August 2013 – Karla's Cottage

Fairies and friends will always cheer you up

Books, fairies, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / August 29, 2013

I've been fairying it up around here. I draw these little girls onto plain paper, then cut them out to use as patterns to use on vintage text and wallpaper. After they are assembled and glued to a background, I embellish them with some millinery flowers.

This one is in a very old metal frame.

This one lives in a painted and distressed,wooden frame that I lined with rose patterned wallpaper.

At the bottom of the frame, I glued a branch of little blooms and used that to hang some butterfly charms on.

At first, I'd made the heads from text too, but I missed having a facial expression, so I cut out new heads from the border of the text and used markers to add a sweet, little face.

Both of these will be added to the Boutique. That is, if I ever get around to adding anything to that poor, neglected little shop again…. If you are interested in either for $35, you can send me an email at: Karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

This sprite is one that I am keeping for myself, I've added her to a book that Beth made for me.

Don't you love the binding on it? She knew I was having some personal troubles and made the journal for me to fill up as a distraction. Plus, she listens to my complaints. Now, that is a friend.

Between poor Ry losing his job (rather unfairly) and the hours I've spent trying to help him find another, worries about this and that, as well as feeling crappy, I'm afraid I've been a bit cranky. I don't even know why she is still my friend, all she ever hears from me are complaints.

Ry has some interviews, I've been to the Dr. and have treatment now for esophagitis (from swallowing a heavy, string wrapped around a grilled tenderloin and scratching my throat, I thought it was gristle and tried to be polite by not spitting it out, since we were at a friend's house for a dinner party), and the other problems? Well, things work out somehow, don't they?

It's going to be fun filling up this journal with doodles, and doodads, and dwaddles. Getting creative again has made me feel better already!

One of the patterns I'd made for these kids was lying on my desk and it reminded me of a shadow, so I added it to the next page of the journal.

This fairy is a new creation too.

She and this angel have been added to the Mini Dress Form tutorial, with some simple how tos to embellish the basic forms that are taught there. If you have already purchased the class, these are a bonus and you will find them under "fairy" and "angel" in the category list on the side bar of the blog.

If you'd like to join the class, you can do that here.

PS-Leave a comment on this post, if you would like to enter my two giveaways. I'm away at the moment, but will draw names after Labor Day weekend

Halloween birdcages

flowers, holiday decor, Tutorials

By Karla Nathan / August 27, 2013

As a thanks to all of you who have purchased my online tutorials, I've added a few more ideas to the classes, all in a Halloween theme.

Including instructions on how to make captured ghosts to fill the wire birdcages from this class.

And paper roses that are pretty on all the wire projects.

I've also redone one of the wire wrapped wreaths in black and white.

It's not too early to be ghoul crafting and getting ready for the upcoming spooky season.. But there is no reason to be all orangey about doing it. I like holiday decorations that will fit into any color scheme of a home. Like Beth and I created for our Romantic Gothic Ghosts class.

I've got a slew of tutes, most are listed here. Some free, some for sale. I am adding a fairy and an angel dress form to this class too. When I come up with a new idea for an existing class, I enjoy slipping it into the workshop for you. If you can't remember the passwords, feel free to contact me. People do it all the time. These classes are going to be up and available as long as I have a Typepad blog, and you can pick and chose projects from them at your leisure, no hurrying to keep up or waiting for the next instructions.

PS-Leave a comment on this post, if you would like to enter my two giveaways. I'm away at the moment, but will draw names after Labor Day weekend

A couple of customized furniture painting tricks

cottage, Dew Drop, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Hand Painted Furniture

By Karla Nathan / August 25, 2013

Sugarwings' mom has recently graduated from nursing school, is working at a Big Girl Job as an RN, and moved into a Big Girl house. As a birthday gift, I thought she might enjoy a custom piece of furniture, something nice and solid, kind of a start on Big Girl furnishings.

I bought it a few years back as a tan colored cabinet from Nebraska Furniture Co. I rarely buy new pieces, but I think I've mentioned before that for TVs, it's hard to find the right cabinet to fit them and their components if you don't buy something made for a television.

I repainted it white with roses when I got it.

When we got a different TV, I had to find something else and was able to customize an old book shelf to fit our flat screen.

The original telly wasn't bad, we only replaced it so we could get something bigger to see from the kitchen. So, we offered it to our Hippy Chick for her new place. Trouble is, the roses on the cabinet we had it in didn't suit her at all.

So, I thought I'd surprise her with a new look on it for her birthday. These knobs from Hobby Lobby were the inspiration for the redo.

Dewdrop helped chose them, she is a big fan of going to Wobby Blobby, as she was calling it. There was a slight argument when she thought we should get the pink knobs, and she doesn't like losing arguments at all.

But in the end, I convinced her that Auntie Cake, (aka Hippy Chick) would like rainbows.

Since I was the person who painted the cabinet before, I knew that I'd primed the factory finish and used latex paint on it, and another few coats of more latex paint would adhere just fine. So, no bonding primer. Although I did use Behr's paint and primer in one simply because red is such a horrid color to work with. It doesn't cover well and takes a lot of coats. By using the primer/paint mix, I cut down on a few applications. It still needed three coats plus touch ups.

The main body was painted cherry red, satin. Then I painted each square and frame around it a different bright color.

At that point, it was beginning to look like Rainbow Brite vomited all over a preschool.

Very primary colored and very bright.

So, I washed each square and frame with a different shade.

The wash coat of color was brushed on heavy in the corners of the squares, and was wiped into the center with a damp rag. It was dry brushed onto the frames.

(light blue over green, red over orange, orange over yellow, purple over dark blue, etc, a nice mix up)

The base of the cabinet took almost a quart of interior paint. For the accents, I used 2 oz bottles of acrylic craft paint.

The finish on the craft paint is flat and the red paint is satin. I could have covered the accents with a satin clear coat, but I liked the contrast in textures.

The interior was left as is, except for the interior of the doors. When the TV is on, those will show.

I think the faux finished gave the cabinet the appropriate, custom look I was going for, instead of just blocks of bright colors.

You can tell by the floor that I have done a tad of painting out here… I used to paint furniture practically daily.

Often, like with this table that was sitting in the garage, I'd use a poly top coat mixed with walnut stain. I think it leaves an attractive finish.

But for the rainbow cabinet, I left it as it was, no walnut aging affect. Hippy Chick likes her colors vivid.

Here is the shelf of the black table. It's a bit dirty from the garage, but I think you can still see the walnut top coat. To do this, I used Minwax stain/poly that comes premixed. I'd pour about 1 cup into a bowl, add 1/4 of paint thinnner, and slip on some gloves. Then brush the mixture on the piece, and wipe off with an old, soft, dry tee shirt scrap.

Work on one section at a time, and wipe off gently. It looks really pretty over solid black, too. This trick riches up the color and gives it a custom feel. Just like adding the faux finish to the rainbow colors turned a preschool looking palette into colors that would suit a Big Girl piece of furniture.

I really can’t sew very well

antiques/junking, cottage, Hand Painted Furniture, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / August 23, 2013

Anything I sew is wonky. Maybe, just maybe, I should break down and measure?

A long, long time ago, I found this throne at a garage sale, and finally got around to painting it about 18 months ago, thinking I'd recover it then too.

It did not get recovered til recently, because Sugarwings uses it and she, well, shall we say, is a pig? is not the tidiest kid at the dinner table? I left the fabric dark so her sliminess wouldn't show as much. But lately, she has been growing up and being less of a mess.

Still, I worried that a light fabric on the seat was just asking for trouble. So, I decided a washable slip cover would be the best way to go, but man- those arms were hard to fit the cover around!!

I ended up cutting them out way too big. So, I fixed the gap with a ruffle made of the fabric on the back of the chair. I'd cut the fabric off my old dining room chairs that were broken, and saved it. There wasn't enough to cover the seat too, so I did a mixy matchy thing, and I think this ruffle was just what I needed to make the mix match up nicely.

The whole dining room is now mixy matchy. After searching here, there and everywhere, I finally found some new chairs to replace the ones that had broken. (by the way, I have a magic driveway, anything at all that I sit at the end of the drive gets picked up by someone. It's fun to wonder who got it and what they did with it, and nice to know that it isn't in the land fill!)

There were 4 chairs at TJMax for $99 each (plus 10% off for opening a card and a cash back bonus for spending that much)

I'd hoped to find old chairs to fix up, but these were a decent price, solidly made, and didn't need a thing done to them besides Scotchgaurding). Forget about the throne seat, I feel like a princess sitting in BRAND NEW CHAIRS! What a treat!!!

Two Giveaways, one really cool, big deal one and a little one too

Books

By Karla Nathan / August 22, 2013

My Buddy, Carol Spinski, is taking part in Jeanne Oliver's Home for the Holidays online workshop. I don't know what all is in it, but am very interested to find out! For certain, it will be packed with interesting and helpful posts.

You can get details here

Or if you'd like a chance to win a free entry? Just leave a comment on this post and let me know you are interested.

And I thought I'd also give this book away. It was a fun, quick read for me on the beach and I saw that it will soon be a movie directed (or produced? can't remember, but I tend to only remember highlights of what I've heard and not a lot of detail) by Stephenie Meyers of Twilight fame.

I enjoyed it too much not to share. Of course, I'm fond of anything Austen. And even though it isn't one of Jane's, it's about a true fan of her work.

If you'd like to read the book, and don't mind that there might be a smidgen of sand in it… please leave a comment on this post also. And let me know if you are interested in the book, the class, or both.

A grand weekend filled with magic

Dew Drop, fairies, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2013

The Summer of Whammy is coming to a close, but we sure made the most of it while we could. Sugarwings is back in school, now a first grader, missing a front tooth. I was lucky to be able to take off and enjoy her last few months of being a little kid.

We had our fairies for a whole weekend and took them for a couple of outings. One was the local county fair, which we happened to hit about 2pm on a Saturday and the timing was perfect. Not a line in sight.

We bought wrist bands for unlimited rides and let them run back and forth from one to the other, some times, they were the only kids on one of the rides.

But the big fave of the day were the honies. Which is what Dewdrop calls her true loves, My Little Ponies. She could have went round and round for hours on the horses. She was a little disappointed that they weren't pink (the best color in the universe, according to these two girls), so I adjusted her steed a little on Picmonkey and printed it for her.

She was thrilled.

Sugarwings' pony was a little too dark to change. But when I told her that hers was chocolate and her sis's was strawberry, she was fine about it.

There were animals to feed, things to ride, and all sorts of fun to be had.

Prizes were won too. Sugarwings chose this little pink fish from the one point pile, even though she had five points to cash in at the duck pond game. Sometimes, it's not the size of the prize that counts. And you can't beat a pink Nemo. It was a happy choice, even though it wasn't a quick one… Important choices like that are too big to rush.

(look at the sign behind her. "LOVE"!)

With all the activities we have done with these two this summer, we seemed to have shown up places when no one else was around. Our timing was ideal everywhere we went from the zoo, to movies, restaurants, carnivals. No lines, no waits, in and out easily. And we were smart enough to enjoy the time playing while all was quiet and happily left when the crowds came along.

There must have been magic in the air for our outings to have gone so perfectly.

Or faith, hope, and pixie dust, as Tinker Bell says.

Ideal weather too, we couldn't have asked for a nicer summer. There wasn't a hot, sweaty, rainy, impatient, or crowded time on any of our days out.

Speaking of magic, this video magically appeared on my camera! I was taking photos all weekend, not video. All of the still shots turned out fine, just as I had taken them. Along with this little video collage of our time at the carnival.

Nothing else from the weekend was on the video, and no photographs were missing. How odd. But how nice! I've enjoyed watching it, especially knowing that it was put on my camera by sprites and I had nothing to do with filming it!

Recovering a lamp shade and some other touch ups

cottage, flowers, how-to projects, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / August 18, 2013

Before Fifi asked me to do a photo shoot for Romantic Country magazine, I was already on a home fix up binge. I've been making pillows, slip covers, touching up paint, rearranging and foofing. Good timing for her call!

This bench was brought in from the garden a couple years ago, so we'd have a spot to sit and put on shoes by the front door, and the baskets under it are perfect for toys and kid's shoes. But I'd never made cushions for it, I've been wrapping fabric around a cushion that didn't match and making do with that.

About ten years ago, I'd found some old, floral curtains in a dumpster (I nicknamed it the "Dumpster of Gold", there was so much beautiful bounty in it!!!). They were just the right fabric for making pillows for this bench. The top pillow is stuffed with poly fluff, but the bottom one is just a pillow case over that same cushion that I'd been wrapping around fabric before. That way, I can slip it off and wash it after muddy dogs spend time on this bench. Which they love to do. It's Twinkle's perch so she can keep an eye on the front door and protect us.

The pink rag rug was one that used to be white, but the white wasn't coming back after years of use. (I don't throw much away) It was still in decent shape, so, I dyed it, along with some stained tees and other odds and ends. Because when I have a dye pot going, I always feel the need to scrounge around the house looking for other things to dip in it.

I used the liquid Rit Dye in fuchsia, but only a 1/2 bottle along with a 1/4 bottle of tan to tone it down. I think I could have done 1/4 of pink and 1/8 of tan and been happier with the result.

It seems like I've been on the go nonstop for the last couple of years and hadn't really had a chance to nest. Since I declared this the Summer of Whammy and took time off to simply be a grammy and enjoy my family and home, I found lots of little projects that needed tending to. Like this lamp shade that I revamped.

If you have ever covered a lamp shade, you know that with the curved shape, it's hard to smooth fabric down onto. To avoid measuring, I decided to patch work it. I took scraps of rose pattern cotton, and brushed the lamp shade with school glue, and brushed some onto the scraps too, then laid them onto the shade.

After piecing in a background of roses, I covered the seams with lace applique bits (picked up on the Enchanted Affaire bus tour in downtown LA for 25 cents each). And made a bottom trim border from some old tatting over a row of dangly beads.

Around the top, I used some trim from a vintage skirt. All the lace and trim was attached with Ultimate glue, but I'll bet fabric glue would work the same. School glue wasn't strong enough for this part.

Tah Dah! Just perfect for the Rosey Room, to go on the $4 Goodwill lamp that Aunt Sandy left behind for me when she left here.

The throw on the bed got a make over too. It was one that I thought was just lovely, but it sure fell apart fast. The top is sheer with cut velvet roses, and velvet trim. But the backing on it shredded and fell off. I saved the top because it was such perfect fabric and I always thought I'd use it someday for something.

Who knew, that I'd return it to being a throw again?

I came across the piece of fabric when I cleaned out the closet for the Studio Tour and decided I was ready to reuse it. What great timing, since soon after, Fifi made arrangements to photograph the house. And this was just what the Rosey Room needed.

All I did was buy some stretchy, crushed velvet on sale at Hancocks for $4.40 a yard, and sew it on the back. I am hoping that the stretchiness will help it last longer than the previous lining. And the crushed velvet is soft and comfy to wear over my lap as I watch TV. So, this throw will go to the living room now that the photos are done. The guest room doesn't get used often enough to keep it up there. It's so pretty and soft, I want it in the living room to snuggle under on a regular basis.

Happy 7th Birthday Sugarwings!

celebrations, Dew Drop, family, Food and Drink, games, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / August 16, 2013

Sugarwings turned 7, lost a front tooth, and started first grade. It has been a VERY exciting week.

Her mom threw her a party over the weekend, so she could celebrate with a few friends.

She had asked for a pinata, and I thought we'd make one together, but time was short, so we enhanced one instead. I found a colorful donkey at Walmart, trimmed its long ears, and used one ear to create a horn.

And of course, it needed glitter. Who doesn't? We spritzed it with glitter spray and while wet, doused it with even more flakes of glitter. Then, a mane and tail were created from curled ribbons.

Much more fitting for the Princess Party than a plain, old donkey! And with every whack, a cloud of glitter floated down onto the kids below.

And I think it was more fun than the one I would have made. This was sturdy cardboard and held up through a ton of whackings. I'd have made paper mache and it would have met an early death.

Her mom proved that you can go gluten, food coloring, and dairy free and still have the most wonderful birthday cake ever. It was rich, moist and wonderful.

The guests loved it.

After cake, there was some fun with a colorful parachute, and then they were off to the park pool.

It was a sweet, little party. Nothing elaborate or expensive. Just plain old fashioned fun.

I think our fairy girl was pretty happy with it.

I know I was!

Piddling away a summer

Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 14, 2013

If you are wondering why I haven't refilled my Boutique again, this is the reason. I'm still in the midst of the Summer of Whammy, and spending time with the fairy girls.

(Sugarwings is learning to sew, she cut the old straps off her dress and pinned on new pink velvet ones for me to stitch on with the machine)

We've been bubbling too.

This photo is the one that made me redo my curtains. I've spent a lot of time at the dreadful sewing machine this summer.

Same fabrics, plus a few more swatches of old lace, just reconfigured so that the length was better. It's a bunch of odds and ends, some lace is just swaddled up and tied with ribbon, then clipped on with rhinestone shoe clips. This was a save I figured out after seeing that one side was cut way too short.

While fabrics were strewn around the studio during one sewing project, Sugarwings helped herself to some tulle.

I've also been on a cleaning kick, including de-gooping shower drains. I've scrubbed and scoured, I've removed cobwebs, I've goofed off, and I've played dress up. But I haven't added anything to my Boutique, or really made much of anything arty in the studio either.

We explored the cute, little Topeka zoo, where we found an African bush camp set up between the hyenas and lions. No one else was up there on the hill in the tents, nestled into a bamboo forest, so we took our time playing there.

I'd say we had about 359 cups of delicious pretend tea brewed over an open fire. Taking the summer off has been the most fun I've had in years.

Time has been spent in the Fairy Food Forest too. The Fairy House my son built from vines wrapped around the trees is a perfect spot for reading. I used to love to curl up with a good book on lazy summer days when I was a kid. Still do, I think I've read 10-12 books over this summer too.

Too bad that my lady of liesure days are ending. It's back to work. Soon… Any day… Well, in a couple days….

A Romantic Country Photo Shoot with Fifi, or the Adventures of the Pink Flowered Rug

cottage, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / August 11, 2013

Last week, Fifi came to my home to do an article for Romantic Country magazine. We had worked together in the past on a few small projects but I'd only met her briefly at our friend, Carol's home. It was a joy to spend the day with her and I was happy to have her come and visit the Cottage. She's cute as a bug and filled with interesting stories. Accompanying her was photographer, Mark Lohman, who was witty as well as talented. He made me giggle quite a few times during the day, with his teasing comments.

He also showed me a photo he had taken of his dogs, that has to be the most beautiful pet portrait I have ever seen. His two Shih Tzus are running toward the camera, with their hair flying in the wind, happy looks on their little turned up nose faces, and a blurred out, elegant garden behind them. That guy is an artist. What a picture.

Fifi and Mark made my home look lovely, I was impressed with their work. And I enjoyed not working on the story myself, just stepping back and letting the pros do it. In the past, with numerous articles, I've been the stylist or was writing the story. This time, I was just the home owner, and that was nice.

I never really considered myself a professional, even though I was involved in dozens of published articles. It was all a bit of a lark, and I like having it on my resume (if I actually had a resume, which I don't), but I never considered it a real job.

Since I have worked on past stories, I did know how to be prepared for the chaos of styling and how to be ready when Fifi and Mark arrived.

If you are going to have your home photographed, here are a few suggestions:

1- Don't try to pre-style it, you don't know what the camera angles will be.

2- Don't have your heart set on a certain look. Things WILL be moved, rearranged, shuffled, changed, and might even be a totally different take on the room than you'd ever thought of.

3- Have fresh fruit and flowers ready to go, but don't put too much time into flower arrangements, chances are they will be redone more than once throughout the day. Have extra vessels handy for switching blossoms around to reuse in different rooms. You don't need a ton of flowers, because they can be recycled from room to room. (and save your receipt, the flowers are usually reimbursed)

4- If you own extra pillows, throws, rugs, china, etc, have them handy. The stylist will have ideas on making the house fit the magazine, and a color theme she has planned, and it helps if she has access to your extras to bring her ideas to life.

5- Have a place to stash the coffee maker, toothbruses, and other mundane, daily used, objects. But don't put it away too soon, you might want to offer a pot of coffee while everyone is working.

6- Clean up as you go, because the messes just get worse from photo to photo, as things get pulled out of cabinets to be used, or items get stored to one side of the room to be out of a shot. If you save all of the pick up for the end of the day, it will be too much to handle!! But do be careful not to put away things that might be used again. Like the pink flowered rug I brought down from the girl's room, it ended up in almost every shot, all around the house.

7- Don't be insulted or hurt if your home doesn't look like your version of your home in the pictures!! Its all your stuff, just rearranged. You might even pick up some good design tips from the experts and leave your new look in place.

Here is my bedroom after some of Fifi's redos.

Here is how it looked when they arrived.

bedroom BEFORE

My home was a little too neutral for what Fifi wanted, but it was easily fixed with throw pillows from the sofa, and the studio along with a pink rug and quilt from the girl's room.

bedroom AFTER

I love this look, but couldn't leave it this way, or my sofa would not have any cushions…. And in "real life" if the chair was in the middle of the room, you couldn't walk through to the bathroom. Or see the TV, which is high on my list of importance.

AFTER

My two footstools got a work out, as well as the chippy chairs that the kids use, all were used in other areas too. And see the pink rug again? Like I said, it made it into almost all the shots. The floral can filled with lilies was the bedroom trash can.

The surprise lilies are growing in abundance right now, and we could gather an armload for her to use in this shot. They were plopped right on top of the remnants of trash in the bottom of the can. Glamorous, huh?

Kitchen BEFORE

living room AFTER

There is that pink rug again!

In "real life", if you had that many pillows on a sofa, there would be no room for your backside. But it looks nice for the magazine, doesn't it? I could be tempted to leave it this way, but I think I'd get too many complaints from the family.

I didn't hear the dogs complaining about too many pillows, though. They'd be happy if I left all of those on the couch.

living room BEFORE

This isn't quite my "real life" look. Because the pupeesh think that rugs are pee pads, I don't usually have one on the living room floor. I swiped this one from the upstairs. And that half wall is actually a dog pen. I keep a gate across it, and the dorkies have access to the fenced in yard through a pet door in the corner. For the occaision, I took down the gate and put away all the dog bedding.

The pupeesh were also banished for the day, but forgave me when they got plenty of snuggles when Fifi and Mark finished.

I'm afraid I didn't get photos of the styling upstairs. Sugarwings will be sooooo thrilled to see her room in a magazine. She was counting on them taking pictures of it, even though I told her that it wasn't a done deal, we'd have to see what Fifi chose to feature. Plus, I'm not sure she even knows what a magazine is, but she was excited about it anyway.

A photo shoot ain't for sissies, that's for durn tootin. After a day of housework to prep, and a day of pictures, plus the clean up that goes along with it, I was beat.

But no matter how exhausting it can be, it sure is fun to see the spread when it's published. Plus, Fifi and Mark make the experience delightful, they are such nice people to spend a day with.