Pretty Mail - Part 1

Yesterday I had a lovely bit of stash come in. I'd been waiting for them for while now but was never notified that they were shipped so I didn't know when to expect them.

Both kits came from across the ocean, but from opposite ends. A kit all the way from Australia from Inspirations and another that came from Jen Goodwin in the UK. But lets put the Inspirations kit aside for now.

A few months back, Jen Goodwin had an exhibition. She decided she wanted to create a catalog of all the pieces that were being exhibited. The catalog would be sold at the exhibition and at the same time, it could be bought by us international stitchers who would not be able to attend. To fund the printing she had a GoFundMe campaign. There were different packages that you could donate towards. The one I picked meant I received the catalog, two cards and a gift card for anything in her shop. It was a sneaky way on my part to support another stitcher and get stash =D

It took a while for me to make a decision, but in the end I decided on this lovely goldwork kit of purple bluebells. I was hoping to get the kit earlier to show it to you as Jen is currently accepting students for a distance learning class for this kit (deadline to sign up was August 30). You can still order the kit even if you don't take the class.

The kit comes in it's own little box with a clear picture of the design.

Inside, all the materials are individually packaged.

The metal threads are clearly labeled. Jen was waiting for her order to come in from Benton and Johnson so she could send out the kits to students. Natalie actually saw the order at the factory when she went for a visit in July. The kit also includes felt, string padding, sewing thread (I think I'm starting a collection of these), cotton threads and a tiny container of beads. I'm really tempted to open some of these packets. There are some in there that I've never used.

The ground fabric for the design is very interesting. I asked Jen and it's a viscose wool blend of felt produced by a UK company called 21st Century Yarns. The color is gorgeous in person. Jen also has the design already traced for us and even includes the muslin to back the piece. So there are no excuses, you can just jump right in and start.

Instructions with colored pictures are included in a small (but thick) booklet. The pages are stapled together so no chance of losing pages and it fits nicely in the box keeping all the materials together. 

I haven't had the chance to read through the entire booklet but I love the fact that there are plenty of clear pictures. I'm really eager to jump right into this kit, unfortunately it will have to take it's turn behind the other goldwork projects waiting to be started.

Next post I will show you what's inside the Inspiration kit :)