Tuesday, November 8, 2011

HYCCT Faves

Edited to add: I am a bit behind in my email, and I just read the update that Katie Renz (of the "Swimming for Katie" blog hop) passed away yesterday morning.  Such horrible news.  When will cancer stop stealing people away when they are needed here? 
The donation link on my sidebar and the fundraising items at i {heart} papers are still live-all the information is here. 
Sympathy cards can be sent to:
The Renz Family
PO Box 5913
Bellingham, WA 98227-5913

For the extra cruel twist that cancer likes to throw in, all of Katie's boys will be having birthdays soon: the twins, Nate and Will, will be turning 6 on Nov. 19th and Hunter will be 12 on Dec. 1.  Her husband Kevin's birthday is November 17.  It has been suggested that we try to shower them with cards, just like Katie would do, so if you are so inclined, maybe you have an extra birtday card you could drop in the mail. Now that y'all have piles of kleenex in front of your monitor, I'll return to my original post: 
 
As promised, here are a few of my HYCCT favorites.  The theme for today is "friends are fabulous."
Angela of The Paper Cupboard sent me this fantastic stamp for my birthday. For some reason she thinks I have some sort of "keep calm" obsession.  Ok, so maybe I do have a wee bit of an obsession, and that was before I stamped it in pink.  Love!  The background paper is from the old Amuse website.  The new paper is reversed (pink on white) and I must admit I don't like it as much as the solid color.  A little bit of twine from my pal Emily of Art from the Heart was the perfect touch!

Ang was also kind enough to share one her recent prize packages that included some Anna Griffin stickers and papers.  I have three words for you: FUZZY.  PINK.  HOUNDSTOOTH.  (except blogger is telling me it should be hounds tooth so I guess that would be four words, but I don't think I agree with blogger.  SO THERE!)

Book Report Time!

Book #42: The best thing I can say about this book is that it was the first book I borrowed from my local library on my Kindle!  I really thought it might go somewhere, but it didn't.  Or maybe it did go somewhere and I didn't follow it. Either way, I'm not getting anywhere.  Amazon Link
Book #43: First of all, this book is about Stiltsville (a town in Florida made up of houses on stilts surround by water) in only the most tangential way.  I was really intrigued in how one would live on a house on the water (even if it was fiction).  Second of all, not only was there minimal talk of water houses, instead it turned out to be a (spoiler warning!)  HIP!!!  (Husband in Peril, not to be confused with PIP [pet/pregnancy/parent in peril]).  I can understand how someone would like this book, but it wasn't a subject matter I needed to be reading about at this time.   Amazon Link
Book #44: FINALLY!  I think it's been at least five books since I've had one that I would actually recommend, and recommend this one I will (says yoda).  I like Bill Bryson (loved A Short History of Nearly Everything) and this book was such a treat to read!  Every page had some interesting nugget of information I was sharing with Mr Corgi.  Plus a book that you can pick up any page at any time (although I recommend them in sequential order in the evening during a hot bath) with many discussions about word origins and the British!  What more could a gal ask for?  Amazon Link

Right now I'm on page 400 of The Passage, which means I'm....halfway through.  I've gotten two good reviews of it and enjoyed most of the first half, but it's slowed down quite a bit and I'm still not sure I want to dedicate another week of my life to second half.  Decisions, decisions....

9 comments:

Lindsey said...

Books first: I will confess to loving The Passage. It picks up again, don't worry. And has quite the ending.
Cards second: Wow and wow. The patterned papers on each one are perfect. (Ooh, I have some of that houndstooth from Ang, too! And somehow, she knew to send the dog stickers to you and the cats to me!) Yes, that first card is awesome in pink. Oh wait, so is the second one!

Jessi Fogan said...

I love both cards - I do covet that houndstooth. I have some fuzzy polka dots, and I think I'll go play with that :)
I'm with you on avoiding the AIP book right now - (anyone in peril) - although unfortunately most of my library holds have that in common, so many are going back unread. Oh well.
Right now I'm reading the Sookie Stackhouse companion book. Since I recently watched the first season of True Blood I thought I'd catch up. No thinking in particular needed, and presto!, that's right where I am just now! lol

Emily Leiphart said...

I didn't know Katie but I cried when I read of her passing. Very sad indeed.

Meg, your cards are beautiful (you use pink so well) and I'm delighted that you are sending so much happiness to the patients at MD Anderson. You go, girl!! You have such a big heart and it's only one of the reasons why I love you.

Thanks for the book reviews! Off to check 'em out.

Emily Keaton said...

Meg, these cards are beautiful! I can see why these were your favorites. I'm loving the pink, and these are going to mean so much to patients at MD Anderson. Yay for you!

Anonymous said...

Rock on with your calm self. LOVE both these cards.

Maria@Crafty Cre8tions said...

Gotta say I love the 2nd card!!!!! You know I love all your creations but some just are my favs!!!

Thanks for the book reviews again! I have a few written down that you suggested.

Going on vacation in a week and I have a lot of books to bring with me!!

Maria

Angela said...

I was sad to hear about Katie, though I didn't know her, but I was also so happy to see how the crafty community has been supporting her and her family. I guess we're a pretty nice bunch.

Speaking of nice, thanks for the shout-outs -- I love what you've made with your goodies! I was stumped on a lot of the Anna Griffin stuff, but you've given me some great ideas. Love all the pink!

Thanks for being part of the nice bunch. ;)

Jocelyn Olson said...

I didn't know Katie before the Swimming for Katie, but reading her blog was really sad but inspiring. She seemed like such a strong person....it's so sad she's gone.

I love your cards and all the pink goodness. The dog is so cool! I'm loving the houndstooth. BTW, why does Blogger give weird spelling suggestions? Hmmm...

Jen W. said...

Don't give up on The Passage! And I think it's high time I read some Bill Bryson books. Any recs for the best one to start with?
Love that pink houndstooth and the adorable pooch!