26. Where Peace is Lost by Valerie Valdes

read on Kindle

390 pgs.

2023
Adult SciFi
Finished 6/16/2025
Goodreads rating: 4.00
My rating: 3.5
Setting: On some far distant planet

My comments:  It was time for a decent scifi. I don't actually read books any more, I listen to them, but I read this one. and my reading was somewhat sporadic, so it got stretched out quite a bit from start to finish. I think this made it appear to go slowly - however I think it was my own pacing, not the book's, so I'll round my rating up to a four instead of down to a three. I liked Kel. A reviewer labeled this book a romance - I have to take issue with that. A little bit, maybe, but not enough to label the entire book a romance!

Goodreads synopsis:  A brand-new space fantasy novel from master world-builder Valerie Valdes! A refugee with a secret, a dangerous foe, and a road trip that could either save a planet or start a war.

Where peace is lost, may we find it.

Five years ago, Kelana Gardavros lost everything in the war against the Pale empire. Now Kel Garda is just another refugee living on the edge of an isolated star system. No one knows she was once a member of an Order whose military arm was disbanded and scattered across the galaxy. And no one knows that if her enemies found her, they might destroy the entire world to get rid of her.

Where peace is broken, may we mend it.

Kel’s past intrudes in the form of a long-dormant Pale war machine, suddenly reactivated. If the massive automaton isn’t stopped, at best it will carve a swath of devastation that displaces thousands of people. At worst, it will kill every sentient creature on the planet.

Where we go, may peace follow.

When two strangers offer to deactivate the machine for a price, Kel and a young friend agree to serve as their guides. The journey through swamps infested with predators and bandits is bad enough, but can they survive more nefarious dangers along the way? And will Kel’s fear of revealing her secrets doom the very people she’s trying to protect?

Where we fall, may peace rise.

25. Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jiminez

listened on Libby

368 pgs. (9:59)

2025
Adult Romantic Fiction
Finished 6/8/2025
Goodreads rating: 4.07
My rating: 3.75
Setting: Half in LA, half in Minnesota, contemporary

My comments: Not really a Rom"COM" (there's some funny parts, but much of this book is pretty darned serious).  Samantha & Xavier fall hard for each other, but she lives in LA caring for her mother with dementia and he owns and runs a veterinary clinic in Minnesota.

Goodreads synopsis:  There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong…

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.

Garlic Rice Noodles

A Great Side Dish! 

Ingredients

• 8 oz rice noodles
• 3 tbsp butter (or sesame oil, or olive oil)
• 1 shallot (diced) (Shallot is sweeter than onion, but could use onion instead)
• 6 tsp garlic (minced)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 green onions (sliced)

Instructions

• Prepare rice noodles al dente according to the package, without rinsing, and set aside
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet on medium-high heat, melt the butter then add the shallot and garlic, cooking for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant
• Add sugar and mix in until incorporated
• Pour in the soy sauce and simmer for 1 minute
• Add the noodles and cook another 3-5 minutes until the noodles have absorbed the sauce
• Serve garnished with green onions

24. Eleven Numbers by Lee Child

A Short Story

listened on Audible

50 pgs.

2025
Adult Contemporary Thriller Short Story
Finished 6/2/2025
Goodreads rating: 4.09
My rating: 4.5
Setting: 

My comments: This short but sweet story certainly kept my attention.  It was about a mathematician, the United States government, and Russian jails.  What a combo!  That it had an HEA totally surprised me, but it's a Lee Child, so that shouldn't surprise me at all!

Goodreads synopsis:  An American mathematician’s assignment in Russia spirals into a high-stakes maze of shifting loyalties and intrigue in a propulsive short thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child.

Nathan Tyler is an unassuming professor at a middling American university with a rather obscure specialty in mathematics—in short, a nobody from nowhere. So why is the White House calling? Summoned to Washington, DC, for a top-secret briefing, Nathan discovers that he’s the key to a massive foreign intelligence breakthrough. Reading between the lines of a cryptic series of equations, he could open a door straight into the heart of the Kremlin and change the global balance of power forever. All he has to do is get to a meeting with the renowned Russian mathematician who created it. But when Nathan crashes headlong into a dangerous new game, the odds against him suddenly look a lot steeper.

Book Shelf Book Pocket

 

Anne Kenlon created a pocket imitating a bookshelf for her book lover's journal (which I must look into further).  It's so cute, cuter than the one I made!  Her short video is here.

Enchilada Casserole

This sounds easy and yummy!  Supposedly freezes well too.

Try halving this, or making it smaller

• 2 Tbsp. 

  extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 

  medium onion, chopped

• 1 

  bell pepper, chopped

• 2 

  cloves garlic, minced

• 1 

  (15.5-oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 

  (15.25-oz.) can corn, drained

• 3 cups 

  cooked, shredded chicken

• 1 

  (4.5-oz.) can diced green chilis

• 2 

  (10-oz.) cans enchilada sauce

• 18 

  corn tortillas

• 2 cups 

  shredded cheddar

• 2 cups 

  shredded Monterey jack

• Sour cream, for garnish

• Freshly chopped cilantro, for garnish

• Diced avocado, for garnish

Directions

• 1. Step 1Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion and pepper and cook until soft, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. Add beans, corn, chicken, and green chilis and cook until warmed through, 5 minutes. Reserve ½ cup enchilada sauce then pour remaining sauce into skillet, stirring to combine. 
  2. Step 2Spread reserved ½ cup enchilada sauce into a 9”-x-13” then layer 6 tortillas in pan, overlapping to cover the entire pan. Pour ⅓ of mixture over tortillas then top with about ⅓ of each cheese. Top with another layer of tortillas and repeat to make 2 more layers, finishing with cheese. 
  3. Step 3Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melty and sauce is bubbling. 
  4. Step 4Garnish with sour cream, cilantro, and avocado.

19. Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson

listened on Libby

420 pgs.

2025
Adult mystery 
Finished 4/26/2025
Goodreads rating: 3.74
My rating: 3.75
Setting: contemporary America - just can't remember where

My comments: Poe runs a podcast where she interviews people who have perpetrated some sort of crime.  But now she becomes the prey ot a ruthless stalker.  Somewhat of a loner, she lives a secluded life with her dog, Bailey, her only close associations that of her producer (and boyfriend), and her father.  She'd watched her mother being murdered 17 years prior, and this entire story is about her reliving how she captured and murdered the killer herself.  But now someone claiming to be him is after her, using her own podcast.  There weren't many surprises along the way, nevertheless it kept me on the edge of my seat ... it just went on a little too long.

Goodreads synopsis:  She gets people to confess their crimes for a living. He knows she's hiding a terrible secret. It's time for the truth to come out…

Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they've committed to her audience. She can't guarantee the police won't come after her "guests," but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame—a potent combination that's proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind.

But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother's murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother's murderer is dead.

Poe killed him.

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Girl in 2A and The New Neighbor comes a chilling new thriller that forces the question: are murderers always the bad guys?

Shop Hops

 I LOVE Shop Hops!

7/1 - 8/31/2025  All Mid-Atlantic Shop Hop (PA-NJ-WV-VA-DE)

8/1 - 8/31/2025  Tri State Paper Crafting Shop Hop (Ohio-Indiana-Michigan)

9/24 - 10/4/2025  Buggies and Buds Shop Hop (Eastern PA)

          Dover - Treasures Old and New

          Ephrata - L & L Rubber Stamps & Scrapbooking

          Greencastle - Stampin' Station/Home of Purple Daisy Design

          Honey Brook - Shady Lane Impressios

          Lancaster - Country Cottage Creations

          Lititz - Cozy Crop House

          Mechanicsburg - Joys of Life

          Paradise - Farmhouse Memories

Bits and Bobs

 TrashyTreasyours creates cute ephemera to stick here and there with different sizes of circle punches, distress ink, stencils, fussy cuts, stickers..... So easy and almost mindless.  Video here.

18. Bright Side by Kim Holden

listened on Audible

423 pgs.

2014
Contemporary "New Adult" romance
Finished 4/16/2025
Goodreads rating: 
My rating: 5
Setting: 

My comments: The first half of this book was really great with an incredibly personable protagonist with the most positive attitude - totally refreshing.  But little by little hints were given that made me realize the story was not going to end without some really sad feelings, and even, maybe, tears.  This was correct.  The whole story was beautifully written, although the end tended to go on and on and on a little too much.  Maybe I say that because there was sadness and grief that was heaped on top of even more sadness and grief.  It also made me think a lot of Steve's last days.  It was definitely a good read, but I HATE tearjerker books. So my rating is tainted a bit....

     SYNOPSIS:  Kate has just moved from San Diego to Minneapolis to begin her college degree.  She speaks with her best friend, Gus, at least once a day.  He is closer than a brother.  They were practically raised together and their banter is exceptional.  His band, of which he is the lead singer and songwriter, has just gotten a record deal and is on the road.  They're hitting it big, fast.  She is making great friends in Minneapolis.  She is positive, friendly, happy, and helpful to all.  And then...

Goodreads synopsis:  Secrets.

Everyone has one.
Some are bigger than others.
And when secrets are revealed,
Some will heal you ...
And some will end you.

Kate Sedgwick’s life has been anything but typical. She’s endured hardship and tragedy, but throughout it all she remains happy and optimistic (there’s a reason her best friend Gus calls her Bright Side). Kate is strong-willed, funny, smart, and musically gifted. She’s also never believed in love. So when Kate leaves San Diego to attend college in the small town of Grant, Minnesota, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with Keller Banks.

They both feel it.
But they each have a reason to fight it.
They each have a secret.

And when secrets are revealed,
Some will heal you …
And some will end you.

17. Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong

#3 Haven's Rock

listened on Libby

341 pgs.

2025
Adult Mystery
Finished 4-13-25
Goodreads rating: 4.29
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary middle-of-nowhere, Yukon, Canada

My comments: It's great to be back with Casey and crew in the middle-of-nowhere Yukon.  Casey is now eight months pregnant, in a pregnancy that has had many worries and mishaps.  Their new community is only a little over a year old and they are working hard to make it safe and happy for all, when one of the female inhabitants is kidnapped, assaulted, and rescued in the nick of time.  Shortly after that, another female disappears, found murdered in a gruesome way.  All of Haven's Rock is shocked because everyone has been vetted extremely carefully so they know that no "crazies" have been let in.  How wrong they are.  The mystery is well written, and you know that near the end of the book there's going to be a very harried birth, complete with almost tragic results.  I do enjoy and look forward to every book in the series.

Goodreads synopsis:  Haven’s Rock is a sanctuary town hidden deep in the Yukon for those who need to disappear from the regular world. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are starting a family now that they’ve settled into their life here. As Casey nears the end of her pregnancy, she lets nothing, including her worried husband, stop her from investigating what happens in the forbidden forest outside the town of Haven’s Rock.

When one of the town's residents is drugged and wanders too close to the edge of town, she’s dragged into the woods kicking and screaming. She’s saved in the nick of time, but the women of the town are alarmed. Casey and Eric investigate the assault just as a snowstorm hits Haven’s Rock, covering the forest. It’s there they find a frozen body, naked in the snow. With mixed accounts of the woman's last movements, the two begin to question who they can trust—and who they can't—in their seemingly safe haven.

16. A Steep Price by Robert Dugoni

#6 Tracy Crosswhite

listened on Audible

410 pgs.

2018
Adult Police Procedural
Finished 4/10/2025
Goodreads rating: 4.38
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary Seattle

My comments: Although depressing, this mystery was super interesting and kept me on my toes, looking forward to returning each time I had to stop reading.  There are two (interesting) cases going on at once, Tracy is pregnant, and we get much more acquainted with Fazio and his wife Vera, who has just discovered she has breast cancer. 

Goodreads synopsis:  Called in to consult after a young woman disappears, Tracy Crosswhite has the uneasy feeling that this is no ordinary missing-persons case. When the body turns up in an abandoned well, Tracy’s suspicions are confirmed. Estranged from her family, the victim had balked at an arranged marriage and had planned to attend graduate school. But someone cut her dreams short.

Solving the mystery behind the murder isn’t Tracy’s only challenge. The detective is keeping a secret of her she’s pregnant. And now her biggest fear seems to be coming true when a new detective arrives to replace her. Meanwhile, Tracy’s colleague Vic Fazzio is about to take a fall after his investigation into the murder of a local community activist turns violent and leaves an invaluable witness dead.

Two careers are on the line. And when more deadly secrets emerge, jobs might not be the only things at risk.

Inspiration for Art Pages that are Actually Easy Enough for Me to Do!!!

 Stamps, distress inks and a tiny bit of fussy cutting....I can actually pull this off myself!  Super short video and I have all the materials!  vickyp

15. The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Lusbuskes

listened on Audible (purchased)

464 pgs. (13:20)

2025
Adult Historical Fiction
Finished 3/31/25
Goodreads rating: 4.17
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Early 20th century Montana

My comments: Three points of view:  1930s Millie, 1920s Alice, 1910s Colette, all coming together in the end.  The story is set in Montana in various small towns and cities.  It is Alice's vision to have a library in a boxcar that travels from lumber camps to mining sites throughout Montana.  Conditions are super hard for the working men, and "the company" is the royal ruler of all.  Colette's father is a miner and a union man. Alices's father is an extremely rich mayor and supporter of "the company."  Millie is an orphan from Texas who now works in Washington DC and comes to observe the group of people that are writing a travel summary for the government.  Once I began to easily tell the three women's voices apart the story became quite fascinating.

Goodreads synopsis:  Inspired by true events, a thrilling Depression-era novel from the author of The Librarian of Burned Books about a woman’s quest to uncover a mystery surrounding a local librarian and the Boxcar Library—a converted mining train that brought books to isolated rural towns in Montana.

When Works Progress Administration (WPA) editor Millie Lang finds herself on the wrong end of a potential political scandal, she’s shipped off to Montana to work on the state’s American Guide Series—travel books intended to put the nation’s destitute writers to work.

Millie arrives to an eclectic staff claiming their missed deadlines are due to sabotage, possibly from the state’s powerful Copper Kings who don’t want their long and bloody history with union organizers aired for the rest of the country to read. But Millie begins to suspect that the answer might instead lie with the town’s mysterious librarian, Alice Monroe.

More than a decade earlier, Alice Monroe created the Boxcar Library in order to deliver books to isolated mining towns where men longed for entertainment and connection. Alice thought she found the perfect librarian to staff the train car in Colette Durand, a miner’s daughter with a shotgun and too many secrets behind her eyes. 

Now, no one in Missoula will tell Millie why both Alice and Colette went out on the inaugural journey of the Boxcar Library, but only Alice returned.

The three women’s stories dramatically converge in the search to uncover what someone is so desperately trying to what happened to Colette Durand.

Inspired by the fascinating, true history of Missoula’s Boxcar Library, the novel blends the story of the strong, courageous women who survived and thrived in the rough and rowdy West with that of the power of standing together to fight for workers’ lives. And through it all shines the capacity of books to provide connection and light to those who need it most.

14. Listen for the Lie by Amy Tinterra

listened on Libby, but it returned itself (early!) so I had to buy it on Audible to finish.

352 pgs.

2024
Adult Mystery
Finished 3/21/25
Goodreads rating: 4.09
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary small town Texas

My comments: Well, that was certainly an entertaining listen.  You never knew who to believe, including the protagonish, who heard voices in her head.  Many violent people, many nutso people, and a whole lot of extra marital screwing going on in this little town in Txas.  I've never enjoyed a podcast-based story before, but this was not bad, the interruption of the podcast kept things moving along perfectly, pushing it in the right direction.  

Goodreads synopsis:  What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

       Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all and, if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. But after Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer.
       It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast Listen for the Lie and its too-good looking host, Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one who did it.
       The truth is out there, if we just listen.

13. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

#1 Empyrian

listened on Libby

498 pgs.  (21:22)

2023
Adult Dystopian Fantasy (now called Romantasy)
Finished 3/17/25
Goodreads rating: 4.58
My rating: 3

My comments: Well, I made it through hours and hours of what?  Arguments.  Hateful banter.  Battling tactics.  Young people dying.  And dying.  And dying.  Dragons.  I've never been a dragon fan and I'm still not.  And then after 2/3 or the book.....lust.  And more lust.  I'm certainly not opposed to lust, but when it's so much more of the story than the first 2/3 of the book it's a bit eye-rolling.  Major battles, exposed lying, lots of flying through the air and being attacked by creatures that cannot die.  And then, at the very end, switched points of view, from Violet to Zaren.  I refused to give up through all....what....20 hours? and I'm glad I completed it, but it seemed endless.  I'm not its biggest fan.  

Goodreads synopsis:  Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

          But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

          With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
          She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
          Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
          Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die

Creating Snippets for Your Junk Journal Pages

What better way to use up your scrapbook scraps?

Circle Snippets, what could be cooler?  Melina Pylant creates them using either one size punch (1") or three different sizes.  They look cool and are right up my alley to make.  The video's here.

Use a strip of washi for the base, layer on strips of scraps, then run a line of stitching down the middle - washi won't gum up the sewing machine!  Silverandsparkles2474 shows us in a quick, simple SHORT here!

12. The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant

listened on Libby

304 pgs. (9:41)

2024
adult mystery/thriller
Finished 3/5/2025
Goodreads rating: 3.66
My rating: 3
Setting: contemporary Idaho woods

My comments: Relationships, trust, addiction, survival skills and poor self-esteem seem to be the main themes of this book.  I enjoyed the adventure of being miles and miles into land where there's no one else, including no wi-fi.  But I wasn't fond of the way the story kept flipping back-and-forth to tell the whole story.  I usually don't mind this sort of thing, but this one didn't work for me....this could've been told at once in a much shorter, less boring presentation.  Perhaps it switched back-and-forth too frequently?  I just wasn't fond of the way the book was put together and had to force myself to go back to finish it.

Goodreads synopsis:  In this captivating novel of suspense, a wilderness guide must team up with the man who ruined her life years ago when the friend who introduced them goes missing.

     Emlyn doesn’t let herself think about the past.
     How she and her best friend, Janessa, barely speak anymore. How Tyler, the man she thought was the love of her life, left her freezing and half-dead on the side of the road three years ago.
     Her new life is simple and safe. She works as a fishing and hunting guide, spending her days in Idaho’s endless woods and scenic rivers. She lives alone in her Airstream trailer, her closest friends a handsome and kind Forest Service ranger and the community’s makeshift reverend, who took her in at her lowest.
     But when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing, Emlyn is propelled back into the world she worked so hard to forget. Janessa, it turns out, has become a social media star, documenting her #vanlife adventures with her rugged survivalist boyfriend. But she hasn’t posted lately, and when she does, it’s from a completely different location than where her caption claims to be. In spite of their fractured history, Emlyn knows she might be the only one with the knowledge and tracking skills to save her friend, so she reluctantly teams up with Tyler. As the two trace Janessa’s path through miles of wild country, Emlyn can’t deny there’s still chemistry crackling between them. But the deeper they press into the wilderness, the more she begins to suspect that a darker truth lies in the woods―and that Janessa isn’t the only one in danger.
      Poignant, suspenseful, and unforgettable, THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING explores what it takes to start over―and the cost of letting the past pull you back in.

Gelli Printing Ideas

Years ago I purchased the tools to do Gelli/Gel Printing, but I haven't a clue of memory about how, exactly, to use them!

This shortish (31:40) video by Brenda Clark, aka The Simple Crafter showed me a quick and easy way to get started again...with the perfect spring project!  Just need the Gel pad/s, brayer, acrylic paints, (for these pastels, black, and white) cheap flash cards, and a variety of  "junk" to leave marks....plastic packing popping paper (LOVE the alliteration!), plastic canvas grids - just a small piece, peeled off- corrugated cardboard that shows the lines (lovel!).   This will be a really FUN project to do!

365 Days of Junk Journaling Ideas

On January 1st, Kate Marshall of Inked Paper Art began a new 2025 series entitled "365 Days of Junk Journal Ideas."

Two great things about these:

          They're blessedly short, most are around 15 minutes, very infrequently going more than 20 minutes YAAAAY! - (though as she continues along, she's getting longer and longer....) 

          She shows you clearly what to do and doesn't give a lot of unnecessary chit-chat or long pauses while she thinks or looks for something.

I'm taking it upon myself to watch and annotate them all.

Day 1:  Making Faux Aged Tape using transparent Scotch tape and alcohol ink.

Day 2:  7 Pockets out of one 8 1/2 x 11 inch double-sided paper.  One is a 5-pocket glue-onto-page and there are 2 leftover triangles for corner pockets on another page or pages.

Day 3:  Making a blended background using flicked water over distressed/blended papers.  

Day 4:  Making a 12 x 12 collage master board and how she cuts and uses them

Day 5:  Using upcycled photo slides to create a dangling charm.

Day 6:  Making floating pockets and tabs.  I did!  Here's the front and back:

        

Day 7:  Making Shaker Journaling Cards.  Lace is the covering that you look through to see the shaker "bits" as she calls them.  She can numerous ideas for what the bits might be.

Day 8: How to Use Your Scraps for Paper Dangles. She piles six layers of different scrappy papers (the first/largest is a good-sized bookmark size) and grommets them together at the top.

Day 9:  How to Make Pretty, Layered Stuffed Pockets. Four pockets lined up, one above the other, then pasted down so that the entire creation becomes a big pocket.

Day 32:  How to Make Vintage Wallpaper Pockets.  These are almost like a "coin envelope" more than a pocket....But she gives a few hints about working with wallpaper.

Day 75:  How to Make Large Page Pocket Tucks.  She used 8 x 8 paper.  These are the pockets for yesterday's altered BINGO cards.

Day 97:  How to Make Easy Pockets with what's on my desk.  Easy indeed!  4  x 4 3/4 with a punch top, layered collage and a focal point to decorate.  Easy Peasy, but really effective.

Day 99:  How to Make One Sheet Wonder Botanist Sticker Jnl. Cards....Using a cut-up sheet of 12 x 12 paper and one scrap with one torn book page and one botanical sticker, journal cards are created - quite a few of them!

Day 104:  How to Take Apart Books for Harvesting & Journal Covers.  I learned so much from this short video....especially that the page before and after a sewn-in signature are glued!  Two pages that are sewn in and come out as one is called a folio.  Lots of tips and good info here!

Black and White Junk Journal Ideas

From Megjournals "Finishing an altered book: Adding quotes and writing"  on YouTube:

(Don't even need to see the video, she just used a stencil and black acrylic paint.....

11. Dark Storm Rising by Linda Castillo

#15.5 Kate Burkholder

listened on Audible (purchased)

65 pgs. (1:25)

2024
Mystery Novella
Finished 3/2/25
Goodreads rating: 3.99
My rating: 2.75
Setting: Contemporary Ohio woods in winter

My comments:   Kate and Tomassetti head off for their brief honeymoon to the lakeside cabins where Kate remembers great happiness when her family vacationed there when she was 12. They are renting a cabin from an elderly Amish couple and stumble over....what else?...bad stuff happening.  It's not very exciting or gripping, you know exactly what's going to happen, and thankfully no one gets hurt or killed like in her longer novels.  It was....boring.

Goodreads synopsis:  In this short mystery from bestselling author Linda Castillo, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder must race through a dangerous blizzard to save an elderly Amish woman from a sinister foe.

Newlyweds Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and John Tomasetti are happily spending their honeymoon at a beautiful Lake Erie cabin that was once part of an historic Amish settlement. But when a violent storm suddenly erupts, Lovina Nisley, the Amish owner of the cabin, goes missing. Lovina is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, so it initially appears the elderly woman simply took the wrong path, but her disappearance takes an ominous turn when her husband reveals that a developer has been threatening them if they refuse to sell him their home. With temperatures dropping and local law enforcement unable to reach them, Kate and Tomasetti must brave the perilous weather to find her. But will they reach Lovina in time to save her life?

10. The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen

#1 Ellery Hathaway

listened on Libby

274 pgs. (8:58)

2017
Adult mystery/thriller
Finished 3/1/2025
Goodreads rating: 3.81
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary small town central Massachusetts

My comments: Ellery had been the victim of a serial killer, saved in the nick of time by a young FBI agent named Agent Reed Markham. Years later she's a top in a small Massachusetts town where no one knows her identity.  However, for the past three years she's been receiving ominous anonymous birthday cards, and there has been three annual disappearances, all at the beginning of the month of July.  She knows something is awry.  So she gets in touch with that FBI agent from fourteen years ago and more problems ensue.  This is good storytelling and kept me quite attentive.  Sick minds.  Very sick minds. A very bad guy and his equally-as-bad copycat. 

    Note:  Abrupt ending

    Another note:  I never really liked or trusted the protagonist, I'm not sure why.....

Goodreads:  Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only one who lived.

When three people disappear from her town in three years―all around her birthday―Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer all those years ago.

Agent Reed Markham made his name and fame on the back of the Coben case, but his fortunes have since turned. His marriage is in shambles, his bosses think he's washed up, and worst of all, he blew a major investigation. When Ellery calls him, he can’t help but wonder: sure, he rescued her, but was she ever truly saved? His greatest triumph is Ellery’s waking nightmare, and now both of them are about to be sucked into the past, back to the case that made them...with a killer who can't let go.