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!
I’ve been to Anthropologie twice in the last week and have officially fallen in love with cork art… something similar will probably follow once I have collected enough wine corks…
Last night I was able to celebrate the birthday of one of my closest friends! We ate dinner with the girls at a restaurant we just discovered called “Equator” in Pasadena which was complete with incredible honey glazed shrimp, a great yellow curry dish and a shot called the “Sexy Alligator Shot”…
The rest of the night was filled with taking pictures, lots of laughs and really terrible bowling. But the atmosphere made up for the lack of bowling skill at “300 Pasadena”! Great new bowling alley that is complete with great music, a full bar, and really clean bowling shoes. Now if only we could bowl in shoes like this...
My adventure today was taking a drive with my little brother to LAX for entirely no reason at all and having great conversation with him. I've loved getting to spend this year with him as he learned and grew at the same University that taught me so much. Love this kid and can't wait to see what the future holds for him!!!
Ok... well that's a start. We'll see what becomes of this blog tomorrow... oh what an adventure...
"An adventure may be worn as a muddy spot or it may be worn as a proud insignia. It is the woman wearing it who makes it the one thing or the other."
~Norma Shearer
