Happenings

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted! Where has the time gone?

Lots going on with me lately.  I've been sick with the stomach flu TWICE in the last month (as have both of my parents).  I've been home the last two days because of it.

I bought myself an iPod, and I am L-O-V-E! My cell phone contract is up in July and I'll be able to get a new phone.  For the longest time I was waffling between another Blackberry (which is what I have now and I really like it) and an iPhone.  I finally decided that I wanted another Blackberry, due in part to the fact that Blackberry is coming out with a tablet that can be used with Blackberry phones.  But there were some Apple apps that I really liked.  Solution? Buy an iPod! I've downloaded a few really neat apps; my favourite one being iBibleQuiz.  You get 10 multiple choice questions about the Bible and have to select the right answer.  My average score is 70%; given that I'm a Sunday School teacher I'm not sure if that's good or bad. The only thing I don't like about it is if you pick the wrong answer, the app doesn't tell what the right answer is.

One of the most exciting things that's happened is that I finally finished the cover for my creative planner! I started it last fall, and it ended up taking much longer to finish it than I thought it would.  But it turned out so nicely (I think) that the time spent was well worth it.  Now I just have to make the dividers for it.  I hope to have pics to show off soon.

I've been doing a lot of reading too.  And I, uh, kinda went on a shopping spree at Blessings a couple of weeks ago and bought a whole bunch of new books and CD's.  I'm not going to tell you how much I spent, cuz I'm kind of embarrassed.  But suffice it to say that I am thoroughly enjoying all my new purchases, and will be reviewing some stuff in future blog posts.

Until next time,
J.

March Blahs

Will this winter never end? I am getting so tired of the snow and cold; I'm starting to wish that I could just curl up in my bed, wrap my cozy duvet around myself and stay there until... like... June.  My bad mood seems to be affecting my creativity too.  I tried to scrapbook last weekend, only to discover that I was was missing something for the page layout I wanted to create.  That pretty much took the wind out of my sails and killed my scrapbooking mojo.  I sat on my bedroom floor, looking at all kinds of pretty papers and embellishments spread out around me and thinking "Now what?".  This past Friday I went to Michael's to get the item I needed, only to discover that it's actually not really what I had in mind for the layout anyway (the picture I had in my mind of the item is not what it actually looks like).  And I couldn't find anything else that matched my vision of the layout.  Sigh.

So I decided that maybe what I needed to break out of my winter doldrums is a new challenge; to put away the projects I'm working on and try something totally brand new.  It didn't take me very long to find my new challenge, either.  On one of the blogs I follow (Kelaia4Him), I've seen some pictures of a collection of scripture cards and a holder that Kelaia made for a year-long challenge at FaithSisters (another blog I follow) a couple of years ago.  I decided to check it out and see what this challenge was all about.  In a nutshell, it's 52 words (one for each week of the year) that you study and look up scriptures for, and then use your findings to create an ATC, scrapbook page, rolodex card, etc.  I went through all the posts and wrote down the words, and I've already got some ideas about what I want to put on some of my cards.  The only thing I haven't quite decided on yet is whether to do ATC's, or 3"x5" cards.  I was thinking 3"x5" cards, because I saw a really nice photo album at Michael's that I could get to store my creations in, but now I'm thinking ATC's (I may still get the photo album for storing them though).  With any luck, I'll have something to share very, very soon!

Until next time,
J.

The start of something new...

The very first topic in The Crafters Devotional talks about beginning the journaling process, and more specificly, choosing a journal: "Journaling needn't be expensive - peruse your local office supply shop, drugstore, warehouse, or stationary store for a notebook that can serve as your first journal.  Choose the book that you're drawn to instinctively, whether it's a miniature notepad or a leather-bound book."

When I read this, I immediately thought of my pink leather-bound journal.  I found it at Chapters and bought because it was pink and I loved the feel of the leather cover.  I hadn't been using it because I tried to create my own journal, but my creation wasn't really doing it for me.  I decided to go back to my lovely pink journal.

Continuing to read through the devotional, the following week's journalling topic was about personalizing your journal: "If you've always been a crafty type, you've probably been inspired to personalize a store-bought journal or spiral-bound notebook.  It can be as simple as adding a monogram, bumper stickers, or doodling to your heart's content.  The blank journal cover is a blank slate, so to speak, for original artwork."  Actually, I had never thought of decorating my store-bought journals before.  So I figured I was long overdue.  Want to see the results? Of course you do! So here you go...

The first thing I did was make the bookmark (really a long knotted friendshipracelet - the charm on the end of it is a dove with an olive branch it its beak).  It's attached to the spine of the journal with a white flower-shaped eyelet.  I was so proud of myself for setting that eyelet - it was the first time I'd used my Crop-a-Dile to set an eyelet.  Now I'm wondering why it took me so long to get around to trying! Anyway, once I had my bookmark attached, the next step was attaching the fuzzy brads (made by Doodlebug Designs, one of my favourite scrappy companies).  I still felt it needed something though.  It took me quite a while to figure out what that something was.  Then I happened to think of some metal words I had in with my faith scrapbooking supplies.  After a great deal of playing around with the words (and finally getting an expert opinion from my mom) I decided to go with "Believe".

This is the title page I made for my journal (sorry for the blurry picture - i'm still trying to figure out how to get good up-close pics of my art projects).  I found the stickers (by Jolee's Boutique) when I was looking for stuff to use in my Bucket List mini album.  The fuzzy cloud stickers I bought extra.  The balloon and the banner just somehow seemed a perfect fit for a journal title page.

Until next time,

J.

My word and verses for 2011

A fellow blogger I know always has a word and a verse for the year to help her in setting goals for the year.  I decided that this year I would do the same.  So I started thinking about what my word should be, and what relevant Bible verses I could  find.  In one of my previous posts I mentioned that I have great hope that this year will be better than the last.  Since I wrote that post, I've been seeing the word "hope" all over the place.  It became clear pretty quickly that "hope" should be my word of the year.  To help me remember to have hope in God, no matter what life throws at me, I created this ATC:

 The next thing I wanted to do was come up with some Bible verses to go with it.  The first one was pretty easy.
Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

The second verse that came to mind is another favourite of mine.
Isaiah 40: 30-31: "Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and now grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Then I started thinking that I should have one more verse.  I did some reading and some searching, and came across this verse.
Deuteronomy 30: 7-8: "Be strong and courageous...The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

I often struggle to remember when times get tough to trust in the Lord to help me get through the turmoil.  My hope (there's that word again!) is that by looking at my card and remembering these verses, I'll remember that when the going gets tough the tough turn to God!

Until next time,
J.

No more resolutions!

I often wonder why people make New Year's resolutions.  I don't know of anyone who has been able to keep a resolution.  Myself included.  I used to try to make resolutions, but it seemed that I'd only last a couple of weeks before all my good intentions went in the toilet.  I finally gave up on making resolutions and wrote them off as a fruitless endeavour.  What I've been doing instead is I making a list of things I want to do during the year.  This isn't always successful either (I can count on one hand the number of goals from this past year that I actually accomplished).  But for some reason approaching my year's goals this way seems to take some of the pressure off me.  At the end of the year, if I haven't done everything I want, then it's only because of my own lack of effort.  I've been giving my 2011 to-do list a lot of thought over the last few days, and so here is a sampling of some of the things I want to do this year.
1.  Take a creative writing course.  This is something I've always wanted to do, but I've always been afraid that my work won't measure up to what the others in the class are doing.  I've decided that this year I'm going to bite the bullet and just do it  for my sake alone, and not for anyone else.
2.  Purge, purge, purge! I've got so much STUFF that I feel sometimes like it's taking over my life.  I started this process last year by going through my CD collection and getting rid of a whole bunch of CD's that I don't listen to.  This year I want to go through my books, my tapes and my scrapbooking stuff and get rid of some more of the stuff that I'm not using anymore.
3.  Start and finish at least 1 scrapbook.  I'm really good at starting things but not so good at finishing them, as my collection of UFO's (Un-Finished Objects) will attest to.  This year I want to finish something I start.
4.  Do good for others.  I've been wanting to sponsor a child through WorldVision for a couple of years now, and this year I'm finally going to do it.  I also want to do more to support some of the organizations like the SPCA and my local Bible camp that I believe strongly in.
5.  Spend more time nurtuing my faith.  This is one aspect of my life that I think gets neglected the most, so this year I want to make my faith a priority.

And there you have it...some of what I have planned for the coming year.

Until next time,
J.

Here's Hoping...

Another year is about to come to an end, and looking back on it (especially the last few months), I've gotta tell you...2010 really kind of sucked.  There's the ongoing chest infection I've had since the summer that I can't get rid of.  There's the IV treatments I've been having to go for because my immune system has started producing antibodies against my kidney.  There's the side effects from the IV treatments I've been dealing with.  There's having to give up teaching Sunday School because of the chest infection and the side effects from the IV treatments.  The kicker was having to put my Sammy-Cat to sleep a week before Christmas.  At this point I can't wait for this year to be over (only a few hours to go!).

Of course, it wasn't all bad.  I celebrated the 10-year anniversary of my transplant in April.  I got to go on a little road trip to see James and then go with him to our cousin Dave's wedding in July.  I won tickets to the Grey Cup in November and got to go cheer on my favourite team and be part of the half-time show.  And we just came back from a wonderful Christmas visit to James's house.  But over the last few months especially, it seems that the lows have outnumbered the highs.

One of my favourite Christmas gifts from my mom and dad (actually the credit for this one goes to my mom because she found it and picked it out...dad just agreeed that it was very fitting) is a Precious Moments Christmas ornament of a little girl holding a start that says "hope" on it.  So here's hoping that 2011 is going to turn around and be much better than 2010 was.

Until next time,
J.

Today We Remember

To the soldiers, sailors and airmen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in their fight for freedom...
To the families and friends of all our fallen heroes...
To all who are still fighting at what times must seem insurmountable odds in the struggle for peace, freedom and right...
Today we remember you, and what you have done for our country and our world.  And we say...

Thank you.