The weekend is...

almost over and I've accomplished NOTHING. All those things I had in my head that I wanted to get done are still just in my head and not done. Darn it!

Oh well... What's a girl to do? I think I'll go curl up on the couch with some canning books and magazines. Might as well continue on with my lazy weekend! LOL! ;)

I checked out this book from the library and I really like it so I may need to order it. I want to make some blueberry jam so I'm reading up on it. There are quite a few recipes for other tasty treats that have caught my eye, but I figure I'll start with something relatively simple that I cannot mess up. Hopefully!

Aside from canning, I want to find a recipe for a really good and hearty wheat bread. Does anyone out there have a favorite recipe they'd like to share?

Another really neat book I found is called Hearts & Homes.
It's full of fun information about the families and lifestyles of the people who farmed the Heartland from 1895-1939. There are neat recipes and snippets from articles about such things as how to prepare a lunch bucket for school children. Very interesting. The author has another book called, A Prairie Kitchen, and I have requested that one from the library.

Speaking of the library, I really love it. I enjoy my weekly (at least!) trips and always come home with a HUGE stack of books. I have 10 checked out right now... but I've had over 20 books at a time in the past. It's good fun.

Well, I'm off to hit the couch and be lazy. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,
Dana

Friday, already?

I love Friday's... but this one came up far too fast! Seriously.

I have quite a bit to do this weekend. Most of it involves more cleaning and organizing. I'm not sure that task is ever going to get done... but I'm trying.

Also, now don't hold your breath, lol... but I plan to do a little scrapbooking this weekend. I haven't actually scrapped in a while so this should be interesting.

Scott, Kristofer and his buddy, Bret are going to go see The Simpson's Movie this evening. I think I'll take the time to do a little window shopping at TJ Maxx. :)

And finally... my new favorite Yankee Candle. I'm on my second one! I like to get mine at Bed, Bath & Beyond so I can use the discount coupon I get in my mailbox. It makes them a bit more reasonable for a totally consumable item like a candle. I do save the jars though. They are great for storing a variety of things.

Hope you have a great Friday!

Hugs,
Dana

Back from CHA...

Well, actually I got back on Monday morning, worked the rest of the day for my "real" job and then went to bed at about 6:30PM... and slept until about 7:00 the next morning! This girl was worn out! CHA is a lot of fun, but so much work!

Anyway, the show was fabulous. It's always so fun to see the Dream Street Girls and visit.
I wish we could get together more often, but we all live so far apart. I am lucky to be part of such an amazingly talented team.

Here are a couple photos.

Tracy, Me, Lara, Tara, Angela & Laura
(Photo from Tracy's Blog... thanks Tracy! ;) )


Amy, Alexis & Audrey
(Photo from Alexis Blog... thanks Alexis! ;) )


Dream Street Papers Booth, Summer CHA 2007


New Cardstock Stickers for Chipboard Mini Albums

My little Forget-Me-Not Mini Album
(whipped up on the floor of the hotel room the night before the show started!)

More photos at Amy's Flickr page.

Stef & Me
(Photo from Stef's Blog, :) )

Another highlight of the trip for me was getting a chance to meet Stef Hamilton. Stef is a wonderfully talented scrapbooker and cardmaker extraordinaire! She's even quite often featured in Paper Crafts Magazine. I searched Stef out when I heard that she was a fellow scrapbooker with Breast Cancer and our shared experiences have been a real source of strength for me. Stef... I {Heart} you! ;)

The Dream Girls:
Let's see, of course hotel rooming with Tara and Tracy is always a highlight for me. They make me smile... and oh boy... this trip I learned just how much alike those two over-achievers are! Any dream analysts out there? LOL!

Lara is such a sweetie. We had fun talking about bread making, school children and politics over dinner. On the train ride back from Chicago we even got to hear her story about the time that John Travolta called her to wish her luck before her Grease debut. ;)

Amy and Alexis, well... what can one say about gorgeous, talented and friendly girls? Amy's our resident Celebrity! She looks just like Sandra Bullock.

Angela is just a fun girl to be around. She's full of energy and a very creative spirit.

Jamie and Tracy are our CK HoF'ers and we are so proud of them. They are very talented scrapbookers and it's great to have them on our design team.

Audrey has the most fabulous southern accent. It's so fun to just listen to her talk. But she's not just a cute accent, she's smart and funny, too!

Laura is just as charming as she is online and so easy to talk to.

All in all, it was a fun and successful show for Dream Street Papers, but it sure is nice to be home.

In other news at the homestead... ;)
Kristofer finished reading Harry Potter and we sat down last evening for him to give me the play by play... I just had to know what happened.

When he was just a little guy in oh, first grade I think, I read him the first book. After that, he read them on his own and just loved them. What an awesome way to inspire children to read. Thanks, J.K. Rowling... very cool! :)

Anyway... no spoilers here... but Kristofer did shed a few tears. He's 15 and LOVED it. ;)

Hugs!
Dana

Ta Da....;)

Forget-Me-Not has been unveiled. I'm so thrilled. It holds such meaning for me and I hope whatever you create using it will be special to you!

Dream Street Papers has some really fun collections for this summer's release. I'm sure you'll find something you love!

We also introduced some really neat chipboard and coordinating sticker covers for mini-albums. They'll be fun additions to your scrapbooking supplies. :)

Hugs,
Dana

In the THICK of it...

I'm purging, cleaning and taking stock of what's really important in my life. I'm going to slow down and place more focus on the little things (a goal I've had for quite a while and manage to do MOST of the time!) and I'm right in the middle of making that happen. ;)

IT SURE IS MESSY to SIMPLIFY!

I'd show you some pics... but I'd be way too embarrased... ;)

So, when I'm done... I'll show you some pics of the end result.

Anyway. I found a really cool new website. It's called Mary Jane's Farm. The forums have some fun stuff on them. Nope not about scrapbooking but super fun none-the-less. :)

Happy Friday the 13th!

Hugs,
Dana

Sneak peaks & other stuff....

Here it is... a special sneak peak of "Forget-Me-Not" my new collection for Dream Street Papers. It's a colorful and whimsical collection to celebrate all those special moments and people in your lives you never want to forget. ;)

Well, my birthday isn't until September... but I decided to gift myself this year... a little early. I've had my eye on the FoodSavers for a bit so I decided to just get one. It's the perfect time of year to have it because it's fresh veggie season here in MN and I'd love to save some of that for winter.

We usually freeze some of our raspberries for later use in pies or smoothies. We also like to make pasta sauce from our Roma tomatoes.

I got busy over the weekend freezing and packaging blueberries in one cup amounts for use in banana bread (yummy!) and pancakes and stuff. I also did the same for some fresh green beans from the Farmer's Market. I'm really into "food" lately.

Another thing on my summer To-Do list is to can some fun things like Apple Pie in Jar or Blackberries in Framboise... both would be yummy over vanilla ice cream!

Scotty is still working on photos from our vacation. As usual, he took a lot. I haven't even had time to look at them yet, but will post a few soon.

Gotta go... much to do today! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Hugs,
Dana