Lifeline Bookfest winter edition

Hello lovely people. I guess I had a mini blog break without meaning too. I just didn't feel inspired to blog about anything in particular. So hopefully that has passed. A few weeks ago I went to one of my favourite events of the year, the Lifeline Bookfest. It comes around about every six months and it's amazing. Like I always say, books and all for charity, it's a great event. 

A few of my children's books for my collection.

 A few adult fiction books. Kate Morton is a local author and I enjoy her books. 

A few Little Golden Books, a May Gibbs book and another Alice in Wonderland  book for my collection.

More Baby Sitters Club and Sweet Valley books for my other collection :) 

I have so many books now but I've started to go through my collection to give a whole bunch of them away. I don't think I could completely commit to ebooks but my book collection is getting out of hand. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Lifeline Bookfest Summer 2013

Hey peeps! I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was pretty amazing. On Saturday I had a brunch with some friends, then Jason and I went to the Lifeline Bookfest afterwards. (I also got a massage on Sunday!). If you have been reading my blog you will know that going to the Bookfest is one of my favourite events to attend each year. As I've mentioned before supporting a charity and books is a good combination. 

So here are the books I bought....

1. Babysitter Club books for my collection, St Clares and Malory Towers books, colour illustrated version The Boy and his horse (Narnia Chronicles), 2nd book in Emily of New Moon series, The Unicorn Sonata (in preparation for my unicorn inspired birthday - I do want to read The Last Unicorn as well), A unicorn picture book for inspiration (and my future kids book shelves)

2. So I'm a huge Star Wars fan and wanted to try reading a book series, have wanted to read Flowers in the attic, I like Juliet Marillier's YA books, Robin Hobb is a good fantasy writer, I enjoy Melina Marchetta books since reading Looking for Alibrandi for high school

3. I wanted to try the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, recommended Jodi Picoult, Still haven't read Water for Elephants, The Blind Assasin I thought could be interesting (though I have read A Handmaiden's tale and wasn't sure if I really liked it), another recommended Jodi Picoult

4. I thought this was a cute kids book since it's in English and French! Another good book for my future kids bookshelves. 

I got a good haul yet again. I'm running out of room on my book shelves but I just need to shift things around and maybe give away a few of the books I know I won't read again. 

Have a fantastic week!

Girly date with Jasmine

Hey Lovelies. I had a great day yesterday. I had a girl's day with Jasmine. It was such a great day. We went vintage shopping at Paddington, watched a movie and went to the Lifeline Bookfest. 

Unfortunately, we didn't document the day with photos so I will just share some after photos of the items purchased. 

We went to RaRa Superstar in Paddington because the store was having a 'garage sale.' It was a stinking hot day though and it was difficult to try clothes on. And I'm sad I didn't take photos of the complimentary homemade lemonade and mini cupcakes. 

I bought these skirts. They are light and great for summer. 

This dress is a little different from what I would usually buy but I liked it (and it's crinkled because it was at the bottom of the suitcase I was rummaging in)

This is supposed to be an apron but I'm going to turn it into a dress. It's adorable on! 

We then went to watch The Journey 2. To be honest I really only wanted to watch it see Josh Hutcherson in action but it was still fun. 

We saw the Hunger Games poster and had a fan girl moment. 

We went to the Bookfest afterwards (this was the second trip for me). I bought more Babysitter club books and a few other books series that brought back memories. 

A few kids books for my future children. 

A few more books I thought would be interesting. And I did get influenced by the pretty covers.

I think these girly dates are good for a the soul because it was fabulous. I look forward to more of these dates. 

I'm on holidays this week. I'm so excited! It's also our 2 year wedding anniversary this week :) 

Books make me happy

Hello lovelies. Thanks for all your great comments :) They never fail to put a smile on my face.

As I mentioned last post, Jason and I went to the Lifeline Bookfest. They have three sections. Unpriced books (usually really cheap), a priced section (still cheap...like all books $2 etc) and a prices as marked section. 

This is from the unpriced section. I'm collecting the Babysitters Club books (nostalgia and I actually do re read them). I'm also collecting Alice in Wonderland books. 

This is from the mid priced section. I loved the Green Mile movie so hopefully I will enjoy the book. 

This is from the priced as marked section. I was overjoyed to see some of the Anne of Green Gables books. They didn't have all of them but I'm glad I was able to get these ones. 

Going to the Bookfest really brightened up my day and it's all for charity. So I'm hoping to go again this weekend, this time with Jasmine :) We had fun last time. I do have a plan for this Saturday which I hope we can do. 

Have a wonderful rest of week. Three days of work for me until my week off. My two year wedding anniversary is next week and my birthday is the week after!

Happy Things to end the week with

It's been a busy week and I'm so glad it's nearly the weekend. I'm still tired and my head is full of so much information, I wouldn't mind relaxing for the next few days.

So happy things to end my week....

♥ My new job. It is going well as my last post indicated. 

* not the greatest photo. This is my volunteer ID tag

♥ I had my first volunteer session today at the Mater hospital. It was fun though kind of daunting. I loved holding little baby feet and making little prints but I'm not sure I will be able to do this by myself so I might change positions. I will try again next week and make a decision then :) 

♥ My current read. A Clash of Kings, the second book in A song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones is the first book). The more I read the series the more I love it.  

I have a ton of things to organise including a blog giveaway, an Etsy sale, a letterpress course and potential ballet classes. Plus I have mail to respond to, packages to send out (I have a bit of a back log) and swaps to complete. But tonight I'm going to do lots of reading and relaxing.

Have a beautiful and blessed weekend.

P.S. I have another guest post at Anastasia's blog here. It's a ballet inspired post. 

Life line Bookfest

This weekend Jason and I went up to the Sunshine Coast to visit my brother and sis in law. It was really lovely but more about that next time :)

Yesterday was a public holiday here and I went to the Lifeline Bookfest with Jasmine. I've a gone few times over the years and I love it! Soon, Jasmine and I were holding many books (our arms were hurting from lugging them around to each section).

Tables full of books. This is just one section. 

This is everything I bought. 

I'm collecting old children's books with pretty illustrations. At first I was going to cut them up to make envelopes but I don't have the heart to do that anymore. 

I thought I would start collecting the Baby-Sitters Club books again (I had a lot growing up but gave them away). These are a few of the books I read when I was younger so nostalgia set in. And I thought I would collect them for my future daughter :) 

Some paperback novels I thought would be great to read. A Wrinkle in Time, The Handmaid's Tale, StarGirl and Something Borrowed have been on my wish list. The others will also be good to read.

And I adore hand bound books like this. To be honest I really bought them for the covers though I'm sure I will read them. Some Charles Dickens and Gone with the Wind Volume 1 and 2. 

We have so much fun rummaging through the books and spent a few hours there. I know I will go to the next bookfest and keep collecting my Baby Sitters Club books (I will need to list what I have). Plus this all goes to Charity (Lifeline). Charity and books is a winning combination. 

Have a fantastic week!

Mockingjay

I haven't finished reading this yet because I only got it yesterday. There was this whole drama with my bookstore where I pre order didn't receive the books in time. I ended up getting it from my work place. My work mate went through all these boxes of books to find the book for me. I'm so grateful to her.

I wasn't going to read it on Wednesday anyway, I was leaving it for Friday as a reward for a long work day yesterday.

Anyway, I really want to finish it so I can join in the discussion which are already happening and it's so hard to stay away from spoilers. Plus Jason is away this weekend :( I'm already missing him. I guess you can see that we are still in the honeymoon period :)

But I'm LOVING the book so far. It's definitely the most intense and I can't wait to finish it. Have a wonderful weekend. I hope to check all your blogs after the book :)

My Hunger Games Love

* Swap is now closed

Just a few things first, it's the last day to sign up for the Just Because You're Lovely Swap. I've already started matching people up so I might assign partners earlier than I said :) So that means more time to put together a pretty package for your partner!

Thank you to everyone who has signed up. I really hope you enjoy it! It's my first time hosting so I hope it all works out.

As the title suggests I have this obsession with The Hunger Games trilogy. I've mentioned this trilogy countless times on this blog and my love for it has not changed.

With the release of Mockingjay next week (25th in Australia which is pretty much the 24th in the US) my excitement is feverishly gaining momentum. I'm planning on re-reading the books just before the release so it feels like I'm continuing on.

It will be so good to find out how it all ends but at the same time so sad that it's over. When I first read The Hunger Games I felt so weird after (because I couldn't stop thinking about it) and have re read it countless times since then. There was the horrible wait (for a year) to read Catching Fire. Once that was out I had to wait again (for a year) to read Mockingjay.

Seriously if you have not read these books yet I urge you. I don't think I had a person that I've recommended the series to that hasn't liked them. It is not you're usual young adult book and I love that. (It gets compared to Twilight a lot, though I have no idea why because this is written so much better but I can't complain because it was Stephenie Meyer who introduced me to the series when it was first released)

But, these books are just amazing! Suzanne Collins is the master at wanting you to keep turning the pages. She creates characters that make you care. She is by far one of my favourite authors (I've also read her Underland Chronicles which I loved). If I could meet an author I would love to meet her.

Anyway, I've bought a few Hunger Games merchandise. I got a shirt from Zazzle.

What I love about it is that you would not understand it unless you have read the first book.

I'm going to wear it when I go pick up Mockingjay next week.

via The Meadow etsy

I bought this necklace which has a few of the lyrics from Rue's lullaby. Again something from the first book.

Via Dragonflycurls etsy

I bought this handmade rubber stamp of a Mockingjay from etsy. It's to use on my letters (especially for the Hunger Games fans)

I'm sure I will be getting more items very soon. Anyway, sorry that turned into a huge post. If I recommend any book series this year it will be this one.

P.S. I'm guest posting at Pugh's News on the 19th August.

Have a great rest of week!

I belong in Narnia

Concept Art by Ben Wootten via Narniaweb

For the longest time I have loved the books Chronicles of Narnia. I first read the books when I was about 14 and since then have read the books at least once a year. Those books got me obsessed with fantasy worlds.

I thought it was the most beautiful place (in my mind). I love that C.S. Lewis left a lot to the imagination but I guess that made it difficult to make a movie because everyone had their own version of Narnia in their head. That concept art picture is pretty perfect though.

I love fantasy books because they inspire the imagination to create worlds that exist in your dreams. Which is why I'm also a fan of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland and a whole lot of other books.

From The Voyage of the Dawn Treader set. A sneak peak at my photos :)

The next movie is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They filmed a fair bit of it here in Australia. And not just Australia, some of it was filmed only 20 minutes away from where I live. This was last year sometime. So being such a fan, Jason and I went to visit the set.

I will write more about this next post because I haven't got the photos here on my comp. Although there were a lot shared on Narniaweb. I thought I would share a few bits of merchandise which I would love to own. And I made a little page in my inspiration journal (the one I wanted to start).

Via The Noble Collection

This is a jewellery box. I would love keep some precious items in here.

Via The Easton Press

Leather bound versions of the book. I have all the books that my mum bought 10 years before I was born in this little bookshop where she used to work (My love of reading came from here)

Bob Siemon design via Narniaweb

A little wardrobe necklace. I love that it opens up to reveal Lucy in Narnia.

Via NarniaWeb

I love the look of pocketwatches, so why not a Narnia one.

Via Twostraycats etsy

This would look sweet on our lounge. It's an illustration that's taken from the books. Pauline Baynes is the illustrator.

Via Bindme etsy

This isn't actually something Narnian but it reminds me of Narnia. I wouldn't mind this journal for all my dreams.

I love Narnia so much I even joined a swap on Craftster. Although I checked when this was and was back in 2005! So my craft skills weren't that great. But my favourite thing I made was my Lucy doll.

I made this 5 years ago and I look at it now and think it's cute but oh my. It was the first rag doll I had ever made. It had to be hand sewn too.

And this is the journal page I made yesterday. I took the photo this morning and it's pouring down with rain so the lighting is a bit off. That quote has nothing to do with the image obviously but The Silver Chair is one of my fave books in the series.

Well that is just a part of my love for Narnia. There is more merchandise that I would love to own. Next post will centre around the movie set. To end...this is why I adore children's books so much. The feeling of wonderment and the beauty of the imagination. I know my future kids will be bombarded with fantasy worlds created by books.