Happy Friday! I got my translations done in time as well as a few other projects, and now I’m looking at one more big deadline hurdle, then I’m home free for a couple of months. I’m bursting with anticipation.
Anyway, while I duck my head down to get just a little bit more done, I wanted to kick off the weekend with another giveaway. We’re going full-on Japanese with this one. The little thread snippers are officially called itokiri hasami but every Japanese person I know calls them choki choki basami. Choki is an onomatopoeic word for the sound that the snippers make and basami is another way of saying hasami, which means “scissors”. A giveaway + a Japanese lesson, doesn’t get any better than that, right?
Moving along, people who know me well are aware that if you put any product in a test tube or glass vial, I’ll buy it. So obviously, I had to purchase this assorted hand sewing needle set that is this brand, though I mixed up the outer packaging so I’m not sure which particular set it is. The point is that I have way more test tubes filled with needles than I need, which sounds sketchy and somehow drug-related, I just realized. Regardless, they’re lovely needles, and I’m happy to pass along a test tube.
To enter the giveaway, any comment will do, but I’ve got summer vacation on my mind. Do you have fun plans for the coming months of summer (or winter if you’re on the other side of the globe)? We’re going to Michigan in July, and I’m wondering if I’ll have enough time and motivation to make a few things to fill out my anemic summer wardrobe. I hope so!
I’ll leave the giveaway open until next Friday, June 10th and will announce the winner the following Monday. International entries are always, always welcome. Good luck!
Have a great weekend, all! I leave you with the gems K offhandedly shared with me this week — so many morsels of verbal deliciousness:
“My thoughts,” K expressed,
“are like poetry bubbles”
and “love is magic”*
*What she actually said was, “Mama, you know that love is magic, right?” but that didn’t fit into my haiku.
Wow! Those same items are in your book. Which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, by the way and want to make everything in it. You’re coming to Michigan? Where abouts? My summer plans include painting the interior of my house and other repairs to get it ready to sell, so that we can move to Belize later this year. We also hope to visit our Great Lakes and get Up North in Michigan.
Every year we go away to Martha’s Vineyard with our kids godparents – this will be our 10th year and I always look forward to do absolutely nothing except relaxing, with some hand sewing or knitting and a book by my side. Bliss!
For me, I have work trips to San Diego and Hawaii and then kids’ birthday celebrations in SoCal (maybe Legoland or Sea World). Then off to Brazil for the Olympics before starting the whole school routine. Thanks for hosting the giveaway!
I’m in Australia, and I have some winter plans that include lots of sewing projects from Japanese sewing books! My partner is Japanese (but doesn’t sew!) and is helping me with translations. Love your blog and would love to win the prize!
What a great giveaway. Our summer plans include visiting family, camping, and enjoying being outdoors.
We’re renting a yurt at Riding Mountain National Park. I wish it had a bathroom ?
Those look great! I finally got a pair of grown-up fabric scissors (thanks mom!) and these snips would be a great match…
As for summer plans, me and a few friends have just started a collective to create prints, postcards, stickers, tote bags and all kinds of other things to sell at various art markets during the summer, so I guess I’ll be drawing a LOT!
Uh, i would love to win these. This summer we will goon a vacation to the Netherlands and hopefully spend also many lazy days at a lake near our house…
Thank you for hosting a giveaway! I am a sucker for all things scissors, and I need a good pair of thread snips. This summer, our twin boys turn one in July, so there will be some baby birthday partying! And we also have a lake house rented for a big family vacation in August with my parents, sisters, and their families. It will be chaos of the best kind! Because yes, Love Is Magic. Can’t wait to see what you’ll start sewing once you’re able to come up for air!
The snips and the test-tube needles are lovely – I, too, find it hard to resist beautiful packaging!
Sadly it’s winter here, but I’m consoling myself with thoughts of a possible trip to somewhere warmer – like Thailand, Vietnam or Malaysia.
thanks for the giveaway! My kids are the ones doing the travelling this summer – we’re putting them on a plane to go and visit both sets of grandparents. It’ll be a holiday for them and lots of time to sew for me!
Hmmm, nothing planned at the moment. My health is such that I haven’t even be able to venture out to garden in the last few weeks. I’m on the mend but it’s slow. I have a good friend who is retiring at the end of the month and we’ve talked about doing a small road trip to Bainbridge Island. While I would love to win this giveaway, I would love to know where to find the Japanese scissors and needles/supplies to do Sashiko. Thanks! Have a good weekend!
We’re off to Japan and then I’m going to spend the summer mulling over the idea of a new job! Kids will swim and pay tennis and hopefully lots of guitar playing!
We have plans to go to Birch Bay camping with our friends that are coming for a visit from China, where they live and work. They have 10 kids plus our 4 so it should be a party!!! That will include a day at the waterslides! Thanks for the give away!
My summer plans involve moving and starting a new job and interviewing for other jobs and enrolling in fall classes. I’m hoping meeting new friends, hiking, and sewing summer dresses is somewhere on the list as well.
I loved the Japanese lesson and I am always on the lookout for high quality sharp needles so throw my name in the giveaway!
Kayaking at the lake
I’m going to VA Beach in 2 weeks for 4 days. Very much looking forward to a destination getaway (even if it’s only a short 2-hour ride from where I live and we are staying with friends). I haven’t been to the beach in years and I’m excited to swim in the ocean.
We are moving into our newly built house sometime in the next month, so will be nesting this summer.
I grew up near Michigan, so have many great memories from our day trips there. Love the dunes, the lighthouses, Saugatuck.
This was my “ocean” growing up. My first introduction to large waves and beaches. We took many trips to the orchards for peaches and cherries. I loved it!
I’m kind of in disbelief that it’s practically summer! My two older kids are doing a few daycamps, I’m taking a tap dance class and we’re all going on a short road trip with my parents! I’m sure there’ll be lots of swimming, playground time and, hopefully, sewing thrown in too!
I’m waiting for my 3rd son to arrive somewhere halfway July. So no real big plans… In 2 weeks we do have a trip to Poland to which I’m really looking forward to. The kids will stay home with my parents and we’ll be with a small group of entrepreneurs from the same field, visiting businesses there. We also know them all, they’re friends so I hope those will be some good days. After that, maybe a day trip a few times in August? We’ll see. I’m mostly into the no-plans summer now.
Cool little scissors, I would love to hear the sound of this choki choki basami.
We planned 3 short trips with the kids this summer. And probably also a trip by bycicle.
So much fun! We are headed to Asheville, NC in a few weeks to visit family and can’t wait to hang out by the pool and see friends.
Have a great weekend!
I love those little snippers and needles. I need to get in this giveaway! We have no really definite plans. The farmers market is in full swing,so I’m knitting and sewing a lot.
My husband just hit back from 2 weeks in Japan on business. He managed to find me some fabric! We will go to the smoky mountains this summer. Maybe also a camping trip.
Ooh! Love the choki choki basami. And I definitely remember the word from my time in Japan, although I had and continue to have a tough time with all those onomatopoeic words in Japanese.
Congratulations on getting the translation done. I find it always brings a different kind of relief that producing something of your own.
To answer your question–we are already on holiday in my hometown in Pune:-) we spend a little over a month here every year in summer and do nothing but hang out and cook a bit. But I am looking forward to making a short trip with N to Bombay.
Oh, it’s cold and wet here, all I want to do is stay indoors, sew and eat! If I can get the blue sky weather and the snowfall and the free weekend to all line up, then we’ll take a trip to the mountains for some snow play. One kid has never seen snow, and the other wouldn’t remember.
We are spending a couple of weeks at Kouchibouguac National park. I recently reduced my hours at work, so it will be many days of gardening and playing on Nova Scotia beaches for our family. Bliss.
I love that the scissors are called by the sound they make. I don’t have plans for the summer but always have a craft going! Thanks for the giveaway.
Summer vacation to the Oregon coast in two weeks, so counting down the days! And trying to come up with a new sewing project to take with me. Beach time, afternoon beers, good food, and a sewing project is the perfect vacation for me.
those snips are a thing of beauty. I’m in Arizona where the temperature yesterday was over 115 (F), so avoiding the heat is a big part of my plan. Mostly staying inside and sewing.
Thanks for hosting a giveaway! I hope we can have lots of my kids’ friends over for dinner outside and sleepovers this summer, lots of guitar music and lying on quilts looking at the starts.
We will be going to Saugatuck Michigan next month with my Mother in law (who is Japanese), and family. We live North of Chicago and she is flying our from California. Can’t wait!
We are going to LA / Anaheim end of July. Part of it is for a conference but we’ll stay extra few days to just have fun. Can’t wait.
Camping for the first time with the small ones is our big summer adventure! Hopefully more camping to follow depending on how it goes
Those snips are so beautiful.
I live in Virginia, and we’re only an hour and a half from Shenandoah National Park. We have our first camping trip planned to coincide with our third wedding anniversary (and the first with our almost one-year-old). I’m looking forward to enjoying numerous other camping trips.
We hoping to get away to Florida this summer (we live in Norway). Also looking at diverse activities we can do throughout the weekends from home: canoeing, wild swimming, bicycling to the forest, hammock camping and freediving if we go to the sea:-)
We are hoping to spend some time getting our daughter acquainted with the mountains and also have a trip
planned to the South to see family.
I adore things Made in Japan!
Beautiful tools!!! I just finished my first garment ever…it’s for a two year old, and it took me two weeks. I’m understanding the importance of quality tools right now.
This summer, my family of three is going to California to visit extended family, and perhaps to camp for a few days in Shenandoah (VA).
Thank you, Sanae, for all the inspiration and for sharing your life with so many!
We’re visiting Philly now and a visit to Austin will be in July. Making sure to visit small fabric stores in each city!
Wow! I am obsessed with cool sewing notions, so I’d love to win these! My summer travel plans are all about family. I’m heading to Virginia to see my son and then to Minnesota later this summer to see my parents. I’m hoping to finish the triangle bag from your book to tote my latest knitting project!
Great giveaway! It’s winter here and my plans include knitting a lovely squishy gigantic cowl with beautiful dusty pink baby alpaca wool
Aah, summer, such a distant dream. Its winter here and we have moved in to our new (second hand) house, so its a whole lots of first winter renos – underfloor insulation, fixing the fireplace, that sort of boring mundane. Other than that, lots of down time reading and crafting as its been a hectic 6 months past!
We’re in New Zealand and now renting while we look for a new house so I’m looking forward to getting lots of sewing in on the cold winter days, if I can cope with the washing in the meantime! I miss summer and being able to hang it all outside!
We are going to Greece this summer with my family! Im so excited:)
I’ve been wanting to go on cruise to Alaska over the summer. It will be light all.day.long. It’s on my bucket list! But in reality I’ll probably be re-painting my walls and taking my little guy to the pool.
We will be staying close to home this summer. We have 4 days of camping. My older daughter, Iris, is going to do some day camps, 1 week, pottery, 1 week quilting and weaving, 1 week Voyageurs camp (canoeing and kayaking and fishing) on Toronto Island, and 2 weeks ballet intensive. My little daughter Stella has 1 week gardening camp on Toronto Islands. I would like to do all those great things too, but we are trying to decide if we are going to keep Stella at daycare so I can finish my Ph.D. thesis or if I should keep her at home and save money.
Lots of camping for us this summer. Looking to simplify and get back to nature.
Oh waw! Love sewing and love Japan! )Not been there yet but very high on the to do list. ) I planned plenty of time this summer to sew since i start a sabbatical: yeah! Some vacation in La Douce France as well. I could send you somerhing nice from there… As a swap of some kind
Just discover all of your creations thx to apost on instagram of Straightgrian patterns: instant LOVE!
Oh wow, those are some gorgeous tools! Thanks for the giveaway!
We’ve been doing a bunch of house remodeling that’s eating up all the extra cash this year, so summer vacations will likely be road trips and some camping. boring. But if we do a Seattle trip I’ll be sure to let you know!!
Going to Squamish, Whistler and the Bugaboos for some great climbing. 15 day trip!
Hello,
I am in California but originally from Saitama. I found your Little Kunoichi, The Ninja Girl book at library. My 4 years old daughter requests me to read it al most every night including the note about you under your picture.
くノ一と侍をおまつりのシーンから探すところも何回も読んでいるのでどこにいるのかわかっていますが、毎回楽しく”ここにいる！”と見つけています。
I’m in Singapore and I found you thru Emi! I’m due with baby #
3 in 7 weeks so I think no more holidays for us though we had a lovely resort holiday 2 weeks ago in Phuket! Love your giveaway and looking forward to checking out your new book!
Blueberries in Michigan
taste better with sunshine and lake breezes
and sand ‘tween your toes.
I’m going to be spending the summer at home, just fixing up the home.
We’ll be heading up to Northumberland, in the far north of England – the beaches are beautiful, though the North Sea can be a bit chilly!
We already had a week in Spain at Easter, it feels soooo long ago now. Not planning any other big holidays this summer because we are having work done on our house but we are going to try to fit in a few days camping. We will see how it goes though because our camping experience so far consists of one night in our back garden! Would love to win those needles, mine are rubbish and most of them are bent! ?
Our favorite things in the summer are the little adventures
We find small local festivals, or poke around little towns, or visit new parks or markets. And a couple of times this season we will be crazy people and load up the vehicle with kids and bags and drive 5 hours north for a weekend at the cottage, then come back home for Sunday night!
Hi! Wishing you a wonderful trip! I’ve read your book Little Kunoichi to our 6 year old girl. She loved it! I came accross theSewing Happiness book and realized it was from you! I knew it was a treasure to be had. Your awesome! Blessings to you Koko and your loved ones. Thank you for the opportunity
We are going to stay in a cabin in Idyllwild (San Jacinto mountains in So. Cal.) in July, so peaceful there. I hope to make your zip pouch (from your new book) by then to carry my colored pencils!