Etsy Shops~ New Ideas ~ Projects started!

As you know I have Two Etsy shops:

~ * I have two Etsy Shops and Shipping is always combined between shops
Etsy shops

Nature Supplies and Handmade ~http://www.etsy.com/shop/bylightofmoon 
Vintage ~ http://www.etsy.com/shop/frstyfrolk

I have added the " Nature" to my ByLightOfMoon" shop and I am removing the crafting supplies like ribbons and fabrics to my " frstyfrolk" shop.

I want to build on 'frstyfrolk" and when I think of Vintage, I have so many " Vintage supplies"  I think they need to be here. When I first started I was only putting items in perfect Vintage condition in my shop and since we have moved to the forest, My ByLightOfMoon" shop has evolved into a Woodland, Rustic, Rusty Crusty, and Curiosities Retreat I believe.My Fairytale Mystic Spirit the Forest we live it has shown to me. I love living it!

My "frstyfrolk" is more a Traditional Shop for everything Vintage now! Even Crafting Supplies, that can be up-cycled, reused and  re-cycled.  Before my shop had to be perfect Vintage items and not so good or broken was not in this shop!  I like Mixed Media Crafting and I have many supplies for this with many I  can never use all of because I have collected so much in the past.


I have lost and lots of Notions to list, Books, Linens and Fabrics, Magazines, all of the things I collect!


Following Day continued:

It has been a strange and busy week, I found my logs have sprouted ' Shitake Mushrooms"  I implanted 2 years ago.Pretty Exciting but I have never eaten one, Oh, what to Do? 

Also , our dog "Bailey" got his foot caught in a trap ( coyote, wolf, whatever) He was gone a long time and we looked and looked for him. I drove around the neighborhood looking and calling for him.  In the meantime, my husband heard a dog barking  in the distance from our back porch and headed that direction to find the bark. Through brambles and a deer path he went!  It did not sound like our dog! But, he was found only a few hundred yards off our back yard but in a forest area not in our neighborhood, so my husband called for help and my neighbor beat me there to find them. He is OK now, just sore and we went back to cut the trap and it had been removed! 

Carolina Panthers are on to more final games, hoping for Super Bowl! 
We don't get NC television so we rarely see them play! That "Cam Newton" is something else! 

I have been featured on the" Etsy Team Vintage Vertigo Blog" featurette with my Craftcult Etsy shop, ' frstyfrolk"!

See my sidebar for both of my shops. "CraftCult " Shop Listings too.
frstyfrolk
ByLightOfMoon



While I was out looking for our dog, I also saw these pods on a tree and I was going to collect some sand for my gardening. 

Does anyone know what they are from?

While out also anyway, I was going to collect some sand for my gardening.. I can get it from a ditch nearby when it washes in the rain and we had plenty of that last week.  Look what I found? It looks like  Rainbow Sherbert! 
At first I dug in an area around the corner and it  was plain ol' grey sand, when back for more, just a few feet away, this!

Well, My cell phone did not take that good of a Picture but, it was just magical!   The first layer was gray dirt to find the second layer just an inch or so deeper. There were pinks, blues, yellows, and grey covered it and along the edges. 

I am started to re-do my pathway to the house like I need more to do with more level stones as it is a rock driveway and clumsy to walk on.  I collected some beautiful blue stones from a quarry nearby, they are just awesome.

  

What got me started was thinking of the stepping stones  I intend to make when I saw these at "Lowes Home Store"

This will be a later project as I have lots of broken china and pieces of interest ( to me) to embed in the stepping stones. 
The Octangle Stone made in the photo above was one my husband made with our Past  Dog's Names on it. 

Well, another messy project I started for no reason when I have so much else to do! 
Later, Cyndi

My Spring into Summer Gardening!

I started cleaning my garden beds when I got distracted with all of the invasive plants that I found, some I suppose I brought into my garden and they spread beyond belief and some maybe the birds dropped seeds.  I had to remove them to make room for my new flowers and herbs I planned to use this year.

Well, this job has turned into a much bigger project than I ever anticipated. I have pulled plants, removed leaves, re-planted a few, and planted a few new ones.

I am still working on some areas!  My findings have been incredible, I have surprised myself with the work involved.

I found a lot of very TALL plants that were choking out anything else to take root so I  started pulling.

Piles of pulled flowers and leaves for mulch!  I asked around on "Hometalk" what my findings were and I always get wonderful answers there.

One plant I pulled was called "Jewelweed" and it is still everywhere even though I have pulled tons of it. It creeps into the tiniest places and is even under the front deck area where the ferns grow. It is good to have on hand for "itch" I learned so I put some into a tire I had in the back yard to try and keep it contained.

Another is "Hawkweed" and I have not done much with it yet. Then we have the daisies, I cannot pull them as it is my favorite flower but I have small daisy like flowers on 5-6 ' stems invading the gardens so they will have to go into another place... I will assume they are just spring bloomers but I want the roots gone from my growing gardens. They are beautiful tiny white flowers and also another breed is pink/purple teeny tiny  flowers with spiky flower heads. They are alike but for color.

When I got to the driveway garden I found all of this spreading ivy that was covering all of my edging and even growing into the woods as ground cover. I had planted Ferns, Hosta, Daylilies, Bee Balm, etc there and it was choking it all out so I started pulling. Long runners came up and I filled a 30 gallon trash bag with them.  Then I had to find out what it was  so I asked on "Hometalk" and in the meantime did an internet search for "Swedish lvy" looking ground cover" and I found it really is "Swedish Ivy," It does spread along the ground but unlike ivy it does not climb high. So, I quit bagging it and put into into bins of water. I finished a small basket I had saved a tiny 6 inch pot in my attic over the winter with and made another new one but there is so much I could buy all the pots at a Big Box store and still never use it all, so I decided to share it in My Etsy Supplies shop " ByLightOfMoon".  I hope to share it with many folks who can use it for containers, baskets, ground cover if contained, etc.

I also mowed the yard and find it difficult to mow on a slope we have in front of our cabin, the lawnmower gets away from me and mowed down a beautiful blooming plant I still have yet to ID.

 I was sick so I decided to put moss there and remove all the growing grass. Now, I do this by hand with a hoe  like hand device. I hit stones form our driveway gravel and the area got larger and larger. I also wanted to get the grass away from a small garden I planted at the bridge entrance to make it easier to mow with the grass not in the rock surround. 

My Roses are doing very well and I am taking cutting for my potpourri makings! 

I am also drying

the larger daisies!

Here is the garden enlargement I have been working on in the process:

When I first started digging I found these stones, I was facinated by the beautiful red colors! But, I dudg them out...

We still have the fountain to put together , it had been on porch last year but  it is going to the yard this year.

This photo is looking down from our porch over the garden, the red rail was there to keep the dirt from draining into the gully ( we have no gutters) when I first moved here and the garden only went that far., This is the hill the grass was hard to mow and the mower would get away from me.
 I filled the space in with moss collected from the forest!

Existing garden below, succulents overflowing!

More to pull below 

 Garden almost done, planted with small cuttings, it will grow!The rocks/stones are what I dug out of the hole.

This is also funny, I was taking a before photo of my fairy garden that I was re-doing with some new items I got in Alabama at Jo Ann's.  I had just sat them there till I also unpacked some other items I have for it. 

I reached down to move this dish and like to scared myself to death, this frog was in the bowl and had been on  my porch last year I believe!

I am trying to seed some sunflowers and I believe where I had them sitting in the yard, the bunny or my cat has been nibbling! 

To get away from my garden, I have to show you a place I visited. I had seen the Gardens of Rhododendrons were in bloom in Hiawassee, GA. I got there a little late and most of the blooming was over but I got a nice walk and a few nice pictures. 

The Indian Tree there, we also have one I have a photo of in my shop too.

As i was leaving  I could not believe my eyes, so cute, A Snow White and her Dwarfs! 

So, please visit my Etsy Shop " ByLightOfMoon" and get you some nice Swedish Ivy to plant yourself in your baskets, containers, or for on your garden ( but, keep it contained. )

I also have many photographs of the surrounding countryside and a beautiful  flowers, plus nature's findings and curiosities! 

Smiles, Cyndi 

Pine Tree Crosses for Easter are here, Fairy Crosses,Trillium, and Mushrooms !

https://www.etsy.com/listing/185632617/photograph-pine-tree-cross-crosses?ref=shop_home_active_2

My husband and I were in the forest searching for a tool left somewhere, We did not locate it but I will one day when I am back lurking around.

We did see the early signs of spring with the Pine Tree Crosses that bloom before Easter. They are just beautiful and a sign that it will come if we just wait.

I took a photo and put int in my Etsy shop with my other Photography of country findings!

Here is my Photography section of my shop, I Have so many more photos to add, it just takes time.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ByLightOfMoon?section_id=12946490&ref=shopsection_leftnav_8

I also added a photo of the Fairy Crosses I have found, I  Have a jar full that I have sifted through and
Love them. Some are large, small, tiny , and eeny meeny but they are there.

All of the stone here are so enchanting to me, they really shine when wet!

When in the woods yesterday I saw many Trillium shoots sprouting up in the forest and last year I took this photo in my yard.

They will look like this before too long!

I have not seen many mushrooms this year yet, we have been dry although  it is raining today! I saw the "Gray Urn" Mushroom on a log beside my house and then also when I went  to the forest for an order of moss.

These are just a few of my findings lately!

Thanks for dropping by!
Smiles, Cyndi

Scavenger Hunt, Etsy Team, Keepers of Enchantment, lost camera, Forest Findings!

I lost my camera and was frantic after I could not find it for a whole day, then the next day either (yesterday)! Finally, I moved a box of plastic tubs on the daybed on the porch and there it was. Relief!

 The last I remembered using it was to take some mushroom and stone pictures in my yard and I thought I had laid it down somewhere and it got covered up by leaves.  Sounds like me! We looked everywhere. I went through boxes of stuff that I had been in. I collect the plastic pastry boxes to keep my forest nature findings in where I can see through the containers and I found a whole box of them at the recycle dump in a bin. They don't take them so someone has trashed  them!

The mushrooms and stones are just awesome in my yard and the stones have started to flake with the cold weather. They make magic fairy dust! 

The mushrooms are on logs in my yard and I adore looking at the beautiful colors in them. I use them in my terrariums and shadow, curiosity boxes, etc. The striations of different colors on different logs are awesome! 

And, the tiny yellow orange ones are only teeny tiny that I saw when I moved some leaves. I mean teeny too, maybe 1/8 inch tall. and, completely covered til I moved the leaves and our leaves are huge here in the forest. They get caught in the stones in my moss garden where I have put stepping stones inside to walk on in the summer.

They are also several inches deep on the garden, I just move a few leaves and presto, beautiful moss is underneath! Beautiful and Green! Just perfect, mother nature takes care of herself. I have learned so much since living in the woods, they are in my soul.

I can't really rake the leaves here, they have to be hand-picked up to not disturb underneath what I may find. I carry an leaf large potting bucket with me and then mulch them with the lawnmower. And, I had just mowed last week before the snow. What I can mow at least, so the ground got a good soaking. 

I can also just pick up this quartz and the fantastic blue slate stones flake off also. They will make beautiful ponds or terrarium accents! 

 Blue Slate  with fungi on log

So glad I found my camera, it was eating at me where it could be and then my DH told me he had dumped my porch trash can without going through it. My heart sank, I thought maybe it was gone forever! And, it was a Christmas present from my Mother who is 83. I treasure it and she enjoys the photos I take with it.

We live hundreds of miles apart.

My newest project is making some fairy related items for my "ByLightOfMoon" Etsy shoppe with forest items.   I am working on some jewelry items, along with some surprises. 

My newest Team is having a Scavenger hunt with 16 shops having items with a special photo as the last photo in the listing and many prizes will be given out. I love the fairy tale related shops in this team I joined, Keepers of Enchantement! 

This is the  photo to look for in the listings. It will be on the shops first two pages only on ONE Item only!

.

The scavenger Hunt will start soon with the shops participating listed soon. Can you find my listing for the Hunt?  ByLightOfMoon Etsy Shop

I guess I had my own scavenger hunt trying to find my camera so I am ready! 

Smiles, Cyndi

PS: Your comments are very much appreciated!