DJ's Sundries

I think that today is my favorite day of the year.  Sure, I love Christmas and the message of the tiny Babe who came to earth to die for my sins.  However, my salvation can only be complete because that Babe grew up, died to save me, and then rose again.  I have felt the excitement of this day building for the last few days. When my alarm went off this morning, I was greeted with the following words: "See what a morning gloriously bright With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem." Now I was already awake, but I wanted to listen to the rest of the song before turning off the alarm.  A later phrase states: "Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered". Yes, my Savior conquered death.  As you celebrate Easter today, remember the real reason we celebrate.  Its not about eggs and bunnies.  Its not about camping or even spring.  Its about Christ, conqueroring death to save you and to save me! Happy Easter from the Parishes

So it's finally here.  After all that work, we are about to finish up.  This has been a long project, but I am very happy with the way it turned out.  I truly hope my sister enjoys this book.

Drumroll... This is the final page (though not the final post).  What cookbook would be complete without the veggies?

I didn't really find any embellishments that I wanted to use for a salad, but I found some fruit.  Just think fruit salad if you make this page.

This is probably one of the more time consuming pages that I made for the book.  However, I think it was worth it.  Following the Cricut chart in the post will speed up the process for me the next time I make a book.

This is another page that was really easy once I had a plan.  Who doesn't like Pasta?  It easy and generally inexpensive.  There are so many ways to make pasta that this should be a great category for recipes.

This page was super simple and went together fairly quickly once I had a plan

When this page is finished, we are half way through the page dividers.  This page looks like it took a lot of work, but it is actually very simple because the page was pre-printed with a baking design.  I based my cuts around the design to make sure everything was placed where I wanted it to be.

We're moving right along on our cookbook now.  Casseroles - those one dish wonders that we all have in our lives.  I must admit that I don't make many casseroles because they aren't my husband's favorite.  However, there are some that he likes and I will add those to my book when I get around to making it.  Of course I want a cute page/divider even if there won't be many recipes in the section.  I think this one fits the bill.  Silver stickles and the embossed paper add a little bling to this otherwise simple page.

Who doesn't love fresh bread?  The way it makes my house smell on a cold day is wonderful.  Unfortunately, we don't get fresh bread very often, but when we do, we sure enjoy it.  I'm hoping this next page divider takes my sister back to that warm feeling of fresh-baked bread.

I think this may be one of my favorite pages in the book - the beverage page.  Why?  Because I love a good latte and this is the background of this page.  Let's get started.

When making this book, I decided to put the categories in alphabetical order.  From there I tried to choose paper to match the type of food the page would represent.  In some cases, this was very simple.  In others, it was more complicated.  Nana's Kitchen is not double sided paper, so I chose 2 different papers for each page/section divider.  This also made each divider sturdier.  I did not embellish the back side of the page because I wanted to avoid the extra bulk that would create.  I also did not adhere the front to the back until the front was completely embellished. On to page 1...

Finally, we now get to the fun part of the project.  I'm going to start with the cover.  Keep checking back for the rest of the project.  I think you'll enjoy this one!

Over the next several days, the instructions for my latest book will be posted.  This book is very special to me because it is for my precious sister Darlene.  Darlene is planning to be married this summer and my sister Esther is hosting a shower for her today.  Each shower guest was asked to bring a recipe to share with Darlene and Michael.  Esther then asked me to make a book.  I am planning for this to post at the same time the shower is supposed to start.  I had to get it in the mail and didn't get my recipes done in time.  I'll have to send them later. I love you NeNe and wish I could be there for you today.

Today's quick and easy project was made using scraps from my latest big project.  I used papers from the Nana's Kitchen stack from DCWV and the YourStory to complete this project.

I've been quite busy since I last posted.  I had to get my big project completed and mailed.  I did some quick and easy projects to include as gifts as well.  I plan to get them posted, but it will take some time.  Last weekend was my off weekend and I was able to get some much needed cleaning done.  It snowed Thursday through Saturday (it might have snowed on Sunday, but I can't remember).

I've not had much time to post lately.  I've been pretty busy.  Last weekend was my long weekend of work and today I needed to catch up at home.  I spent much of the day on housework and laundry.

This morning I turned on the kitchen sink to wash my hands.  When I turned on the faucet, the sprayer on the side sprayed me.  A child (who will remain nameless for now) had wound a rubberband around the trigger so that whoever turned it on would get sprayed.  I was trying to figure out how to get back at him and a friend gave me the following idea.