Karla Nathan – Page 228 – Karla's Cottage

Romantic Decorating tips for Valentine’s Day part two

By Karla Nathan / February 8, 2010

As promised, here are a few more pictures of the "Romantic Decorating for Valentine's Day" that I did for the local cable channel's 6 and 10 o'clock news, that will air today. The tips had to be more visual than descriptive, because it is a SHORT, very short, segment. Under two minutes.

This one was simple as can be. I filled a birdcage with mini white lights, and topped them with some lace, then laid out the letters L-O-V-E on that. The letters are glittered chipboard from a set you can pick up at any hobby or scrapbook store.

The birdcage is in the living room, and the only other thing I added to this corner for the photo shoot was some white roses. I wanted to show that Valentine's Day doesn't have to be all pink and red.

I popped a handful of roses into a tall vase, and another into a short one, then set them next to each other down in a basket full of dried hydrangeas, and arranged the hydrangeas to hide both vases.

I'll probably dump out the water, and let the roses dry right there in the basket and leave them in it. Until they get all dusty and have to be tossed. I really like dried flowers, but honestly, the time does come that they need to be thrown out! And it is much sooner than I usually dump them, I've noticed some flowers that look more like brown blobs than flowers on some higher shelves, before. After a bit, they become nothing but dust catchers!

What I talked about for the dining room was re-purposing an old light fixture by adding votive cups and candles to it. (I like to use mine for dinner parties, because it is just the right height to still be able to look into the person's face across the table from you. )

The Valentine tips were:

1-light multiple candles, and place them on a mirror for an even bigger impact.

2-sprinkle rose petals on your table top

3-layer doilies over your table cloth for a luxe look

4-use live plants that you can plant outside in the spring, for a romantic touch that will live on

5-remove the live plants from the original container and replace it with something more interesting

In my case, I put the miniature rose plant into a terra cotta pot covered in sheet music and wrapped with ribbon, then topped with a rhinestone buckle. You could use a vintage pot, or something from a garden center, or cover a pot in any pretty papers.

Since Sugarwings has been around, I've taken to decorating my chandelier year round. Since she was a baby, she has always noticed what is on the chandy, so I like to keep changing it and making it fun. For now, its covered in lots of extra crystals and a beaded garland, plus white birds and some angel wings.

We live in the country and have a satellite, not local cable. So I'll miss out on seeing the segment on the news today! A friend offered to tape it for me, though. I'm hoping the station can get a copy to me, so that I can load it on the blog. But even if they do get one for me, I'm probably not going to be able to edit it down from the 1/2 hour news program to just the part that I want to show. I really enjoy playing with photo editing, but have NO idea whatsoever to do with video.

Funny, its going to be less than 2 minutes, but it took me most of the week to get ready for it! I guess that if my house was kept cleaner, it wouldn't have been such an ordeal. But, hey, we live here! With a three year old!

Well, not any more…

Sugarwings and her Daddy have moved out into their own home. She'll still stay with me one night a week, and I'll watch her a couple days. But, it just won't be the same as seeing her happy face as she comes down the stairs in the mornings. Her smile is such a beautiful way to start the day.

I know it is the best thing for them both. But I will miss them.

Well, maybe I'll have more time to get things listed in the Boutique? Here are a few I added today.

This too. More wallpaper and some surprises coming this week too.

Lately, I've noticed a LOT of Mr. Linky-fests. I'm going to try to join in on a few. Here are a couple that look interesting:

The Persimmon Perch- Made it Mondays

Between Naps on the Porch

Check it out if you get a chance. There is already a nice, long list of sites to look at.

Winter on the Fairy Berry Trail

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / February 6, 2010

Sugarwings and I had some fun in the snow yesterday. After all the snow we've gotten this season, I am surprised to say the words "fun" and "snow" in the same sentence! This winter's snowfalls have been brutal and cold, and mostly made me feel trapped. But this one! This one was just delightful!

Fluffy, fat, flakes, and 33 degrees. This was the kind of snow that just beckoned us outdoors and into the woods. So we bundled up and headed out to the Fairy Berry Trail (Sugarwings is wearing a Calvin Klein ruffled coat on sale from TJMax for only $10, and a scarf knitted by my favorite non-stop knitter, Beth)

We filled our pockets with little vials of glitter to decorate the snow fairies we had planned to make, but the fluffy snow wasn't cooperating, and the ground was so warm, that when we rolled a snow ball, it collected mud and leaves and the white snow didn't stay white for long. Even a full bottle of glitter wouldn't have enhanced those brown lumps we created.

It didn't matter. We had a blast crawling through the fallen trees and making a fort in the piles of wood. In the summer time we stick to the trail to avoid poison ivy and bugs and who knows what else, so it was a treat to step off the trail into the "wilderness" of the woods and do some exploring.

She wanted to explore this old shed too, but its so full of junk, I can't let her in there. Too bad I don't have it fixed up yet, it would have been a good place to use as a cabin on a snowy day. In the past, it was my once a month antique store, and there are piles of unwanted inventory everywhere. It needs a good cleaning, so I can make it into a play house for the little Fairy grand baby. She is sure drawn to the building every time we go out in the yard.

Its nice to know that she likes a lot of the same things I do.

After getting all wet and cold in the snow, I warmed her up with a bubble bath while I wrapped in a robe and sat by the tub to read. I'm in the middle of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Its well done, with using the original text, just adding ninja zombie killing moves.

Anyway, as I sat there with her, I started thinking about repainting the bathroom a robin's egg blue with a sheer gold wash over the top.

Now, why can't I just enjoy a snow day, without thinking about redoing the shed or repainting the bathroom?????

Did you notice anything missing in the snow pictures? No Twinkle! She has a "date" with Teddy. Its quiet around here without her around, but if all goes well, I'll be ankle deep in yorkies soon enough.

I'll leave you with some pics of what is new in the Boutique. I need to go take some more photos and get more listed, before Sugarwings comes back to spend the day with me again.

360s of a fleeting cleanliness, while getting ready for a little TV segment for Romantic Decorating

flowers, Food and Drink, housework, show and tell

By Karla Nathan / February 4, 2010

Are you tired of this display? What, 3 posts in a row, I've showed you this one… but each time a bit different. This is the final look for the little TV segment I did today. Roses were the finishing touch, I added those, plus more M&Ms, and a floral hanky.

Now, I won't make you look at this set up any more. Because it will soon be destroyed anyway, I plan on eating one of those candy bars that are wrapped in scrapbook paper!

The roses were a bargain. Our local Dillons grocery store marks down their flowers to $1.99 a bunch on Mondays, and this week, there was a TON of them to chose from, and late in the week too! I guess the week before Valentine's Day is a slow flower week, everyone is saving up for the big splashy bouquets for the big day instead. So, I got 4 bunches of flowers for 8 bucks.

Yellow isn't usually my color, and probably isn't associated with Valentine's Day, but I liked the cheerful splash of color in the bathroom.

So the holiday tips for this room are:

1- Put fresh flowers in every room!

2- Use a pretty, floral china plate for a soap dish, and set out a nicely scented, special bar of soap. (this one is home made, and was poured into a heart shaped mold)

3- Make a photo copy of a vintage Valentine postcard to wrap around your liquid soap bottle. I glued mine on, and after the holiday, I can just soak the bottle in warm water to remove the label and change to another look.

In the kitchen, I filled my white creamers with pink roses and white mums. One bunch of roses can make a much bigger impact if you spread it around, instead of having one vase filled with all of them.

From this bundle of sweetheart roses, I got 8 arrangements.

While my house was clean, I thought I'd take some full room shots. When TV cameras come over, you can't get away with just cleaning one side of the room, just in case. So, the whole durn downstairs is all picked up and all the floors are mopped throughout!

There are more Valentine Day's decorations to show, but I think I'll save those and just revel in my clean rooms and post those pics. Usually, I have to kick stuff to one side of the room to get a good picture. Today I can do 360s!

This is the view from my dining room into the kitchen/breakfast nook. That white cabinet is Sugarwing's play kitchen. Its big, bulky, and in the way, but we couldn't function without it. Next to that is the wood stove. Not pretty, but it sure can put out heat. And with MORE SNOW coming, I'll be firing it up soon.

You know, this is kind of a blah view. Maybe a 360 isn't a good idea after all? I guess I usually show the room from the best points of view.

This one is from the other side of the toy kitchen, standing in the breakfast nook. See what I mean about Sugarwing's kitchen being in the way? It makes getting into the pantry a pain, but is so worth it. She loves that thing.

For this, I was standing next to the wood stove. The screen around the stove is from Tuesday Morning's clearance aisle. I painted it with high heat paint because it was a dark bronze to start with.

This one is from the bedroom door looking into the kitchen.

No, those aren't dead birds on my chandelier, they are angel wings.

Another view of the woodstove. The mosaic thingy by it is a cement piece of yard art that I covered in china, glass, and old jewelry, then topped with a bird. The thing was actually a lighthouse, I hope that isn't too apparent. For a while, I was on a mosaic craze and everything got covered in broken glass and tile, then grouted. Hmmm, on second thought, this little lighth
ouse/bird/thingy might need to go outside. Do you ever just have stuff around for years because that just happens to be where you set it and it stayed there, not because it looked great, but just kind of out of default?

Taking a photo of your room and looking at that, can make you really SEE the room. I guess I just kind of always over look this and didn't realize how much it didn't fit in. It will be much better in the garden this spring. If spring ever comes- we have snow forecasted again!!!!

One more angle, this is from the stairway. I'm still not done with this room, the table in the corner is too small, I need a buffet type piece for under the mirrors. I could use a rug too, but just hate trying to keep one clean under a dining table where a 3 year old eats. The dogs spend a lot of time sitting under her chair, but even they can't lick up all the mess she creates.

Okay, that's plenty of angles of the same room over and over. Now, I'm going to go let the dogs out of their pen so they can start dragging in leaves across my mopped floor, and soon Sugarwings will be home and start pulling out her toys. All of this unnatural tidiness will soon be gone.

If you are in the Lawrence area, the 5 Romantic Decorating Tips for Valentine's Day will be on channel 6 Monday, for the 6:00 and 10:00 news.

If you want to see the rest of the decor tips, I'll post more later on, but for now, I've loaded them on HGTVs

Rate My Space

But I have to warn you, that site is addictive!!

If you are in the Kansas City area, and want to find some of the best shopping ever, you need to get to this sale by some friends of mine! I was invited to be in it, but just couldn't make it happen. I do hope to go, if I don't have Sugarwings all weekend.

Its in an 8,000 sq ft warehouse in the historic West Bottoms.

1200 W 12th St (12th and Sante Fe)

Feb 5th and 6th from 9am-5pm

And if you are not in the Kansas City/Lawrence area, here is another option for you. The lovely Cindy, at the lovely, My Romantic Home, is having a show and tell party.

Waste not, want not

fairies, paintings

By Karla Nathan / February 2, 2010

My 5 Romantic Decorating Tips for Valentine's Day are almost set and ready to go. Now, I still need to clean the house to be ready for the TV cameras on Thursday. After Sugarwings gets out of school tomorrow, she and I will be spending the rest of the day spiffing the place up. Then we'll all go OUT for dinner so it doesn't get messed up again!

The tip shown here, is to decorate with candy. I've wrapped some candy bars in scrapbook paper, with heart shaped doilies and some ribbon, then put them in a glass canister. Doesn't everything look better under glass?? Another trick for making items look more important and interesting, is to gather them up together on a tray. So, I've used a simple white platter to display the treats on.

(I'll need to fill up the M&M's- they got snacked on, I'll add some red and white ones, then maybe a ribbon?? What do you think?)

All of the tips I show need to be easy and quick. The segment is only a minute or so, and there won't be time to explain much. I'm trying to go for displays that speak for themselves.

After working on the Valentine display ideas, I sat down to do a little drawing that a friend commissioned. But- the paper I had just wasn't working. Another friend had given it to me, and it looked like really high quality stuff, but when I went to erase on it, it just fuzzed up. So, I was unable to finish the piece as a painting. I hated to waste it, so instead of watercolor paints, I colored it with markers and did a quickie, swirly background.

My poor niece is recovering from an awful surgery, so I thought I'd pack up some scrap booking supplies to send to her to play with while she was down. I decided to use this fairy sketch on the cover of the album I wanted to make for her.

Nothing goes to waste around here! Those props for the photo shoot will certainly be gobbled up and enjoyed after the cameras are done.

Oops, gotta go, LOST is starting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cinamon and Paprika Soap?

antiques/junking, Books, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / February 1, 2010

The ideas for Five Romantic Decorating tips for Valentine are coming along well. Its a VERY short segment on the local Lawrence, KS TV station. So short, that the ideas can't really have any explanation or how-tos, just time enough to see the pretty ideas.

One of my ideas will be an arrangement of heart shaped candy boxes in the kitchen. I'll add something next to it, (photos when I figure that part out…)

This one came about because I bought the red vintage box over the weekend at the Farmstead Style retreat I talked about in my last post. The other boxes are empties I saved from last year's half price, after Valentine's Day candy shopping spree. (the emptying didn't take long) I've foofed them up with old wallpaper, ribbons and flowers.

Did you notice my newest French netting score!!??? There are two of them, both from Saturday's fun shopping/crafting trip to Platte City. (they are both pillow cases, one was $10 the other $4)

Here is the 2nd piece, I'm lining this terra cotta pot with it. The sheet music, ribbon, and rhinestone buckle were added for the TV segment I mentioned. For that day, I'll put a pot of mini roses in it.

For today, I've filled it with homemade soaps. Book club is tonight, and we are discussing The Geurnsey Literary and Potato Pie Society. In the book, one of the characters makes use of a dead pig by making it into much needed soap, and wrapping up the bars with red yarn to give to the other members.

Well, I didn't have red yarn, or a dead pig. But I made some soap, using glycerin bars from the craft store, melted in the microwave. Instead of pig fat, I added olive oil, and some powdered goat's milk, with a splash of epsom salts.

In the book, the soap was scented and colored with paprika and cinnamon. Sounds awful, huh? But I tried it, and actually, its kind of nice. I hope the book club agrees with me, I'm bringing these as gifts tonight.

Today is crazy and hectic, I have Sugarwings, for an unplanned afternoon, and errands to run before I pick her up. So, this is a quick post. I wanted to let you know that these medals are listed in my Etsy shop now, 4 for $2. I have about 50 of them, so if the shop is out, please email me to let me know if you need some.

I also need to announce the winner of the January Giveaway-

Lisa of Tarnished and Tattered

Who, by the way, has a GREAT blog. I love her style.

Info about the February Giveaway will be coming up. All comments are entered. My giveaways are kind of loosely done. Sometimes people win and didn't even know they entered.

“Be My Fairy Valentine” Bird

antiques/junking, fairies, holiday decor, how to's, show and tell, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 30, 2010

What a good day! I attended a class that my Bella pal, Sheila was teaching today at a barn. Yep, a barn. But not any old barn. Yes, there were stalls, and horses and hay, but there was also a full kitchen, two bathrooms, a bedroom, living room, dining nook, and full work space!

No, not a typical barn at all. And the farm dogs were foofy, standard poodles.

The cute as a bug owner, Kelly, has set up the place for her design business and will be using it also for these class events. Along with the class, was shopping. Good shopping. Two of my favorite dealers from Rusty Chandelier had spaces here along with all of Kelly's gorgeousness. Clothes, jewels, and vintage tidbits filled the space, and I spent an hour before the luncheon was served exploring it all and picking out some treasures (photos later).

Sheila taught 3 classes, but Beth and I just signed up for one. And it was a doozy. What a cool idea she had to share! This is Sheila's class example, and she provided everything we needed to complete it just like this.

But I had some changes in mind…. For the bird, I brought ledger paper with pink lines, and made the wings and tail feathers from millinery petals. The eye is a crystal bead that Sheila provided. (I dropped mine, but Beth gave me hers to use) I used the Cropadile to punch an eye hole, then glued the bead inside, so that it was 3-d from both sides. And you can see through it in the light for a little glow.

Before making the wired branches as Sheila instructed, I wrapped the "trunk" in pink velvet ribbon. My theme became "Be My Fairy Valentine", so I used lots of fairy girls, pink flowers, and hearts.

One cool thing about these trees, is that you can take all the goodies off and change them with the seasons. So, next this can be a springtime tree.

There are pink velvet flowers wired onto my branches, so I am all ready for spring!

Sheila provided the oval chipboard, but instead of the photo she offered, I glued on some hand painted roses that I'd brought along.

Two little wooden hearts got covered in wallpaper on one side and that pink lined ledger paper on the other. I snipped a length of a broken pearl necklace off to tie into a loop at the bottom to hold a little rose bud. ( I should have cut the length longer, it was a bit hard to tie with the string that short)

To hang the heart, I twisted a bit of wire into a kind of, heart shaped hook.

The spool and wire were things Sheila gave us, along with instructions on how to make a little nest with three eggs in it. She is a wonderful, patient teacher and took time with each of us individually to explain the wire weaving to make the nests. I'd never tried one before, and really enjoyed learning that part. I can see lots of nests in my future…

The nest I made wasn't for birdies, though, its a fairy nest. I wired this frozen Charlotte onto the top of the spool and made wings for her from little feathers that were in our kit ( I used one under the nest too) and some velvet millinery petals. (Do you think she looks like she is hoola hooping? Maybe I should make her a tutu to cover the wire?)

To the front of the small spool, I added another wallpaper covered heart.

Before the class this morning, I glued a rhinestone heart to the front of this locket and made a tiny collage to put into it.

The fairy hanging behind it, is an old photo that I painted on. Then I covered the back in rose wallpaper, added ribbon and flowers to the bottom, and punched a hole to hang a crystal from (that Sheila had in our kits, she really provided some fun baubles for us).

This is also a locket, with a mirror on the other side. This is something that I hung as is. I added a framed ribbon rose by my friend, Natasha, too.

The tree was so much fun to make, that I almost can't wait to make more stuff for it and change the theme already! I will be first in line to head out to the countryside for the next Farmstead Style experience, let me know if you want to come too!

Again, I need to thank you all for making the wallpaper FLY out of my boutique! I've added a few more here and there and have tried to keep it stocked up, but some packets that are sold out won't be replaced. I did replace some scrap packs and added this selection. Hopefully, later in the week, I'll have a chance to add some more.

But I have to work on a little segment for our local cable news channel for Thursday. Which means cleaning my house for the cameras, and showing 5 projects about Romantic Decorating for Valentines Day. So, maybe the wallpaper will have to wait. My house is a wreck again. Didn't I just spend a solid week cleaning and redoing??????

Speaking of time flying, where did January go??? But, you still have a little time to enter the January Giveaway drawing for a little painted and glittered cardinal!

Making Memories Last

Books, fairies, family, how to's, show and tell, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 29, 2010

The last few days, I've gotten caught up on a year's worth of photos! January seems to be a good time for me to get organized. But it would be smarter to glue pictures into the albums throughout the year instead of dealing with a couple hundred at once…

Since I had so many to arrange, I kept the pages very simple, quick and easy.

Printing a page of collaged photos saved a lot of time! So did using the black pages as a background, and not trying to cover them up completely. On this page, I doodled some flowers in Gelly Roll ink in the corner and slapped some glue on the picture and stuck it down.

For Sugarwing's Snow Princess picture, I used a two sided card stock to make a card. One photo went on the top, and then I trimmed it in some of my Great Aunt Caroline's old lace.

I glued the back of the card into the album, and added another photo to the inside. Next, I glued down an envelope that holds a copy of the story I wrote for her when we had our Snow Princess Tea Party.

The pastel Gelly Roll pens really worked well on the black paper, so I made use of them a lot.

I don't really consider myself a scrapbooker. But, I do have tons of books that I've made (mostly about Sugarwings, but there are some other pics in them too) so I guess I am.

My goal when assembling an album is to get a lot done, fast, simple, quick, and cute.

First step is to sort the pictures. I arrange them in piles according to event or person. I work my way through, one pile at a time, and have a stack of papers nearby to coordinate. Normally, I don't use stickers, but these were just so right for this picture of Sugarwings in her Snow White dress, that I couldn't resist sneaking them from her supply stash. Sometimes, I think that kid has more art supplies than I do.

Instead of glue sticks, I use a bottle of Incredibly Tacky, and run a bead of it along the edges of each bit of paper, then zig zag it around the middle before putting it into the book. It seems so much more durable to me than a glue stick.

Hobby Lobby has booklets of sparkle paper cut in just the perfect, time saving, size to add a photo to. I made use of about a whole book full of those.

Cutting people out of some of the photos adds some variety too. I don't cut too many out, though, because part of the fun of looking at an album 20 years later is seeing all the backgrounds, and remembering a chair, or table or wall color from years ago.

Textured papers add some interest too.

The best part of doing this was enjoying all of my favorite photos from the past year.

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You can probably tell that I don't spend a lot of time cutting or measuring…. I eyeball the paper and snip away, and just don't worry about it being perfect. Like I said, cute and quick. (this is more sparkly paper, in a larger size)

Notice the beautiful card? It was one of the 100 hand made cards sent in to my Great Aunt for her 100th birthday. When she passed away this summer, I got a few of the cards to take home and thought the album would be a good way to save them and remember the occasion. This one was done by Nancy. I glued it down, and then added two more pictures of Sugarwings and Pixie Pie to the inside of it.

Cards are a good way to fit more photos onto one page. For the Christmas pages, I saved holiday cards that we got in the mail and used those to hold pictures.

Not all of the pages got much attention. Some were pretty simple.

Others had more going on. There are 4 pages about the Fairy Berry Trail and I wrote a little story to go along with it. It might have looked better if I'd printed it out, or at least wrote more legibly, but like I said, there were hundreds of photos and I was going for quick and cute.

After making 4 photo albums in 3 days, I think I've had enough for a while. I have a feeling that I will not be keeping up throughout the year after all. I'm a bit burnt out. I'll probably have another big stack to deal with next January!

A couple of tiny ballerinas

celebrations, Food and Drink, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 26, 2010

Sugarwings went to her first ballet class yesterday.

Before the class began, she practiced her moves by copying some poses she saw in photos out in the

hallway of the Art Center.

We are so lucky to live in a town with a resource like this. Our art center is vibrant, busy, and there is always something fun going on. When it was being built, I was on the committee to chose installation artists (I had NO idea what I was doing, I just picked what I liked, and tried to not feel intimidated by the real artists on the committee.)

One of the selected artists was a good friend of mine, Shanna Wagner, who also teaches at the center. She did this stained glass mural in the stairwell, and it was such a huge project, that she enlisted friends to help out. My bit is the yellow/orange area to the lower right.The piece is breath taking in person. I just love going to the Art Center and seeing it.

Speaking of breath taking, the speed that the wallpaper is flying out of the shop is astounding! Thanks, guys!!!

Today, I added a few snack packs of scraps. I have some more to photograph, but some packs are already sold out. These small pieces are perfect for little artworks, like tags or ATCs.

Its nice to have scraps to use for mini projects instead of cutting up a large piece for a 2 or 3 inch bit.

The packs were what I worked on for a while when friends came over for Craft Day. That and some photo albums that should have been put together a year ago, I've gotten a bit behind on my photos…

I wish every week had a craft day in it! Those days are the best. Although, I think Beth was doing an expose on the REAL Karla's Cottage while she was here. Keep an eye out for incriminating photos on her blog. I told her to go for it, I've shown some pretty bad messes around here. And when you see a photo of something pretty, that means that the other side of the room is a disaster because I've kicked everything over there out of the way, or else it is just cropped out.

See what I mean? Here is the same view, uncropped with the clutter showing around it. I have a feeling that Beth found worse, though.

About half way through the day, Marilyn mentioned that it was her birthday yesterday! Luckily, we were prepared for any emergency around here, and I whipped out a cupcake and topper with a candle.

We also styled a photo of Beth's project for Mary's Artist Class. Notice a third dessert pictured? Yes, it was a day of treats. Homemade marshmallows by Shawn, and brownies from the birthday girl, cheesecake from me and cupcakes from Beth. Sometimes, pitch-in lunches can be slanted in one direction, can't they? Shawn also brought a deli tray and I made soup, so we weren't totally relying on sweets for lunch. Although, that doesn't sound too bad, either.

There are still a few days left to enter this month's giveaway. I'm offering a foofed up love bird made out of a vintage cotton fiber cardinal. There are a few in the Boutique also, in case you win one and it needs a feathered friend.

A mini office redo for a mini office

collections, redos

By Karla Nathan / January 24, 2010

Wallpaper packs are ready!! Man, it feels like such an accomplishment for me, because that job drug on all week.

But, its not like I was slaving away for 12 hours a day getting them done… Its such a boring job that I came up with all sorts of little excuses to do something else and not finish.

Trying to get through that stack of paper was like reading a book that wasn't exactly a page turner, but still plugging away with it. When I am reading a so-so book, I can take forever to get to the end, and don't want to start another book till that one is done. So, I'll pick up a magazine, read blogs, or watch TV to procrastinate going back to that book. I don't know why I won't give up on a book like that and start another… I'm a finisher, I guess.

So, while piles of cut and to-be-cut wallpaper filled up my studio, I felt too guilty to do any artwork out there. I was saving a fun creative job as my reward for finishing. But, I did let myself get side tracked by cleaning out Sugarwing's art supply cabinet, and redoing my office area a bit.

Since cleaning isn't all that fun either, it didn't feel like cheating. I must really hate to chop wallpaper, if I'd rather redo all my office drawers and sort paper work. But at least I didn't get so desperate that I worked on taxes!! That little treat is still waiting for me.

My office is a section of my studio, walled off by room dividers I've put together with vintage doors, and a mini gazebo creation thing made of porch posts, two by fours, and iron brackets. Yesterday, while Sugarwings played with her doll house (of course there is a doll house by the computer!), my son, helped me switch out desks and rearrange all the wires so they weren't as obnoxious.

The area feels much more functional, this desk is just a tad bit more comfy than the previous one.

And doing it was a welcome break from cutting and ironing…

The cabinets in the office are all filled with shipping supplies and things listed to sell in the shop. The area could probably be prettied up with better storage (yes that is a Walmart bag on the shelf), but it is a working area, and everything is usually buried under papers and packages anyway.

(the rug is a floor mat that I painted on vinyl floor covering)

The wallpaper couldn't be avoided forever though. And I got a good jump on it today, all packs are made up and photos are done on quite a few. Some are actually for sale now! The Boutique at Karla's Cottage is well stocked for now, and if I can bolster the courage to add more, I have a few more stacks to list there.

Thank you, for all your requests for pretty papers. Its so wonderful to work with, I'm glad to know that lots of you guys love it too. I am so looking forward to sitting down to my worktable and cutting and gluing a bunch of it into something! Tuesday is craft day, with some friends coming over, so I plan on delving into a big pile of scraps then as my reward for chopping and ironing all week.

While I was avoiding my chores, I also spent some time playing online. Do you RMS?

Rate My Space is a site by HGTV where you upload photos of your home and people either say mean things or compliments about it. And rate your rooms. I show my home on my blog all the time, but people who read my blog, usually "get" my style and like the look. On RMS, you never know who is looking or what they'll say.

Its kind of fun. You can rate my kitchen here if you&
#39;d like. Then, have some fun looking through. The pictures run the gamut of people asking for advice, to magazine worthy rooms. Its a great way to kill time while trying to avoid work!

And for more fun while avoiding work:

Jen over at Sanctuary Arts is having a redo party, and I have linked this post to hers. Check out the other links there for some good ideas about prettying up your home.

Little Indulgences

Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, magazine pictures or articles, show and tell, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 21, 2010

Today is kind of blah. Yucky weather, I woke up with a bit of a stiff neck, and I am still facing a pile of wall paper to finish chopping, ironing, photographing, and listing. But our days are what we make them, right?

So, I took a little break from the drudgery of making packets of paper to sell, and treated myself to a tasty treat instead of grabbing a power bar and eating while working. Sometimes, its the little things that cheer me, like serving myself on a pretty plate. It wasn't a fancy meal, but peanut butter and sunflower seeds on a toasted whole wheat bagel tastes pretty good with Italian soda, while reading a magazine. (and getting away for work for a few minutes!)

This issue of Somerset Life is available now, when I showed the advance copy, it hadn't been out on the stands yet and some of you had asked where to get it. I usually find them at Borders, or other book stores like that, or at Michaels.

Over the years, I've done lots of magazine articles. (Here or here is a list of a few of them) But I've never gotten so many nice congratulatory notes as I have for this one! Thanks, to those of you who noticed it and came by to say "hi".

I guess we all love Somerset, huh? I'm sure thrilled to be in it.

The magazine was a good one to indulge myself in while getting away from work for a while. The issue is full of inspiration to keep me going on a yucky day! And now, after treating myself kindly with a pampered little break, I'm ready to face the piles of papers waiting for me in the studio.

After rolling out the papers, cutting, and ironing them, I stack them up and press them flat.
These trophies have enough heft to help flatten the pieces. I feel like I deserve a trophy myself after all this work!

That doesn't look like much does it? But it represents a few days of grueling labor… The paper can be very delicate and difficult to cut into squares. Once they are cut up, it is much easier to work with, but the long pieces tend to split and tear if I'm not extra gentle and take my time. So, just as I relax and get on a roll, I'll forget to take it easy and have a big piece rip up on me!

That's heartbreaking, since each bit is beautiful and valuable to me. They don't make this stuff anymore! I save all the scraps and make sure they get used.

I'll have some scrap packs to list in the shop too. Scraps are good to have for small projects, like tags or ATCs, you don't want to cut into a 10" piece for just a 2" bit!

Okay, my break is over. Thanks for keeping me company while I rested up enough to go and face the exacto knife and ironing board again. I'll leave you with some photos of what I listed yesterday in the Boutique and on Etsy.

And don't forget, all comments, all month go into the drawing for a vintage bird that I've foofed a bit.

(this just sold)

These are flocked as well as glittered.

Author name: Karla Nathan