Inspired by Reading: The Keeper of Lost Things

For this month's Inspired by Reading Book Club we read The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan.  I'm so glad that this charming debut novel made the cut for this year's book list!  This was a quick read with a truly unique premise.  It kept me turning those pages even when I was so sleepy that I had to practically prop my eyes open. 

As I proven so many times before, I'm really terrible at summarizing the books that I read... so I'm just going to share the blurb from the books back cover to give you an idea if this might be a book for you!  Although, don't let that last line of the jacket copy fool you, it's not all happiness in this book.  There were things that truly tugged at my heart strings.

Anthony Peardew is the Keeper of Lost Things. Once a celebrated author of short stories, now in his twilight years, Anthony has sought consolation from the long-ago loss of his fiancée by lovingly rescuing lost objects—the things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidently left behind. Realizing that he’s running out of time, he leaves his beautiful house and all the collected treasures to his unsuspecting assistant, Laura, the one person he trusts to fulfill his legacy.

Recovering from a bad divorce, Laura is in some ways one of Anthony’s lost things. But when she moves into his lovely old Victorian mansion, her life suddenly begins to change. Anthony’s final wishes set in motion a most serendipitous series of encounters as Laura sets out to realize Anthony’s last wish: reuniting his cherished lost objects with their owners. 

With an unforgettable cast of characters that includes a teenage girl with special powers, a handsome gardener, a fussy ghost, and an array of irresistible four-legged friends, The Keeper of Lost Things is a heartwarming read about second chances, endless possibilities, and joyful discoveries.
 
My first inclination was to finally create with some lost things that found their way into my possession a little over a year ago... a ring of vintage keys!  I was thinking about the key to the study as well as Therese's locked room as well as the key on the cover of my paperback copy.  I picked out a few contenders and started thinking about ways to put a necklace together... and then got totally sidetracked.  I'll circle back to this idea though!

There really were so many great jumping off points for creativity in this book with all the lost objects, but what really captured my imagination was the rose garden that Anthony planted for his beloved and how the smell of roses was always strong in Therese's room even in winter. 

Earlier this month I attended the Twin Cities Bead Bazaar and its Cocktails with Candie Cooper event where they had some make and takes for us.  One of them was using the Sizzix Movers and Shapers magnetic dies to cut leather shapes.  The room was a little crowded and I wasn't super patient, so I brought my leather pieces home to play with.  Before making the earrings that I had envisioned, I decided to run the leather teardrops through my Big Kick machine in an embossing folder with a fun floral design.  I'm pretty happy with the results!  I added some little dangles inside the teardrops with cultured sea glass and brass for a fun, almost stamen-like effect.

Next, I kept with the floral theme for a necklace.  I originally grabbed this little ceramic connector by Gaea thinking I might combine it with one of the vintage keys, but it had other ideas!  I added some Czech glass flowers to the bottom of the connector and picked out other coordinating glass beads for links along the necklace.  I think that this would be perfect for a garden party!

Finally after I (mostly) got the flowers out of my head, I was ready to return to the vintage keys.  I had already selected a little Green Girl flower bud to use with one of my key designs, and I decided it went nicely with this shiny key.  I wrapped a little bit of patterned sari silk ribbon around the middle of the key and then used wire wraps to attach it securely.  I'm really liking the extra pop of color the ribbon adds.  In addition to the pewter flower, I made two more dangles with a Czech glass flower on one side and a bright polymer clay bead by Heather Powers of Humblebeads.

Figuring out how to get the key to sit just right was a bit of a challenge.  I think that I'll go about future designs a little differently!  Wanting to keep going with the bright pink/magenta hues, I made little links with Czech glass two different dyed agates.  I'm pretty happy with how this one came together (albeit at the last minute!) and I'm going to wear test this one tonight at a get together we're headed out to in just a bit.

That's it for me for now.  My other key designs will have to wait until another day.  Have a fabulous weekend, my friends!  I hope that wherever you are that Spring is starting to have Sprung and you can get outside and enjoy some much deserved warmer temperatures!