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Through blogging and Instagramming, I’ve been introduced to an amazing Virtual Sisterhood of Creative Ladies.
The Oh Creative Lady series is your chance to meet these incredible, kind-hearted, inspiring <insert ALL the happy, positive adjectives HERE> women.
Susie from Handy with Scissors is the Queen of turning things from your recycling pile into masterpieces. I am continuously marveling at, and being inspired by, the creations in her Instagram feed. The creative streak runs strong in this one! Best of all, Susie only lives a suburb away from me so we get to hang out in Real Life. I am super stoked to report that she is as fabulous in Real Life as she is in the Online World. Introducing the wonderful Susie!
I am… Susie, aka ‘Handy with Scissors’. I live in the Inner West of Sydney, Australia with my partner Adam and our two little people, Hazel (1) and Finn (4). I am actually pretty handy with scissors and have a bit of a knack from making something out of nothing. I am the Kids and Families Coordinator at the Museum of Contemporary Art but am currently on maternity leave. So I am making the most of my time dreaming up fun recycled projects for Finn and I to do together and hopefully inspiring a few people to do the same.
I find inspiration… Finn is at such an interesting age and I love watching the way he approaches the materials I give him and the total confidence he has when working with them. It’s like kids just don’t have that filter that tells them to second guess what they are doing so they are so free to just create. I really try to be a bit like this now, I just start making and try to do it confidently and it’s has been amazing to see the sort of things that have rolled out of my head when working this way. I also spend a lot of time looking at pretty inane objects and trying to imagine all the things they could become. Store bought craft supplies have their place but making things from nothing holds a special kind of magic for me. Sometimes I just pick a random object and try to think of all of the possible things it could be. Its great imagination gymnastics and Finn has become a bit of a pro at it too!
I’m excited about… I am incredibly excited to be working on a Handy with Scissors blog! Soon I will be able to share full project tutorial and handy tips and tricks. I am also slightly terrified because between life and the two little people I have approximately zero time but we all know that old saying, want something done…blah blah. I also just fell down the social media rabbit hole and signed up to Facebook and Pinterest so they have been keeping me extra busy too. Oh and making lots of mess, cleaning said mess, and making mess again (repeat)
When I’m in a creative slump I… Like I said, I spend a lot of time looking at rubbish which I actually do find pretty inspiring! When that fails, I tend to just get out of the house with the little people and go for a walk, or look at things I love that have nothing to do with kids art and craft. I also try and not get to bogged down in it. I love the Chuck Close quote ‘Inspiration is for amateurs’ because it reminds me that sometimes good ideas take hard work.
I’m really proud of… Apart from my kids, my greatest achievement or life skill is versatility I think. I have tried so many different things in my life and given them a really red hot go. It is interesting to look back sometimes and see the threads that link them all together but as a general rule I live very much in the moment. I think as you get older, it gets harder to try new things and step beyond your comfort zone but I think that is why it’s even more important to do it. I have so many ideas right now and sometimes it terrifies me to think where they might go but I know that I don’t really have a choice but to try.
Someone once told me… Take small, confident steps.
My advice to you is… Get a big glass jar and put in on your kitchen sink. Every time you throw away a bottle keep the lid. They are so damn HANDY!
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