Books I've Read, 2010

While reviewing my reading list of the past year, I made a couple of interesting observations.

1. I didn't reread a single book this year. This is a little odd since I have favorites that I read very often ( Harry Potter series, Falling Angels, Bridget Jones's Diary). On the other hand, I've been using my library card like crazy, which makes it easy and affordable to read something new.

2. I read way more books this year than I did in the past two. This is very odd, since I was mostly unemployed during those years. I also wasn't taking classes or establishing myself on Etsy. Strange how a lack of free time has actually made me more productive.


+ Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
+1491 by Charles C. Mann (Wow. Apparently even archeology suffers from partisan politics.)
+When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead  (Such a great young adult novel! Totally deserving of it's Newbery award.)
+Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. by Chelsea Handler
+The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
+We Two: Victoria and Albert by Gillian Gill
+The Dig Tree by Sarah Murgatroyd (To paraphrase Arrested Development, THIS is why you always leave a note.)
+L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad
+Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
+Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
+Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Highly highly recommended! Everyone- especially world leaders- needs to read this book.)
+Living Oprah by Robyn Okrant (Decent book. Somehow I think I'd have liked it better if A.J. Jacobs had spent a year following Oprah's advice.)
+The Surrogates by Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele
+First Light by Rebecca Stead
+Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
+Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
+Stones into School by Greg Mortenson (Even better than 'Three Cups of Tea!' Truly inspiring!)
+The Sons of Liberty by Alexander Lagos and Joseph Lagos
+Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
+Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
+Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
+Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
+Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (Who thought science writing could be this funny? Can't wait until I get her newest book from the library!)
+Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach
+Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Extremely funny, even though I've heard a few of these before on This American Life)
+Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
+When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (The last chapter made me miss Tokyo. I so need to go back.)
+I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore


Best Book: Hands down, Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools both by Greg Mortenson were the best books I've read in a long time. Mortenson is a true inspiration, and a hero to the thousands of children now receiving an education in Pakistan and Afghanistan thanks to his tireless efforts. Please check out the Central Asia Institute's website for ways you can help. (Buy the books through their site and a portion of your purchase will benefit the non-profit.)

Worst Book: L.A. Candy. You may be wondering what possessed me to read this book in the first place. The best explanation I can give is that I've started to view my library card and Netflix account in the same light: a great way to indulge in guilty pleasures in the privacy of my own home.* So while I've come to love some books I might not have otherwise read (i.e., Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series), there inevitably will be stinkers like this one. The weak conflict established in this book is left completely unresolved, and the story presumably picks up in the second and third installments of the series. Maybe if I were a teenager just discovering reruns of Laguna Beach or The Hills, I'd be riveted. But as a 20-something who should have known better in the first place, I will not being staying tuned for the "exciting" conclusion.

Looking Forward to in 2011:  I really enjoyed I am Number Four, so I'm looking forward to continuing with that series.  Still waiting for a copy of Mary Roach's latest, Packing for Mars, and will probably continue with Charlaine Harris' books as well.




* (Seriously, my rental history reads like Kate Hudson's or Katherine Heigl's IMDB page. And I don't particularly care for either of them.)

Happy Christmas!

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday, full of fun, food and cheer!

I've been very busy and haven't checked my Etsy account as often as I normally would.  After the day's festivities, I decided to look in and found a little Christmas gift:  my items have been included in two new treasuries!

redpaintedflowers included my orange & blue magazine bowl her treasury THINGS. I. LOVE. THURSDAY!!, and ClementinesJewelery put my purple & yellow magazine bowl in the treasury Pretty Pansy.  A big thank you to both ladies, as well as belated thanks to WrensEye for adding my Apples and Bananas card in the treasury BANANAS!!!

I was feeling a bit down about not having made a sale yet, but every time I get a heart or treasury inclusion it lifts my spirits.  It's nice to know my work is catching someone's eye, and hopefully I'll get that first sale very soon.  :)

Christmas Cheer!

My newest holiday crafting project:  Homemade Christmas crackers!  These were made almost entirely of reused items from my home, making them inexpensive and good for the environment.

And they're really easy to make:

1. Cut a toilet paper tube in half.  (I had quite a collection of these already, as I was saving them for another project.  You can also cut down paper towel tubes.)

2. Wrap with festive tissue paper.  (Some I wrapped in a single layer, but others I doubled with matching tissue to add an extra decorative element.  Again, this was something we just had lying around the house.  We receive many gift bags, and save the tissue for future use.)

3. Secure the paper with some tape.

4.  Tie one end tightly with ribbon.

5.  Fill with goodies, and a little confetti for an added surprise!  (I mostly used candy, but any small items will work.  The poppers for my cousin also have a few crayons and Lip Smackers in each.  Next year I may put some dollar bills and hair ties.  Maybe even lottery tickets for the adults.)

6.  Tie the other end and curl the ribbon (not done here, yet).  You may also want to perforate the center with a needle along the seam created by cutting the toilet paper tube in half.  My sis and I tested a few, and without perforations they break at the ends rather than the middle.  We haven't tested a perforated version yet, but think it may help.

Baby Talk, Part 2

Here's a look at one of my more ambitious sewing projects to date:

 

Mom-to-be with Romper (features a hippo applique, with hand-stitched embroidery details)

 

Blanket

This set was made using Simplicity pattern #2428.  The pattern also has instructions for making booties to match the romper.  I may make a pair and send to my friend for Christmas.  :)

For Sale

Peace on EARTH

NOEL and JOY

Baby Talk

As I've mentioned before, two baby showers are on my schedule for the month of November.  My cousin's was last weekend, so I can now safely show off the gifts I made for her!

 

Hat

Sleeping gown

 Receiving blanket (inside and outside)

Sewing is a relatively new hobby of mine, so I started with a fairly simple project.  The blanket was a breeze, and the hat was pretty straight forward.  The sleeping gown was a bit more complicated, but I think I did a good job.


All were made using McCalls Infants Layette pattern (M4280).

For Sale

In time for the holidays, Christmas cards in my Etsy shop:

 JOY and NOEL

 PEACE

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Recently I placed an ad through my local Freecycle group for cancelled stamps.  I honestly thought it was a futile request in the age of e-mail, Facebook, and cell phones.  Who gets actual mail these days, and who would take the time to save the stamps?

Imagine my surprise when I got two responses from members!  So far one envelope has arrived, and I've already incorporated some into a greeting card:

I received some lovely Nativity-themed stamps from Australia.

There are many others as well, and I've been having fun coming up with ideas for some cheeky note cards:

I'm thinking something along the lines of "Good on ya, Mate" or a simple "G'day" for this card.

Oh, Canada.  "Hoser"?  "Canuck," maybe?

I don't know much about the Netherlands.  Any suggestions for a Dutch-inspired greeting card?

Pride Week!  

(They're queens.  Get it?)

Thanks so much to Martha for sending me these!  I look forward to my second envelope from Joan, which should arrive any day now.  :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The collection of stamps I shared earlier is finally being put to use:

Stencil.

Finished product.

This Christmas card (and others) will be available on Etsy as soon as I can upload some nicer photos.  It's amazing how quickly this year has gone by, isn't it?

In other news, I've been busy sewing some gifts for two baby showers I'll be attending in the coming weeks.  They're so adorable!  I'd love to share them now, but need to keep them a secret for the mom's-to-be.  Once they've been gifted I'll post photos of my handy work.  :)

Just a touch of vanity

 

Self-Portrait.  Created in Photoshop incorporating an online photo mosaic tutorial.

This is my most recent class assignment.  I've never really enjoyed creating self-portraits.  (I guess I must be missing that artist gene.)  This one was fairly enjoyable to create, though I never realized how few photos I actually have of myself.

It's a small world after all

 

Hyde Park.  Sydney, Australia.

Tilt-Shift "miniature" created in Photoshop.

Mother of the Missions

"Postcard" of Mission San Diego de Alcala, created using Photoshop.

"Neither rain, nor snow... nor gloom of night"

 

The holidays are quickly approaching, and I'm starting to plan out some future projects.  These used stamps will be part of a greeting card or two.  Check back for some more in progress shots!

For Sale

Now available through my Etsy shop:

Home, Sweet Home

 

White Mountains, NH

 

Birthday Posy

 

Williamsburg, VA

Blog Action Day 2010: Water

Today is Blog Action Day, "an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day" to raise awareness and global discussion.  This year's topic is water.

As a resident of Southern California, water (or lack of) is often on my mind.  Whether it be news reports of drought or people complaining when we finally do get a downpour, water is a large topic of discussion here.  Water conservation is a part of our daily lives, right down to what times you may wash your car.  (I choose to just not wash it and let nature take it's course.  Unless I'm going on a job interview, I'm not worried about impressing people with my vehicle.)

Even with all the rules of how we use water in the US, we still have it.  This fact is not true for many people in other parts of the globe.  Here are some chilling facts about water worldwide, taken from Change.org's Blog Action Day site:

• 40 Billion Hours: African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink.
• 38,000 Children a Week: Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.
• Wars Over Water: Many scholars attribute the conflict in Darfur at least in part to lack of access to water. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa.
• Water & Poverty: A lack of water contributes to poverty, with parents and children too ill or too busy collecting water to go to school and work. Water poverty also undermines progress poor countries are making on health - with half of hospital beds taken by people suffering with diarrhoea and dysentery.
• Bottled Water: Even though people in the US have access to clean water from their taps, they drink an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled.
• Uninhabitable Rivers: Today, 40% of America’s rivers and 46% of America’s lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life. That’s not surprising considering the fact that 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, storm water, and industrial waste are discharged into US waters annually.

So what can we do?  I for one will continue to stick to my "no washing my car" plan (no matter how much my dad may complain).  My family also owns a Brita water pitcher, which we use rather than drinking gallons of bottled water.  I am also working on taking shorter showers, something I'm sure my family will appreciate.

LIttle by little, we can ease the burden we force on our planet.  Small changes to our everyday lives can equal huge improvements.  

A brain is a terrible thing to waste

Class assignment, creating a magazine masthead and cover using Photoshop.  

The image is a sculpture I photographed in Sydney, Australia this past June.  Just playing around with adjustment layers and filters created a dynamic image, suitable for a cutting-edge science periodical.

Photoshop Fun Continued...

This is the next incarnation of a previously posted class assignment:

This cute little guy was photographed at the Koala Park Sanctuary in West Pennant Hills, Australia.

For Sale

As promised, here are my newest Etsy listings:

Nantucket, MA

Paradise Falls, NH

Lawrence, MA

Birthday Greetings

More Etsy Love!

Another item of mine has been featured in an Etsy treasury!

This time it's my purple & yellow magazine page bowl, in the treasury "After the Reading," which features items made from magazines, catalogs, and newspapers.  A big thanks to member Mireloom for including me in her collection!

Come Sail Away

I came across some old postcards a few weeks ago, and now that the craft room is (sort of) set up, I've been working on transforming them into blank note cards.

I started with this postcard of ships in a harbor.  The postmark and message identifies it as Nantucket, Massachusetts.  The postmark is dated August 23, 1927.  

I wanted to add a decorative border to the image, but because of it's age I didn't want to make any permanent changes.  A simple border was cut from scrapbook paper, and glued to cardstock to create a sleeve.

Just slip in the postcard, score the middle, fold, and viola!  A blank card from a vintage postcard.

Once I make a few more of these I'll be listing them on my Etsy.  I'll be sure to post a link once they're officially for sale.  :)

Photoshop Fun

The fall semester is underway!

This semester I'm taking a courses in Photoshop and Flash.  I've been a casual PS user for a number of years, but have never taken a class focusing on the software.  The first few assignments have been pretty basic, but still fun and informative.

This week's assignment was to create a texture quilt using the crop tool and upsampling/downsampling techniques.  I opted to use only images from my trip to Sydney:

I really like the concept of this assignment.  It's a unique way to display vacation photos, possibly as a calendar image or thank you card.

The Flash class is a bit more challenging at the moment.  My only exposure to the software was as an animation intern three years ago.  It will be fun to create some basic animations, which I hope to incorporate into some web design ideas I have.  I'm working on an online portfolio to help with my internship/job search.  Fingers crossed I can get it all together (and looking excellent) by January!