Something Fishy Going On

It was early Thursday evening and Gizmo (my cat for those not in the know) was still out. I like him to be in before dark otherwise he will stay out all night. My husband was going out but went to look for Gizmo once more before locking up the back door.

He came in a few minutes later with Gizmo. Gizmo had been found with a fish on the pathway. The fish was still alive. My husband put the fish into the nearest container which contained rainwater, informed me about what had happened and then went out. By this time it was quite dark outside.

The next morning I prepared myself to find a dead fish floating on the water. To my surprise the fish was very much alive. I put some water into a bucket and poured the fish along with the rainwater into it. Later that day my son and I went out in search of fish food.

I have no idea where the fish came from. We do not have a pond and neither do our closest neighbours. If Gizmo had taken the fish from a pond (which is probably the case) how did he get it back to our garden without harming it? How could the fish have survived so long out of water? Why didn't it die of shock?

I have had such a dilemma. Do I knock on the doors in the neighbourhood asking if any one has lost a fish?!!! What if they accuse Gizmo of stealing more than one? What if they think I am a crazy woman?!!! I decided against this cause of action.

So it seems the fish is here to stay. I will have to find a permanent solution for its habitat as it cannot stay in a tin bucket. So there it is. I have gained a fish. It is as though it fell from the sky. I feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility for its welfare. My son has named it Albert. Albert the fish. The name makes as much sense as the method in which it arrived.

Hitting the Spot

I haven't been able to hit the spot with my usual readers recently. Comments have dropped off and I sometimes wonder if anyone is reading my blog. Anyway I will not be defeated!!! Hopefully there is something in this post to appeal to most readers.

I thought I would have a go at making some vintage or 'prim' coffee stained tags. There are many ways of doing this to be found on the Internet. My way was as follows:

• Put a couple of teaspoons of instant coffee in a small cereal sized bowl.
• Pour on a little boiling water to dissolve the coffee. Add some vanilla essence if you wish to do so.
• When the mixture has cooled slightly, dip some cotton wool into liquid and then rub over tags and string.
• Heat in a low oven for about 5 minutes and then repeat the process several times until you get the desired effect.
  

I left mine to dry overnight. The next day I stamped a greeting onto the tags.

I then stuck on some scaled down reproduction postcards. These tags could be further embellished with lace, buttons etc. Use your imagination! They smell yummy too!!!

A few years back I was lucky enough to be given my Nan's 'button boxes'.

I remember going through this tin as as a child. The contents are decades old as my Nan is in her late 90's.

As you can see, the tin doesn't only contain buttons!

Such an assortment of colours.

This is one of the smaller tins.

The contents inside are just as precious to me.

Look at all these fancy buckles.

All sorts of buttons from plastic to mother of pearl, leather to hand painted.

This mother of pearl button is a real beauty. Look at the size of it in my hand!

And if you thought that was big look at these ones!!!

I still have remnants of summer in my garden. The climbing rose continues to bloom.

This rose is called Compassion and it has a fresh lemony scent.

It has had a growth spurt this year and doubled in height climbing over the top of the arbour.

The violas have had a new lease of life too and are rapidly taking over the flowerbed.

The strongest autumn colour in the garden at the moment is Gizmo with his autumn coloured coat.

Mutant Trees Blog Update

I have just updated my Mutant Trees blog with a new post for those of you who have been following my 'artistic pursuits'! You no longer have to look at the post of the 'alien spider' that has been sitting there since July!!!

Owl Tags Winner

................and the name drawn out of the Witch's hat was silverpebble. Congratulations! Please email me your details and I will get them off to you before the posties strike!!! x

Coming Soon.................

Pastel pink and blue snow folk tags!

They have pearly white spotty bodies and homespun fabric scarves.

They would make a cheery adornment to a present or tied around a bottle of bubbly! Cheers!!!

Edited: Now in the shop!

A Request for Help and Advice

Hello fellow crafters and bloggers and visitors! Thank you very much for the kind and positive comments about opening up Linden Grove Mercantile.

It is early days and I am new and inexperienced with this whole shop thing. I am trying to price up items at a fair but realistic price but haven't included my time in setting the prices. I hope that I have got it about right.

Anyway, when I decided to open up a blog shop (got to pay for the crafting somehow!) I didn't take into account that the majority of people stopping by, would be fellow crafters who already make their own items. This is where all you fellow crafters come in. I am looking for advice on how to market the shop to a wider audience. How do I let users of the Internet know that I am here? Are there any other ways you can think of to help me to promote my new venture?

Obviously, the more things that I sell the more income I will have to make new things for the shop. My ambition is to have lots of varied and limited edition items.

If you think you will be able to give me some helpful suggestions on marketing my shop then please do leave a comment here. In about a weeks time I will put all the names in a draw and pick one out to win a pack of 3 owl tags now available in the shop.

Thank you for your continued help and support and have a great weekend! x

p.s. A special thank you to the lovely lady who bought some fairy cards.

100th Post and a Shop!!!!

It has taken 18 months to get here but finally I have reached my 100th post! I never thought that my blog would have such longevity and I used to worry that I wouldn't be able to find anything to blog about!

As you can see from the photos above, my garden has a distinctly mushroomy look about it. They seemed to spring up overnight! There must be at least 100 mushrooms. One for every post!

Lots of clusters of mushrooms but yet to see a fairy ring.

Talking of fairies, there are several to be seen over at my new blog shop! Please do go and have a look and let me know what you think. The link is at the top of my side bar or you can click on Linden Grove Mercantile.