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It has been requested of me to share some more of my blackout art. So here it is, these got  a lot more arty than the first one I did. The umbrella design is one I found another place and copied the idea but what the picture says is of course of my own creation. 


Yes I have a bible that I rescued at the book fair from going to the tip and yes I do use it for craft, and yes I do feel terrible every time I cut a piece out of it and yes it was even worse cutting a page out it it, but also very effective!


I really like how you can add so much by taking away. It is so fun to change what the paper says into something completely different. 

These other pictures that contain people were first sketched from a photos of people I found online but I generally looked at a page and then knew just what picture I needed to find and put on it. 


 The wind idea also came off another persons blackout poetry art piece. I liked it, so I flicked through the pages of the falling apart poetry book I have used for some of these pieces until I found a page with the word 'wind' on it. It turned into this. 

This one was fun. My parents thought I might die from the smell of the permanent markers. It was quite different removing everything else and making the white/blank parts what was there. I also did not intend to make the lady quite so thin, but I forgot that the outline was more like an inline since not the outside of the line but the inside would become the outside. (Sorry if that confused you)


This last one is my favourite though. I saw the words "THE ELDERLY GENTLEMAN" and some of the other words on the page that I have brought out in the image, and I knew instantly what I wanted it too look like. The problem was I couldn't find a photo of an old man with a stick in the position I imagined. Eventually I found one that I could flip and then sketch from. Resulting in this. 


 Do you sketch?
Do you like playing with words?
Have you ever tried any blackout poetry?
The wait is finally over, for those who like me got ARCs of this book anyway. For everyone else it is almost here! And I am so excited because this book belongs to such a good series/trilogy. Obviously this is my honest review of this amazing book. 

What book am I talking about? A Time To Rise of course by the lovely Nadine Brandes. I am honored to take part in her book tour.


I don't want this post to be spoilery for those who have not read the first books so here is the synopsis of book one. You can find the synopsis for A Time To Rise on Goodreads.

How would you live if you knew the day you'd die?

Parvin Blackwater has wasted her life. At only seventeen, she has one year left according to the Clock by her bedside. 

In a last-ditch effort to make a difference, she tries to rescue Radicals from the crooked justice system. But when the authorities find out about her illegal activity, they cast her through the Wall -- her people's death sentence. 

What she finds on the other side about the world, about eternity, and about herself changes Parvin forever and might just save her people. 
But her Clock is running out.



A Time To Rise was worth the wait, I was expecting this to be as amazing as the other two and it certainly lived up to my expectations. There were many elements of faith in the other books but even more in this one, and by this book in the series I had grown to expect that so it was lovely. It is really refreshing to read a book that is saturated in biblical faith. But it also all applied and was necessary to the story; it has a reason and purpose. It makes this novel so much better and unique. It is an inspiring read.



This story pulled my emotions every way. The characters are all so real Parvin, Tawny, Solomon, Willow and their struggles so relatable and I really liked how some of them changed so much through this series and yet are still the same … Skelley Chase… The theme of forgiveness was powerful too. And many of the side characters were quite intriguing people as well, with their own stories, that we never really heard in this book. (because that would be unnecessary) But it made for good characters. 





There were quite a few surprising twists that I did not see coming, at all. I never even suspected there would be twists in those places. The story had me flicking through pages… e-book pages anyway as fast as I could read. A few bits had me laughing aloud.. and laughing/crying at other times.


Some horrible things happen, in the story. (Realism peoples) Some people do many horrible things; some good people make bad choices. But there are no gruesome detailed descriptions of the violence. So I really can’t say there was anything I did not like about this book, except for everything I loved of course!



I find most romance in books is painful to read, but in A Time To Rise (and the other two books, but particularly in this one where it is there a lot more) the romance is lovely and beautiful and a wonderful example of how a relationship like that should really be. It made for some heart wrenching moments. 


The story is just beautiful and so full of faith and the ending satisfied me. I am just trying not to think about how it is now ended. But Nadine did a wonderful job in making the ending sound like a new beginning for the characters while still being a great series ending.





Look at that photo, I even have a signed copy of the first book! Well, a sticker that is signed and in the front cover, but that is just as good!

Now after reading that review you want to buy the book right? So here are some links to the previous books in the Out of Time Trilogy as well as A Time To Rise!


You can find A Time to Die the one it started with all these places:

As for A Time to Speak, possibly my favourite of the three:

And A Time To Rise the third and final book:

If you Pre-Order A Time To Rise you can sign up to get some cool swag -like mini character magnetic bookmarks and other out of time series bookmarks- on this post on Nadine's blog.


And there is going to be a Facebook Party to celebrate the release too, which you should totally join in on because Facebook parties are, in my experience anyway, always so fun. What could not be fun when there are book giveaways and author chats?



That American time then translates to 9am on Wednesday the 19th, if you are in the same time zone as me (Australian Eastern Time Zone UTC+10:00) And then again I just realised there is that horrible thing called daylight saving so that could make it 8am, or 10am, my poor little brain is so confused now, but we will work it out some time before then.
And in case you do not know Nadine here is a little introduction.

I am an adventurer, fusing authentic faith with bold imagination. I never received my Hogwarts letter, but rest assured I’m no Muggle (and would have been in Ravenclaw House, thank you very much.) This Harry Potter super-nerd has been known to eat an entire package of Oreos (family-size) by herself, and watches Fiddler on the Roof at least once a year. I write about brave living, finding purpose, and other worlds soaked in imagination. My dystopian trilogy (The Out of Time Series) challenged me to pursue shalom, which is now my favorite word (followed closely by bumbershoot.) When I’m not taste-testing a new chai or editing fantasy novels, me and my 
knight-in-shining armor (nickname: “hubby”)
 are out pursuing adventures.              

Nadine Stuff: (which you should check out because she is a most lovely person)

Shalom means the same as peace, but it just sounds like such a beautiful word. This piece of word art I drew was inspired by Nadine Brandes, Out of Time Series. Shalom is a key word in the books. I just wanted to share a few bible verses about peace along with the pictures, because they are such good verses to be reminded of.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. ~John 16:33

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6-7


And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 
~Colossians 3:15-16


Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. 
~1 Peter 3:10-12




Shalom, peace be with you.

I realized that one of my current favourite book series had no fan art to go with it, other than one sketch of the most horrible character in the whole book. (the character is horrible not the sketch) And so I set out to remedy the fact, that these amazing books lack fan art. This one is from a scene in book two A Time To Speak, by Nadine Brandes. And yes you should read the books.

If you are interested in seeing some before images than just keep on looking. I did actually remember to take a snapshot of the Photoshop document after I had done the base colours. So you can see what I started with. I also kinda cheated with some colours and used a colour picker to seal them from the book covers, so they were at least colours from there.



This scene came to my mind instantly when I was trying to think of one to draw, I think it is one my my favourites. As for the quotes they don't follow on from one another in the book but are spread over two pages, where this scene is happening.  Hopefully I have managed to make it look cold enough.

And by the way the third and final book is coming out later this year, in 65 days! I am so excited I pre-ordered the book yesterday.


Have you ever drawn fan art?
Does the picture look cold?
Have you read any of Nadine Brandes books?
It is finally the time to share the cover of A Time to Rise! For any who do not know A Time to Rise is the third and last book in the Out of Time Series by Nadine Brandes. It is set to be released on the 14th of October 2016 in America which makes it the 15th here in Australia.

But to the point, you want to see the cover. Actually you probably scrolled down and saw it before coming back to read anything.

That is what I do. 

So with no more delay I present to you 

*insert sound of dramatic music*

*insert imaginary drum roll*

*insert a great gust of wind*

the cover 

of 

A Time to Rise!

Doesn't it look so good! 


Now follows the synopsis which contains spoilers for the previous books so consider yourself warned.


What more can you sacrifice than your life?

Parvin Blackwater is dead.

At least…that’s what the Council—and the world—thinks. But her sacrifice tore down part of the Wall long enough to stir up hope and rebellion in the people. Now she will rise again. Strong, free, and fearless.

Parvin and Solomon must uncover the mysterious clues that Jude left behind in order to destroy the projected Wall once and for all. Meanwhile, the Council schemes to new levels of technology in its attempts to keep the people contained. Can a one-handed Radical and a scarred ex-Enforcer really bring shalom to the world?

So if you have not read the previous books you should forget that you just read that synopsis, and read the other two books now, so you are ready for A Time to Rise when it comes out. The three of them look so good together, I can't wait for them to all sit in a row on my shelf. 


Now I bombard you with links 

You can find A Time to Die all these places:

As for A Time to Speak, look here for it:

And because if you don't know what an amazing person Nadine is you are really missing out. She here are some links to the places she usually resides on the internet:

And there is also a giveaway of cuteness. A whole set of the tiny bookmark characters! So enter into that before you go. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
>
Have you read any of Nadine's books?
Do you like dystopian fiction?