Latest Adventures....

Here are some of my latest adventures....

Last Friday Caitie and I went on a grand journey to Ikea! It is such a magical home decor wonderland. We got so frustrated because we wanted to buy EVERYTHING! I went with one goal in mind, a floor lamp. $70 later I left with a bunch of crap I'm not sure if I really needed. We were both really obsessed with this crazy lamp that looks like the death star when closed, then when open it looks like the death star mid explosion! 

Sadly I left without the buying the lamp....this time! In the middle of our spree we got a bit peckish so we got some food. We had the most delicious elderberry cupcake in the world. I'm really dead set on finding elderberry liqueur just so I can make these cupcakes! It was like a little puff of heaven. It was light with a little buttercream frosting.

I haven't been doing too much on the crafting front, but I do have a few projects lined up. One of them is a part of an Iron Craft Challenge. This next challenge is all about Spring! I'm excited to transition and get away from the cold. I love living in a climate where I get to experience all of the seasons, however I am so done with winter! So for the Spring challenge, I plan on making a tiered planter. I'm going to paint it some nice color and put it on our porch.

This past week was also a special Etsy landmark for me, I've made 70 sales! I know it doesn't sound like much but the fact that I've sold 70 of my handmade items to mostly to people I've never met, is pretty amazing. The big 70th sale was to someone I know very well, my aunt! I'm planning on making her something extra special.

Another sale I made was my first custom order. I'm custom wall hanging sign for someone. It came out great and I hope she enjoys it!

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. Since I got my floor lamp from Ikea, I set up a little reading space and I still their for hours at a time enjoying a good book and some coffee. Its pure heaven! After finishing NOS402, I switched gears and read Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers. The trailer for the movie blew me away, so I figured I'd read about these marvel characters I know nothing about! They are a rag tag team of galactic rejects. Its an enjoyable read and I love Rocket. When he is in a shoot out he says "Blam murdered you" at all of his enemies and its quite silly.

Since Guardians was a quick read, I picked up Prodigy by Marie Lu. I've read the first book in the series, Legend and immediately went into the next one. I think that was a mistake because I was just not feeling it and I stopped. I guess I need a break in between reading a series book, because second time around, I am enjoying it. If you are a fan of dystopia, then go check it out.

Week at a glance...

Hey there blogging buddies... its been a while. Hows things ? Here is what I have been up to lately....

I've been on a bit of a reading roll lately. I felt like a bad librarian because after going over SLJ's list of 100 greatest children's novels, I realized that were a lot of classics that I haven't read! So I've been on a reading roll and I've been tackling that list! So far I've read the Westing Game, Holes and Because of Winn Dixie and so on.

 

It hasn't all been Children's classics, I finally got around to reading Maus. Its been on my to-read list for a while. One of my history professors in college always said it was the best narrative depiction of the holocaust. I guess I was on a historic/graphic novel kick, because I also read March by John Lewis. It is about Lewis' experience growing up during segregation and the part he played in the civil rights movement. Its interesting to see such serious moments from history be retold in graphic novel form. Its a format gets scoffed at, but the mix of imagery with text can evoke such emotion that sometimes the written word can't do.

I haven't been in the craft room that much lately. Work has been crazy (more on that later). However I have been doing a few things round the house. I made these snazzy pillows as part of the last Iron Craft Challenge.

I also decided to add some greenery into the house. The last few weeks we've gotten some Spring teases but its still to cold for gardening. So I decided to bring the outside in and I made some planters. I found the planters at the Dollar store and I jazzed them up a bit. Then I raided Home Depot for some house plants. It dawned on me that we don't have any houseplants at all! So We needed something! I put them in the dinning room, because it needs some sprucing.

I know Summer is still a few months off, but not for librarians. We started to organize and plan for the summer and it is a pretty daunting task. Some exciting things are happening and I love the theme this year: Fizz, Boom: Read! We are going to do some fun science-y things and I'll be sure to tell ya all about them! 

Friday night I got to channel my inner Katniss with an archery lesson. For Christmas Tim got me a voucher good for a lesson and an hour of shooting time at the Smith Point Archery Range. It something I've wanted to do for a while and it was a lot of fun. I did archery in High School and I guess some of it stuck with me, because I did pretty good with a few bulls-eyes! The instructor was a really awesome crotchety old man who was impressed. I think I might be investing in a bow. 

Hello world. The past few days have started to feel like Fall. The a/c has been off, I’ve switched to wearing long pants and I’m looking forward to cooking with butternut squash! (its one of my fall favs) I have been working a lot and I have been keeping myself busy with other fun things.

In July made my Mother-in-law a custom bag. She loved it so much, she asked for another one. I went to work and decided this would be sort of a ‘guinea pig’ bag. I played with the dimensions a bit and changed the placement of the handles. I even successfully made a recessed zipper! I’d been having trying to perfect it for quite a while. I love how this bag came out! I made a pattern of this design and I’m going to start rolling some more out (because Christmas is right around the corner)

In other crafting news, I was switching around stuff in our kitchen. We got our mail organizer, cork board and now a magnet board (because our fridge is not magnetic!) However I took away our dry erase board because I wasn’t sure where to put it. After posting my Dry Erase wall calendar… I had a crazy idea: What if I cut out a shape and stuck it on the fridge? I used my trusty silhouette machine and cut out this fancy little number. So far so good.

I’ve been in a bit of a reading funk lately. I have my Game of Thrones audio book to keep me going while I’m in the Craft Dungeon, however I also need something to read read. I tried a few different books and stopped in the first chapter. Nothing was really capturing my attention. Then I came across this book called Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. It sounded like an ok premiss. Two very different kids meet on the bus and their relationship slowly builds into something more. I didn’t expect to like this as much as I do! I’m all about my Sci-fi fantasy and shy away from realistic fiction. The narrative jumps between Eleanor and Park and you get to see how they fall in love from both perspectives. It also takes place in 1986 so its littered with references to the Smiths and even Doctor Who!

Speaking of romance, this past week marked 3 years married to this guy! I had to work the actual night of our anniversary, but he took me out for bbq lunch and he gave me flowers, he knows the quickest way to my heart. On Saturday we went out for a super nice dinner at the Riverhead Project. We normally don't do such swanky restaurants because I'm super cheapo. However, this is the only time I demand high end swank! This place was really nice and very modern. It is a converted bank and the vault is available to be rented out for private parities (that's pretty awesome). It didn't feel like a typical Long Island restaurant. We had fried olives, scallops and duck. My tastebuds were in heaven! Afterwards we walked over to the aquarium to say hi to our seal friends. They are seriously my dog but sea dwelling.

I'm gearing up for another craft night tomorrow. This time around we are making mason jar lanterns! It should be another fun time. If you are a local Long Islander, come on down! We start at 7:00!

Till next time.... 

Read Anything Good lately? - Bomb

Non-fiction is not my favorite thing in the world. Perhaps I am scared from years of loathing text book formats and skimming bodies of text looking for vital information. However if you are in an educational field, you are aware that the new common core standards are placing such emphasis on non-fiction in the classroom. I hope text book authors are learning a thing or two from one of their former counterparts, Steve Sheinkin. He is the author the 2013s Newberry Honor book, Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon and he is also the author to help me discover a new found appreciation for non-fiction.

Bomb is all about the secret war to build the world's first atomic bomb. The discovery of how to split Uranium atoms launched the arms race between the Allied Forces, Germany and Russia. At the time of this discovery Albert Einstein was vacationing on Long Island (a fact I certainly nerded out on) he immediately sent a letter to FDR stressing the importance of this discovery! A crack team of leading scientists were assembled led by Oppenheimer in a remote lab in Los Alamos. Little did they know there were some spies in their midsts and what does the destruction of a German cold water plant have to do with this? We all know what the result of their work, this is the story we don't know, the unclassified story of the atomic bomb.

Sheinkin took an interesting moment in history and crafting an amazing story. Had this been a history channel special it may have momentarily held my interest, if this same story was written by any other author I probably would not have made it past chapter one. Luckily this story was in the capable hands of Sheikin. He admits that he is a recovering text book writer with a background in film, which explains why the book felt cinematic. In the first chapter we meet poor Harry Gold destroying all of his papers when some federal agents are knocking on his door. I was drawn in immediately! What did this guy do, why is he destroying his stuff? What is the story there? I felt bad for Harry Gold because of the context in which his story was presented. These people were all real people from history but Sheinkin developed these characters and made you feel like you really knew these people. I identified most with Oppenheimer. As leader of the team he was driven to get to the bomb before the enemy did, out of necessity but he also had an intense internal conflict with the realization of the devastation these weapons bring. Another cinematic tool Sheinkin mastered is suspense! As mentioned espionage is a factor in this story there are some tense moments when some spies are nearly discovered. (I'd love to tell you about it however I don't want to spoil it for you!)

If you are into history or just a good story I highly recommend Bomb. Sheinkin has a few other historical works under his belt covering The Notorious Benedict Arnold and the Old West (Which Way to the Wild West?) which I plan to check out! His latest is a work of fiction but based in a historical setting, Lincoln's Grave Robbers.

Sunday Snapshots

Hello there! I hope you all had a lovely week! Here are some highlights from mine!

I spent Super Bowl Sunday at my Brother & Sister in laws. While the dudes were watching the game I was reading with my little niece! 

Speaking of reading, I started and am enjoying a new book! Bomb recently won Youth Media Award honor. I also signed up for a children's librarian book discussion for this book. Its non fiction, which I am not particularly fond of, however I am really loving Bomb so far. 

I doing my first Mother Goose program soon. In preparation for it I made some dickey birds! (one named Soft, one named Loud. Can you guess who is who? 

We had some snow earlier this week (pre-blizzard)... also some trespassers! I noticed these tiny footprints all over our porch. We have a couple of stray cats in the neighborhood. They usually cut through the backyard. Gyspy is not amused. 

On another trip to Crazy Beans I tried a peanut butter latte. HOLY CRAP its amazing. I love this place more and more with each visit. Since I go there so frequently I am making it a point to try something different each time I go. I may have to repeat peanut butter latte though. 

Michele came over for another crafter-noon. We were working on another Iron Craft Challenge. This time the theme is Hearts and Stars. Since we are near valentines day I went with hearts. We got some plates from the dollar store and decorated them with sharpies. Here is how mine turned out. 

April Fool's Day

April Fool's Day is quite the fun kid friendly holiday so I decided to create an April Fool's program for the library. Here is how you can do it in your classroom, library or at home.

Great read aloud for April Fool's Day

Generally with a library program you need a story to go along with the theme of the program! There aren't too many great books for April Fool's to read aloud but Guess Again by Mac Barnett does the job. Mac Barnett is quite the funny man. This book features silhouettes and a little poem about what it could be and the audience is tricked every time! (My favorite is the Viking)



I had a hard time figuring out what craft to make. After researching some April Fool's Day facts I saw a picture of a Court Jester and had an A-HA! moment and the kids decorated and made their own Jester hats. It was pretty simple to make. Just a few construction paper triangles (of varying colors) then attached it to an oak tag strip used for the head band of the hat. To jazz things up a bit I put out some markers, scrap pieces of paper (junk that we needed to get rid of) and let them decorate until their heart's content. When they were all done we stapled up the hats and they were on their way. To make it look more court jester-y I took a marker and curled up the triangle on the top.

Net galley

This one is for all of my librarian/bibliophile friends, but can also relate to my craft friends. Read on for further details!

In the library world a big part of the job is collection development. This involves painstakingly combing through review journal after review journal looking for the best upcoming titles. It's hard to blindly order something based on a 200 word review. We often order some titles based on a starred review. When title come in, they often do not live up to the hype. Another problem in the library world is recommendations or reader's advisory. No matter how much of an avid reader you are, it is impossible for librarians to read every single book in the collection. When new books come in we will get them slightly in advanced in order to process them (put labels and catalog them). It doesn't really give us enough time to suggest it to patrons right away.

Net Galley is here to help! It is a free service that allows you to browse their various titles and preview a book before its publication date. It's simple to navigate and they have a great selection of books! For my crafty friends they have craft and art books ready to be viewed!

How does it work? Log on to Net Galley and sign up for an account. Browse by keyword or by genre, then download a copy. This requires you to download Adobe Digital Editions, but don't worry that is also free. Many of the galley copies are also available for e-reader devices so you can read it on the go. After you are done reading a book you can write a review through Net Galley and it is sent to the publisher. Net Galley lets the reviewer keep the rights to any review you have written. So you can publish that review on your own. A little caveat to that, some publishers will email you and ask you to not publish you review until the book comes out.

You may also notice that titles will have an expiration date, which is usually 60 days. Its similar to Over Drive and e-book lending services, you only have the book for a certain amount of time before the file is removed. Hopefully you aren't a slow reader because 60 days is plenty of time.

I am signed up for it and currently reading two books from there. One is a crafty book called Knits for Nerds and the other is a graphic novel called the Coldest City. I think its such a neat idea and more librarians should take advantage! So if ya sign up and read something good I'd love to hear about it!

Sarina