Inspired by Reading October Blog Hop...

If summer flew by, October was a lightning-fast smear of activity!  It seems like I blinked and the month was already over.  Even though the month zipped by too quickly, the end of the month also includes book club!  Today is the reveal for our October selection, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman.  If you're not familiar with the Inspired by Reading Book Club, you read the book selection and then create something inspired by the book.

The book we read this month is about a man who recollects a fantastical adventure he had as a child with the neighbor at the end of the lane.  The tone of the book had a fairytale quality, weaving together seemingly ordinary life with impossible worlds and ghastly monsters.  While there's certainly heart-racing adventure, the novel touches on thoughts of isolation, the loss of innocence, and what it means to remember.  Most of the participants agreed that they enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.

I always look forward to our meet ups, but this one was extra special!  We had several participants come in that don't usually get to attend.  Jeanne came in all the way from the Hamptons, Terri drove in from Ohio, and Sarajo and Eric won the prize for traveling the furtherest!  They came in from Minnesota!

It was definitely nice to see friends and catch up.  Thanks to Alison, we enjoyed scones featured in the book in paper bags.  She also brought a warm apple pie and birthday cake topped with little black kittens (also from the book).  We gave out toothbrushes with green handles as party favors.  Sarajo and Eric brought a home-brew (which was one of Eric's projects) and toffee from Scamp's toffee.  Terri brought some British snacks, Laurel brought our customary book club moscato, and Jeanne brought a lovely bottle of red wine.  It was a lot of fun!  At times we all laughed so hard it hurt and had to wipe tears from our eyes.

I'm so glad that everyone who came, got to come to the meet up.  Of course, we missed all the participants who didn't get to come and thought of them fondly.  Hopefully we'll get to have more of these big meet ups with our far flung members.

And without further ado... here's the reveal:

Terri made this necklace from a Smucker's Jelly jar, links she learned how to make at a retreat with Heather Powers, chain, nylon mesh tubing, and Astroglide!  The latter ingredient had just the right viscous quality to suspend the mesh.  There's a wormhole (both literally and figuratively) that gets placed in a jelly jar.

This necklace was made by Alison.  She was inspired by the gray and pink coloring of one of the characters from the book and an orange sky.  She used wire-wrapped wooden beads and jump rings to make it.

Alison also made this bracelet that can also be worn as a necklace.  She too was inspired by the wormhole in the book.  She used silvery grey peanut/dumbbell/farfalle beads with right angle weave.  At the end, she used a heart link.

Laurel made this fiber necklace from old t-shirts.  It can be doubled up to be a neck warmer.  She was inspired by all the references to fabric in the book, including gray rags that hang from the ceiling at one point in the novel.

I made this necklace for my project. In the book, money starts appearing in the most unlikely of places... including the belly of a silvery fish!  I made the fish and attached him to some strung up opal chips.  The opal is a nod at one of the characters who is an opal miner.

Here's a close-up of the fish.  I made it out of polymer clay, drilled the Sixpence and partially embedded it in the belly.  I drilled it so it wouldn't come loose.  The eye is a glass pearl.  The surface of the fish was finished with Glider's Paste, acrylic paint, alcohol inks, powdered pigments, interference paint, nail polish, and sealant.  It may seem like overkill, but I wanted it to have the look of a real fish that's wet and turns colors in the light.

But wait... there's more!  Check out what these participants made with this month's book selection in mind:

Eric Wentling

Sarajo Wentling

Jeanne Steck

Mary Harding

Andrew Thornton, Terri Greenawalt, Alison Herrington, Laurel Ross

The next book up is "Proust's Overcoat" by Lorenza Foschini.  For this year's list, CLICK HERE.  The in-person meet up at Allegory Gallery is scheduled for Wednesday, December 3rd.  The next blog hop is planned for Thursday, December 4th.  It's a short book, so perfect for a busy holiday month!  If you're interested in keeping up with what we're doing, CLICK HERE to visit the Facebook page.