A bit of romance...

A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold was recommended to me when I was looking for Sci-fi Family Sagas. I was somewhat apprehensive about starting with the tenth book in a series, but I was told all her books were written as stand-alones. I had no trouble following the plot or the references to books I missed. I was fascinated by the world and characters, so I plan to read other Vorkosigan books soon. As much as I want to get the whole story on the previous book, maybe I should start from the beginning.

The second book recommended to me was Dignity by Eva Caye. I loved the premise of a scientist catching the heart of an emperor and the first few chapters really hooked me. However, halfway through I felt like I was getting a second-hand account of the story. I just couldn't feel the tension, even though there was plenty of conflict and plot. The resolutions seemed passive and too many scenes were summarized instead of shown. Maybe my problem was that I read A Civil Campaign first, and it's hard to compete with that.

For the opposite reason, I loved Defiance by C.J. Redwine. Even though the first book in the Curier's Daughter series had minimal plot, I was emotionally invested in the characters. Conflict and tension make for a great book.


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More birthday pages

Even though the party was for both boys, I gave each one a focus page. Bonus points for stamping on the layouts.

Echo Park A Perfect Summer papers; SRM sticker; Bella Blvd designer tape; Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and washi tape; Colorbox Blackbird ink;Doodlebug jewels; Sassafras Lass flower; BasicGrey fabric flower; unknown cardstock, chipboard, and buttons.

For this next page I mixed the Jillibean Soup Macho Nacho paper and die-cuts from the Card Kitchen June 2012 kit with the Apple Cheddar paper from the October 2011 kit.

Other: American Crafts ribbon; SU! Countless Sayings 2 stamp set and black embossing powder; Stazon black ink; Versamark embossing ink; Sakura black gel pen; Zig calligraphy marker; Ranger enamel accents; SRM stickers; WRMK Sew Easy piercer and variegated floss; unknown buttons, cardstocks, and corrugated paper.

Between the paper-pieced, heat-embossed title and the stitching, this second page took quite a while to put together...

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Birthday card

For this card I used Country Pumpkin Chowder paper and stickers from the Card Kitchen October 2012 kit.

Other: Jillibean Soup buttons, note card, and trim; Stampin' Up! Gorgeous grunge stamp set and Early Espresso embossing powder; Versamark ink.

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Birthday layout

I've been busy so my scrapbooking has fallen behind. It's now approaching the 3 year lag. At least I got the 2011 birthday layouts done before this year's birthdays roll around.

Jillibean Soup Macho Nacho papers and stickers, epoxy buttons and canvas stars from the Card Kitchen June 2012 kit. Other: Colorbok cardstock, unknown buttons and Star Wars confetti.

This was the party for which I made the lightsaber favors (here and here).

I have another 2 layouts finished, but I haven't been able to get good photos with all the rain we're getting.

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