This week, I are been mostly reading.....

So it's not often that I respond to competitions, but there was one in Craft Stamper magazine months ago that really got my creative juices flowing.

It asked for people to make and send in Bookmarks.

Their only rule was it had to use blue, yellow and green somewhere in it's colour palette.

I set about having a go and came up with this little creation.

The only problem was, once I had finished it, I really didn't want to lose it - so I came up with the ingenious idea of keeping it for myself!

It has now been my bookmark of choice through several tomes and I am growing really attached to it. It's only made from a scrap piece of mountboard and it's covered in scrap papers from my 'special' drawer - the drawer where all good paper scraps go to die!

The most creative thing I did with it was to use some stamps but I just love the overall finished effect. So Craft Stampers loss has become one of my most treasured items.
As you can see, I am currently reading John Connolly's Every Dead Thing. I am a big fan of Charlie Parker and I have read a couple of them out of sequence and have now started them from the beginning. There's a new one out next month, very excited about that. If you haven't read any of his work I can highly recommend him. He uses a traditional detective set-up but with very few traditional detective novel scenarios. He writes about a strange, mysterious, often eerie world, one that very few detectives inhabit. There are some great characters in his work and his writing style is quite beautiful, very descriptive and quite poetic in places.

So treat yourselves, go pick up a Charlie Parker story tomorrow, I guarantee you'll love him.

Andy

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