Thursday, March 28, 2013

ARC March read

This months book I read Scoop to Kill by Wendy Lyn Watson. It is the 2nd book in the A la Mode mystery series. The first book in the series, I Scream, You Scream.

Tallulah Jones, or Tally runs an ice cream shop called Remember the A-la-Mode. in her town. Here Sister Bree and Bree's daughter Alice, a collage student, work there. In Scoop to kill  Alice Stumble's on finding a body of Bryan, A grad student, who was the nephew of the police officer Cal.  Finger are pointed to an English professor who the dead student accused of sexual harassment. But a few days later the professor dead too(not spoiling...it is said on the back of the book). Tally of course steps out to find out who killed Bryan and the professor.

I love cozy mysteries. They are fast reads. The subjects of them are fun. This one is no different. I could of read this book in a couple of days straight. I enjoyed reading this book. It was a light read. And like most cozy mysteries with food related themes to them, this book has a couple recipes at the end of the book. But its is another series where the female lead character is torn between two men that she really likes. I mean com on why do they do this?! In this series Tally is torn with Finn her High school sweet Heart(and bad boy during high school), who Tally broke his heart, and Cal, police officer who always had feeling for her but the timing was never right to tell her. Personally I would of picked Cal. :P

Here is my art work for the book.
The background I did was taking painters tape and putting it where ever on the page. I did cut the tape in half before taping it on the page. This is a very old school technique that I learned yeas ago when I first got into rubber stamping. But instead of brayering ink from an ink pad I used sprays. I used a Yellow spray ink from Inkadinado and Bubble gum pink by Dylusions. I did spray some water after spraying the color and took a paper towel to blot off. I never really understood that step, as I always thought your wasting all that spray. And lets face it the sprays are not cheap! LOL But as pulled the towel away i can see what a difference it made. I pulled the tape off and got the cool background.

I then took a pencil and sketched out an ice cream cone, and 2 scoops of ice cream. Colored it with  prisma's color pencils and Neo 2's. I looked at it and thought it was drawn by a kid. :P I'm not the best drawer. :P I took a brown marker and made the lines of the cone and out lined everything.

I took Tatter Angel Glimmer Glam in Be Postitive and made drips on the cone and on the top of the page to look like blood on the page. also some pooled on the bottom of the page. I ten added some splatters with it. Finally I took a alpha stencil and traced the words of the Killer scoop. It was meant to say the title, but I couldn't remember the title when i did it. Opps! LOL



The book I'm going to be reading for April is Smokin' Seventeen By Janet Evanovich

19 comments:

abby j said...

Sounds like a fun read...and I thought your art was clever!!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I read my first cozy last month, and agree that they are an easy, fast read. I really enjoyed your take on the protagonist. Bad boys always seem to win out in the end.

Your art was fantastic. What I enjoyed most, was your explanation of the background. I have found if I wipe the ink away, I use the paper towel later in a different piece of art. Like you, I don't want to waste those expensive inks.

San @ Made in Hem said...

So, now I think I need sprayinks too... And Icecream!!! ♥
This type of books sound like the Harlequin ones, just with a murder (or two) added? Am I right? Not too gore and scary and with some happy ending in the future? Just trying to understand this genre... :)

Magaly Guerrero said...

Cozy mysteries are the best. And as someone who loves Janet Evanovich's mysteries (Full Scoop being one of my favorite) your description of this book and the art it inspires makes want to take a bite at the tale ;-)

Janet said...

Your artwork is perfect! Like the way you created the background. Your books sounds a fun read too.

Janet xx

Sarah said...

hmmmmm I fancy an ice cream now :) I enjoyed reading your review and looking at your fun art work

Jez said...

Sounds an interesting, light read. If I see it in a charity shop I'll splash out on it. Interesting review.
I enjoyed your artwork, and it doesn't look at all like a child's drawing. I thought it had a very professional look to it, and would make a good book cover - and the different wording was, I thought, a good twist on the title. Makes a good representation of the story, I like the way you have described the process you went through to get this result.

Darcy Marshall said...

I just love murder mysteries, i watch them on tv all the time. I am up late at night and they always show reruns of things like Murder She Wrote. Great artwork, love the techniques you used.

Try having a large box, line it with copy paper, not stuck down just placed against the insides. Do all your spraying inside the box, that way any excess ink will go onto the copy paper. When you have sprayed a few times you will have lovely paper to cut up and use, then just put clean copy paper into the box.

Also when you blot your ink with kitchen towels or whatever you use, leave them to dry out and again you can use them in your art, scrunched up they make pretty inky flowers etc. Nothing gets wasted. x

Gina said...

Sounds an interesting arrangement for an amateur sleuth to be running an icecream parlour :D...and I love the thick drips of raspberry sauce(or blood) on your icecream cone...mwahahaha :D XXX

Å olanje na domu-Waldorf said...

Really? I never read a fiction book with recipes in it. :) Great ice cream painting!

Shirley said...

It is great to have a cozy read and to be able to read it in a couple of days too, giving you time to create lovely artwork to go with it. The explanation of how you did you art was good to read, it is always useful to know how people achieve their finished piece of art.

Clare with paint in her hair said...

Love the page to go with the review, love the review too, added this one to my kindle list!

Leialoha said...

Loving your colorful and expressive art page...drips & splats so fun...I enjoy mysteries, however I don't think I've read a cozy mystery...I do love fast reads and the bonus...ice cream....yummy! Aloha.

Jen said...

Glad you enjoyed the read. Your art work is fun, love the "blood drips". Good background technique.
Jen x

Just Words said...

I rarely read mysteries, so it's always fun to hear others talk about them. Quick reads are fun and sometimes, it's just what's needed for a quick book fix. Very clever artwork. Thanks for sharing. Michelle V.

Jenny said...

Light reads and mysteries are always fun to read Sheri... glad you enjoyed this months book... and gorgeous art journal page...

Jenny ♥

Sophie said...

I don't read mysteries that often but I think I would quite like to read one with recipes at the end! I really enjoyed your review and your artwork is great fun x

Catie Cuddles said...

Does sound like a good easy read ... And love your bright page ... Made me want icecream too!

Unknown said...

No not heard of these types of books (cosy read) and recipes as well mmm Love the art work and Darcy's suggestions for getting more use out of ink :)