Author name: Karla Nathan

Quilt scrap critters

Painting with thread
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My buddy, Beth, gave me some more quilt scraps!  Yay, because I’m addicted to making hearts, kitties, bunnies, birds, anything from these beautiful remnants.

I’m still working with the old velvet bits and pieces, plus she gave me a bag of silk and cotton quilt scraps too.

Most have all the gorgeousness needed built in, but on others, I add a snippet of lace or embellishments.

The eyes are typically vintage, glass buttons, and the bunny tails are pom poms.

Look at the seamstress’ signature on this one!  What a lovely touch.

On the red silk, I added embroidery of my own and teensy millenary blooms.

The fabric can be tricky to work with, it’s pretty fragile.  I need to touch up some frayed areas with dots of glue here and there.

These are definitely not suited for a child to play with.  They aren’t that kind of stuffy, even though that kitty looks huggable, doesn’t she?

The hardest one to make was this swan, that neck, like kitty tails, isn’t simple to sew and stuff when the material wants to disintegrate while you stuff it.

 This piece of fabric was mostly patchwork, so I needed to add extra stitching to liven her up.  Not that I don’t enjoy doing it, plus these critters keep me awake instead of dozing off in front of the tv at night.  And if I didn’t have so many other things to get done, I’d be making even more of them.

For now, I’m taking a break.  I don’t want to use up all the precious fabric in one big blast.  I’ll save some for later.  But mostly because of my upcoming shoulder surgery   To keep my booth at Good Juju full, I need to tag,  prep, and pack  a couple months worth of inventory in advance.

I’d rather be making bunnies!

A surprising find full of forgotten memories, a coincidence, and a gift from Beth

collections, cottage, paintings
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When I took down the holiday displays, I didn’t change much on my buffet.  Mostly the main pieces stayed as is while Christmas glitz was exchanged for flowers.

 Instead of Shiny Brites, the swan was filled with coffee filter blooms.  I added floral pictures, tucked fake pink flowers and larger coffee filter roses here and there. Sugarwings placed her Lego bouquet into a depression glass parfait cup and we put it on a small pedestal.

That pedestal is actually a lamp base that I’d painted and glued a round mirror onto.  I use it a lot, I feel like it shows off anything you set on it.

The biggest addition is this reclaimed painting.  On a mini thrifting day, I popped into a Topeka flea market, and was attracted to the frame.  I thought it was $12 and figured I could resell it, then noticed my own signature on the bottom!

Yep, this is one that I probably sold at Mission Road Antique mall in Kansas City 20 years ago and it’s made its way to a Topeka mall.  I did not remember this piece of artwork at first, then once I thought about it overnight, it came to me.  I’d painted a number of things in my mom’s hospital room as I sat with her in her last weeks.

This was one of those.

At the register, I discovered it was $42 not 12 and was a tad bit iffy on the purchase, but went for it anyway.  Now I’m glad that I did because it has stirred some precious memories and I think it has earned a spot in my home.

Oh, and at check out I was chatting to the salesperson and told her the story of finding my own painting.  She looked closer at the signature, and told me that she used to buy hand painted Christmas ornaments from me and recognized the name.

As we chatted a bit, I completely forgot that I’d just came from the Medspa and had microneedling done.  And was wearing comfy, pj-ish clothing.  This photo was taken a couple days later so I looked much, much worse that day.  My face was bright red, more like Deadpool.  I have to wonder what she was thinking?

“Poor Karla used to sell artwork and do well, now she has a ravaged face and is finding her art tossed aside to show up at flea markets.”

Maybe not, I enjoyed our talk and I don’t think she was too horrified by my raw face.  And I’m so glad that I found the painting.

Another sweet addition to the buffet is this china frame from Beth.  I haven’t decide what to put in it yet.  A vintage photo?  A picture of my grand fairies? An antique print?

The frame itself is pretty old, you can tell from the back.  I feel like it probably should have something of an equal age, but I might be drawn to the idea of the kiddos framed in it.

A mini makeover in my jewelry corner

Good JuJu, Hand painted
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In February, I will be having rotator cuff surgery.  Knowing that I’ll be one handed and away from my booth for a while is inspiring me to get all of my duckies in a row while I’m still able to work.  One thing I wanted to do is lighten up my jewelry corner for spring.

This is the before, which I like.  The dresser is the ideal size to display my vintage baubles on, and great storage for backups.  But the dark color felt over powering.  Plus I hadn’t bothered to rehang anything above it since selling a few mirrors.   It was looking slightly uncared for.

For a revamp, I mixed up a faded blush pink paint (consisting of deep rose, white, cream, and grey) then primed my dresser.  Between coats of paint and primer, I repainted some darker toned mirrors too.  And a couple of other tidbits around my booth, because the furniture was taking forever to dry.

 I was slapping paint on stuff all Willy Nilly because there wasn’t anything else to do while waiting.

The cedar wall  needed to be a tad more foofy, but I didn’t want to repaint it all, so hung some rose patterned curtains over it.  I’m not sure if they did the trick, but it is a softer look.

This is the black mirror from the before pic, now a creamy tone.  And while I had my paints out, I pinked up the roses above it.

A year ago, when I first moved into this spot, the week of set up was during a bone chilling freeze.  And while the drafty, old warehouse juju is part of is kept warm enough to keep the pipes from bursting, it isn’t exactly toasty inside.

I’d quickly added roses onto the wall, bundled up and left because I was freezing and could barely feel my fingers.  But yesterday, the weather was downright balmy for January and the antique mall was a pleasant place to be.  While killing time waiting for the dresser’s fresh paint to dry, I worked on the roses that I’d felt were too rushed looking.

It is possible that no one but me will notice the difference, but the little changes made me happier.

For now, I’m letting the dresser sit a few days to get good and dry.  It’s a good thing I don’t live closer, because I’m itching to get in there and set up my displays.   Since it’s a 40 minute drive, I can make myself wait and give the pink time to cure.  Isn’t she a pretty color?

Like I said, it isn’t details most shoppers will notice much.  But I think it lightens and brightens the area, which the customers will hopefully feel.

Kicking off the new year with hearts and roses

antiques/junking, Good JuJu
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After and during our December sale at Good Juju I had a brief window of feeling better from my previous illness before catching another.   I had two parties planned that week then needed to redo my booth.  I got it about 90% done with the work, but started feeling icky, so wore a mask and kept going.

Catching this virus, as well as the one in November reminds me of why I push so hard to do my set up early and not wait til the last minute.  You never know what could come up before the sale.  And I feel more comfortable not having that big redo hanging over me.

I was able to finish that last 10% in time, without worries.  It just isn’t in my makeup to be a procrastinator   And it really isn’t from some sort of perfectionism or obsession, it’s from life lessons learned.

 Stuff happens, so I manage my todo list to be prepared just in case.

After set up I was either recovering or having holiday fun, so my days started running together.  When I put away all the trees from my house (it took 8 hours, I kinda took my time and made a day of it) I got out the calendar that I typically keep on the table (it had been put away due to the houseful of twinkles and baubles) and was stunned to see how close our January sale was.

There was a moment of panic, then plain ole relief.  And maybe some minor back slapping, knowing I was ready for take off.

And seriously, what better way to kick off the new year than to be at one of my favorite places with all of those fun vendors and customers?

Not to mention I get to enjoy a whole new holiday.  Valentines!

Yup, my booth is all hearts and flowers, which makes me happy.  Because I’m a pushover for any sort of festive decor.   I love a celebratory theme.

Because my much put off shoulder surgery is finally scheduled for Feb. 18th, I won’t be filling my cottage with hearts like usual.  So I’m going to soak up as much of this theme as I can at Juju.  I’m looking forward to our sale.

Just the best

family, Food and Drink, jewelry
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While my boy was here, we did some beading.  I did not get photos of all the necklaces he crafted, there are a few more.  Then the last day, we had a crimper failure, every one we finished that night, slipped apart.

At first there was heart ache and doubt- did we do the whole week’s worth of creations wrong and each would become a series of beads escaping across the room when worn?

Then, we tried the tool on the crimping beads separately from a necklace and watching closely how they closed.  It looks like we simply wore that tool out and the crimping beads were no longer closing correctly.  They came out twisted and smashed.

There is some worry about when this began.  Were the previously made ones getting progressively worse as we went along, or  did it happen all at once?  There was one moment when the tool locked up pretty hard, maybe that was it?

I advised Adam not to wear one of the pieces on his flight today, that maybe he should only wear them around his house until he knows they won’t break, and keep a bag in his pocket to gather up beads just in case.  He also filled bags with the bits and pieces of the ones he created that the closures failed on, so he could buy a crimping tool and recreate them at home later.

A lot of my time went into making bracelets to sell at Good Juju.  I put together a couple necklaces, my last one is where we discovered our catastrophe with the tool.  Luckily, it fell apart in my hands as I was finishing it, so I didn’t have to crawl under the table looking for gemstones.  I put some tape on the ends of the wire, will go buy myself another crimper, and repair it later.   But I’ll be fixing it alone, Adam will be back in North Carolina.

I’m going to miss my babies when they leave.

Not just me, the furry side of our family will be thinking about Dewdrop when she is gone.

They got lots of attention from her

You know what else I’ll miss?  My jeans.  I doubt if they will fit now.

We had over the top, magnificent meals every night.  A friend had given us a cooler full of t-bones, lamp chops, roasts, and more, all grass fed and raised on his farm.  Our dinners each featured a a delicious selection along with fresh veggies,  I made bread and cinnamon rolls multiple times.  Sugarwings perfected a recipe for coconut sugar brownies, and kept busy making them every couple of days.  Adam doesn’t eat cane sugar, so I did some experimenting with how I made cookies and rolls too.  Probably a more healthy choice, but hey, handfuls of cookies and plates full of meat every day still is a lot of food.

We had a BIG and utterly wonderful meal like that every single day.  Plus, Adam took charge and my participation was minimal.  Not only will I be missing the wonderful food, I’m losing the chef too.

He has a good life in the mountains, and I know he loves being there.  But it’s very far away from the plains of Kansas.

We were blessed to have this time with our family, and I treasure each moment.

Thoughts of Ryan were with me throughout.  I wore his pj pants, watched some of his favorite shows, and closely noted things he would have loved.  Losing him makes every moment with his brother even more precious.

It was a beautiful week.

Merry Merry

celebrations, family, Food and Drink
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My boy is in town with Dewdrop and Jacquelyn, and we’ve had some holiday adventures.  I was jealous about their ice skating fun, since I couldn’t join it, but I got lots of joy watching them. They were a delightful show.

Adam and his sweetie have some enviable  skills that deceptively make the sport look easy, but I was smart enough to know that my clumsy, concussion prone, bad shouldered, just recovering from two viruses, self, really should not attempt the ice rink.

The kiddos had a good time, but were ready to sip some tummy warming Starbucks with us and let their dad glide on without them for a while.

Not only are they graceful skaters, my boy and Jacquelyn are excellent cooks and have been treating us to spectacular meals each night too.

Our first day was iffy, we me still being under the weather, and our plans shifted a few times, trying to figure out the best way to go.  Instead of picking them up at the airport and spending the day, we sent Sugarwings as chauffeur and I rested til it was time to go so we were able to keep our evening plans.

And the show was so cute.  Silly, with less drama than most Cirque programs.  Just right to kick off our holiday week.

Each day we have been crafting late into the night!  I’m still a bit worn out and my creativity isn’t at its peak, but Adam’s pieces have been magnificent.  And we still have days to go, with time for more beading.  Along with cookie making, a ping pong tournament, and watching some holiday shows.  Plus, as an added bonus, Santa has delivered some 60 plus degree weather, so we will be getting in lots of dog walks.

I hope the week brings you joy, also.  Merry Christmas!

A much needed night out but I should’ve been more patient

family, Food and Drink
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After my busy week of First Friday at Good Juju, tearing down my booth for a redo, hosting two parties, and Christmas shopping, I caught a cold.

It was unpleasant, but not bad.

It was the kind of cold where I wanted to curl up and rest, but didn’t really have to, I could keep going, getting my work that I was behind on caught up.  I’d spent most of November suffering from a horrid case of hand, foot, and mouth disease, where all I could do was rest.  Too sick to consider anything else.

So I was way behind on most of my life.

I’d been staying away from the kiddo to prevent passing on the cold, and after all of those weeks of isolating from the family with the HFM disease then a week of this new ailment, I was plum sick of sickness and being alone.  So on an evening when I thought I might be getting over this pesky cold, Sugarwings and I decided to go out on the town together and hang out.

We had such fun!  23td Street Brewery is festive for the holiday, and I got hugs from the grand fairy.   But as the evening rolled on, I got a bit run down.  And while shopping, I realized the candles had no scent. I thought they were defective.

Then it dawned on me that I could have covid for the very first time.

Yep, that’s what it was.  My taste buds were fine and I loved the meal, but my nose was not doing its job.

And I’d jumped the gun by snuggling the grand a bit too soon.  Now my biggest worry is did I ruin Christmas by spreading this?  My son and his people are heading this way, I should be fine by the time they arrive, but it would be just awful if his child is sick while he is here.

I guess I’m lucky to have avoided Covid this long.  And very lucky that it was mild when I finally got it.  The spin I’m trying to put on this is about as believable as Sugar’s fake smile.

Right now, I’m pretty sad.  But fingers crossed that we will all be healthy together for the holidays.   I’m lucky my boy is on his way here, and that we can be together.  Even with masks.

Party number two

holiday decor, We're having a party
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I always say that the best time to host a party is when you already have one planned that week.

The house is already cleaned, extra tables and chairs have been carried in, sometimes you can even make enough food to serve two times.

That part of the plan didn’t work completely., but sorta.   I made fresh quiche for both days, but I did sautee all the veggies and meats ahead of time so I could assemble the pies easier.

For the second get together, I didn’t set the table, it was served buffet style.  The earlier Bookclub gathering was a set number of people, this 2nd one was more open ended and I wasn’t sure how many we’d have.

I’m always looking forward to throwing a bash, setting up for a party is every bit as much fun as redoing my booth at Good Juju.

We had a festive day, and a lovely group.

Angie made a peppermint pie that is now up there on my list of all time best foods.

And aren’t these roses from Beth full of holiday cheer?  Everyone was very thoughtful, and generous.

Like I said, a lovely group.

Our annual Bookclub holiday party

paintings, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party
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I have no idea how long we’ve held this tradition, 20 years, maybe?  Hmm, Sugarwings is 19 now, so maybe not quite 20.  18 or 17?

I tend to date events by the ages the kids or dogs were at the time.

It’s an evening I always look forward to.

Each year I try to make a gift to set at each place setting.

This year, it is hand painted book marks.  I thought of doing Christmas ones, but I thought flowers might be more practical. 

This is what I wrote for the backs.

Since they are watercolor, the paint needed protection.  Originally I’d planned to laminate the tags with clear packing tape, but oops!  It was too narrow!

The party was that night and I didn’t have time to get extra wide tape.  So I experimented by using an acrylic clear coat.  It went on fine, no smearing.  I was surprised and happy.  I hope they hold up.

The Cottage at Christmas

holiday decor
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My holiday decor is a bit lighter this year.

As I was setting it up, I started to feel ill.

So some boxes were left unpacked.

Even in that scenario, I seem to have set out plenty, huh?

As I pack it away January first, I typically fill a tub per tree, so when it is time to set it out again, it’s all sorted into different categories.


Such as nature…

Pastels…

Handmade with vintage paper…

Sentimental or family items…

It’s a loose system, with variables.  And when I unpack, I don’t exactly use the items the same as the year before.

It makes things go a little quicker for set up, even when I’m changing it up for the season.

It also makes tear down time go more quickly too.

Set up is a full day, because I have to pause, admire, reminisce, and enjoy all the baubles.  But tear down is usually one afternoon.  My record time is under 3 hours, but that was because we had an emergency where the floor needed ripped up and major repairs handled so those trees needed to be gone.

I guess my antique dealer past is helpful training in doing a redo quickly.   Plus, it makes me happy to do it.  An enjoyable task can just zip by, huh?  Well, unless you have guys with saws and tools waiting for you to get your precious pretties out of the way so they can tear up the floor to get to the foundation.  Not quite as much fun.

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