DAY FIVE - FINAL DAY...

I'm going to do this in my best Charlie Brown teacher's voice...WAAAH WAAAHHH. I'm sad to see the celebration come to an end. Choosing gift packages every day has been so much fun for me! I'm just sad that there can be only five winners this time.

So, with that in mind, I'm revealing the gift(s) for DAY FIVE of my 16th Blog Anniversary celebration...

How would one lucky winner like to receive their very own travel sewing case? You'll remember how I recently shared that I'd learned about turning travel jewelry cases into fun sewing cases. Well, when I purchased two cases recently, I had this giveaway in mind.

Here's the (I hope) best part...The winner of this gift can choose to have it sent directly to them as is (I've already removed the ring holder part in the center of the lift-out section), OR we can collaborate and I'll fit it out for you in the theme of your choice.

That means, I'd work with the winner choosing trims, colors, fabrics, etc. and I'll include a Brynwood magnetic needle keep as a bonus. If the winner chooses to embellish their case themselves, I'll still include the needle keep, and add some trims that can be used or not.

So, sadly, this is the final giveaway day and gift. If you've missed entering any previous days, you have until Saturday evening at midnight to enter.

As I mentioned before, I'm sharing the rules each day of the drawing to avoid any confusion.  Also, remember you can click on any of my blog images to enlarge them.

HERE ARE THE ENTRY RULES: (Not many actually)

1) Follow my blog and/or follow Brynwood Needleworks on Facebook or Instagram (let me know which)

2) You must enter a comment in the section below (this post only) to be in the drawing for these items.

3) You can live anywhere in the world, but you're responsible for any tariffs or VAT taxes imposed on your end.

4) Only one entry for each drawing, please. 

5) You may enter every giveaway offered, however again, only once per drawing.

6) Make sure you monitor the drawings next Monday for results. If you win, I'll need a mailing address. If I don't hear from winners by Tuesday, March 24th, I'll choose another name.

 

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

Travel Stitching Case #1...

 

I finished transforming the first of two travel stitching cases over the weekend. I decided to start with the olive colored one first, and I think you'll see why when I open it. I contemplated placing something on the outside - and I still might - but I haven't so far because I like that I could more easily stack and store without the lid trim. We'll see about that later.

 

 

 

I'm sure you'll see my theme immediately. I added crocheted lace to the pocket, along with a needle and pinkeep on the left side of the pocket. I can conveniently hang my embroidery scissors on the hooks on the lid. The pocket is a good place to store extra needles, too.

 

Once I show you the interior, you'll see that I lined it with a canvas-weight olive leaf design. It completely matches the color of the box! I removed the ring storage from the middle compartment and it's the perfect size for a few basic colors of thread. As I plan to use this one for making my spoolie animals, I added a small bottle filled with black seed beads. So far I'm using french knots for eyes, but these beads will be perfect to act as buttons on their wee coats.

The acorn and oak leaf section was created using the earring board for this compartment. Once I stitched my acorn woolwork, I mounted it to the cushy board. This will act as a shallow pincushion for needles and pins as I work. (The acorn pinkeep is more decorative, although it would certainly work should I want to use it.) There still space under the wooly acorn, too, so I can use that, should I so desire.

Once I lift out the top compartment, you can see there's still viable storage underneath. I tucked my own design needle case, another spool of thread, my signature acorn charms, and the spoolie pattern pieces. I also have a cuticle stick that's perfect for using as a stuffing tool, as well as a pair of my needlework tweezers.

So. What do you think? Like it? I'm thinking my second box may be a woodland theme. I'm still contemplating fabric and embellishments, so perhaps I'll make some decisions by the weekend. 

I'm baking bread and doing laundry today. I'll be alternating folding dough and clothes! I'll stitch when I sit down later. I have hours before I can rest, though.  Let me know what you think of this first travel stitching case down in the comments. Thanks!

They Arrived Early!...

When I saw they were both on sale (plus I had an Amazon credit to burn), I ordered them last week. They were supposed to be here today, but arrived while I was at work yesterday. So, guess what I'll be doing today? 

I also have my Clara Stitching class at 1 pm, so I'm going to spend the entire day in my studio - except for letting the dogs out and back in. hee hee

I'm going to pull fabrics and play with one of these right away. Both are green, but one is forest and the other is olive. So many possibilities! I'll definitely be sharing this on Monday! Happy Weekend to me!

Travel Stitching Case...

On Saturday, I was catching up with some of the needleworkers I follow on Instagram and came across this case in one of the posts. Don't you know I had to do a little digging to learn more about it!

It seems I'd somehow missed a trend to create needlework kits from travel jewelry cases. These are not particularly large - as you can tell from the contents - but once they purchase the jewelry case, it's essentially gutted to customize the fabric and interior to suit the needleworker. I purposely kept this creator's info at the top in case you're on Instagram and would like to see more of her things.

Here's another, created by @tinkhickman. She uses hers for carrying tiny hexie supplies. A few spools of her favorite threads to coordinate with her fabric choices, needles, a seam ripper to use as snips, and she's ready to grab and go. I think one of these would be perfect for my goldwork pieces in progress.

I went upstairs and pulled out this makeup case I got as a free premium from Esteé Lauder too many years ago to count, and thought I could customize the interior to carry supplies for my wee spool critters (for now). It's larger than the jewelry cases, but that would be fine to hold the supplies for making them..

This is the interior, so I'll need to add supports for a top layer, which I'll have to build and cover. Or, I'll just add a new lining and dividers and keep it as one layer. I'll decide as I play around with it.

Of course, I did order two jewelry cases like the ones above that the other ladies used. I found them on Amazon HERE. (I'm not compensated for sharing this link.) The best part is that they're on sale, too! I'll play with those after I finish this one.

If you'd like to see more examples and you're on Instagram, just do a search on #travelstitchingcase. You'll find all different treatments and lots of inspiration.

I'll share the process with you as I create this. I'll start with fabrics, and show them to you next. I've got a full day today, so I'm going to close. Let me know what you think in the comments.