April 2012 – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

In the backyard

By Karla Nathan / April 12, 2012

The chicken coop isn't the only area that has been getting some sprucing up. Sugarwing's Daddy has been helping me in the yard. It was his idea to move my old bike over to this tree, and I think it was a good one.

There are pink begonias planted in the baskets,but they are still tiny right now. Most of the Spring plants have finished and we are moving on to the summer blooms already, so these begonias should be taking off soon. Of course, in a normal year, I'd be worried about getting a late freeze, but I don't feel one coming on this year.

Seriously? Roses already?

Now, I'm NOT complaining. Just perplexed. And a little bit worried.

What a year. Winter was so mild and Spring so lovely. Will Summer be a scorcher?

We live over an aquifer and have great well water, so I'm prepared to spend the summer watering.

But for right now, I'm loving every second of this rare Spring heat. I've got more yard work done by March than I usually have done by June.

And we have had nice, new gravel spread in the courtyards and sidewalks.

Well, it started out nice and fresh… but now, it already has gopher mounds in it!!

Last fall, we took out a few sickly trees. These stumps never got hauled off, so I turned them into planter holders. I've planted lots of viney things in these whiskey barrels, so I hope to see trailing vines cover up most of the stumps in a couple of months. (the barrels are from the Home Depot and they get them from the Jack Daniels factory. When I bought them, I could still smell the whiskey!)

How is Spring where you are at? Is it weirdly wonderful there too?

I heard on NPR the other day that over 7000 temperature records have been broken for the Midwest in March and so far in April!

A home for the hens

cottage, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Hens

By Karla Nathan / April 10, 2012

Everyone around here is excited about the rehab of the chicken coop!

This old building has been through many transformations, and as good as I can guess, this will be its third time to serve as a home to a flock of birds. Its also been a woodworking shop, an antique store, a dog run, a hang out for my Jr High school age boys, and lately, a storage shed..

Now, back to being a chicken coop!

When I used this for an antique store, we ran electricity out to it, put on a new roof and painted it all a barely there, blush pink. I think the ladies will enjoy nesting in that flattering color. They will feel so pretty in the ambient lighting and soft pink walls.

(we still need to hang the feeder, right now, its just sitting under the bench. If we tried to feed them there, they would argue over access to the goodies. And it needs to be hung up so it doesn't get pooped in as much. They will be pooping in it no matter what, but higher is better)

We've provided a couple of mirrors so they can check themselves out. I hear that chickens enjoy looking at themselves.

There are also lots of roosting materials, an old lawn chair, and branches screwed to the walls all around like a jungle gym.

The old painting on the wall is simply for their enjoyment.

A couple of chandeliers that no longer work were hung up for more roosting, and for lighting, I hung a ceramic lamp with a cracked base that was laying out in the shed.

The bench we built to set the nesting boxes on is just the right height to store bales of straw. They slide right under it, and don't leave space for the hens to roost (and poop) on the straw.

No ETA on when the girls will be moving in. But we are set and ready to welcome them to their new home.

The building has two sides, the long, narrow one that the ladies will be calling home, and a big square room next to it that the cats like to hang out in.

This side is where we keep lawn furniture in the winter, supposedly. But other things tend to accumlate too.

I've valiently tried to not let things pile up in here, but I'm glad I let a few things slip, because this is the place I raided to find the pretties for the coop. Nothing nice, just some old beat up stuff too nice to toss and I'm glad it had piled up there for me to dig through!

I'll let you know what the girls think of it all when they move in.

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail, Hopping down the Fairy Trail

Dew Drop, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / April 8, 2012

Happy Easter! We celebrated ours early by hosting an egg hunt on the Fairy Berry Trail in the woods behind our house. Our Gypsy and Dewdrop had foofed it up beautifully, and lined the whole trail with pinwheels (from the Dollar Store).

We started out letting the baby have a few minutes to gather some eggs for her basket at the top of the trail, then the race was on.

Sugarwings was ready to hit the trail in high speed as soon as she got the go-ahead to race away.

She might have been in a hurry to fill her own basket, but took time to stop and help her little sister when her eggs fell out of her basket.

The trail really looks good, better than it ever has. What a gorgeous spring we are having!

Since Sugarwings was going to be at her aunt's for Easter Sunday, she and Fin wrote the bunny a note and asked if he would hide eggs early, and left it out in the woods with a carrot as a bribe. Fin is older and knew that (spoiler alert- if you are a kid, or just a kid at heart, don't read this!) that the Easter Bunny isn't the guy who does all the eggs himself, but he got behind the idea and seemed to forget about that.

Dewdrop was pretty pleased with her first Egg Hunt too. I don't really think that the whole "give the baby a few minutes to find eggs first" was needed. She held her own with the big kids.

And was very fond of the organic jelly beans and gummi bears I'd put into the 150 eggs out in the woods. (I didn't want the parents mad at me for handing out too much candy, but had to put something in the eggs, so settled on a couple organic jelly beans in each, and made sure to have some healthy after school snacks for everyone before we cracked open the eggs and hit the sugar!)

I loved watching the different approaches to finding the eggs. Seems like the bigger you are, the faster you go.

The smallest kids ended up finding the most eggs, because they lingered.

And Dew Drop was happy just playing with the eggs themselves, but when she realized there was stuff in them, it got even more exciting.

Sugarwings must have been watching some old movies, because she was certain that white gloves were required with Easter dresses, and kept hers on the whole time.

but didn't necessarily keep them white…

This gown has been in her dress up closet, along with the garland Aunt Sissy made for her, for years and is one of her faves. Its good to have a piece in your wardrobe that is so versatile and can be worn for tea parties and fairy walks, as well as egg hunts.

I'm looking forward to garage sale season so I can replenish her dress stock. Most of them are 2nd hand to start with and are starting to show it after years of dress up play.

One thing I've noticed over the years, is that as much as the kids like princess gowns, that are meant for dress up, they seem to prefer pretty dressy-dresses. And of course, those are much sturdier than the clothes sold in the toy department too.

And Dewdrop seems to be enjoying dressing up.

In the past, she has been irritated by Grammie trying to put her in fairy clothes, but I have a feeling that its growing on her now.

Not only did our Gypsy add pretties to the trail this spring, I started some plantings out there. Around the fairy tree house, I planted some Virginia Creeper, which I hope with cover the over hanging branches eventually and make it feel more enclosed.

I also planted some variegated and plain vinca, and some ivy. We'd spent a day edging the flower beds up by the house, pulling up vines that were growing beyond their borders and straighting the rocks that lined the beds before we had new gravel delivered. Instead of tossing all those vines, I filled two wheelbarrows up with them and took them down to the Fairy Berry trail to line the walkways.

It feels good to have fresh gravel everywhere! We did the driveway and sidewalks too. And we PAID someone else to do it all. In the past, I've spent weeks with my wheelbarrow and shovel spreading gravel from the pile we had delivered. But I discovered that the labor cost of having it spread was only $250.

Seriously?

I spent weeks of back breaking labor to save $250? I know I'm cheap, but I am NOT that cheap. Its not worth my time (or back) when two guys with rakes and a bobcat can do it in one day!!

And now, everything looks so fresh and clean, like the ground does after a new snow. Of course, it will be a matter of days before weeds peek through, and I noticed this morning that we already have a gopher mound.

I hope your Easter is a blessed one and that your basket is over filled with chocolates!

Birdsong 2 Classes

bird song art event

By Karla Nathan / April 7, 2012

Birdsong weekend was a LOT of work, but I planned ahead, baked ahead and froze treats, and even made up a written time line for what I needed to do when. I'm not normally that precise, but I found that it sure made it easier for Beth and Karla to pitch in and help if all the info wasn't up in my foggy brain. They could look at the time line and help with chores.

Being organized kept me on track too, and I was able to have plenty of time to relax, enjoy the group, and even have some time to create.

This is Lisa's class project. I was excited about doing it, but wanted to use some of my own elements, as well as change out the fairy kids to my little Dewdrop.

And look at what perfect paper Lisa had in her stash for this class! "Gypsy Song", just what I needed for a Dewdrop creation. Her mommy is quite the Gypsy.

Beth's class was a fun one too, although I didn't get to sit down to work on it then, she was generous enough to bring the kits a week early and we both sat and made up some collages from them.

My two are on the left, hers on the right. We gave them as door prizes during the classes.

One of the classes I taught was a made from scratch mushroom with a Charlotte fairy living under it. I'm not sure whose this one is, but didn't it turn out nice?

I pulled a dumb move at one point during class. Suzanne was holding up a mushroom/fairy concoction and I asked her if I could take a photo of her with it, telling her how pretty it was. Well, after posing, she politely told me that it was my own class example that I had complimented!

We all howled for a while over that one.

My last class was a necklace, and I was very pleased to see so many of them completed for the artists to wear home that night! There were a lot of beginners in the class and I know it was a little complicated, but I was proud of their results.

I will be in CA attending Kim's Tiffany event, then meeting Sugarwings and my handsome husband for a couple days at Disney! I've pre-written some blog posts for while I am away, so please stop by.

Sprucing up the Fairy Trail

Dew Drop, fairies, family

By Karla Nathan / April 6, 2012

The girls pitched in to help me get ready for Birdsong. Its still early yet, but the weather was so good, we decided to spiff up the Fairy Berry Trail. I hired these two as my Fairy Designers for the job.

In the fall, I put away the decorations we use on the trail out in the woods, so the girls loaded the wheelbarrow full of pretties and head out into the woods to replace it all and foof up the trail.

Of course, they needed to be dressed properly for the job!

This will be the first year that Dewdrop is old enough to play out on the trail, I hope she likes it.

Since she has spent a big chunk of her life living in a yirt in a woodland, so playing outside in the trees has been an every day thing for her!

The trail is looking prety, lined with pinwheels down its whole length. We are hoping to plant some vines and flowers out there this year too. And spiff up the tree house (to the left).

A surprise package!

antiques/junking, free images

By Karla Nathan / April 5, 2012

My friend, Angie was setting up an estate sale and asked me if I wanted to do a little early shopping. Of course I did!

When I got there, she said she had something for me in my car and would set it in my front seat while I shopped. Not only did I buy some great sneak peak goodies from her sale, this basket of beauties was waiting for me when I left!

The sewing basket itself was a great pink color and a thoughtful gift, but wow! Once I looked inside, I was just shocked. Here is just a few of the tidbits she added to the package.

Thanks, Angie!

This pretty card was inside too. I scanned it to share with you. Just click on it to open in a larger window to save and print.

And today, this pack of pretties came in the mail for Birdsong from one of my new Paper Cowgirl friends, Terri.

So many people have been generous with their gifts to the ladies at our arty party coming up. Thanks!

The countdown has begun, and THIS is what the studio looks like right now. Can you picture 25 ladies creating in this mess??

I've got some work ahead of me…

Plus I am teaching two classes this year, so I have two kits to still assemble yet.

Oh well, it all pulls together some how! But it won't happen if I don't get doing it, so I'm off to work.

In the Land of $3 Hats

antiques/junking, Books, flowers

By Karla Nathan / April 3, 2012

Last week, I got to spend a day with three good friends. We hit the road and went on a junk-a-thon. In the past, this was a regular occurrence with us, but somehow we'd gotten away from the habit and realized it had been about 3 years since we got away for a day long junkin trip.

Life and families might get in the way sometimes, but a solid friendship will hold up and be waiting for you when things settle down. With small kids, some scary cancer issues, and just every day life, we haven't had time for day long play dates, but we all know we will be there for each other and ready to share a good time even if all we can manage is a chat and a cup of coffee together here and there.

A whole day to hunt treasure is a treasure in itself, and it was sure nice.

We drove up to St. Joe, MO and I found a hat or two at each store we hit. I whispered up a few really affordable deals. Its not often that I find $3 ones. Not all were that cheap, of course, but even a couple at that price was pretty exciting and I might have peed a little bit when I saw them. But, then again, I'm getting old, so that doesn't take much.

The rose pattern barkcloth was a good find too, I'm considering making cushions for the bench in the breezeway with this. One panel was a bit damaged, so was only $15, but I got the one in perfect condition too, and thought $26 wasn't bad for it either.

Its roses! And barkcloth!

For only 2 bucks, I got this Audrey charm, its under bevelled glass, and is going to be just what I need for my trip to see my buddy Kim, at her Tiffany's event. I'm not going all out on the theme, but a black dress, some pearls and this pendant will make me feel like I fit in. I've got the pearls from my Great Aunt Caroline.

Not so sure about the black dress. Hmmm, I think I'll be happier in black jeans and a tee shirt.

I've not had much time to think about it, and probably won't. Her big shindig is a few days after my lil Birdsong party. So, I'll be thinking about birdies and my own to-do up till its time to pack and head to LA. I'll be lucky to even remember to pack my new pendant, let alone look for a black dress.

These baskets were from an earlier junking trip, at least a year ago. I finally added them to the Boutique, almost in time for Easter projects. Seriously, I need to be up on the holidays a bit better. No, a lot better. If I had a lick of sense, I'd have been trying to push these way back in February for those of you who do plan ahead and need supplies.

Cute, aren't they? I have a few pairs of them listed, all are mini baskets, vintage and made in Japan.

There are a couple more new things there too. Not many, but more than I told myself I'd add. I'm supposed to be working on getting ready for Birdsong! But between day trips, grand fairies, yard work, dinner parties, and discovering how fantastic the Hunger Games are, I'm behind.

But if you've read any of the books, or seen the movie, I'm sure you will understand. Katniss Everdeen is an addiction that you can't beat! I'm near the end of book 3, and had to rush out to see the movie as soon as I finished the first one.

I've also had some other projects going. This one about kicked my butt. Its a giant banner that I am painting, and its not the paint part that got me. My original job was as a muralist, and I've painted 60 foot murals with no problem. But this one was complicated because its on fabric, and had to be hemmed and ironed.

I can scale scaffolding and paint a huge wall over a hotel swimming pool without even planning or sketching first. But battling a sewing machine and an ironing board while swallowed up in 13 feet of canvas? I don't even think that my hero, Katniss, would deal well with that.

A nice nest full of fairies and a nasty nest full of squirrels

Dew Drop, fairies, family, Sugarwings, Tutorials

By Karla Nathan / April 1, 2012

As promised, I added directions and pictures to download to create this fairy nest to my 3 Wire Workshop tutorial.

If you've already bought the tutorial, just scroll down and you'll find these directions added to the end of the nest and egg how to's. No additional charges, its a bonus! Included is a sepia photo of this family and a hand tinted one with my wings attached. Plus a couple more vintage pictures you could use in the nest instead if you'd rather.

I hope to add some holiday decor ideas and more wreaths in the fall too.

This workshop comes with directions for a wreath, nests, and crowns, all made from wire, with ideas for embellishments. I've added some instructions for decorated eggs too.

Speaking of nests, we had some uninvited guests build a nest in our dryer vent! I heard scampering in my laundry room every morning this week, and it took me a while to figure it out. Squirrels had gotten into the vent pipe from the outside and made themselves at home!

We had to take the cover off, reach in and pull out the nesting materials and replace the cover with one that has a cage over it. They had done a bit of damage, so I'm glad I had a sweet, grown up son around to take care of it for me and get the varmits out of there.

It was a nice day to be out in the yard, and Little Dewdrop kept us company.

Who would have thought that we'd be outside splashing and playing in the water in March? What beautiful weather!

Sugarwings took advantage of the 80 degree day to do some planting and finger painting.

I think she painted the dirt and herself more than her paper.

And these pictures were taken before she even got very messy. (and no, the paint did NOT come out of her pink clothes, no matter how much I soaked and sprayed it.)

Yep, a perfect day to be outside, we turned on the garden hose and let her play in that afterwards- yay, Spring!!