A Work in Progress

The Joy of Coupons and Gift Certificates!

I saw this book on Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater at the bookstore last weekend.  It is a bit pricey for a paperback, so I had to leave it behind.  But as I was checking out the receipt included a 30% off coupon for the following weekend.  So last night after work, coupon in hand I headed for the bookstore.  There are actually two bookstores within walking distance from my work, so I was very bad and went to both of them.  "Fallingwater Rising" by Franklin Toker looked really intriguing--a biography about a famous house.  I have never been to Fallingwater, and I am not even sure if they allow visitors anymore.  I have seen books about it before, however.  Wow--to live there!!  I am still supposed to be working on the book "The Red House", and I need to pull it out and just work on that for a while I think, as it has been sitting far too long on my bedside table!

"Don Quixote" by Cervantes was another purchase.  The new translation that I have been reading about must just have been released in paperback.  I didn't realize that this was the 400 year anniversary of its publication until I was reading another blog.  This has never really been high on my list of classics to read (though I have seen on some lists this is considered the most important classical novel).  I guess if I can make it though the unabridged version of "The Count of Monte Cristo", I can take on Don Quixote's adventures as well.  I am not sure when I will read this one, but I plan to try and tackle it this year some time. 

I did find a dew other interesting books: "So Many Books, So Little Time" (the author tackles 52 books in 52 weeks--sounds like fun), "Housekeeping" (this is a book I have looked at countless times, but I keep seeing it on other people's blogs as a really good book, so I thought I would check it out), "Holy Fools" (I loved "Chocolat", so I think I need to read some of Joanne Harris' other books), and finally "Ice Road" (I read a good review about this one--I hadn't gone looking for it but discovered it on the shelf and in paperback).  So I managed to burn up another gift certificate.  I had planned on just buying a couple books and dragging out the gift certificates for as long as I could.  I can see I won't make it to June at this rate!!

I was reading on some other blogs how some readers tend towards male writers or just fiction, so I was wondering how my reading patterns fell.  If I am lucky I can get through about four books a month.  Incredibly there are people who can read as many as 15!  I wish!  Of the books I have read this year 8 have been by women, 6 have been by men, 4 have been classics, and I guess I better get reading as I have yet to finish even one nonfiction title!  Reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" slowed be down quite a bit as I started it over Christmas break and spent most of January reading it, so I didn't get but one other book read in that month.  Too bad my reading abilities can't keep up with my shopping skills!

Gorgeous Mosaics

Tonight  I chatted with a good friend of mine who is is a mosaicist.  She actually gave me the very basic supplies to try out mosaicing a couple of Christmases ago as I had expressed an interest in it.  I think mosaics are very cool.  Unfortunately I have not had a chance to do anything with it--as usual--due to lack of time not interest.  She included this book by Marlene Hurley which covers the basics and shows several simple projects.  I have looked at some other larger books on mosaics and you can do some incredible things with broken plates and glass and other found objects.  Perhaps this warrants a visit to the public library's art section. 

My friend mentioned a professional mosaic artist she knows, Irina Charny, whose website you must check out.  These mosaics are total inspirations!!  I am told that Irina is self taught...can you imagine?  Where do these fantastical designs come from?  The shapes of people and butterflies, for example, are fairly standard, but the interior designs are really extraordinary!  What a talented artist.  Of course this makes me want to pull out my little bin of mosaic supplies...

A Day at the Races

I haven't shared an antique postcard for a while.  So since I really have nothing exciting to chat about, here you go...I thought this card was cool.  It is a card from the last batch I bought.  Aren't those hats something?  Can you imagine having to wear one??  I wonder if these ladies are models or if there was really a race or some exciting event that the photographer snapped photos at?  Now a really creative person could invent a wonderfully imaginative story from this photo, but unfortunately for you, I am not that person!  But I do often wonder about the people in these antique cards.  I have mentioned this before, but I would love to find a book about this sort of photography and the people who modelled for them.  I would love to know about their lives--however mundane they might be.  Wouldn't it be great if there really were a time travel machine and you could just go back to some time and be a fly on the wall (sorry--been reading too many of those types of books lately).  I have been very good lately and not so much as looked at any postcard sites.  I have an itch to do so, though.  I would love to find some cards that have hot air balloons or automobiles in them.  I have seen some images like these used in collage art, and I would love to know where the artist found them.  I wonder if I could just go and look and not feel tempted to buy....(probably not!).

 

Bathing Beauties Chunky Book

This is my page (sorry didn't scan it straight) for the Bathing Beauties Chunky Book.  My copies are all at their destination waiting to be collated into books.  I added a little round, white gem to the crown on each page--the original doesn't have one.  Unfortunately the copies didn't pick up the little stars that are in the girl's hands.  I am glad that it is finished.  I will have three chunky books to look forward to arriving in the mail in the near future.  I just have one more book to work on.  It is in the vein of the Griffin and Sabine books by Nick Bantock.  The page dimensions are different - 6" x 8", so I have been putting it off.  Each page needs to have an envelope on the back with a letter.  I had planned on using airmail envelopes (just the smaller letter size), but for the life of me I cannot find any in the stores.  I have even tried an office supply store.  If anyone has any ideas, I would be happy to get suggestions!!

Perfect Summer Reading

Okay, I realize it is not summer yet, and the weather we have been having is not even remotely spring-like, but I still have pulled out a couple of Martha Grimes books in anticipation of some nice relaxing summer reading.  I have already read  Hotel Paradise a couple of times.  I just love this novel.  I have not read any of Martha Grimes' Richard Jury mysteries, but I happened upon this one when it came out in the mid-90s.  It is just so well done that it is a book I keep picking up to read again and again.  Twelve year old Emma Graham is the protagonist, and she is a character I have always been able to relate to. The setting is small town America.  Emma's family once owned the Hotel Paradise--once opulent, but now just run down. This is a "sort of mystery novel", but more fiction really.  Emma becomes curious about a murder that happened long ago, and does her own intevestigating.  The sequel, Cold Flat Junction is almost as good.  I have pulled that one out as well, though this will be my first time around re-reading it.  They are both on my stack beside my bed just waiting to be picked up once again!

Whodunnits

There is nothing better than curling up with a good mystery.  At the moment I am reading Elizabeth George's new novel, "With No One as Witness".  So far so good on that one, though I have really not gotten too far in it.  I have discovered a couple of other new mystery series that look promising.  "The Last Kasmiri Rose" by Barbara Cleverly is set in the final days of the Raj starring Scotland Yard inspector Joe Sandilands.  Okay, so maybe the whole empire thing is not terribly PC, but I can't make any criticisms without reading the book first.  How can you pass up a book set "in a land of saffron sunsets and blazing summer heat".  It was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, so I figure it must have some redeeming qualities.  It had been the next in line in terms of a good mystery until the Elizabeth George book had come out!

Then I read about the Molly Murphy series by Rhys Bowen.  I of course wrote the author's name down on a slip of paper and then proceeded to lose the slip of paper, which is generally what I do.  But I happened upon her newest book at the bookstore last time I was there.  "Murphy's Law" is the first in the series (there maybe four out now), and it is an Agatha Award winner.  This is set in turn of the century Ellis Island and New York City--Molly Murphy being our heroine.  As you can tell I like historical mysteries, but anything with a good storyline will make me happy.

Mother's Day Gift

Recently I showed a penny rug/wool kit that I found in a catalog that I thought would make a nice Mother's Day gift.  Well, I didn't get it ordered.  But I did find something locally that I think will work just as well.  Yesterday I went to a quilt store with my sister, and they sell not only quilting fabric but also wool for penny rugs and rug hooking as well as primitive stitchery designs and supplies.  I found this design by Backyard Quilts, and I am going to mak the little floral "mat".  It is not terribly large--just 12" in diameter.  I think this is something I can get done in a weekend or two easily.  The photos show candles sitting on the mat, so maybe I can look for a pretty candle as well.  The fabrics are slightly different than those shown in the photo, but I think they will look nice.  I am not sure when I will start the primitive stitchery project I bought.  I need to read through the instructions as it calls for tea dyeing as well as fusing other fabric onto the base fabric (for some of the shapes on the design).  Hopefully I will get to start on them soon!

Jane Eyre -- The Movie

Last week I finished reading "Jane Eyre", so now I have to watch the movie.  I bought the BBC version with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke.  I have read reviews that say this is the best version, so I guess I will see.  When I was reading the book my Mr. Rochester certainly didn't look like Timothy Dalton!  But I figure if the BBC made it, it is most likely pretty good.  I hope to watch some of the episodes tonight.  As it is over five hours I am not sure if I will get through the entire DVD.  This morning I just finished the short novel, "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells.  I am not generally into science fiction, but I did like this book.  Very strange and kind of creepy.  There are at least two movie versions out there.  I am not sure this is one I will want to watch, but if I do I think I will be renting this one!  Now I need to decide on a new classic to read.  I have been leaning towards either Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" or "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser.  Usually I will read the first few pages and see what grabs me.

Paper Quilting!

Is there any creative endeaver that has yet to be invented?  This is the coolest book (by Bridget Hoff and published by Sterling Pub Co).  I have had it for some time, but I have not actually tried it yet.  A combination of needlework and paper arts--what more can you ask for?    There are loads and loads if illustrations along with projects by various artists.  I want to try everything I see, but I hate to admit that in many ways I am just an armchair crafter!  If I were rich I would have a huge and gorgeous studio for all my different crafting hobbies, and I would spend lots and lots of time there.  But I am not...so I will just get done what I can and enjoy looking at gorgeous picture books like this for the rest and dream of the day when I really do have more time for all the other crafts I discover!

A Stitching Heaven

This lovely needlecase was made for me by my friend, Veronique, for my birthday last February.  The process to make it is called Cartonnage (she is French and I have a book in French called Cartonnage Brode about this process).  I hope Veronique does not mind, but I would love to share her stitching album...Picturetrail.  She is one of the most accomplished needleworkers that I know!  All of her work is superb!  And if you do take a peek at her album, you must look at the album that has photos of her Stitching Room.  If I had a stitching room so lovely, I would think I had died and gone to heaven--literally!  Whenever I feel like I need inspiration or motivation I look at her album.  I am lucky to know a lot of wonderful stitchers, and Veronique is one of the best!  Amitie!