Karla Nathan – Page 171 – Karla's Cottage

An Enchanted Affaire

Snow White, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / October 16, 2012

Its such an honor to be a part of Kim's spring time event in California! Her parties are intricately planned and gorgeous down to the smallest of details.

And what a great theme!! Snow White is a lifetime fave of mine. When I was little, I re-read Snow White and Rose Red over and over. And of course, Sugarwings and I love the Disney version, we often re-enact the apple poisoning part of the story. She is always the heroine, I am the cackling witch. The dogs play the part of all the dwarfs, because they rush to her side and circle around her when she lays on the floor. Whoever is the first to lick her face is the handsome prince who awakens her.

When she was three or four, we could play this game for hours on end.(oh my gosh, i can't believe she is SIX now!! The time has flown!!)

We love the story so much, I made a magic mirror for her room. I have a tutorial for it here.

The last year in media was filled with Snow White fun too. Two movies that I adored, plus a TV show that I can't get enough of. I'd have to say that this is my favorite fairy tale character. Maybe its the house she moves into in the woods? That little cottage is my dream home.

So, I was beyond thrilled when Kim asked me to paint a portrait of the fairest of them all for her button to advertise the Enchanted party she was throwing.

Then, later when she asked me to be a teacher?!? Woo hoo! I was dancing a jig and singing around the room like my favorite dwarf, Dopey. (yes, I know, he is silent in the movie, but I am sure he whoops it up when the cameras aren't on him)

For the class, we will be making a book of enchantments, filled to the brim with the old wallpapers that I love best. I've been buying tons of OLD, OLD fairy tale books to (eeks) rip apart to use the pages of too. If you are a librarian, please avert your eyes, because I am about to confess to chopping up a beautiful book more than 120 years old.

Ooooh, but it was so fun to tear up!! There is something about old papers that you can't replicate with the new stuff. It just feels better. Even when its crumbling.

Since my papers are all vintage, and not just something I can order more of, my kits will all be individual and unique. We will be using lots of millinery blooms too.

Only The Good Stuff.

And did I mention that the classes would be at the Happiest Place on Earth? I am such a fan of Disneyland. I went for the first time last spring, and fell hard for it. I've always enjoyed Disneyworld down in Orlando, but there was something more intimate about the original California park that drew me in.

Sign ups begin Monday for her past guest list and Wednesday for newcomers. The other teachers are people I greatly admire, and can't wait to spend time with.

Kim's events are always the most fun. I've been to a few and loved every one. Great times, great friends, great projects, oh, I could go on and on. Please just tell me to shut up if I gush too much as I make plans over the next few months.

I hope to see you there!

Believe it or not, there is new stuff in the Boutique! And a puppy stampede

the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / October 15, 2012

It feels like ages since I've added to my Boutique. Between summer trips, 9 pups, the Faery Book Swap, and Romantic Gothic Ghosts, I'm lucky to have gotten anything at all done.

But when Stampington returned the cuff bracelets used in Jewelry Affaire, I thought it was a sign that I should get some photos and get listing.

So, I snapped a few pics of the cuffs as well as some of the jewels and flowers I'd been accumulating and hadn't had time to market.

Plus a zombie bride that I'd ghouled up for the party here in the studio. I'll probably have more spooky props to list, but seriously doubt if I will get it done in time for the Halloween holiday.

Oh well, its a start. I'm just impressed with myself for getting back to business.

There is a ton of stuff waiting for my attention. I seriously doubt if I will have time to get a swap together for Christmas. I'd love to, and thanks for the enquiries. But I've noticed that as I get older, my time gets shorter.

So, I'm trying to not over schedule myself. Tough lesson to learn for me, I'm not good at being reasonable about my time.

Maybe I can do a Valentine swap instead…. By then, maybe I'll be caught up. Sadly, the little fuzzballs will be off to new homes soon.

The babies have taken over the garage as their den, we turned the whole room into a play pen for them. But that isn't enough. They needed to get some fresh air and sunshine, so I made a fence around the back door to my studio too. And leave the studio door open so they can run in and out while I am working.

Its so cute that they still want to sleep in a pile together, in a little dog bed, no matter how big they are getting.

I tried to get a photo of them all together, but as soon as they heard me step outside, they all started to stampede right at my feet.

It went quickly from 9 to-

7 to-

5 to-

3 to-

just one little guy waiting for me to come and pick him up as the others swarmed my toes.

Annual Lawrence Kansas Zombie Walk 2012

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / October 14, 2012

Before the Romantic Gothic Ghost weekend began, my family mini reunion started. After picking my sisses and Guncle Randy up at the airport, we shopping at Victorian Trading Co. I found this great white witch hat for $5! Perfect for the weekend.

After all the guests arrived, we met downtown for the annual Zombie walk. I'd made reservations for the outdoor patio of one of my favorite restaurants, but the weather wasn't cooperating very well.

It was slightly drizzly off and on, and the air was brisk. Which is a polite way of saying, we should really have dined indoors. But, I had a blast, and hope our family did too. I slapped on a pair of Toasty Toes (which I buy by the case every winter) and passed some out to whoever wanted to try them.

Sissy said she was going to sit on a couple, since she has a negative body fat count and is cold all the time.

Anyway, they all braved the cold, drizzle, and monsters with me. We were able to spend the whole evening on the patio, enjoying our meal as the zombies paraded by.

That is, most of us. When the ghouls started coming, Dewdrop went for a walk with her daddy.

Sugarwings watched most of the ghoulfest from under the table with me. It was our fort, complete with flashlights and glo sticks.

The little fairy looks solemn here, but we had a good time in our fort pointing our our favorite zombies.

It wasn't hard to chose, once her siblings came by as part of the shuffling herd of undead. Calliope and Clover were pretty in pink with blood splatters.

And Fin was scary too.

Clover never left character.

Not that she needed any help with her act, but here is a photo that I zombied up with Picmonkey editing.

The march of ghastly creatures wasn't quite over, but these two little zombies stayed for hot chocolate with us instead of continuing on. That was nice.

There were some really good ghouls. My camera had that blob of goo smooshed onto the lens, so most of my pictures didn't turn out between that and the darkness.

And I don't think there were as many as the year before. In 2011, there were 850 walking dead. This year, the hoard seemed lighter.

Maybe Zombies haven't heard of Toasty Toes and were too cold to come out.

As much as I enjoyed the individual creative costumes, my favorite part was when big groups came trudging by together.

This guy had a whole entourage. Mitt Zombie was shaking hands and kissing, or biting? babies. He was terrifying.

I don't know what kind of fake blood they use, but this stuff has some staying power. We went downtown shopping a few days later and the sidewalks were still splattered.

Kitty Boy and the Pups

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), kitties, puppies!, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2012

There are more photos of our Romantic Gothic Ghost weekend, as well as the Zombie parade, but first I wanted to show you some of the cuteness that is always under foot around here.

We took the pups out to run and enjoy the great weather (where was this sunshine while company was here??? We had to cancel our trip to the Renfest, everyone was too cold).

The babies were so excited that most pictures I took were just a blur of joy.

They followed Twinkle like baby ducklings. Or I guess, like baby puppies. But when the tough, old barn cat came by, they veered off after him.

Which he didn't care for.

Luckily, no one was hurt. A hiss was enough to give the pups pause.

Well, most of them. This guy was too curious to let it go. They have seen nothing but snuggles and love all of their little lives and have no idea that not everyone thinks they are adorable.

ps- I'd pretend that our grass looks so awful just because of the draught this year, but honestly, we don't have much of a yard. So, please, avert your eyes from the pufts of grass sticking out of the dirt and enjoy the pups. You would never know from looking at our yard that my husband works for a golf course company, huh?

Romantic Gothic Ghost Weekend

family, flowers, holiday decor, Romantic Gothic Ghosts, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / October 10, 2012

Our ghostly weekend was a real treat. I just hope my guests enjoyed it half as much as I did! We had such a lovely group, and it was so fun to have a family reunion along with the class, I'm thrilled that my family got to meet some of my friends and see what I do.

This envelope was in a scrap pack of ephemera that Pam won as a door prize, and look at the date! Our class was exactly 103 years from the day this was written.

Another ghostly oddity of the day, was that every single picture that I took of a person had a glowy smudge look to it. At first I thought all my photos were ruined, then I decided to just go with it and enjoy the ghostly effect, and edit them even more ghostly.

I looked on my lens and saw that there was a real life smudge, not a ghost doing it. I'm lucky that I got any photos at all from the weekend!

The close ups of things around the room weren't too bad.

And except for some halo around the lights, the whole room shots weren't either.

But portraits sure had some spookiness to them.

I loved every minute of the classes. Beth's was so much fun, I had to drag myself away to make lunch.

I served quiche that day, instead of making it up ahead of time, I wanted it fresh as can be, with eggs just gathered, so waited till it was time to go into the oven to make it up.

We also had green salad with cranberries and candied pecans, and a fall veggie mix of squash and sweet potatoes.

And of course, way, way too many desserts! Carmel apple cupcakes, lots of brownies, and these white chocolate witch hat cookies.

I set up an extra table for seating in the living room.

And decorated it with a 25 cent black lace shawl from a garage sale, and $2 bunches of roses that were marked down at the grocery store. I cut them short, and made an arrangement with the stems too. Remember how Morticia and Gomez from the Adam's Family always put the stems in the vase and threw away the flowers? I wasn't up to tossing the roses, but I did arrange the stems.

With a family reunion going on this week too, it was handy to have that table in the living room, I left it up the whole time, and it got used a lot.

Normally, the studio is where we have our family dinners when a big group is here, but this time, the studio was occupied with all of the set up for my Ghoul Friends and the classes.

Sugarwings came to spend the day too, her mom was studying and our fairy girl kept herself entertained while we all worked in the studio. She is getting so grown up!

Before our guests arrived, she wanted to get all dressed up in her wings and her new fairy dress from Aunt Bobbie, because she said, "Grammie's friends think I am a real fairy, so I'd better wear my wings!"

The puppies joined the party too. They missed all the attention after everyone left! I miss all of our friends and family as much as they do. The house seems so empty now that its over.

Time to plan another party…. While the studio is decked out I think I'll throw another Halloween bash and have my buddies bring their kids over for a craft day to make masks.

Off to the Pumpkin Patch

Dew Drop, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / October 8, 2012

One of my favorite things about fall is the pumpkin patch. Going there reminds me of my dad, who used to grow pumpkins for me when I was a kid. I loved each and everyone of them, named them, loaded them in my wagon and pulled them around wrapped up in baby blankets.

I feel like a kid again when I take the little grand fairies to visit our pumpkin friends, and every Autumn, I try to make as many trips out there as I can. Its a nice walk on a crisp fall day.

Especially since I got to spend an afternoon with my grown up son and his baby. In our busy world, we don't get a lot of time together. When he was little, I used to call him my shadow. In my mind, he'll always be that little five year old who never left my side.

Time goes on, little ones grow up, seasons change.

Fall is a reminder of the changes in life as well as seasons. I hope that I am creating some long lasting memories for Sugarwings and Dewdrop. I know that they are doing that for me. Meandering through the pumpkins every Autumn with the little girls will be something that stays with me forever.

Such a simple way to spend an afternoon, but aren't those kind of days always the best?

Sleepy babies

Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), puppies!

By Karla Nathan / October 6, 2012

Little Dewdrop fell asleep in the car on the way to visit. So, when they arrived, her parents made a bed for her in the shady bushes while we did some yard work. Her little friend joined her for a nap.

Napping is still his number one favorite pastime. My newest hobby is lining sleepy pups up together on their backs. It's not as easy as it looks, these guys are wiggly and if one decides to play, the game is up and all of them are up and running.

A few more fairies flying by

fairies, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 5, 2012

While making the books for our Faery Book Swap, I had a few glitches. The couple of people who witnessed my screw ups were very sweet about it.

One of them was my good buddy, Kim. She had sent an extra page for me and one for me to add to her own book. I'm afraid I missed her note and just started making books up willy nilly with her 10, instead of 8 pages.

When I realized, I felt bad and made up an extra page to send to her. She's been going through a rough time with her dad's health and I thought the last thing she needed was her friend shorting her on a swap.

As the basis of the page, I used a copy of the Snow White painting that I did for Kim's spring event, An Enchanted Affaire.

But I needed to fairy it up. I glued down one complete print with the background and all to some coordinating wallpaper, then glued wings that were butterflies printed on parchment by my Sissy.I used three sets, so there would be lots of volume. I glittered those up and that made them curly, which I liked.

I then cut out another Snow White and glued her over the previous one, so the wings were between the two layers.

She got a teensy millinery flower garland, and her dress was embellished with metallic inks and lots of glitter.

For even more sparkle, I glued some of my 1940s crystals to her skirt, then gave her a bouquet to cover up the apple in the original.

Deliciously gaudy, and fairy-riffic.

Most of the books were mailed out way back, but the ones going to my family who are coming to Romantic Gothic Ghosts, were kept here, so we could open them all together. I can't wait for everyone to see their book! This is a page that Aunt Sandy made for mine.

My book is amazing!! I received the gift of an extra page from so many generous souls. This one is from Jay Hart. Along with a sweet little book that she made too.

I miss the swap, and am considering another. But it will have to be smaller and faster if I want to get it done for Christmas. I can't even think about it till after this big party this weekend though. We'll see if I survive that before I delve into the next thing. Which really, really should be beefing up my Boutique for the holidays, not more swaps!

There are a lot of basic supplies in the shop now, just no 'new' old things. I hope to recover from the Faery swap, the Ghost party and the puppies and get going on adding more soon. Here is a picture of an order I mailed this week, to Tara. Packing them up is the fun part!

Customized scarecrows

holiday decor, Romantic Gothic Ghosts, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 3, 2012

Sugarwings saw all my decor for Romantic Gothic Ghosts and wanted to help. Her tastes run more to the traditional colors of Halloween, while I was trying to keep my palette orange and purple free.

But I admire her work and sense of style too, so I let her have free reign over her project.

We picked up a "Grammy" and a "Sugarwings" scarecrow (half price last week at Michaels) and clothed them in some witch clothes from our dress up closet.

Next came the make up. Lots of marker and glitter work went into this. At least an hour's worth of foofing.

Then, the ladies got some jewelry and accessories.

Ta Da!

Everyone who is coming to our crafty day in the studio knows how I feel about Sugarwings and her art work. I think they will appreciate her efforts to welcome them, even if she follows her own palette and differs from our theme, don't you think?

The room is ready for our guests, and the treat cabinet is decorated like a "haunted mansion" as Sugarwings calls it. I've been baking up a storm and this will be filled with goodies soon.

Family arrives here on Thursday and my Ghoul Friends, or Lovely Spirits come on Saturday. I'll be pretty busy having fun, so I have pre-posted on my blog for the next few days.

I have deleted the sign up page for Romantic Gothic Ghosts so I don't
oversell accidently. We are keeping it limited to a small group. But if
you are interested, please email me for info.
karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

I’m crowded! Roll over!

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), puppies!, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / October 1, 2012

These guys are growing FAST.

Their meals have been supplemented from the beginning and now they are eating dog food, but they still waddle to mama whenever they can. She does her best to accommodate them. At this point, I think its more of a comfort than dinner, they chew on whatever part of her they can, whether it produces milk or not. Her poor belly is all marked up.

But she adores the babies and doesn't want to be kept from them.

No matter how much space they have, they still all sleep in a big pile together. Even when the pile gets so high that one rolls off, like this guy!

It reminds me of that Little Bear song that I sing to the grand fairies:

Five bears in the bed and the little one said
"I'm crowded, roll over"
So they all rolled over, and one fell out

Four bears in the bed, and the little one said
"I'm crowded, roll over"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

Three bears in the bed, and the little one said
"I'm crowded, roll over"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

Two bears in the bed, and the little one said
"I'm crowded, roll over"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

One bear in the bed, and the little one said
"I'm lonely"

They are learning to come when called now. I call "Puppies!" and they start to stumble to me. As each one makes its way, I pick it up, give it some love, then call the next, working my way all the way through the nine.

Funny, the same one is always last to come. The littlest girl sits and waits her turn patiently.

They are all getting personalities. This guy is the vocal one. Since he was born, he was always the one to speak up and let us know what he had to say.

I'm still not sure who will live with me forever. . It will probably be once they are running around free in the studio before I know who I need to keep. That will be the one who is always at my feet when I look down.

I'm waiting for someone to pick me, I guess.

Author name: Karla Nathan