May Giveaway!

Was hoping to post this giveaway yesterday but our day turned out to be non-stop busy.  And my little buddy had to get *four* shots at his kindergarten physical so he was in need of comforting yesterday evening.  My apologies for the delay!

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May.

It's my favorite month of the year!

Spring is here...

The strawberries are in season...

And sprouts are coming up in the garden...

To celebrate this beautiful time of year, the happy mood it puts me in, and all the exciting happenings going on here lately, a giveaway seemed in order!

All you have to do to enter is be a follower (via Linky Followers or Google Friend Connect on the right sidebar) or email subscriber via Feedburner, and leave a comment below sharing what you like best about this time of year. This giveaway is open to readers anywhere in the world!

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And now for the May Giveaway items...

A candle of your choice from Harmony Farm Candles

A copy of the premiere/summer issue of Romantic Prairie Style magazine

A trio of lavender-filled sachets handmade by me from happy, floral Japanese quilting cottons

The sachets are approximately 3-1/2" square

And this paper bunting (made during last week's crafting spree) featuring 9 pennants in cottage florals, tiny polka dots, strawberries, and stripes, strung on light blue and white baker's twine

Each pennant is approximately 3" across and they are spaced about 2" apart. The spacing can be adjusted and the length of baker's twine is more than 5 feet long.

The May Giveaway runs through May 31st and the winner will be announced June 1st! 

Happy May!

-Erin

Want to enter some other May giveaways?

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Getting My Craft On (and a Peek of the Craft Room)

Hi everyone,

Hope your weekend has gone well! We went to a friend's birthday party last night and I'm so wishing I'd remembered to take my camera.

Our friend is working on an historically accurate restoration of an 1840 plantation home on 20 secluded acres east of Greensboro, NC. Being on the property felt like you'd stepped back in time. My husband went over early Saturday morning to help pit-cook half of a 350 lb. sow for the event, and Jacob and I joined him in the evening. We toured the house, walked the gorgeous property, rode mules, enjoyed a plethora of delicious food, and listened to live bluegrass music around a roaring bonfire. 'Twas a fun night!

Today, I've been piddling around the house, working a bit more on my craft room. I've made serious headway in this room in the last two weeks and I can finally see the light at the end of tunnel!   This was the chaos a month ago.

Now, look...you can see the floor!

What you can't see here is that I've organized, sorted, thrown away, and whipped this room into a much greater semblance of order.  Though the rest of my house is decorated in a more understated style, this room is colorful and happy with a vintage vibe.  Accents of aqua, red, and light blue, along with colorful artwork and Cath Kidston-type fabrics will abound.

Here are a few peeks of some of the details in the space.

My new sewing station is a white farm table; the planked top is wrapped in oilcloth

This is one of the soon-to-be-finished details: the space above the sewing station will be a gallery wall, filled with framed artwork and fabric in embroidery hoops

Finished candles reside in a chippy blue bookshelf--which has been thoroughly organized!

Added a little Cath Kidston love to my blue desk

Though I'm still working on the finishing touches, which will (fingers crossed) come together in the next week, I just had to do some crafting on Friday evening with all the progress that's been made.

With the sewing machine set up and ready at a moment's notice, I whipped out a trio of lavender-filled sachets using some new, gorgeous floral Japanese quilting fabric.  Then I made a couple paper buntings with scrapbook paper and baker's twine.  I'll share photos of these in my next post, but I do have something to show you now from this bout of crafting mania that I'm completely smitten with!

I've been wanting to try my hand (hehe...) at embroidery for awhile, so I took the plunge Friday night.

I was looking for a small embroidered piece of fabric art to go on the gallery wall, and I was leaning towards something with a sweet, vintage chicken on it.

After searching online for an image to inspire me, I found one at Cornflower Creations on Etsy.  It's my favorite shop for vintage-style embroidery and I purchased a couple redwork chicken towels from Jacklyn, the owner of Cornflower Creations, last year.  My imitation of the hen on this apron that Jacklyn sold is intended to be the highest form of flattery.  I mean, a little red hen carrying a bouquet of purple flowers?  How can you not smile at that?

I used a muslin remnant and in a couple hours finished this happy hen, which I can't wait to hang up in the craft room!

She reminds me of my recently departed Lulu

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I'll be back tomorrow with a May Giveaway!
-Erin

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Harmony Farm Candles Coupon Code Just for You!

Mother's Day is just around the corner and if you're still trying to figure out what to give Mom, you can't go wrong with candles.  I'm just saying. :)

With many floral fragrances (these are just a few of the many available in the shop)

Lavender - made with 100% essential oil

Rose

Lilac

Violet

Hydrangea

clean and 'green' fragrances

Ocean Breeze

Green Tea & Lemongrass

Spring Meadow

Line-Dried Linen

Lavender Cucumber Sage

Crisp Apple

and even refreshing, citrus fragrances

Lemon Cookie

Sweet Orange

Grapefruit

there's something for every mom in the Harmony Farm Candles Etsy shop!

And to celebrate Mother's Day, I'm offering a special coupon code for you, the readers of Carolina Country Living.

Just enter the code MOM12 at checkout and receive 12% off your order! Orders received by Tuesday, May 8th will ship in time to arrive for Mother's Day.  However, the coupon code will be valid through Monday, May 14th.

P.S.--If you haven't shopped at Harmony Farm Candles before, orders of 5 or more candles qualify for discounted shipping. Just email me at harmonyfarmcandles at gmail dot com for more details!

So, what are your Mother's Day plans?  Have you already finished your Mother's Day shopping? (I surely haven't!)

-Erin

Take a peek...

There's a new magazine on stands near you 

and you have probably already heard some of the buzz about it...

In this magazine, among the many stunningly beautiful homes from around the U.S. and Canada,

and features about artisans, craftspeople, and farmers,

and tantalizing recipes,

and original project tutorials, and tips and info on collectibles, and so much more...

there's a log farmhouse in those pages that you might recognize if you read this blog.

 Yes, that's my house! Please, pinch me!  

Kimberly McCole wrote a most lovely article to complement Fifi O'Neill's styling and Mark Lohman's photography from last September, which appears in the premiere issue of Romantic Prairie Style magazine!  Wow, I still can't fully comprehend that this has really happened! My thanks to all three of you!

I'd also like to thank two friends: 

Karan Sjoberg of Fetch Antiques and Interiors, who whipped my house into shape for the photo shoot.  She has a wonderful eye for arrangements and vignettes and brought together the rooms so beautifully.  She also has an amazing shop in Hillsborough, NC, filled with gorgeous architectural salvage pieces, and lots of one-of-a-kind vintage furniture. 

Cindy Austin--also featured in Romantic Prairie Style magazine (she's the adorable lady wearing the straw hat in the photos above!)--who so kindly and generously lent several of her original oil paintings for the photo shoot to help fill my bare walls.  Fifi loved her work and so will you!

And as if all of this isn't totally overwhelming, check out the "Made in America" section of Romantic Prairie Style for a mention and photo of Harmony Farm Candles! 

So, please check out the premiere issue of Fifi's sumptuous quarterly magazine, Romantic Prairie Style.   The pages are simply overflowing with eye candy aplenty, terrific articles, and inspiration galore!

On cloud nine,

Erin

P.S.--I found the copy of Romantic Prairie Style previewed here at Target on Friday. The local Barnes & Noble said they will have copies on the shelf starting Tuesday, May 1st. Interested in subscribing?  Annual U.S. subscriptions are available for $24.97 for 4 quarterly issues via Harris Publications, 1115 Broadway, New York, NY  10160-0397.

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More Sq. Ft. Gardening: What I Planted and Resources for Your Own Garden

Before I finish the square foot gardening post I started last week, I want to take a quick minute to remember Lucille, seen here on the blog last summer.

She died today from injuries sustained in a possum attack last night.  Poor, sweet girl.  She's the only hen we've lost to a predator in the nearly two years we've kept chickens.  My husband--ever the avenger--made swiss cheese out of dispatched the possum so our other ladies won't be in any further danger.

Such is life in the country.

R.I.P., Lu. :(

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So, back to square foot gardening.  Last week, I cleaned out two raised beds in our garden, added vermiculite to the preexisting compost/topsoil mix, and created grids with baling twine.

I then planted 10 heirloom tomato seedlings (4 Pink Brandywine and 6 Cherokee Purple) that my mom gave me.

In the rest of the squares of the two beds, my little helper and I planted these seeds:

• Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Black Beauty Zucchini
• Cocozelle Zucchini
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Spacemaster Cucumbers
• Blue Lake Bush Beans
• Sugar Baby Watermelons
• Detroit Dark Red Beets
• Hearts of Gold Canteloupe
• Chadwick Cherry Tomatoes
• Chives

Planting peas

One more seed to plant in that square!

For information on how many seeds to plant per square, check out Plant Spacing for a Square Foot Garden. All New Square Foot Gardening does not have an exhaustive list of plant types, so this Web site was a great additional resource.

And I also found this spreadsheet on companion planting quite helpful as I laid out the grids and determined where to place seeds.

So that I don't forget anything, as I'm very prone to do, I'm keeping a notebook with diagrams of each bed, noting what and how many seeds were planted in each square, and when they were planted. 

Speaking of the seeds, all were from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange of Mineral, VA and Sow True Seed of Asheville, NC.  Most are organic and heirloom varieties native to the Southeast U.S.  Just trying to keep it local/regional!

If you're looking for vermiculite, it can be hard to come by as it's not generally carried in big box stores. I found this handy-dandy spreadsheet on My Square Foot Gardening that lists retailers by state.  For folks in North Carolina, Fifth Season Gardening (locations in Carrboro, Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh) carries vermiculite, as do a few other specialty gardening businesses in eastern and western NC.

I'll be cleaning out the mustard greens this week, and converting those beds to sq. ft. beds.  I need to pick up some corn and okra seeds, and probably a few more varieties of herbs, to add some diversity to the garden. And with all the rain we've had lately, hopefully we'll be seeing some sprouts in the coming weeks!

-Erin

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