"Through the Looking Glass" Blog-Birthday Party - Day 1

Hello, ellow! I have been a bit silent the last few days, but I know you'll forgive me, as it was for a very good cause. Last Thursday the 12th, Fullness of Joy blog turned 3 years old.

3 jolly blessed years of sharing!

 . . . and I have been busy celebrating by eating cakes and jam biscuits and crying miserable little tears late into the night over Little Dorrit episodes  planning a rather special surprise. It is wonderfully thrilling, but also extraordinarily strange to look back over those years and see how this wee little blog has grown; how it aided me, its faltering authoress, to discover new things about life, faith, writing and stories, and cross paths with lovely new people that I otherwise might never have come to know. I am amazed, and so very, very grateful to the Lord for this special provision and encouragement in my life! Through blogging, the Lord has blessed me with  getting acquainted with many special and dear friends, kindred spirits who have encouraged me, built me up and helped me learn so much about myself and my calling as a young Christian reader and writer. . .

You all mean so much to me!

In turn, I have enjoyed the wonderful experience of sharpening my pen on the pages of this blog, giving me an outlet to share the things that are important to me about my life with God, my faith, my family, my personal interests, and of course writing and reading which take up a huge chunk of this blogging-business and my own personal life. I admit it! I have not  been the best of blog-writers - half the time I am as unprofessional as can be; my posts are full of glitches, grammatical typos, and digressions about how busy my life seems to be. . . I am not that faithful with posting, and when I do, my posts are. . . well, not really that deep, thought-provoking or entertaining as I should wish them to be.

But they are a little bit of me, of the life God has given me, and the thoughts and platitude of words that pass in a jumble through my head. And you, dear friends, have faithfully stuck by this blog, and endured my pathetic rambley posts, encouraged me to reach further up and further in - and have been great friends. You don't know how much this makes me feel blessed! Strange as it may seem, I don't think I would be the person (or writer or bibliophile) I am today, were it not for being able to have this blog and be a part of others' blogs as well. Now, as I look ahead, I don't know where and what Fullness of Joy blog will be like in future years, with much schoolwork and the busy-bustle of life cramming around; and I wonder, sometimes, if I can in anyway ever be a better blogger and writer (I hope to be, with God's help!). But I pray that I may be able to continue blogging for as long as I possibly can and, if I can in any, any way be a blessing to others, as many have been to me. . . than it is definitely worth it!

So, as you can see I owe so much to the blessing God has given me of blogging, and having blogging friends. And the passing of 3 years is a tiny weeny bit of a milestone for this blog, don't you think? So, in honour of the auspicious day (ahem, the birthday of this blog), I am hosting a special, week-long Blog-Birthday Bash (Party) here on Fullness of Joy. It so happens to be titled "Through the Looking Glass Literary Blog-Birthday Bash", because it will be a party all about books, and stories and all that wonderful stuff. . . (P.S. There might be a nice berry-and-cream cake hidden away with tea and biscuits at the end of things, if you care for that kind of thing!)

The order of things with this party is as follows. From today till next Wednesday, I will attempt posting daily a Literary-themed Tag which you can all join in and be a part of. Each tag will be focused on a particular theme or genre of Literature and should be an interesting and hopefully really fun thing to participate in (I will be joining in with you too, to add to the fun!) The special icing to the cake is this: for three years of blogging, and just to say "thank you, dear friends, so much for sticking around Fullness of Joy blog and making it special", I am hosting a fun Literary-themed giveaway with three prizes for three happy winners! The sponsors of the giveaway are Masha Laurence from Antique Fashionista, Casey from Tea and Tentacles, and Dru from theNestinSLT on etsy, who own lovely shops and are offering wonderful, charming literary items in this giveaway. Do head over and check out their lovely etsy stores :).

Here is the Party Week's Schedule:

Day 1 - "Historical Classics"
Day 2 - "Faith and Fantasy"
Day 3 - "Mystery and the Detectives"
Day 4 - "Children's Fiction"
Day 5 - "The Modern Novel And Ink-Stains"
Day 6 - "Non-Fiction Books"
Day 7 - "Books of Faith"
End of Birthday Party

Today's literary theme for the tag is: "Historical Classics". Please join in! Here is how you can join in and have fun with this party: copy the tag questions and respond to the questions on your own blog, making it all uniquely your own! Then, to add to the life of things, via the linky pool in each tag post, have fun mingling, visiting each other's blogs and getting to know one another better! The first few questions are a bit introductory, and then we will dig right in into the topic of historical/period drama classics. It will be a lot of stimulating, literary fun. . .

"Historical Classics" Tag

1. Tell us  a little bit about yourself, your tastes, and the little hobbies and things that your readers probably don't know about you!
2. Books! We really do love them. . . but we all have preferences of what kind of books we love best. What is your favourite genre to read from (and to write in, if you happen to be a writer too)? Could you tell us why?
3. Are you fond of classic literature or do you generally find them too "dry" and hard-going for your tastes? Alternately, how much of your reading diet consists of books written by authors of the 21st century? Are you more fond of the old books or the new. . . or maybe a little bit of both?
4. What is your favourite historical time period and setting? How did you come to be especially interested in it? Would you be happy to live in that time-period or era? 
5.. List three of your favourite classic authors (authors from the 1500s and up to the very early 1900s such as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Bronte sisters, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain etc. . . )? What makes you love them so much?
6. What type of "Historical classic" is your favourite: Adventure and exploration, romance, mystery, social, memoir, or political?
7. Share some of your most well-loved heroines from historical novels in literature, and why you love them so much! What virtues/traits in them would you like to attain yourself? 
8. Who are your favourite heroes from historical literature? (You may share up to five). What makes them stand out among the rest as special?
9.  List your favourite "classic" novels. . . (as this is a painful question, you may list more than one!)
10. Which period-drama movies, (adaptions from historical classic works of fiction), fall under your favourite pile? Do you prefer the more modern adaptions or the old ones? Faithful renditions, or the more exciting ones?
11. Which historical classic has inspired and influenced you the most?
12. Give a list (preferably with pictures!) of your favourite period drama costumes (hats, hoops, gloves, parasols, etc) and from which movie/character they come from.
13. How accurate do you think classic authors were about depicting history and accuracy of different cultures? Were they sometimes prejudiced or melodramatic in their descriptions, or do you think they often had a point to make?  
14. Think of the funniest "scene" in either a book or movie from classic literature, and share the quote/picture below (Gifs and animations allowed!)
15. Which villain of historical literature strikes the most dread and loathing in you?
16.  How many Charles Dickens novels have you read? Do you enthusiastically love his stories, or sob in misery over them, or worse get bored by them?
17. Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, or Elizabeth Gaskall?
18. Favourite French Revolution novel?
19. North and South or Pride and Prejudice? Mr. Darcy or Mr. Thornton? 
20. Which historical classic struck you with the most sense and depth of faith and the author's perception of morality, ethics and the Christian walk? Can you share a little bit about it?
21. Who is your favourite side-kick (secondary character) in literature of this genre? 
22. List five "Historical Classics" you are especially looking forward and eager to read in the near future.
23. What was the first historical classic novel you ever read and how did it strike you?
24. What would inspire you to pick up a historical piece of literature - namely a "classic"? Do you believe it is important for our generation to get back to reading the classics? What do you believe are both the benefits, negatives and overall effects of treasuring historical stories written by authors of the past?

Thanks so much for joining up in this tag! If you enjoyed this topic, check back tomorrow for the next "theme tag" which will be about faith and fantasy ^_^. 
(I will also be posting my tag-responses later on the 1st day)

And now, we come to the grand giveaway! What are the special prizes? How can you all enter? Three fabulous shops are sponsoring beautiful prizes, and at the end of the blog-party, I will be drawing three winners to win the prizes from the three shops. To enter the giveaway, enter in the Rafflecopter below - and remember, every time you join in the week-long tags, you will win extra points in your chances of being a winner of one of these lovely literary products. . . 

No. 1 "Austen Artwork" Prize

- Antique Fashionista 

*Sense and Sensibility art print. Jane Austen

Handmade art print item.

Dimensions: 5x7 inches

Materials: watercolour paper, watercolours

"This art print depicts Marianne Dashwood, on her fateful walk through the pleasure grounds and shrubberies of Cleveland, as she indulged in sad dreams of Willoughby, who is now lost to her forever. 
The print measures 5x7 inches and is done on archival quality photo paper. It will come to you in a protective plastic sleeve. 

All . . . items come gift wrapped in a brown paper package, sealed with Antique Fashionista wax seal."

*Persuasion 5x7 art print from original watercolour "Waiting"

Handmade art print item

Material: ultra brite matte paper

This is a print of one of my first Jane Austen watercolors titled Waiting inspired by Persuasion, my favorite J.A. work. It depicts Anne looking out at the sea at Lyme and thinking of Captain Wentworth. This listing is for an 5x7 digital print. Not framed. Printed on archival quality matte finish photo paper . Colors may vary slightly due to monitor differences. It will come to you in a protective plastic sleeve. All my pieces come beautifully wrapped in my signature brown paper package, tied with string and sealed with unique Antique Fashionista wax seal.
Please visit my blog at antiquefashionista.blogspot.com if you are interested to see some of my other pieces and how I paint my watercolors.

* These charming paintings of Jane Austen's characters, handmade by the lovely Masha Laurence, from Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion can work beautifully as charming, feminine bookmarks, or lovely posters to frame and place among one's favourite classics on a bookcase. One winner will win both art prints :)

No 2. "Les Miserables Literary-Necklace" Prize
Tea and Tentacles

*Les Miserables Necklace, Victor Hugo, Musicals, Classic Literature, Books, Library T1161
- "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise"

Handmade item

Materials: antique bronze chain, antique bronze pendant, antique bronze, print, digital art, digital collage, art, pendant, glass, glass dome, dome, 1 inch digital collage, 1 inch circle.

This high quality image is enhanced with a glass dome to add depth and set in a 1" antique finished pendant bezel. Each pendant comes with a matching 24" chain. 

This gorgeous glass pendant with the "Les Miserables" quote from the musical "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise" is not only a beautiful piece of literary artwork for any Les-Miserables fan, but also a lovely inspirational quote from an inspiring tale that can personally inspire you. Casey does some beautiful literary pendants in her shop; this particular pendant can be a beautiful, vintage necklace "statement piece" and also work as an excellent, handy bookmarker to keep you on track as you plow through a 500 page tome by Dickens or Alexandre Dumas! 

No. 3 "Set of Handmade Scripture Gift Tags" Prize
- The NestinSLT

Set of "Scripture" Gift Tags - "The Lord will give strength unto His people"

Handmade item

Materials: card stock, ribbon

These handmade tags feature a scripture from the book of Psalms "The Lord will give strength unto his people" ~ such an encouragement for persons of faith. Tags measure approx. 2 1/4/x 3 1/4", are blank on the back for your message, and tied with double lengths of violet seam binding. You will receive a set of 6. Color of ribbon can be changed upon request.
This set of Scripture tags are beautiful - and with such a wonderful, uplifting verse! While wonderful for using in gifts with friends, this set of 6 tags can work wonderfully as a bookmark in a devotional read, or even in your daily Bible reading.

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