Dolly's Dreamings

Glorious weather and a new scrap room/art studio

It has been glorious here. I love it when it is bright and sunny but I am already not loving the heat. I really don't like being hot and especially as we have been so busy refurbing the worst room in the house.

My scrap room had 30 years of stash in it. I cleared out boxes and boxes of stuff which felt really good. We then moved everything out, decorated, had new carpet and then built lovely new cupboards. Everything is now behind doors so is cat safe and looks oh so much better. It is a bright, well organised, clutter free space I am just going to love creating in. One side is all scrapping and the other is all art. (Oh and Nigel has a desk on the other side of the room and has some lovely new display cases for his models. 

Before

and if it hadn't taken me 20 minutes to upload those three before pictures I would have shared during - however, straight to after photos

 

I do love everything in boxes and labelled

 

I was going to share photos of longleat and scrapping but i ts simply NOT allowing it today.

I am hating TYPEPAD

Some recent art work - the first painted for the new room

 

 

 

No it is not allowing any more paintings

Today I am thankful for

• breakfast in the sunshine with friends
• a beautiful calm new room
• sorting the next DIY project - the last we hope
• Sitting in the garden
• A very productive check up with the eye consultant

 

I am NOT thankful for the way Typepad is behaving

 

New berry big deals

I am fast losing patience with typepad so I am sorry I have been posting rarely.

It's not because I don't want to post - it's just that it hates me adding pictures so that makes for very boring posts.

But I am trying here again

Credits

Wrapped in Memories Collection by Chunlin Designs

 

 

Credits

Wintry Collection by Tiramisu Designs

 

Credits

Wonder of Winter collection  by Cindy Ritter

 

Well it kind of worked.

 

In other news we have both been ill. We think probably flu as it knocked us for six, though we are recovering well. But it has been a hard old week with little sleep due to excessive coughing. I think we were both run down because of the hard work of a month long renovation project. We are too old for the physical effort really. However, whilst it was never going to be a pretty room, since it is the boys' room with all of their paraphernalia, it looks neat and clean and loved. It was filled with mismatched furniture, dated wallpaper and a broken floor. It is clean and bright and functional and a lot more spacious. The plaster came off in chunks so we had to replaster a lot of it - Nigel did it - and we had to paint and paint and paint and then have the new floor laid then the carpet then build all of the furniture but the cats approve and that is the main thing. I will try to add some photos of before, during and after

 

The deadly before

 

The hellish during ...

 

and the new room with furniture carpet and cats!

Today I am thankful for

• a job complete
• cough and cold remedies
• churches streaming services when you are too sick to get there
• feeling ready for Christmas now

Our job is done

Thankfully we have now finished the lounge and I think this might be our last big renovation project - we have done everywhere and frankly we are too old to do that level of physical work. We are both shattered - but it was worth it.

We started out with the fireplace being changed back in February last year but I was still recovering from surgery etc and so we had to put everything else on hold.

Then we did a massive project int he bedroom in the summer which was traumatic but thankfully we didn't do a great deal of the work ourselves. We loved the bedroom so much as it was all completely neutral and very calming. So our thoughts turned to our dated lounge.

We set out with the idea to make it as neutral and streamlined as possible. We got rid f lots of clutter, lots of ornaments which no longer brought us joy and we opted for new whit furniture to go with the neutral colour scheme - and I have to say we love it.

 

There are still a few things to be sorted - the sound system, we want a larger tv (yes seriously) and pictures need to be hung - but its clean and fresh and neutral and the carpet is wonderful and soft and we are happy.

Before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During

 

 

 

 

 

After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and the Koda seal of approval

 

I was so relieved to go to art today and relax

I tried pastels (I really don't like them) on black paper of Koda

Not my finest hour but it was a nice diversion

Today I am thankful for

• the lounge being completed
• peace and tranquility
• REST

 

 

Almost there

The lounge renovation is nearing its end - thank goodness. I am obsessively tidy and every room is in a mess, the whole house eneds a jolly good clean and I am done with it to be honest. Butt he end is in sight.

We have some more furniture to build, we have curtains to hand, blinds to hang, and the big job of cutting up and removingt he old carpet and then the new carpet is fitted on Monday.

We are now at the nice stage of buying the nice finishing touches like cushions and so on.

 

We headed to Swanage on Thursday in -2 chills but warmed up nicely afterwards in one of our favourite cafes.

 

 

 

 

and in amongst it I found time for batch cooking - veggie chilli and lasagne

I bought a new toy box for the boyz to match the colour scheme. Indy didn't quite get it!

 

 

 

I even found time for scrapping

 

 

Credits 

January Mystery box at Pickleberrypop 

Today I am thankful for

• a little warmth as I am going to be attending my first ever protest in our local park
• the end being close

 

 

The end is in sight

Well today was a big day. Our lounge is big - very big - and today we painted all of the walls. And I'm not going to lie ... it was HARD work.

 

 

 

Now we just have the furniture to build, the old furniture to take to the tip, the carpet to cut up (has to be in manageable pieces) and then finally the new carpet laid next Monday and then move everything back in.

 

It was a bit more work than I think we imagined and we are no spring chickens any more, but the end is in sight.

 

I have more design team scrapping for A Trip Down memory Lane to share using Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Dreams.

 

 

 

 

and this one

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• the renovations almost done
• design team work accomplished
• progress
• and today for my Christmas dinner - I wasn't well on Christmas Day so ate little so we are having mark 2 today!!!

 

 

So it has started

2024 has started with a bang.

The lounge renovation has begun. We were so impressed with the clean uncluttered neutral look of the bedroom that the lounge is next on our purge and refesh list.

We are going for utter neutral and less cluter and a bit of a modernisation.

This is the lounge as it was ... dated and cluttered.

 

 

 

Both wall units have now gone. 90% of the ornaments have gone, the nest of tables, lamps, tv unit etc are going and the wallpaper - inch by inch - on the back wall has gone

 

The new furniture is in the garage waiting to be built - it is all white - the walls will all be a dark cream the same as the bedroom, new carpet will be down on 22nd and we can move back in.  And I promise there will be less clutter. Just allt he walls to paint, the ceiling and coving to paint, the floor to sort an the paintwork to be done! Yikes. 

 

There are some new releases at Pickleberrypop today

 

Credits

Art Box #10 by TirAmisu Designs

 

 

 

 

Credits

Feeling Frosty Berry Blends Kit FREE with $12 orders Jan 1 – 15 - such a good good deal

 

Designs by Heartstrings Scrapart. Just Because Studio and Lorie M

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a rest day - Nigel is rubbing the paintwork down - I do the painting.
• new starts clean and fresh

 

Big day today on the home front

We have had a bust day today going up to Ikea and back. We have ordered the furniture for the lounge renovation> It is Ikea but solid wood and rather lovely. We have ordered the carpet, not from Ikea obviously,  have bought the new lamps and cushions and are excited that by the end of January, God willing, we will have a new streamlined, less cluttered more modern lounge. Fingers crossed eh! And if anyone wants and old ornaments like border fine arts, David Winter cottages etc, speak now before they go to charity because the whole lot is going! I am following y new mantra of de cluttering and, if it doesn't bring me joy it is going.

I have new scrapping to share made as a design team piece for Scrap a Sketch.

I loved this premium sketch and stuck to it quite closely whilst adapting it to suit A4. The sketches always adapt so well to whatever size you scrap. The photos are of me at my happy place -t he beach - with my new happy mug! What's not to like - a Starbucks mug with cat ears and a cat on! Made for me! I used the Happy Hanukkah printables for the embellishments after having added circles of dots with a template first. The page has absolutely nothing to do with Hanukkah but the colours were perfect as were the gift boxes. You can find the collection HERE https://www.scrapasketch.com/.../happy-hanukkah-full... and you can find the sketch by becoming a premium sketch member

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and some other catch up pages ... this was another for scrap squad and I love this one and it isn't  often I say that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this is one I forgot to share

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• successful ordering
• the strength to declutter - I don't find it easy. Craft room next!!!

 

It's pretty much done - and so are we

The bedroom is pretty much done - just a few finishing touches like the mirror etc but we are back in, everything is away int he wonderfully organised new storage (I did enjoy that bit) and we are done. In every sense! No more big renovations ever. No more endless furniture moving. Our backs - we hope - will heal. We are both in pain but it is, we think, worth it.

 

We had a Sharps fitted bedroom 32 years ago when we first moved in and it was showing its age. The colours had faded, the hinges were not what they had once been and the whole things was looking a bit shabby. We also had an issue witht he floor with several soft spots that Nigel had tried to patch but we knew the only real fix was a new floor and that was only possible really if it were WHOLE floor so we decided to upgrade the bedroom with pretty much the same configuration but much much nicer units, new and crisp and clean and better built. Funnily enough we had Sharps to quote as well as Hammonds and they were dearer. I cannot believe it as the quality of the hammonds is vastly superior.  Anyway, two weeks of upheaval and hell. Do you have any idea how much stuff is in a bedroom of our size. Soooooooo much. And it all had to go somewhere and so did we. We have a four bed house but one room is a studio, one os a library/study one is the boys room and one is ours so we moved intot he dining room. That means the dining room furniture moving, the bed going downstairs and then 8 wardrobes - double hanging - of clothes moved to the loft on borrowed clothes rails, all the other cupboards and stuff emptied into boxes in the garage (with the dining room furniture) and then all moving back again.As we packed the few clothes (very few as there was nowhere to put them) for the two weeks, the toiletries as we wouldn't have access to our en suite we said it was like packing for the worst holiday ever. Now, you are probably going to want to skip this as this is for my benefit so I remember. If I were you and you have read this far I'd just skip to the last few photos.

Before the work began but everything a[art from the bed and fan has gone by this point ... and the units look better int he photo than they did in reality

 

 

 

 

Our dining room - now a bedroom

 

 

Wardrobes gone

 

and skip to new flooring down (it was too scary to go in there when there were just joists as the old floor was removed and the new one laid

walls to wash, fill, rub down and paint and paintwork to gloss

 

 

 

 

Painted!

 

and the view from the temporary bedroom, including cows, wasn't bad.

 

Four days of building

 

 

 

Oh and we had wallpapered one evening when they left!

 

 

I'd never had a proper corner wardrobe you could properly reach into before

Finishing off to be done and obviously no carpet yet

 

 

 

and apart from the finishing touches - we are done and we love it. Love the colour, the quality of the units, the solid floor, the luxurious carpet. Love it. (the last picture is a close up of the chest so you can see the finish of the wood

 

One of the things I was most looking forward to was the neutral palette so I can change the look with the bedding. I have been tied to aqua bedding for the last 13 years so this time we were determined the whole thing should be neutral.

 

 

 

 

View from the en suite

We love it and so do the cats

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a job being completed
• a solid floor without spots to avoid
• Paul who took out the old bedroom and redid the floor
• Hammonds for being able to build what we had in our heads
• Radek our wonderful installer who was the hardest worker I have ever known, who was tireless and happy and smiling and a clean careful worker
• Nigel who kept going despite being in considerable pain
• our wonderful new crisp clean opulent bedroom

Too shattered to type really

Oh my goodness we are tired.

This renovation work is not for the fainthearted. We are at least now putting things back rather than ripping things out.

Last night we were still wallpapering until 8pm. We have glossed, we have artexed, we have emulsioned, we have papered and the wardrobe fitter is here all week buildingt he new bedroom. Everywhere is a mess, everything is dusty, I don't know where anything is, I ran out of clean work clothes we'd done so much and I will be beyond glad when it is over. If all goes to plan we might, just might, sleep in our bedroom on Saturday night!

 

Mind you I love waking up to this in the morning - one advantage of the temporary bedroom

 

 

 

 

 

I do have some new scrapping to share - forgive me if it is brief and not explained well - I really am tired.

These were all for Scrap Squad 12 days of summer

 

 

 

Beach again - bit of a theme with me as you know. Both of these pages are from 'our' local beach

 

 

 

 

This was a scrap squad and a DT page for A Trip Down memory Lane using 49 and Market goodies

 

 

 

 

 

Another scrap squad - another beach!

 

 

and I couldn't get into the scrap room yesterday so this was done digitally

 

• Today I am thankful that - God willing - the end is in sight
• that Nigel's back and my knees might heal eventually

 

 

We earned today

It's been a long hard week but we earned a day out today.

Yesterday we washed the entire room down, twice. We filled, we sanded, we undercoated and we glossed.

We were shattered.

 

We still have the ceiling to do and the walls to paint before Monday but we are almost there so off we went today.

we started at Upton House where my exhibition is up and I even took a photo of some of my pictures up

These are from Upton House gardens

 

 

 

 

 

Then we drove out to the New Forest and had a late lunch

 

 

 

 

 

Of course there were the usual traffic jams!!!

It was nice to relax

 

I thought maybe some progress pictures

The pink was the wallpaper we put up in 1992

The blue was the wallpaper we put up in 2009 - only a small patch as the rest was covered by wardrobes and dressers

 

 

a wonderful new floorand everything glossed

 

 

 

The view into the bedroom from the en suite

 

and I have to say I love waking up to this view from the dining room. I wouldn't want the bed in there all the time but it is pretty lovely

 

 

And some new scrapping

Credits

Meadow Song Collection Palvinka Designs

 

 

 

And two more for Scrap Squad's 12 days of summer

 

 

 

and finally, a design team page for A Trip Down memory Lane using my July kit which was gorgeous 49 and Market papers available from the store here

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• jobs completed
• rest!
• lovely views

 

 

 

A Brief respite

Oh my goodness I am tired. The dust, the mess, the noise.

This morning I escaped to the art gallery - but it was jolly hard work there too.

But the exhibition from our art group is up and beautifully labelled.

I am chuffed with my pieces and so I am afraid you have to see them here ... I have shared most of them but they are now framed and on display

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They look nicer in real life so if you are local we are at Upton House in Poole for the next 12 days in the gallery above the tearoom so do please pop along and see what my art group has been up to

 

Back home work was ongoing but - big news. we have a floor in the bedroom rather than just joists and the workmen have now left until the bedroom fitters arrive Monday. Although we have an incredible amount of work to do; filling, sanding, rubbing down, undercoating, gloss, emulsiom etc etc at least we can do it on our own, we are in control and the cats don't have to be confined to just one room.

 

But I think we will be exhausted

 

I have new scrapping to share

Credits
Seaside treasures elements Dutch Dream Designs

 

 

 

Credits

The other side of the lens collection by Simplette

 

 

 

and in other scrappy news ... I am thrilled to be still working with the amazing Lisa Sikorski at Scrap a Sketch

 

 

and there is an amazing themed cybercrop coming over at A Trip Down Memory Lane later this month ... as Mrs Peacock I can guarantee you will have great fun

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• design team opportunities
• a lovely exhibition
• sitting down - I am so looking forward to it