Karla Nathan – Page 22 – Karla's Cottage

Pretty Pendleton for Thanksgiving

By Karla Nathan / December 10, 2023

Last year my home town, Pendleton, IN, had a fun FB trend of people photographing their cars, tractors, mowers, etc in the lights of this beautifully lit bridge. The joke started as serious pics of cool cars shining under the lights and turned into photoshopping weird, silly things.

I enjoyed every post and had to drive by and see this pretty backdrop in person when I visited over Thanksgiving. Maybe (if I ever get a free moment) I’ll do some photo magic with it myself.

We had hospital cafeteria food in the guest lounge for Thanksgiving dinner. While I felt bad leaving my husband and out of town guests back at my house to turkey wrangle, and the reason for my visit was not a happy one, I still had a wonderful time with my sister’s family while eating grilled cheese instead of a more traditional meal.

My sweet boy hadn’t seen his aunt Bobbie in a while and hadn’t been able to drive all the way to Kansas from North Carolina for the holiday, so he took the opportunity to meet me in Indianapolis. Much closer!

I rarely get time with my son, this was precious to me. It’s been a good year for spending days with him. In August, Rich and I saw Adam in NC and I got to go rock and mushroom hunting with him. Then in September, he came to KS to put in a studio floor for me. Now, an Indy trip too.

And soon, he will bring Dewdrop for Christmas!

He and I weren’t Bobbie’s only visitors, by far. Every time a doctor came into the room, he’d do a double take at the size of her entourage.

The room was always so full, that seating was scarce. You know that Netflix show, “Is it Cake?” I was always playing, “Is it a Chair?” in the hospital room. We sat on many non seats for seating. Bobbie one time mentioned we could use the beeping from her machinery to switch seats in a musical chair game.

My witty, kind hearted sister is keeping good spirits through her illness. I admire her for that, just as I have always looked up to her and learned so much from her all of my life.

I adore my sissies, what wonderful friends they are to me.

Kick starting the season

By Karla Nathan / December 5, 2023

My favorite season is here and I’m taking advantage of every fun offering available, to soak up as much holiday joy as I can.

One annual tradition is to view the Holiday Home Tour with friends.

This year had a banner crop of festive flair to walk through. Every house I got to see was a winner. But I didn’t get a complete tour, I’d over booked myself (I just can’t say no to any holiday event- if there is Christmas fun going on, I’m in the middle of it!)

Sunday was no exception to my seasonal excess, we started the day with a coffee date with friends, then the home tour, next A Christmas Story musical with Sugarwings, and finishing the night with a holiday movie with the kiddo.

Was it too much for one day? Welllll….. probably, but worth it.

A couple days before, friends invited us to Snow Globe for dinner, and even though I was already swamped, we said yes.

Ounce again, worth stretching out my time to add some extra fun. It was a great night out.

Plus, I’ve had First Friday weekend at Good Juju which was two long days of excitement that felt like a party itself.

We’re barely into December and I’ve been blessed with so many glittery get togethers, that I’d consider myself lucky and fulfilled if these were all the festivities that I got to experience.

But lucky me- I’ve got a craft date with friends this week, our Book Club dinner and gift exchange coming up, and I’m trying to find a good time to have some friends over. Not to mention my cocoa parties in front of the tree with my grand fairy, and the way that sprite makes every day feel like it’s special.

Yep, beyond blessed.

And maybe a tiny bit tired.

Nellie Faye’s in Pendleton

antiques/junking

By Karla Nathan / December 2, 2023

Pendleton, IN has changed since I grew up there in the 60’s and 70’s when it was a simple, but ordinary little town. It’s always been friendly and quaint, but has grown into a place that should be a destination for someone who enjoys unique shops and specialty dining.

And this shop?

OMG!

It certainly deserves a road trip to go see.

There is a cozy, overflowing room full of vintage pretties and handmade goods, with a sunny greenhouse/garden space attached.

Shelli lives in Pendleton, but had never been inside, but Sissy is a regular. She took us to this darling, old, cottage tucked away from downtown across from the park. When I stepped in the door, I felt like I was in some upscale shop in a tourist area.

Not in the sleepy, little town that I’ve known all my life.

While it might have felt like I was in some nationally known California shop, it still had those good ol midwestern prices.

The displays were delightful and the arty stuff was all things I wished I’d made myself. Right up my alley.

If you are ever in central Indiana, driving along I69, you should stop in.

And please tell them that Sharon’s sister says hi.

First Friday Weekend in December at Juju

Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / November 29, 2023

Good Juju First Friday Weekend is coming up!

I got my booth all spiffed up and ready to roll before I left for Indiana to visit my sisters.

I’m still visiting family as I write this.

So I’ll leave you with the rest of the photos and get back to sister time.

Mosaics with genuine stones and some beading

jewelry

By Karla Nathan / November 26, 2023

While visiting sisters in Indiana, we of course, did some crafting. These are mosaic pendants made with genuine stones. The top photo is freshwater pearls and crushed opals.

Sissy made this one. Emerald, garnet, labradorite, Ruby, sapphire, citrine, and smoky quartz, I think. We top each with a mix of crushed opals and moonstone.

This one is mine. It has rainbow sparkle from some of the bigger chunks I left when I was hitting opals with a hammer.

When I ran out of bezels to mosaic in, we turned to beading bracelets. They still need the knots trimmed, glued, then tucked into the spacers. I have enough beads left to make a couple more.

When I get back to Kansas, I’ll be delving into my beads and gems to keep crafting, I do love making both styles of jewelry. In the past, I have used memory wire or wove beads on to leather cords, the stretch cords are new to me. Yep, I know, I’m rather late to this game, huh? They’ve been around a while. But it’s a brand new addiction for me!

(Like I needed another one!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 22, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

For me, Thanksgiving is just a speed bump on the way to Christmas.

It’s my husband’s favorite holiday, though. So over the years, Sugarwings’ and I would say, “We must respect the bird” and not go full on sparkle, tinsel explosion over the house til after the turkey is served.

For various reasons, I’ve had to decorate early any way, like a Snowbird Song event or a Holiday Home Tour and once that floodgate was open, I didn’t even pretend to have any tiny bit of respect for that dang turkey dinner.

I love my decorations and trees and want them up for the whole season, so I start the first week of November and enjoy it for as long as I can.

Our new chant? “We must respect the pumpkin!”

Also, being in retail, it’s smart to get a really early start on making stuff. This year, I’m way behind due to my studio make over and a few other things going on. I had big, big plans to fill my Boutique, but, oops. That didn’t work out. I made some goodies for Juju though, and am sure there will be things left. But it might be too late to market them for this December.

Another Santa Redo and a possible mink hunt

holiday decor, how to's

By Karla Nathan / November 17, 2023

I rescued another Santa Claus, this one only one foot, instead of four feet high. So he was a bit easier to redo. I’d love to restyle more little St Nicks, but I’m nearing the end of my white mink stash. I’ve been using it for tiny collars on the dolls I remake into angels too. A little bit goes a long way, and I’ve been tearing up that same tattered stole for years, but now, it’s time to either start hunting minks or find another craft.

For the Santas, I always start with ripping off the ugly patch of white fuzz that passes as a beard and replacing it with curly goat’s hair. I cut away the hat, reshape it more to my liking (or make a new one) the replace it’s fake fur trim with mink.
Now, I’m not against fake fur at all. The problem is that on these dolls, it’s usually the cheapest, ugliest fake fur that the manufacturer could get away with. There are some types that would be perfectly nice, but this stuff usually is so bad that it couldn’t even be good enough for carnival prize stuffed animals.

The jacket trim needs to go next, as well as the plastic belt. For this guy, I added a panel of very old lace down his front and cut a strip of creamy suede to wrap around his bowl full of jelly, I mean, belly. It fastens with a mother of pearl buckle glued into place.

Sometimes I use fur around the cuffs too, but since my supply is low, and also because it was pretty, I made cuffs of tattered velvet. I was lucky with the jacket he wore, it was white brocade with silver thread and I kinda liked it, so left it as is. Some stains and bad spots got covered up with the lace then velvet and the coat looked good as new.

He got a bleached tree to hold. Its base is tied with a velvet ribbon so there was something stable to hold the glue when I put it in his hand. Plus it’s a nice touch.

Since I am not a sewer, the Santas, like all of my fairies and angels, are glued into place. I would be kicked off of Project Runway for sure, but it seems to be okay for these dolls, they have no complaints. And I hate sewing, but love designing clothes for dolls from bits of vintage scraps. So this is what works for me.

Magic time with family

family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 14, 2023

My Florida trip was a week long, divided into three separate adventures that each went by too quickly.

After a spectacular Guncle evening, Terry and Holly picked me up in Jax to drive to Orlando. And you know what happens there, right?

Disney Magic!

They treated me to the Grand Floridian, and its reputation is well deserved. So many subtle, understated and sweet nods to Disney classic movies while keeping its Grand and classy ambiance.

A grown up trip to the parks can be very laid back and comfy. I had two mornings on the balcony with my coffee to relax and simply enjoy being there. Very different than my typical trip, trying to squeeze in as much as I possibly can from the crack of dawn til I fall in bed after midnight.

Although, our first night did go pretty late, but we didn’t get started til evening, and once arriving at Mickey’s Halloween party, we ambled about and took our time. We managed to eat some of the special goodies, do some trick or treating, and practically walk on to every ride we wanted to go on. Lines were minimal, the weather was perfect, friends were delightful, it could the most ideal night at Disney that I could have. (Even though I missed the grandfairies.)

We had discussed Halloween costumes, but that frizzled out, Terry was moving into a new home, I was redoing my studio. Then I thought I’d order Sleeping Beauty Fairy shirts with our names, but instead of Merriweather, Terryweather.

Ran out of time, though. So I looked around town the day before leaving to find Hocus Pocus matching shirts, no luck.

When Terry arrived, I was happily surprised to see that she’d found a trio of cute Sanderson shirts for us!

Terry and Holly are ideal partners at the parks, both love the place as much as I do. They’ve been multiple (zillions) of times, so aren’t rushed, or worried about missing anything. We can check out attractions we’d like to see, or just snack at Epcot Food and Wine and chill out.

I got to see the new, Moana area, and can’t wait to take Sugarwings to it.

And we lucked into a walk up reservation at the new space station restaurant.

We were seated in the lounge, which I discover was another lucky break. There, you have a view of the entire room, and the astronauts working outside the windows. Plus the menu options are better, no set choices.

Holly and I were able to split a meal. And look- a Mickey shaped fillet!

Our time together was as wonderful as the dessert. Thank you, Terryweather and Holly for such a treat of a visit. You guys bring the magic with you!

Guncle time craft day

guncles

By Karla Nathan / November 11, 2023

On my recent getaway to the sunshine state, my first stop was Guncleland on Sweet Cherry Lane.

We had one night to make enough ornaments to fill a small tree, but well, we got a little side tracked.

In a fun way of course.

There were doggies to snuggle, interesting neighbors to meet, and fresh, delicious piles of shrimp to savor. Oh and wine, there was of course, wine to drink as we chatted, caught up, and giggled.

But serious crafting too! We’d worked on embellishing old violins when the boys came to KS in September, but Randy wasn’t pleased with his. He liked the wood grain, and was glad he hadn’t painted it, but felt that it wasn’t pulled together.

We gave it a quick makeover by removing some of the decor, and adding sheet music. Over that we stuck to a wings and roses theme to make it feel more cohesive.

There was a broken German figure on his desk, and some wings, and well, lots and lots of intriguing bits and pieces to sift through. I gathered what was in front of me and made it into this fairy to hang on his tree.

Then we moved onto some more traditional holiday goodies. I’d brought a few vintage card scrap pages from an album, he had wooden discs from Hobby Lobby.

We didn’t talk about a color theme or style, we just started making ornies.

I’d also brought some of my Nutcracker images that I’d been using for my Good Juju display. So their tree will have quite a mix match of hand made pretties, won’t it?

We could’ve used a few more days of this, I love crafting with my baby bro and being with his sweet family in Jax. Our time was way too short. But I had more adventures to come all jammed into one, way too short, week.

Venice Beach seashell fairy

fairies, family, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 8, 2023

My trip to Florida was just the best. It was broken up into segments, a Guncle visit with crafting, Disney with Terry and Holly, then beach time with Sissies, Aunties, and sweet nieces.

We stayed at Turtle Beach on Siesta Key, and while I loved the company, I wasn’t thrilled with the beach, my shelling was limited until we took a day trip to Venice to hunt for shark teeth.

Hey, I do not mean to sound down on Turtle Beach, it is a lovely spot. I had just never stayed there, and expected a similar experience from further north on the island where we usually stay. It was so nice to be directly on the water and to walk right out on the sand.

Venice just happened to have more shells. And Shark Teeth, too! I found a couple but was more interested in making my beach fairy there.

And I found a treasure trove of broken shells to use. I think the wings are some of the nicest I have ever found. I was tempted to pocket them, but I like to leave my Faye behind as a thank you to nature, and pulling off her wings did not feel right at all.

Lots of shells do come home with me, but those haven’t been used to create my little friends yet. I did gather up a lot of potential fairy shells last year to make resin shell fairies at home, but they are still packed away, waiting their turn to get Pinocchio-ed into being.

Author name: Karla Nathan