Karla Nathan – Page 261 – Karla's Cottage

Would you like to have a pair of silver crown earrings?

By Karla Nathan / October 10, 2008

My grandiose plans to tag and pack up all the jewelry didn’t come to fruition. I’ve had Sugarwings as a helper, so just didn’t get a lot done!

There are a lot of things she is good at helping with, but sorting and pricing jewelry isn’t one of them.

Sugarwings is a good shopper. We went out and ran some errands and picked up Halloween themed paper goods for a bonfire I am planning tomorrow night.

She is also a good sprinkler. I handed over the sprinkles container and let her decorate the cupcakes herself.

I was hoping to do some autumn decorating before tomorrow night, but simply haven’t had a chance. She and I picked some hedge apples and squash. That might be it for my fall decor this year! Maybe I will call it "minimalist".

Being busy with getting things ready for Silverbella and having a two year old move in with me have kind of slowed me down a bit.

If you aren’t getting answers from me for you rcomments, please know that I am reading them at nap time, or after her bedtime, and enjoy seeing each and every one of them, I just might not have time to reply.

It’s nap time now, so Twinkle and I have been cleaning up this smoking stand to use for a display at my booth. I need to find a knob to fit the door, and it will be ready to go. It is perfectly aged and crackled up! And just the right size to add height to a table of goods for sale.

I like small cabinets for display. I can set something on top of it, inside it, and underneath too.

I’ve been so busy baby chasing that I forgot I had told you I was going to add to the October Giveaway.

If you remember, there is a set of black and white rose linens and a white glittered pumpkin already in the prize pack.

I think that what is missing from the prize is a pair of earrings. And since so many of you are interested in Silver Bella, but might not be going, I thought I’d offer a pair of the patina-ed sterling silver crown earrings that I am making up to take to that event.

All comments all month count as an entry. And please do continue to comment, sorry I can’t answer them all.

Playing Store

jewelry, Silver Bella

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2008

Country Living has a sneak peek at their Silver Bella article coming up in the next issue. You can see a slide show of 15 pictures here.

And here is a sneak peek of my Silver Bella booth.

I cleared a dining table in my studio to use for a practice set up of my jewelry displays.

Setting all of this up, reminds me of when I was a little girl and loved to play "store". I’d line up my toys and pretend they were for sale, and my pony tailed Barbie was my coworker as we wrote up receipts for all the purchases.

This isn’t quite the final product, I’ll be tweaking it tonight, then will pack it all up and have the jewelry portion of my merchandise set to go!

The table I am practicing on is a foot short than the tables we will be renting at the Market Faire, but it is close enough to give me an idea of what to bring.

My displays are going to be ready to go, just pull out of the packing box and set up.

I’ve enlisted the help of all the lovely ladies out in the studio to be my models.

Actually, this hand painted charm, isn’t jewelry, it is more of a tag.

And the necklace on this lady is vintage but not hand made. I will have both, and really should have them separated better when I do the final set up.

This lady might be better holding bracelets than necklaces. She is pretty dainty and has a tiny neck.

Do you remember this elegant belle? I bought her from Beth, and she will fit right in at Silver Bella, she will sell pearls for me.

I know red isn’t my color, but this is still a nice way to sell pendants. I hope the dark red isn’t too jarring for the rest of the space… I’ll have lots of pastels, white, and silver.

And I know it wouldn’t be that hard to recover this display, but it just isn’t high on my list of priories. Do you think it will matter?

Prolificity

holiday decor, jewelry, magazine pictures or articles, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 8, 2008

Have I mentioned that I work fast? Last night during the debate and the discussion afterward, I made these earrings and bottles.

I’d found some cute little sterling silver crown charms, but they didn’t look as good in person as they did online when I found them. So I soaked them in a patina solution and aged them a bit.

After making so many pairs of crown earrings that I was starting to go cross eyed, I decided to use them for some other things too.

Like this bottle’s necklace.

And what do you think of my bottle toppers? Beth was selling some of this Victorian glass fruit and of course, my mind went directly to using it for stoppers.

It was a bit pricey for this use, but worth it, I think. So much more interesting than a cork!!!

On Monday, before Sugarwings came for her sleep over, I worked on making some more price signs for my Silver Bella booth.

To save time, I am doing simple pricing, with a sign that states the price of an entire species of craft. No individual tagged items, or at least not many.

So, I am trying to have multiples of items to sell. No two will be alike, of course, but lots of things in the same genre.

Wallpaper folders are complicated to make, but I love the results. My Sissy had made a folder for me using a cabinet card as a pattern and I got the idea from that.

But I glue two vintage papers together to make them covered inside and out, and these papers can be fragile to use. Also, I try to make sure they are interesting from all angles.

Including the backs.

Then I fill them up with ephemera, coordinating wallpaper and old book page scraps to match the design of the folder.

While I had ephemera and glue out, I made a few post card Christmas ornaments.

Only 3 so far. If I don’t get more made, I will have to price them individually instead of using a sign!!!

These are some jewel cases that I bought at a flea market earlier this year. The insides are a perfect pink, and one has a rose, the other says Princess!

But the outsides were kind of blah.

To spiff up the exteriors, I added velvet ribbons, rhinestones and old velvet flowers.

If only that would work on me. Seems like the opposite is true with me, the older I get, the less froofy stuff I can wear. Not fair!!!

Not like I would ever have worn this any way. Who could?? I think it was either a Halloween costume or dance recital dress. I hope it wasn’t real clothing….

Being a cheapskate, I was attracted to the the fact that it was only $2 but covered in about $40 worth of sparkly things!

Sparkly things that looked like they would be easy to pick off.

But aren’t.

Sometimes it sucks being a cheapskate. Now I HAVE to pick them all off or I will feel like I wasted my money. All two dollars of it.

12,000

family

By Karla Nathan / October 7, 2008

Have I mentioned before that collect coincidences? I keep a file (with photos) on my computer of odd co-inky dinks. But this is my favorite one of all!

Anyway, yesterday I knew that I was near my 12,000th comment and was watching to see who it was going to be so I could send a surprise prize out to that person as a thank you.

When I checked my emails, this is what I saw-

A new comment from “Rich” was received on the post “400th Post and a slew of giveaways including "Karla and Carol’s Romantic Country Celebration Giveaway" ” of the weblog “Karla’s Cottage”

It was from my husband who is in DC. He’d never left a comment before.

And guess what number he was?

I guess he’ll get a nice prize when he gets home tomorrow.

The ZONE

antiques/junking, Chandeliers, Etsy Goodies, fairies

By Karla Nathan / October 5, 2008

Aren’t these yummy colors? I just listed two packs of these luscious old trims in ice cream colors.

It seemed fitting to add these Neapolitan colored old buckles to the shop too.

I hope some the same person buys both, I just think a project made with these would be so pretty. all are sold, thanks, and yes, the buckles went with the trims!

You probably don’t hear me mention thread and needles much around here, but yesterday I actually got some out and sewed this old millinery bloom to this vintage silver bag!

My mom would have been so proud of me! I used thread instead of glue.

Supposedly, yesterday was my tagging and organizing day, but I ended up making stuff too. (and I did get some tags made, by the way)

Ever had one of those days when you just are in the zone? I had no interruptions, no phone calls, no family around. So, I was in my studio from about noon till 11pm. I didn’t even eat, I just focused.

Those days don’t come by very often. Good thing, because the day after, I feel like I have a hangover from it all and can’t get anything done at all.

Aging sucks. A super productive day means a lazy day coming up next.

Let’s see, how did those zone hours go? I made these two fairy dancers, finished up and tagged 6 wallpaper journals, bagged and tagged a lot more millinery blooms, drug out my Christmas decor items that are for sale, dug through vintage Xmas cards, and sorted some jewelry.

Well, that doesn’t sound like it was worth missing dinner for does it? It felt like I got more done than that….

There was some blog hopping, and Ebay shopping involved in my day too. As well as a few little things here and there, clean ups and touch ups and so on.

Basically, the day just flowed. It was great. One thing after another, I was like a machine cranking out work and completing jobs left and right.

Before I got swept away with studio fever, I hit a couple of garage sales and did a little shopping.

I found this doll house/bookshelf at a local cool junk store.

Great Silver Bella display, huh? It will add much needed height to my table tops, and I can turn it on its side and use it for a box to pack stuff in to get them up there.

And how cute is the back of it?

I was thinking about covering the shelves in vintage wallpaper, but I will most likely be giving the piece to Sugarwings for her dollies when I am done with it. 2 year olds and vintage papers don’t mesh well.

See this note, "just because"? It was from Scrappi Jessi and was a package with the cutest and most thoughtful presents. "Just because" she is a punkin!

Two cute ornaments were in the box, and both went immediately onto the chandelier that hangs over my computer.

This chandelier is filled with mix matched colored crystals, and lots of sentimental things. A picture of my mom on a glittered star, tags and gifts I have received, a stuffed Dorkie from Sissy, my collection of K’s, a picture of my fairy grand baby on an ornament from Barb, a wooden angel from Beth.

If I keep adding to it like this, soon, all the pretties will drown out the light!

Blingy Bella Bags

how-to projects, Silver Bella

By Karla Nathan / October 4, 2008

I’ve still been crowing around.

Did you read this post from Beth?

She got a deal on these plain bags,and gave me a good deal to buy a stack of them from her.

I wanted to dood them up for Silver Bella, so searched high and low for crown stamp I liked. I checked Ebay, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels, and none of them had what I wanted. I wish my town had a scrap booking store…

So, I ended up buying a princess style wall stamp and restyling it with an exacto knife to make it a bit more grown up looking.

Then, I tried dying a couple of the bags in my left over morning coffee. But it wasn’t a rich enough color.

So, I took a handful of regular teabags and added a couple cranberry ones too and added them to the coffee. There was only about 2 cups left so it was very concentrated. I then soaked the sacks in that mixture.

The cranberry bags have a very slight pink tint to them that I really like.

After they dried overnight, I stamped the crown on and outlined it in Stickles (the world’s best glitter invention), and smeared the lines a bit with my finger.

Looking for crowns I liked has not gone well recently. I found these charms on Ebay, but wasn’t thrilled with them.

But with silver metallic spray paint and some Martha Stewart white gold glitter, I like them better!

These wouldn’t be appropriate for jewelry, but glittered up like this, they are just the right touch for my Bella Bags.

A Kitchen redo and the beginnings of the October Goodie Bag

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, Food and Drink, give away

By Karla Nathan / October 2, 2008

Sugarwings not only has her own art studio inside my art studio, she has her own kitchen within my kitchen.

But it was really bugging me, that hers was pretty shoddy looking.

So, yesterday, (when I should have been working) I painted the mini kitchenette the same color as my own cabinets (a creamy ivory).

I didn’t repaint the red sink, though, because we fill it up with soapy water to play in and I wasn’t sure that any paint would stand up to that, even that spray made for plastics.

The interior of the fridge was still in really good (and cute as a bug) condition, but the insides of the cabinets were just plain fiberboard, so I painted the shelves too.

My niece (also known as the Imitrex Fairy) sent Sugarwings some Faux foods to play with, and I can’t wait for our little sprite to come back over and see her surprise!

Of course, she probably won’t notice it was painted, or has pretty curtains, but I know she will get busy right away serving up plastic ice cream in her frying pan.

Not much else got done, I had a lot of errands to run. But while watching Top Model, Top Design, and Project Runway, I glittered up and finished a few odds and ends.

Everyone has asked me for ravens, but I am more of a dove person…. I love their pink tummies.

And I created a "flight" of fairies with some little plastic figurines that Carol gave to me. They were a yucky orange fleshy color to start with, so I painted them all white and pink and glittery, then fairyed them up.

Each saucy little gal has a unique hat or crown.

The sculpy pumpkins that Sugarwings and I made got a coat of paint and glitter too.

The silver one in the front is going to Sheila as part of the Sweet September Prize pack.

And the tall white one in the back will be part of the October prizes.

Here is what I have going so far for October. Black and white roses printed on a set of 4 vintage linen napkins and a white glittered pumpkin.

I’ll probably find something else to add as the month goes on.

This morning I listed this pumpkin topped bottle (inspired by Carol’s design for our Romantic Country article) for sale on Etsy.

Here is what I said for the description, instead of writing it twice, I’ll copy and paste from Etsy!

This bottle and crowned pumpkin has a French Vanilla theme, it is all done in tone on tone shades of warm whites. The pumpkin topper is not glued down, if you’d like to actually use the bottle to store something you could. Or you could take the pumpkin top off and store it away after fall is over until next year and display the bottle with out it.

I’ve made the label from old sheet music, book pages and taupe velvet ribbon, accented with a bloom I plucked from an old hat. The neck of the bottle is rimmed with rhinestones and the crown is ringed with more of the same, plus velvet ribbon and a rose pried from old jewelry.

about 8 1/2" tall to the tip of the crown

This is as far as I have gotten on the other glittered trophies. I’m in love with the pink vintage cars!

FOUR winners!

Etsy Goodies, fairies, give away, holiday decor, magazine pictures or articles, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 1, 2008

Yesterday, I had a brunch for some friends and decided that I should set out some of the fall decor I have, and some of the pumpkin bottles I have been making.

I turned a white tussie mussie from Heather upside down and it became a hat for my white glittered pumpkin, I think that is my favorite part of the tablescape.

Sugarwings was in "Extreme Two Year Old Mode" yesterday and EVERYTHING on the table top was her favorite.

That girl was so quick at getting into stuff all day long, that every photo I took of her was a blur.

Am I finally going to have to give in and baby proof my house? I usually just tell her "that is Grammy’s that is yours, you play with your stuff, not mine" but yesterday she was swinging a lamp by the cord and hiding the phone under the bed.

I guess I can’t really put all the lamps and phones away, as well as wrapping my whole home in bubble wrap. She is just acting like she is a two year old and I need to be an eagle eye around her to keep her away from my stuff and directed towards her own things.

Of course, having sparkly witches on the table is enticing for a baby girl.

And she really enjoys playing with these little pumpkins. I do too. We take the tiny crowns off and put them on our fingertips to turn our fingers into princess puppets.

This little witch’s hat was a gift from my Sissy when she was here. She made it herself and it has a jingle bell in the stuffing.

The fairy was a present from my sister, Bobbie Sue, isn’t it cute? And her colors seem just right for a fall display. She’s an earthy fairy. My neice, Shelli also brought me a special gift. A package of Imitrex! I get migraines, and on our insurance the meds are $200 a package, but on hers it is $15. So she gives me her extras.

Sugarwings and I made more scuply pumpkins yesterday. I let her paint them all herself when they were cooled off, so maybe now that she has her own pumpkins, she will be content to not play with the ones on the table?

No, I am kidding myself there. No such thing as a contented two year old, they want to touch everything they see!

Yet another reason why I don’t use much real glass glitter. I cut myself enough with that lethal stuff, I don’t need the baby getting hurt on it!!

Oh, but now, I am sure you are interested in hearing which one of you is going to get your own hands on a crown? Here are the winners for "Karla and Carol’s Romantic Country Celebration Giveaway"

Thanks for all the comments to Carol about how wonderful her crown and pumpkin ideas are! The name I drew from her comment log to win a crown kit is:

Cammi

And the winner of a pumpkin topped bottle from my Silver Bella bonus drawing goes to

Bella Wanda.

Now, ANOTHER winner of a pumpkin topped bottle (not this bottle, it is listed on Etsy, I don’t have a photo of the one I’m sending handy).

The Winner is:

Bobbi

But wait, we aren’t done yet! I have one more giveaway to announce!

My Sweet September Prize Pack goes to:

Sheila

I think I’ll add a little glittered pumpkin to it too.

Remember, I constantly have a giveaway going.

Aren’t they fun? I sure like doing them! I’m not sure what October’s prize will be, but all comments starting today, will count for it.

These are some more Silver Bella creations I am making. Lately, I have been buying trophies, inspired by a gift of a nesting bird in a teeny trophy from Robin last spring.

I have a boxful of vintage automobile trophies that I can’t wait to froof and doodad up.

Before I go and get back to work on my trophies, I want to thank Sara Duckett of Sadie Olive for helping me de-clutter my blog a bit and add my latest magazine covers to the side bar.

If you notice, now the blogroll is on a separate page that you can click on to go and visit.

I spent a little time redoing the blogroll while Sugarwings was napping, but didn’t get very far. I need to organize the rest of the names and add a TON of fun places that I go to. I will let you know as I get more added.

My links have not been exactly true to the blogs I read the most often and I want to add some of the dozens of addictive places I visit!

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / September 30, 2008

My website- The Boutique at Karla’s Cottage

My Etsy Shop- Karla’s Etsy Shop

Tutorials- Romantic White Christmas and Romantic Gothic Ghosts

Mini Dress Forms

Wire nests, crowns, and wreaths

Cuff bracelets

My Flickr Site- Karlascottage

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My best bud and crafting companion:

Beth Leintz of Gathering Dust

A fun friend full of ideas:

Carol Spinski of Raised in Cotton

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Teaching venues 2011:

Bird Song

Once Upon A Dream

Paper Cowgirls

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Attendees at Bird Song, a nature inspired art weekend at my studio:

Teachers: Carol, Debbie, Lisa, and myself.

Bird Song Sponsors

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My East Coast buddy: Robin at Thrifty Miss Priss and the group from the Blogger’s Day out in Leesburg:

Hope from Paper Relics
Beth from Gathering Dust
Stephenie from Just a Little Bit Pink
Robin from Thrifty Miss Priss
Jessica from Such Pretty Things
Pamela from Pamela Janes Studio

Amy from Inspire Company
Heather from Pretty Petals
Andrea from Everyday Beauty

6a00e39334a3d1883401157019c73f970c-800wi

While in Leesburg, we got to meet the GRAPHICS FAIRY herself!!

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Admirable Editors I have enjoyed working with:

Barbara Jacksier

http://fabulousfifi.typepad.com/

http://jennydoh.typepad.com/

(an article for Harris Publications)

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Blog Friends who have come to visit me at my cottage:

Of Bluebirds and Roses

http://marilynbutler.blogspot.com/

http://www.bonoramamama.blogspot.com/

Hope at Vintage Whimsy

Rachel at Rach-ology

Laurie at Indulge your shelf

Stephanie at Crowns and Pearls

Lisa at A Peaceful Place to Be

Linda at Desires of the Heart

sheila Rumney

Mary Green

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a few Bella Buds

Suzanne Duda

Meleen Dupré

inspire co.

Kari

Kana

Sherry

Majia

Valita Baxley

Pretty Petals

HollyDoodleDesigns

Jennifer Hayslip

Andrea

Jessi

Natasha

Analise

Kim

Cheryl S.

(the Glitter Lounge, at Silver Bella)

And when we go to Silver Bella, we always visit Marilyn at Wallpaper Heaven (otherwise known as Hannahs Treasures.

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Some Buddies who Blog, freinds I have met online:

Fiona and twig

Lisa at a Thing for Roses

Jodie

This art that makes me happy

Marilou at Lulus’s Lovelies *************************************************************************************************************************

Ladies you can learn a LOT from- the wonderful teachers at Kim Caldwell’s Sirens of the Sea

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There are so many wonderful blogs out there to enjoy! Would you like to trade links so we can tell our readers about each other?

http://www.livelaughlovely.com:80/

http://www.theredbulletinboard.blogspot.com:80/– Jenny

http://www.lifeinmystudio.blogspot.com:80/– Debi

http://www.songbirdisnesting.blogspot.com/– Marianne

http://www.missmollycottage.blogspot.com/– Angela

http://vintagerosedesigns.blogspot.com:80/– Sonia

http://www.more-than-heirlooms.blogspot.com/– Myrna

http://thepottingshed-anythinggoeshere.blogspot.com/ Joann

http://wwwdesiresoftheheart.blogspot.com/– Linda

http://www.opulentcottage.typepad.com/– Andrea

http://www.vintiquitiesworkshop.blogspot.com

http://mitziscollectibles.typepad.com/

Jamie

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Creations from Romantic White Christmas

Lisa used the boot pattern to make a fiber art piece!

Cami made up quite a few and used the projects as winter decor, not for Christmas

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Local Lawrence, KS Art and shopping

Aimee-lovely paintings from artsyville

Lawrence Art Guild Gallery

Louis- Louis Copt: Home

Connie- http://www.constanceehrlich.net/

Barry- http://people.ku.edu/~bfitz/pages/concepts.html

http://malissamartinwilke.wordpress.com/

http://www.northlandvintagemarket.blogspot.com/

Kelli

Please click here to return to Karla’s Cottage blog.

Crowning Glories

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, give away, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 29, 2008

This has been a good weekend for "crowning around". Miss Sugarwings spent a big chunk of the weekend here with me and the crowns are a good project to do in the little spurts of time I have between bouts of chasing her. this crown is sold

This poor little cherub lost its arms when it got knocked over onto the cement, and I have had them buried in the gravel, reaching up to the air like zombies trying to come up out of the earth. The spot I put them in was by Ryan’s front door, since he is a big zombie fan, just like his mom.

And not for Halloween, I did this last Spring.

But this week, Sugarwings found the arms, and spent a good deal of time trying to re-attach them too the "ouchy baby" as she called her.

A good sized pile of crowns got done, but honestly, it isn’t much, and these aren’t even for Silver Bella. I had big plans to lock myself into the studio and not come out, since my husband is out of town.

Instead, I got slightly sidetracked by my fairy grand baby and we ended up working in the garden together and playing play dough, and making up songs. the two crowns on the bottom, back right are sold, thanks

Carol’s crown design is such a fantastic idea, I can’t get enough of them. I’m putting my own spin on them and making them in my colors and style too.

Remember, as part of "Karla and Carol’s Romantic Country Celebration Giveaway" you can win a kit to make your own. Go to Carol’s blog and tell her how much you like them! I’ll chose someone from her comments on the first.

And you can still win my Sweet September Prize Pack by commenting.

Plus I have two ways you can win a pumpkin topped bottle. If you are an 08 Bella, let me know, because one will be going to a Silver Bella attendee, and another will go to another reader.

Aren’t presents fun?

Earlier this week, before the little fairy baby came over to distract me with that dimply grin of hers, I painted this dove bottle and decorated it.

Did I say that Carol’s screen crowns were addictive? So was her bottle topped sculpy idea! Maybe it is all the hours I have spent with Sugarwing ‘s play dough that got me in the mood, because I am sure in love with sculpy! the dove is sold, thanks!

And if you are wondering what I do with all of the old wallpaper and vintage flowers I buy, here is a tiny little dent into my collection.

I’ve been scooping up old boxes all Summer at garage sales and this week, got a few decorated.

This one had the most beautiful knobs on the drawers, that I simply had to save it.

It has been painted silver and distressed, then the front of the drawers and the insides were covered in coordinating old wallpapers.

These roses were so pretty, they inspired the redo of this box. I made a corsage, and glued it down, along with vintage ribbons and an old pink buckle.

The inside is simply covered in old wallpaper, then trimmed with narrow, velvet ribbon.

And the smashier the better for me with old roses! I love to see them show their age. (maybe because I show mine?)

This wooden box was painted pink, and the top was covered in flocked wallpaper, then the edges inked to age it.

Inside, is more wallpaper, and some hand dyed velvet, left over from a chair I recovered for Sugarwing’s nursery.

I trimmed it out in old lace and buttons.

I’ve got a stack of boxes done, and more in the works, that I will be taking to Silver Bella. I plan on packing other things to sell inside of them, and using them as part of the display.

So even if they don’t sell, they will be handy to have to show off other things.

Today, I will try to list some of the crowns on Etsy.

But I am hosting a brunch tomorrow, and Sugarwings is spending the night, so who knows if I’ll get anything done or not….

Author name: Karla Nathan

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