Sunday, March 27, 2016

Going with the Flow

I'm still riding the corner bookmark wave, but I'm nearing the end. Last project, I swear. Maybe.

I found the perfect book to use for my "Happy Reading" cards, one that practically begged to be repurposed since pages were falling out left and right. It was a paperback about various versions of the Rumpelstiltskin story I had picked up at the thrift store awhile back. Not my favorite fairy tale, so I had no guilt plucking it apart for this project.

Happy Reading Cards with Corner Bookmarks

"You can't direct the wind but you can adjust your sails." ~ Author Unknown

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Junk or Treasure?

I wanted to make birthday cards using a story page as background and including a corner bookmark. I thought this would be apropos since I generally give books as presents. I dug through my stash, to find a book junky enough to repurpose and found this...

Famous Fairy Tales (c) 1971
by Western Publishing Company

...an old gem from my childhood, Famous Fairy Tales. It has been duct taped, inside and out, and yet is still missing the first forty-two pages with these classics: Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Jack the Giant Killer. Why keep this thing? Why not give it a new life by recycling it into cards to share with my friends?

 
First Page, 43

So I drug it down to my basement studio and flipped through the chapters...perfect! But I can't seem to make myself tear the pages out! This book has been kicking around since I was a little kid. It's been read and loved in Montana, stored in a box in Alabama, moved back across the country to Oregon, and now is seeing the light of day in Washington.

Where else can you find a book with crusty, forty-five year-old duct tape, hot chocolate stains, and an advertisement for a free can of Folger's Coffee? When I flip through the pages, the book automatically falls open to Tom Thumb on my favorite page, sixty-four. I love that picture of Tom taking a bath in a tea cup. So tiny, so cute!

Guess I'll keep it a while longer.

Tom Thumb

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." ~ Thomas A. Edison

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Coach Card

I took some time away from writing to create a thank you card for my kids' basketball coach. The session is over and the Jawbreakers' team of eight have officially retired their green t-shirts. 

Thank you from Team Jawbreakers

I've turned most of my creative energy toward writing (I've started Chapter 18...whoo hoo!), but this small project whetted my appetite to create another collage. I took a peek at Illustration Friday's theme this week. It's "dragon" for anyone who wants to participate.

"Slow progress is better than no progress." ~ Author Unknown

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Camping Season with NaNoWriMo!

I'm all signed up for Camp NaNoWrimo starting in April. I'm planning to write 20,000 words for the month, finishing up Will's story, then writing toward my next idea. Come join the fun! 

April 2016

The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you didn't write. ~ Author Unknown

Monday, March 07, 2016

Not So Special Delivery

So, I'm new at this, right? I was so excited to mail my Dealing with Blue (DWB) books to the Goodreads Giveaway winners with my newly hand-crafted bookmarks...until I got to the post office and started talking shipping costs. Ugh!

One paperback book to London costs $28.00! Same scenario, but to Alberta, shipping costs $20.00. Ouch. That puts a hefty dent in the budget.

For London, I logged onto Amazon.co.uk, ordered the book, made up a 555 phone number, and had it shipped at half the price. Now, I sit here with my fingers crossed, hoping for a no-snafu delivery.

For Canada, Amazon had this to say, which didn't inspire much confidence:

Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item. 

 Anyway, back to the post office to mail DWB to Canada, and my apologies to the UK winner. There will be no cutesy bookmark with your giveaway, but the silver lining is you should receive it on Thursday :) Schwing!

Brushing aside the unexpected shipping woes, I hope everyone enjoys DWB! For the stateside winners, your book is in the mail.

Sunday, March 06, 2016

Special Delivery!

The Goodreads Giveaway for Dealing with Blue is over and five winners have been selected. Congratulations to the following:

Wendy from Alberta, Canada
Violaine from London, England
Galina from Hattiesburg, MS
Ron from Pearland, TX
Savannah from Madison Heights, VA

I wanted to send a little something extra, so I thought about some monster bookmarks, only I couldn't find any of the creepy eyeball stickers by Sticko. Boo. Hiss. On the flip side, I had to get creative and ultimately came up with a better idea. Still bookmarks, but now they are relevant, can act as a giveaway, and be my business card, too. Yeah!

 DWB Giveaway Bookmarks

Paper, scissors, glue. Sigh. Yeah, I found my zen.

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Lights Out, Price Down

Oops! I'm not very good with marketing it seems. I scheduled my one-time allotted Kindle Count Down Sale for Dealing with Blue to start today...and never told anyone about it!

Then the power went out...

In the Dark

...but the count down continues! The Kindle price for Dealing with Blue is $0.99 right now. Price goes up to $1.99 in two days. Get it while it's hot :)

Thank goodness, it was only three hours of candlelight, cold cereal dinners, and rowdy kids. Power's back on, and I'm ready for bed.

Have a good night!

March 2016 Reading Challenge - Green Covered Books

No, I'm not talking about anything eco or sustainable. I'm talking about the color most found in nature, like kelly and pine, forest and sage, and some khaki and neon, too. I recently joined a Goodreads group and one of their challenges was to read books with green covers during the month of March. I love stuff like this, so I was on board.

 
TBR Pile - Green Books

I'm currently reading and loving Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty(Middle Grade). I also have a bookmark in Rule by Jay Crownover (New Adult - NA).

Being a slow reader, there is no way I'll get through all of these, but I will definitely read FanGirl by Rainbow Rowell* (NA) before I leave the "Green" phase. 

The other books in by To Be Read pile, pictured above, that have a dab of green on the cover are:

Please feel free to share your green book in the comments :)

* A recommended read!