needle book

Call it wishful thinking, but I've decided to have a little Spring Giveaway. It's actually in honour of my 400th post! I can't believe I've written that many, what on earth have I been nattering on about?

Anyway, just in case you think I don't appreciate my readers, here's the giveaway. It includes a set of my bird sketch notecards, a wee pincushion made with the sweetest Japanese deer print:
 and a one-of-a-kind peg doll:
She has a little feedsack skirt with lace trim, a brown knitted sweater, and a purple wool felt kerchief with tiny pink button.

All this cheerful Spring goodness for free, just leave a comment and I will pick a winner on March 15th. Please include your email address in your comment so I can reach you if you win.

p.s. I haven't put any of these pincushions in the shop as they are too fat to send letter mail, so they cost $6 to ship. Which is silly because they are only $5 to start with. So if you'd like to add one to any Needle Book Shop purchase just send me an email or etsy convo.

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It's that time of year again. I brought some Forsythia branches in last week to force them to bloom. I thought it might have been too early in the year, the buds were quite small and brown and kind of dry looking and it didn't seem like they'd be ready to bloom any time soon. But it worked!

All you do is cut some branches from a tree that blossoms in spring. If you can find some cherry branches, those are gorgeous. Then before you arrange them in water, clip an extra cut at the bottom of the branch so that it can draw up the water better. Wait a few days and you will see your branch start to blossom.

A nice way to cheer things up inside as you wait for your garden to bloom.

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First of all, judging from all the shoots coming up in our gardens it's springtime and the bulbs are growing! Also we're pleased to see that the little lilac tree we planted in the fall is getting some buds. Relieved to see it survived after being buried in about 17 feet of snow this winter...

Also, for the first time, I have finally brought branches inside to force the blooms. I've seen it in magazines and they are always stunning but I haven't managed it until now. I think it has something to do with having a house and our own garden. But the branches on the left are from our parent's house (my in-laws), they're cherry tree branches. The branches on the right are from our own Forsythia.

So this is a reminder, now is the time to bring some branches in! Of course I will post pictures once ours bloom. I have several vases all over the house. And two tips:

1. woody branches should be cut at the bottom in an "x" so that they can draw up water more easily

2. the branches will turn the water a golden brown colour so you might want to use a coloured vase. I don't really mind about it, plus I have lots of branches and had to use all the vases we had.

Hope you have a happy Spring.

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