Today Is My 100th Post!...

Today is the day! I can scarcely believe that I've posted one hundred messages to you since I first started my blog in March. Time sure flies! In celebration of this auspicious day, I have selected items from previous posts to offer as giveaway gifts to three of my Brynwood Needleworks readers.

Do you want to see the gifts first, or do you want me to tell you how you can enter to win one? OK, I'll show you what I've selected to give away first! (I know, you're doing a little happy dance, aren't you?) Drumroll, please. (Handsome is sitting here with his favorite snare drum, just to help me announce my gifts!)

Giveaway Gift One
This gift includes items from the fragrance line that I wrote about here.

Philosophy produces their "Grace" line in two or three different fragrances (Pure Grace, Amazing Grace, etc.), and the one I love is Pure Grace. When I wrote about it in my original post, I said that in addition to smelling so fresh and light, I also liked the messages that the company prints on some of their containers. In this set, you will find Pure Grace Perfumed Buffing Wash (to which I've added a white tulle bow and one of my handmade birds nests); a tube of Perfumed Body Butter (who doesn't LOVE butter?); and a roll of twill tape with the word "Blessings" repeated over and over its 4 ft. length. I love what's written on the bottle of buffing wash:

" pure grace is the sweet breath of God, the soft green grass that lies still against a child's back, the whispers of the words i love you, the quiet and the solitude, the prayer that is always answered with "i will guide you home" rather than yes or no, the heart that makes forgiveness its soul passion, the spirit that drapes itself in humility, the mind that exercises free will while surrendering to divine outcome, the person who takes their hands off the wheel, closes their eyes and says "you drive and I'll enjoy the ride".

All of these items will arrive in a beautiful box decorated with birds, eggs and butterflies.

Giveaway Gift Two

I wrote about the Brynwood Lazy Daisy Tea Towel here and more recently, the Silk Ribbon Shaker Pincushion appeared here. Both of these items, handcrafted by me, are part of this giveaway gift. In addition, I'm including a pair of snips with large-holed handles to make them easy to use, and attached to that is one of my handcrafted Scissors Fobs that I wrote about here. I sell the fobs in my Etsy store. This one has pretty crystals and a pewter spool of thread to "pretty up" the scissors. Also included is a small purse-size tube of Aveda hand cream. Everything is packaged in a tiny hat box - a smaller version of the one that I used to pack up my granddaughter's birthday crown.

Giveaway Gift Three

My third gift set features the Birds Nest Button Jar that I wrote about here. I started by making the birds nest and added a silky ribbon to the jar lid (so that you can still remove the lid without removing the embellishments). I then attached it to a Longaberger Basket-patterned jar. I've even included some buttons in the jar to add to your own collection! You can read the original post for the rest of the details. To this I've added one of my duplicate vintage pincushions. This one is a sweet owl...a bit "loved", but so sweet. Both will arrive nestled in a beautiful box decorated with birds, eggs and butterflies.

You can click on any of the photos to enlarge them so you can see more of the details.

Now, be truthful...Wouldn't you love to own one of these giveaway gift sets? I hope so! So, let me tell you how to get your name in the drawing.

• If you're a "follower" of my blog - your name and/or image appears in my "followers" list - you automatically have TWO entries in the giveaway. If you're not already a follower, you can become a follower now and you will receive your TWO entries.
• If you write a comment IN THIS POST ONLY, your name will be entered an additional ONE time. Multiple posts here will not earn you multiple entries, though. I'd love to hear which gift you like the best and why.
• If you write a comment IN MY UPCOMING POSTS, your name will be entered an additional one time per day. REMINDER: Be sure to sign your posts so that I know who to credit with an entry!!!
  
• If you have a blog and post a link to my giveaway, you will earn another ONE entry in the giveaway. (Please be sure to let me know you've done this, so I can give you credit!)
  

I will draw the winning names NEXT FRIDAY, August 14th.

• The First Name I draw will have First pick from the gifts.
• The Second Name drawn will have Second pick from the gifts.
• Of course, the Third Name will be the recipient of the final gift available.

I hope you're as excited about this as I am!

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has stopped in to read my musings. You motivate me to be my best so that I can share the best of me with you. God blesses my life daily with my wonderful Handsome husband and our family. You honor me when you stop in to read what I've written to share just with you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Beauty In The Garden...

A perfect pink hibiscus to share with you today...Sister Pink.
She's the size of my hand and she called me to come and take her picture.

Of course, I couldn't resist.

I lingered long enough to photograph her sisters, too,
and they all posed so well for me.
They asked to be included today,
so here is Sister Butter Yellow...

And pretty Sister Red

And I can't forget White Magnolia.
She's related to the Hibiscus Sisters only because they share the same yard.
Isn't she lovely, too?
They get along so well, playing in the breeze together.
They never argue for the attention of the bees, and
they never fight for more rain or sunshine.
They only show their best side and enrich our yard just by being in it.
If only the world could be like this.

Tomorrow is the big day!

Picking Up Hitchikers...

In Florida, if you turn your back for about, oh, three hours, nature will take over. As I'm not a gardener (as I've told you before), I'm the last one to volunteer for yard work. Actually, Handsome likes working in the yard. From time to time, I do help (I like pruning wild bushes and trees), but when it gets really hot, he's pretty much on his own out there. (You can find me in the studio.) Besides, he likes getting up early and I prefer to start my days later in the day. He gets the benefit of the slightly cooler weather that way.

This morning Handsome decided that the side yard needed weeding. He pulled all the unwanted growth out of the beds next to the house that are home to our hawthorne bushes. Those bushes have the sweetest-smelling, little, white flowers in the spring. When they're in bloom, not only does the yard smell heavenly, but if you open the windows in the evening, their gentle fragrance wafts into the house, too.

So anyway, today he headed out and started pulling weeds. When he was finished, the yard looked fab-u-lous, but Handsome had picked up a plethora of hitchikers. Someone's gonna pay with at least an hour of picking those darn things off his clothes! (Can you see how they're so thick that his shirt tails are even stuck to his shirt?) I don't know...It just doesn't seem fair to follow up hours of yard work with hours of "picking".

It was his suggestion that I grab the camera and make him and the hitchikers the subject of my post today. My cute gardener and his unwanted pests. You gotta love this guy...I sure do!

Friday is my 100th Post!!! Come back to register for my Giveaway. I've got some great things chosen just for you!
PS. In honor of my 100th post, I've changed my blog header. What do you think?