Finished Object Friday

First off - please remember those that were affected by the tornadoes in the last week! Quite a frightening experience! Those same storms were over us on Tuesday evening, but there wasn't the widespread damage as they have experienced. I certainly was relieved to hear from Brittany Wed. evening - they are all ok, but maybe still without power.
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Thanks all for the sweet comments on my Easter post. We had a wonderful day! But now it's time for Finished Object Friday! So here is my "object:"


Oh, wait... you've seen that picture before, haven't  you? Well, my sweater is my finished object! :)

I had my outfit together with a basic white jacket, but I wanted to find something a little more feminine/springy! After a bit of shopping (first online then at the store...) I figured I didn't want to pay $30.00 for what I wanted, and decided after looking at a few sweaters, "I can do this!" So I did!! (This sweater was my inspiration.) So I found this sweater on clearance:



Bought some fabric and cut out circles:

I bought a 1/4 of a yard and ironed it into thirds. Then cut the circles out (cutting three out at a time went soo fast! I ended up with more than I needed!) I then folded them into fourths before pinning them for placement. I used my sewing machine to sew them securely down - much faster than hand stitching! :) (Oh and the inside window of a paper cd sleeve was the perfect size circle!) :)

Here it is up close:


The whole project came together very fast with minimal frustration. (Although I did tack the collar down once while sewing a "petal." Out came the seam ripper!) :)  And I had my fun, fluttery, feminine cardigan for Easter morning! :) 

So now it's your turn to share! What fun projects have you had up your sleeve? :)

No Place Like Holmes

You could probably judge my reading progress as a child by the mysteries I read. The summer right before I turned 10, I could read two books a day - Bobbsey Twins. Then I progressed to Trixie Belden and the Three Investigators (the last ones looked really creepy, but weren't much worse than Belden) :) And does anyone remember Encyclopedia Brown? I still love a good mystery (like the Royal Tunbridge Wells series), but I'm not really into anything graphic. However, I do love a good children's book! I think the charm of a children's mystery, is that the author can focus on the story without feeling the obligation to sensationalism (such as gore or language etc...) that they feel necessary to include to make it a viable "adult" novel.

Thus, I was excited to receive "No Place like Holmes" by Jason Lethcoe to review. I enjoyed the book! I have been an admirer of Sherlock Holmes especially listening to the stories on Old Time Radio. I always thought it interesting how Sherlock would pick up on the smallest detail, and of course, that one detail would solve the mystery! Griffin Sharpe is a young boy with observation skills much like those of the fictional Holmes. He observes the most minute detail and comes to (mostly accurate) conclusions. The summer he is twelve, he is sent to spend time with his uncle in London. While there, he of course, finds himself deep into mystery.

 I am a little confused about the book, however. Tommy Nelson has it listed as a non-fiction book. According to the author, Griffin Sharpe, was a real private investigator. However, in the story, Griffin has one on one dealings with Sherlock Holmes (who lives in the apartment above his uncle) and Holmes' arch enemy Moriarty who are both fictional characters. When I researched Griffin Sharpe, I found next to nothing other than what the author has put on his blog. Maybe the author will clarify this in the sequel.

I thought the book was well written, and I like how the author blended the story with Griffin's faith. He treats his uncle with respect even when he has been mistreated and misunderstood. He treats clients with respect and compassion when his uncle is focused merely on solving the mystery. A fun read for those young persons (and older ones too!) who like a mystery. Some fun extras are in the back, like a recipe and a few mini-mysteries.

Thomas Nelson provided the book to me free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

31 Days to Clean!

My house needs a good cleaning... yet here I sit. :) Maybe what I need is a good book to motivate me, right? Sarah Mae is giving away a free copy of her book, 31 Days to Clean, in exchange for blogging/twittering about it! How cool is that! :)   Thank you, Sarah Mae!! :)

Easter

I hope you all had a joyfilled Easter day! We certainly did. I wanted to share a few pictures from our day.


Hubby and I in our Easter finery! :)



Family picture!


The girlies were precious decked out in their Easter dresses!


Our church had an Easter picnic - so fun to be all together on a very special day!



After the meal, the kiddos had an egg hunt.


After a busy weekend, this is about how we all felt:

That picture totally cracks me up! :)

Coming up this week - I have a couple of books to review and then Finished Object Friday! :)

Sunday Blessing

 

Here the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be born again.

Here the bells ringing
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead.

The angel up on the tombstone
Said he has risen, just as he said.
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead!

Joy to the word, he has risen, hallelujah!

He's risen, hallelujah!
He's risen, hallelujah! 

From The Easter Song

by Keith Green

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He is Risen!!! He is Risen indeed!!

Blessings to you on this glorious Easter Sunday!