Librocubicularist- June 2017

I really do apologize for being so late posting this. The last few weeks have been really busy. In addition to the never ending battle to keep our yard looking well groomed, my husband and I decided that it was time for us both to get checkups. So we scheduled doctors appointments for both of us, which of course lead to more doctors appointments. I also had some extra crafting for a gift exchange that I participated in that took up a bit of my spare time as well. But you know, there's always time to read, so here are a few things that I squeezed in this month.


Literary Yarns: Crochet Projects Inspired by Classic Books by Cindy Wang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is super adorable! It has instructions to make your very own amigurumi style stuffies based on famous literary characters. There are enough details in the direction and variations for hair styles that it seems like it would be easy to create designs for your own characters based on these instructions. There are so many great things here it's hard to choose a favorite, although I think I'm going to go with Anne of Green Gables. There are several with great accessories that make me laugh, such as Captain Ahab with a toothpick peg leg and Julius Ceasar skewered with cocktail swords. There's even a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde that uses a doll joint so you can turn his head from one face to the other.


Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Storytelling in Color by Felix Scheinberger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book has a lot of basic information about watercolor paint works, how its made, and how it can be used. I also felt like it had good advice about composition and finding your own style.


Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Volume 1: Force Storm by John Ostrander

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This comic series is.... odd. I should say upfront that I've only read the first two so far. I have the third but haven't finished it. The blurb on the back of the book makes it sound like these are about the foundation of the Jedi. It was a little confusing to read at first because there was only a minimum of setup then launched into a story about a whole planet of people who are in balance with the force. There's a race of dark side wielding creatures preparing to attack. As you get further into the story it does begin to explain some things but I still feel confused. I think that a little more explanation up front would have made this series much more enjoyable.








DIY Temporary Tattoos: Draw It, Print It, Ink It by Pepper Baldwin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have never wanted to get a real tattoo, in part because I've never felt like I had an idea that I wanted to live with permanently. I really still don't but if I did this book would be a big help in working out exactly what I wanted to do. It covers a variety of topics related to tattoo design including subject matter, style, and location. While some of this information is specific to temporary tattoos (like which placements will crack or stretch) I feel like most of it would be relevant to creating actual tattoos. It would be a good way to test out a design before going permanent or just try a variety of things for temporary fun.

Librocubicularist- May 2017

During this past month, we have still been working on getting our yard back in shape. It's still been rainy off and on so we keep getting interrupted, but it's finally starting to look okay. We still have lots to do including digging up a bunch of stumps from the brush we cut down.

I am working on sewing curtains for our dining room. Finally. The fabric for them has been in the closet for years and I even tried to start them last April when I posted about making curtains for our bedroom and office. I am hoping to be able to share them with you in my next post. However, I did take a short break to make a quick skirt using this awesome Legend of Zelda fabric that I bought.

Bonus Pic of Gil being adorable and 'helping' me sew. He's been super photogenic lately.

I have done more reading this month but somehow haven't found time to write up reviews for them. I have a lot going on during the next couple of weeks but if I get a chance I will add them in later.

No Excuses Watercolor: Painting Techniques for Sketching and Journaling by Gina Rossi Armfield

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The main section of this book is a discussion about the paints themselves and other supplies you may need. Then it goes over some basic techniques. While it does mention that drawing well is important to be able to watercolor well they do offer suggestions to be able to practice without drawing. Mainly that means tracing a design and there are several simple outlines provided in the book that you can use. The same section provides additional ideas for subjects, associated color palettes, and related quotes you could add to your design. I get the feeling that this book oversimplifies things immensely, but it does make me feel like I could possibly paint something at least passable so I think that might be okay. I think I might try to do a watercolor portrait of our dog and depending on how that goes try other things.



Fat Quarters: Small Fabrics, More Than 50 Big Ideas by Amanda Carestio

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


There is a LOT you can make with just a little bit of fabric and this book shows you how to do it. The projects range over several categories including baby clothes, home decor items, and bags. There are even some projects for quilts though they obviously require multiple fat quarters. My favorite project is the bookshelf tote. I've seen pictures of several quilts with this type of pattern but this is the first time I've seen instructions for it. It seems much easier than I expected and I can't wait to try it out. Other favs are the small first aid kit, stuffed birds, and the fruit pop tea towels.


Tidy Hacks: Handy Hints to Make Life Easier by Dan Marshall

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I've seen a lot of these at various places over the internet, but there's something to be said for having them gathered together in a single volume for easy reference. There are some attempts at humor that make it a little weird in places, such as the male author joking about how much makeup he owns and needs to organize, but overall I think it had some handy ideas for storage and organization.

Librocubicularist April 2017

This has not been a great month for reading.

Mondays are my regular day off and usually when I make my weekly run to the library. On the 10th I wasn't able to go because I had jury duty. Then last week, the 17th I spent all day doing yard work and was only able to return what I had due, not much time for browsing. In fact, the entire past two weeks have been filled with yard work. We've been working to get the weeds and brush along all of our fence cleared out and it has not gone smoothly. First, my husband got sick and spent much of the first week unable to help. With my allergies and asthma problems, I can only work a little bit at a time before I have to rest and breathe. Plus, it has rained quite a bit over the past weeks as well which made things more difficult. We got a lot done but it still needs some work and after two weeks cutting and trimming my allergies have caught up to me and I'm sick with a sore throat and coughing.

Geeky Lego Crafts: 21 Fun and Quirky Projects by David Scarfe

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


While I agree with the fun and quirky tagline, I don't necessarily think everything qualifies as geeky. Sure, there are space invaders, and retro controller but what exactly makes a rubber duck geeky? I'm not sure. However, that being said the instructions seem well done and easy to follow. They are in typical Lego fashion with pictures only and no words. I feel like my husband needs a cassette tape mail sorter and retro game controller phone charging station for his desk at work. The only thing I would change would be to include part numbers for the Legos. If you already have a pile it's easy enough to find a 2x3 brick but when you need to order extras, that's not always how they are identified online.


Brief Histories of Everyday Objects by Andy Warner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Did you ever wonder where toothbrushes came from or who invented the paperclip? Then this is a great book for you. It contains comics that present short, humorous histories of things we use every day. There are some inspirational stories of people using their ideas to get ahead as well as multiple stories where the inventors never patented their products. The story about cinnamon and giant birds, in particular, made me laugh.

It's sad but I only have about six books finished this month, most of them very visual. Hopefully, I'll be back to my normal, non-allergy hazed self soon and get more done.

Librocubicularist March 2017

For whatever reason, it feels like this month has just flown by. I know part of the reason is that so much of the beginning part was filled with preparations for the big Pi Day party but it still seems crazy how fast it has gone. Not a lot of crafting has been going on although did buy supplies for a few new things, including finally getting an album for scrapbooking (even though I posted about making my first pocket page over a year ago). The husband bear and I have also been keeping ourselves entertained by discussing a pair of married Dungeons and Dragons character who have a follower that acts as a nanny for their children. I'm still not involved in a game right now but we are attempting to negotiate something. At the moment I'm just amused to think about ways that DnD skills could be used to entertain children. Currently, the nanny is a bard with perform- storytelling and singing for lullabies. I've also been working hard to gather Magikarp candy during the special water event this past week in the hopes that I can evolve a Gyarados without keeping a Magikarp buddy for forever.



How to Celebrate Everything: Recipes and Rituals for Birthdays, Holidays, Family Dinners, and Every Day In Between by Jenny Rosenstrach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


How to Celebrate Everything is about creating your own rituals for everything from widely recognized holidays, to birthdays, to celebrations that are completely made up and unique to your family. As it is mainly a cookbook it focuses on making connections and memories through food. There is an entire chapter devoted to ways to make regular everyday dinners more meaningful. Also included is a birthday chapter, with suggestions for birthday breakfasts, cakes, and special dinners. There's even a short section about hosting kids birthday parties complete with game and craft ideas. Every ritual and recipe has a description of how it came to be a part of their family's story so that you can get ideas of where to create rituals for your own family. While I understand that technically my husband and I count as a 'family' and can and should have our own rituals, this book makes me really wish that we had kids.


Soup Swap: Comforting Recipes to Make and Share by Kathy Gunst

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The premise of this book is really interesting. It offers tips and suggestions for hosting regular soup swap parties. It sounds like a great way to share food with friends and try new soups. The basics are that everyone brings a soup to share and ends up with leftovers for later, a great way to have a variety of warm winter soups without so much cooking. The fact that I already own several cookbooks focused on soup means that I already had recipes for most of the types of soup. However, the tips for toppings, sides, and transporting the soups are pretty cool. Grilled cheese croutons sound particularly tasty and awesome.

Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck by Thug Kitchen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The first thing that you need to know about this book should be obvious from the title, there is going to be cursing. In order to enjoy this book, you need to be alright with it, or at least able to overlook it and get on with your life. Once you are able to either embrace it or look past it there is a ton of great stuff in here. Thug Kitchen is all about how to eat healthier and the recipes in this book are completely vegan. It includes basic information about how to cook a variety of grains and tofu. We are most definitely not vegan but certainly could use some healthier recipes. Some of the recipes just aren't going to make it into our rotation, there's just something off to me about enchiladas without meat and no way I can convince my husband to switch to biscuits and lentil gravy for breakfast. Other things, like the soups and spinach mushroom lasagna sound really good. Several of the breakfast or dessert recipes only change from regular milk to non-dairy milk. If that's all it takes to make a start eating healthier than that seems like a good idea. One final thing here, this book is funny. It is filled with little things to make you laugh such as calling salads, plant nachos. I need more plant nachos in my life.

Eat Like a Gilmore: The Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore Girls by Kristi Carlson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you are a fan of the Gilmore Girls series and food, then this is the cookbook you've been waiting for. It provides recipes to recreate your favorite recipes from the show. Each recipe is marked with an icon showing where it is served, most are either made by Sukie for the inn or Luke's dinner. Between the two there are a generous amount of delicious sounding breakfast options. Also included are meals from Sunday night dinners at Emily's and around the town. The recipe that I'm most interested in is the chocolate chocolate chocolate ice cream from Taylor's ice cream shop.

Top Secret Recipes Unlocked: All New Home Clones of America's Favorite Brand-Name Foods by Todd Wilbur

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Not as many recipes I was interested in this volume. There are quite a few Starbucks copycat recipes if you're interested in that but I'm not a big fan. Also lots of burgers which I rarely feel like I need a recipe to re-create.


While I was putting this post together I realized that the books I had done extensive reviews for made it seem like all I read this month was cookbooks and that's really not the case. Here are some other things I've finished this month.


Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a story about hunting for hidden books and secret codes. The characters are fans of an imaginary game called Book Scavenger and discover a new game. Book Scavenger sounds like it would be super fun to play if it existed in real life. Players hide books for others to find using clues. There are references to many codes and codebreaking methods mentioned in the book and it would be a great starting point for a kid who wants to learn about creating their very own secret code.



Make Your Own Ideabook with Arne & Carlos: Create Handmade Art Journals and Bound Keepsakes to Store Inspiration and Memories by Arne Nerjordet

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book has instructions for how to make very simple scrapbooks or journals. It includes a variety of ideas for how to use the books such as garden journals, records for family tree research.


Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

My rating: 4 of 5 stars






As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars





Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files: Wild Card by Jim Butcher

My rating: 3 of 5 stars






The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe by Ryan North

My rating: 5 of 5 stars






Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars






Apparently, I feel like I've been in a bit of a food rut, hopefully, we are heading into warmer weather and can change things up a bit. I do have some ideas for my next project in the works and plan to be more productive over the next few months. Wish me luck in sticking to that resolution.

Librocubicularist February 2017

I have to admit that I haven't read much this month. The bronchitis made me want to do nothing but sleep and take hot baths to try and help my muscles relax after all the coughing. After that, I feel like I've been playing catch up with my life. Laundry that didn't get done, all the thing that needed doing for our Pi Day party (still feel like I'm running behind on this), plus, it started to get warm and we have yard work that needs serious time and attention. But here are a few things I did manage to read and quick reviews. I really hope that March is a better month around here, that we can be a bit more intentional about what we do and how we spend our time for a more productive, meaningful month.



Table Manners: How to Behave in the Modern World and Why Bother by Jeremiah Tower

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a surprisingly interesting read. There's a large discussion about social media and when it is acceptable to use and when it's not. There is also a section titled 'Pretentious or Not' which was funny and entertaining. There are also funny exceptions, like the fact that it may be okay to slather a warm muffin with butter and eat half of it in one bite just because warm muffins are fantastic and other people will understand.

LEGO Star Wars: Small Scenes from a Big Galaxy by Vesa Lehtimäki

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is basically an art book full of Star Wars Lego photos. They are scenes set on Tatooine, Hoth, and Endor. There are captions for each photo that discuss the techniques used to create the effects in the pictures, such as how the artist created falling snow.


Sneaky Art: Crafty Surprises to Hide in Plain Sight by Marthe Jocelyn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A fun little book about making art so that you can sneak in and hide it to surprise people and brighten their day. Most of the projects are super simple and use only a few supplies. I like that it makes a point of stating that sneaky art is 100% removable, that it doesn't damage or harm the place where it's placed at all. I think that finding one of these projects hidden somewhere would make me smile and that that smile could inspire a little artist to make more stuff and that'd be awesome.

Librocubicularist- January 2017

This time of year is always slow for me, things at work aren't as busy and my hours end up being cut way back. Yet somehow I never seem to get anything done. I had three full days off last week and it seems like I accomplished nothing but doing laundry. Granted, it was a giant pile of laundry but that doesn't really make it feel any more productive. I think that the combination of needing time alone to recover from the bustle of the holidays and daydreaming about things that I hope to accomplish in the new year prevent any actual forward momentum.

However, I've noticed one area where I seem to excel during this season and that's reading. It's a combination of having time to finish everything I started reading at Christmas but was too busy to actually complete and, as mentioned before the need for quiet, introverted time.

Sticky Fingers: DIY Duct Tape Projects - Easy to Pick Up, Hard to Put Down by Sophie Maletsky

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I checked this out because I was curious about all the duct tape stuff and I've never made any. This book has a fairly extensive section about basic techniques such as make strips and fabric, also various types of closures you can add. Then there are a ton of different projects you can make. As someone in my late 30's I doubt that I'm going to start carrying a purse made of duct tape but some of them are kind of cute. I'd be most likely to use the instruction for smaller things like flowers for the end of a pen or a desk organizer. However, even though I'm not super interested in the projects I still think that this book is well done and the instructions seem good and easy to follow so if you're interested in making your own tape creations it's definitely worth a look.


Cat Castles: 20 Cardboard Habitats You Can Build Yourself by Carin Oliver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a great little book about building cat houses from cardboard. It covers everything from regular cat towers and scratchers to rockets and pirate ships, and even an actual castle for your kitties. Everything looks fairly easy to build and really sturdy. The only thing I question is how well they'd hold up to my nearly 20-pound cat, particularly those with multiple levels. Overall I really feel like they would hold up well and last a reasonable amount of time compared to the time they take to build. That being said I probably won't be making on anytime soon, mostly because I feel like my dog would try to eat the box and wreck everything... He really is why the poor cats can't have nice things...but he seems to be at least starting to grow out that phase.


Artist's Journal Workshop: Creating Your Life in Words and Pictures by Cathy Johnson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The first couple of chapters deal with figuring out what you want out of a journal: what do hope to get out of keeping one?, how often will you write/draw in it?, what will you write about, etc. This section also contains ideas about what format or book style you might like and supplies to try out. There are examples of journal pages provided to show different results using each material.
The second section deals with different types of journals you can keep from nature or travel journals to integrated journals where everything mixes together. There are numerous examples and ideas of what kinds of thing to include for each type.
The final section is all about tying everything together. It provides tips for keeping yourself motivated and evaluating what's working for you and what's not.
The whole book is filled with examples of pages created by a variety of artists, which I think is really helpful in an introductory book like this because it showcases multiple styles. It can be easy to feel defeated by a new project sometimes if your results don't match up with what's pictured and I think seeing multiple people's take on a project can relieve some of the pressure leave you freer to experiment with your own ideas. There is also a fairly extensive resources section at the back that includes information about all the artist who contributed and where to see more of their work as well as listing other books about journaling. The final bit to mention is that this book has extra content available online where you can download PDFs of extended interviews with some of the contributing artists.


World of Warcraft: The Official Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Nearly everything in this book looks delicious (not a big fan of seafood in general). While I did play Warcraft for a little while it wasn't long enough for any of the foods to make a big impression on me. My husband, however, has played almost continually for a very long time and he vouches for the fact that they are accurate, at least as far a possible for 'imaginary' foods.

I guess that I haven't been completely ignoring my crafting goals. In the last few weeks, I've been looking for tips for sewing with knits since I have two separate projects I'd like to make with knit fabric but have never sewn with it before. I've also looked up what exactly a capsule wardrobe is even though I don't REALLY need to know. I have plans to make a mini vacation wardrobe so that I can feel like I'll look good in pictures without having to stress over what to wear each day. I just was curious to know the actual definition before I claim to have created one. So now I know and I'm working on figuring out what I have that works together and what I want to sew. I know that part of what I want is to sew the DC Bombshells version of the Wonder Woman costume. I doubt that I'd wear it as the whole thing together on vacation but the shorts could be cute with a tank top or one of my Wonder Woman tees. At least there are some things in the planning stage if no actual physical progress on anything yet.

Crafting Resolutions

With the start of the new year, it's time to reflect on the past and make plans for the future. I started the Eclectic Otter almost two years ago as part of a new year's resolution to ACTUALLY finish some of the many crafting projects I had purchased materials for and either never completed or in some cased even started. I hoped that the need to have something to write about would provide some much-needed motivation and accountability for me. This past year I've completed several craft projects for our pets that were new additions to the ever growing craft to do list and checked off a large project by finishing the Zelda string art that was previously only a vague idea in my head. I also had the opportunity to help my husband decorate his cube for Christmas and we turned it into a Hoth themed winter wonderland.

 It's hard to tell in this picture but there are snowflake ornaments hanging from the ceiling. One the shelf on the left we have Lego Minifigures around the Christmas tree, plus a wampa of Perler beads in the background. Snow blanket on the desk and icicle trim on the shelf along with the icicle lights, complete the theme.

There's also a Lego snow speeder, Perler AT-AT, and some festive signs. Oh, and the Vader mug that's always there.

I've spent the last few weeks trying to get my thoughts into some kind of order concerning my goals for which projects I want to tackle in the upcoming year. I admit that I'm still a bit at a loss. I have a stash of fabric that continues to grow because it's hard to pass up cute prints when you work at the fabric store and see them daily. I have several things that I bought without a plan for I wanted to make. I'd really like to make a dent in the stack since it's starting to take up more room than I have available for storage but I don't feel like sewing posts are particularly entertaining for people to read. Of course, the other side of the argument is that I'm keeping the blog for my own motivation not the entertainment of others. Although, I am thinking of making a mini wardrobe for an upcoming vacation that might become Wonder Woman themed so that could be interesting if it works out.

I also have plans to try and rebind one of my husband's old Eye of the World books and try out some new techniques such as marbling my own paper. I also want to finish redoing our little entryway nook but that's also a bit cost prohibitive because I feel like I need some new tools to really do it right. So right now those are my very general craft goals for the year. As part of the reflection process, I saw someone on one of my Facebook groups talk about reviewing the books they've read and choosing a top and bottom five for the year. I like that idea and think I might make a list for my book post this month.

In other news, our pup, Gilgamesh Wuffenbark, had his first Christmas and also turned one over the weekend. He got a peanut butter and jelly filled bone and brand new tennis ball for his birthday.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and wonderful new year.

Librocubicularist- November 2016

It's November, which for me means big sales and increased hours at work, in addition to all of the chores and stress that accompany Thanksgiving and preparations for Christmas. As a result. my reading always drops around this time. I was looking back over it and I seem to read about half as many books in November versus other months.

This year has gone pretty smoothly. Last year, our store extended our Black Friday sales event so it spanned four days (Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun) instead of just Friday and Saturday. That seems to have helped to take some of the pressure off. You still end up working just as many long hours but the stress is lower because everyone isn't shopping all at once.

We kept Thanksgiving small because we both had only one day off and decided we didn't want to spend that entire time cooking. We ended up eating finger foods (cheese and crackers, dip, a veggie tray) and playing Apples to Apples. The rest of the weekend was mostly working and sleep. My wonderful husband purchased some bath bombs from da Bomb bath fizzers to help me recover from the Black Friday sale days so I got some fun little trinkets.

I had a Super Hero and a Ninja Bomb

Then yesterday, even though it was cold and rainy, we went out to choose our Christmas tree.

We looked for a slightly skinnier tree this year so we'd have a bit of buffer space to protect it from Gil's tail wagging. We've never had any trouble with the cats trying to get in the tree but I'm a little worried they might try to hide from dog there, so we're going to move really slow with our decorating. It still needs a bit of straightening but it smells wonderful and helped but me in more of a holiday spirit.

Here're a few of the books that I did manage to squeeze in this month.

Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia

My Rating: Unfinished- 2 Stars

I ended up having to return this book to the library before I finished it, and I'm mostly okay with that. It sounds like it should be a really awesome book, like Hellboy if they were a for-profit company not part of the government. For whatever reason, I just didn't ever have a real connection to the story or any of the characters. Part of the reason is the amount of gun talk. I don't know much about guns and the characters in this book all have fancy, customized guns which they talk about and describe in detail. Since I can't really follow these conversations all they do is interrupt the flow of the story.


The Dangerous Book for Dogs: A Parody by Rex & Sparky

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Last month I read the Devious Book for Cats, so this month I decided my dog, Gilgamesh, should read the Dangerous Book for Dogs. It's a silly book, a parody of the Dangerous Book for Boys type books. It offers your dog all the information he needs to re-connect with his wild roots. The articles run from practical, such as How to Escape Humiliating Costumes or The Formal Rules of Fetch, to completely ridiculous, such as Epic Walks, a series of stories about great walks in history including a walk across the ancient land bridge to a new continent. Overall I enjoyed reading it and as someone who's new to dog ownership and wondered why I can't seem to get Gil to play fetch right, it's good to know that according to the official rules, I'm the one who's actually playing wrong. Sometimes it's comforting to know that you aren't the only one who's had this kind of problem with a pet and maybe laugh a bit about things along the way.

Bead It, Iron It, Love It! by Kaisa Holsting

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book has a good range of designs from seasonal and holiday design to food, animals, and even simple abstract patterns. All the patterns are shown full size if you are using mini (2.5 mm) beads, therefore half size when you use the regular size beads. There are some basic instructions for adding designs to brooches, magnets, and hair pins. There are even instructions and designs for using the peyote stitch to weave bracelets using the Perler beads. The final section of the book contains more detailed projects to use your creations such as necklaces, earrings, and drink coasters. Also included are a few pages of grid paper to try creating your own designs.

Since this book is pretty new I wish that it had included some kind of 3D things. In recent times I've seen some cool 3D stuff online and it would be nice to have some tips or patterns to try out.

Tiny LEGO Wonders by Mattia Zamboni

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVE microscale LEGO creations and I don't really know why. This book is full of tiny things that you can build yourself. All of the models are vehicles of some sort, like trains and cars, which aren't normally something get excited about. They are all pretty cool but my favorites are the Spitfire and wooden boats. I could see using a bunch of the boats to set up a battle between fleets in an RPG. The only thing I would add would be specific ID numbers or something for the pieces used. It has the regular LEGO instruction style pictures of the pieces. IDs would make it easier to find what you needed if you had to order parts.

Librocubicularist October 2016

October is my favorite month of the year, it contains both my birthday and wedding anniversary, as well as the best weather of the year. It is finally cooling off, crisp fall temperatures make me want to be outside and also help my sleep more soundly at night. Unfortunately, fall is also a time when my allergies act up. However, that gives me plenty of opportunities to curl up with a good book and cup of hot cider...

Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am in love with the idea of keeping a journal but somehow in practice, it never quite works out. Nature journaling is especially appealing because it's a combination of things, writing, art, and documenting the world around you. I feel happy when I spend time outside but it doesn't often happen because I feel like I need a reason, something to do while I'm out there. With so many chores to do inside, 'doing nothing' outside seems wasting time, but updating your nature journal? That's worth doing. Right now I only have the beginnings of a nature journal. I use my phone to take photos of the sky and sometimes record the weather using Instaweather photos.

Our rosebush, complete with dried seed heads, full roses, and new buds in mid-October.

This book offers great advice for how I can expand on that.

There are lots of benefits involved in keeping a journal about nature and this book both begins and ends with listing them. It all begins with learning to observe and connect with the world around you. The first chapters give suggestions of places to begin journaling and questions to ask about the world around you. There are examples of different styles and layouts that can be used as well as basic drawing tips.

The bulk of the book explores the seasons, discussing elements to explore during each. For example, winter is an excellent time to look at the structure and shape of trees without leaves getting in the way. On the other hand, not much is going with animals during this time and you might have better luck recording indirect evidence of them, than actual sightings. There is an awesome chart with suggestions of things to draw and questions to explore concerning different aspects of nature such as the sky and weather or plants and trees, for each season.

The final section deals with teaching yourself and others how to improve your journaling. While there are short drawing exercises sprinkled throughout the book this section provides more detailed advice to practice drawings. From simple contour and gesture drawings to details on foreshortening and perspective there are a variety of exercises to help you capture as much information as possible before your subject moves. The section also includes a discussion of how to motivate beginning journalers both with reasons to keep the journal going and encouraging people who feel they can't draw. The last chapter deals with the many ways that nature journals can be used to form connections and teach other subjects. Aside from the obvious connections to science and art, there are suggestions for using journals in teaching math, language, and history lessons.

Rutabaga the Adventure Chef: Book 1 by Eric Colossal

Rutabaga the Adventure Chef: Book 2: Feasts of Fury by Eric Colossal

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the perspective of someone who plays fantasy RPG's and likes to read cookbooks, this series is awesome. Rutabaga is an adventure chef, someone who travels around searching for fantastic, exotic ingredients to use in his recipes. The stories include recipes both within the story and in an appendix at the back. The recipes presented at the end are inspired by the events of the story, not necessarily the dishes cooked in the story. They are short and easy to follow, with notes on where you may need an adult's help. Those in the story don't contain exact directions, partly because they use imaginary ingredients, but you should still be able to re-create the dishes if you have some cooking experience. It could be a lot of fun to experiment with your kids to create your own take on the recipe and would help teach how to improvise while cooking.

The stories make me want to create a master chef in a game as either a playable character or NPC. There's lots of potential for hilarious situations and I hope the series continues for some time.

The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book by Chris McVeigh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Christmas is my all-time favorite holiday and as a kid, we added homemade ornaments to the tree every year. This book provides a way to continue that tradition with LEGO, providing typical, picture only instructions to make 15 different ornaments designs. The designs vary in difficulty and range from traditional (snowflakes and balls) to quirky (arcade games and hamburgers). Each design includes a part list with element id numbers so you can buy the pieces you need either from the lego website or other marketplaces such as Bricklink.com. You could buy parts and give out little ornament building packages as gifts or just enjoy assembling some for your own tree every year.

Beautiful LEGO by Mike Doyle

Beautiful Lego 3: Wild! by Mike Doyle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars




This book series showcases tons of really cool LEGO art and creations. The works span a wide range of subjects from birds to mecha, Mirco scale to giant landscape builds. Also included are interviews with several LEGO artists answering questions about what lead them to choose LEGO as a medium and what, if any, favorite pieces or techniques they use. One of my favorite things in the first volume is the mosaics by Katie Walker. Unfortunately, my local library only has the first and third volumes not the second so I haven't had the opportunity to look through that one. However, if you are interested in LEGO at all I highly recommend you check them out for some amazing inspiration.

Sundressing: Sewing and Style for Summer and Beyond by Melissa Mora

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book comes with patterns for sundresses for women and girls. There seems to be a pretty wide range of sizes. I tend to have problems finding patterns large enough to fit my hips and based on these measurements I should be able to sew something to fit easily. There's a small section about modifying patterns, mostly for adjustments to the bust line. The directions for each pattern contain further alterations specific to each dress.

There are some really cute things, especially for little girls, it really makes me wish I had a daughter to sew for.

Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time: The Ultimate Dressmaking Guide by Tanya Whelan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is all about mix and match patterns. There are several bodice patterns and skirt variations that can combine to make over 20 different dresses. Lots of information about pattern alterations give even more variety by offering different sleeve and neckline options. I have zero experience with pattern alteration but I feel like if I took my time, read all the instructions well, that I could learn a lot about it by making a couple of dresses with this book.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is more of a comic strip than a graphic novel. The story is all about Phoebe and her friendship with a unicorn.... Phoebe inadvertently saves Marigold earning a wish, which she uses to make them best friends. Neither one of them is really sure how to have/be a best friend so it takes some getting used to. Much of the humor comes from the fact that being friends with a unicorn didn't end up quite like Phoebe expected. She expected to suddenly be popular and awesome because she had a unicorn best friend but that didn't happen because of something called the Shield of Boringness.

The Devious Book for Cats: A Parody by Fluffy & Bonkers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Thd Devious Book for Cats aims to help your housecat get the most out of his or her nine lives. It offers tips on a variety of subjects such as how to wake your human up when you need feed, hunting wild game, and the international sport of shelf swat. Also included are tales of famous cats thru out history to provide inspiration for a life well-lived and a typical programming schedule for various windows around the house. Not sure what our three kitties thought of this book but the shelf swat section was very informative for my husband and I. Clearly we live with Champions who absolutely must practice constantly. I'm sure our new understanding of the rules will allow us to set up more challenging shelves for them to play and help push their scores to a new high. There is apparently a book for dogs by the same group, we may have to check it out for their brother, Gil.

Devious Curry kitten stole Gil's raccoon for a few snuggles.

This week we are prepping for a Halloween/ Anniversary dinner, hopefully, I will be able to share some of the detail next week in a bonus holiday post. If not, be sure to check back on the 14th of November to see the completed Legend of Zelda string art.