Since my kids are asking me what I want for Christmas, and a couple books are always on my list, I thought I’d review some books for you this week. You may want to ask for them your self, or find they are the perfect present for someone on your list!

As a papercrafter many of us make cards and/or scrapbooks. We’re always searching for the right verse or title. The Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Word by Linda LaTourelle (Bluegrass Publishing, ISBN 978-1-59978-015-3) is indispensable for any scrapper or cardmaker. With 347 pages this book offers thousands of quotes, poems, journaling ideas and words. The pages about adoption, barbequing, boo-boos, colors, dirt, freckles, glasses, housework, kites, rain, twins, triplets, and teddy bears are some of the most unusual offerings. Linda shares her deep spirituality with quotes and poems about love, family, friends, religion and marriage. I especially liked the “ Magnificent Memories” pages, which are a list of questions to jump-start your journaling. Many of us understand the importance of journaling and want to do it, but don’t know how to start or what to say. Answering any of these questions can be a jumping off point to get you started. Future generations will be grateful for this insight into your life. Every child likes to hear parent or grandparent stories about what life was like “ back then”. As the present becomes the past (much more quickly than we would like!) it’s so important to document TODAY. Linda also offers several pages of journaling tips to help you along.

I’m a collector of quotes and quote books, and I still found several new ones. A couple of my favorites –
“If at first you don’t succeed, do it like your mother told you”
“ Teachers that love to teach…create kids that love to learn.”
“ Star light, star bright, please don’t let me melt tonight” (about snowmen)
“ Snow flakes are God’s voice in a whisper, escorted to earth by angels.”
“ There’s no place on earth like a kitchen at Christmas!”
“The only place housework comes before scrapbooking is in the dictionary”
“ Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle”

I thought this book would be the only one of its kind I’d ever need – and then they released the Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Card (Bluegrass Publishing, ISBN978-0-9761925-3-4) by Linda LaTourelle and C C Milan. More prose, sentiments, poems and expressions! This book has lots of information about the lost art of letter writing. (Yes, I love e-mail but there’s something so special about a handwritten letter from someone.) Although both of these books are essential for my cardmaking and scrapping, they are also wonderful to just relax with along with a cup of tea. My copies will quickly become dog-eared, I’m sure. And I plan to put this quote from the second book right in my office where I see it daily.

“ When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and I could say” I used everything you gave me.”