August 2008 – Karla's Cottage

“I’m Melting!!!!!!!!”

antiques/junking, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 30, 2008

Beth and I went to our favorite flea market on Thursday and besides some dripping with sweat, soggy photos of friends, this is the only picture I took all day. It was way, way, way too hot.

You know how people in the Midwest say, "it isn’t the heat, it is the humidity"? Well, on this day it was both!

By the way, I won’t be posting the soggy friend photos, not if I wanted to keep the friends, that is! We were all just miserable with the heat, and I felt like the Wicked Witch of the West, melting away.

I kept saying all day that the heat wasn’t bothering me. I was having fun and doing fine, even though I was a stinky, soaking, mess.

But, when I realized we were too hot to eat and we hadn’t even had to make stops at the nasty port-a-potties, I figured we might be a bit dehydrated. I still thought I was fine, but that night when I got home, I felt like I had been hit by a truck and was sick all the next day.

The day was still a ton of fun. We were finding great stuff at great prices, and even though we left early, I was happy with my haul.

I bought 18 hats. One was over $10, quite a few were only $1, but most were in the $3-$5 range.

See why I was braving the heat??? Some of my regular spots for finding millinery didn’t have any at all! Beth says I have created my own shortage by buying up all the hats in the Kansas area, like Howard Hunt did with the silver market years ago.

For those of you who were asking me about more Halloween colored flowers for crafting, I was able to get one orange and one black hat. And the orange one was pure velvet, just wonderful!

These are all the flowers off those two hats, so I will be adding maybe some white and purple to the bags and making up bundles to list.

When I am at a flea market, I always scan for hats and old jewels, and usually vintage photos. But as much as I use my flowers and blingies, I rarely use the photos. And yet, they are so plentiful and inexpensive, I keep buying and buying them.

I begged Beth to stop me if I tried to buy cabinet cards. I told her that "friends don’t let friends over spend on photos."

So, when I saw this album, she did her best to try to stop me.

But it was FULL of photos. And not just old guys, it was mostly families, babies and ladies! And those are the pretty kind to find.

Not only that, but half of the mats looked like this!

And did I mention that it had more than 30 photos in it and the whole thing was only $20?

It was definitely bargain day at Sparks and White Cloud, KS.

Darling little plastic critters 2 for a quarter, and a pretty pink runner with a hand crocheted border was $1, so was the vintage doll dress (that maybe one of my dolls waiting to be transformed into a fairy will be wearing soon??)

Pretty trims, and a jar with a great lid were a bit more, but worth it.

I’m not sure what this was meant to be, but I liked it. I think at one time it might have held a glass perfume bottle.

Did I mention that I found some jewels? And this cute as a bug, blue jewelry box was $1.

I’m not a purse person, but when I see one this cute for under $1, I sure am. Apparently the person selling it must have thought that since the fabric was disintegrating, the bag wasn’t worth anything. I felt that just made it more interesting.

And I found a chalk ware DORKY! Dorkies are hard to find. Scottie dogs seem to have the market on dog jewelry and doodads. When I find a little, antique, Yorkshire Terrier, I am always thrilled. And this one was $3. (she is already wearing a tiny crown made by Carol and is sitting on my desk)

Beth and I ran into Carol there at the flea, too. She was there with Deb. Both of them gave up a bit earlier than us, the heat got to them too. But we ran into them again later at a nice, cool, air conditioned antique mall on the way home and got to visit a bit then.

There are quite a bit more things that I bought that are all in "before" condition. Bottles for a project with Carol,, displays to fix up and use for Silver Bella, trophies that will be glittered and foofed, but since I have run on and on for long enough, I’ll wait and show these later after they become something a little less grungy.

Now, some grunge is good, like these two pink cabinets. The tall, wooden one was my most expensive item of the day, it was $30, the doll trunk was only $1. They will both be Silver Bella displays too, because I can actually pack the items to be displayed right inside of them for the trip to Omaha.

My favorite purchase of the day? I’d seen this broken metal lady on Beth’s blog last week and she brought it to me. Here it is in her post. I called her the Lady of the Begonias.

Two Tasha Tudor Tags

Books, celebrations, paintings, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 28, 2008

Isn’t Tasha Tudor an amazing woman? Her work is so sweet and simple, but her lines say so much. She certainly had a way with a brush and a pencil!

To check out other bloggers who are posting about Miss Tudor on her birthday, visit Clarice for more info.

In Tasha’s honor, I did a couple of quick little drawings in her style.

I’m not trying to be a copy cat, just doing an homage to sweet characters in my favorite book of hers.

I’ve made the drawings into tags, and decked them out in my own style.

The book that I love so much is "1 is One" and a blogger friend mailed it to Sugarwings last year on her 1st birthday.

I keep it stored out of her grabby, little, rippy hands for now. I only take it down to read it to the fairy grandbaby when I can hold onto it, so it stays in one piece.

Two year olds and cherished books don’t mix well.

This is the back of my tags, they are covered in pink flocked wallpaper.

I didn’t copy the pictures exactly, just used elements of the pages to make my own picture.

One tag is a gift for a friend’s daughter. The other one is for sale.

I’ll be out of town, so won’t have a chance to list it on Etsy tomorrow. If you are interested in my little tag painting, it is $18.

Please leave a comment or email me if you want to buy it.

While I was making the two Tasha Tudor tags today to treat…..OK, sorry, that was going a bit far with the alliteration.

Anyway, I made more tags from the same materials. These have a Silver glaze on the front, and lots of silver accents, and are pink flocked on the back.

I’ll add some silver glitter later on. It wouldn’t be Silver Bella without Glitter! But I’m out of time tonight.

These hand painted cupcakes on a silver background will each be tied to a Silver Bella Pre Swap package.

Notice that my friend, Carol has a chocolate cupcake? She isn’t a pink girl like most of the swappers.

Silver Bella has been a great way to meet new friends. Carol and I got to know each other there last year and this year, we did a magazine article together.

Jen Hayslip is another Bella, that I have gotten to know. She is having her home photographed for Romantic Country and I will be writing the article about it for Fifi. I’m excited, this will be a fun one to do! Gee, I am lucky to have this article lined up, along with all of the others I have coming out. I certainly don’t take them for granted. And I seem to be on a roll lately!

The Cuppy Cake Song works magic

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), magazine pictures or articles, paintings, redos, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 27, 2008

Sugarwings loves her new play dough from Robin! She spent about 3 hours in the studio with me while I worked and I was able to get a lot done, as long as we sang and talked and I sat down to make things with her here and there.

She sculpted play dough for about an hour, then was ready to move on to an hour of markers, then an hour of paint. I was amazed that a 2 year old could be as obsessive about working in the studio as I am! We are definitely related.

Robin scented and colored the play dough with Kool Aide, so there was a lot of sniffing, and calls for "Mell this one Grammy!"

By the 3rd hour of artwork, she was wearing only a diaper and war paint, with stickers up and down her arms and play dough in her hair. She started out cute though.

We played in the garden hose a while after this.

While the fairy grand baby worked on her crafts, I redid Lou Wanda and Lucinda.

They’ve been with me forever, used as jewelry displays. I’ve tried to use them for blog photos, but they are so dark, it never works well.

So, I decided to go for a lighter, brighter look, but wanted to keep their feet as is, I had painted flowers on them years ago and still like that part.

This is a remnant of a favorite fabric of mine, it was the last little bit left, but not quite enough. So I decided to do a crazy quilt look, with different shaped patches cut out and glued down. I left frayed edges showing, and was happy with the look.

I’d cut a piece of fabric, then glue it on and trim off the excess, till I filled in the whole form.

Then, I lightly sanded the black knob on top and painted it shell pink with crackles, added vintage beaded trim and a millinery flower.

Now, Lou Wanda is dressed in that prom dress I couldn’t zip up. And seeing it on her, I understand why!!

Yes, that is a dog sitting on my dining table, but actually, the table is for work, not food.

And yes, that is an extremely thick layer of filth on that mirror on the wall. I just bought it for $2 and it needs cleaned up and repainted. Its on the wall now to get it up off the floor and out of my way.

Of course, not a lot of the fabulous fabric shows while Lou Wanda is wearing the prom gown, but she won’t always be dressed, so I am glad I covered all of her up.

Lucinda got the same treatment, but with an assortment of creamy upholstery fabrics left over from a slip cover project.

She also has some cut up doilies stuck to her and a spray of old, perfectly smooshy velvet leaves.

I dressed her in an old half slip.

I’m still shocked that Sugarwings worked on her projects the whole time I worked on mine. I have to thank Jennifer Hayslip for some help, she has a song playing on her blog right now, that the baby loves. We looked it up on line and played it over and over and over for hours.

And I still can’t get the words right. I am hopeless at learning lyrics. I always end up making up my own.

After Sugarwings went home, singing her own version of the Cuppy Cake Song, I made up a few wallpaper journals and packed up tidbits to sell along with them for the new owners use to for embellishments.

Jenny Doh might be interested in them for Somerset Life, but of course, that is never official until she sees them in person and makes up her mind then. Some things they use, others they send back. I certainly don’t take it for granted that they will be used, and I also don’t get hurt or sad when things are not accepted.

I’ve juried art shows and craft shows myself and understand the process. "Not accepted" rarely means "REJECTED", in the negative sense. It just means, "not what we were looking for this time".

But I did get some good news! My studio will be in a future issue of "Where Women Create"! This is a new magazine coming out from Somerset (don’t they have the most diverse and interesting selection of publications?) based on the book by Jo Packham.

So, I decided to do something about my seating in the studio. I found a cheapo computer chair and slipped a cover over it and tied a rose from Holly to it.

Who knew that a slipcover meant for a dining chair would work??? I had one (from a garage sale) in my linen closet and thought it was worth a try, and hey, perfect fit and length, I don’t roll over the hem at all.

And it is so comfy. I used to have just a hard backed chair from a garage sale to sit on, and if I sat there too long, my legs fell asleep.

While Sugarwings crafted, I not only covered the two dress forms and spiffed up my chair, I also got this gift wrapped up. It is the 1950s House Wife Kit for my August giveaway, already to be mailed to you. Well, to one of you. Just leave a comment and it might be YOU.

Tomorrow I am going to Sparks and White Cloud with my BFF Beth to shop at our favorite Flea Market. Maybe I’ll pick up something there for September’s giveaway.

Before I leave for the day, I hope to post something for this event, a tribute to Tasha Tudor.

Check out Clarice’s site for info.

I’d like to paint a little tribute to Miss Tudor, since I am supposed to have my paints out to work on another project. Man, my days are not long enough…..

Pretty Pretty!

fairies, give away, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 25, 2008

A box bursting with happiness just came to my door! I swear, this Pre-Bella Swap is one of the most fun swaps, ever!

All of the women involved have extraordinary style and the packets of goodies they made up show it.

This came today from Jennifer. And it is sweet, sweet eye candy indeed, plus some real candy!!

And, oh my gosh, look what Holly sent!!!!!!!!!!

Those velvety flowers are amazing, lovely, and lush.

Not all the packages are here yet, but the table sure looks filled up, huh?

New homes have already been found in the art studio for some of the presents Holly and Jen sent along to me, I’ve used them in this centerpiece.

And when I cleaned the studio this week, I found the perfect storage spot for my unplucked old hats. (the plucked flowers are already sorted and stored elsewhere). They are all smooshed into the glass doored buffet in the alcove. The one with the crookedy candlesticks.

These sweet girl from Jen is actually a bell. I see fairy wings in her future…..

Look at that heart shaped little smoocher.

Her sis is nestled into a compote of flowers I received from Andrea.

And Taaa Daaa!! My studio is cleaned! I’m done, I’m done!! Just in time for Sugarwings to have a sleepover tonight and play in her new mini studio.

I’ve been working on this for almost a week. Hopefully, having this hopefully more functional arrangement will make me more productive and hopefully make up for the week I spent on it…. hopefully….

Everything is out in the open, easy to see and find, or at least the drawers have tags so I can remember what is where.

I don’t know that I am crazy about having a plastic table cloth over my folding tables, it might just get in the way. I think I’ll remove them, but for now, don’t the pink clothes brighten up the room?

While I was cleaning, I cleared out drawers, boxes, and junk. Ever notice how much stuff you forgot that you had? I came across this little painting from about 10 years ago, and decided she shouldn’t be shoved into a dark drawer, poor fairy.

So, I glittered up a mat for the painting, and added millinery, ruffled wallpaper, and a sparkling butterfly.

Recently, I was asked to post a how to on ruffling, but this is the first ruffle I’ve glued down in a while, and the light wasn’t good last night at midnight when I decided to make it.

I’ll show the steps next time.

While cleaning, I also found some pearls, as I promised to add to my August giveaway, the 50’s Housewife Kit.

leave a comment to enter

By the way, here are a couple of Before the Great Clean Up pics.

Still redoing the studio

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, how to's, I do tend to run on, don't I?, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 24, 2008

Brenda is hosting a tour of "Where Blogger’s Create" today and since I have some studio pictures here, I thought I’d join in. For a list of other bloggers who are showing their studios today, go HERE.

And please, remember that all comments are entered into my August Giveaway, the 50’s housewife kit- jewels and a frilly vintage apron!

I’m still plugging away on the studio redo. It is taking so long because I stop and make things as I go and spend too much time on fixing up the storage areas. Like this little hutch, that I am storing glitter supplies in. (it still needs glass knobs)

Here is the before, sitting outside my studio’s back door.

1-I primed it with Zinzer Bullseye spray, bonding primer, then a spray coat of aqua.

2- Let it dry, then sanded it quite a bit with a palm sander.

3- Topped it with a black walnut stain/poly mix and wiped it down.

4- As a finishing touch, I dipped the brush back into the stain mix and flicked it over the hutch for speckles, then dabbed the more pronounced ones a bit with a rag.

So, things like that get me side tracked, and instead of just making the room cleaned up and functional, I do projects.

Like this one. I bought an unfinished pine folding screen at a garage sale for $10 last weekend and decided to make a mini studio within my studio for Sugarwings with this as walls.

The side facing out is covered with my floral papers and trimmed in white paint top coated the same way I did the little hutch. (which I had bought to use in Sugarwing’s studio, but it ended up in mine!)

On the fairy grand baby’s side of the screen, I painted the trim in pink and blue and white polka dots with chalk board paint in 4 of the areas, and some Care Bear wallpaper in the others.

Then, perfect timing- (but is there ever BAD timing for a lovely gift???)

Robin sent a huge, overflowing box of goodness our way!!!!!

I had admired the apron she had posted on her blog, and look- here is one for Sugarwings!

Not only did she send the apron that I admired, she made up scented play dough, this sweet tag, and this cute little collaged box too.

As well as TONS of other surprises. The birdies are from her too, I added one to the top of the screen, by just looping it’s wire around the hole in the picket.

All of her packages in the box were wrapped so cutely, and she used old greeting cards to make up tags for each package, then included the play dough recipe on one too.

That box of goodness was jammed packed full of fun. I’d also admired one of these ceramic hands that she showed on her blog, and Robin sent one of those too. I was sad to see it had broken into a million pieces in the bottom of the box.

That hand was definately worth putting some time into fixing, so I glued it all back together, then decoupaged it with pages from an old French book to cover the cracks and gaps that were stuffed with tissue paper.

Robin lives in the same city where my husband and I keep an apartment out East, so I will keep this hand on my desk, as a friendly wave from a neighbor.

I’m embarrassed to say that Robin’s box was part of a swap we did. She had bought a hat covered in tiny pink flowers and I offered to trade a handful of her pink ones for a mix of a bunch of my other colors, so she’d have a variety to work with.

And because the pink ones she had were so perfectly pink!

And yes, she sent the pink flowers, I have them tied to the storage box. And what did I send to her?

Just a handful of flowers. And I haven’t even shown you all of what she sent to me!!! Like I said, that box was jammed full of goodies!

Thanks so much, Robin!

And thanks also to Carol. She sent in her swap boxes for the Pre-Bella Get Acquainted Swap that I am hosting, and included this giftie for me.

That K is going onto my chandelier filled with collected Ks that hangs right over my computer.

I didn’t peek into her swap boxes, they are just too darling to open. I am afraid my photo of them wasn’t as good as it should be, but the one on her blog is. She owns one of those Canon Rebel cameras I whine about all the time.

You should look at her photo, she is a talented stylist and every picture she takes is a beauty.

I forgot to mention that the flowered china in this picture is a gift from Beth. She thinks of me when she is at an auction and is always bringing me pretties she gets there.

I tried re-taking this photo (same as the last post) in daylight, but unless I have direct light, my photos are never good.

That is why every photo I take of something for Etsy is in front of the French doors in the light. I try to use different papers and table clothes as backgrounds, but it is always the same location, since it has the best light in the room.

This Witch’s Boot might be my only Halloween offering, besides black and orange millinery. I won’t have time to do much for Halloween, I am going to skip straight to filling up my 10 x 10 booth at Silver Bella for Christmas and making things for Lollyshops.

thoughts of Rebelling….

Chandeliers, Etsy Goodies

By Karla Nathan / August 22, 2008

My studio had been getting buried in one mess after another. Now, honestly the blame is mostly my own… but also, I have to blame the inconvenient set up, at least a little bit.

I am hoping that by rearranging things a bit, it will be easier to keep organized.

Well, its a hope I have.

Not most clear photos, are they? Sorry.

This big bowl of blooms is now smack dab in the center of my work station, so I can always have the perfect flower within reach when needed.

While I was at it, I even cleaned up the office and filed away the piles of crap spread out on every surface.

Major accomplishment there!!

All of my Etsy shop items are now organized, instead of heaped on that blue desk. I hung a lot of the pieces on the screen door that makes up one of my walls. I like to have the artwork out where I can see and enjoy them until they go to their new homes.

Not the best photo, once again. This is the chandelier over my computer. Originally, it was just multicolored crystals. But as I get cute gifts in the mail, such as the "Ks" and some tags and dolls, I have been hanging them on the light. Now, it is kind of a glowing bulletin board of things I like to keep nearby.

The room itself is a bit odd. My studio is one big space, almost 1,000 sq ft, not quite. But I have broken it up into different areas and "built" walls with old chippy doors, a gazebo, and big pieces of furniture. That makes it flexible, so I can rearrange it all to suit whatever my needs are at the time.

Geez, none of these photos are really very good are they? My camera does much better in close ups. Yet another reason, to moan and complain that I don’t own the Cannon Rebel camera that I have been dreaming about!!

The camera I use really doesn’t do badly when the light is perfect. And like I said, better with close ups.

These two padded hangers decked out with vintage millinery flowers were just listed on Etsy.

My camera did a great job with this picture. (See how I am trying to make myself feel better about not owning the wonderful, life changing, dream come true, Canon Rebel?)

For those of you who were asking for more Halloween colored millinery packs, I was able to list this one

and six of this one.

Thanks for asking, and for snapping up all the previous packs!!

I’m off to get Sugarwings, we are going downtown for a street festival, then she will be having a sleepover. If I had a Canon Rebel, I’ll bet I’d be getting great photos of the jugglers and puppetiers at the festival…

After the shoot

Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, Silver Bella, swaps

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2008

My bedroom photo shoot went well, Diane and I finished in record time.

My Queen Anne’s Lace was tinted perfectly blue over night and was ready to go into the bottles on the mantel in time for the pictures.

Normally,we count on about one hour per photo, but yesterday, we had sparkling sunlight shining through the windows and that made the whole process go so much easier! We had all 7 photos in 3 1/2 hours, that is a record for us.(although these blog photos were taken at night with a flash, not nearly as pretty as the ones with sunlight for the magazine)

By the way, this trick of using food coloring in the water to dye white flowers works with blossoms other than this weed. Try daisies or carnations too. It is a great teaching tool for kids so they learn how flowers soak up water through their stems, too.

Here is a snippet of my first paragraph:

"A romantic retreat with morning light dancing through lace curtains and reflected from antique mirrors will make you want to linger in bed with a tray full of treats while sinking into plush pillows."

The first time I did a photo shoot, I thought it would be a perfect time to have a party, afterward. I thought that my house was at its most spotless and foofed up best and I should invite people over while it looked good.

But, at the end of an exhausting day of hard work, my house looked like some one had picked it upside down and shook it!

During a shoot, all throughout the day, furniture and knick knacks are shifted here and there, moved out of the way, switched around, taken in and out of the frame, and moved away to make space for the camera.

Kind of a mess, with stuff piled up everywhere to get it out of the sight of the lens!

Not the best day for a party! Since then, I have learned to not plan anything else but sitting down after the shoot ends.

I wait and put it all back together and write the article the next day when I have recovered. No matter how much fun it is to do, there is a lot involved and it does tend to wreck the place.

But today, all is back to normal, my piles of books and bottles of water are back beside the bed and all the clutter is spread back out where it usually lurks.

I’ve been adding to my etsy shop this afternoon.thanks, this one is sold

Nothing that I have made, but creative pieces for others to use. I keep seeing Halloween projects popping up all over blogland and thought the timing was right to make up some millinery flower packs in these colors. sold

Making up kits and supply packs is almost as much fun as actually creating a piece. I just love picking out items that go together prettily and imagining what they will become when they go to their new homes.

If you have ever ordered anything from me, you’ll notice that I love to wrap and make the package pretty. One thing I don’t do though, is use brand new packing boxes. I do my best to recycle and reuse, and don’t much care if the outside of the envelope has past addresses marked out.

all Halloween packs are sold, but I am listing more. I will have maybe 8 more to list, then am out of black and orange!

It is important to me to make the presentation of the item itself pretty, but the envelope, I’d rather reuse and keep my shipping prices down while helping to save the world in my own little way.

But after receiving this box, that was perfect from the outside, in, I might have to change my practices!

Oh my, it was delightful. Even the outside was pretty, every detail was gorgeous.

The box was from Andrea, and was filled with her goodies for our Pre-Bella swap.

Oh my.

Did I say that already? Well, this gift box was so pretty, I might have said that a few times while gazing at it, trying to decide if I should open it or place it on a shelf and enjoy the box as it was.

Of course, I opened it!! And once again, OH MY! Look at the prettiness involved in this box.

This pile is gifts that Andrea sent to me, as hostess. Oh my, I haven’t even opened my swap box from her yet. I am waiting till all of the packages are in from the rest of the swappers.

I am so lucky to be a part of this talented group of artists who agreed to be in this swap with me. Here is the list, if you’d like to visit any of them, they all have wonderful blogs! I know I have posted this list before, but it is a fun group and definitely worth you going to visit.

A Get Acquainted- Get Inspired

Pre- Silver Bella Swap

1-Heather- http://www.prettypetals.typepad.com/

2-Cheryl Dack- http://roseyposeyconfections.blogspot.com/

3-jennifer Hayslip- http://sweeteyecandycreations.typepad.com/

4-Jessi Nagy- http://www.scrappyjessi.blogspot.com/

5-Kim Caldwell- http://www.artisticbliss.typepad.com/

6-Holly- http://www.hollydoodledesigns.com/shop/

7-Natasha- http://www.natashaburns.blogspot.com/

8-Analisa- http://www.leesiebella.typepad.com/

9-Andrea- http://velvetstrawberries.typepad.com/andreasingarella/

10-Cheryl Stoneham- http://www.insidethebubble.typepad.com/

11- Tiffany- www.shabbyscraps.typepad.com

12- Carol Spinski – http://raisedincotton.typepad.com/

And don’t forget that every comment is entered into my August giveaway. Heck, maybe I’ll even wrap it up in a pretty new envelope to send it out!

The truth behind the photo shoot

give away, housework, jewelry, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 19, 2008

I am busily getting ready for the photo shoot of my master bedroom tomorrow morning. It was a last minute project that came up just a few days ago, and I have had the fairy grand baby for a few days, so I didn’t get a chance to set up till tonight.

I’m making up the bed nicely and sleeping on the couch so I will be ready and not have to rush in the morning!

The truth is, when I have a photo shoot, I do a lot of extras that aren’t involved with every day life.

I certainly don’t get a breakfast in bed tray complete with roses every morning!

The tray is all set up, all I need to do is add a muffin, coffee and juice for the pictures.

I also did a quickie project, and dolled up these lamp shades. That was about 1 minute per shade, all I did was wrap a bit of vintage trim around it and secure the trim with a rhinestone shoe clip.

The three shades each have a different trim on them, I like the non-matchy look.

The window frame had nails sticking out of it from a past curtain style. Those had to be covered before pictures, so I swagged a bit of lace that I usually use as a table runner in the dining room over the nails to hide them.

The biggest change for the shoot was moving out my husband’s comfy chair. He is out of town for now and won’t even know I messed with it, it will be back before he is.

But, in rearranging the chairs, I had a gap in the room, so brought in a stack of picnic baskets from the studio. They are all filled with ephemera for projects, but I’ll write a cute little paragraph about storing extra linens or something like that in a stack of baskets to save space.

We will pretend they are useful, not just filling a gap till they go back where they belong!

Most of the time, the shelf of my mantel piece headboard is bare of junk.

But to foof it up for the pictures, I added a row of old bottles, that simply have some text cut from an old book tied on with pretty ribbon.

Tomorrow morning, I will add a single flower to each bottle.

For now, the flowers are soaking in blue food coloring. I used to do this as a kid, pick Queen Anne’s Lace and place it into colored water. The stems draw up the color and tint the flower.

It was hard to find the pretty weeds, most around here are finished for the season. I drove around until I found a decent patch to pick where I wouldn’t get chewed up by chiggers in the weeds, luckily, these were along a parking lot of an abandoned car dealership. I could snip them from the pavement and not even have to walk out into the tall grass.

A police car turned in the lot and parked behind me, but the officer never got out of the car or said anything to me. I guess it isn’t illegal to pick weeds at a closed business. Although it might be considered trespassing, and it was dark out.

I guess I am about ready for Diane to show up with her camera tomorrow. I’m off to the couch to get some rest. Chasing Sugarwings has worn me to a frazzle. It was fun, as always, but she is a busy bee.

Before I go, I’ll show the apron I added to the August Giveaway, which I will call my "50’s Housewife Kit"

You get a frilly, sheer apron, a pair of pearl pink clip on earrings, and a lovely old brooch with a blue stone, all to wear as you spiff up your home while waiting for Mrs. Dickson to call. (her calling card is included in the kit).

While you are dressed up for cleaning, and down on your knees, make sure you don’t forget to scour the corners of the floor with a scrub brush.

Trying a new trick

antiques/junking, family, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 17, 2008

Before picking up Sugarwings to spend the day together for her birthday, I stopped at a couple of garage sales. One sounded promising, it said "fancy hats".

When I got there, it was not the kind of hats I crave, it was modern day Lady’s church wear.

BUT- since the people at this sale weren’t into vintage stuff at all, what they did have along those lines was dirt cheap.

I’ve noticed that non-vintagey garage sales have great giveaway prices on vintage items if there are any around. These aprons were 25 cents each.

This table cloth and apron were each a quarter too, and they gave me an idea.

A friend, who loves funky, kitschy things is going through a rough time. Her husband starts chemo this week, and I thought I’d make her a hospital survival bag and fill it with handy things to have while sitting with him during his sessions.

I included:

water bottles

coin purse filled with quarters and dollar bills for vending machines

a 1940’s magazine to read

granola bars

home made trail mix

Italian candies from 100 Wishes

Kleenex

and a book mark

Sewing isn’t exactly my top skill. I learned that pinning is important and so is keeping the sewing machine manual next to me at all times.

I cut out the table cloth to the size of the apron and PINNED it together, right sides facing each other (I was so proud to have done that correctly!).

So, I stitched the two pieces together, making the apron and is pockets one side of the bag.

I was zooming along so nicely, that I got brave and added a pocket made from half a doily and some trim to the table cloth side.

Then, the tie that was supposed to go around the waist of the apron, was tied together to become the handle of the bag.

Its big and slouchy and can hold lots of magazines or what ever she needs to take with her.

The only problem was my inability to put on a button to hold it closed.

I solved that by making a drawstring bag (also with trim on it!!) that pins (with a heart brooch) to the inside of the big bag, in case she wants to carry something that needs to be secured, like a cell phone or wallet.

The sugar bag and some of the trim came from the box-o-goodies that I won from Heidi. The doily that became a pocket is from Lori. Those gifts came in handy!

Sugarwings had a sleepover with us, so I had to get up early to make this while she was still snoozing this morning.

When she woke up, she thought it was for her. After a day of birthday gifts, she expected more presents. Plus, everything she sees makes her yell "MINE!" now that she is two. This sewing thing went pretty good for me, I was surprised. I might make a bag for her from one of the smaller aprons.

A group of friends is going to take turns supplying the hospital survival kit each week when our buddy goes in for chemo treatments. My suggestion was to have practical things in it of course, but to also throw in one odd thing that will make her wonder what on earth we were thinking when packed it. And maybe make her smile.

My little weird thing for this time? Just a tiny, yellow, plastic bird about the size of a thumb tack. It is in the coin purse with the change.

Sugarwings was her sweet self for her birthday party, that was a relief. What ever evil gnome had come and switched my little doll for the changeling child the day before decided to return her.

We had a simple party, in the park. She got to chase bubbles and play on the swing set.

Her uncle Steve got her a big girl bike and gave her rides on it!

We all had a lovely day, but it was enough to wear the little fairy girl out.

I decided to add one of the pretty 25 cent aprons to my August Giveaway along with this vintage brooch with the blue stone, and the pink clip on earrings.

Whoever wins can wear them all together and look like a spiffy 50s housewife as she cooks dinner for her family.

By the way, have you seen this post at Heather’s? I took the quiz and was humiliated to see that I am a SUPERIOR 50s housewife!! In today’s day and age that isn’t a compliment.

Leave a comment on any post, any time, all comments are entered.

Putting together a baby shower while babysitting a grumpy baby

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, flowers, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / August 16, 2008

For a while today, I didn’t think I’d be able to pull off tonight’s baby shower!

Sugarwings spent most of yesterday and today with me, and while she was very helpful making birthday cupcakes for her mommy yesterday, today, she was a bit of a challenge.

That is not like her at all, and had me worried. I hope it is just a phase she is going through.

But I kept things very simple for the party and served ready made foods, like a mix of pink jelly beans in a cut glass dish.

And a basket full of mixed nuts with dried fruits.

Then, Beth brought a cheese cake and someone else made brownies and treats. All I had to do was set the table, make some herbal tea/punch and open wine.

Setting the table looks much more complicated than it is. I layered pink flowered table clothes (the baby is a girl!), and borrowed one of Sugarwing’s vintage doll cradles that I had painted roses on to hold the plates and napkins.

The plastic silverware is sitting in her fluffy bunny basket (from Easter) that is lined with a floral napkin.

I snipped a few flowers from my garden and tucked the blooms into child’s tea cups and popped a little ballerina in with the flowers. Since I didn’t have time to go to the store and buy flowers, these little rose buds and a handful of pink baby’s breath from my yard were the only bouquets I had.

I’ve found that, making myself be creative with what I have is much better than going out to buy something ready made. At least it is cheaper!

A few nesting tea cup birds from my Etsy stash of stuff for sale, and some birdies I got from Robin and Lori, and I was done.

I wrapped up a few more packets of bath salts to give as party favors.

Then, placed a doll crib in the living room to fill with presents.

Oh- and I also hung some pink glittered birdies from my Sissy on the chandelier along with a tussie mussie from my friend, Heather. I love the long, dangling ribbons on the cone, and might just leave it there for a bit and enjoy it.

Of course, the fun part was when the doll bed was filled with pretty pink presents for the expecting momma to open! (she was a good sport and wore the party hat I made for her too, even though it was kind of top heavy, but I think that at nine months pregnant, she is used to being off balance by now!)

Sparkle joined the party and spent most of her time on Aunty Beth’s lap.

Beth gave Shanna the cutest gift. She is planning on knitting a blanket for the newborn, but it wasn’t done yet, so she made a tiny one and wrapped it around a dolly as an IOU.

I gave Shanna my all pink version of the Sugarwings and Twinkle book, and added a hand painted cupcake to the teaparty page, along with a teacup that I drew onto rosebud paper and cut out.

I wanted it to have some special touches.

Here are a couple of the names that are being considered for the new little girl due this week:

Lizzelle and Audry– How pretty!! I like them together, Audrey Lizzelle.

Tomorrow is Sugarwing’s 2nd birthday, and I certainly hope she is back to being herself again so she can enjoy her party. It is so sad to see her unhappy and grumpy. I feel like we’ve been given a changling and someone is hiding our sweet little fairy girl!!