being grateful

365gratefuls cover

On Christmas Eve a new book I had ordered arrived. It was a good Christmas present for myself.

365 gratefuls, the book, originated from a project by Hailey Bartholomew. In 2008 Hailey had decided to embark on a year long project in which she took a polaroid of a moment every day that she was grateful for, in order to fight depression. It worked. Continue reading →

Made By Hand – Channel 31

So….  a few weeks back I volunteered to help teach some lovely ladies at the Brunswick Brown Owls how to make a crocheted granny square. It was a super evening, I had a great time sharing some knowledge and a few people learnt to crochet right from scratch and others enjoyed getting into a granny square groove. It was great, well received, lots of good sharing, social and just jolly well nice.

The evening’s proceedings were made a bit more interesting due to a film crew being in attendance. Continue reading →

I am a nuff

In just one day, the very same day, yesterday in fact, I discovered, through the online tweety community, two books that have hastily made their way on to my ‘Books – Must Buy’ list. Thanks to Pip Lincolne and Sarah Wilson respectively, for introducing me to The Happiness Project and The Gifts of Imperfection.

Words about / around these books resonate with me – here are a couple of reasons why Continue reading →

crafty stress management is going great!

here is what one of the lovely course participants said:

“Crafty Stress Management has helped me to reassess my attitudes towards crafting, my responses to stress, and my love of creativity! Thank you Sue, for sharing your knowledge!” Continue reading →

getting unstuck with pema

Have you ever come across Pema Chodron? she’s great! she has many a wise word to impart, she’s written many books, my favourite title being ‘Comfortable with Uncertainty’. Continue reading →

markets and go-go

I went to The North Melbourne Market at the weekend, it had craft and vintage, new things and old things and interesting things. I could have bought lots, but I was being thrifty. So I bought two hair clips and this, which must be the cutest puzzle ever Continue reading →

Frankiely, Crafty Stress Management is going to be great

I’m delighted to announce this upcoming Crafty Stress Management course that I am faciliating from the beginning of May here in central Melbourne. I am equally delighted to have had Frankie write about it in their blog this week. Continue reading →

park life


I had such a lovely day the other day. I marvelled at the wonders of colour and scent as i passed an eclectic and beautiful mix of front gardens in my neighbourhood, on the way to the park with a dog called Jelly. A man of slightly elderly age passed by, I wished I had a cap so I could doff it at him, instead we exchanged smiles – nice! I played ‘stick’ with Jelly a while and sat in the sun and soaked up some vitamin d and made a daisy chain. I marvelled at the ease of making a daisy chain in comparison to the frustration that it caused me as a young nipper.

A walk in the park, an exchange of human kindness, a dose of sun and a reminder of the healing power of nature in all its spectacular wonder – a right old boost to health and only minutes from my front door – brilliant!

creating new moods

I was feeling woolly in the head the other day and I was reminded of a very special and important thing…. the incredible impact on your mood and mind that seeing something beautiful and creative can have. I happened to pass by panelpop on brunswick street and was drawn to go in. I discovered the work of this artist, Shannon Crees, I loved it, it made my heart sing and my mood changed, instantly. Continue reading →