May 2011 – Karla's Cottage

Freebirds and a lifetime supply of lace

free images, Sugarwings, swaps, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / May 31, 2011

I hope you all had a memorable Memorial Day weekend! We went to a family BBQ and graduation celebration, saw a movie, planted the garden, I worked in the studio, and we also got to spent two afternoons on the lake. And even though the boat died in the water and we were stranded for a while, it was still a great time.

On Friday, we had both of our fairy babies over, it doesn't get any better than that. Not a bad kick off for a 3 day weekend.

While my husband played golf on Saturday, I was able to work in the studio a while. I'm making up some books to take to vendor night at Paper Cowgirls, but while I was at it, I made a few dress form tags too, since these gals have been on my mind so much while I am getting ready for the class in Texas and setting up the online tutorial. (by the way, that gorgeous wallpaper is one of the papers provided in the online class)

Details are in the previous post, or you can find them on my side bar, by clicking on the Dress Form Workshop button.

Thanks to all of you who already purchased the class!

Today, I start packing up my kits. And just in time, I got this order of vintage lace! Hundreds of feet of it. I think I might have plenty for the kits, huh?

There are 3-1/2 giant sized rolls of the stuff. These two are my faves. The others are a bit mundane, but useful anyway.

I'll be making up kits for the class itself, some to sell on vendor night, plus extra for the Boutique. I'll let you know when I get them done. Each kit includes a free entry to the online class, as well as vintagey goodies to make your dress form. No two will be exactly the same, since I am using ephemera, but each will be of equal value and style.

I'll be able to use up some of that lace to tie the Birdsong tag books together too. We are over 100 participants, but I still have room for more. If you are interested, details can be found on my side bar by clicking on the Bird Song Tag Book button.

Here are some scanned French chocolate cards with birds on them, for you to print. Click on them to save as a larger size first.

ps-My pal, Mary is having a sale on her online tute, and she is the queen of gluebooks if you are wanting to learn. Check it out here.

A few roses for you

flowers, free images, Tutorials, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / May 27, 2011

Lately, I've not taken advantage of the great garage sales in the area. But last week I hit one that seem to suck at first, but then I delved into the jewelry pile and found this Victorian gold ring with a date of 1892 inside for just a couple dollars! Kind of whets my whistle and makes me want to get out and treasure hunt some more.But there aren't many sales during a holiday weekend.

If you don't have any plans for the 3 day weekend, maybe you'd enjoy making some dress forms? My tutorial is up and ready for purchase at $15. Soon, I'll have kits for sale for $40 and those will come with a free link to the online tutorial.

If you buy the tutorial now and want a kit (filled with vintage goodies!) later on when they are available, I'll refund your $15 after your purchase of the kit.

The class includes all the directions, with photos and videos, plus papers to download and print and lots of ideas. Please click on the button on my side bar for more information.

I'll leave you with a couple of images to print. Just click on them to enlarge, save to your computer and print from that.

Hope you have a lovely holiday!

Good stuff, messy stuff, odd stuff, new stuff

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / May 25, 2011

Its always nice to see an article with one of my pretties in it. And how nice to see two together here in Somerset Studios Gallery. (summer issue)

The cover had me drooling. What a gorgeous selection of art work and colors.

And even better news, my bud, Beth, is in these two magazines- and she says she'll teach a class from one of the projects at my studio next time I have an arty weekend here for students.

Here is a not so attractive photo. Agnes Rosebud has a habit of scrounging the studio for playthings (some that are NOT hers) and piling them up in this area. I guess I should be glad that she doesn't do this any where else, just this corner of this one room.

She seems to think that anything on the floor, or near the floor (a low shelf, Sugarwing's doll house) is fair game. And if nothing is close enough, she'll hop right up on the work table and steal from me. Luckily, she isn't very destructive, just messy.

And she is smart enough to be embarrassed by her mess. Look at her try to slouch away. Of course, Twinks saw me get a camera out and had to pose. Any time she sees a camera in my hand, she stands ready for her close up. Even if I am taking a picture of the ceiling, she is at my feet posing and thinking its all about her.

Which kind of explains why I call them Dorkies. They are such silly, funny, little dorks.

Sugarbaby $12

While talking about studio oddities and messy stuff (no, not related to this photo, its of something added to the Boutique)- I have a computer bug.

Not a virus, a real LIVE bug. I saw a tiny gnat crawling on my screen and tried to smash it, only to find that it is living under the glass.

I hope it is full grown and not one of a billion tiny eggs that just hatched. I can live with one teensy little critter hanging out with me, but I hope this isn't the start of something.

Beaded clutch $8

I'll leave you with a few photos of some new stuff in the Boutique and on Etsy.

Don't forget, there is FREE shipping on all millinery for May Flowers (US only). There are 6 days left to have flowers delivered free of charge.

Vintage playing cards, 8 for $3

Pair of vintage tea towels $8

Shopping at the Habitat for Humanity Restore

family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2011

What a lovely weekend we had, but then any weekend with our Sugarwings is just the best. We spent Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market where I loaded up on fresh veggies and Sugarwings found a little "house" to play in.

At my cottage, I try to cook healthy things, local ingredients,vegetarian a few days a week, chicken and fish the rest, organic when I can afford it, or when it really matters. I think we eat okay around here.

But no matter how hard I try, I'll never live up to my son's family's guidelines for healthy eating. These guys are all natural. Recently they have gone vegan. So, we tried out some vegan doughnuts at the market, and I just don't think they were all that great. Just because its vegan doesn't mean its good for you, it was still a deep fried, greasy hunk of dough.

Sugarwings liked it, but she loves anything with pink icing.

Her parents are nice about letting me bake with her and give her treats, and don't insist on me following a strict diet for her at our house. I think they trust me to not let her fill up on Koolaide and junk food, and to feed her stuff that is good for her. So, they'll let me give her some sweet treats or a piece of chicken when she stays with us.

I like it when people are true to their own beliefs but don't try to force them onto others.

I like my kids.

Adam is working on opening an energy/healing center. He has the spot rented and is fixing it up, as greenly as he can. So, after the Farmer's Market, we went shopping for supplies. At the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, he found big rolls of carpet for only about $10 each, and will be stapling those to the wall for sound proofing.

Now, that sounds a bit like a shagadellic 70s look, doesn't it? But that is only the first step. Over the carpet, he will mix tinted plaster and clay-mud and trowel it on. It should look really nice, I'll get some pictures of the walls when it is done. Its "dirt cheap", green, and arty. I'm looking forward to seeing the process.

We also went to see the Doo Dads over the weekend. They are a band that plays rock for kids. And they have TWO bubble machines on the stage. Sugarwings and Pixie Pie were entranced by the bubbles.

And all the girls danced their hearts out.

Very little work got done this weekend, and Paper Cowgirls is fast approaching. It will get done, I still have two weeks, but I am starting to feel a little wriggly worry in the back of my mind. Once I get something completely done, like all of my kits packed, or the instructions written for the class, that feeling will pass. At this point, I have a lot of started, but not completed things going on.

The mini dress forms class that I am teaching in Texas, will also have an online class. I'd like to have it online before I go to Paper Cowgirls so I can give the link to all of my students there. That way, when they get home, they will have access to a refresher course if they need to finish their mannequin later, or make a few more of them.

My plan is to offer the class two ways. You can buy a (limited supply) kit in the Boutique and get a free link to the online classes. Or you can furnish your own supplies and just buy the instructions (they will include some images of vintage papers to download).

I'll let you know when its ready to roll.

But for now, I'd better get back to work on it while I can, because I never know when I'll get an opportunity to go play with the grand fairies. When that happens, all work stops!

How To Alter a Book Cover with vintage pretties

flowers, how to's, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / May 23, 2011

Here is an altered book I made this week. I thought I'd do a simple, quickie tutorial about the cover.

The wallpaper covered cardstock is attached by gluing ribbon to the edge of the front cover and to the back also. Leave the center of the ribbon alone, not glued to anything, that leaves space for the cover to open and close.
The pages can be stitched together and sewn to the center of the binding ribbon. Use a heavy duty ribbon, like the velvet one I chose.
I cut girl from a hand tinted, old photo, and added it slightly off center to a medallion cut from wallpaper. At the bottom of the medallion, I used my Exacto blade to cut a slit to slide the photo under, so she looks like she is framed in the oval.
I glued down the oval/medallion, and the photo of the girl.
With a dark marker, I outlined the girl, and also the OUTSIDE rim of the oval, for shadows and depth.
Leaving the outside ring of the oval "frame" alone, I spread crackle glaze (from Tim Holtz) over the entire center of the medallion and over the girl too.
After drying, I topped it off with a bouquet of flowers and ribbons at the bottom and lined smaller flowers along the top of the frame.

Packing it up

flowers, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / May 22, 2011

The April Showers bring May Flowers sale is still going on in the Boutique and Etsy. I've added a few more packs of millinery flowers, and you'll get free shipping for the month of May for all flowers (USA only, sorry)

For the boutique, pay as usual, and I'll send a refund. For Etsy shipping is already marked free.

I've also been busy packing some up to sell at Paper Cowgirls next month. Lisa and I are sharing one table, so I'm trying to be smart about my space and what I'm packing to take along. Beth is good at figuring what items pack the most punch for the space they take up and I'm listening to her advice.

I tend to think that I can just take it all, and that isn't so smart. So this trip, I am trying to FOCUS on a few items that look well together, pack easily, and are affordable, but still worth my time to take.

This is my first Paper Cowgirls event, but Lisa has given me some tips on what the shoppers might like on vendor night too.

Here's what I have so far, some little Charlotte dolls (I have a few hundred more ordered, I hope I get them in time. If not, it will be a small basketful tagging along on this trip)

Lately I've been experimenting with paper clay fairies too, so I might bring those. On the other hand, they might be too hard to pack, since they are fragile… I'll only have one tub to fill, Beth and I are driving and neither of us have a big car. I have all the kits for my class that I need to take too. Beth is vending and will have a full table to fill, so space is limited.

And I think that some of my class kits for making dress forms is a good idea.

(by the way, I am making up extras to sell in the Boutique too. Along with an online tutorial.) I'll let you know when I have them ready to go.

Yesterday I made up some foofed journals to take along to sell. This one is an old diary, with a locking clasp.

These two are tiny little bank books I've given make overs to.

I'll probably have room for a few more little books. I wonder if that is a good idea? Any of it is a gamble, you just never know any time you plan to sell things.

But I'm going for the pure joy of being there, I've heard such wonderful things about Paper Cowgirls. Anything I sell is just icing on the cake!

We are over 80 participants in the Birdsong tag book swap, but I've got room for more. If you want to join us, details are in my blog post about it. You can get there by clicking on the button on my sidebar.

Hope to hear from you!

Down but not out, maybe spoiled a bit, but still grateful

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 20, 2011

Tuesday was a good day. Mary, the other Karla, and Beth came for a craft day, and of course, Button tagged along. Agnes Rosebud's ears perk up every time she hears the name Button, so she was thrilled to see him.

Beth brought along this tulle slip to cut up and make into something and changed her mind, so I bought it from her for $5 and am going to give it to Sugarwings for her dress up closet. Of course, that is after I use it for a background for dog photos.

Wednesday was not such a good day, nothing horrid, just one of those down days that happen sometimes where a few little things dampen my spirits.

It started off with some cancellations for the Paper Cowgirls class I am teaching, and then a bit of disappointment at Best Buy. I jauntily walked in, thinking I was going to buy myself an IPad with my birthday cash and some savings.

Well, those aparently aren't that easy to come by! Best Buy says they haven't had any for weeks, neither has Walmart or Target. Uhm, did I mention that while I was shopping, I looked down and noticed that there was poo all over the leg of my jeans? (I'd done some babysitting earlier and didn't realize I carried a memento with me)

I've been told that I can go to the Apple Store to get one (in KC) or order one online.

That evening, I found a bloody, dead mole tucked neatly into my fresh bedding. By Twinkle, I'm guessing. She seemed very possessive of it, and had actually unmade the bed and buried it in my sheets. Maybe that left me more grossed out than sad, but it seemed fitting with the rest of the day. A few other glitches here and there, and some other things I won't go into, just had me droopy.

Finding gore in my bed when I was tired and sleepy, and expecting fresh sheets right from the dryer didn't help.

(this is what Mary was working on for craft day, she is the queen of glue books)

Now, it would be really whiny and sound spoiled of me to be depressed about not getting what I want when I want it, and pouting about not getting my expensive new Ipad.

But still, I couldn't help being a bit let down to not get my new toy right then and there. But, I'm looking on the bright side- hey, I'm getting an IPad!!! How exciting is that??? Of course I want it NOW, but I'll be thrilled just to get one.

And the people who dropped the classes at Paper Cowgirl sound okay with getting kits in place of a refund. I'm packing up some detailed kits, so I think they'll like them.

And the gorey, gooey, bloody, dead thing? One less mole hill to try to rake over when I clean up the yard next time. Yay, Twinkle! Kill them ALL, they tear up my yard pretty bad.

At least my house didn't burn down. When I feel bad, its good to put it all in perspective. If all I have to be upset about is a delayed fun purchase and some creepy goo among some other little grievances, then I'm a pretty, durn lucky person!

My friend, Julie had a big fire at her house. She lost her beloved pets as well as her entire craft room. So, today, I'm packing up a big box full of supplies and vintage goodies for her and mailing them off.

My motto is, if you are having a bad day- make it better. Do something nice for someone else, think about the bright side of what has happened, do something to cheer yourself up. I'm on my way to get some baby snuggles in after I mail that box to Julie. I'm already feeling pretty happy just thinking about that chubby little sweetie (the baby, not Julie).

Yep, a day is what you make it. So make it good.

Going nutty

family

By Karla Nathan / May 19, 2011

Have I showed you Creature yet? He is a baby squirrel rescued by Mayara's biggest brother and that little baby is fascinated by him. I was over there yesterday and the squirrel was sitting on her head in her baby swing and she was laughing like it was the funniest thing that ever happened in her entire 6 months of life.

Now, that is a good reason to start carrying a video camera with me, at all times, huh? Baby belly laughs are a treasure.

This little squirrel climbed up me and tried to burrow into my pocket, he's a friendly guy.

A Springtime tea party

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

By Karla Nathan / May 16, 2011

The weather around here has been weird, which means, its a typical Kansas Spring. The air conditioner was in use on Monday and by the end of the week we had the furnace back on again.

Sugarwings spent some of the weekend with me and we were both sick of the cold weather, so we cheered ourselves up with a Fairy Tea Party. A big part of the fun was setting her table and planning treats that our guests would like.

We made cupcakes together, then I put her to work making cherry tomato and cheese kabobs on colorful toothpicks. (she preferred to make her tomatoes connected with multiple picks, and her platter of snacks looked more like an erector set than kabobs)

I let her pick the flowers for the centerpiece and she chose all yellow, which is odd for her, she loves pink even more than I do. But I think she made a good choice for the table cloth and the teapot that she chose.

Our guests were Pixie Pie and Lola (which means Grandmother in Filipino, Lola is Grandpa Ardell's widow). All day, while getting ready for them, Sugarwings refused to call them by their names, she would only refer to them as "our guests".

And after they left, she set and re-set her table for guests to come again.

The goodies went over well. I don't have a single photo where someone isn't chewing. Everyone was pretty engrossed in the meal. (that is Sparkle in the background waiting patiently to clean up the floor under the table after the meal is over, Agnes Rosebud and Twinkle aren't that patient, they are under the table already.)

The girls might think that tea parties are all about the food, but I am sneakily teaching manners as we chow down. They learn about passing the food around, pouring their own cream, and sharing food, but not sharing the spoons or double dipping. As well as polite conversation and asking each person how their day was.

There might have been a little bit too much sugar in the tea, so we bundled up and went outside to run some of the energy off. It sure looks like Spring with all the iris in bloom, but it was too chilly for me.

Promising them a bubble bath got the two little girls to come inside again so I could get warm They were happy running full speed through the garden trails while I shivered, but a chance to play in the big tub convinced them.

And a warm bubble bath was good for them too, they were cold and sticky.

Thanks for all of your sign ups for my Birdsong Tag Book Swap!

And there is room for more. Scroll down to the previous post for details if interested.

Birdsong Tag Book Swap, open to everyone

bird song art event, swaps

By Karla Nathan / May 13, 2011

Since all the hoohah of getting ready for Birdsong is over, and the flock has all flown away, its been lonely around here! I know I've got to get ready for Paper Cowgirls and I am so glad to have that to look forward to, but I am having an empty nest feeling right now.

So, I'm throwing a swap.

And while keeping it bird themed, we'll even keep the Birdsong name.

If you want to enter, please email me. karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

And here are the rules:

Theme: Birds
Size: approximately 2-1/2 x 5" but not limited to that. I was just going by a standard shipping tag size, but you don't have to use those, something in that area of size range is good.
Materials: ANYTHING you want. cloth, cardstock, chipboard, tin, plastic, hundred dollar bills, gold coins, ephemera (ephemera is as good as gold to me, you know) You can finish the back or not, as you wish. People do it both ways, but do SIGN the back. If you have a blog include the address.
STYLE: Up to you! all the same, different- does not matter, they go to 7 different people, please just include something about a bird anywhere on the tags. And you DO NOT have to use the images I provided, of course. Those were just in case you need some, for this or to use in something else.
Due: Mail by July 15 I will start assembling the 21st
Amount: 7, you send in 7 and get 7 other tags back, I'll make one for a cover to each book that I assemble -so that makes 8 total. (you MIGHT get one of your tags back, you might not)
Cost: $6 US for postage and materials – $8 elsewhere
Include: Your name and address on a seperate piece of paper, your SIGNED tags, the $6

Send to:

Karla Nathan

1754 E 1200 rd

Lawrence, KS 66049

Here are some sheet music pages with a bird theme if you'd like to use them as backgrounds. I'll be scanning and posting some bird images as well later on, if that is helpful.

To use these, click on the images, open in a larger window, then save that to your computer and print it from there. It will be a clearer copy that way.

Here is a button you can use if you'd like.

I drew a bird with markers, scanned it, and digitally layered it over some of the bird sheet music. Then, (and this part was fun) I drew branches for the bird to sit on with the doodle tool on Picnik. After that, I faded the branches and added the text. It is sized to 200, so should fit as is onto your blog side bar.

Join the Flickr group here.

All of my past posts mentioning swaps can be found HERE if you'd like to see some of the past tag book swaps. I've hosted Dorothy, Alice,and Puppy Love among other swaps. Just scroll down to see them in various stages and different swaps.