#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.