What’s Hot + What’s Not

It’s time again for this week’s What Hot + What’s Not. It comes around quickly – take part if you feel compelled and leave your url link in the little widget at the end of my post so we can come and see you hots and nots.

What’s Hot

Around the World with Mouk by Marc Boutavant. Recently translated from the French is this fabulous children’s book which is totally hot in our house this week. Every page is a huge explosion of colour, activity and cute characters. Mouk travels from Lapland to Africa, from Australia (Kangaroo Island specifically) to Japan. The whimsical characters are a little Moomin-like (and spot the character reading a Moomin book in Lapland!) and the huge spreads with so much to explore remind me of some of Richard Scarry’s big books from when I was a kid. According to the Chronicle Books blog, the American version will be released in the Fall… so… now-ish? If you have a child in the right age group for this which is probably 3 – 10 (or a illustration freak of any age) — this book would be an AWESOME christmas gift as it is big and glossy and has a slightly puffy cover and has removable stickers in the back. So good. You can preorder it at Amazon, or get it at Readings.

Pimm’s: We went to Byron Bay with a UK lad who introduced us to the joys of Pimm’s and lemonade. I gained several kilos from sipping on these. So our new celebratory cocktail is Pimm’s on ice, with a top up with lemonade, with slices of orange, lemon, thin slivers of cucumber and a sprig of mint. So pretty and so delicious.

Holztiger wooden animals: I bought a shark and a dolfin back from Byron for my girls – because not only are they absolutely gorgeous but can go in the bath! Lily’s shark has become a bathtime terror. “Holztiger toys are all handmade using maple, oak, beech and birch and make use of water-based acrylic paints.” We got ours from the beautiful My Toy Shop in Byron Bay. The fox is sitting on my bedside table.

Trop Jr: “The Worlds Largest Short Film Festival for Kids! By Kids! A recent addition to the Tropfest program is a short filmmaking competition open to kids aged 15 years and younger. 2008 was the first ever Trop Jr, 8 Finalists premiered their films to a live audience at the Crescent Precinct, across from Sydney’s Domain, before big Tropfest.” — this year’s signature item (a theme or something that needs to be included somehow) is “DOT”. It’s time to put all those video cameras.

Also: Teddy’s new nose, blue playdough, our new avocado and lemon trees, Flash Forward and Hydralyte Liquid.

What’s Not

Gastro! First Lily, then my parents, now me… who will be next?

Coming home from our holiday to an exhausted and sick family – and all the associated stress and guilt. Not hot at all.

My Mum looking after Lily as I vomited etc. on her birthday – NOT HOT! Happy birthday Mum.

Blergh. Hopefully next week’s not hot will not be about vomit.

Cuts like butter

I finished cutting out my stencils a couple of days ago. Karena was right — the oiled kraft paper is brilliant, kinda greasy but totally enjoyable to cut into. I can see how people get into paper cutting now.

Unfortunately our littlest family member is miserable and sick again. This time with the HORRIFIC sounding Hand Foot and Mouth disease. Ah dear. Luckily it’s not as bad as it sounds and apart from a rash she is quite cheerful enough to run around and around the doctor’s waiting room screaming “YA YA YA YA!” really loudly. But sick again she is. A friend of mine exclaimed recently (I think it was during the great croup fiasco) “you have all come down with a bad case of the Creche!”. So true. Two days of childcare a week gives me time to work and time for sanity, and Lily enjoys it… but the sicknesses which seem to go around are definitely a major drawback. It’s like a little bubbling petri dish in there. On the one hand it could be said that she is building up her natural immunity, on the other she’s been pretty much under the weather since the beginning of February which is a long time now, and that’s no fun. So we are in quarantine for a few days and I will be lurking around The Crafty Crow for some ideas for fun things to do. My stenciling will have to wait.

On my desk… Amelia’s Art c. 2005

On my desk on a Wednesday has rolled around quickly again.

Cute huh? Amelia did this in an art class for toddlers back in the day. While the finished product is lovely I don’t condone the practice — It was one of those classes where the lovely teacher sat at the head of the table and said “Ok now everyone take a sticker and stick it on the face, and there’s an eye! Now take another sticker and stick it on the other side of the face and there’s the other eye! Now let’s all add some wool for hair!” Etc. Craft by numbers really. Amelia can take complete credit for the colour choices though — love the red hair with the jaunty maroon feather. We lasted in that class another two sessions then I decided it was not for us and we stayed at home and made messes with glue on our own time. Amelia still, to this day, will occasionally ask “when can we go back to the art class mum? I loved that class!” — so there you go. Perhaps we should have stuck it out.

I am over this sick thing. Both girls slept through the night last night and that is a rare feat indeed but unfortunately I woke myself up coughing and hacking around 3 and so it was completely wasted. I’m off to the doctor’s this evening so perhaps that will put an end to all this complaining on my blog. Tomorrow I promise something joyful!