Because you'd rather be... shopping: vintage costume jewelry

I used to plunder my grandmother's mound of jewelry boxes & drawers when I was a little girl. Very good times!

Vintage costume jewelry can add extra oomph to an outfit & the fun kitschy pieces are great for conversations! Here's some that I found on Etsy.

from onevintagelife

Sarah Coventry piece from Addicted2Vintage

Trifari necklace from Wysiwigs

very cool owl ring from PattycakesPlunder

atomic design brooch from Nonnie60

If no longer available, search for more pieces here.

Book Nook: Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton

ISBN: 978-0-425-22772-5
Book #17 of 17 (to date) Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series

Background:
• Overall set in Las Vegas, NV in parallel universe where vampires & were-animals coexist with normal humans

Rundown:
•Closes the storyline of master vampire Vittorio introduced back in Incubus Dreams (Anita Blake book #12) –We find out in Skin Trade that Vittorio is much more than he seems
•Is this the end of the Mother of All Darkness? –We read that her resting place is bombed, but not very much detail is given. While Vittorio turns out to be comparable in powers to MoAD, I don’t think that LKH will end her here like that since she’s been wreaking havoc on Anita for quite some number of books now & Vittorio only had a part in the one previous book.
•Olaf (aka Federal Marshall Otto Jeffries/ assassin/ serial killer with Anita’s description fitting victim profile) is even creepier this book (morgue scenes) –We find that Olaf might even be interested in dating Anita (as in date, date…no knives & butchering). Anita & Edward are positive that they will be forced to kill Olaf one day (future book?).
•Anita is seriously thinking over her life & feels that she is losing out to all of the supernatural demands on her. –We continue to see that it’s increasingly more difficult for her to fit in with non-sups (may be forced to quit police work/ Federal Marshall’s program after almost shifting to tiger form in public). On a personal note, Anita feels that she’s never alone anymore & is constantly catering to all of the men in her life.
•More info is shared about the were-tigers –Some light is shed as to why Anita’s tiger calls to the various tiger clans.
•Richard not even mentioned in book –Personally, I’m thrilled to have a break from the back & forth arguing, but LKH will have to shed more light on Richard’s form of the ardeur that’s solely focused on Anita (introduced in Blood Noir).
•Very little sex in this book (for recent LKH) –Wicked & Truth promise Anita that they will stop her ever how if she abuses her growing powers as Belle Morte/ MoAD do. Truth gains a power up after drinking Anita’s blood again. Anita’s personal blood was used to bind Truth to Jean Claude, but not for Wicked. There have been references since Incubus Dreams that the two brothers are supposed to do everything the same. I just get the feeling that this will come into play in a future AB book.
•Anita saves Requiem’s life (& Vegas’s Master Vamp/ Wife, aka Queen of the White Tiger clan), however Requiem stays in Las Vegas for now & doesn’t return to St Louis (perhaps Truth will now become Jean-Claude’s third).
•Crispin & a new tiger return with Anita to St Louis.

Thoughts:
I’ve found that most readers tend to either love or hate the Anita Blake series. If you’re not familiar with the Laurell K. Hamilton books, here’s a quick insight: on the surface, each of the AB books primarily focuses on either her professional life or love life (with the other as a backdrop). The early books tend to focus more on AB’s professional life (necromancer/ Vampire Executioner/ police work) & later books on more of her love life (READ: Ardeur =’s sex, sex, sex, vanilla-ish dom/sub, erotica). Skin Trade is the first book in a while to really focus on Anita’s work again. If you liked the earlier books but lost interest with the most recent ardeur-focused books, then give this latest one a try.

If you’re new to the series, you can read each book alone, but you may miss out on some of the references. LKH does re-explain a number of the references, but not all & especially not enough to grasp the character developments. Parts of Anita’s personality & powers have changed tremendously over the course of the 17 books in the series. Each new book in the series builds upon a previous book (for example, this book closes a plot line introduced about 5 books ago).

So if this is your first Anita Blake book, borrow from a library 1st & if you like this one – check out the earlier books in the series. If you love the series (especially the earlier ones through Obsidian Butterfly), add this to your personal library.

•US Residents, follow this link to find your local public library: http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/Public_main.html

-Kat

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter coming to the small screen

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter coming to the small screen

Posted using ShareThis

So, you're addicted to vampires?

Lately there seems to be a never-ending supply of vampire themed books lining the store shelves. Last year Twilight hit the theaters and HBO debuted True Blood. The second season of True Blood is now on (HBO, Sundays @ 9pm -est, yea!) & the next installment of the Twilight saga, New Moon, hits the big screen later this year. Apparently, I'm not the only one addicted to supernatural stories - though we all may have our various reasons for the intrigue.
My addiction began at an early age – and I blame my mom (although she denies it!). I remember watching the remake of Dark Shadows & mom then showing me the original version of the series. We went to go see Coppola’s Dracula in the theater; at home we’d watch Lee and Hamilton for a weekend scary movie night. I “inherited” her personal library collection, which heavily consisted of horror/thriller/murder mysteries that were drenched with the supernatural.
By the time that I discovered Anne Rice, I was an addict. After devouring her Vampire Chronicles I finally grasped why I was so especially drawn to them & similar works. More often than not, the books/movies/shows are really about humanity. Most of these supernatural characters depict us, as humans, at our best and our worst. Our greatest desires and fears. Issues of religion, morality, and politics are almost always on the menu. Okay, and toss in that sci-fi bit of trying out different super powers that would be really cool to have in real life!
Regardless of why we like the stories, I know that I’m not the only one out there that does get a kick from them. So for those of you interested, below is a list of various works that I’m familiar with. Please feel free to make comments with additional pieces & I’ll add them on!

While postings info below, I came across a website that has more info than I could dream for those interested. http://www.vampirelibrary.com/index.htm

Again, while typing the info....how could I forget Buffy - the movie & then the series! Geesh-I'm getting forgetful as I approach 30.....har har!

Books
•Anne Rice - The Vampire Chronicles:
(Adult)
1. Interview With The Vampire (1976)*
2. The Vampire Lestat (1985)
3. The Queen Of The Damned (1988)*
4. The Tale Of The Body Thief (1992)
5. Memnoch The Devil (1995)
6. The Vampire Armand (1998)
7. Merrick (2000)
8. Blood And Gold (2001)
9. Blackwood Farm (2002)
10. Blood Canticle (2003)
*movie info based on this book below

•Charlaine Harris - Southern Vampire / Sookie Stackhouse Series:
(Adult)
1. Dead Until Dark (2001)*
2. Living Dead In Dallas (2002)*
3. Club Dead (2003)
4. Dead To The World (2004)
5. Dead As A Doornail (2005)
6. Definately Dead (2006)
7. All Together Dead (2007)
8. From Dead To Worse (2008)
9. Dead And Gone (2009)
*HBO series info below

•Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novels:
(definately Adult!)
1. Guilty Pleasures (1993)
2. The Laughing Corpse (1994)
3. Circus Of The Damned (1995)
4. The Lunatic Cafe (1996)
5. Bloody Bones (1996)
6. The Killing Dance (1997)
7. Burnt Offerings (1998)
8. Blue Moon (1998)
9. Obsidian Butterfly (2000)
10. Narcissus In Chains (2001)
11. Cerulean Sins (2003)
12. Incubus Dreams (2004)
13. Micah (2006)
14. Danse Macabre (2006)
15. The Harlequin (2007)
16. Blood Noir (2008)
17. Skin Trade (2009)
FYI- There is a Marvel comic series based on the books too. http://marvel.com/comics/Anita_Blake

•Stephenie Meyer - Twilight Series:
(Teen/ Young Adult)
1. Twilight (2005)*
2. New Moon (2006)*
3. Eclipse (2007)
4. Breaking Dawn (2008)
*movie info based on this book below

•P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast - House Of Night Series:
(Teen/ Young Adult)
1. Marked (2007)
2. Betrayed (2007)
3. Chosen (2008)
4. Untamed (2008)
5. Hunted (2009)
6. Tempted (coming October 2009)
FYI-Rumor of movie adaption scheduled for 2011 (link here).

•Adrian Phoenix - The Maker's Song Series:
(Adult)
1. A Rush Of Wings (2008)
2. In The Blood (2009)
3. Beneath The Skin (coming January 2010)

•L. J. Smith - The Vampire Diaries & Nightworld Series:
-will update, I know that the Nightworld Series is more teen/ young adult

Television:
•True Blood on HBO:
- Season 2 now airing on Sundays @ 9pm (eastern): Based on Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris
- Season 1 aired last fall: Based on Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/season2/
http://truebloodwiki.hbo.com/http://truebloodwiki.hbo.com/
http://true-blood.net/

•Angel (Spin-off from Buffy series)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162065/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_(TV_series)

•Buffy the Vampire Slayer
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118276/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer
http://www.buffyworld.com/

•Dark Shadows
1991 series: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101075/
1966 series: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059978/

Movies:
Way too many to do a full list! I'll link to other pages with compilations & just list some of my fav's:
http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/top-70-vampire-movies-of-all-time/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_films
http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/vampirefilms.html
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=vampire.htm
http://twilightthemovie.com/
Dracula (1992)
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (1992)
From Dusk 'Til Dawn (1996)
The Lost Boys (1987)
Blade Series
Underworld Series

oiy vay.....that's enough for one night
-Kat

Earrings - Solid Amethyst

Earrings - Solid Ametyst
Originally uploaded by Cardinal House

Latest at Cardinal House....
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=25924919

How to type symbols with keyboard...earlier post updated

My earlier post about keyboard shortcuts is now updated. I've linked to some sites that could also help depending on your specific computer. I use a PC....Windows XP...

http://cardinalhousestudio.blogspot.com/2009/03/coffee-keystrokes-memory-lossoh-my.html

- Kat
www.cardinalhouse.etsy.com