Archive for the ‘random stuff’ Category

Creating a Family History from Old Stuff or Collecting Junk?

Posted in family, random stuff on 07/17/2010 01:30 am by Suziwong

I love old stuff.  Kitchenalia and household items really tickle my fancy.  There’s something about owning things that had a previous life with someone else that speaks to me.  Some things are used in ways that they were intended but other things, like the wooden spools in the picture, get used in new ways.  Instead of thread wound on the spools, i wind ribbon and craft trim so they don’t develop fold lines.

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I love Cheongsam’s

Posted in random stuff on 07/13/2008 02:28 pm by Suziwong

I’ve had a love affair with the humble chinese ‘long shirt’ for many a year. I have a red one that i just adore (see down below). I don’t look vaguely asian, but as a little girl with straight dark brown hair in the 1960′s my dad gave me the name Suziwong..after the classic movie The World of Susie Wong. The one above is a vintage quilted cheongsam that i bought a couple of years ago. When i get my office/studeo sorted out i want to have this one displayed on my dressmakers mannequin because being a traditional vintage piece made for tiny asian women it will never fit me (I’m 175.3 cm tall)
 
I came across this gorgeous poster recently and decided to put it on the blog to celebrate the cheongsam; my favourite garment.

 

This is Nigel and i in 2004 at a military ball in Darwin. I didn’t care whether or not i looked a million dollars; but i felt a million dollars in that red cheongsam. The neclace that i am wearing in that photo is a long strand of crystals. My mother received them from one of her sisters in 1969 when we all left England to migrate to Australia. They have been handed down to me; i treasure them. My mother’s sister who gave them to her, Freda, is quite advanced in years now and recently lost her husband of 50 years, battles with emphysemia and cancer. I’m trying to find a quality jeweller that can restring the crystals so they will last many more decades to be enjoyed by future generations of women starting with my daughters Chloe and Caitlin.

Enjoy your Sunday xxooxx
 

Le Bon….Simon Le Bon

Posted in random stuff on 04/03/2008 10:05 pm by Suziwong

I went to the Duran Duran concert here in Adelaide on the first of April…it was BRILLIANT!!! i had a ball; sang and screamed myself horse. Simon Le Bon is STILL a brilliant showman and STILL sizzling hot! woohooo!!! i almost felt 16 again except that i had my 18 year old daughter with me hahaha
i’ve tons of photo’s and video footage of the night to keep me steeped in nostalgia til they come back again. It was a great night and i highly recommend going to see them.

 

Next instalment of mosaic

Posted in random stuff on 02/12/2008 05:52 pm by Suziwong

I’ve done a little more of the mosaic today. It’s slow movement forward; much the same as any goal you set and then execute.

I’m also going to mosaic this birdbath that i bought a few weeks back. Before i start tiling the birdbath needs to be sealed as it will be continually emersed in water. So that’s what i’ve done here; waterproofed the top of the bowl and the top of the base. Tomorrow when they’re dry i’ll turn them over and waterproof the bottom of the bowl and base.
I’m thinking of doing a seahorse design using stained glass… This design is from Home & Garden Television http://wwwhgtv.com they have a free demo to show how to make this design.
I could redo the tree of life design on the birdbath bowl and then carry the colours down to the base…OR
I could try something completely different…mmmmm the possibilities are endless!
xx
sue
 

More mosaic

Posted in random stuff on 02/11/2008 05:41 pm by Suziwong

Here’s my third day of tiling…the trunk of the tree; not quite completed.
This is my rosemary crop [right]…the little pot on the right is the strikings that i’m growing. They should have roots by mid-march and then i will replant them. The two rosemary plants in the wine barrel tub are being lovingly watered and fertilised with worm wee so i can start using them. I make a mean scacchiata with rosemary, olive oil and sea salt…mmmmm it’s even better since i got a pizza stone for the oven…yum!
xx
sue

 

Mucking around

Posted in random stuff on 02/10/2008 08:34 pm by Suziwong
Here’s the first installment of my work in progress mosaic. i’ve finished the outside border of red tiles and the green grass. Tomorrow i’ll working on the orange tree trunk.

Duran Duran tickets go on sale tomorrow; i’ll be up and out early to go to ticketek to get tickets for me, Chloe & Caitlin.

Here’s Caitlin’s new bed. She’s very happy with it…lots more room that a single bunk bed!
Cappy’s looking good for an old boy…he’ll be 11 on the 29th of May. He still behaves like a young pup!

The chilli seedlings are coming along really well. I’ll be putting them into bigger pots in another month or so…they’ll have to go into a greenhouse, so i’ve been looking around for what’s on the market.

I know this photo is disgusting, but i wanted you all to see our worms at work!!! We have 4000 slippery suckers LOL
The next photos are of the planter pots in our backyard. I love the half wine barrels from vinyards in the Barossa Valley.

So, there’s a visual
up date of us lot in
Adelaide. Nothing too exciting! I’ll post again soon,

xx

sue

 

Mad over mosaics; Not so mad about 42!

Posted in random stuff on 02/10/2008 12:25 am by Suziwong

For my birthday, my family got me a mosaic kit…the design is called ‘Tree of Life’. I haven’t progressed very far as yet. I’ve just sealed the backing board and half traced the design onto the board.
I’ll keep you posted on how i’m going.
Chloe is in Venice as of today; she’s having a ball; is tired and has sore feet: not necessarily in that order!
Caitlin’s new loft bed is up and her bedroom looks much better; she’s managed to keep it tidy for a whole week; 7 days in a row!!!! i’ll post some pics soon.
Casper is doing great for nearly being 11 years old..i’ll take a pic soon.
will catch up soon.
xxxsue

 

runners and diary = goals

Posted in random stuff on 02/13/2007 08:38 pm by Suziwong
What does a diary and a pair of runners have in common? For me they represent some of my many goals; long term ones that i have to work at daily. The diary represents study…obtaining my first degree…

and the runners represent my running goals. I’m not a great runner; no siree bob! I’m not a fast runner; absolutely not. I don’t have a runners body; nuhuh! But i do love to run. It hasn’t always been like that. When i was a teenager i joined the Australian Army as a solider and running was about distances and times…And it seemed that i could never be fast enough for long enough! I felt like a failure. When i discharged from the Army i took a break from running and did other forms of exercise. I ran on and off over the years. Then about 5 years ago i got more serious about running again and decided to make friends with my foe. Once the pressure had been removed from running, i found that i really loved it. When i set my own goals and then achieved them i felt great.
My ultimate long term running goal is to be able to run 5 km under 27 minutes again…haven’t been able to do it for many many years; but i’ve been close though! Last semester at uni, my timetable was crazy and that along with winter (i hate the cold) saw running take a back seat to my uni goals. My distance and stamina went backward. Once uni had finished for the year in December, i took up running again…so now i’m up to running 40 minutes but very slowly.
My other running goal is to run the City to Bay funrun without stopping. It’s 12km in distance and i haven’t ever run more than 7km at any one time….and it’s in September of every year (still a cold time for me)… so outdoor running preparation would have to start in winter…the weather i hate the most in the year. It would mean getting up very early in the dark in the morning and running outdoors and training again in the cold of the evening. So, achieving this goal would take some doing! But i REALLY want to achieve it at least once in my lifetime.
I think i may have to join a running/training club to achieve this goal, but i think this is the year i’m going to give it a real shot.
Sometimes goals take a long time to achieve…make a plan and never give up!
Suze.

 

Not suitable for chubby girls

Posted in random stuff on 02/11/2007 04:57 pm by Suziwong
I was in an antique store today rifling through the old sewing patterns when i came across a “McCalls Child’s Dress and Coat 50c (NOT SUITABLE FOR CHUBBY GIRLS)”. Three hours later from said purchase, i’m still laughing. You wouldn’t see that printed on a pattern in these days of political correctness. Even though I don’t have little girls anymore, i bought the pattern just in case i come across a vintage coat that i could pull apart and make a girls coat. Even if i never use it, i got a chuckle from the pattern itself! Worth every cent!

We went as a family to little Oliver’s baptism. He’s my partners Godson. Olly doesn’t look too happy about the prospect of getting wet; he did just fine though! Sorry about the terrible lighting in this photo…even though i did a bit of a photo fix it is still dark!

I managed to get some pictures of the girls looking spiffy and

generally happy…although i got my marching orders from Chloe when she decided that i’d taken enough photos…


You can almost put the words in her mouth…”Go away, i’ve had enough of you taking pictures!…”


As promised; here’s the dress i bought at the vintage fashion store.
I love the cut, but it’s very small. So i’ll pick it apart and make a skirt for Caitlin as she likes the fabric the best. I’m in love with the fabric…

It’s several values of blue and has white paisley flowers all over it…it’s just scrumptuous…I’m happy to take ideas from others, so if you have any thoughts on how to best utilise this fabric please don’t hestitate to make a comment.

After Ollie’s baptism we drove up to the Barossa Valley to have lunch at Maggie Beer’s Pheasant Farm. This is the view we had whilst sitting outdoors eating the wonderful produce from the divine Barossa Valley. The birds were chirping and insects singing wildly. If you’d like to know more about Maggie Beer, a wonderful cook, please follow the link and learn more about her philosophies and recipes…She has free postage and handling in the month of February (in Australia) for any of her produce….go check it out and join her food club! Yum…you won’t regret it.

Everything at Pheasant farm is utilised; nothing is wasted. I like that mentality in the age of mass consumerism that we live in. On the way out walking through the carpark Nigel pointed out the pommegranits…aren’t the colours divine? So rich and deep. We had a pommegranit tree in our front garden when I was a little girl living in Sydney. As soon as the fruit were ripe we’d be out in the front garden to get our fill. We also had figs, plums, nectarines, grapes, bananas, apples, oranges and, lemons. The garden was was brilliant to fill hungry tummy’s in summer…my mother bottled left over fruit and was always left with stores of jam and chutney to last until the next season. All too often i can’t find nice things to remember about my childhood, it’s not that they aren’t there; they are, but also peppered with some very strong negative happenings that make it difficult to see clearly the good things. So when i remember some of the simple but lovely things it’s all good.
I’m trying to get the inspiration to design an applique quilt that reminds me of the good things in my childhood. I’m currently making one designed by Rosalie Quinlan called “I remember”. It’s a block of the month that Rosalie designed about her childhood. As i’ve completed each block i have remembered things that i’d previously forgotten. Like the blue lacy dress that my mother made for my 5th birthday party….and the woolly ‘ribbons’ that i had in my hair that day….It was a good birthday and a bad one…it was the last that i celebrated with my father…my birthday is in January and he died the following December.
I’m currently working on the birthday cake block…my mother always used to make butterfly cup cakes for my birthdays…They were brilliant…how i loved those things. She used to cut the top off the little cup cakes, cut the top in half like half circle wings, and then fill the hole with a creamy icing sugar mix and then put the wings in the mixture….I have never made these for my own girls…I’m wondering if it’s because the birthdays of my early years have a tinge of sadness to them? I will have to fix that and make them for the girls…
well that’s all for today
i’ll talk to you soon,
suze
 

and on the first day suziwong created this…

Posted in random stuff on 02/10/2007 10:21 pm by Suziwong
Well, it’s nice to be here…wherever here in cyberspace is…

I’m Su also known as suziwong (a nickname from childhood). I love to create. I quilt, do counted thread stitching, reconstruct/recycle clothing and make cloth dolls. I’m a parent of Misses now 17 & 20. 

Here’s Miss now 20 (then 17) working hard at getting her her share of a communal honeycomb icecream! 

 

And this is Miss now 17 (then 14), smiling nicely for her 14th birthday last October (2006). 

I bought this quilted cheongsam at a thrift store this week and plan to reconstruct it. Miss20, would like to have a 60′s style miniskirt come from the fabric. I’m not quite sure what i’ll do with the leftover fabric just yet.

Today i bought a 1970′s handmade dress with a fantastic large paisley print. It’s too small for either of the girls, so again, i’ll pull it apart and reconstruct. I’ll take a picture of it and show you soon. 

Tomorrow we’re off to Oliver’s baptism. Oliver is my partner’s (soon-to=be) Godson. I made Oliver his own quilt from scraps from another quilt for another baby. So all of the 3″ squares were pre-cut. All I needed to cut was the large squares and the sashing strips and rectangled sashing strip….how good is that! I hate the cutting process…it takes soooo long!

 

Nigel and i were out lastnight for dinner and a movie and when we got home at midnight and i realised that i needed to make a card to commemorate Oliver’s baptism. So i dragged out some scraps of quilting fabric and made this foundation pieced card on leftover cardstock (leftover from quilting journals i made for girlfriends for Christmas. I was really happy with outcome…I sewed straight on to the card and then zigzagged the outter edge and used some fray-stoppa. 

This is a picture of the ‘malls balls’…weird i know. We’re currently living in Adelaide, South Australia. In Rundle mall, there are these two HUGE speres that sit one vertically on top of the other…this is a picture of the top one…you can see the people in the mall walking by…The bottom ball is nowhere near as interesting because it’s scratched and smudged from people’s handprints. I took this photo today and just love it because it shows an altered reality of a reflection. I took another one of my and Caitlin’s reflection in a window

That’s Caitlin on the end of the bench looking toward the left and you can see me holding the camera that has the flash of light coming out. I’m wearing my favourite jeans. Caitlin says they’re officially dead, but i disagree. Recently they tore from the inside seam to the outside seam. The tear is halfway between my butt and the back of my knee. There’s another tear on the inside of the right leg too. i wore them like that till Caitlin reminded me that i’m not a teenager anymore. I got the hint and made patches with quilting fabric. I don’t want a new pair of jeans…i’m really happy with these ones…they’re my trusty old favourites. And anyway i’m sorta kinda like a teenager! (not really) I’m a university student. I’m in my second year of a bachelor of education, primary/junior primary. I’ve been studying various courses for the past 3 years. I started with a Certificate IV Business Management, then did a Diploma of Education Studies and then stared the Bachelor of Education at the beginning of 2006. I feel like i’ve been a student forever. I’m looking forward to finishing….
Uni starts up for the year in nearly two weeks time. This year i’m being a mentor for first year education students. I’m not sure how much of a time commitment this will be, but i firmly believe that we each have societal debts to pay…I’m going to volunteer as a tutor this year in schools for disadvantaged students. I used to volunteer a lot of time in the schools that the girls were enrolled in, but now that they are at high school and university (Chloe starts her first year in a bachelor of architecture) i don’t do it. I used to tutor primary aged children in literacy…i really enjoyed it and eventually did it as a paid employee. There was also the trusty old fundraising committee which i was always involved in. Schools are always in need of volunteers for that committee hahaha
Well, i thinks that’s about it from me today. I’ll keep taking happy snaps to go along with my blog.
take good care and see you next time,
suze