Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: ideas

  • Home Is Where You Make It

    Home Is Where You Make It

    Home Is Where You Make It is a truism as a well as being the title of the latest book from stylist, photographer and lifestyle guru Geneva Vanderzeil, as she guides the home owner or renter through the DIY steps to turn their house, room, flat or apartment into a space that becomes Home.

    A firm believer in using what is available creatively, she has over her years of travel turned the space in which she was living into her home; a place which welcomed with love and warmth, rather than a space which was showroom perfect.

    But how to achieve this warmth is altogether another thing, especially when you look at the books and magazines, along with certain website that encourage the newest, shiniest, perfect look. But do not be disheartened because, as she states, she firmly believes any space a can be made to look beautiful, perfect for you with a little bit of effort, fun and also cost effectively.

    Over the years she has created a six-step process from ‘the ground up’ which is accompanied by DIY tips, along with some basic tricks of the trade so to speak, and the rest is up to you.

    Kitchens are considered as the heart of the home; therefor serious attention needs to be given to space available for use, to ensure it is functional but has your personal stamp of warmth and welcome.

    Walls are an ideal space to create more than an art gallery. When used well, this versatile space offers so much; from a place to hang your art or hat, a few shelves to help with storage issues, a mirror hung strategically to invite in more light, the choices are endless.

    What to do with a tiny bedroom, bathroom, living area, are all issues which have solutions that can be creative with some careful planning, some guidance from Home Is Where You Make It and a little bit of DIY, enthusiasm and creativity. Designed as a guide book to make creating your home less complex, the resources page at the end of the book will also help guide you in the right direction for your budget.

    Writing from experience of renovating homes, as well as renting and living in many different countries, Home Is Where You Make It really is the perfect guide to offering solutions, long and short term, to create your special place called Home.

  • Stop Being Reasonable

    Stop Being Reasonable

    How best to describe a book that will stand all your preconceived ideas about who you are on their collective heads, and pose the question ‘What if you are not who you think you are?’, the reasonable, human being you have always thought you were!

    The answer to that is, read the book and then make a serious life decision as to who you are and who are the people that are close to you: You may be very surprised at the answers.

    Philosopher Eleanor Gordon-Smith brings her vast array of talent to this wonderful, fresh look at life and who we really think we are in ‘Stop being reasonable’, a rather wry, but very truthful look at how we form and become the person we are, the influences which over the course of childhood set the boundaries for what we think, the people we mix with, the beliefs we hold dear.

    Often these ideals remain unchallenged until something causes them to be challenged, causes a rethink, a change of direction, lifestyle or belief. The catalyst may be large or small.

    The Introduction is thought provoking as one would expect from a Philosopher, the following chapters, or rather excerpts from life are more than that; they are enlightening, enjoyable, revealing and fascinating, as the layers are pealed back on lives of six people as they discover that who they thought they were, was not really who they are and would eventually become.

    Some of the content could be considered as offensive, inflammatory or controversial, but the reality is, this is life in its raw state, life that is considered as ‘normal’. Life that when change is required to be made, can come with cataclysmic results for those who are brave enough to face up to wanting to be who they really are.

    Wading through what is termed as the ‘murky place where philosophy and real life meet, this is not a book for the faint hearted, but rather a book that is an entirely fascinating read from cover to cover, and one that can be read, slightly tongue-in-cheek or from a serious perspective of making change and accepting the reality of setting yourself free!

  • Ruby’s Worry

    Ruby’s Worry

    Ruby loved being Ruby. She loved to play, she loved to swing in the park and explore faraway places that lay at the bottom of the garden, until one day she discovered a worry!

    Now this worry was not a very big worry, but a worry none the less. It was something that would not go away. In fact, it grew, and grew and grew until it became a HUGE worry. The very strange thing was that no one else could see her worry, the only person that could was Ruby!

    This worry, that had arrived in her life, and went everywhere that she went, made her very sad. She really did not know how to go about getting rid of it as it just seemed to hang about, making her days not very bright and happy any more.

    In Ruby’s Worry, Tom Percival goes about addressing the problem of worry in a small child’s life, in a manner that is sensitive, perceptive and very enjoyable. The illustrations as always with his books are clear, colourful and fit the storyline perfectly, to create the character of Ruby as a happy, joyful and engaged little girl.

    By the end of the story Ruby has discovered the secret of how to make worries disappear, but not altogether, by sharing her worries, which makes them shrink, a bit like magic.

    Ruby’s Worry is the perfect vehicle to gently encourage children to understand what a worry is and that while worries are a part of life, they don’t need to become HUGE, big, worries before they can be talked about.

    As a book to share with a group of children, it is one which will provoke a range of ideas and discussion points, with the underlying message there for all ages to discover and remember, ‘that a worry shared is a worry halved’ as the old saying does go, which is something we, as adults, tend to forget and children need to understand.

    The perfect book for read aloud situations, classroom groups and for little ones who do tend to worry.