Make It! Monday Bonus: Super Easy Peppermint Mocha

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But a hot drink is always delightful!

Here's something that's quick and easy to make up when you need something to warm you up.  All you need is:
- 1 package (35 g) chocolate mint cocoa mix
- 2 tsp. instant coffee (you can add more for a stronger flavour if you want)
- 1/3 cup milk
- boiling water

In a large mug, whisk together the cocoa mix, coffee and milk.  Fill the rest of the mug with boiling water and mix well.  Easy peasy! For a fun variation, try using other flavours of cocoa mix and flavoured coffee creamers and see what you come up with.

Until next time,
J.

Make It! Monday: Poppy ATC

Greetings! After a few weeks of being sick I'm back and ready to share more fun craftiness with you.  In honour of Remembrance Day (Veterans Day for my friends in the US), today's project is my poppy artist trading card, or ATC.  This is a great way to recycle your poppy and make a little piece of art at the same time.  And if you've lost someone who served, you can also use it to commemorate them.  Here's what you'll need:
- small piece of clear 7-count plastic canvas (this is the standard size of plastic canvas, and it's sold in most craft stores - you could also use red or white canvas for this project)
- ruler or tape measure
- scissors
- tapestry needle
- red yarn
- sewing needle and thread
- alphabet beads

1.  A typical ATC is 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" inches, so the first thing you need to do is measure and cut the same size piece of canvas.  Note: Your piece may not be exactly those dimensions (mine was slightly narrower than 2 1/2").  My piece is 23 holes long by 16 holes high; your measurements may vary depending on the brand of canvas.
2.  Now it's time to start stitching.  I use a basic continental stitch to fill in my ATCs and an overcast stitch to cover the edges.  They're both really easy stitches to do.  If you've never worked with plastic canvas before, check out this link http://plasticcanvascountry.com/index.php/stitch-guide for instructions on doing your stitching.
3.  Now it's time to add the poppy.  Figure out where you want it to be and use the sewing needle and thread to attach it.  Tip: Before attaching the poppy, you may want to put some hot glue or something on the end of the pin so you don't stab yourself.
4.  Finally, add the beads.  I went with LEST WE FORGET on my ATC, but you could also put the name of a family member who died.

And that's pretty much all there is to it! Here's a picture of my completed ATC:

Until next time,
J.

A Make It! Monday Follow-Up

So after I posted the Office Survival Kit last week, I thought of a few more things you might want to consider adding to your kit:
 - a travel-sized lin roller (particularly if you have pets that shed)
 - a travel-sized can of Static Guard
 - a stain remover pen like Tide-To-Go
 - a microwaveable bowl and plate
 - instant oatmeal packets (nothing beats a bowl of hot oatmeal on a cold winter's morning)
 - an extra pair of pantyhose (it never fails - the only day your nylons run is the day you're going out with the girls after work; this way you have a back-up available!)
 - an extra cell-phone charger

I've got some great Halloween-themed ideas for the next two Make It! Mondays that you'll want to come check out! Plus, watch for my review of my evening at the dinner theater with my partners-in-crime from work.

Until next time,
J.

Make It! Monday: The Office Survival Kit

Yes, yes...I know it's Wednesday.  I've been sick with the flu for the last couple of days.  But on the plus side, it gace me extra time to prepare this week's Make It! Monday post LOL!

Today, my gift to you is the "Office Survival Kit" (I call mine my "Box o' Wonders").  I got this idea from my mom when I started my second job.  My first job was right downtown, so if I suddenly needed something, I was minutes away from a large shopping center with everything you could want.  My second job was in an industrial area and wasn't as conveniently located.  My wise mama suggested I should put this together for any small emergencies I may encounter.  It's really easy to put together, and really inexpensive as well! Who doesn't love that? All you need is a large, plastic food storage container, like a Ziploc container.  Then, you fill it with things that will make your work life more comfortable.  The list below is by no means all-inclusive - there may things that aren't here that you want to add.  It's also tailored towards the ladies, but by leaving out a few things you could easily make one of these for the special man in your life.

Items for your survival kit:
Health:
 - Tylenol/aspirin/ibuprofen
 - Midol/Pamprin
 - allergy pills
 - cough drops
 - antacids
 - pocket-sized hand sanitizer
 - band-aids

Hygiene:
 - toothbrush/toothpaste
 - pocket/purse-sized hairbrush or comb
 - deodorant (this comes in very handy when you're going out after work)
 - trial-sized perfume (see above)
 - small manicure set
 - feminine hygiene products

Miscellaneous:
 - set of inexpensive utensils (great for those days when you forget to bring a spoon for your Chunky soup)
 - can opener
 - change for the vending machine (for your "Gimme chocolate before I hurt someone" moments)
 - small sewing kit

If you have additional space to store supplies, you may want to consider the following items as well:
 - tea bags and/or instant coffee (especially if your office has coffee like mine LOL!)
 - snacks for the afternoon munchies (granola bars, cereal bars, individually packaged crackers and snacks, etc.)
 - jar of peanut butter (saves you having to bring small portions of it for your bagel)
 - box of crackers (add this to the above item and you have an instant lunch, especially if you forgot the one you made last night - yes, I have done this)
 - cleaning supplies (I have a canister of cleaning wipes, a swiffer and a dustcloth - I work in a very dry, dusty office and these things come in very handy)

Take my advice: make yourself one of these kits, and you'll be prepared for anything life throws at you! Or at least, some of it!

Until next time,
J.

Ever wonder what happens...

...when artists get bored at work? The results may look something like this:

This is an 8"x8"  digital layout I did using the words of the Lady Antebellum song "I Was Here" (you can find it on the "Act of Valor" soundtrack or iTunes).  I'd been listening to the song a LOT and when I thought about the words I just kept seeing a sign somewhere that read "I was here".  I did an online seach in Microsoft Word and I found this picture, and it was perfect!  Once I had my picture all I had to do was add the title to the sign and put in a text box for the lyrics.  The hardest part was finding a font colour that would show up well against all the different background colours.

I love the message in this song about leaving something of yourself behind so that future generations will know who you were that you were here.  That's the very reason that I scrapbook!

Until next time,
J.

Welcome to Make It! Monday!

I'm going to *try* to make this a regular weekly feature here at This Beautiful Life.  I'll be sharing recipes and directions to make some of my favourite foods, crafts and activities

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, today's activity is "The Blessing Tree".  I often do this with my Sunday School classes to help illustrate just how much we have to thank God for.  The best part is, all of the materials are things you probably already have around your home, and if there's anything you do need to buy, they're inexpensive items.  Here's what you'll need:
 - a large dead branch with no leaves - try to find one with lots of smaller branches and twigs on it
 - a large bucket or pot filled with dirt
 - construction paper
 - large apple or leaf paper punches (you can also draw and cut these by hand if you choose - since I'm basically lazy and can't draw to save my life, I use the punches)
 - pens/pencils/markers/coloured pencils/crayons
 - scissors
 - hole punch
 - yarn or string

1.  Punch out apples and/or leaves from construction paper.  Punch holes in the top of each one and thread a short piece of yarn/string through and hole.  Knot the end to make a hanging loop.
2.  Give your kids some writing implements and encourage them to think of as many things as they can that they can be thankful for.  Encourage them to be creative! Nothing is too small or insignificant to be thankful for.
3.  While they're doing that,  "plant" your branch in your pot or bucket.  Then make some apples and leaves of your own!
4.  Hang your apples and leaves on the tree. 

And voila! You now have a visual reminder of all the blessings God has showered upon your family!

Tip: If you have enough different shapes you can use, consider making a different set of shapes for each child.  Alternately, you could use one shape and make it in different colours for each child.

Until next time,
J.

Weekend art fun!

These are a few of the supplies I'm going to be using for my weekend art project.  Just look at all this yummy goodness!

I'm making a mini album around the theme "Things I've Learned".  The covers are from a set of Cram Cards (basically a ring-bound index card stack from Staples) and they'll be backed with white cardstock to show off the patterns.  The pages are made from Bazzill cardstock and index cards that I trimmed down (they aren't the ones that came with the covers).  All the rest of what you see pictured is embellishment.  The journalling is going to be hamdwritten.  Stay tuned for more pictures!

And I found the greatest thing for altered art! There's a store in Southgate Mall called The Science Shop - mostly they sell Playmobil and other toys.  But when I was at the mall the other day I saw something called "Create Your Own Puzzle" in their window.  It's a blank board puzzle (kind of like the ones you buy for little kids when they're first learning how to do puzzles) that comes with a set of pencil crayons to draw your own picture with.  I was just about drooling when I saw these! I've been wanting to make an altered puzzle, but I haven't been able to find just quite what I wanted.  That is, until now!

Until next time,
J.

More medals for Canada, Olympic art and some links

And then there were four! Canadian athletes have captured three more medals today in London in the sports of Judo (men), weightlifting (women) and platform diving (women).  In Beijing, we went for 8 days before winning our first medal, and now just four days in we've won four! The prognosticators are calling for a top 12 finish and 22 medals for Canada, and with the way our athletes are lighting things up we just might do it! Go Canada Go!

And more congratulations need to go out to Michael Phelps, who today became the most decorated Olympic in history - way to go Michael!

This weekend I decided that my Olympic display needed something, so I stitched a garland of plastic canvas flowers inthe Olympic ring colours.  I got the idea for the flower shape from a plastic canvas group that I belong to on Facebook; they're cut from PC stars.  I filled all of the petals in with white, and then did the border stitching in the ring colours.  The next step was to join them together.  It took me a couple of tries before I came up with a method and layout that I actually liked.  The final step was something to hang it up with.  I used gold and silver wired ribbon loops at each end.  Here's the final result:

When I was looking up the lyrics for the three songs I posted on the weekend, the site that I used for "I Believe" and "The Power of the Dream" had videos on them!  Follow the links below to see them.

http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-power-of-the-dream-lyrics-celine-dion.html

http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-believe-lyrics-nikki-yanofsky.html

Until next time,
J.

Do you believe?

The Power of the Dream

Going into the London Olympics, Emilie Heymans had a dream: to be the first Canadian Olympian to medal at four consecutive Olympics Games.  Today, on just day 2 of the Games, Emilie's dream came true.  She and partner Jennifer Abel won bronze for Canada in the 3-metre synchronized diving event.  In addition to being a history-making medal for Emilie, it's also Canada's first medal of this Games.  (In Beijing, we waited until over a week into the competition before any of our athletes won a medal.)  Let's hear it for Girl Power!!

In honour of Emilie's dream-come-true performance today, I have for you this song by Celine Dion.  She performed it at the Opening Cermonies of the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996.  The thing I love about this song is that it's not only applicable to the athletes competing on our behalf; it's aplicable to our own lives as well.  My favourite line is this: "It's the moment that you think you can't you'll discover that you can".  Take a read and see if you don't find something in it that speaks to you.

"The Power of the Dream" - Celine Dion
Deep within each heart, there lies a magic spark
That lights the fire of our imagination.
And since the dawn of man, the strength of just "I can"
Has brought together people of all nations.

There's nothing ordinary in the living of each day;
There's a special part every one of else will play.

Feel the flame forever burn, teaching lessons we must learn,
To bring us closer to the power of the dream.
As the world gives us it best, to stand apart from all the rest,
It is the power of the dream that brings us here.

Your mind will take you far, the rest is just pure heart,
You'll find your fate is all your own creation.
And every boy and girl, as they come into this world,
They bring the gift of hope and inspiration.

Feel the flame forever burn, teaching lessons we must learn,
To bring us closer to the power of the dream.
The world unites in hope and peace, we pray that it will always be,
It is the power of the dream that brings us here.

There's so much strength in all of us, every woman, child and man;
It's the moment that you think you can't you'll discover that you can.

Feel the flame forever burn, teaching lessons we must learn,
To bring us closer to the power of the dream.
The world unites in hope and peace, we pray that it will always be,
It is the power of the dream that brings us here.

Feel the flame forever burn, teaching lessons we must learn,
To bring us closer to the power of the dream.
The world unites in hope and peace, we pray that it will always be,
It is the power of the dream that brings us here.

The power of the dream, the faith in things unseen,
The courage to face your fears.
No matter where you are, reach for your own star,
To realize the power of the dream.
To realize the power of the dream!

Until next time,
J.

Do you believe?

Game On!

So...who watched the Opening Cermonies last night? I actaully manged to see the whole thing...albeit in two sittings.  I missed the first half hour, but after the news CTV showed it again so I was able to see what I missed.  I really liked the first part of it that showed the history of Great Britiain.  But once they got into the children's literature and that weird dance sequence, I kind of lost interest.  I did like the doves.  And I always enjoy seeing the different uniforms during the Parade of Nations.  And that cauldron! I think that's one of the coolest Olympic cauldrons I've ever seen!

Speaking of cauldrons...here's a picture of my finished Olympic display.  Because of the lighting, you can't really see it, but there is actually a candle inside the "cauldron".  I used a flameless votive so as not to set anything on fire.

Holly Jayde is the Canadian cheerleader, and Sarah Dana is is the USA cheerleader.  They're joined by their friends Chinook and Pierre for Canada and America and Spangle for the US.  And in honour of the host city and country, we have Jack.  If I can find Gourmand the moose, my Canadian and USA Coca-Cola beanies will also be coming to join the party.

I think the highlight of the day so far has been the men's 400 Individual Medley race in swimming.  The big story around this of course has been the Phelps-Lochte match-up.  In stunning style, Ryan Lochte took the gold medal beating out his teammate; Michael Phelps ended up coming fourth and missing the podium altogether.

Here's another favourite Olympic song; this one is also available on iTunes.  Stephan Moccio wrote the most beautiful theme song for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, and he found the perfect the perfect person to give it voice in Nikki Yanofsky.  This year, the Canadian Tenors have released their version of the song (which is also amazing).

"I Believe" - Nikki Yanofsky
There comes a moment when my heart must stand along,
On this lonely path I've chosen, like a house that's not a home.
Somtetimes when I feel I've had enough, when I feel like giving up,
You willed me to all I can be,
Now nothing can stop me!

I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one.
I believe together we'll fly; I believe in the power of you and I.

This is the moment we have dreamed of all of our lives.
We'll be the change we wish from others; we'll stand tall for what is right.
And in my heart there'll be no doubt, the arms of the world will come reaching out
And embrace me to be all I can be,
Now nothing can stop me!

I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one.
I believe together we'll fly; I believe in the power of you and I.
I believe the time is right now, stand tall and make the world proud.
I believe together we'll fly, I believe in the power of you and I.

I believe, I believe, I believe in...
I believe, I believe in you.
I believe, I believe, I believe in...
I believe, I believe in you.
I believe, I believe, I believe in...
I believe, I believe in you.
I believe, I believe, I believe in you!

I believe the time is right now, stand tall and make the world proud.
I believe together we'll fly, I believe in the power...
I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one.
I believe together we'll fly, I believe in the power of you and I.
I believe the time is right now, stand tall and make the world proud,
I believe together we'll fly, I believe in the power of you and I.
I believe in the power of you and I.

Until next time,
J.

Do you believe?

Let the Games begin!

As I'm writing this, CTV is broadcasting the Parade of Nations from the opening ceremony of the London Olympucs (currently Panama is coming into the stadium).  It's exciting just watching the athletes coming in; I can't even begin to imagine how the athletes that are there are feeling.  The excitement, the energy, the anticipation, the adrenaline...it must be absoulutely incredible!

This is the first of many Olympic-themed posts I'll be sharing over the next 17 days.  I'll be sharing Olympic music, Olympic memories, moments that make Olympic history, recaps, all kinds of stuff! Stay tuned later for pictures of my 2012 Olympic display.

To get things started, I've got the lyrics from "Bang The Drum".  This song was performed by Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams at the opening ceremonies in Vancouver.  It's a great song! If you haven't heard it, run, don't walk, to iTunes and buy it now!

"Bang The Drum" - Nelly Furtado & Bryan Adams
You and I, together we reach for the sky;
It's not about winning, it's all about playing the game.
From the east, from the west, each of us trying our best;
Chasing the dream, burning to follow the flame.

Bang the drum a little louder!
So the whole world can hear, the whole world can hear.
Sing the song a little longer!
So the whole world can hear, the whole world can hear.

From near, from far, it's clear wherever you are...
This is your moment, your time to run like the wind.
Dream big! Aim high!
Even believe you can fly!
Give it your all! Let the Games begin!

Bang the drum a little louder!
So the whole world can hear, the whole world can hear.
Jump up a little higher!
So the whole world can see ya, the whole world can see ya.
Sing the song a little longer!
So the whole world can hear, the whole world can hear.
Bang the drum a little louder!
For the whole world to hear, the whole world to hear.

Bang the drum a little louder!
Sing the song a little longer!
Bang the drum!

Until next time,
J.

Do you believe?

My first altered art project, an eagle sighting and the best St. Paddy's Day ever!

I'm so excited to share this - it's my first ever altered art project! I bought the tin full of flowers because a) I liked the flowers, and b) I liked the tin.  The tin has been sitting in my stash for the longest time mocking me and saying "what are you going to do with me?".  I finally came up with a project for it - a holder for a series of ATCs I want to make about the blessings that God provides.  So without further ado...here it is!

Tin: Prima Marketing; Flowers: unknown; Brad: Doodlebug Designs; Paper: unknown; Ribbon: Offray; Labels: Dymo

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Picture this: you're driving home from work on a beautiful almost-spring evening.  In the rearview mirror, you can see the sky ablaze with the setting sun.  There's good music playing on the radio, and you're feeling like everything in the world is as it should be.  You catch sight of movement in the sky just off to the right ahead of you and focus in for a closer look.  And that's when you see it: a bald eagle soaring on the wind, wings outstretched.  Your heart leaps at the sight, because bald eagles are not a common sight where you are.  In that moment, you offer up a prayer of thanks to the Lord for sharing this little miracle with you.  And you recall the words of one of your favourite Bible verses...

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will rise up on wings like eagles..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

St. Patirck's Day is usually just another day, with nothing to make it remarkable aside from the need to wear green.  This year I spent a St. Pat's that I will never forget! My favouritest country band Lady Antebellum was playing in Edmonton, and I had plans to go with my cousin, and I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  She had gotten a pre-sale code to buy the tickets before they went on sale to the public, and got us AMAZING seats in row 5 on the floor.  The first opening act Thompson Square had finished playing, and there was an intermission while the stage was set up for the second act Darius Rucker.  A lady came over to Kim and I and said that she was looking for someone to switch seats with.  She and her husband had tickets for the mosh pit right next to the stage, but her husband couldn't stand for that long; would we be interested in trading tickets? Kim and I looked at each other and said in unison "Sure!".  So we got to watch Darius Rucker and Lady A from right...next...to...the...stage! I almost got close enough at one point to touch Dave Haywood when he was high-fiving (low-fiving?) the fans!  Of course I, in my infinite wisdom, had worn boots with heels on them, never anticipating that I would be standing for almost the whole concert.  I was in agony by the time the concert ended, but it was so worth it!  I have a few pictures (not good ones, but I do have some) on my phone; if I can figure out how to do it I'll post them here.

Until next time,

J.

PS. You can see pictures of my altered tin plus lots of other stuff in my new photobucket album! Follow this link to find my main album, and then feel free to browse hte sub-albums!

http://s1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh583/JenniferKoss/

My Song of the Moment

I have a playlist on my iPod of "theme" songs - songs that have spoken to me or touched me in some way.  The newest addition to my theme song collection is "Invincible" by Hedley.  I heard a little clip of it on TV in an ad for Hedley's new CD, and liked it enough to buy it from iTunes.  And then I listened to the lyrics.  And I felt like they were talking about me.  I can identify with the lyrics in a lot of ways, particularly when I think about what I went through when I was sick before my transplant and then during my recovery.  The lines that hit me the most are:
"But I found the strength inside to see, found the better part of me, and I'm never letting go..."

I found this great site for looking up lyrics, and they have a thing where you can put in what you think the song means.  To me, I think it's about finding the strength to fight your demons, regardless of whether they're physcial, emotional or spiritual.  When I was sick, I had a lot of demons I was facing, and with the grace of God, I overcame them.  But I'm still facing other things, and some of those have been harder to overcome.  This song is a great reminder to stand strong and know that I can overcome the challenges that life is throwing at me.

This is a scrapbook page that I made on this song for a Book of Me challenge at scrapbook.com.  I joined the challenge to help me get some more pages done in my album, and one of the first challenges was to do a page on a theme song or a song that had a lot of meaning to you.  Picking my song was a no-brainer, and the page came together really quickly once I knew what I wanted to do.

Paper: "Amy Tangerine" by American Crafts
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
Photo Turn: Unknown
Other: Computer and printer

Until next time,
J.

Scrapbook journal layouts & an "Awwwww...." moment

As promised, here are some pictures of the first two layouts I made for my new scrapbook journal.

This is one of the fastest, easiest layouts I've ever done! The Bible verse was made by printing the words on Dymo label strips.  Then I outlined the leaves using two shades of green pen (they were supposedly metallic pens but you can't actually tell that from looking at them) and gave each of the birdies a rhinestone eye.  And done! Paper: kI Memories, Pens: Creative Memories, Rhinestones: Kaisercraft

This one also came together quickly.  Choosing the Bible verses actually took longer than writing them out and adhering them.  The background is actually the back side of the paper used for the layout above - gotta love double-sided paper! Paper: KI Memories, Journalling Boxes: Unknown (the purple one was received in a swap), Pens: Marvy Le Plume II

And now for some sheer cuteness...

My little pumpkin is just over 6 months old, and getting so big! How could you not love that little face?

Until next time,
J.

Happy New Year!

So much to do, so little time! As usual, far too much time has passed since I've been here, and a lot has happened.

On November 18th, my darling Sarah earned her angel wings.  Her kidneys were failing rapidly, and she was getting really sick.  The weekend before she went home to heaven, she stopped eating and drinking, resulting in a trip to the vet.  There was a treatment that Dr. Forbes suggested might help, but because she was going downhill so quickly it would only be a band-aid solution, if it helped at all.  I decided that I couldn't put my baby through something that may or may not help her, so I decided it would be better if I let her go.  I took her home that day, and on Friday we went back for the last time.  One small belssing that came about was a blizzard that hit on Thursday, keeping me at home.  I got one last day to spend with Sarah, cuddling, taking pictures and making some last memories.  We laid her to rest next to my mom's dog Mugsy (they were the best of friends when he was alive, and now they're together again), and in the spring I'm going to plant some pink roses next to her grave.

Having Molly has helped a lot, which is what my mom was hoping for when she bought her for me.  She is such a little clown - so full of personality! I could write a novel about her and exploits, and I've only had her for four months! Her favourite game is playing fetch with her ball, although she also likes tug-of-war fetch.  This is exactly what it sounds like: she brings the toy and we play tug-of-war until I manage to get it and then I have to throw it for her to run after and retrieve.  If I try to stop before she's ready, she'll push at my arm or leg with the toy/ball until I start playing again.  One of her stranger quirks is that she loves, and I mean LOVES, to shred Kleenex (as well as napkins and other paper).  And she's fast too!  Apparently this morning while I was at work she managed to get hold of the box of Kleenex from the coffee table and was happily shredding away when Dad caught her; fortunately she'd only gotten through 2 or 3 when he found her.

Christmas, as always, was wonderful.  James was able to come home, and he brought his dog Hemi with him.  I'd been hoping that Molly and Hemi would make friends, but she was terrifed of him and squealed like she was being eaten if he so much as looked at her.  I suppose though that her fear was understandable - she's really only used to Nicky who's not much bigger than she is, so to suddenly have this great big 170-lb. beast in her house was probably scary.  Although she was getting better with him by the time James left: she had pretty much stopped squealing if Hemi came near her, and wouldn't immediately run and hide if Hemi entered the room.  She needs some oedience training, and I'm hoping that will help her get socialized more.  And I'm thinking in the spring she and I may take a road trip to visit "Uncle" James and "Cousin" Hemi. 

With a new year comes some new creative projects: a scrapbook journal, a 6"x6" scrapbook of favourite scriptures and inspirational songs, and a "baby" book for Molly.  With all these new projects, I've set myself a goal of one layout a week, and I've joined a couple of challenges at scrapbook.com to help me out.  I'm also going through the stack of scrapbook magazines; I'm saving only the articles/ideas that I think I will acutally use, and getting rid of the rest of the magazine.  I've found a bunch of ideas for Molly's book in the process, and I'm thinking I may make a separate section in my scrappy binder for pet ideas so I can find them easily.

I'm just about finished my room re-decoration.  There are just a few projects left.  I want to get a wall-mounted lamp (or possibly two) for better light for reading in bed, I need to get curtain rods and window treatments, and I want to re-hang my bulletin board.  And I found the cutest pink LED lights at HOme Hardware before Christmas that I want to hang up; I just need to figure out how to do it!

Well, that's probably enough for now.  Over the weekend I'm hoping to post pictures of the first two layouts of my scrapbook journal.

Until next time,
J.