Susan Smith Artist of the Month-November 2015

Susan Smith is a multitalented member of TeamHAHA. She makes a lot of Treasuries for the team!! She has three wonderful stores on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MyGypsyWindDesigns with wonderful sewn items.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/GypsyWindSoapworks with outstanding soap and sundries.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/GypsyWindPrimitives that has primitive and folk art decor.

Whew! Susan is a very busy artist. She has been making soap for over 10 years and sewing, needle and wood work much longer. As a child, Susan watch her Grandmother Lillian make beautiful pictures with wonderfully colored embroidery threads, she wanted to learn how and one thing led to another. Susan is marries to her "best beloved Myles. They have three children, Richard, Elyse and Ashleigh and 4 awesome grandchildren. They also have 2 cats – Missy and Bob. Bob is her constant companion. If Susan is sewing, he’s sleeping under her chair. If she's making soap, he sits in the hall watching, but if she is cutting or sanding wood, he closely supervises to make sure everything is done right. He actually has no fear of the noisy power tools!

Susan makes soap in her kitchen and has a sewing studio in a spare bedroom. Plus a small workshop on my patio. Susan says: "I’m truly fortunate my husband does not mind a mannequin in the corner of the great room and sawdust on the patio." A batch of soap takes a couple of hours, an apron a couple of days. The wood items vary from an hour or more.

Quilting would be something Susan would like to tackle. She says: " But I don’t seem to have enough patience to cut up 400+ little squares and triangles. Yes !I’ve tried to learn a couple of times, and someday I’ll conquer this one too." Words of Wisdom for our Teammates: "Keep perfecting what you’re doing. Future plans for Susan? A Gothic novel is in the works! Also:Susan would like to add shower gels and liquid soaps, if she can find the time to perfect the recipes. Favorite Quote: " It’s never too late to be who you could have been." Please visit Susan's shops to see even more of her wonderful items!