Thursday, January 17, 2013

New craft space

A few redesigns of organization and I finally have something I can show. Organizing is messy business.

Welcome to my new craft space!




(I'm a wee bit too short-legged for my chair so a folded up blanket gives me a boost - also this may be the ugliest floor in the entire world, nay, universe)


Thanks to Gussy Sews (and some scrapbook paper and some paint on a thrifted frame) I have art that matches the pretty art my friend Megan got me for Christmas.


I've had my eye on this "tea & happy things" print for quite a while. (It's from the hairbrained schemes.)

I have a complete mishmash in here, but it works. I pulled the drawers out of this little cabinet thing to get twice the storage capacity (see the drawers in the crate holding yet more).




Even candle holders work great at holding supplies.



A collection of random boxes hold all my jars of beads.








Thrift store jars hold some other supplies and my jewelry making tools are in easy reach.



I have some seriously great art in here. What I've already mentioned, as well as an ornament from Sarah Lambert-Cook and two mini prints from Kate Gabriel / Flapperdoodle






I have a good view of the field and treeline through these two corner windows.
Hello corner of a shirt. Did I mention this is in the corner of the laundry room? :)


I feel very organized and like I have all kinds of space to spread out and create because:




 

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Bookish list

In 2011 I read over 50 books. Mostly because I spent a month here and a month there house-sitting, etc. and had a lot of porches to sit on to soak up the sunshine and plenty of reading leisure.

In 2012 I got a "real" job and read just 34 1/2 of my Goodreads goal of 35 books.

A lot of the cut in books read had to do with the cut in my time to read and a lot of it had to do with the malaise I became enveloped in. Maybe even some of it had to do with the fact that not a lot of the books were really enjoyable. Many of the books I read were ones I owned and I wanted to read at least once before deciding to get rid of them. And, I assure you, after I'd read them I had no problem tossing them in the "get them out of here before someone thinks it's my favorite book" pile.

In any case I'll make a few recommendations and the rest of my books you can politely ignore. Or not politely because some of them deserve a round of raspberries.

Recommended:

Beauty: A Re-telling of the story of Beauty & the Beast - I wanted this book to go on and on, and while it really isn't at all like the Disney movie, I definitely noticed where Disney got some of their ideas (right down to the Beast's blue jacket).

Cinder - An amazing futuristic/spacey Cinderella adaptation. Thankfully this was just part one with part two expected next month - yay!

The Hunger Games - is this considered a bandwagon thing? I really liked this book. Is it still considered a bandwagon if I'd preferred it was a single book and not a series? The second was...okay but the third one was so incredibly depressing.

Honorable mentions:

Submerged - I wrote a review of this (as I'd received it for just that purpose) and while it was flawed, there was a lot I liked about it and I'm looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

Scarlet - this book doesn't have the best reviews but I enjoyed it. Possibly because I've always loved anything Robin Hood (and because I kept picturing Gisbourne as Richard Armitage's version).

Avoid at all costs:

Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind

What I imagined: a supressed woman frees herself from social confines and gives everyone a piece of her mind.

In actuality: nothing. I don't remember her speaking her mind and I don't remember a single interesting thing that happened. Biggest disappointment of my reading year? Possibly!

The Map of Time (SPOILERS)

Promised: H.G. Wells, time travel, Jack the Ripper.

In actuality: All of that and then at the end "just kidding!" I wanted to punch this book in the face.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

I ignored warnings that this book was terrible and I shouldn't have.

Promised: Scarlet Pimpernel type stuff but with women.

In actuality: a yawn-inducing series of meet-cutes between the same two couples ad nauseum.



For the upcoming year? I hesitate to make a list of "to-reads" like I have in the past since I don't seem to have as much time. However, I am thinking of buying a Kindle so I have easier access to some hard-to-get-out-here-in-the-sticks books and so I don't develop back problems lucking giant paperbacks around in my purse everywhere.

So I have two questions for you:

If you have an e-reader what kind of recommendations can you make for me? With differing versions I am having trouble knowing where to start.

And two: what books should I be reading in 2013?