Karla Nathan – Page 253 – Karla's Cottage

A second sneak peek at the December Giveaway and some tussie mussies to unload. (I mean offer to you at a special price.)

Books, Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, holiday decor, I do tend to run on, don't I?, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / December 13, 2008

This is sneak peek number 2 of the December Giveaway– it will stay a surprise until it is sent off in the mail to it's new home on Jan. 1. If you want to enter the drawing, every comment counts, all month long.

Louisa is hosting a Home Sweet Home blog party today, please go to her site and see some of the linked blogs and thier holiday decor!

I've been extremely good about returning comments this month (I hope Santa is watching!) but they are not all going through!! I get about 20% of them bounced back to me as non-deliverable. ( I just made up that percentage, I don't really do math much, this is a guess).

Sugarwings got the sweetest gift in the mail from our pal, Robin in VA. If you'd like to see a couple second video of her hanging it on the tree, click HERE.

The present itself was the cutest Glinda the Good Witch ornament, she is inside the clear ball like it is the bubble she rides down into Munchkindland. And of course, since Sugarwings loves to make things, we saved the box and cut out Glinda's picture to make another ornament from that.

I did the cutting, she did the glue and glitter, then we tied a ribbon and bell to the piece so that the fairy grand baby could hang it on her little pink tree.

You know how kids always loved playing with the box a gift comes in? We have discovered that the boxes always make good project materials. If I cut out the logos, or characters, Sugarwings is happy to get out the glue stick and glitter to turn the packaging into one of her smeary, yet sparkly creations. We even cut the pictures out of cute paper plates we use to eat snacks off of in the studio. Nothing goes to waste around here. (and peanut butter does hold glitter) And as prolific as she is, creating one thing after another and flinging the finished pieces over her head, then calling out "more", we need all the supplies we can get!

Her Grammy tends to be prolific too. Of course, getting the items I make photographed and listed on Etsy, I am maybe NOT so good at. I can crank out the goods, but I can't seem to get them uploaded to sell. You should see the backlog in my studio.

Yesterday, when maybe I should have been trying to clear out some of the junk, I mean trying to sell some things, I took a day off for a fun crafting afternoon with some blog friends. We all worked on books like the project Teresa McFayden had in one of her classes at Silver Bella.

For this, we decorated the covers of old books in pretty papers, then hollowed out the book with an exacto knife, clamped and glued the pages together and filled the scooped out portion with a pretty scene.

I tinted this old sepia toned photo with some pink to go along with my vintage pink wallpaper and this perfectly aged, old Christmas sheet music that is printed with BROWN ink! how pretty is that? I had been using some of this paper as the packaging for the mini dyed trees I was selling on Etsy, then realized it was way too cool to not keep and use a couple pages for myself. I'm glad I did, I think that it was just what I needed for this book.

If you are interested in purchasing this book it is $35 includes shipping (in the US). sold, thanks!

The guests brought goodies and we ate fresh baked Christmas treats all afternoon.(Sugarwing's Daddy was a bit irritated at me for letting her have a chocolate and candy cane free for all in the treat cabinet)

By the way, my treat cabinet is featured in the latest edition of Romantic Country magazine, I'll let you know when I see some copies on the stands. A friend told me she has received hers in the mail already.

Of course, here is just one more thing I didn't get listed on Etsy for this season. Tussie Mussies are so pretty on the tree, or can be filled with treats or small presents and given as gifts.

They are made with vintage materials and decked out with loads of pretties. Maybe I should sell them from the blog instead, because who knows if I will get them onto Etsy?? So, here they are, if you'd like one, I can send you a pay pal invoice for $8 each (half price from what I usually sell Tussie Mussies for) plus postage. They aren't heavy, but require a box. I will ship them Priority Mail for $4.80, as many as you'd like to fit into one box.

Also, thanks so much to those of you who asked about the bird ornament from yesterday, it has been sold and was one of a kind, I can't make another. I appreciate your inquiries, though.

Sugarwing’s Christmas Tree

Etsy Goodies, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 10, 2008

Things have been busy here at the cottage. I've finally unpacked all my wares from Silver Bella and Miss Frenchie's sales and cleaned up my studio! Wow, it feels good to have the space reclaimed from the piles of junk and boxes and back to usable work space!

Tomorrow, I have a group of blog friends coming over to do Christmas crafts, so got the whole room rearranged and ready to go. But, sadly, half of the group had to cancel for various reasons. Well, we should have plenty of space to spread out at least, but the rest of the group will be missed.

I've gathered bits and pieces of trims and baubles and set them out to use for our projects. Everyone is bringing goodies to share, and I have a feeling there will be lots of glittering and chatting. I can't wait!

Did you notice that I found a spot for the table I bought from Elizabeth? It now sits next to my buffet garden of old hats.

After cleaning the studio today, Sugarwings and I solved the Christmas tree dilemma. We just decided that it was all HERS. Because no matter what else I had tried to do, this is how it would have ended up anyway. I gave her a box of (unbreakable) decorations and let her go. After settting out a selection of small trees, and giving her a choice of which one would become her masterpiece, she immediately went for the pink one. Durn, I wanted that one!!

Of course, holiday decorating is a pretty serious job. Miss Sugarwings put her heart into the work.

Some how, I think the tree decor will be going through a few transformations in the next couple of weeks. It has already been done and redone a few times tonight.

I wonder who she gets that from??

I did manage to get a few things listed on Etsy this week.

And I want to thank all of you who purchased little dyed bottle brush trees. I have a few left, but all are listed, once they are gone, I'm out of the tree game, at least for this season. I think I'll miss them tho. Dying trees reminds me of dipping Easter eggs, so I am considering some little pastel trees covered in eggs this spring….

There is only one putz house left ( out of the 30 or so that I had! That was lucky!). I use the original old houses, then foof and refoof them up. This one has a flocked wallpaper roof.

A couple of boxes got added to the shop, and I hope to add a couple more before I have to close down again. I shut the Etsy shop (there is a handy "vacation mode" you can switch on and off as needed) for Silver Bella, and now I will close next week when I go out of town. My husband says he has a special surprise planned for me, and I have no idea where he is taking me. I was told that I needed a swim suit and a nice dress.

I don't know any more details than that! We'll be in Virginia at the apartment, then down to Richmond for a business trip he has to take. From there, I have not a clue about what or where the surprise is. I was hoping that the surprise present was someone to do my end of the year taxes or to clean my house while I am out of town. But it sounds like he has a romantic getaway planned. So, I'll enjoy being whisked away and will have some fun memories to get me through those horrid tax and housework chores when I get back.

So, the shop will be open until Sunday, all packages sent out on Monday. Be watching for new things added each day until then!

Sneaking a peek at the presents

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, Miss Frenchie's

By Karla Nathan / December 9, 2008

What's this?

Your present for December. Well, at least a little peak of it! Isn't the suspense of "what's in the package" one of the exciting things about this time of year? So, I decided not to show you the entire giveaway item. I might have a couple more hints between now and the end of the month, because I know I used to love the hints my Mom would give me about my presents, years ago!

Little bits of Christmas are starting to show up around the cottage. I am supposed to be cleaning up my studio and getting ready for a craft day with friends, but I have been distracting myself with a few minor holiday trimmings. I set a couple of things in the breezeway, and others up high. All out of the reach of ~~Little Miss~~ ~~Grab and Smash,~~uhm, I mean, sweet little Sugarwings.

And when I say minor, I mean really simple. I was unpacking some displays fromMiss Frenchie's sale and thought I'd redo them a bit to set out around the house. This crate had been full of bottle brush trees, the branches were strewn about my booth for atmosphere, and the silver tree had held tussie mussies.

So, I piled the branches into the crate next to the tree, added the paper stars I'd made at our Thanksgiving craft day, and in a matter of minutes, it was ready to set on the breezeway table.

Filling boxes and baskets with vintage ornaments and branches is one of my favorite holiday tricks. For this tool caddy, I added the branches first, then piled in shiny ornaments, and a few pine cones, tied on a large jingle bell, and topped it off with a glittered dove. Instant sparkle!

Did you notice Twinks in the background of the breezeway photo? She can't believe that I want to point the camera at anything but her. So I indulged her and took a photo of her tummy full of puppies. Yep, she is expanding, we should be having teeny little dorkies sometime between Christmas and New Year. Now, where I will keep their nest is an issue. With a two year old running around, I need to keep the babies safe, but let Twinkle still have access to the doggy door. I don't know, they might all just have to live in the studio, and Twinks will have to give up some of her freedom and ask to be let out.

Motherhood is like that. Sometimes you have to BEG to be let out of the house. She'll be finding out soon enough.

This bit of holiday cheer is thanks to my pal, Carol. She embellished the box with transparencies, isn't it lovely?

Here is a close up. I wish I knew how to do that… its really cool. If you'd like one of your own, I think she has some for sale.

The embellished box Carol gifted me with was from Miss Frenchie's. Where I also got this table, that I haven't made use of yet. I bought it from Elizabeth and it has the most perfect marble top. I paint furniture myself so can appreciate what a good job she did painting the base of this little French piece. It was a total indulgent treat for myself, since like I said, I do paint furniture myself. But there was something about the lines of this one, and the fact that the weekend was such a special time, I wanted to buy something special for myself as a memento.

Plus, you know, when you are at a craft/antique show, the money you make doesn't seem real until you get it all home. Its easier to spend it away while you have cash in your hands and are surrounded by things you love and want! (once again, I'm glad my husband rarely reads this)

And speaking of things that don't seem real- look at the size of these grapes!!!!!!! They remind me of those big, glass globe grapes from the 70's. Didn't every coffee table in the Midwest have a bunch of these sitting on it back then?

mixing metaphors and brushes with greatness all done in bad lighting

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / December 8, 2008

Well, I might have recovered from Miss Frenchie's sale now! I've had a lovely, relaxing afternoon of touring holiday homes with friends, and going to a movie. Plus a book signing by another friend, who does the most amazing work.

Have you seen this book yet? It was named by the New York Times as one of the top illustrated children's books of the year. Its written by Stephen Johnson, a multi talented artist who has a whimsical twinkle in his eye. I always enjoy seeing him at parties, he has a way of making conversations go in odd little directions that are a lot of fun.

A typical question from him over the wine and cheese at an art opening or cocktail party goes like this- "Have you thought much about polka dots lately?". Not your typical topic, but somehow it was an interesting one that stuck with me long after it was over. Who knew that a group of us had so much to say about a simple little polka dot?

Here is a sample of his book, I bought a copy for the fairy grand baby. Its quite unique and totally Stephen! Lots of quirky thought went into it (along with talent.) Sorry about the bad photos. I'll bet that even if I did have that Canon Rebel I am jonesing for, the bad lighting at my house at night would still make for bad pictures. At least, that is what I am telling myself.

As Miss Frenchie's sale wound down, I managed to do a little shopping for myself from the other vendors. (more bad lighting, more bad photos, more apologizing)

The doll is from Beth, she had a shelf full of these beauties! The "crown" bowl was from Carol, French post cards from Gwen, and the ornament was made by Julie. I'd never met Julie before and didn't know much about her. We were all admiring her work (she knits too, and had one of a kind scarves). Someone asked her if she got the center medallions for the ornaments at Michaels, and she said, no, she made them.

Gwen said, "but I've seen these at Michaels". And Julie explained that she DESIGNED them for K & Company and Michaels sells them!!

I feel like I've been runnin with the big dogs this weekend!

Here is a photo of her ornies. She sold out completely, the first night, then brought in more for Saturday, just to sell out right away again. I was lucky to get one.

Julie was just one of the interesting people at Miss Frenchie's. I was thrilled to be part of the group that came together for this show.

Elizabeth was a whirlwind of energy, and manages to look beautiful the whole time. She drove in from St. Louis with a giant rented truck filled with jaw dropping goods, stayed up all night transforming the barn. All while looking like she was posing for a magazine herself, as she was busily taking photos for an article for Romantic Homes. (yes, hopefully we'll be hearing about Miss Frenchie in one of our favorite magazines!)

She had great displays, plenty to drool over. I eyed one of her small side tables all weekend, then when it was still there at the end of the sale, I ended up giving in tomy longings and buying it for myself as a souvenier of the event. I'll get pictures of it as soon as I figure out where to use it. I might put my Christmas tree on it for now. Although, putting the tree up on a table will just tempt Miss Sugarwings to climb up to get it. My tree might be more stable sitting on the ground for her to pluck pretties off of.

Bethhas an interesting post about Miss Frenchie's. She sums it up well, explaining that part of the joy of the whole weekend was that people "got it". These fellow vendors and the shoppers there understood why Elizabeth scattered book pages around the floor of her area. Although, Gwen's sweet little mom was pretty cute trying to sweep them all up!

And everyone "got it" that old starched collars looked great hanging from a chandelier.

Of all the booths, mine was the tamest. It looked more like a craft fair booth than a super dooper Miss Frenchie celebration display. I knew it going in, and felt a bit down about it, but dealt the hand I had. Or is it played the hand I had? Speaking of cards, Beth did mention that I don't exactly have a good poker face and she knew I was unhappy with my booth.

But all day today, I have been daydreaming about April and our next show…. I plan on having a spot that makes me look like I can keep up with those big dogs I am running with!

Or playing poker with. The way I am mixing metaphors, who knows what I am talking about.

Any way, I want to thank all those style mavens who made up Miss Frenchie's group and say once again how honored I was to be a part of it all. Wow, these gals can verve a booth!

Thanks to:

French By Design
Sisters and Partners – Gwen McClure and Teri Elliott
Featured at Mission Road Antique Mall

Elizabeth Maxson, formerly of Elizabeth House, St. Louis
Designer, Stylist, Photographer
Contributing editor, Romantic Homes magazine
Website: elizabethhouse.us

Blog: elizabethhousestlouis.blogspot.com

Carol Spinksi,
Co~owner Raised In Cotton
Embellisher of Vintage Inspired Goods, antiques and adornments
Website: www.RaisedInCotton.com
Blog: http://raisedincotton.typepad.com/

Julie Reed
Knit, Crochet & Felted Fancies (scarves, brooches, bracelets).
Etsy: Reed Design's Shop
Blog: bricolage-julier.blogspot.com

Beth Leintz
Antiques, Collectibles & Odd Little Finds
Blog:bethleintz.typepad.com

And of course, the ultra stylist-

Retailer Debbie Dusenberry
owner of Curious Sofa
Debbie will feature new antiques, custom designed products and Curious Sofa favorites.
Website:curioussofa.com
Blog:curioussofa.blogspot.com

By the way, just because I haven't figured out what the gift will be yet, doesn't mean that there isn't one for this month! Heck, since its Christmas the drawing will be for a nicely wrapped, special present, for sure!!

Also, a lot of my emails are being returned to me by some new and unusual Typepad glitch. I try to answer comments, and don't get to each and every one of them. So when the ones I do answer don't get through about 20% of the time, it is sure irritating. Sorry, I did try to respond!

Scenes from a sale

Miss Frenchie's

By Karla Nathan / December 6, 2008

Miss Frenchy's Holiday Brocante was a wild success! But at the moment, I'm feeling a little bit worn out like Pearl here. So, I will leave you with a couple of photos of the event for now and write more details later, after I recover. Thanks for all of your well wishes for the weekend, I appreciate it!

Joyeux Noel at Miss Frenchie’s Barn

antiques/junking, Miss Frenchie's, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 5, 2008

Things are looking Frenchie-fied at the old barn today! Set up began for Miss Frenchie's Holiday Brocante and that rustic building was in for a major transformation when everyone started hauling in their goods.

Elizabeth brought in a huge truck load. So did Gwen. My measly pick up truck load felt kind of pale in comparison to the goods the others were unpacking! When I left this evening, those two were still bringing stuff in. (and the temps were dropping to below 20 degrees after a balmy, mid day height of 30)

Deb, Carol, and Elizabeth had a Vision for the set up. Yes, a Vision with a capitol V.

And the place was certainly a diamond in the rough to start with. The place is perfect for this event, lots of space and big, high ceilings. But definately in need of Vision.

I had brought some velvet curtain panels to use as table toppers, but when I saw that I had rusty old tools as background, my plans changed and I moved the curtains to the wall behind my space.

Bringing my 'portable' mural was a good idea too. It is an 8' x 4' plywood board that I cut and painted a couple years ago for a show. Its been out in my shed and I'd forgotten about it. I like the way it brightens up my corner and has a festive, holiday feel. The painted tree has hooks on its branches, and I will hang ornaments from each one. In this photo, there are stockings on the hooks, but they won't stay there like that.

My space feels like the dessert table at this buffet…. Look at some of the in progress set ups for the other ladies:

And all of this is just a few little peeks, not much was ready yet. I can't wait to see what Deb and Elizabeth do in their corners, they have that Vision to make happen.

Hmmm, what could be going on up above?

Giant, blow ups of vintage French Christmas cards will grace the railing! It just keeps getting better and better.

Come by to see us if you can, I can guarantee, it will be special!

putzing around the neighborhood

Etsy Goodies, fairies, give away, holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / December 3, 2008

Happy December! Time to deck the halls! Well at least it should be for me- I usually go all out by Thanksgiving weekend, but this year a combination of things is slowing down my tinsel flinging. Guests, parties, shows, more parties, another show, and biggest of them all, a 2 year old fairy grand baby. I'm wondering if I even will decorate much at all this year.

We might not be decorating the house much yet, but Sugarwings and I have been dying bottle brush trees. She unwraps them and tosses them in the sink to soak, while we sing Christmas songs. With her help, I have colored about 120 some trees. It almost seems more like Easter than Christmas, with all the dipping and dying going on!

I've re listed a few on Etsy today,(5 minis for $11) and will have more to add soon.

There is a little bit of Christmas foof around the cottage. We had a dinner party on Saturday night, so I did a quickie holiday centerpiece for company.

When Beth and I used to share an antique mall booth, I noticed that any odd object she put under her "magic cloche" would sell right away. Our theory was that ANYTHING looks more important under glass. Put something under a dome, cake cover, or a cloche and you have an instant display! So, I put one of my decorated bottle brush trees, a $4 blue deer from a friends's shop (wearing some old rhinestone jewels, of course), and some ornaments under this one and then surrounded it with old ornaments.

More old ornaments are nested in glittery faux branches on the old chandelier I use as a candelabra (there are tea light candles in the sockets where the light bulbs should go). A few more Shiny Brites spill over onto the runner, and next to them is a cast iron fairy that Sugarwings brought in from the garden. There has to be a fairy somewhere in all my table scapes, of course!

After our party, I started feeling a bit "iffy" and went to bed early. I stayed there from Saturday night till late Monday morning, ugh. Some nasty bug got a hold of me, and I hear that our dinner party guest didn't go to work today, I think the same bug bit him too. Yeah, he'll really have fond memories of coming to visit us in Kansas and eating dinner at Typhoid Karla's.

While I had the box of vintage balls out (and before I realized I was coming down with Typhoid) I stuck some in a few cabinets.

It almost seems like cheating to just stick a few old Shiny Brites around for holiday decorating, but I like the simplicity of it. After going whole hog last year and having a few hundred people over for an open house, it might be nice to scale back a bit. Or a lot.

Plus Sugarwings has been in a redecorating mood lately. She loves to rearrange all of my stuff. The other day, an old mermaid figurine was missing and in its place was a potato masher. The figurine turned up in the bathroom, and the soap dish from the bathroom was in the living room on the coffee table. Then, I found my alarm clock (it doesn't really work, it just runs on "pretty time") on the kitchen counter. I can just see what fun she'd have with my heirloom holiday treasures.

She and I will have to figure out something. Maybe she can have her own little tree that is mess-with-able?

When I was a kid, I fell in love with little putz houses, and sitting elf dolls. Maybe this year, I can unpack all the elves and let Sugarwings deck the halls with those. In the meantime, I am having a blast of my own with a big box of putzes that I bought!

They seem to go so well with all my little Easter Egg colored trees!

There must have been about 15 or so houses in the box I bought, and most were pretty cute as is. But, it isn't like me to let well enough alone….

So I created a whole village of these houses on decorated boxes.

On most of the boxes, I covered the insides with coordinating wallpaper. All the bottoms are covered in pretty papers. And I have added extra trinkets and sweet little ornaments, and extra glitter to the scenes, even repainting some of the garish colors on a few of the houses. Yes, I know they are vintage and probably worth more before I messed with them. But I HAVE TO.

I just have to.

All of these little houses will come with me to Miss Frenchie's sale. As soon as the glitter and glue dry, I'm taggin and packin them up. I know I have too many for the sale, so will most likely be listing on Etsy when I get home this weekend.

If you are interested in coming to the sale, there will be some amazing vendors there! I'm impressed with the line up and have been pinching myself about being a part of the whole thing! Here is the info, please go by and take a look.

And before I forget- did you want to know the winner of the November gift that I made as a Silver Bella souvenier? It goes to Vicki.

Thanks to all of you who left a comment and entered the drawing. Don't forget, a new one has ALREADY started. Every comment all month counts towards the present I give out. I don't know what it will be for December, but I have a feeling it will be something glittery….

A “Family Tree” How-to

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, how to's, how-to projects, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 28, 2008

Did you have a wonderful Thanksgiving feast? Sugarwings and her sweet little Pixie Pie cousin sure did. But in hindsight, this idea of using the baby's craft table for their dining wasn't the best. It was a food free-for-all, with two little toddlers up and down and knocking each other over and dumping plates. I can already see that at Christmas dinner we'll be using a duo of high chairs instead.

At my house, we craft before and after holiday dinners. I prepped the meal way ahead of time, making mashed potatoes in the crock pot, and had noodles slowly simmering on the stove all day, while the green bean casserole (from scratch, no canned soup) and turkey were ready to pop in the oven when the time came.

Guests brought side dishes made at home, so we had time to play instead of slaving away in the kitchen! The guys were watching the game and playing pool, so we went to the studio and started cutting and gluing.

We were making the Christmas stars in two sizes, large for tree toppers and smaller ones for ornaments. Or wouldn't they be cute clipped to a ribbon and made into a garland?

We decided to use family photos on the ornaments, so we dressed the cousins up in their Christmas gowns and snapped a few quick pics of them to print out onto silver, holographic paper.

I wish the photos showed how pretty this shiny paper is.

A lot of you asked for how-tos for this Christmas star, so I thought this would be a good day for it. If you have a houseful of family together for the holiday weekend, this is a fun project you can all do together. Take photos of each other for the centers of the stars and you can make a "family tree" for Christmas.

Card stock works best. I wanted a vintage image, so copied this sheet music onto parchment colored card stock. You can use scrapbook paper, or heck, even plain card stock, what ever colors you like for a background.

Cut a piece of paper in half lengthwise and then fold both pieces in accordion pleats.

Then do a second piece to match.

Staple all four pleated sections together.

I suppose that for a tidier look, you could use glue, if you had an issue with not wanting staples to show. But if you do, you'll be wishing you were an octopus. I quickly switched to staples, after starting out using glue.

This is what it should look like.

You will need to cut 2 pieces of card stock to fit the back and the front of the star to hold it in place. Any shape, any paper that pleases you for your design.

For this tree topper, I used plain white on the back.

For the front, I used flocked wallpaper glued onto the card stock, then cut into an oval. After gluing, weight the paper down for minute or two till it sticks good.

That is a good time to take a break for a quick cuddle with someone furry and cute.

After the glue dries, you can trim the edges to get a star shape. Then with a paint brush (or fingers, like I use) add glue to the clipped edges and sprinkle with glitter.

At this point, it is ready to decorate however you'd like. Streaming ribbons, photos, flowers, sparkly things, whatever suits you.

If you think you'd rather make the smaller size, instead of the tree toppers, use one piece cut into 4 equal strips lengthwise instead of 2 pages cut in two strips.

And if you'd like extra sparkly edges, use Stickles as the glue that you add glitter to. (by the way, Stickles is now available at Hobby Lobby!!!)

There are actually some new things listed on my Etsy site. Some hand dyed bottle brush trees (more to come) and I am about to list some glittering vintaeg doves that I do-dadded up.

There are also some of my flower packs listed. If you need a specific color that isn't listed yet, just ask. I might have it!

You also have a couple more days to enter the giveaway for November. Good luck!

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

family, holiday decor, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 25, 2008

Is your turkey thawed and ready? I have my 22 pounder resting in its roaster, rubbed and seasoned, in the fridge so all I need to do is pop him in the oven on Thursday morning. I'm quite happy about that, because I am often the type who realizes at the last minute that my bird is still frosty and not going to be ready for dinner on time!

These birds are courtesy of Deb at Curious Sofa. Doesn't this display put you in the holdiay mood? Of course everything about her store is perfect down to the smallest detail, and I love her style.

Umm, apparently I am not the only one who she impresses! Look at this, it is one of her walls of fame, highlighting magazine articles her shop has appeared in.

Its pretty exciting to be part of a show that she is partnering on. And guess who else has been added to the sale roster?? Wow, this is pretty cool- Elizabeth Maxon. Yep. For real. (by the way, Deb has photos of Elizabeth's fairy tale wedding on her blog, you really really need to see these!)

Heck, I don't even know yet what I am bringing to the gala. I should be thinking about it….

Instead, I worked on these today. This is a tree topper for the Festival of Trees, a fund raiser for a local charity. My friend is donating a tree from her business, and a group of us made ornaments for it today. We also made tussie mussies to match, 12 of them will be filled with coupons for a free meal from her store, one per month.

Is anyone interested in a tutorial on making these tree toppers? I really liked doing it, although it took me longer than it should to figure it out. Now that I know how, I want to make more! If you'd like me to share a how to, let me know.

Beth joined us today while we made tree decorations and helped me figure out the process for the star burst tree topper. I think we probably could have gone to the Martha Stewart site and got directions there, she seems to have a how to for anything you'd ever dream of making. But, it was kind of fun to figure it out on our own.

Beth has been complaining lately about being a faithful commenter and NEVER winning a drawing! Funny, Cammi won two in a row, and I didn't even realize it until she told me. Anyway, ~~to shut her up~~ , I mean make her feel better, I gave Beth a bonus prize, this little pear watercolor. We usually have tidbits of stuff for each other when we get together. I had snippets from all my new wallpapers for her, and this painting, she had boxful of German rose patterned dishes from an auction and a batch of crisp and buttery, homemade cookies from her mom for me. (I'm eating a gingersnap right now!)

Well, I am at the end of my Silver Bella trip photos! All I have left are the ones of Natasha, Heather and I at my house and at Curious Sofa before they flew back home.

After Bella-ing all weekend, then being blown away by the Land of Never Ending Wallpaper, we had a quiet night by the bonfire when we got back to my house.

Oops, Typepad is about to reject me and freeze up my screen again!

I'll try to leave you with a few pictures from our trip to Curious Sofa, and hopefully won't get cut off. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving from Sugarwings and I!

A rant

Current Affairs, Etsy Goodies, give away, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / November 24, 2008

Its been hectic here, and I was feeling a bit down. Beth got ill (just a cold and feeling yucky, not serious) and couldn't go to see Twilight with me, and then, last night was the end of True Blood on HBO till next summer! I'll miss Vampire Bill. Of course, I could re-read all the Sookie Books, that might hold me over.

I wonder though, why is the vampire always the one to win the girl? Now, I am a huge vampire fan myself, and the Buffy series will always be my number one favorite show, but I have to wonder, why do werewolves always lose out to vamps when it comes to love?

(Yea, I know these photos have nothing to do with what I am talking about. I just listed this stuff onEtsy and was feeling kind of proud of myself for accomplishing something).

In the Twilight series, I was pulling for Jake. In True Blood, for Sam. Maybe it is the broodiness of vampires? The dog-guys seem happier and more fun to be with, while the blood suckers are dark and gloomy. Not all that romantic to me. That might be why I was a Spike fan instead of an Angel fan.

(Yes, more photos that don't' go along with what I am saying… this is the giveaway for November, made in my Sally Jean class)

I hope to see Twilight soon, but really hate to think about young girls seeing it. OK,here is where I put on my granny hat and start harping about kids today…. I personally was bothered by the fact that Edward was 100 years older than Bella. I know, I know, Angel and Spike were older than Buffy and that never bothered me, but Buffy was super human. Bella is just a kid.

A kid who wants to give up her entire life for her first love? As a person who married her first love and years later came to regret it, and was able to start over with a wonderful man and live happily ever after, I hate to see young girls everywhere drooling over the romantic dreams of puppy-lovesick Bella.

(here is the back of the pendant for the giveaway, my fairy grand baby!)

Maybe because I have a young lady in my life, someone I want to grow up strong and smart and healthy, I abhor what Bella is doing to herself for her teen age hormone induced cravings for a MUCH older man.

Ok, rant over. And I am still going to go and see the movie.

Anyway, I was feeling a bit down, due to a few things. Like someone saying some unkind things about me on a chat board, and it hurt my feelings. But, an apology came and I feel much better. Also, look what came in the mail! A sweet reader, for no reason, just kindness, sent me some ephemera and old books she knew I would love. How can you be down when there are nice people like that around?

Her goodie box and that apology came on a good day, when I needed it. There is a lesson there somewhere. Like, always take the time to do or say something nice, you never know when it will be just the thing someone needs at that moment!

And of course, I have this event to look forward to! Read about it here.

Author name: Karla Nathan