Karla Nathan – Page 186 – Karla's Cottage

Thoughfulness

By Karla Nathan / January 20, 2012

My friend, Meleen, sent me a nice surprise this week. A beautiful box full of boxes! And not just any boxes, very vintage, never used, bird seed packaging.

Meleen is from Oyster Bay and embellished the gift with this cute idea.

These boxes will be IDEAL for Birdsong Two. I already have something in mind for them. And I will be adding Meleen's blog to my side bar as an official sponsor for the weekend.

If you would like to sponsor the event, please contact me. All you do is donate something that the ladies will enjoy. Most of the gifties will go into the goodie bags they will be receiving. Hmmmm….. that reminds me…. I need to brainstorm some goodie bag design ideas…….. heck, I don't even have my project done for you to see, let alone details like goodie bags pulled together yet.

I could be behind due to the fact that I have spent a lot of time here, in the "force field", which is what Sugarwings has been calling her clubhouse/fort under the dining room table.

Its a cozy spot, with an assortment of fluffy pillows- a soft, princess pillows, a tooth fairy pillow (a gift from Cindy), and a unicorn Pillow Pet/ Plus, handmade afghan from our Gypsy, a DVD player with a stack of movies, some fairy friends dangling from the bottom of the table as well as some drawn underneath the table top.

What more do you need? She slipped into her princess gown, and slung on her decorated sling, grabbed a dog and settled in for a few movies. I curled up next to her with a good book, and didn't want to come out.

Yesterday Dr. Pretty Boy (the resident at Children's Mercy that took care of our little broken wing fairy was quite beautiful to see, her mom and I really enjoyed his visits) gave her the go-ahead to return to school, with limited activities. Over protective Grams didn't take her first thing this morning, I thought a half day was a good transition after being hurt and out of class for a while.

But, now she is back to pre-K and my time is my own again. Hopefully there will soon be a necklace to show you for Birdsong, and my mind can start percolating on some goodie bag ideas.

More gifts came recent;y too. Beth had a tattered lace table cloth for me, just perfect for turning into leaves for my Song Of Spring wreath class for Paper Cowgirls, and a pretty water jug to serve tea in at Birdsong Two.

Beth brought all these to me on our last craft day, as a bereavement gift for losing poor little Sparkle. Although, Beth never really needs a reason to bring gifts, she finds things for me at auctions and estate sales and picks up little tidbits all the time.

Another bag full of lace was delivered in person to my front door by a new friend who read my blog and knew I'd give her grandma's lace a good home. She happened to be in town having a girl's day out with her quiliting buddies and they all came by to see me. It was so nice to have company, and so thoughtful of her to bring me the pretties. How sweet!

PS- Beth will be at the Old Summit Antique Show this weekend. Will I see you there?

Feathered friends

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / January 17, 2012

The kids have some new pets out at the yurt, a flock of baby banties. (Silky Bantam chicks) These are the fancy kind that look more like llamas than chickens, and are super cuddly and friendly, since they have been hand raised and live indoors. Yes, they are house pets, till spring and a new coop can be built for them. In the mean time, they have a chicken wire encased dome over a giant, sand filled litter box to live in.

The family stayed here with us at the cottage most of the week, so we could all be a team in nursing our Sugarwings back to health, and I was really tempted to bring the chickens back with us when we all drove out to the yurt to visit and feed them, but I had a feeling that Twinkle would have enjoyed their visit a little bit too much.

And so would the kittens.

We are building an area for chickens at our own place, but we won't have house pet chicks, ours will be big, fat, laying hens that have their own house and a fence to keep the dogs out. We plan on letting them roam around the yard to keep fleas, ticks, and chiggers away from us during the summer, but it will only be when the dogs are indoors. The chickens will have to learn to take turns with the dorkies on yard time.

I am so excited, day dreaming about a chigger free summer…. Oh, what lofty dreams I have. I can't imagine the joy of going bug bite free for the season. Years ago, I raised birds and they really do the job. Then I decided to transform the chicken coop into an antique store, which was great for a while, but has not been in use for a few years now. Time to fill it back up with bug eaters! The fresh eggs are just a bonus for me, its the pest control quality of hens that excites me.

While I am enjoying this extra mild, no-snow winter we are having, I'm already dreading the on-slot of spring time bugs that a mild winter means. As much as I hate snow, I love to have those pesky biting bugs zapped by ice.

Notice that both grand fairies have a favorite bird? This one is Marshmallow and seems to enjoy her cuddles.

I like Phoenix, the ginger one. I think the other is Licorice. There are a few more orange and black ones, but only one white, and that is the fur ball that both girls seem to want to latch on to.

We've had a nice time with all of the kids staying here most of the week. Sugarwings is an energetic, little force of nature and doesn't like to be told not to run and play. But her injury is a serious one and she needs to rest it for the nerve damage to heal properly. So, we've done our best to entertain her while keeping her down.

She has spent a lot of time in her "force field" as she calls it. I made up a fort under the dining table with lots of pillows to lay on, and her portable DVD player to watch endless movies on. I've crawled in there too, with a good book (I'm on book 4 of Game of Thrones), and its pretty cozy.

One day, we all decided that we had to get out of the house before cabin fever set in, and we spent a day junking in Topeka. I was on a quest for vintage necklaces to take apart for my Birdsong 2 project and its surprising just how many beads you need to make up 25 kits plus a couple example necklaces.

My goal is to use only vintage materials, so I can't simply figure out what I want to make, then order the supplies. I have to make sure that I have plenty of supplies before I design the piece. My thoughts on kits is that they should be complete with everything that is shown in the example, so I've searched high and low for just what I needed for the project.

I think that after a few junking trips, I've got enough to get started on the creating part. There are pearl beads in cream, white, ivory, taupe, and tan. Crystal beads in aurora borealis, clear, amber, and pale pink. Plus some hand carved mother of pearl ones too. As well as a couple of surprise elements to make the pendant extra fun.

There is room for a few more people at our gathering if you are interested in joining us! I'll have photos of the 4th project up soon.

And please consider that the Valentine Wreath class is still on schedule for Saturday, Jan. 28th at 10am. We'll make a wire wrapped wreath, topped with vintage goodness and two nesting love birds. There will be lunch, treats and supplies for making Valentine cards too.

$65 for the whole day

$100 for two if you want to come with a friend!

Round Robin Honeymoon and an even bigger and better sale!

Books, Round Robin Book Swap, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 15, 2012

Also, I am in the mood to seriously CLEAN HOUSE. After all the turmoil lately, I feel the need for freshness. So, my clearance in the Boutique and Etsy is amped up.

You have to go to the Boutique from this link:

http://www.karlascottage.com?code=January

And you will get 60% off with the code word January.

Use the same code word, January to get 60% off in the Etsy shop.

When I was invited to be a part of a round robin group, I almost said no. I thought I didn't have time, but I am glad I made it work! It has honestly been fun to do, and I am very excited about the art I will get in return too.

This is my latest page for Lisa's book. Hers has more of a theme than mine does, and Beth's most recent page for this book was really interesting, the "heroine" of Lisa's story got married on Beth's last creation.

So, on mine, I decided to send her on a honeymoon.

I found a photo in an ad from a very old Vogue of a young lady in lingerie looking into a mirror. I cut her away from the mirror, glued it onto old text over frayed and faded red velvet torn from the cover of a tattered photo album, and then used one of the photo mats over it.

To the topside of the mat, I glued the girl. The mirror is slightly tucked under the edge of the mat, so you don't see the shape of where she had been snipped away.

To give the mirror some sparkle, I outlined the frame in Stardust Gelly Roll gold ink, and rubbed it away with my fingertip, so it left a subtle sparkle. I filled in the glass part of the mirror with Diamond Glaze, for a shiny finish.

I thought the girl looked like a young bride, giddy and in love waiting for her new husband to come to her.

The page is decked out with some old jewelry, and the bridegroom is cut from an old photo and glued to a big metal button, dented with time.

As its seen in the book, following the other pages, I hope the story is clear.

Most of Lisa's book, as well as all of ours in the swap, are "low color". But Lisa set the stage for introducing red with the quilt scrap she used on the back of her own page. And Beth had used a hint of red in the heart she crocheted on the back of hers.

So, I think that the tattered red velvet won't be too much for the book. The back of my page is the center one pictured. I think that it will have a nice flow with the others.

I haven't had a heck of a lot of time to create lately. I've been trying to get my Birdsong Two projects together, though (still need to work on one of them!) plus the other stuff going on around here, I've been out of it as far as pretty-making goes.

But when Lisa placed an order in my shop, I wanted to wrap her purchase up nicely, and ended up sewing this pouch, then decking it out with, well, honestly, with some stuff laying on my desk. Well, you know, if you only use things you like, and only use good stuff, then the scraps that are laying around are usually worth using too!

See what I mean? These flowers are OLD. Some of the oldest I've ever come across. Definitely good scraps!

I know Lisa uses "the Good Stuff" too. She's made up this fairy assemblage for Birdsong Two, and it looks like she has picked out some winners to use in her kits. (she makes great kits, I was in one of her classes, wow)

I'd love to see you at Birdsong Two.

To check out the details, go here.

And if you'd like to be a Birdsong Two sponsor, please contact me. As a thank you for goodie bag gifts that you give to our guests, I'll post your link on my side bar of both blogs for a year.

What will we be making at Birdsong 2?

bird song art event

By Karla Nathan / January 13, 2012

One of my projects is ready for Birdsong 2. I'm still designing and gathering goodies for the other one, which will be a pendant made up of all vintage beads and charms, with a little bit of tatting as a surprise element.

This class is on how to make a paper mache mushroom, covered in ephemera. This photo shows the underside of the fungi.

This is the top.

Hiding under the mushroom is a Charlotte fairy dressed in millinery blooms and petals.

More little flowers plucked from old hats grow in the moss carpet under her feet. Although, her feet aren't touching the moss, she is suspended above it, in flight.

We will assemble the whole scene from scratch, and every thing is supplied for the class.

Beth and Lisa have their classes ready to show too. Beth is digging into her deep drawers filled with paper and pulling out a selection of old text and handwriting to show her signature torn paper collage backgrounds. She'll also provide collage sheets of images and birds and walk us through how layering and building levels creates drama in your work.

Lisa's piece is an invitation by the fairies to come into their world of vintage beauty. We will build a vignette covered in ephemera as a multi media home for these sweet sprites. And if you have ever been in one of Lisa's classes, you will know what beautiful supplies she gives us to work with!

(you notice I say, "us"? Heck, yes, I'm taking these classes too! I try to plan the weekend so I can hang out and soak up the fun too, while creating with my crafty peeps)

I'll have pictures of the necklace I'll be helping everyone make, as soon as I take one more little junking trip to get a few more tidbits to add to it. Right now, I'm a little busy with Sugarwings and her broken fairy wing.

There are still some spots left at Birdsong Two. We are very lucky to have more than half of last year's group returning.( I think that means they liked it!!) And how nice that they signed up sight unseen while we were still cranking out the proposed projects.

But now you can see some of what we will be making and there is space for some new friends to come and play too. I hope we will see you there?

Also, I am in the mood to seriously CLEAN HOUSE. After all the turmoil lately, I feel the need for freshness. So, my clearance in the Boutique and Etsy is amped up.

You have to go to the Boutique from this link:

http://www.karlascottage.com?code=January

And you will get 60% off with the code word January.

Use the same code word, January to get 60% off in the Etsy shop.

Good bye Sparkle

dogs, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 11, 2012

Well, little Sparkle was just too sick to hang on. Its heartbreaking to say goodbye, but we knew it was coming, just not this soon. Thanks for your kind words and encouragement for our family right now.

In happier news, Sugarwings is doing well with one arm and its not slowing her down one bit. Even though the Dr. says she needs to be slowed down…. that kid is hard to stop. Her teeth and toes are always ready to help out that left hand when needed and so far, she doesn't seem to mind not using her right hand.

Today, she came out to the studio with me to decorate her ugly, navy blue sling. We played around with gutting a stuffed animal and making that into the sling, but I was worried that I wouldn't get the angle right, and that we should stick with using the one that was provided by the hospital. Now we have an empty plush dog that Dewdrop thinks makes a fine puppet.

She might seem to have a lot of energy right now, and is tough to keep at rest, but she cries out in pain while sleeping, so I know that it must really hurt.

My husband's leg is doing well, and he says it hurts enough to remind him just how dumb he was to be careless with the chain saw.

Okay, enough sadness and fear for a long, long while.

Sparkie Jo (my mom called me Karkie Jo, and I called Sparkle, Sparkie Jo) was a sweet girl, and the most gentle dog you could meet. She had lots of puppies in her life and of all the mama dogs I've ever owned, she was the most loving toward her pups. She treasured and cuddled and spent much more time just playing with them than most mother dogs. She was like that with everyone, always ready to show caring and sweetness.

I choose to remember how lucky we were to have her with us for the ten short years she was part of our family. And also to count myself lucky that Sugarwings and my Handsome Husband were not hurt worse than they were and that we will have them around for many more decades and decades.

Next post, I hope to have some more fun things to talk about. In the mean time, the sale is still on in the Boutique (40%) and the Etsy shop (50%). I haven't had a chance to take it down. You can get some good deals on millinery, doodads, pretties, and other stuff. Tutorials are also on sale!

It was the best of days, it was the worst of days

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family

By Karla Nathan / January 9, 2012

French by Design

Saturday started out Great. Extra Great. So wonderful that I wouldn't shut up about what a Great Day it was.

Seedbox

Beth and I met up to go to Bottom's Up. The BEST antiquing experience in KC. Gwen and Terry find the most intriguing dealers whose displays and talent are crammed to the brim with inspiration and wow.

Raised in Cotton

But best of all, we kept running into friends and spent lots of time chatting and catching up with fellow junking buddies.

I'd had a bad cold and a back ache for a couple of weeks, through the busy holiday time, and kept pushing myself to pretend I was fine and to keep enjoying the jingle bell season instead of letting myself get rested and over it all. Plus, Sugarwings had been sick before Christmas and I'd been traveling, and well, you know how worked up a person can get at that time of year anyway, add a few tasty little tid bits like that and moods can really turn dour and sour when the whole after Christmas let down period kicks in.

Yep, I was down, and tired and not quite myself. I've been trying to get my examples for the Birdsong Two classes done and nothing was clicking, because of my mood.

So, I took some time off from trying to be creative, eradicated all trace of holiday decor from my house, and zipped off to KC to Bottom's Up and to hang with my BFF.

Did I mention that it was a Great Day? And I was so happy, I was obnoxious about it. I desperately needed a day of pure fun.

And not only did I visit with friends, see beautiful old stuff, I BOUGHT a lot of beautiful, wonderful, old stuff. At beautiful, wonderful prices. Yep, Bottom's Up is a top-of-the-line place, but there are deals to be found there too. You can find exquisite, one of a kind, high dollar items, and you can also find exquisite, one of a kind, great deals!

What really made me happy was that I found just the ideas and supplies I needed to make my Birdsong projects for the classes!

Yep, not only did I come up with a plan, I found enough to make 25 kits, plus extras for examples and to practice on.

I hope to get them done soon and get the photos up.

I'm so pleased with the registration for Birdsong Two. Its filling up quickly. I've been away from my computer, so don't have an exact count, but its getting there. (you can still join us the last weekend of April if you'd like!)

Yes, a Great Day was just what I needed, Beth and I went to BU, as well as all the other pop up stores that are only open one weekend a month in the Old West Bottom's region of Kansas City, tucked into warehouses and abandoned buildings. The backgrounds of the stores are always interesting.

Look what we came across at one of the places, I can't remember which. There are LOTS of them now, all within a few blocks. Maybe it was at Bella Patina?

Anyway, its a buffet that I painted years ago and sold at my old antique mall booth.

Its always cheery to see one of my pieces out in the world. And I was feeling so cheery by then, I was almost punch drunk. I think I told Beth that I loved her a few times.

Then, things started to fall apart. I dropped Beth off at her home, just as the phone was ringing to tell me that Sugarwings was in the hospital, not far from Beth's house, luckily I was ten minutes away.

When I got there, I heard the story that she had been at one of those big, indoor play places at a birthday party, and had fallen from the top level, luckily hitting a bouncy slide on her way down before plummeting to the ground.

Her mommy was the hero that day. She couldn't find anyone to help her or to let them out of the play area, through the canvas sides. So, she had to scoop up our little fairy with her broken wing and carry her through the rest of the kid's obstacle course to get her out of the building! Up and down a slide, through the ball pit, etc, she ran while carrying her daughter. No employee came to help her or answered her calls to let them out a short cut.

All of the family gathered as soon as they could at the hospital. Her Daddy's truck wouldn't start, and he took off on his bike to meet my husband to get a ride from Lawrence, leaving his bike in a ditch when he finally met up with his dad and hopping in his truck.

When they arrived, my husband was limping. And wouldn't tell me why, said it could wait till we got our fairy baby transferred to the Children's hospital for surgery.

Apparently, he knew I had needed a fun day out and hadn't called me earlier to tell me that he'd stood on a dead log that broke in half while he was using his chain saw, and that he gashed his leg open with that saw. Well, that is my nightmare come true. I hate those things and have been dreading this for years.

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers while I was staying up at the hospital with our girl, who is much braver than I am. She is feeling better and uses her left hand and her toes to do about anything she wants to.

We are home now, and its hard to keep her quiet. It was a very serious break, and she is not to play outside for a while. Somehow or another, we are supposed to keep that little fireball tranquil a few weeks so she can heal. She has 3 pins in her elbow and some nerve damage in her hand, that the Dr. says should heal within a year. But its important to not bump or move it all around much for right now.

So, we are watching movies, and movies, and more movies. Today we all went to see TinTin in 3D.

I'm doing better now too. That first night, I concentrated on not fainting or letting my thoughts dwell on chainsaws. I was in more than a bit of shock, and didn't cope well with either accident. But both patients are sturdy and doing well. And I think that my Great Day with Beth helped me quite a bit and gave me the boost I needed to cope.

Sadly, while we were staying at hotels near the hospital a couple of days, our little Sparkle's health has deteriorated. Her kidneys have been failing, but now its beyond that. I came home to floors covered in, well, we won't go into that, you've heard enough. I bathed her, sanitized the floors, and called the vet. If you have any well wishes left to spare for my family, I'd appreciate some sent to "Special Sparkle" as Sugarwings calls her. She's frail and not doing well at all.

Thanks again for caring. I was too shaky to read any of my book, and newsprint just blurred in front of my eyes while I was in the waiting rooms. It was nice to have those sweet, caring Facebook and blog comments to read. Some people don't understand and wonder why I care what strangers have to say. But these weren't from "strangers".

Some were from our family, some were close friends, some were blog friends, some Bellas, some art buddies. All were people who cared. And reading those caring words really did help.

Thanks so much.

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / January 8, 2012

Sugarwings fell yesterday while at her cousin’s birthday party at a big indoor playcenter. She has a broken arm and is now going into surgery.

She has been much braver than I have. Her therapist father and nursing student mother have been great. I just cry.

When the Dr. asked her how she was she said she was ok but her grammie was not.

Earlier in the day my husband gashed his leg open with a chain saw. He is doing better and our fairy baby will be soon.

No sanding, no stripping, no paint, custom painted furniture, plus a sale and another upcoming class

Hand Painted Furniture, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / January 6, 2012

The sale in the Boutique and on Etsy is still on!

Use this link

and type in the code:

2012

then hit recalculate, and save 40% in the boutique!

for Etsy, type in the code:

happy2012

to receive 50% off!

Thanks for all the clearance shopping you have done with me! I've been boxing, packaging and shipping all week. Now, I'll be cleaning up and deleting all the "sold" items, rethinking some items, and restocking soon. In the meantime, you still have time to take advantage of these prices!

My visit to California to stay with my pal, Kim, was such fun. Did I mention what a PERFECT hostess she is?? Her family made me feel very welcome. Their house is beyond pretty, but is also comfortable and homey too.

I'm the kind of person who likes to be doing stuff, so when I stay with someone, I'm always happy when they let me play with paint and redo something in their house. Once while visiting the Guncles, they let me repaint all their kitchen cabinets, and on a trip to Indiana, Sissy let me redo her bathroom. I enjoy the process and like to see the changes, and when the host or hostess works along side me, its good chatting/bonding time.

Kim's bedroom was filled with a set that she'd had since she was a little girl and it was sentimental to her, but needed an upgrade.

While I was there, we had two classes for all the ladies who attended her day long gathering, one was a wire wrapped wreath with a nesting bird.

I'll be teaching this one again at Paper Cowgirls in Texas if you are interested- or please email me if you'd like to come to my studio to make a Valentines Day version on Sat. Jan 28th, I'll do a class here in my studio for the afternoon- $65 includes all materials, lunch and dessert. It will start at 10am, and everything needed to create the wire wreath with two nesting love birds will be included.

After we finish the wreath, we'll make some Valentine cards, I'll have some collage sheets made up for you to cut and paste.

And you know me, it will be the Good Stuff! All filled with vintage goodness.

The other class we did in California was a faux finish and paint technique lesson that I showed on a small box.

Kim and I used the same ideas from the painted box lesson to redo the nightstands in her bedroom.

No sanding, no stripping, no paint!

Yep, NO PAINTING

We had Glidden Gripper, a water based, bonding primer tinted to a color she liked (Martha Stewart's "glass of milk"), and painted two coats of it onto the pieces. Right over the hardware and knobs.

Then, we scuffed it up with sandpaper to distress the corners and edges.

To jazz the nightstands up, she covered the tops in vintage sheet music. To decoupage ripple free, we painted the glue onto the table top, then dipped the paper into water to soften it, laid it into the glue, and then did a coat of glue over the top.

In the front corners of the table tops, we hand painted some sweet little vines for a special touch.

So, at this point, its primed, distressed, and decoupaged.

Over that, we brushed on a creamy brown glaze, and wiped it off. We glazed over the sheet music too.

Apply the tinted glaze heavily in corners and around the edges of the piece, and wipe away toward the centers. You want to leave the corners, cevices, and edges darker than the flat, smooth parts and centers of the doors, top, and sides.

The last step was Minwax Polycryllic, a clear, water based topcoat.

For more short cut furniture painting tips, look under "tutorials" on my side bar.

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(you can click on this, open it in a larger window, save it to your computer, then print it)

This Sunday, sign ups are open for Birdsong! We filled up halfway this week, but still have room for new friends to come and play with us here at my cottage studio.

If I don't see you then, maybe I'll see you for the Valentine Wreath party? I do love company!

Song Of Love Wreath workshop for Valentines Day

bird song art event, flowers, holiday decor, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / January 3, 2012

Well, I have had some feedback on the Song Of Love, Valentine wreath class that I am offering. Ladies are worried that the date is too close to Christmas and that they had too little warning to make plans. After the holidays,all of us (and our bank books!) seem to be recovering from the hectic times.

So, I decided to switch the date to later in the month.

Saturday January 28th from 10 till 5.

And to lower the cost a bit. $65 instead of $75.

But I'm not lowering the value! I'll still be providing lots of vintage goodness to embellish the wire wrapped and beaded wreath with two ephemera covered, nesting love birds.

We will spend the day together, creating in my studio with lots of pretties and vintagey supplies.

Lunch, beverages, and dessert are included.

It will be a small group, and seating will be limited.

No two finished projects will be the same, you'll get everything you need to complete a wreath, plus fun piles to dig through to personalize your own piece. If you get finished early, plan on hanging out for the rest of the afternoon and making Valentines with us.

I'll have plenty of supplies out for you to play with.

All you will need to bring is a basic tool kit, everything else will be waiting for you.

And if you are one of the people who were considering coming on January 14th, and that date works out better for you, please let me know, I'd be happy to have you then if your plans are already set.

And if you'd like to come for an entire weekend this spring, Birdsong Two signups are open now for previous guests. This weekend we will open registration to new friends.

Plus, don't forget, there is a sale in the boutique and in my Etsy shop. Thanks to all of you who keep Sugarwings and Dewdrop supplied in fairy wings and glitter by supporting my stores!

Use this link

and type in the code:

2012

then hit recalculate, and save 40% in the boutique!

for Etsy, type in the code:

happy2012

to receive 50% off!

Generous and talented friends

swaps, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / January 2, 2012

The sale in the Boutique and on Etsy has gone so well that I am amping it up for the new year!

Use this link

and type in the code:

2012

then hit recalculate, and save 40% in the boutique!

for Etsy, type in the code:

happy2012

to receive 50% off!

When I was out in California at Kim's house for her holiday gathering, I had a lovely surprise. All of the attendees treated me to swap gifts even though I hadn't joined in on the swaps myself!

One of the ideas for a swap was really unique, I think it was called the Smelly Swap. It really is better than it sounds. Everyone creatively packaged up either a home made or a favorite store bought cream/lotion/bath salt type item.

What a beautiful variety of sweet smelling potions!

II was also given one of each of the ornies from the silver/pink/tourquiose ornament swap. After seeing Kim's own tree decked out in swap pretties from years past, I was extra thrilled to get my own!

Everytime I go to an art event, I tell myself that I don't have time to be in swaps, then I kick myself during the exchange when I see what I missed out on. So, lately, I've tried to do one swap per event no matter how busy I am. But for this one, I just couldn't swing them and was already sorry before I even saw what everyone was bringing.

It was so touching to be included after all!! I'll treasure these beauties forever.

And the gifts just kept on coming! There were three swaps, and I was given presents for all of them! This will be my holiday necklace for 2012, I can't wait to jingle as I strut around in my pink and blue, jingle bell, snowman, chrystal, charm necklace.

Thanks ladies, I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!

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And if you'd like to make a Valentines Day's Love bird version of the wreath class I taught in California, you are invited to an afternoon workshop in the studio on Saturday Jan. 14th to make a wire wrapped wreath with two ephemera covered, nesting love birds for Valentine's Day. Email me for details, it will be $75 for all materials, and lunch included.

EDIT: The date and price for the class has changed to Saturday January 28th for $65

Author name: Karla Nathan