Necklace Los Castillo Azteca Mosaico Choker - Sterling

The Dreaded Computer Butt & Walking the Goose Gauntlet

I sat at the computer most of the winter working on my Etsy Shop, ChicMouseVintage.  Add lots of snacking, throw in a dash of depression and you have the perfect recipe for Computer Butt!
Fast forward to spring - Hmmm, my spring clothes don't fit! 
OH NO!  "What to do? what to do? Buy new clothes? No way! 
Time to get walking!
I am fortunate to live in a town that is very health friendly. There are several fantastic walking trails. One of my favorite trails is only a a couple of blocks from my house and I can walk there to walk! There is a pretty lake to walk around.

This was a walk one early morning trying to beat the rain. It started out pleasantly enough. I saw my Blue Heron friend. He is there everyday. 
He flies away when I try to get too close to take his picture. Darn!






I keep on walking and when I am about to make the turn at the far end when to my horror,  I see it!  I am going to have to run/walk the Goose Gauntlet!

 Yes, complete with dodging goose poo! 
(Extra Calorie burn!)

The goose in the middle was particularly unfriendly. 
And no, they do NOT leave the trail as you pass.

This Goose Mom and babies were actually quite nice!





No walkers were harmed in this incident. The geese were fine too. Computer Butt? Still working on it.

Unique Cottage Shabby Double Frame - A Must See!

Shabby Frame

This frame is amazing! I had a super tough time trying to describe it. If anyone has any other ideas, feel free to comment! 

It has such an Eastlake look. Eastlake did furniture carvings like this. Someone took the liberty to paint it white, complete with chips. That gives it a bery cottage shabby chic look. 

I love the fact you can set it anywhere and it would look FAB! Each frame turns appx. 45 degrees.

I included 2 T.L.  Trevost botanical prints with it. They have their own worth.

It would also look fantastic with a couple of black and white photos or wedding pictures! I love this frame/frames. I don't imagine it will be in my shop very long.

Have a blessed day! Find it HERE.

Chic Mouse 

Intricate Oak Wall Shelf

Oak Wall Shelf

This wall shelf is spectacular in it's intricacy.  Kudos to the unknown artist of this beauty! There is so much going on - Cardinal birds in a cherry tree, a dog barking up that tree and even a ladder leaning against the tree! Looking for something unusual to display candles of your favorite trinkets?  This could be just what you are looking for! Solid Oak! You can see it HERE.

Camping & My Biggest Fear

Anyone that knows me, knows I LOVE to camp. I mean the kind of camping where you find the most remote area in the forest and pitch a tent, type camping. I'm good at it too. I'm like the female version of Les Stroud, Survivor Man, in the woods. 
However, I have 1 very large fear. O.k., let's be honest, it's a huge bigger than life, fear. 

Here is a true scenario from a past camping experience.

It's pitch black, middle of no where, and we are settled in our tent for the night.
I am dozing off to a peaceful slumber when there is the sound of a large branch snapping near the camp.

Husband, sitting straight up, wide eyed, " What was that?!"

Me sleepily, " Probably a bear, it won't bother us."
I drift back to sleep.

A bit later -- A strange guttural growling sound awakens us.
Husband, sitting straight up again, " What was THAT?"
Me, " Probably Big Foot, He won't bother us, either."
I drift back to sleep with husband still wide eyed and sitting straight up.

Fast forward a few hours into the night.
I sit straight up, wide eyed with fear,  because I hear it. The sound that sends terror into every pore of my body. Husband is sleeping peacefully beside me.
I wake him up.

Me , my voice trembling, " We have to go get in the truck!" 
Him, " Why did you wake me up? I was finally sleeping."
Me, " I hear thunder."
Him, " Go back to sleep. It will be o.k."
Me, " I can't, it's getting louder and closer." 

My breathing gets shallow, my heart pounds, sweat starts pouring off my body as I start to see the flashes of the horrid thing I am terrified of.  Lightening! I start measuring the distance I have to run to get to the truck.  I try to calm my fear. That never works.
It gets closer. Lightning is flashing it's terrifying ground to cloud zig zags and the thunder is booming!

I wake up dear husband again and tell him, " I'm going to the truck! You should come with me!"  I already have the tent  unzipped and one foot out the door as I am telling him this.
Him, " I'm not going."

I barely hear this as I am sprinting for the safety of the truck. 
I get myself  to the truck. It's hot, miserable and stuffy but it's o.k. because I feel safe in there. My heartbeat returns to normal. The summer thunderstorm is upon us now with tons of lightning. I look worriedly at the tent, wishing dear husband would have come with me to the truck. I try to settle in. My plan is to wait it out and then go back to the comfort of the tent. 

Suddenly, this event happens.  Seriously, I am NOT kidding you, this happened!

I decide the storm has passed well enough to go back to the tent. 
I go to open the door and  a stray bolt of lightning hits RIGHT BY THE TENT! FLASH BOOM!
I am sure dear husband is dead in there. 
I am once again in terror mode. What to do... what to do...?
I finally manage to make my way to the tent where dear husband is sitting wide awake and wide eyed!
That single bolt of lightning had his attention!
He is fine, although a bit shaken.

Me, " I told you, you should have come to the truck with me."  ( I have no problem with "I told you so's") as I settle back into my sleeping bag to finish the night in peaceful slumber.

Dear husband has developed a healthy fear of lightning, thanks to my not so healthy phobia about it. 

My fear of lightening is like someone who has a fear of spiders or snakes. I happen to not mind either one of those critters, by the way. But lightening, lightening will turn me a raving blubbering lunatic!

I also know more lightening facts than anyone would care to know.
The average annual death toll from lightning in the US is 51. 
Riskiest activities for getting struck are - fishing, boating CAMPING and golf.  
I will never have to worry abut golf.

Ironwood Carving - JJ's Cantina & The Owl

Ironwood.  What an amazing wood.  It is one of the hardest woods in the world. Ironwood is similar to Ebony, as it is not a porous wood.  It is very dense and hard, like iron. Indigenous and ethnic cultures of the Sonoran Desert value ironwood for its cultural, as well as ecological, resources. Traditional uses of ironwood include medicines, food, agricultural, household implements, and ceremonial purposes.

The Seri and Mexican carvers from the Sonora Mexico coastal areas are well known for their abstract carvings of animal figurines. The one I show you here is a real beauty!

In my younger days I would often take trips to Rocky Point, Mexico for fun in the sun. I would always admire the smooth, hard beauty of the ironwood carvings for sale there. Often,  I would purchase one or two. Unless of course, I spent too much dinero at JJ's Cantina the night before! I was in my 20’s, that’s what we did!

I have heard that the area has grown substantially. I haven’t been to Rocky Point for over 30 years. I long for those days of walking out onto the Estuary, finding shells while investigating  the array of flora and fauna the ocean would temporarily leave behind. Then it was off to JJs Cantina for a Cervaza or two! "Uno Mas Cervaza Por Favor!" I can’t believe I still remember that phrase! Translation: One more beer please!

Here’s a cheers to the young and free days. I present to you this spectacularly carved Ironwood Owl!

To see it from all sides, Click HERE

How To Make Your Tweet Stand Out on Twitter

We all know how important Social Media is becoming for the success of our Shops. I would like to share a tip on making your twitter feed more effective.

When you tweet from Etsy, your tweet does not show up with a picture to your followers. It's just a link type tweet - words on a screen. 
HO HUM - BORING. 
Who really clicks on those?  I don't.  I like a picture to grab my interest! 
Here is how to make your tweet stand out. Show em what ya got! Put the "WOW" factor to work for you!

- How to post a picture of your item on your Tweet -

1. Go to the item you want to tweet.

2. Right click on the picture and save it to your computer. ( I made a file on my desktop for twitter pics that way I have easy access)

3. Copy your link of the item you want to tweet that is in the address bar.

4. Go to Twitter itself ( your twitter) and click on the TWEET button.

5. Paste the text of listing and add any hashtags. Don't forget your hashtags!

6. Click ADD PHOTO and add the photo you saved on the computer. (Hopefully in a sweet file you can 
find easily)

7. Hit Tweet! 

Now you have an exciting "WOW LOOK AT ME " tweet!

But wait - there's more!



If you want to post the tweet you just tweeted for promotion by others -

1. Go to the left on your twitter feed and click TWEETS
2. There you will see everything you have tweeted - hover your mouse over         the tweet you want to copy. (It will shadow box around it) Click it and it         will bring up the tweet. 
3. Copy the link in the address bar and paste it where you want it promoted!

- Now here is the Spectacular Amazing Benefit - 

When you post that tweet to your promotion site -  we can go right to it - Retweet - Fav it and click on the Etsy link which will whisk us right to your item on Etsy.  That gives YOU an organic view from the outside of Etsy!!!
 PLUS from there - we can promote as usual - Pin - tweet it again - tumbl - keep - wanelo - G+ - Share and so on!!!!

Now for a little shameless Self promotion. You can see how this all works by clicking the link below. Feel free to RT (retweet) me and visit the item. It is an antique horse picture called "The Pharoah's Horses". from the Victorian era. I fought hard for it at an auction! 

https://twitter.com/Chic_Mouse/status/598479135296499712

If this was helpful to you, please leave me a comment!  I am feeling kinda lonely here!