Our friend and fellow card maker, Cristina Kowalczyk, has some exciting news. She’s also an author (she writes under her maiden name – Cristina Henriquez), and her novel, The Book of Unknown Americans, comes out TODAY! To celebrate, I, along with a few other crafty friends, are helping her spread the word about her book.

Ben Fountain said it was “a triumph of storytelling,” Heidi Julavits called it “extraordinary,” and Amazon editor Chris Schluep chose it as his “must read for summer,” saying, “This novel snuck up on me. It’s moving and beautifully written, never overwrought, and I read it virtually in one sitting. It’s compelling, tragic, sometimes funny, uplifting and heart-wrenching. I can’t stop thinking about these people.”

Cristina is giving away 5 signed, first-edition copies of The Book of Unknown Americans. And because this is all about spreading the word, there are four ways to enter.

1. Tweet about The Book of Unknown Americans (#UnknownAmericans)
2. Write a Facebook post telling your friends about the book
3. Pin the cover of the book on Pinterest
4. Or simply leave a comment on Cristina’s blog

If you do all four of those, that’s four entries! (On Cristina’s blog, submit one comment per entry. For example: “I tweeted!” “I put it on FB!” “I pinned it!” etc.)

From all the comments on her blog, Cristina will choose 5 people to win a copy of the novel. Plus, one lucky person will win the grand prize, a signed book plus a giant stash of craft supplies – stamps, dies, inks, you name it!

For more info about the book and other ways that you can show your support, head over to Cristina’s blog.

Awesome right?! I’m so stoked that one of our own is also a successful author! She was even over my side of the pond the other day promoting the book at the Hay festival in Wales. Talking of which, in the UK Amazon are releasing the book on June 5th I think. I’ve put links to both Amazon US and Amazon UK at the end of the post.

Well I couldn’t let such an occasion go by without making a card; it’s so cool that our friend and fellow card maker is also an amazing novelist! I think it would be amazing if all the card makers from all over the world joined forces to order this book. The publishers would probably be slightly confused at the geographical diversity of the ordering LOL but wouldn’t that be just perfect :D

These stamps and matching dies are from the new Clearly Besotted release which go live on 05 June. This set really will have your mouth-watering! I stamped the ice cream images in a combination of Simon Says Stamp and Hero Arts inks onto their matching die cuts. Partially inked the sentiment in different colours onto a tag and then foam mounted it all onto a panel of American Crafts Cut & Paste paper.

The chocolate sauce was needing a bit of Glossy Accents to bring it to life and then just a couple of wood veneer stars and such to finish off.

Cristina, you’re the best! I can’t wait for my copy of your book to arrive and I wish you all the best with the launch :D

Supplies: Stamp – Clearly Besotted super cool; Dies – Clearly Besotted super cool, scalloped tag; Inks – Simon Says Stamp dark chocolate, Hero Arts soft sand, soft brown, soft leaf, fresh peach, soft vanilla; Card – Neenah solar white 80lb, Bazzill marshmallow; Paper – American Crafts cut & paste; Twine – Lawn Fawn coral; Wood Veneer – Studio Calico stars; Enamel Dot – My Mind’s Eye find your wings & fly up and away; Ranger glossy accents; Zig wink of stella clear glitter pen

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