May 2011

Hey there,
How is your week going?  I am SO enjoying the warmer weather; finally the grass is starting to turn green and the last traces of snow are quickly melting.  My husband is a farmer, so he is working away fixing machinery, hoping to get seeding as soon as the ground is dry enough.  Seeding time always feels like Picnic Season to me.  Since I get to make my own hours these days (huzzah!), my daughter and I meet Charles out in the fields most days for lunch or supper, or sometimes even both.  I love eating out in the sunshine on a blanket, listening to the birds and smelling the dirt.

I've made a little collection of lovely picnic items from other Etsy shops, which will make you want to get out there and have picnics too.  Also, since Mother's Day is approaching quickly, I wrote a do-it-yourself article on cloth napkins -a pretty and easy gift that also celebrates re-using!  I whipped mine up in under an hour.  

Picnic Season

Click on the photo to see the actual listing on Etsy.

D.I.Y Cloth Napkins
Mother's Day is this weekend already and if you don't have something for your mom yet, this is a quick and lovely idea.  I used a soft green tablecloth I got at a thrift shop and used blue paint for the stamp detail -my mom LOVES these colours together.  Click on the photo, or click HERE to learn how to quickly sew some of these up yourself.

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Sugar and Spice Trade Show
If you are in the area, you should come and visit us at our next trade show.  We'll be in Moose Jaw this time -at the Western Development Museum on May 14th from 10am-5pm.  It's called the Sugar and Spice Trade Fair -all businesses run by women!  The trade show is free, but museum access requires an entrance fee.  I used to LOVE going to this museum when I was little -it's full of trains and old-fashioned scenes.   Drop in and check out and visit us at the same time.

Happy May!  Hope yours if filled with spring-like wonder!

Maria & Cecelia,
the New Leaf Handmaidens.