The Thirteenth Tale -- A Book Review

Page-turning novels are killer on my family because I literally disappear into my reading until I turn the last page. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is one of those books that caused me to vanish for a few days as I read late into the night and during naptimes. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as it is written in beautiful language and is replete with interesting characters. Setterfield deals with difficult themes like mental illness, incest, love, abandonment and loss with great delicacy. She should be commended for creating a book that includes such topics without offending the reader. I especially like how she includes the consequences of the aforementioned deviant behaviors and the ripples that it causes not only in the family, but in society.

I must say that I was amazed at the twists and turns that caught me completely off guard. The ending was not at all what I had mentally projected and I love how Setterfield built in certain expectations and then simultaneously brought them crashing down. If you are looking for an interesting novel that won't haunt you later, I would suggest picking this one up.

Happy Reading!

xoxo
Bethany

Fall Break

You may have noticed that my posts have been slightly less frequent. One may say...sporadic...lately. Well, it isn't without good cause. We've been quite the busy little bunch.

Let's see....a few weeks ago, the bigger kids were off of school for their 2 week fall break. We had a wonderful time visiting places, organizing for the newest guy and just relaxing. I, personally, enjoyed the slower mornings and later evenings.

We went to the zoo on a stinking hot day. (Needless to say, by about 1:36 PM, my preggo body started to slow and we stopped for special slushies on the way home.)

The sweeties had a wonderful time seeing all the animals. Including the new koala bears. (That was fun.)

Quinn was totally in love with the giraffes while Zoey took copious notes on every single animal, bug and interesting thing that we encountered. Cam took copious pictures while Dani was our map reader. Elyssa borrowed my camera quite a few times to take a few shots herself. It was fun for me to observe all of their personalities coming out as we explored.

Later that week, we went to the Science Museum. It had been quite a few years since our last visit. The kids had an absolutely wonderful time. And, since it was air-conditioned indoors, I was comfortable and happy too. We ended up staying all day.

Lyssie enjoyed the pulley room. This was her favorite thing.

Quinn loved the big legos. I promise. Towers are his specialty.

One of the special presentations that we happened to hit was a cow eye dissection. Once I realized what they were going to do, I felt slightly nervous because I have one girl who won't touch a worm and is quite the squeamish little thing.

At first, the two older girls expressed their displeasure and I was about ready to slip out when I spied Cameron utterly and completely enraptured. The boy couldn't take his eyes off of that eye ball. Even though the other 4 weren't so thrilled, we stayed to the end.

When, to Cam's immediate satisfaction, each child was allowed to touch the various pieces of cow eye (wearing gloves of course.) I think that Cam was the first kid in line. Zoey, by this time, had changed her tune and also ran up to smoosh and pet. Dani, not wanting to be left out, too got in line. I couldn't believe it. Afterward, each of them was pleased as punch and we discussed the event almost the entire evening.

During fall break, Dani also memorized her part in her school drama club presentation. She is playing the part of Pinocchio and has really stepped up to this difficult role. I'm so proud of her.

"Mom...they gave me the part of a boy..." was the first thing she said to me after the parts were assigned. Of all the horrors.

I've been sewing and prepping her costume so she can be the cutest girl dressed like a boy ever. (Even if her nose is a bit long...)

We've also been quite involved with soccer season. Both Zo and Cam are playing. I've really enjoyed watching them from the sidelines. Last season, I coached Zoey's team. (Badly, I might add.) It was difficult to keep the younger children happy while focusing on the needs of the team. I decided to let the professionals coach this year and I'm much less anxious and harried. I'm in a much better place now.

Fall break ended up being a lot shorter than we wished and each of us struggled with getting back into the routine. However, now that we are in the routine again, everyone seems quite happy. I miss having the older kids at home though. They are so helpful and they entertain the younger ones beautifully. Already looking forward to Christmas break!

Shopping for a Bus

With the arrival of the 6th little Kartchner in a few weeks, I am forced against my will to trade-in my lovely-ish mini-van for a slightly larger vehicle so that the car seat children aren't located right next to each other.

(I'd like my sweet baby to survive his car trips, after all...)

Todd and the kids are pushing for this.



Yes, they think this is quite funny. Quite.

I, on the other hand, do not see much humor in this situation.

Humph.

Le Ballon Rouge

When I was in second grade, we watched the movie, Le ballon rouge, during a snowed-in recess. From that moment, it captured my mind so completely that it has remained my favorite movie for over 25 years.

I'm not sure what exactly captivated me, was it the magical balloon? Was it the ending? (Which is probably the best ending in movie history, by the way.) Was it the message of abundance despite loss? I don't know, but I still think this movie rocks my socks off. (Even though modern-day cinema-goers will probably find it without plot, action and entertainment.) There is something to be said for innocence and love even though it may be considered slow-moving.

So, if you have about 40 minutes, here is the movie divided into 4 parts. And don't worry, it is totally and completely kid-friendly. Although, if you have a sensitive child, she may burst into tears during Part 4. Tell her to keep watching, the ending is worth it. I promise.

Here's Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4



Recently, I did a little piece to commemorate my love for red balloons. It is pretty simple, but captures the child-like innocence perfectly. Yeah, that's me.

The balloon is raised from the piece, as you can see. I've been experimenting with dimension lately.

Is there anything that captured your mind like this movie did mine so long ago? Do you have un ballon rouge in your life? If so, I'd love to hear about it.

xoxo
Bethany

Du Chocolat Chaud

I have a confession...I love hot chocolate. I'm talking serious love. Whenever I feel stressed, I make myself a cup of cocoa and I immediately feel better. It doesn't matter that it is 112 F out and I'm sweating. I still love my chocolate. Todd has capitalized on this obsession and gotten me some rocking gourmet hot chocolate for Mother's Day and I adore it.

I decided that I needed to document my simple pleasure.

So I made this.

This piece was another experiment that turned out pretty well. The mug is made out of paperclay and I love the dimension that it adds to an otherwise 2 dimensional piece.

Aren't those colors divine? They are from the Metallics collection of DecoArt acrylic paints. I love their creamy richness.

Here's to obsessions...

xoxo
Bethany

Free Online Course: Art, Heart & Healing

My good friend, Lucy, told me all about a cool free online class given by Willowing and being a sucker for free stuff, I had to check it out. Well, looking at Willowing's blog and her Ning site has me all a flutter.

Class starts on October 18th and you can bet I'll be there. (At least until I give birth...giggle...)

I'd love to see you there too!

xoxo
Bethany

Halloween Masks with Shimmerz Part 2

As promised, here is part 2 of my Halloween Mask demo video.

Enjoy!



If you do make your own mask, please share a link so I can gush over your creation!

xoxo
Bethany

Stash to Treasure

You know when you stumble upon something great? Like an awesome sale on cute shoes and you call all your closest girlfriends so they can score too?

Well, I stumbled upon something great when I was invited to teach for a new site: Stash to Treasure.

I'm pretty excited about this because the classes are so cheap and the teachers so awesome that I think everyone should know about this place. When I say cheap, I mean $5.00 a class. Yep, that's right. Only $5.00 to take an online class that includes 10-12 videos, tutorials, and instruction from leading designers in the industry. We're talking about these rocking girls.

Exciting, huh? It is certainly worth checking out. Especially in April (when I'm teaching...giggle...)

xoxo
Bethany

Gianna Jessen

I don't normally chat about religion or politics on my blog, but this video warrants it. Seriously.






I don't know about you, but watching Gianna inspires me to do more. Be more. To remember my worth. To remember what's important.

Amazing.

Halloween Masks with Shimmerz and The Crafter's Workshop

Happy October everyone! Are you as excited as I am about Halloween this year?

Join me as I demonstrate how to make these two unique masks using Shimmerz products and The Crafter's Workshop templates.

Nesting

With only 6 weeks left to go in my latest gestating project, I've officially entered the nesting phase. All I want to do is clean, organize and sort. Luckily, the rest of the family seems to be on board with my crazy schemes to reorganize closets, drawers, computer files, you name it.

While organizing my photos, I realized there were a few projects that I never shared. So I thought I'd do so. I made these projects using Shimmerz and Petaloo flowers for a special promotion. I love working with flowers.

The plastic tube is part of the packaging of some KI Memories small jewel flowers. I love how it makes a cool vase for my flower tag.

My second project is a simple card.

The background pink card is actually a paint chip. I layered 4 separate flowers and glued on a few beads for the center. I really like the look of beads in a flower.

My third project is also a card, but it is a little more involved.

By the way, can anyone believe how fast September went? Good gravy...my life is flying by...

Have a lovely weekend!

xoxo
Bethany