Thank you so much for all the sweet messages on my birthday post! I’m sorry if I couldn’t reply to all, but I read all the messages and they brought a warm feeling to my heart. Sidra was not feeling well and he didn’t go to school, while my husband was working at home, so all of us just stay at home today. But there were so many messages and best wishes from everybody from all over the world! Internet is wonderful and scary at the same time, isn’t it?
Anyway, it’s now time for a birthday giveaway! I love doing this! Do you recognize these organizer wallets? They were featured in Sew News magazine, December 2010/January 2011 issue. Here’s an online version of the tutorial in Sew News website. These wallets were sent back to me after Sew News magazine finished taking pictures of them, and they arrived just in time for my birthday giveaway!
The men’s version (the black one with white cars) has been snatched by my husband, so I have the other 4 wallets available:
- Grey fabric with special delivery stamps pattern. Cotton with newspaper print for the inside. Cotton twill tie closure and wristlet strap.
- Turquoise flowers. Purplish double-gauze cotton for the inside. Magnetic closure and wristlet strap.
- Green fabric with wreath pattern. Purple and white stripes double-gauze cotton on the inside. Button and elastic closure and wristlet strap. Small brown doily detail on the outside.
- For kids! Wonky houses and roads. Dotted cream fabric on the inside. Magnetic closure and shoulder strap.
All outer fabrics are quality Japanese linen. The wallets measured 23×15 cm when closed and 23×30 cm when opened. More pictures of the wallets in my flickr album.
This giveaway is open to everyone, everywhere. To enter, just leave a comment telling me which wallet that you prefer. To make it more interesting than a ‘pick me! pick me!’ comment, I would love to hear about your birthday and age-related story/opinion!
Please make sure that you fill the email column correctly so I can contact you (the email won’t be published). I will select four winners at random and announce the names on Monday, December 13.
Good luck!
This giveaway is now closed. Thank you for participating!
PS:
- I have a 20% off sale going on in my shop! Use the code VPPBDAY upon checkout to receive your discount! The code is valid until the end of this year.
- And if you’re a member of Burdastyle, don’t forget to checkout the 50 finalists of the BERNINA ‘Party Through the Decades’ International Competition at Burdastyle and submit your vote to your favorite! My dress is there too, you can vote for it but only if you like it! ^_^
Happy Birthday Novita!
First, I’d like to say thanks, because your blog was the inspiration for me to try my hand at sewing. Now I have a sewing machine, and spend most of my evenings in front of it, attempting to create pretty things! I’m also trying to make all my christmas presents myself this year, and your reversible bag pattern is so good that I just keep making more for people!
Normally, I hate my birthday. I never want to make a big fuss, in case people don’t come to the dinner/party/whatever is planned. My boyfriend thinks this is really sad, and I found out yesterday that he’s organised the BEST BIRTHDAY treat for me ever. For my 27th birthday, he and I and 20 of our friends are off to stay in chalets in the French Alps for a week, snowboarding! For the first time ever, I’m excited about my birthday! I think I’m very lucky!
I hope that you always look forward to your birthday, I’ve come to realise we should take every opportunity we can to celebrate!
Thanks again for all the inspiration!
Alex
PS: Your green wallet is so pretty!
Hi there! Unfortunately I don’t have any really good birthday stories, only bad ones. (I usually end up crying on my birthday!) I don’t want to be a whiner so I will spare you the details! My last birthday was not so bad–a small get together at The Cheesecake Factory (I’d never been before).
I love the kids wallet. I’m just a kid at heart I guess!
The bunny one and the stamp one are also cute.
Happy Birthday!!! I love your site, even if I don’t sew clothes but I like your style, very simple and feminine. n_n My birthday is in April 1st and I’m 28 O_O . The wallet #4 is my favorite (yes, I love those childish patterns =p)
HUGS FROM MEXICO!!
Happy Belated Birthday!!!
Actually, it still really feels like I just graduated high school a couple years ago, its not possible that my oldest is in high school!!! 
I’ve been 42 for 4 whole days now, it really doesn’t feel any different than 41, or 35 or 19
I spent my birthday alllll day shopping with my mom and my girls, it was a great day!
It’s really nice of you to give away your organizers! I think I like the gray with stamps on it.
And I LOVE the name of your blog!!!
I like them all! If forced to choose, I’d pick the kids version. I have lots of little ones on my gift list! I’m 36 this year. I am really enjoying my thirties but admit to fearing the big 4-0. My hope as I grow older is that I will continue to grow more comfortable in my own skin and to be brave enough to authentically live my beliefs. Happy birthday to you!
Oh my! Haven`t been here for a couple of weeks and missed your b-day!
Nevertheless: Happy birthday from Germany!
Funny: My boyfriend turned 42 yesterday, and we talked about growing older, but not feeling like a grown-up (as we imagined as kids that grown-ups would feel…)
I have turned thirty this year and I got my first two white hairs, my first wrinkles around the eyes, etc. On one hand, sometimes it scares me, on the other hand, I´m even proud somehow: I have LIVED these thirty years and I quite like the idea that other people can see that in my face… I don’t know if I will still feel like that within ten years, but I really hope so. I just don’t like the tendency in our western society that only young, slender and fit counts as beautiful!
As for my personal opinion: as you can see, me and my boyfriend are 11.5 years apart, but strangely enough it is seldom a topic for us. He is the person he is, I am the person I am, and that’s all that matters.
Since I have been a very silent follower until now, I would love to tell you that I adore the dresses and jackets and trousers you make! They are an inspiration to me, although I haven’t dared to try to sew clothes for me yet.
If I were to win one of your adorable wallets, I’d choose the grey one with special delivery stamps pattern as my favourite, than the one with the wonky houses, than the turquoise flowers…
Thank you for sharing your great organizer wallets with four of us! It’s so generous!
i love the turquoise one with the flowers..so pretty
i just turned 21. Well actually it will be six months on dec third :). It turned out to be a really bummer birthday. My best friend ended up sick before the celebration, my other close friends couldn;t make it because of a recent death and it just was such a mess. I ended up breaking my foot on my birthday haha. All in all it turned out better the next day. My parents drove over the next day. My mim made me my favorite filipino food an dessert. It goes to show a simple party with family is always the best
xx
Happy birthday, Novita!!! I’m sorry I arrived late.
uhm, I’m 20 right now, and I’m going to turn 21 the 11th of this month. I feel alright, I guess. I’ve never been the kind of person who worries about age. People say that I think that because I’m young, but I really don’t think it’s a big deal. That’s just life. We can’t help it. We just need to realize that, and enjoy. Yes, the 11th of december of 2011 I’ll turn 22… but what can I do? I’ll just live my life and do the best I can to have a great time(soooo cliché, but true). As Abraham Lincoln said: “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” So true.
Thanks for the giveaway. I love the green wallet.
Happy birthday, again.
buon compleanno (or happy birthday) Novita!!!
I turned 24 two months ago but frequently people think I’m underage. I know that it will be a positive thing in the future but now it’s embarassing!!! When I have to show my ID card out of a bar I wonder if I really look younger or if there is something wrong whit the way I dress or with my hair or my makeup… I became a teenager again!!! :-S
I really love your blog that always inspire me!
greetings from Italy! xxx
P.S. My favourite is #1!!!
happy birthday to you ! I would reallllyyyy love to have the one dedicated for kids. my boys (5 y o and 2 y o) could really use this for when we are going on a trip. hopefully it will help me to stop them from killing each other LOL
birthdays do matter for me, especially the kids. we always try to do something special, even if it’s only eating ice cream as much as you can manage 😀
Happy birthday, Novita! I love your blog for the lovely stuff you sew! My favourite color is green, btw :). I’m 28 and feeling old! Still single and jealous of my married friends(most of them already have 2 kids). I want to have kids, too, and a nice house. Oh well, maybe when I’m 29 I’ll have those things.. who knows?? Then I’ll be like my married friends who are jealous of me, going here and there freely, and shopping every week
Thank you for this chance.. Although I have never manage to win anything, I still keep trying anyway! Mule headed! Lol..
I love all! But will choose the kids one for my son! He’s still a baby. 10 months to be exact!
Your birthday post before made me realize how short this life is and how we must treasure each and every moment. Thank you for that!
And about myself, I am 28. My birthday is in April and the best thing that has ever happened to me, though didn’t happened on my birthday, is my son, Ollie! And husband too, I guess.. Haha.. My ideal birthday is spent with my family.. Best birthday ‘present’ is getting calls and smses from my parents and brother and sister on my birthday itself.. =D
So sweet of you to give away this organizers!
LOL
I definitely like the one for the kids; I would wear it and my 4 year old nephew would wear it too
Cause we kids love this kind of cute stuff!
PS I’m 28, not so young by the age, but young in my heart cause still didn’t forget how to play
A very Happy Birthday to you!
I am fast approaching 50, but I don’t quite feel it yet. I love being my age! Turning 30 was a lot more problematic for me. I really felt I wasn’t in the right place, not doing what I should be doing. As I am comfortable in my skin now, age matters a little bit less.
I love the purple flowers, but will happily take and use anything you send my way!
C
First of all, happy B-day! (and sorry for the delay
)
I lie all of your wallets, but I especially like the one with the wonky houses and rooads…
My birthday is in september, and this year on my 22nd birthday, my boyfriend told me he loves me for the first time. So probably, I will remember this years b-day party forever
Keeping my fingers crossed for the giveaway…
I like the gray wallet with the special delivery stamps and the newspaper print on the inside :o)
My birthday is on Dec. 24, which is Christmas Eve here in the states. I feel for my mother who was in labor with me during that holiday! I was already two weeks past my due date, though, so I guess she was eager to get me out so we could finally meet, ha.
Love your blog and the lovely inspirational things you sew.
Turquoise flowers please!!! hehee it’s lovely
hmm this year i turned 27… like just a few years ago i thought 27 was OLD, i think that’s what we all think when we were a teeager or early adult.. but i don’t feel mature in any way, i feel like i’ve never grown anymore, as in wisedom, since i was 18, i feel like i’m the same person that i was 10 yrs ago, but i know i need to grow up and hopefully one day be a lucky person like you with a lovely husband and a kid 😛 still dreaming tho~
i love the wisdom that you’ve shared in your birthday post! great story that you shared and great thinking~ i hope when i turn 39, i would have a heart like you!
happy birthday again~
Happy belated birthday Novita…. This year, I am 26 years old and be a wife for a year. But I still can’t believe it, because I feel I just married yesterday…. :). Thanks for the giveaway, but it a bit funny because, usually people give a gift to the birthday girl. but now it reverse hehehe :). Actually, all the wallet is awesome, but I’m really like the ‘Turquoise flowers’..
I love the dark purple and blue one, then the green one with rabbits, they are my two favorites! When I met my partner and father of my son a few years back we had the usual talk about random stuff, including birthdays. I told him mine, and he replied kind of casually “same as me”. I thought “that’s a pick up line I’d never heard before”. I turned out he wasn’t joking, we are born on the same day, four years apart! It’s turned out to be great, he can never forget my birthday and we always have a big party/ gathering to celebrate.
Hope you had a good Birthday!
I really like the blue and white car but I also like the bunny print!(have a thing for bunnys at the moment) Still like the colour of the car wallet… Um not the bigest fan of birthdays, I have had some good and some bad.. I just see it as another day. But I think what really matter is if you are with friends and family…
Thank for the change to win the lovly wallet and will keep my finger crossed.
Awesome giveaway! Funny, I turn 40 on the 14 December, the day after you announce your giveaway. And I totally agree I don’t feel any different to when I was 19, or 29…so funny, maybe a little wiser and definitely happier with who I am, I like me…it’s a great place to be! For my 40th this year I have already had two parties – one in my home town and one where my family and old friends live, and then on the weekend of my birthday I am having High Tea with all my girl friends (that live in my home town)…I’m in a great space, loving life. I have two boys – 2 and 3, so I know I’m alive and that makes me happy that I can see the world fresh through their eyes again. I could ramble on forever, thanks for the chance take care of you and your beautiful family – I love your work!
These wallets are all so pretty it is tough to choose, thanks for sharing the design which I have bookmarked! I like the green fabric, but the kid inside me is screaming wonky roads and colorful houses please! My 30th birthday was in July, and I was upset about hitting the big 3 and never told my new graduate school classmates that I am way older. Being away from home in a different county also meant I did not have my family with me, except for my husband who had repeated failed to surprise me. But boy was I surprised, I came home to a surprise party with my close friends and what a wonderful dinner it turned out to be. Not the gifts or food, but simply the company, and of course some wine never hurt!
I especially love the turquoise flowers wallet! You did such a good job on these, they are all so cute! About me: I am 31 years old and must admit I had a hard time crossing that threshold to 30 when the time came. I never thought I would, but it was a day filled with nostalgia and a few tears. But now I am over that initial hump and am in full swing with my third decade of life!!!
I just had a birthday as well and as a gift to myself I decided to make my first quilt just for me. It wont be done, likely, until my next birthday, but Im making it with scraps of fabric that Ive used on other projects this year so it’ll be a great reminder of everything I worked on! People should take the time to make something for themselves now and then. And I love the green with the wreaths!
Happy Birthday Novita! All the wallets are so lovely but I’d like the green one with wreaths on it for my younger sister who turns 31 in the next ten days
Birthdays are a fun time cause people around you make you feel so special and as far as growing old…well its all in the head I guess. I’m 33 and married to someone who’s two years younger than me and no one can make out at all…. two years ago I had to give proof of my age to watch a horror flick here in Bombay 
Thanks for the giveaway and am keeping my fingers crossed.