Karla Nathan – Page 125 – Karla's Cottage

Fall Home Tour- uhm…I have four pumpkins to see…Oh, and some mums! look at the mums!!

collections, cottage, dogs, holiday decor, show and tell, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 18, 2015

Dear Brenda invited me to be one of her guests on the Fall Home Tour that she curated.

I'm afraid I don't have a lot to see as far as fall goes- I think I might have let her down. It is just a bit early for autumn decor for me, I tend to hang onto summer till the last blast of heat has faded, then go straight into Halloween junk strewn about my house.

But it was good to have a reason to do a seasonal transition. I was happy with the results, minimal as they are. Usually, I buy a few white and gray pumpkins in October at the Pumpkin Patch, and since the little grand fairies love going there so much, and the events are free, I like to save up all my punkin buying for that venue. It isn't open yet, I don't want to purchase the gourds from the grocery store, and our home grown ones aren't ready to pick, but luckily, I had a few artificial ones to pull out and get the mood set for fall.

Brenda is doing this tour in order of the homes, so previous to my house is House Honeys, So Much Better with Age, then Chasing Quaintness and the next home ready for a tour is Northern Nesting. After that is White Tulip Designs and My Thrift Store Addiction.

There is also a hand made pumpkin from my friend, Tami. (on the left)

While I love bringing natural elements into my home, and am looking forward to picking pumpkins straight from the patch, the artificial gourds can be a lot more versatile, I doubt if I could balance a real life, heavy pumpkin on a stack of teacups. And if you put a fresh one under glass, that can cause it to get moldy faster.

Even though Halloween is still a bit away, I had to pull out my white witch picture. I found it at a garage sale for a quarter, and it is one of my all time favorite pictures. She isn't necessarily a witch, but I think she makes a good one. She is a traditional part of my fall decor.

Sometimes the things I spend a quarter on can turn out to be quite nice. Not just the white witch picture, but this floral/pumpkin ring that the larger pumpkin rests on. I got it at a garage sale, and spray painted it white, then dusted it with glitter. I purposely did a haphazard spray job on it, so that the colors underneath still show in a muted way.

The new clock is from Michaels. I rarely buy things that aren't old or second hand, but this clock spoke to me when I passed it in the aisle and I knew I had just the right spot for it. (plus, while it might not BE second hand, it does HAVE a second hand….. oh, I crack myself up sometimes)

Few things say fall to me more than mums do. I can't resist buying a few more plants every year to set out in the beds once they have finished blooming.

Under the pots of mums, I've used my favorite scarf from a Victoria Trading Co. giveaway as a runner. I'm not big on traditional fall tones, but the soft faded colors in this scarf are an exception to my ban on orange.

This time of September, the summer flowers are starting to perk back up again after the heat of August fades, and the herbs are bolting with blooms. I love picking fresh herbs to bring in to fill the kitchen with their scent.

Speaking of scents, it is time to switch from lighter candle fragrances to cidery/appley/cinnamony yumminess. One of the very first things I do every morning is light a candle that sits on my wood stove. Unless it is winter and we are burning wood, of course, that is a whole other olfactory sensation of its own.

I keep a tablecloth on on the stove when it is not in use, and once again, these are not my typical colors, but I do indulge a little bit in fall tones, if there is a good deal of white still involved.

After saying a couple of times that I don't do orange or the traditional shades of fall, here yet again, I make myself out to be a liar. In the grand fairies' play area, they get a bright colored vintage table cloth with turning leaves on it.

I probably shouldn't do orange because this really doesn't fit in with that corner of the room. But, if I think about it, neither does the stack of coloring books or the box of art supplies. When there are kids around, you just kind of have to live with the things they love and use, don't you? And a bright colored table cloth to mark the turning of the leaves makes the little ones happy.

Recently, when I painted and stained the cabinets, and used Venetian plaster on the walls, I hung this drawing by my great grandma, Nelly, in the kitchen.

And it crashed to the floor in a pile of glass and crunched framing, due to a careless job of hanging it.

The drawing wasn't harmed one bit! I'd never really cared for the way it had been framed, and while it was a pinch in the ole wallet, I was glad to have an excuse to reframe it in a way that I preferred. I chose a more antiquey looking frame, and one much smaller than the previous one.

I'm very happy with the results. And I think Great Grandma Nelly would be too. She did a total of 6 pictures in her time at Southern Indiana art school at the turn of the century (not this one, the one BEFORE). Then, she retired to farm life to raise kids. I feel so blessed to own one of her works. And soooo glad it wasn't torn up in the crash landing.

For summer, I'd covered my chairs in white ruffled slipcovers. To warm up the room for fall (not to mention that they needed a good bleaching due to messy fingered fairies), I slipped them off.

I'll probably leave them off til Christmas. And maybe tie them on with golden bows? By the way, They washed up perfectly.

Last week, I also replaced the two chandeliers. One that had hung here had a wiring issue, and one in the studio got hit with a heavy picnic basket that spun around so hard the fuse blew. But that is a whole different story, isn't it?

Anyway, a light in the kitchen and one in my studio both needed replaced. I decided to buy two matching ones for the kitchen and move the one that still worked into the studio.

After painting the kitchen white, I almost thought that white chandeliers were too much, that I needed some contrast. So, I bought a pair of dark, rust colored lights.

They seemed too dark.

Seems like I had a slight case of Goldilocks syndrome going on, and needed to find the solution to make them Just Right.

I'd gone to all of that effort to have an all white room, and that was just too much darkness to add. So, I did some painting and brightened up the new, dark chandies, while still leaving some contrast.

This might show what I mean better.

I also added 3, large peachy-amber crystals (for fall) and a few vintage ones here and there to customize it a bit.

On the tube thingies that fit over the socket areas, I glued some vintage flocked and glittered wallpaper from France. Oooh La La !!

In the spring, I think I'll pull it off and change it to something rosy.

Another thing I'd been wanting to do since repainting the cabinets, was to change the skirt under the sink. I'm not much of a sewer, but I can do a hem to fit over a curtain rod without too much cussing.

I used the vintage fabric I had left over from another project, but it was there wasn't quite enough, so I added some vintage eyelet trim to lengthen it.

Sorry I didn't wipe down the front of the dishwasher or put away my watermelon before taking pictures.

If you are wondering why all of my fall decorating pictures have been of my kitchen only, it is because that is mostly where we live.

This room is where we gather, and spend the majority of our time.

The living room did get a little bit of a nod to fall. I sat out a crazy quilt that my mom made, in case anyone needed a snuggle when the temps drop enough to open the windows and we get a cool breeze at night. Mostly, Dorothy Rosebud thinks it is for her to cuddle up on.

Normally, this time of year, I take down my spring floral curtains and replace them with the white velvet ones. Not this year.

I might have discovered a wonderful trick- I didn't have time to switch them out last spring, and no one even cared or noticed but me. And look how much time it saves me this season!! Although, living in an old house with a wood stove, I do feel like curtains could use a good washing every six months.

I'm past due for changing the slipcovers on the sofa. Some how I've ended up with a few pillows that don't match.

But hey, look- I set out a festive, fall mum on the table. That is the sum of my decor for the season for this room.

Autumn is also when I have an excuse to pull out the carnival glass plates and serve something baked fresh with apples. The scent of cinnamon and apples for me is right up there with the smell of pumpkin and nutmeg to bring the feel of fall into my home.

Brenda, thanks for inviting me to be a part of your tour. I don't know that I had enough fall decor to qualify for it after all, but if you want to see a major transformation, try me at Christmas! That is when I go all out.

To everyone else, have fun looking at the other homes. I know I'm looking forward to seeing the creativity Brenda has rounded up for us to enjoy. If you are new to my blog, nice to meet you. And thank you all for coming by.

Here are the addresses of all the blogs on the tour:

September 15th…

Thoughts From Alice

Exquisitely Unremarkable

September 16th…

Town & Country Living

The Sweetest Digs
House Of Hipsters

September 17th…

September 18th…

So Much Better With Age

My Thrift Store Addiction

ps- The kits for "Book of Mysteries" are now available!! The little witchy girls will be coming soon.

(here is the book with a different witch on the cover, and without the Hocus Pocus eye.)

And another ps- Since my house is all cleaned up and I've already linked to a gathering, I thought I'd link to Feathered Nest Friday too. I rarely am prepared for linky parties, might as well take advantage while I am, huh?

A mini junking getaway

antiques/junking

By Karla Nathan / September 15, 2015

Sparks and White Cloud's flea markets used to be one of the highlights of my year. Between my needs changing by no longer selling antiques at the mall or at pop up events, and less dealers setting up at the fleas, the shopping isn't as big of a draw as it once was.

In the past, Beth and I would NEVER miss it. The weather bothers us more now, it is either blasting with heat and humidity, muddy and wet with thunder, or freezing. I'm trying to recall if I was ever there on a perfect day… nope, I think it is typically Kansas-ish weather, and unpredictable.

This year, it chose HOT. I brought my own portable shade, my collapsible umbrella which also kept me from frying at the Happiest Hottest Place on Earth, Disneyworld in the summertime.

Sadly, I didn't bring Beth. It used to be our thing, to get up before dawn was even creeping in, pack for chilly, dewy mornings and hot afternoons, bring enough treats to sustain us for a rough day of trudging the fields from opening til close, and getting home late that night.

She is swamped at work right now, and as I said before, the shopping up at Sparks just isn't what it used to be and White Cloud is a mere remnant of its past glory.

So, I popped up there for a quick walk through. No planning out a whole day and making it a big event, just grabbed a water bottle, my flea mkt cart, umbrella, some ones and I was off.

I kinda know where my favorite vendors will be, and can whip through the whole shebang in about an hour.

See those bright pink dollar table signs? Yep, that is where I go.

Oh, I'm still attracted to large furniture pieces like I used to buy to fix up. Somehow, whether I need them or not, I'm drawn to seek them out. Now, I'm satisfied with just looking and feel a sense of relief that I don't have to figure out how I'm going to lift something like this into my van to get it home.

In my 40s used to be really good at flirting with older guys. (men my age or younger would never take a glance at a woman in her 40s, but if a lady that age would bat her eyes at a man over 60, he'd carry anything for her.) Although, sometimes if it was something heavy, I'd have to flirt with 3 or 4 of them to get the piece hefted out of the booth and into my car.

The old van I drove is long gone now, and I have a feeling that I'm past the age of getting old guys to help me any more. I'm an ancient broad myself.

So it is a good thing I didn't buy this wonderful wardrobe, isn't it? I still daydreamed about what I'd do with it if I had it. It is overflowing with potential.

The booths that really caught my eye were the food vendors. How cute is this set up. And seriously, red velvet funnel cakes????????? Those exist???? I was a bit too over heated and didn't order one to try it out (I'm an ancient broad, remember?).

Toward the end of my hour or so there, I was too hot to even shop. I stopped at this dollar table and was too fried to even sift through it.

Over all, even with the heat, on my own with no trusty BFF by my side, and no real needs to fulfil while there, I was still glad to have gone. It's a funky place, like nowhere else I have been to. Someday, I'd like to see the towns when they are not set up as a flea market. They must be very ghostly. Both towns look abandoned, but I have a feeling that they are not.

Even though I complain that it just isn't what it used to be, the flea still doesn't exactly suck. At the dollar tables, I found 3 floral hats, a domed glass frame (to turn into a Christmas ornie later on) and a Valentine box with a velvet rose.

And at the jewelery $1 tables, you can do 12 for $10. I slightly scored there too.

I was glad I went, but I missed Beth and the heyday of our shopping adventures there.

In other news- I will be participating in Brenda's Fall Home Tour. My next post, on the 18th will have some pumpkins in it. I'm not quite as decked out for fall as I thought I'd be… but I have 3 pumpkins and some mums. The party has already begun if you'd like to visit some of the other bloggers on her list, I'll bet you'll find some beautiful displays of autumnal delights, unlike my 3 pumpkins and some mums.

Oh, Brenda, are you going to be sorry you invited me to join in???

I do have some new chandeliers that I repainted, I'll be showing those too. With step by steps on how I did them in an upcoming post also.

PS- The kits for the Book of Mysteries are now available!

Behind the scenes at the Kansas City Renfest

fairies, family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / September 13, 2015

My son works at the Kansas City Renfest running a booth for a friend and also selling his own wares. The first weekend of the season, the booth's owner (and his inventory) were away at another festival and my boy had some extra work on his hands to get the space open and to fill the spot up.

Here is one of his displays to foof up the "Druid's Grove".

I came in for an afternoon to help him and did a little druid-ing up myself. Bone decor isn't typically what I do, but I kinda like the result. I told myself that the bones were at least in my color pallet, I've always been a fan of whites.

At least they weren't as heavy to work with as all the stone my boy moved around. Here is the jewelry display in the glass cabinet. Not all of the inventory has been set out yet., and it isn't quite done, but aren't the pillars and slabs of stone very striking?

I've been hand dying silk ribbon to use for his pendants, and he also has black cord to hang the jewelry from. The buyers will get a choice and the silk or cord will be cut to order.

The day before the event began, he was still sanding, oiling and creating wands and spikes. This area is was still in progress, it is the weaponry corner. Yes, those are vampire stakes he has hanging up, and there are some wands and stakes in a pile that still need to be finished.

I offered to make a sign for him. Not everyone knows where to go when they are in dire need a cudgel, and usually if you looking for a cudgel or a vampire stake, then you are probably in a hurry to get it, and a little direction would be appreciated.

Cool, aren't they?

I also helped him embellish the woven willow laurels that he had created.

And Sugarwings helped me out by modelling them so I could see how they fit.

The booth is all about magic, which is why he used the willow limbs to make the crowns. I wrote up these tags for the finished laurels.

Usually, I work with vintage flowers, but you gotta know your crowd. Old millinery would not be as appreciated as the newer blooms. (Although, I did sneak in some vintage lace…)

All of the flowers are wired into place and there are crystal beads woven onto the wires.

I have loved the festival since the first time I attended, way back when my boys were in Jr High school. Over the years, I've become even fonder of it, and I was thrilled to get a behind the scenes peek at the park before it was open for the season. The buildings are so quaint and charming, and with no one there I had a chance to get some pictures without families in blue jeans or pushing strollers and spoiling the atmosphere.

For being the day before opening, I was surprised to see how quiet the venue was. Here and there, were cars pulled up in front of a booth as vendors unloaded, with a few folks were busy unpacking and setting up.

And people were planting some blooming flowers in front of their shops. But for the most part, it was dreamily serene.

The park itself is a pretty place, it was a joy to walk through in the peace, enjoying aspects of it I hadn't noticed before.

Still, I'm looking forward to a visit there while there is a bustling crowd of happy shoppers, watching shows, and munching on giant turkey legs. And the best part? Grand fairies all dressed up as fairies or princesses, eyes lit up, and believing that the magic is real.

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ps- I will be participating in Brenda's Fall Home Tour. It begins on the 15th, and my home will be on the list for the 18th. There will be lots of pretty things to see. I've been checking out some of these blogs from the URLs Brenda sent to me, and she has corralled an inviting selection of homes to peek into.

Corpse Bride and Groom

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2015

Yes, yes, I know… I'm supposed to be building kits for the witchy class and the spooky journal. I promised I'd have some to sell online too. And I will! I'll let you know as soon as they are ready.

But there was a broken, vintage wedding topper sitting on my desk. How could I ignore it? After being inspired by the new Walking Dead spin off, I thought maybe I'd spooky up the piece.

I've been quite swamped lately between helping Ryan search for a better job, throwing birthday and farewell parties for grandfairies, repainting the kitchen, redoing some flower beds, babysitting, boat shopping, and puppy training.

Beyond swamped.

It felt like weeks since I'd had free time in the studio. And even though I had things that need to get done, I just wanted to PLAY.

And you know what?

It was FUN.

Backyard water cooler

cottage, dogs, kitties

By Karla Nathan / September 8, 2015

The local nursery had these fountains on a 75% clearance, and the grand fairies are fascinated with fountains, so I picked it up for them to play with, for only $10.

The girlies aren't the only ones who were interested in it. All of the kittens have taken a liking to the dancing water.

But Honey is the reason why I can't leave it running. She thinks it is her personal water fountain and drains it dry in a few giant, big dog, gulps.

Yet one more adjustment that comes from owning a dog tall enough to reach anything it wants to.

Although, she doesn't realize yet that she is a big dog. Her favorite spot to be when outside, is under Sugarwings' golf clubs out in the breezeway. Those are some pretty short, little clubs, and Honey won't be fitting under there much longer!

Happy Labor Day

family

By Karla Nathan / September 5, 2015

Happy Labor Day! Do you have big plans for the weekend? I have a feeling we will be out on the boat. We recently traded our old one in and the new one has rekindled my interest in being out on the lake.

Our old barge had started out as a pretty nice pontoon, but the years hadn't been kind to the poor old thing. After 15 years, it was time to say good bye.

The dang thing wasn't leaving us voluntarily though. As soon as we got it up and out of the water, the trailer had a flat. Right in the way of other boat traffic.

We were kind of stranded there til my son arrived to give me and the tire a ride to the tire repair shop, where for a quick $9, the valve stem was replaced.

This had taken a bit longer than we'd planned and we were worried that we wouldn't have it fixed before the new boat arrived…. Then we started to wait for the new boat.

And we waited

And we waited.

Til we got a call saying that the guy bringing it also had a flat tire.

A few hours late, but all ended up working out. We now have a new pontoon, with a much bigger motor. This one will pull a skier, and we foresee another 15 years or so of family fun on the lake with it.

Art Journalling tips on using markers, metallic ink, and opaque white for coloring pages, doodling, and drawing

Books, drawing, how-to projects, paintings

By Karla Nathan / September 3, 2015

I've been working on a coloring page to add to the Book of Mysteries journal that I'm starting to build kits for (will let you know when those book kits are ready).

When I finish a coloring page, I can't wait to start coloring it in! And it is a good idea to do that, because I find some oddities here and there that might need fixed before sharing it. I also like to have some examples of how the pages look when completed with color, to give other artists an idea of what to do with the blank pages.

Of course, who could stop at just one? These are ADDICTING. I spent all day yesterday drawing, cutting and pasting, then tinting the pages. Here is one in more traditional Halloween colors.

And this one is fall toned.

I thought I'd break down the steps to show you how I layer the markers and pens in case you'd like to make one.

First step? Light colors as an undercoat.

The more layers the better. I used a soft blue with pale purple over the letters on 'Spells'.

Around the word, I painted in a silver glitter, with my favorite new tools, the Stella Wink glitter pen.

Over that, I used a metallic ink in orchid to do a border of dots. Then, I redrew all the black lines, and used an opaque white pen to add some highlights to the letters.

Using the white pen to highlight makes a big difference, see how I've used it on the broom too? Over the pale yellow, I drew some brown lines as shadows, then went over the whole straw area with a darker yellow, and added white highlights over that.

The orchid metallic pen dots on the frame for 'Spells' are repeated on the word 'Hex'. I like to repeat colors or patterns throughout the piece.

The Wink pens have a thin, brush point and pack a lot of sparkle. I did a layer of the copper over the previously laid down bright green on the word 'Dreams'.

A darker green went over the leaves, and the soft blue was lightly used in the background.

With a variety of metallic pens, I accented the word 'Dream' , the yellow banner/swirl/thingy, and the stars.

All of these were re-outlined in black afterwards.

It is smarter to redo the black outlining at the end, so you don't smear it, but I have a bad habit of using it on each area as I work on it, then I have to be really careful with the next step. I'd say do the black last!

I have gone over the soft blue with pale yellow. Here and there, not everywhere, I used a blending pen. The blending pen was used much more heavily over the orange, where I added it along the yellow under 'Signs and Omens.'

Notice that there are some skips, where I don't completely cover the background? Some of the paper shows through. This is an old, watercolor trick, and it adds sparkle to the page. If you cover the page 100%, it can look flat. Those little skips give the page some life.

Over the yellow banner, I then drew on some Gelly Roll Stardust in clear, and rubbed it with my fingertip. I adore that look, it is something my Sissy showed me years ago and I've used it a billion times since then. The Stella Wink pens have a similar look, but don't blend as well, they go on more like paint. I love them both, but if you want just a hint of glimmery shimmer in small spots, you can't beat the Stardust in clear.

Also, using a mix of distress markers, opaque markers, and metallic pens, gives the picture a lot of depth.

For the moon face, I first washed soft blue over the shadow areas with a Tim Holtz distress marker, basically following the drawn lines. I colored in the irises with it too. Then used a dark blue over the top half of the irises. Over the entire face,(avoiding the eyeballs, but covering the eyelids) I used the opaque, white marker. I made a dot with that over the bottom right hand corner of each iris (same spot, both eyes). All of the black was re-outlined, and the pupils were blackened, then with the white opaque pen, I added two little dots to them.

Re-outlining with the black marker makes a giant difference in the completed piece. I usually work with an art marker, but found that going over metallic pens kills an expensive fine point marker, and the best tool is a uniball or plain, old, ink pen.

Little details can give you big pay off. I like the way the black and white check really pops of the the page, but one more step…

Of drawing a line through the center of the checks with the opaque white pen on this page, adds dimension. I did the same with the purple letters.

On this one, I drew the banner/swirl/thingy white and accented it with the clear Stardust pen. The same white opaque marker was used over the purple letters in 'Dream' and over the background colors of soft blue and light blue.

For this raven, I used grey marker, and the Wink marker in silver, outlined it again in black. The beak is two layered yellows, with white highlights. The black,beady eye gets a double dot of white too.

(Notice that I'm not all that careful with my edges? Once the piece is done, I cut it out, that cleans the border up)

These are formatted to print out to fit into the journal I'm designing. One blank page, ready to color, will be in each kit.They will also be available as a digital download so that you can print out and color as many as you'd like. You'll be able to find them in my Etsy shop.

They start like this. I used pages from a 1930s fortune telling book to make the collage underneath the drawing.

You can also find this Snow White coloring page in the Etsy shop too.

I colored this one the same way as the Spells page, using lotsa layers, and a mix of markers, metallic inks, opaque markers and pens, as well as a blending marker. I've recently discovered those and really like them.

For this tree, I used gray distress marker, with brown over it, in most spots, then blended it and added white pen.

Notice that the trees behind it are just light gray? When doing a landscape, please keep in mind that the further away something is, the lighter it looks.

The trees along the horizon are done with very soft pastels, and the foreground is done in brighter colors.

I used the blending marker very heavily on the grass. With big areas, it is important to not have lots of scratchy looking marker lines.

Her eyemakeup is done with the Stella Wink marker, but I think I liked her better without it.

For the black hair, I first colored the waves in blue and purple, then layered with gray. That way, it still has depth and isn't a flat color.

And you can still see the hand drawn lines that make up the waves. The lace is light gray near the neck, with opaque white marker over it, then outlined in black again. The little bird is blue on top, pink on the bottom, white opaque marker over the pink and the line where the two colors meet. That opaque marker is a wonderful way to blend.

These tips are great for any coloring pages, or also for your own doodling or drawing project.

Remember, layer, layer, layer, for a more arty look.

An Arabella Cinderella Farewell Teaparty

cottage, Dew Drop, family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / August 31, 2015

We've had a nice, long visit with our tiniest fairy girl.

But now, she is headed East to be with her momma. We've squeezed in lots of snuggles and hugs before it was time for her to leave.

Sugarwings thought it would be a good idea to throw her a going away party, so we planned a tea to send her off with a toast.

Usually, Sugarwings helps set the table with me, but this was scheduled for right after school to combine after school snacktime with the festivities. I had the table set and waiting when they got home, to save time. If we delay after school treats too long, they interfere with dinner appetites.

But of course, this girl had to do some rearranging to improve my set up.

Dewdrop had been admiring some vintage dresses that I had hanging in the studio, and I kept promising her that she could wear them, but we never seemed to get around to it.

It dawned on me, that if I didn't pull those dresses down and let her try them on, they might not fit her when she came back again in a few weeks, those little ones do not stay little forever.

A vintage gown was chosen for Sugarwings too, but she preferred one of her own princess dresses. Both girls wanted to wear some of the jewelry I had out in the studio and chose some sparkling necklaces to try on. Dewdrop went with a floral hat from the studio too.

When the bigger girls got off the school bus from Jr. and Sr. high schools, they were good sports and joined in to toast our little sweetie. Can you tell by the look on her face that she appreciated our efforts and loved her party? That is one happy, kiddo.

We have recently discovered how delicious basil flowers are. I have always picked them off to make the basil plants last longer, and sometimes fill a vase with the blooming stems. Dewdrop likes to pick them out of the vase on the dining room table to eat during dinner, so I sprinkled some over our heart shaped watermelon slices for the party (made with a cookie cutter).

We also served blackberries and cupcakes along with the tea. All the dishes are mismatched and mostly from garage sales, and when set out on a floral table cloth, they feel special. Not so special that I get upset when one breaks. We had a creamer casualty, but it had only cost a quarter, so that didn't matter much. I want the grand fairies to enjoy nice things, had be used to handling them, not be afraid to use the pretty pieces.

We are all going to miss our silly, funny, little goofball and will be looking forward to planning a return party for her when it is time for her to come back.

Happiest Birthday, Sugarwings!

celebrations, Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 29, 2015

August is full of fun around here. Sugarwings' birthday (with multiple parties), the Hippy Chick's birthday, our anniversary, plus trying to fit in a few more fun things before school starts up.

Sugarwings' mommy always throws a special bash for her girl. This year's theme was Mystery. The cupcakes each had something flavorful tucked inside and you didn't know which you were getting. I can highly praise over the ones with peanut butter cups hidden away in the center.

There was a question mark pinata filled with goodies too.

And the kids had a scavenger hunt, following a treasure map to find the hidden presents.

It was all pretty cute to watch.

Paper clay fairy

fairies, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / August 27, 2015

I have a love/hate relationship with paper clay. On one hand, it is pretty easy to work with,and no trouble at all to finish, you simply let it air dry.

But it is a bit more rustic/primitive than I like. I wish it was a little smoother.

Sculpy is smooth, but too hard for me to mess with, since I have old lady hands. That stuff isn't as pliable as I'd like, and I don't want to have to bake the clay when I'm done.

On the other hand, paper clay is ideal for things like these pumpkins we are using for the classes at Romantic Gothic Ghosts. For that Saturday's class, I'll be providing one pumpkin and the attendees will be making one from scratch themselves.

So, I whipped up a few punkins in advance. When done, I had plenty of clay left over and thought I'd make a raven.

She sits on top of a bottle that got foofed up with old lace, charms, silk, and rhinestoney bits.

Have you ever tried "Perfect Pearls"? I bought 4 pack and used the white one on my kitchen walls for the redo. I tried out the bronze one on the black paint of the raven, on the bottle, and on the charm. I think I like the stuff, I have some other ideas for using the other colors. I've heard that you can make a spritz with it, similar to Glimmer Mist.

There was still some clay left over, so I made a little fairy. She is kinda pigeon toed and has two left feet.

Not to mention the cankles on that poor kid.

But such fun to make. I could spend all of my time making fairies. Maybe if I did, I'd get better at the ankles and the fingers… Although I do think that my main problem is that the paper clay is just rough and doesn't do detail well. If only I didn't have those old lady hands, I could work with Sculpey and get better results.

Or so I tell myself.

Maybe I just make badly done ankles and fingers…

The dressing of the doll is the best part anyway. I just glue everything onto her, I don't sew her clothes. Heck, she isn't a Barbie, there is no wardrobe for her, this outfit is the only one she has. I might as well glue it in place and skip the dreaded needle and thread.

And see how I solved the ugly finger problem? I stuck a posey in her grasp, and glued it into place.

But those ape knuckles she had still showed. So, I dotted some glue right on those ugly knuckles and lightly tapped the silk ribbon tied to the posies, right into the glue. Ta-da! Hidden away.

Her shoulders weren't all that symmetrical or anatomically correct either. She looked a little bit like maybe Quasimodo mated with an elf and she was the result. Rows of white flower petals that were glued to her arm, and some glued to her shoulder hid all of that away. The "sleeves" had to be made so that the arm could still move, but that also camouflaged the fact that her arms were more hideous than those legs.

The legs are painted with stocking stripes, and have a ruffle glued to the top. Her bloomers are silk glued to her bottom and a row of lace glued to her thighs.

This is the back view. I did use the Good Stuff, all the materials are vintagey, lacey or silk. Nice supplies, that I loved working with. While she isn't exactly the world's most charming fairy, I think that the materials I used elevated her a bit.

If you want to give paper clay a try, we will be working with it on Sat. Oct. 3rd during our class. There is space if you'd like to join us. Details here.

Author name: Karla Nathan