Welcome Home Izzy!

Meet Izzy... our new fur baby. The above photo was posted on Minnesota Sheltie Rescue. How could I possibly resist? I mean, really, is she not just adorable?

This beautiful little girl was abandoned at a farm and forced to fend for herself. I can't imagine the kind of person(s) who would do such a thing. So incredibly sad.

Her given name in rescue was Liza, but her foster mom called her Izzy and we liked that, too. So we call her Izzy, Izzy Belle, Liza, Liza Belle, Izzyboo, Princess Izzy... ok, you see where I'm going with this. ;)

Here's here profile...

Liza

Liza came into rescue in rough shape. Her coat was badly matted, and she even had a wire tangled in the mats. But after some TLC and some much needed veterinary care, she looks great, feels even better, and is ready to meet her forever family. She’s cute as can be and social, and a real charmer! She will quickly draw you in with her adorable face and delightful personality.

AGE/SEX: 4-6 years, female
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 16" and 24 lbs.
TEMPERAMENT: Liza is a friendly gal who likes people and will greet you with her little tail wagging. If approached too quickly, she will move away but if left to greet people on her own, she warms right up. She likes to sit near people and watch them closely. Liza enjoys attention and petting, and looks forward to a home of her own where she will have plenty of both.
FENCE: Preferred for her safety, as she does have a herding instinct and Shelties are a flight risk. We may consider a home without a fence, but only if the family is committed to always keeping her on a leash for her lifetime.
OTHER DOGS: Yes, but she prefers they stay put quietly :). If they move around or bark, her herding instinct shows through and she wants to control their behavior, which can result in scuffles. She really shows no interest in playing with the other dogs in her foster home. Liza enjoys attention and would like to be the only dog in her forever home so she can soak up all the love she deserves.
CATS: Liza gets along with cats and is respectful of them.
LEASH MANNERS: Liza walks well on a leash without pulling, and is a nice walking companion.
HOUSETRAINED: Liza is housetrained and has had no potty accidents in her foster home.
CRATE TRAINED: Liza loves her crate, though will bark initially when we leave the house.
OBEDIENCE TRAINING: No formal training at this time. Liza responds to sit and lie down on command. She is smart and would do well with positive training methods, either at home or in a formal setting. Minnesota Sheltie Rescue can provide class recommendations.
KIDS: Unknown-no kids in her foster home. We think she would do well with older, respectful children.
CAR RIDES: Liza rides beautifully in the car in her crate.
ACTIVITY LEVEL: Liza has a relatively low energy level, preferring to relax in the house and in her fenced in yard, watching the activity going on around her. She does get excited and bark occasionally. She likes to chew on bones but doesn’t play with toys or balls.
BARKING: Low for a sheltie. Liza will bark when we first leave the house and if something exciting is going on outside the window.
HEALTH ISSUES: Liza had an abscessed tooth removed, has been treated for an ear infection, and completed treatment for Lyme disease when she came into rescue. Though she tested positive for Lyme, she showed no signs, and most dogs never have any related health issues. No other known health issues.
Liza is a very sweet and affectionate girl, and a very easy dog to have around. She is just a delight, and will make a special person very happy!

We went down to Rochester, MN to meet her and it was love at first site. She is so calm and just a bit shy, but she warms up and really likes attention and pets. Her foster mom, Donlie, was WONDERFUL and we could tell that Izzy really loved her and felt safe with her. It was hard to take her away, but we know we will love her so very much and she will love us, too.

She was chauffeured to her forever home (with us!) yesterday evening by a very caring and sweet MNSR representative, Susan. They are truly a wonderful organization and want to find the best homes for the Shelties in their care. We are blessed to have been given this gift!

We were all a bit nervous. After all she has been through, we didn't want to stress her out more than necessary so we sort of let her do her own thing... but I couldn't keep my hands off her. I just wanted to snuggle her and kiss her and eat her all up. Scotty had a card game to go to that he had committed to before we knew we'd get her so he had to leave. Kristofer was spending the night at his friends house (he drove there himself! -OMG!) so it was just me, Izzy and Sundae kitty.

I fed her her dinner at 6PM and then we went out for a potty. She's so SMART. She's perfect on the leash and didn't hesitate at all. Just did her thing and then wanted to go back in. Poor little sweetie... I think she had enough outdoors time being a stray. :(

We came in and snuggled a bit and stared at each other. She enjoyed being under the dining room chairs where she could see what was going on but be cautious, too. She'd wander out and look at me and I'd call her and she'd come. She even jumped up into my lap where I got to hold her and get kisses. I just wanted to cry. It was WONDERFUL!

About 8 PM she finally settled into her crate. Her foster mom sent us home with a blanket that was in her crate there and I really think that helped her feel comfy. She rested for about 45 mins and then came out for some more snuggles and hugs.
We had another potty break before bed and then turned in for the night.

She was so good. She slept in her crate most of the time I think. We keep the door open so she can come and go as she wants. I didn't sleep too well cause I kept listening for her little jingley tags. About 5:45 AM she woke up and I was so happy. I got up and gave her morning kisses and then fed her her breakfast. After a potty break, we went back to bed. When I got up at 8Am, she was laying oh so cute in the living room where she could watch the bedroom. Her little waggly tail is such a wonderful greeting.

This morning, we left her at home safely in her crate while we made a quick trip to Fleet Farm to choose a bed and get her dog food and treats. Scotty picked out some special treats to give her from just him so they can bond. Since I've spent the most time with her so far and will be home with her all day it will be a bit trickier for him. She is VERY treat motivated though. I'm sure it will take no time for her to bond with him. He's going to take over her daily feeding as well so she'll learn to trust him. Besides he is so loving, too.

Today we are going to just take it easy and hang out. I should run out to Petco and get Crickets for the Fire Bellied Toads... that's another story! Those little cuties need to eat, too. :)

More Izzy pics and Izzy happenings to follow. Stay tuned.

Hugs,
Dana

Swoon... I feel faint...

...oh my gosh... Kate Spade has a clothing line!

I really love this bracelet, too.
It's just all so fun and cute. I wish I had the budget for it. I also wish I could pull off dressing like that!

Hugs,
Dana

Making wishes...

Last night I got to make about 5 wishes in a span of 30 minutes!

"The Perseid shower occurs every summer as the Earth's orbit takes it though debris scattered by the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. In clear skies around the shower's peak observers can see up to 80 meteors and shooting stars streaking overhead every hour. "Photo Credit: (Kevin Clifford/AP)

It was really neat to see the meteors shoot across the sky. They were so bright and the tails were so long. I'm so happy that I took a few minutes to sit up and watch for them. I bet they were really amazing up in Northern Minnesota with dark skies and no city lights.

Did anyone else see any?

Hugs,
Dana

Urban Ink...

Urban Ink is in the house at Dream Street Papers!


I'm so excited about my newest paper collection. It's for boys! It'll be great to finally have some scrapbook paper of my own to use for my scrapbook pages of Kristofer and Scotty, too. :)

Ask for it at your local Scrapbook store so they can order it in for you.

In other news, I have been busy making some storage baskets to take the place of the drawers in the dresser that Scotty's mom gave me from when he was a baby. I think it'll turn out cute... I'll share when it's done.

My town just started up a Framer's Market last Thursday. It was so fun to go and buy locally grown produce. My own garden is looking beautiful! I've had some good lettuce, arugula and green peppers so far.

Hugs,
Dana

Obviously....

I've been on a blogging hiatus! I think I'll be back... someday... when I have something interesting to share.

Hugs!
Dana

Crafter Attention Deficit Disorder...

I am POSITIVE I have this... it's evidenced by the slew of half completed crafts I have strewn about my home. My mind never seems to slow down lately and is filled with chatter about ooh I want try this or ooh that's so cute, I need to make it. I have this desperate desire to craft!

But alas, I have a day job that takes up valuable crafting time. Sure, it helps pay the bills and keeps me and my family fed, clothed and warm, but gees... I just want to PLAY! I need more time to play!

And... in an effort to feed my continual crafting frenzy, I came across another new book called "Sew Darn Cute."I picked it up at Barnes and Noble on Saturday evening. It has some really fun projects in it! I can't wait to play... but I will have to wait a bit since I have 4 partially completed scrapbook layouts from my Friday night crop at Archiver's.

I'm over half way through the book Firefly Lane and I really love it. It's a good story and a pretty fast read. I was hoping to finish it up this past weekend but that darn time thing got in the way again. I think I'll have it done in a few days if I just read before bed.
UPDATE: I finished it. It was a really, really sweet story. It took a turn I never expected. I was blindsided. I won't go into detail in case you haven't read it... but gosh... wow... just wow!

Well, gotta get back to work now. The day job is calling and my to-do list is already a mile long.

Happy Monday!

Hugs,
Dana

a much needed play date...

yay...I have a play date at Archiver's tonight. I'm meeting a friend of mine for an evening of scrapping/papercrafting fun! I can't wait. I've never been to one of Archiver's Crop nights as I'm usually not organized enough to actually accomplish anything. Hopefully tonight I can pull myself together! I have a goal of 5 cards and a "few" scrapbook pages. Depends on how many photos I can dig up/print up today.

I started reading Firefly Lane and I really like it so far. I'll probably finish it this weekend because once I pick it back up, I'm not going to want to put it back down again until I'm done. ;)

I have the new Stampin' Up! Catalog and I am trying to decide what to order first. I have quite a few sets on my list but since I can't have everything all at once... I have to choose wisely.

I'm really into making all the fun little boxes and stuff these days, too. Although all this craftiness is really making a MESS! I'm not a neat crafter.... I have to dig out all my stuff so I can be inspired. There's never enough room! Hence... my never going to crops. LOL... we'll see how this goes down. Wish me luck!


Happy Friday! :)

Hugs,
Dana

Reading 'Round Robin...

I joined a Reading Round Robin! I've never done this before but stumbled across this post at Lit*Chick and decided it seemed like a great way to kick start another New Year Resolution I made; read more books!

There's still time to sign up if you want to give it a try as well. Thanks, Melanie, for getting this started!

Right now, I have 2 books to read.

The first one is Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.

The second is Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish.

The Round Robin is starting March 1st so I should have plenty of time to get through these two books. It's been a while since I've taken the time to read a book so I'm excited to have a little escape.

I also thought I'd share a couple more cards and a scrapbook page that I made for the Dream Street booth at CHA. It's been fun being crafty again.

And one more thing that makes my heart smile I've been meaning to post about... the very special Stephanie Nielson, of The NieNie Dialogues... has been back at her keyboard. She's been through so much over the past months and it's wonderful to read her words once again. She's an inspiration to so many and a truly beautiful soul!


Guess that's all for now.

Hope you have a great day!

Hugs,
Dana

Finally... some crafty fun!

Last night I pulled out 3 photo albums and we sat down as a family and looked at them. It was so fun to see the old pictures but it reminded me that I need to get them scanned soon. The quality of some of them has seriously degraded. I think I may still have some of the negatives, so I may try to get reprints. They aren't even technically that old, but I guess maybe the paper that they were printed on wasn't very good. Wish I would have know more about photography back then, too. Most are poorly lit as well... but they are still treasures to me! :)

It's so hard for me to believe that our son will be 17 this summer. I look at him and can hardly remember him being so small. I never thought that would happen. I thought I'd remember everything. I'm so glad that I have photos to remind me of those very special days.

Here are a few things I've made as of late. Most are created with my new Lullaby Collection.


Hugs,
Dana

I couldn't pick just one...

So I had the Random Number generator pick me TWO winners instead!





Camille and Jess, I'll send you an email for your mailing information. Hope you enjoy your goodies!

I got back from California last Friday night. It was a lot of fun to see my friends, but there really is no place like home. I always miss my family so much when we are apart.

Here are a few photos from my trip.

Me & The Dark Side of The Force


Tara, Lara, Tracy & I at Disneyland


Me & Lullaby

Details:

Creative Imaginations has 2 new paper collections, Star Wars and Clone Wars!. I can't tell you how excited I was to find this out. My boys (husband and son) are HUGE fans! These papers will be PERFECT for many of my scrapbook pages. You can read a little more about the paper here. I wish I hadn't been so camera shy and just standing there like a dork, though! LOL... well... guess that's just me!

This was our 2nd Annual Disney Trip and the weather was beautiful! It was a real treat to get such a nice day in the sun for this Minnesota girl. We had a lot of fun going on all the rides. Lara is expecting in June so it was especially nice that she was still up for the activity. This year, Tara came along, too. We had a great time!

And then there's a silly photo of me with my paper collection. Having this experience has been so amazing for me. I'm so thankful for the friendships I've made. Thanks, Tara, for believing in me. :)

I do have some fun projects to share with you but I need to take photos of them. I'll try to get that done ASAP. I've got so much to catch up on with work after being gone for a week. Vacation is fun... but getting back into the swing of things is always a bit tough.

Happy Tuesday! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

a big prayer request: A friend of mine, Laurie, has just found out that after 9 years of being cancer free, her breast cancer has come back. She's having surgery soon so keep her in your thoughts for a complete and speedy recovery!

Hugs,
Dana

Baby, it's cold outside...

So cold in fact I think these cuties would enjoy it here.

When I say cold... I mean COLD! It's -21 degrees here in Minnesota this morning. That's the actual air temperature. OH MY GOSH! I don't want to even think about how cold it is with the wind chill factored in. I know some parts of Northern Minnesota are at about -38 degrees right now.

Supposedly, this is the coldest it's going to get though. We are going to begin warming up today and it will be the first day in 4 days that we will be above zero.

I am so ready for SPRING!

Speaking of cute babies and Spring, it's Winter CHA time! That means my new paper collection, Lullaby, for Dream Street Papers will be making it's debut at the show in Anaheim. I'm so excited to travel to California next weekend for a little warmth and some fun times with my friends. Make sure you check out the Dream Street Blog for the other new releases, too.

Lullaby has the perfect papers for so many of the sweet memories in life that we scrapbookers like to preserve. I know you'll find many uses for them beyond those that the name implies. They are really very versatile. And guess what? We now have Rub-Ons to match! They are 6x6 sheets and the perfect size for scrapbook pages and cards. How fun is that?

So how about a giveaway? I know you just have to have some Lullaby for your very own, right? Leave me a comment (and a way to contact you) and share with me one of your sweet memories that you would scrapbook if you had these darling papers in your stash. I can't wait to hear what you have to say!

Hugs,
Dana

Missing my girl...

It's been really hard to get through the past few weeks. Our beautiful and very loved Border Collie, Bandit, passed away so unexpectedly on Dec. 30, 2008. She was almost 11 years old but we thought we had many more years with her. We are so sad and now I'm in tears once again just writing this.

I wasn't going to share this because there is just no happy way to share such news, but I couldn't go on blogging and skip over it. She was so precious to our family and we'll miss her forever. One day I know we'll see her again... but I just wish I could have her back now. She was the most loving dog anyone could ever be lucky enough to have as a part of their family. She was my girl and our home is so lonely without her!

We are animal lovers in this house. Everyone says you just have to go out and get a new little pet to love. However; we still have Sundae, our 17 year old Calico Cat, and I don't think she'd be too happy if we brought home a puppy. So I guess that will have to wait for now. Maybe we'll be ready to open our hearts to a new little puppy some day... I know we have lots of love to give. Pets are a joy, but losing them is just so incredibly hard.

I promise, my next post will be a happy one! My new collection with Dream Street Papers will be revealed soon... so check back in for the preview!

One of my goals for this year is to take more time to play with my scrapping supplies and be creative like I used to be. I've not put much energy into crafting lately so I'm going to make an effort to change that. I'm also interested in quilting and sewing and learning to knit. Please join me and link me up to what you're doing. It's fun to share ideas and be inspired by other crafty girls.

Hugs!
Dana