Sunday, September 4, 2011

PDCC97, CFC18 - Black & White and read all over

This week's CAS-ual Friday challenge was a toughie -

CFC18:  Create a Clean And Simple project inspired by a book, and use the colors black, white and red.
Have you guessed which book inspired this card?  Little Women.  I read that book so many times when I was young - in fact one of the best gifts I ever received was a set of five Louisa May Alcott books from my grandmother.  While most people are familiar with Little Women did you know that there were two other books that went with it?  Little Men and Jo's Boys.  LOVED all of them!  Anyhoo, the March girls (Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy) spent a lot of time on their correspondence as was common then.  They were also very clever girls - writing their own newspaper and building sets for the plays they would put on in their home.  Seems quite likely that they would also fashion pretty cards to send to their friends.  

I used the retired Art Nouveau Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms to stamp the background then cut a square from the front with a Nestabilities die.  Martha Stewart Clear alphabet and Maraschino twine from The Twinery add the requisite splash of red for the Play Date Cafe Challenge.
Read any good books lately?  Yesterday, I finished Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill about slavery during the time of the Revolutionary War.  Really good book.  Another favorite in the past few months was These is my words : the diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 : Arizona Territories : a novel  - I particularly enjoy historic fiction - what books do you recommend?

8 comments:

Joyce said...

Love this card. It is such a beautiful and clever take on Little Women. I have to say that I just LOVED These is my Words, and have recommended it to several people. Have you read 1000 White Women?

Michele Gross said...

Gorgeous take on your inspiration! LOVE the damask background :) Glad you played with us at CAS-ual Fridays!

veronica said...

Love that stamp in black & white! looks great with red trim.

Virginia L. said...

This is SO beautiful and sophisticated, Michele! Little Woman was one of my first BIG literature read when I stated to learn English back in Taiwan (long ago!). I love all the movies, too! Your card has certainly depicts that period so eloquently! Thanks so much for playing with us at CAS-ual Fridays! Hope to see more of your fabulous work!

Susan Raihala said...

LOVE this card, Michelle! The backgrounder is gorgeous in b&w!

As for historical fiction, the first author to pop into my mind was Gillian Bradshaw. She's English, a (former?) professor of classical studies. She wrote The Lighthouse at Alexandria, Island of Ghosts, and The Sand Reckoner, among others. I love how she takes really unusual, sometimes gross characters and makes you care--really care--about what happens to them. (BTW, don't bother with her King Arthur stories...dreadful!)I'm also a huge fan of Stealing Heaven, a novelization of the story of Abelard and Heloise by Marion Meade.

Oh how I could go on!

Andrea Ewen said...

This is gorgeous Michelle and so clever! The red twine is the perfect splash as well as the "M"! The paper is just so elegant! Thanks for playing along with us at the Play Date Cafe!

Savannah O'Gwynn said...

LOVE the hint of red with the twine and the initial! LOVE LOVE LOVE that beautiful paper! Thanks so much for joining in the fun and playing along with us over at the PDCC!

Laura Davis said...

Stunning!!
Thanks for playing at CAS-ual Fridays!
Laura