Book Review - Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After finishing "Neverwhere", I decided to read some of Neil Gaiman's other titles. 

I have watched the movie starring Michelle Pfieffer, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, and Charlie Cox and really enjoyed it.  I usually prefer to read the book that a movie is based on first.  I like to imagine my own characters first and then watch a movie.  This time, these characters were already set in my head.  In De Niro's case, he really made the role of the airship's captain.  It was hard to wrap my head around the book's captain, which was barely mentioned and nothing like the movie's character.  There were many things that they changed from the book, some of which, seemed like needless changes. 

I wished that the book were a little longer.  Time seemed to fast forward in the book.  Journeys of weeks and months took place in a single chapter.  It would of been nice to hear more about the Star's home and life.

I really like Neil's style.  He really does draw you in.  All that being said, I liked both of them.



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I finished 2 books in quick succession, so I posted them both together.  Next up is another Neil Gaiman title, "American Gods", which I am finding a little more slow going.  Also, on my 'to be read' pile is Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility".
To be honest, I have been spending my days planning my son's first birthday.  I am sure that I will have some great tips for you afterwards.

Talk to you soon,
Meagan

Book Review - Crashed by Robin Wasserman

Crashed by Robin Wasserman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read the original book in this series over a year ago and saw that this author had continued the series.  It reminds me of one of my favorite spec. fiction authors, Nancy Kress, and her "Beggars" series.  Those were excellent books about the future.
This series was okay, neither bad nor great.  It has an interesting take what would happened had we figured out how to transfer our minds into a mechanical body and therefore live on forever.  It is not such a bright future in Robin's world.  Even the families that tried to save the lives of their loved ones, find that this new "person" is almost alien to them. 
In this book, the "skinners" and "orgs" (both the negative names that each group gave the other), go head to head.  A religious decides to take matters into it's own hands to get rid of what they think as an abomination.  The author tries to put forth the question, "What makes us human?"  Can it be transferred, does it reside in our thoughts, in our body, etc.  Where is our soul?
The think that the book would have been a little more interesting to me if I liked the antagonist a little better, but I have always enjoyed books that make you think.




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Project 365 Week 9, 10 & 11 Completed

Hello,
Boy, this week has been crazy!  I have gone from sick children to full activities all in one week.  I made a cake, went to 2 parties, watched the final mission of the space shuttle Discovery, witnessed the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, booked our Disneyland trip, went to the dentist for my kiddos, participated in a huge kids consignment sale and more.  Plus, I managed to get in my scrapbooking for the week.  I have a lot to post over this next week.  Tons of fun stuff, but to start I will share my week 9 of my Project 365.  I made this to match week 8 that I posted last week.

paper is from Scraps N Pieces, called Romance Valentine's Mini Kit

 Also, I finished my weeks 10 & 11 also.

Both of these pages are pre-designed pages from Creative Memories called Cottage Garden

That's it for now, but I am working on finishing my how to make marshmallow fondant and pictures of the Noah's Ark cake that I made, as well as a book review for the book that I just finished.
Have a fabulous week,
Meagan

Project 365 - Week 7 & 8 Completed

I am still going strong on my Project 365.  Now, I have completed 2 full months and I thought that I would give you what I have learned so far.
1 - It is okay to not have EVERY DAY accounted for.  I think if you stress about each day, the project would not be enjoyable for you.  I have skipped a few here and there, but I have taken a picture 98-99% of the time.
2 - Make sure to take pictures of things that are important to you as well as what has happened that day.  There are some days that you aren't really doing anything.  These are the perfect days to snap a picture of your favorite items.  This is a great way to really capture what your life was like this year.
I really like the fact that I am scrapbooking every week and that by the end of this, I will have an up-to-date completed yearly album (which I have been lagging on - I am still working on '03 the traditional style).

For week 7, I did something different.  I did a 2 page spread.:

 

Here is my week 8. 

I am so happy to have this much done, it makes me feel like I am getting stuff accomplished.

Thanks,

Meagan

How to Make Cool Super Mario Brothers Cupcakes

To celebrate my 8 year old's birthday in class, I made cupcakes.  Since she is very girly, I made Hello Kitty Cupcakes, but I realized that there were quite a few boys in the class that may want something a little less girly.  I found this cute idea on the Cake Central website where someone made Hello Kitty Cupcakes and Super Mario Brothers ones for the same party.
I picked 2 of the elements from the game that are very easy - the power-ups (mushrooms) and stars.


Start by baking your cupcakes in preferred flavor (I chose white cake and chocolate cake).  I also used basic canned white frosting and then tinted it to color.  I made 1 batch of white, 1 light green, 1 orange, 1 plain white, and then I also had made chocolate frosting.  You would not need to go this far.  You could keep it basic and just chose 1 color.  Also, you will need a small batch of white fondant. 

To make the mushroom (aka Power-Up) stalk: 

First roll out the white fondant to be about 1/4" thick.  Start by cutting a strip of white fondant about 1" thick.  I used my Fondant Ribbon Cutter.  


Then, take your circle cutter and cut out the top half of your circle (you could cut all the way through, but then you would waste some of your fondant that way).

Next, using the same circle, cut the bottom of the mushroom off.  
Now, you should have a shape with straight sides, but rounded bottom and top.
Once you have then cut out, put them aside under a glass to keep them from drying out.

While you have the white rolled out, go ahead and cut out your white spots for the mushroom.  I looked through my stuff to find a circle cutter small enough, but ended up using my icing circle tip.
You need 3 spots for each mushroom that you are making.  
Put these with your stalks to keep from drying.

Now, you will need to color a small amount of the fondant red and roll out to the same thickness as your white stalks.
Cut out a circle from the red fondant and place on your thin fondant foam and using your fondant smoother, lightly pull along ("pet") top to either side, so that the fondant becomes an oval.  You could also use your finger if you are careful.

I also then squished the top and bottom in with my fingers.

To put it all together - start by cutting a small portion off of the bottom of your red mushroom cap with your same circle cutter (this will mimic the top of the stalk).
Now, place your stalk against the bottom of your cap and using a small amount of water or clear vanilla extract, meld the 2 pieces together.  Use a tool to blend them and bind them a little better.

Use your smoothing tool to make your "spots" flatter and wider.  Attach 3 spots across the cap of your mushroom using water/vanilla and press in with the smoother.

To add the eyes, color a very small amount of fondant black.  Roll a tiny ball of black fondant into a ball.  Lengthen into an oval.  Place eyes onto stalk and press flat.  Use water/vanilla and press further if needed to attach.

And you are done!

I also cut out stars from yellow fondant and added black eyes.  Place the mushroom or stars on top of the iced cupcakes to complete the look.
It's really easy.
I hope you like them and they are the hit of your Mario party!
Meagan

Book Review - Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I had read the first book in this series awhile back and it had been at least mildly entertaining, so I picked up book 2 of the Immortals series. 

This book, I found whiny.  The whole first half of the book she (the main character) whined about the fact that her boyfriend had been alive 600 years before her and therefor had had previous "partners".  It was a little much. 

Even when the book got better, she still whined about it.  I think I may pass on the next books in the series even though I had already purchased book 3.  



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Book Review - Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have always wanted to read Neil Gaiman and just never ended up doing before now.  I picked up Neverwhere and delved into his world.  I was captured right from the start.  I found it cool how he merged everyday London streets with a world that lives beneath us.  He made it very believable that there is this world that exists and we just pretend that we don't see it - that someone could "fall through the cracks" of our world and also cease to be a member of the regular world.

The characters were very interesting.  Even his bad guys were very compelling.

I guess the biggest compliment that I could give it was that when I got to the end (which I liked), I wished that it would continue and that there was another book to follow with new adventures.



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I had someone suggest Neil to me ages ago and then I found pictures of his library and I fell in love (with his library :) )!  It is so amazing to make a bibliophile completely jealous!!
Here is a sneak peak:

Click here to see the rest of the pictures and info about this cool place to sit and read!