The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Book Description:


Fans of The Twilight Saga will be enthralled by this riveting story of Bree Tanner, a character first introduced in Eclipse, and the darker side of the newborn vampire world she inhabits. In another irresistible combination of danger, mystery, and romance, Stephenie Meyer tells the devastating story of Bree and the newborn army as they prepare to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullens, following their encounter to its unforgettable conclusion. An Eclipse Novella.

Review:

Bree...who's Bree? I said when this book came to my attention, luckily before it was released so I had time to refresh and to pre-order. I spent some time on Stephanie's web site, really enjoying her thoughts behind the book. An added bonus of visiting this web site is that you will discover how to read this book for free! Me, it had to be in my house, snuggled up to all my other Meyer books.

As stated in the title, this is a "short" book but it is a fun read. But alas that is all I can really say about it. I wanted more, I wanted a deeper relationship between Bree and Diego. I wanted more insite into Riley and his relationship with Victoria. All in all I wanted more but as Stephanie states this is a "novela" not meant to be a deep look into the back story of minor characters in the Twilight Saga.

Another revelation that I am sad to say I have had is that I think I enjoyed the Twilight books because of the wonderful company I read them in...shout out to the ladies of the Columbus Book Club...I miss y'all! I have read many more YA since the Twilight books and well, Twilight doesn't hold a candle to some of them. I will be reviewing one of those in the near future, The Hunger Games, if you haven't read it...DO!

I am glad I read this book...I enjoyed it...but it did not leave a lasting impression.

On a side note...There is a book giveaway on one of the blogs I follow. I have wanted to read Maggie Stiefvater since I lost a copy in a swap I was playing in. Come check out this fabulous giveaway...if I don't win (fingers crossed) maybe you will!

What Makes a Dad?

This week over at One Powerful Hour I set the theme of...

What Makes a Dad

This is a poem I found online and I have asked participants to use the poem as inspiration. It could result in a father's day item or not.

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,
He called it ... Dad

Author Unknown


I decided to go in a Masculine/Father's Day direction with my sample.

I took an old recipe advertisment Collage Image from Altered Pages and built on top of that. On the right I cut an opening and placed my "father" figure, from Paula's Kit Club. Next i selected words from the poem and added them to the card. As finishing touches I added the German Scrap car and a mini frame.

That is when I decided that the piece would make a great tag for the gift I am planning on giving my father. So I folded it in half and covered the front with decorative paper, attached a cigar label and finished if off with German Scrap.

The red ribbon was the final touch, I'll use this to affix the tag to my gift.

I hope to have more time to be inspired by the poem, make something that is not necessarily father's day. I hope you enjoy my interpretation.

Open the Gates to my...

I have finally completed the creator of The Circle of Friends 2010 Journal. This year Sandi selected the theme,

Open the Gates to my....

We just had to fill in the blanks. For some reason this was really hard for me. Other members had already done Heart, Life, and Garden. I just could not come up with something that really caught me. I received my Paula's Kit Club and inside was a fabulous extra stamp featuring bugs...so I started playing with an Entomology idea and that for some reason got morphed into a dark piece. I seem to be leaning towards this theme these days, I wonder what that says about me LOL. So here is my


Open the Gates to My Dark Side Journal Entry.

The front, or as I like to think of it, Gate is a light grey paper with a spider web transparency. The Birds are from a silouet kit that I traced and flipped so they would look at one another, appear to be flanking the opening to the gate which is a piece of German Scrap. And I finished off the front with my title and black brads to connect the pages.

I wish it opened a little bit smoother. Hopefully with time the stiffness will decrease and it will open nicer.



I spent a ton of time on my lady. I created her using Photoshop. She is an image of a Paris Showgirl with a full skeleton (there was a ton of manipulation done here to get the bones to lay just right, I am still not really please with the skull) and on top of all of that is the dress which I filled with the bugs from my most recent Paula's Kit Club. To finish her off I painted the dress with a light grey twinkling H2O. So even my "dark" ladies shimmer :)

The background is a calender page, a sky scene done in grayish sepia tones that I added more grey to with a color wash.

Behind my lady is a rub on spider web. The tree, Tim Holtz, is black embossed. The bat is from a Paula's Kit club and the skull image at the bottom is a fabulous stamp that I got from the company that is now Paula's Kit Club.

To finish off the inside I added a chip board tombstone painted in similar grey shades and stamped with a crackled background stamp. I also added a bit of shimmer to it. My new favorite stamp, or at least one that I've been using a lot of recently, is the harlequin patterned stamp that I covered the edges with. And last but not least I added some German Scrap to the top and bottom. Alas it is almost impossible to see because it is black and so is the background I photographed this on...sigh...

As always I can't leave a back blank so I grabbed a coordinating decorative paper and slapped it on the back.

The skull is from Alpha Stamps and I was originally going to use it on the inside but couldn't get it to look right so I added it to the back, I think it's a nice touch. If one can call anything nice on a dark piece like this.

Well that's that for this journal. I learned a lot when I was making my lady but I had a really hard time with this one. i hope Sandi likes what I did.

B is For...

Recently I was reminded how important it is to have friends. And how special the women that I call friends are.

This week over at One Powerful Hour I set the theme of B is for...

For me B is for Best...as in my friends are the best, women I can count on and run to when times get tough and know they will be there to lend a helping hand.

So here is to all my Friends...you are the Best!

The image is from a Paula's Kit Club collage Sheet. The B is a sticker that I scanned into the computer and altered a bit. I highlighted it by adding diamond glaze. There are a few butterflies stamped randomly and covered in pearl ex powder, so they glisten when you move the card around. The finishing touches include a crown, two stripes of ribbon and some lovely pearls.

I hope you enjoy my B is for piece...I had a wonderful time creating it and thinking about the women who inspired it.

The Deception of the Emerald Ring

I discovered this series a number of years ago but have been taking my time to read through them. The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig is the third book in this series.

One of the reasons I am attracted to this series is the format she writes in. There are two story lines, the present day and the historical line. Each book neatly wraps up the historical story line but she leave you wanting more by leaving the present story line unfinished.

Each of the three books I have read so far has offered something that I truly enjoy. The first book The Secret History of the Pink Carnation is my favorite story so far, The Masque of the Black Tulip is my favorite love story so far. The Deception of the Emerald Ring built up the suspense from The Masque and continued the suspense of the present day story line.

All in all The Deception of the Emerald Ring is my least favorite so far but not a reason to skip over it. I thought Eloise, the heroin in the present story, was a bit mopey. I was also not a huge fan of the romance line, it is probably a much more practical and possible romance set in those times but I just thought it lacked something.

I have discovered a new and totally addictive web site, introduced to me my Lauren herself. StoryCasting is dedicated to casting books. Here is my cast for this book.

Geoff = Jude Law
Letty = Scarlett Johansson
Jane Wooliston = Natalie Portman
Jasper Pinchingdale = Cillian Murphy
Emily Gilchrist = Jena Malone
Lord Vaugn = Guy Pearce
Marquise de Montval = Natalie Dormer

This is not all the characters...but the ones that I could think of an actor/actress that I thought suited the character.

You can read an excerpt of Lauren's web site HERE

I can't wait to get my hands onto the next book, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose.

Mad Hatter Gigantic Tag Swap

Alpha Stamps has done it again! A marvelously fun swap...this time it is a "The Mad Hatter's tea party Ginormous Tag Swap".

The requirements are to use red and black (does not state how much or little) a collage image an embellishment and the gigantic tag from Alpha Stamps.

I really had fun with this swap b/c it was a chance to do something new with a time honored theme. When I was formulating my idea I wanted to stay away from anything Alice in Wonderland. So, I tried to play off of the "mad" portion of the theme going with a "mad scientist" type feel...or at least I tried.


The background paper is chandeliers that I put on upside down (yes, intentionally). Then I stamped it with Tea phrases using pearl ex gold powder.

My collage image is from the Mad Hatter Clones Collage Sheet. The tea cups I painted with twinkling H2O's (it's hard to see the shimmer in the photo's) and I tried to make it look like the liquid inside was bubbling over by using some really fun iridescent glass beads. The spoon, and tag that says "drink me" are from Alpha Stamps and I affixed them using E6000. The poison sign at the top I clear embossed to make it stronger before attaching it.

To finish off the tag I affixed the skull and crossbones cameo and added red creep paper (my new favorite embellishment).

A last minute addition was the ribbon which has skeletons on it.

I hope that I didn't go to far in the "mad" direction with this but I had a great time and really like the way they turned out, even though red and black are not colors I typically work with or even gravitate towards.

Can't wait to see what I get in return!

Havn't taken part in an Alpha Stamp swap yet? Well join me in the Summer ATC swap (I'm the hostess) sign up's close June 20th. Go HERE for more details.

The Lemon Girls

Over at One Powerful Hour I have set the theme of...

I love that color but never use it...

My absolute favorite color is yellow but I hardly ever use it in my art. I'm not sure if it is because when I am creating the "mood" I'm in or project I am working on doesn't call for the fun happy color or if it is because I just have difficulty working with the color.

This piece is a combination of digital (which I am really starting to enjoy) and stamping. The Triplet image is from The Graphics Fairly (a wonderful site) the lemons are a photograph that I edited and added. I altered the yellow tone on the triplets and printed that out.

The hand done bits are the words the number 3 and the ribbon. I also added some diamond glaze to the lemons.

Hope you enjoy my bright happy yellow piece!

Altered Pages Give Away Week 3 & Week 4 Winners!

The Week 3 Winner for the Altered Pages Digital Collage Sheet Give Away is...........

Anne Huskey-Lockard

Congratulations!

The Final winner of my Altered Pages Digital Collage Sheet give away is the person who participated/entered the most of the past 3 weeks...

Thank you

Peggy & Yvonne

You entered a total of 6 times! Hope you like this fabulous Corset Collage sheet!

Thank you everyone who took part in my blog candy...keep your eyes pealed...I've reached over 50 followers and as promised there will be a give away...

Inspirational Women

I am the hostess for the May Circle of Friends exchange and I selected the theme "Inspirational Women". Once I receive all the pages I will be compiling them into a homemade book...complete with marbled paper and all!

A lot of women are inspiring Eleanor Roosevelt, Audry Hepburn, Amelia Earhart, Joan of Arc, Maya Angelo...the list for me goes on and on. But I narrowed it down to those that are closest to me, my family and Marie Antoinette (really b/c I thought the images were stunning and wanted to work with them).

I played with Photo shop quite a bit for the "family" page. The Tree background and the faces I all manipulated in photo shop. Printed the faces on transparency and stapled it onto the tree image (signifying my family tree). To add the "stampers touch" I stamped a harlequin design all around the edges and added words that describe what each of these women brought to my life. To finish it off I crinkled crepe paper around the edges.

Ah Marie! I have always been fascinated by her, was she really as shallow as the television and history books make her out to be? I did learn a few interesting things about her...she never actually said "Let them eat cake" it was printed in a newspaper before she even arrived in France. Gotta love journalism!

This piece is a practice in layering...there is background paper stamped with a crown image, the Eiffel Tower and french words. Then the image of Marie from Alpha Stamps. On top of that I placed a fan from Paula's Kit Club which I singed the edges of (originally an accident but I liked it so much that I incorporated it on all the pages) The Knife, cupcake sticker and flowers are all from Alpha Stamps. To finish it off I printed the words "Let them eat Cake" on transparency and hunted down this lovely lace from rosemarys*cottage on ebay (she got the lace out fast!) which I then tea died.

All of the Marie pages are slightly different...I had a wonderful time creating these pieces and wish I had more time to make more pages...but it is onto the next step...putting the books together!