Saturday, August 31, 2013

He's Gone by Deb Caletti

“What do you think happened to your husband, Mrs. Keller?”
 
The Sunday morning starts like any other, aside from the slight hangover. Dani Keller wakes up on her Seattle houseboat, a headache building behind her eyes from the wine she drank at a party the night before. But on this particular Sunday morning, she’s surprised to see that her husband, Ian, is not home. As the hours pass, Dani fills her day with small things. But still, Ian does not return. Irritation shifts to worry, worry slides almost imperceptibly into panic. And then, like a relentless blackness, the terrible realization hits Dani: He’s gone.
 
As the police work methodically through all the logical explanations—he’s hurt, he’s run off, he’s been killed—Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can—and cannot—remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth—about herself, her husband, and their lives together.
 

 
I will come right out and say it.  I did not like this book. 
 
For starters when it was voted for our next read in my book club I didn't vote for it, just didn't' like the way it sounded.  But like I always do I went into it with an open mind because half the books I read I don't want to and end up loving them.
 
This book is written in first person, I usually love first person books.  But we spend over 75% of the book inside Dani's head.  Her memories of her first marriage, the affair and the second marriage with Ian.  There were long sections between when one character spoke and Dani replied.  Half the time I lost the thread of the conversation.
 
The write up makes it sound like there will be something exciting going on in regards to the missing husband.  Cop type stuff.  But there is hardly any of that and Dani doesn't really ponder what the police are doing.  There is absolutely no excitement or tension in this book just pages and pages of Dani's thoughts. 
 
When we finally do get to what happened to Ian it is insignificant and you don't really care because he hasn't been painted in the best of lights.  Heck, all the characters are flawed to the point where you can't understand why Dani had anything to do with them.
 
My advice, skip this one.  There are too many good books written about the same type of thing to waste your time stuck inside Dani's head.

I am linking up with

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come join us!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Deep Blue Sea

 I've fallen in love with Tussie Mussies!
 With summer coming to an end I thought one last Beach themed piece was a must do.
You can't see if very well but the background is blue lace, where the lace and navy blue glitter so the entire thing sparkles like water.
For the finishing touches I added a real sand swirl, a message in a bottle and a paper clay mermaid.
This piece is going to one of the fabulous members of The Circle of Friends. 
I hope she likes it.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

And the Winner is...

 Well it has been a very exciting week here, school started back up, got to play with some more Halloween goodies, and we are about to start a kitchen remodel. 
 
I would like to thank everyone for the super sweet comment on my Smoke Get's in Your Eyes Shrine.  They brightened my week.
 
So without further ado, the winner is...
who said...
This is just beautiful! Thank you for the give away... love IT! ann
Congratulations Ann!
 
Please shoot me an e-mail (hit the e-mail button on the left hand column please) with your address and I will post your shrine this week.
 


Monday, August 19, 2013

Phrenologist Halloween Hutch & Swap

Halloween, yahoo yahoo! 
I've pulled out all my spooky goodies and put together a fun Phrenologist Hutch. 
 And Alpha Stamps is hosting a Halloween Hutch Swap!
 
 Made from a Mini Masonite Hutch and covered with decorative paper. 
All Supplies are from Alpha Stamps.
And this one is on Sale in my shop!

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Smoke Get's in Your Eyes Shrine + Giveaway!

Alpha Stamps has come up with yet another Fabulous Kit, the Arabian Nights Kit (pictured below).  The Collage Sheets are absolutely stunning so I just had to create something with them. 
 
Not everything that I used is in the kit.
 I used the ATC Hutch Shrine Kit as the base of my piece and altered it's shape by adding House Shaped Die-Cut Chipboard.  My intention was to make it look like an audience was watching a dancer.
Originally I was going to light up the box.  However, when I drilled the hole and put the light in, the light did not disperse the way I wanted it to.  So I had to patch up the back.  Regardless I think this turned out very fun.
And I'm giving it away!
To enter please leave a comment
For additional entries, Facebook, Tweet, or post on your blog.  Make sure to come back and let me know what you did. 
Giveaway is open until August 24th
Winner announced on August 25th
 
Thanks for stopping by. 
I hope you enjoy your time on my blog.


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Family Heirloom COF Journal

 The Circle of Friends fearless leader, Sandi of CREATiveE ARTeries, selected the theme of Family heirloom for her journal.  We were asked to fill in at least 3 of the compartments using real family images or collage images. 
The above picture is how I received the journal. 

 
 I decided to use collage images since the journal already had a vintage theme and I couldn't think of how to make some of my images really fit the style.  The images I selected are all from Alpha Stamps.
I had the most trouble with this one.  Originally I was only going to use the Charlotte head but it looked to plain so I went hunting in my goodie box until I found some other items to go along with it.  Also, I am not thrilled with the rick-rack around the image.  I thought it would add something to the overall piece but it just stands out too much :( 
 
 This is my favorite image, I love it so much that I went searching for the little gun charms to add to it.  A few of the other things I did to make the images look older was fray the edges and fold them in a few places.
 
Here is how the journal looked when I mailed it out.
I hope Sandi likes what I did, I think her journal is really coming together wonderfully.  

Monday, July 22, 2013

Night at the Opera

I am loving these little 4x4 tunnel books from Alpha Stamps.   
 For this one I really wanted to embrace the "tunnel"  effect. 
 So I cut a ton of paper to create thickness and then cut openings into them.  Each opening is slightly smaller than the one that precedes it. 
 I hand stamped all the pages and bound the book by hand.
 The images are printed out on transparency film and attached with glossy accents.
This piece I created for a swap on Circle of Friends. 
I hope she likes what I have created.


Saturday, July 20, 2013

When in doubt, Wear Red ~ Paper Dress Shop Part 3

Remember this? 
Yes, I know it has been a long time, summer just crept up on me.
If you don't remember and want to see more the outside of the house is HERE and the inside is HERE 
This item is now on sale in my Etsy Shop HERE
Today I am sharing the dresses that I made to go along with the shop. 
All the collage images used are from Alpha Stamps.
 I made 3 free standing paper dresses.  Each one hangs on a dress form stand.
 This skirt and shirt combination has yellow fiber and a Japanese themed embellishment.
 Every woman needs a fun sun dress.
 Blue fibers, sequin leaves and liquid pearls dress this dress up.
 The last free standing dress is this fun red dress.  Enhanced with gold liquid pearls.
 There are also 2 hanging dresses.  The pink and purple dress has glitter accents and the blue dress has purple liquid pearl accents. 
 I made price tags for each dress.
Well, that is all for the "When in doubt, wear red" dress shop.
This was a very fun project and I hope it finds a great home.
 
Since I have shared this creation with Paper Saturdays every step of the way I am linking up again.
Come join us!

manonpopjes

Friday, July 19, 2013

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by luck or chance. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?

As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.
 
Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship.
Wow, just wow. 
I picked this book up for an online book club I am a member of and read it in 2 days. 
Until this book I had no inkling about this part of our American History and I find it horrifying and fascinating all at the same time.
Baker Kline weaves the historical journey of Vivian (named Niamh by her birth parents and Dorothy by one of the families that takes her in) and Molly's present day foster care story beautifully.  Her characters are well rounded and easy to identify with which I found amazing since I have no experience with the foster care system. 
The one element that did bother me is that Baker Kline makes all of the women who foster/adopt (with the exception of one who you don't get a good picture of) horrible.  I'm not talking just mean to Vivian and Molly but just down right rotten people.  I found this element of the book a bit disturbing, being confronted with these women every page just left me with a nasty taste in my mouth. 
There was one other thing that happened in this book that I found absolutely unbelievable and stunning.  I don't want to give anything away but I am still thinking about Vivian's decision today and would love to ask the author 'why'.
It is rare for me to pick up a book and learn something new about our history (since I'm a bit of a history nut).  But this one did teach me something and was written beautifully. 

The Orphan Train Movement was a welfare program that transported children from crowded cities of the United States, such as New York City and Boston, to willing foster homes across the country. The orphan trains ran between 1853 and 1929, relocating an estimated 250,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children. At the time the orphan train movement began, reformers estimated that 30,000 vagrant children were living on the streets of New York City.

Two charity institutions, The Children's Aid Society (established by Charles Loring Brace) and later, the Catholic New York Foundling Hospital, determined to help these children. The two institutions developed a program that placed homeless city children into homes throughout the country. The children were transported to their new homes on trains which were eventually labeled “orphan trains” or "baby trains." This period of mass relocation of children ended by the 1920s; it was the beginning of organized foster care in America. (from Wikipedia)

I'm linking up
 
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Monday, July 15, 2013

In her Secret Garden

 The Circle of Friends have started another journal rotation and this is the first journal I received. 
Monica of Art Rocks sent out empty boxes and some images and asked us to create an "inner world."
We could do as much or as little on the outside. 

 Everything I used, except the paint and rocks, can be found at Alpha Stamps.
I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves on this one. 
I imagine a quite dawn in this garden.
 
 
 
I hope you enjoy. 
Today I received the next journal so I am off to play with it!
Have a great day!