Karla Nathan – Page 220 – Karla's Cottage

Double Dorothys

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 15, 2010

So much for cleaning my studio and getting stuff listed. Instead, I have been playing with Sugarwings and the pups. Or shall I say, with my Double Dorothys.

Sugarwings had a sleepover here last night, and I don't think all 6 pups were ever in their nest at the same time. One had to be held at all times. (Most often, her favorite one, Dorothy)

Even while she was helping me re-caulk the bath tub. Which isn't an easy job to do anyway, but try adding a 3-1/2 year old and a puppy to the experience…

The pups are extremely tolerant of her and actually run to the side of their puppy pond to greet her when they hear her coming. I think they like the attention. This one didn't seem thrilled with a doll dress, but on the other hand, is such a laid back baby, I doubt that much could upset her. This big gal has a name, thanks to Sugarwings. This is the pup she calls Dorothy. And is her favorite of the group.

If you read my blog last year, you might remember Millie. She was our big, cuddly pup from that litter and I am already worrying about the heartbreak from the day Millie left reoccurring with Dorothy.

So, I try to encourage her to play with all the tiny dorkies, not just Dorothy. Its going to be hard enough for me to say goodbye, I don't like the idea of breaking Sugarwing's heart too.

Of course, she'll still have her best bud, Twinks. But I can already see pain ahead for us all when the babies leave. We are just enjoying them way too much!! No way we can keep any, since we already have 3 dogs. And one of those dogs is elderly and incontinent. Which keeps me mopping.

Remember I mentioned litter box training these guys? It is sure going well! I'd say they use the box 75% of the time, and that is only after a couple of days with it. Now, if I could just teach an old dog new tricks and get that 16 year old Bookie, who is peeing on the floor to try a litter box.

So, out of the 4, two have names. Dorothy and Bella. I'll be having a contest, with prizes for you (that I have yet to make) to name the 3 boys and the other girl. There will be pictures posted of them when I get the contest ready to go, so be thinking about it, but don't send your names in yet if you want to enter.

OKay, now I really need to get some work done. I'm hosting a Creative Cottage Girls Weekend next Friday and my studio looks like a 3 year old has been painting and cutting in here.

To paint or not to paint, that is my decor dilemma

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), hand painted candelabras, redos, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 14, 2010

Pixie Pie came by this morning with her mom to borrow some teapots and cups for a party they are having. I couldn't resist playing with the teacups as I got them out… (don't worry, I washed it after!)

This little girl is spoken for, and I have been calling her Bella for now because she is going to a friend that I met up in Omaha at Silver Bella. She is a sweety. Well, they all are. Now, they come running to me when I yell "Puppies!!!! Puppies!!!" in a high squealy voice. Yes, it is probably annoying to any humans who might be around, but the babies love it.

I'm wondering if we should do a Name the Puppy contest again? So far, I call them all Puppy, except for Bella. I'll get some photos of each and tell you a little about each one's personality and you can help me name them. I'll find some prizes too!

This weekend, I am cleaning up my studio and listing things in the Boutique. I want to get some space made and get the room ready for a party next weekend. I'm hosting a Creative Cottage Getaway for some arty friends and figured it was a good time to clear some clutter before they come.

Today is a Sugarwings day, but after she leaves, I'll be working away in the studio getting stuff organized and making space for FUN.

My guest room is getting re-vamped (photos soon) and I've kind of finished lightening up the dining room.

At first, I wondered if the creamy golds and grays would work together, then I realized that they were Dorkie colors! No wonder I redid the room that way, I love Twinkle's pretty fur. They say that people and their dogs grow to look alike, has anyone ever mentioned that a home will start to look like the dog too?

This great, old picture was in here before, and I thought it was too heavy and dark, so I took it down and hung mirrors there instead. Then, when I redid the furniture and brought the buffet back in, I thought the space could use something more substantial, so I brought it back.

Plus, it sets the theme of "lovely ladies" that the basket is filled with.

This is where the Queen Fairy from my previous post has gone to live. In the basket of lovely ladies.

This is my dilemma, right here. The lamp. Great lamp, and I have a ton of crystals to add to it, along with those big crystal pears. I was shopping at a friend's store when someone came in trying to sell it to her, she didn't want it and I asked if I could buy it. It was $40 which is a bit high for me, but its so ideal I had to get it!

Normally, I paint most everything. White or cream. But you'll notice that I've never painted the frame of this old picture, and that is because the finish is so perfect as it is. Every once in a while, I'll stand in front of it and day dream about grabbing a brush, but so far, I've refrained.

So, I think the lamp looks good with the other metals on the buffet, but yet, I am still thinking.. white… white.. white…

Is it just my natural desire to paint all things white, or is it an honest design instinct that this should be white? Well, creamy white and distressed, not bright white.

I'm thinking I should ignore the call of the paint brush and leave it for now. What do you think?

And don't forget to be thinking up some puppy names!

Joining Mary’s Glue Book class and some Charlotte inspiration

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 12, 2010

At craft day on Tuesday, Beth came across an old velvet doll hat in her box of supplies and of course, we had to try it on one of the pups! This is the biggest girl, and she is not shy at all when she wants some attention, she will call me until I come over and give her a snuggle. Its fun to see just how much these guys love people already, even when they are still living in the nest with the other babies.

Mary is offering a glue book class online and gave us all a sneak peek yesterday, as well as personal tutoring and downloads of the extensive paper selections for the class!

I didn't have a book to start, but wanted to make a sympathy card for Beth's mom, who lost her own mother recently. So, I used Mary's images from the class as well as her guidelines for a glue book. The rules are pretty simple:

ONLY GLUE AND PAPER ALLOWED!!

Which was a challenge for me, where was my ink, my glitter, my buttons, ribbons, and of course, my MILLINERY FLOWERS!!! I had no idea how difficult it was to make a collage with no 3-D objects. Mary had to walk me through it, and when I got really shaky from millinery withdrawals, she suggested that I cut out a picture of a flower, and that seemed to get me through it okay.

The class begins Sunday if you'd like Mary to give you all the tips to working on a glue book. She certainly knows them all! I learned a lot from her. You can too.

Working flat was quite a stretch for me, I even used fluffy millinery in this collage that I then smashed under beveled glass. But its always good to try something a little different, and I got a lot of good ideas from Mary. I'm looking forward to playing along with the classes and trying a few more. (plus you can use the ideas and papers for other projects that you do, not just glue books)

When I finished the card, I went back to my old ways and started sticking flowers everywhere.

This little Charlotte fairy is nesting in a pocket watch.

This is my favorite of all the Charlotte fairies and I was thinking of her as the queen even before I came across the words "Fairy Queen" in a 1930s book. How lucky was that? Her wings are a rhinestone studded, leaf shaped brooch that I cut apart.

(the background for this is some of Mary's paper too, she provided LOTS of good backgrounds)

A canning jar lid is the home for this 2" Charlotte sprite. Her wings are sequined leaves off of an old hat.

The inspiration for all of the fairies that I made came from this tiny little fairy collage that Beth made in a tin. Its done with one of my 1" eensy Charlottes.

It was good to see how many of you loved the vintage new stock necklaces that I loved too! I added a couple more to the shop, then that is the end of them. (Except for the ones I kept for myself!!) This one is really something, a pink glass rose pendant, that is kind of mirrored.

And there is this rhinestone one too. I think all but one of the others have sold. Its really special to think that these are almost 100 years old, and were packed away, never worn by anyone.

There are a few more new things in the Boutique, including a lot of prize ribbons from 1950s garden club shows.

And by the way, all comments are entered into the May giveaway. What ever it is…. I'll see if I can find something extra special at garage sales this weekend. I know you love junk as much as I do!

Bag-o-pups

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, I do tend to run on, don't I?, jewelry, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 11, 2010

The sampler that Beth made for my birthday is so beautiful! I have been moving it from one place to another until I decide where I'd enjoy it best. I'm in the middle of some redos (again!) so this is good timing for finding just the right spot to show it off. I will have some photos of it later, for some reason the ones I just snapped didn't come out so good, and I am short on time right now, we're getting ready for a craft day in the studio with friends.

The pups come over to the studio with me every day when I go to work. I load them up in a bag and haul them all together to the work space. In the evenings, they come back to the main part of the house with me and live in a wading pool that takes up a big part of the kitchen.

Here is their studio home, they have a bed (on a heating pad to keep the chill of the cement floor away) and next to that is a chair that Twinkle can jump onto to escape them if she wants a break. And don't all moms deserve a break? I remember when my boys were little and I was day dreaming of the time when I could finally close the bathroom door and not have someone on the other side demanding to be let in.

Speaking of potty time, I'm experimenting with litter box training these guys. At this age, they are learning not to pee in their nest, but have such tiny bladders that they have to go just about as soon as they climb out of it. So, I placed the litter box right next to the bed, and it seems to be working. I do have some papers down too, but most of the mess is going in the litter.

Its hard to believe that something this tiny and sweet can produce so much pee and such a mess. I'm hoping the litter idea works, because I have been changing newspapers all throughout the day. And am already getting a bit tired of that part of the experience.

My husband is going to Nag's Head on business this week and invited me to tag along to the coast with him. Instead, I am home with an ocean of puppy pee. I probably could have found a dog sitter for a few days, but honestly, we have these guys for such a short period of time, I hate to miss any of it. I promised my husband I'd go anywhere with him at all when he travels in June but I just didn't want to miss any puppy time now.

So, it looks like I'll be tagging along to Pittsburgh in June instead of the Outer Banks in May…

Do you blame me for not wanting to miss a week of the few short weeks we have these guys?

Plus, I still have Sugarwings a few days a week until her Daddy gets out of school at the end of the month. I didn't want to leave them in a lurch for a babysitter. (and I don't want to miss out on any of my special days with her either!) Once June is here, I don't know how often I'll have her with me.

My poor husband really is on the road a lot. We try to make up for it when he is home by making the time as fun as possible, but I need to also make an effort to travel with him more. I'm such a home body, its hard for me to pack up and go. Seems like last year, I was taking one trip after another and it really wore me out. I don't know how he handles traveling so often!

I'm going to have to be a bit more supportive and travel with him when I can. We usually have enough Southwest points for a free flight, so tagging along with him is pretty cheap. And we do enjoy our trips together once I force myself up and out of the house.

For now, he understands about these guys and my ties to them. He's such a wonderful guy to work so hard for all of us and sacrifice his time away from home to do it.

While he is away, I put in as much studio time as I can, so that we can hang out while he is here. And I can spoil him with his favorite meals.

I'm still embellishing the tee shirts from Wal-Mart. I wish I could buy two in every color, I swear, these are the most comfy tees I have ever worn.

For this salmon pink shirt, I made a rose from ribbon and a cut up hankie. The kerchief was cut into half, and I used just one of the halves to make it. I cut it into equal squares, then pinched each together from the center of the square and put a stitch there.

After that, I put all the pinched and stitched squares together and sewed them into the rose. I'm not much of a sewer, but this was really easy.

Since I didn't have pinking shears and was afraid the edges might fray, I sewed the rose to a pin instead of directly to the shirt, then tied the ribbons to the pin.

I took scissors and rounded off some of the corners, to make them look more petal like after it was done.

Yes, I am still yammering on…. here are a few packages of purchases from my Boutique that I wrapped up yesterday.

These vintage flocked wallpaper pouches are becoming an obsession with me. And some are getting a bit fancier than others.

If you order anything from my shop that fits in one, that is probably how your purchase will be wrapped up. I've made quite a few for that purpose.

If you are wondering whats new there, I'm adding some vintage new stock necklaces. Man, are they something! Each is close to 100 years old, and has been packed away, never worn. YOU would be the first to wear one of these beauties!!!

I listed a few yesterday, and have more to get in the shop. So please check back!

I’m a lucky mom!

celebrations, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!

Sugarwings and I started the day by pampering her mommy. This is the first Mother's Day without Nanny, and I was feeling very empathetic for her, I remember my first Mother's Day after my mom passed.

We had planned to take a basket of goodies to their home, but both of the girls had a sleep over with us last night. Instead I gave her the basket of croissants, jams, jellies, coffees, lotions, flowers, and chocolates to enjoy later.

The fairy grand baby helped me wrap up a dark chocolate bar in a photo of the two of them together, and we put ribbons and bows on all of the treats to make the basket festive.

Since the girls were here, we fixed up breakfast in bed, and of course, Sugarwings was ready to hop up and join in, so I brought her a plate too. She is only allowed to eat at the family dining table or at her little table, so this was a BIG deal to her.

We had chocolate dipped strawberries, blue berries, cinnamon rolls, and eggs scrambled with roasted yellow peppers, spinach, and cream cheese. I don't make the rolls from scratch, the frozen ones from Rhodes are just too good and too easy. Sugarwings and I snazzed them up a bit by putting organic butter, brown sugar, chopped pecans, and sunflower seeds in the pan before adding the rolls and baking them.

I just adore having girls around to do all this kind of stuff with, and its fun to spoil them. Now, boys are wonderful too, of course. And my two are the sweetest and most loving men you'll ever meet. Ryan never leaves a room without kissing me on the head. Adam is Mr. Zen, calm, thoughtful, sweet, and caring. Both have quirky senses of humor and can make me laugh.

Mother's Day is a good time to reflect on family and think about how lucky I am to have these people in my life.

Its also a good time to announce the newest, upcoming family members! Yep, grand baby #2 is on its way!! But I should say grand baby # 7, because this tiny little sprite is already a mommy to FIVE kids! Where did that little slip of a girl keep them???

This means more family to spoil and love on for me.

I'm going to surprise the expectant mom today with a little bundle of gifts, including a onesie with a tree painted on it. Since she and Adam are avid tree huggers.

And another onesie with a frog and some dragonflies, along with a couple other gifties.

This little mama got some extra treats today for her Mother's Day too. She got a serving of eggs with cheese. Later today, I think she might be in for some peanut butter on dog biscuits. She deserves it, she's been working pretty hard lately!

I think my sons and husband are going to do yard work for me today. I bought 6 fruit trees for Earth Day and my Mother's Day gift will be them doing the hard work of planting them. I might go get a few more trees while they have a post hole digger rented for the job. I also am hoping to get the new Charlaine Harris book as a surprise today. I've left a lot of hints, plus out right told my husband that I want it. I usually wait for paperback versions of books, but Mother's Day seemed like the perfect excuse to get a hard cover. And its just too hard to wait to see what is next in the adventures of Sookie. Its bad enough that True Blood won't be on again till June! If I don't get it as a surprise, I'll just go and buy it for myself this afternoon.

If you didn't get everything you wanted for Mother's Day, there are new sparkly things in the Boutique right now!

I'll leave you with some photos of what is new.

Bottoms Up!

antiques/junking

By Karla Nathan / May 7, 2010

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If you are in the KC area, you need to go see Bottom's Up! We went there tonight to see Beth's booth and spent a couple hours wondering around the old warehouse building enjoying the unique setting and all the cool stuff in it.

The show is always the same weekend, once a month, if you are planning a trip to KC in the future. And down the road, a couple blocks away, is another once a month vintage shop called Good Ju Ju, that is a fun place too.

Both stores are in old, old buildings with interesting chippy paint walls, or exposed brick, and roughed up painted floors. Great backdrops for all the goods.

Plus, wine, cheese, and live music. this is my pal, Angie, who went with me tonight. I call her my Shabby Chic friend because of her beautiful coloring.

Beth surprised me with a giant spangle disco-ey ball for my birthday! I kinda am in love with it. Can't you picture it hanging from a tree branch at my next garden party?

She also gave me the most touching, lovely, hand stitched sampler ever. I'll get some photos of it when the light is better. It deserves great lighting for its close up. (there is a photo on her blog of it now)

See what I mean about the cool setting for the store? Look at the background behind me. What blows me away is that this is all set up for just one weekend a month. Man, what a huge space to fill for such a short time. They really put a lot of time into well styled displays too. I left wanting to go home and redo everything in my home. A good display will bring that urge out in me every time.

I'll leave you with a few photos of my favorite displays.

Plants, Pups, plus the Broccoli Queen, oh, and two winners!

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, flowers, give away, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 6, 2010

Thanks for all of the wonderful birthday wishes! I had a good day, and the garden is planted! My son and Sugarwings, as well as a few pups were there to help.

We had big plans for going out to dinner, but while we were on a roll with the garden, we just kept working. My birthday ends up being the hardest working day of the year, because my family offers to pitch in and help with a big job. I never fail to take them up on the offer, its good to get some manpower put to use out in the landscaping! Since my husband was going to be out of town for the day, he helped me in the flowerbeds over the weekend.

So after days of "help" I am exhausted from all the yard work!! Its good to get the place cleaned up and get flats of flowers and herbs out to enjoy for the rest of the season. There is still more to do, but these last few days really took care of the major chunk of the work.

Sugarwings is a natural gardener, she loves nothing more than being wet and dirty. Her job was to play with and misplace the tools, and spray everything with the hose.

We crowned her the broccoli queen when she decided to wear the garden marker as a necklace and it was too small, so got stuck on her head.

I figured I wouldn't need a marker to recognize a head of cabbage, so made her a necklace to wear from that marker.

I was as wet and dirty as she was, and it was getting late, so my sweet son whipped up one of his great dinners for us while Sugarwings and I got cleaned up. His cooking is better than going out to dinner anytime! He made spinach and red pepper fettuccine with crab. Not bad for something he just whipped up in a few minutes while I showered.

We had a mini birthday party in the afternoon, before my son came by to help. Some friends dropped in to say Happy Birthday and have some carrot cake and blueberry ice tea on the patio and a walk on the Fairy Berry Trail.

They brought their kids, so I enlisted them help feed pups. We made up a bowl of puppy cereal and all the kids got a spoon to feed the babies with.

It was a birthday full of fun, friends, sweet babies, and help. Not to mention all the thoughtful well wishes I got from you. Yep, I'm pretty lucky!

Walmart has never been my favorite store, but it seems like sometimes you just gotta go there. When I do I usually find some spectacular deals. Like these tees. They are pure cotton and soft as if they had been worn for years. And only $4. I treated myself to a stack of them for my birthday and today I am embellishing a few with some of the trims I got from my Great Aunt Caroline's estate.

As much as I dislike sewing, I seem to be doing a lot of it lately, and I have to say, its been kinda fun…

Of course, my sewing is as simple as can be. Straight stitches only! And nothing that has to be perfect. Only decorative things like these pouches made from flocked wallpaper, or embellishing the tees, nothing that is measured, fitted, or complicated.

Speaking of these pouches- I need to announce the April Giveaway winner. The prize goes to:

Holly

She gets the pouch on the right, that is filled with my shard necklace.

Also, I have another 50 sign ups for my Google Friend Connect and need to give away a Peat Pot Pretty for that. I'll give away another at 250.

Please note that if you are already signed up for Friend Connect, you are in the drawing. But if you are a follower else where, I don't have a list for other following sites to draw from. If you want to enter, you have to sign up for Friend Connect.

The winner of a Peat Pot Pretty is:

Rose

Doing the birthday dance

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 5, 2010

The cuddle pups had their first bath last night. Now that I am feeding them puppy cereal, they are getting crusty! Those guys dive head first into the food dish and wear more than they eat.

So, I took advantage of having company last night and had all the little kids help me bathe the babies. It was good to have lots of little hands to hold bundled up pups until they were dry and warm. I think that helped make the first bath experience a good one for these guys.

The house was full for my birthday dinner! It was a beautiful night and we grilled, then ate outdoors. I baked a carrot cake and it tasted way tooooo good after two weeks of mostly liquid and soft foods since my snore-er snipping. (Which seems to have cured the snoring, by the way!!)

And look at what my husband gave me for my birthday, this ruffly dream from Anthropologie! Its so pretty, I might just keep it hanging on the door to enjoy instead of hanging it away in the closet.

The dress is a comfy tee shirt type material with chiffony ruffles. I hope its not too young for me. But I intend to be one of those grandmothers who wear and do what they want and not worry about looking silly. You should have seen my birthday extravaganza dance that I made up with Sugarwings! We twirled and spun around the yard and threw in a few Ginger Rogers moves. Of course, you have to know that I am a klutz and I probably looked more like Gilda Radner than Ginger Rogers.

We celebrated a day early because my husband had to go out of town today. But I get Sugarwings after school and we will be having some friends over and then doing some gardening together.

Until I pick her up, I'm getting some work done. I have a ton of photos taken of things to list in the Boutique (like this great, old buckle).

But honestly, the sunshine is calling my name and its really hard to concentrate on getting much listed…

Heck, I've just convinced myself to go and plant my vegetables instead of working! It didn't take much convincing. That sunshine is just too much. I think I'll take the puppies out to the garden patch with me and see how they like playing in the dirt.

They have no idea what adventures are waiting for them!

Thank you for all the kind birthday wishes! I'm off to the garden with a basket of veggies to plant and some puppies to play with. Add Sugarwings into the mix this afternoon and that is shaping up to be quite a special day!

Around the May Pole

antiques/junking, celebrations, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, flowers, I do tend to run on, don't I?, Sugarwings, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 3, 2010

What's the only thing better than scoring over a dozen floral hats at a flea market? Playing with them when you get home! Especially when you have friends who want to play too.

These little guys are starting to get interesting. They all try to come to me (but are still kind of stumbly) when they hear my voice now. It has not been easy to get any work done today, its the first day that the pups really seem to want to spend as much time with me as they do with their mom. Its funny to see how fast they develop and change. Just yesterday, they were mostly sleeping and today they are crying until they get picked up!

Between snuggles, I've been plucking hats. My hat storage is overflowing, so I needed to make space by pulling all the flowers off the newest arrivals. Finding 15 in one day is kind of amazing, even with my hat whispering skills. But I have to admit that I had a little help at the flea mkt, Beth pointed a few out to me and was nice enough to let me at them.

She and I are good shopping partners. I try to point out things I know she'll love. Even if I love them too. We kind of let things go to who ever has the most passion for the item, or take turns with the greatest stuff, or even share. We started a wallpaper pact years ago to prevent jealousy. If one of us scores big on wallpaper, we always share with the other.

(The hat with the brown ribbon only had a few flowers on it, but LOOK at that fabulous dotted Swiss ruffled ribbon that rims it!!)

See why I can't resist these guys? They are finally starting to look around and observe their world and its so cute when they just stare into my eyes. I don't know if I've ever been more in love with a batch of pups… its going to be hard to say goodbye in just a few weeks!

Its always hard to say good bye to the flowers too… I fall a bit in love with each bloom. I was reading Jenny's blog the other day and drooling over some flowers she used on a May basket, then she mentioned she had bought them from me!

Its never easy to say good bye to Sugarwings when she goes home to her mommy or daddy either, but its easier knowing that her parents are generous with letting us have time with her and with them too. We are so blessed and lucky that our extended family can all "share" her and get along. Even though her parents aren't together, we are all still family. I'm hoping that her Daddy's new family will be able to blend with us all too.

My theory is that you can't have too many people to love.

We celebrated May Day together by going to a carnival at her school, then my handsome husband and I did hours and hours of yardwork.

The school is out in the country, and was a lovely setting for all of the events. The big kids did a May Pole dance, there were arts and crafts, live music, and a hula hoop class. (That's my husband showing his moves)

Our tiny little hooper had a blast.

Especially with the glue and scissors. Sometimes I wonder if she really cares about creating anything, all she cares about is cutting and gluing. That kid is obsessed with scissors and glue.

And when I buy her clothes at Goodwill (this is a $4 dress) I can relax and enjoy watching her go wild with the glue.

I probably shouldn't go so many days without posting, I tend to have too much to say as it is, when I post every day or two! It was such a busy and fun weekend that there is just too much to blather on about. Flats of flowers, working in the garden, redoing a guest room, parties, boating, puppies to play with, May poles and more. No wonder I didn't have a chance to do a post!

I'll leave you with some photos of the flower packs I added to the shop, stop running on and on!

The secret to having it all

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 30, 2010

My finds from the fantastic flea mkt yesterday still aren't unpacked yet. But I did pull a couple hats from the bags to play with.

Some how, today got away from me I had a lot of errands to run before picking up the fairy grand baby from school. Then, Sugarwings and I baked brownies and invited some friends over to hold puppies. Playing with all the babies seemed much more fun than getting all my stuff unpacked, cleaned, photographed and listed for sale.

I'm pretty lucky to have the flexibility to spend a day like this, aren't I???

Not a lot of real work got done today. I did squeeze in time to make some more wallpaper folder/bag things to pack stuff in. Every package that I dropped at the PO was packed up in a pretty little pouch today. The little pink flocked wallpaper one in front contains April's Giveaway and is all ready to mail as soon as I draw a name on May 1st. You can still enter to win it by leaving a comment today.

Next to the pouches are some of the hats that I scored yesterday.

I really can't believe that tomorrow is May already! In a few days, I turn FIFTY TWO.

Birthdays make me think about life. I really am very lucky to have the life I do. When I was in my 20s, if you had tried to tell me that I'd be where I am now at this age, I wouldn't have believed it.

Of course, if you'd told me that I would have posted a photo of myself with no makeup, uncombed hair, and wearing gym clothes on the internet, I would have been shocked. Then, I might have said, "what is an internet?"

Of course, in my 20s, I never left the house without makeup, and would have screamed at anyone who tried to photograph me that way. But now I know that being comfortable with who I am and liking my own skin, no matter how saggy it might be getting, is a key to a happy life. I don't take myself or my looks (or lack there of) very seriously.

Enjoying and excepting what I have and what I am, and being more aware of the world around me than of myself is something that I wish I'd learned when I was younger.

Last week, I won a giveaway from Myrna and had a choice of her gifts. When I saw this phrase on her tag, I had to chose the little book it was on.

What great words to live by. Happiness is what you make of it. There are many ways of looking at your everyday life, and I chose to look at mine through what a friend used to call my "Karla Goggles", which meant rose colored lenses, I think. Well, you can look at the gloomy side of things and never be satisfied with what you have. Or you can look at the good stuff with a smile on your face and feel like the luckiest person on the planet.

Life goes by so quickly. Just a couple weeks ago, these guys were tiny as mice and all piled in their nest. Their world is expanding by the moment as they start to explore and experience life.

Yes, that is dust on my floor in this photo. Just like those were wrinkles on my face in the earlier photo. But that is just a part of life and I'd rather focus on the the joy of seeing the pups take their very first steps out of their nest and of the happiness on my face when I hold Sugarwings.

I have a feeling that in the next 50 years of my life, I'll be a LOT more wrinkly than I am now, and my house will not be much cleaner. But I sure am excited about seeing all the good things those years bring, dust, wrinkles, and all.

Author name: Karla Nathan