Upcycling Book Crafts from an un-crafty me

I am not much of a scrapbooker or crafter.  But every now and then I get the urge to create something with my hands.

My fourteen-year-old sister is at the Wyoming state county fair this week, showing her lambs.  I found a retro children's book called Frisky at the Fair and immediately thought about the cool upcycling books that I've seen around.

I've taken apart the book and cleaned it up a bit, inserted scrapbook pages to hold photos of my sister at fairs with her lambs and created some neato envelopes to glue inside.  Now I just need to get ahold of some recycled blank paper to put in-between the original story pages.  I'll have it bound and my sister will have one of the only crafty things I've ever made as a keepsake.

I'm entering this craft into a giveaway from a friend I know from high school.  Head on over and check out Candice's Artsy Challenge. She's way more artsy than I!

Whitney Awards Announced

The Whitney Awards Finalists for 2011 have been announced.  Check it out here.
Two of the books on the list I reviewed:  Imprints by Rachel Ann Nunes, The Scorch Trials by James Dasher
So many of the others are on my to-read list.
Congrats to the finalists!

Mirror, mirror on the wall, I am my mother after all.

My mother used to purchase books for peoples' birthdays, and as a kid I thought that was super boring.  Well, what do you suppose I got myself with birthday money(from my mom)?  Books! 

Yes, I admit it.  I am officially a book nerd.  You know you are addicted when your husband says to you, "Maybe you should stop reading so much and do something else."

I love Little Women and Anne of Green Gables and for some reason, holding a well-loved copy and reading snippets from them makes me happy.

 I also treated myself to Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul to inspire me in my attempt to write a children's picture book.