October 2026 in Books

It was a sloooow reading month for me, but some solid books. Just too much going on. Here are the recaps:

The Birthing Tree - Amanda Peters - fiction - four stars - Aliet, a half Mi’kmaw woman returns home when she learns that her grandmother, Kiju, who raised her has died. She had not been home in years, and she processes the loss, as well as her past, as she fixes up her childhood home and decides what to do with her future. The story jumps back and forth between past and present, and focuses on the two cultures that pull at Aliet. Solid read.

Big Little Truths (Big Little Lies, #2) - Liane Moriarty - fiction - four stars - I really loved Big Little Lies, and was excited to read this follow up. It was a little hard to get into because I read the first book so long ago, I needed a refresher on what exactly happened and the characters. Once I had Google recap the first book for me, the reading was a lot smoother. The women, and their children who are now in high school, are drawn into another crazy scenario when a severed finger is sent to the kids' high school. The story jumps between the action and the kids narrating what happened to a counselor after the fact. I enjoyed the characters a lot, and they definitely had me laughing at multiple points, but the plot itself and the scenario were pretty heavy. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite.

Resistance Women - Jennifer Chiaverini - historical fiction - four stars - This one has been on my to read list for years, and I finally decided it was time to take it off. Based on the true story of Mildred Harnack, and American married to a German. They moved back to Germany in the 1930s, and remained when war broke out. Mildred and Arvid are active resistance members, and they book discusses their compatriots and activities. I went back and forth on this one a little. It started out pretty slow, and at no point was it a fast read, but about halfway through I really was drawn in. Worth the time.

Man Overboard! - Kathleen Rooney - fiction - three stars - This one was a little disappointing for me. I really enjoyed Rooney's Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk in which a woman walks around NYC reminiscing about the past and reliving her life, so I was excited to read this one. This one honestly used the same formula, except the protagonist is a man who goes overboard on a cruise ship and then spends the ensuing hours thinking through and rehashing his life. And honestly, it was somewhat repetitive and annoying. I think it could have been much, much shorter, and I woudl have enjoyed it more. Essentially a man having an existential crisis in the water. Meh.

Favorite this month was The Birthing Tree, least favorite was Man Overboard!. I said this last month, but I'm really hoping to get back to a more regular schedule when it comes to reading and cross more books off my list this year. Would love to know what you guys have been reading!

SSS Joy for You Blog Hop, Wonderful Counselor

*This post conatins affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Friday! Today I'm hopping with Simon Says Stamp celebrating the Joy for You release. You should be arriving here from Lisa Addesas blog. I'll have the full list at the end of this post if you need it. As. usual, there are lots of prizes up for grabs. Simon is giving away a $25 store credit at each stop along the hop. All you need to do to be entered to win is leave a comment. In addition, any Joy for You purchase this weekend will include the above stamp for free.

OK, let's get down to the cards. Today I'm showing off my latest background stamp, Wonderful Counselor. The concentric rings of text repeat the names for the Messiah listed in Isaiah 9:6. 

For this first card, I really made the background the star, clear embossing it on a panel of watercolor cardstock. I then randomly sprayed Villainous Potion, Festive Berries, and Kitsch Flamingo Distress Spray Stains on the panel. I then sprayed the panel with water to help mix/soften the ink colors. Once I was happy with the coverage, I used my heat tool to speed up the drying process.

I was really happy with how this turned out, I love how the enclosed alphabet spaces have little bits of very saturated color. 

I didn't want to cover up the background, so I went with a more delicate sentiment die. The Large Joy was cut three times from white cardstock, adhered together, and then directly to the background. 

This would be a great card to mass produce, and you could vary the colors of Spray Stain used.

Next up I created some very simple graphic cards.

For these cards, I again clear embossed the background, this time on colored cardstock.

The panels were then inked around the edges using a darker color. Night for the blue, and Paprika for the red.

I then added simple, graphic white die cuts, my Peacebird die for the blue, and the star shape from my Christmas Block Art set for the red. I also included the green sprig from the Peacebird die set on the blue card. The die cut shapes were adhered with foam adhesive, although the green sprig was adhered directly to the stamped panel.

I used a Reverse Sentiment Strip for the blue card, and a sentiment from my Holiday Messages set for the red card.

Last up, a cute card.

This time the background was embossed in white on a panel of Starlight cardstock.

I created that cute little Curious Deer using cardstock scraps, and adhered him directly to my panel.

The sentiments are again from my Holiday Messages set, and were adhered with foam adhesive.

OK, your next stop on the hop is Lea Lawson, and the full list is below. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win the store credit here, and enjoy the rest of the hop!

Simon Says Stamp Blog 
Nina-Marie Trapani
Barbara Tarayao
Emily Midgett
Nicky Meek
Sandi MacIver
Nichol Spohr
Tina Smith
Heather Ruwe
Lisa Addesa
Miriam Prantner
Lea Lawson
Barb Engler
Maura Hibbitts
Caryn Davies
Kim Taylor

SSS Joy for You Release, Stacked Holiday Sentiments 2

*This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

It's a release day at Simon Says Stamp! The Joy for You release is live, and is all things holiday. I've got a couple of items in the release, including Stacked Holiday Sentiments 2. If you like this set, be sure to check out the first iteration, which was released last year.

I always enjoy showing off sentiments because it gives me a chance to pull out older, much loved products. For this first card, I inked up a background panel using Cadette, Royal, and Galaxy ink. I then placed the Scattered Stars stencil over top, and spread Gold Rush Lunar Paste through it.

While my panel dried, I gold embossed the sentiment on another piece of cardstock, die cut it using the coordinating dies, and then inked it up with Cadette and Galaxy. 

Once the background panel was dry, I adhered it to my card base, and added the sentiment using foam adhesive. 

Next, I pulled out my Poinsettia Cover, and die cut a piece of white cardstock.

Pulling out all the pieces, I softly inked them, using Peony for the flower petals, Lucky for the greenery, and Butter for the flower centers and small accents.

The pieces were then inlaid back into the cover plate, and I stamped the sentiment with Versa Clair Black ink. 

Finally, I pulled out the Snowflake Edges stamp set. I arranged the large edge piece and several of the standalone snowflakes over my panel, and white embossed. The sentiment was then placed and white embossed.

The panel was inked with Kale and Paprika. Once this was done, I added a bit of water splatter and Picket Fence Distress Spritz.

This is one you could very easily mass produce, changing up the color as well.

That's all for me today. Be sure to stop by Simon to check out the full Joy for You release, and stop by tomorrow for a fun hop using my latest background stamp.

Tim Holtz Distress Release

I'm excited to be sharing a couple of projects featuring the newest Tim Holtz Distress products. If you like shimmer and shine and sparkle, you are in luck!

For this first card, I started by creating a shimmery, textured background by mixing the Translucent Texture Paste with a little of the Brushed Pewter Distress Spritz. This was spread over a panel of cardstock. I repeated this step using Tarnished Brass Distress Spritz for a bit of variation, and then sprinkled a few Mica Flakes over top of the panel while it was still wet.

For the snowflake, I'm using my Fractal Snowflakes coordinating die which doubles as a standalone die. I applied Collage Glue to my snowflake, and then sprinkled/pressed the Mica Flakes onto it. I tend not to use a ton of glitter just because it gets everywhere but these big flakes are my jam when it comes to glitter. 

The Noel sentiment, from the Tim Holtz Sizzix Holiday Classic die set, was die cut three times and stacked together to create a chipboard like sentiment. It was then spritzed with Antiqued Bronze Distress Spritz.

Assembly was simple, the paste panel was adhered to my card base using Sookwang tape, the snowflake was added using foam adhesive, and the Noel sentiment was adhered with Collage glue. 

These photos do not do justice to how shimmery and sparkly this card is!

The second card is a very similar design, with some slight tweaks. I also went with a more masculine/moody color scheme.

I started by spraying two pieces of cardstock with Distress Spritz. I used Tarnished Brass, Antiqued Bronze, and Picket Fence on the black panel, and just Tarnished Brass and Antiqued Bronze for the white.

The snowflake was die cut, painted with Tarnished Brass Distress Paint, and then I added Rock Candy Glitter using Collage Glue.

For the sentiment, the Peace, also from the Tim Holtz Sizzix Holiday Classic die set, was again die cut three times and adhered together. I then sprayed it with Picket Fence Distress Spritz.

These were so much fun to make, thanks for visiting, and enjoy Halloweekend!

SSS Scandi Sweater

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

I really love the Scandi Sweater stencil set from Simon's recent Sending Cheer release, and thought it would look great with a monochromatic look on kraft.

I started by inking the more solid stencil with white pigment ink.

For the second more detailed stencil, I used embossing paste. 

I really love how the panel turned out, and did not want to cover it up, so I added a smaller sentiment from my Christmas Ornaments set which was embossed in white, die cut, and popped up with foam adhesive.

This one was super quick and easy!

SSS Christmas Ornaments, Take 2

*This post contains affilaite links to Simon Says Stamp.

White on kraft is one of my very favorite combinations. For today's card, I pulled out my Christmas Ornaments set to create some rustic, vintage ornaments. 

I started by die cutting each of the ornaments from kraft cardstock. The main ornament detail stamp was stamped with white pigment ink onto each of the ornaments (I did not use the solid ornament image for these). I stamped each of them twice to make sure I got a good layer of the pigment ink.

Next, the ornament topper and secondary detail images were stamped with Cherry ink.

The ornaments were arranged on my card panel. Two were adhered directly to the panel and two were popped up for some dimension.

The sentiment, also from the set, was stamped directly onto the card panel with white pigment ink. 

Thanks for visiting!

SSS Sending Cheer, Interlacing Trees

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards created using my new Interlacing Trees die. This is a full A2 sized cover plate, and is perfect for inlay, shakers, all kinds of techniques.

For my cards today, I kept things simple, blending a couple of backgrounds to back the cover with. For the first card, I used Villainous Potion, Wilted Violet, and Abandoned Coral Distress Oxide. For some texture, I splattered the card with Ominous Twilight Mica Stain, water, and Medium Gold Perfect Splatter.

I wanted a bit of dimension, so the cover was cut three times from black cardstock, layered together, and then adhered to the blended panel.

The Magical sentiment was cut from Matte Gold and placed over the black shadow piece and popped up with foam tape. A secondary Reverse Sentiment Strip sentiment was added as well. 

For the second card, I used Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, and Tumbled Glass for the background.

The cover was then cut from white cardstock, and I added some very rudimentary coloring to give the impression of birch trees using C0, C1, and C2 Copics. 

The cover was adhered directly to the blended panel. The sentiment is from my Stacked Holiday Sentiments set, was die cut and popped up with foam tape.

That's all for me today. You should definitely head over to Simon and check out the product page becuase there are some really amazing samples created by designers, including some colored versions of the coverplate that look AMAZING.