Scrappy Sunday!

Yay! It's time for more scrapbook pages. I'm posting another page I made from one of the sketches from Page Maps. They have a monthly challenge, which you can find over on their blog.

Thanks to their wonderful site for all the inspiration!

I also entered this page in the Hot Summer Days Layout Challenge over at Outlaw Women's Scrapbooking Emporium.

Supplies used in this project:
Cardstock, patterned paper, tags, accents, tabs: American Traditional Designs kit
flower brads: Colorbok
Stickers (sand dollars): Miss Elizabeth's
stamps: Stampabilities (journaling), 7 gypies (round)
other: staples, adhesive, pen


I really like that I was able to use a bunch of stuff that's been unused in my stash forever! I hardly ever use page kits, but I've had this one for a long time, and I was happy to finally have some pictures to use it for. I have to admit, it took a lot of work out of finding products to coordinate, which usually takes up most of my time on a project.

Book Review & Giveaway: The Concubine's Gift by K. Ford K.

Today's book review is extra special! I'm done reading this fun novel and thought I'd pass it on so someone else could enjoy it, too. Please see details after review for a chance to win a paperback copy of this awesome book. (Only open to US residents. Sorry for any inconvenience!)

When the author of The Concubine’s Gift contacted me asking for a review, I admit I was skeptical. I’m not much of a romance reader. In fact, most romance novels are a huge turn-off for me, because I either despise the arrogant jerk that the heroine inevitably falls in love with, or I find the whole book unbelievably cheesy and trite. However, I hesitantly agreed to read this book when the author sent me a copy, and I’m glad I made an exception from my romance rule for The Concubine’s Gift.

First and foremost, I have to warn readers that this is not your typical romance. In fact, if possible, this is a romance novel but not a love story. I think that’s why I liked it. A lot of romance novels just don’t convince me. I don’t believe the romance. I don’t buy it. There’s too many clichés, too many overused devices (love at first sight? Oh, please. Love triangle? Sigh. A handsome stranger coming to the rescue? Eyeroll). The Concubine’s Gift avoids all these pitfalls and more. If you’re looking for a novel about a beautiful brainless bombshell being swept off her feet by a swarthy swaggering swindler-of-virtue, look elsewhere. Trust me, you’ll find many, many books that are exactly what you’re looking for. They are a dime a dozen. The Concubine’s Gift is something else, something new and refreshing. It’s a sexy novel about, well, sex, as well as self-discovery.
As we watch Bernice come into her own and accept herself, we can cheer for her because she’s just like you and me. She’s not meeting the hottest guy on earth and falling in love with him the moment she lays eyes on him. She’s working and talking to her friends, trying to seduce her reluctant husband and shopping for antiques. It’s one of these antiques that provides the catalyst for the story when Bernice finds a concubine’s magical face powder, which allows her to see the secret to a happy sex life—for those around her.
Some of the sex scenes are glossed over, while others go into minute detail. I never felt frustrated by lack of detail in the former, or overwhelmed with raunchiness in the latter. The author walks the line between sexy and dirty well, never venturing too far into the obscene. Just when you think she might (lesbian threesome? What is this, a frat-guy fantasy?), instead she breezes right through with minimal detail, focusing on the lasting changes resulting from it, and goes on to a more detailed account of another scenario. The sex scenes were creative and varied, some a bit titillating and some matter-of-fact. I found the varying degree of explicitness made for a more interesting, tasteful read and kept it from sinking to the thrusty and porn-like play-by-play of some romances.
The Concubine’s Gift is sexy, straightforward, and sometimes just a bit silly. I don’t know if I would have made it through Bernice’s story if she had been a typical helpless heroine, or even an butt-stomping, wise-cracking badass. No, Bernice is just your ordinary working woman, trying to be proper, worrying about her disapproving mother, estranged brother, ungrateful children, inattentive husband, and sexually free neighbor. And that’s what makes her such an accessible character who we can relate to so well. After all, who hasn’t wondered at some point, when our kids are screaming in the front yard, or we stop ourselves from telling someone what we really think of their kids screaming in the front yard, WHAT WOULD THE NEIGHBORS THINK?!
I enjoyed reading about those neighbors, the town, its founding and history, and the political struggles surrounding the brothel. The townspeople were also entertaining, although most of them are not developed well enough to get a real sense of their personalities. Most of the book has a light tone, which makes it a quick, light read. A few errors in punctuation (frequent missing commas) were scattered throughout, but nothing glaring.
Although I enjoyed the novel, I did find the whole great-sex-will-fix-your-life theme a bit tiresome. I’m not one to discount the importance of sex in a happy marriage, or to say that it’s something we shouldn’t look for in a partner. However, I doubt that having a good sex life is going to make all your problems disappear. It was implied throughout the book, and really pounded home when Bernice sees her teenage daughter taking one of two paths—having adventurous sex with a boy who will break her heart and then leading a happy, fulfilling life afterwards, or missing out on great sex with her high-school sweetheart and going on to lead a stifled life as an uptight, fearful mouse. Although I’m not much for romance novels themselves (I need more going on than two people falling in love), I do believe that romance, like sex, is important in healthy relationships. I think love is important, and that’s one thing missing from this book. Love didn’t seem to factor into most of the stories. They seemed to all suggest that fulfilling your sexual potential will fulfill your life, and love is either unnecessary in the equation or will inevitably follow. And yes, that is the part I didn’t buy. I can swallow the rest, magic makeup included.

Overall, a well-edited and engaging read that I would recommend to romance readers and other adults looking for some fanciful entertainment.


Today, I am pleased to bring to you not only a review, but also a giveaway! I am passing on the copy of The Concubine's Gift that the author was kind enough to provide for review. This is a paperback, the same one I read. It might show a little wear, but it's in great condition. If you want a chance to read the novel, here it is!
Here's how:
Follow my blog (1 entry if you already follow or become a follower), share this on Twitter (+1 entry), Facebook (+1) and Google plus (+1). Blog this or link it to your blog (+2 entries). Any other form of social media sharing adds extra entries. Please leave me a comment letting me know if you've done any of these and I'll drop your name in the hat.
Become a fan of K. Ford K on Goodreads or add this book to your TBR list here! Bonus entry for that, as well.

Read The Superiors free!

Hey all,

I got in on this late, but Smashwords is having their summer sale this month, so for the next week, The Superiors will be free on that site! If you have an ereader, you can download the book for free in any format. Check it out, and all the other great books you can get free this month.

Also, many more books are half off or more, including my second book, The Vigilantes.

Happy reading!

Lena

Scrapbooking pagemaps challenge

As some of you may know, I'm an on-again scrapbooker. So...I decided to post a few layouts now and then. Right now I'm making a scrapbook about life, one about me and my significant other, and my never-ending project is to scrapbook my son's life. So...

Here is a page from one of them.

I created this page for a challenge over at pagemaps. Thanks to Becky Fleck for the great, detailed sketch. To see the sketch or enter the challenge, go here.

Here is a list of some of the supplies I used:
Background paper: Daisy D's
other patterned papers: American Crafts (scalloped), 7 gypsies (music note), Paper Studio (hearts, rose petals)
vellum: Remember When
ink: Paper Studio (brown), Clearsnap/colorbox (pink), ATC (glitter spray ink), Sharpie (pen)
sentiment: Making Memories
Element stickers: All My Memories

other: canvas, burlap thread, staples, doilly, ticket, tag & photo corner

Minnesota heat-wave

We left home thinking Minnesota...nice break from the heat. Ha. Ha. Ha. It is 93 degrees here, hotter in the cities. And so humid you could slice the air with a knife...or a mosquito!

Phew. I'm standing here sweating as I write this, having earlier soaked my shirt in cold water to cool off, which did not work due to the humidity keeping all the moisture on me! Let's see...here is what has happened since my last blog.

On Saturday we were going to go to Duluth, but decided against it because we thought the crowds would be too bad. Marcia, Katherine, Craig and the whole crew of uncles and aunts were up. Instead of heading up to Duluth, we went to Sturgeon Lake. The water was clean and cool, and after Stephen and Deane fixed the dock, which had floated away in last week's rains, we jumped off the end and swam. I went for a little kayak ride, watched Gabe play and swim, and swam for a while myself. We had to stay out on the dock in the sun because all the mosquitoes swarmed us the moment we set foot in the shade.

That evening we went back to Deane's and Katherine cooked a wonderful meal of smoked salmon, dressing, mashed potatoes, bread, salad, beets, and zucchini. Matt and April joined our party and we played cornhole and bocce ball while dinner cooked. We had a wonderful dinner and then had strawberry cheesecake and carrot cake for dessert. Then some people played ping-pong and everyone else relaxed and hung out. Later that night we played Nertz! with a bunch of the relatives, playing in 4 teams of 2. It was really fun. Me and Deane almost won, but Elana and Craig pulled ahead at the last and beat us.

On Sunday we went out to the lake a little earlier. Rose and Anna stayed back because Rose had gotten sunburned and didn't want to be in the sun, and Anna wanted her to give her a pedicure. The rest of us went to the lake and swam a bunch of times. I tried to stay out of the sun by wearing a long sleeved shirt, but every ten minutes I got so hot I had to jump back in the water to cool off. The mosquitoes weren't too bad so we sat in the shade a lot of the time. Matt came to visit for a bit and then left. I took Gabe for a spin in the kayak, and Craig took him out in the canoe. But he did a great job kayaking around the dock on his own, paddling and steering and impressing everyone. He wanted to go out in the lake with Deane, but of course I made him stay where we could reach him easily if he tipped.

We went back that afternoon and had dinner, courtesy of Marcia. She had grilled a chicken, which we had with baked potatoes, grilled veggies, and black bean/corn salad. Later, Marcia and Craig had to leave, after a short "Tangled" watching moment with Craig and Gabe. Gabe took quite a liking to Craig, but once they left, he invited Steve to watch the rest of the movie with him. The rest of us talked and played Sudoku, rubix cube, and read. Before bed, we played a few hands of cards (golf). Then Katherine and Deane went to bed, and the four sisters stayed up playing Nertz! on our own until late into the night.

Today it was super hot and humid and we didn't do much. Took naps, ate, sat around sweating a lot. Now we are about to have Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes (Steve is on a potato kick this year), salad, and later, homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert, which is heavenly good!

It is 101 degrees in Stillwater, probably 93 degrees here, at 730pm. Craziness! Tomorrow we are going to Duluth to hang out near the lake and cool off!

Minnesota Day 3

This is the third day in Minnesota. This morning it was hot and muggy when we woke up. I got up and went for a quick run first thing, which left me hot and sweaty. We hung around for a while waiting for everyone else to get up. Then we had a big breakfast consisting of more of Steve's eggs, bacon, melon, juice, etc. Afterwards, Katherine was home but she had to work, so we hung around and looked at a lot of the pictures of all the beautiful houses she and Deane have designed and built.
Gabe played rockstar and the rest of us were his fans for a while. Then I scrapbooked while everyone else hung out reading, doing sudoku and lounging around. In the afternoon, Marcia showed up, making the family unit just about complete.
We went to pick strawberries at Hinke's farm next, which was really hot. But at least it was windy and the mosquitoes weren't too bad for once! We picked two buckets in about 20 minutes between the 7 of us in our immediate family. We went back to Steve's afterwards. I wasn't feeling very good, but I went out and took a short walk and made a phone call while dinner was cooking. We had venison chili, sweet potatoes, coleslaw, and sourdough bread with organic butter. I talked to Marcia all about the local beers she'd had at a beerfest a few years ago.
Now we are all hanging out and talking about Anna's wedding. Will we have more adventures tomorrow? You betcha!

Minnesota 2012

We are in Minnesota again for our somewhat annual visit to relatives, so as usual, I am chronicling my travels and adventures in the land of the mosquito bird.
This year, we left yesterday at 830am to go to the airport. At XNA, we had a leisurely hour wait for our plane. We took a direct flight, so no extra time connecting. The pilot was super friendly and said hello to Gabe when we got on board. The flight attendant was also very nice and had an awesome bracelet which I had to compliment her on. She gave Gabe extra cookies and juice and he had fun on the flight. I slept most of the way to Minnesota, where we waited on the curb for almost an hour in the muggy 90 degree heat and parking deck-esque smog. We got our rental car and drove out of Minneapolis in the early afternoon.
We went to Hugo to see Leroy in the nursing home, which was shocking and depressing. In the past two years, he has lost a ton of weight and looked shockingly frail, sickly, and disoriented. He couldn't seem to remember any of us except Liz and John. It was very sad to see him that way and think that soon enough we all go down that road.
When we left, we continued on our way very subdued. Liz and John waxed intellectual about aging and we didn't talk about the emotional impact of seeing such a strong, masculine, sturdy guy become so feeble. The usual route for us.
When we got to the farm, Steve was waiting for us. We helped a bit for dinner and heard about his newest dietary adventures. He made Shepherd's Pie and Liz made salad and we had dinner and then homemade banana ice cream for dessert.
Deane showed up late and we talked a bit and then went back to his house for the night, trying to avoid the swarms of giant silent-stalker mosquitoes that descended upon us the second we ventured outside the house. They are the worst I've ever seen them this year.
I slept like a baby all night, better than I have in ages. Towards morning, it cooled down a lot and I actually had to cover up with a light blanket. Quite a change from the 100 degree heat back home and the sweaty nights. I woke up early because it gets light so early here! I journaled a bit and then everyone else got up. We hung around and talked and then had a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, melon and juice. Afterwards, we looked at some pictures of Deane's awesome log cabins and other buildings. Then I scrapbooked a while, Rose played with Gabe, and we generally hung out and enjoyed vacation mode.
Later, we took naps and then went out to the lake. Deane and Stephen fixed the dock and we all went swimming and looked at old yearbooks and learned some interesting things about our dad's high school career as a beer maker. It was pretty amusing.
We came back and hung out at Steve's for a while. I talked to John about working at a chicken plant, classic literature, Lady Gaga, and the different definitions of success. I took a short walk and started a new book, The Concubine's Gift, which so far is pretty amusing (Look for review soon). Then we had a huge dinner of natural pickles, cauliflower, lamb curry, lamb hearts, and mashed potatoes. More homemade ice cream is in the near future.
Now Gabe is having a pillow fight and driving cars across the old treadmill and the rest of us are sitting around chatting, reading, etc.