Dream State

Life Lately

2014-11-26T23:16:00.001-08:00

I have abandoned this blog almost completely. Life has become rather interesting in the last couple of years. As you know I was making enough money to quite my day job. We bought a house last year, and did some logging early this year. Our timber framed cabin was completely surrounded by old growth trees, and every wind storm totally freaked us out. Last year I was able to work 3-4 days, and spend 3-4 helping clean up around the property. This year was a completely different story. I worked just about 7 days a week, taking off specific days of the week based on plans, and errand runs. Took a few trips, but also missed out on a few things too. I am grateful for being so busy this year though. It has funded getting this place back in order. I honestly saw our property as completely ruined after the loggers left. I thought it would take YEARS to look nornal again. We did it. Paid a hefty cost, but got it done quite quickly. It has been a rough year, day to day seems fine but looking back... I never want to do that again. So as Thanksgiving has approached.. I am thankful that this year is just about over, and we can start 2015 with a clean slate. We can call this our new beginning in this new house, because our previous beginning sucked. HA!

I also got an iphone earlier this year, and having that on me makes me much less likely to carry my Canon camera around anymore. So I no longer take 200 pictures, I take 5 now. That is also another reason blog posts just aren't happening. Instagram has almost taken that need to blog away from me. I can now show my trips, crafts, work, family photos... All in one place. Easy as pie(Yum!). So the evolution of Dream State is going in a different direction. I am more business based now, and less on sharing personal trips and tips. Hopefully this blog is included in the future of Dream State. It will have to change with me, and my directions in life. On that note --I will now be working on a tab for free printable's!

Speaking of accomplishments, goals, & direction..I just launched Dream State's Official Shop Website!

Who knows. Maybe since this year was twice as busy as last, next year will double this year? Maybe I'll have to hire someone. Just maybe.. 2015 holds many surprises. The future is exciting!

Northern California Redwoods Birthday Adventure

2014-07-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

I have been talking about going to the redwoods for quite some time, and that time has finally come! We ended up staying in a tiny home resort on a cliff in Smith River, California. I can now mark that off on my bucket list. Most of the food options are in Crescent City though - which is a bit of a drive. My Birthday Dinner was at a restaurant called Porcini. I HIGHLY recommend it if you are ever in the area. Fantastic everything. Made me wish that I was a local.. I'd love to take everyone there for their Birthday dinners as well!
One thing that I found highly fascinating about the trip was that Hwy 101 drives right through the redwoods just south of the border of Oregon! I had no idea! You don't really have to go look for them. No need to go to any specific parks to find them. There are hiking trails literally off of the highway. The best park that we came across was Stout Memorial Grove.

"Stout Grove is the world's most scenic stand of redwoods. It's not all that large, and it doesn't have the biggest trees, but for sheer photogenic beauty nothing beats this extraordinary grove on a sunny afternoon."

The park is across the Smith River, and if you havn't seen the teal blue crystal clear water for yourself - that is a sight of it's own. I also learned that keeping curls in your hair is nearly impossible. Between the fog of the coast(which is how these trees survive), and the humidity on the ground floor of the forest. Your hair is done-for the second you set foot out the door.

I already can't wait to go back!

♥

Brittney's Happily Ever After Starts Here

2014-06-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

We had a Pre-Wedding Spa Day. It was AAAmazing... Steam room, facials, foot soaks, shower body scrubs, and endless amounts of delicious organic tea. This little slice of heaven is in PDX, and just what you need to detox and relax(especially pre-wedding). Check them out: Loyly

As for the wedding day.. Brace yourself for the prettiest barn wedding! This venue was unreal. The details were impeccable! Everything was spot on. You could even say it put you in a 'dream state'. :) I even got to feature my work all through the wedding. All of the dark wood calligraphy font signs are mine(They will be going up for grabs in my shop here shortly). The bride used the Laurel Wreath Bridal Bag that I gave her when I found out that she was engaged (Available here: My Shop).

I also had the awesome privilege of being one of her Bridesmaids. Standing by her side on her wedding day was an honor -- not only because she is my friend, but their love for each other is so strong and powerful. You can feel it's energy, and there is definitely beauty in that. ♥

While everyone was dancing and the bassy music was blasting a barn owl circled around the barn a few times (obviously curious by the noise). I googled it while standing there in amazement, and found out owls bring 'good furtune'. What better way to end the night??..

...and they lived happily ever after.

Today is Our 1 Year Move-In Anniversary

2014-06-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today is our 1 year move-in Anniversary, and as for our Homestead Updates:
The grass is thickening up real nice. Wayne built a wood shed(and filled it up already), 2 garden beds, a gravel box around the hose, extended the tiny home's deck an extra 2 feet, and started on a new fence. We bought over 100 pine trees to get things filled in nicely again too. The inside of the home got all new living room furniture, and a chopping block for our kitchen island. Sweet Liberating Progress.

This is our Before photo:

Old photos are refreshing. They remind us how far we have come, and I hope the photos I took today will be reminders of what this place 'used to look like' as well.

Our next projects are a new lower 200 sq ft deck, re-siding the lower part of the house with stone paneling, getting dirt delivered to level out and bury tree debris(so we can replant new trees), build 2 more garden planters, and 1-2 more wood sheds. Lastly fixing our gawd awful driveway.
The plans are endless, but chipping them away one thing at a time.. We get a lot done real quickly!

HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY NEW CASA! Cheers to many more!

Lava Lands & Adventures With The Soon-To-Be Bride Brittney

2014-06-06T15:28:00.002-07:00

There has been a lot of activity around here recently. More than I can possibly even document with my crazy work life. Business has been good. Let's just say that.. :D
Wayne, and my Brother and I went to Lava Lands. My brother and I have been there about 11ish years ago, and we have never been to the top of the butte. The volcanic crater is 150 feet deep, and there is trail on the top to walk the whole way around. The views were spectacular!! It is definitely a must to see. Especially when the skies are clear. You can see for miles and miles.

This photo below is the impressive lava field from the single explosion Lava Butte had about 7,700 years ago.

My friend Brittney came over for a 2 night visit. So we showed her around the area. She now wants to be our neighbor.. :P A direct quote is, "My trip to see you has ruined me. lol All I can think about is the calm peaceful forest and how I'd so rather be there than here."

Our property is a work in progress, but when we are done... It is going to be a dream! I am so happy to inspire people. I definitely see the perks in living in a city, but all of those perks have nothing to do with the importance of our time spent enjoying the beauty of this planet.

I took Brittney down to see me in my bridesmaid dress. She made me twirl in it, and got all giddy. It has been in alterations for over a month already and still not complete. Her wedding is at the end of this month. My work will be featured throughout her wedding too. I couldn't be more excited to be a part of her big day, and to share the happy day with all of you.

♥

Brittney's Bridal Shower Tea Party & Gift Ideas

2014-05-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

When it comes to Bridal showers. I always know that I have my gift bag covered. If you didn't know I sell tote bags in my etsy shop. Check them out here:
www.dreamstate.etsy.com
As for what goes inside of the tote bags.. I have to do a lot of hunting. I like practical gifts. Things that can be used either daily, or to help with the wedding. The couple plans to build a tiny home, so there is only so much lingerie that one lady can have.

This "Pretty Things Inside" tote bag is available in my shop for $15.00. It is a great conversation starter. Everyone wants to know what is inside! Available HERE.

These adorable coffee mugs are perfect for couples photos. They are available at AllieRuth's Etsy shop for $25.00.

These custom made 'Lucky Pennies' are made by AlwaysAMemory (My mom's shop) for $34.00. A perfect keepsake to bring luck to their future as husband and wife.

I had a failed attempt. I purchased a custom return address stamp for the couple to use for their 'Thank You' cards. Unfortunately Brittney's name was mis-spelled in the proof that I was sent and I didn't notice. :(
Lastly chocolate, and rose champagne are perfectly paired for a relaxing night in.

Brittney's Bridal Shower was a tea party theme. As you can tell, we had such a good time. ♥
May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all your heart might desire.
- An Irish Blessing

♥

Mother's Day Part 2 -- Sunriver, Oregon Adventures

2014-05-15T08:58:00.002-07:00

Wayne and I had been recently talking about driving out to the desert with my mom. She is always looking for excuses to hop in the car and just drive. I knew she had to see Sunriver, and it is so close to so many awesome places! It would be our little hub. My sister and I split the deal, and my mom got to have all of her kids, and grand kids under one roof for 2 nights. I knew that alone would mean something to her even if we did nothing at all.

First stop: Fort Rock

It is 1 hour from Sunriver, and well worth the drive. The views leave you speechless.. The wind on the other hand left us whip-lashed. The museum is seasonal, and we were not able to enter. I am not sure we would have spent too much time in there anyways.. The wind was FREEZING!

On the way back we spotted Newberry National Volcanic Monument (AKA Newbarry Caldera). We were suddenly in a winter wonderland!

Once back in Sunriver, we went to the lava caves, and then back to the house to BBQ.

I've decided that a 2 night trip anywhere is not enough. The first night is spent figuring out what the plan is or the next day. Run around all day, and go to bed planning your departure. You really only get 1 day to see everything. So we plan to go back! :) It was a wonderful adventure. I know my mama had a good time. Her shop just blew up as did mine, so we needed a break from the stresses of being a single person mass producer. This was just what the doctor ordered.

Mother's Day Part 1 -- Florence, Oregon Adventures

2014-05-03T21:56:00.001-07:00

Wayne's mom is a simple woman who is always making sure everyone else is taken care of. We give her grief from time to time because it seems like we are never able to do anything special for her because she only wants to do what ever you want to do. She is fine with eating what ever you want to eat. Sounds like the perfect wife, and mother! WELL on Mother's Day. It is your day.. She mentioned taking Kola to the beach. When we got Kola, her previous owner told us that she LOVES the beach and went often. This was our first chance to see how she reacts to the ocean. The poor girl is scared of baths, and the hose.. So naturally you would think she would be scared of the ocean. NOPE! She ran right in!
We have driven through the historic old town part of Florence, Oregon before but never got to stop and explore. We knew that was a MUST on the agenda! We found a lot of businesses to be closed on a Saturday though.. I thought that was strange. Old Town is a must to visit though. Cute shops, cafes, and restaurants. We ate at the famous Moe's for lunch, checked out a ton of antique stores, got ice cream, coffee, and sushi (her favorite) to-go for dinner!

I love celebrating Mom's, and in doing that we get to explore and visit new places! Thank you to both of our Mom's. Next week is my mom's adventure weekend! Can't wait!

♥♥♥♥

DIY Rustic Party Decoration or Party Favor Stamped Wood Rounds

2014-04-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

Let us get back into things! I have been SO BUSY! Between printing, packing, shipping, and yard work.. there is only coffee, sleep, and repeat.

I was sorting through my wood rounds last night, and realized that I am left with only a small handful of wood rounds that are 2.5-3 inches wide. Everything else is much smaller.. So until I get some more cut I had to deactivate my current shop listings. While thinking about how I lack a variety in my shop I started playing around with my small wood rounds and some stamps that I have.. A light bulb flicked on and I knew I had a blog post lined up(finally)!

Obviously all of you know how to dab an ink pad and stamp, but things like this sometimes are just too simple to really connect. I have had these things lying around and never really thought about stamping on them. You could also skip the drilling, and hot glue the wood rounds to a magnet!

They make adorable decorations for a bridal shower, or toss them in a cellophane bag with a bow for engagement party favors!

The 'All you need is Love' stamp was made by :: Paper Sushi (I LOVE all of Jen's work)
The 'Time to Drink Champagne and Dance on the Table' stamp is a East of India brand and is hard to find in the U.S. I purchased mine off of Ebay from a shop in the UK.

Now get crafting! The ideas are endless!

Our 5 Year Anniversary

2014-03-26T10:24:00.001-07:00

Wayne and I are not married.. You wouldn't know it though based on how we spent our 5 year anniversary. We wanted to take a trip somewhere.. But the weather sucks. So we thought we would hold off on that, and maybe just do dinner and a movie. We haven't been to a movie in a long time. Just before we were supposed to get ready to leave.. We started talking about what we need to do around the houses, and to improve the yard. Basically how to get rid of some of this mud/dirt. We got all excited on these ideas.. We were going to take our DAY OLD truck to the store and buy the supplies that we need for the new projects. That's right.. We just bought a new (old) workhorse truck, and spent our 5 year anniversary in the lumber yard! I kill me. I brought a camera with us, because I thought that our hilarious 5 year anniversary should be documented.. Our house and ideas are too important to care about a silly date that we were only going to go on because we "had" to do something for our anniversary. I say... Just plan a trip! I like to look forward to things!
For now we work, and get joy out of the action of improving our landscape.

We completed our gravel walkway!

..and a retaining wall for the driveway. We had gravel delivered to level it out, and get rid of the mud! Yay, progress! I am also planting new grass, and we got a wood splitter to help us out with all of this wood! The loggers said they guess that we have 40 cords of wood.

Romantic..

A New Start

2014-02-27T20:53:00.000-08:00

I must admit.. I have been in hiding. I have been trying to figure out how to make this post for a couple of weeks now. Here goes!
Our property is covered in old growth doug fir trees(150 yrs+). The house was build literally surrounded by trees, and they have been untouched until today. We made the decision after our recent, and frequent wind storms. The trees surrounding the house's had to go for our safety now and in the future. Living so close to these massive trees made the house feel like a modern tree house. Now we have a mountain cabin, and the landscape is getting a new start. The previous owners were not smart about the trees. They topped a lot of them for satellite TV. So the trees grew back deformed, and top heavy. All of the trees fought for sunlight too. So the majority only had foliage on the tops, which also makes the tree top heavy.
We want to be smart this time around for future generations, but this means we are in for the long haul. We have our work cut out for us that's for sure. The cleanup is going to take some time, but we are damn determined.. This is our home. It will get done as soon as humanly possible. Once complete - I say it is time for a good long relaxing vacation! :)

But on the bright side (literally) we have tons of light for our garden, and for the trees to grow properly. We also now have a lake and mountain view!
This is our livingroom view before:

and after:

Valentine's Day Goodies

2014-02-05T20:54:00.000-08:00

I am sending some goodies out to the ones I love, and my old co-workers. There is only 9 days till Valentine's Day! Here is what I have in store for them:

Rifle Paper Co. post cards. I was having a bad day, and saw these.. I just had to get them. Knowing they were on their way to me made my bad day better! I then searched around for some organic candy to send with these adorable cards. I found Surf Sweets fruity candy hearts. Read up on them HERE. I bought 60 bags! Perfect! Now if I can just send them out before I eat them all.

Hopefully I can inspire some of you to spread the love ALL AROUND. This world needs more love in it. It can cure so many things. ♥ There is still plenty of time to plan.

I also wanted to share the Valentine's day tote bags that I made this year. Check out my shop! Lots of new products have been listed lately.

Tomorrow we are expecting MORE snow.

Jennifer's Birthday Celebration

2014-01-19T22:12:00.000-08:00

Remember this girl? I have known Jennifer for about 14 years now. I made her a special birthday dinner the other night. Lemon dill baked salmon with rice, veggies, sparkling wine, and a Boston cream birthday cake with a single pink candle. I made sure to let her know not to waste this birthday wish. I told her to put ALL of her heart, and energy into this one single exhale. Hoping that moment of positive energy will bring good things, and possibly her wish WILL come true!
Her and her boyfriend stayed over for a couple of nights, and the weather cooperated! We took advantage and went for a little day drive out to the waterfalls.

We had to hike to the falls in the snow. 3 out of 4 of us did not have the right shoes on for this adventurous hike, making the experience hilariously memorable.

We went on down the road a little bit, and ended up at Odell Lake Resort for lunch. The frozen lake was a treat to see. We made sure these city slickers were not easily going to forget this trip.

All of the food on the menu is fresh, homemade, and delicious!

As always our adventure was a blast, and I think our guests had a great weekend "away from it all".

Our First Wind Advisory at the Homestead

2014-01-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

Wayne and I were entertaining guests that had just arrived at our house when a wind storm picked up. There was so much debris in the yard, and I said, "Whoa this is crazy!" Then Wayne suggested they bring the cars closer to the house. As soon as he said that 2 trees fell knocking over a 3rd tree and one of them dented our guests rental car. The guys instantly went to work clearing out the driveway.. The ladies and I stood watching from the window. It was how I imagine hurricane winds to be. I saw Wayne start running towards the house and I looked out at the wind directly head on. The debris was blowing down and back up at the house hitting the windows. We looked out at the yard and saw another tree had fell. We all felt in danger. The only thing I could do was watch where the wind was coming from, and watch the trees. If I saw one coming towards us we were going to run to the opposite side of the house. The whole experience was unreal. We expect that we had 40+ mph wind gusts. Our guests wanted to get out of here ASAP! It was going to be dark soon, and they wanted to be able to see the roads and be able to call us to meet them if there was something that fell on the road. I insisted on staying at a hotel if this kept up. No way in hell I would be able to sleep seeing what we just saw. Trees are snapping like twigs! Somehow as our guests left so did the wind. What are the chances?! We are QUITE embarrassed by their experience of our property..

The tree we thought fell in the yard was actually half of the top of this tree below.

On the plus side:

We have TONS (literally) of new firewood!

Also Kola brightens things up a bit. She doesn't have the slightest clue as to how much work this storm has caused us, but she is just filled with joy that we were all outside and able to throw toys for her in between hauling, raking, and cutting the debris & trees. She helps us take mental breaks from the work and keeps us laughing.

What a goober pants! ♥

SUNRIVER - A Great Start to the New Year

2014-01-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

Wayne has a friend visiting from Hawaii and he and his fine lady wanted us to come out to Sunriver to catch up on things. We have also been dying to go out to the observatory! Having watched 4 Seasons of The History Channel's "The Universe" (so far). We have been looking for an opportunity just like this. You also can't beat the views both of snowy mountains, and perfect starry nights.
Our visit was a blast. Great food, and company. We had intellectual conversations with a side of sparkling wine and a movie night. My kind of people!

We showed up for the solar viewing to see the sun up close, and we had just missed a solar flare an hour earlier but could still see remnants of it. The photo of the sun is the photo that the Observatory at Sunriver posted on their facebook page. I couldn't help but share exactly what I saw!

These are also photos from their facebook page down below. I couldn't capture the mind blowing experience in my camera without a tripod, but wanted you to see exactly how beautiful the view was(I'll be more prepared next time).

Visit the Observatories website HERE.

Happy New Year! 2014

2014-01-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

Time to celebrate Page 1 of 365.

We enjoyed a quiet evening with some champagne for New Years. I put my stocking stuffer Rifle Paper Co. notebook to work with some new ideas for the shop. I am getting ready for Valentine's Day. That may sound weird to a lot of you.. But I am trying to stay ahead of things. So I should have a lot of new things listed very soon!

I wish you all a VERY happy and successful 2014!

How To Make a Simple Photobooth Backdrop

2013-12-22T17:44:00.000-08:00

You will need:

Scrapbooking paper in the color and texture of your choice, a sewing machine, a dowel(mine was a cedar fence board that was cut with a table saw), tape, and a circle paper punch(mine was 2 1/2 inches).

Start punching your circles out. I used 3 different types of gold paper. 2 in which were glitter paper.. I recommend keeping your scrapbooking paper simple. The glitter kept getting stuck in the puncher, and jamming it. It hurt my hands, and I wished that I would have just used the simple shiny gold paper instead for the whole project. The backdrop would have been bigger, but my hands hurt from stamping the thick glitter paper. So there is my 2 cents on paper types. Keep it simple.

Once you are ready to start sewing them together - Make sure that you have quite a bit of thread extended out to begin with. It will be the top of the strand. You will need enough to wrap that thread around the dowel when the strand is completed.

Make sure to have your tension loose, and will you have to pull the paper while sewing to separate the circles. If you don't the thread will cinch together leaving no gap between the circles.

I made my strands all different lengths. The shortest had 17 dots, and the longest had 24.

I wrapped the thread around the dowel at least twice. I then taped the thread in place on the top, and on the back. It would be wise to staple gun the tape also. I did not, but made sure to be VERY gentle in transporting, and untangling.

The end result was about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. The project took me about 6 hours, but I had a hard time as you know. The time would have been cut in half if I had stuck with a simple flat surfaced paper. So do take that into consideration.

Now that it is completed, Get those photo props ready! I got mine HERE. Enjoy!

Thanksmas 2013

2013-12-21T10:00:00.001-08:00

My family came up with a between holidays- holiday quite a few years ago. Everyone has their own family functions on major holidays, so we created a tradition for the extended family to all get together once a year on Thanksmas. Our Thanksgiving/Christmas. This year it was at my sisters house. She changed things up on us with an ugly sweater contest! Which I won 3rd place. I knew we had to have a photobooth with all of these ugly sweaters around. I sent my sister some photo props, and started sewing up glittered scrapbooking paper for the photo backdrop. I used a 2 1/2 inch circle punch to cut out the circles, and sewed them together to make 3-4 foot strands. I wrapped the thread around the small cedar wood rod I magically had laying around, and taped the thread on the top and back of the rod holding it in place (obviously not a permanent solution). Everything worked out the way I had planned, except some people are missing!
I went home and made a hilarious animated gif of my niece and I dancing the night away. Check that out HERE!

It was a good time as always!

The ugly sweater contest rule was if you don't wear one, then you have to bring a prize. My aunt thought that the prize should be ugly also. This horribly scary Christmas caroler doll was the perfect trophy(photo below on the left). The camper ornament to the right is the ornament I brought for our annual family ornament exchange. It was a hit!

We are already making plans for next year! Can't wait..

♥

Winter Wonderland

2013-12-19T13:17:00.000-08:00

Our (pre)winter wonderland lasted about a week. We had record breaking freezing temperatures, so it stuck around a while. Giving us plenty of time to play! We had so much snow for so long, we actually got a little tired of it.

A bird hit our living room window one of those days (I am a bird expert now). They need a dark quiet place to recover. I closed up one of my large shipping boxes, and tore a large hole in the top. Placed a rag in there(because it was ridiculously cold out, and had been lying in the snow). Leave the box outside in a covered area. When they have recovered, they will fly away. We also had an interesting experience with hummingbirds! We had a thawing system going for the hummingbird feeders. They would freeze solid every couple of hours, and one night Wayne went out to bring it in, and found a hummingbird sleeping on the feeder. Apparently it thought it would die if it lost its only source of food, so it was worth it to sleep there all night. The majority of hummingbirds migrate, but if feeders are left out some will stay through winter. So you have to pay attention to them, or they will die. They are completely dependent on you. We are obviously now up for the job after learning that!

Next blog post: UGLY SWEATER PARTY!

Our First Snow

2013-12-06T19:19:00.002-08:00

Today was our first snow in the new house! First house, first tree, now first snow! This was Kola's(our dog) first experience of snow also! I thought she would be a little scared to touch it. Nope! She sprinted through the yard with her mouth open trying to eat all of the flakes falling. She also digs her nose as far down into the snow as she can and pulls all of the snow up to eat. Nothing short of entertaining.
Wayne snowboarded down the yard, and I sat on it and sledded. Kola chased us and barked at the board for taking us for a ride.. She is very protective, and packed full of hilarious personality.
My new saying has been, "It's a Christmas miracle!" for just about anything. Our shower water pipe froze sometime yesterday so we had sponge baths out of a giant canning pot. The prepper in me said, "Thank you for this experience". The little lady in me said, "Holy, really? A shower out of a bucket. NOT a Christmas miracle"
Being our first winter in the new house.. We are happy to experience anything that we might need to know about living here. Now we know we have to keep the water flowing periodically when there is freezing temperatures. This is a learning process, and we ARE taking notes.

Let the Festivities Begin!

2013-12-03T22:11:00.002-08:00

I have never seen a Christmas wonderland like this before! Hold onto your knitted socks! We found what has to be the best Christmas Tree Farm in Oregon. Northern Lights Tree Farm is 162 acres and 15 minutes from Eugene. The gift shop has a full cafe, and if you want to cut the tree yourself you get to hop on a hay ride out to the location. All I know is I adore this place, and we will be back!

We are very excited about our first Christmas in our new home if you couldn't tell.

♥

Around The House

2013-12-02T10:04:00.000-08:00

I have neglected the blog lately. This happens time to time, but I am getting back into things. I just needed a little break. I have still been documenting everything as usual. I guess I havn't found too many things to be very exciting. My shop tanked for a while and is now picking back up. I am sure that has something to do with my 'mojo'. Nobody wants to read a blog filled with excuses - so lets get to it!
It has been a pretty dry fall so far. One of those rare ones.. Unfortunately as I write this there is a storm over head. One of the first gusts of wind last night knocked a tree over into our driveway and through the fence that Wayne built. I must say that is a little scary since winter isn't even here yet.

Wayne has been cutting trees down left and right trying to get a good supply of wood ready for winter. It is expected to be a cold one.

I have been putting my rain boots to work in the last couple of months. I do not go outside in any other shoes except when leaving the property. In that case those are my "city shoes". I think I may be asking Santa for some Hunter boots this year.

Hard at work making a custom sign next to the fire.

This photo kills me.. Wayne and Kola hugging it out. Our 40 pound pup looks more like 100 pounds here.

Do not ask. I do not know. We had several of these massive mushrooms, and literally could have had a mushroom festival here in our yard. I actually bought the book Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest to try to figure out what some of them are. A lot of them look the same really..

This is what breaks look like on the homestead.

I could go on forever with photos that I have documented over the last month or two. Sounds like I have some blog post catching up to do! Check back soon!

Dream State Official Shop Website

2013-11-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

My Big Cartel Shop just got a little revamp! I am working on making it an official website for Dream State.

Head on over and take a look HERE!

I wanted to share what I have been working on lately. I also have a few Christmas gift ideas coming to my shop! + 2 other designs are in the works.. Check out my shops facebook page where I post regularly on what I am up to HERE.

I now also have calling card tags that I will be sending out attached to Big Cartel orders. I plan to start sending tote bags out to larger Event Coordinators, Wedding Planners & Magazines in hopes to get some more spot light too. So some exciting things are in the works!

Happy Halloween!

2013-10-28T12:24:00.001-07:00

I put together some treat bags for my nephews, niece, and cousins. Our family has an annual pumpkin carving day, and I have not been able to attend for quite a few years. I was super excited to finally not have a job that holds me back from attending! Time to celebrate! I brought the young fella's in the family apple cider beers, and the kids goody bags full of gummy bugs and body parts. I got all of the kids together to take their pictures. I was snapping away, and got some cute shots. I looked down and I had forgotten my memory card! I nearly had a breakdown. So all of the pictures of the festivities came from my mom and my aunt (I am still kicking myself). We had a lot of fun though. YAY to tradition and Happy Halloween!

I made a bat garland a couple of years ago for my mom. It is still in great condition, and my mom uses it every year! Check out that DIY Here.

DIY His & Her Mugs

2013-10-19T11:39:00.002-07:00

I picked up a Pebeo Porcelaine 150 Pen after seeing so many DIY ceramic cup plate and platter projects popping up on Pinterest a while back. We had some plain white mugs laying around from a set of dishware we got for the new house. Everything was made in the USA expect for the mugs. They were made in China (of course). We decided that we would donate the mugs. We didn't really need them anyways.. A light bulb went off in my head! I can draw on them and give them as newlywed His & Her gift sets!

I drew sweet messages and let them sit for 72 hours, then baked them for 30 minutes at 300 degrees. Leave the mugs to sit in the oven to cool down gradually to room temperature. Then they are ready to gift or start using! They would make great engagement announcement photos too.