Jan Book Giveaway Winner...

Since I only had one person interested in this book by default Starwood Quilter won the Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini. Congratulations! I will be emailing you in order to send out the book. If anyone is interested for what book was selected for Feb check out the book giveaway tab.

First 2013 WIPocalypse post...

Let me introduce myself just in case you have never read my blog. I am a housewife and college student. I enjoy cross stitching, hand quilting, crocheting, tatting, and reading. I want to also try bobbin lace.  I hope to be able to accomplish quite a bit for this year's challenge. If you want to join follow this link. Most of the items I will be working on I had originally planned on doing last year. I was never able to start them. Below is the only one that I was able to start. It will be a gift for my sister.

This is how it will eventually look like:

Here are my other projects, most of them will be gifts. I may add a few more to the list later.

A Season for Tending review..

I finished reading A Season for Tending by Cindy Woodsmall. This is my second review for my outdo yourself reading challenge. I have read books by Cindy Woodsmall before and am a huge fan of amish books. The main character in this book is Rhoda who  is a young amish women who lives with her parents and siblings (along with sister in laws and neices/nephews). She loves to have a garden and help people with her herbs. However, she has a unique gift that make some Englischer's and amish alike afraid of her. She ends up meeting Samuel King who along with his family own King's Apple Orchards. You actually find out more and feel more connected to Samuel's family, and his girlfriend Catherine than Rhoda's family (they are more in the back ground). I do wish that there was more in depth characters in Rhoda's family. At first I wasn't too much of a fan of Leah, Samuel's sister, but she grew on me. I never did care for Catherine's character and am still leery of her. There are a few secrets that several characters have, some you find out and others you don't find out everything. I can't wait for the second book in the series to see what will occur. I give this book 4 out of 5.

Blogging for books....

If you like books from waterbrook multnomah publishers check out their program in which you can place reviews for books or ebooks. I will be reviewing Christmas in Apple Ridge by Cindy Woodsmall later on.

Sign up here if you are interested in reviewing books!

Feb. book giveaway

Here is the book I have chosen for Feb to be given away. Drawing will be on Feb. 28th. I haven't read this book but have an extra copy of The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue. In order to get a copy here are the rules:

• Only US residents only, sorry the shipping cost is expensive
• Leave a comment
• Winner chosen by random.org

 

Library books...

I couldn't wait to check these two  books out at the library when I saw them. The first book called A Secret Gift by Ted Gup is based on the author finding letters that his grandfather had from the great depression. His grandfather had put out a ad saying that he would give $10 to people who wrote to him and telling him why they needed the money. The author then tries to find the family members who received his grandfather's gift to see how it effected their lives.

Former  People: The final days of the Russian Aristocracy by Douglas Smith is about the nobility during and after the fall of the Tsar. We all know what happened to the Tsar himself and his family but what about all of the smaller and other major players? This book will tell some of their stories. It appears some of them were executed, others sentenced to the gulags, became "enemies of the state" and others fled.

I will be reviewing both of these books once I am finished reading them. Can't wait to get started! What books are you wanting to start read? Read any good books lately?

Ivanhoe Review....

I have never read anything by Sir Walter Scott before.  I vaguely knew  a little bit about this classic book, that it took place during the 12th century in England. During this time the ruler was Prince John (while his brother King Richard was away), of course if this reminds anyone of then Robin Hood (how can it not with the saying the name of Prince John?), combine all of that with a few damsels and Knights is the main setting of the tale. Ivanhoe has just returned from fighting in the Crusades and wants to marry his beloved, Rowena. There is opposition to this and even to who Ivanhoe represents for other people. This book is rampant with the distrust of several groups against each other and even within them; saxons, normans, knights or common people, templars, holy orders, christians, muslims, jews, unbelievers, etc. It brings to mind of the injustices, superstition, and corruption done in history, especially during this lawless time in the medieval era. It was a wonderul read, and I can only say that I am disappointed in not knowing more detail of what happened afterwards to a few characters. I rate this a 4.5 out of 5. The first 100+ is mostly about the history and setting of this story, which some may feel drags on or is boring. I actually enjoyed this part, but I am a huge fan of reading history. After this the characters are talked more of and we are then introduced to more as well, the issue with that is it is harder to remember who was who. The version I had consisted of thee's and thou's among other type of old English language, so just be prepared for that (maybe there are versions without it?).

The version I had also had an index which helped. This is my fourth book review for the classics club and the first for outdo yourself reading challenge as well as my first review for historical fiction reading challenge.  The next book up to read is Oliver Twist.

Book Club selection....

The book club that I beong a member has chosen for us to read The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. It seems pretty interesting. Per Goodreads the premise of the book is about a couple who have not been able to successfully have children. The husband was a fighter during WWII but is now the lighthouse keeper with his wife. On day a boat washes up with a dead man and a baby. It has won a 2012 Goodreads Choice award. I can't wait to start reading it.

Slow Cooker Recipes.....

I love to use the slow cooker, and will probably be using quite a bit in the next few weeks. It is great when our schedule is really busy to come home to an already cooked meal. Most of my recipes that I have are either soups or for turkey. I need to find more recipes though, but get a lot of mine from Taste of Home. I will be making a sweet sausage n beans type meal for tonight.  Here is the link for the recipe. You can't see it in the picture but the recipe does have more carrots, onions and french beans in it.  Do you all have any slow cooker recipes to share?

Dirty God Book Review

I finished reading Dirty God: Jesus in the Trenches by Johnnie Moore. I was given a copy of this book free from the publisher by BookSneeze, and am in no way obligated to give a positive review. These opinions I express are my own. This book is about Grace, and follows the author around the world where he talks about Grace and in some cases other religions. I didn't reallly think the part of him talking about the other religions added to his topic that much (it just seemed to be added as an afterthought in my opinion, and I was unsure about his views towards other religions). I really enjoyed this book though, the first part of the book is about getting grace was a little long. The second part of the book consists of giving grace to others, which I really enjoyed reading about. I did wish the book was a little more in depth or that there was a sequel. I may not agree with every opinion this author had but it did make me think about things that I sometimes had never thought of and at least see anothers view (others may have found the same but I think it is a book that a believer especially a new one may enjoy). I am giving this book 4 out of 5.

 

Jan. Making A Difference Challenge Check-In

Previously I had several ideas of what to do for the first month of Making A Difference challenge; make a small quilt, donate money..then as I started to look around the house I noticed there was a lot of items I cannot wear or use anymore. Normally I am not one to do the whole spring cleaning thing, however I thought now is better a time as any. So I have went through a few of my clothes (still have more to do) and Mr.Crafts4others will be including some of his as well. All of the clothes will be given to a small non-profit that has a food pantry, women's shelter, emergency homeless shelter, and a thrift store.

If you want to join the Making A Difference Challenge every month or once every few months post on the 15th of the month on your blog and then once I have posted Mister Linky, add yours to the list of participates (either talking or showing items you have donated, something you made or even if you just donated money to a certain organization/friend, etc that needed it). If you are donating or giving money to a organization and they have a website please post their information in your blog post. Perhaps others will see an organization and then want to donate as well.

Period Drama Challenge!!

Over at Old-Fashioned Charm blog they are having a Period Drama challenge. I will be reviewing anywhere from 12-15 period dramas. I love period dramas, and will be combining this will my classics club challenge. My original idea was to watch any film that was based off classic books that I read. So you will get to see my book and then film review.   Here are just a few of the films I will be reviewing for the Period Drama Challenge. I might end up changing these around or adding others instead.

1. Ivanhoe
2. Oliver Twist
3. A Little Princess
4. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
5. Germinal
6. Treasure Island
7. Kidnapped
8. Jane Eyre
9. Wives & Daughters
10. Grapes of Wrath
11. Othello
12. The Prince & the Pauper
13. Lord Jim
14. The Secret Garden
15. Little Women

If you want to join me, click on the button below!

Book Giveaway

I will be doing a  book giveaway for The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini. The edition I have is paperback and brand new.


Rules:

• Address must be in the U.S. (sorry this is due to shipping costs)
• Must be a reader of my blog
• Leave a comment to enter the giveaway
• Winner is drawn on Jan. 31st, decided by random.org

Results of Classic Club Readathon....

This was the end result of the 24 hour Classic Club Readathon for me.

What book(s) did you read during the event?
I read Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

What book(s) did you finish?
My original goal was to either get halfway or finish. I was not able to accomplish this as I was not feeling well. However, I did get to read about 115 pages.

What did you like about our event?
I enjoyed seeing what others were reading and spending time with a good book.

Do you have suggestions for future Readathons through The Classics Club?
Perhaps it should be for the whole weekend

Would you participate in future Readathons?
Yes I would.

Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge

I saw this challenge over at Austenprose blog, and couldn't pass it up for several reasons. I have a lot of Jane Austen's books on my Classic Club readers, and I had already planned on watching ANY movie that is based on books I read from my classic club list. I have seen and own a few movies based on Jane Austen's works, but GASP I have never read any of her books before. Plus I already own most of the books, but just never gotten around to reading them. So good as time as any to start. My challenge for this though will be short, since I am unsure about how my schedule will be for this year. My level of participation will be Neophyte: 1 – 4 selections. I won't but any time constraints on my list, just that I want to have them completed by the end of the year.

• Read & watch Pride and Prejudice (I have the Colin Firth version)
• Read Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange

I think this will be the last of the challenges this year at least for reading. Use the sidebar button to join in on the fun!

Classics Club Readathon Today!

It is The Classics Club Readathon today, here are my answers to a few questions posed over on the Classics Club blog.

Name and Blog: Crafts4others

Snacks and Beverages of Choice: tea, water and perhaps some coffee. I previously didn't think too much about snacks.

Where are you reading from today? at home snuggled with a nice paperback book.

What are your goals for the Readathon?  I hope to either get halfway through or even finish one or two books.

What book(s) are you planning on reading? Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott and perhaps Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Are you excited? Yes, although I haven't been feeling good today so hopefully that will change soon, so I will be able to accomplish my goals.

If you want to feel out the survery or participate in the readathon follow this link.

New Year and Challenge Update...

Happy New Year everyone! I have decided to change a few things in the Making A Difference Challenge 2013;

• You can include helping friends and family in this challenge, after all they sometimes need it as well as charities.
• Post on your blog on the 15th of the month, you can do the challenge every month or whenever you are able during 2013.
• If you cannot make something or donate money, you can also donate items as well.
• If you are able post a link to the website of the charity you are helping. Look for my post on the Jan. 15th and use Mr.Linky to post your link!