Shatter Me Polyvore Inspired Set

I can’t say enough great things about Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me.

I agree with a lot of reviews on Shatter Me being more of a love story than a distopian book. Either way, I really liked it! The way it was written was beautiful, Mafi wrote in pretty prose in the beginning to bring out the fact that Juliette has been in solitary confinement for so long, but as she adapts to her new surroundings around people again, her writing begins to straighten back out. The adorable story between her and Adam was just fun to read. And Warner, what a character! I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Shatter Me - Juliette

“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.” – Juliette

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by on May 16, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Beauty, Books, Design, Makeup, Polyvore
Posted by Amy Vitale on May 16, 2013

http://www.amyvitale.com/2013/05/shatter-me-polyvore-inspired-set/

Design Inspired by Books – Archers of Avalon

Couldn’t put it down! …And picked up the second book right after I finished the first.

Finished the Archers of Avalon Series by Chelsea Fine. It took me awhile to decide whether or not I liked Scarlet, in the end I took to her character because of how much she was dealing with and sticking up for herself. Gabriel and Tristan, oh man, what awesome love interests. Also, what a cruel and twisted curse!

Archers of Avalon Series by Chelsea Fine

The Series begins with Scarlet and Heather, they’ve been best friends since Scarlet woke up in a forest with no memory of her past. Enter Gabriel and Tristan, they are from her past and then drama ensues. I loved the series so much. The characters were so well described, and Avow sort of tore my heart apart, but ended well.

Here are my sets for Scarlet and Heather:

Team Awesome - Scarlet - Avow by Chelsea Fin
Team Awesome - Heather
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by on April 24, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Amy Vitale on April 24, 2013

http://www.amyvitale.com/2013/04/design-inspired-by-books-archers-of-avalon/

Spring Floral & Chevron iPad Backgrounds

Time for some new backgrounds for Spring…

This round are made for iPad’s and have a subtle colors and soft textures to give them some dimension.

2048 px by 2048 px

Download this set: Spring Floral & Chevron iPad Backgrounds (42)

Spring Floral & Chevron iPad Backgrounds

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by on April 18, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Amy Vitale on April 18, 2013

http://www.amyvitale.com/2013/04/spring-floral-chevron-ipad-backgrounds/

Valkyrie Inspired Polyvore Set

Valkyries of Norse Mythology are pretty bad-ass. I read Valkyrie Rising (Valkyrie #1) by Ingrid Paulson back in January and knew I was going do make a Polyvore set inspired by it. Finding the right boots was the hard part…

I was so impressed with this book! I’ve been waiting awhile to read a book where the main character, Ellie, not only becomes who they’re meant to be, but because their power is in their blood and history that they own up to their instincts. Ellie was a very likeable character, she was fun to follow and I liked how the story played out. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Valkyrie Rising Inspired Set
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by on March 26, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Amy Vitale on March 26, 2013

http://www.amyvitale.com/2013/03/valkyrie-inspired-polyvore-set/

Backpacking Adventures

Since I moved to Arizona I have been hiking and recently started backpacking.

It’s been an amazing time getting out into the wilderness and enjoying National Parks, Forests, and trails. I’m glad I’ve picked it up and met some great people through trips.

This weekend a group of us went through the Galiuro Wilderness to Powers Garden.

Powers Garden

The best parts about these trips are the quiet time you have to really appreciate your surroundings. Every once in a while I have to remind myself to look up from the trail and it’s just breathtaking…

Powers Garden Panorama

Over time I have figured out what my backpacking ‘essentials’ would be, below is most of my backpacking/hiking gear that I have collected. This is what I generally pack for most backpacking trips, some items get divided up if I’m going with a group. Also, it what items I take depends on the weather and how long of a trip. After awhile you start to learn about what’s essential and what you can leave behind.

My Backpacking Gear

Get out and explore is what I’m trying to say…

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by on February 25, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Amy Vitale on February 25, 2013

http://www.amyvitale.com/2013/02/backpacking-adventures/

Polyvore Poison Princess Set

Last year I read Poison Princess by Kresley Cole and was pretty much obsessed with it… There’s proof over on Sydney’s Blog in her review of the book.

Here is my Polyvore set inspired by the book. I think it was different making it now, picking out items that really represented the images that stuck with me from the book. For example the necklace I knew I wanted something that fit the part in the end of the book when Cole writes, “A vine curls about my neck affectionately.”

Poison Princess Inspired Set

Personally, I found the book very creative, clever, and enthralling. I couldn’t put it down and I was always wondering what was going to happen next. I enjoyed all the characters, they each brought something interesting to the table. There was a great plot twist at the end that made me flip out and re-read the last chapter to make sure that what I thought happened really did. Then after Sydney read it, we searched around on the internet to learn more about the ‘Major Arcana‘. Which lead me to find a story called ‘The Fool’s Journey‘ from one of the sources, I thought it was fascinating. After reading more about the cards I’m interested to see what Cole does with the other Arcana/Tarot characters in the books.

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by on February 1, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Amy Vitale on February 1, 2013

http://www.amyvitale.com/2013/02/polyvore-poison-princess-set/

Die For Me Polyvore Inspired Set

I read Die For Me by Amy Plum back in December and finally finished the Polyvore set I was working on for this book.

I enjoyed this book, cute story, follows the usual YA Formula (Girl moves, has a hard time fitting in, meets gorgeous boy, doesn’t understand why he likes her, date, can’t be with him because of his inhuman traits, heart broken and tries to move on but can’t, gets back together with boy, everything’s awesome, bad guy enters and tries to ruin boy, girl helps save him, happy ending, and more danger to come…)

After their parents tragic deaths, Kate and her sister, Georgia, move to France to live with their grandparents. Kate has a harder time moving forward and Georgia spends time partying as her escape. One night she gets Kate to go out with her because she feels Kate needs to be around people. The set is inspired by their night out at French clubs…

Die For Me Inspired Set

I gave the books 3 out of 5 stars, I like the Revenants series and think it’s an interesting take on life after death.

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by on January 30, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Amy Vitale on January 30, 2013

http://www.amyvitale.com/2013/01/die-for-me-polyvore-inspired-set/

Best Book Category Winners of 2012

My book-soul-mate, Sydney Campbell, over at Rattle The Stars asked to compile a list of our favorite books read in 2012 for different categories. Of course I said, “Hell yeah!”

Check out our list ranging in categories from ‘Best Author’ to ‘Best “Come To Jesus” Moment’.

Overall, it was neat to see that we liked a lot of the same books, but found them great for different reasons.

Sydney’s note:

Sydney

My coloring of Sydney

2013 has some amazing book releases so I am SUPER STOKED for this year. Now, like all book lovers and bloggers, I just had to create a Best of 2012 blog.
…
We wanted to included all the books we read so some of them are a few years old. I hope you all enjoy and please add your favorites in each category in the comments!

 

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by on January 2, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Amy Vitale on January 2, 2013

http://www.amyvitale.com/2013/01/best-book-category-winners-of-2012/

Best Read Books of 2012

Okay, so my goal for reading new books in 2012 was 35 (not including re-reads or bridge books), and I ended up reading 41 books!

I wanted to share some of my favorites with you in order from Number 1 – ‘Get this in your hands now and let your eyes feast upon the words!’ to Number 10 – ‘Awesome!’

Graceling1. Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1) by Kristin Cashore

Loved this book for the main character, Katsa, she really made it a fun read. Her stubbornness was fun to watch at times and it was great to see her character develop and change.

 

Poison Princess2. Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles, #1) by Kresley Cole

So many things I liked about the book, but mostly how it was written. Starting out from Arthur’s point of view, hearing Evie tell her story, and then the ending was spectacular. Couldn’t put this one down!

 

Stardust3. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

LOVED! Seriously, this is an wonderful story. Gaiman does an amazing job of describing a realm with just enough details that he’s able to keep the action going. The characters were all interesting and fun.

 

Uglies4. Uglies (Uglies, #1) by Scott Westerfeld

This was a different take on a distopian future. The whole series was great, each book had a new twist on how people were being controlled. The main character, Tally, was interesting and difficult to like at times.

 

The Knife Of Never Letting Go5. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1) by Patrick Ness

Lots of action in this one, an interesting look at history repeating itself. It takes a couple chapters to get the dialect down, but it’s so worth it. I liked the main character, Todd, right from the beginning.

 

Divergent6. Divergent (Divergent, #1) by Veronica Roth

Okay, I became obsessed with this one after I finished it. I thought it was such a cool idea that society would separate itself into five factions based on how people felt the world tore itself apart.

 

Unearthly7. Unearthly (Unearthly, #1) by Cynthia Hand

This is my first ‘Angel’ book that I have read. The main character, Clara, is struggling to fit in as an angel-blood and find her purpose. I love her personality and the events that happen throughout the book.

 

Obsidian8. Obsidian (Lux, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Don’t judge this book right away, it has many of the same elements as other YA books, but it has some elements of originality. I felt the main character, Katy, was weak in the beginning, but then pulls it together in the end.

 

Born Wicked9. Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #1) by Jessica Spotswood

AMAZING! As an older sister I really related to the main character, Cate, who looks after her younger sisters. And the ending, oh em gee! I threw it across the room because it left on such a cliff-hanger.

 

The Selection10. The Selection (The Selection, #1) by Kiera Cass

It’s like… The Bachelor + America’s Next Top Model + Miss Congeniality = The Selection. Fun ‘fluff book‘, I really enjoyed it, made me all kinds of happy.

 

If you couldn’t tell, I really enjoy the Young Adult genre, and more specifically Distopian, Fantasy and a bit of Science Fiction. I like reading these books because they are a great escape at the end of a long day working on the computer and dealing with clients.

To view the other books I read this year take a look at my Goodreads list. Have any book suggestions for me? Send them along!

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by on December 28, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Amy Vitale on December 28, 2012

http://www.amyvitale.com/2012/12/best-read-books-of-2012/

Wicked Lovely Inspired Set

I only made it 1/3 of the way through Wicked Lovely when I was so excited to make a polyvore set inspired by the main character Aislinn. Now that I’ve finished the book I think it still rings true to her style.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr is a great take on Fey in the real world, I enjoyed how there were several points of view also. The main character Aislinn has always seen fairies, but the hard part is pretending not to. When the Summer King follows her and believes that she is his Summer queen she tries every possibility of keeping her mortal life. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars, I really like the characters and the plot, but there were times when the conversations got old or a little boring. Still a great read! And I plan to read the rest of the series as soon as possible.

Wicked Lovely Inspired Set

 

It’s interesting though that Fairies are to be the new ‘it’ supernatural creature… There’s much more lore to the Fey compared to Vampires and Werewolves, they have a another realm, courts, creatures and rules that may be hard to explain in the length of a movie. Also, many of them are not that attractive. In the Sookie Stackhouse series we see the fey included here and there, but again they don’t really get into the realm of the fey. Either way, I look forward to seeing what develops.

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by on December 10, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Beauty, Books, Design, Lifestyle, Makeup, Polyvore
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Posted by Amy Vitale on December 10, 2012

http://www.amyvitale.com/2012/12/wicked-lovely-inspired-set/

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