Recommending

Have started the year with some good books and movies so thought I would share....Went to *The Adventures of TinTin* as a family last week

- special effects are so amazing in that once you get over the start of the movie you just accept you are in this amazing other world. Check out the extended trailer here
And enjoyed this book which is also about to be released as a movie

Written for a youth audience, so a lovely easy holiday read. And it's the first of a trilogy so more to look forward to.
And I am currently enjoying this - it won the Orange Prize for Fiction 2011

In Arty goodness, you may remember this lovely stack of Christmas treasure

I am in love with Keepsakes as I thought I would be

....the recipes look wonderful and the book is a delight to explore in itself. Like an old-fashioned scrapbook with wonderful Kiwiana touches and the recipes themselves presented in the way they would be in your mum's cookbook (ie. some typed with cross-outs, some in grandma's handwriting etc) 
The Cloth Paper Scissors book is also one I looked forward to and am so happy to have.

Click here for a peek inside via Amazon

It's a lovely book to dip into with great techniques all in one place and smart groupings of information into chapters like "Printmaking and Surface Design" and "Mixed-Media Stitching". This is a great book for someone interested in mixed media art who has never quite got around to buying any of the actual issues of this magazine.
My final Christmas treat was LK Ludwig's Creative Wildfire

Click here for a peek inside via Amazon

This book has lots of excellent base info about creating journals, plus great techniques to try - like the book above, techniques that I have been aware of but fabulous to have all under one cover. It also has lots of wonderful photos of art journal pages and even a free wee journal to use tucked inside the back cover! Yay that mine has Teesha's art on the cover ;-)

Click on image so you can read about the included journal

I think this is one of those books that I am going to appreciate the more I explore it.
As I suspected, after the rewarding experience of making Amanda's travel journal I purchased this today...

Mine is A4 size (the travel journal was A5) - I have lots of ideas and will share again soon  ;-)
And last, but by no means least, check out Geninne's gorgeous January desktop calendar