Diamonds!

I have just read a gorgeous book called The Necklace, about 13 women who each contribute money to buy a diamond necklace worth $37000! They take turns to wear the necklace and use it to raise funds for different charities. The women become very close friends and their lives become greatly enriched through friendship and sharing. It's a true story!


I like the way each chapter focuses on one of the women, describing her life up until they buy the necklace, and then how life changes for them once they are in the group. It is fascinating!

The Cheshire Cat

Can you remember how confusing the Chesire Cat was in the movie of Alice in Wonderland? It was quite nightmarish really, especially when his body used to disappear so only his grin could be seen. Quite a frightening, disorientating movie all round really. But you've gotta love the variety of the characters, and of course, their bright colours. Well I do!

Books Glorious Books!

Have read these three books recently. This first one is a about a naughty ghost trying to seduce a modern day man. Great ending! Lovely descriptions of Greece.

This one is a kid's book I picked up at the school library, because I liked the look of it. It is part of a three book set about the same house in different eras with different families living in it. Love that idea, and I love stories that have a house as one of the main characters. Because I LOVE houses! Great for girls about 9 or 10 to read.

And the piece de resistance,

What a fantastic book!!!!!! Love the cover (nice clothes!), love that it is about sisters, aunties and a very lovable dad. Can see it as a movie, so was able to picture all the characters in my mind's eye. At two inches thick you'd think it would take ages to wade through, but it was easy reading, a straight forward narrative and such an interesting story. Absolutely delightful, and another highly, highly recommended read, especially for anyone with one sister or more, or lots of aunties! Another bonus is that much of it is set in Hobart, so it seems even more familiar, and will appeal to you Tassie folk! By the way, I bought it because I knew it was a best seller and it was only $12 from Kmart. Great buy!!! Also, for those people in reading groups or bookclubs, there is a section of discussion questions in the back of the book.

More Queen of Hearts

I have been so inspired by the colours and characters of Alice in Wonderland, AND all the crafted hearts people posted on their blogs for Valentine's Day, AND the beautiful cards my friend Kirsteen makes (Kirsteen's Blogspot), that I made some Queen of Hearts cards.





I've never really made cards at home before. I've made HEAPs over the years with the children at school, coming up with different ideas for Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and Christmas cards. Oh, and Jonathon and I made our wedding invitations over 11 years ago. These ones could be used as Valentine's cards, or for children's birthdays, maybe even as birthday cards for girly girlfriends. I love the idea that in some parts of the world, ie America, they give Valentine's cards to all their friends, rather than partners, as we do in Australia. (Although I do still love that Jonathon and I give each other gifts or cards!)

For the fashionistas

Found a great buy today - Madison magazine. Well, the magazine is pretty pricey ($9), but they do have a bonus Oroton journal, which has a classy, black cover and blank pages inside (it's about 1.5 cm thick!), an Oroton lead pencil and a $30 Oroton VIP card. I LOVE the journal - it's perfect for keeping in a totebag for quick notes and drawings. Highly recommended!

One of the twins

Okay, I'll give you just one more for now, Tweedledee. It's the same picture for Tweedledum as well. But you knew that.

The Herald White Rabbit

Here is a drawing of the White Rabbit when he is working for the Queen. I just love anything with hearts on it!

(I nearly gave this post the heading "I'm late, I'm late!" but then I thought you'd think I was pregnant! Hee hee!)

The Mad Hatter

Okay, so here's another one. The Mad Hatter. I love his hat!

Thanks for your kind words everyone! You make my day.

And here's my Alice

This is my interpretation of Alice. As with the Queen of Hearts, I've kept the drawing very simple.

And this is my sister, Kristie, with her interpretation of Alice, in pink! She was about 9 or 10. Didn't think I'd have this one in the archives, did you Kris? Hee hee!

The Queen of Hearts

Here is one of my recent drawings of Alice in Wonderland characters.

LOOOOVE the colours and patterns of the Queen of Hearts. I've drawn her similar to the Disney version, just with simpler lines, and a prettier face. I've used textas, because I wanted vibrant colours, but apparently a better version (without the texture lines) can be created with ink. I'm looking into it...

Having a moment

I've killed my camera!!! Seriously, it must have got water in it when I put my drink bottle in my bag. I'm beside myself. Jonathon's beside himself. I have so many photos to take! We just went shopping, and I bought some pretty new scrapbooking papers, and embellishments. And some DVDs. And I've been scrapping all week, and my new inspiration, is drawing. Never thought I'd be able to say that, but I read a picture book at school, and I was inspired by the very simple drawings. I've had an obsession with Alice in Wonderland lately, (since both Nettie's Nostalgia and the Parsons Happenings posted photos of the play they saw), so I've been drawing the characters this last week. Wanted to show you...Waaaaahhhhhh! What will I do without my camera!!!!!!!!! I should have looked after it better. I know it. I'll get back to you with new photos when I can. It'll probably be a while. I might be able to fill in with some photos from the vault, while I'm waiting. Bear with me.

Post Valentine's Day

Jonathon bought me a GORGEOUS bunch of flowers for Valentine's Day! He's the sweetest!

Nursery Rhyme Craft

Sooo... Here are a few crafty things we've been making at school, for those people who might be looking for ideas.

Humpty Dumpty,

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,

and Hickory Dickory Dock. Colourful fun!

The Phantom of the Opera

Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!! Went to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Burswood Theatre last night and it was MAGNIFICENT!

Fell in love with it when the movie came out a couple of years ago (with Gerard Butler), and now have fallen in love with the theatre performance with Anthony Warlow. His voice was superb!! And the heartwrenchingness (new word) of it all! I always bawl in the last five minutes of the movie, and I bawled in the theatre as well! (I could have wailed, but I had to hold back, being in public and all!) The costumes were stunning, the backdrops, unbelievable, and seriously, I do not know how they moved those sets so quickly. There were lots of fireball effects and flashes of light. The lake scenes were breathtaking, and not one of the singers missed a note, and those notes are wild! What a beautiful, romantic way to celebrate Valentine's Day weekend!

Theatre. Oh, why am I not there more often? I realised during the show that I NEED to be going to the theatre more often. Some of the most emotional, heart-swelling moments I've felt in my life were at the theatre. We saw Peter Pan when I was very small, and I remember the actors being so high up, and thinking, "they can fly, they can fly!" When the lights went down at Beauty and the Beast on ice (about 15 years ago,) my heart thumped like crazy. I saw The Nutcracker, and Cinderella at the ballet and I was filled with utter joy at the costumes and the magic of it all. We saw We Will Rock You (the musical) and sang Queen songs nonstop for about six months afterwards! I've had similar levels of excitement at live bands, however they just don't have the colour and backdrops of the theatre to sweep you away into another world.

I bought the programme (how can you not?) and a phantom mask, and I have already made a new display on my antique desk. (How to get in touch with your inner goth in one fell swoop!)

If you're even slightly inclined to go to the theatre, you MUST see this! The melodies of the songs stay in your head and heart forever!

Lights outside the Burswood Casino.

What do your keys say about you?

I thought this might be an interesting question to ask yourself. Take a look at your keys to read a little of your personality and life.

My friend, Emma, gave me the little Kimmi friendship doll, because she knows I love Japanese/Chinese things. Jack bought me the Chinese Dragon in glass from the Salamanca markets in Hobart, Tasmania (one of my favourite places). And I got the Cadbury key ring from the Cadbury Chocolate Factory in Hobart (love, love, adore chocolate!) Also, purple is one of my favourite colours to wear.

Looking at the keys themselves, I have a car key, house key, classroom key, playground key and 2 suitcase keys. From this you can tell I am a teacher, I drive, I have a home to go to, and I like to travel!

So, without quickly going to the shops and buying any glamorous key rings (no cheating!) let's see what your keys tell us about you! You can leave a comment here or a link to your own blog if you wish.

Gingerbread Men

We've been reading the story of the Gingerbread Man at school. Each child made a paper Gingerbread Man last week,

and today we made 'real' Gingerbread Men. They were YUM, and so cute!

My Favourite Blogs

Check out the new bit I've added to our blog, a list of other blogs I follow. It is an eclectic collection; some are by friends and family of course, but most are arty, crafty sites. Through links on different people's sites (and believe me, the links go on FOREVER once you start), I've found a bunch of people who are either scrapbookers, painters, sewers, soft toy makers, interior designers, junk hunters, fashionistas or homemakers. All of them love taking photos, and have a great sense of humour. Many of them have a shop on etsy. Keeping up with them, and commenting on their sites keeps the world smaller and brighter! Love it!

A dang good read

Just had to tell you that I just read an amazing book called The Weight of Water. I really like Anita Shreve's writing; it's poetic, detached, and explores human frailty. The settings are always bleak, to match the state of mind of the characters. That doesn't sound like happy reading, but, man, it's intriguing! It's a murder mystery too, for those who like a bit of gore. Highly, highly recommended!

Sooorrrryyyy!

I knew it would take me ages to get back to blogging, but I finally made it! The day before school started I spent an hour or so adding the finishing touches:

Dress up clothes on the rack, reading cushion and posters in place...

fishing rods untangled.

The whole view. And Jack. Looks a bit cluttered, but it is really just the angle.

This angle is better. And perhaps only because I know how bad it can get!

And then we went to the beach for our last flirtation with freedom!!

By 'freedom', I mean not having to get up early and rush, rush, rush every morning. I'm a pretty laid back (or is that lazy) person, and full steam ahead before 10am is tricky for me. Only being honest.