Happily Ever After

On 08.29.10, In Book Blather, By Natalie

While treasure hunting at some garage sales and a flea market today, I came across one of my favorite childhood books.

The book had clearly been loved, abused, and well read, as evidenced from the missing cover, torn pages, and random crayon scribblings on some pages.  I thumbed through the tattered remains, wondering what I could do to save it from a certain trip to the dumpster.  A while back, I made coasters out of old Scrabble boards but dismissed that idea because pages weren’t sturdy enough.  The seller waved off my money, and I walked away brainstorming.

Two projects I completed--Scrabble coasters and candy wrapper pen holders!

And then I had an epiphany.*

I skipped home and tore through my stationery crate for envelopes in a variety of sizes.  I unglued the envelopes and used them as templates to create envelopes with the illustrated pages that I could rescue.  Then I cut them out and glued the flaps together, save the top flap.

I plan to use these envelopes to hold invoices for client purchases in my newest venture–an Etsy shop**.  I won’t need to address them, so they will work perfectly.

I am looking forward to recycling all kinds of picture books to create envelopes that I can use in the mail and for my  shop.  For mailers, I’ll have to hunt down pictures that have some blank space where I can squeeze in a name and address.

*I felt like Max looks when I discovered that others have already laid claim on this crafty idea. Thought I was so original!

**My shop, Peppermint Natty, should be fully stocked and running by October 1st.  I plan to sell vintage, retro, and generally kitschy stuff that I love.  Nothing like a little cross promotion among friends, right?

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BL&S HQ Gets a Face Lift

On 08.12.10, In Mad Ramblings, By Natalie

I’ve been trawling flea markets, garage sales, and antique shops with greater frequency because I’m redecorating my home office, headquarters of Book, Line, and Sinker.  The room is an 11×11 foot square with hardwood floors, two windows, a double-door closet, and tons of sunlight.

I would like to add a cozy armchair for reading, a bookshelf/wall unit, and new bamboo shades on my windows.  On the wall above my armchair, I’m going to hang enlargements of the macro photos I took of pages from my favorite books.

I used iVilliage’s trusty design-a-room tool and came up with some ideas based on the scale of the space I have.  This will hopefully prevent me from buying furniture that is too large for my space, something I do with alarming frequency.

I filled the my mock-up with some pricey furniture and will use what I can find at tag sales to stand in for the more expensive pieces.   The desk is actually pretty reasonable–a Liatorp from Ikea–and I have matching pieces in my living room.

The mock-up is more formal than my room will be, and I think the wall unit is a bit overpowering for my little room, but the color scheme, furniture shape, and layout are what I’m aiming for.

I’ve got a few other DIY projects going on (taking up an old slate floor in our foyer!) in the rest of the house and am trying to focus a few hours a day on back-to-school prep.  18 days until school starts…hope I can get everything done in time!

Are you working on any home improvements?  Does your workspace need a bit of a face lift?

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and the Number 1 Reason I’m reading less lately…

On 07.29.10, In Mad Ramblings, By Natalie

I used to spend 95% of my evening wind-down time reading.  And then I started downloading game Apps onto my iPhone.  Things spiraled quickly out of control from there.  Now it’s not unusual for me to be up into the wee hours of the night attempting to clear new levels on a bevy of addictive games that I cannot put down.

In addition to compulsively trying to clear all levels on Angry Birds, I’m playing 19 simultaneous games of  online Scrabble (Words With Friends–care to play a round with me???  My name is Peppermint Natty!) .   I’m also trying my hand at building housing developments in a game imaginatively titled Build-a-lot.

The bloom is off Diner Dash, HS Hero, Frosting, Ragdoll Blaster, Coin Dozer, Doodle Jump, and a few other games I played to death.  I’m wasting precious read (and SLEEP) time playing these mindless games.  I can hear my brain cells offing themselves by the hundreds.  My husband wakes from sound sleep to see my manic face bathed in the glow of my iPhone and hisses for me to go to bed.

There must be a 12-step program for my OCD gaming habit!  Or maybe there’s an App for that!

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Confessions of a recovering Book Hoarder

On 07.21.10, In Book Blather, By Natalie

Hello, my name is Natalie, and I’m a recovering book hoarder.

I love to surround myself with books and have them piled and shelved all over my house.  Since childhood, I’ve hoarded books and even filched copies of some of my favorite novels from high school English classes–The Collector by John Fowles comes readily to mind.

I have college text books and novels that haven’t seen the light of day since the early to mid-90s, but I hold on to them on the off chance that someday I’ll need to reference one of the esoteric books.  If you need an interpretation of Stevie Smith’s Novel on Yellow Paper, I can lend you my annotated copy!

My personal library has been pretty sizable since forever (some of my birthday and Christmas money was always spent on books), but after starting Book, Line, and Sinker in March 2009, things started to get crazy.  I started buying, borrowing, and receiving more books than ever.  My house runneth over with books.

Recently, I took the situation in hand, going through my bookcases and removing anything that wasn’t a perennial favorite.  In one weekend, I filled an entire suitcase and tote bag with books to share.

I packed up several novels and sent them to various friends and relatives across the country but took the lion’s share to a hospital I’ve been frequenting almost daily for the last month.

The Isolation Unit of the hospital (the floor my family member is restricted to) had a tiny and depressing collection of dated paperbacks on the mostly-bare shelves.  I remedied that situation by wheeling my giant book-filled Samsonite.  I filled all of the shelves and left scores of magazines on the coffee and end tables.

When I stopped by the reading nook just yesterday, I was delighted to see that many of the books I brought had been borrowed.  I can think of no better way to share books than with patients (or their family members) who need an escape from their current situation.  I’m happy to be a recovering  book hoarder!

Do you hoard your books or do you spread the literary love?  If you share, who reaps your bounty?

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