Children's Books

Ok, so I feel a book review coming on.  Today's review is a little different though, because I thought I would show you books by authors/illustrators that I LOVE reading to my children.
Sam Williams is an author/illustrator of many children's books - until recently I thought "he" was a "she"! Naughty me for making assumptions - but his illustrations are so sweet!!

This is a library book we have recently borrowed so it is getting lots of wear and tear at the moment.  We have Sam Williams' "Bunny & Bee's Forest Friends" in our home library, so I snapped this book up at the library knowing it was going to be a lovely book to read.

The photo does not really do this picture justice.  It is so colourful and imaginative.

With illustrations like these children's imaginations can really soar, and I think it appeals to the inner child in all of us.  Don't we all still secretly harbour the hope that tiny worlds such as this really do exist?

And I think Georgia and I would both agree that Patricia MacCarthy's "Dewdrop Babies" series is the best of all.  The colourful pictures are scattered with glitter and the stories are just beautiful.

I am quite lucky because I get to indulge in these amazing worlds under the guise of an enthusiastic mum!

Unfortunately I could not find a website dedicated to Sam Williams great work, but if you would like to see more of the Dewdrop Babies, go be inspired!

Velvet Pears by Susan Southam

Ok, Book Review today . . .

If you have a love of gardens and need fresh ideas or are new to the hobby and would like some inspiration, this is the book for you!

Less like a "step by step" and more of one woman's account of making her dreams a reality, this book is a little like dipping into someone's personal thoughts, loves and ambitions.

I really fell in love with Velvet Pears; the story, the gorgeous photographs, and the idea that anyone can hold a dream in their mind of something special, and make it come to fruition with a lot of hard work and passion.

The book is set out in seasons, and the author describes her experiences gardening within each one.

Just look at these colours, as a crafter I can find a lot of inspiration for future quilts, as well as my future garden!

Maybe it is Susan Southam's love of full blown roses that attracted me to the book (they are my favourites!), or maybe it was the beautifully crafted book that was lovely to hold and to read.

Whatever the reason, "Velvet Pears" has motivated me to visit Susan's garden "Foxglove Spires" in Tilba Tilba one day.  It is top of my Destination List! If you would like to see more of her place go here

Recycling At Its Best!

Doing a bit of tinkering yesterday, inspired by a book I borrowed recently from the library.  Titled "D.I.Y. Design it yourself" and edited by Ellen Lupton, I chanced upon this page . . .

The section in this book was about altering your store bought clothes to get a "custom-cut t-shirt".

So I rummaged through my t-shirts and pulled out this used and abused blackie which I wore under clothes over Winter

Please forgive the slight skankiness - wishing I had Photoshop about now.  Anyways, got out the scissors and had a go.  I thought, something ventured, something gained.  And if it wasn't to work out, no big loss.  So the result:

I have a new-ish top!! I tried it on a few times through the process to see where adjustments needed to be made, and all in all, I am pretty happy!  Even if it is just a bang around the house kind of top, that suits me fine.  The money in my wallet can now go towards more coffee! Yum.

Books

You may remember an earlier post I wrote describing myself as mildly obsessed with books - I have a love affair with them.  I often think about that question often posed . . . if you were stranded on a deserted island what could you not live without?  Never been able to answer that one with confidence, but I think I could settle there quite well if it had a library!

When moving to our dream home recently, I had a bookcase built in to house my ever expanding collection.  It surprised me to discover I had not allowed enough shelving for all of them, and had to let the horrifying thought enter my head that I may have to cull some of them (gulp).  I remembered reading a note on collections in a fantastic book called "Sorted" by Lissanne Oliver;

"All collections benefit from the setting of boundaries. If you don't set a boundary, at what point do you stop?  And how do you refine the quality of your stuff?"

So with a renewed view to respecting my books by only keeping the very special ones to me, I had a sort and did discover some long forgotten books that I enjoyed reading again.

My favorite section - the craft/decorating/gardening books - you may notice the slight bow in the shelf (quite proud of that!!)

So now instead of trawling the bookshops on a regular basis, my children and I frequent the public library, and so I did today . . .

 As you can see, there is a variety of books; I think they are just brilliant for fulfilling a current interest or expanding knowledge on a subject.  In the past I was all about novels, but these days the non-fiction section can hold me for hours.  So many fascinating subjects!!

Thankfully, my children have caught the reading bug too, and we have a huge stash of rotating picture books to read before bedtime at night.  I believe education is pretty powerful, and what a great way to learn!

Motivating Read

Hi there,
If you love books like I do, you probably find them a great source of inspiration and motivation in your life.  I am a full-fledged bibliophile, so fortunately I re-discovered the local library.  It was becoming very expensive feeding my addiction!!

Here is a lovely book to inspire:

Written by Lena Corwin and published 2008, it is a fantastic source for printing in different mediums on various materials.  I would LOVE to get into this in a big way one day soon, imagine the possibilities!!  The idea of creating a project entirely from scratch gives you the freedom to produce something totally unique and special.  What a great skill to have. . .