Lunch Time...

 

The microgreens I'm growing on my kitchen table have really taken off, and a friend and I will be adding them to a big salad in just a few minutes for lunch. The seeds I used were Pine Tree Garden's Kitchen Sink Mix, with over 16 different kinds greens. They were surprisingly easy to grow - after planting the seeds I covered the top of the planter with saran wrap, until they sprouted.  After that, they were ready for clipping in just a few weeks.

But, before we eat, I just wanted to thank everyone for participating in last week's Mid Month Give Away.  I'm happy to announce that our winner was Patty S. from Arizona.  She is an experienced maker of handmade paper, and is looking forward to using the mold and deckle to make bookmarks for her visitors at an upcoming art exhibition she will be participating in this May. Best wishes to you Patty!

This Month's Give Away Winner

Judy from Pennsylvania was the winner of last week's Mid Month Going Green paper making kit Give Away. She writes:

Dear Elizabeth,

What a nice surprise your email was this morning.  Thank you so much!  I've never tried making paper before but it looks like something I'll enjoy learning.  I have several grandchildren who love crafting and I think this will be a fun project to try with them.

Gardening is my favorite pastime.  I garden on 3/4 of an acre in zone 6 in a mostly sunny yard.  This past summer I dried flowers from my garden for the first time and so my hope is to learn to use them with my own homemade paper.

I really enjoy reading your blog and visiting your websites.  Your beautiful artwork and cards are what inspired me to try drying flowers.  I'm sure that your generosity in offering free tips and information is very much appreciated by all of your readers.

I know you'll enjoy using the kit with your garden flowers Judy! If you every have any questions, just let me know.

Give me a hand...

 This is a handmade paper imprint of my youngest son's hand - we did these for a Mother's day project a few years ago in his first grade class.  This was made with the 5 x 7" mold and deckle from the Wooden Deckle Paper Making kit - which just happens to be this month's Mid Month Give Away, which ends at noon today (central time).

Directions for making handmade paper hand imprints (try to say that ten times fast) are available on my leaf petals site.

There's still (a little) time to win a free Going Green paper making kit for the Mid Month Give Away.

free organic reading material

A $23.94 value! Stonyfield organic yogurt is really good (I like the lowfat vanilla), and they are offering a free one year subscription to Organic Gardening magazine, when you collect 4 specially marked yogurt container lids. Bless their hearts! Hurry, you only have until the end of next month.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!"

That’s from 1 Chronicles 16:31, and isn’t that appropriate for this time of year?

I cringed when I saw the date of my last blog entry…I haven’t been meeting my goal of blogging 3x/week lately, have I?

Well, I’ve been busy enjoying this glorious season…not doing anything too important, but mainly just being outside during every spare moment in the midst of this fleeting season. I have been pressing last minute flowers and even long blades of grass so that I have plenty of slender “stems” to use for my pressed flower art during the winter. And, of course, I’ve begun my search for the brightest and best autumn leaves to press, along with my kids. Our search gets quite competitive, but it yields some of the most incredible leaves.

Speaking of being competitive, I finally posted my first blog “Give Away” after some prodding from a few friends, and then I forgot to announce the winners! Remember my ornamental pepper seed give away a week or so ago? Well, I feel bad about not following through on that, so I declare everyone a winner! Anyone who e-mails me their address by October 26^th will get a few seeds from my stunning orange and purple pepper plant. Just go to the contact page of either one of my websites to find my e-mail address.

I will be putting the “rejoice” picture up on my etsy soon. Enjoy autumn!