The Leopard Unleashed - Elizabeth Chadwick

I have long been fascinated by Elizabeth Chadwick’s stories. I take my time reading them because I want to savour every word. Besides her current books in print she has 3 books – the first ones she wrote, The Wild Hunt, The Running Vixen, The Leopard Unleashed– that are OOP and are very HTF. I’m lucky enough to have all 3 and yesterday I finished the third one.
They are known as the welsh trilogy and feature several members of the same family.

Renard of Ravenstow comes back from the crusades after receiving word his father is seriously ill. Although he is betrothed and is expected to marry as soon as he arrives on welsh soil he brings with him his mistress, a half welsh dancing girl he found in Antioch.

Expecting a marriage of convenience only, he soon finds himself drawn to his new wife, Nell, and angry with his mistress’s demands. As England is torn apart between Stephen and Matilda’s supporters Renard has to face his responsibilities as Earl of Ravenstow and is forced to choose between the two women and what they represent.

As usual Chadwick gives a true feel of the period and all the political and social details really make these stories stand out but I think the main thing is how well she builds her characters, they have true personalities with good things and bad things and we are made to understand what drives their actions.

Although Nell is a more tame heroine than Judith or Heulwen she soon becomes an important part of Renard’s life. In fact if I had to mention a recurring theme in these 3 books it would be how strong the women are and how they fight (in different ways) for their love.

I recently discovered that a fourth book was planned, problems with the publisher however ended that project and The Love Knot was born instead.
An A and I highly recommend her books. I still have a few in the TBR pile but I've greatly enjoyed all the ones I've read.

Another Pin Cushion

This weekend I sewed a pin cushion for my Mom. She has been asking for one since she saw mine and I thought is was about time I gave her one.




It has the letter E because her name is Emilia.





I sewed it by hand and it was a "spur of the moment" project so it was supposed to be round but now has a few edges.




She liked it!

Crazy Like a Fox - Anne Stuart

I’m still rediscovering some of Anne Stuart’s older books and this time I read “Crazy Like a Fox”.

Residing in the attic of the Delacroix family mansion, Peter Andrew Delacroix Jaffrey exerted a powerful fascination on his cousin’s widow.

Margaret Jaffrey had been warned not to trust Peter, that his sad smile hid a dangerous past.

But Margaret had to learn the truth for herself. Was it reckless fantasy that dreamed she could have what was hopelessly out of reach?

Or love’s intuition that drew her to the flame of desire in Peter’s compelling green eyes?

Margaret Jaffrey goes to her late husband’s family for help after she and her daughter find themselves with no money and no home.
The family has some very strange members including a confessed murderer who lives in the attic.

Margaret and Peter feel very attracted to each other but she fears his insanity and possible violent behaviour. We soon find out that the truth is not what it seems…

I quite liked the fact that the action is mostly focused on the two main characters and how they react to their attraction in an emotionally charged atmosphere with many secrets and lies. We are gradually made aware of Peter’s situation and what he went through and it’s given more emphasis to the said gothic atmosphere than to the mystery. Although the mystery could have been an important part of story it’s like the author decided to keep Margaret with her doubts and fears almost till the end.

I really liked it. Stuart is one of the few authors that in my opinion can write really good series stories, meaning shorter but still interesting and multi dimensional plots and characters. A B.

Which Classic Novel do You Belong In?

Which Classic Novel do You Belong In?

I believe you belong in Pride and Prejudice; a world of satire and true love. A world where everything is crystal clear to the reader, and yet where new things seem to be happening all the time. You belong in a world where your free-thought puts you above the silly masses, and where bright eyes and intelligence are enough to attract the arrogant millionaire/prejudiced young woman of your choice.
Take this quiz!








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You Can't Hide - Karen Rose

I don't like suspense or terror movies but it seems I can't get enough of reading them. I must thank A . for lending me this book. I had never heard of Karen Rose but she enjoyed it so much I got curious.

Terror has forever changed the life of psychiatrist Tess Ciccotelli. Someone is tormenting her patients, pushing them to commit suicide, and setting her up to take the blame. But Tess can't break her oath to protect her patients' privacy at all costs. Even when detective Aidan Reagan demands a list of everyone she's treating. Even when the mounting danger threatens Tess herself.

Tess Ciccotelli is a psychiatrist with many troubled patients. She was once employed by the state to examine criminals and help put them behind bars. When in one of those cases she declares a child and cop killer unfit to stand trial she becomes persona non grata and eventually her contract is ended.

So when one of her patients comits suicide and all of the evidence points to her being behind it she quickly finds herself treated as the main suspect. As more patients die it becomes obvious that Tess is the target of a very clever killer who wants to ruin her life by setting her up to take the blame and to make all her other patients desert her.

Aidan Reagan is a cop with no sympathy for the famous doctor but as the action progresses his feelings start to change. From disliking her intensely he goes to being her main protector.

I really liked how Karen Rose plotted the book, the suspense was great, not only about the Who but also about What is going to happen next. The characters were well developed, I particularly liked how we don't get to know them all at once. It's as the action progresses that we find out what makes them work and feel the way they do.

Regarding the villain I have to say I thought about that person as the possible villain from very early in the story. But I kept second guessing myself so when the truth is discovered I was happy I was right and not disappointed because I had guesses it. The villain's motivation were what I was thinking and a bit more. There are some hidden parts of the plot that are only explained in the last few pages thus contextualizing the why.
A solid B and I'm quite happy that her next book Count To Ten is coming out soon because I plan to read it too!

Not so happy that I just discovered that You Can't Hide is the second book in this series and now I have to go find the first one: I'm Watching You.

Inspiration...

A Gift of Daisies - Mary Balogh

I started this book with great expectations. So far I have always enjoyed Balogh’s traditional regencies and I was planning on loving this one too.

But this book is very different from all the others I’ve read before by her. First of all it has a strong religious side. The hero is a vicar and extremely dedicated to his good works and helping his poor parishioners. And then there’s the fact that the heroine is rich and noble and the hero is poor and a second son and it’s the heroine that asks the hero to marry her and he is the one who refuses.

Lady Rachel Palmer is beautiful, wealthy, and frivolous--as well as betrothed to someone else--when she meets and falls in love with the high-minded Reverend David Gower, who is devoted to a life of service and poverty. It seems like an impossible match, especially when David is so set against it.

Rachel and David meet in London during the heroine’s season. They fall in love with each other but keep those feelings to themselves till eventually the heroine proposes believing her feelings returned. The hero refuses because he thinks she wont be happy as a poor clergyman’s wife. This leads the heroine to ask a childhood friend to marry her. Eventually she accepts that David loves her but wont marry her and that she must be true to her feelings – breaking the betrothal to the friend she doesn’t love – and dedicate herself to good deeds. Although the blurb mentions she is betrothed to someone else when they meet that is not true.

The second half of the book is about how both of them are dedicated to helping others, that they are happy and fulfilled and that they are resigned not to marry. Then David receives an inheritance that allows him to think of marriage to Rachel, but accepting it however will force him to give up his life as a poor vicar. When he proposes it’s Rachel’s turn to say no because she loves him too much to accept such a great sacrifice from him. It took a compromising situation for them to come to their senses and decide to marry.

Well I never quite understood why they couldn’t marry, yes the hero was poor but he was also part of the nobility and so an acceptable party. And in the end he is still poor when finally the marriage is arranged so I ended up thinking they could have saved all that useless self-sacrifice and just get on with it from the beginning. Or Rachel could have let him accept the inheritance and they could be both rich and do good deeds even if in a different place. I’m afraid that instead of being moved by their actions I was annoyed. And I kept thinking Rachel could have ruined Algie and Celia´s happiness.

Looking forward to hear other opinions from Balogh fans. And thank you I. for lending me yet another HTF oldie. For me this was a C+.

BTL

I'm going to BTL today. It's Lisbon's Travel Market that happens once a year. Besides getting all the info and contacts needed for work I expect to find some interesting brochures / maps / whatever to help me start organising my vacations. I have to choose the date soon and It would be great if I knew where to go first.

A Chair For A Little Boy

Last year I painted this chair just for the fun of it. It's painted in blue and white and the seat shows 2 bears on a beach.



It has been stored in our apartment but now I think I found a good use for it. One of L's cousing will be turning 1 year old at the end of the month and I think this is the perfect gift to decorate his room. In no time he will be able to use it as he already walks.





The only thing I think I could improve is that if I had painted the seat white before gluing the bears the effect would be much better.









I sure hope he likes it! :-)

The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger

I finished The Devil Wear Prada last night. I had some trouble getting into the book, those first descriptions of Andrea's adventures before joining the magazine were really not that interesting to me. After she enters the magazine world I became more interested in her relationship with everyone else. Meaning I'm not that into fashion so some people might actually appreciate the fashion angle in this book more than me.

Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job "a million girls would die for." Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.

After Andrea starts working at the magazine she has to deal with her boss's impossible requests, rude manners and every hour calls. She feels compelled to try to answer every request because everyone tells her that after one year of putting up with Miranda Priestly she will be able to choose the job she wants.

As the action progresses Andrea is more and more into the Runway spirit, where everybody wears designers clothes, is sickly thin and lives in fear of the boss. Her relationship with Priestly's Senior Assistant Emily shows exactly that - either Emily is defending her boss and her rudeness or, when she is also a target, she is bad mouthing her in secret.

Although she becomes more of a Runway girl Andrea keeps herself focused on the real job she wants - to write for The New Yorker, and can't resist sometimes feeling superior to everyone else who works for the magazine. With that goal in mind she keeps accepting Miranda's demands thus hurting her relationship with family and friends. The climax come during a trip to Paris where Andrea is preparing to help Miranda organise a party even though her best friend is cometose in the hospital. Miranda makes one more impossible demand - to removate her daughter's passports in 3 hours - and Andrea finally tells her F*** ***.

That's the end of the job and she comes home to be with friends and family even if her relationship with her boyfriend is already damaged.

I thought this was a fun book to read after I made through those first pages because Miranda's rudeness and everyone else's reaction too it are actually really fun and make for some LOL moments.
However once you close the book there's really nothing that stands out. As an example of chick lit I think it lacks some growth of the main character, in the end Andrea only learned to dress herself better and maybe to pay better attention to her family. But she already had her own set of values and principles at the beginning of the book.
A C+.

Needle Case

My project of yesterday was to make a needle case. I had seen one in one of my mom's old books and decided to start from there and change it a bit as work progressed.


On the left you can see a photo of the book I got my design from. In the end I made it a bit larger and with a ribbon to close it. Here the top was just folded down and I always like to actually have a possibility of closing it. Either with a button, a ribbon or something else.

I know the picture is a bit dark, sorry about that...the others I took from the book were even worse :-(











This is my needle case closed.
















And here it is open. I think it looks rather good considering it's only my second project but I'm partial in my evaluation so it doesn't count. :-)
I put 2 needles inside that I borrowed from my mom because I had none. Now you're asking: why make a needle case if you have no needles?
Well I've been trying to chose easy projects that I can start and finish in one day. I'm worried I'll start a difficult one and it'll take me forever to finish it.
So now I have 2 options, start using the needles or give this to someone :-)

These photos look much better than the first one but they were taken at the same time and in the same place.

Pin Cushion

I started a new crafty project this morning. I was hoping I would be able to finish at least some of the sewing so I could post it here but I think I'll wait till it's finished.

Instead, today, I decided to share a pic of something I sewed by hand, in my pre-sewing machine days :-) It's a pin cushion although I mostly stick needles in it so it should actually be a needle cushion I guess.

It was made with some fabric scraps and it is definitely not a perfect job but I like it so much I'll just have to make a new one with the same design one of these days. It seems to me now felt would have been easier to work with and would be prettier to look at so maybe the next one will be like that.

I included some lavender in the stuffing so it always smells good when I'm using it!

Question to self

If I was less than thrilled after watching the first episode of Bones why do I keep finding myself in front of the TV screen every wednesday evening?
It must be the forensics theme that fascinates me...


Just as a side note on series, the much acclaimed Prison Break has first aired here, on national TV, a couple of weeks ago. It still hasn't caught my interest (at least not much) but L. has been following it...

The Ideal Wife - Mary Balogh

I finished another oldie today and again thanks to a friendly loan. It was Mary Balogh's The Ideal Wife.

Just after the Earl of Severn has vowed that if the plainest, dullest, most ordinary female in England were to be set before him he would marry her without further ado, Abigail Gardiner calls on him at his town house. The strong-minded Abigail is a distant cousin of the earl's and has been driven, much against the grain, to seek his aid. To do so, she has decided to dress as plainly as possible and to act the part of a dull brown mouse. The inevitable inevitably happens!

I must say I enjoyed it very much. First of all it's a marriage of convencience story and I just can't resist those. And then it has a really nice hero! To flee the marriage project his mother and sisters have for him Miles decides to marry the first plain and quiet woman that he finds.

And that is exactly what he does! He soon finds out that his wife is nothing like he thought and in fact all his plans end up upside down. But as he falls in love with his wife he is such a caring and attentive husband that nothing, not even the troubles she gets into, makes him change his atitude.

Their relationship evolves troughout the book but it's mostly about Abigail revealing her true personality and Miles acceptance of it even if it's not what he was expecting.

Although Abigail has some secrets in the closet ( and some tendence for sacrificing herself in the name of the family)this makes for a light and easy reading with a very sweet romance. A B+.

I can't resist mentioning that I much prefer these traditional regencies to some of Balogh's later books. These characters feel so much more true to their time...

Buttons

I have always liked buttons, especially vintage ones or those that stand out for being different. This weekend I visited a shop where I usually go to buy painting and decoupage supplies and wooden objects.

They have been expanding and now they also have jewelry, scrapbooking and sewing material. I was going in to have a look and not actually to buy anything but I just couldn't resist these cute buttons representing animals and plants. I have no idea what I will do with them but since I now am using the sewing machine I thought I was entitled to stock on some related products :-)

Look here for more examples of what they have. They told me more lovely things would be arriving till the end of the month so I guess I'll just have to go back in a couple of weeks to see what's new ;-)

Any ideas as to what I should use these for?

Lazarus Rising - Anne Stuart

Anne Stuart has a huge backlist and some of her earlier titles are impossible to find ... or they are too expensive... luckily I've been finding some of them through friends who don't mind loaning me their copies :-)

Today I read Lazarus Rising. I've been sitting here for the last 2 hours trying to decide what to make of it. The story has the usual Anne Stuart intensity and I really could not put it down but the chracters are not exactly likeable material.

The heroine starts out has terribly naive and reckless but intead of being irritated I actually felt sorry for her. The fact that she spent 10 years mourning a lost love sounds terribly unreal though.

The hero wasn't bad, I mean he was a bad boy but nothing as tortured and scarred as her latest male characters.I don't think she fully explained why he left the heroine in the first place. From how he reacts when meeting her again it almost sounds like he had amnesia but that is never said.

The thing is that after 10 years the heroine hasn't recovered from a 3 day romance. And when they meet again they don't spend time getting to know each other again. Things were not resolved, there were no explanations, just accusations that never really had an answer. I needed more psycological development before the happily ever after!
Because of that I give it a C+.

After reading it I went to the author's website just to see if she had some info about it and I found this:

I love all my work (well, maybe there are a few that could happily disappear forever, like Demonwood or Lazarus Rising) but mainly I just love my books. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t write.

Interesting, no?
Btw this is the cover of the 1996 edition and I read the 1991 one but I couldn't find a picture online.

I still have Crazy Like a Fox in the TBR and I will pick it up soon :-)

Dedicated to Cat and Dog Owners

A Dog's Diary
7 am - Oh boy! A walk! My favourite!
8 am - Oh boy! Dog food! My favourite!
9 am - Oh boy! The kids! My favourite!
Noon - Oh boy! The yard! My favourite!
2 pm - Oh boy! A car ride! My favourite!
3 pm - Oh boy! The kids! My favourite!
4 pm - Oh boy! Playing ball! My favourite!
6 pm - Oh boy! Welcome home Mom! My favourite!
7 pm - Oh boy! Welcome home Dad! My favourite!
8 pm - Oh boy! Dog food! My favourite!
9 pm - Oh boy! Tummy rubs on the couch! My favourite!
11 pm - Oh boy! Sleeping in my people's bed! My favourite!


A Cat's Diary
Day 183 of my captivity. My captors continued to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from clawing the furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another house plant. Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded. Maybe I should try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair. I must try this on their bed. Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in an attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little kitty cat I was. This is not working according to plan. There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary confinement throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the food. More important, I overheard that my confinement was due to my powers of inducing something called "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage. I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant. He speaks with them regularly, and I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured. But I can wait. It's only a matter of time.

As You Desire - Connie Brockway

On one of the groups I belong to we have a monthly event called the Author of the Month. Every month an author is chosen and were supposed to read one of their books and comment.

The author this month was Connie Brockway and to tell the truth this must the first time in many many months that I actually read the AOM in the corresponding month.

I'm glad to say that I really enjoyed the book I picked - As You Desire. First of all I loved how she describes the setting. It actually felt like Egypt to me. All those mentions of fake antiques, fake papyrus, all those egyptians speaking accented english... it sounded real to me... curiously or maybe not it reminded me of Elizabeth Peters's series about Amelia Peabody. In this story there's adventure, humour, a bit of a mystery and even romantic poetry!

Then the characters. I really loved Desdemona and Harry, they were real and complex people. Despite their problems they were both very active people not prone to wallow in self pity. They start the story by keeping some secrets from each other, especially Harry, and by admitting only to a friendship between them. As the secrets are revealed we also see how the feelings that link them are so much more powerful. And we are kept on edge about when they will act on them - I liked that tension!

One final word for the secondary characters who were interesting in their own right (wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about some) and contributed to create just the right atmosphere. Even Blake who was the most stereotyped.

All in all a very good read, an A-

CSI - Crime Scene Investigation

One of my favourite series on TV, and one of the few I watch, is CSI. I am absolutely fascinated by that kind of technology that allows them to find the guilty ones so easily.

I've been hearing about how much all of that is not really accurate but everytime I catch one of the episodes on TV I can't stop myself. I have to sit and watch!

This all just came to mind because I saw one more episode of CSI Miami during lunch today. I much prefer CSI Las Vegas as the character Grissom is a much more warm and complex human being than Horatio who his always using cheap lines to enphasize what he means. I find that very annoying! Is it just me I wonder?

For fans of this sort of investigation last time I checked Patricia Cornwell's site she had a small movie and questionaire up to show how these things were done in real life. I liked it too but then again I'm a big Kay Scarpetta fan so I would anyway! And that reminds me, for when a TV series with Kay as a main character?

Planning My Travels

It's that time of the year again, I see the cheap prices of flights and hotels and I think: Why! oh why! don't I plan my vacation for January? ( I have the same thoughts in November btw). Well too late now! Unless something unexpected comes up I think it will be June and September like last year.

I'm not sure where we will go this year but I'm feeling more and more like exploring european destinations and less and less like going to the beach.

This is not a new thought but I suppose it has been brought to my mind again this week because I've checking this blog and seen some lovely photos of Slovenia - Chocolate a Chuva.

Don't you just feel like going there after seeing such lovely photos? I know I do!

Finished!

I finished it last night, after much thought I decided to close it with a button or else it was always opening a little.

Now I'm browsing my mother's old magazines for some ideas, some have really interesting things that can be adapted to our modern tastes. I'll see if I can photograph some and post them here.

As we were looking through her drawers for the magazines yesterday we found the guarantee certificate from my grandmother's old sewing machine. It's from 1950! We were so surprised when we found that, a real treasure full of memories.

My First Sewing Project

I finally beat the machine into submission last night ;-)

No, I'll confess I was the one not doing things right! After I checked the thread once more I was finally able to work properly.

I decided to start with something easy, so I made a pouch in which the upper part folds thus closing it. Actually now I'm thinking this is more like a pocket wallet but a bit bigger. It's still very much a WIP as I have yet to find a way to close it more firmly (maybe using a button or some velcro) but I've been so excited about this whole thing I decided I just had to share the photos ;-)

Not sure what I will use it for, here it is shown closed and open with a necklace coming out...

I'm quite happy with it although it's my first work and so still rather imperfect. I'm hoping practice will bring perfection ;-)

2006 Reading Analysis

Well as Kristie puts it everyone is doing it!
This has made me realise how many of us use Rosario's spreadsheet to keep track of their reads - Amazing!

I have a confession to make before I start though, sometimes I'm lazy and don't fill all the info in. So now there are certain areas where I don't have the correct calculations to share with you. I'm so annoyed with that that I'm making a vow right now of writing down all the info in 2007!

So here we go:

GRADES
A+ - 0
A - 5
A- - 5
B+ - 24
B - 82
B- - 24
C+ - 13
C - 26
C- - 1
D+ - 0
D - 1
D- - 0
F - 0

I finished all the books but looking at this graphic I believe I have to persevere in my efforts to be more severe when grading.


REREADS AND NEW TO ME AUTHORS
Reread
Yes - 3
No - 159

New-to-me authors: 42

Ever since my TBR reached big proportions I almost never reread. And the rereads I make are usually to make sure some keeper has not lost it's status.

Since I'm fairly new to the romance genre (I've been reading for 5 years now) there are still a lot of new to me authors. I don't read just romance but it was the majority of my reading this year.


GENRES
Alt. reality/fut./fant.rom - 0
Chick Lit - 2
Erotica - 1
Fantasy/sci fi - 2
Fiction - 1
Mystery - 14
Non Fiction - 4
Paranormal romance - 0
Romantic Suspense - 7
Series Romance - 24
Straight Romance - 105
Time Travel - 0
Trad Regency - 1
Young Adult - 1

This is one of those charts that besides the number of books read not being correct also the percentages are incorrect. I know I read several Trad Regencies this year but I think I classified them as series romance because I was think of categories. Another thing to correct in 2007.

According to my spreadsheet I read 184 books in 2006 but that result is not reflected here either. It's weird but it seems the graphics only tracked 162 books, must check with the expert :-)

To Stress or not to stress...

Okay... so when my mom gave me the sewing machine she told me I was entitled to a few hours of explanations by the Singer sales people.

Of course I thought to myself that I probably would not need those, I would just have to take a good look at it and I was sure I would manage it fine...

Well, after 2 hours looking at it, I'm not so sure about that...

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

I love historical fiction, bibliographies and history in general so when I heard of a book about the Dracula legend I immediately put it on my wish list.

I ended up never buying it but when I happened to come across a bookring at Bookcrossing I just couldn't resist signing up for it.


I really liked the story concept and the way she tells it - it has elements of mystery, thriller, romance - making it more easy to read than if it was just an account of the facts. There are 3 different stories in it, in 3 different periods (1930, 1959 and 1972). This way we are not only learning about Dracula and his time but of the reality of our world in those days, especially in the Eastern European countries in the 30s and 50s.

I must say I only know the basics about the Dracula legend but the book seemed to describe a lot of the popular beliefs regarding Vlad, the Impaler. Also all the historical information she provoded about the Ottoman Empire and it's influence in the neighbouring countries was really interesting.

I had just one main problem with the book, I think it is too long and in some parts there's too much information being described that could be cut and make for a more interesting story. This way I had to force myself to pick it up and read when I usually just can't put down this type of book.

Still it it makes for an entertaining read, just not as good as I thought it would be. A B-.

Bookmarks

This week I tagged Rosario with the 5 Things Nobody Knows About Me tag. One of the things she mentioned was that she carefully chooses a bookmark to match the book she is reading. This is something I never do... and yet I have lots of bookmarks. I started by making some myself, then I casually mentioned to family and friends how much I liked bookmarks and somehow every time it's my birthday or christmas I get a new one.

This christmas my uncle remarked that even if I didn't want to collect them I would have to because I'm always being offered some. Some of them are really beautiful, others are more ethnical, some are made with wood, others with lace.

So I decided to share some of the more interesting items of my collection with you. And from now on I think I'm going to choose my bookmarks with care instead of just grabbing the first paper that comes to hand :-)



These two were a gift from Mary and Meryl!
















My parents brought me these from their travels!















I think the silver one was a present from my mother and the ethnic one I got at BTL - Lisbon's Tourism Fair















These are 3 very different ones, the black one is from Oporto's Serralves Museum, the middle one is a tapestry someone brought from their travels (can't remember whom, sorry...) and the third one was made by me for my brother and sister-in-law's wedding. It was one of their gifts to everyone who attended.



This one is made of venetian lace and it was a gift that my aunt and uncle brought from their trip to Italy last year.















The middle one I bought in Egypt there other 2 were a gift from a friend that went to Cuba.














My mom gave me these because she knows of my love for all things medieval.















These 2 are normal store bought bookmarks but I quite like them. Especially the cat that was another gift from my aunt this Christmas. I love Cats :-)







I have many more so one of these days I'll post a few more pictures...

My Sewing Machine

My grandmother had an old sewing machine, like the one in the picture, which fascinated me when I was a child. I spent a lot of time at her house and I always enjoyed sitting next to her when she was sewing and hearing about what she was working on.


My mother has a modern sewing machine that she bought a few years ago. To be honest during my teen years, and even young tenties, the idea of owning one myself never crossed my mind. Everything I needed done I just asked my mom to do it. I had learned to embroider and stitch but totally gave it up as a young adult.


Now ever since I live in my own home I started feeling the need to stop asking my mom to do certain things like lifting the hems of trousers or skirts. Being online has also made me aware of a lot of inspiring blogs and sites dealing with different crafts, among them sewing.


So lately I had been after mom to get the old sewing machine fixed so I could use it. I was almost sure I had convinced her but this Christmas they decided to surprise me and buy me a new one. I was ecstatic! And later the same day I discovered L. had also bought me a sewing machine. I went from having none to having 2 of them - we took the second one back and you can see the one I own in this picture.


I have lots of plans about what to use it for - besides lifting hems that is - and in my enthusiasm I already got a few fabrics ready to start working. Life has been pretty busy lately but hopefully soon I will be able to sit down and calmly learn how to use it and start planning what to sew first. I have already tried a few stitches but the results were not very encouraging :-)




When I feel secure enough I'll be sure to post the results of my efforts here...

Till then you can find some beautiful sewing projects here and here.

Blog Tag - Five Things Nobody Knows About Me

I've been taggeg by Jeanette to write about 5 things nobody knows about me. Even though I've seen these kind of posts on several blogs before it's the first time it has reached me and I'm thinking this might be fun :-)




So here's 5 things nobody knows about me:

1 - During the day I write notes to myself on small pieces of paper to remind me of things I have to do, buy, blog about...

2 - I have always liked to read and when I was a child/young teen I was seldom without a book in my hands. (I guess that's a habit that stuck because nowadays it's exactly the same).

3 - I had a theater group with my friends during highschool and we performed at school or charity events.

4 - I like to read recipe books (and recipe blogs) but I hate to cook. Weird uh?

5 - Although I like my work I don't see myself doing it for the rest of my life. Now I only have to decide what I really want to do...




Well that's about it I think. To pass this forward I'm tagging Rosario, Marg and Joanna

New Year Resolutions

One of the advantages of having a blog is that with just one click you can check what you were doing, thinking or planning on a determined day. Just as long as you posted about it that is.

As I had no blog last year and wasn't in the habit of writing down this sort of thing I have no idea if I made any New Year's resolutions or not. To be perfectly honest I don't think I made any. I don't like to feel that I'm failing on reaching a goal or something like that :-)

However as this year ends I feel that there are some things I should work on. And now that I'm maintaining this blog and it is the perfect place to share these kind of lists I'll just post it here and hopefully that will be incentive enough ;-)

So here they are:

1 - keep on working towards a healthier life style (exercise more, eat better);

2 - stop being such a perfectionist and accept what I can't change;

3 - cut back on book buying and trading and start reading from the TBR pile;

4 - start using all the fabric scraps and other craft materials I've been saving but not working on;

5 - Maintain this blog regularly and comment on the ones that inspire me.



Well it doesn't sound all that difficult does it? I'll let you know when the year ends!

2007