Book Club

Video: Making a Reading Journal

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How is your week going? Mine has been really nice. The weather has allowed me to spend some time in the garden each day. I have also been reading more and delving into the world of BookTube again. I have found some great channels and I am planning on launching my own channel next month in addition to my book club posts here. In fact, one of the videos I found here from Liberty’s Library was the inspiration for today’s post.

In Liberty’s video she was journaling the books she read in June and I thought this was such a wonderful idea! I decided to make myself a reading journal.

I had the cover already made and just sitting on my shelf-it had some of the DIY charms we made together and I thought it would make a nice reading journal. I took out some pages from a sketchbook I purchased at the craft store. It was good because the pages are perforated so they came out nicely and left the rest of the journal in tact.

I trimmed the pages and then folded them in half. I attached them using a basic pamphlet stitch to a piece of paper I trimmed to fit inside the spine. Then I added some white duct tape to fill in the gapes and added some scrapbook paper I had in my stash to the inside covers.

I decorated the cover a bit more with a stamped title and some book page. I trimmed it out with some lace and am so happy with how it all turned out. If you aren’t sure how to make a journal I have a video on my channel here that shows you how. If you have any questions about it just let me know and I’ll do my best to help.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

June’s Book Club Update

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Is it really the third week of June? I am pretty sure it’s supposed to be the middle of May isn’t it?  Ah well, time is a funny thing so I have decided to pop in with my latest book club update and some other book related news.

I’ll start first with what I have read since the last book club update back in April. I finally finished, “Lost Books and Old Bones” (affiliate link) by Paige Shelton. I really enjoy her books and this one was no exception. I quickly requested the next in the series (Scottish Bookshop Mysteries affiliate link) from my local library and hope to start it this week. I am still reading “Emerald Isle” (affiliate link) Stacy Justice Mysteries Book #5 by Barbara Annino on my kindle. It’s a really good story I just have been spending a bit more time gardening than reading but it is a goal of mine to finish it before my next book club update.

I finished my Agatha Christie audio book, “The Secret Adversary: A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery” and really enjoyed it. I began listening to “Murder on the Links” to continue on with The Agatha Christie Mystery Challenge. The other audio book I began is “The Moneyless Man” by Mark Boyle (affiliate link) which was recommended to me by Michael Nobbs. I am really enjoying the story and it’s a nice listen while working in the studio or doing dishes.

My new library books (pictured above) are:  “The Stolen Letter” by Paige Shelton (affiliate link), “The Way Home” by Mark Boyle (affiliate link) and “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards.

“The Stolen Letter” is the next in the Scottish Bookshop Series. I really love a cozy mystery and if you have been around for a while you know that. The summary of this book (as written on the inside cover) is:

“Delaney Nichols is confident she’s doing what she loves—case in point, just one day after returning from her fabulous European honeymoon, she’s eager to get back to the Cracked Spine, the bookstore where she works. But as she disembarks her bus and hurries toward the shop she and another woman collide, sending a stack of books the woman is carrying to the ground.

Delaney’s hapless victim’s name is Mary, and the two women can’t help but notice that they bear an uncanny resemblance to one another. According to Mary, they both also look like the long-beheaded Mary Queen of Scots. Even stranger, Mary believes she is the reincarnation of the Scottish queen. But peculiar as Delaney’s doppelganger is, she doesn’t have time to dwell on it: on her arrival to the bookshop, she learns the Edinburgh city council wants to close the Cracked Spine, citing code violations, and she’s determined to stop them.

But when Mary’s husband dies in a car explosion—and Delaney learns he was the very member of city council who proposed that the city take a closer look at the bookshop’s construction—she starts to wonder if her meeting with Mary wasn’t an accident. Edinburgh has become as filled with intrigue and deception as any European court, and Delaney is determined to get to the bottom of this royal mystery.”

“The Way Home” is from the same author of the audio book, “The Moneyless Man” and to be honest I am really intrigued. While I love technology-afterall I am using it right now-I do love the idea of taking technology breaks from time to time. To spend time in nature, reading, doing puzzles, going for walks, going to sleep when the sun goes down and waking when it comes up, all sound like very appealing to me. I am interested in reading this book to hear about his journey of a year without technology.

Lastly “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” I saw from this YouTube video where it was recommended to help grow your drawing practice something I am really working on doing.

So that is my current update for you. I am really going to focus this week on making more time with my books so that hopefully I will have lots of updates for you all next time.

What are you reading? I would love to hear! You can also take part in my link party below and share a link to your blog talking about what you are reading this summer.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

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Staying on Path

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A beautiful desk-but not mine 🙂

I am sitting in the studio, in my cozy chair with a cup of decaf french vanilla. Dinner was delicious-albeit a bit decadent with all it’s cheesy yumminess-and I am taking time to just sit and visit with you all a bit.

The ideas have been swirling and for what feels like the first time I am able to keep up with them. In the past I have had ideas flood in that often took me in various different directions. Lately however, I feel more grounded, my plans and ideas have a direction and I am able to move along at what feels like a grounded steady pace. Sometimes I just don’t have the energy or if I am being honest, the inclination or dedication to stick to the plans I set out. If I were to offer a guess, it’s because in the past I let anything that peaked my interest take center stage rather than vetting it for cohesiveness and longevity.

So often I was lead off of my path to be taken down one that, while interesting, isn’t for me.  My husband and I will joke that we get distracted by “something shiny” and off we go. I am working very diligently at appreciating the shiny but letting it float on its merry way to it’s real home.

My focus lately has been on my first in-person art journaling class. Launching my new digikits as well as my dollhouse channel. I want creativity to be my focus and I want to focus on sharing it in an inspiring way to others but I also want to be spending time each day living my creativity not just creating content. I was guided today to take a good look at my creative corner at home. If you aren’t familiar it’s a little corner in our bedroom where I have a desk and lots of creative goodies to play with. The desk was covered with laundry and bags and various things that needed putting away. Most days if I am working at home I am at the kitchen table with my laptop but it was being suggested that maybe, I need to clear off my creative space so I can practice what I preach a bit more.

It’s hard to do little bits of creativity through the day when you need to dig through laundry to find your journal. And while I love creating content my creative practice is first and foremost what sustains me through the day to day of life. It’s what supports me when I am feeling frazzled-giving me an outlet for the struggles-and it’s also what grounds me in the good days-helping to savor the little moments.

So today I cleared the desk, I uncovered the 10 journals I have started prepping and made a plan to sit there each day-if only for 5 minutes-and have a play.

Our world makes distractions so easy and focus-especially on the truth of what matters to us-hard to come by. I want to be deliberate with my time and how I spend my energy and paint covered hands and collage pages always bring me joy.

Thursdays are also the days where I give my book club update. This week I am still working on the same 3 books I mentioned last week. I have been listening to the audiobook during studio time and have been trying to read my Scottish Bookshop book during the day but haven’t been very successful. With any luck come next Thursday I will have completed these 3 books and have some new ones to share with you.

I hope this post finds you well. Are you reading anything good? I would love to hear!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

Gardening, Books & Dollhouses

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(Please note this post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links you don’t pay anything more but I earn a small commission)

Happy Thursday!

I am sitting in my studio after having spent some time today in the garden! Oh it feels so good to be out in the sunshine! I planted my lettuce seeds and cleared out 2 beds and had a nice long sit, petting the dogs, and thinking about what my plans are for the garden this year.

I am really excited that after 20+ years of wanting we are finally purchasing privacy trees for the back border of our yard. This is something I have always wanted to do but at first our yard was already full of trees that cast it in full shade so growing anything like evergreens wasn’t going to work. Sadly most of those trees died, the upside is that our backyard is now full sun-yay! I have also been able to replace almost all of the trees we have lost and just put them in more appropriate spots.

The other thing I did was had a good swing on the swing set. Last year my husband built one for the kids and I had requested that he build it sturdy enough so that I could also use it as swings were my favorite as a child. I have to ask the last time you were on a swing set? Can I just say that I forgot how amazing it feels! I told my husband that from now on whenever we are grumbly we should just come out and swing for 5 minutes and suddenly all is right with the world. Really it was pretty awesome.

In other, more blog-focused news I will be hosting my first in-person class this June! I am so excited and really can’t wait to get everything pulled together. I already have lists and ideas and I am planning a goody bag-including a brand new art journal-for each participant. It’s going to be so much fun! I will be sure to keep you updated and I do plan on offering an online version of the class so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

With the gorgeous weather today my husband was kind enough to help me transport my dollhouse to the studio. Originally I was excited to work on it at home but other than the very first steps I just haven’t been able to find the time. I spent this past week designing a digital planner so I could plot out my studio time with my current projects. I was able to use it to carve out time each week to work on the dollhouse and the content creation that goes along with it.

If you read this post you know I am dipping my toe into the world of miniatures and I have begun my first project-renovating my childhood dollhouse. I have quite a bit of footage filmed and wanted to see how I was going to do with it before deciding if it was content I was prepared to create and share on a regular basis. I feel ready now and I am going to spend the rest of April filming some videos and then launch a separate YouTube channel just for the dollhouse.

I will keep the same format here which is writing a blog post and sharing the YouTube video. I’ll create a separate link that takes your right to the dollhouse content and all the appropriate videos but I didn’t want the videos on YouTube to be under my art journaling channel. I really thought it would be confusing for subscribers and probably make some algorithm somewhere cranky. I have designated Sundays as my dollhouse day to share all things miniature. Currently I post content here on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so I thought adding Sundays would help you know what to expect and when here on the blog.

That brings me to another thought-my podcast. I have loved making podcasts in the past but lately I have been struggling to find topics to share about. I have some ideas and things I might do-including taking a step back all-together but I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you listen to the podcasts? If so what would you like me to talk about? For now, I am going to take the rest of April off and see what comes up for May.

Lastly I did want to give you a Book Club update. I finished 1 mini book this week-“A Christmas Tartan” by Paige Shelton (affiliate link). It was really good-her Scottish Bookshop Mysteries (affiliate link) are one of my favorites. I am currently reading the next book, “Lost Books and Old Bones” (affiliate link) along with “Emerald Isle” (affiliate link) Stacy Justice Mysteries Book #5 by Barbara Annino. I started this book last year and then just stopped reading on my kindle for a bit. I am hoping to finish both of these books this week along with the audio book I am currently listening to which is “The Secret Adversary” by Agatha Christie.  I mentioned in the last book club update that I am working on The Agatha Christie Mystery Challenge and I really enjoy listening to them in my studio. They are so well produced. If you are interested in the version I am listening to it’s on Audible here (affiliate link).

So that is the news for me! It’s funny I didn’t know how much I would have to share with you this week but it turns out it’s been quite a bit! I would love to hear what you are up to so please do share a comment below. If you share about your reading adventures on your own blog you can join my link part (see below) and we can all come and see what you have been reading. One day I hope to host a virtual book club-does that sound fun? Let me know!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

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The Case of the Two Agathas aka Book Club Thursday

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This post contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase using one of my affiliate links I earn a small commission but you do not pay anything more.

Welcome to another Book Club Thursday. I hope you have been enjoying some quality reading time the past 2 weeks. I have finished two books since my last update and have really been enjoying the extra time spent with a book in my hand. I thought it would be fun to share what I have read and some of the books I hope to dig into reading the next few weeks. So let’s get started!

I finished “The Quiche of Death” by M.C. Beaton (affiliate link) the first book in the Agatha Raisin series. I picked up a used copy of the first 3 books combined in one volume a while back. I really love the the Agatha Raisin movies and television series so I thought it would be fun to read the books as well. If I am being honest, I like the shows better. The novel in and of itself is a good one and if I wasn’t comparing it the television series I am sure I would have enjoyed it more. I found the characters of Agatha and Roy to not be nearly as likeable as they are on TV but I am going to keep on and at least finish the volume and see how the characters develop from there. The story itself, a cozy-mystery (my favorites) is a really great “who-dun-it” set in a cozy English village.

The next book I finished was Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind by Joyce Meyer (affiliate link). This book is by a Christian author and while some of the, shall we say gender specific roles are not something I personally agree with I did find the overall message extremely helpful. More so than “think positive” the book goes into Biblical examples of how we are to focus our mind on the good, the loving and the true. It offers some really solid examples of training your mind but is definitely a book focused on Biblical Christianity so if that isn’t something you resonate with than this wouldn’t be something I would recommend.

I am going to also add a separate category here for audio books that I listened to. I have trouble considering audio books, well, books. I understand they are but I guess for me it’s not about just a story but the act of reading I enjoy. Still, I love audio books as their own category and have started listening to them when working in my studio. This week I listened to “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” by Agatha Christie. I have purchased a used copy of some of her books but decided to go for an audio version of her first book. I am doing this as a part of the challenge with the 52 Book Club’s Agatha Christie Challenge. I am working on all the books in the order of which they were written. I really enjoyed the audio version. The narrator was fabulous and I felt as if I was transported into the story. I am excited to start the next in the series, “The Secret Adversary” and I will be doing this as an audio book as well.

Now as for some of the books I am hoping to read in April. I would like to finish “Emerald Isle a Stacy Justice Mystery” by Barbara Annino. I started this book, I think the beginning of last year on my Kindle and am about half way through. They are fun stories about witches, mysteries and magical lands-some of my favorite reads. I am hoping to finish this one next week if I can.  I would also like to read “Steeping Secrets: The Magical Tea Room Mysteries” by Erin Johnson. This series is so much fun about an American in Bath, England who ends up working at a tea room run by vampires and shape shifters only to find out that she herself is a witch. Add in some sleuthing and murders and it’s a really fun cast of characters and really like and fun read. This is another book I plan to read on my kindle as well as the next book in the series, “Save the Last Dance for Tea.” (You gotta love the puns 🙂

Another Kindle read is “A Christmas Tartan” by Paige Shelton.  I started this series I think last year or 2021 and it’s a lot of fun. Again about an American who is living in Scotland and working at a very unique old book store. As in all cozy mysteries you have a wonderful cast of characters and lots of mysteries thrown in. I have also put a request in at the library for “Lost Books and Old Bones” by Paige Shelton which is the book that follows “A Christmas Tartan.”

If I am able to read all these I will hit my 2 books/week goal. As I mentioned before I have set a goal to read 52 books this year and am currently 7 books behind schedule. In truth, I would love to hit the goal but really the goal is just a reminder to me that I want to spend more time reading each day. I always feel so good when I am making time to read each day and I am trying to keep that at the forefront of my day.

Well that feels like a lot! I would love to hear what you are reading or your favorite types of books to read. Please comment below so we can all find our next TBR.

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Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

Book Club Thursdays-Care to Join Me?

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Happy Thursday everyone!

(Please note this post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links you don’t pay anything more but I earn a small commission)

I mentioned last week that I want to use my Thursday posts to keep things here on the blog-well bloggy. (My daughter says if you use a word it’s a word so there we go).  I also think Thursdays would be a great time to give you a book club update. I have been a bit slow on my reading goals the past 2 months having only finished 4 books this year. As I was finalizing today’s post I had the idea to make Thursdays our official book club night. It would be a great way to keep me reading and sharing and also give me something to talk with you about each week.

You can join in on your own blog (You can use the image I have above if you like) or on Instagram (I have an Instagram friendly image below) and tag #bookclubwiththedreamingdilettante. Feel free to share what you are reading, would like to read or some new reading goals you have. I really think it would be fun to share blogs we love to read too-maybe feature one blog a week on your site along with your books. It’s completely open to your own interpretation and if you would like to join in the linky part the details are at the end of this post. Also if you do share on your blog please comment below with a link so I can stop by and say “hi!”

And now…on to book club!

I just finished a book called “No One Noticed the Cat” by Anne McCaffrey. (affiliate link)  I was at the library checking out some books on hold (more on those later) and I saw this book and decided to give it a try. It was only about 120 pages and so I liked the idea of a quick read to get my count up and it turned out to be a really interesting book. I had never heard of it before but apparently the author is the number #1 female science fiction writer of all time. The book is about castles, good princes, true love and an evil queen. I would definitely recommend it.

The other 3 books I picked up are “Orphan Train” by Christina Baker Kline,  (affiliate link) “The Giver of Stars” by JoJo Moyes (affiliate link) and “Eternal Life” by Dara Horn (affiliate link).  The first two came to my attention after reading Slices of Life’s blog post on her favorite historical fiction books. I picked the first two up from the local library along with “Eternal Life” that I also found while browsing the shelves. Am I the only one who can’t walk the shelves of a library without picking up at least 2 extra books?

In an attempt to make some headway on my reading goal and to get back into my reading habit I am reading these in order of pages least to greatest. So I am currently reading “Eternal Life” and only a few pages in and I am really enjoying it. The story grips you from the beginning and I can’t wait to finish.

My reading goal this year was 1 book a week so I am hoping to read 2 per week for a bit to make up for February and March. I do love reading but I find I have fallen out of the habit a bit something I plan to correct.

So that’s all for this week’s book club. I hope you are doing well and getting some time each day for your creativity (and reading!) Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

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