Paranormalcy Contest

One of my daughter's dearest writer friends, Keirsten White is having a contest to win the ARC of Paranormalcy along with three other new books, all coming out really soon. I planned on buying the book and already have it on reserve at Amazon but, if I could win it, that would be even better.

So here's my contest entry. . .

This is the front cover of Kiersten's book which debuts August 31, 2010.

Isn't it just amazing?

It's so beautiful and gorgeous.


As you scroll down you will see a few closeups of the quilt I designed for Kiersten's Contest. I know a little about the book and my daughter filled in a few gaps for me.

The main character's name is Evie and she loves her pink boots and her Zebra print wrap dress. So, I had to recreate the boots for her along with putting the book cover in a picture frame. I also used zebra print here and there throughout the quilt.

The "E" stands for Evie.

In the book she works for IPCA and carries a pink taser that she calls "Tasey" so I put "i heart Tasey" in one of the hearts.


There are black hearts with pink yoyo's and black buttons in each corner of the quilt.

"E" is for EVIE

Notice the TV set?
Well, in the book "Easton Heights"
is Evie's favorite TV show.

For Kiersten...We just had to take this picture for you.

Me, Kenna, Natalie, and the kids went on an adventure this afternoon to our favorite bookstore and we snuck a picture of the quilt in the teen section right where your book will be in the W's.

Benjamin's ABC Picture Book

This is the post I wanted to post before we headed to Florida but I had to retake the pictures because somehow my husband lost them when he was updating my computer. No worries though because these pictures turned out better anyway.

I had lots of fun making this ABC Picture Book for my Grandson this year for Christmas. I have yet to give it to him as we were apart during the holiday but I will be giving it to him in the next few days when I see him. I know he's going to love it because he love's books and looking at pictures too.

The idea for the book came from a scrapbooking type blog I came across a few months ago now. She had taken the pictures that coordinated with each letter of the alphabet and made a scrapbook page for each letter. She used at least one picture on each page. Then she decorated the pages with paper and stickers before laminating each page. Then the holes were punched and the book was bound with either ribbon or metal rings, I can't quite remember. This was such a great idea and it really resonated with me. I hope you enjoy it and remember that you can file it away for a special birthday or next Christmas. I'm sorry I can't give credit where credit is due, but if you had the idea and you happen across this blog post feel free to let me know and I will make sure to link your post about it. It's an awesome idea!!!!

I've made a few books on my MAC and I love the results as you can see from the pictures below. You may use any of my IDEAS for each LETTER in making your own book or just customize the letter to your own children or granchildren's lives, pictures, and experiences. I LOVE taking pictures so I had a lot to choose from for most of the letters and only had one picture for some of the other letters. I was lucky to have the majority of pictures that I used already taken and only had to get a picture or two from my daughter (the mom).

Benjamin's ABC Book
(Front of Book Jacket Cover)

A is for my Auntie Kenna & Auntie Ariel.

B is for Benjamin.

C is for Christmas and Candy.

D is for Dirt and Dinosaurs.

E is for Easter Eggs.

F is for Father's and Families. They are Fantastic.

G is for Grammi & Grampin. They are really GREAT!

H is for Hats and Haircuts.

I is for Ice Cream. I love ice cream!

J is for Juice. The kind Grammi makes.

K is for Kora. My sister she is.

L is for Love. I LOVE to Play!

M is for My Mother. She's the Very Best!

N is for "Grammi" Noodles. Nummy Num Num!

O is for Outside. I love to be Outside!

P is for Pirates. Arrrr Matey!

Q is for Quilts that Grammi makes for me.

R is for Remembering that Families are Forever!

S is for Scary Spiders. I'll save you Kenna & .....

T is for Tinkering, Toys, & Trains.

U is for Uncle Mark. I love hanging out with him.

V is for a Velociraptor named Benji-Raptor.

W is for Water. Way Wet & Wild Fun!!!

X Marks the Spot on My Map.

Y is for YOU and I definitely LOVE YOU!!!

Z is for Zoo. I LOVE the ZOO!!

The END!

Back of the jacket cover.

A BIG Announcement!!!!

I have a Big, Huge, and Stupendous
Surprise to Announce!!!

My Grandson Ben expresses it the BEST!!!

"We are very excited to ANNOUNCE that our daughter Natalie. . .



. . . has been signed by a Famous LITERARY Agent!!!!!

And you can read all about it on her Blog !!!!!!

Join me in congratulating my daughter for all of her hard work and sticktuitiveness. Here Mantra has been "Go Confidently in the Direction of your DREAMS!!!" (by Thoreau).

She has lived by that saying. It's been a very long hard road and she stuck with it having great determination deciding never to give up on her dream of becoming published. We are so very proud of her!!!

We LOVE you HONEY!!! What a GREAT DAY and a GREAT REWARD for all of your PATIENCE, DILIGENCE and HARD WORK!!!

Let the CELEBRATING begin . . .


We took the family out for dinner last night and enjoyed hearing the details of her life changing phone call. What an exciting time for her and there's lots more work ahead as she prepares her manuscript for submission to publisher's with the help of her AGENT, of course. He is so totally awesome!!!

Fun with Friends

Those of you that read Lori's Blog Bee in my Bonnet already know that Kenna and I had lunch at Gardner Village with Lori and Kassidy. We've been looking forward to meeting both of them for a while now. We all had a great time eating lunch, visiting with friends, and shopping at Pine Needles. What could be better than food, friends, and shopping for fabric all in ONE day?



The girl's had fun meeting and we look forward to getting together again for a SEWING Day with the girls. We're shooting for August.

New Friends: Kassidy and Kenna

Both of the Girls love Webkinz and so they picked a Webkinz buddy for each other. This is the Silver Fox that Kassidy gave to Kenna. She loves it so much that she took the fox to bed with her. She always has a few webkinz friends to protect her at night.



Lookie what Lori made for me. I was really excited! I've always wanted a Starch Cozy and she even picked two of my favorite fabrics. Don't you just love those pom poms? They definitely add to the cute factor. Thanks Lori for thinking of me.

After lunch we had fun shopping together at Pine Needles and I finally bought Material Obsession. I've been wanting to get it for a while now but with all the money I spent at the shop hop I was trying to put it off a bit longer. I also enjoyed some fabric therapy. I need a summer job so I can afford more therapy! LOL!

Doesn't my Starch Cozy look CUTE next to my new book?

I just loved the reds and turquoise fabric on the left and the Civil War fabric on the right. I'm thinking I need to make a skirt out of the red and turquoise fabric.

After shopping we took pictures and said our goodbyes. What a fun time we had together!!!

Thanks Lori and Kassidy!

After our meeting I had a few other things to do and Kenna was willing to spend the day with me so I took advantage of that. You know how it is to be 10, right? She spends her days playing with friends and cousins.

Most of you know that I recently had a giveaway, right?

Well, I had a chance to deliver the Patriotic Star Pillow in person to Patsy. When I went to email Patsy to get her address I realized that she might know Nedra from Cactus Needles because she mentioned that she had come over from Nedra's blog. So it was fun to find out that we are all connected in one way or another. When I found out that she lives close by I emailed her and arrange to deliver it in person. She was so happy and excited to win especially since she's never won anything before.


After meeting with Patsy we headed to Barnes & Noble to buy some books. My daughter had bought me a book called EVERMORE by Alyson Noel for Mother's day and the second book was coming out July 7th so, I was anxious to get it as soon as I could. I've had a gift card for Barnes & Noble since school ended so it was burning a hole in my pocket. I also got a couple books to read with Kenna. I've been meaning to buy Fablehaven for some time now. It's been very popular and is written by a local author, Brandon Mull. The other book you see is a book that Kenna's 4th grade teacher read to the class and she liked it so much that she wants to read it again. We started reading it before bed last night.

What a WONDERFUL day we had together!

My Surprise!!

This is my Little BIG surprise!!!

So run on over to Moda Bake Shop and have a look at my little Bookkeeper.

Please leave a comment if you can.
I'd appreciate a bit of love.

I hope you LIKE it!

I want to send a special Thank You to my friend Jodi!
I appreciate all your help!

Author: Jan Brett

Being in School this year I've gained a greater appreciation for READING. I love to read and last year I read over 30 books and hope to break that record this year. I want my youngest child to see me read more than my older children did. I was too busy being a mother of 3 young children and taking care of my two nephews. I didn't read very much then. But, I'm taking the time now to do it and I LOVE IT!!!

Thanks too, Natalie, for your inspiration and example!!! She's my biggest reader and now is aspiring to publish her own books. She's written 6 novels this past year and hopes to acquire a literary agent this year. We have great hopes for Natalie's success!!! I've loved every book she's written!!!

Each month in school we have an Author of the Month and this month it's been Jan Brett. She is a remarkable artist and studies her subjects first hand as she travels to places like Europe, Africa, China, and Costa Rica just to name a few.


This is a drawing of "Hedgie" the Hedgehog that I finished in class today. Our class watched Jan Brett's video "How to Draw a Hedgehog" and it was fun to see the kids get excited about learning to draw a hedgehog from such a talented artist. Her videos are fun to watch too!

Her Website is filled with lots of things to see and do. It's well worth your time, especially if you have children. You can make post cards, watch videos of how to draw Hedgehogs (see my hedgie above), chickens, elephants, lions, etc. You can also view her library of videos and watch her adventures in illustrating and writing her books. It's really quite fun!!!

Click on the links below to go to the different activities:
Send an email postcard here.
Print coloring pages here.
Print your own bookmarks here.
Print your own cards and envelopes here.
How to draw videos are here.

All About Jan Brett:
With over thirty four million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real." As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."

Here's a list of the Books she's written over the years:
Books Written and Illustrated by Jan Brett
(Click on the links for more information)
GINGERBREAD FRIENDS--G.P. Putnam's Sons
HEDGIE BLASTS OFF!--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2006
THE UMBRELLA--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2004
DAISY COMES HOME--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2002
CHRISTMAS TREASURY--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2001
HEDGIE'S SURPRISE--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2000
THE HAT--G.P. Putnam's Sons--1997
COMET'S NINE LIVES--G.P. Putnam's Sons--1996
ARMADILLO RODEO--G.P. Putnam's Sons--1995
CHRISTMAS TROLLS--G P. Putnam's Sons--1993
TROUBLE WITH TROLLS--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1992
BERLIOZ THE BEAR--G P. Putnam's Sons--1991
THE WILD CHRISTMAS REINDEER--G P. Putnam's Sons--1990
THE FIRST DOG--Harcourt Brace Jovanovich--1988
ANNIE AND THE WILD ANIMALS--Houghton Mifflin--1985
FRITZ AND THE BEAUTIFUL HORSES--Houghton Mifflin--1981

Books Retold and Illustrated by Jan Brett
THE THREE SNOW BEARS--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2007
HONEY...HONEY...LION!--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2005
ON NOAH'S ARK--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2003
WHO'S THAT KNOCKING ON CHRISTMAS EVE--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2002
GINGERBREAD BABY--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1999
TOWN MOUSE, COUNTRY MOUSE--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1994
THE MITTEN--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1989
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST--Clarion--1989
GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1987

Books Illustrated by Jan Brett
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS --G.P. Putnam's Sons--1998
THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1991
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DUCK--Clarion--1988
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS--G.P. Putnam's Sons--1986
SCARY, SCARY HALLOWEEN--Clarion--1986
MOTHER'S DAY MICE--Clarion--1986
NOELLE OF THE NUTCRACKER--Houghton Mifflin--1986
VALENTINE BEARS--Clarion--1983
ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN THE MORNING--Clarion--1980