March 2017 – Karla's Cottage

Visiting the neighbors

By Karla Nathan / March 30, 2017

I miss having horses. We used to have a wonderful, old barn filled with these creatures with the world's softest noses.

Seriously, what is softer than the velvet of a horse's nose????

But while that barn was wonderful to me, it wasn't exactly stable. Over 100 years old and leaning, it was near toppling over. And the cost to restore it? More than we could handle at the time.

(If I had it to do over again, I'd have taken out a second mortgage, and done anything I could to save it!!)

It has been gone for years now. And we are horseless.

But our neighbors have some we can visit!

We hopped on the 4 wheeler and drove up the road to call on them, and Sugarwings fell head over heels for the horses.

She was in heaven there for the afternoon and keeps asking me why we don't have a "real farm".

But as much as I miss having a barnyard full of these guys, I also remember how much work they can be.

For now, I'll just consider myself lucky to have neighbors who welcome us when we want to come over and be reminded of how good a horse's neck smells when you put your arm around it and just how velvety their noses are.

A card for the guncles

dogs, guncles

By Karla Nathan / March 28, 2017

Guncle Randy aways sends the best hand made cards. For every holiday, and sometimes, just because. So, I wanted to make one to send to the guys for Valentine's Day.

And I had this funny picture of Randy, jumping up (holding his cell phone over his head), and I wanted to change it into him holding own of his dogs.

The cover is one of myhand colored Valentine pages, it is glued to floral card stock. I cut hearts out of more floral paper and scattered them around the inside of the card, then I attempted to make a pop up of Randy holding Perry Clayton over his head in place of the cell phone in the photo.

I'd offer a step by step how-to on making a pop up card, but you do NOT want directions from me.

I just went for it and had no idea what I was doing. The back of the photo looks like Frankenstein's monster, there are so many trusses, and mistakes, and covered up bits attached to it. Seriously, if you want to make a pop up card, google it first. If you follow directions, they aren't hard. But if you can't remember how to do it, don't try to wing it yourself!!!

The guys love their dogs. Or should I say, their babies? So, I know that they will forgive the messy attempt I made at creating this, since it features their tiniest boy. They will look at the poodle and smile.

Recently, Randy has started his own business, and it is in pet care. It is called "Randy the Pet Butler" and he will be giving his loving care to Jacksonville, FL area animals whose humans need helping out. You can hire him for pet sitting, walking, feeding, and other care.

Check out his website here.

(I drew the butler at the top of the page for him)

The Phantom and the Pirate

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / March 25, 2017

My life growing up in Indiana wasn't one where I was exposed to Broadway plays. I was 40 before I saw my first one, and it was The Phantom of the Opera, at a beautiful theater in San Fransisco. From that I was hooked, and I've seen a lot of other plays and that same show in St. Louis, NY, and now in Kansas City with my girls.

Sugarwings and her big sis, Avahni, the circus star, both love listening to the Phantom sound track and wanted to see the show as much as I did.

It makes me very happy to know that these kids are growing up with a head start on appreciating culture. I hope they are beginning a lifetime love of attending theater, and I'm glad to have a part in developing a love of theater.

We all got dressed up for a big Sunday afternoon out on the town. It was such a special event, that I even wore my Great Aunt Caroline's pearls. If any occasion called for wearing my best jewelry, this was it!

And Sugarwings looked lovely with her glittered hair style.

Dewdrop is not fond of plays like the rest of us. She was a bit too young for this particular play anyway, she stayed home with her daddy.

She didn't care for the local plays (Cinderella and Rudolf) that I took her to over the holidays, asking to skip on Peter Pan, so I gave her ticket to a friend.

I 'm taking a step back, and not forcing anything on her. I will give her some time and see if she'd like to try again when she is older. Making her sit still through a show she doesn't want to watch is not the way to get her excited about going with us.

Maybe next year, she will be more interested in attending.

For this trip, I splurged on seats under the chandelier. Every time I have seen this show, I've been way, way up in the cheap seats and thought to myself how cool it would be to be in the front for that dramatic moment when the chandy drops.

And it was certainly worth it!

Please keep checking back, I do have new stories pre-posted for you to read while I am away. Also, any orders from the Boutique will be shipped on March 28th. Thanks for your patience!

Sugarwings found my camera

Dew Drop, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 23, 2017

Sometimes, Sugarwings will find my camera and take a few pictures with it. Her favorite subject is Dewdrop.

I don't blame her, what a cute model! Even though the poor kid was sick that day, full of spots from some strange ailment, and just getting over a fever, she was still pretty dang adorable.

Aw, poor baby, she felt yucky. I thought she might have Fifth Disease from the red cheeks, but that didn't last, her spots morphed and moved so much, we didn't know if it was measles, chicken pox, or who knows what. But her fever broke, and she was up and playing, so we weren't too worried.

Sugarwings also got some still life pictures.

It's always a pleasant surprise to find photos on the camera from her. I like seeing what she finds interesting. And the photos aren't bad, either.

Please keep checking back, I do have new stories pre-posted for you to read while I am away. Also, any orders from the Boutique will be shipped on March 28th. Thanks for your patience!

A shell fairy and a beach to “tide” us over

family, sea shell fairies

By Karla Nathan / March 20, 2017

In February, we had a benevolent blast of early spring. So Gorgeous (with a capital G) that we had to spend the weekend outdoors. I cleaned the winter buildup of dust, dog hair, and detritus from my car, used a leaf blower to clear out the garage, and spruced up the yard a bit. Besides getting an early jump on spring chores, we also took a break and went to Clinton Lake to walk on the trails.

We walked thru a little bit of woods and got to the hill that over looks the lake. Normally, there is a limited muddy area by the water, but at this visit, the water was low and we had a wide expanse of beach to wander on. I'd told the girls that it was still February, and the water would be icy, and we didn't have dry clothes or towels with us.

They didn't care! The sun and the water were too much for us. We switched our walk from the woods to the shore, then it gradually became a wading, not a walking adventure.

The dogs kinda liked it too. And my grand fairies found a shell for me to use as wings for a sprite made of rocks.

We can't get enough of beaches in our lives and are going to be back in Florida for spring break (this post was written earlier and we are most likely on the white sand as this story pops up). Clinton Lake rarely offers a beach walk, and we don't get out there much in the winter anyway. What a lucky break in the typical Kansas weather! This much needed escape from winter was almost as good as a trip to the Gulf.

Well, almost.

But not quite. I'm thrilled to be taking the littles with me to Siesta Key again. And I'm sure I'll have plenty of beach photos from our adventure there too. (please excuse these small pics, I didn't have a camera with me, and was using my husband's phone. When I sent the pictures to myself, they became compressed)

Please keep checking back, I do have new stories pre-posted for you to read while I am away. Also, any orders from the Boutique will be shipped on March 28th. Thanks for your patience!

Dancing Dewdrop

Dew Drop

By Karla Nathan / March 18, 2017

Our littlest grand fairy is taking ballet lessons.

I just can't imagine anything cuter than a little girl dressed up for dance class!

I'll be dancing off to Disney with this sprite, and will be gone for a bit. Please keep checking back, I do have new stories pre-posted for you to read while I am away. Also, any orders from the Boutique will be shipped on March 28th. Thanks for your patience!

Happy St Patty’s Day!

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / March 17, 2017

We won't be at the parade today, I'm taking the Grand Fairies to Disney World!!! Then, Dewdrop will have a week with her mommy and Sugarwings will be at the beach with my husband and I.

I've pre-posted on my blog for the next week, so please do come by and visit while I am away.

Any Boutique orders while I am away, will be shipped on March 28th. Thanks for your patience!

Welcome, Ladies! The Cinnamon Queens are here

Hens

By Karla Nathan / March 14, 2017

I'd never heard of Cinnamon Queens before. (The name sounds like a drag show in New Orleans or something). But once I looked up the name and found out what they really are, I was thrilled to be getting a boxful of them.

These gals are half Rhode Island Red and half Rhode Island White.

Our first hens were dainty reds, and since then, we have had many other occupants of the coop. But none of the newcomers ever measured up to the sweet nature of the little red hens we started out with.

(You can see how clean and pretty the coop used to be and how happy we were when the very first red beauties came to live with us here.)

I'd been excited to get some pretty blue eggs and we switched to Ameraucanas for the color. We also got a few other breeds, including red and black sex links. None were friendly, no matter how hard I tried. Each time I'd go into their home, they'd act like I could only be there to butcher them, not feed and pet them.

They were loud, big, and nervous. And big hens mean bigger piles to be left behind, so stinkier too.

Here is one of the unfriendly ones. Doesn't she have a look in her eye that says she isn't very trusting??

And here is one of the new girls. She looks bright, curious, and sweet.

As we opened the cage and let them out, they didn't make a sound, no screeching in terror (like the other chickens do when anything changes, if feed them, if I look at them, if the door opens, etc), no flapping around and trying to escape, no distrust at all. Each one started to explore their new space and seemed to be adjusting just fine.

Now, this behavior is not due to the farm they came from. For the last few years, we have dealt with a nice family who raises birds, and buy a few hens from the same place each time. The difference seems to be the breed, not the people who bred them.

Not that I'm giving up on the other chickens. They will always have a home here, and I will pet their heads and rub their warm tummies when I get eggs from them. I keep trying to convince them that I am their friend.

They don't believe me so far.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Cinnamon Queens will prove to be better pets for me. If they aren't, well, I hear that they are excellent layers, with extra large eggs, so that isn't so bad. I'm glad that they are here.

And if they decided that they want to perform some sort of drag show/dance review that suits the name "Cinnamon Queens", I'm going to be supportive. If they do, I think they might need some sort of Moulin Rouge style individual names, right? Here are some from the movie that I think will suit them:

Satine

Baby Doll

La Petite Princesse

Nini

Antionette

Pearly Queen

Image result for cinnamon queen chickens temperament

Production: There are several breeds that are referred to as modern day brown egg laying strains. These are breeds that were developed for their abilities as layers, and each hen will lay between 250-300 eggs annually. Temperament: CinnamonQueens have a reputation as being particularly sweet and docile birds.

https://www.purelypoultry.com/cinnamon–queen–chickens-p-375.html

Yep, more banners! And kits for springtime banners too

holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / March 11, 2017

I do tend to obsess.

When I start making something, I GO FOR IT!

Ah, but do you blame me? Lovely old wallpapers, soft faded ribbons, aged millinery, luscious laces, darling images, THE GOOD STUFF, is all soooooooo wonderful to work with.

And I'd say many of you agree with me, I appreciate all of the orders for kits!

So, I made up a couple more.

All in sweet, spring colors.

But this is it for now, at least. I will be shipping till Wednesday, then I am packing up some other delightfully wonderful beauties and flying off to Florida. I'll be taking the two grand fairies to Disneyworld, all by ourselves!

After that, we get a week at the beach with my husband who will meet us there.

So, all orders after Tuesday night, the 14th, will be mailed on Tuesday the 28th after I get home and my bags are unpacked, I'll pack up orders that come in while I am away. Which still gives you time to create your artwork before Easter.

( I started to delete sold items, but thought maybe the guests who purchased the kits would appreciate seeing the photos again when they start to assemble, so please excuse all of the "sold" items in the store right now)

Plus some are Spring, not all are Easter, you have plenty of time for those, right?

I've also added a few trims to the Boutique.

Lotsa rick racks…

And some hem facing lace…

As well as a big ole pile of cotton bias tape. This bag of cotton ribbon stuff is free if you pay the postage. I don't use it, but couldn't bring myself to toss it away, I knew someone would like it. Normally, my Boutique is only filled with things I personally would like to use myself. I have a rule in buying things, that if I don't want to accidentally get stuck with it if no one else wants it, I shouldn't buy it for resale. It is like an endorsement of something to me. To sell something to you is the same thing as saying, hey, I like this and you might too.

But every once in a while I get supplies that aren't some thing that I would use, sometimes they come in a package of something else, or a box at an auction. Anyway, I ended up with a stock pile of these and I have never used them, but they are old, I treasure old things and hate to throw them away. If you have a use for them, they are yours for the price of postage (they weigh over a pound so i t will be priority mail.)

PS- Please note that I do refund excess shipping on all orders after I have packed up boxes and made labels. Someone was freaking out over shipping prices being so high when ordering a bunch of items that were on clearance. Shipping is hard to calculate on my website, so I have just guessed at it, then refund when it goes too high.

I'll leave you with some pics of what I've added to my shop.

Spring Time Banner Kits

the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / March 10, 2017

Recently, I mentioned that I went through all of my Easter ephemera and wouldn't be able to make any more bunny themed banner kits. So, I worked on a few Spring themed ones instead.

Then, Ta- Dah! I came across a big, ole pile of bunnies, eggs, and other pretties for Easter!

Yay!

And I came up with an idea to turn some little, vintage coin purses into nests.

These are kits, but I also made a couple of banners to sell. They are limited, I didn't have many tiny purses.

Hmmm, maybe I'll get lucky and come across a few more??? (otherwise known as "cleaning the studio")

The kits do not come with instructions, but they are filled with all you need to make the banner yourself with your own creativity and style. If you do not want to do an Easter themed one, you can always save the bunny ephemera for another project and just use the flowers and gems over the precious wallpaper and enjoy the spring time tones.

My supplies are mere suggestions.

I provide the goodies, you delve in and supply the creativity!

I do love building the kits, and curating the colors, wondering how they will be used by the artist who buys them.

On each bag I pack up, I made these nests with faded Easter grass from decades ago. Wouldn't it be cute to glue one onto a banner segment? (these are itsy bitsy, that egg is much smaller than a jelly bean)

Just a little "Thank You" bonus.

Here is one that I made myself. It is available in the Boutique along with the kits, which have been going fast.