books — Page 194

I’ve been….

March 10, 2013 at 9:52 am by Claudia

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Reading. Yesterday I turned off the laptop and spent 4 hours reading a great book. I used to do that all the time before the advent of computers and blogs. Rest assured I will be doing it more often. Nothing better.

Making more garland flowers – these are in a pretty coral – soon to be listed.

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Drinking coffee. I’ve recently started adding half and half to my coffee, after years of drinking it black. Oh my. I’m a convert.

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Looking at the morning light in the living room and remembering a recent conversation with Don.

D: Is that pillow new?

C: What pillow?

D: The green one.

C: It came before you left for California. Remember? (He doesn’t.) It was made by Judy and Gail bought it for me.

D: I like it. It’s cool.

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Preparing to visit everyone participating in this week’s A Favorite Thing.

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Taking pictures of a clearly unappreciative Scout.

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Watching the 50° temps melt most of the snow that fell on Friday. Thinking of green things growing – inside and outside.

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Feeling excited about this project. I ordered this from Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy. Alicia is one of my favorite bloggers. I’ve been reading her since I first discovered blogs. Not only is she an enormously talented crafter and designer, she is an extraordinary person. And she writes like a dream. She designed Maggie Rabbit and will be designing all sorts of accessories to go with her.

I couldn’t resist.

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Taking pictures of even more flower garlands for the shop. Thank you to everyone who purchased a Springtime Crochet Flower Garland!! I will be packing and wrapping today and they will be on the way to you early this week.

The winner of a copy of No Mark Upon Her is Nancy Blue Moon. Nancy, I’ve sent you an email. Send me your mailing address and I’ll pass it on to TLC Book Tours. I have another review set for tomorrow – this one is non-fiction – and I think you’ll like it.

Linking to Elaine’s Sunny Simple Sunday and Karen’s Sunlit Sunday.

Happy Sunday.

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What Are You Reading?

February 22, 2013 at 8:43 am by Claudia

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You all know that I am an avid reader. And that I support independent bookstores and three-dimensional books that you can hold in your hand. I do my best to buy real books when I can and when I can’t, I support my local library and check out lots of books.

On any given day here at the cottage, you’ll see stacks of reading material in most every room. Right now, there are two books from the library sitting on the kitchen table. There’s a stack of books on the coffee table in the den. Don’s current reading material is on the coffee table in the living room. And there is the ever-present stack of books on my bedside table.

Books are wondrous things.

I just finished (this morning) Daniel Silva’s latest in the Gabriel Allon series, The Fallen Angel. Man, he’s a good writer! I’m also reading Marianne Williamson’s latest, The Law of Divine Compensation. I’ve been able to hear Marianne lecture more than a few times and I’ve met her. I admire her tremendously. Next up? Two books that I will be reviewing: No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie and Madeleine Albright’s (another woman I greatly admire) memoir, Prague Winter. And there’s always something else waiting in the wings.

Don’s reading Neil Young’s autobiography, Waging Heavy Peace. He loves it.

What books are you reading? (And I’m not counting magazines. I’m talking books.) Tell us about them. Are they good? Do you recommend them? I love hearing about new-to-me authors. Walking into a home filled with books is such a joy because I can learn so much about people by the books they read and keep. Perhaps we can fill this little spot in the blogging world with virtual bookshelves full of great books and recommendations. And I can learn more about you.

Blogkeeping:

• I will pick the winner of the Five Years of Blogging giveaway tonight. It’s not too late to enter. But you have to leave a comment on the actual post. Deadline 9:00 pm EST.

• I had some problems with my feed last week. The blog had stopped updating in blog rolls. Those who subscribe via email weren’t getting new posts. I wasn’t getting updates in Google Reader. So I did some research and fixed a few things. One reader tells me she is getting duplicate updates in Google Reader. Another tells me that she is getting duplicate emails. I subscribe to my blog via three different email addresses just so I can monitor this kind of thing and I haven’t had any trouble with duplicate posts. But if you subscribed to my blog when it was on Blogger and then re-subscribed when I moved to WordPress, that might account for the duplicates. Just a thought. Anyway, I’m not sure what the answer is and Feedburner often has glitches. Frankly, I’d rather you get the post twice than not at all, so unless this is a big problem, I am going to leave it alone. Trying to get any help from Feedburner is virtually impossible, believe me. You’re welcome to drop me an email if you’ve been having problems with your email subscription.

• See you tonight at 8:00 pm EST for A Favorite Thing.

Happy Friday.

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Tinkered Treasures – the Book!

February 11, 2013 at 7:30 am by Claudia

I’ve been blogging for almost five years (next week) and early on, I met Elyse Major, who blogs at Tinkered Treasures. We became friends. Over time, we’ve done a swap, we’ve emailed back and forth, we’ve talked on the phone, and we’ve given each other presents and advice and encouragement. We were lucky enough to meet each other 3 years ago, almost to the day, when I was in Providence on business.

elyseandme

We had brunch together and it was as if we had known each other forever. If I hadn’t had to be at a rehearsal, we could have talked all afternoon. Elyse is a wonderful writer. She is also a tinkerer, making charming and wonderful things from simple, everyday items you can find around the house or at your local craft store – always in her distinctive Elyse-style. She has always had a dream to write professionally – and she does. You’ll find her byline in many of your favorite decorating magazines. Now, she has realized another dream – to have a book published.

Cico Books graciously sent me a copy of Elyse’s new book, Tinkered Treasures, to review.

elysebook

Elyse describes her transformations as ‘tinkering’ because there is a sense of play involved. Tinkering is about “leaving behind any worries of perfection and appreciating the flaws. Tinkering is about making a little time to add playful details to your life.” If you’ve seen any of Elyse’s creations, you’ve seen that playful spirit. I’ve been the recipient of many Elyse creations. Here are a few:

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The tinkered can? Adorable and on page 60 in the book under the heading Desk Tidy.

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The clothespins? I have many and I love them. On page 28.

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This adorable clothespin doll? Page 30.

By now you’re getting a sense of Elyse’s whimsical, sweet, and refreshingly down-to-earth style. That style is beautifully realized in the design and layout of the book, with charming illustrations and clear, easy-to-read directions for each project.

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What can I say? It’s a wonderful book. These are easy-to-make projects. Fun projects. Elyse has been making these tinkered treasures for a long time – offering them in her Etsy shop, sending them to a friend just because, all the while playfully creating things from clothespins, cans, fabric scraps, jars.

I love it when I see a book of this type that is so true to the author’s sense of style. There’s not a false note. And I love it even more when someone who has a long-held dream makes that dream come true. I couldn’t be happier for my friend. And I can honestly highly recommend this wonderful, tinkered-treasure-filled book. It’s available on Amazon and is being officially published on February 14th.

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There she is. Doesn’t she look pretty? And happy? Hurrah, Elyse! And hurrah for anyone fortunate enough to buy this book. You will love it.

Happy Monday.

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I’ve been….

What Are You Reading?

Tinkered Treasures – the Book!

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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