Life has been full of emotion this last month. Deep, tender, even mournful in many ways.
So… something different today. Something light and happy.
A little giveaway to welcome May and get us thinking about Mother’s Day!
Look at these cute bundles tied with twine!
Last Summer, my friend Shelley, made (then mailed) my girls these darling packages.Shelley and I met in Virginia, Years later, we both ended up moving west. I landed in Utah, Shelley in sunny Cali.
Inside the beautiful wrapping? An array of darling zipper pouches! Hand-made by Shelley. Who used to walk the hallways at church with me, bouncing one of these twin girls in her arms!
Aren’t they adorable?
This typewriter pouch was love at first sight for Liza!
Shelley even included one for me!
And I love it.
I put jewelry in it then tuck it into my suitcase when traveling. I put pens in it and little notebooks for quick access in my purse.
Her pouches come in all kinds of sizes so you can use them for makeup, electronics, iPhones, wallets, knitting… basically anything you want to find quickly in a purse, diaper bag, backpack, or suitcase so you don’t have to dig for it!
She can even make you a laptop cover like this one! ⬇️ Swoon!
Shelley’s zipper pouches come in all kinds of cheerful fabrics.
Now for the fun part…
Everyone?
Meet Shelley!
Shelley is a beautiful mother of four kids (mostly grown up) who sews like the wind, designs all kinds of pretty things, is a DIY junkie, loves sushi, travel, and her sweetheart Marc of 27 years. She serves everyone she knows and wherever she is, the world just feels brighter.
I don’t do giveaways very often. But when Shelley reached out to me, I thought it would be fun to do a Mother’s Day giveaway, send Shelley some traffic, and offer you not only a chance to win some pouches, but a Mother’s Day discount at her Etsy shop!
Her pouches make the perfect Mother’s Day gift!
Starting NOW, get 20% off Barnacle Designs Etsy Shop with the CODE: MOM20
Offer good through May 14th, 2017! 🌸
(Her rifle paper fabrics are the cutest.)
AND if you’d like to WIN one of these sets of pouches:
Rifle Paper Company travel print. 🍍 Two sizes: 9 x 6.5 in. – perfect for an iPad mini or other travel essentials. And a 9 x 4 in. pouch for makeup or other items.
Or this Linea Blue set. 👠 Same sizing.
… Simply follow Shelley on Instagram @barnacledesigns or like her Facebook page, BarnacleDesigns, then leave me a comment here, at the end of this post, telling me you started following her or liked her page. That will give you an entry into the drawing.
Now, in case your curious, here’s the story behind Barnacle Designs.
And a word from Shelley about why pouches make the perfect Mom gift:”The absolute best way to keep your purse, diaper bag, or gym bag organized is with smaller bags so you can keep similar items together. In my purse I like to keep three main zipper pouches. One is for “fixing” myself on the run. I keep a powder compact, a mini hairbrush, some elastics and bobby pins, a couple of lip glosses, and a roller ball of my favorite perfume, Tocca Florence. I think of the second pouch as my “first aid kit,” because I keep a few bandaids, a small tissue pack, a bottle of Advil and Tylenol (yep, they are mixed together in one bottle), eye drops, some of those toothpick harp thingies and a small hand lotion. Maybe hand lotion should be in the beauty bag but by the time I notice my hands are all dry and yucky it seems like a first aid emergency. I keep the last bag for colored pens. This is just my personal happy bag because I love opening it and seeing all those pretty pens when I want to make a note in my planer or when I need to take notes at a meeting. It’s a small pleasure, but being able to easily find what I need in my bag gives me a little feeling of control that I really enjoy.”
Zip right over to Barnacle Designs and order some pouches! Code: MOM20. (I just ordered mine!) And don’t forget to enter the giveaway by following @barnacledesigns on Instagram or liking her Facebook page, BarnacleDesigns, and leaving me a comment here!
Happy shopping for those special Moms in your life!
Mandy Nielsen
Love Shelly and love those bags! I use mine all the time and would love to win more.
Bree
SO SO CUTE! I'm following her & ordering for Mother's Day!
Crystalyn
Done! These are so darling!
jbc
They are darling. I'm following.
Mary Keddington
I'm thinking these may become a diaper bag essential….I'm following.
Ty and Anna Kay Tanner
So cute!!! Such a great idea!
ellen
I'm following her! I love her work!!
Shelley Fosse
Cath, this is so awesome! Except for the big picture of my face; that is a little scary 🙂
Thank you again for your amazing support. Love, Shelley
rana durham
I AM FOLLOWING @RANAJDURHAM I CANT WAIT TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY .
Frau Mahlzahn
Not entering, but: woah, I do love the linea blue set! Does she deliver to China, too, by any chance, ;-).
On another note: I am reading your blog, but have been very quite. I am thinking of you, your family and your mom in particular.
So long,
Corinna
Shelley Fosse
Hi Corinna. I don't usually deliver out of the United States, but for a friend of Catherine's I definitely will! If you decide to order please message me on etsy so I can change my shipping for you.
All the best,
Shelley
Diana Clark
I'm not entering, because that would be cheating … since I'm Shelley's mom in San Diego. I'm just commenting because I want to tell you how much I loved starting my day by reading your beautiful description of my lovely daughter. And, I especially loved your photo of her sewing in her sunroom. In fact, I'm going to try to steal it off your blog and save it to my hard drive right now!
catharvy
Go right ahead!! You raised an incredibly lovely, talented, and compassionate daughter. I bet you're so proud of who she is and how much she gives to other. Kudos to you! Thank you for leaving a note here!
Rachel
I agree with Mary that these could be a diaper bag essential! I'm following her on Instagram. I would love to win a set!
Monica Geary
I wasn't able to follow her on instagram (I don't have any social media accounts but I signed up for instagram yesterday for this give-away and when I got my confirmation code it kept saying there was an error. But I looked at her instagram! Ha!)
I understand if this disqualifies me but I thought I would comment just in case!
Love the bags– such a great idea for women!
catharvy
For all that effort, consider yourself entered Monica!! And try the code again. I had a little trouble, only because it wouldn't apply the discount until the very end. I tried putting it in 2-3 times. Seems like something they need to streamline better on Etsy's end. But I did use the CODE and it worked fine. Try again and let me know if it doesn't work! Then I'll talk to Shelley!
catharvy
Guess what Monica?? You won! I will do a little write-up announcing the winner tomorrow. And I'll check with Shelley to see how she'd like you to contact her! I'll be in touch! (Do I have your email address?)
Danielle
done- these are adorable <3
knit one, knit two
Following on Facebook and Instagram and just bought pouches for my daughter and I. So cute! Thank you for the chance to win!
(Was almost afraid to click on your link, I was so afraid it was news on your mom. Holding your mom and your family in my heart with prayers)
Kerry
The pouches are darling. Just ordered them for Mother's Day gifts for my mom, mother-in-law, and grandmother-in-law. Thanks for the tip! And now following on Instagram. 🙂
I am also thinking of you and your mom and your whole family.
Gretchen
These are adorable! Love the travel design! I started following Shelley on Instagram
Jo
Following Shelly on IG and ordered some for my granddaughters. Would love some for myself Cath! Thinking of you and your family and your lovely dad!!! xoxo Joanna
Emily VO
Following Shelley on IG, thanks for sharing these Cath they are wonderful!!
Deb
Those pouches are adorable! I would love to win! ❤️
Selwyn
Cath thank you for sharing such an amazing sewing artist, they are such lovely pouches (and her posts colour my insta feed beautifully).
I hope your May is full of grace, calm and pockets of beauty <3
Becca
Following on Instagram now! These are so cute! I have been looking for something like this for weeks to replace my broken first aid pouch from my purse! I hope I win, but if not I'm going up have to buy one! So so cute! Very nice blog Cath! You know amazing people.
Crissie Clark Woolard
I am following on FB: Crissie Clark Woolard
These are adorable! Thanks for the chance to win. [email protected]
Monica Geary
Ahhhh!!!! This just made my night!!!! Oh how exciting. These pouches are so beautiful and I am so happy to win them!! What a talented friend you have! I will spread the word!! Hooray!! My email address is [email protected]
You are so awesome and I have looked up to you for inspiration and for guidance with raising my family (a set of twins as well). Truly, thank you for showing me as a young mom how to live a beautiful life with family. Thanks for all you do!!
Shelley Fosse
Hi Monica, I'm so pleased you won! And how great that you have twins too 🙂 Cath sent me your info and since I'm out of town for the weekend I'll be popping your pouches in the mail on Monday.
Take care,
Shelley
Marissa
Liked the Barnacle Designs facebook page and following on Instagram! What a cute giveaway!