Two hours ago, I sat down at the computer surfing for knitting patterns. I stumbled upon a beautiful site offering Shabby Chic adornments to Blogs for free.
Feeling adventurous and bold, and fully aware of the havoc that my fingers could wreck, I decided to have a go....VOILA...What you see before you is my new look Blog.
What do you think?
I'm pretty happy with it, and with myself for being brave. For those of you who are reading this that are more techno savvy than myself, it is a "biggy" for me!
This is now more like me, fanciful and whimsical.
Press onward and upward, more to come.
Message in this? One never knows what one will find when surfing the wonderful internet.
Hope you like the New Look
Love Simply Susan
About Simply Susan
- Simply Susan
- Made in England, Susan grew up particularly enjoying collecting second hand books and visiting jumble sales for bargains. She moved to Australia where she developed a passion for 'Treasure' hunting in opportunity shops. This led to her home becoming a refuge for orphaned bears and an assortment of hand made objects. Susan loves to spend her time creating beautiful country crafts and writing poems about her creations and life experiences. When not busily sewing or writing Susan enjoys hosting themed afternoon teas for her friends and relaxing in her home on the beautiful Gold Coast. May you enjoy Simply Susan's musings.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Updates
I managed to snap my beaded wires and capture the colours for you to Ooh and Aah over, well, I did, won't you?
Well, I'm confident that you'll get the general idea, and rejoice with me.
Further to my last entry about these beaded wires,we returned to N.S.W.via a beautiful route with magnificent views of coast and mountains, back to the op shop where I found the stash last week. I was optimistic that there would be more wires for sale. My luck was in! Not only were there more available for purchase, BUT there was a fifty per cent sale on all bric a brac! OOOH was I happy! Yes. I bought some more and I have added them to my display.
I also returned to the most attractive and well stocked kitchen shop, where last week I purchased two trinket boxes, disguised as confectionery and bought another to add to my tea trolly of tea things. Check this out and have a drool!
In case you are wondering, I became interested in faux food a couple of years ago, when I saw a fabric tea pot and knitted and crocheted cakes in a magazine. I was fascinated and hooked! I had to make some of my own.
One thing led to another, that necessitated a tiered cake plate on which to place them and a tea trolley on which to appropriately display, my "tea things". The collection includes 'delights' made in other mediums, selected for their authenticity - check out the chocolate biscuits on the bottom shelf! I purchased them at a craft extravaganza and while walking to the check out, so real did they appear to people that several asked could they have one for morning tea!
Something interesting that I have learned about myself, why make one when you can make several...different colours, materials...MMMmmmm
Have a giggle and remember things aren't always what they seem!
Happy Weekend
Simply Susan
Well, I'm confident that you'll get the general idea, and rejoice with me.
Further to my last entry about these beaded wires,we returned to N.S.W.via a beautiful route with magnificent views of coast and mountains, back to the op shop where I found the stash last week. I was optimistic that there would be more wires for sale. My luck was in! Not only were there more available for purchase, BUT there was a fifty per cent sale on all bric a brac! OOOH was I happy! Yes. I bought some more and I have added them to my display.
I also returned to the most attractive and well stocked kitchen shop, where last week I purchased two trinket boxes, disguised as confectionery and bought another to add to my tea trolly of tea things. Check this out and have a drool!
In case you are wondering, I became interested in faux food a couple of years ago, when I saw a fabric tea pot and knitted and crocheted cakes in a magazine. I was fascinated and hooked! I had to make some of my own.
One thing led to another, that necessitated a tiered cake plate on which to place them and a tea trolley on which to appropriately display, my "tea things". The collection includes 'delights' made in other mediums, selected for their authenticity - check out the chocolate biscuits on the bottom shelf! I purchased them at a craft extravaganza and while walking to the check out, so real did they appear to people that several asked could they have one for morning tea!
Something interesting that I have learned about myself, why make one when you can make several...different colours, materials...MMMmmmm
Have a giggle and remember things aren't always what they seem!
Happy Weekend
Simply Susan
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sensational Satisfaction from the STASH
Its official, I have Magpie genes!
I love looking at and collecting all things shiny, glittery, and of a sparkly nature. You may have already gathered that from previous blogs of mine, mentioning raindrops sparkling in sunshine and on cobwebs etc etc.
Today, in an op shop over the border in N.S.W. I spied an unusual shaped glass bottle containing an abundance of stems of bead covered wires. Gorgeous, to my magpie trained eyes! I managed a deal with the lady in the shop, gaining three bunches for the price of two - I was very happy!
Having left the establishment with my glittery treasure clutched in my hand, my thoughts started to turn over, should I have bought more, to give away?
Halfway home, I remembered some beads that I have, oodles of them, from some strange kind of adornment, multi stranded necklace/belt that I bought years ago, that never worked for me. I had refashioned some of the many beads into a necklace and bracelets, and still there were heaps of beads left over. They are glass and the colours that you would see when looking at oil or petrol on a puddle - greens, pinks, purples, blues and golds.
I couldn't wait to arrive home and get going making some stems of my own! So the afternoon passed peacefully, me threading beads onto lengths of galvanized wire and then binding the ends with white satin ribbon.
The effect is not very obvious in the photo, but trust me, they look good! They looked very pretty and twinkly in my vase as the sunlight caught them! I am a happy girl!
So the stash comes in mighty handy, when the crafty mood strikes. You never know when you might use those items you kept.! Another example of that this week are the three Curly Whirly scarves that I was able to knit from yarn from the stash.
Oh Yes, I also made two pretty doily dolls from items from the sensational stash, to give as birthday presents to two special ladies in my life, sorry I forgot to photograph them.
So, this is in praise of the Stash, long may it live and enhance my crafty life.
Think twice before you throw stuff away and...
Watch out for sparkles!
Have a great day
Simply Susan
I love looking at and collecting all things shiny, glittery, and of a sparkly nature. You may have already gathered that from previous blogs of mine, mentioning raindrops sparkling in sunshine and on cobwebs etc etc.
Today, in an op shop over the border in N.S.W. I spied an unusual shaped glass bottle containing an abundance of stems of bead covered wires. Gorgeous, to my magpie trained eyes! I managed a deal with the lady in the shop, gaining three bunches for the price of two - I was very happy!
Having left the establishment with my glittery treasure clutched in my hand, my thoughts started to turn over, should I have bought more, to give away?
Halfway home, I remembered some beads that I have, oodles of them, from some strange kind of adornment, multi stranded necklace/belt that I bought years ago, that never worked for me. I had refashioned some of the many beads into a necklace and bracelets, and still there were heaps of beads left over. They are glass and the colours that you would see when looking at oil or petrol on a puddle - greens, pinks, purples, blues and golds.
I couldn't wait to arrive home and get going making some stems of my own! So the afternoon passed peacefully, me threading beads onto lengths of galvanized wire and then binding the ends with white satin ribbon.
The effect is not very obvious in the photo, but trust me, they look good! They looked very pretty and twinkly in my vase as the sunlight caught them! I am a happy girl!
So the stash comes in mighty handy, when the crafty mood strikes. You never know when you might use those items you kept.! Another example of that this week are the three Curly Whirly scarves that I was able to knit from yarn from the stash.
Oh Yes, I also made two pretty doily dolls from items from the sensational stash, to give as birthday presents to two special ladies in my life, sorry I forgot to photograph them.
So, this is in praise of the Stash, long may it live and enhance my crafty life.
Think twice before you throw stuff away and...
Watch out for sparkles!
Have a great day
Simply Susan
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Anniversary Cake
Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. As it was Tuesday 'family' night dinner, I cooked corned beef in the crock pot and served it with mustard sauce and vegetables and followed that with (home grown) rhubarb crumble and custard - all very suitable for a chilly winter evening. Our daughter presented us with a lovely cake, that she had decorated for us...
Isn't it gorgeous? She is such a trick.
Should you be interested in seeing more of her beautiful work, please check out Cakes to Delight on Facebook and be amazed.
Isn't it gorgeous? She is such a trick.
Should you be interested in seeing more of her beautiful work, please check out Cakes to Delight on Facebook and be amazed.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Search for Kangaroos
Yep! We were successful in our kangaroo search this evening, seeing dozens of them grazing in the scrub just a couple of kilometers from home.
How quickly one can become accustomed to seeing these beautiful,large, wild animals so close to home. This is a wonder we shouldn't take for granted.
The kangaroos were quite inquisitive towards my camera toting friend, who is keen to take documentary evidence back with her to New Zealand, to show her grandson. After today, she will have lots to show and tell him of her adventures on the Gold Coast!
My day is drawing to a close, I am suitably tired after so much fresh air and excitement, I forgot to mention that we included a visit to MacDonalds to indulge in my favourite Chocolate Sundae. Could a day get much better?
Night Night....Zzzzzzzz
How quickly one can become accustomed to seeing these beautiful,large, wild animals so close to home. This is a wonder we shouldn't take for granted.
The kangaroos were quite inquisitive towards my camera toting friend, who is keen to take documentary evidence back with her to New Zealand, to show her grandson. After today, she will have lots to show and tell him of her adventures on the Gold Coast!
My day is drawing to a close, I am suitably tired after so much fresh air and excitement, I forgot to mention that we included a visit to MacDonalds to indulge in my favourite Chocolate Sundae. Could a day get much better?
Night Night....Zzzzzzzz
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
A Whale of a Day
What an amazing day I have had! Some weeks ago my savvy daughter put me onto a social site that enabled me to pre-purchase tickets for a whale watching cruise at avery reasonable price. As my friend was coming from New Zealand to stay for a few days and whale watching was on my list of entertainments for us, I eagerly and gratefully took full advantage of the discount. Today was the day we selected to use the vouchers.
Now, you need to understand that this is probably my fourth foray into the Gold Coast waters to watch whales and, I have to say that though we have always seen some, they have neither been close or prolific.
Today we struck lucky! What an outing it proved to be! If you have ever seen a photo of a whale doing anything in the water, we saw it this morning! Everything several times! Wow Factor PLUS PLUS! I was absolutely beside myself at our good fortune in seeing these amazing creatures frolicking in the ocean. If that wasn't enough, we saw a dozen or so bottle nose dolphins playing around one side of the boast, PLUS dozens of dolphins on the other side playing in a school of bait fish - the water was awash with activity. I laughed as passengers moved to watch the dolphin activity on one side, they were oblivious to the whales breaching behind them on the other side of the boat! So much to see at one time WOW - it was truly amazing, exciting beautiful. To top it all off the weather was superb.
It couldn't have been a better excursion, payback for all the disappointments and sighing at hearing that "we had lots of sightings yesterday". Well, tomorrow the hostess can say it, and they did and so did we!
From that exhilarating experience, after docking, we headed to Peters Fish Hut to indulge in a fish and chip lunch, hot and crispy - YUMMO. While waiting for our number to be called I gazed into the fish cabinet at various types of shell fish Lobsters, bugs, crabs etc. What incredible colours and variety of design, and then the different textures and colours of the fish available for purchase.
God didn't create one type of fish and mammal and throw in the towel, He continued creating endless varieties and sizes for His and our delight.
My heart bursts with the wonder of it all!
We've enjoyed a cup of tea and are about to go and look at the local kangaroo population that inhabits the bush nearby, more wonders!
What a Whale of a Day!
Love Simply Susan
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