These bracelets are so quick and easy to make! This one is made from jet copper vintage Czech glass beads and iris blue and charcoal seed beads. I measured properly this time using my own wrist, so it fits. I’m looking forward to wearing it!

After unsuccessfully trying a harder pattern, I decided on this one, the layered crossweave bracelet from Stitching Beaded Jewelry by Lesley Weiss. I bought the beads from Fire Mountain Gems, and when they arrived, I was a little disappointed in the colors I had selected, but once I actually started putting the bracelet together, I was happily surprised. The base is made of Czech fire polished beads in honey with a blue iris finish, while the criss-cross overlay is made up of mainly brass delicas with leaf green accents in the center.

Although I am very pleased with the results, I may end up taking apart this bracelet and remaking it, because it is too large for my wrist. I measured it by the instructions in the book, rather than by my own wrist. I also unfortunately made it a little longer by using jump rings to attach the clasp, rather than sewing the clasp directly to the bracelet, as I did not have a clasp for it at the time I started making it. Ah well! At least I have learned a lot in the process of creating it.

Some lost and forgotten favorites that have stuck with me:

The Farthest Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks

Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

The Hermit Thrush Sings by Susan Butler

Juniper & Wise Child by Monica Furlong

Someday I will find and read these again.

01. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
02. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
03. The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
04. Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb
05. The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls by Emilie Autumn
06. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
07. The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig
08. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
09. Rumors by Anna Godbersen
10. Envy by Anna Godbersen
11. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
12. Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb
13. Soulless by Gail Carriger
14. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
15. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
16. Splendor by Anna Godbersen
17. Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip
18. The Poison Eaters by Holly Black
19. The Good Neighbors: Kin by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
20. Going Bovine by Libba Bray
21. Wolf Tower by Tanith Lee
22. White Cat by Holly Black
23. Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block
24. Wolf Star by Tanith Lee
25. Wolf Queen by Tanith Lee
26. Wings by Aprilynne Pike
27. Wolf Wing by Tanith Lee
28. Spells by Aprilynne Pike
29. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
30. Evermore by Alyson Noel
31. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
32. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
33. Blue Moon by Alyson Noel
34. Shadowland by Alyson Noel
35. Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler
36. Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler
37. Tempest’s Legacy by Nicole Peeler

Of these 37 books, only two were rereads, which I find quite the accomplishment, as I adore rereading my favorite books. In reading so many new books, I discovered some new favorites that I will definitely be reading again in the future.

Top 10 of 2010

(With somewhat vague comments, as I am hazy on the plots of a few of these!)

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy

For Christmas in 2009, my boyfriend gave me a $100 gift card to Borders. (I was ecstatic! Permission to spend ungodly amounts of money on books? Yes please!) One of the first books that I purchased was A Great and Terrible Beauty, the first book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. I had heard a lot about it online and wanted to see for myself what it was like. When I opened it up, I was surprised to find a story very different than the one I had imagined. (I guess I hadn’t paid that close attention to what people were saying about it.) At first I found the first-person present tense that the story is told in jarring, but I was quickly captivated by the setting (a Victorian boarding school for girls) and the mystery surrounding it. I found out after reading the last book that there had been a lot of criticism of the way the series ended. I guess I’m just sappy, because I thought it was perfect.

Dragon Keeper/Dragon Haven

Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy is my very favorite fantasy series, so naturally I was excited to find that her latest pair of books was set in the same universe. These books take place in the Rain Wilds, which were not heavily featured in her other books and were portrayed in a mysterious light. It was interesting to learn more about them, and meet a whole new host of characters. The ending left me hoping that she’ll decide to write a third book.

The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls

As an Emilie Autumn fan, I had been anticipating this book for a number of years, yet when I finally got my copy, it took me several weeks to crack it open and start reading. The story is split into two alternating narratives: one told by Emilie about her time in a modern asylum in California, and one told by Emily, a violinist from the 1800s who is brought to an insane asylum. I was looking forward to reading Emilie’s tale, but was surprised to find Emily’s story captivating as well. The book is sprinkled with photographs, artwork, and doodles, and is completely gorgeous. The only complaint I have is the font it’s set in: Courier is not what I would have chosen for a 200-page novel. There were also a few passages that were cut off, but it was easy enough to figure out what was going on. Despite these flaws, I enjoyed The Asylum far more than I had expected I would.

Boneshaker

Despite steampunk’s current popularity, I consider this to be one of the only “true” steampunk books out there right now. The story was suspenseful, exciting, gritty, and brought many popular steampunk tropes together without making them seem clichéd — the story felt real to me.

Winter Rose

I must admit, I chose this book from the library based purely on the cover art. Kinuko Craft is one of my favorite artists, so I was drawn to this based on that. I found it refreshing to read a fantasy book that was not part of a long series, and one that was not a thousand pages long. I fell in love with Patricia McKillip’s dreamy and poetic language in this book. Shamefully, I am unfamiliar with the story of Tam Lin, which apparently the story was based on, so I cannot compare it with that.

White Cat

This was one of my most highly anticipated books of the year. I’ve read and loved Holly Black’s Dark Faerie series, as well as the Spiderwick Chronicles. I was interested to see the non-faerie side of her, and White Cat did not disappoint. The story combined urban fantasy with mystery and con artists/mobsters, which I thought was unique. The book ended with a twist that made me excited to read the next in the series, Red Glove.

The Wolf Tower series

I remember seeing Wolf Tower at my local bookstore when it first came out in 1998, but I did not get around to reading it until I discovered it at the library over the summer. The story is told in diary form, though the main character Claidi frequently remarks that she does not expect anyone to ever read it, and actually fears that certain people will, going to great lengths to keep the book upon her person at all times. Claidi was a very likeable character, and her amazement at the things she comes across in her travels is conveyed with enthusiasm.

Beautiful Creatures

This was a book I had almost been avoiding, based on the cover art and the title. It looks and sounds like the typical teenage vampire story, which I’ve read more than my fair share of in the last several years. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Beautiful Creatures was nothing of the sort. The setting, the South, plays and important role throughout the story, and manages to feel gothic and creepy throughout. The relationship between Ethan and Lena, combined with the magic involved, reminded me of Cassel and Lila in White Cat, but I still felt that the stories were quite different.

The Jane True series

Tempest Rising was another one of the books I bought with my Borders Christmas gift card. The fun tattoo-like art on the cover caught my eye, and when I read the blurb on the back, I knew I had to buy it. “Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn’t quite fit in with so-called normal society.” A book set in Maine?! I had to have it. While much of the series is spent traveling, I still feel a special connection with Jane, as a fellow Mainer. The series is fun and fast paced with lots of action of both the fighting and steamy varieties. I just finished Tempest’s Legacy a few days ago and was happily surprised to find that it was not the last book in the series. I had assumed it was a trilogy, but there is more to come in 2011. I’m looking forward to it!

A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Thrones was one of my only rereads this year, which I picked up again after hearing that HBO is basing a TV series on it. This is the type of series that you can get totally caught up in. There are characters I love and characters that I love to hate. There are characters that I feel like I should like, but don’t, and characters that I feel like I should hate, but don’t. Each chapter focuses on a different character, and there are a damn lot of characters to keep track of. I read the first two books quickly, but got bogged down in A Clash of Kings due to attempting to read it during Nanowrimo. I hope to finish it sometime in 2011, but for now, I’ve moved on to other things.

I’m hoping to read even more books in 2011. I got a Kindle for Christmas, so I am anticipating being able to read new book releases right away! I haven’t had much time to read on it yet, but as soon as I do, expect a post expounding the wonders of the Kindle. ;)

I’ve always been interested in art, starting from when I was very young. When I was thirteen or fourteen, I got hooked on the anime/manga craze and began drawing in the shoujo style, filling sketchbook after sketchbook with my drawings. I loved trying out different media and had a large collection of colored pencils, markers, watercolors, and acrylic paint. When I was in high school, I thought I would major in art in college, but for some reason always insisted on taking advanced placement academic classes rather than art classes. By the time I was a senior, I had taken a whopping one art course and didn’t have a strong enough portfolio to consider applying to any art schools.

Instead, I chose to major in English at the University of Maine. English was a subject I had rather enjoyed during high school, due to the many excellent teachers I had. Unfortunately, I discovered that I had neither the patience nor love for analyzing literature like the rest of my fellow English majors. I decided halfway through my second year to change my major to new media, which is what I now hold a degree in. The combination of art and programming was what initially drew me in and kept me going throughout my years in the program.

Although my English degree did not pan out, I still consider myself a writer. In 2010 I finally participated in NaNoWriMo, something I had been wanting to do for the last six years. After being behind all month, I managed to finish on November 30 with a novel of 50,196 words. Winning was both exciting and empowering for me. I can’t wait to work on revisions for my novel and start working on other new stories.

I also love to read; fantasy, young adult, and historical novels are what you can usually find on my reading list. I’m an unabashed re-reader; if it was good enough to read once, it’s worth reading again! (It also makes me feel less guilty about buying expensive paperbacks.)

My other great love is web design. I’ve been designing websites since I was in high school (R.I.P., Geocities.) It was my major focus throughout my studies in New Media. If you are so inclined, you can check out some samples of my work in the portfolio section of this site.

I hope to combine my love for reading, writing, and design in this blog, along with my other artsy and geeky pursuits. You can expect to read book and music reviews, art and design that I admire, and perhaps some of my own designs and writing. I look forward to beginning this online adventure, so without further ado, let us hoist the sails and set off for the open sea!