WIP Wednesday, Quarantine Edition 2

I can't believe it's Wednesday again!  I'd say time is flying by, but it isn't, especially given the fact that we now have a stay at home order in Maryland and can't really leave the house.  I have to run to the grocery store later, so that will be my big adventure for the day (yay!).  Rather than talk about my cross stitch project, I want to talk about the other large project I'm working on, my Disney World scrapbook.  This is quite a huge endeavor, it's about 150 pages spread across three albums.  I've been working on it for about a month now (probably closer to three and a half weeks if we want to be specific), and I've completed 36 pages, including one double page spread.  I have a preview below of all the pages I've done so far.  There's no talking or narration during the video.

As you can tell from the video, it's incredibly important for my album to be an explosion of color.  This was important to me because Disney as a place is an explosion of color.  Everywhere you look, there are exciting things to look at and excitement all over the place.  The only way I could properly convey that in an album was by making it as colorful as humanly possible.  Of course, some pages are a bit more subdued, but they're still colorful and gorgeous, and they give your eyes a break from all the color.

I want to take some time to talk about specific pages in my album that I'm particularly proud of and really embody what I want conveyed in my album in terms of theme and message.

I first want to talk about this incredibly pink Minnie Mouse page.  This page was so out of my comfort zone because I really don't like the color pink.  I use it in my scrapbooking and everything, but not to this extent, it's usually just sprinkled throughout a page.  With this page however, seeing Minnie's outfit and her little scene around her, it seemed like the logical thing to do.  I also don't do a lot of monochromatic pages like this.  There's no real reason behind that other than the fact that I can't figure out how to make them work and when to use them and when to not use them.  I may do one or two others in my album to make sure this page doesn't look out of place, but I'm not entirely sure which pages.  I have an idea or two in my head, we'll just have to wait and see how this plays out.  I do have to say, even though it's outside my comfort zone, doing a monochromatic page is a little easier than a regular page since you're only grabbing embellishments that are one color.  If you enjoy scrapbooking, I definitely encourage you to try out a monochromatic page at least once, what do you have to lose?

Another page I want to talk about is my Goofy page.  I love this page so much, I feel like it completely embodies everything I want in my album when it comes to explosion of color.  I wanted the striped paper on the bottom to be the entire background, but I only had a piece of it, so I had to improvise with the green on the top to finish off the page.  The purple was something I added after the fact to cover the seam and add a little bit more color.  I used a method from my favorite scrapbooker, Shimelle Laine, and that's a paper stack.  It's quite simple, you start stacking up papers behind the photo to create a wild, colorful background.  Usually you start with larger papers of varying sizes that you put behind the photo that's supposed to look like a haphazard stack of papers on your desk, then you add smaller papers as embellishment.  I, on the other hand, did it a little different.  While there are some larger papers, I mostly focused on smaller papers from my small scraps pile (I have two scrap piles, one full of smaller papers and one full of bigger papers).  This is the perfectly opportunity to get rid of some smaller scraps that are just sitting around.  Once done with building the paper stack, I added in all the embellishments, which, like the papers I picked, were meant to be all different colors.  The final product is one of my favorite pages that I've created so far with all the color and movement on the page.

While it might not look like it, this page really took me out of my comfort zone.  I don't do a lot of grid pages, but, once again, I was inspired by Shimelle Laine.  I had to modify her design a little, as she used squares that were over 3x3 inches, but I was using a 6x6 inch paper pad, so I couldn't make the squares bigger without using more paper.  I wanted to use this paper, as it's perfect for Toy Story, so I'm definitely going to use more of it in future Toy Story layouts.  I also used some less than conventional embellishments for this page, but I absolutely love how it came out.  First is the word "Howdy".  Those are actual Scrabble tiles I bought on Amazon for craft projects.  I haven't really used them for anything, but I've been meaning to.  I think they look great, and I want to include them on future Toy Story pages to draw them together.  I also used a bit of string, which I also bought for other craft projects.  Given the rope Woody's holding in the picture, I figured it would be the perfect addition to the embellishment group.  This is probably one of my favorite pages that I've made so far, everything just came together perfectly.

Finally, let's talk about a double page spread.  I very rarely do double pages, but I have a few planned out for this album.  I took a ton of pictures during the Festival of Fantasy parade, and I knew a double page was necessary, so I printed enough pictures from Amazon for a double page, but I never did anything with them.  Then I saw a video in Shimelle's Start with a Sketch class, and everything fell into place.  She used 3x4 inch photos across a double page in a grid layout, and I knew that's what I wanted to do.  It also gave me the opportunity to finally use my Instax printer (it's like an Instax polaroid camera but you print from your phone), which I've been dying to use for scrapbooking but haven't been able to figure out how.  Like I said, it all fell into place, and it was perfect.  My philosophy with this layout was "more is more".  It's a little hard to see, but I definitely went crazy with this layout.  Most photos have an embellishment with them, usually related to the Disney character in the photo  I also added little areas of embellishment scattered across both pages.  When it comes to actual embellishments, I used a little bit of everything: pearl hearts, enamel stars, rhinestones, puffy stickers, regular stickers, cut aparts, ephemera, washi tape.  Like I said, it was a little bit of everything.  I actually had to stop myself because I kept adding to the pages.  This isn't even the finished product; I added a bit more gold washi tape underneath the dragon (there's a little above the unicorn), to tie both pages together.  It was a lot, and I would add more if necessary, but I think it's good.  This is another one of my favorite layouts, I think everything came together perfectly.

My Disney album has been coming together wonderfully.  You may have noticed some blank spaces on cards on some pages.  That's where the journaling will go.  I have what I want to write planned out, I just haven't written them on the pages yet.  I may wait and do that all in the end.  We'll have to wait and see.

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My Thoughts On "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" and Discussion Questions

I'm just going to come right out and say it, I wasn't a fan of this book at all.  My book club originally picked another book for this month, but then they changed their mind at the meeting at picked this one instead.  Personally, I wanted to read the other one, I thought it sounded more interesting, but hopefully it'll come back up as an option at some point in the future.  With that being said, this book didn't really speak to me like other books did.  Since I've been surprised by books I didn't think I would like in the past, however, I went into it with an open mind and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it, although I could see why other people would enjoy it.  Apparently it's going to be made into a movie, and I might go see it, but I won't be first in line; maybe if it came out on Netflix or Hulu I would eventually watch it.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine focuses on Eleanor, a woman in the 30s with autism who lives in Scotland.  In her mind, everything in her life is perfect, she has a job, an apartment and a routine that includes a weekly phone call with her mother, who lives elsewhere (although it's not entirely specified where, but it is some sort of group home).  To Eleanor, manners and perfection is of the utmost importance, a habit she tries to demonstrate to her coworkers on a daily basis in the hopes they will follow her example.

Everything in Eleanor's life is thrown into complete turmoil, however, when she sees a concert (courtesy of tickets she won at work) and falls head over heels with the lead singer.  Suddenly aware of the fact that she is a little bit odd and doesn't act like the other women in her office, Eleanor takes it upon herself to improve her life, with some humorous results through various misunderstandings.  Eleanor's life is further complicated by the introduction of Raymond, the IT guy in her building who she slowly becomes friends with as their paths continue to cross.  The entire time, Eleanor hints at struggles from her past, which continue to haunt her.

I wish I could put my finger on why I didn't like this book, but I can't.  I think I had trouble connecting with the character, and I found the plot to be a little bland.  Like I said, I wasn't overly thrilled about reading this book, but I went into it with as open a mind as I could muster, as I've been surprised by books I thought I wouldn't like in the past.  I also wanted to like the book because Nicholas is on the spectrum (just barely), and I hoped this book would bit a bit of a window into his mind.  Instead, I found a character who completely shifted her worldview and attitude on everything in a short amount of time, which seemed highly unrealistic, even if she wasn't on the spectrum in the first place.

I think another complaint I have about this book is the abruptness of everything.  The character and plots swings between extremes without so much as a second thought, and it seems completely unrealistic.  I really can't dive into more about that right now because it would give away quite a few spoilers, but I talk about more of that below.

Okay, now I want to talk about a few twists and turns that the reader encounters towards the end of the book.  I also want to post my book club discussion questions.  So, if you haven't read the book or want to avoid spoilers, this is probably where you should stop reading.

First of all, what in the world was that ending!?  I feel like the fact that Eleanor's mom died years ago and was simply a figment of her imagination came completely out of nowhere.  I feel like if you're going to pull a stunt like that in a book, it needs to have some sort of foundation, some subtle clues that if you know about it, you'll be able to figure out with relative ease (or with a little bit of thought) when going back and rereading the book.  I don't want to spoil it, but I read another book recently that had a very similar twist, and while it did blindside me, it seemed far more believable.  This time, however, it just seemed completely ridiculous.  On the other hand, I am glad that Eleanor's mom was really dead, as that meant she couldn't harass her anymore.

I was also bothered by how Eleanor and Raymond's relationship ended.  I never wanted it to be a romantic relationship, so I was glad it wasn't, but I felt like once Eleanor got her life together, she just closed the door on their friendship and everything, despite how helpful he was to her.  Now, part of that coldness could stem from her being on the Autism spectrum, but I don't want to write off all her behavior as "oh, she did that because she's on the spectrum".  To me, it just seemed abrupt, and I definitely got the feeling at the end of the book that their friendship was essentially over.  This was also upsetting because Raymond's such a wonderful guy who, honestly, deserves to be treated better.

I also didn't like the huge swing in Eleanor's emotions towards Johnnie.  I mean, one moment she's planning out their entire lives together, the next she's have an existential crisis and is ready to commit suicide simply because she realizes the man is the worst.  She didn't even talk to him, she just realized how awful he was, and, for whatever reason, it sent her spiraling.  Now, I remember having crushes on guys and either they didn't reciprocate or I realized they were the worst, and while I was upset, it didn't send me into a tailspin of self-destruction.  All of this felt extremely abrupt and completely unrealistic in so many ways.  I actually double checked the author's name to see if it was a man or woman who wrote the book, as it definitely felt more like a man who wrote it.

Despite my sentiments about the book, I did manage to come up with some discussion questions.  I hope if your book club uses Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, you'll find these questions useful.

1. Early on, Eleanor says her coworkers hate her.  What would give her that impression?
2. Do you feel the book being told from Eleanor's point of view enhanced the text?
3. Despite what Eleanor claims, do you think she craved more human interaction?
4. How much of Eleanor's behavior was a result of her being on the Autism spectrum and how much of it was a result of her childhood trauma?
5. Eleanor refers to herself as a little phoenix (page 74), is this an appropriate simile?
6. Right away, Eleanor seems extremely comfortable with Raymond's mom.  Did this stem from the fact that she was the exact opposite of Eleanor's mom?
7. Is solitudy as liberating as Eleanor claims on page 134?
8. Did Eleanor's autism protect her from internalizing the abuse from her mother?
9. Why did Eleanor change her mind about Johnnie so abruptly?
10. Why did Eleanor's mom continue to have so much control over her even after her death?
11. Why did Eleanor suddenly decide to get rid of things such as her frog and not lament the passing of her plant?
12. Eleanor admonishes herself for being quick to judge others on page 294.  How was she a victim of people being quick to judge her as well?
13. Given Eleanor's childhood, can you blame her for not wanting to have children?
14. Do you agree with Eleanor's decision to stop talking to her "mother"?
15. What causes Eleanor's coworkers to suddenly become nicer towards her?
16. Were you surprised to discover Eleanor's mother was really dead?
17. Eleanor tells Raymond what matters is that she survived (page 224).  Up until she met Raymond, however, did she truly live?
18. Why did Eleanor tell Raymond if she would go to the concert with him at the end of the book?
19. Raymond obviously had a positive impact on Eleanor, but in what ways did Eleanor have a positive impact on Raymond?
20. As the book progressed, how did Eleanor's tone and use of popular phrases/word choice change, along with using a more casual tone?
21. How did this book change your perspective on people on the Autism spectrum?

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My Thoughts on "The Immortalists" and Book Discussion Questions

I'm going to be honest, I finished this book last week, but it's been so crazy that I haven't been able to blog about it.  I've also been kicking myself for not blogging about this book sooner because it's definitely one of my top five that I've read this year.

My mom read this book over the summer for her book club before I joined, and, at first, the premise creeped me out, and I wanted nothing to do with it.  I just couldn't understand why anyone would want to know the day they're going to die.  On an impulse, however, I decided to buy the book and give it a shot, and I'm so glad I did!  The book focuses on four siblings.  As children, they went to see a fortune teller who claimed she could accurately predict the exact date a person dies.  Each sibling visits the fortune teller and gets the date he or she will die before they head back home with this information hanging over their head.  The book then jumps ahead to when the siblings are in their late teens and early twenties when their own father dies.  They now start to question their own mortality and worry if the fortune teller was correct in her predictions.  The youngest two, Simon and Klara, set off for San Francisco to find their own way.  Simon struggled with is own sexuality, while Klara wanted to become a famous magician.  At this point, the siblings start to realize the fortune teller might have been correct in her predictions.

Overall, I thought this was an absolutely amazing book.  It forces the reader to ask questions they don't typically like to think about.  When I told Bryan about the book, I thought I'd ask him if he would want to know the day he was going to die.  Without missing a beat, he immediately said that he wouldn't want to know, and I agree with him.  At the same time, I could see why some people would want to know, especially if it turns out they're going to die fairly young.

I know I normally talk more about a book before jumping into the spoilers part, but this book is pretty much impossible to talk about without divulging spoilers, so I'm going to stop right now and add my requisite spoiler alert.  If you haven't read this book or want to avoid spoilers, you should probably stop reading now.  Also, if you haven't read this book, go get it from your nearest library, bookstore or Amazon and read it immediately!

First of all, even though the three deaths we saw in the book all corresponded to the date given to them by the fortune teller, I have some doubts as to the accuracy of the fortune teller in general.  In my opinion, Simon's death was the only one that had absolutely nothing to do with the fortune teller.  I also felt that his death was completely predictable.  All I had to do was read the little summary on the back of the book to know that Simon died from AIDS (a man in San Francisco in the 1980s is fairly obvious unfortunately).  I mean, the fact that the fortune teller was able to get Simon's death correct was impressive, but I can still find some flaws in it.

I firmly believe the three deaths in the book are all related to self-fulfilling prophecy.  Simon was already sick, but since he had it in his head that he was supposed to die on a specific day, he just gave up and accepted that as his fate.  A large part of fighting off any type of devastating illness is believing you can get better.  I'm not saying that that's all you need to beat any sort of disease, but it definitely helps.  Since Simon had it in his mind that he was destined to die on a certain day, he started giving up as that day neared.  Simon was going to die regardless, but I think the fact he died on that day has to do with the fact that he was told he would die on that day.

While Simon's death being a part of self fulfilling prophecy might be a bit of a stretch, Klara's death was undoubtedly connected to her visit with the fortune teller.  I really saw Klara's suicide as her taking a hold of her own death and fate, not allowing her death to be some sort of terrible, catastrophic accident while performing on stage.  She believed she was destined to die, so she did it herself and went out on her own terms.

Just like Klara, Daniel's death was directly connected to his visit with the fortune teller.  For the life of her, my mom couldn't understand why Daniel chose that day of all days to go hunt down the fortune teller and confront her.  While I can see where my mom is coming from, just like Klara, Daniel figured that that was his day to die, so he had nothing to lose; if he was going to die, he was going to go down in a blaze of glory and bring down the woman who destroyed his family as well.  I firmly believe if Daniel didn't have it in his head that that was the day he was supposed to die, then he wouldn't have died that day.  Once again, it was an example of self fulfilling prophecy.

Even though I didn't read this book for book club, I decided to write up some discussion questions.  This book is perfect for a book club.  There's a lot of unpack, along with an overarching existential question that will undoubtedly leave your book club divided.  Please feel free to use my questions to guide your discussion of this wonderful book.

1. Why did the kids tell their parents?
2. How did Saul's death contribute to Simon's rebelliousness?
3. Why do you think Simon was with Robert for so long if they were so un-compatible?
4. Do you think Raj was living vicariously through Klara?
5. Why did Klara name her daughter after her friend who told her about the fortune teller?
6. Why did Klara commit suicide?
7. How did the fact that the fortune teller came from a family of con artists change your perception of Simon and Klara's deaths?
8. Were the deaths of each sibling a result of the placebo effect like Daniel thought?
9. Although Varya lived the longest out of the four siblings, did she truly live?
10. Why didn't Varya go through with the abortion?
11. Why did Varya finally tell Gertie about the fortune teller?
12. Did the information from the fortune teller drive the siblings more apart?
13. Did the fortune teller's predictions make each person act out of character leading up to his or her death?
14. In what way did the trip to the fortune teller change the lives of each of the Gold children?
15. In what way did Frida undo the damage done by the fortune teller?
16. If they hadn't died, where do you think Simon, Klara and Daniel would have been at the end of the book?
17. Why was the last paragraph told from Ruby's point of view?

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Some Pictures from Hannah Lynn's New Book: Whimsy Girls at Work

Hannah Lynn, one of my favorite coloring book artists, has done it again.  This time, she created a fun and whimsical book portraying women in a variety of jobs.  This may be the first of two books, as she said she had so many ideas for this book, it was hard to chose which ones to include.  All I can say is, I hope she has a second book, especially if it's as wonderful and fun as the first one.  So far, I've only colored two pictures from this book, but I've printed out plenty more that I can't wait to color (I opted for the digital edition of this book instead of the physical book).

Before jumping into my picture, a few important details.  First, Hannah Lynn drew two versions of each picture: one that is more detailed and one that is more simplified.  She does the same thing with the monthly exclusive pictures you can get by supporting her on Patreon.  This is the first time she's done this for a book though (at least that I've seen).  Also, I couldn't find my bag of colored pencils.  Luckily, a few months ago Amazon had a 120 count of Crayola colored pencils on sale, so I bought those for when my pencils were on their last leg.  I wanted to wait to open them, but I was also so excited to finally get to use them.  It might only be an extra 20 colors, but it really does make a huge difference.  With all that out of the way, on to my pictures.

The first picture I colored is titled "Veronica's Patients".  As soon as I saw this picture, I knew I wanted to go with my usual softer, pastel-type colors.  I have no idea why, but I just love using pastel color palettes when I color, even though I don't really wear pastel colors or use them in my day to day life on a regular basis.  I did step outside my comfort zone with this picture, however, when I colored her skin and hair.  I tend to color people with lighter skin and dark hair (so they look very similar to me).  This hair, however, reminded me of a former student of mine, who always wore her hair natural in a giant bun on top of her head, very similar to the girl in this picture.  That student had significantly darker skin, but this is my homage to her.

I did struggle a little bit with the animals, as I wanted them to all have different coloring, and I didn't want them to blend in with any of the neutral tones I used, especially with the cabinets behind them.  I'm not entirely thrilled how the darker of the two dogs came out.  I tried to blend two brown tones together, which I know never works out, but I was optimistic that it would work out this time.  It didn't turn out terribly, but it definitely could have come out a little better.

Something I like to do when I color is put all the pencils I use to one side so they're all in one place.  Then, when I'm done coloring, I like to count how many I used.  It's weird, I know, but that doesn't mean I'll stop doing it.  It might not look like it, but I used a whopping 54 colors in this picture, which is more than I usually use.  For some, it's typical to use well over 54 colors because they do so much shading.  I am not nearly that skilled at coloring, so I don't use three or four colors for a simple pair of pants (not including things such as buttons or other details).

The other picture I colored is titled "Seaside Signing".  Once again, I stepped outside my comfort zone in a few ways for this picture.  You'll notice right away that the colors are extremely different.  I went for much bolder colors, with the exception of the seaside scene in the window.  It's not that I don't use these darker, bolder colors, it's just not as often.  To me, however, this book store reminded me of something warmer, with wood paneling on the walls and something more aligned with jewel tones.  I did manage to sneak some softer colors in, such as the seaside scene and in her scarf, but that's about it.

Another way I stepped outside my comfort zone was by making the author have red hair.  Like I said before, I usually color brunettes.  I have no idea why, I just do.  While I love the red hair next to the burgundy for her pantsuit, I'm not entirely thrilled with how the hair came out.  I used three different shades of orange for the hair, I think it's just a little too much.  I should have stuck with the two darker shades and not the lightest of the three.  Oh well, it doesn't look awful, but I just feel like it could look a little bit better.

I'm also not entirely thrilled with the colors I made the awning in the window.  It was pretty much the last thing I colored, I had no idea what colors to use, so I just went with two colors I knew looked fairly good together.  While these colors do look pretty good together, they don't look good here.  I feel like a lot of my attention is drawn to that window, not to the author signing books, which should be your main focus.

Overall, Hannah Lynn knocked it out of the park with this book.  The pictures are incredibly detailed and show a wide range of jobs.  I hope she does a second volume for this book, as it's so much fun to see different careers represented.  You can find the book on Etsy and Amazon.

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My Thoughts on "Lilac Girls"

Let me start out by saying that usually when I write about a book that I've read, I try to keep all the spoilers to the end and mark them with a big sign saying that there are spoilers coming up.  With this post, however, there are going to be spoilers throughout the entire post.  So, if you haven't read Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly or would like to avoid spoilers, this might not be the best post for you to read.  I know, I can't believe I'm telling people not to read my post, but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone!  Also, this is going to be a fairly long post.  Just like when I wrote about The King's Curse, I also want to get into some of the history of the book as well.

This book focuses on three separate stories surrounding World War II: Kasia Kuzmerick, Caroline Ferriday and Herta and Herta Oberheuser.  Two of the characters, Herta and Caroline, were real people, while Kasia was based on a real person, Janina Iwanska.  I'm going to be honest, at first I wasn't going to read this book.  The sequel (which is actually a prequel), Lost Roses, sounded far more interesting to me.  However, I decided to give it a shot.  My mom kept speaking highly of it, and if I didn't like it, I could just stop reading it.  We already owned a copy, so I had nothing to lose.

First of all, this book wasn't what I was expecting at all.  I thought the book would focus entirely around World War II and the Holocaust.  In reality, this was only about half of the book.  The second half dealt with the aftermath of the events in the first half of the book.  I found this particularly intriguing, as many books about the Holocaust don't spend that much time on the aftermath.

In this book, one of the main settings is Ravensbruck, an actual concentration camp.  Located in northern Germany, this was a camp for female prisoners from 1939 to 1945, so the entire duration of the war.  The overwhelming majority of women, approximately 40,000, were Polish, but women from all over Europe were represented there.  Additionally, roughly 80% of the inhabitants were political prisoners, like one of the characters in the book.  In all, it is estimated that about 130,000 women passed through this camp and around 50,000 of them perished.

A view of Ravensbruck courtesy of https://www.ravensbrueck-sbg.de/en/history/1939-1945/

Like I said before, Lilac Girls focuses on three different women.  They all have separate stories until they slowly begin to come together in ways that were both predictable and unpredictable over about a twenty year period.  Martha Hall Kelly does a wonderful job of discussing all three women and giving them all a chance to tell their story as fully as possible.

Caroline Ferriday

The first character I want to talk about is Caroline Ferriday.  As previously stated, she was a real person.  She lived amongst higher society in New York with her mother, and both women were philanthropists.  Previously a moderately successful actress, Caroline now volunteered her time at the French Consulate in New York City were she dedicated most of her time raising money and supplies for orphans in France.  This becomes impossible when the puppet Vichy government takes over.  In the book, Kelly also alludes to a romance between Caroline and a married French actor, although I haven't been able to find much about that online, so I don't know if was added in to just give her character a little more conflict.

In the 1950s, Caroline worked with the Ravensbruck "Rabbits", women who were used for medical experiments at the camp.  She worked tirelessly to raise awareness about them and raise funds to bring them to America.  Although the war had been over for nearly ten years at this point, many of these women now lived behind the Iron Curtain and had limited access to medical assistance that would help them overcome the ghastly injuries purposefully inflicted upon them during the war.  In the book, this includes the fictional character Kasia and her sister, Zuzanna.  In reality, Caroline and her mother really hosted four of these such women for nearly a year as they toured the country and got the medical assistance they so desperately needed.

If I'm going to be honest, I felt that Caroline's was the weakest of the two stories.  I hate saying that, because I feel like it trivializes Caroline's amazing life, but it's true.  Her story didn't interweave with the other two stories until the second half of the book, so for about 200 pages, her story just seemed out of place and completely different from Kasia and Herta's stories.  I just couldn't see how her story was going to come together with the other two.  All three stories did come together in the end, but it was definitely a struggle to see how it was going to all be done.

Kasia Kuzmerick
I'm going to talk about Kasia in two different ways.  First, I'm going to talk about her as a fictional character.  Then, I'm going to talk about the real life woman who inspired her character and the similarities between the two.

In the book, Kasia was a Catholic who worked for the Polish Resistance after a local boy she was friends with got involved in it.  Unfortunately, she was caught fairly early on and sent to Ravensbruck, along with her sister, mother, her friend and her friend's younger sister.  After being briefly detained in a ghetto, they were sent to Ravensbruck.  At Ravensbruck, Kasia and her sister were used for medical experiments, which was really just a cruel, sick form of torture.  It is later revealed that Kasia had part of her tibia removed (approximately six centimeters), and she had foreign items inserted into her leg.  Because of this, Kasia was left with extreme pain and difficulties walking.  Meanwhile, Kasia's mother, who was a trained nurse, was moved to Block One where she worked in the camp hospital doing administrative tasks.  One day, however, while her daughters were being operated on, she simply disappeared.  It takes Kasia until the very end of the book to find out what really happened to her mother.

During her time at Ravensbruck, Kasia was able to write letters to her father, who was free the entire time.  She included coded messages written in her own urine exposing the truth behind what was going on in the camp.  Her father passed this information off to the International Red Cross, along with several other foreign agencies and governments.

Eventually, Kasia and Zuzanna managed to leave the camp towards the end of the war when the International Red Cross showed up.  They first went to Sweden before heading back to Poland, only for it to fall behind the Iron Curtain.  During this time, Kasia dealt with extreme anger and resentment for what happened to her and the fact that her father moved on with a new woman in his life.  She carried this anger with her until the end of the book.

While the character of Kasia was fictional, she was based on a real person, Janina "Nina" Iwanska (sometimes spelled "Iwanski").  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a whole lot of information about Janina out there, but I will definitely keep my eye out for more and update this page with anything I do happen to come across.  Just like Kasia, Nina was part of the Polish resistance until she was caught and sent to Ravensbruck.  While in Ravensbruck, Nina became one of the "Rabbits", a term given to the women used for medical experiments for two reasons: first, they often had trouble walking and therefore had to hop from place to place and second, because they were being used for medical experiments, just like rabbits.  With the help of three other women, including her younger sister, Nina wrote coded letters to her outside family telling of everything going on in the camp.  The four women spelled out everything in extreme detail so their families knew exactly what was going on.  They even planned to escape from Ravensbruck and asked their family members for supplies.  It is unclear if they actually did escape, but all four women did end up surviving the war.

Herta Oberheuser
Like Caroline Ferriday, Herta Oberheuser was a real person.  Personally, I found her story the most fascinating in a weird, twisted way.  It was a completely different perspective from what I was used to in World War II and Holocaust books.  In a way, it reminded me of Werner from All the Light We Cannot See, who also worked for the Nazis, although he was far less passionate about the Nazi Party ideologies.  Herta, on the other hand, fully bought into the Nazi Party.  Everything she did, she did for the greater good of Germany.  It was strange and uncomfortable getting inside the head of someone who bought the party line so willingly, it was definitely a new experience for me as a reader and a historian.  The discomfort I felt definitely speaks to the quality of writing on the part of Kelly.

Herta went to Ravensbruck in 1942; she was 31 years old.  Before then, she got a medical degree and focused on dermatology.  The book discusses how Herta wanted to do more but was limited due to the fact that she was a woman, and Nazi ideology emphasized the importance of women staying home and running the household.  She served in the League of German Girls, a Nazi program for young women and eventually became assistant to Karl Gebhardt, who was Heinrich Himmler's personal physician.  Upon her arrival at Ravensbruck, Herta worked on finding a better way to treat infections.  In the book, Kelly talked about the fact that this was because one of Hitler's aides died from a wound inflicted on the battlefield and blamed the death on the fact that a specific medication was not administered to him.  Therefore, Herta recreated battle wounds on prisoners, including slicing open their legs in gruesome ways and rubbing all sorts of foreign items such as soil, glass and wood into the wound, along with bacteria.  Some women were treated with the drug in question, while others were not; all to prove to Hitler that the lack of medication administered did not lead to his aid's death.  I couldn't find anything online to lead to the veracity of this.  I hope it's not true, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Lilac Girls also speculates about a possible romantic relationship between Kasia's mom and Herta.  It's only alluded to, and Herta does seem especially distraught when Kasia's mother disappears.  They also seemed to be more than just friends, although Kelly leaves that up to the interpretation of the reader.

After the war, Allied forces arrested Herta, and she was part of the Nuremberg trials as one of the only female doctors on trial.  She was found guilty and sentenced to twenty years in prison (it should be noted that others were executed for her crimes).  Much like the criminal justice system today, Herta did not serve her entire sentence and was released after five years for good behavior.  She opened a family practice in Germany until a Ravensbruck survivor recognized her and turned her in.  In Lilac Girls, this is slightly different.  Caroline hears rumors that Herta is practicing family medicine in Germany and pressures Kasia to go and see if it really is her.  If it is, a positive identification can help to bring Herta down and prevent her from practicing medicine in the future.  Since Kasia is a fictional character, reality is a little different.  The book ends with Kasia confronting Herta.  Free from the burden of hatred and finally embracing forgiveness, she is able to finally move on with her life and be happy.  The reader doesn't find out what happened to Herta.  In reality, news of Herta's real identity came to light.  Not only did she lose her license to practice medicine, but the German government fined her as well.  Her career as a doctor was finally over.

Believe it or not, I still have a lot to say about this book.  First of all, a lot of this book reminded me of my own experiences when I visited Auschwitz four and a half years ago.  I had the wonderful and unique experience of traveling to Krakow to visit Auschwitz with a Holocaust survivor, Eva Mozes Kor.  Like Kasia, Eva was subjected to extreme torture under the guise of medical experiments during the Holocaust, but that is where their stories diverge.  Eva was only ten years old when her family was deported to Auschwitz.  Since she and her sister, Miriam, were twins, they were selected to stay alive and be a part of Dr. Mengele's experiments.  The rest of their immediate family did not survive.

Me with Eva at our hotel in Krakow.  July 2015

During their brief time at Auschwitz (approximately nine months).  Eva, her sister and other twins were subjected to all sorts of medical experiments at the hands of Dr. Josef Mengele.  Until the day she died, Eva had no idea what exactly was done to her.  One of her life's missions was to find out, as she was convinced those experiments caused all of Miriam's health problems later in life (Eva donated her one of her kidneys at one point), and ultimately her death in 1993.  Eva lived until 2019 and died on a trip to Auschwitz on July 4th.

One thing that really stood out to me was the lack of forgiveness Kasia carried in her heart.  Understandably, she grew to resent most people around her because of what was done to her.  This was compounded by the guilt that her actions in the Polish Resistance got her mother arrested as well, eventually leading to her death.  It wasn't until Kasia confronted Herta and had her say that she was able to feel lighter and freer.  One of Eva's big messages was a message of forgiveness.  She advocated for forgiveness for everyone, not because the other person deserved it, but because you deserve to live a free life without carrying that hatred around in your heart.  I feel that Kasia really exemplified that.  While she didn't technically "forgive" Herta, but confronting her and saying what she wanted to her, she was able to finally hold her head up and live a better life.  I'm purposefully not talking a lot about Eva or going into much detail because I have an entire post planned out for the anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation next month, and I'll talk about my trip and Eva in immense detail then.

There was another small detail that most people probably missed that actually had immense meaning to me.  In the book Caroline talks to Wallis Simpson (wife of the former King Edward VIII of England) about raising funds to help the Ravensbruck women.  Wallis immediately replies that the war has been over for quite some time, and she can't imagine there are still victims who still need help getting on their feet.  This reminds me of a conversation I had with my Pop-Pop a few weeks before he died.  I spent a good two hours talking to him about everything under the sun, including his time with Germany.  During the Korean War, the United States and the rest of the world worried that some still sympathetic towards Nazism would try to do something while the rest of the world was distracted with the problems in Korea.  For that reason, my Pop-Pop and others were deployed to Germany during the war. 

Pop-Pop relaxing while stationed in Germany sometime in the early 1950's.

Although my mom isn't sure of exactly when he went over to Korea (she thinks sometime in 1951), but she knows he returned to the United States in 1953.  That means he was there 6-8 years after the end of World War II.  Despite this, there was still a displaced persons camp right next to the army base.  While visiting with Pop-Pop, he told me about his experiences with the victims still living in the camp nearly a decade later.  He told me he and the other soldiers would even pay them to do their laundry with cigarettes.  All of this completely surprised me, just like it surprised Wallis Simpson that there were people who needed help.

Overall, I thought Lilac Girls was an amazing book, far better than I expected.  I thought the history was absolutely fascinating, and there were several personal connections I had to the book that drew me to it even more.  I can't wait to get my hands on the prequel and any other books Kelly writes in the future.

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My Thoughts on "There There"

I first came across this book on a list on Goodreads about books women born in the 90's were reading in 2019, and it didn't really appeal to me, so I quickly forgot about it.  A few weeks later, I came across it again, and it was only $7 on Amazon, so I decided to go for it.  By then, the plot sounded slightly more intriguing to me, and I wanted to give it a shot.  It was definitely a different type of book, not a topic people were writing about as much, and it was a Pulitzer finalist, so it had to be good.

In all honesty, the book had a lot of potential, but it was a little too ambitious for a novel of this length.  The plot follows twelve Native Americans, all of whom either live in Oakland, California or have close ties to Oakland as they prepare for a powwow at the local sports arena.  Each individual either has a reason for wanting to go to the powwow that is closely tied to their identity as an urban Native American.  Some are part of the younger generation who are trying to figure out where the fit in the grande scheme of things, while others are part of the older generation dealing with the demons of their past caused by being a Native American.  Either way, Orange does a wonderful job at bringing to light to problems that grip urban Native Americans.  Often, narratives that focus on Native Americans focus on those living on reservations scattered across the western portion of the United States.  This was the first time I saw a story that focuses on Native Americans in an urban environment, which is what ultimately drew me to it.

If I'm going to be honest, I felt that this book was lacking.  Yes, Orange did a wonderful job at weaving all twelve stories together, but a book that's only 294 pages and has twelve different points of view to tell is a huge undertaking.  Orange was only able to scratch the surface for each character, and the end left me wanting so much more from some of the characters.  I wanted to know more about their backstories and what happened to them at the end of the book (more about that in a little while).  He easily could have filled multiple books just on the backstories; he alluded to such rich backstories and did a great job of building a foundation, but then it just seemed to stop. 

At the same time, I found the ending completely disappointing.  Everything in this book has been building up to this powwow and a crucial decision made by several of the characters during the powwow.  When that moment came, however, it was fleeting.  It was as if Orange just wanted to focus on the buildup and had no idea what to do with the actual climax.  It disappointed me greatly, especially since I'm the type of person who likes everything wrapped up nice and neat at the end of a book with no questions left.  In this book, however, Orange just stopped partway through the climax.  Imagine it like if Lion King ended right in the middle of the battle between Scar and Simba, leaving you as the audience wondering who won, if Simba was able to take his place as king of Pride Rock or if Scar remained king and drove the pridelands into ruin.  That's pretty much how this book ended.

I had such high expectations for this book, especially as I started reading it.  There characters and plot had a lot of potential, only to be let down at the last minute.  I hope that Tommy Orange writes more books in the future, because I would like to give him another shot, just not with this book.

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My Thoughts on "The Alice Network" and Book Discussion Questions

You know that feeling when you've been a fan of something for years, and everyone else is just now starting to catch on, and it gives you a grand sense of superiority, like you've been in on a secret for ages?  That's how I feel about Kate Quinn.  I discovered her books randomly years ago (around 2010/2011-ish) when she just had a few books out for her Empress of Rome series.  The books were complex, insightful and captured stories of epic proportions in just a few hundred pages (while books like Les Miserables require over 1,400 pages for equally epic stories).  In 2013, I dragged my best friend to a book signing in Baltimore where Kate publicized her new book, the first of two about the infamous Borgia clan.  Let me tell you, Kate was absolutely delightful!  The signing was in an incredibly small bookstore called The Ivy with maybe two dozen chairs set up.  She sat amongst us, answered questions and even did a reading from her book (for those of you who are wondering, it was The Serpent and the Pearl).  When she signed books, she had a conversation with each person and wrote them a personalized little message in their book based on their conversation (mine was how to pronounce the name of a character from Mistress of Rome, while my best friend's was something about bears, I don't remember what).  I kept up with Kate's books, although after her two books about the Borgia clan (which I'll admit that I own but haven't read yet...please don't hate me!), things seemed to slow down for her for a year or two.  That wait was well worth it though, because Kate jumped from from ancient and Renaissance history to tackling more modern history while still creating amazing characters and sweeping sagas that draw in readers.

My signed copy of Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn.

My mom has known about my love for Kate Quinn's books for years, and used this to her advantage to get me to join her neighborhood book club (remember, I'm already in her other book club, which she got me to join because they read one of her favorite books).  When the neighborhood book club chose The Alice Network for their next book, she knew it would be incredibly difficult for me to refuse to go.  Unfortunately, she was right, isn't that the worst?  I'd been wanting to read The Alice Network for a while, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet, but now I was out of excuses.  With enthusiasm, I jumped right into the compelling and powerful tale of redemption and women fighting for what's right.

The Alice Network is a dual timeline story, but it's different from other dual timeline books.  Instead, some of the same characters appear in both timeline, particularly Eve Gardiner.  In one timeline, Eve is a British woman during World War I.  In her attempt to help fight against the Germans, she agrees to join the Alice Network, a collection of spies scattered across Western Europe gathering information about the Germans to pass along to British intelligence.  It follows her powerful and frightening journey as she tries to hide in plan site as a waitress at a local cafe in German-occupied France where German soldier frequent.  The second timeline takes place shortly after World War II.  Charlie St. Clair is an American girl traveling through Europe to Switzerland to take care of her "Little Problem".  Charlie, however, has ulterior motives, as she is in Europe to find out what happened to her beloved cousin, Rose, during the turmoil that was World War II.  The only clue she has is Eve's name, which is how the two timeline merge into one eventually.  Eve is forced to face the demons of her past as a spy while simultaneously trying to help Charlie find her cousin and reconcile with the damage done to Europe during World War II.

As always, it's difficult to talk about books I've read without spoilers.  If you haven't read the book or want to avoid spoilers in case you do end up reading the book in the future, this is where I leave you.  If you want to know my thoughts about what happened or want to see the discussion questions I created for book club, please feel free to keep reading.

First of all, wow!  I had a feeling that Rose was dead, but part of me was still absolutely shocked to find out how she died.  It was absolutely brutal.  I've studied Nazi Germany extensively for quite some time, but it was still difficult to read about how the entire town was slaughtered to send a message.  Part of me wanted Rose to be alive so she and Charlie could go on to have a happy ending.  In a way, however, Charlie did get her happy ending with Finn, but it wasn't the ending I had planned for her.  On the other hand, I am thrilled that Eve was able to reconcile with her past.  She had incredible guilt gnawing away at her over the false belief that she betrayed her beloved Alice, resulting in their incarceration and Alice's subsequent death.

Now, about Alice's death.  I knew she was going to die, there was no way she could survive the war.  On the other hand, I thought that it was absolutely awful for her to die the way she did.  It was a completely preventable death.  I really did think she was going to die by a firing squad.  I was also caught off guard by how Eve broke her fingers.  I definitely didn't imagine Rene doing the deed, I never pictured him as one to get his hands dirty, I always imagined that the Germans did it to her.  Either way, I found that chapter absolutely brutal and incredibly difficult to read.  Part of me wanted to skip it, but I powered through and finished it.  The entire time, I was uncomfortable and only wanted to get it over with, much like Eve probably did.

While doing a little bit of research for this blog post, I came across something that completely threw my perceptions of the book into a tailspin: Alice Dubois was a real person!  I know, I'm just as surprised as you are.

Photograph of Alice Dubois courtesy of the Western Front Society

I'm still reeling from the fact that Alice was in fact a real person.  Part of me wishes I had known that before I started reading, as I would have approached Alice's character completely differently and appreciated her far more (not to say I didn't appreciate her in the first place).  It also makes sense as to why Alice died the way she did; fact is often stranger than fiction when it comes to history.  I did reach out to Kate Quinn on Twitter and asked her if Alice had been a character she created entirely on her own, would she have changed what happened to her at the end.  As of right now, she hasn't responded, but I will tell you that she is incredibly active on both Twitter and Goodreads, so hopefully I'll hear back from her soon.  As soon as I do, I'll be sure to update this post with her answer.

Update: Kate Quinn did get back to me about what she would change about Alice's character and what happened to her if she hadn't been a real person.  She said she probably would have changed her fate a little.  You can see our brief Twitter exchange below.

My Twitter conversation with Kate Quinn about Alice Dubois' fate in the end of The Alice Network.

Since this is a book I read for book club, I do have a series of questions I created.  This book is a part of Reese Witherspoon's book club, so you might already have questions printed in the back.  These are questions I came up with on my own (as always).  I try to avoid the discussion questions in the back of the book, especially while I'm reading the book, since it might reveal some spoilers.  Please feel free to use these questions for your book club or just to reflect on the book after you've finished reading it.

1. Would Eve and Charlie's strong personalities stand out so much in the 21st century?
2. Do you think Eve succeeded so much as a spy because she had the skills or because, as a woman, she had more to prove and therefore worked harder?
3. Do you think Eve's stutter contributed to her desire for perfection as a spy?
4. Why do you think Charlie didn't tell Eve she was pregnant?
5. When Eve says, "It's the wicked who go on merrily" living, was she talking about herself or Rene?
6. How did Charlie's pregnancy contribute to the story?
7. Why do you think Eve had such a sudden change of heart about helping Charlie after Charlie's mother showed up?
8. Do you think Charlie would have made a good spy?
9. Charlie's mom told her, "Get B's at Bennington until you can hook a nice young lawyer."  What does that tell you about Charlie and her mother's different priorities?
10. In what ways was this a story of redemption?
11. Do you think Alice's death was an accident or intentional?
12. How did Eve contribute to Rene becoming more ruthless from World War I to World War II?
13. Was Rene really a collaborator or was he a capitalist trying to survive the war?
14. How does the fact that Alice Dubois was a real person change your perception of the story?

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How to Prepare Yourself for a Disney World Scrapbook

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure where to put this post; I almost did a "Work in Progress Wednesday" instead (it would have been my last one until after my Disney World trip in February).  I decided to do this post now so the rest of my Disney posts can be related to the parks.  That doesn't mean this will be my only Disney World scrapbooking post, but it'll probably be my only one for quite some time.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Christina, your trip isn't for three months, why are you getting scrapbooking materials ready now?"  Well, the answer is quite simple: why not?  In my mind, it's better to start sooner rather than later, especially when you know you're going to have a huge monstrosity of a project to tackle.  It has also given me the opportunity to start collecting supplies at a slightly cheaper rate as I see them appear (but more about that later).

Right now, I'm in the pre-planning stage of my scrapbook, because I have no photos to actual scrapbook from my trip.  I'm simply collecting ideas and some supplies (okay, a lot of supplies) based on the rides and activities I know Bryan and I are going to do at Disney World (which is definitely something I'll be talking a lot about later).

One thing that's important to know about me is my unhealthy addiction to Pinterest.  I seriously love it and can't get enough of it.  It's actually a bit of a problem because I don't see it as social media (even though it technically is), so I'm on it all the time without realizing just how much time I've wasted.  With that being said, of course I created a Pinterest board.  At first, everything was dumped together as I jumped from board to board that other people created, pinning every single idea or cute clipart that I came across.  Within two days, I had over a thousand pins to my board, and there was no rhyme or reason to how they were pinned.  I needed a better system.  Thankfully, Pinterest realized this a while back and created sections, which is a part of the platform I've come to love and use extensively.  I set aside a huge chunk of time and created sections for every little thing I pinned.  I created sections for characters, parks, rides, movies, locations and even one for our hotel.  It didn't take long for me to have over 90 sections on my Scrapbooking Disney board.

A quick glimpse at just a small portion of my Scrapbooking Disney Pinterest board.

What's in each section varies based on the section.  As you can see from the picture of my board above, there's only one lonely pin in my 101 Dalmatians section, which is because those characters (ie: Cruella de Vil) really only comes out for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, but I saw that journaling card, thought it was cute and pinned it, just in case.  There's nothing wrong with pinning something; it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

The Lilo and Stitch section of my Scrapbooking Disney Pinterest board.

A lot of my sections have a wide range of different types of pins.  I found some websites that sell adorable Disney scrapbooking materials (mostly paper), so I pinned different paper pads or open stock paper to see if I want them later on down the line when we get back from our trip.  You can see that in the above screenshot from my Lilo and Stitch section of my Pinterest board (the first two pins).  I also pinned any layouts that I like relating to that section.  Now, this doesn't mean I'm going to use every single layout that I've pinned; I just like having options.  I might take bits and pieces from different pinned layouts, or I might create something entirely different.  I have no idea, it will depend on what I want represented on that particular page.

The Minnie Mouse section of my Scrapbooking Disney Pinterest board.

You'll notice on my pages that there are a lot of blank notecards.  I very rarely used to journal on my scrapbooking pages; I often just put the pictures and some embellishments down and called it a day.  Now, however, I've gotten more into journaling to capture the emotions, information and memories associated with the particular photos.  Obviously I won't use all of the journaling cards I've pinned (the Minnie Mouse one alone has four different journaling cards).  Like I said before, I just want options.  Once I have my Minnie Mouse pictures and know the colors I'm going to use for that layout, I'll be able to better select a journaling card that will work with the page.

Feel free to check out my Scrapbooking Disney Pinterest board in all its glory by clicking here.

Pinterest isn't the only way I've started preparing for my Disney scrapbook.  I've started buying some supplies.  Almost all of my supplies have come from a secondhand scrapbooking group I'm a part of on Facebook.  It's a great group and a wonderful place to get embellishments and supplies for amazing discounts.  Of course, it doesn't work if you just want to buy one or two things, since you also have to pay for shipping, but if you want to buy a lot and build up your stash, it's a great place to start.

Some of my generic Disney World scrapbook embellishments.

Some of the embellishments I've bought so far are fairly generic, like the ones above (how cute are those little Mickey Mouse buttons!?).  I know quite a few people stay away from licensed and event-specific things such as these, but my mentality is: I'm only going to make one Disney World scrapbook, I might as well make it the most Disney-est thing I've ever created.

Some of my Disney Princess scrapbook embellishments.

Now, there are some risks with buying things for a vacation that's three months away.  The most obvious is the fact that I don't know exactly what I'll need.  For example, I won't know if we're going to see Aurora, Cinderella or Snow White, but I still have stickers for all three of these princesses.  It's a dangerous game to play, but they were also incredibly cheap (much cheaper than if I had bought them in the store), so to me it was well worth the risk.

Paper I've started putting aside for my Disney scrapbook.

Now, the paper is a significantly smaller risk.  Some of the paper I already owned.  Take the purple with the blurred lights on it.  I bought that ages ago because I thought it was gorgeous, but I didn't know what I would use it for.  While flipping through my stash looking for something else, I saw that paper and realized it would be perfect for the Tangled lanterns at Magic Kingdom (more about that in a later post), so I pulled that paper out and put it to the side.  The paper with the hotel keys came from a paper pad and seemed great for our hotel, so I put that to the side too.  I'm not going to pretend that I didn't buy some paper too.  How could I pass up the paper with the little frogs on it?  It's so perfect for Tiana, I simply had to have it!  This is all the paper I have right now, which is fine with me.  I don't need to have everything set aside, this is simply paper that I have an idea for for when I get back from my trip.  I know that I'm going to need so much more, but I'll worry about that later.

In addition to collecting supplies, I've also been watching the "A Most Magical Scrapbook" class by Shimelle Laine.  It is something you have to pay for it ($25), but it's over 40 videos, and you have complete access to them, which means you can watch them as many times as you want.  If paying for scrapbooking videos isn't something you want to do, which I totally get, Shimelle also has a YouTube channel that includes a Disney scrapbooking playlist.  It's only a few videos, and it doesn't include any of the videos in her "A Most Magical Scrapbook" class, but they're just as wonderful and informative.  She breaks down how to select pictures, paper and embellishments and make a large scrapbook flow together.

Even though my trip is three months away, I've already started the tentative planning for my scrapbook.  I know this scrapbook is going to be a huge undertaking, so there will be plenty of posts about it in the weeks after my trip.

Tune in next week to learn about the decision making process Bryan and I went through while picking our hotel and the bumps we had along the way.

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Is It Too Early For Some Deborah Muller Christmas Coloring?

The answer is no, no it is not.  Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.  First, a little bit about Deborah Muller.  Like Hannah Lynn, Deborah Muller is an artist I stumbled upon on Amazon when I first started my coloring book obsession about two years ago.  Right now, I have about four main companies/artists I buy my books from: Jade Summer, Coloring Book Cafe, Hannah Lynn and Deborah Muller.  Jade Summer and Coloring Book Cafe are companies; they employ multiple artists who do the artwork for them.  Hannah Lynn and Deborah Muller, on the other hand, are individual artists.  While Jade Summer will always have a special place in my heart (they were the first adult coloring books I started actively buying on a regular basis), I tend to prefer the individual artists just a little bit more.  I find they're more personable on social media, they interact with you more, encourage your art more and tend to be a little friendlier.  That's not to say they aren't friendly on Jade Summer and Coloring Book Cafe's social media, but they're a company, they lack a certain personalization.  You become invested in what the individual artists share about their personal lives, you see them on Facebook all the time looking at the artwork, and you feel a real connection to them.  For that reason, I prefer those Facebook groups and social media just a little bit more.

I started by Deborah Muller Christmas coloring extravaganza with this little cutie from one of her new holiday books: Gnome for the Holidays.  At first, I wasn't entirely sure if I would like this book, but the flip through online convinced me enough to check it out.  It's so adorable, I know I made the right decision.  One thing I enjoy about Deborah's books is the little designs all over the place.  Instead of adding regular details n the mountains, she adds circles, little lines, etc.  At first, it was a little intimidating for me, because I didn't know how to color them, but I just went with the flow.  I knew I wanted cool, arctic colors to go with the picture, so I went along with that to make the mountains pop a little bit in the background.  The color I used for the background (Outerspace) is one of my favorites to use for night skies because it's a SUPER dark blue that looks almost black, but isn't.  The problem is that streaks show in the coloring very easily.  The good new is that also blends really easily, so I'm able to fix that problem.

My blending technique is really simple.  Sometimes I use a white colored pencil, but that's extremely rare.  Most of the time, I take little scraps of toilet paper and rub it across the colors I want blended.  It makes such a huge difference.  As I've worked with Crayola colored pencils over the yeas, I've found that the blues blend the best, while the browns blend the worst.  I have no idea why, but it's always extremely difficult for me to blend brown colors (especially when I layer colors, which I haven't been doing a lot of lately).

When I finished this picture, I liked it, but I wasn't in love with it.  I had already flipped through the book and picked a second picture to color for the day.

When I saw this picture, I immediately thought of Santa Clause (even though it's a goat in the background, not a reindeer).  After relying so much on blues and coloring such a dark picture, I knew I wanted something lighter.  I'll be honest, I'm not entirely thrilled with how his outfit turned out, but I struggled a little with how to color it.  I didn't want all red, which is why I added the random light green stripes to break things up a little bit.  Despite that, I really do love this picture.  First of all, I love how bright it is, it's such a huge difference from the first picture I created.  I also like how the face came out on the gnome, I finally got the skin tones down to something that looks good.  Finally, the trees are so adorable.  I wasn't sure how the red circles would look, along with all the different shades of green in the trees.  I've noticed that while I'm coloring, sometimes I think what I'm doing looks terrible.  I just power through it though, as I trust my instincts.  The overwhelming majority of the time, once the picture is done, I'm so thrilled with the outcome because I went with my instincts and trusted my gut.  That's the case with this picture.  Is it perfect?  No.  But I'm pleased with how it came out, and I just think it's adorable.

This picture is from the other Deborah Muller holiday release (she has a third one planned, but it hasn't been released yet), called A Merry Mermaid Christmas.  As the title implies, it's all mermaids celebrating the holidays.  Mermaids are Deborah's specialty, she even calls her company "Chubby Mermaid Art".  Just like the gnome book, I wasn't entirely sure how I'd feel about it when I heard it was being released, but once I saw the flip through, I thought it was adorable.  Most artists show mermaids in warm, tropical environments, but that isn't the case here.  Deborah's are hanging out with polar bears and penguins, bundled up in gorgeous winter outfits and with Christmas trees.  It's definitely a fun take on traditional mermaids.

This wasn't the first picture I picked to do from this book, but it's the one I ultimately decided to color, and the other one would have to wait for another time.  It's a little hard to tell in this picture, but I really messed up the hair.  I attempted to layer some light blue over some timberwolf grey.  I should have known better, I've attempted to do this color layering combination before, and it didn't end well that time either.  To make matters worse, I completely forgot that there's this stunning grey/light blue color already in the Crayola 100 pack called wild blue yonder, and I use it when I want a sky color that's not as bright as sky blue.  I feel so foolish that I forgot about that color, especially because it's one of my go-to colors.

Despite that little setback, I'm pretty pleased with how this picture turned out.  I think it's adorable, and I love the little penguin and seal.  I feel like the splash of color with the starfish and circles in the top left corner is a little bright, but I didn't want it to blend in too much with the rest of the background.

I have two more Deborah Muller Christmas pictures I want to color from her books from last year, but that will have to wait for another post.  In the mean time, her new books are adorable, whimsical and definitely worth adding to your coloring book collection.

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