Celebrating One Year Of

It has been an epic year of writing, designing, crafting and photography for me. I have worn all these hats in creating my published work. No small feat for a small body such as myself. I am proud of my body of work, and so I should.

My work has developed so quickly during this time, and I hope that what I've created leads to more opportunities to create. Here's to the next twelve months.

Thank you My Poppet and Handmade for taking me on.

Welcome to Iva's World



Photography by Candice Ransom

    The author Candice Ransom, a childhood favourite of mine, is now celebrating the release of her book and cheeky new character - Iva Honeysuckle. The book is called Iva Honeysuckle Discovers the World, published by Disney Hyperion.
    Come join the party and help Iva and Candice celebrate the publication of this pretty book... http://www.candiceransom.com/honeysucklevine/2012/publication-day-party/


Photography by Candice Ransom

Because We All Need Encouragement

When I begin to lose faith in myself and by extension my writing, it is important to remember the good things that others have said about me...

Thank you Candice!

What Are You Singing?

Have you ever heard a catchy song on the radio that you loved so much it became your personal anthem? You couldn’t get enough of that song. You simply had to sing along every time it played on the radio — it lifted you so high. But then that thing happens. Like when people learnt the world is not flat and that the Earth is not the centre of the universe.

Sometimes you listen to a song and no matter how many times you’ve heard it, the singer’s voice is so heavily accented, indistinct or simply overpowered by all the other instruments that the words we hear are so completely different from the lyrical content.

When this sort of thing happens it can be funny, annoying or in my case downright embarrassing.

I remember when Kylie Minogue covered Locomotion (originally performed by Little Eva) and it was something of a hit here in Australia. One day I was at the public swimming pool, sitting on the ground in a circle of peers. Someone began singing Locomotion and the rest of us joined in. When it came to the line ‘you gotta swing your hips, now’, I committed a faux pas — I sang [gasp] ‘you gotta swing your tits, now’. In my defence let me just point out that I was a child and I really did believe that this was what was being sung. After all I had been singing this for many a week when I was home alone. But my innocent slip was not seen that way. Everyone paused in mid song, turned and stared at me. One girl screwed up her nose and declared ‘that’s disgusting’. All the blood in my body rushed to my face and I turned into a tomato.

I am not sure though that any lesson was learnt that day, except that I had knack for embarrassing myself.

Years down the track Gwen Stefani, one of my favourite artists, came out with What You Waiting For? I loved, loved, loved this song, it got into my head and pumped through my heart. I listened and sang along to it almost all the time. But then… Oops, I did it again! Can you guess what happened? When Gwen sang the line ‘They’re waiting for your next track’, I was right back at her with ‘They’re waiting for your heart attack’.

At this point I’m thinking, I should probably check lyrics of my favourite songs online before howling, off key, what I believe to be the song at the top of my lungs when driving down the highway.

I thought I’d share other wonderful examples of when we got the song line so completely wrong:

• Smoke on the Water [Deep Purple] — Slow talking Walter
• Our Lips are sealed [The Go Gos] — Alex the Seal
• Boys Light Up [Australian Crawl] — Balls Up
• Tiny Dancer [Elton John] — Hold me close Tony Danza

What in Autumn?

What is going on with the weather, lately? I know I say this every single year in March, but that is only because I keep forgetting.
On the first of March I fully expect the leaves to  have turned brown and fallen to the ground over night. This of course does not happen.
What does occur is a battle of wills between hot and cold. The evenings may be cooling, but for a good many weeks the month of March is in denial and allows the sun to continue shining so brightly during the day, that the house heats up, the fans switch on and my daughter is running around in a state of half undress.
Come on Autumn which way are we going to have it? At the moment life feels like a Katy Perry song. You know the one, called “Hot and Cold”.
At the moment I am knitting a beanie for myself, but it feels weird to be knitting on a warm day. It's like trying to eat a roast on Christmas day in Australia, which is just really strange. I don't want to be knitting on a warm day. I should be knitting in cool weather. That way I will be more motivated to finish that beanie within a few days.

Typewriter

    I am so thankful to have a computer for my writing and drawing. It is a time saver. It allows me to be creative within the confines of a small home. It really does take the hassle out of storage.

    On the flipside I will admit a little something is lost along the way when using a computer. Humans rely on their five senses in many situations, whether it is through pleasure or detecting danger. We need those senses to feel connected. How do you paint if you have never seen the world? How do you write music if you can’t hear it? How do you cook well without being able to taste and smell it? The answer is, that it can be done but perhaps not to the full extent that you would have wanted.

    Reading, writing and drawing can have a much stronger affect if it is something graspable. I for one find my writing to sometimes flow more fluidly when I am working off paper that can be touched and manipulated.

    Before the advent of the computer the typewriter was a professional tool, which still allowed the stimulation of so many senses. The typewriter marked the beginning of handwriting being left behind. But the fact that it instantly went to paper still allowed the writer/reader to feel that connection which I have been talking about.

    When I was about seven, one of my parents brought home from work a grey typewriter that otherwise would have been thrown out. It was given to me, and I had such fun playing with the machine. One of the keys didn't work, which is why it was being turfed, but that didn't matter. Still to this day I am satisfied by the memory of those clickety-clack sounds the typewriter made. Especially when it reached the end and you had to prepare the machine for the next line.

    Sometimes I wish that the computer could be programmed with typewriter sound effects. Now wouldn't that be something?

Candice, Kobie & Me

When I was about age ten, I was given the book Fourteen and Holding, written by Candice Ransom. It was my first teen book, and it was an absolute hit — being about Kobie Roberts, a young teen coping with family, friends, bullies and herself. The book now looks quite pounded because I read it over and over, so many times. Then when I was twelve, I was allowed to order through book club the follow up book Fifteen At Last. I was so excited about reading the continuing adventures of Kobie.

The author, Candice Ransom has written more than a hundred children's books. That is amazing to me, as I am someone who struggles just to finish short stories, or write even a single coherent blog entry. :)

I highly recommend visiting Candice's website, which is filled with lovely, interesting details about the author:

http://www.candiceransom.com/

And it is only natural, being that Candice is a writer, that she keeps a blog:

http://candice-ransom.livejournal.com/

…

Thank you Candice, for your lovely response to my email.