Carol's Wool Book...

Carol saw the "peeks" I shared yesterday and left a note that she was excited to see the finished book. I decided not to wait until it's in her hot, little hands to show it to you. (I don't think she'll mind.)

Her book is larger than the one I made for myself. Mine measured about 3.5" by 4.5". Carol's is a generous 5" by 7" and will hold many more trinkets and special mementos between its covers. This is what the front cover looks like. The centerpiece is a sweet feather drawing on muslin by Michelle Palmer.

When she opens the book, she'll find vintage lace that I've embellished with seed beads. I've accented that page with sweet, old buttons, too.

On the opposite page, I placed a lace pocket and then filled it with little cards. Of course, Carol can replace those with her own when she sits down to play with it.

Carol's blog is called "Beads and Birds", so naturally, I wanted to add avian accents to her book. In case you didn't know, I have quite an assortment of Michelle's drawings on fabric, and they're my go-to pieces when I want to elevate my work. (Thanks, always, Michelle!)

I've added a few loose pieces that Carol can choose to keep in her book or use in another project. This Tula Pink owl ribbon is one of those items. It's safely tucked in her book for the trip to Carol's home. From this page, you can also see just a peek of what's to come!

Carol told me she has a pond that she and her family really enjoy, so I put a koi pond right in the center of her book!

I created the "beads" to mimic water, with a coral bead symbolic of a koi fish. Then I secured a metal, articulated fish charm to the spine of the book and stitched beads to simulate bubbles rising in the water. I also stitched water plants on the page to complete the pond.

When the book is closed, the fish hangs in the spine, but when open, Carol can pivot the fish and it looks like it's swimming.

I have left a few pages blank so that Carol can add her own touches, but I wanted to have another page with antique crocheted lace to create second storage pocket for her. It's hand stitched in place at the top and bottom, leaving the sides open to tuck in her treasures.

Finally, I added my Brynwood label to the back cover, along with one of my tiny, signature acorns. I crocheted a granny square from pearl cottons in Carol's favorite colors and then stitched it onto the back cover. I thought Carol might like one of Tag's custom button's too, but she can remove it from the book if she prefers. The bird is a snippet from the custom ribbons in my "inventory".

There are a few other items I've added to Carol's book, but if I show you here, there won't be any surprises for her! She'll only have to wait a few days to play with her new book. I'm mailing it off to her today.

I had great fun making this. I hope Carol enjoys it as much when she opens her package. I can hardly wait to hear!

That Special Touch...

I'm having a grand time in the studio these days. First, I finished those projects that have been sitting for a while, and now I'm able to work on the giveaway gift for Carol.

I'm only going to show a few photos today. I have more to do, but I'm not going to finish every single page. I'm leaving space so that she can put her own personal touch to the book.

I'm stitching laces and beads, and I've included some of the colors Carol told me are her favorites.

I'm sewing in sweet elements that are dear to my winner, too. Everything that I'm using is from my own supply of beautiful drawings (by Michelle Palmer), charms and trinkets, and assortments of vintage threads, ribbons and laces.

I'm hoping to get this finished and on its way by the weekend. Of course, you'll get to see more photos before I send it off. Right now, I'm just having too much fun sorting through bits and bobs as I look for that special touch to add to each page.

Winner, Winner...

 I'm not going to dawdle today. 

I know you want to know who won 

the giveaway, so I'll get right to it.

 The Random Number Generator has made its choice,

and the winner is...

 Carol D. of Beads and Birds blog.

Carol has been a follower of my blog for a long, long time and she's  also a member of my Brynwood Needleworks FaceBook group.
Congratulations, Carol! I'm looking forward to creating a wool Memory Book for you! I'll send you an email so we can start the planning process.

Thanks to all for entering - and thanks always for stopping by to visit my little corner of Blogland. I appreciate each and every one of you. (muaaaahhh!)

Tuesdays With Tag - Giveaway Ends Tonight...

 Hi, Everybody!

I'm gettin' ready for Bella to come and live with me, so I'm takin' a little blog break today. Keep on readin' though, because I want you to know about Mom's cool giveaway that ends today. I'll be back next week. 'til then...

"Keep Your Nose To The Wind 
and The Sunshine On Your Tail."

 Today is the last day to enter my Six Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway!

 I'll be choosing one lucky winner to receive a custom-designed wool

Memory Book!

 I'm looking forward to creating a memory book that the winner will be

able to finish with their own trinkets and treasures when they receive it.

So, if you'd like to enter for a chance to win one of my handcrafted treasures, please click here, read how you can earn multiple entries and  leave your comments to be counted. I'll draw the lucky winner tonight.  (via Random Number Generator, of course) The giveaway ends at 11 pm ET, and I'll announce the winner tomorrow. Good Luck!

Immersed...

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We shared a perfect holiday weekend with friends on both coasts. There was no studio time, only family, dogs and friends...the best diversions. (shhhhhh...Let's not even mention the puppies!)

 

Today will be spent in the studio - on my computer - immersed in book work. It's a job I really enjoy, but tend to put off. It's time to catch up and put myself on a regular bookwork schedule, so that I do it a little at a time, rather than in marathon sessions. Really, the only marathon sessions I want to do are creating beautiful things, not "cyphering".

There are exciting things in our future, not just Bella, which is pretty darn exciting. Those other things will wait a while until plans are more settled, but I promise I'll tell you as soon as I can.

While I'm busy "hittin' the books", I want to remind you about my Six Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway.

If you haven't entered yet, CLICK HERE to learn more. There's still time to enter and I'll draw a winner on April 14th. 

Tag will be here tomorrow and I'll be back on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to playing after my work is done.

Tuesdays With Tag - I Like Mike...

Hi, Everybody!!!

I bet you're wonderin' why I'm in a cage, right?

Well, let me tell you. I was havin' a ball.

First, let me introduce you to Charlie. He's a great, big bundle of sweet Golden retriever. I met him at Uncle Mike's last weekend.

Uncle Mike was doing obedience trainin' with the boy, and his owner came to pick him up on the day we were leavin' from our visit. We got to watch him to see how much he learned while he was away at school.

This is Charlie's dad, Roger. Mr. Roger is a really nice man, and you can tell from this picture just how much Charlie loves him. It's a cool rainbow on the picture, isn't it? Mr. Roger lost his last Golden, Jake, a while ago and he talked about him a lot while he has there. Mom thinks the rainbow was a sign from Jake. It wasn't in any other pictures except those from this series. She likes stuff like that.

Anyway, Uncle Mike ran Charlie through his yard work while we were still at their house, and then we followed them to the Ranch where all the huntin' trainin' takes place. It's about thirty minutes from the house.

Ignore the plants in the truck. Uncle Mike also likes to garden in his down time. He always gives a few plants to Mom and Dad whenever we visit. Mom couldn't wait to get back home to plant a couple of them.

We had a great, shady place to park and there's always a breeze at the ranch, so I was really comfortable waitin' for my chance to get out and run around.

I don't ride in the crate when we're drivin', but I slept in the crate with Mom and Dad when we stayed overnight this trip. Usually, I'd be havin' a sleepover with the kennel dogs but remember, I was healin' from my dental surgery this time.

When it was my turn to play. Uncle Mike gave Mom a little quail for me to fetch. I handled it like a veteran huntin' dog! Mom didn't take pictures 'cuz she was busy handlin' me. It was fun.

We headed home right after that so Uncle Mike could spend the rest of the day trainin' all the dogs he had on the big truck. He probably didn't get home until after dark because we got a late start from visitin' with us. He's always so gracious with his time.

We got back home and I headed right for my stuffie from my GFF, Quinn. I love this toy! I don't even want to chew it, but I love chasin', tossin', and cuddlin' it. Thanks again, Quinnie. You're so good to me. (smooches!)

In case you're wonderin', I'm healin' up real good from my dental surgery. I have one more week of canned food (Dad can't wait for me to get back to the regular stuff!)...and a couple more days of antibionics. You can't even tell I had anythin' done! Mom's very, very glad!

We had a great week last week, and Mom and Dad are tellin' me that there's a surprise in my future. They also said all of you know what it is. Anybody care to share? I'm gettin' curious, for real! I'm gonna go see if I can get them to tell me more about this surprise thing. Of course, you know I'll be back to see you again...

Before I go, Mom said to remind all y'all that we're having a Sixth Blog Anniversary Giveaway. Click on the giveaway button under "Celebrations" at the top of the left sidebar to enter. I gotta run now.

I'll see you in seven. 'til then...

"Keep Your Nose To The Wind 

and The Sunshine On Your Tail."

Studio Time...

I completed another clutch wallet last weekend 

(and another project I can't show to you quite yet).

This one has a quilting theme that I really like, and although I'm keeping this one

for myself, I'll be listing the fabric choice in The Boutique for special orders.

I like the images and messages in the fabric.

  I can certainly relate to them!
Of course, each wallet is unique, so the fabric may not lay out exactly like this. It will have its own unique message in each completed wallet even if it's not the same.

If you haven't been around to visit lately, you'll want to go to THIS POST to enter my Sixth Blog Anniversary Giveaway. Comments here won't count. (There's also a link in my left sidebar, right under my "Celebrations" announcements.)

Sixth Blog Anniversary Giveaway...

 It's time for a giveaway!!

I'm celebrating my Sixth Blog Anniversary this month and I've decided 

what I'm going to create to mark the occasion for one lucky blog friend.

Do you remember when I made my Wisconsin Memories wool book?

(You can read about it HERE if you missed that blog post.)

So, I've decided to create one special wool book for my giveaway.

It will be on the order of the one in my blog post, but it will be completely unique.

Here's what you do to enter:

1) Leave a comment here that you'd like to win the book for one chance to win. (Make sure that I am able to contact you if you win. If I can't reach you by email, I will draw another name.)

2) Head over to Facebook and request to join my Brynwood Needleworks group and then come back here and leave another comment that you've joined the group for another chance to win. (Click HERE to go to my Brynwood group page.)

It's that's easy to enter!

You must be a follower/friend in order to enter the drawing. (Perks for putting up with me!) Only comments left on this post will count toward the drawing. The contest is open to all followers. If you live outside the US and win, the wool book will be sent via the least expensive method.

The giveaway will run from today until April 14th at 11:00 pm.  I'll announce the winner on April 15th.    Good Luck!

Celebrating Six Years of Blogging...

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While I was busy doing other exciting things the middle of this month, I completely missed my Blog Anniversary!!! It sneaked right up on me this year.

I wrote my very first post on March 15, 2009 so that makes this my SIXTH year of writing my posts, sharing my creative and sometimes personal life with you. I have written 2146 posts, and have had over 556,507 page views from readers around the world. That alone humbles and amazes me. Thank you, always, for stopping by to visit with me. I really am grateful.

I think I should do something to celebrate these past six years. Perhaps a giveaway would be in order. I'm going to decide today just how I want to mark this auspicious occasion and will post all the details tomorrow. 

The giveaway will only be open to my followers, and I'll do something for a person who might win in the US and something different if they reside outside the U.S. (due to high shipping costs). As I said, I'll give you details tomorrow, so don't forget to come back to find out all about it!