Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Heart wrenching.  I stopped counting how many times my eyes filled with tears as I read Jojo Moyes' Me Before You.

 

(My tears only actually fell a few times though, thanks to my children's uncanny ability to sense when I am coming to a critical point in whatever I am reading.)

I chose to read Me Before You after having read what seems like a million reviews and I was well prepared for an emotional journey.  Yet, I would be suprised as to the depth of emotion I would feel and the questions the book would raise.

In shorty summary, the novel details a desperate and gut wrenching attempt to prove to a paralized man that life is still worth living.  Moyes very deftly naviages moral dilemma and consequences while keeping the book both fun and suprising.

By the time I finished Me Before You (which at two pages left, my girls jumped on me--seriously, how do they know??), I loved every character--even the flawed, had smiled, laughed out loud, cried, and had done some serious thinking.  I really could not have asked for more from a book.  Loved it.

Michelle

Our Everyday

My girls and I love bubbles (I should probably include our dog too.)  The girls love them because they are fun.  I love them because they provide loads of lengthly entertainment which I have truly appreciated during this past baseball season during 3 hour games.  Bubbles = Lifesaver.

This means of course, I have lots of bubbly pictures to scrap :).

 

 

I began this layout with the intention of using up what I had left over from SC's 6x6 Lemonlush paper pad.

 

 

 

After having gotten over the fear of sewing through chipboard (why did I think it would be so hard??), I now consistently sew down my chipboard alphas.  Which is great, because they were always the ones I would find down at the bottom of the page protector :).

 

Michelle

Happy News

While I was away on vacation, this happy news was revealed.....

 

New Design Team for 2014-2015

 

Here is the line-up for the Citrus Twist Kits 2014-2015 Design Girls. Please join us in welcoming them to the CTK team!

Scrapbooking Team
Sandy Ang
Lucia Barabas
Jennifer Chapin
Ashley Fowler
Christine Gronnslett
Angie Gutshall
Nathalie Leonelli
Eve Limacher
Amelie Mordret
Kasia Tomaszewska
Michelle Wedertz
Evelyn Prawati Yusuf
Trina Craig

 

Saying that I am excited is an absolute understatement!  I have been a member of the Citrus Twist Kit Club for about a year and a half and I have produced some of my favorite layouts using their kits.  Am totally looking forward to the next year!

 

 

Michelle

Color Combos Galore Release #250

Good morning!  After a long hiatus, Color Combos Galore is up with a new release and I would love to share my take on the challenge as a new designer to the team.

First, a little bit about this fun paper crafting challenge blog .  Color Combos Galore is a weekly color challenge blog....with a twist! CCG takes an Inspiration Photo, a Color Combo, and a Designer's Challenge and puts it all in one inspiration board. To play along, combine all 5 colors and one Inspiration Challenge. 

Here is Inspiration Board #250......

 

 

And here is my project....

 

 

 

Using Inspiration Photo #4, I focused on creating a brush font style die-cut title with my Silhouette. I also pulled some small details from the other inspiration photos by incorporating a doily (photo #1) and gold chevrons (photo #2).

 

To play along with this week's challenge, visit CCG here.

 

Michelle

 

 



Hope is a Ferris Wheel by Robin Herrera

Hi.  My name is Michelle, I am 33, and I still read Juvenile Fiction.

Ha.

I don't discriminate.  I will read pretty much anything that contains words. I'd also like to say that the children's sections of libraries and book stores are so much for fun--comfy little chairs or bean bags to sit in, floors to sprawl out on, and sometimes there are even toys to play with :).

When it comes to picking out and reading books from this genre I am not picky. All I ask for is a protagonist that is relateable, a story that moves along, and an interesting point of view.  Pretty simple.

Hope Is A Ferris Wheel by Robin Herrera came as a recommeneded book by another blogger in this article and when I happened to see it on the new book shelf in the children's section of the library, I grabbed it.  (I hang out in that section pretty exclusively, not only do I have three children, but I have read everything that I care to in the adult section--it's a small library.)

Herrera's protaganist Star Mackie is a ten year old girl having a terrible time fitting into a new school.  In an effort to make friends, Star forms a Trailer Park Club thinking that people would have an easier time accepting her if she could dispell some of the stereotypes that go along with living in one.   Star's club quickly evolves though, into something even greater and this small group of ecletic kids set out to define the meaning of hope, a task that would give even an adult trouble.

Now technically, the overall themes, literary devices, and plot are a tad predictable, but I am an adult reading a book whose targeted audience is much younger. However, what made this book worthwhile for me to read though, is the refreshing and very honest perspective of ten year old Star.  I laughed out loud at some of the things she said and that felt great.

Happy reading!

Michelle

Smile

I know I am in the absolute minority here, but I am going to put it out there--I LOVE the color purple.

Now to clarify, not the Barney purple, but the Pantone Color of the year purple, Wild Orchid.

The scrapbooking industry is definitely influenced by trends and this lovely shade of lavender popped up in several collections this spring.  Studio Calico, in my opinion, totally rocked the Pantone Color of the Year in it's LemonLush line, which I used along with some Dear Lizzy to make a background for my photo.

 

I kept the colors soft by using a light woodgrain paper and layering vellum.

 

 

The embellishments are very minimal here.  I felt with so much boldness going on with the lavender, orange, and gold that I just did not want to overwhelm the photo, which is what I want to be the focus of the page. 

 

If there are any more layouts out there rocking the purple link me up in the comments, I would love to see how you used it!

 

Michelle





All of Us Loves All of You

My use of sketches had pretty much gone to the wayside the last several months, but Studio Calico's Sketchbook 2014 class taught by Kelly Purkey got me excited to use them again.  Now, three quarters of the way through the class content, I can happily report that I am easily creating layouts that I love thanks to the loads of inspiration.

The particular sketch I used for this layout, without giving away too much, uses a grid design with circular embelllishments.  My interpretation of the sketch resulted in a looser grid and two stitched circles to draw the eye. 

Now, I usually sew on my layouts with little problem, but this time I had major trouble with the circle in the top left corner.  It was the combination of having to turn so much of the cardstock around the machine and at the same time trying to avoid sewing over the alphas that led to an oddly shaped circle.  In hindsight, I would have placed the alphas after sewing, but thanks to a very purposely placed diecut butterfly, my mistake is not too obvious. 

 

I also played around with computer printed journaling this time.  Computer journaling used to be my go-to a long, long time ago, so it was kind of fun to bring it back.

Michelle