March 2009 – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

A trip to the treat cabinet

By Karla Nathan / March 10, 2009

Was it the trip to the bakery that got me going? What ever it was, I felt the need to whip up goodies and invite people over for coffee and treats. Beth was coming over for Sewing Day Part Two, so I told a group of friends to come by before we got started and visit a while.

At the grocery store the other day, this bottle caught my eye, it is "English LUXURY Clotted Cream". Not typically something that I buy at the market, I'm more of a low fat, healthy food shopper. But I'm glad I got some, it is just wonderful, served with fresh pecan scones, cherry jam and Devonshire butter. Yes, I know, not low fat, and not healthy at all!

We hung out in the studio and ate out there, with all of the baked goods and a thermos of hot tea in the 'treat cabinet'.

For those who wanted to have something on the healthier side, I made up some granola bars. Lately, I've been making a lot of these. They seem really expensive to make, but if you figure how much you pay for a box of snack bars, and how little is in the box, and all the artificial ingredients put in those boxes, these really aren't too bad and once you have the ingrediants, it is usually enough to make two batches. I buy as many of the items as I can in the organic version.

There has been a lot of experimenting with making granola in my kitchen, and this is about the best way I came up with, with just enough of the goo mixture of peanut butter, sugar and honey to keep it together. But if you make some and it falls apart, the crumbles are great on yogurt.

I make them a little different each time, but here is how I mixed up this batch:

Tasty and Toasty Granola Bars

Stir together in a large pot and melt:

2 cups chunky peanut butter

3/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup honey

Let cool.

Toast 4 cups of oats in a shallow pan in the oven at 350

Add 2 eggs, 1 table spoon of cinnamon, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup of flax seed to the peanut butter and sugar mixture

Stir in the toasted oats

Add nuts- I used:

3/4 cup pumpkin seeds

3/4 cup of crushed pecans

3/4 cup of sunflower seeds

3/4 cup of flaked unsweetened coconut

Its hard to mix, you'll want to use your hands.

Press into a greased pan and then press down more! If you don't get it good and smashed, it will all crumble after it is baked.

Bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees

Frenchie Friends

how to's, Miss Frenchie's, paintings

By Karla Nathan / March 8, 2009

Isn't that cute? I told Beth that I would love to be able to add text to pictures of ephemera and use it in my posts, but am way too computer illiterate. She whipped up this one and a few others for me. When she comes back on Tuesday for us to work on table clothes again, I hope to have her show me how this is done. It would look good to post my words on ledger paper, or maybe something rosy? At least sometimes, not all the time, I tend to have an awful lot going on anyway.

A lot going on, with busy elements in my blog design as well as in real life. Maybe that is why I was so drawn to this wintry, isolated porch yesterday. Its solitude was inviting.

The porch is on the back of the historical home, the Alexander Majors House, where we are planning our next Miss Frenchie's Brocante.

I met some of the Frenchie gals there yesterday for a planning session. My job in prepping for the show is to make the signs, here is a sample of the banner I will be painting for the outside of the building, so people can see it and find us more easily.

I'm also planning on painting some "murals to go" as backdrops for my booth.

Not exactly like this, but along these lines. A French farmers market scene with lots of flowers.

These photos are from my scrap book of murals. This is a dining room in a private home, but the French Market theme was a popular one and I used it in some restaurants and hotels too. I think for Miss Frenchie's I will tone down the colors and have even thought about doing the scene in just washes of brown with a hint of color like old photos that have been tinted.

I'm also planning on painting some natural canvas market umbrellas with a simple vine in sepia like I did on these hankies.

If you are a follower of Curious Sofa Diaries, you probably remember this post. (and if you are not, you should be!! Debbie Dousenberry is the queen of style)

Since I was meeting Debbie and Carol at the Miss Frenchie's site, I thought I'd take some thing to Deb as a thank you for all the hard work she is putting in for the show. She mentioned that she liked bandannas that were soft and aged, since I didn't have any like that on hand, I faked it.

Brand new, black and white bandannas from Target were what I had. So, I soaked them in hot water and a cup of bleach for most of the day.

If you are like me and have darker hair that you pay way too much to a beautician to kind of keep blond, then you know how dark colors when bleached, can turn orange. (I've had the brassy orange highlights more than once) And that is exactly what the black in the fabric did at first. The trick is to not take it out too soon. I left it soaking about 8 hours and toward the end, the color lightened up to what I wanted.

Then, it looked too new and clean. So I dunked the cloth into my leftover coffee, let it dry, ironed it and then drew on it with a brown fabric marker.

I had been baking yesterday, so I wrapped up home made granola and cookies and tucked them into the bandannas and then tied on some Eiffel Tower and crown stamped tags.

As a joke, I misspelled Carol Spinksi as far out as I could, because we've been dealing with Travelocity and Air Tran to try to fix a misspelling I did of her name when I booked flights for the two of us. On the reservation, I wrote "Spinsky" instead of "Spinksi". And the airlines have NOT been helpful or friendly or anything good about this. At first they tried to say she wouldn't be allowed to fly at all on that ticket and it was non-refundable!

Anyone else ever have this problem?

After measuring spaces at the Frenchie Barn, we decided we needed a treat. So, Carol, Julieand I went to visit our newest Miss Frenchie pals at Natasha's Mullberry & Mott.

This beautiful bakery is packing up goodies to bring to the sale on April 17th.

And I could be in trouble! Their spot will be right next to mine. All weekend, this is the kind of stuff that I will be staring at.

I just hope they don't bring any macaroons, all three of us decided that they were the best ever and I know I couldn't resist. The bunnies were pretty wonderful too. We got different varieties and shared a little of each. I immediately called Dibbs on the bunnie's ears. The ears are always the best part, of any Easter goody.

Lets see, I have about 5 weeks or so between now and Miss Frenchie's. Two banners to paint, two murals to paint, stuff to make yet, and lots to tag. During that time I need to do taxes (ugh) and take a trip to DC, plus of course, all those Sugarwing days I'll have.

Maybe I should go and get to work instead of hanging out on the computer?

I'll leave you with some more delectable goody pics from the bakery, and I am off to get some thing made.

Deep thoughts and chicks partying

antiques/junking, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / March 6, 2009

Its been NICE around here! 80s yesterday, 70s today. So, spring fever had me opening all the windows and setting out a springy table display.

Easter is about a month away, I might have jumped the gun a bit by setting out all of the bunnies and eggs.

But it was fun to do and Sugarwings seems to appreciate it all. I try to provide a little something she is allowed to touch and play with to apease her and keep her out of the rest of my stuff. A typical conversation around here starts with me saying, "Now, is that Grammy's stuff or your stuff?" and often there is a little bit of bickering over the fine points of just what she can touch and what she can't. But we hug it out and make it work. ( I really watch too much TV, those were Entourage and Runway catch phrases)

Our family says just pack up all the junk till the baby is older. Oh no, I just can't. I love my stuff, it is what makes my home, MY home. Plus, don't you think that toddlers need to learn? And really, none of it is exactly priceless. I decorate with garage sale goods and have pennies invested, not thousands of dollars.

If a kid can't learn to enjoy her home without messing it up and breaking things, how can you expect to take her out in public, anyway? And I do believe that a child's soul is nurtured by living in a home that is lovely and that people love living in.

Which might be a little bit of a self important sentence after showing you pictures of bunnies and of chicks in party hats!

Sew what?

Books, how to's

By Karla Nathan / March 5, 2009

In my last post, I mentioned that Bethwas having a giveaway. But I didn't tell you what a GOOD one it was!! She is offering a book by Amy Barickman of Vintage Workshop and Indygo Junction as the prize. Amy is another reason to be proud to be from the Kansas City area, she is just one of many of our local girls with talent.

Beth and I came very close to finishing our table clothes on Tuesday. I made 2 and almost completed a third, but ran out of the right fabrics. I could have whipped up something that would work, but Beth says she has two more old embroidered pillow cases I can have as part of the skirt. And that sounds perfect.

Plus, Beth needs time to finish her 2nd cloth. So, instead of my normal way of doing things, which is work on it till its done, then clean up the mess, I decided to LET IT SIT FOR A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!! Not easy, I tell you. But, I'm doing it. All the sewing stuff is set up in the studio along with a nearly finished table skirt that is calling out to me every time I walk by it.

But I am being patient. Which I rarely am. And I took advantage of having the sewing stuff set up and made pillow cases for my bench.

It was a quick stitch thing, since I hate to sew. Instead of tailored pillows, I took the existing (on sale for $4 each at Hobby Lobby 3 years ago) pillows and made little cases to slide them into. I sat the pillow on the fabric, cut out around it, then straight stitched up the sides and sewed fringe onto the open ends.

The cushion on the seat got a similar treatment, but no fringe. It is just left open in the back where no one can see it. If this was a cushion that got more use, I'd sew on ribbons to tie it shut, but it won't be getting butts scooting around on it daily like it would if it was in a dining room or kitchen. People only sit there to eat a few times a year.

All of this was done on a whim, sloppy and quick, (isn't that something Bobby Lee says on MadTV?) but it sure makes me happy, because I never liked the original cushions and pillows. I'd had them on the bench for a design house it was in. But the cushion was made by a professional and seemed to nice too change even though it was dark and not me.

But this is!! ~~Sloppy, quick,~~ Casual and FLOWERED!!

Once I had the bench all flowery, I decided that I needed some in my wallpaper frames. So, I added German die cuts to some of the frames with vintage stick pins.

And while this frame probably would fit in better if I'd taken the time to paint it white instead of pink, its kind of growing on me like this.

For this flocked gold paper, I wanted something really special, but was out of small frames. So, I glued some of the world's prettiest wallpaper (from either Heather or Natasha, we shared scraps of our finds that we bought on our trip to wallpaper heaven with Andrea) to a circle I had cut out of foam core poster board. I edged the edges in gold ink and hung it from a ribbon.

This one is something I had hanging in another part of the studio. Its a vintage rose print (I definitely wanted all the flowers to be roses) on satin, not paper. I had wrapped toile fabric around the mat board and popped it into a white frame. If I was doing it just for this project, I'd have used wallpaper instead of fabric, but this is just fine and sometimes, just fine is enough.

My Mom had a sewing room that I adored, even though I hated sewing (still do). I could play with her ribbons and stacks of fabric for hours. And I am talking about when I was in my 40s, not as a little kid.

She was a gifted seamstress and made her own patterns. But she measured and took pride in her stitches. If I had to do it that way, I'd never thread a needle again. I like to sew the way the mice and blue birds did when they made Cinderella's dress. They didn't take a lot of time with it, used what was laying around and just whipped up something pretty!

Hip Hip Hooray!

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, holiday decor, Miss Frenchie's

By Karla Nathan / March 4, 2009

"I did it, I did it!! Yippee, Hip- Hip- Hooray!"

I am quoting Sugarwings there, that is what she says when she is proud of something she did. I was telling Beth today while we were working, that its too bad we don't cheer ourselves on more as adults the way a 2 year old does. You can learn a lot from a toddler. They take so much joy in small accomplishments. Sugarwings gives herself a good old, hop-hip-hooray quite a few times a day. I've adopted her habit and have taken on that chant, it really makes the day more exciting.

So, here is a hip-hip-hooray to myself for hitting 500! And a thanks to all of you who take the time out of your day to visit. As a thank you, I drew a name from comments on post #499 to send out a pair of earrings to:

Gail Horowitz

I was looking through a list of things I'd been giving away over the last couple of years, and believe it or not, I've passed out more than 50 prizes. Which averages one every ten posts. Geez, I had no idea I was able to ~~get rid of so much crap and clutter around the studio,~~ I mean, gift things to so many of my friends.

Twinks took time to chase bunnies today, that was a good sign she is getting over her pups leaving. Its good to have hobbies.

Beth and I SEWED today. We decided we wanted our tables for Miss Frenchie's saleon April 17th to look professional, so we made table skirts. I had some ticking that I had dyed to look old and she had a tub of ivory table clothes. As soon as we saw each other's stuff, we traded! I made a "collaged" skirt, as she was calling it, from a hodge podge of whites and creams and lace and pillow cases, and doilies and curtains.

This picture is of the skirt, in progress. A far cry from the ticking stripe I started with, huh?

Yesterday, I spent about 12 hours in the studio all alone with my papers, glitter, and glue.

Do you ever have one of those days where you just slide into your zone? Well, today's sewing project sure wasn't one of them, but yesterday's glue fest was.

My favorite part of the day was sugaring the little lambs and bunnies and chicks. My fingers were all goobered up and stuck together with glitter and glue, but in a fun way. It had been too long since I'd had the glitter out. I'd been missing it, and didn't even realize.

I'm going to have to raise the glitter quotient in my life back up to a respectable level. Some sparkle and that self cheering I learned from my fairy grand baby are a couple of things that can take a blah day and turn it into something a little more special.

Or is it just weird that I sit for a dozen hours in my studio with my fingers all glommed together, yelling out "Hip- Hip- Hooray, I did it, I did it!!"?

PS- Beth is having a good Giveaway , you should check it out.

This is the post to comment on for the 500th giveaway prize (yea, I know, not a very clever title, but it did get your attention, right?)

antiques/junking, celebrations, Etsy Goodies, give away, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 1, 2009

Wow, what an outpouring of caring and sympathy from everyone about the last pup going on to her new life. Thanks so much, to all of you. I think we will all miss those little furry sweethearts, won't we?

Sugarwings got a little extra attention, although it is hard to give her any extra attention, when she already gets it ALL. I took her to Toddler Tumbling for the morning and my handsome husband splashed with her at the indoor pool for the afternoon. She played hard and wore herself out, I think that helped her cope with losing the puppy. I'm trying the same thing with Twinkle. She is still searching everywhere for the babies, so we've spent a lot of time throwing the squeaky toys for her to chase and be distracted.

Me too! I'm keeping busy myself. I actually had some studio time, which I have really missed. Today, I made this pedestal from a hankie box, a salvaged bit of a chair leg, some trim, wallpaper, millinery blooms and fringed trim.

The lingerie box in the first photo was from a flea market I went to yesterday. Today, I plucked some blooms from my hat garden and foofed it up a bit. I might line the interior with wallpapers, but am not sure yet. I just love the old rose printed cotton fabric on the top of it.

There was a tiny bit of trim from the pedestal left, so of course I couldn't waste it! So I edged out the bottom of an 8" shipping tag with it and then started decking it out. This is listed in my Boutique right now for $9 and has lots of vintage goodies in its makeup!

Remember last week when I bought the boxes of tid bits from an assemblage artist's sale? The curly-que metal bracket on the top of this wallpapered covered box is from that. I started this box before Christmas at a craft day with friends, and didn't feel inspired to finish it, until I found that metal piece in my goodie box last week. My craft pals were coming back out to visit, so this was the perfect time to pull it out and get it done.

The little doll was a gift from my friend, Jenn, and I turned it into a fairy princess with a millinery flower petal skirt, and an old rhinestone earring made into a crown. Oh, and of course, some wings. These are a pair of feathered wings from Michael's that I cut down to fit this teeny baby. She is hanging from a fishing line to a screw I added to the top of the box. The screw is hidden under an old button.

And what would be the best thing to make a nest for the fairy to sleep in, but an old corsage with some shredded paper! If I was a fairy, I'd want to sleep there.

Speaking of Jenn, she sent this elf to me, just out of the blue after I gave her a little painting advice! How sweet was that?

This surprise arrived in the mail too, from Coddy, who I met in Virginia for a flea market day last fall. My pal, Robinwas there too and Coddy sent her a similar bracelet. It sounds like Coddy, is planning to start a blog, I'll let you know if she does! She makes these bracelets from seashells, and it looks pretty intricately done. Sugarwings saw it and called it a Mermaid bracelet, I think that is a good description!

Isn't this a pretty find? I've discovered that a lot of you love old brooches as much as I do, and I am filling the shop up with a variety of them. This one is only about 1" long and is extremely delicate, yet still sturdy enough to wear.

The next post will be my 500TH!!!!!!! Geez, how did so many go by so fast? Probably because I never shut up….So, I'll have a special giveaway for that. Not these earrings, they belong to:

Kerryanne as the winner of the February giveaway!

I'll chose another pair of earrings for the anniversary giveaway. So, now onto the 500th post giveaway, if you'd like the yet to be determined pair of earrings.

I'm going to do this a bit different than my usual way. For this you have to:

Leave a comment on THIS POST. I'll let you know who the winner is on the actual 500th post itself.