Book Craft Corner

Well, I'm going to get all crafty now. My last blog inspired me to share two easy craft projects with you. I made two unique bookmarks for my mom, and wanted to show you how to make them. I'm sure I've made many more over the years, but these ones were extra special. In fact,Iam going to make my girls the first one...right now.

Project 1 - Paper Quotation Bookmark

Step 1.

I am always inspired by quotations. I search them out when I write a card for someone. When I add a quotation to my own sentiments the card feels complete. So, the first step is to search out a great, relevant quotation. When searching for quotations I always consult a couple of books I have and the web (I'll list my sources in the side panel). Since I will be putting this quotation on a bookmark...looking for a book quotationseems appropriate. I found that this one and love it for my daughter's bookmark. "The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." Dr. Seuss

Step 2.

Search for an image to accompany your quotation. This could be a drawing, photo or free clip art from the web. In this case I chose a tree with books as leaves. Seemed fitting. (again sources on the side panel).

Step 3.

Copy & paste your quotation and image into a document using your word processing program. Align the image and the quotation so they read as a bookmark does, leaving enough room for a hole where you will put your ribbon. When you have finished playing with the positioning and the font style/size...print the bookmark. You can use whatever paper you like, however thicker papers, or cardstock work the best.

Step 4.

Once printed punch a hole in the one end of your bookmark. Select a piece of ribbon, approximately 12" long. In my case I also tied two bird shaped beads to the ends of the ribbon. Remember, this ribbon will be visible from outside of the book...make it beautiful.

Step 5.

Once you have selected and cut your ribbon it is time to feed it through the hole. Fold the ribbon in half (lengthwise), push the fold through the hole. Once pushed through feed the open ends through the loop you have created...pull. Ta Da! Your bookmark is complete. Remember when giving a bookmark...give a book too!!

Project 2 - Beaded Bookmark

Step 1.

This bookmark requires a little research. Check out your recipients book collection. Do they tend to read paperbacks or hardcovers? This will determine the length of the bookmark you make. Once you know what size the books are cut a piece of ribbon, string or waxed thread (used in making jewelry) to the length of the average book - plus about 4 inches on each end. These 4" will give you plenty of thread to work on your beading, which will hang outside of the book.

Step 2.

Select the beads you want to use. My mom loved blue...so blue beads were in order.

Step 3.

Tie a knot in your thread, 4" from one end, then feed a pattern of beads on and knot at the end. Do the same with the other end of the thread. Between these two beaded ends, you should have a large portion of thread that is void of beads...this section will be inside the book, allowing the book to close without obstruction.

Step 4.

Take it for a test run in the book you are giving your gift recipient.

Ta Da! You are done yet another bookmark!

Hope you enjoyed my delving into crafting! Have fun...let the bookmark building begin!

Be A Lert!

As we read a book and turn the pages we eventually get tired, or distracted, and we are ready to close the book. We do not want to leave our characters behind. It’s difficult to exit the world we have entered so wholly. However hard it might be to put the book down, our real lives are beckoning us on. The children are calling, the pillow is calling or work is calling. If we simply close the book, how will we ever find our way back to the place where we ended.

For some readers the very thought of turning the corner of the book down to mark the page is scandalous. Injuring the page that has brought you so much joy is considered a sin. I like turning down the page to mark my place. I enjoy reading a book from the library and seeing the mark of a previous reader. Wondering how that reader interpreted the actions or words of the protagonist. These little marks on the page add to the character of the physical book itself. Well, that’s my opinion at least.

My mother did not share this opinion. When she came to the end of a passage and was ready to put the book down...she used a bookmark. I remember as a young child what easier gift was there to give my mom then a bookmark. Not as expensive as a hard cover book...but just as useful. One of the earliest bookmarks I can recall had the cartoon sketch of a bow tie wearing penguin with the words “The Butler Did It”. Or there was the classic cartoon sketch of a cracked egg, bright eyes peaking out, and the caption “Be A Lert, the world needs all the lerts it can get.” To a child this was a little confusing...eventually I figured it out.

Going through my mom’s bookcases I managed to gather up a pile of 78 bookmarks...78! Bookmarks were my mom’s postcards. When she travelled she didn’t stop at the racks of tacky picture postcards, instead she picked up bookmarks from the local library, bookstore or artisan. They mark locations in South Africa, Cuba, England, Wales, and across Canada. Of course, my mother’s friends also saw the value of bringing home bookmarks from their travels for my mother. So her collection also included souvenirs from places she had never visited herself, but had wished to go. These include Ireland, Australia, etc. Recently, I received in the mail a bookmark from one of my mom’s dearest friends. She had been traveling abroad and saw a bookmark that she knew my mom would have enjoyed. This friend picked up the bookmark and sent it to me...in hopes that I would put the platypus bookmark to good use...I am.

The other day I was standing in a bookstore and a man asked the sales clerk if they had any free bookmarks. When the clerk said that they didn’t, the man set his sights on the super cutsie collection of bookmarks they had for sale. The bookmarks were clearly aimed at young teens and children...filled with vampires, cats and cars. I looked over at him and suggested he head over to the library, next door, where you can find a variety of free and interesting bookmarks. He smiled, thanked me and said he would probably just use the receipt from his book as the bookmark. Another viable option I said.

The next time you come to the end of your reading for the day, think about how you mark your place. Do you turn down the corner of the page, have comical bookmarks, use a homemade bookmark or one from your travels around the world? What is your bookmark?

So you want to take the car out tonight?

Flashback...I'm 13 years old and sitting on the upper landing on our staircase. I'm wearing my Mickey Mouse fleece nightgown and socks, of course. I'm listening intensely as my sister and my mom "negotiate" my sister's use of the car for the evening. My mom dictates the usual list of rules which include; curfew, the responsibility speech, no drinking, etc. Then my mom would add on another customized list of requirements. These included comments like; "Remember as soon as you get into the car, lock all the doors...immediately, because someone might try and get in the car" or "If the car breaks down, never open your window more then a crack to talk to a stranger...he might try and harm you" and the ever popular "If someone is following you, drive straight to the police station...let him follow you there." To the 13 year old sitting on the stairs, eavesdropping, driving seemed like a pretty scary proposition.

Fast forward...I'm 16 years old and listening to the same speech - directed at me! Now driving seems not only scary...it's overwhelming. Not only do I need to worry about reading road signs and obeying traffic laws, I now have to be aware of every sound as I walk through a parking lot, every headlight in my rear view mirror, and the location of every police station. A little overwhelming for your average 16 year old...but I take the car anyway.

I always wondered what my mother based her speech on? Urban myth, actual stories from friends and family, or reports in the newspaper. She seemed caring, in a very strange way.

After reading Mary Higgins Clark I now know who I can thank for my mom's paranoia. My mother has a total of 13 Higgins Clark books. Lord only knows how many she borrowed from the library over the years. It is pretty clear that her novels influenced my mom's life.

My relationship with Higgins Clark began when I slipped "A Stranger is Watching" off the bookshelf. Unfortunately, the day after I picked up the novel I went out and ended up at the library, with some time on my hands. I had left my book at home. So, logically I searched the stacks for the same book, with no luck. I landed on one of Higgins Clark's other novels "A Cry in the Night". I have mentioned in previous blog entries that I am a pretty slow, slow, slow reader. This book however, took me two days to read. TWO DAYS! I couldn't put it down because I wanted the main character...to survive! I was afraid that if I put the book down, she would be lost without me. It was terrifying. Filled with all the psychological trickery that my mother always warned us of. No wonder my mother made us look suspiciously at strangers...she was educated by a master.

I returned to "A Stranger is Watching". Realistically, I could have read all 13 novels. If it wasn't for the fact that (a) I was exhausted from staying up all night reading and (b) I was exhausted from staying up all night afraid to close my eyes. What a wuss I turned out to be.

To Mary Higgins Clark's credit, these books are masterful. The storyline pulls you in and the reader identifies and feels compassion for the main character. While the reader thinks that they might have everything figured out, there is a "twist". At times you don't even care that you have figured out "who did it". These are serious thrillers. I think the best novels turn into movies in your mind. That is what these books did for me. I was scared but could not look away. If I could have read these books with a hand over my eyes I would have! I can totally understand why my mom had 13 of her novels.

I decided to stop at two novels. For the sake of my children's future. What will my lecture sound like when Madeline asks to take the car out for the night? These novels have taught me that my mom's lectures weren't based on urban myth or actual fact. Her lectures were based on the words and ideas of authors like Mary Higgins Clark.

Time

Have you ever noticed how the right people come into your life at the exact moment you need them most? When my mom moved into my home she had to move her healthcare to Princess Margaret Hospital. She learned that there was a pilot project going on that she could participate in. The hospital's Palliative Care Unit was examining the effects of being connected with palliative patients from their first point of entry into PMH. Traditionally a patient would only be linked with the Palliative team when all of their treatment options had been exhausted.

Not one to pass up a new opportunity, my mom joined the project. In doing so we met Dr. John Bryson...or Dr. John (as my mom would say). Dr. John was the perfect connection for mom. He's intelligent, likes travelling, LOVES reading, likes new technology, and listens to CBC radio! Really a better match could not be made. My mom instantly felt comfortable with him and trusted him. Their appointments were more like two old friends sitting chatting at the coffee shop, then doctor-patient check-ups.

I remember my mom always trying to persuade Dr. John to read Linwood Barklay's novels. He was the latest author my mom had caught on to, and she felt Dr. John would really enjoy his work. Being the "techie" that he was, Dr. John had an ebook and hadn't download (or uploaded...whatever you say) Barklay's novels yet. In the end I think he finally did get to those books...and did enjoy them.

So, when I was looking at which novel would be next on my "to do" list I reached for the Linwood Barklay pocketbook "No Time For Goodbye".

This novel begins with a teenage girl, Cynthia, waking up one morning to find her entire family has vanished. The novel flips to 25 years later. We catch up with Cynthia and discover the long term repercussions of this disappearance. When renewed media attention shines a light on the case, she is swept up in the mystery of her family's fate all over again.

Spoiler Alert!!

The novel ends with Cynthia's discovery of a lost letter her mom had written and intended for her to find twenty-five years earlier. The note had gone missing with her mother. The note ended as follows...

"Someday, maybe you'll think you feel someone looking over your shoulder, and you'll look around and no one's there. That'll be me. Watching out for you, watching you make me so very, very proud. Your whole life, kiddo. I will always be with you. Love, Mom"

Are you kidding me. My mom totally used to call me "kiddo"! To say the least at the end of this novel tears were rolling down my cheeks.

When I finished the book I realized that my mother's death felt like a disappearance. In a way I identified with the main character who woke up one morning and found her life completely changed...pieces missing. When I woke up the morning after my mom died I felt the same way. While I know she is never coming back...most days I tell myself she's just "gone away" and might come home again. It is hard to believe that a person who existed, contributed, had a place in the world could simply be gone? It doesn't seem possible to me. She must be out there somewhere. Her energy is still out there.

I look for here in crowds. Sometimes I really think I see her. Other times I see women who remind me of her...make me wish for what she could have been. I'll keep looking for her and reading her books...finding little pieces of her in their pages.

Summer Lovin'

No, I haven't given up. The bookcases haven't collapsed.

I'm busy reading and hanging out with my girls. I'll post again when school's in. Then I'll have time to...think!

I have been reading up a storm. Let me say...the books have been terrifyingly good!

Can't wait to share the details with you.

To Skim or Not to Skim?

Looking at the bookcases in my basement the names of authors begin to run into each other. You can get a little lost and a little overwhelmed. How am I ever going to read all of these? How am I ever going to read half of these? I remember on many occasions having conversations with my mom about skimming through books. She insisted that she never skimmed. She thought every detail was important. I found this difficult to believe. She could take a book out of the library and finish it in one week…how is that possible? In retrospect I think this was why she had an “Itty-Bitty Book Light”.

I skimmed my way through many books in university. How could I be expected to read a novel a week, in addition to all the chapters of various text books? I think the pressure to read so much in university is actually detrimental to your studies. I understand that you have to read a lot…but really…who isn’t skimming?

My eyes landed on a collection of hardcover books by the author Phyllis A. Whitney. These are old books. The one I decided to start with was titled “Lost Island”…written in 1970. My mother has 13 Phyllis A. Whitney books. They must be interesting! The cover boasts that the books are “romantic suspense novels”…Andrew called them “sexual thrillers”. “Are you reading your sexual thriller book?” He thinks he’s so funny.

This was a new genre and I was curious to see what it would be like. The book started off pretty slowly. A young woman, Lacey, was returning to an island where she used to spend her summer vacations when she was a girl. Returning on the invitation of a girlfriend, who offered no explanation for the invite. Very interesting. Then we learn that Lacey had a son when she was a teenager and gave the baby up to this girlfriend. At that time this was the only way to provide the son with a better life. The plot thickens and this is where the book lost me. There were many, many, many pages spent describing the island. I mean every minute detail of the island. The sound of the waves, the scent of the waves, the colour of the sky, the colour of the grass, the buildings, the people and the emotion it all brought up for her.

I had an important decision to make…to skim or not to skim. I was either going to read this book one boring paragraph at a time, and fall asleep or I was going to skim past the island parts. I was curious to see what would happen to Lacey, her son and the father of her son, who also lived on the island. I was not curious about anything else on this idyllic island.

Skimming was the only viable option (sorry mom). I made it through. Lacey’s girlfriend had an accident and died (on the island). The news of Lacey’s son’s true maternity was exposed…no one was terribly upset by this news. The suspense part was tied up when it was revealed that the possessive grandmother figure was guilty of attempting to murder Lacey…to get her to leave the island. All of this was tied up pretty neatly.

I would say that if you are looking for a light summer read then I would agree that Whitney does write a decent novel. This one in particular would be best suited to a vacation on…an island.

I defend my decision to skim and I defend my decision to take a pass on any other Whitney novels. Twelve more stare back at me from the bookcase. I wanted to give her a second chance…but there are so many other books to read…and so little time.

Dear Diary...

This is my public service announcement – if you have ever written ANYTHING in a journal that you do not want someone to read someday, when you are dead and gone, then I suggest you step away from the computer…NOW…and grab the journal, rip out the pages, and destroy the pages. Because someday someone is going to be looking through your belongings and come across your journals…they are going to read them. I believe that if people want to read my journals once I am gone it really doesn’t matter to me. Anything that has happened to me has made me who I am…like it or lump it.

Along with books, my mom left behind a few journals. The journals detail her trips to South Africa, London, Cuba and a few personal journals. I found an entry in one journal that was particularly relevant to this blog and I would like to share it with you.

“While cleaning my bookcase I came across a few I had missed reading, my TBR pile grew slightly (To be read). The majority of my books are murder mysteries. I love the puzzle, the complex story. Some of my favourite authors have changed over the years. Agatha still is at the top, even though I recently had someone complain about her writing style. Apparently she is very slack, stating things like her heels clicked as she ran up the stairs. This person said of course our heels don’t click while going up stairs, I guess it depends how deep the stairs are, but really who cares the important thing is could the guilty party really have committed the crime in the manner described? Is it plausible? If not then that is not a good author, you can only have so many “dream” endings. That is an ending that is only possible if you allow for the help of supernatural or spiritual or alien or if part of it was a dream. This is a “trick” ending and won’t work over time. Some of my favourites are Elizabeth George, Sue Grafton, John Sandford, Johnathan and Faye Kellerman, Anne Perry, etc…I used to enjoy the English “cozy” mystery, like Agatha’s work. No real psychological twists or no descriptions of brutal crimes (although some of the murders were just as vicious as any written today), so not much blood and gore and the protagonists never were in danger (of any degree) and certainly were rarely, if ever attacked. Now my favourites describe fully the crime scene, the crime itself, (sometimes too clearly)and the main characters run around and are totally involved in chasing down the villain(s) many times putting their own lives on the line and suffering serious consequences for doing so. The heroes of these books are more open to us; they share their foibles, desires, shortcomings, etc with us at every turn. They are more like the fellow/girl next door, a friend or at least an acquaintance, and you feel they are vulnerable to errors and emotions just like yourself. They are more personable.” (Monday, Sept 10, 2001)

So, there it is…straight from the horse’s mouth. One year has passed (May 22nd) and I’m glad I can hear her voice saying those words. My TBR pile is pretty massive…but I’m getting there, one page at a time. Miss you Ma…everyday.