The Year I forgot.

Well, that's not quite true, I clearly haven't forgotten an entire year as those who follow me else-where would know.  But I most definitely have forgotten this part of my world for a year & my only excuse is work, family, work & work. So, to make up for that unforgivable forgetfulness, I have condensed the last year into what I hope are interesting snippets. & so, in reverse order, the year has kind of gone like this...

SEPTEMBER:  We went home to the UK for some well earned R&R, where I dressed up for a wedding, not mine.

Went to London & stayed behind this beautiful building, The Michelin Building.

Dropped in to say high to the crew at Bright HQ.

Went down underground...

came up again & hung out with some of these guys.

& ate at Carluccio's.

Collected some stuff.

Cobnuts

...

Blackberries & Mushrooms

...

Wooly Mammoth Bone

...

Throughout this forgotten year I've been lucky enough to work on some really nice jobs.

Peter & The Wolf - CJ Educations

Robbie Ravenbeak - Pearson UK

Best of Friends - Quirky Kids Clinic

Oops Owl! - Harper Collins Children

Signed an awesome new book deal with Running Press for the Picture Book Frank & here is my editor Lisa Cheng receiving signed contracts with a twist.

Way back, around March, I was invited to talk to the students at Balnarring Primary school... for a week. That's a lot of talking. 

We talked about books, of course & how we create stories & the characters that inhabit them. 

The students were ace & more than willing to go along with my crazy thought trains. 

We drew, a lot. & Proved that you don't have to be good at either drawing or writing to come up with great stories.

So there is the year. It has been a long year, a busy year & finally a year that's here.

Take & decorate.

So here is a very brief breakdown of how we (me & my daughter), made our christmas decorations this year...

Take some Champagne corks & Gum nuts. Acorns would be cool too if you live somewhere where Gum trees are few & far between. So, that's pretty much anywhere except Australia.

Undercoat.

 Colour

Detail & Varnish

Go Nuts

Endless Fun