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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

SVE Prep

January 27, 2016

sveprep1

I’m “shopping” through my stash, looking for Secret Valentine Exchange inspiration. My partner, like me, favors blues and neutrals and linens, so I’ve got an abundance of choices. Ute has already completed and shipped her gift!! Isn’t she amazing? By the way, if you haven’t been following Ute on Instagram, it’s a must. She takes breathtaking photos of nature and her projects are impeccably made and presented. I often gasp at the beauty she creates.

sveprep2

Totally inspired, I’m plotting and planning and scheming about what to make for my own special Valentine. Are you making progress? Have you already shipped your gift? If so, I’m beyond impressed!

Everyone should have their assigned partners by now, and our final count is 177 participants (I wrote 179 before, woops). That’s almost double of last year!! Ute and I are very excited and grateful that so many women are taking part in this special celebration of Valentine’s Day and handmade goodness. Please let us know if you have any questions, issues, etc. at secret.valentine.exchange [at] gmail.com. If you’re on IG, don’t forget #2016sve!

Time for me to wade through some more fabric!

Filed in: secret valentine exchange • by sanae • 10 Comments

Comments

  1. gretaclark

    January 27, 2016 at 8:01 am

    That is a nice stack of fabrics . Are the blue solids jersey or denim or cotton. I am always looking for soft snd light denim. I can’t wait to see your gift!

    Reply
    • sanae

      January 27, 2016 at 5:42 pm

      The fabrics are all actually linen! The grey with the white leaves is a cotton/linen blend, but otherwise the rest are pure linen. I can’t wait to see my gift either — better get cracking (darn my procrastinating tendencies…). 🙂

      Reply
  2. Melissa

    January 27, 2016 at 8:30 am

    Ooooh, I love those fabrics! It’s funny I’d never considered myself being a blue girl until I started sewing. When I was working, work outfit backbone was in shades of white/grey/black. As to the SVE, I am ready to start working on mine! I just finished my big knitted shawl which is a gift for next week so I am all psyched to dive into SVE!

    Reply
    • sanae

      January 27, 2016 at 5:45 pm

      I think blue fits right in with the white/grey/black color scheme. Hooray, happy to hear you’re done with your shawl! I bet it’s gorgeous! Can’t wait to see what you sew!

      Reply
  3. Ute

    January 27, 2016 at 1:22 pm

    I am blushing ;), thank you! You know what? Our goal for next year should be our first male participant! And you were absolutely right with your count, we have 179! I am so inspired by the beautiful creations in the #2016sve hashtag – there will be many happy squeals I am sure!

    Reply
    • sanae

      January 27, 2016 at 5:46 pm

      Yes! We need some guys to represent! I’m a slowpoke with IG and I’m just now starting to browse through the #2016sve images and they are blowing me away!!

      Reply
  4. Asmita

    January 27, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    looks yummy!

    Reply
    • sanae

      January 28, 2016 at 4:22 pm

      🙂 Gotta love the linen, right?

      Reply
  5. Lucinda

    January 28, 2016 at 10:29 am

    your valentine is one lucky girl – can’t go wrong with that palette!

    Reply
    • sanae

      January 28, 2016 at 4:23 pm

      I think I’ve got the palette down, but I have so many more fabric options, I’m starting to get decision paralysis! 🙂 I saw your gorgeous block printing – you go, girl!!

      Reply

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Giveaway time, my friends! So, 2026 is starting ou Giveaway time, my friends! So, 2026 is starting out in a very exciting way. My latest book, SHIBUI: THE JAPANESE ART OF FINDING BEAUTY IN AGING, is already in its second print run — deepest thanks to every person who purchased a copy, then got more copies to give as gifts!! Speaking of gifts, I have a little giveaway today that’s different from my usual kind. Shibui is available in audio format (a first for me!) read by the talented @edelynokano, and I have SIX free Spotify codes. Please note that you do need a Spotify account to utilize the code. Interested? 

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment below. Any comment would be lovely but if you have an audiobook recommendation, I’m all ears! No pun intended. I’ll leave the giveaway open until Friday, January 30th and will DM the winners shortly after. Good luck!🍀 @sasquatchbooks #shibui
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