January 2014 – Karla's Cottage

Hearts,flowers, and rosemary

cottage, flowers, Valentine's Day, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 31, 2014

Beth came over last week for a craft day. It had been WAY too long, because we were just now exchanging Christmas gifts!

She gifted me with this great, Victorian coffee pot, to use as a vase. I can't wait to fill it with roses, but since I'm going on a trip, I settled for a handful of dried rosemary. Because I don't think my husband would even notice or appreciate it, if I bought fresh flowers for the dining room before I went out of town. I'll wait and treat myself when I get back, because I know I will be very appreciative of them.

And I love it that my hands smelled like rosemary all day after cutting it, even though the plant has been out in the garden, dried and dead through all kinds of weather. It still smells wonderful. The only problem is that I can't stop thinking about making a pizza with rosemary and provolone…

This pot is perfect! Just the right amount of tarnished, beaten-up-ed-ness.

Beth and Karla hadn't been to a craft day in much too long. I need to make time to do this sort of thing, it's good for the soul to laugh with friends while creating.

Beth was working on stitched hearts for Laurie's swap.

Hers were so pretty that I wanted to make one too. But mine is glued, not sewn. I used some of the fabric she had given to me along with the perfectly tarnished coffee pot.

Dang, I wish I'd had time to join the swap! This is going to be a nice one. I'm looking forward to seeing the results on friends' blogs.

Doodling a day away

dogs, drawing, paintings

By Karla Nathan / January 29, 2014

Since I've been back from my vacation, I haven't had much time to play with my finger painting watercolor ap on my old iPad (still can't get it to work on iPad Air).

But one day, when there was no one home but me, I took a sloth day. A complete and total day of doing nothing. Jammies all day long, heck, I barely left my bedroom. I doodled on the ap, watched tv (3 episodes of Downton, plus a few hours more of other things I was behind on), and took naps.

I even dug around in my purse to find a battered protein bar so I didn't have to walk to the kitchen for food.

Everyone needs one of those days sometimes, don't they? A day that just kind of drifts away as you relax.

Later, when Sugarwings saw the fairy costume on the dress form picture, she asked me to do a drawing of a fairy in it so she could color it in. I've printed it for her so she can take it to the studio to paint on. Please don't look too closely at the fingers… it's a quickie pic for a kiddo.

During my nothing day, I was lazily looking through facebook and saw a photo of a beautiful little Bichon who lives with my friend, Holly, and decided to draw her from the picture.

Soon, my doodles turned to poodles. This is Guncle Randy's pup.

And his Bichon, Bella. Funny how different two dogs of the same breed can look. Not only the hairdo that the groomer gave them but eye and nose color too. Of course, I think my 3 dorkies look nothing alike, but when visitors come over, they can't always tell them apart.

While I was still in a canine mood, I drew Karen's elegant Satine from another FB page.

Sometimes, it can be frustrating to try to get detail on this ap. I've learned that bigger, more simple things are easier to do. Tiny details are impossible. (as proved by the fairy finger scribbles)

And also, I should just consider it cartooning, not a real painting. I keep it quick, light hearted and fun.

Hmmm, I wonder when I get another sloth day? Those are few and far between, but well worth waiting for. Although I paid for my day of doing nothing. Somehow, the old barn cat got into the office and made a horrid mess while I was busy doing nothing and not leaving my bedroom. Ugh. Double ugh.

Free Images to Sweeten someone’s day for Valentines

flowers, free images, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / January 27, 2014

There isn't much that is more fun to me than a day in the studio. Especially with friends. Which is why I adore Birdsong so much and why I want to plan more mini workshops at the cottage.

Last week, I was able to have a little get together in there with a few good friends, and little Dewdrop. One friend works for United Way and was putting on a coordinated workday with the Boys and Girls Club to make some cards to deliver with Meals on Wheels for Valentines Day.

She asked her crafty friends to help with some samples to display for the event, and brought her supplies over for us to come up with some cards using them. Well, it's always fun to delve into a pile of new goodies, of course, so I was all for it. Since I usually work with vintage papers, it was a challenge to try something different than what I am used to. Lori brought pretty scrapbook papers, so it was a joy to try them out.

Still, I did make some copies of flowers and old Valentines, plus some messages to add inside the cards.

I'll post them here for you to use too. Maybe you'll make a card for someone who otherwise might not be getting one this year?

Some of these I might have posted before, some are new. All would be pretty used in a Valentine! Click to open into a larger window and save the image to your computer before you print it off.

Hawaiin decadence

drawing, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 25, 2014

Everything is pretty in Kaanapuli Beach. The builders have done a good job of complimenting the natural beauty of their surroundings.

Our balcony over looked this koi pond, and between the waterfalls and the sound of the ocean, I slept with a smile on my face all week.

Well, it felt like it to me, but in reality, I probably slept like I always do, with my mouth wide open and drooling while snoors boomed out of me. My poor husband had to sleep with ear plugs and missed the sounds of the ocean.

This is a closeup of the side walk at Mama's Fish House.

I wish I'd taken more photos there, but I was just too overwhelmed. It was our first stop after the airport and I was doing a Dorothy, leaving gray, dull, boring, COLD Kansas and stepping into a world of technicolor explosions of tropical scents, sounds of the waves, and bright flowers. I was googly eyed and gawking at everything, just like Dorothy when she stepped into Oz.

Our flight was much better than hers, though. We came in on a nice, big, new jet, with a tv at every seat, and unlimited movies. Lots of leg room, comfy seats, and pretty good food too. Much better than a spinning house and squashed witch.

(And much better than our flight home on an old, crowded plane with no tvs to enchant me. It's bad enough to have to leave paradise, seems like United could provide a better way to get home, I felt doubly bad about leaving when I stepped into our transportation)

While Mama's Fish House was some of the best food I have ever had in my life, and such a perfect welcome to Maui, this little roadside stand that we visited later in the week was a stand out too.

We sat in folding chairs, shared $5 worth of tacos, and talked with a local guy who had a fat little chihuahua with him. Very entertaining and interesting.

I was pretty happy with walks on the beach, crafty things to do, Kona coffee on the balcony, and sunsets to watch. The whale watching trips and decadent dining were luxury bonuses that were so nice, they kind of threw me and my midwestern miserliness careful ways for a loop. Oh, but I revelled in them and over looked that little voice that spoke up when I saw price tags.

I hear that we missed the worst cold snap in decades while we were away. Staying warm while pipes froze at home was worth any cost.

And getting away from the gray bleary skies and icy sidewalks in January recharged my soul and will help me get through the rest of the season of gloom here in Kansas. I'm not much of a winter person, and a getaway was just what I needed to deal with some awful family issues that greeted us on our return.

We had some amazing meals while we were there, the restaurant we went to on Terry's birthday, served all fresh veggies raised on its own organic farm, and fish from the nearby shore. (What a place to have a birthday, huh?)

While dining, we watched the performers warming up for the luau next door.

Here is a birthday card I made for her on my finger painting ap.

We did some hiking too, not as much this time as I had thought we might, but enough to see some lovely sites.

Lovely, indeed.

I sure miss it!

A coral fairywool fairies hula girls

fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 23, 2014

While we were in Maui, we stayed at the Whaler on Kaanapuli Beach. From the canopied chairs by the pool, you can watch the ocean. And play Words with Friends.

My husband and I are now hooked on that game, I don't know why it took us so long to try it. We both like Scrabble, crossword puzzles, and iPads. Now, we have about 6 games going at once, so there is no wait while the other person plays. If there is any lag, we just start another game, so there are always words waiting to be made.

The pool was also a good place to do watercolor finger painting on my iPad.

I did a sketch for each day while there. One thing I didn't like about the ap was that I couldn't get good detail, or write very well. This was the first and last one I tried to put words on, I decided it would be easier to print them and add writing. I'll be able to doctor this one up with inks and markers and fix the writing on it later when I make my journal.

Besides the finger painting, I brought some other things to work on too. I want to come up with nice little fairy dolls made of wool roving for one of my Birdsong classes. Here are a few that I worked on with what I happened to have with me, but while I like quite a bit about them, there are a few things that I don't care for. I'm a fan of "low color" but I need some tones more springtime-ish for these sprites.

I need to figure out the faces too. I'm considering just seed bead eyes and blushed cheeks. But it is also possible to do a printed paper face glued on.

Terry came to hang out with me while the guys played golf and we experimented with the dolls, to see how easy they are to show someone how to make. (those are my dried out leis hanging from the light fixture, when I turned on the lamp, they perfumed the air)

Terry and I decided we needed to make Hawaiian girls, not just fairies. One has embroidered eyes, the other is still blank faced. The sarongs are made from a silk skirt I had with me. It had a bad spot on it, so I thought it would be better to cut up for supplies than to wear.

Won't it make beautiful silk ribbons when I slice it up?

I think the tiny doll will go into my travel journal. Both girls are holding heart shaped coral fragments that I found on the beach.

It's surprising just how many hearts there are waiting to be picked up on the beach. Some I left behind with this little shell and coral fairy in the sand. Doesn't her broken coral dress look like polka dots and ruffles? I saw that laying on the beach and just knew it had to be a fairy gown.

So, as I strolled along the shore, I kept my eyes peeled for shapes to finish her. I didn't expect to find so many hearts while on my Dr. Frankenstein quest.

What luck! There must be something about the way coral snaps off and gets buffed by the ocean that creates so many hearts. Or I was just there at a particuarly loving time.

I hope that someone walked by my fairy when I left her and had their day brightened.

Truly though, days don't need to be brightened on Maui. The island has a good handle on keeping everyone peaceful and happy.

It's hard to think about your problems in a place like this.

A Gingerbread Dream House for the fairies

holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 21, 2014

Last week, Sugarwings and I took advantage of the warmer weather and took our Gingerbread Dreamhouse out to the Fairy Berry Trail for the fairies to move into.

(after cutting out a doorway, so they could walk into it)

I asked her why she was sitting it on a table instead of under a tree on the ground and she looked at me like I was dense and reminded me that fairies can fly.

Then, she took the Santa out of the chimney and added a sparkly, blue fairy to greet the new occupants.

I'm sure the little people will be thrilled with their Dreamhouse.

Unless it is devoured by wildlife before the little Dorkies discover it in the woods. Albie Brave and Strong has had his eyes on the tasty looking home since we first started smearing icing on it.

In case Sugarwings goes out to check on how her fairies are liking the new abode and instead of housing sprites, it has been eaten by woodland creatures, I explained to her that as soon as the fae folk move in, it disappears into the magic fairy realm and becomes invisible.

Which means, I'd better go out and check to see if there are remnants of it lying around before she finds those, huh?

Birdsong 4 is now open for registration to new attendees. There might be an opening or two, I'm holding a couple of spots for past sponsors and guests who are checking dates and info, but these seats might be up for grabs. I'm starting a waiting list just in case. Please let me know if you are interested in coming or being a sponsor.

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

Birdsong 4 early registration

bird song art event

By Karla Nathan / January 18, 2014

I'm happy to announce that planning for Birdsong Four is underway and once past attendees and sponsors have had first chance at signing up, I will open registration to the public.

If you have participated in any of my previous workshops, as a student or sponsor, please contact me for early registration at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

if you would like to attend Birdsong 4 and I will send you a PayPal invoice, or set up a payment schedule.

OPENS TUESDAY JAN. 21ST FOR NEW PARTICIPANTS

This year's teachers will be myself, Andrea Singarella, and Lori Oles. We have been friends for years and I am thrilled to have them both here for our weekend adventure. Andrea is about the most kind hearted and talented person you'll ever meet and my buddy, Lori, while being one of the most prolific creative minds I know, is also about as witty and fun as a person can be.

Birdsong is held at my home in Lawrence, KS. This city was just remarked upon in Country Living for being so cute. I'm afraid most Lawrencites might think we are more hip than cute, but hey, we'll take the compliment. Anyway, it's a fun downtown area to visit while you are here, with lots of independent restaurants and shops.

Lawrence is about 50 minutes from the Kansas City, MO airport and there are numerous hotels within 10 minutes of my home.

This is the same weekend that the West Bottoms Antique district in Kansas City is open, with many warehouse sized shops filled to the brim with one of a kind finds. If you are coming in a day early, First Fridays are a good time to scratch your antiquing itch. (This is not part of our workshop, just an idea for you out of towners who want to get out and about while you are visiting)

My studio is now featured in the current issue of Where Women Create and is the destination for our 2 days of play time. There will be two classes each day, and the kits will be complete with everything you need to produce the 4 unique pieces of art being taught.

Our workshop will be Saturday June 7 and Sunday June 8, 2014

Cost- $325 includes:

Lunch, beverages, treats both days
Dinner on Saturday night with wine and desserts
Four classes with complete kits

Birdsong is a comfy, casual, cottage weekend. Don't feel like you have to buy a new wardrobe or glitz up. This is a relaxing getaway to my country home for some fun with vintage goodies and pretty projects!

(photo by Mark Lohman, styling by Fifi O'Neil for Romantic Country magazine)

Saturday night we will open swap surprises and have a shopping venue set up with lots of vintage treasures, art supplies and some other pretties. The food is all home cooked, using organic items from our own garden as much as possible.

If you have any questions, or would like to join us for our 4th annual Birdsong, please email me at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

If you would like to be a sponsor for the weekend, all gifts are appreciated and your website will be listed on the side bar of my blog.

(Until the Birdsong 5 sponsor list goes up the next year.)

Here is a button for your own site if you'd like to display it.

Maui Whale, Rainbow, Dolphin, and Cloud Watching

drawing, family, paintings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 15, 2014

Yes, my eyes are closed, but I still love this photo of us. It was such a special evening. I swear, Hawaii is special, no matter what, but wow. This sail boating dinner cruise was perfection.

My husband's sis, Terry, treated us to a trip on the Allii Nui

I expected a nice evening, but wasn't prepared for the total luxury and deliciousness of the boat. Great food, beautiful and spacious surroundings, whales leaping up a few feet from the boat to surprise us while we ate, frosty foo foo drinks, and of course, the best company. Terry, Dale and Rich are a fine set of companions.

We took another whale watching trip earlier in the week, and saw quite a few blows, fins, waves, and splashes.

But my very favorite part were the Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins. They have pink tummies, and leap into the air while doing pirouettes. We were followed by a few of them on our way back from spying on whales. Then, on my last day at the beach, a huge flock (school, pod, bunch?) of the pink bellied cuties, swam along the shore to tell me goodbye, while showing off their jumping skills and twirls.

Both of our trips out to whale peek, were on smaller trips, with few passengers. This boat was only half full, so was the sunset cruise on the catamaran.

Seriously, though, even if we hadn't seen any whales, the scenery is so lush, it's worth the trip out on the water.

Heck, you don't have to take a boat to be surrounded by beauty. This is the land of never ending rainbows.

Here is the view off our balcony one morning. It was a partial rainbow and a gold glow across the mountains. The rainbow seemed to be so colorful that it just couldn't contain itself and had to escape from the confines of its arc.

This is looking the other way from the balcony.

Every day, I did a sketch with my Ipad ap, Hello Watercolor. I was definitely hooked on that plaything. It's such a quick and easy, no muss way to paint. My plan is to print all the images, embellish them and make a travel journal with them.

It was a lucky choice to take two iPads with me. The one I got for Christmas, that was new, fast, and held a good charge, but didn't support the watercolor ap, and the older one with the painting toy on it. My husband left his iPad in the seat pocket of the airplane, and he was able to read books and play Words with Friends on my extra one during the trip.

He also lost his prescription sunglasses in the ocean. Seems like Hawaii is expensive enough without these additional costs. And today we realized that we are missing his brand new workout pants too. Unless they are lurking in one of the suitcases that were put away, they sure aren't in the piles of laundry I finished up after getting home.

My guess is that they are hanging on the back of the bathroom door of the hotel. Oh well, at least they didn't cost as much as sunglasses.

And he is such a hunk, I couldn't be mad at him.

By the way, Lenscrafters shops seem to be anywhere you happen to be when glasses get lost, and they can replace them in an hour. Unless your prescription is more than a year old. Like his was, even though it was only by a few days…. But there are doctors there too. Still a quick fix, just another-gulp- $100 to shell out.

I'd hate for him to have missed any of the beauty around us. I'm glad we were able to replace the glasses.

I'll have more pics from the trip coming up. For now, I'd better start tackling all of those holiday decorations that are still dangling forlornly in my studio. They are ready to go back to their box till next year, they are looking a bit tired.

Hello Watercolor

drawing, paintings

By Karla Nathan / January 13, 2014

For Christmas, I got a new Ipad Air! I was afraid to use it till I got a cover to keep it safe, and my husband kept teasing me and calling it "My Precious" in a very Gollum sort of way.

Before I got it up and running, I was still using my old one. On that, I downloaded an app called Hello Watercolor where you can paint with your fingertips. And it reacts like REAL paint.

When I finally got brave enough to use the new Ipad, even before the case arrived from Amazon (what bravery!), I opened this app on it, excited to think about painting with it from the balcony in Hawaii.

But it didn't work. The timing was lagging and I couldn't get the sketch right.

I tried restarting, reloading, redoing, all that. I wonder if it just isn't compatible to the newer version? I'm writing this before I leave on my trip, so I am not sure yet what I'll do.

Either I need to pack art supplies, or two Ipads…. One to play with this app on and one to use for everything else. Seems decadent to me. I can't take only the older one because it is really slow to recharge. With a 6 hour flight, I hate to be left bookless, and its battery goes fast.

We are calling that older one the "Family Ipad" so the girls can use it for games. I dont' want to just give it to them, I still like to be able to call the shots and teach them rules on how to handle it so it isn't mistreated or cracked. But it will be mostly them using it, and NOT using my new one.

I like the idea of having my very own Ipad that I won't need to share, one with no smeary fingerprints on it!

But if my new case doesn't arrive for the shiny, bright, all mine Ipad Air, I'm not chancing taking it on the trip with me. It's too Precious.

Hopefully, all works out and I can paint away on my new one while watching the sunset on the ocean. I'll let you know when I get back. I'd love to have watercolor finger paint sketches to bring home and make a book out of.

Unless of course, a shark gets me….

A Holiday Ornament making party

celebrations, family, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / January 11, 2014

Is it too late to still be talking about Christmas?

I feel like I missed a chunk of the holiday since I got so sick with a 24 hour bug that I was in bed for almost a week. Luckily, the rest of the family didn't get hit so hard. But I was a pure wimp about it.

So, I feel a bit behind with my holiday recaps. Plus, I'm writing this ahead of my trip to Hawaii so my blog will update while I'm away, making this not quite as old of news to me as it is to you….

On the weekend before Christmas, we had an ornament making party. It was a big, pitch in dinner, with lots of tasty treats, about 40 or so people, and I filled a table in the studio with tons of supplies so whoever wanted to make something for their tree could snip and paste and glitter away. Most of the husbands preferred beers in the office to glitter in the studio. The kids and moms were all able to make at least a couple ornies each.

I think Finn set the record, he was a regular Santa's Helper Elf. That kid was cranking them out.

And, I'd say the glitter was certainly used in full force! I will be sweeping up glitter for months. Or not, I kind of like having it sparkling up the floors.

Actually, it was one of many ornament parties I went to. First, the workshop early in the season, then a few friends over the next week to make some of the leftover projects. And my pal, Tami, invited me to a holiday ornament party at her house with some of our Birdsong friends.

Those were all such fun, that I threw this big one with the dinner party too. But poor Sugarwings, who was so excited about helping me plan it, got sick and couldn't come. I had a mini party for her where she could craft her own sparkly creations to make it up to her.

I'd bought a bagful of those papermache shapes on strings at Michael's when they were 40% and I had a 25% off everything coupon. These made for some fun concoctions, and I think I should go back and get more if they are still on clearance there . I have a feeling that they are gone by now. They are good to work with for the adults as well as the kids.

I wish I'd had my camera out more. I was elbow deep in sparkly stuff and too busy to take many pictures til things slowed down and all the kids had been helped with the glue gun and basic steps.

Over the years, I've had other seasonal parties with crafts in the studio. I love making things so much, these are my favorite kind of parties. I'm blessed with the space to do this and also have more supplies than I'll ever use. Might as well share, huh?

Speaking of supplies, my friend, Jen, had given me a stack of photo paper she wasn't going to use. Some how, some old photos (copies) of her relatives were left in the envelopes, but I wasn't sure if they were from her or some I had, or what, because it was a year or so later that I opened them and I had lots of pictures and photo paper.

She saw the photos I had out for everyone to cut and play with and recognized her grandma in them. She and her daughter had a great time making family themed ornaments to give away for Christmas. And it was cute to hear her daughter come over and say, "Mom, can I have another relative, please?"

Gosh, I hated to see the holidays come to an end. In my house, all the decor was packed up and stored away on Jan.1st. But there is still a silver and gold explosion of Christmas out in the studio. I have a feeling that when I return from Hawaii, I will be wishing I'd got that all boxed up too. Heck, I didn't even have a chance to clean up the room from the party yet.

That will be one of the first things on my list to do when I get settled. Because the girls and I have new toys to play with, I got these art sets at Michael's for them (those go on sale every year for a couple dollars) and Sugarwings bought one for me too! She had earned money from selling dyed bottle brush trees on Etsy and took that to her school holiday shop where things are donated by the community for kids to buy.

We were so tickled to see that we'd got the same gifts for each other. I can't wait till we get to sit down in the studio, spread out all the colors and give them a whirl.