Martha's my hero and a little more tooting!

Today I finally picked up the Martha Stewart Holiday Handmade Gifts issue. Even though I've only had a very quick flip through it, I'm terribly excited about it. I have already gotten a couple of ideas for things that I need to make from it. The magazine is beautiful and even if I don't end up making anything out of it this year, I'm happy to have this as part of my crafty library!



I've been working on a couple of little projects for Christmas gifts. I'm afraid that my posts from now until Christmas will have very few photos...but look out after December 25th! I hope to have a ton of projects to reveal.

This was in today's newspaper. It is another article about the kick-off party.

Collegiate kicks off CI Reads program on Halloween
Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Halloween at St. Catharines wasn't just about candy, but books as well. On October 31, students at St. Catharines Secondary School kicked off the beginning the fourth year of their Collegiate Institute (CI) Reads club. The CI Reads club is the largest organized club at Collegiate, including about 120 students, and that number is growing. "It is by far the biggest club at Collegiate," said Karyn, the school's librarian. "We have many other clubs, but nothing in comparison to this." This Halloween, students got a party to kick off this year's beginning of the club, which runs until the end of the school year. Apart from other book clubs, students in the CI Reads club are given the choice of reading whatever they like. "It is not a book club where they have a list of the required things to read," said Karyn. "They can read whatever they like." Karyn says the most popular books lately are the Manga novels. "They read everything. Absolutely everything," she said. For their reading, students are given points for their accomplishments, and in turn are given prizes. "It brought a lot of students out to the club," said Tracy, principal of St. Catharines Collegiate. Tracy says she was surprised to see all types of students coming out to the club. She says she thought it would be only the academic students. "I am amazed at the amount of students who are in to this," she said. Tracy and Karyn both agree that spending at least one hour per day reading is a healthy choice for teens. "Reading doesn't mean reading a novel," said Karyn. "Reading means reading anything." Karyn says her favorite book is Bridget Jones' Diary. Tracy says she is a John Grisham fan. For students like Heather Smith, 16, a Grade 11 student, her favorite book is Abarat, by Clive Barker. "It is an adventure fantasy," she said. Smith says she got into reading when her mom recommended reading The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien. "She said I should read up to the part where they introduce the character Gollum," she said. "I got hooked on it." Smith says she reads about 100 short stories each year. "Reading is great," she said. "You really get into it." Karyn says the benefits to reading a lot are numerous. "It improves how well you focus, it improves your marks, your grades and gives you confidence," she said. "It is a positive alternative to television and video games."