Anthropologie has these amazing books cut into monogram letters.  

One of my best friends sent me the original Anthropologie picture and asked me if I could make her something like these.   I couldn't really back down from a challenge like that, could I?

Anthropology:

 

So cool and so feeding my love of recycling/upcycling and vintage and power tools - they really tick all my boxes :)  Buuuuttttt, they're almost $30 each.  Seriously?  Can't justify that.  Not when I can pick up these awesome vintage Reader's Digest Condensed books from local thrift stores.  And I not when I have a cute little lime green Bandsaw just begging for some action. 

So, I put out ads using this picture looking for Vintage RD books - the ones from the 60's with these awesome colourful covers.

 Lots of books started showing up at my house....so yummy!!

 And then I went to work.  I may have tackled a tough one to begin with but one of my best friend's last names starts with G and I wanted to make her something.  Her son (who's first name starts with G) is convinced I made it for him.  That's ok too. 

 This set of two I made as a gift for my Brother-in-law & Sister-in-law. 

And I did get around to making the letters for the first friend who got me started down this road.  Her last name is only 4 letters so it was a fun little project and by the time I did hers, I had many books to choose from so I could pick colours that went well together.  

Happy new year!

 I'm in year 13, I guess, of having the school year influence this feeling I have that everything starts fresh in September. New books and clothes, new schedules and plans, new work experiences and school grades....it feels to me, at the beginning of every September, like it is New Years Day. 

 There's a slight feeling of loss now too, recognizing what didn't get done during the summer. And a feeling a apprehension as always when starting something brand new. But for the most part,  I'm ready for the adventure. 

One plan I had this summer was to finish ready through The Bible. I started in May with a very lofty goal (see chart at the end of this post - Read through The Bible in 90 days) and I knew I wouldn't finish on schedule so I gave myself an extra month to finish with the goal being to be done when school started again (next week Wednesday). As you can see, that won't be achievable. Just today I'm finished Isaiah and starting in on Jeremiah. I wish I could say it is solely due to the fact that I got sidetracked by all the truths that God kept showing me and the pauses I had to take to absorb what he was saying to me. And in some cases that was (and is) very much the case!! But sadly, there were also many days of procrastination, too much TV watching, busyness, driving here and there for various things, and days full of errands (both good and not good). 

So....my new goal (a New Year's Resolution of sorts) is to be through the Bible by Christmas. I have no illusions that reading straight through is any better than any other reading plan but it's something I've always wanted to accomplish and I do have to say, reading at this pace has been fascinating because you get to see the bigger picture as the stories unfold. I read with a bright pink highlighter in my hand so I can highlight the parts that speak to me and I can come back to them sometime when I'm studying for a different purpose. 

Here's my plan that I'm "following" or, maybe I should say, the plan that inspired me to get going. Enjoy! Happy New Year!