Amazon Beefing Up Gold Box Offers?

Yesterday I was on the Amazon site looking for a certain kind of book for the first time. I was browsing books about traveling to Washington D.C. and books about traveling with children to Washington D.C. After reading through some product information and customer reviews I placed some books on my wish list (whose titles I didn’t want to forget). I was unsure which to buy so considered checking the local bookstore to browse them in person, but planned to buy them for the discount price on Amazon (plus no sales tax and no shipping fees). I rated some books with some high star ratings.

I then glanced at some craft books and gave some high rating marks, placing some on my wish list.

I saw a Gold Box offer on a teaching history book that I already own and so I rated that book series with high stars and marked those that I owned. I then saw a science book in the Gold Box related to a gift book I recently purchased and rated that with high stars.

Today’s Amazon Gold Box discount offer contains both books about Washington D.C. travel and the exact craft books that I flagged with 5 star ratings, and the history book and exact science book that I just rated with five stars. Wow.

I have never seen the Gold Box react like that before. The Gold Box deals that I am being offered are 2% lower in price than their regular price.

I am just amazed by this. Perhaps before I plan to buy some books I should rate them high with star ratings then check back in the next 1-2 days to see if they appear in my Gold Box.


Technorati Tags: Amazon.com, Amazon Gold Box offers.

Thank You For Your Amazon Purchases

Thank you for making your Amazon purchases through my blog. I don’t know who you are but I appreciate it!

(By clicking through the Amazon links here on my blog and making your purchases I make a small commission on each sale. Once you click through you can buy anything you want from Amazon, I don't have to have a special link to it here on my blog. I am told what was purchased but not who purchased it so your sale is confidential.)

I just received the payment and after chipping in a few bucks I was able to use my Amazon gift certificate payment to buy myself these three books. I really felt that I needed some reading material for my own self that was about creativity. There is one book about writing poetry, one about making art with mixed-media and the last is about making books from scratch (making an actual book not writing the words).

Thoughts About My Visit To Barnes & Noble Today

For the first time in over a year I took a trip to a brand new Barnes & Noble store. And I was alone. I was free to browse!

I had a gift card that I was willing to use if I found something worthy. I am so unused to buying books at the local B&N that this thing has been sitting in my wallet for four months unused!

I have an educator discount card which they give to home educators and teachers. However my 'store cards' are over an inch thick and somehow in changing pocketbooks last summer I misplaced all of them. I was thinking I might have to re-apply for a new card. I hate renewing time as the staff always asks me for further proof of homeschooling above and beyond my homeschooling ID card. They usually want a 'letter from the state'. Well no such thing exists in Connecticut. They seem so worried of fraud with people pretending they homeschool that it is ridiculous. Actually to be more fair the local Borders (Fairfield CT) has really harrassed me about my purchases. Asking for every book, "Are you sure this is for homeschooling?". Duh, it is a children's history book, a science book, so on and so forth. Well guess what local bookstore cashiers, you've driven my sales to Amazon.com. With Amazon I get larger discounts than their educator discounts, I get free shipping and I don't pay the 6% sales tax, and I don't use gasoline or waste my driving time either.

Anyhow...
First I glanced at the magazines. I was really surprised at how so many people were sitting there reading the magazines. But worse was the guy reading a newspaper (that he didn't pay for) and he was making a mess of it. That takes gall.

I then selected three arts and crafts books to look at. I had not been able to tell when viewing the info on Amazon from the Internet if they were worth owning or not, if I could really use them or if they were not of interest to me.

One book I skimmed is about making books (binding one's own books). I have an issue with written directions. Sometimes they make no sense to me. Sometimes the accompanying illustations are helpful and sometimes they are confusing. I found a great book that I would love to own. I saw some that are in that category of books that I'd never be able to understand. So now I have a book on my wish list that I want "How To Make Books" by Esther K. Smith. I really, really want this book. It has such a range of projects and teaches the copic stitch among other things.



I have blogged in the past about the book "Stupid Sock Creatures" by John Murphy. I was surprised to see a tabletop display that had three different books that make odd looking creatures out of socks and/or gloves and/or fabrics. Since I love John Murphy's book so much I wished it was on the table with that display so maybe he'd make some sales. These are the books I saw there which I'd not known about before.





1. "Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Softy Friends from Cast-Off Socks and Gloves" by Miyako Kanamori. Most of the examples in the book were with white socks or cream colored socks with accent colors and resembled twists on the old sock monkeys. They were so white they all looked like they were made with brand new socks by the way. Very cute and muted. Not too 'weird'. Publshed November 2006.



2. "Plush-o-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults" by Linda Kopp. Cute and wacky and weird creatures, all colors. Published May 2007.



3. "Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals" by Therese Laskey, Leah Kramer, and Laurie Frankel. Silly and odd in the same way as John Murphy's "Stupid Sock Creatures" but using felt and fabrics. Published August 2007.



All of those books on making stuffed creatures are fun and worth buying if you are into that kind of crafting and have the money to spend! They were all different enough and had different visual insipiration value.

Last week I watched a re-run of an episode of "Craft Lab" on the DIY Network. A few months ago, after clicking through art and craft blogs I found Jennifer Perkins blog and read that she hosts this show that I hadn't known existed. The guest was Laura Mika. My boys wanted to watch the show with me as they love working with polymer clay. The big project they did in the book is outlined in her July 2007 book "Mixed Media Mosaics: Techniques & Projects Using Polymer Clay Tiles, Beads & Other Embellishments". I skimmed the book and it was full of inspirational photos and had directions for other projects as well. Once you have the basics down (which I learned from watching the show) you don't need to own the book. This is a book that I'd buy for the inspirational viewing and for easy reference if I wanted to make the various projects as she did. If money was not an object I'd definately buy it.



I also read another book which was very good. My pen was not working so I could not jot down the title and I just knew I'd forget it (darn). It was a nifty book that sought to explore the crafting revolution and to discuss the 'scene' as it has been evolving. The book also had directions to make all kinds of different crafts ranging from paper crafts to knitting to needleworking to sewing. I would not make most of what was in there but it was a very fun book and quite affordable for all that it offered for a full retail of JUST $17.95. Darn now I wish I remembered the title!

I glanced at the books for teachers and was sorely disappointed in their selections. I was hoping to find some of Carol Butzow's books there and was going to buy one or two. I know Amazon doesn't discount them so I wouldn't care about buying them at B&N using my educator discount.





I then visited the manga section for the first time and was blown away. I cannot believe how much manga is out there. My older son is asking to read Naruto (a manga series which is also an anime cartoon and also a trading card game) as he has seen a couple of episodes of the carton while visiting my brother (who was showing it to his then-four year old, who is now five and still watching it). I noted that Naruto series of manga was not rated (some of the manga books are rated T for Teen). However on page 14 of volume one there was a nude woman with the absolute essentials covered but nothing else. That was enough to me to underscore I won't be having them read those anytime soon. (This weekend I also have been emailing with a local homeschooling mother whose 13 year old son I saw reading it last week. That teen said the series is not right for kids and that in his opinion 'none of the manga is'.)


On the way out I saw a big display next to the door for "The Dangerous Book for Boys" and "The Daring Book for Girls" (both for 20% off). I had read some controversy or shall I say complaints on blogs about the book for girls. I'll say this: the glitter on the cover was unnecessary and was a mistake, I believe. That's all I'll say about that. Once I had watched a promo video for "Dangerous" on Amazon.com and it looked cool but to be honest we already own The American Boys Handy Book" which has all that stuff and more. I own other books of 'stuff to do' and even some antique Boy Scout Handbooks which have all that stuff in them. I don't need yet another book with the same old stuff reprinted into a new format.







Dragonology book


Wizardology book


I then noticed calendars modeled after the books "Dragonology" and "Wizardology". They were both gorgeous. My boys don't yet have a need for their own wall calendar or I may have bought "Dragonology". I hesitate to admit this as some of my blog readers will say "I told you so" but after my son read "Wizardology" my older son was acting like the magic was real. He was saying spells and asking questions about spells. I tell my son that they are not real as I don't believe in witchcraft. Interestingly enough some of the customer reviews on Amazon say the spells are not accurate for reference for those truly wishing to practice magic. I don't believe in witchcraft so to me it is not real. However some of my Catholic and Christian friends tell me magic is indeed real and for this reason they choose to not allow their children to read Harry Potter or "Wizardology" and some other books which have magic in them.

Wizardology 2008 Wall Calendar


Dragonology 2008 Wall Calendar


In the children's section, which was GIGANTIC and highly decorated and made into a little sub-room of the store, I noticed new ways of organizing the books. The books have labels such as "grades 3-6 ages 8-11" and then there are books in that category. The books were very nicely separated out. I don't recall that same system in the other nearby B&N stores. It was very helpful. In that category was Harry Potter and Gary Paulsen books among others.

I also noted right at the entrance a large display of the Pullman "His Dark Materials" trilogy, taking advantage of the movie release to bolster some book sales. The controversy over that continues on the blogosphere, on websites and in emails. In case you are wondering I bought the books used at library fundraiser books sales not even knowing the controversy. I plan to read them to myself after New Year's so I can have my own opinion. So far I don't like the idea of them at all.



So I left the store empty handed. That is another thing that kills me about the gift cards we get for B&N. Local relatives buy us B&N gift cards yet to use them in the local store for no discount plus 6% sales tax kills me. I see today that some books I wanted are far less discounted on B&N.com compared to Amazon.com. I would like the biggest bang for my buck and wished that B&N.com was comparable to Amazon.com.

Sigh, what to do?

I also had a thoght while walking around. I was feeling a bit burnt out by books. I just have too many around here. (Did I really say that?) There was a time when I'd yearn to own all the books in B&N and to have access to all of that information. But you know what? I already have books here yet unread and I'm feeling that they are overflowing and so I left empty-handed and content.

(Although I do still have this gift card to use...)

ChristineMM Book Review: Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap by Bernie Berlin

In December 2006, North Light Books has published a book authored by Bernie Berlin called “Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap”.

This book serves to teach techniques for making artist trading cards. Actually the techniques taught in this book can cross over to other mediums such as larger works of art such as larger collages, can be used in altered books, in “decos”, to make postcards to use in mail art and in many other applications.

I have a feeling that due to the legal issues with copyright violations, many techniques and materials currently used by many ATC swappers are NOT covered in this book. I’ve been swapping ATCs for nearly two years and so many of the ATCs I’ve seen do not use these great techniques. While thinking about the ATCs I have seen I realized that many would not be accepted for publication in a book due to copyright violations. Therefore what we have here in this book is largely based on either antique images (photographs) whose copyright has expired or whose source cannot be located to ask for reproduction permission OR the art is completely original to the artist’s hand. There is some rubber stamping in here as well.

Since entering the world of mail art and artist trading card swapping, and being a member of online discussion groups I’ve learned a lot of different techniques yet this book has taught me even more new things. It is not a re-hash of the common techniques that are already available on the Internet for free.

There are many examples of artist trading cards made by a lot of different artists which I really liked. The author does have some of her own wonderful ATCs in this book and the inclusion of so many other artists’ work in addition, is also appreciated and inspiring to me.

Each technique has many examples of the finished ATCs made by different artists. There are directions for each technique as well as photos of the steps in the process. My only complaint is that I was a little confused sometimes as the directions sometimes have two or three steps combined into one paragraph with one photo which shows only one of those steps. I would prefer that every step be separate and that a photo depicted each step. Also sometimes the final card is not shown, we have just that last step with it “in process” to use. It would have been nice to see that finished piece for every technique.

Overall the book has given me a lot of inspiration and ideas just by viewing the finished ATCs of all the contributing artists as well as teaching me so many new techniques. My couple of complaints are minor.

The book is laid out very well and the photography is stunning.

Regarding the style of the artists, it runs the gamut. This book is full of all different colors and many different techniques. It is not the same-old, same-old nor is it full of just the latest trends (thank goodness). At the back of the book is a listing of the contributing artists and their contact information and websites (if applicable). One could spend hours just viewing the websites of these artists and that provides yet more inspiration and eye candy.

The book also has a short history of ATCs and brief information on how to do mail swaps. There is a listing of Internet swapping sites as well. (I would add the new and growing Swap-bot.com site as my personal recommendation.) There is also a list of resources for supplies and tools for making ATCs.

Since purchasing the book I’ve tried a bunch of these techniques and had a lot of fun trying them out. As with all new experiments, there is some trial and error, some mistakes are made and some lessons are learned, that is all part of the learning curve. I can’t wait to try even more of the techniques and I plan to host some ATC swaps based on the techniques taught in this book.

If you are already trading ATCs and want even more techniques to try or just want to own more eye candy inspiration, this book is a must-buy.

So go play, make some art and have fun! Then go do some mail art swapping and have more fun with that!



Technorati Tags: artist trading cards, ATC, Artist Trading Card Workshop, Bernie Berlin, mail art.