March 2011 – Karla's Cottage

Generosity!

By Karla Nathan / March 30, 2011

Before I had a blog, I rarely got packages in the mail. My mom used to surprise me with things she'd made, and that was always a very special treat.

But blog world has changed my lack of mail. I never know what to expect from the generosity of fellow bloggers.

There are contests, giveaways, and just plain old gifties always going on in the blog-o-sphere.

Recently, I got a couple of GREAT packages, these are from sponsors of Bird Song, coming up at the end of April.

Miss Sandy sent all this loveliness, a big, overflowing box of hand made goodies to give as gifts to the participants!

And, in the bottom of the box, this bit of gorgeousness, a collage to give as a door prize!

Celeste, sent a box-o-pretties too, here is a small sample of the generous supplies she sent for me to share with my guests.

My BFF, Beth, not only designed and provided the images for the gift bags that she also helped sew together, she has made these little nature inspired sachets to slip into the goodie bags too.

For a full list of the kind hearted friends of mine who are sponsoring the event, there is a list on the sidebar of my blog.

This box, though, was a real surprise! I had ordered another hundred or so 1860s Charlotte dolls from Germany and was really excited to get this package marked from that dealer. But when I opened it up, it wasn't cute little dollies looking back up at me, it was this!!

The original invoice was in the box, so I know who the rightful owner is and will send it on to him, some guy named Nathan in Minneapolis. But not until after I show Sugarwings, she'll love this. That kid shares my interest in the spooky side of life. Big bad wolves, witches, and goblins always make her happy. I might tell her these are goblin eyes…

Oh, and my Charlottes arrived safely, too. And they are the big ones, I've not carried those before. I'll let you know when I add them to the shop, but first I want to play with them and make a few things myself.

This package was much better, I won this hand made bag from Teresa. Very, very pretty, and so well made. Its a really sturdy, heavy bag for as dainty as it looks.

And a kind hearted reader who knows my deep, true love of old ribbon sent this. Thanks, Marilyn!

See why I skip happily down the driveway when I go to check the mail? Its not just a mail box, its a treasure chest.

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to get treasures in person. My pal, Sherry (who will be a house guest during Bird Song) gave this cute packet of sequins and jewels to me at Moulin Rouge.

And my Moulin Rouge roomie, Kim, gave me this pretty package containing a sweet necklace that she made.

Poor Kim. She didn't get the best deal in rooming with me. My snoring is back! My theory is that I need to lose a few pounds. Because the surgery to stop the snoring worked before the holidays and all the treats that I ate kicked in.

Plus, Kim doesn't have an once of fat on her body to keep her warm, and I tend to over heat at night, so we had some different views on the thermostat setting. I was a night owl and she gets up before 6am, so we weren't well suited in that way. Its a good thing she is such a nice person with so many fun stories to listen to!! We had plenty to talk about and got along well, even with our differences. I hope I didn't annoy her too much.

Kim is holding two dolls made by Colleen, and she ended up buying the rabbit.

Colleen is some one I really enjoyed getting to know. She drove us all over, to Venice Beach, In and Out Burger, the garment district. So, I am sending her this little package of things as a thank you.

I've found that its just as nice to send fun mail as it is to get it!

So, what’s new?

celebrations, parties, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / March 28, 2011

(felted nests $5-6)

This week, I am planning a get away with some buddies. Well, it might not be an actual get away for me, since its at my house, but it will still feel like one. A girl's weekend, where I can make stuff, shop, eat goodies and chat, chat, chat with blog friends that I just adore and love to spend time with will feel like a fantastic vacation, even if its in my own back yard.

(Lots of pink cupcake people, starting at $2 a package)

We are planning dinner at my house on Thursday after I make an airport run to scoop them all up that afternoon. I'm not sure yet what I will fix for our meal, it needs to be something that is all ready to go ahead of time so I can slip it into the oven when we get back from the airport.

(rhinestone rondelles 10 for $4.00)

For these kind of meals, I usually do something Italian. It always seems easier to serve, and is something that tastes good when made the day before. Those flavors develop over night and just get better, don't they?

Plus, I'm good at making an Italian dish nice and light. Lots of fresh veggies, a low fat tomato sauce, and a light sprinkling of cheese. It tastes good, but is not heavy. I have a feeling that we'll be having lots of goodies around for the weekend, so kicking it off with a lighter meal will probably be appreciated.

(mini rhinestone crowns $4.50 each)

But its not the meals that will be important, its the time together. I'm soooo flattered that these special ladies are flying across the country to come to visit and spend time.

Blog world has been very good to me, and I am extremely lucky to have met such good friends through their blogs, and through going to art events. Funny, we each are at different ages and stages of our lives, but all of us have a love of beautiful vintage things, and never run out of conversation topics.

Friday will be shopping in KC, and then on Saturday, we'll hunker down in the studio and play with pretties. Nothing formal, just comfortable and relaxed. If weather permits, we might sit by the bonfire that night. But then again, we might be having so much fun in the studio, we won't want to leave it. So, I'm not setting schedule, we'll do what sounds good.

That is the best kind of vacation, isn't it?

So, this week, I'll be busy Spring cleaning and getting the guest rooms ready for friends. I've got 3 extra beds, 2 sofas, and we'll set up a blow up mattress. Just like the slumber parties I loved as a kid!

Growing up in Pendleton, IN, my friends and I lived for slumber parties. Any occasion was a reason to throw one. I used to have a big birthday party every March for my Irish Setter, Ambie, and would have a whole group of girls come for a sleep over.

Now, as a grown up, I'm glad to continue the parties. My favorite thing about visiting with my sisses is that last glass of wine at night, sitting up late and talking. That cozy feeling of knowing you are in for the night and can talk as late as you like, all curled up in your jammies, laughing and being silly.

Do we ever out grow that? I hope I don't. I always want to enjoy that 14 year old girl that is still a part of me, who likes to giggle and stay up late with friends.

(rhinestones $3.50 a foot)

I'd hoped to get the yard cleaned up for the party, but it snowed over the weekend, and spring is just not cooperating with me. Oh well. I have a feeling no one will really care if my flower beds are planted or not.

But they will care if the studio is too messy to find a path to the tables! So, I'd better get to work. I don't know how I do it, but I sure tend to pile things up in there. It gets away from me, and I live like a pig out there. I'm not that way in my home, I get antsy if my house is cluttery and messy, but I sure can let the studio fall apart and fill up fast.

(glass stones 25 for $3.50)

I'm off to clean. I need a giant trash can and a shovel, I think.

I've been trying to get it done, but keep getting distracted by shiny things. All these photos are of new things I've listed in the Boutique. This last one is clear glass stones from the 40s, aren't they nice?

If you'd like a chance to win a souvenir from Moulin Rouge, please leave a comment anytime (or as many as you'd like) till March 31st.

Yay Carol!!!!!!!!!

antiques/junking, Books, give away

By Karla Nathan / March 26, 2011

Have you ordered yours yet??? This is going to be the prettiest book, wow, I can't wait. you can get it early through Amazon, right here. I ordered mine today!

My beautiful friend, Carol's beautiful home is in the book, along with lots of our favorite bloggers. I went to visit Carol during the shooting and finally got to meet Fifi. She and I had worked together before, but I'd mostly dealt with her by email and a couple times over the phone.

Next weekend, while I have a houseful of arty, bloggy friends, we'll be headed to visit Carol, and ooh and awe over her home in person. She's invited us for wine and pizza after we do some shopping in KC.

And great shopping is in store! Its Bottom's Up weekend, and I can't imagine a more interesting place to bring out of town friends.

Maybe we'll see you there?

Ready for a prize? I know I was supposed to bring you back something from the Long Beach Flea mkt while I was in Cali. But since I ran with the Bad Girl Crowd, I didn't make it there, we played hooky and hung out elsewhere.

After unpacking, I realized I didn't buy a suitable souvenir for a blog prize. So, here is your memento of the event, one of my projects.

I'll leave sign ups open for a bit longer, please leave a comment if you are interested. All comments between March 16 and the 31st will count.

Moulin projects

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / March 24, 2011

A quick note, to let you know that there are a couple extra spots opened up in my Paper Cowgirls class. Please email me for a special link to sign up. If you had approached me about it in the past, and there wasn't space, there is now. And I am sorry, that I didn't save the names of the people waiting to get in, because I thought it was already full!!

This is a photo my table mate took during Shea's class. We were making necklaces, and I was trying mine on while keeping it together with clothes pins. We used jewelry glue to layer pieces of filigree with a rhinestone piece, and mine just kept sliding off.

I made too many design changes in the necklace, using a vintage piece instead of the rhinestones provided, and it was too heavy. So, it didn't hang right, and I had to redo it. I adored Shea's design, and love the necklace, but I wanted mine just a little different than the rest, and that was a mistake. I got carried away and added way too much.

So, it got stripped back down again and I still used my own vintage pieces on it, but I followed our teacher's design so that it hung correctly. The silk ribbon that she gave us to use in the kit was meant for a certain weight limit and I'd gone way too far over that.

Mine ended up without the filigree pieces, even after all the work of gluing and clamping them together. I used that bauble on just a ribbon, so I actually got two necklaces out of the deal!

This choker is still Shea's concept, I just changed out the beads in the kit for some from my Great Aunt Caroline, and used vintage rhinestone flowers instead of the charms provided.

I've worn it a lot, and know that I'll get a lot of future wearings from it too.

Here is something else I've been wearing, a necklace from Lonnie. I bought it at vendor night, it has my favorite things in it, millinery, ephemera, pearls, and a dorkie.

Don't try to rain on my parade and tell me that is a Scotty, not a Yorkie. I'll put my fingers in my ears and sing, so that I don't hear you.

Yorkshire Terriers are hard to find, so when I find a cute Scotty, I say close enough and just lie to myself about what kind of dog it is.

Two of my other projects from Moulin Rouge have already found a permanent home in my cottage.

This is Kerry Lynn's dry erase board, but tweaked a bit with my own colors. She had such a brilliant idea for making this, that I just knew I had to change it to match my kitchen and use it as a grocery list.

The edges were meant to be finished in a blanket stitch, but I was too lazy, and simply glued ribbon on the edges. I also dodged the stamping, because I am not good at that either. But I did stick with the French theme and used text and pictures from a magazine given to me by Zita.

More of the French magazine was used to back this crystal, and the rhinestone Eiffel tower was from our goody bags.

Mine was getting done really fast, and I realized that everyone else was embroidering, stamping, sewing, and making frills. I was just plopping stuff in place and gluing it down. I didn't actually MAKE anything for mine! No wonder it went so fast.

And Kerry Lynn had some cool tips and tricks that I wanted to try. So, I used her wired seam binding idea to make a holder for my dry erase marker. Its now wired to the handle of the piece and dangles down.

My pal, Pam, was a handy neighbor. She is fluent in French and could decipher some of the French from my magazine. She also provided a pretty word for me to write on the board (with permanent marker), "Toujours" which means "always". That was the title of my mom's favorite song.

This was Colleen's can can girl class. She painted gold boxes for us to use as a stage, and sculpted all the dolls for us to paint and embellish! She also provided all the materials we needed, but I brought light colors to use for my stage and girl, and then, somehow my can can girl morphed into a ballerina fairy.

I gave her a flower petal skirt, butterfly wings, and a magic wand. If you hang around me too long, these things just happen to you.

The piece I made in Jenny and Aron's class got a little make over too. I used their painted pink cake, but for the background, I glued down a map of Paris. And I was soooo smitten with the graphics that Kim used for the event, that I just had to use her can can girls on the picture.

I finished it off with the red curtain material and gold foil trim that Colleen had provided for her class, and added a vintage pink, cake topper, dancing girl to the top of Jenny's cake.

Each class was such a fun idea and our teachers really came up with some great concepts and kits for us. I learned some good tricks and ended up with some things that I loved!

Thanks again, Kim, for putting it all together for us!

I have not unpacked yet, so don't know what my giveaway will be yet…. How about if I extend it? All comments still count toward the drawing. Whatever it is!

the best part is always the Best Buds

parties, Travel

By Karla Nathan / March 23, 2011

On my trip to CA last week, my flight was a tad late, and I missed the martini party, but I made it to Vendor night just in time to snap up a few pretties. I bought some posies from Michelle Gellar. I can never resist flowers.

And I wish I'd bought Colleen's bird!

Here is Lonnie's egg. She gave it away as a door prize. I didn't win, but I did treat myself to one of her necklaces. (no photo yet, I still have not unpacked!)

And I've been admiring Sherri Baldy's work online, it was great to see it in person. She is a lovely woman from head to toe. Look at these shoes she created!

Kim had gifts galore for us, every day something else. Candies, pretties, goodies, it never ended.

She had even arranged a professional photographer to set up and bring props for us to play with, as well as coupons for 4 free photos printed and ready right then.

Here I am with Jessi, Natalie, Stacy ,Cheryl, Lonnie and Michelle.

Of course, the best part of these events are the old friends you reunite with and the new ones that you make.

Here I am with Nat and Iva.

Yep, the people there were as great as the decor. The laughter never stopped. This is Lonnie, Kerry Lynn, Colleen, and Stacy, at dinner one night. It kind of looked like this every night.

I called these guys the bad girl crowd. They enticed me to play hooky from class to hang out in Venice Beach to shop and have lunch.

We walked the sidewalks and popped into a few antique shops, boutiques and galleries. My fave was Bountiful.

Not much in my price range and not much to buy, but the displays were WOW.

Cake plates were there in abundance. A bountiful amount, I guess you'd say.

Stacked all the way to the chandys.

The class I missed part of was Jenny and Arron's, but I made it back in time to get mine whipped together. I'll have photos of it later on.

By the way, photos of this girl do not do her justice. She has a mesmerizing quality to her, and such a glow.

On Sunday, I skipped the bus tour with the rest of the group and hung with the bad girls on the streets of LA. Lonnie, Stacy, Natalie, Colleen, and I went to the Garment district to find bargains.

Actually, poor Stacy was feeling ill with a migraine and we didn't want to leave her alone all day. So waved goodbye to the busload of can can girls, and went out to breakfast while Stacy slept in. After she got some rest and food, she was able to get out of bed and join us for a fun afternoon.

I don't even sew, but could have spent all day just looking through the fabrics at this one store.

These are all the photos I got that day! It was rainy and cold, and I was too worried about staying warm and dry and filling my bag with great deals to remember to take photos.

I'll have some coming of the projects we made though. Plus I have a giveaway to announce. I didn't go to the Long Beach Flea mkt, but I did find a little memento at the Garment district.

But for now, I've got to run. I haven't seen my fairy baby in days and am going to run to her school to scoop her up for some hugs.

Moulin Rouge at Manhattan Beach

parties, Travel

By Karla Nathan / March 22, 2011

Kim has once again outdone herself. Her Moulin Rouge art affaire was about as beautiful as can be. And her line up of teachers was tip top. Not only did we get four full classes, we also got a make and take from Christine to create these rose corsages from silk she picked up on her trip to Italy last month.

Learning how to quickly make a full fledged rose, from 3 squares of fabric is a trick that I will enjoy and use over and over. Thanks, Christine!

Kim has quite the touch. Everything matches the theme and is touched with beauty, including our itineraries.

Just beautiful. Over the top beautiful. I swear, if you ever get a chance, you really need to go to one of her events. Kim has mad skills. So does my pal, Jenn, who knows how to throw a shindig with beauty and class too. You cannot go wrong attending any arty party thrown by either one of them. Jenn still has some openings for her bash in October. Details can be found by clicking on the button on my side bar.

Neither of them spare any expense. And it shows. Kim's Moulin Rouge blew me away. And now I am even more excited about going to Jenn's this fall! I love these type of events, and when they are done this well, they are are work of art in themselves.

Jenn's theme will be Once Upon a Dream, and I know it will be just dreamy. And will have fairies!!!!!!!! I'm already in love with it.

I just hope that people who come to my party in the studio at the end of April are not disappointed. I am not even going to try to compete with the masters of detail, Jenn and Kim. My little gathering will be a whole different thing. No elaborate centerpieces, no costumes (or should I ask everyone to dress up like a bird?). Mine will be laid back and simple.

But after living in Kim's Moulin Rouge world for the weekend, I'm feeling guilty about not trying to build a themed environment!! It was so impressive.

More tomorrow. I didn't take as many photos as I should have, but I do have plenty to share.

Yes, I Can Can!

celebrations, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 20, 2011

This is a can can girl watercolor that I did for Kim, who is hosting the Moulin Rouge event I am attending in Cali.

I cut the lady (honestly, is she really a lady?? I suspect not) and glued her to a tag that I had made. At that point, before I added any baubles, I scanned it while it was flat.

You can click on it, save it to your computer and print it out, if you'd like to use the image for your own projects.

Here is the finished tag. I added a flocked butterfly and wrote the words "Moulin Rouge" onto some French text, added ribbons to the top, a feather and crystals to her hair.

Oh, and of course, some glitter.

Here are the gifties I made up for the goodie bags. Kim has 70 guests, but these didn't take me too long, it was pretty simple to stitch up the envelopes of flocked wallpaper, then I used the CuttleBug to chop up some butterflies of red flocked paper.

What's really cool, is that they are on adhesive backed contact paper, so the butterflies are now stickers.

I threw in a colorful feather and some rhinestones. Things that every can can girl needs in her supply kit.

I hope everyone likes them!

Being Real

family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 18, 2011

Sugarwings and Pixie Pie spent the evening with us Monday night and like all evenings do when they get together, it ended in playing dress up. I'm always looking for fun princess, fairy, or other costume accessories and dresses for them at garage sales and thrifts.

This time, the dogs got involved too. I think that Agnes Rosebud was born to wear a boa, don't you? This is the one I am packing to take to Moulin Rouge, but I think she looks much cuter in it than I will.

Twinks got into it too. She could use a smaller size fairy crown, though, this one falls around her neck.

By the way, does anyone know what the term for these things is????? I've been wracking my brain for it, and I KNOW that there just has to be a name for them.

I love to see what costumes the girls pull together. You never know what will be coming down the stairs to curtsy and show off. It could be a bumble bee, a witch, a fairy, or a conglomeration of all of them at once.

Sugarwings often falls back on the Dorothy look. Although she puts her own spin on it, and is wearing two different shoes, not ruby slippers.

But her first outfit was the best. She hadn't been part of the parade down the stairs yet, and I went up to see if she needed zipped or buttoned, or helped out in any way. But there she stood, completely naked wearing her two mismatched heels, a crown, and pretending to drink a cup of tea.

I asked why she wasn't dressed up, and she said she wanted to be "real". She's real funny alright.

Begosh, Be-gone! I’m on my way to Cali

holiday decor, Travel

By Karla Nathan / March 16, 2011

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I'm on my way to Cali to take part in Kim's Moulin Rouge event, so will miss seeing my little Hippy Chick Momma hula hooping her way through downtown in the parade while Sugarwings cheers her on. I'd love to see the look on that fairy's face as her mommy goes by in the parade.

But I have a feeling that I'll be having plenty of fun of my own. I can't wait to meet up with all my friends and get to gluing and creating!

Please understand if I don't return comments. And all purchases from the Boutique will be sent next week.

But I will bring you a souvenier! Well, one of you, that is. Leave a comment on any post while I am away and I'll have a drawing when I get back. For a surprise present. Maybe something from the Long Beach Flea market? We'll see….

Well, some is better than none, right?

collections, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / March 15, 2011

There were lots of good intentions of getting a ton of wallpaper cut…. but it just didn't happen. But what I did get cut is as pretty as can be.

Sometimes I just have to admit that there is only so much time in a day. Yesterday, Sugarwings and Pixie Pie came to play and I had to chose between getting my work done or being a grammy. I think you know what won!

Oh well, its not like the paper will spoil. I can cut more later when I am not pressed for time.

While I was working, it seemed like I had really cut up a lot, but once it was all ironed and packaged, it was much less than I thought it would be. I guess because I cut such big pieces this time, a hefty 14 x 17".

A lot of people were asking me for larger pieces, and I wanted to do a variety of sizes, but well, I've already mentioned that I was distracted by something shiny- two little sparkly fairies!

For now, I have about a dozen or so packs listed in the Boutique. And I have hopes of making up more packs when I get back from my trip to Moulin Rouge.

All purchases from the Boutique and from Etsy will be shipped a couple of days after I get back. Thanks for being patient!

There is also some other new stuff listed for sale, like this banner made of vintage gift wrap and old game cards (from my friend, Mary)

While I didn't get as much wallpaper packed up as I wanted to, I made up for it by cutting up what felt like a million or so pieces of old gift wrap. While I had it out, getting it ready to sell, I just had to make a few things with it too.

Like this mini notebook.

Its pretty stuff, isn't it?

I'll leave you with some more photos of what is new in the shops. And please check back, even though I'll be away, I'll have some new posts for you.

Now, I'm off to pack for Moulin Rouge. I'm not quite sure what to bring. I think I'd look more than a bit ridiculous as a can can girl. More of a can't can't old lady.

Oh well, I'll throw on one of Sugarwing's feather boas from her dress up pile and go kick my legs up any way. This is one old grammy who doesn't care about looking ridiculous!