Artful Readers Club - March

My book for March's Artful Reader's Club run by the very talented Darcy was World War Z by Max Brooks.

I will admit that this went on my list because the film is due out soon and I like a good zombie film :) Also, if a film adaptation looks good I like to have read the book beforehand.

The synopsis...

"It began with rumours from China about another pandemic. Then the cases started to multiply and what had looked like the stirrings of a criminal underclass, even the beginnings of a revolution, soon revealed itself to be much, much worse. Faced with a future of mindless, man-eating horror, humanity was forced to accept the logic of world government and face events that tested our sanity and our sense of reality. Based on extensive interviews with survivors and key players in the 10-year fight-back against the horde, World War Z brings the very finest traditions of American journalism to bear on what is surely the most incredible story in the history of civilisation."

What did I think?

Well, I have to say that I really enjoyed it. This isn't your typical zombie fiction as a large portion of it deals with the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse rather than how it starts. It also covered some issues that I've not seen before with this genre, for example, zombies that end up in the sea but obviously don't die, so randomly appear on the beaches, and the people who are tasked with sorting out the money situation - how do you tell whether the money that people have is their own or stolen from looting?

I'd recommend this book for anyone who loves a good bit of zombie or post-apocalyptic fiction :)

I'll be interested to see what the film is like because it doesn't seem to be very similar to the book judging by the trailers - though I imagine it's a hard type of book to adapt to a film.

My art...

 

Despite enjoying the book, there wasn't any one part of it that inspired me art-wise, so I've gone with a general "aftermath" type journal page. The quote is from the book though...

My book for April is Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel.

Artful Readers Club - February book

Yes, I know I should be posting March's book, I'm already behind :) Only with the artwork mind you, I'm right on track with the reading.

My book for February was 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz.

You can read the book description on Amazon here.

So...I really struggled wth this book to begin with. The book jumps about between each character - which is normally something I like in a book. However, each characters section was quite short which meant there were a lot of natural breaks in the story, which in turn meant that I didn't really read a large enough chunk at a time to really sink my teeth into it. But, about two thirds of the way through, the story suddenly grabbed me and I finished the book in a couple of days. I actually enjoyed the book in the end, especially once it became clear what was causing the "hauntings". If you're a fan of horror then I'd recommend this book but be warned that you may need to persevere to get into it.

My art...

I picked a few bits from the book that stuck in my head - the grass outside of the house that is filled with creatures and the fungus that grows in the rooms in the house. The house in the book is nothing like the one in my journal page but I've been looking for an excuse to use this die!

My book for March is World War Z by Max Brooks. Hopefully I'll get my artwork finished and linked up before the end of April...

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Circle Journal 2013

If you've read my blog before then you'll know that last year I took part in a circle journal with nine other ladies who have become firm friends. A few of us wanted to do another one so we started again after Christmas. The lovely Darcy - despite having not having the time to devote to a journal page each month - is keeping us organised and is giving us our theme each month. The themes were decided by us in advance and told to Darcy in secret :)

Due to a few postal scares last year we have decided not to post journals around the country so are just doing individual pages which can be handed over in person once we're at the end.

Our theme for January was "Julie Nutting Designs" - chosen by Becca, and I had to make a page for Jayne.

And here is my page...

 

As Jayne is a fan of Stampotique stamps I decided to go a bit more gothic with my lady - I think I succeeded!

I had great fun playing with the background - the strips of patterned paper is something that seems to appear quite a lot in Julie's designs and I'm really pleased with the effect so I'll definitely be trying that again.

February's theme is "Beatles Lyrics". I've chosen my song and have a fair idea of what I'm going to do :)

 

ARC January 1st Book Review

For the first month of the Artful Readers Club I chose (or rather Hubby randomly chose) "Wicked Appetite" by Janet Evanovich.

What is it about?

A woman called Lizzy who lives in Salem and has a talent for baking - particularly cupcakes.

She meets Wulf and Diesel, cousins who are both looking for the SALIGIA. These are stones of power, each of which represents one of the seven deadly sins.

Wulf wants them as when they are combined hell on earth is supposedly unleashed... Diesel is trying to stop him, and enlists Lizzy's help.

What did I think?

I've read, and enjoyed, a few of Janet Evanovich's books from the Stephanie Plum bounty hunter series and the seven deadly sins plot of this book appealed to me.

I liked the characters, Diesel sounds very lovely! ;) However, the plot was very linear - no major twists and turns and no suspense. But... it was a very easy read (finished in one day) and quite enjoyable in a "turn your brain off" type of way.

I guess it passed the test as I read the second book in the series "Wicked Business" straight after...

My artwork...

I decided in the end to do a journal page. I bought an old hardback children's book recently at a charity shop to alter and this was my first page in it.

The main image I was left with after reading this book was "cupcakes"! So... that's what I went with.

I tried to do the background in "witchy" colours as the book is set in Salem and I bordered the page with the names of the deadly sins in latin. The quote is a quote from the book and the image is from The Octopode Factory. I decided after taking the photo that I'll add "ARC January" on there somewhere to remind me in the future why I did the page. 

My book for February is "77 Shadow Street" by Dean Koontz. I reckon that'll be a dark journal page!

Mandala Novice

I've been aware of Mandalas for a while but haven't really had a go at doing one myself. But... I saw this year long challenge here (via Darcy) which seemed like a nice way to start. The mandala has been drawn already so you just need to do a bit of colouring in - that, I can do!

Here is my image once I'd done my basic colouring...

But I then wanted to add a bit more to put my own touch on it so I added some doodles and went over some of the outlines so they stood out a bit more...

Really easy and I'm looking forward to the next one!