#Libfaves15 starts today!

Librarians all over are posting their top 10 books starting today!

#10 - The Dress Shop of Dreams
Coincidentally, this book was my pick that landed me a spot on Library Reads January 2015

A sweet story about Etta, a seamstress who sews a little magic onto her customers' clothes in the hope that the wearer will find love/happiness. Her granddaughter, Cora is the love interest of Walt - a sweet man pining for her for ages. When Cora finally realizes that Walt is truly her love, readers would have to find out if she has lost her chance to be with him or would her grandmother's touch give her a chance to find true love.

Librarians, share your best book picks of 2015 on Twitter using the hashtag #libfaves15, TITLE in caps. One book per day from 12/7 to 12/16. Then head out to Earlyword to see which one is voted #1 by librarians at the end of the period.

See you on Twitter!

New Order Book: I need this!

Today is Cyber Monday and normally, I would be up at the crack of dawn looking at Lightning Deals. However, today I am basking at the organized chaos that I was able to corral last night thanks to an ARC that Penguin Random House sent me over the weekend.

I seem to be the person who is perpetually tidying up. With kids to raise and a household to run, it's pretty much the bulk of my mommy duties. Wolf has written a book that is like a helpful nudge spiced up with some "go girl (or guy) remarks" that creates a more relaxed attack of clutter. 

I have banished from my mind that other people don't have the same heartache that I do. I have let go à la Elsa all crazy notion that my house should look HGTV-magazine-ready at all times. I am also resigned to the fact that I.Will.Always.Clean. Not too much of a downer isn't it?

I was still able to glean precious nuggets of decluttering wisdom from this book despite the numerous organizing books in the market already. Wolf makes it fun and easygoing - she reminds us that stuff is just stuff without glossing over it too much (it's okay, we have stuff but don't sing kumbaya or anything!). I particularly loved her suggestion that containers should not have any lids. And the labeling format where all the tabs are off to one side (good!) versus a stair format (bad!). Eureka! Easy reading and still a good addition to the decluttering drama of people's lives. 

I love books like this as a reminder that clutter exists because of stuff. And that the Creative Fairy doesn't like to touch down and scatter fairy dust in an already dirt dusty home with nary an empty desk/open space in sight. 

My ARC didn't come in this rainbow cover of loveliness, so I will have to purchase my own copy. Now...to find a way to store my copy....

*Penguin Random House did not compensate me to write this review; it is provided directly out of the goodness of my librarian heart. The book comes out in January!

A few deals that I'm excited about

So not to be a hypocrite, but there are some deals that I do look forward to. One is the easy referral coupon for lovely stuff. Which stuff? Planners. Inkwell Press wowed me with their paper and their simple approach to organizing your day. Pic from Inkwell Press

So for 2016, if you want a stylish planner with pretty colors and thick paper, here's a code for you (no spamming I promise): get $10 off your $50 purchase with no expiration date. 

Then for craft stuff, there's so much here for all crafters/paper lovers:

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza - it opens a PDF of some great items up to 50% off. 

And for some lovely #fridayreads reading, I heartily recommend "The Portable Veblen" - a quirky novel full of squirrels, impending marriage woes, a spirited and eccentric heroine with a very enjoyable story. Coming in January from Penguin. 

**Disclosure, I am a demonstrator for Stampin' Up so I will get a small commission from your purchase. The referral for Inkwell Press will give me some points that I can exchange for a coupon. 

Deals! Deals!

Caught your eye on the deals part right? Well, it's actually the opposite. I went to Target yesterday and the retailer is already prepping for holiday shoppers. I was there to look for nothing in particular, maybe some soap. A saleslady approaches me and tells me about their app called Cartwheel. I fish out my old iPhone 4 and surprise! The app doesn't want to load on an old device. Boo hoo to me.
It's a good thing since I wasn't even supposed to buy anything, let alone a Monster High Doll that was 50% off. Anyway, the point is, there's a lot of stuff out there that are not needed, but they looked appealing because of the discount.

Here's a story on USA Today that even suggests that Black Friday deals aren't all that in the first place. Well, this rant is really about not splurging on stuff that looks appealing at first, but doesn't really seem like a good idea. By the way, I'm not getting rid of my 3G iPhone 4 because it only costs me $80 a year to keep it running. I am on a prepaid plan. I don't use my phone much: I use the wifi a lot to send text messages and I have a landline. I can look up maps and stuff on the 3G network, send tweets or check FB. It's a sweet deal.

Okay, on to other news...LibraryReads voting ends tomorrow, Nov. 20th.
So far, here are my recommendations in no particular order, I love them all!

Poverty and loneliness - two subjects that would probably make readers recoil from, actually gives this book so much life.

The stories will linger with you and you might even re-read some to get that feeling back once it's gone.

Robert hosts a wild bachelor party for his immature younger brother when things go horribly wrong when he unwittingly invites sex slaves to the party.

The writer is brilliant in capturing the essence of the foibles of people engaged in seemingly inane things but it stops you dead in your tracks when you are hit how profound they actually are.

This twisty novel has so many layers - it talks of guilt, of making sacrifices, and ultimately, the ties that bind together loved ones.

All these books will be published in January! Happy reading!
Share your comments below.

Workshop : Christmas tags and prepping

I hosted a workshop yesterday where we made Christmas tags.

They are so much better in person! I know Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I should be prepping for that holiday first, but I'm trying to make my presents this year and I haven't started! I plan to crochet a few Amigurumi dolls and I just pray that I make it!

These tags will look so cute adorning my handmade presents. I am quite excited. If you want to order this kit, you still have time! This kit is retiring and they are only available until supplies last!

These are the stamps that go along with it: Oh, What Fun Stamp set

**Disclosure, I work as a demonstrator for Stampin' Up and will get a small commission from your purchase.

It's Friday!

Fridays used to mean a lot to me when I worked only in the weekdays, now that I work Saturdays as well, Fridays are not as sweet. "It's Saturday!" is not quite the same as "It's Friday!"

There is still something to look forward to at least in the social media realm. #FridayReads is a favorite hashtag, People talk about what books they're reading. Perhaps due to the weekend, where presumably people will have time to read; it doesn't apply to me since I start a book any day of the week! My #fridayreads is "The Summer Before The War" by Helen Simonson. I adored her book, "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" - We discussed it a while back at our book club, and our session was quite lively and a lot of our members loved it!

I also just finished  "The Vegetarian" - a psychological thriller about a Korean woman who inexplicably stops eating meat and affects her husband and her family in strange ways. Read some advance praise for it.

It's a gorgeous cover, but oddly, I like this cover better, which I found from Portobello Books:

Usually, book covers don't mean a lot to me. Except when I know I have a choice and I strongly prefer one over the other. There was only one instance where I went out of my way to purchase a book with a different cover and it's for this book:


I really didn't like the cover on the right, but I wanted my own copy after reading it at my library. Thankfully I found the one on the left. It was considerably well-worn (bought it from an online thrift store), but I was pleased with the cover. The book is a hilarious take on motherhood. I read it when I was pregnant with my first child. Might have been the most inexpensive therapy for me.


**Have you chosen a different imprint to get the right cover of a book you liked? Share in the comments below!

Digital Stamps

I'm in trouble. I just discovered digital stamps! Aaah. What does this mean? It means instant gratification. I buy a stamp from Mo's Digital Stamp or A Day for Daisies for example, I print it from my printer and voilà, I have a perfect image already set and ready to color! There's no package to wait from the UPS guy or Amazon's 2-day shipping. I instantly have it. It's insane.

Here's one of the images that I colored:

My crafting/paper obsession is proving to be a costly endeavor. I might have to switch to digital painting or learning languages (I'm forever studying German and Japanese). The distraction is also wreaking havoc on my reading! I get sent tons of galleys to read and I really want to read 80% of them at least!

I can understand how people love to color lately. I personally love coloring people. It's too bad that most of the coloring books available feature animals, geometric shapes and landscapes. Also, the paper is thin so my Copics will go right through them. I'm quite crazy about my Copic markers at the moment.

Oh, before I forget, the Q and A session with Eve Chase is today at 1 PM PST/4 PM EST.
http://penguindebutauthors.earlyword.com/black-rabbit-hall/

See you there!

Black Rabbit Hall chat with the author tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'm going to participate in a chat with a new author, Eve Chase:

If you have read the book and want to ask the author some questions, please join us tomorrow, November 11th at 1 PM PST/ 4 PM EST

It's the story of Amber and Lorna alternating between 1969 and present day. How are their stories connected? What is the secret of Black Rabbit Hall? Atmospheric and engrossing, it will take you to Cornwall manor- a place filled with innocence and dark mystery.

Won't you join us? Share your comments below. By the way, I rated it highly and voted for it on Library Reads, a venue for librarians all over the country to highlight titles that readers should look out for.

Copics!

I can't remember how I found about Copics. They are excellent markers for coloring. Copics are alcohol-based which means you can blend them - no streaks!

Last Friday, I attended a papercrafting workshop at Long Beach that started at 8 a.m. (thus the absence of a blog post that day!). Initially I thought maybe I shouldn't have registered because there are tons of Youtube videos and tutorials on the Web for free. However, I found something valuable in working in a group setting (I was in a table with 4 other women - surprisingly, no men!). I got to see other people's work (each attendee had a different take on coloring even when following directions projected on a screen). I also realized that there is no right or wrong way to do art.

Here is what I did in my first try.

And then I got a bit better with shading:

I learned two things that day: shadows are very important (it gives life to the image from being flat to dimensional) and colors play a big part in blending. Here is a color chart from Copic:

By the second day (I took all the classes back-to-back), here was my last work:

I

I was really proud of it because I was satisfied how my shadows and colors played out. Have you taken classes in person vs online, which one was more satisfying? Share your comments below.
I can tell that I really enjoyed the classes because I'm already looking for more classes to take in person! Here are some classes from the Copic website.

Librarian nostalgia (oh and it happens to be Thursday! Coincidence)

I love my job. Before I became a librarian, I can remember exactly when  I wanted to become a librarian. I was visiting the Atwater Village Public Library after a rough day at work (I was a customer service representative). I had studied journalism and French and I felt like I was going nowhere. Surrounded by books, the place was heavenly. There was a lone librarian working in front of a computer and I immediately wanted to be that person. I imagined what her day was like: park her car, go in, order books, talk to people what books they want to read, help them find things, look at databases, surrounded by books and knowledge...I already felt confident about my communication skills, even though English is my second language (I have to remind myself that sometimes) and I'm tenacious with research and discovering. I just knew that I wanted to work where I had something to do with books and people. And here I am, after a decade of working as a librarian (I had a short stint at a law firm as a digital content librarian - tons of fun but I'll write more on that later) and I don't take anything for granted.

Yesterday, I received this in the mail:

Through the years, I've had the opportunity to attend annual ALA conferences and I've met some fabulous folks at the publishing houses. In one of the talks that I've attended, I found out that librarians all over the country talk about books even before they get published. I got on their mailing list and now I get all these books to read before publication so I can order and recommend them to patrons.  How cool is that? I've reviewed quite a few books and have gotten a few featured on Library Reads - what a thrill! More importantly, I have recommended lots and lots of books to patrons - I enjoy hanging out near our new books section and just chatting with people: asking which authors they follow, asking them what they're currently reading, and asking them what their favorite books are. I look back and it's quite fitting that I found my dream job in the very place where I get to work!

Do you find libraries useful in your life? Share below!

Freebies and gift giving

I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday and the city of Torrance had a booth to encourage people to recycle. They also handed out cute little trinkets and bags like this:

My sister and I both got one each. We were both aghast when we saw some people walking off with 20 bags each! Uggh, I just don't understand it. My sister and I could only mutter, "That's too bad for other people who won't have a chance to get at least one." We were in a Farmer's Market so that would have been a big help to others who didn't bring their own recyclable bag.

When I go to ALA Annual, I see this happen too. People would grab multiples of free items without realizing if they actually need it. Sigh.
The Holidays are approaching and I love it because it's that time of year when people give tons of presents. I wish our family exchanged gifts. We used to do that when I was a child and most of the fun came from the "reveal" when the giver would describe the recipient and we all try to guess who it is. Christmas and birthdays are my favorite special occasions.  As I get older I find that I enjoy giving away stuff rather than the other way around.
Here's a tree we're getting this year, photo from Kikki K

Do you have any holiday traditions that you would care to share? Share in the comments below!

Overbooked

So today started out way too early. Our road near our home is being paved so we had to leave the house before 7 a.m. and we can't come back until after 6 p.m. I also have a dentist appointment, my daughter will be let our early, and of course I have an important chat with my lovely fellow librarians on Twitter...I decided to go to a park with my son and we did 4 miles of walking (about). There was a farmer's market happening right there in the park so I was able to get some Chicken Chaufa for our lunch. I met up with my sister and we went around the stalls sampling delicious organic fruit and raw mung beans. I feel like there's nothing to talk about for my blog, so here it is. My day.

I've come across some videos of moms who talk about how to plan your day and all I can think of is...do you really have that much time in your hands that you can talk about what you will do with your day? I mean, you just schedule what you have to do and do it.

Galley chat today on Twitter! 4 p.m. EST. #ewgc

On Paper

I was rifling through my cardstock and designer paper sheets and I can't resist the smell of paper. It takes me back to my childhood when my sisters and I would go to our small bookstore so we can purchase our favorite Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley Twins series.

I've been seeing a lot of posts pitting an e-reader against a book and I don't get it. I don't see why both can't exist harmoniously. I like 'em both for different reasons. During the day, for sure I am reading a paper book, but when I'm in bed, I prefer my e-reader with built-in light.

I love paper. I seem to collect lots of printed paper wherever I go. This is my favorite at the moment:

Image is from Stampin' Up! Wouldn't those look good as napkin holders or place mats for Thanksgiving? Here's a card I made using the paper.

I used a stamp set and some embellishments and voilà, a card ready for giving for thanksgiving. Do you give cards during Thanksgiving? Share your comments below!

**Disclosure: Stampin' Up! is a direct seller and I am a demonstrator for them so I will get a small commission from your purchase.

#FridayReads

To coincide with #fridayreads. I shall post book reviews as a break from my stationary and crafts posts.

This book. Well, it wasn't love at first sight I admit. I picked up from a recommendation from one of my fellow librarians during a galley chat #ewgc. I picked it up, read a bit and it seemed like it would be about a young, doomed couple à la Ian McEwan's "On Chesil Beach" which I liked but wasn't in the mood for. Reading fiction for me is hard when I'm on the go doing errands or taking a break from work. It has to be a truly quiet moment: no music playing, no TV blaring or kids running around etc. I finally found a quiet time, meaning 9 p.m. when the kids are in bed. And boom.

It was like literary fiction on steroids! How can a young author like Groff deliver something so profound and wise? If I highlighted my books (which I don't), my print copy would be soggy and neon-colored. Her insights are so...deadly. They pierce and well, kill. I've heard from my librarian peers that they preferred the second half of the book (Furies), but I actually liked them both, and if pressed, the first one more actually (Fates). Lotto started out okay, good-looking with some mother issues, but he's a harmless flirt to me and a bit endearing at times. So he was the main focus of Fates. Then came Mathilde's turn to dominate and bam! She is a heroine and if I was in my twenties, would be my hero whom I can look up to or aspire to. This book is so intelligent and crafty with so many layers of mythology and etymology woven in--I feel smarter just reading it. I love it and it's very affecting, the characters are like ghosts living with me.

My actual #fridayreads is IN OTHER WORDS by Jhumpa Lahiri

What's yours? Share in the comments below or tweet #fridayreads to @deienara

Paper Planning: Accessories

Last but not least, I like the idea of accessories! For Paper planners, this is quite new to me. I started using organizers or FiloFax when I was in high school. I remember liking it so much that I gave it as a gift to my mom and I can tell that flowers or jewelry would have been better. Now I have to remind myself that not everyone shares my passion for stationary!

Planners are great for keeping track of appointments, to do lists, and clippings of important items. So it's useful to have the following items:

• paper clips (to fasten receipts, coupons or small notes)
• sticky notes 
• divider folder (to hold even more receipts, coupons or small notes)
• stickers (especially those with inspirational quotes)
• magnetic bookmarks (so you can get to the section you need faster)

Here are some of my accessories:

 I also use some ring reinforcements to keep my papers intact. What I forgot to include was a photo sleeve. I like to keep a few photos of family and friends in my planner - to keep me cheered up when life gets too hectic.

Do you have other planner accessories that you think are useful? Share it in the comments below!

Paper Planning: Pens

When we have paper, of course we need pens! I'm always on the hunt for a great pen. I love Parker pens, Cross pens, and Montblanc pens. Lately though I've been into gel pens. So there are essentially three kinds of ink: oil-based (ballpoint), water-based (rollerball) and water-based gel (can be ballpoint or rollerball). The only gel pen that I like are made by Pilot. They are highly pigmented and can come in several colors.

Which brings us back to paper planning. Sometimes you want to highlight certain points in your planner and instead of using just red, black and blue, you can use other colors like purple (my favorite), orange, pink, green and other colors. I don't mind hauling a pencil case, especially cute ones like this for example (from Kikki K).

However, wouldn't it be better if you had 4 colors in one pen? I found that Pilot makes one called Coleto that can accommodate 3-5 colors per pen. This is the one that I use:

and there are 4 chambers that you can fill with different pen refills in any color you want!

It comes in 3 different nib sizes: .3 (extra fine), .4 (fine) and .5 (medium). Just like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, I found that the middle is just fine for me (no pun). Tomorrow, I'm going to mention a few more items that can prettify your organizers.

Paper Planning: Stamps

I wrote about paper planning yesterday and I want to talk about using stamps.
My handwriting is not bad, but sometimes I just want something neat and uniform.

I discovered a nifty stamp set that has frequently used words:

They are quite small and they fit perfectly in the monthly view section of the organizers. Neat huh? Or of course you can just write them out yourself, but this is cute! I use different colored ink pads or I have a color theme for each month. Speaking of colors, tomorrow, I will write about multi-colored pens. Is this stamp set something you would use? Share your comments below!

Paper Planning

I love planning my day. I have a phone and a tablet where I try to schedule my day/week but it can't compare to me putting it down on paper. It just feels right when I actually sit down and have my pen in hand to write down my thoughts. So after years and years of not having an organizer (filofax), I bit the bullet and got one. Here is what I wish my planner would look like:

The image is from the Happy Planner. I've read that some people use it to plan their day and others use it to evaluate their day. Either they write at the beginning of their day or at night when they reflect on what they had done or what they had accomplished. I'm a little bit of both. I like to schedule a few things, max of 5 items and then just before going to bed, I plug in some more tidbits that I feel would show how my day went (good or bad). I also got a few stamps, stickers, inspiration cards, and a multi-colored pen that I would write about tomorrow! How do you plan your day? Share in the comments below.

Christmas tags - kit

Christmas is my favorite holiday. Have you thought about Christmas tags? You might pick up a few ready-made tags at a big retail store, but imagine how your carefully selected presents will look with some handmade ones? Here is a really good kit that is easy to do.

It comes with all the embellishments-ribbon, bells, foil. Each kit can make 30 tags. Yes, you read that right, 30! It comes in 10 designs, but don't let that stop you from changing it up to make it your own! Here is the stamp set that will go along with it. There are 17 stamps in the set. What's even better is that it is 15% off today! (purchase by 11:55 PM - MT).

This can be a great workshop for patrons at your library. All you need to supply are ink, stamps, and adhesives! The kit has all the elements punched, scored, and cut for you! Each patron can make 2-3 tags each and they will be delighted how easy it is to assemble them.
**Disclosure: Stampin' Up! is a direct seller and I am a demonstrator for them so I will get a small commission from your purchase.

Sample workshop

I've talked about my craft workshops for our library. Now I want to talk about what I do to prepare.

I pick a holiday, say Father's Day. I usually try to prepare for it 3 months in advance. I ask an expert crafter, Sandy,  to come and share her designs with me. She usually shows me a sample and then I choose two designs that are easy, but fun to do.

I book the auditorium and make sure that there is no other event that conflicts with my chosen date and time. After securing the date, I'm ready to make my flyer.

I make sure that I indicate that there is no registration involved. When I used to ask people to sign up, my sign-up sheet got full fast with a lot of stand by registrants. Then on the day of the event, only half show up.  I was left to scramble around the library looking for participants. Without registration, I've had better success with interested patrons who take the time to note the event and actually show up.

When I create the flyer, I make sure to send to the person who creates the monthly calendar of events for the library. I also make sure to email our contact at the local newspaper (in our case, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune) so it can be added to their calendar of events.

Lastly, I send out an email to all library staff so that they can share the workshop by word of mouth to those who check out items. I send another email when it's much closer to the event.

Just to make sure that patrons notice. I also create a poster of the flyer and display it prominently near the entrance of the library. Do you do anything else when you host your workshops? Share your comments below.

Open Craft Workshop at the library

This past June, I hosted an open craft workshop for our library. I brought all the paper, punches, ink, stamps, stickers, ribbons, adhesives and other embellishments and I let the patrons loose to do whatever they wanted.

I do programming for adults, but I found that involving the children, especially in our community, it was important to host events that involved the whole family. 

Here are some of the samples I made for the patrons to copy. A lot of them chose to create stuff on their own. Many made cards, others made buntings, while other made bookmarks and even  posters. 

A lot of the patrons asked me afterwards if the library was hosting this program regularly. It was definitely something that the patrons were interested in. With some paper and glue, it proved to be an enjoyable and relaxing time spent inside the library. 

Halloween fun!

Halloween is just around the corner, are you ready to make your treat holders?
At our library workshop, we provide the stamps, ink, paper, and adhesives and all of the cards will be pre-cut.
We usually have about 20 people and they make 2 projects each.

No refreshments are offered, but the patrons are so busy making their crafts that there is hardly any time to sit back and sip coffee and eat cookies. We do offer small bags of candy to go along with the treat holders.

A patron can make the projects in 15-20 minutes depending on how creative they want to make their crafts. We allow children to help their parents/guardians, but mostly this is an adult craft workshop. We open our workshops for an hour and a half. And if we have room, we accommodate walk-ins!

Leave me a comment if you have questions! 

Stamps are 15% off right now at Stampin' Up! 

#139690 $20.00 Now $17.00

**Disclosure: Stampin' Up! is a direct seller and I am a demonstrator for them so I will get a small commission from your purchase.

Hello there.

I am a librarian who really loves crafts and I am a huge fan of Stampin' Up!


Here are some of my favorites if you need some ideas: Remember you need some clear blocks to adhere the stamps to! And  ink pads come in many colors to really make your projects pop!
                                 
                                              Stamps + Clear Blocks + Ink Pads = You're set!

These are some of the projects I made recently. I will post more projects as I make them.

 #139971
$21.00 Now $17.85

#137154
$24.00 Now $20.40

#139868
$18.00 Now $15.30

Right now there is a great sale going on: 15% off stamps! I've been using SU! stamps since 2006 and their quality and designs are outstanding. Click here

**Disclosure: Stampin' Up! is a direct seller and I am a demonstrator for them so I will get a small commission from your purchase.