A Great Book Inspires

I may not have mentioned this before, but I love to read. I so enjoy experiencing a story and I marvel at those who can weave characters and plot and circumstances into something memorable.

I don't remember where I was reading about this book, but whatever I read intrigued me enough to write down the title and see if my library had it for loan. (I rarely buy books; why spend the money when the library's free!) Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos is a beautiful first novel. It is the story of 11-year-old Clare, who lives with her mother, Viviana. She has no relationship with her father, who her mother divorced when she was 3. So, when her mother begins to behave strangely at the story's outset, Clare has few resources to turn to for help. Her mother's acts become more disturbing, so Clare decides to be brave like the heroines in the novels she reads--Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables, Jo from Little Women, etc.--and call her father for help.

Clare calls him, but he brushes her off, so Clare begins to do everything she can to organize her life and protect the secret of her mother's illness. All seems to be working, until the last day of school when her mother arrives to pick her up and take her away for the holidays. When the unthinkable happens, Clare has to contact her father again and hope that he believes her this time.

While the reader is learning about Clare's life, she is also introduced to Cornelia, an educated late twentysomething who can't find direction in life, and who yearns for a silver screen type of man--Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, to name a few--to come along and sweep her off her feet. She manages a coffee cafe, and one day, in walks Martin Grace. They begin a relationship and she falls for his great looks, his immaculate, "together" life, and his faultless demeanor. Yet, she doesn't feel like she can connect with him on an emotional level. She is at a crossroads about what to do, when he walks into the cafe with a young girl who bursts into tears at the mention of her name. What is her name? Clare.

I won't share the rest of the story with you; I wouldn't want to deny you a good read. I was quite touched by the beautiful writing Mrs. de los Santos did, and I wanted to thank her. So I contacted her through her website,Love Walked In, and asked for a way to send her real mail. She promptly replied and this is what I came up with.

Not much in the way of rocket science here, but I wanted to mimic the cover design to some degree, so that dictated my color scheme and the leaves. The leaves were stamped in Versamark, then heat embossed with copper embossing powder. I did this on the envelope flap too. I added the shimmering bronze in place of the rust that surrounds the title box on the book jacket, and used a brass stencil to dry emboss the words "thank you." I hope she'll make the connection and be blessed.

I hope you'll be able to find some time to escape with a good read this weekend. Find some time also to invest in your relationships. You don't have to do it perfectly, but just walk forward and figure it out along the way.