face of uncertainty. At least Nigel and I know we enjoy being together, we are used to being home together and love it and we both have loads we enjoy doing at home froms crapping, designing, doing jigsaws, playing games, playing rock band with the wii etc etc. I pray everyone else will find peace with it too.

 

This is my scrapping today  based on a sketch by Shimelle

 

I wanted to record some of my art as art had been transformative in my life in the last two and a bit years.

 

I made and printed the block using material from my good friend Dawn Inskip who inspired me to paint. I think she would have been pleased and I still miss her such a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

Now this is a very odd page. Nigel rarely asks me to make a page specifically for him but he did. He has loved his biscuits over Christmas and was tickled by the fact they were Fox's and that it said they were lovingly baked by Foxes. We call Fiki fox and so that was why he liked it. When the box was empty he asked if I could scrap it! Not my usual sort of page but he asked so I did.

Everything on the page, even the border, apart from the background paper and the two foxes was just cut off the box. He liked it - that is the main thing.

 

 

Finally, this is a page made for a challenge on UKS

 

 

It is a paper page but I printed the film strips out - they are from Jen Yurko.

 

So stay safe everyone. Find what makes you happy at home.Care for your neighbours and for each other and stay positive.

 

Today I am thankful for

• gorgeous gorgeous new scrapping goodies to play with - at just the right time.
• being home bound with Nigel
• faith to help me stay positive

 

 

 

A little bit of sunshine

So today happened.

And all ended well.

 

We spotted a damp patch in the kitchen - small - but clear. It appeared to have come from a broken waste pipe from the en suite bathroom that was dripping down the outside wall. We put builders tape across the bathroom (figuratively speaking) and Nigel called a friend who is a plumber  (thank goodness for speedway - Nigel knows builders and carpenters and plumbers and they are all wonderful - it is quite a network. ) We called him yesterday and he came today and fixed it. We have treated the wall, painted it with a first coat and we hope we have cured the problem. But those of you who know me well know I get terribly stressed with any sort of work on the house.

So to keep my mind off it I have been drawing and painting. Painting a little bit of sunshine.

 

I started the sunflowers with Jakki yesterday but sent today finishing them.  You can see it in process.

 

 

 

 

and I also finished my meerkat.

 

 

I have also been scrapping but I can't share that yet.

In other news my tooth was fine - it's horrid now! Hope it settles down but the sharp electric pain is not fab!

 

Today I am thankful for

• a painting day
• friends with skills who help us out
• new pipes

 

and I think the last of the boards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battening down the hatches

Apparently we are heading for a storm this weekend - and as it is called Storm Ciara we figure it is bound to be bad as any storm named after our grouchy Kira Cat is going to be bad!

 

However, today was nice which was good. I worked int eh morning but we still has time for lunch by the sea and a film this afternoon (a very disappointing Dolittle - I would recommend you don't waste your money ,to be honest!)

 

Yesterday I got my brand new watercolour paints which I am very excited about. I have gone for a professional set now I know I will use them and they are lovely. Watch this space

This is my most recent completed painting

 

 

I have also done some new scrapping that I can share

This one was made for Ella Bonella and was a tough challenge. You were allowed to use white cardstock, one sheet of patterned paper (I used 1/2 sheet but it was double-sided with strips on one side and yellow on the other) one colour of mist, one alphabet and one journalling pen.

 

I found it really hard

 

 

and this one was for a combined challenge on  FTLOPP and Scrap Squad. It was a fabulous sketch.

 

Publish

 

 

I am hosting this weeks scraplift on the ATDML Facebook group so do go over and check it out. There is a prize to win! Visit HERE

Today I am thankful that

• I have new paints to play with
• it is the weekend

 

Stay safe in the storms everyone.

 

 

 

A bit of a day

No blog post yesterday as it was a bit of a day.

Regular readers will know I don't do well with workmen int he house and disruption and upheaval. Well, that was yesterday!

 

We have had an issue with our top landing floor for months and months and my nagging finally paid off and Nigel got someone in to fix it. It means we had to take up the carpet and underlay and then they had to saw the old floor out and replace it. The tongue and grove had failed and we had soft patches. It was noisy. It was messy. It is DONE! After months of being careful where we trod to avoid the soft patches we can now walk anywhere we like!!!
In the evening it was a speedway quiz so I was supporting Nigel with his quiz night - back to marking again. Well, I did have some experience over the years!

I do have new things to share though.

Digital first ...  as always the images are clickable links

 

This si the new Berry Blends collection from Palvinka and Natali Designs

 

 

This is what I made

 

 

and this is  Breathtaking by Simplette which I used for the mojo challenge using the free template from Heartstrings ScrapArt

 

 

and this was my page

 

and finally, for today some DT work for A Trip Down Memory Lane

I was sent some lovely new releases and one of the collections was Hey Crafty Girl by Simple Stories (It is on their web site for purchase now) and I couldn't resist making this to showcase my two paintings.

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a job completed with no disasters
• a lovely painty day (will share the latest picture later)
• my clever husband - I am so proud of him when he does these quizes. They are not your normal quiz but full-blown multimedia presentations and he is such a showman, such a presenter and I am just darned proud of him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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