green glass gorgeousness

It's my birthday this Sunday and I must be getting old because I always forget. Riley's birthday is two days before mine, so truth be told - all the focus tends to go on him {and his thrice-daily reminders that his birthday is coming}.

So today, I was intrigued to find a gift on my doorstep - and didn't even realise it might be a birthday present until I opened the card. Now, when a present comes from the Donna Hay General Store, you know you're in for a treat. When it comes from your dear Chicago-native girlfriend Teresa, you know you're in for an even greater treat!

And sure enough - this is what was inside . . .

Yes, there was lots of squealing going on! I'm most happily adding this beautiful bowl to my beloved collection of green milk glass, and I love it so much, I'll be keeping it awhile on my desk - right here next to me, as I type, and alongside my green glass jug toting iceberg roses from the garden.

Birthday bliss!

photo shoot - behind the scenes

Today I had loads of fun shooting some stills for a book I'm working on for the National Library of Australia. My three adorable models were just blissful to work with (although they did need an icy pole and a few snacks to help them through) and we got some great pics.

I'm so looking forward to taking these images and getting them in shape for this glorious new book!

mount pleasant heights PS book masterpieces

Pleasant Heights Public School in Wollongong have stunned me with an amazing line-up of books modelled on my Riley books. It's always such an inspiration to see kids creating these masterpieces, and is truly a mega highlight of being an author.

The kids are currently studying China, and so used my books to inspire a narrative travelogue set. Using photos and their own illustrations, they've created a really gorgeous set of books that brought tears to my eyes!

Warmest thanks to the kids of 3P and to teacher Annabel Wood for sharing!

Check out three of them right here!

event: Australian Story Book Launch!

After much anticipation, it's finally here! The launch of Australian Story: an illustrated timeline. If you're in or around Canberra, come along for a wonderful afternoon of making history cool! There'll be a reading and signing, delicious Aussie treats, goodie bags and fun activities for the kids.

Come along dressed as your favourite Australian historical character and you could win a prize!

Hope to see you there - and don't forget to RSVP.

event: NYR12 community party, canberra

o lovely day

I rarely get to leave the house nowadays, being on deadline and all - but today I made [what felt like] a dozen appointments and dashed out the door early. It was overcast and gloomy - and I had a lot to get done.

After a wee spot of shopping - where I snaffled some delicious treats, including a heavily discounted Wheel & Barrow wicker tray and a very covetable Country Road bag that will be perfect for our big trip at the end of the year {NOT that I need another bag!} . . .

. . . I met up with my props-provider and very good friend Jennie McClelland for a delicious lunch and a natter - that is, after some serious swapsies in the car park. Jennie and I often loan things to each other {well, she mostly loans to me, from her mind-boggling collection of stunning items} then meet to swap them all back again. She's loaned me some props for my photo shoot this weekend - all in preparation for my latest NLA book.

Jennie also gave me an early birthday present - can you believe this stunning lunch box??

I'm bananas for its retro-ready picnic-ability. And speaking of bananas - take a look inside . . .

Good friends know your weaknesses. It's love.

Straight after lunch I headed into Civic Library to meet National Year of Reading coordinator Rachel Davis - and we discussed, with much mutual heart-palpitating, a series of events and initiatives for this very special year of literacy. Just wait til you see all the glorious things planned for the ACT, let alone Australia-wide. You can learn more about these events at Libraries ACT or at the NYR12 website.

Then it was off to meet up with the luscious Barbie Robinson on Artsound FM (90.3/92.7) for a natter about NYR12 and Australian Story: an illustrated timeline. It's always so fascinating to chat with Barbie, who is one lovely and inspirational woman. The interview will air this Saturday 11 Feb on 'Taste', at 11.30am, and will be repeated next Tuesday at 3.30pm.

Next was picking up the kids from school {they are always delighted by this unusual treat}, I was bombarded with all the latest on the school curriculum, and of course, was delighted to hear both kids are entering history studies in a big way this year - my, my, I wrote Australian Story at exactly the right time.

And the perfect ending to a busy run-around day was arriving home to a sunshiny afternoon and a massive box, filled with packing peanuts, nestled into which were final copies of my beautiful Beijing Tai Tai.

Husband comes home tonight after a couple of days away, so all in all it's been a lovely, lovely day of treats and gorgeous people and exciting upcoming events.

I hope you've had a lovely day, too.

lego party invitation

It's a brand new year and almost party time! My wee man will turn 9 this month and we're celebrating with what else - a Lego party. Oh yes, it's Lego madness in our house.

I saw this striking and very clever invitation idea by Allison Waken and adapted it a little. Allison offers printable downloads but the instructions weren't clear so I copied and pasted mine. You may need to play around with the positioning before you set to printing - as you do want the little men to line up perfectly when the card is cut.

I placed the invitations in large cello bags and folded the bag around the back, securing with a red dot sticker. I then printed off the names on card, cut out and stapled to the top of the bag. You could also add little pieces of Lego in the bag, if desired.

Stay tuned for Le Party - later this month.

hot maps

LOVING www.hot-map.com - totally info-studded mappage that will send your heart aflutter. If you're the type of traveller who doesn't want to miss a sight/site trick, then this is the perfect stop for you. Click, quick!

vintage bureau revamp

For the past three years, I've been on the lookout for the perfect piece of furniture for an awkward spot in our house. I've searched high and low, from op shops to expensive stores, and either found nothing the perfect shape and size, nothing in great condition - or nothing that made my heart race. And Lord knows I hate almost everything new. It's all so mass-produced and ugly (or ten times what I want to pay).

Then yesterday, as the kids and I walked past the Salvo's - we did a quick pop in. And this is what we found . . .

Now, don't judge a 1960s bureau by its veneer, but for me, it was love. I ADORE these retro veneered pieces and have rarely been able to find one in good enough condition. This one was structurally incredible - only one teensy strip off the veneer on one draw, but otherwise really sound. It's only problem was a tacky back mirror and ugly strips of sticky left by an overzealous sticktaper.

I didn't want the mirror, so I left it behind and paid the grand total of $20, including help from a handsome young man to get the piece to my car.

It took me all of an hour and a half to clean up the bureau. This is what I did -

First, I sawed off the back struts that used to keep the mirror in place, being careful to saw down at an angle towards the back.

Then I enlisted the help of my powerful friend - Eucalyptus Oil - and began de-stickafying the surface.

If you leave puddles of oil to soak awhile, removing all traces of sticky is a breeze.

Stubborn pieces that need peeling off can be helped along with a scraper.

I then polished all surfaces with euc oil, including the starburst handles. Then I tightened all handles with a screwdriver and cleaned out the drawers (which were pretty spotless anyway) and wiped the insides out with a cloth dampened with euc oil - great for getting rid of that musty Op Shop smell.

And . . . here is the finished product!

What do you think? I may strip the veneer and paint it white eventually but for now I'm loving that retro veneer vibe and whimsical imperfections. I've crammed the surface with my many in-need-of-a-home books, but am sure the display will change frequently. We so lack surfaces in our house, so it's fun to be able to play with a pretty new spot.

Now, I'm on the hunt for some super cool shelving . . .

tickle the imagination wedding/valentine issue!

Such a thrill to have one of my photographs on the cover of luscious Tickle the Imagination magazine - it's for a story I did on creating gorgeous valentine's cards. I also contributed my regular book review section, via Kids Book Review, so if you're after some sweetheart book recommendations for kids, check it out.


I adore this magazine, run by the amazing Tanya Collier. Make sure you check it out - you won't be disappointed.

buzz words article for NYR12

Always lovely to appear in Vicki Stanton's fabulous Buzz Words magazine - this time with an article on the upcoming national launch for the National Year of Reading.

Have you checked out Buzz Words? If you're in the kids' book industry, it's a must-read. Buzz Words - the lastest buzz on books for children.

standing up for what's right

with my very dear friend DeeDee (left); do I look like a monster to you?

Yesterday I had a small encounter that sent me plummeting back to a very disturbing time of my life. It was the late 90s and I was working as a flight attendant for soon-to-take-a-dive Ansett Airlines.

For well over a decade after leaving the airline in 1999, I was tortured over memories of my final year in their employ. The airline was struggling and down-scaling. Our flight school had been one of the last of a large intake of flight attendants, and effectively, we were on the 'bottom of the pile' for around three years.

Because the department ran on seniority, and anyone above us (ie: everyone) could pick and choose the lion's share of work, employees of the last few intakes began to suffer financially. Like - seriously suffer. Some flight attendants were struggling to pay their mortgages, and after many many months of unrest, a very large group of people (me included) began talking about the fact that things needed to change. The outmoded and very inequitable 'seniority' system needed to be leveled to a more even playing field.

To our delight, the management of the FA Dept agreed. That is not where we hit a hurdle. Where we hit a hurdle was the blue collar section.

What we were intending was by no means a mass revolution. Even the slightest changes at upper FA levels would effect an enormous domino effect that would easily bring underling flight attendants a far more decent wage. What is was, pure and simple, was a large bunch of people who just wanted a fair go. Of course, like any situation that involves human nature and a fear of lack, those higher up the scale - those who had it all - suddenly got antsy about having to share.

I have always been a champion of the great Aussie catch-cry - 'a fair go'. Equability. Sharing. Standing up for what's right has got me in trouble in the past, and helping head up this way of thinking with the Ansett flight attendant department would get me in trouble again. I would effectively become a monster to those who refused to budge - to those who scrabbled maliciously and with utter gluttony to keep it all for themselves, and to those who would make my life unparalleled hell.

The thing with human nature is that we have an enormous capacity to see injustice and to speak out about it (in a non-threatening capacity).

The other thing about human nature, is that as soon as many of us are called to 'action' our stance - we politely peel away. We hide. Sometimes we even join the other side.

I did no such thing. I, along with literally two others, stood strong and firm against injustice. And so I became a human target.

It's been said that the greatest human evil is apathy. Refusing to act. Watching others flounder and die for a cause they heartily wish to benefit from, but are too weak to do anything about. Frankly, this is how Hitler got his way - thanks to apathy. The poor souls aboard that flight destined for the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 showed strength against apathy.

But I digress. This is the first time I've ever spoken publicly about the terror of my Ansett experience. Barely a handful of people know about it (oh - and all the hapless neanderthals who both instigated and stood by to watch my torture and the torture of a few others).

But the reason I'm talking about it now, is that when I was - just yesterday - reminded of this appalling time in my life - something new happened. Something wonderful.

I felt proud.

Tears sprang to my eyes and I felt monumentally strong and proud.

You can imagine the effect my Ansett experience had on my life - in that it took me well over a decade to feel finally feel at peace. Yes, the memories are still abhorrent but this amazing sense of peace and forgiveness has swept over me. I actually felt sorry for all those people. I felt sorry that they didn't have the selflessness or courage or generosity or intelligence or self-awareness to be able to look objectively at the situation. I felt genuinely saddened for them, that they would stoop to lambasting someone just because they stood up for what was right (and more than reasonable).

I felt sorry that they had become, for all intents and purposes - blue-eyed (or Rednecked, depending on your POV).

I call this new, welcome reaction the Rosa Parks effect. My standing up to the seniors of the Ansett FA department may not even come up to the socks of what this monumental woman achieved for Civil Rights in America, but my oh my, I feel proud to even in the slightest way know that, just like Rosa, I would rather stand up and suffer than sit down and suffer (although, of course, in order to stand up, Rosa sat down!).

The years of hell those people willingly put me through pale in comparison to knowing I could have done nothing. Doing nothing has lifelong consequences that are surely the equivalent of a hundred times what I went through.

What have you done lately? It doesn't have to be for a mass cause. It could just be for yourself and the way others are mistreating you. Have you stood up? or have you sat down?

review - Riley and the Grumpy Wombat

An unbelievable thrill to have my literary idol - Jackie French - review Riley and the Grumpy Wombat. Click on the pic above to read the full review.

goals

Yesterday I spoke with a very wise friend and local franchise owner. He is the type of person who is smart, thoughtful, creative and dedicated. He is someone impassioned by his work. We got to chatting about business and about the year ahead and he got me thinking on a few different levels than I normally do.

I mean, I've started 2012 out well, and have had a couple of really special, productive much more balanced months of late, but Steve cottoned onto the fact that I'm staring to sweat. Why? Because the kids are about to go back to school and I'm staring down the barrel of yet 'another year' of perhaps doing too much, doing too much that's not working for me, doing too much time-wasting, and even perhaps - not achieving what it is I REALLY want to achieve.

But what is it that I really want to achieve? Really? I mean, I have a firm outline of all I have to get done, all my deadlines, all my events and plans - I know what it is I need to do and have to accomplish. And all of these things bring me joy.

BUT - what is it that I really want to do? What do I hold clutched in the fist of my dreams? What pie-in-the-sky desires do I have {that most of us have} that I'm leaving up there in their pie-in-the-sky, mistakenly thinking 'one day - maybe' {and usually followed by something like 'if a, b and c fall into place'}.

These desires don't even need to be big. Or work-related. They could be learning something new. Taking up something you used to love. Giving yourself more time to just Be. Pie-in-the-sky goals could be directing a Hollywood blockbuster or... growing heirloom tomatoes.

Steve actually asked me about my pie-in-the-skies and I said to him that these things only really happen to rich or famous or really well-established people. But then - what is rich, what is famous, what is well-established?

So, today I am dedicating some thought time to both thinking about, and writing down, my dreams. Actually - not dreams - goals. For this year. 2012. I'm not saying I'll achieve them this year, but I can certainly start consciously working towards them.

Working towards our goals means we are in the pilot seat. We are driving our own life in the direction of the pie. We are maximising our hours by honing and directing our energy, not diversifying too much, and so losing power and energy. We are finding more balance. We are happier, more focused, more driven by doing what we love. And if we do it well, we might even honour ourselves enough to leave pockets of time for just BEING.

Right now, I'm doing lots lots lots, but am I growing heirloom tomatoes? No. I absolutely love what I do and I love my life - but it is my absolute pie-in-the-sky? Maybe not.

What about you?

paradise pears

Where have I been?? Have you seen these before? Paradise Pears. They were sitting all innocent-like in the supermarket, in a little plastic box - and I saw them and my heart did race.

Also known as Faccia Bella pears, the pears are born in bunches and have a crisp, white, refreshing flesh that's high in fibre and vitamin C. I think they're just the perfect size for teensy hands - I'm so stashing these in the kids' lunchboxes this term.

Grab a handful {literally!} NOW, while they're still in season.

Learn more about Australian pear varieties here.