Spring Blog Carnival May1 thru May 8th and Two Barnes & Noble Gift Cards!

Welcome to the Duck Pond Booth!

 I have two $15.00 Barnes and Noble Gift cards for a couple of lucky ducks!  I will give one $15.00 B&N card to someone that leaves a comment and another $15.00 B&N card to someone on my FOLLOW list.  So, if you leave a comment and follow my blog, you will have two chances to win.  Two lucky winners will be randomly  chosen May 8th around midnight. This will be fun!

  I want to also Thank the ladies at Pure Imagination, Reading Angel, Candaces Book Blog,  and Book Swarm for hosting this Blog Hop!

http://www.candacesbookblog/
http://www.bookswarm.blogspot.com/
http://www.readingangel.com/
 http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/


Challenges

Reading Angel: Haunted House
Reading Teen: Fortune Tellers Booth

May 2nd-
Candace’s Book Blog: Food Court
The Mod Podge Bookshelf: House of Mirrors

May 3rd-
The Book Swarm: Roller Coaster
Actin’ Up With Books: Karaoke Booth

May 4th-
Pure Imagination: Kissing Booth
Lovely Lit: Once Upon a Time Booth

May 5th-
Awesomesauce Books: Gaming Booth
Books R Us: Medieval Booth

May 6th-
Extreme Reader Book Reviews: Guessing Booth 
Colloquium: Cotton Candy Booth

May 7th-
The Minding Spot: Teacups Booth
Miss Remmers Review: It’s a Bad World Booth

This giveaway is open to all, including International!

Have Fun,
Charla

Rejuvenated Jewels by Amy Hanna

Rejuvenated Jewels will make you drool! The inspiration in this book is overwhelming. It has inspired me to go on a quest of collecting old jewelry and so far I have managed to stock up quite a pile. Now I just have to find the time to do something with it. But, if anything will get me going, it will be this book.The pieces that Amy Hanna has created for this book are truly Beautiful! But, not only are the jewels beautiful, they are pieces that are meaningful as well. The pieces have vintage religious medals, religious reliquary's, treasured photo's and lots of other things that you probably already have around the house. This book will give you the information you need to put those little odd and end pieces to great use. If I could give this book more stars, I would!

This is just a sample of the inspiration to be found in the book!  

This is For You by Jimmy Hopper

Title:  This is For You

Author:  Jimmy Hopper, Tim Lien, Eric Venable

Publisher:  Riverwood Presbyterian Church

Publication Date:  2009

Pages:  98

Source:  Won on Good Reads

I was lucky enough to win this book here on Good Reads and I won it on my Birthday!  This book is a great one for the Lenten Season.  It is a compilation of writings and reflections on the subject of Communion.  It is really directed toward the Protestant faith in an effort of bringing people back to celebrating The Lord's Supper.  I am a Catholic and though I did not agree with everything in the book, I cannot argue with most of what was written.  Even though, there are differences in beliefs, the book can be beneficial to both Catholics and Protestants.  The biggest difference seems to be in the belief of Transubstantiation.  Catholics believe that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, the Protestants accept that  Christ is present in the bread and wine by a working of God's Spirit.  But, whichever way you believe, it is important that we nourish our Christian faith by participating in Communion.<br/><br/>  It is ironic that I won this particular book, as I had just wrote a paper for a Psychology of Religion class about this very subject.  As a Catholic, I believe that we sometimes stop thinking about the purpose of communion and just go through the motions.  We can all use a reminder now and then and I believe this book fits the bill.  Mr. Hopper reminds us of the importance of Communion.  He reminds us that doing this on a weekly basis, keeps us actively engaged in our faith and helps us to grow as Christians.  He touches on several other differences between  Catholics  and Protestants, such as the use of wine in the ritual, and how often Communion is celebrated.  He never condemns any belief, he just simply states the differences.

My Birthday!! 04-15

This post is a little late, but I just celebrated a big birthday and wanted to share.  My friend Gwyn won me a birthday cake from a local radio station.

The cake came from a local bakery, Electric Maid, and it was delicious.  One of my favorite things in life is birthday cake and vanilla ice cream!

My husband and I went to my daughter's house for dinner that night.  Since it is lent and we eat fish on Friday's, she cooked Shrimp and Grits.  It was delicious.  She also got a cake for me, although I cannot believe that she put my age on the cake!

I mean really Maegan, who puts their Mom's age on her cake for all to see how very old she is?!!  My friend Holly came to dinner along with her two beautiful kids, Christopher and Courtney, and my mom and sister, Sonja was there.  Oh, and my son in law, Joe was there.  It was a great evening.  Maegan and Joe gave me a lovely, sexy apron with gloves to match, and Holly gave me a great book marker and a gift card to Barnes and Noble!  I love B&N gift cards!!  I am thankful for the past year, it has brought a lot of change to my life, but it has been change for the better!

Playing With Books by Jason Thompson

This is a perfect book for book lovers! It is about creating art with books. You will not believe the beautiful things that can be created with a book.  There are a few things that are way out of my abilities range, but the are wonderful to look at for inspiration.  But, most of the projects can be created by anyone with a little time and determination.  My favorite project is making a beautiful wreath from old book pages I am also inspired by the Book Bag that is created from decorative book pages and a sewing machine.  It even includes directions for a woven basket made with book pages.  All of the projects have great photographs to guide you through the process. There are at least 20 projects in this book!  If you love books as much as I do, then  the next step after reading them is to turn them into a piece of art!

Read on!

Artist Trading Card Workshop by Bernie Berlin

A beautiful technique book dedicated to making artist trading cards.  Artist trading cards, most often referred to as ATC's are little works of art that are usually only 2 1/2" X 3 1/2".  They can be painted, sewn, stamped, embossed, fused, etc., really there is no limit to what can be incorporated into these tiny bits of art.  This book covers most of the popular techniques.  It will ell you what you need for each project, and take you step by step in the process, and it shows photographs of most of the steps.  It covers a wide range of techniques, including, but not limited to the following:  Paint on Paper Towels, Watercolor on Baby Wipes, Leafing Pen Resist, Stencils, Magazine Paper, Phone Book Paper, Transfers, Resin, Stitching, and Digital.  There are many more techniques included that I have not listed here.  If you have an interest in this style of art, you will not be disappointed with this book!

Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith

Although some may call this a silly little book, I think it is great!  It gives you the opportunity to enjoy simple pleasures, while at the same time giving you a chance to look at your inner self.  It allows you to just be you!  It is a fun book to work through.  But, I use the word "work," lightly because it is not work at all.   Once you finish the tasks in the book, you have a finished personal journal.  I love the idea of art journaling, and have started several, however, I rarely follow through for lack of ideas.  This little book is really an idea book for creating a personal art journal, and I finished it!

Vintage Collage Journals by Maryjo Koch

 This book is full of beautiful vintage images. You are shown how to create vintage, personal journals, travel journals, and even wine journals. It provides great information to help you create a vintage journal of your choice. If you have a stash of vintage photo's, or any type of vintage ephemera, along with treasures that you have collected over the years, now Maryjo Koch provides you with instructions to put them to use in a beautiful journal. Along with using your collected items, she also shows you painting techniques for gouache eggs, collage techniques, and background techniques. As an added bonus, she has also included seven pages of beautiful vintage images for your personal use in your journals.


Happy Reading!

Art Journals & Creative Healing by Sharon Sonef

I am always interested in books that combine creativity with  healing.  I know from experience that creating art can bring a sense of calm to a chaotic life.  Sharon Soneff shows us in this book, that you can use your emotions, no matter what they are, to create beautiful art and help heal your emotions at the same time.  Keeping a daily journal has proved to be therapeutic many times.  Now with the help of this book, you can turn those dull journals into lovely works of art that incorporates your feelings into the art.

The Happy Book by Rachel Kempster

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a cute little book! It is actually a journal that you fill in with your own ideas, feelings, etc.  The focus of the book is the little things in life that can bring you happiness. Also there are  some silly little exercises that will make you smile. And a smile is the first step to laughter which can lead to a little happiness.  The activities  include prompts, doodling, pasting pictures, list making, and writing down your thoughts with the intent of  adding a little "pick me up" whenever you need it.

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