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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Adventures in Reading

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1811

Amidst the chaos and adventure that has been the past few days, I have found solstice in this…

Jane Austen has been my getaway car to a world that I have never lived in except in my mind. Written about 200 years ago, Jane’s books take me to a time when people used beautiful language to talk to each other and where the heroines were women who spoke their mind and fought for true love. Oh, how I can get lost in those pages for hours! I can barely wait to turn the next page! I think that is why I despise the new Kindle so much. No satisfaction in turning the next page… no satisfaction in closing a book at the end of a few hours… no beautiful books sitting around half read! I mean, how could you replace a room like this with a tiny screen?!

I’ve always been a reader. One summer my mom had to ban me from the library because I wanted to stay inside and read instead of playing outside. I would have 7 books half started and rotate between them because I couldn’t decide what to read first! Sometimes I would be reading and get side-tracked with dreaming about where I would rather be reading… and usually it would be this place…

The library in Beauty and the Beast has always been my dream library. Belle was always my favorite princess because of her strength and love for reading… I think that’s why I love Elizabeth Bennet in Pride in Prejudice so much. I want to be loved someday for my strength, good heart, and my ability to sometimes be irrational. And maybe for my creativity too. These are some of the projects I’ve used book pages on…

Mason Jars with book pages Mod Podged on

A 12x12 art piece with book pages and paper as the background

A framed book page with a quote on it

And these are some of the projects I really want to work on that have book pages in them…

(Upper Left: Matchbook holder, Lower Left: Bookpage flowers, Middle: Framed book page with a quote from Persuasion by Jane Austen, Upper Right: book page and beeswax flowers, Middle Right: Book page mobile, Lower Right: Earrings with book pages from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.)

I think seeing book pages in art and around the house make me feel intelligent, classy and vintage all at the same time. They make me want to sit by a fire, reading with a glass of wine. Mmm… maybe something I can more easily do in Washington than down here in California! I hope you are feeling as inspired by books and book pages as I am! Go read a book or make some book art as your adventure for the day!

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