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Thursday, January 26, 2023
SSS Kisses, Swoopy Flowers
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
SSS Kisses, Four Flakes
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Saturday, January 21, 2023
SSS Kisses Blog Hop, Day 2
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Nina-Marie Trapani
Caly Person
Debby Hughes
Amy Rysavy
Suzy Plantamura
Lisa Addesa
Bibi Cameron
Miriam Prantner
Yoonsun Hur
Barb Engler
Heather Hoffman
Dilay Nacar
Jean Doeringsfeld
Kim Hamilton
Lorraine Aquilina
Thursday, January 19, 2023
SSS Kisses Release
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Wednesday, January 4, 2023
SSS, Teacher
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Monday, January 2, 2023
December 2022 in Books
The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream - Jeannie Zusy - fiction - three stars - This is about Maggie whose older sister Ginny has had developmental issues her whole life. She is very high functioning, has had a job and lived alone most of her life, but then she falls, and can't take care of herself any longer. Maggie brings her home to back to New York to live closer to her. It doesn't go particularly well. Ginny wants to be back in Maryland, she doesn't follow the rules, she's angry with Maggie. Meanwhile, Maggie is dealing with an impending divorce and empty nest as well as with challenges at work. This one never really pulled me in. As usual, it's because of the characters. They were frustrating and I just never really connected with either Maggie or Ginny. Meh.
Uncultured: A Memoir - Danielle Mestyanek Young - memoir - five stars - Really interesting read about a woman who grew up in the Children of God cult. She spent much of her childhood in South America, but eventually decided to leave the cult with the tacit approval of her family. I thought that was one of the interesting pieces of the story - I think I always assume that cults will do everything to keep people from leaving, but in this case she, and eventually the majority of her family, got out. Scarred and with very little to their name, but they were able to leave. To me this was the most interesting part of her life, how she left, while still high school aged, and had to reintegrate into society - get a job to support herself, catch up on all the learning she did not receive in the cult, and finish college. Post college she joined the military which is the third part of the book. Also interesting, but to me that part of the story very much had an agenda to it, so was not as compelling as the rest of the book. Definitely recommend.
Forsaken Country - Allen Eskens - fiction - five stars - I love all Eskens books. They are not a series in the traditional sense, but they focus on different individuals who are tangentially related. I enjoy going back and revisiting and getting to know characters better. This book focuses on Max Rupert, one of the focuses of the initial book, and I've been hoping to hear more of his story. Max has been living the life of a hermit in northern Minnesota, but is coaxed into investigating the disappearance of a friend's daughter and grandson. This was action packed with a couple of twists and turns that I didn't anticipate. These are very fast reads for me because I have to find out what happens, and then I'm disappointed because I have to wait for another book. Highly recommend this one and the whole series.
Joan - Katherine J. Chen - historical fiction - five stars - This is a fictionalized account of Joan of Arc. The book focuses a lot on her background, how she grew up, what made her the way she was as well as the later life that she was more known for. It's an interesting look at the commoner/poor in 13th century France, which was being fought over between the French and English. At the time, Paris was in the hands of the English. I also enjoyed the look at the political machinations involving different family members as well as the church. Similarly, the book focused on the diminished roles of women, what they could and couldn't do, the power that they could wield or not depending on their circumstances. Great read.
The House in the Orchard - Elizabeth Brooks - historical fiction - four and a half stars - This one I picked up on a whim from the new books shelf at the library. It's kind of a dual timeline story, although honestly it is mostly the previous timeline, told through a diary that Peggy, who inherits Aunt Maude's home, finds there. Maude's brother Frank is her father-in-law, and he wants her to sell the home, he hates it and Maude. Peggy finds the diary and starts to read Maude's story. Maude's parents died while she was still a teenager when Frank is in medical school. None of Maude's extended family wants to take her in, instead per her father's wishes, she goes to live with Kitty Greenaway, who she learns was her father's mistress. Maude is torn between wanting to hate Kitty, and liking her. Frank, who is not a Kitty fan, comes to visit, and becomes smitten with her. Maude is jealous and comes up with a plan to sever their relationship. This one was really only so so for me, I had it pegged at three stars, but there's a pretty interesting twist at the end that still has me thinking and wondering what the real truth is, which kicked it up to three and a half stars (rounded up).
As Fast As Her: Dream Big, Break Barriers, Achieve Success - Kendall Coyne - autobiography - four stars - I got this book for the girls last year. Ellie's read it several times (don't think Carina has made it through yet). I'll say the initial chapters were somewhat ho hum for me. I think it's partly the way that the book is written...it's at a level for younger readers, and I was having a difficult time with it, but as I got further into the book, the writing style bothered me less. That's probably because it was such a compelling story. It's pretty amazing the obstacles that Coyne has overcome in her playing career. Lots of unplanned twists and turns, things that normal kids would have been so frustrated by, she just dealt with and moved on. Must read for the hockey girls in your life.
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
SSS Hugs, Spun Glass Embossing Folder
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Hi folks! Hope everyone had a nice holiday. I've got a quick card share today using the Spun Glass embossing folder from the Simon Says Stamp Hugs release.
This is such a cool embossing folder it really stands on it's own, especially when you use specialty papers, in this case, I used Matte Silver cardstock.
I used some Alcohol inks to really emphasize the pattern. I held the embossed cardstock at an angle, and applied both Alchemy (Alcohol Pearls) and Stream Alcohol ink followed by Alcohol Blending Solution to spread the ink down the panel in those deep parts of the design.
It's a little hard to see in the photo above, but here's a close up:
The completed panel was trimmed down and adhered to a cardstock mat.
For the sentiment, I applied those same alcohol inks to another piece of Matte Silver cardstock. That piece was embossed using the same Spun Glass embossing folder, but after embossing, it was then sent through my die cutting machine on its own to essentially flatten it. This maintains some of that texture, but without the dimension.
This embossed/flattened piece was then die cut using the Outline Love die.
The Outline Love die was also die cut from Matte Silver cardstock, both the sentiment itself as well as the shadow piece.
The embossed/flattened alcohol inked pieces were inlaid into the Matte Silver outline on top of the Shadow piece, and the completed sentiment was popped up over the background with foam adhesive.
A secondary sentiment, from the Reverse Well Wishes sentiment strips was added and popped up with two layers of foam adhesive to finish things off.
Thanks for visiting!