Working away . . . and preparing to travel

I've been busy on and off with a few new beading projects and am preparing now for a journey home to Ireland. Eleven hours of traveling! I have started a couple of projects and now that the design elements are all worked out and all that's left is the execution and finishing, I have packed my trusty boxes and have enough work to keep my hands and mind busy on the long journeys beginning this coming weekend.

I feel I have a 'foolproof' travel kit that suits MY needs! I know we are all different, but when I travel it's with some beadweaving work, and I usually take at least two projects with me. I don't like to 'design' as such when I'm flying or in the passenger seat of the car ... but I find that say a spiral rope or a bracelet base that I'm working on is an ideal travel-type project.

I actually use some nifty plastic photo-storage boxes that can be purchased at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. They come in a container with either six or twelve individual photo-storage boxes. (I also use these boxes to store my seed beads and as much as I can, I keep the beads in their original tubes ... the six inch tubes fit comfortably into the boxes.)

To get back to the 'travel kit' though I use a little Beadalon blue sticky mat that sticks to the bottom of the plastic box, and I have come to love these. The beads 'stick' to the blue mat, but are very easy to lift up with the needle ... there is no residue. The major advantage is that if you hit some turbulence and the 'box' is upset, the beads do not go all over the place.

I can fit my magnifying reading glasses, a small safety blade (tucked under the blue mat), necessary tubes of beads and thread bobbins. I take a little multi-tool in case I need the pliers to pull the needle through the beads. A few needles will stick quite nicely to the blue gel mat. Over the year I'll have a few 3-4 hour plane flights and one 'container' can keep me going for these hours.

These plastic containers are about an inch thick and measure approx. 4.75" x 6.75"

I can easily put one of these containers into my purse or slide it into my laptop bag or camera case, depending on what my hand luggage consists of. They seal beautifully and even the loose 15/0 seed beads that I so love remain safe and sound inside.

I have mastered the art of keeping this on my lap as I bead, and is SO easy to just close up if I need to put it away in a hurry.

This is MY solution and of course may not work for everyone -- but I thought I'd share in case this might appeal to someone.