The King's Grace

Title: The King's Grace

Author: Anne Easter Smith

Bought in April 2010
Started on December 9, 2011
Finished on January 20, 2012

Rating: 2 out 5

Summary: (from the book cover)
All that history knows of Grace Plantagenet is that she was an illegitimate daughter of Edward IV and one of two attendants aboard the funeral barge of his widowed queen. Thus, she was half sister of the famous young princes, who -- when this story begins in 1485 -- had been housed in the Tower by their uncle, Richard III, and are presumed dead.

But in the 1490s, a young man appears at the courts of Europe claiming to be Richard, duke of York, the younger of the boys, and seeking to claim his rightful throne from England's first Tudor king, Henry VII. But is this man who he says he is? Or is he Perkin Warbeck, a puppet of Margaret of York, duchess of Burgundy, who is determined to regain the crown for her York family? Grace Plantagenet finds herself in the midst of one of English history's greatest mysteries. If she can discover the fate of the princes and the true identity of Perkin Warbeck, perhaps she will find her own place in her family.

Favourite Quotes

"The lamb that belonged to the sheep whose skin the wolf was wearing began to follow the wolf in the sheep's clothing. - Aesop's fable" (Prologue, The Wolf and the Lamb)

"Love comes eventually, from respect and familiarity - most of the time.  You learn to love and count on each other." (pg 245)

 "Questions tripped off her tongue in quick succession like raindrops off a roof." (pg 247)

 "... she had buried her own needs and wants inside a beautiful and brave facade." (pg 267)

My Review
(updated January 24, 2012)

This is the third novel I've read by Anne Easter.  I enjoyed the previous ones a lot, especially The Rose for the Crown, her very first historical novel.  But this book is kind of a disappointment as I found it quite boring in the first half.

Easter used the letters between Perkin Warbeck and his aunt, Margaret of York, dowager duchess of Burgundy, to narrate the whereabouts of Perkin and some historical facts.  I found these letters too long and too many words and skipped them most of the time.  Although things do pick up in the second half, the ups and downs of the story are not as interesting as I expected. 

This is an OK book for me.

If this were the first book I'd read by this author, it would be most likely that I wouldn't buy another book by her.  But it turns out that I have all of her books on the book shelf.  The one that is still in the reading queue is her second novel - The Daughter of York - a story about Margaret of York.

Hello 2012

It's been a while since I shared anything here.  Thanks to Kathy for keeping this blog updated while I felt unmotivated and uninspired.  It's the beginning of a new year, and yet I'm still feeling unmotivated and uninspired.  Should I blame the flu that I had during the holiday season?  Maybe.  It felt like I'd been sick for the whole month of December.  And because of the sickness, I had to bail out of the parties to which I'd been looking forward for months!  I really had a hard time to stay home and missed all the fun with good friends.

Well, life does move on regardless of what I'm experiencing.  Goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012.  And it's time to think about things I should be doing (New Year Resolutions?) and focusing.

First things first ... believe it or not, sometimes my first priority goes to the Shoppe.  All Rebate Coupons have been sent, and the Shoppe clearance sale has started!  Then it's time to update this blog, therefore, here I am. :)

I didn't do any LOs during the month of December.  But I do have one to share with you today, which is one of my favourites so far.  It's Bo Bunny's Olivia line.

And I used the Kaisercraft's Magic Happens stamp set to create these leaves

and these beautiful swirls.

I did manage to start a December Daily album mainly using Authentique Paper's Wonder collection and Bo Bunny's Noel collection, both of which are on sale now at the Shoppe.  Both of them share the traditional red and green holiday colours, which allows me to mix and match to my heart's content. :)

But due to the crazy life in December, there was no way for me to do a page on a daily basis.  I'm still working on it but almost there. :)  For now, I can only share the cover with you

One of my friend asked me what 20 meant.  I said, "What 20?  It says 2011, not 20."  Then my friend laughed out so loud and said she thought the "11" were the feet of "20"!!  How creative my dear friend was!!!


Hopefully I can share this super thick album with you soon.  It's REALLY thick as I use chipboard as a base for each page.  Yep, it's the same chipboard I use for protecting the precious paper in your each order.  Then you may have a rough idea how thick this album can get - 25+ sheets of chipboard plus paper plus embellishments!!!

This year (oh, it's last year) I made boxes as Christmas gifts.  These boxes are so easy to make.  You can find an easy-to-follow tutorial HERE.  Lowri's blog is full of inspiration and lots of beyond-the-page tutorials.  These little boxes are great for small gifts, especially sweet treats.  I simply added a paper bow and two little tags to each one.

I used hot glue first to create a whole bunch of bows.  Then I used Glossy Accents to create this last bow, which I found much easier to manage, not to mention it's mess free.

Oh, in this picture I was just fooling around with my camera.  Love the effect.

These are larger boxes I made

Can you unscramble the word? :)  By the way, all these boxes were made using Crate Paper's Snow Days collection that is also on sale now at the Shoppe.

That's all from me today.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  Here is to wish you a very wonderful, happy, healthy and crafty New Year!!!!

hugs,
Yolanda

feeling good

(from Pinterest)

 This is exactly what I'm feeling right now!

Having great and strong purpose in one's heart matters a lot, at least to me.  It makes me feel right about life, right about what I'm experiencing (good or bad) and most importantly right about myself.  Sometimes life was so grey that doubts would be the only thing coming into my mind and covering my heart.  Doubts were very strong enemies that could kill one's heart and spirit.  Again I'd learned to step backward.  Stepping back (not forward) would help see things from different perspectives, making the heaviness go away.

Be easy on myself ... and others, especially the ones whom I love.

Things have started to fall back into the right track.

I'm living with purpose in my heart ... again ... feeling good.

These two little ones are the strongest glue in the world.

They can glue ANYTHING in my world, getting me back in control in my life.

Abby loves to put on her brother's clothing these days from head to toe.  Purple, pink, and dresses are her favourites, too!  She always makes my heart dance.  The gem in my world.

My sunshine.  Love his looks when he's playing Lego.

He'll be 5 1/2 in next January, and the Lego he's playing is supposed for 7 - 12 years old.  I'm always wondering what he will be when he grows up.  And I am constantly asking myself how I should guide this little guy correctly so that he grows up to be a good person.  For me being a good person is far more important than being a smart person.  He does make me worried a lot ... more than his sister.  But he does make me laugh a lot.  The sunshine in my world.

Another Lilac House Layout

As I promised last week, I'm here today to share a very girlie layout with you using the Lilac House collection by Fancy Pants.  Several techniques were used to create this layout, and I felt like it took me forever to finish it!

Here it is ~~

Again, there is no title here.  Does it need one?  Everything you see here is from the Lilac House collection except the pearls, the stamps and the big frame.

I created this frame from this die-cut paper of the Hocus Pocus collection by Pink Paislee.

I had the inner part of the paper cut out and then misted it with some Glimmer Mist.  The colour turned out to be a bit darker than what I wanted.  When I'd realized this, it was too late to do anything to "correct" it ... well, it looks OK to me at the end though.

I used some Tim Holtz's stamps to make the background a bit more interesting.  Love the birdie, the flourishes, the chandelier, the little crown and the butterflies.

At the corner, I used distressed ink and a butterfly screen to create this

The little frame is Kaisercraft's.  You know how I adore their wood flourishes products.  I painted it with crackle paint first.  Then I sprayed the Glimmer Mist in a baby wipe, and I wiped the painted frame with the baby wipe.  I saw this kind of technique somewhere on the web.  The result is a soft watercolour effect.  Pretty cool, right?

See how the colour highlights the cracks on the frame?  Love it!  I even stamped the frame to make it more beautiful. :) :)  Really love how this frame has turned out.

Then it's the flowers ... all are handmade by me, inspired by the very talented Ms. Lisa :)  Inspiration is all over her blog!  She's got lots of easy-to-follow tutorials of flower making.

Here is the close-up of the rose bud centre ~~

I love making this little roses.  They are super easy to make yet very pretty and cute to look at. :)  A flower punch (5 petals), a piece of tool to shape the petals (the end of a small brush will do) and some quick dry glue are all you need to make this rose bud..  Here is the close-up for another flower cluster ... some quick handmade ones though ~~

Here is the whole layout again~~

This is definitely one of my favourites.  Thank you so much for stopping by!  Have a great night!

hugs,
Yolanda

Saving Fish From Drowning

Title: Saving Fish From Drowning

Author: Amy Tan

Bought in June 2011
Started on November 19, 2011
Finished on December 6, 2011

Rating: 2 out of 5

Summary: (from the book cover)
San Francisco art patron Bibi Chen has planned a journey of the senses along the famed Burma Road for eleven lucky friends. But after her mysterious death, Bibi watches aghast from her ghostly perch as the travelers veer off her itinerary and embark on a trail paved with cultural gaffes and tribal curses, Buddhist illusions and romantic desires. On Christmas morning, the tourists cruise across a misty lake and disappear.

With picaresque characters and mesmerizing imagery, Saving Fish from Drowning gives us a voice as idiosyncratic, sharp, and affectionate as the mothers of The Joy Luck Club. Bibi is the observant eye of human nature–the witness of good intentions and bad outcomes, of desperate souls and those who wish to save them. In the end, Tan takes her readers to that place in their own heart where hope is found.

Favourite Quotes

“From what I have observed, when the anesthesia of love wears off, there is always the pain of consequences. You don't have to be stupid to marry the wrong man.”(pg 15)

 “I hid my deepest feelings so well I forgot where I placed them.” (pg 30)

"A mother is the one who fills your heart in the first place.  She teaches you the nature of happiness: what is the right amount, what is too much, and the kind that makes you want more of what is bad for you.  A mother helps her baby flex her first feelings of pleasure.  She teaches her when to later exercise restraint, or to take squealing joy in recognizing the fluttering leaves of the gingko tree, to sense a quieter but more profound satisfaction in chancing upon an everlasting pine.  A mother enables you to realize that there are different levels of beauty, and therein lie the sources of pleasure, some of which are popular and ordinary, and thus of brief value, and others of which are difficult and rare, and hence worth pursuing." (pg 30-31)

"Just saying we should be aware of the consequences.  You can't have intentions without consequences.  The question is, who pays for the consequences?  Saving fish from drowning.  Same thing.  Who's saved?  Who's not?" (pg 163)

"You remember only what you want to remember. You know only what your heart allows you to know."

 "Without expectations, they no longer had to face disappointment.  Without disappointment, they were often surprised at finding what they had failed to find in the past." (pg 455)

My Review
(updated January 5, 2012)

The book is an OK for me.  In this book Tan shifted her focus on human nature and relationships to political adventure.  I'm not a person who likes to talk about politics, and maybe this is the reason I don't find this book as interesting as I expected.

Yet, Tan still did a great job of telling stories about relationships.  I especially like the one she wrote about Roxanne and Dwight who had married for years, divorced peacefully and then found some kind of new feelings towards each other after their first baby was born.  "Now she had come to know him better in a few months than she had in ten years.  And she admired him.  She still had an affection for him.  It was not love, but there was trust in the mix, comfort too, in knowing he did not think less of her for being needy.  So what was her feelings for him called?" (pg 457)