February 2013 – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

At the Valentine Journal Workshop AND some free images

bird song art event, Books, celebrations, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), free images, holiday decor, puppies!, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / February 4, 2013

I had such a nice time at the Valentine Journal workshop. There is something wonderful about a Valentine theme, that always makes me happy. Roses? Hearts? PINKS? All of it!

We had a small group, so only needed to use half of the studio. I used this half to set out extra supplies. So, not only did we have kits stuffed with Vintagey goodies, I had enough extras to make dozens more books. One table was just used to display previously made books as examples. I showed my travel journal, my samples for An Enchanted Affair, the Valentine book, as well as a couple of books from swaps I'd been in.

By the way, Kim was able to squeeze in one more table at her arty event this spring, and has sold all but one space at it! If you are interested, better jump in fast! Hope to see you there.

Another table held lots of extra pretty papers, while a third was all tidbits, ribbons, lace, and embellishments.

I should do fresh flowers in my studio more often, its a nice treat.

Our local grocery store usually marks a dozen roses down to $1.99 every Monday, but for some reason, they were on sale this Friday too. So, I was able to set out flowers all around the house.

When prepping for the class, I spent about 14 hours making kits, and thought I might just end up running away from home to get away from them. What was I thinking, waiting till the last day to make them???? That isn't like me. I sure learned a lesson, and will be getting a jump start on spring time class kits so this won't happen again.

Kits can be fun to make, and I enjoy playing with my piles of papers and deciding what to include, but not at the last minute. I had to write instructions, edit photos, sort papers, plus dozens of other things that make the kits successful and well thought out. It shouldn't be done the day before the workshop!!

I made up what I thought were lots of extras, but not quite enough. They sold out in one day, thank you to all who bought them! It is never any more trouble to make an extra 10 or so while putting together enough for a class, so I always make some to sell. Plus one for myself, so that I can pull things out during class to demonstrate and know that the kits are functional and have what they need in them.

The best part of making a kit, is seeing how it is used.

Of course, since they are vintage, no two are exactly alike, but still I love the way everyone changes things around so much and puts their own stamp of uniqueness on their work.

And its very pretty to see how far some go to change it up.

We do mini workshops for holidays throughout the year, just for my friends and their kids to come over and play, and of course, I have Birdsong too. (Which I have not done a single thing for yet this year! I need to gather my thoughts and get the website done for sign ups!!)

We did a Halloween gathering and then this little Valentine party, and I really enjoyed both. I would like to do more small, one afternoon workshops if possible. Its so much more intimate than a big to do. Of course, even Birdsong is not big at all, compared to most arty weekends, its 25 people and all cozy in my studio.

Still, it would be nice to do a smaller class like this and have them quarterly or so. Just a thought. 10 people or less, hanging out, chatting all together instead of broken off in groups around the room.

Either way, no matter how many come, I love having company in my studio. Its not that I don't enjoy a good day alone with my creations, but since I have soooo many of those days, working all alone, its nice to have some company.

I can't imagine any other job than the one I do (although the thought of one that pays better, is pretty tempting), but it does get lonely. Which is why having a blog and all of my blog friends is so nice.

Of course, these guys too! They are great company when they aren't stealing things from me to shred. Dorothy can't jump or climb because of the injury she had when she was tiny, but Albie is good at getting on the table and grabbing something fun for them to rip up.

Auntie Beth brought them some Valentine tees, and even girlie-ed up Dorothy's with some lace.

She also brought this. Beautiful, isn't it?

One of my guests brought this lovely, old image, and I was asked to copy it to share. I thought maybe you would like to have it too. Just click on the image to open it to a larger window, then save it to your computer to print.

And this one was in one of the kits and I was asked to copy it also.

When scanning it, I took a few moments to edit it in a romantic way. Please save these the same way as the cabin picture.

Hunting for signs of the Big Giant Cat

cottage, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / February 3, 2013

My son, Ryan, mentioned, oh- by the way, I saw that giant cat a couple weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago?? And he doesn't tell me right away? Dogs, cats, chickens, and KIDS have wandered around in danger?

He said at first he thought it was Twinkle's boyfriend, the neighbor's tall, tan, standard poodle. Then realized it walked different than a dog and took another look realizing it was a huge cat. The trappers had told us it might come back and that we should call them back if we saw signs.

I wanted to be sure, since it was NOT cheap to have them out to set traps last fall. We spent a few hundred dollars on catching oppossums, but no cat.

So, on a snowy day, Sugarwings and I bundled up to go hunting. We thought we might see footprints in the snow.

Our first step was to climb up high and look out over the valley and down the trail to make sure it wasn't waiting for us. We wanted to see footprints, not the cat itself! Since there were no leaves, and the trail was quite wide, we could see all the way to the highway. We didn't cross the creek to go deeper into the woods, we stayed on the big, open trail.

She carried a big stick and we made lots of noise. The cat seems to only be seen around dusk, so we figured mid day was a good time to look.

She decided that she would be a Knight in Shining Armour and the Big Giant Cat, or Bobbed Cat, as she calls it, was really a dragon. Her stick was a sword, and we were ready to search out the dragon's liar.

The snow was too spotty to show footprints. We didn't even see any prints from deer, and I know we have dozens of those out there. We did find poo, and I took some photos of it, so we could compare it to pictures of cat scat online. I'm sure you can imagine that part without me showing you the actual pictures.

We also found this tree, used as a scratching post. The marks are about chest high!!

After doing some research, we found this, which fit perfectly with what we saw:

Identify bobcat scat by noting its size, composition and
location. Bobcat scat ranges in size from about 2 to 6 inches in length
and is usually less than an inch in height. It is often but not always
segmented, and looks very similar to the feces of domesticated cats,
except that it is slightly larger. Bobcats tend to leave scat in the
middle of a road or trail or at an intersection or a turn in the trail.
It is believed they do this as a method of marking territory and
communicating with other animals.

Look for other possible signs made by bobcats. Bobcats will
sharpen their claws on trees, and claw marks can often be see in tree
bark. Bobcats will scrape dirt or snow over both their urine and feces.
Claw marks may be seen from this covering, as well as from when they
make scratches in the snow when rubbing their glands over an area to
mark territory.

Valentine journal workshop cougar hunt 012

It was quite an adventure for us, we had a lot of fun pretending to hunt dragons, but it was also educational as well as some imaginary game time. We learned to watch carefully for movement in the woods, and also to search the trail for signs of animals. We did see some raccoon prints, and talked about different animals and how to tell what they are by the tracks they leave behind. I also made her aware that the woods are full of creatures, even though it is our own Fairy Berry Trail, and we think of it as a play ground, it really belongs to the creatures that live there, not to us.

Looking up pictures online to compare to our photos was a good project for her too. I want her to respect the woods and the wildlife, and think about them as a place for animals to live, and not to run out there without an adult at her side.

Until we can get the trapper back out here, the woods are officially closed for play time. The chickens are on lock-down and the dogs don't leave the fence. No children can play outside without supervision.

I sure hope that Trapper Tom can help us out. Please wish us luck with this.

A Hawaii Travel Journal part two

Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 1, 2013

Taking a journal along on our trip was such fun. I'm really glad I had it, and spent quite a bit of time doodling away while sitting on the balcony and watching the waves.

The book was pre-made and ready to fill once I got there, and I packed an assortment of markers, ribbons, papers, and doodads to add to it. As I worked, I saved spaces for photos to add later. Trouble is, I didn't take enough pictures, or save enough tidbits of travel stuff. When I do this again, I'll know what to look out for and will remember to keep snippets of the days. I'd like to have had more papers to add to the book, but I also enjoyed drawing in it, so I guess it turned out ok.

On this page, I used a piece of a pamphlet that came with some sea glass earrings that I bought (upper left hand corner) and then drew over it, so it didn't look so white, white against all the color of the rest of the page.

Each morning with my coffee on the balcony, I worked on a page about the previous day.

And there was plenty going on to fill a page!

Its about my husband's activities too, he was off being adventurous with his brother-in-law quite a bit, while his sis and I were more low keyed. You can see here, that there was surfing and scuba diving, but neither were my own activities. I tried to dive, but just couldn't do it.

I was the biggest wimp ever. And I am an ocean lover. I'm not afraid of the waves or sea, can swim very well and love to explore. My trouble with continuing the lesson was unexpected. I shocked myself with my cowardice. My husband is very claustrophobic, I thought he might have trouble, but I didn't expect any trouble from myself!

As a child, I had asthma and remember emergency hospital trips. But as an adult, my asthma is so mild, I forget that I have it and rarely even consider myself asthmatic.

When we signed up for scuba, we were asked if we had asthma or heart conditions and I said no. Then, I had a mini asthma attack while running and laughing on the beach, and from that moment, I started thinking about what would happen if I had one under the ocean. I freaked myself out before we even got into the pool to try out the gear. So, of course, I performed dismally in that frame of mind.

And I was crying like a baby when I had to do the walk of shame back to the gear drop off as the rest of my group flippered off into the ocean. Not my proudest moment when I had to come out of the pool at that crowded and lovely resort and walk past all the vacationers in chaise lounges who had been watching my failure with interest like I was the afternoon's soap opera.

Besides my wimpiness at that activity, the trip was great. We laughed and played, and rested and ATE all week.

This page has a little cartoon I did about a joke i pulled on the beach. A couple asked me to take their picture and my husband offered to pose with them, just being silly. Unbeknown to them, I maneuvered the camera so that he was in the background of the picture. Only on one take, though, so that if they honestly didn't want his photograph, they could use a different shot. Although, he is a cutey, they should be glad to have it!

The city block sized banyan tree in Lahaina was the inspiration for this page, I drew it from memory when I got back to the room instead of waiting till the next day when the picture was fuzzy in my mind.

This page is a little different than the rest, the messages about what we did that day are hidden in the branches.

The road to Hana was such a jam packed day of sight seeing, I had to use two pages. I sketched out a map of the island and wrote messages along where the road goes about what we saw.

I would highly recommend this outing, but its a hard one for anyone who gets carsick. Like I did. Mostly we broke up the day long drive over twisty, turny cliffs by roadside jaunts to visit waterfalls and bamboo forests. But there were a couple of longer stints in the car where I must have been a bit green because everyone was asking me how I was doing, when I thought I was being very discreet about trying not to spew.

But, the beauty I saw on this ride was worth every bit of discomfort. The queasiness was fleeting, but the memories of the beauty are forever.

More twisty roads went up to the volcano, but again, WORTH it! I drugged myself up with non drowsy dramamine and that helps. I also was careful to eat bland, solid food. No sloshy stuff like soup that would sway in my tummy when we went around a curve.

We visited a lavender farm near the volcano, and that was one of my favorite places.

Since I didn't collect enough stuff to fill the book, I slipped our itinerary into a pocket. Boring. Next time I'll scoop up lots of mementos to add to the pages.

At least I had some maps for these pockets. I folded the map inside out so that the interesting part showed instead of the bright red "FREE MAP" on the cover peeking out.

My pictures are added in a jumble, different days or areas on one page together, but I was matching up sizes and colors to make a pretty layout. In my world, pretty counts a lot more than accuracy.

Here is an instance where I was smart enough to save something from the trip, the key card holder from the hotel. I glued it down, drew on and embellished it, and added a photos of us in the key card slots.

Years ago, we went hiking in Arkansas and kissed under a waterfall. Sugarwings loves to hear stories about romance and true love, and never gets tired of us telling her about our special moment under the falls. This time we weren't able to hike over to the falls, but at least we got to share a smooch in front of them.

On our last night, we stumbled upon a row of tables set up on the beach and had to stay for dinner. It was such a romantic setting, just at sunset, right on the ocean. The restaurant was the Westin hotel and the food was the best we'd had all week.

My husband wasn't too impressed with himself as a merman in this picture, but Sugarwings adores it and jumped up and down with excitement when she saw how I'd cut his photo out and added it to a mermaid tail.

The photo is from our day of whale watching. Other people might have glued down actual photos of the boat or the whales, but I kind of like this picture as a remembrance.

Now that I have finished my book, I guess I need to get some "real" work done.

It was nice to scam some extra vacation time to complete this, but I can't eke out my time off for too long. I have a workshop to get ready for!

Photos of that next.