January 2025 in Books

Decent month of reading, although nothing that was amazing and a couple of duds.  Here are the recaps:

James - Percival Everett - fiction - four stars - This is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim. I thought this was a pretty clever retelling. You are rooting for both Huck and Jim, and I enjoyed the relationship/friendship between them. 

Libby Lost and Found - Stephanie Booth - fiction - four stars - Libby is a famous author whose next book, the final book in a best-selling fantasy series is long overdue.  Luckily for Libby, the books are published under a pseudonym, so when the fans start to lose it because the book hasn't come out yet, she isn't harassed. The bad news is that Libby has been diagnosed with early onset dementia and she can't figure out how to rescue the characters from their current predicament. In an act of desperation, Libby flies across the country to meet a superfan who she thinks will help her finish the book. I really enjoyed the characters and how this story unfolded.  

The Magnificent Ruins - Nayantara Roy - fiction - four stars - Lila De's grandfather dies and leaves her the family home in India. The home is THE family home, where her mother, grandmother, and all her aunts and uncles reside. On the one hand her family is thrilled that she has returned to India after years away, on the other hand, they don't understand why the home was left to her and are preparing to challenge the will. A messy story about a messy family, with all sorts of contradictions and subplots going on, but it all came together in the end.

The God of the Woods - Liz Moore - fiction - four stars - Barbara Van Laar has disappear from sleepaway camp. Years earlier her brother disappeared as well. As the search for Barabara goes on, we learn about the messy Van Laar family.  A fast paced book with several twists in this book that I did not expect. Not a five because I thought the ending was weak, but still a very good read.

One Life: The True Story of Sir Nicholas Winton and the Prague Kindertransport - Barbara Winton - biography - three stars - The story of Nicholas Winton, who spent a couple of weeks in country and then several months after returning home to Britain helping to evacuate Jewish children from Prague. He became famous when 'outed' on an episode of the British Television show That's Life! where he met many of the children he saved. The book is written by his daughter, and while it does discuss in detail his Kindertransport efforts, it tells about his whole life. The interesting the is that despite how impactful his actions regarding the Kindertransport were, they were a small episode in his life that he did not realize had such an impact until later. Winton was a very distinguished man with many impressive experiences, but this book was a bit of a slog to read.  The writing was just kind of plodding, but still worth learning about Winton.

Love Can't Feed You - Cherry Lou Sy - fiction - two stars - I really enjoy immigrant stories, so had high hopes for this one.  It's about Queenie a Filipino Chinese girl who comes to the US from the Philippines with her father and younger brother to join her mother who has been in the US for a while studying and saving up to bring the rest of the family over. This was not a happy immigrant story, far from it. None of the characters was at all appealing, I kept waiting for a redemption moment and it never came.  Not worth the time at all.

Pony Confidential - Christian Lynch - fiction - four stars - Penny has been arrested for murder, one that occurred years ago when she was twelve years old, and which clearly she did not commit.  Meanwhile her beloved pony that she abandoned at that time has been searching for her since to exact revenge for that abandonment. The quest to clear Penny's name brings the two of them back together.  This was a really cute book and I enjoyed it although it did drag a little big in terms of there was a lot of movement and running around and I feel like it's one of those movies that ends up being three and half hours long when it only needs to be two and half hours and someone should have done a bit more editing.  Still a very enjoyable book.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #2) - Hisashi Kashiwai - fiction - four stars - I really enjoyed the first book in this series and this is more of the same.  The Kamogawa Diner serves delicious food, but is also a detective agency of sorts.  Chef Nagare will research and recreate whatever dish you need.  The different stories and reasons that customers need these recreate dishes are sweet.  Great little book.

The Mistletoe Mystery (Molly the Maid, #2.5) - Nita Prose - fiction - three stars - I have really enjoyed the Molly the Maid books.  This was a Christmas themed novella that was just OK.  I don't want to give away the story plot because it's kind of the whole point of the book, but it was pretty obvious/predictable which is not what I expect from these books.

Long Island Compromise - Taffy Brodesser-Akner - fiction - two stars - This one was another huge disappointment.  This book had been on all sorts of lists and just did not live up to the hype.  It's about the Fletcher family.  In 1980, the father is kidnapped and held for ransom.  The family pays the ransom and he's returned, but they are never the same again.  The book hops between his three kids and. how messed up they are.  None of them is a sympathetic character, they are all hugely flawed and there was really nothing redeeming happening in this book at all, just a whole bunch of messed up people.  Skip it.

February is shaping up to be pretty good so far.  I've already finished a couple of books and just started The Frozen River which is very good so far.  Let me know what you've been reading!

Lots of Love

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Today's card features some oldies but goodies.  I was able to get together with some friends several months ago, and one of them cut this background panel (an older cover plate by Poppystamps) from Simon Says Stamp Color Blend cardstock.  She was inlaying the individual hearts into another panel, and was getting ready to toss the piece, but challenged me to use it on a card.

This was really quite easy to put together.  I simply adhered it to a white card base, and then added a bold die cut sentiment.  

The sentiment, from The Stamp Market, is retired, but you could really substitute any large sentiment here.

I actually created an inlaid sentiment for this card.  It's very simple, and I have a few very bad pictures to show you how to do it.  It really just involves cutting one extra piece.  You'll cut your sentiment and shadow piece as normal, but then cut an extra shadow piece:

Then place the die for the sentiment itself on top of the shadow piece:

This is what the piece looks like when you are done on the cutting plate and removed:

Be sure to keep the extra inside pieces as you'll need those for the inlay.  Cover the original base piece you cut with adhesive, place the outline piece on top, and then inlay the individual sentiment pieces within.  It's pretty simple, you just need to keep track of all those little inside pieces.

For my card, I used black cardstock for the shadow piece and inlay outline, and Matte Gold cardstock for the  sentiment/inlay itself.

So easy, and really it's that Color Blend cardstock that really makes this one special.

SSS Sketched Clovers as Hearts

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Hi friends!  I've got a card today that stretches my Sketched Clovers set a bit.  Thing is, that at the end of the day clovers are basically made up of hearts, so I thought it would be fun to use the set to create a Valentine's Day card.

This was pretty simple to do.  I chose the four leaf clover from the set that is the most symmetrical, and then stamped it repeatedly in an offset grid pattern to create a background using Watermelon ink.

I also swiped my Watermelon ink pad over a piece of scrap white cardstock and die cut the Love Ya shadow sentiment piece from that.  The sentiment itself was die cut from white, adhered to the shadow die cut, and the completed sentiment was popped up with foam tape.

This was came together very quickly!  

December 2024 in Books

I'm super late getting this post up this month, but it's been busy!  December was a really good month of reading, especially the historical fiction genre.  Here are the recaps:

In the Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez - historical fiction - five stars - Great read about the four Mirabel sisters who lived in the Dominica Republic during the dictatorship of Trujillo.  This is a country and time period that I knew nothing about.  Three of the Mirabel sisters and their husbands were involved with those who wanted to overthrow Trujillo.  As a result they were each jailed at various times and eventually the three sisters were murdered as was one of their husbands.  The narrative moves from sister to sister, and also brings you up to date on the aftermath of the murders, the fall of Trujillo, and what happened with the family afterwards.  Excellent read.

The Stone Home - Crystal Hana Kim - historical fiction - five stars - Another book about a country/time period I had no knowledge of, South Korea.  When I first started reading, I thought it took place much earlier, maybe before or after WWII, and was shocked to realize that the events took place in the 1980s.  It's about a 'home' that was established by the government as part of an effort to clean up the country leading up to their hosting of the Olympics.  Homeless/undesirables were picked up and placed into institutions where they functioned as slave labor, manufacturing items that were sold with profits benefiting the government, in addition, the government solicited funds from religious organizations to 'sponsor' these homes.  In some ways the stories reminded me of those of the Native American schools that governments established in the US and Canada.  Disturbing, but well worth the read.

The Volcano Daughters - Gina Maria Balibrera - historical fiction - four stars - Another historical fiction book where I learned a lot.  This one was another about a dictator, El Gran Pendejo, this time in El Salvador, and a set of sisters.  Pendejo is not all their.  He has numerous mystical notions/beliefs.  Sisters Consuela and Graciela have been taken from their home to serve him.  Eventually they are able to escape and return to their village in the shadow of a volcano.  The village is slaughtered.  Somehow the sisters survive and escape, although both believe the other is dead.  The book follows their life post El Salvador as well as how the come back to one another.  It's a really interesting story, although I wasn't a huge fan of the narrative device the author used throughout.  It's narrated by the dead friends of the sisters.  

Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1) - Toshikazu Kawaguchi - fiction - four stars - About a cafe in Tokyo where you can go back in time to see someone, but there are rules.  You have to sit in a particular chair, you can't change the future, you have to return to the future before your coffee gets cold, etc.  This one took a while to get going, but I really enjoyed all the little vignettes of who wanted to to the past, who they wanted to talk to, and why.  A nice quick read.

French Windows - Antoine Laurain - fiction - three stars - I've read a number of Laurain's other books, they are what I'd describe as novelettes, and I really loved them.  This one was a disappointment.  It's about Doctor Farber, a psychologist, whose new patient, a photographer, photographed/witnessed a murder and now can't seem to work anymore.  As Farber works with her, she slowly reveals who the murdered/murdered was.  It was an interesting premise, and I was definitely surprised at the end, but I kind of feel like the bulk of the book was a total tangent and not really necessary.  Didn't live up to my expectations for the author.

Within Arm's Reach - Ann Napolitano - fiction - three stars - This one was a mixed bag for me.  It's about a large family dealing with the decline of the matriarch and the unexpected pregnancy of one of her grandchildren.  The varying personalities within the family as well as their relationships with one another were interesting, but it just didn't tied together well in the end.  Too many loose ends, just a lot that I felt was left unresolved, like we needed a few more chapters.  I'll also say that a number of the characters were just frustrating and annoying.  The interesting thing is that I picked this up because I've really enjoyed Napolitano's other books and figured I would read this new one, but it turns out it isn't actually a new book, it's the re-release of her debut novel.  Definitely not as polished and well done as her later books, but it definitely kept me reading, just felt unfinished at the end.

Favorite this month was In the Time of the Butterflies and least favorite was French Windows.  I'm already two and a half books into 2025, currently The Magnificent Ruins which is pretty good.  What are you guys reading?

SSS To Be Loved Blog Hop, Day 1

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Friday!  Today I'm participating in a hop celebrating the Simon Says Stamp To Be Loved release.  You should be arriving from Alberto Gavas stop on the hop, and I'll have the full list at the end of this post if you need it.  As usual, there are prizes to be had.  One commenter on each stop along the way will receive a $25 store credit.  In addition, with any To Love (the last release) or To Be Loved purchase over $50, you'll automatically receive the Circle Hoops embossing folder pictured above for free.

Today I'm featuring several cards created using my new Sketched Clovers stamp set which features clovers in the same style as the Sketched Leaves set that was released last year.

For my first card, I created some custom pattered paper, stamping the leaves using three colors: Lucky, Limelicious, and Pearfection.  I love the way the lines of the leaves look when they are layered together!

One of the sentiments from the set was stamped on a pice of white cardstock, a green mat was added, and then it was popped up with foam tape.

Next up a very simple one layer card using back stamping.  This is where the stamp is placed on your block upside down, so that the flat bottom of the stamp creates a slightly larger solid stamp on the image in question.  The solid back stamping was done with Sprout ink.  After the back was stamped, I flipped the stamp over and stamped the right side using Field ink.

I actually used my stamping platform for this card, placing the image, stamping, turning my panel 180 degrees, and then stamping again to create a symmetrical pattern.

The completed panel was trimmed down and I added another sentiment from the set in the center.

Next up, embossing!  Similar to the last card, I saved a bit of time by utilizing my stamping platform for this card.  I also saved time by stamping two clovers at once.  These were stamped with Versamark and embossed in gold, the panel was turned 180 degrees and then stamped and embossed again.  I then moved/alternated the four different clovers images, repeating the process until I was happy with the border that was created.

As you can see, there's no issue in overlapping the embossing, it just adds additional texture and interest.

Another of the sentiments from the set was gold embossed in the center of the card, and the panel was then adhered directly to a kraft card base.  I often use kraft with gold embossed cards.  I feel like it gives a little definition, but keeps the gold embossing the star of the show.

This last card might be my favorite.  I really love Distress Embossing Powders.  I feel like they emboss very easily and cleanly and always look good, but I also wanted to use black cardstock, and Distress Embossing Powders are semi-translucent, so really don't show on black.

That's where the lightbulb came on.  Instead of using Versamark as I usually do, I stamped the clovers with white pigment ink and then embossed with Cracked Pistachio.  I'm so happy with the look.  It's not definitely more subtle than using a normal embossing powder, but so pretty.

The entire black panel was stamped/embossed, and then I pulled out my Lucky You dies for the sentiment.

For the sentiment die, I pressed my white pigment ink pad into/across a piece of black cardstock, embossed the entire piece with Cracked Pistachio, and then die cut the embossed cardstock.  This was adhered to the shadow piece which was cut from black cardstock.

I also added a sentiment from the Lucky You stamp set which was embossed using the same technique on a strip of black cardstock.  Both the sentiment pieces were popped up with foam tape.

That's all for me today.  I hope you got some good ideas for how to use this (as well as the previously released Sketched Leaves) set.  Your next blog hop stop is Heather Ruwe, and the full list is below.  Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win the $25 store credit.  Good luck and happy hopping!

Simon Says Stamp Blog
Caly Person
Cathy Zielske
Jennifer McGuire
Barbara Tarayao
Emily Midgett
Amy Rysavy
Debby Hughes
Keisha Charles
Alberto Gava
Miriam Prantner
Heather Ruwe
Tina Smith
Jean Doeringsfeld
Tracy Ware
Natasha Vacca

SSS To Be Loved Release

*This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

It's a release day at Simon Says Stamp!  The To Be Loved release is now live and is filled with all things love, and some Saint Patty's Day too.

Today's cards feature the new Funky Hearts stencil set.  This is a set of four stencils, two create the wavy squares background, and the other too add hearts in those wavy squares.

For my first card, I kept things pretty simple.  I used just two inks:  Bubblegum and Peony.  The first two stencils to create the wavy square design were lightly inked with those colors.  I then used the same colors for the hearts, but a heavier hand, although I still kept things pretty light.

The Love You More sentiment was cut from pink cardstock, adhered to a shadow piece cut from white cardstock, and then popped up with foam tape.  Really quick and easy.

For the next card, I thought it would be fun to use just the two basic stencils. I again used just two colors, this time Cantaloupe and Lilac.  After an initial basic inking, I did some stencil shifting.  The first stencils was shifted slightly in one direction, inked with the same color, and then in the other direction and inked with the same color.  You need to keep a very light hand for this.  The same process was repeated with the second stencil using the other color.

The Sending Good Vibes sentiment was die cut twice, from white and a light orange, and these were offset over a shadow pice that was cut from white and then inked with Lilac.  The completed sentiment was popped up with fam tape.

Be sure to head over to Simon to check out the full release.  I'll be back tomorrow to share some cards featuring my newest stamp set.

SSS Circle Sentiment Dies, Take 2

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Hi friends!  Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's!

I've got a couple super quick and easy cards to share today featuring my Circle Sentiment Dies.  When I was playing with them the other day, I realized you could use them to make some fun texting 'words'.

These words were then paired with some sentiment strips (I used Reverse Be You for the YOLO card and Reverse Craptastic for LOL) to create easy, no stamping cards.

I did add a little something to the white panels so that they weren't too stark, spreading Ranger Opaque Matte paste through the Tim Holtz Sparkle Fade stencil for a bit of texture and interest.

The circles and sentiment strips were popped up with foam tape over top once those were dried.  

That's all for me today....I'm breaking down Christmas at the house today....with me luck!