Read in style

If you find your book accessory assortment lacking, head on over to etsy to spice it up with handmade bookmarks, covers, bookends or vintage reading lamps. Typically I use gum wrappers, receipts or plane tickets to mark my page, but I was given an adorable robot bookmark as a gift, which I have been diligent about not losing.

Since I tend to have several books in progress at once, I decided to get another bookmark and found this dino marker for only a buck!

And on my "Favorites" page, I've had these bookends saved for a while. Nonchalant cowboys love holding up books! Also by the same artist: t-rex, "fancy horses," cats and sewing machine bookends.

crossword art

I mentioned my first attempts at crossword art poems a while back, but have since realized that individual pieces are more coherent. The first step is combining trendy nouns (pirate, t-rex, zombie) with appropriate pairings (arrgh, rawr, brains). Then I digitally design a crossword to fit and finish each one with a small sketch to keep them unique. To stay hip, my next series is going to have to include vampires, narwhals, and maybe bacon...