Twitter Tree plus Crazy Cats

The Twitter Tree© will is hosted by a different shop Monday, Wednesday, and Friday:

Monday: http://christiecottage.blogspot.com/

Wednesday: http://elunajewelry-nc.blogspot.com/
Friday: http://butterflyintheattic.blogspot.com

Instructions:

• Only 2 Items per person
• Each Tweet must contain the hashtag #retwt
• Only 2 other Hashtag may be used.
• Include your Twitter Id, mine is @ButterflysAttic 
• Please include a brief description of your item in the tweet.
• Keep your Tweet under 140 Characters (including spaces).
• No Mature Items
• Tweet Everyone’s listings. (It is not fair to others if you do not fully participate. Team Leaders do watch who is tweeting and who is not.)

Limit of two (2) hashtags

 Here are Mine:    

Plan for a great Summer Vacation w/ your kids - Rainy Day Reads - Retro Book #Dolphins
http://etsy.me/zKmDps @ButterflysAttic #retwt 

 

 

Great Summer Time Boredom Buster Vintage Children's #Book
Mouse & Tim
http://etsy.me/139p6OB @ButterflysAttic #retwt #EtsyBot2

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From 999,999,999 People on FB



From Inspiration in Life on FB

 

 

 

 

If you love this last one and crave more Crazy Cats go to 25 Perfectly Timed Cat Photos

From 25 Perfectly Timed Cat Photos

Hope you have an absolutely Fabulous Friday!

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May The Sales Fair Sprinkles Her Fairy Dust On Us Today

Monday's Treasuries

Well I made through my Monday...Phew!   The only energy I have left is to post some treasuries I am in.  Don't forget to look for the coupon codes!!!    Have a great night everyone.


A T For The Boys



lazy afternoon



OPEN~ Summer Fun BNR ~ Sales 213 Today 2



OPEN BNR NO MINIMUM MAGIC 16 ~ 12 SALES



OPEN ROSE'S BNS - round 6 THREE SALES TO GO!

A Love Story - The Squirrel, A Cat, and Me

I am not sure where my delusion all began but I am in love with squirrels.  Their cute little pudgy body is just screaming to me "Hug Me."  It doesn't start here but it definitely was a pivotal point in my crazy squirrel affair. 

Sweet little squirrels found in ETSY Shop Val World at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/valworld?ref=seller_info

On my last trip to the Midwest we spent time in a remote hilly forest that was actually a tough course of disc golf.  While waiting for my son to finish a hole I kept hearing a strange sound.  It sounded almost like someone plucking a rubber band but more scratchy.  I investigated and found the noise to be coming from a tree.  I looked closer and became excited when I discovered the sound came from the plumpest little squirrel chewing on a nut.  He was in the branch slightly above my reach he was so intent on his project that he didn’t seem to notice me; at first.  With camera in hand I approached slowly.  His head lifted slightly to watch me while continuing to chew on his nut.

I inched closer taking a picture and closer taking another.  I was thinking all the while about how sweet he looked and how I would love to scoop him up and cuddle him.  But having been raised in the country I knew not to, but oh how tempting...  I continued to inch forward, the squirrel stopped and then continued to gnaw at the nut keeping a good eye on me.  At this point I had convinced myself that maybe I could get closer even yet, right below the branch.  He is so sweet... so cute...until…

He sprung up squeaking, nut still in his mouth, tiny little hands stretched out in anger for my disturbing his peace.  Of course that didn't stop me yet.  I continued to take pictures up close and personal like a deranged paparazzi.  I’m snapping photos faster and faster as the squirrel is becoming angrier and angrier.  Then he jumped to the main trunk of the tree and stuck his upper body out as if to lunge.

At this point the temptation faded and images of cuddling a squirrel left, replaced by images from Chevy Case's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  I envisioned the squirrel leaping from the tree to my chest in one swift motion and I decided to back off.  I left, his angry squeaks echoing through the forest behind me. 

I have learned, my friends, that I should stick to cats.  They are just as pudgy and soft and they don't bite...Usually.

Creating My New Bath Products & The Walk Down Memory Lane It Stirred

I've been so busy having fun creating my special bath and aromatherapy products. I haven't had many opportunities to work on these and I am so glad that I have been able to today. It brings back many beautiful memories.

My daughter, Ashley Rose, has significant special needs, but despite these challenges she is one of the most creative people I know. I spent many years with her and her brother, Wally, creating potpourri and bath salts as gifts for family, friends, and teachers. I feel blessed to have had such creative children; they both are artists, although in very different ways.

Ashley's rendition of Sponge Bob in playdough.  She is an abstract artist.

One year, when the kids were in their teens, the local library offered a craft show for children. Although she was older than the usual participant they allowed her to sign up because she was at the same level as the other kids cognitively. We spent hours in my gardens and out in the fields picking beautiful flowers, leaves, herbs, and pods to add to her creations.

We brought in buckets and bags of our handpicked goodies. As I started to prepare them for cleaning and drying I noticed that she had picked a significant amount of wild catmint (catnip.) If you have a cat, more than likely you are aware of its strong pungent odor. I tried to very gently tell her that this was not an appropriate ingredient for potpourri. She insisted that she wanted to keep it. Since there was an entire grocery bag full I figured it was her project and who am I to tell her what to use.

We spent hours carefully stripping petals and leaves from their stems. We placed them on our drying sheets, in my oven, in my dehydrators, and anywhere else they could dry in time. We had quite a little production line going.

About a week later everything had dried and was ready to mix with the fixatives and essential oils. Ashley was very skilled with this already, so with supervision she concocted most of the entire potpourri herself. With the exception of the catnip, which I purposely set aside, not sure what I wanted to do with it.

Ashley spent many hours mixing and adding a little of this and a little of that. It is amazing but if you let kids make potpourri it always turns out beautiful. We also had time to make Bath Salts and Soaks. She loved mixing the salts with the dye and fragrance. These also always looked very professional when she was through.


After almost 10 years Ashley's Potpourri still has the light fragrance of Hyacinth and just as beautiful as when she made it.

 Ashley helped me package all of her creations with beautiful cardstock headers that had Victorian lettering brightly declaring, "Designs by Ashley Rose" with a picture of a beautiful cabbage rose and the item's description.   At the point we were almost done with all of our hard work I thought she had forgotten about her catmint. But of course she had not and she asked me where it was. I showed her the container and told her that we could sell it people that had cats. I made the header and we packaged it. She was happy but I was skeptical thinking that I would be lugging around 2-3 pounds of catnip all day.

The day of the big craft show Ashley I set up our little table and chairs. Wally helped us, but at that age he was not extremely thrilled with the whole girly process so he went to find something else to do while we peddled our wares. We set out all her wares and a sign with the prices. The prices probably were a little low but I wanted her to feel the excitement of success from a job well done and it worked. She was selling items left and right.

Pretty soon we sold the last bag of catmint. Ashley's wild catnip was the talk of the craft show. We had several people come up asking if we had more and were disappointed that they had missed out. Ashley was beaming, not only is she the most creative person I know, but she is the best sales lady I know.

Even though I am making these items for my business, the simple smell of lavender or hyacinth will bring me back to those wonderful summer days.   Back to the day when my kids were little and we were creating our handmade gifts together. It was a treasured learning experience for them but also for me and it was a good thing that I didn't get rid of that catmint.

Here are some of my newly listed items that I was able to create today without getting too nostalgic.

Lavender Bath Salts at Butterfly In The Attic http://www.etsy.com/listing/71825380/handmade-lavender-bath-salts

Almond Milk Bath by Butterfly In The Attic at http://www.etsy.com/listing/71799984/handmade-almond-milk-bath

8 oz Almond Milk Bath by Butterfly In The Attic at http://www.etsy.com/listing/71800714/handmade-almond-milk-bath

Please remember to go to: http://byhandgiveaways.blogspot.com/search/label/saturday tomorrow and vote for my Lavender Bath Salts under Butterfly In The Attic.  They will look like the Lavender Bath Salts shown above.  I want you to know how much I appreciate the time you take to visit the blog and cast your vote.

Cat Attack - Tuesday's Treasury and Collectibles

I am a true cat lover.  True cat lovers collect cats (hopefully figurines otherwise you turn into the crazy cat lady,) collect things about cats, and collect things for their cats.  Here are some of my favorites from ETSY that could inspire your collection.


From ETSY Shop Cats With Attitude http://www.etsy.com/shop/Catswithattitude?ref=seller_info



Also from Cats With Attitudes http://www.etsy.com/shop/Catswithattitude?ref=seller_info



From ETSY Shop Sunplay Shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/Sunplayshop?ref=seller_info



From ETSY Shop Strawberries and Cream http://www.etsy.com/shop/strawberriesandcream?ref=pr_shop



From ETSY Shop Prancing Goat Vintage http://www.etsy.com/shop/prancinggoat?ref=seller_info

From ETSY Shop Haoli http://www.etsy.com/shop/haoli?ref=seller_info

There are so many cute options I put them into a treasury.