May 2008 – Karla's Cottage

Faking Fall

By Karla Nathan / May 30, 2008

Carol is on her way here from the other side of Kansas City to get set up for a preview of our "Welcome Autumn" story for Romantic Country magazine.

Today we are setting up the table and seeing what needs to be tweaked before our photographer comes in a couple days.

So, yesterday, I spray painted (with florist spray) my trees to make the area look more fallish.

I might have to get another can, I will see how this works out for the set up, it might be enough, to make the area look like it is early fall when the leaves start to change and the air has a slight chill at night.

Beth and I made up all of the swap screens from the piles of panels spread across my studio. And they were such fun. I loved the assembly part and kept saying each one was my favorite as I matched up the panels.

We also drew a name for the scarf winner, it goes to Rhonda

(ps- I am doing some hand dying this weekend and will plan on posting how to’s on using fiber reactive dyes if you are interested)

We randomly chose panels to add tags to as prizes too.

I wish I could have made one for each and every swapper, I appreciate all they have done to make this a successful and pretty swapping experience!

I think we ended up giving out 27 tags along with the scarf, a purse from myself and one from Beth, and 6 gift certificates from Vintage Workshop, as well as each person getting a free download from V.Workshop too, along with the downloads of images for the swap itself.

Thanks again, everyone for all you did!

After Beth and I finished assembling panels and packing boxes and bags up, and I got my trees spray painted, I "made" this bird bath.

All I did was use Liquid Nails to glue a wash bowl to a pedestal that had lost its top years ago. We’ll see how it holds up over the summer, and if the birdies like it.

It doesn’t look at all like Autumn around here, Spring is bursting out all over.

Wish me luck with Carol today, faking a fall picnic!

And please, check out my previous posts for details on the two giveaways I have going on right now.

Two Sugarwings Fairies!!!

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, fairies, give away, paintings, Sugarwings, swaps

By Karla Nathan / May 28, 2008

The swap panels are coming along nicely.

There are only about 400 or so to punch holes in and ring together.

But honestly, it isn’t monotonous or boring at all. I look at it as a chance to examine and admire each artwork.

Since Beth and I sorted them according to colors, styles and themes, they are already in piles ready to be assembled in groups that coordinate nicely.

Its kind of like doing one of those Flickr mosaics.

Or more like doing dozens of those Flickr mosaics!

I’m happy with the way they are looking, and hope everyone agrees that it was worth our time to match up sets of four instead of randomly hooking them together.

Tomorrow, Beth comes over for the day to finish and pack up the rest so we can get them in the mail.

A number of them will be late, though. Amy Barrickman wants to have a large selection professionally photographed for her newsletters and possible other publications.

We’ve had so many gorgeous ones come in, it will be hard to chose a few to send to Amy, so we are giving her a box full and letting her decide.

There are prizes going out to a LOT of swappers. Not based on their art (we love it all!) but by random drawing.

6 gift certificates from Vintage Workshop

2 clutches made by Beth and I with Vintage Workshop images

This lightweight cotton scarf, hand made by Beth and dyed by me

And a slew of tags I made from the images Amy provided

We’ve informed a couple of winners, but not all prizes are drawn yet.

I feel like I won a prize, look at the score I made today on a quick junking trip!

Sterling silver mini tiaras covered in crystal rhinestones, ready for me to foof and doodad up even further. I can’t wait to make these even more gaudy!!

Also, vintage trims and more cabinet cards. I KNOW I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO BUY ANY MORE PHOTOS. But when they are 50 cents or so, how can I not??? (the tiaras were $4 each and are going to be the most gaudily gorgeous things ever!)

Well, not as gorgeous as my fairy grand baby. Nothing is, in my book.

And look what I got, from my pal Lili! Isn’t she just adorable??? Thanks so much, Lili, I just love it!

I have my little fairy baby hanging on a chandelier in my art studio and can’t wait for her to come and see it there. She always notices my light fixtures and has a comment on them. I like to hang extras from them to surprise her, since she appreciates it so much.

Do you remember this photo of little Sugarwings at the zoo?

Today, after taking my husband to the airport at FIVE THIRTY IN THE MORNING– ugh- and going to the gym- double ugh- I sat down and painted a quick watercolor of this picture.

I ‘fairied" her up a bit more and added glitter. No respectable watercolorist adds Stickles glitter to their work, but hey, who needs to be respected? I’d rather be sparkly!

By the time this baby is in school, I’ll have enough paintings and collages of her to fill all the walls in my house.

If I had any sense at all, I’d spend my time on commissions instead of painting my own baby over and over!

Or instead of buying hats all the time. But, at least I pulled a few more flowers (and cherries!) off of a few and listed them on Etsy. And some on Ebay too. I hadn’t done Ebay in months. It isn’t hard to do, I just don’t enjoy it like I do my sweet little Etsy shop.

Thanks to all of you who help keep my shop going, I couldn’t do it, if I didn’t have you all shopping there. Yuck, I’d have to go and get a real job and not have time to waste on blog writing and reading all the other fun blogs out there!

That is why I am so happy to do giveaways. I owe you!!

So remember, you still have till the end of the month to enter to win the birdhouse for the Cottage Charm giveaway. And check out my previous post for the pics of my other giveway prize pack for May.

Planted Plates and Pansies

collections, flowers, give away, show and tell

By Karla Nathan / May 25, 2008

Hope you are all having a happy Memorial Day weekend? We’ve been busy, with boating, and a party, and the fairy grand baby staying the WHOLE weekend with us. She and I have done yard work all morning (and no, I didn’t tame the wildness of the yard, I merely pulled weeds and cleaned up a bit). After nap time, there will be more boating, so I thought I’d use this small window of time while the baby is sleeping to be a part of Show and Tell Sunday and snap some photos of my china and crystal.

Except, I don’t really have any crystal…

All of my glassware comes from garage sales.

Just about all of my dishes do too. Except the collection of chintz patterned coffee cups, those I buy at Home Goods or TJ Max when I see a pretty rosey one I don’t have. The chandelier cup is from there too, it was on clearance for $1.99.

Gosh, on my last post I was talking about the wildness of my gardens, but from the looks of my cabinets, they aren’t much neater.

I am so much more comfortable with a laid back, casual display.

The very top shelf seems to be neater. These pieces aren’t in daily use like the others.

It is important to me to have things pretty, like painting the insides of the cabinets a complimentary pink.

The pink interiors aren’t really that noticeable when the doors are shut, but the color always lifts my spirits when I go to put away my dishes.

For every day, I use an assortment of white, cream and ivory plates and bowls that I have picked up here and there.

Then I have a couple of sets of "good dishes" like this stack of Wedgwood ones from an auction (for $11).

I don’t always put my things away in an order that makes sense. I go more for how pretty they look together, then add little tidbits to the display, like these chipped up porcelain flowers.

And no, I am not too proud to admit that I cook with instant mashed potatoes and prove it by showing a cannister full of them in the cabinet with the Wedgwood plates.

I do have a trick for instant taters, though. I will boil one potato, skin on, and smash it up so that is still slightly lumpy and add that to my instant ones to give them a better texture.

Any china with a rose on it is hard for me to resist at garage sales, even though I am out of room for displaying them all.

And of course, what is a cottage without some Pussy Willow around somewhere?

Well, when you run out of display space indoors, it is time to start hanging plates on the garden fence!

There were quite a bit more out here hanging but over the last few years, they have fallen and I simply haven’t replaced them. I’m surprised these have stayed up through a few rough Kansas winters.

And of course, I plant plates too.

And use them as flower bed borders.

Teacups glued to the arms of an old chandelier make great candle holders. (I did this project for Romantic Country a couple years ago).

As a clumsy, careless, and hurried antique dealer, I always had boxes of broken dishes from moving displays without bothering to clear the shelves first.

So I took up mosaicing to use up the dishes that I regularly crashed.

I’m not the sort of collector who expects or values perfection. Many of the dishes in my cabinets are chipped or cracked or crazed. I think it makes them more interesting (and of course, more affordable!!).

If all I am doing with a plate is using it for decor in a cabinet, I’d much rather have a 25 cent chipped one than a $35 dollar one in perfect condition.

In honor of last week’s Show and Tell Sundays vintage linens, I added an embroidered doily to the MAY GIVEAWAY PRIZE PACK.

For this week’s Show and Tell, I’ll do the same and add a lovely old plate. It seems to just be perfect with the assortment of other prizes, doesn’t it? How could I NOT add it to this bunch of pretties??? (that is if I don’t break it first!)

Don’t forget to "grab for the golden ring" and leave a comment to enter the drawing (all comments, all posts this month count).

Also check out the button on the side bar to see all the Cottage Charm giveaways going on this month. Good luck in the drawings!!

How does your garden grow?

flowers, swaps

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2008

Its definitely spring here, and my flowers are showing it.

The wisteria on my garden gate are in bloom and bunnies are busily eating the plants I have sprouting up in the garden. I think lining the bottom of the fence with rocks will help, the ground has settled and the fence is a bit too far off the dirt this year.

I’m fixing the problem tomorrow, the rabbits are going to have to settle for just eating flowers, the veggies are off limits!

There was a heavy rain last night and all of the peonies are laying on the ground, and so are many of the iris. Spring flowers can be so fleeting, it is sad to see them meet an early demise.

On the other hand, it means I can fill the house with picked flowers and enjoy them indoors!

Every year, my yard seems to be a little bit more unkempt. I do like the wild-ish country garden look, but this is getting away from me.

Between the baby and the dogs and everything else I try to do, my yard is taking a back burner. With my husband flying back and forth from the East coast, I have inherited the mowing and trimming as well as the flower and veggie tending, so I think I will just have to live with a bit of wildness this year!

Over grown and wild isn’t so bad. I think I will call it "lush" instead.

Our big, old, fat, tom, Kitty Boy is a bit over grown and wild himself.

More presents came in the mail today!! These are from Kim Caldwell, one of our swappers. She sent me some goodies from her event, An Artistic Affair. I saw photos of her passing out these bundles of lavender tied up in old hankies and thought how sweet they were, and now, look, I have one of my own!

Once again, I want to thank everyone who participated in the swap, and let them know how much I appreciate all their hard work and time and generosity. Also for the cards for my Great Aunt Caroline’s 100th birthday. I haven’t forgotten all of you, I am working on photos of all the cards still pouring in and will show some photos as soon as the swap is caught up and mailed out.

Remember, every comment gets entered into both drawings I am having. You can read the details in my previous post.

Now, I am off to a party tonight!

Swap Central

give away, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / May 23, 2008

In honor of the generosity of our Birds and Bonnets Vintage Workshop Swap, I’ve added more prizes to my May giveaway.

A little round tag that I made using Vintage Workshop images (from the flower girls collections), then tied up with a snippet from a vintage hankie, and a sprig of old millinery flowers are now included with the other prizes.

(don’t forget there is a solid gold vintage band in the presents!)

Speaking of flower girls, look who was in a wedding! Sugarwings walked down the aisle picking up the petals her cousin was tossing down.

During the rehearsal, she remembered her turn and curtsey, but got a little distracted by trying to pick up all the petals to do it for the actual ceremony.

On Thursday, Beth and I had a great time sorting and tagging the panels for our swap. Even though I was late, at my own house!

I left the door unlocked in case Beth got here before I made it back from picking my husband up at the airport. Good thing I did, his flight was delayed and I was waiting for him for a couple of hours. Beth knew to let her self in, grab a can of pop, turn on the TV and start working on the tags without me. Isn’t it nice to have friends that can make themselves at home and are as much family as a friend?

After getting the name tags attached, (which Beth did 90% of, since I was late) we spent a lot of time compiling groups of panels that seemed to go well together.

While everyone had the same 3 sets of images to use, there was a wide variety of styles and themes that were used by the artists.

Instead of just picking up four random panels to put together, we thought it would be much better to coordinate the artwork to 4 complimentary panels per screen.

So, the piles are grouped according to which ones we think will flow well together. These 3 photos are of a few of our groupings that we will use to assemble the screens.

I put one together to see how it would look, here is one side.

And here is the other. I can’t say front or back, everyone did such a detailed and beautiful job finishing both sides!

And I have to thank everyone for their generosity in taking such time to create the panels and participate in our swap! Also, there were some wonderful artworks, gifts, doodads, treats, and tidbits included with the packages- just look at these!

It was quite overwhelming to open all the packages and see the thougthful hostess gifts!

Can you believe all of this???

THANKS!!!!!!!!

We could have spent all day, just playing with our new toys.

We had fun going through them all, and I think I managed to get everything in the photos.

We also had a great time looking through each of the panels as we put the name tags on them.

It was so impressive to see the range of styles and imagination that went into the creations.

I am going to try to get photos of a few more completed screens this week, then next Thursday, Beth and I will get together again and start hole punching and assembling.

Luckily, I have a large studio, because this is all laid out in it till next week!

Two dining tables and a card table full of pretty panels waiting to be put together, packed up and sent to their new homes.

Don’t forget, that I have TWO Giveaways going on right now, not just the May prize pack I showed at the top of the post.

I’m also offering this vintage wallpaper covered bird house as part of the Cottage Charm giveaway. Click on the button in my side bar to find other blogs giving away cottagey gifts on May 31st.

A Fairy Tea Party for some little Friends

celebrations, fairies, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / May 21, 2008

Tuesday was Fairy Tea Party Day at my cottage. A little friend came by to visit on my birthday and asked if she could come and stay and play in Sugarwing’s room sometime, she was so cute, I thought she might enjoy coming over for a girly tea party.

Little girls seem to love my house. They are the ones who really "get it" and don’t think it is too much like a lot of people do!

Little girls, like my little buddy, Adeline Grace, definitely don’t think it is too much!

I placed a vintage hat by each place setting and told the guests to take a seat by the hat they wanted to wear.

Even the moms were good sports and indulged me by wearing a floral hat.

Sugarwings chose a hat to match her blue, blue eyes.

She had more fun stirring sugar into her (caffeine free) fruit tea than drinking it. So I let her add a LOT of sugar to the teacup.

Isn’t that what Grammies are for?

My niece, Shelli, gave me some pretty little picks with crystals on them that were just perfect for this party. I rolled a tiny ham slice around a sweet pickle and stuck the pick through that, a little tomato, and a black olive (to wear on our fingertips).

I wanted all the food to be fairy sized, so I made the brownies in cupcake papers.

I realized afterward that the reason I never see brownies as cupcakes is because the paper is pretty much permanent. So, I peeled it off , along with half the brownie, flipped the treat over and iced the bottom to cover the mess.

I served them on rose patterned butter pat plates.

I used teapots to hold flowers picked from my garden and layered lots of old tablecloths, runners, and doilies on the table for spring time color.

At each place setting, there was a child’s toy teacup with a single pansy in it and a vintage pixie next to that.

While out garage sailing on Saturday, I got this box of toy tea stuff, along with the 10 butter pats in a box for $2. Perfect timing, I think the tiny tea cups were just right to add to the table!

Sugarwings just woke from her nap, and was surprised by the party. Since the food was ready, she only had time to slip into her wings and a hat, no party dress for her this time.

I put on my favorite floral gauzy dress that I have been wearing for about 20 years now. Luckily, it is a loose dress and ties in the back to give an illusion of still having a waistline all these years later.

The looseness comes in handy, since that ever expanding waistline takes up more space than it did when I bought the dress.

Adeline Grace had me paint a picture of Twinkle as a fairy on her cheek, and I added a pink butterfly to mine.

Painting backwards in a mirror is tricky, so when I paint my own face, I always do something simple, like a butterfly since it looks the same pretty much from back to front.

Don’t forget that I have TWO giveaways going right now, and that every comment enters you in both drawings. Click on the Cottage Charm button in my side bar to go to the list of other cottagey style blogs participating in that giveaway too.

I know I’ll be entering them!

Hats, and Papers, and Bears, OH MY! Plus a Cottage Charm giveaway

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 19, 2008

Kim is hosting her 2nd annual Cottage Charm Giveaway and of course, I had to participate!

I have a lot of crap, I mean hand made creations, lying around my studio and I should dump them somehow, I mean give them away to readers.

So, if you would like to win a cottage style bird house, just leave a comment any time (and as many times as you’d like) between now and the end of the month.

Your comments will count towards this giveaway as well as my regular monthly prize. Which really isn’t all that regular, since I am so in love with May and am adding to the prize pack every once in a while.

Check out Kim’s site for a list of other giveaways all over blogland. There will be some good stuff out there waiting to go to a new home!

Our trip to the Topeka Zoo yesterday was delightful. Its a cute little zoo, just the right size for a toddler’s visit.

I saw a lot of these type of expressions on Sugarwing’s face, she was so excited to see the animals.

This photo might just have to become the basis for a fairy painting of her.

When I go to the zoo, or an amusement park, or any other tourist spot, I rarely photograph the place itself. I like pictures of the people I was with (and of course lots of Sugarwings!)

I don’t want to fill my photo album or scrap book or computer storage with stock photos of giraffes. The look on the baby’s face as she sees her first giraffe means a lot more to me.

Before leaving to go to the zoo, we all met downtown to have lunch. As we walked toward the restaurant, I heard the faint, but persistent call of the millinery flowers.

So, I told my family I’d meet them in a minute, and ran down to the antique mall to find this pile of hats, for $4-$6 each!!

I didn’t even miss lunch, when I got there, they had saved me a fajita.

I know you are asking yourself, what is that under the hats? Is that the elusive PINK flocked wallpaper?

(I refuse to believe that you are really saying, "there is a serious problem with this crazy lady and her hat problem. AND HER WALLPAPER PROBLEM.")

You are right, it is FLOCKED vintage papers in beautiful shades of pink, ivory and tan!

I’ll be making up some packs to sell on Etsy if I can force myself to share. I could be a little bit stingy about this stuff.

This one, I simply cannot call vintage, it is only from the 80s and I get irritated by that label on stuff that is not OLD.

I bought this paper to line a cabinet for Sugarwings. She is the worlds biggest Care Bear Fan.

She is so crazy about Care Bears that I added a pink rainbow bear decal to the window of my car, so she could see it from her car seat. And I am not a decal or a sticker person.

Before you start to think that all I do is shop for flowers and wallpaper, or play with the baby, I want to show you a project I actually made!

Yep, I sat at my desk and made something, it seems like it has been a while since I had a chance to do that. I spent most of the day working away on cleaning the studio, listing supplies on Etsy, and watering all my new plantings outside. But I did take time to use some of my favorite things and make this piece.

It has hand painted roses, vintage flocked wallpaper, pink pages from an old French book (from my pal, Lili), velvet millinery flowers, an old earring with rhinestones, seam binding ribbon, and sheet music. Wow, I don’t think I could have possibly squeezed in one more bit of any of my obsessions onto this gaudy little dumpling of vintage goodies.

Its rosey red and faded pink, I like those colors together. A little different, but nice.

One more thing before I go, in case you haven’t made up your mind that I might be crazy.

Remember the fall themed photo shoot I have coming up this spring with Carol? I decided to try painting some leaves, to make the trees look more fall-like. So, here is a tiny sample, and it seems to work.

I used a red spray paint meant for florists, so I doubt if it will kill the trees. I only painted a couple of leaves to see how it went, don’t you think they look like autumn?

Linens and Things

antiques/junking, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 18, 2008

Today is Show and Tell day again and I have to thank Little Pink Studio and Sugar Sugar for coming up with yet another topic of obsession. At first, when I saw the subject was antique linens, I thought I wasn’t a collector. But, then a quick glance around my house and I realized they are everywhere. I guess I don’t think of them as a collection as much as just part of my decor.

Most of what I have are doilies that I buy in bags or boxes at garage sales for a couple bucks a bagful. I tuck them here or there around the cottage, layering them and bunching them up. Nothing too perfect looking, I don’t want them to feel fussy or Victorian-ish.

I like to mix the styles of doilies when I layer them.

And I use all shades of white, but really prefer the darker ones, in more of an ecru.

I also am big on using old embroidered tea towels and hand towels. And I actually use them, not just set them out for display.

The texture of the fabric is so absorbent, and really feels good to dry your hands on.

Tea towels and old linen napkins are actually cheaper to buy than a brand new dish towel from Target, and they are so soft! I rarely pay more than 50 cents for one, and they are so much nicer than any new towels.

Another thing I never turn down at garage sales are old shawls. I have a few around the house that I use over table tops, and each were just a couple of dollars at estate or garage sales. I don’t care if they have holes in them, I think it just adds to the allure.

Every once in a while, I shake them out or throw a bunch in the bath tub and hand wash them, but basically, I just let them gather dust like everything else in my house. We try to change the furnace filters once a month, and buy decent ones that trap dirt, plus keep the house fan running all the time to circulate and clean the air. That helps, as well as hitting stuff with a feather duster sometimes.

I can live with a little dust as long as my floors are clean and junk is picked up. Clutter gets to me, and I have to constantly battle piles of crap and toys, so I pick my battles. Dust isn’t worth the fight for me!

One time when I was at my favorite auction with Beth, I bought a big box of linens for $3 and 2 of these edged bedspreads were in it. I used them as bed skirts in my room and in the guest room.

I rarely pay much for the things I find, so, when I do see something that I really love and it costs a bit more, I don’t feel bad about splurging. This table runner is actually a curtain that I bought last time I was in Leesburg, at the Cottages. It was $30 (yes, very rich for my blood!) but was so perfectly tattered and elegant at the same time and seemed to be just what I needed to complete my new dining room redo, that I had to go for it anyway.

And I was glad I did.

OK, I just told you about how dirty and dusty I am, now I will show you how messy and unorganized I am by opening the door to the linen cabinet of clutter and chaos. I know I said I don’t like clutter, but if I can shut a door on it, that isn’t so bad.

In honor of today’s theme, I reached into the linen cabinet of clutter and chaos and pulled out a pretty little embroidered doily to add to the May Giveaway Prize Pack. It now includes:

1- a vintage cake topper ballerina

2- a vintage GOLD band

3- white leather Brighton coin purse

4- embroidered doily

5- pretty pearl pin

6- vintage greeting card

7- Bath and Bodyworks lotion

8- satin hanger with a millinery flower

Every comment all month is entered, thanks for visiting!

A bit of vintage linens thrown across this ugly swing might help it out. Or probably not. Its just plain ugly. But, it is nice to have on the upper deck outside my husband’s office. When he works at home, he sometimes sits out here and swings while he is on the phone doing business.

Sugarwings and Twinkle make it look a lot better too!

Enjoy visiting the other sites that are showing their linens today. I look forward to seeing them all too, but will have to check them out later, I am taking my fairy grand baby to the Topeka Zoo today.

But that is one thing that is so nice about blogs, I can come back later tonight and look through the show and tells at my leisure.

Where does the day go? Putzing and puttering and then Poof- its over!

antiques/junking, fairies, give away, jewelry, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 15, 2008

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that the days are getting shorter. I know, I know, Spring is here and the sunlight is lasting longer, but why don’t the days last long enough for me to ever get caught up?

Could it be that I putz around the antique malls and shops too much? I did that this morning while waiting for Sugarwing’s Daddy to get out of the dentist’s office.

I gave him a ride, mailed my packages, (thanks for your Etsy purchases by the way!! I appreciate it!!), ran some errands, then had a few minutes to kill, and of course, since I heard the siren call of a $7 floral bonnet, I couldn’t resist!

I was glad I popped into the mall, I got two bags of broken bits of vintage goodness for $3 each. Loads of flower power in these jewels.

Then, Sugarwings and her Daddy helped me clean out our boat after it’s long winter of dust and spiders.

After we got it sparkling clean (or as sparkling as it will get after 6 years of wear and tear!), we went for a spin out on the lake. Captain Sugarwings was a fine skipper until she decided that a penny would fit perfectly into the cigarette lighter.

She was right, it fit very well. It also shorted out the whole instrument panel! Luckily, the boat still started, but the lights, stereo, gages, etc are all dead.

At the fairy grand baby’s nap time, I did some yard work. Mostly it was puttering around and enjoying the beautiful day and seeing what was sprouting.

But I did plant a few flats of annuals.

You can tell I certainly didn’t get around to mowing the lawn! The grass is almost knee high, but my son is coming over to mow tomorrow while Sugarwings and I plant more flowers.

I fixed lobster ravioli for lunch today (from Costco, gotta love that place!) and he will always work for food. I think I can get away with feeding him leftovers of the ravioli tomorrow.

Sons are so wonderful, especially when they are hungry and helpful.

There isn’t a lot blooming yet, or many flowers planted, but I love this lush, green time of year before all of the flowers come on.

This is the pathway back to our bon fire pit, and see, we have a big pile of wood ready for the next fires. The evenings are still cool, it is a great time of year to sit by a fire and eat s’mores.

May is my FAVORITE month. I can’t get enough of it.

As a matter of fact, I am feeling so May-ish that I added another present to the May prize pack, a bottle of Bath and Bodyworks orchid lotion.

So we are up to:

1- satin hanger with a fluffy vintage rose

2-white leather Brighton coin purse

3- a tiny dancer

4- a gold band (yes, real gold)

5- a cute pearl pen

6- vintage greeting card

7- lovely lotion

So, leave a comment, any comment, any post all month and I’ll draw a winner June 1st!

Well, I am running out of daylight, just as I complained about. I got no artwork done today. If I wasn’t such a TV addict, I’d do some now, but Thursdays are a big TV night for me, so I have to get my butt parked in front of the set before I miss anything I can’t live without!

I have to be there when Jim asks Pam to marry him. And when McDreamy realizes Rose isn’t for him. (although, I like Rose) And when Luca comes back to Abby. And just HOW do the Oceanic Six get off the island?? This is all much more important than me gluing some paper together!

By the way, do you think that this $1 candle holder is a fairy or an angel? I think she is a bit flirty to be an angel. Her skirt is up pretty high.

Lots of reasons to say thank you

Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, flowers, give away

By Karla Nathan / May 14, 2008

I have added some of my paintings to my Etsy shop this week. These are reproductions of floral watercolors I did, that I have adhered to canvas boards and then crackled and aged.

These prints are $25 each and are 8" x 10", so are ready to pop into a standard frame, or can be leaned on a shelf, or set on an easel as they are.

The hydrangea print is sold, but since these are reproductions, I can print more up if you are interested, let me know and I will make up more. The crackle comes out a little differently on each one, that stuff has a mind of its own.

In this summer’s Romantic Country, I will have a "how to" article on doing this technique if you’d like to give it a try yourself.

The 100 cards for my Great Aunt Caroline’s 100th birthday are still coming in and I will soon catch up and photograph them all and do a whole post showing the latest ones.

This one is from my pal, Lili in the Netherlands. Can you imagine what my aunt will think when she sees 100 cards from all over the world? Thanks again, to everyone who is participating and helping Caroline celebrate this milestone.

Another thank you I have to add is to Vicki. I won her giveaway and she sent a bonanza of goodies for me to craft with! (this doesn’t show them all) Thanks Vicki!

The hat box in the picture is one that I found while at the antique mall with my little Mini Hat Whisperer. It was $6 and in pretty good shape. I can’t ever have too many of these for storage!

Do you remember that I said I would add to my May Giveaway Prize pack every week?

I changed my mind and added MORE today!

To the white leather Brighton coin purse, the gold band and satin hanger with the millinery flower, I added a vintage ballerina cake topper, a vintage greeting card and a sweet little pearl pin.

You have to love the faces of those old ballerinas. Oh my.

Were the painters drunk? Those painted on lips remind me of little old ladies putting on their red lipstick with tremors. Or me putting on lipstick with no mirror.

My Sissy can put on lipstick without a mirror anytime, and I can’t for the life of me. I showed her once how bad I was at it at Applebees when we went out for a glass of wine after sitting by our mom’s bedside in the hospital.

It became a joke for all of us, that we would close our eyes and apply lipstick all over our mouths (yes, in public) and laugh like 6 year olds. Here is a photo of Sissy, Bobbie Sue, and me, Karkie Jo looking festive at Sissy’s 60th birthday slumber party.

Sissy made us into fairies and turned the photo into a birthday card for my 50th. (notice that even when she tries to put her lipstick on badly, Sissy’s still looks pretty good! Well, at least compared to me, or do I just have a really big mouth?.)

I know you are all tired of my blathering on about my birthday, but one more story-

Yesterday, Sugarwings and I were at the grocery store and saw that the Mother’s Day flowers were marked down to $1.99 a bundle. So, we bought an arm load (I should have had a cart, imagine me carrying all these bunches of roses and a wriggling baby through the store).

I made up bouquets and dropped them off to my friends who had come to my birthday party as a thank you.

It was like a belated May day, I set the flowers on doorsteps, rang the bell and left them as a surprise as I drove away.

And thank you also to Paula Kay for the cute little bag! I just wish you lived close enough for me to drop some flowers off on your porch as a thanks!