lit*chick

Happy Birthday Jane Austen List

Today is Miss Austen's 223rd Birthday - which coincides nicely with a list of related items for the Austen fan in your life.

    A  Darcy Christmas - A collection of 3 short stories/novellas revolving around Darcy & Elizabeth by popular Austen fiction authors. This was a fun imagining of holidays with the Darcys, including a take on A Christmas Carol.  From what I recall it would make a fine gift for a high schooler as it isn't racy like some of the others in the genre.

Etsy is full of Austen inspired art & housewares:

One of my faves, Brookish is on holiday. But she has fun mugs & such with quotes from P&P.

This is brilliant - Poster Text has prints using the words from your favorite classics as the background with a silhouette imposed overtop. Love it.

This one is Pride & Prejudice, but there are more.

And there are cute coasters from Green Chair Press - in a variety of colors.

Then there are bookends from  Two Stray Cats:   and this I have showed you before, my new favorite artist, Janet Hill Studio:

and if you'll forgive the shameless plug - The Paper Pear would be happy to make you a custom silhouette of any shape using any Austen title. I'll even work in your favorite quote if possible. :)

Finally, our good friends at  Sourcebooks, the world’s leading publisher of Jane Austen fiction, is offering a unique deal to readers who want to celebrate Jane by reading special editions of all six of Austen’s beloved novels in a 21^st century format.

Special e-book editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park will be available for free. These celebratory editions include the full novels, plus the legendary color illustrations of the Brock brothers, originally created to accompany the books in 1898.

In addition to the Jane Austen classics, readers can also enjoy these bestselling Austen-inspired novels. The following bestselling e-books will be free on December 16th and 17th in honor of her birthday:

Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken

The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll

What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown

The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins

The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview

Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange

Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan

Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds

 Available wherever eBooks are sold. (This morning there were some glitches I understand which is why they have extended the freebies through tomorrow!)

Enjoy the day and download some free stuff!

The End.

Nursery Art - Prints

Obviously these prints don't HAVE to go in a nursery, but I'm a big fan of using pieces I love in kids' rooms.  Nothing against theme rooms - I've been there too (Curious George)...now in the age of etsy and online design you aren't limited by what can be found in stores. I'm drawn to certain color combinations and art that either includes books or looks like children's book illustrations.

From etsy:

My main inspiration in Evie's room (apart from Charlie & Lola) was a print from Cathy Nichols. Part of the plan for the big wall opposite the crib is to include more of her work. Here are some more examples - I love how she brightens up nature.

  Sanctuary

 Ice Cream Girl

 The Boys of Summer - I love this for my boys' bathroom, anytime I see 3 dudes I can't help but think of them

Cathy's blog is www.cathynichols.blogspot.com .

Swallowfield is another favorite shop, here's my latest fave:

   "six"

The Reading is Cool print (called Imagination) in Evie's room, is from DazeyChic - I love her bold graphics like this:

  sweet and sour

    curiousity

from seaspray blue's shop - pink & green, anyone?

the caravan exhibition

I've seen people framing & hanging gift wrap or craft paper - this would be great, from enna:

matryoshka wrap

jane mount's shop carries her bookshelf series:

#22

and another was featured on 20x200 a few weeks ago and i snapped it up:

Ideal Bookshelf

Lisa Congdon has an etsy shop with originals (out of my budget), but she had a print on 20x200 that i'm saving up to get in a larger size...

birch forest no. 7

creative thursday has wonderful whimsical prints AND a children's book for sale too!

 sock monkey tree

  eli (i know a lil Eli..)

andannechovie's new chair print - so colorful and fun

I could go on all day, here's my final suggestion.  I am loathe to rip apart books - I don't even dog-ear pages - but someone on a message board was looking for a Chesley MacLaren print on the cheap. My suggestion was to buy a book she illustrated and frame some pages:

like this one... Let's face it I'd love to own an Oliver Jeffers or Melissa Sweet original, but until then I'm not totally above taking a page from one of their books, cringing all the way. The same goes for vintage children's book art (particularly one that might be already falling apart).  I picked up a book of National Children's Book Week posters at a yard sale and one day plan to frame some of those :)

 available used here

tips for hunting on etsy:

• you can use their search function, of course- by seller name if you know it, or color,or by number (if you have a favorite number) - i used to search for 3 (no. of children) or 5 (no. of people in our famiy) now i'm all about 4 & 6

• but the easiest way for me, is to go to an artist i admire and click on favorites (under their picture along the right column in their store) - because the etsy community is so supportive of one another, you are sure to find tons of great art being nosy :)

• and once you register as a buyer, you can add items to your favorites and refer back

• if you see something you like, but it isn't the right size, email the seller - cahty nichols was able to make a bigger print than the 8x11 that was offered on the site

Happy Hunting! Let me know if you find some cool stuff :)

The End.

Bullet Point Monday

• Alright Round Robinettes - mail your book off this week. Let's keep it moving people

• and some bonus etsy eye candy:

  I love everything at Creative Thursday's shop, but these two especially.

Over the last year, I've ordered quite a few prints from dazey chic (studio mela) but here are some more on the cute list:

wall decals & paper dolls combined make me smile from lovemaestore

i love these skirts and dresses from PrettyMe - they look like scrapbook pages:

 

• Don't forget to sign up on the mama day giveaway post to win lotsa books.

The End.

 

T Minus 8 weeks*

*hopefully less... until Baby Girl comes to stay. Still working on a name. And the nursery. But the painter is lined up and the room is almost empty.  I finally have my inspiration in the form of this print from Cathy Nichols on Etsy.

All the things in her shop are altogether lovely and tempting, but this one was the a-ha instant winner. Look for some etsy enabling soon - I stumbled upon lots of fun things while browsing for baby room prints.

For a reading recap, I'm still plugging away despite the lack of blogging. I am working on a couple reviews, one for The Lost Hours by Karen White and another for I Loved I Lost I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci.

My in-real-life bookclub just met and discussed Still Alice, one of my favorite recent reads. It led to a wonderful time of sharing about caring for aging parents and disabled children. Plus we had a doctor who specializes in geriatric medicine in the group who had so many helpful insights into the world of dementia.  Good stuff.

Onto the fam: KWB is pitching in his first game tonight, Caleb & Owen are also playing b-ball. This means we have practice Mon-Thurs and games every Saturday and during the week. It's madness. Practices are great opportunities to read :), unless of course it's windy or raining.  Through watching year after year of baseball I really notice how the dudes are growing and getting stronger. And so far it doesn't appear that any of them have inherited my lack of coordination. I'm also having a hard time believing at the end of the season I'll be pushing a stroller through the fields. Eek.

What's happenin' with your family this spring?

The End.

C'mon Everyone, Let's Etsy!

     swallowfield goes back to school

i already ordered this from studio mela             

   not having a little girl doesn't stop me from looking at dresses...from katiepatatey

it's not an etsy list without an oktak clutch          

 for those participating in the reading round robin (details to come), you'll be getting one of these from byvikINK

  from marieflyfly

 from mywireempire                 

i love the mushroom dolls at effunia  

my good friend kate makes these cool personalized bookmarks. i love mine.

brilliant repurposing  - lights from domestic-construction

  future kids craft: painting our own little people:  from gemmielou

these frames are beautiful- even more so knowing they come from salvaged wood of Hurricane Katrina homes..

  from secondline frames.

The End.

 

new favorites

light pineapple coconut ice cream

love me some whales      from charlie & sarah   

oh yes, i'm bringing back the tretorn and i may get some pom pom footie socks too

the new Anna Griffin paper line Alix (which I found at Michaels) makes me want to go the beach

gonna get me one of these new prints from annechovie

                                              this $10 clutch from old navy got rave reviews when i carried it around last weekend

The End 

inspiration

from the cover of The Uncommon Reader

to this:

and my favorite:

  from karen hilton's etsy shop.

The End.

The Best and Final

This is the last day of enabling - I'm combining days 10-12 here. It's a real mishmash - much like the inside of my head. Here goes:

this scarf from fringe is lovely - as are most of her designs

  book purses - reasonably priced from pretty theory

custom library stamps from sweet paperie     - although i'm tempted to get the michael scott version instead of my own name :)

one of my favorites is this neclace from brookadelphia

    for a fleeting moment i dream of having a girl so she can wear this...then i think of tights and hair and grooming and the moment passes  (from willarie)

i like these and a BUNCH of other stuff from the craft pantry

i recently bought some wood jewelry from emilini and it is simple & lovely & affordable

  these come in a set of 3, and are perfect for stocking stuffers for the book clubber in your life. from sherwoodpress

  beautiful gift wrap sheets & ribbon (and a cool calendar too) from erinruth

The End.