Monday 10 September 2018

Message in a Bottle - Stepping it up!

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you've enjoyed a fabulous weekend. For the first

 time for ages, hubby wasn't working so we made the

 most of our time together. 
On Saturday, I went to see Sharon for my fortnightly manicure,

 and she needed an 80th birthday card for one of her uncles.

 He'll be celebrating his birthday while he's on a cruise with

 Sharon's parents, and seventeen other people - this cruise

 is an annual event for these twenty friends! (What a fabulous idea!)

Sharon had a look through my box of cards she keeps in her

 waiting room for her clients to browse through, and the bag 

of spares I leave with her to keep the box topped up! She 

found this Message in a Bottle card which was ideal as 

they'd be on a cruise when they celebrate Uncle's birthday,

 and he likes Blue Label Whisky (or was it Gin??)

Do you remember this card?

The card needed to be ready Saturday evening, so Sharon's

 parents could take the card with them when they jetted off on 

Sunday. I assured Sharon it was a ten minute job and I

 was more than happy to do it for her!
 I took the card with me, and hubby and I went into 

town to buy some Christmas chocolates e.g. Father 

Christmasses, Snowmen, etc. We checked three supermarkets,

 and we were too early for Christmas, so we stopped for a

 sandwich and a drink at a new, recently opened coffee shop. 
 
As we were leaving the shop, I noticed a sign which read 

"Space for Hire". I went back in to chat with the owner as

 I'm hoping to start product-based classes next month! The

 man is going to send me a quote. We went back to the car 

and took a drive to the local Bowls Club to find out about 

their rooms for hire - this is a real possibilty! - and on the

 way back we stopped off at the local Community Hall and 

one of the local Churches. I have contact details for 

these last two and will contact them today! 
 When we arrived home I started work on Sharon's card. To 

create the 80TH I used the small number dies that Stampin'

 Up! brought out about four years ago, but just for one year,

 and die cut them in Crumb Cake Cardstock (CS). Sharon 

didn't like the YOU ROCK MY BOAT which was under the bottle,

 so I stamped CELEBRATE from Tabs For Everything Stamp 

Set in Marina Mist Ink (now retired) onto Very Vanilla CS.
  I punched it out using the Classic Label Punch, but I cut it

 down to size so both ends just came over the edge a bit to 

make it look like that's how it was designed! Sharon

 collected the completed card that evening and was

 very pleased with the result. 

 On Sunday, after Church, we went to a nearby town and

 bought some new net curtains for our bedroom. Then we

 had a walk around Poundland looking for some indoor sparkler

 fireworks, but no joy. Then to Boots the Chemist to return

 a Lighted Magnifying Mirror we'd bought on Saturday, but

 we were returning it because 5X magnification is real scary

 to look in - scared myself silly when I saw me looking back! 

We stopped at the local garden centre on the way home

 to buy two more goldfish! Long story short! Hubby built a

 pond with waterfall in our garden during the first year we

 moved in, fourteen years ago. We bought two 2" - 3" goldfish, 

and within no time at all there were far too many to count! Over 

the years the number has been dwindling until we only had 

one who we'd named Moby Dick - he's about 6" long! I 

was allowed to choose the two new goldfish, so I went for

 Blondie - the white one with the orange on her head - and 

Spotty because I like all things animal print! 

Can you help me? I'm happy with the name Blondie, but

 I need something more imaginative for Spotty - any 

suggestions? These photographs were taken when we first

 arrived home, just before they were put in the pond, in their

 bag of water to allow them time to acclimatise to the new

water! Trying to photograph goldfish swimming around in

 water, in plastic bags, is not easy - trust me!
Finally, before I go: I've given Blondie a girl's name because

 the man at the garden centre said he thinks she's female 

because she's looks a bit fat! Oh-oh! Watch this space, and

 no, after three, they won't be named! LOL!

I hope you have a great week, and until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

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