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FINITO!

I FINISHED!  Yes, I officially have finished the whole darn Potter series!  J.K. Rowling is amazing, her brain is a work of art, it should be kept at the Smithsonian when she expires.  I love creative people, really creative people, not Jackson Pollack creative, I mean I like the name Jackson, so his parents must of been creative but come on now, please..If you should be living under a rock or someplace where they never exposed you to Mr. Pollack this is his work:

Okay, enough said, back to J.K--Brilliant!  The books were anything but a children's story, they were suspenseful and filled with great  characters so well developed there could be off shoot stories on any of them.  I cried my eyes out several times (I can't remember the last time a book has brought me to tears).  They were great.  I am in awe of any writer that could make a whole generation of children eager to open a book and use their imaginations, it is quite an impressive feat with all the other external stimuli out there.  Does it deserve to be the third most read book of all time?  Hmmm? I don't know about that but if you have the desire to check out for a little while into a magical  place than I highly recommend the series.

Here's some great quotes to prove my point that this isn't just for the kiddo's and that Ms. Rowling has a way with words...

"Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them."

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

"In fact, being - forgive me - rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger."

"After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. "

"It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. "

SLIM A MEMOIR...

I mentioned my Amazon selling frenzy a couple weeks back, I am starting to get books in and want to take this time to review my bounty.  I did get A LOT of craft books and I promise to let you know which ones I thought were genius and which ones I put back on the auction block.  The book Slim by designer Cynthia Rowley caught my eye awhile ago. I am a sucker for effortless watercolor, love the Daily Candy watercolor artwork:

So when I flipped through Ms. Rowley's book my mouth was watering.  Let me preface this by saying I bought it specifically for the pictures, the actual story is odd in an odd way, but hey maybe I just didn't get it. If you like pretty watercolor (my next skill I want to obtain) than you will enjoy the book, the best part, I got it for a mere $3's, it looks so pretty on my night stand...

You can pick up your copy here.

SHOPPING SPREE!

Confession..I have been on a shopping spree of epic proportions, shhh, don't tell my Fancy!  Nope, I didn't come into an inheritance, win the Lotto, or have decided that my credit card needed some exercise.  I have a little secret to share, no, no, nothing illegal.  Maybe, you know about this already, if so, just skip this, but if not I will share...

About a year ago when my mom was moving we had a little yard sale and I brought out all the books.  This neighborhood girl came by and promptly offered me $20 for the whole lot, I said sure take as many as you like.  My mom then preceded to inform me that the girl makes a fortune on Amazon, she sells her books.  Really?  'Oooh ya, sheee goes to all thee jhard zales in theee arhea ahnd buys bookz for cheeep ahnd rezells theem ahnd does reelly whell.'  I wasn't sure my mom had this story quite right, she tends to embellish and also get the facts all off.  I figured it must be like Ebay, which is still foreign to me, in which case I didn't have an interest.  "Noooh, es eeeezeee," my mom explained in her thick Latin accent.

In a fit of curiosity, when I got home I looked up Amazon.com and details of opening a Seller account. It was really easy and I promptly went to my bookshelf and made a pile of books that I didn't mind giving up.  A lot were reads that I would be embarrassed to have out in the open on my book shelf--Chick Lit from airport gift shops and the like.  I started selling immediately.  It wasn't piles of dough but $40 here, $50 dollars there.  I decided instead of getting money transferred into my bank account I was going to get an automatic gift card.  After a while I slowly let the balance grow and this weekend I just "shopped" like a wild banshee!  I've listed some of the books and when I get them I will let you know if it was worth it or if I'll be selling again!

So this is what I bought:

You know I have got to support 'mom'.

I mainly picked this because the description reads that it has patterns for a bench seat and I have been wanting to create a window/bench seating area somewhere in my world..

What?  Is it weird to be thinking about Christmas in April?

The description read 'for the fabric obsessed', check, that would be moi....

Hey, I was on a crafty roll...

Amy Butler, fabric designer extraordinaire, tells her story of going from corporate America to queen of textiles.  I figured  it can't hurt, might help...

I am going to be a wife soon, I should be prepared for the occasional get together, no?

This is supposed to have a KILLER mac + cheese recipe.

There were a few others, but I am having amnesia from the whirlwind shopping and I guess I will have to be pleasantly surprised when they arrive.  I highly recommend getting yourself a Seller's account at Amazon, it's free and it's fun AND I don't think you have to spend your certificate on books, I think you can buy anything they sell, which from what I can tell is pretty much anything and everything...

I'M JUST WILD ABOUT HARRY...

I had mentioned briefly before that I started reading the Harry Potter series, yeah, it seemed a little lame for me to want to, but I just couldn't get it out of my head, I wanted to see if it was hype or really had merit to be the third or fourth most widely read book of all time (the bible being first, and Mao's autobiography 2nd).  For anyone with any desire to do something completely different from what you are currently doing, JK Rowlings story should prove to be pure inspiration, it really is quite Cinderella like, a single mother on the dole, writes a book that starts a sensation like no other before or since.  Kids actually lining up to read?  From a branding/marketing interest, I had to know...For curiosity sake, I had to take the plunge.  I am so glad I did, as I had nothing to do for nearly 3 weeks, I read when my head could hold up and drooling was at a minimum. The stories I might add are gloriously creative and yet feel familiar.  I am in such admiration for Ms. Rowlings imagination, it makes me want to try to be that much more creative myself.  If you have any aspiration to be a successful writer it wouldn't hurt to read the Harry Potter series, they are pretty delightful and this is saying something from someone whom tends to read non-fiction.

FLORENCE BROADHURST

Those sages, known as 'they' say that you can't tell a book by it's cover, well I am here to blow that myth right out of the water.  This here book about Florence Broadhurst is just as decadent on the inside as it is on the outside.  You don't need to know who Miss Broadhurst is (she built a very hip wallpaper empire in the 70's) but the story should inspire you nonetheless.  She started this empire in her 50's (and some same older). A chameleon maybe a little bit of a white liar but she certainly was no slacker.  For those of you that think you are too  'old' to start something new, this should make you re-think your stinkin' thinking...

DYSFUNCTION JUNCTION...

If you think your family is weird, or odd or perhaps even dysfunctional, this book has got to Johnny one-up you and make your family look like the Brady's.  I always thought my mom was a little wacky, okay, a lot wacky.  Growing up with her was like living with a little Evita Peron, she was a lavish, Latin dictator, the only difference is she dressed like Cher, talk about embarrassing!  Isn't that enough to be considered torture?  I call my mom 'Marie', well you wouldn't call your plumber doctor would you?  I rest my case...No, actually she has become quite a different woman in her older age and my Fancy just loves her in fact everyone does, she has that Jim Jones quality, she could have founded her own cult but instead she decided to just make me bananas.  I digress, so I pick up this book 'Son of a Grifter' and there was hardly any second reading it that I didn't thank my lucky stars that this woman Sante Kimes wasn't related to me or worse my mom.  If for one second you think you had it bad, this may just make you revisit your childhood and re-evaluate the situation.  I have and I love my Mommy...

You can pick it up here.

"DAHL-ING.."

    I just finished the Harry Potter book, the first one-- the Sorcerers Stone.  Yes, it was exciting and yes, I agree JK Rowling  has  a ton of talent BUT what I can't figure out is the phenomena.  I was in marketing/branding for many moons and the Potter hysteria is something that impresses me to no end.  I LOVE that she got kids to read, I LOVE it, really I do.  What I am having problems with is why wasn't Roald Dahl welcomed with this Beatlemania fervor?  The book to the left is part of my Top 10 list.  I first read it when I was 12 and 26 years later it still is relevant.  It is engrossing, smart and above all imaginative.  I started re-reading last night and 6 pages in I was brought to tears--that touching.  I am not one to be emotional although I do have a propensity to guffaw, yes, guffaw, not giggle, lady-like laughter, but side-splitting, rib breaking, laughter.  I can't help it and I never know what will trigger it(people dancing funny is one trigger)--I digress... 
    If you like to read, this is a book that should be in your arsenal, if you have kids, this is a great book to read them (a lot less scary than the Potter series, sheesh, I would have slept with the light on into my late 20's if I was a kid when HP came out)  Isn't that what a good book is supposed to do?  Incite a reaction/emotion good or bad?   
    Back to 'Sugar'--I would love to be in charge of re-releasing the 'The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six more'.  First of all I think the branding is all off, even though the Illustrator Quentin Blake is one of my very favourite (I prefer the queens English, I am effected just like Madonna).   I would market it to Peter Pan types, but I would make it a leather bound edition with debossed gold foil lettering and gold leafed pages.  It's such a special book it shouldn't be in paperback, it should feel special, come in a crate or something exotic, a faux shageen box perhaps?   I think everyone should have series of leather-bound or 'pleather'-bound editions in their home library and this my friends should be one of them. 

HOW TO BUILD YOUR EMPIRE..

    Oh how I wish I could navigate my blog like all the other blogettes out there...Sigh, if you haven't noticed yet I am missing quite a few images which pisses me off to no end (this my friends is very hard to do).  Also I have 7, yes '7' comments and I don't know how to add my own little witty repertoire to them...I am not ignoring you, I am just a little slow (so it seems)...For those of you that are more visual learners I did find some links for video tutorials for this blasted typepad! 

    On another note, I was asked the other day about how to start a stationery company.******GASP******-- people are actually looking to moi for information about this?  How very exciting!  I am the last person to give advice on something that I no nothing about (I am on a wing and prayer mode) but I did run across a couple of informative leads that may be of service to all those creative people that are interested.  I picked up a copy of Craft Inc. 
It's written very well, it answers a lot of the basics and bonus it looks good as well in your library!       
    I ran across this blog (info on a craft business) in an attempt to find something else, I love the serendipity of web searches you never know what perfect information you'll find, it's like informational roulette.
The Paper Peeps forum, run by Dawn Viola is quite fun to learn more about the paper biz, it's designed beautifully, which is a plus for people like myself that are easily swayed/distracted by visual stimuli. Plus Dawn offers very nicely priced consulting which is great if you can afford and want more one-on-one treatment. Also, I found this seemingly bit of random info, how to say 'Welcome' in many languages, I don't know why it came up in my search but I will be using it for the new improved Bella Bella co. website which is starting to feel like Sistine chapels challenging, but then again, it seems I am a little slower than the other kids, so cross your fingers that I can get through this process before there's web 5.0, or whatever...