January 2018 – Karla's Cottage

Valentine Kits Available

By Karla Nathan / January 31, 2018

I've been working away on cleaning up the studio, and getting kits ready for myparty on Saturday to make some Valentine projects.

Pulling together the supplies for a kit is a joy for me. I love compiling the pretties needed to create with. A couple of years ago, I found this box at a garage sale, and it has been ideal for sorting my goodies and packing up kits. And it sure makes getting one of everything into the bags.

Plus, doesn't it all look yummy pulled together like that?

After setting aside a package for each guest, I've got a few extras if you'd like to make one.

The kits can be found in the Boutique.

And here is a sample of what is included:

a painted candy box ready to decorate
vintage, silk brocade wallpaper in cream and tan to cover the lid
a selection of tiny millinery blooms
a snippet of rhinestones
5 images from vintage photos printed onto high quality matte photo paper for you to chose from
various tidings of sweet phrases and words printed in different fonts and sizes
hand dyed crepe paper sewn into a ruffle for you to trim the box (the box I created does not have the ruffle on it, but the instructions show how to add one)
two strands of lace
one wide, one narrow velvet ribbon
vintage French text
hand illustrated instructions

The box is approximately 4×4" and the kit includes all you need to finish it as pictured, including the option of using different pictures or phrases in place of the one that I used on mine.

Since i have used many vintage pieces, some kits will vary, although all are of equal style and value.

Surviving winter, sort of.

family

By Karla Nathan / January 28, 2018

I've officially decided.

I hate winter.

I've always known it wasn't a good time for me, but this year, mere dislike has become a pure, burning hatred.

Maybe the accelerated loathing was from being cooped up in the house with 5 dogs, some who don't like each other, two that need to be seperated due to a hot spot that won't heal and the other wanting to "help" with it, and one who sheds buckets and buckets of hair.

There hasn't been that much snow, just a few dustings, but there were a lot of days with single digit and below temps. Not good when your art studio has cement floors. I felt like that cold had invaded my bones, right up through the soles of my feet, and I spent a some time just shivering and feeling sorry for myself. Then, I decided, to heck with trying to work and flung myself deeply into Netflix and a couple of good books, and so much hot tea that my brain was zinging with caffeine.

Just when I thought I wouldn't make it, or that I'd turn into a jittery couch potato with no interest in leaving my cozy blanket and TV, the weather broke.

And in a spectacular way. We had bountiful sunshine, warmer days, but still, oddly, kept a covering of snow for a bit.

We were able to shoo the herd of dogs and girls outside to get some fresh air, and exercise. The kids used leftover tie dye colors that I'd saved from coloring bottle brush trees, to draw pictures in the lingering snow.

There is nothing like some sunshine to perk me up. End of funk.

Not the end of the season, but I feel the will to go on.

I CAN MAKE IT TIL SPRING. I think I can, I think I can. I think I can.

How to hand dye and ruffle crepe paper

Tutorials

By Karla Nathan / January 23, 2018

I have posted about how to do this a few years back, but figured it wouldn't hurt to write it up again, as I was in the process of making ruffles for my Valentine kits.

The color tipped ruffles are pretty any time of year, but seem extra fitting for holiday crafts.

These rolls are from Walmart, about $1 each. I add some color to water (food coloring, teabags, dye, whatever you want to use), in a bowl just big enough for the roll to fit. A few inches of water in a plastic tub that lunch meat comes in is great. Or a cereal bowl. Anything along those lines.

Add more dye for deeper colors, a slight amount for softer tones. You can add a little, check the color, then add more if needed. It is best to start with a smidge of dye, and then pour more in if you'd like. If you get too much, you can always add water, but you might soon need to move to a bigger bowl if you' ve added too much color in the first place.

I like to dip a roll of crepe paper into clear water first, then the colored water. It will make for a softer tone.

You can also dip more than one color, or spritz the wet roll with Glimmer Mist for some sparkle.

While the roll is wet, I rub an ink pad along the top ridges for more depth of color, and defined edges.

The rolls need to dry completely, and I give them at least 3-4 days. And while dripping and drying, I set them, colored side down onto paper that I want to cut up and use in my art journals.

The imprint looks like a peony, doesn't it?

Once the paper is COMPLETELY dry, I sometimes ruffle it by bunching it up as I sew along one side.

When you unroll the crepe, at first it will tear. Try to smoosh the roll a bit to loosen it up, it dries a little crunchy and stuck together. But once I squeeze it, and tear off a few outer wraps, it seems to always unroll just fine.

Often, I skip sewing and simply pinch and push the paper into a bead of glue on whatever project it is being used in. But for this batch, I took the time to sew the strips, so I could use the pretty ruffles in kits for the classes.

Either cut long lengths to sew, or unroll 5-6 feet at a a time while sewing. Try to keep it straight as you feed it into the machine.

The cream ruffles I made today are for the back of the Love Bird tin. But I like them all so much, I'm thinking about adding them to the kits for the candy boxes too. They'd make a pretty addition to the bottom of the heart shaped box, wouldn't they?

Valentine workshop at the studio

Valentine's Day

By Karla Nathan / January 18, 2018

Thanks to those who have already signed up for our Valentine craft day on Saturday, Feb. 3rd! I've made some examples of the three colors to choose from for the candy box class.

And I hope to have kits available online for those who can't make it to Lawrence for the party.

Here are the options for the two classes, plus card making and lunch, if you would like to join our group at the cottage:

Love Bird:

9:30am til 11:30am,

11:30am- break

11:45- Valentine Card Making (Free time, with guidance if needed, make as many as you'd like. Examples will be on display to help get your creative juices flowing as you make your own holiday cards.)

1pm- lunch (home made, fresh, and organic)

Candy Box:

Please join the earlier class for card making at 11:45 and lunch at 1pm.

2:30- 4:30- class

Please come 10-15 minutes early to get settled.

Costs:

Bird/Cards/Lunch- $50

Cards/Lunch/Candy Box- $50

Combined day with both classes- $90

So far, all participants are attending both classes, which I was happy to see!

As with all kits and classes at my cottage, we will be using The Good Stuff.

Lovely millinery blooms…

Delicious, flocked, old wallpaper…

And soft, velvet ribbon…

This pink color was created by soaking nylon/silk velvet in boiled avocado peels. It makes the prettiest shades of pink! The lighter pink was on white ribbon, the warmer tone is over ivory.

Our morning class will be this sweet birdie in an old, tart tin. And in between, we will have time to make some cards for our loved ones.

To sign up, please email me at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

I'd love to see you here!

PS- if you are looking for an excuse to visit the Kansas City area, the Old West Bottoms Antique District is open for their First Friday sale dates. It features some of the best junking you will find.

Around the Cottage in Janurary

dogs, family, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / January 15, 2018

This Christmas season, I had my halls decked extremely early, and when the holiday passed, I was ready to say toodle-doo to what all of a sudden felt like clutter. So, on the 26th, the marathon pack up began. Surprisingly, the tear down goes pretty fast. I have to be very organized to make soooooo many things fit into one closet under the stairs.

And it did fit! I had my doubts because I had added some decor to my previous years' stash.

As glad as I am to streamline in January, I can't bear to put it all away at once, and always leave a bit out. Like the angel wings mounted on burlap over my bluebird and roses paintings. They will stay up through Valentines. And over the windows in the grand fairies' craft nook, I have frosted branches and white lights. To me, those are considered "winter decorations."

And it has been TOO COLD to put away the outdoor stuff.

This girl doesn't seem to feel the cold. It has been hard to convince her to come in when it snows. Although, right now, it seems hard to convince her of anything. She has developed a stubborn streak. Sugar has been the most perfect pup I've ever had the joy to work with. So, I think I took her good behavior for granted and stopped working with her. She got into some bad habits and we are back on a training schedule again.

She is only 8 months old, and I have to remember she will be a puppy for at least another year, even tho she is such a big girl now.

This big girl isn't ready to complete give up on our Christmas cocoa parties in front of the tree. I miss them too, but have to limit them to December while the tree is up and sparkling, to keep them special. But they are hard to give up on cold turkey! So we have been having some tea parties with our favorite dolls as a transition into January.

The girls, as well as I, have a very hard time going from so many fun holiday activities to "real life." We are already on the countdown to December 2018!

Having a special Valentine party to look forward to helps. If you'd like to come too, please check out the details on my previous post.

Romantic Valentine Craft Day- 2 classes, 3 ways at Karla’s Cottage Coming Up!

bird song art event, Valentine's Day, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 12, 2018

On Saturday, February 3rd, I'll be hosting two mini workshops in the studio. You have the option of attending the morning class, afternoon class, or both with a luncheon and card making session in between.

This sugared dove nests in a bundle of vintage netting set into a heart shaped tart tin. She features vintage laces and trims, ruffled crepe paper, and millinery blossoms picked from my garden of flowering hats.

(Due to the number of heart shaped tins that I gathered from estate sales, this class will be limited in size)

The afternoon class is a candy box, made from a small Russell Stover candy box transformed into a keepsake.

(And yes, the candy inside is for you!) This photo will be included (along with everything you need to complete your piece) but other old photos will be available to choose from if you'd care for another picture.

I will offer this one in:

Warm Whites

Rosey Pinks

Romantic Reds

We will paint the boxes, cover them in vintage papers, lace, and velvet ribbons before adding a lovely lady to the lid and adorning her with millinery blooms and rhinestones.

As with all of my projects, I believe in using THE GOOD STUFF.

Vintage supplies, hand glittered birds, old photos scanned and printed onto high quality papers, sparkling rhinestones, and soft velvets, of course!!!

You will get a printed sheet of phrases in different fonts and sizes to pick the words that mean the most to you, so that you can personalize your artwork. Also feel free to bring anything from home to add to the piece and change it as you'd like. Since many of my supplies are vintage, the kits will vary a bit in looks, but will be equal in value.

The kits will be complete with all you need to create your heart shaped treasure. All you need to bring are scissors and glue. I'd suggest a regular pair of scissors and a small, detail pair too.

Sweets, and beverages will be served throughout the day, lunch and card making is included with both classes.

Love Bird:

9:30am til 11:30am,

11:30am- break

11:45- Valentine Card Making (Free time, with guidance if needed, make as many as you'd like. Examples will be on display to help get your creative juices flowing as you make your own holiday cards.)

1pm- lunch (home made, fresh, and organic)

Candy Box:

Please join the earlier class for card making at 11:45 and lunch at 1pm.

2:30- 4:30- class

Please come 10-15 minutes early to get settled.

Costs:

Bird/Cards/Lunch- $50

Cards/Lunch/Candy Box- $50

Combined day with both classes- $90

To sign up, please email me at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

I'd love to see you here!

Girlfriends’ Craft Day- the holiday edition, glitz and sparkle time!

friends, holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 9, 2018

Tami and I got to be friends through Birdsong, and a group of local-ish Peeps who met through our crafty weekends got to be close. Tami has coordinated many get togethers for us to gather together and have some girlfriend time.

She sets up space in her basement studio and offers up a generous and (eye popping) array of supplies as well as some ideas for projects.

This is a lid to a chewing gum tin I've spiffed up with one of the little angels she had out for us to use.

I used another one in this little mint box.

I'd brought supplies of my own to use too, and got quite a few ornies made. This one is sold, the others were for gifts. The glass dome on this is from an old clock, I had a few, but not as many as I'd like! It would be nice to find a big pile of those to play with.

One I used to make a gift for Guncle Kevin, the other I put together as a kit for Guncle Randy to make one for himself.

Since I had some specific gifts to get done, I didn't participate in a mini class Tami offered for the morning.

But I sure enjoyed watching the others make theirs.

Cute, huh?

Beth numbered hers in sections to use as a journal/calendar.

The day goes by way too fast, and I usually have to rush back to Lawrence for family something or others, and am jealous when some of the rest of the group turns it into a sleepover!

Some weekend, I'll just have to make that work somehow. Because there is never enough time to treasure with good friends!

Bad girls day out

friends

By Karla Nathan / January 6, 2018

For most of December, my pals and I tried to get together for a day out and movie. First one thing came up, then another. Sad things, sore throats, business concerns, and more.

Finally, we decided that we were going for it, no excuses. We'd seen Bad Moms and Bad Moms Christmas together in the past and planned a Bad Moms' Day OUT.

Beth had a rough week and told me to "bring the tooth", a basket to carry her in (she was feeling like a basket case) and a selfie stick for photos with Santa.

I took her serious and did just that.

Back when I knocked my front tooth out, I had a flipper with a fake one to cover up the gap. If she was sad, I could make her laugh by taking it out and letting it dangle a bit while wiggling the tooth around.

I brought the flipper on our day off, in a basket along with a selfie stick, and wore it so that the single tooth could stick out of my mouth. (I thought I looked a little bit like Nanny McFee)

We went out to lunch, redid Beth's antique mall booth, and crafted. Not such bad girl stuff, huh?

Time got away from us and we hadn't seen Santa yet, it was time to go to the movie we'd chosen for the night, so we decided to pass on trying to visit Mr. Claus.

But as we were driving away, we saw a blow up St Nick at the neighbor's house and yelled, "STOP THE CAR!" We jumped out, feeling that delicious, naughtiness that can cause laughing fits when you are being extra goofy as we ran up to the lawn and posed with the giant Claus.

We were selfie stick rookies and had some issues with getting it to work, which caused even more laughs, as well as that feeling of trying to hurry to escape from a situation, but being trapped by nervous fumbling while trying to rush.

There was a deflated one across the street we raced up to photo bomb also.

And we found a small Doggie Claus that we had to lay down on the ground with to get in our shot.

While we really weren't doing anything to break a law, just a tiny bit of trespassing, which I doubt if anyone would have minded, we felt like we'd made our Bad Moms' quota. There was running as fast as we could, pulling each other along, and laughing our butts off.

I was reminded of the silly pranks I did with my high school friends way back when, giggling and running, thinking we'd be caught and in trouble. But having such fun, no one cared.

Sometimes, a little bit of silliness is just what you need, huh?

There isn't much better than having friends to play with, huh? I think we got Beth out of her basket.

Jeweled seashells

sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 3, 2018

While in Mexico, I picked up some iridescent shells to bring home. I turned them into small, ring holders by stacking an upside down one as a base and upright ones onto it, and adhering with glue.

Then, decorated them with some vintage blingy bits in oceany colors. These two, I mailed to my sisses along with two heart shaped abalone heart pendants that I bought for them there too.

This makes me want to go back to the beach to gather more shells to embellish!