Brynwood Joins Where Bloggers Create II...

Welcome One and All!

We've been waiting for your visit.
(You can click on each of the images to enlarge them.)Kes is really glad to see you today!

She's been so excited at the prospect of helping me
welcome you to our studio as we celebrate
Where Bloggers Create II,
hosted by the beautiful and talented
Karen Valentine of My Desert Cottage.

Kes would like you to notice the brand, new track lighting system
added to the studio recently. No more working by lamplight!

You can't miss my wall of fabric when you walk through the studio door, and on clear days, I have lots of natural light spilling into my space. Now, I have plenty of light, even on days when the sun was hidden behind rain clouds.

If you look to the left as you enter the studio door, you'll find an entire wall of deep cabinets, which are stuffed with fabric, trims, and other paraphernalia. (You can click on the link at the end of my tour to find more photos and see what's inside the cabinets.)

At the end of the cabinets, I've hung sweet, vintage, baby dresses.

This is the left wall of the studio. More storage, a long shelf to display treasured pincushions and other items, pattern and thread cabinets, and my Babylock machines, now dressed in their new party finery. (I've made new covers for each of my machines to protect them from dust and light, and so they have something pretty to wear when they're not in use.)

A favorite mirror, mounted above the pattern cabinet, bounces additional light around the room and holds court above other treasures...acorns sent from around the country by my blog friends; assorted white buttons; and pincushions made by two beautiful and talented blog friends, Dawn Edmonds and Shell May. Don't miss the tiny birds sitting on top of the mirror, too! I've added little touches like the birds - reflecting my love of the outdoors - to fuel my creative muse.

In keeping with my Brynwood acorns theme, I commissioned Michelle Palmer to create these beautiful ink-on-fabric images. I then designed and created my wall organizer, so that favorite scissors and other tools would be displayed and then, close at hand when I'm sewing.

In this corner, you'll find my Espire sewing machine, nicknamed "Prissy", my iPod music dock, vintage lace and trims on display (on cardboard tubes covered with thin batting, which I mounted on tension rods used for cafe curtains), and above that, my inspiration board.

As you can see, I have an assortment of wonderful and beautiful gifts from some of my inspiring blog friends. Photographs, ornaments, tags, keyrings and charms, all given and accepted with great affection.

I'm blessed with a wonderful view of our back yard, through my beautiful windows. My chair faces my Ellisimo sewing/embroidery machine (nicknamed "Miss Ellie") and right in front of the window is my Evolve serger (yup, I've nicknamed this one, too! You can call her "Evvie"!).

 "Ikea Varde kitchen counter" with larger purchased countertop

My Ikea (Varde kitchen counter) work table, with a custom made formica top. I needed the extra work space, so I had it fabricated at our local Home Depot. It's the perfect height for when I'm standing, and the size accommodates cutting out garments and larger projects. I also have room for a few trinkets.

This is where all my creative dreams are conceived and fulfilled. My life is joyful and blessed with the love of my husband and family, but the joy has been augmented ten-fold since I became of member of this blogging community.

I am so grateful for the new friendships that have been forged in the past year and a half...all because I chose to share my creative endeavors in this wonderful online world.

Thank you for visiting Brynwood Needleworks. If you'd like to see A LOT MORE studio images, please click on the last photograph (my little, sleeping squirrel) to go to my studio Flickr album. Be sure to read the captions I've written for each photo.

I hope you'll also look at my photo galleries and the Brynwood Boutique to see some of my creations.

Leave a comment on this post and you'll automatically be entered into a drawing for one of my Strawberry Roses (similar to the one above). All are handmade by me, so no two are exactly alike. I'll choose a winner through Random.org on July 1st. Good luck!

UPDATE: July 1st Midnight...The Drawing Is Closed
Thanks everyone!
Click here to enter my 400th Follower Giveaway
until July 10th, 2010.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Don't forget to say hello to the other participants of
Where Bloggers Create II.
Thanks again, Karen, for being such a great hostess!!

Acorns And Roses...

I received a package in the mail yesterday. I hope the giver
doesn't mind that I'm sharing it with you today.
Christina Jackson of iCandy sent me this wonderful surprise!
I was speechless when I opened her package to find...
ACORN EARRINGS!!
Aren't they stunning? I sure think so! She also included
some beautiful laces for me to use in future projects.

You already know that I've been playing around with
French silk ribbons, but this is a new project I did yesterday.
All you need is ribbon, ground fabric for the roses, stranded
cotton (floss), wool or cotton trim fabric for leaves, and needles.

I stitched my design, sewed the piece into a cone shape and
then ran a basting stitch around the top of the cone.
I filled the cone with batting and then, once it was full, I
pulled the thread tight...and then stuffed it with more batting!

Cut some green felted wool to look like opposing leaves, sew
them over the top where you gathered the fabric. I used a
blanket stitch to secure the leaves. There you have it!
My very first Strawberry Rose.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
This one was stuffed with wool, but I think I may
add lavender buds to my next one.

I love the teeny tiny blossoms and the strawberry shape.
A sweet, little work of art to share with my friends.

Looks nice with my new earrings, don't you think?
I'm going to make another that doesn't have the few "little
issues" that always come from a first attempt at something new,
and then I'm going to put the next one in the mail for Christina.

Oh, by the way...This isn't the project I gave you hints for a
couple of days ago. That's something completely different, and
you'll have to wait a bit longer to see that piece. It's a surprise!

P.S. Don't forget tomorrow is the Where Women Create II studio tour! I hope you'll come back to see how I changed up my creative space for this year's event. Plan to spend a little while on the internet. There are a lot of bloggers participating this year, and you'll want to visit them all!

Chug-A-Lug, Chug-A-Lug...

Miss Ellie has a new cover (here), so Prissy needed one, too. I used another of Michelle Palmer's acorn images to embellish it. The perfect trim for the pocket I placed on the front. Do you like my new Brynwood logo labels? I'm loving them!

Here's a photo of the entire cover...All done! Not bad for a Wednesday, but that's not all I did.

I also completed the Williamsburg Consort quilt top by embroidering their logo in the center square of the star motif. I'll be taking it to Sandy's Quilt Shop today for the long arm work. (Can't you just see me giggling and doing my happy dance?)

So many of you leave comments of encouragement and tell me you're in awe of how much I manage to accomplish.

Contrary to what some of you have written to me, I do, in fact, sleep! Between you and me, I'm told I have the sleep imperative of an infant. Perhaps that's why I'm able to produce as much as I do when I'm awake. All I know is that I'm very focused when I work (just ask Handsome!), and have always been able to chug right along on a project until it's finished.

Big hugs to each of you who always take the time to let me know that you've read my post. I thoroughly enjoy your comments, and I promise after this month has passed, I will be making a point to respond to each and every one of you whenever you write to me.

You're truly my inspiration, my cheerleaders and my friends. I appreciate you more than you know. Thank you!