Eastertime...

Happy Easter Wishes

to you...

We must be very quiet here today....

a new little visitor arrived just this very morning

in the form of a little plaster pink mouse called 'Mimi'

We found her sitting dreamily amongst the Easter eggs

under the magical knitted blossom tree....

If we startle her she may just scurry away and disappear!

Mimi is knitted from the TEAROOM and CORNISH Mice knitting patterns

with a few decorative changes (frilly socks, larger bows ect.) using lovely 

Sublime yarns in some of my favourite shades. It's softer than the cotton yarn used for

the clothes in the original TEAROOM design but knits up really well to the instructions with 

the only exception being the knickerbockers which I've made fuller due to the 

softness of the yarn. If you already have the TEAROOM/CORNISH patterns

and would like a free mini PDF containing these extra ideas and yarn details 

to add to your library I'll have this ready after Easter...

It will also be sent out with new orders for the TEAROOM Mice pattern too

... some extra ideas to have some fun with....

Mimi makes me think of those little pink and white chocolate mice which I often

received at Easter...do you remember them?

(knitted tree blossom is from the Primrose Rabbit knitting pattern)

I've been feeling very lucky too this week!

These beautiful flowers decorating my workroom table and making me feel very happy

were sent to me as a surprise by my lovely girls while away at university 

(Leah will return at the weekend and Ashley returned home from Portugal just last night!

I have to say, it was a lovely sound when her bedroom door opened this morning...

There was also the most lovely box of chocolates tucked amongst the flowers

Of course, there were a few less after taking the pics...

(just too much to resist studying them closely through a lens my friends!)

but I've just about managed to save most of them to share when everyone's home

...I know..it's only right that I should do!

The little Easter Twiggy Tree above will be decorating our table

along with some 'life size' bunting around the place too..

There'll be lots of chatter and creating going in the next few days...

cooking, baking and I even have a daughter who has started knitting ..hurrah!!
(I have to keep the momentum going now though!)
~♥~

I'm looking forward to sharing Koralee's fabulous new book with my 'baking' daughter too

 Koralee has a gorgeously pretty blog

'Bluebird Notes'

which you can find here

(I know lots of you already visit!)

It's such a treat...beautiful images and lots of inspiration

~♥~

Do you remember the quilt I made in the Autumn...up in the sidebar there?

Ashley managed to take it all the way to Portugal with her!

She didn't have lots of room in her case but wanted to take the quilt

...and as you know Leah has my 'Cats and Mice' blanket.
I love to give my girls things that I make...it makes me very happy indeed!

~♥~

One final word today,

winner of the Spring Giveaway is
  Angela (Hayes)

...and as there were so many entries in such a short space of time...
I decided this morning to draw a second name using the trusty Random Number Generator
and include a second prize which will be a surprise package of lovely yarns
(including Baby Alpaca and a few other lovelies) I'll put them together later today.
The second winner is
Cheryl (Cheryl966)
Congratulations ladies and your treats will be in the post
as soon as I have the necessary details!
Thank you so much to everyone who took part in our draw.

I'm always completely surprised by the number of entries

If you didn't win this time there will be another Giveaway soon

.... one way of saying thank you for all the wonderful support
and the valued friendships I have made through my little blog...

I love being a part of the online crafty world.

~♥~

Wishing you a wonderful

♥ Easter Holiday ♥

with your loved ones

doing all the things you most love to do
~♥~
I'm planning to do a little more work on the quilt project
which I started before Xmas and finally practice my crochet
Lovely Mr.H brought me 'Simply Crochet' magazine home
after I was talking about my plans
and I'm definitely feeling inspired at the moment.

~♥~

Back soon!
(P.S The sun is even shining again in our corner this morning
and we have the most lovely blue sky!)

xXx

'Spring' Giveaway!

Hello friends...

I'm back again already!

How are you....have you had a good week?

♥

I think we're all ready for the arrival of spring if you live in our corner.

It's been extremely chilly and windy again here after our short burst of lovely sunshine!

♥

Yesterday morning I decided to have a good search to find 

some treats in the magic cupboard for our 'Spring' Giveaway

(Just to remind us that it really is almost upon us!)

I found all kinds of treasures to put together for our draw....

It really is amazing what you can forget you ever had in the first place, don't you think?

♥

A lovely day was had making lavender hearts, a pretty drawstring bag and cover buttons 

using my Cath Kidston and Laura Ashley fabrics.

The little duck egg heart is machine embroidered onto a small piece of organic linen 

and I've frayed the edges which I think gives it a lovely soft and pretty look

(there are always hearts around the tearoom so I had to include one!)

♥

It's decorated with some vintage buttons from my precious old button tin
which was given to me by Mr.H's wonderful grandma.
The ribbon is East of India in pale rose gingham
and has been threaded double for easy closing
♥

I also spent the afternoon with Scary Mary, my overlocker
and so all the seams should stay neat and tidy
(We're very slowly starting to get along...
well, I'm determined to make a friend of her!)
I should add too that Miss C.K's fabrics stay amazingly fresh
and bright and develop a lovely soft and shabby feel over time...a great investment.

There are also 3 balls of the gorgeous organic yarn

'Debbie Bliss Eco Baby'

in the shades above for the knitting and crochet sisters

(or you may have other uses for it!)

~ ♥ ~

Are you ready for the Giveaway?

All are cellophane wrapped waiting for their new owner
...a treat for you, a gift for a friend or maybe you'd like to
donate them for your favourite fundraising cause
If you'd like to enter the draw all you need to do is.....
♥

(I think the inside border is Tilda fabric but I'm not sure

...you may recognise it?)

♥

Just add a comment in the box below
and if you are a  blog follower you will be added into our hat  twice
as a special thank you as I really do appreciate it.
(If you could add this as a second comment it will make the counting up much easier!)
and that's all you need to do!

The draw is open worldwide wherever you may be
and the winner will be chosen using the trusty
Random Number Generator
~ ♥ ~

~More News~ 

A few days ago Sara, Deputy Editor of

Country Homes and Interiors

contacted me asking if I would help to spread the word about their new 

online CROCHET CLUB which I'm very happy to do!

This is a great opportunity to learn how to crochet whilst raising funds for 

MENCAP the learning disability charity whose amazing work you can see more of  here

They have joined forces with ROWAN who have designed 2 exclusive

'Granny Square' patterns using 100% wool in pretty spring colourways

and these are available to download FREE through the link here 

along with a 'How to Crochet' guide.

All the finished 'Granny Squares' will be designed into gorgeous accessories

and auctioned for this wonderful charity.

Share pics of your finished squares on their Facebook Page

and if you are in the area of WOOL HOUSE today (15th March)

Country Homes and Interiors are running a free drop-in workshop

It sounds like such great fun!

(Just click on the links if you'd like to find out more)

~♥~

Good Luck in the Giveaway 
and with your lovely 
Granny Squares!

~ ♥ ~
Wishing you 
a happy, crafty weekend

Spring in the step....

And a very good morning to you...

I feel like this post should be called 'Return of the Long Lost Blogger'

It seems quite a while since I was last in Blogland

and it's lovely to be back here!

I love this little man by the way...a recent find

(although he doesn't have a name yet!)

He likes to sit at our kitchen window and look out on the world.

Can you feel spring in the air?

I've been painting again..

this time the mannequin in my workroom

She stands next to my huge magic cupboard and looks much more 

presentable with a coat of paint and some dark wax.

I just need to find a pretty vintage dress for her now!

(Can you see the painted mug tree in the pic?...

A great idea for displaying old ribbon spools, don't you think?)

I've done unusually well in finding bargains recently too...

The hand printed wrap above was half price in a 

Cath Kidston sale... I love the colours.

There are quite a few new books to read around here...

This is the first to show you by lovely blog friend Helen

who's inspiring blog you can find here

It's full of pretty makes and a real treat for the eyes.

(Such gorgeous little houses there on the cover)

....and of course there's lots of spring inspiration at the moment in my magazines

(I buy too many, but it's my secret indulgence and I'll never be cured

...between us...I've tried, but I don't really think I want to be!)

It's been lovely to be a part of so many ETSY treasuries recently... 

Many have included the little people above

'The SPRING Baby Bunnies'

who are lucky to be sitting happily in a total of 67

beautiful treasuries now and you can see them all here..

ETSY Treasuries 

This one is by Seika of 'Seika's Felted Fairy Fellows'

(and I definitely want to live in one of those pretty pastel houses!)

~ ♥ ~

Also..

Mary Jane's TEAROOM is now on Pinterest

(and thank you to everyone who has found me there already)

If you'd like to visit us then just click here

and then I can find you too

(as I'm not very good at that bit yet!)

Finally,

To celebrate 6000 sales

in our lovely little ETSY shop

Just enter code

MJT6000

for

25% discount off any purchase 

9th /10th March 2013

~ ♥ ~

As always, 

thank you to everyone 

who calls by and leaves such kind 

and encouraging comments

and to everyone who has ever purchased

knitting patterns from my tearoom shops too....

It has been a very busy time indeed recently

but always fun on this great adventure!

~ ♥ ~

Knitting and experimenting with my illustrations

on my embroidery machine behind the scenes

which I hope to share with you in the future.

♥

Back soon

(fingers crossed!)

xXx

P.S I think we should have a Spring Giveaway!