Karla Nathan – Page 113 – Karla's Cottage

In the breezeway

By Karla Nathan / July 19, 2016

The breezeway of our home connects the main (old) house to the addition with my studio, my husband's office, and our son's apartment. It is the room that every one sees, the central entrance to all areas of the house.

Yet, it has gone to the dogs and cats. We feed the cats in there, up on top of a cabinet so that the dogs can't eat their goodies. And we leave the window open a few inches, with the screen removed so the kitties have easy access to the room. We learned the hard way to leave that screen out, those cats are insistent about being let in, if there is a screen barring their way, they rip it apart.

The little dogs hop in and out of the window too, but Honey is too large. Although that doesn't stop her from trying. Whenever I walk through the room and see her poking her head through the gap, I always say, "Hello, Mr. Ed". (Remember the palomino who had his head through the top half of the barn door to talk? ooh, I've really dated myself with that reference)

This is also the room where the muddy shoes, rakes, tools, and toys end up. Along with wheelbarrows of firewood in the winter. It has become more of a mudroom than the breezy patio room that I had envisioned. Too many items pile up, as people go in and out of the house.

But, in the last year, I smartened up and placed a couple of cabinets out there to hide at least a percentage of the clutter. And recently, I finally got around to painting this large wardrobe. It's wood stain stood out too much in this space.

Much better! (You can see a before in this post)

A trip to Crown Center

Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 14, 2016

Sugarwings and I had a blast at Crown Center this week.

We took in some theater.

And dabbled in art.

Our Madagascar tickets were only $12 each, and Kaleidoscope is free. So was the interactive Mr. Potato Head exhibit. Even the parking was free. You can't beat Crown Center for high quality entertainment for kids at very affordable prices.

And where else can you paint with hot, melted, glo in the dark crayons?

Or draw with light filaments?

She also got to take photos of herself, and layer them on the wall, about ten feet high. That was a bit creepy, (or Cweepy, as Dewdrop would say) but fun to mess around with.

So was turning ourselves into a human kaleidoscope.

We topped off the day with a picnic by the pool at Lionsgate.

Seriously, a day cannot get any better than this one. Well, unless Dewdrop could be along for the day, that would have elevated it even more.

Yep, we had a lot of smiles going on.

Have a seat

cottage, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Hand Painted Furniture, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / July 11, 2016

Dorothy is happy to be back and to resume her role as blog model.

This chair has been needing a new seat for, well, way, way too long. It is Sugarwings' seat at the dining table, and she tends to be…a messy boisterous diner. The original seat was quite ugly, and I hated it from the minute I saw it, but it didn't show the results of her dining mishaps. I'd made a seat slipcover to use over it when company came, but didn't leave it on all of the time, because it was light colored.

When I saw these chairs on clearance at Nebraska Furniture Mart, I was inspired to recover Sugarwings' seat in a faux leather look, to compliment this chair, which I bought for the other end of the table.

Hancock Fabric is going out of business, and I got the cloth for 75% off, and a ruffled trim for an 85% discount. The two chairs don't exactly match, but I prefer things that blend nicely, not match perfectly. The other chairs are a mix match too, but I'm considering covering the seats with this 'pleather' stuff.

The kitchen/dining/living rooms will all be open to the new hearth room, where two of these genuine leather recliners will sit in front of the fireplace. The home will still be mostly whites and creams, but I'm looking forward to adding these darker, more rustic elements of leather, especially in the hearth area.

I'm not a fan of recliners, but my husband is. And the fireplace is his dream. So I searched high and low to find a couple that we could both live with. While I'd prefer some cushy, velvet seats with plush footstools instead, I have to remember it is his space too. And don't you think that this recliner is less recliner-y than most? It reminds me more of a leather club chair than a typical recliner, so I think I'll like it.

Maybe with a soft throw over each, and a distressed, white table between them? Oooh, and an alabaster lamp!?

Plus, they were half price. Well, at least the floor model was, and the salesman gave the second one to me at the sale price too!

See what I mean about how open it will all be? When the deconstruction started, it was a gamble, not knowing if we'd be able to have it this opened up or not. Old houses can be tricky and the builder told us we'd have to see what was in the walls before he could say for sure whether it would require supports or not.

But we lucked out and the room will be finished as we'd hoped.

Now, to pick out paint colors. And from looking at this photo, I think I need to redo the wallpaper on the stairs. In the past, you couldn't see the roses on the risers and the text on the wall next to them, at the same time. Now, from the new room, they are on full display and look a bit busy together.

There is a lot of work ahead, but I can feel it coming together.

Look who is back!

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), yorkies

By Karla Nathan / July 9, 2016

Dorothy Rosebud left us months ago, due to her phobias of the momma cat and Honey's playful puppyhood, that both left her trembling in fear. And crying out. Sometimes, she would get a glimpse of Honey and start shrieking. That squeaky toy noise got Honey's attention and she would run right at the tiny, little girl. Then, poor Dorothy would hide in her cubby hole under the stairs for 8-10 hours, not coming out even to potty.

She was terrified of life on the farm.

My pal, Beth offered to take her in and love her. Beth and Jeff did love her, but due to a problem that developed with her brother Button, one of Beth's other dogs, little Dorothy Rosebud had to leave their home.

At first, I was afraid I was in for more heartbreak. That Dorothy would be too scared to be here with us. I made a call to another friend who could care for her.

But while this little girl was away, she developed some confidence. Honey grew up, and is more under control. The momma cat's kittens no longer needed her protection. Things felt a tad bit safer here for a tiny dog. No one was picking on her.

She's been back in my arms for a week now and I am thrilled that we kept her. And grateful that Beth kept her safe til it was time to come home.

Sometimes I like chalk paint, sometimes it isn’t the right tool for the job

cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / July 6, 2016

Here are a couple of pieces I am tinkering with to use in the new room we are building. The one in the back is a heavy, Victorian door, or at least a partial door (laying on its side here). About the bottom 3rd has been cut off. It has a big window in it that I want to put a picture in, then hang the door over the mantel. My contractor has promised to put a strong anchor in the stone to hold it for me- this is a hefty hunk of wood.

I was so impatient to get the project started that I didn't get "before" pics. Although, I did grab my camera to snag a "during" photo.

While I have often complained about the explosion of the the chalk paint trend (to me, it is right up there with the gluten free fads that have swept the country) I do believe there is a time and place when chalk paint is a good idea. It just isn't the only paint in the world you should use ALL THE TIME.

This door is a perfect example of when chalk paint comes in handy. I wanted to dry brush over the existing finish to allow all of the bumps and alligatoring that developed over time, to show through. If I'd had to sand or prime, I could have lost a lot of that wonderful texture.

Later on, when the picture I decide upon is ready and behind the glass, I'll show the finished door.

The other piece is also a door, this one is from a shelf/cabinet thing. The door was a bit awkward to open and close because it is so wide. To get to a book off of the shelf, you'd have to step back to swing this big door wi-i-i-i-i-i-de open.

It is much better off removed from its cabinet. I'm giving the doorless shelves to my son's family and I'm going to hang the stained glass door on the wooden wall of the new room.

At first, I was going to cut off the two blank, side panels. Then, it dawned on me to look through my treasure drawer to see if I could find anything to foof those side panels up.

Between the drawer and this apothecary jar of goodies, I had enough trims and doodads to arrange and rearrange til I came up with something I liked.

There were a couple of rose garlands leftover from my kitchen cabinets.

Along with metal corner brackets, and a simple, wooden top piece. It didn't matter that I was using wood, metal, and resin, all were going to be painted after gluing down with paintable silicone. This is the perfect glue for 3D trim pieces, it fills in the gap where the two pieces meet.

See, once painted, all of the bits and doodads looked great together. And I was glad that I had left the frame large instead of cutting the window out.

Once again, I used chalk paint. But not the full price, break the bank kind. I got this from the craft store with a 40% off coupon. I've never tried the aging wax before, but thought I'd give it a shot.

In my estimation, it is much, much, much harder to control than glaze. Glaze colors can be diluted for a softer look, and have a longer working period to wipe off some of the color.

Actually, I disliked using the wax. It went on too heavy and wouldn't wipe away like my beloved glaze tones do. I ended up dry brushing more white chalk paint over the wax to lighten it back up. Now I guess I need to seal the paint again, huh?

So, in this case, a bonding primer, a coat of paint, and some glaze would have been quicker and easier than messing with the chalk paint, wax, more paint, then a topcoat.

Either way, this was a small project and one more step didn't take that long, so I'm not complaining. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Now, I need to pick a paint color for the wall it will hang on. The room is progressing!

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 3, 2016

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday!

Sewing (yep, I was SEWING!!) a duster from two shirts

sewing?

By Karla Nathan / June 30, 2016

If I can do this, anyone can. I am not a patient, or even very good seamstress. But sometimes I need something and that do-it-yourselfer attitude kicks in, or I simply see a piece and feel like I have to give it a try. Like this duster. The design is one of the many, pretty projects featured in the Gilded Journey book that I was honored to have my travel journal tutorial in too.

Here is the photo from the book of Lorri Scott's duster. Hers was so inspiring, that I was compelled to see if I could replicate it, and her instructions were very easy, even for a novice sewer like me.

Beth wanted to make one too, and offered up a stack of white dress shirts that her husband no longer needed due to a job change.

The shirts in the photo look like they are linen, and we were going with a cotton/poly blend, so I knew ours would be a bit different. But we figured that anything you added a ton of lace to would have to look good, right?

Once mine was all put together and I had plenty of lace sewn over my hideous seams ( I really am a poor seamstress), I decided to dye it. The poly blend fabric wasn't going to grab the color very well, but I'd hoped that it would take well enough to take the edge off of the harsh white and tone the shirt down to go better with the vintage lace. And I think it did just that.

This photo is from before I dyed the piece, and I don't think you can really tell the difference in the pictures, but in person, it is just enough of a change. The lace itself took the dye better than the shirt did, yet, some more than others. I'd expected that, different fabrics soak up dye in various ways. I could've waited to sew the trims on after I dyed the shirt, but I like that mismatched dyed look.

Here is an in progress shot, you can see the glaring white a little better in it. And tell that the laces were a bit more creamy to start with.

The trim was all vintage to start with, but the dye ages them even more.

All of the buttons were replaced with an assortment of mother of pearl ones.

Ahhh, you can't go wrong with vintage lace, can you? Although, I wish I'd fitted the shirt to myself a little better. Basically, it is a one size fits all type piece, but I'm a little short, and this was stitched from a couple of men's shirts, so it is a bit voluminous on me. Which is okay, but if I make another, I will find shirts that fit me a little better to start with.

And I'll try to slow down and pay more attention to what I'm doing. (Did I mention the bad seamstress skills?)

I kind of sewed the sleeves on inside out…. Since they are way too long for me, as most sleeves are, I will wear them rolled up anyway. The original dress shirt's seams are double stitched, so it doesn't show that the fabric is inside out, unless you try to button the cuffs, which I won't be.

Thanks, Beth, for the shirts and lace collars to play with! And thank you, Lorri, for such a lovely project to try to emulate.

If anyone wants to try one themselves, I highly recommend the book.

The construction project, in the midst of adding a hearthroom

cottage

By Karla Nathan / June 28, 2016

Things are coming along with the new room. There it is on the right, without the siding and door yet.

This is the view from the road. Our cottage started out as a tiny, 4 room shack almost 100 years ago. When we bought it, we added an upstairs, then rooms in the existing attic. Over the years, the kitchen has been redone a few times, as we could afford it. Twice, we have taken out interior walls to open it up, and now we are ripping off the exterior wall and adding an addition on the side of it, to make a hearth room.

You can see some previous incarnations of the kitchen here.

Ten years ago, we added my studio and a garage (on the left) with an office for my husband and an apartment for my son, above it. This is a very weird layout for a home, it is starting to look like a crooked caterpillar, isn't it?

As we have made our changes over the last 25 or so years, I've tried to keep the feeling of the old farmhouse in the new pieces we've slapped onto it. While keeping things as affordable as I could, which worked well because the original house was kinda plain and simple. But even while making efforts to have it all the new blend in with the old, I know that I was fooling myself, the odd ball, meandering shape we had created was nothing like a house built in that era.

Still, we love it. It is over customized and unusual, but it is exactly what we need. It has taken us a couple decades to get to this point, but I think we just might…. maybe… be all finished with remodeling after this last build on?

Last week, the contractor hung some plastic to protect the kitchen from some of the dust (there is NO WAY to avoid all of it), and within a matter of an hour, the two walls were gone, while I sipped my morning coffee and enjoyed the show.

We got a great preview of what to expect when the job was finished and the area would be one, big open space.

Then, some plywood was screwed up to block off the construction from our living space until a lot of the messy parts are finished.

Here is a view from our living room before the temporary plywood went up.

And here is a drawing from the plans. See what I mean about the weird shape? Good thing that we love our cottage, because I think we'd be stuck with it if we ever tried to sell it…

Between the Beach and the Hard Rock- thanks to Gloria Gayner, I Will Survive

celebrations, family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 25, 2016

Our trip to Orlando started with a drive to Cocoa Beach. Years ago, we started going there because it was the closest ocean access to Disney. Now, we go because we really like staying at the La Quinta by the pier. It isn't a fancy hotel, but has a beautiful balcony view of the water, and is a comfy place.

This year, Sugarwings was old enough to rent a boogie board. Kia and I mostly bopped up and down with the waves and played in the surf. She kept trying to catch tiny fish in her hands and actually managed to do it, too. I told her that she'd be perfect to be stranded on a deserted isle with. She can catch fish bare handed, plus is a vegetarian and doesn't eat them, they'd all go to me.

My handsome husband isn't an ocean guy, so he didn't get in much. He is more of stroller along the shores than a swimmer.

And our oldest teen? She refuses to let sun touch her body. She is an expert at staying lily white. Which I wish I was at her age, then maybe I wouldn't be so wrinkly and spotty…

Due to our flight being cancelled on the way out (we had a fun day in KC, going to movies and lunch while waiting for another flight), our time at the beach was cut short. We had a full day there, then moved on to Universal Studios.

If you stay at one of the on site hotels, you get a free pass to skip most of the lines. Or you can buy one for EIGHTY NINE BUCKS. geesh!

Good thing we got free ones, because if I'd bought those, I'd have been sad, many attractions didn't even have lines and we wouldn't have needed them anyway. There were times I was very glad to have them, and they were helpful. And we were thrilled with the Hard Rock Hotel. My sweet husband, who is not a fan of Disney, puts up with a lot of princess foofala on trips, and since it was Father's Day week, we thought he should have a place he would like to stay.

It was one of the nicest places ever. The pool was ideal, Sugarwings and I hardly left it when we weren't at the park. She participated in all of the poolside games and contests that she could.

Avahnni even entered the hula hooping event. Sugarwings won the hula hoop water relay twice. So, when the DJ asked for adult volunteers, I figured that I'd get up on the stage and maybe be in a water balloon toss, or something along those lines.

But dang, once I was out of the water, chosen as a volunteer, I discovered…

oh my…

It was a lip sync contest.

oh noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I don't sing. I can't remember words to songs. I have no rhythm. I dance like Martin Short, if I'm at my best.

The other contestants were cute college girls, swaying to the music and holding up their cocktails. Girls who knew how to dance.

When I was asked what genre of music I wanted, I requested "grandma music". Maybe something from a cartoon or from the 70s? I was given Disco. Oh no. I do not Hustle. Panic was setting in.

Then, I looked around and realized that while there might have been 200 people there, Sugarwings was the only one I knew. So, I went for it. I went as silly and dramatic as I could.

I let the Martin Short in me come out full strength in my dancing and that won the contest for me.

It was a highlight of my trip. Thank god there are no photos. I still am surprised that was me, up there in front of the crowd in a swimsuit, dancing and being silly. My mom would've loved it, she was goofy too.

As much as I loved the Wizarding World, I could've been happy at that pool all week. It even had night time family movies, with underwater speakers.

No matter how much fun a trip is, it is wonderful to be home. And to see progress done on the new room while we were away.

When Sugarwings started reading the Harry Potter books, I told her that I'd take her to Universal to see Hogwarts when she finished them.

Then, her Daddy married the mother of the biggest Harry Potter fangirl ever. So, we decided to change the trip to a "Welcome to the Family" vacation for the fangirl and her sister.

We are lucky to have these two girls in our lives. They are smart, polite, talented, funny, sassy, and cute as can be. We love it that they are such good influences for Sugarwings and Dewdrop.

And we love it that they are now our very own grand fairies.

Plus, I got a bonus trip to Florida out of the deal!! I'm missing those seashells already. Tell me again, why do I live in Kansas instead of near a beach?

Thank yous

Books, swaps

By Karla Nathan / June 22, 2016

Not only did the Farewell to Downton swap artists spend time making lovely pages for our books, and entrust me to compile their works into journals, they sent along presents with the packages. Which is beyond kind hearted. I do not do the swaps for free, there are fees to cover my supplies, postage and a smidgen of my time. So, a gift is above and beyond the role of the artists.

And that background? I received some Downton themed fabric too.

Some created art for me, including this collage and the vintage paper book. Others sent prettily wrapped bundle.

Including this clever surprise bundle. It is a length of lace, wrapped around little goodies.

Here are some of the tidbits that were tucked away in the ball.

Lots of trims and embellishments came my way. And after making all the books,I could use a replenishment of my stash! Thank you for the kind gifts, swappers!

And a big thank you to all of the nice people who entered my swap. Even though we had a record amount of drop outs, the beautiful pages that came to us were made with care and were very nice. I'm pleased with the results and so far have heard some lovely feedback.

When the drop outs began, I started scaling back on my production of the covers, and there were many people who ordered a second book. Also, a few thoughtful swappers who had to leave our group offered to buy the cover I had created for them, which I was thankful for.

Instead of making the hundred that I had planned, I scaled back to 50 some books. At this point, I have two books left to sell.

To give the new owners a head start, I've added lots of lace trim to the pages of both. Each comes with 2 Downton themed coloring pages and a mini scrap pack of vintage items to use on your pages.

If you are interested, please email me at: karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

SOLD, THANKS!

The interiors are made up of card stock, scrapbook-type paper that you can use as is for a background to your work, or cover with your own papers instead.

These books are $46 plus postage. Each is a little different. If you'd like to purchase one of these, please refer to them as #1 or #2, so I get your favorite to you.

SOLD, THANKS!

Author name: Karla Nathan