Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Happy Father's Day
Just wanted to quickly let you know about my Father's Day sale on digital scrapbooking pages at Scrapbooking Tales. There is one page that you will only find available for one week, and two others with special pricing - 50% off!! Check it out and Happy Scrapping!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Bree's second life could have been better
I'm taking a break from the scrapbooking this week to review Stephenie Meyer's newest book, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. I was so excited for it to come out. I read it the very first day! There were some things I really liked about it. It did give Twihards a lot of background information on Eclipse, such as the Volturi coming to Victoria before the battle. It had some great funny lines and moments. I think my favorite was "All I got was, 'Want a burger, kid?'"
Unfortunately I didn't love this book as much as any of her others. It clearly was written mostly as background information and not as a stand alone story because there wasn't really a climax. You get near the end of the book, and Diego simply doesn't come back. It is implied that he was tortured and killed later, but by that time it's almost anti-climactic. Bree already has a fall-back in Freaky Fred, who turns out to be quite handsome when you're actually able to look at him.
If I were Stephenie, I would have had the question of whether or not they could trust Riley push Diego and Bree even harder. It would eventually lead them to the climax scene, where Diego confronts Riley about his discovery with sunlight. Riley in the meantime has convinced Raoul and his gang that Diego is dangerous, and gives the signal to attack. Bree, realizing at the last second how her love for Diego has altered her forever, jumps into the fight trying desperately to save him. They are outnumbered and Diego is killed. Just before Diego is set on fire, he mouths to Bree that he loves her too. After that, Bree loses the will to live. Riley drags her to the fight with the Cullens because he needs all the bodies he can get. Bree surrenders to Carlisle because she really doesn't want to do anything, even fight. She thinks about her time with Diego as the Volturi visit the Cullens, but not out of any desire to help. Edward 'hears' everything he needs to. When Bree is killed, it is a relief.
One of the other criticism's I've heard of the story is that Bree is supposed to be one of the very blood-thirsty out-of-control newborns, but that she's very tame. I did think that in the first scene where Bree is out hunting with Kevin and another vampire without a name, it is not very likely that she would have turned her back and distracted herself while Kevin feed on a human right behind her. She is supposedly very thirsty, as evidenced by the two people she drains of blood while with Diego. In Breaking Dawn, Bella just smells humans on her first hunt and she nearly loses control, going so far as to hiss at Edward. The fact that she is able to hold her breath and run away is evidence of her amazing self control. So Bree must be something else if she's able to be right near fresh, flowing blood and not go berserk.
Thinking about how I would have written the story has made me consider writing a Twilight fanfic of my own. It would come after Breaking Dawn in the timeline. I've been toying with this idea of a vampire hunter who comes upon the Cullens and tries to kill them all. It could be very funny to have him first attempt to keep them away with garlic. I think I would have Emmett pop it into his mouth and eat it. Maybe he would use a cross to try to ward off Carlisle. That would be some nice irony. The climax scene would have to have fire, something where the Cullens were actually in danger. I'll have to keep thinking about it, and please let me know what you think...is it too cliche?
Unfortunately I didn't love this book as much as any of her others. It clearly was written mostly as background information and not as a stand alone story because there wasn't really a climax. You get near the end of the book, and Diego simply doesn't come back. It is implied that he was tortured and killed later, but by that time it's almost anti-climactic. Bree already has a fall-back in Freaky Fred, who turns out to be quite handsome when you're actually able to look at him.
If I were Stephenie, I would have had the question of whether or not they could trust Riley push Diego and Bree even harder. It would eventually lead them to the climax scene, where Diego confronts Riley about his discovery with sunlight. Riley in the meantime has convinced Raoul and his gang that Diego is dangerous, and gives the signal to attack. Bree, realizing at the last second how her love for Diego has altered her forever, jumps into the fight trying desperately to save him. They are outnumbered and Diego is killed. Just before Diego is set on fire, he mouths to Bree that he loves her too. After that, Bree loses the will to live. Riley drags her to the fight with the Cullens because he needs all the bodies he can get. Bree surrenders to Carlisle because she really doesn't want to do anything, even fight. She thinks about her time with Diego as the Volturi visit the Cullens, but not out of any desire to help. Edward 'hears' everything he needs to. When Bree is killed, it is a relief.
One of the other criticism's I've heard of the story is that Bree is supposed to be one of the very blood-thirsty out-of-control newborns, but that she's very tame. I did think that in the first scene where Bree is out hunting with Kevin and another vampire without a name, it is not very likely that she would have turned her back and distracted herself while Kevin feed on a human right behind her. She is supposedly very thirsty, as evidenced by the two people she drains of blood while with Diego. In Breaking Dawn, Bella just smells humans on her first hunt and she nearly loses control, going so far as to hiss at Edward. The fact that she is able to hold her breath and run away is evidence of her amazing self control. So Bree must be something else if she's able to be right near fresh, flowing blood and not go berserk.
Thinking about how I would have written the story has made me consider writing a Twilight fanfic of my own. It would come after Breaking Dawn in the timeline. I've been toying with this idea of a vampire hunter who comes upon the Cullens and tries to kill them all. It could be very funny to have him first attempt to keep them away with garlic. I think I would have Emmett pop it into his mouth and eat it. Maybe he would use a cross to try to ward off Carlisle. That would be some nice irony. The climax scene would have to have fire, something where the Cullens were actually in danger. I'll have to keep thinking about it, and please let me know what you think...is it too cliche?
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Paper! Get your Paper!
If you're not going to use quick pages, the first thing you need in digital scrapbooking is the same thing you need for paper scrapbooking. You need a background paper. If you are using Photoshop and simply want a single color background, you can quickly make your own. However, you may want something more interesting. There are so many choices out there. You can find many at online stores - including my store Scrapbooking Tales. You can also find many freebies. One of my favorite places to find freebie papers is McGee Designs. Always remember to check the Terms of Use (TOU) before you use somebody else's design.
One thing to note - I always drag the paper over to a new page before making my scrapbook page, that way I don't mistakenly save my scrapbooking page over the paper!
Happy Scrapping!
One thing to note - I always drag the paper over to a new page before making my scrapbook page, that way I don't mistakenly save my scrapbooking page over the paper!
Happy Scrapping!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)