I just wanted to share a photo of my back yard. Ever since Hurricane Ike blew down six trees, my back yard gets lots more sunshine. I think the azaleas like the sun because they are blooming their heads off. I planted 6 rose bushes in a very sunny spot - I hope they like the sunshine too.

We'll have to see how long it remains this neat & tidy. Okay, now for the next project - maybe I'd better sleep on it. I really need to send Pam Garrison a thank you note.

Here is the closet with the shelves in it. There is room for another shelf at the top, but after the thorough purging (3 huge bags of stuff to Goodwill), there is plenty of storage - at least for now. My rule was, if it hasn't been used in 5 years, it has to go! The hardest part was waiting for all the wallpaper paste to dry so all the stuff could go in. While the closet was being worked on, I gathered new baskets and containers so everything would look pretty.

The closet is finished!

Once I got going, the wallpapering was not so bad. The scrapbook paper - some was thicker than others - all did just fine, and dried nice and flat. I covered the shelves in piano music (most of which I wasn't expert enough to play anyway) and I like how they turned out.

I woke up this morning with a head full of project ideas - I'm really enjoying the embroidery and crocheting but need to make a birthday card for my friend Ruth and get it in the mail today. Saw a card on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ called a "side step card" that I really want to try, and one on my friend Laura's blog http://www.stamplaura.blogspot.com to make with a new bird punch picked up yesterday from Laura's house. Patterns for monograms to embroider showed up on the internet last night and I can't wait to try one of them. Oh well, the dog needs a walk and then off to work. The weekend is coming, the weekend is coming, the weekend is coming..... The little bird is finished and here's a picture of that. My closet is progressing - can't wait to show you.

A small Stampin' Up bird stamp inspired a little embroidery piece this morning...just stamped right onto fabric. I haven't finished embroidering the heart in his mouth, which of course has to be Valentine red. Thought I would put him on top of a heart which will hang on a gift I'm making for a special Valentine next month. The stamp is from a little hostess set from many years ago which included a word stamp: "Thinking of you is a nice thing to do" - how appropriate.

A day when you can make something you like can't be written off as a total loss, no matter what happens later. Maybe I should get up a little earlier in the morning.

Let the games begin.

A search for wallpaper at stores in the area yielded nothing. I guess wallpaper has gone out of style so much that lots of non-specialty stores just don't carry it anymore. I gathered scrapbook paper that appealed to me, and got started wallpapering the closet. Not sure how I feel about it yet; it certainly isn't just like Pam's, but then I knew it wouldn't be.

Altogether, though, it's a good start. More later . . .