Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Samples of TV viewing activities. With an audience captive at home 24/7, it would be expected that TV viewing numbers would increase. Quartz reports in USA that it took social distancing restrictions to stop the decline in broadcast TV viewing. "  The pandemic has been especially good to reality TV, medical dramas, and shows about first responders. "  I was surprised at this because I thought there was enough  medical content in the news to avoid more in fictional format.    Of course, higher ratings for popular shows does not mean that the long predicted demise of free-to-air broadcast TV has been arrested.... during the last month, Netflix reported that it had added 16 million new subscribers. (ABC News)   It seems that whatever our choice, whether it is free to air  or streaming we have been "glued" to our screens during   stay-at-home , work-at-home, and school-at- home.  If TV is our default activity during the social re...

Happy New Year ... may 2012 be bountiful - full of love, fun, laughter and good times. And if the times prove not to be so great, may you find the courage, inspiration and support to remain positive.  Just sharing a great little Christmas crafty idea - created by my daughter -in-law. These cute little boxes were filled with sweets and little treasures which were prizes in our family Christmas treasure hunt . Our treasure hunt arms the children with individualized clue sheets ( to suit their ages) and they search the house for coloured Christmas baubles . When they return with the baubles, they receive a prize... 

 Today was the first of the summer "crafternoon teas" I am hosting on Sunday afternoons.  Crafternoon teas are Sunday afternoons spent with wonderfully spirited people, who enjoy being creative, learning new techniques or brushing up on previously learnt skills and  love sharing a scrumptious afternoon tea. Today was felting fun when we used plastic resist templates to create dimensional seamless pieces. I demonstrated the way I made the series of nature bowls. You can see them here . Above is one of  my most recent blue bowls, one of a pair. The first one has already found a home during a DUST craft swap ( Down Under Street Team - Etsy) Here are some of the pieces that the felting crafternoon tea participants made this afternoon - a felt "forest" bowl, a needle book cover, a glasses pouch and a very 'organic" sculptured bowl.    While we enjoyed felting and its results, somehow we "forced" ourselves to enjoy the afternoon tea. ...

Each month, the younger women in the Simmons family enjoy a Sunday afternoon get-together, usually without children, husbands and partners. My daughter-in-law Kellie, my daughter Naomi and her cousins Lisa, Melanie and Natalie share their creative skills, produce beauitful handmade things and generally chat, advise and support one another. Last Sunday, they all came to my place and asked me to to get them started on " something different", a creative challenge. Occasionally, the "mothers" are invited to share in the group, but generally, we do not interfere! This time, while Kellie did some scrapbooking, some made beaded art dolls with forms I prepared, and the others went through my button stash and made funky bracelets and necklaces. Naomi also finished another baby blanket, after learning to crochet late last year. It is so wonderfully comforting and reassuring to see such talented strong young women in our family enjoying each other's company. They all le...