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Showing posts from March, 2016

Baby Koala

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My kids went to my mom's so I thought I would finish this one.

the Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks

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the Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks The story starts with Ira, an elderly man, who accidentally ran his car off the road on the way to revisit an long closed art college. He carries with him a box of letters from his deceased wife, Ruth. The story of their historic romance is intertwined with the story of Sophia, a fine arts major in college and Luke, bull rider who meet by chance at a rodeo.  The story is told from the point of view of Ira, Sophia and Luke. You may have seen the movie and Britt Robertson, Alan Alda and Scott Eastwood is a stand alone lovely movie but as usual with Nicholas Sparks books to movies the movie is almost a different sorry than the actual book.  The book is better! I really love the narrator of Ira. Opinion rating: 9/10

the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward

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the Black Dagger Brotherhood Books 1-10 by J.R. Ward I have read books 1-9 and am currently reading book 10. I would consider this series soft erotica fantasy. It revolves around an ancient line of Vampire warriors that live in the world to protect the vampire race from their soulless counterparts created by the Omega, a fickle, vindictive character. They all come from a god bloodline, named the Scribe Virgin. All the books continue the story line from book to book so none of the books can stand on their own and cannot be read out of order. I find the 'Warriors' a little self-loathing and pessimistic but I guess that makes them brooding and sexy. The sex is quite graphic but tasteful. I can't say I have liked one more than the others because the same recipe repeats book after book so it does get a bit boring but still has kept me interested for months. Each book is about one of the brothers falling in love with their 'Shellon' and it continues the story of t

Animal Series

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As you will notice I like to work in groups of 3s but I really like working on animal paintings so you may see more in the future. True Love March 2016 September 2015 August 2015        

Painting Classes at Michaels in Pitt Meadows with Liz

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When I started painting I found a class at Michaels in Pitt Meadows with a fantastic artist named Liz. The classes were reasonably priced and she had afternoon classes while the kids were in school. I learned so much from her.  This was my first class, August 19, 2014 My second class was an intermediate class, September 21, 2014. October 23, 2014 October 25, 2014 November 19, 2014 December 11, 2014 January 15, 2015 February 5, 2015. Still one of my favorites. March 6, 2015 Mady (10), I and Alexa (12. No Pic,) took. September 6, 2015

My First Painting - July 2014

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the Paint Nite Experience

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August  31, 2015 August 17, 2015 April 2, 2015 March 19, 2015 November 19, 2014 Mine is the rights side - October 9, 2014 Mine is on the right - October 2, 2014 September 18, 2014 August  28, 2014 My first Paint Nite my is on the right - August 5, 2014

Dentist redecorating

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My dentist's office had paintings circa 1985. Even the gold plastic frame. They drove me crazy so I painted Siamak, my dental hygienist, a painting and then realized the hallway painting was just as bad and therefore had to be replaced. This is what I came up with. In the Hallway For Siamak

A wreath for a friend

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I have a very good friend who had supported me through a hard year and we were walking to school and she saw a wreath she liked. She said she never had had a wreath and really wanted one. I made this from a wicker wreath, dollar store christmas balls, a present bow, a wire for hanging and 18 sticks of hot glue. Pick a colour, go shopping and go to town. You can do it.

My attempt at recovering dining chairs.

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I found these 6 chairs on the side of the road. 5 out of 6 had been stripped and I knew a friend who needed some chairs and had been such a good friend over the year that I wanted to thank her and I have always wanted to try to reupholster furniture. The final product Original color Original fabric

My first try using molding paste.

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Not sure molding paste is my medium. I'm not happy with the results.  These are all the same canvas. Attempt #1 Attempt #2 Attempt #3

Winter Series

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Did this one today. The rest of the series... March 2015 March 2015 December 2015

Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon

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Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon I audiobooked this but it does not make a good audiobook. The narrator reads out every email address and there are a lot of them since the main character, Wife 22 and the researcher email back and forth the WHOLE book. When you are reading that you can skip over it with your eyes but when someone is reading it, it is annoying. A unsatisfied wife and mother signs up for a marriage research project and starts to fall for her assigned researcher. Interesting dialogue and story. Pretty good book. Neat ending. Opinion Rating for book 7/10. Opinion Rating for Audiobook 5/10.

the Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

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the Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards This is one of my adult reads, though older teens may enjoy. The story starts with the birth of Dr. David Henry and his wife, Norah's twins in 1964. Paul, a healthy boy and Phoebe, a health baby girl with down syndrome.  While his wife is under anesthetic he makes a decision to put his daughter in a home and asks his nurse, Caroline, to take Phoebe there. Caroline goes with the baby but in the end cannot leave her there and raises her with the help of Al, a truck driver she also meets that night.  David tells Norah the baby died and the loss of their daughter is a haunting absence in there life that ends up affecting the family and eventually tearing it apart.  The story is told from David, Caroline, Norah and Paul's point of view. This is a story that will stay with you for a long time as it is told so much depth you feel how this split second decision caused so much pain for these characters. I r

Books by Rainbow Rowell

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Well it turns out that Rainbow Rowell is a woman. Fooled me, lol. She has written more books but these are the 2 that I have read. Eleanor and Park  Set back in 1986. Two really neat, well written, unique characters fall in love in high school.  I would really like a follow-up novel but it doesn't look like Rainbow Rowell does that. Too Bad!  That is why I only give it an 8/10 because I really didn't feel like their story was done. Very good read. Opinion rating 8/10 Fangirl Follows Cath and her twin sister, Wren to college. Cath is a blogger and huge Simon Snow fan (think Harry Potter). Cath is a loner and her sister was freedom and wants to party. Lots of well developed characters but the story is from Cath's point of view.  Very well written and again very well developed characters. I liked how it ended.  Opinion rating 9/10

Wondrous Strange Series by Lesley Livingston

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Wondrous Strange Series by Lesley Livingston The series centers around Kelly, a 18 yr old Fairy Princess who was kidnapped as a baby and raised in the mortal world. And Sonny, a defender in King Auberon, the Winter Fairy's, guard. Lots of magical characters weaving in and out of different worlds and a sweet love story. Opinion rating 7/10 . Didn't leave me wanting more. This can mean the author wrapped up any lose ends or I enjoyed it but ready to move onto something else. Can't remember, sorry. But a good read.