EBook on Blogging

Hey Everyone!  I recently contributed some photos to an eBook and I wanted to share it with you.  The book is written by the very talented Lori Anderson and is full of creative prompts for bloggers. 

You can purchase the book by visiting Lori's blog and clicking on the link in the right sidebar.  If you do, look for some photos by me!

ICC#35- Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

This week's Iron Craft Challenge was to create something using a book.  I struggled with this all week and then had a burst of inspiration on Monday night.  I always carry a book with me in my purse.  I had also seen many purses made from book covers.  So I thought, why not make a purse from a book, but leave the book?  And that's what I did.  It's a Book Clutch!

I spent about 30 minutes at the thrift store trying to find the right book for this.  I finally found a copy of Anne of Green Gables that included three of the books from the series.  I felt alright cutting out the last book because 1.) I have the entire series already and 2.) It was out of order- they included Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne's House of Dreams.  Come on now.

I started by cutting out a section of the back part of the book.  Think of it like making a book safe, but with only a third of the book.

Next, I covered this section with fabric.  I just mod podged it in there.  I used green fabric because green is my favorite color and it is Anne of GREEN Gables, but in the future I would choose a lighter shade; the green stood out too much.

During this whole time, it felt like a big, ugly mess.  You just have to push through it.  Keep trimming and gluing and you can do it.

Next, I drilled a hole in the front and back cover and attached ribbon and a button.  This created the closing mechanism.

I put in a little wallet, but you can do whatever you like.  I think in the future it would be neat to sew little matching pockets and make the whole thing look prettier.  It's a bit messy as is the case with first tries :)

Want to see more Iron Craft pieces?  Check out the flickr group here.  Want to join in the fun?  Check out the blog here.

New Book!

Our local Borders is going out of business and having a HUGE sale.  My husband and I went and stocked up.  I was pleased to purchase the book 365: A Daily Creativity Journal.

The book gives little prompts to jump-start your creativity each day.  I think the fun part will be the challenge to create things I hadn't thought of before to try and fit the theme.  Kind of like Iron Craft Challenge but every day.

I haven't started using it yet.  I'm debating whether I should dive in now or wait till the new year and spend all of 2012 going through it.  What do you guys think?  Has anyone else used this book?

Because I Can't Get Enough Jane Austen

I suppose I'm a major girl stereotype.  But when I'm home relaxing, I like to watch movies based on Jane Austen novels.  Maybe that means I watch Emma for the 5th time this month because it's the only one available instant on Netflix.  Sometimes that happens.  For anyone out there like me, here are some fun Austen-inspired goodies.

First, have you seen these amazing hand-stitched book covers by Jillian Tamaki?  They're awesome.  Here is one of Emma.

Next, while I don't encourage girls to expect men to return to them even after refusals of marriage, we all enjoy Mr. Darcy (definitely the BBC version and not the newer one- am I right?)

I Heart Mr. Darcy needlepoint on etsy

Now, I know some of you out there may treasure every book you own.  But sometimes, they need to go on to a better place.  And in this case, a purse.

Sense and Sensibility Upcycled Purse on etsy

Now here's something that will let you keep your picture of Edmund close at hand.  A wonderful locket inspired by Fanny Price.  (From Mansfield Park if you haven't read it).

Fanny Price Locket on etsy

Interestingly enough, there is actually a scent inspired by Northanger Abbey.  You can find the products in LatheratiSoap's etsy shop.  Here is an example:

Solid Perfume on etsy

Finally, I'd like to recommend the movie Persuasion.  It's one of the lesser known books, but maybe my favorite.  The movie version is awesome.  Go.  Watch it.

FYI- I recently downloaded all of the Austen novels on my kindle for FREE.  Amazon has a lot of free classics available.  Here are the links:

Persuasion
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Mansfield Park
Emma
Northanger Abbey

Book Plates

I think these would be really useful for my book addiction.

Robot Book Plates