Karla Nathan – Page 270 – Karla's Cottage

I really didn’t need to go shopping today, but wow!!

antiques/junking, collections, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 9, 2008

Don’t I have enough hats yet? What is wrong with me??? I can’t resist.

Truth is, I do use the flowers in my projects a lot. But even if I used them daily, I probably have enough millinery flowers to get me through the next decade or so.

Yet, today I buy 4 more hats. One has a large, single velvet rose, nicely smashed with age (for $2- how could I leave it behind??). The others are LOADED with flowers and were $4 each.

I might have bought a few buttons too…… There are some not pictured also. Lots of cute shapes and rhinestoney ones in the jars, so I just had to get them at about $5 a jar.

Scranton and 4-Corners, Kansas are small towns in the middle of nowhere, but they have some great antiquing bargains!

Most things were cheap to start with, but there were also sales, of 25-50% off a lot of booths. Except for the hats and buttons, everything in the picture here was $2 or under, including the glass jar. I think I’ll use it for my paint brushes. But on the other hand, I do have plenty of buttons to fill it with!

And how many vintage photos can you get in 4-Corners, Kansas in a bag for $5? I stopped counting at 50.

Of all the things I got today, these are my favorites. Oh, I can’t wait to get started on these projects!! Don’t they look like Marie Antionette?

One project will involve these figures, some small round boxes, vintage wallpaper in soft pastel colors, lots of millinery flowers and more than a few rhinestone buttons.

The frame, I will paint white and put a different picture in. I will be needing this print for the lining of one of these boxes that these mini Maries will be perched upon.

What a sweet baby photo this is. It was in the bag of old pictures that I got today and I think it might be my favorite of the bunch. Feel free to copy and use it in your own projects. This baby needs a loving home! How sad when family photos are lost to the family and for sale in antique stores. I always feel like saving them.

There certainly is no worries that my little fairy grand baby’s pictures will go neglected!

I had a little scrapbook party on Saturday and between fixing a big dinner, playing with babies and just plain old hanging out, we managed to get a few pages done.

Sugarwing’s cousin out grew this dress and it was torn. Her mom had the idea to use it for our pages of the little girls.

I cut out a square to make a pocket out of it, with the dress ruffle at the bottom. Then glued the buttons down the side and added sparkly flowers to their centers. The velvet bow was part of the dress already.

When I put photos in pockets, I always glue two back to back, or glue scrapbook paper to the back of one, to make them sturdier. I also punch a hole in the corner and add a ribbon to use as a pull to take the photo out of the pocket.

This page of a summer day on the lake with the family is laid out on a piece of paper that I did a water color wash onto.

I added a frog cut from a copy of one of my paintings. Its only in black and white, maybe someday I’ll tint it, but I doubt it. Once I move on from a project I rarely go back, no matter how good my intentions are.

I accented this picture of a couple of my friends and I with a paper doll dress that Beth gave to me.

I like to use tags, ATCs and other art that I have been given in my scrapbooks.

Not only are they usually well done and attractive, but they are sentimental to me too and I love to keep them somewhere that I can enjoy them.

Speaking of friends, my pal, Carol, and I are collaborating with the Fabulous Fifi on an upcoming project! Fifi called last week, and she is every bit as wonderful to talk to as her blog is to read. No details yet, but here is a teeny sneak peek of something Carol is whipping up for our prospective article.

Another pal, Heather featured in an article in Romantic Homes. How cool. I can’t wait to pick up a copy. Heather and Carol are both buddies that I met through Silver Bella, and blogging.

And my poor pal, Beth, is under the weather. The pitiful thing is suffering from a horrific knitting injury. Actually, I think it is just tendinitis, but she was achey enough to miss Scranton and 4-Corners today. If you get a chance, wish her a get well soon.

My Sissy sent these St Pats tags in for the Two Tag Swap I am hosting. You wouldn’t believe the pile of pretties I get to go through and send out to people! Such great tags came in the mail this week, I can’t wait to play with them all.

Oh- I have been tagged by Connie to list seven things about myself. I know I’ve done the 7 weird things many times, but don’t seem to run out of weirdness to write about.

This time, I’ll keep it simple:

1- I am a serial painter. It is a serious mental problem, I am sure. I really can’t control it, I paint, and repaint rooms all the time. Right now I am considering blues for my bedroom.

2- I work really fast, and can get quite a bit done in a short amount of time. My studio is drowning in finished projects. I think it takes longer to try to sell them than it does to make them.

3- When we have a litter of kittens or puppies at our cottage, I pick a theme and name them all to match. My favorite Dorky puppy names were herbs, I had Rosemary and Dilly in that batch of pups.

4- My Great Aunt Caroline is about to turn 100 and I plan on taking after her and living at least that long. I have a lot I want to make or paint and it will take me till then to do it all.

5- I fell off a horse and broke my back 15 years ago this summer, and never thought I’d be without pain, but really am doing very well now.

6- I no longer own horses!

7- I never get tired of these 7 things lists, but I am bad about those award things. Louisa gave me a couple and I want to thank her for them. And instead of passing them on to another blogger, I’d like all you readers out there to be winners. Thanks for coming by and listening to my rambles and obsessions, and for keeping me company.

Oh, before I forget, I wanted to remind everyone about the Birdhouse Blinging we have going on March 27th. Join us here and at Beth’s, please!

And everyone, blogger or not, is invited to show birdhouse pictures on our Flickr group:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/692795@N22/

A day of frivolous things

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, redos

By Karla Nathan / March 8, 2008

It was so nice to have my group of artist friends over for brunch today. We don’t do this as often as we used to, sometimes life gets in the way of getting together with your friends.

But when you have good friends, you always know that they will still be there when you do have a chance to catch up and visit.

Often, we’ll meet at a coffee shop once a week or so, and sometimes one or the other of us will have everyone over for a brunch or coffee and bagels.

I’m always looking for an excuse to set my table and have a mini party, so was glad to invite them all over today to fill each other in on what has been going on.

I set up an Easter themed table scape as a centerpiece for the meal, all gathered together on a vintage blue mirror.

I raided my shelf of things I have listed for sale on Etsy and used some of them on the mirrored tray along with vintage goodies.

This little sugared ballerina in a tiny tea cup nest is too cute to be hiding away on a dark shelf until someone buys her! She deserved to come to the party too.

My table scapes are usually pretty busy (and gaudy), but guests seem to enjoy looking through them, the displays are full of little surprises.

I always start with something underneath, to pull it all together. Either a tray, a doily, or a mirror, something to focus the mismatched pieces that I bring in.

Two things that I ALWAYS include are fresh flowers and candles.

The tallest thing, usually the candelabra, goes onto the table first. Next, the flowers. After that, I find something else to use for height, to build layers. Usually a cake stand, basket, or compote to fill with pretties.

I fill in around the taller items with some bigger pieces like this tussie mussie that I placed a nesting bird into.

This is the nest I received from Jeweled Elegance, my partner in Speckled Egg’s Nest Swap. Thanks Heather!!

I like an eclectic mix in my center pieces, hand made things, vintage, elegant, cute, unexpected and traditional all together (did I mention busy and gaudy?)

After the:

1.base underneath

2. the taller items

3. flowers and candles

4. larger items

5. I then tuck small items here and there and fill holes, making sure that there is something of interest as a focus for each seat at the table.

One friend wasn’t feeling well, so she couldn’t make it today. I packed up some Cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins, egg casserole and yogurt to take over to her.

Of course, I had to include a pretty!

I wrapped some carnations in a wet paper towel, then slipped them into a plastic bag and tied them up with tissue and a ribbon. The bouquet fit right into this tussie mussie along with a fluffy chick.

And you know how one redo begets another? I am working on slipcover ideas for the sofa now. I have been buying vintage fabrics and will soak them in a tea color dye to make them all tie together better.

So far, I can’t make up my mind which fabric I want where, but do know that I want to get some ticking stripe to use so that I break up the florals a bit.

And I think I decided to go for a trailing skirt on the couch, like in the sketch on the bottom of the pile of ideas.

And of course, I am still not done with the dining room. The corner cabinet still seemed too country-cottage, with its bead board sides. I looked through my vintage wallpaper and found one that matched well in the room and taped pieces to the back of the cabinet.

I didn’t glue the paper down, some day I might want to have the bead boards show again. I do tend to change my mind a bit……

This large glass knob will be great to add to the door, but I don’t have the right length screw, of course. Does anyone ever have the perfect screw handy when you want to change a knob?

The corner cabinet seems better now that I have added the trim and the wallpaper. The glass knob will help too.

The room seemed off balance, so I moved this narrow cabinet into the other corner.

I’m starting to feel more satisfied with the space and it certainly was a comfy brunch, with everyone around the new table! The chairs are very welcoming.

What a pleasantly frivolous day. Brunch, visiting a friend, sketching, doodling around with centerpieces and fine tuning the dining room. I also went to a movie, then rented a nice gory vampire movie to watch with my son. Yep, a fine day of making things pretty and hanging out with people I care about.

Why does getting something new in your house make everything else look dirty? I can’t really be THAT bad of a housekeeper, can I???

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, redos

By Karla Nathan / March 6, 2008

All of the re-dos that were spawned by spiffing up the stairway are about to finish up! This snowball has to melt sometime, one thing has led to another, to another, and on and on.

I even CLEANED MY HOUSE! This is getting serious, it has to stop somewhere. I was blissfully ignorant of the dust before I redid those stairs.

After repainting and adding trim to the corner cabinet, I realized the interior of it was a bit of a mess. Dusty and overstuffed.

So, I cleaned all the shelves, and rearranged all the pretties.

I used to store all my vintage linens on the bottom shelf, but decided that I wanted the room less country cottage and more romantic cottage. And less cluttered!! That is a hard one for me.

But I got rid of some of the things on these shelves, packed the linens in a linen closet, and redistributed 3 shelves worth of blue and white knick knacks and dishes onto 4 shelves.

It is a bit more streamlined and less cluttery, but heck, I can’t go clutter free cold turkey!

And I can’t do away with all the cute stuff, I need my pixies and birdies.

And my little angels.

I’m fond of anything winged. Well except mosquitoes of course. And those horseflies that bite.

When I went to hang my new curtains (of course, I HAD to have new curtains, that matched the new look!) I noticed the the cobwebs that had been ignored for … well I don’t want to admit for how long. Anyway, I cleaned all the pottery collection above the window while I was up there. And while up high, I saw how dirty the chandelier was…

And of course, after taking my old table out to the studio, I could see that the tile floor in the dining room needed a good bleaching.

Thank goodness my friends arrived to deliver the new (old) table, I was about to clean the windows!

Ta Da!! Isn’t it fancy???

How elegant is this???? I’m not usually one for unpainted wood, but this set has a nice mix, with just the top as natural wood and the rest painted. And it kind of feels good to buy something and enjoy it as it is, to not have to completely redo it.

The set goes perfectly with the new stairs.

I’m just in awe of the change. I really was never too happy with my old set.

The old set will be perfect in my art studio. It has 3 leaves that I can put in it. When I have big family get togethers, we always go into in the studio so we can spread out and have a sit down meal together.

Actually, you can tell, it isn’t a set at all, it is mismatched chairs from garage sales ($10 or less each) that I painted to match the flea market table.

ooooh, what a difference!!!!!!!! All of a sudden, my house looks all grown up.

But I know that no one at this house acts like a grown up, so I used two cans of Scotchgard on these chairs to protect the fabric.

I am having friends over for brunch tomorrow to try it out. It is going to be so much fun to set the table and get ready for them.

Oh by the way, the packages of tags are coming in daily for my St Pats Two Tag Swap and I am overwhelmed by the quality of the tags that are arriving! I am trying to not peak yet, I am just double checking each package to make sure all is there, and will open and enjoy them all together after the deadline. But WOW you should see some of these tags!! The luck of the Irish is with us on this swap, its like finding the end of the rainbow!!

The mail lady also brought this package back to me. Somerset Life is using this framed vintage doll dress in their next issue and sent back the frame since they were finished with it.

There is mail that needs to go out too. I sold a scrap pack of my stairway wallpaper remnants on Etsy ($6). It just kills me to waste anything, plus, vintage wallpaper is so beautiful it should never ever ever go to waste!

I will be listing more, and also cut up some to put in the St Pat’s Two Tag Swap envelopes when I send out the tags.

You know, there are still a little time left if you want to be in the swap. Have things in the mail to me in a couple days.

Well, if I am having a breakfast party tomorrow, I’d better be in the kitchen, I need to make a fruit salad and get cinnamon rolls and muffins ready for the oven.

It took a few days, but I am finally done with the stairs!

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), how to's, paintings, redos

By Karla Nathan / March 4, 2008

Its done! whew, am I glad. So are the dogs, they have been penned up way too much to keep them out of the construction mess. Plus, I knew that Twinkle wouldn’t be too much help with the stair painting. She’s helped me paint before and it usually means tiny little footprints across the room.

Remember last week, I had this?

Now look!!

My stairway had been quite the hodgepodge of wall art, none of it really went together. It was dark, gloomy,a nd I could never keep that carpet clean.

Plus, we have an old house, but the upstairs addition is only 15 years old. I always thought that the stairs looked too modern, plus the whole area was just blah.

Because I was too short to reach up into the corners of the ceiling, I had to paint the walls and ceiling both the same color, I simply couldn’t cut in with a brush. It all had to be done with a roller on a pole.

I am a big believer in painting your ceilings a color instead of white. but might have preferred some contrast here. Oh well, its so much better than before!!

I also edited and rearranged the artwork hanging on the walls. (of course, that also means that I had to redo a wall in another room to make space for the family pictures I took down from the stairway, but I already said, one redo automatically leads to another!)

While I had them all down, I painted the frames white and distressed them. It is a much more cohesive look. Instead of it being the place where my unsold watercolors go to die, it looks like a gallery! (well, not quite, it is still full of rejected paintings!)

While I had the white paint out, I redid all the wood work too, including the banister and the old door at the top of the steps.

A little splash of Strawberry Whopper Pink in the background livens up my living room a bit too.

The thermostat had always bothered me, since it was glaring white. I toned down the brightness with some glaze, and also glazed the closet door next to the sofa.

I had to do the same with all of the steps and trim. After painting them a semi-gloss, bright white, I brushed a pale coffee with cream color glaze into the crevices and cracks, then wiped it all down with a wet rag torn from an old T shirt.

Next, I wallpapered each riser with some gorgeous, old vintage rose wallpaper I’d bought on Ebay. I used Elmer’s glue instead of wallpaper paste, for a tight hold.

When I stood back and looked at the finished work, I was worried it was just way, way too much.

The wallpaper was in such good shape, it didn’t look old!! Too white and too perfect.

So, out came the glazes again, and I toned down the glaring newness and some of the busy-ness of the steps. They are still pretty durn busy, but in a way I can live with now.

And since I was redoing…. Beth had given me this iron arch, it was originally brown. (yes, she is a great friend to have around, isn’t she??? I bought her lunch, but think this arch is worth more than that.)

I painted it white and glazed over it too. Then painted the mirror white, it had been gold, and I’ve used it as a center piece for my white dining room table since Christmas. But I am getting a new table this week!! The top of it is pecan, not painted, so the gold mirror, just wasn’t going to work there any more. Plus, it is always time for a change!

Since I had already repainted or glazed:

stairway walls

stairway ceiling

door at the top of the stairs

banister

steps

kick board

trim

closet door

thermostat

the picture frames

iron arch

mirror

Then, I figured, why not paint the corner cabinet in the dining room, so it will look better with the new table that I am getting this week? It had been a white-white, and I painted it more of a creamy white. Not a big deal to most people, I guess, but it mattered to me. I added the ornate piece at the top of it. I had to stand on a step ladder and hold it in place for about 20 minutes, waiting for the liquid nails to dry. But I took a book with me, it needs to be read before book club next week and I keep putting it off. So, there I was trapped for a bit, with nothing else to do, a perfect time to get some reading done!

The Snow Ball Effect- Avalanche Style

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, fairies, holiday decor, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 2, 2008

After seeing that gorgeous stairway while shopping in Virgina, I have been on a redo roll. Avalanche style, right down the mountain, gathering momentum and growing and growing.

I call it the snowball effect for two reasons. One- we’ve had the worst winter I can remember in years and I have been snowed in staring at my house way too much. Staring and finding fault.

Two, because as the project rolls along, it grows and grows.

Redoing the stairs meant that the walls should be repainted while I had the carpet up. I am entranced by Strawberry Whoppers right now and love the color as much as the taste. So, I mixed up a gallon of paint just slightly muted in that shade. (I used some leftovers in the garage, mixed and matched and added some tints till I got just the right pale, malty pink)

Under the rug, I knew the wood was going to be construction grade and meant to be covered with carpet, and that there would be some gaps here and there. But man… it was bad.

We ended up buying new pine steps for $7 each at Home Depot.

And to cover the gaps along the risers and the wall, I found these little corner pieces ($2 each) that just fit.

The steps are replaced, the paint is on, the walls are painted. Now I need to wallpaper them all.

When I cut out and held up slice of vintage rose patterned wallpaper, I loved it so much, I started to hate the rest of the room. The stair way is open to the dining room and all of a sudden it just wasn’t measuring up.

I bought a new (antique) dining set on sale at my friend’s store ($600). Then, of course, the curtains won’t match the new chairs. I picked up lace panels at Target ($60) Doesn’t Target have the best curtains???

And now, standing back from the baby’s room and looking down the stairs, I am thinking that carpet in there could use replacing…. And I saved so much by making my own paint and using vintage wallpaper that I already had and finding bargains for the dining room. And by doing the work myself with my son instead of hiring someone, that labor savings was huge! Heck I am redoing TWO rooms for way under $1000, on Trading Spaces they can barely do one. (well does a stairway count as a room??)

Aren’t I good at rationalizing?

I am feeling very spoiled by getting these re-dos done, but I am not nearly as spoiled as this little one. Sugarwings got some gifts in the mail from blogging friends.

How cute are these?? The little purse is from my pal, Phyllis and the cute collage with the baby’s photo on it is from Mahala. I think I will fill the little bag with Easter grass and toys, and tie the tag to it to give to her at Easter. Won’t they be cute together?

Of course, this little girl is just as happy to eat mud as she is to eat candy. I babysat her all day yesterday and she did quite a bit of mud snacking. (notice her lips)

So Grandmama taught her how to spit. That is a trick I am sure her parents will appreciate. We also went down to the creek to sit on the bank and throw rocks. Spitting and throwing rocks, yep, her parents will be thrilled with me.

Between working on the stairway and babysitting, I found some time to make pretties too. I bought these child’s tea cups from Shabby in the City with plans to give them to the baby, but she is too young yet for china cups.

So, they became nests for a fairy and a couple of sugared birds with vintage millinery flowers. I hope to get them all listed on etsy but time seems to be getting away from me.

Time has not been on my side lately. Listing seems to eat up a lot more time than actually crafting!

I managed to list these two little Easter peat pots that I made, the pair for $10. I made a TON of these last night, because I just can’t seem to make one of anything. For me, creating things is like a bag of Lays potato chips. (remember those commercials?) One is never enough.

If you would like one of these I will sell them to my blog readers for $4 each, plus postage instead of the Etsy cost of $10 a pair, for the saving me the time of listing them!

Same with the child’s tea cup nests- if you’d like one with birds now, it is only $10. $12 for the fairy.

While my house is torn up with remodeling and changing out furniture, I am extremely behind and am happy to give you a discount if it means I don’t have to edit pictures for Etsy right now!

These aren’t the best photos are they? Come to think of it, this isn’t a real pretty posting, with the murky photos and the ripped up stairs. Oh well, there is a Sugarwings picture, that makes the post beautiful to me!

In case you can’t tell, the peat pots are glittery and sweet, I used lots of vintage goodies, old soft yarn and trims, plus some German die cuts. No two pots are alike.

Email me or comment if you are interested. If not, I hope to get them Etsy sometime before Easter passes me by and it is too late!

And oops, I can’t forget this–

My winner for my February giveaway is:

PENNY

And don’t forget, if you are entering my St Pats Two Tag swap, they need to be mailed to me by March 7th. Isn’t that the date I said? I forget.

And honestly, it isn’t my fault- look at my calender!!!! It has the first half of Feb. and then goes directly to the second half of June!!!

Last year the calender I had gave me 31 days in each month, and I didn’t notice until August. Now, two years in a row, I get a bad one, what are the odds of that???? And I never know what date or day of the week it is anyway, so this really doesn’t help me at all.

Thanks everyone for entering my drawing. In March, you get another shot at winning, actually two, because I am giving away a bird house on March 27th too.

Good luck!

I’m a crappy little crafter today

Books, Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 29, 2008

Beth and I had a fun but frustrating craft day at her house yesterday. Well, I guess I should speak for myself, she was on a roll and doing fine. I, on the other hand was messing everything up, and at one point, said "I am a crappy little crafter today!" And for some reason, that gave us the giggles. Whats a craft day without giggles?

I tried to do a St Pat’s tag for my swap using a rainbow theme. It looked like a Jamaican preschool project.

I gave up on the rainbow colors and stuck with what I knew I could handle. But that wasn’t my only issue. Everything I did, I had to redo.

These tags somehow ended up finished and not horrid after all, but there was a lot of ripping, replacing, and complaining while doing them.

These are for my St Pats Day Two Tag Swap. I will extend the deadline till March 7th if you still want to get in on it. Email me if you do! All you need to make are two tags, and you get two other people’s tags back.

Well, hopefully. I screwed up on Phyllis’s Sweet Treats and Roses Swap and sent her own tag back to her on the recipe book!!

She is in my St Pats swap, so I will make an extra tag to add for her to make up for it.

While at Beth’s I decorated these two old green bottles. And yes, there were some issues as I worked on these too. It simply wasn’t t an easy day for me.

I was smart enough at this point, to use my text from an old book about rainbows, but not try to add rainbow colors after the tag fiasco.

I listed both of these bottles on Etsy this morning, if you are interested in either.

The small one has buttons and a pretty little Made In Japan glass cameo in green on it too.

I had forgotten all about these cameos I had. I used to add them to charm bracelets and make earrings from them.

At one time, I had tons of them. Now, I am down to a couple handfuls. I traded a few to Beth for some of her white, (sorted and cleaned, which is really nice!) vintage buttons.

Notice the nut cups? Beth wants to do a challenge- "what do you do with a nut cup?" Of course, you can always put a nut in it, like she did. I think that if she is going to make herself a hat from it, she should add some old millinery flowers at least.

Look at what found! THE nicest, old wallpaper book I have ever seen. Perfect condition! I just don’t know if I can cut it up and use it, the pages are so pristine. And the book itself is giant! (and heavy)

This picture is on the inside cover, she looks pretty high fa-luting, huh? I’d say this was a high dollar wallpaper book from the looks of it, pretty classy.

And unique too, this metallic penguin paper isn’t typical of what I usually see around.

Another reason to not cut into it is that the designs are all very large. Small patterns are better for collage work. These are beautiful backgrounds, I might just save the book to use as a photo back drop.

What a lucky find! I like flipping through it as if it were a magazine. And the cost was reasonable, only about $20, it cost more than that to ship it! I think the seller should have used book rate, but I was so happy to get my greedy little hands on the book, I didn’t care.

Speaking of spending money on whims, I need to get back to my stairway redo. Time to pickup Sugarwing’s daddy so he can help me pull off the carpet and see just how hard (and expensive) this task is going to be to complete!

Obsession trumps Phobia

antiques/junking, Books, give away, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / February 27, 2008

Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to comment on my birdhouse decor post Monday. I always appreciate hearing from you.

When I wrote the how-to’s I knew I couldn’t exactly tell anyone how to do the decorating of their bird house, that is up to an individual artist’s taste. I just wanted to give you some background tips, I hope they were helpful.

The winner of this little house is Bethany. She was chosen from comments left on that posting only. Comments from every single post this month (including that one) count toward my February giveaway.

I hope that Beth and I get a good turn out for our "What do you LOVE about your birdie’s home?" party (otherwise known as "Bling your Birdhouse Day")on Thursday, March 27th, I can’t wait to see all the pretty birdhouses out there. To me, birdhouses are such a symbol of springtime coming. And I am certainly ready for a shot of springtime!

Today, I am painting my stairway. Remember how I was entranced by the wallpaper risers I saw on a staircase in Virginia and decided I HAD to have one like that?

Of course, I decided to redo the ceiling and walls since I am ripping out the carpet, because one redo always leads to another.

I hired a friend to come and help today because I am too short and too afraid of heights to reach the ceiling in the stairwell, but she came down with the flu. And being me, with my obsession, I simply couldn’t wait till she was better, so I did it anyway. By myself- quaking with dizzy fear every time I had to stretch out to reach a corner of the ceiling, too impatient to wait for a nice tall helper.

But, by using the same pale pink color on the ceiling as the walls, I didn’t have to cut in with a brush- no way I could reach to do that. And with a long handle on my roller, I was able to reach as much as I could.

I’ll show some after pictures this weekend after my son helps me redo the stairs. Now, if he comes down with the flu too, will I be able to wait?? Nope, I’ll drag the power saws out and try to keep all my fingers out of the way.

I truly hate heights and today’s project was stressful. So I took a break to get out side into the fresh air and shopped downtown a bit. It was actually sun-shiny and bright, no wind, no snow, no rain!!!

I found this little French Grammer book from 1927 at the Goodwill store across the street from Home Depot where I had to stop for more paint.

Then I hit two antique malls downtown Lawrence and found a bonanza of hats!

I always feel so lucky to find pink and white hats at affordable prices. And even luckier when they have roses on them!

This beautiful bauble is missing a couple stones, but imagine it glued to a box covered in pretty vintage wallpaper, with a spray of millinery flowers over the missing stones!

But the best thing I found today on my $50 spending spree during the one hour break that I took from dangling over the stairwell to paint a ceiling?

A vintage Easter dress for Sugarwings!!!!

Dotted swiss dappled with rose buds, with a frilly petticoat and a matching head band for only $20 all wrapped up into a dainty little size two frilly package just meant for my fairy grand baby to look adorable in.

She might just have to wear it every time she comes over here to play, not just save it for Easter.

How cute is she going to be in this?? And she LOVES dress up. I think she’ll be excited to see this. I certainly was!

Now, if I could just find a matching dress for Sugarwing’s Cuddly Cousin, they’d be pretty cute doing their piano duets for the family.

We were having a birthday party for my neice this weekend, and these two were the evening’s entertainment. What’s more fun to watch than a couple of smiling baby girls who want to put on a show?

I did some short cut cake decorating for the party. Wal-Mart, (of all places! You don’t expect to find lots of cuteness there. ) had these little pink puppy cakes for $3 each.

I baked a layer cake, iced it in chocolate, plopped a puppy in the center of it, then wrote her name in white icing.

I took my new favorite snack, Strawberry Whoppers, and added some along with more white icing around the base of the cake and put the rest of the Whoppers in a dish next to a glass filled with horns.

My Sissy made these pretty, glittery pink birds for me for Christmas and I left them up for Valentines day. Then for Nicoles birthday party, and now I think they’ll be up till Easter. I’m sure I’ll think of another reason to leave them up, I enjoy having them there.

I hung some party hats that matched the horns (bags of 6 for a dollar at Dollar Tree) and filled them with dried roses, then hung a couple of my hand made tussie mussies up with them. Simple and easy decorations for a simple party.

We set out pizza toppings, small Bobboli crusts and everyone fixed their own dinner, not too much work for me at all. I was able to relax and enjoy the show that the little ones were putting on for us over at the piano.

I love to be able to kick back and enjoy my guests and not have things too fussy!

Short cuts and tips on blinging up a birdhouse

Etsy Goodies, give away, holiday decor, how-to projects, parties, swaps, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / February 25, 2008

Beth and I are having a party. A self swapping, self linking "What do you LOVE about your Birdie’s home?" party. Details are HERE. And we hope you can all join us and show off your own birdhouses. Either something you have made by hand, or just a favorite of yours on display in your home or gardens.

I’ll be giving one of my own away today, if you leave a comment on this post, and will give a 2nd away the day of our party, Thursday March 27th.

And if you’d like to make one, and could use some tips, here are a few things I learned while decking out a few birdhouses.

First thing I noticed, was that my hands look awful in these photos. Oh well, as grandma, I am getting used to things like that. Wrinkling up old skin, knobby knuckles, saggy neck. Back to birdhouses, and away from old lady skin issues (which I could go on forever about, and you really don’t want to hear).

I’ve bought houses in an assortment of sizes and shapes. Some from the craft departments of Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby and Michaels in unfinished wood or paper mache, some already painted and with cool shapes in the garden department at Hobby Lobby.

All are smaller, some mini, none made for outdoors, they are for decorative purposes only.

The prices have ranged from 67 cents to about $5 at the most.

A minor buffing up with a sanding block will take off any rough edges.

And I discovered that the homes were much easier to decoupage onto if you don’t have to worry about crevices and corners and edges.

So, I base coated all the cracks, and up under the eaves, the perching post, and the inside of the hole as well as any other spots that looked like it would be hard to cover in papers.

No reason to paint the entire piece, since most of it will be covered up.

Although, for this one, I purposely painted all of it, just so there would be some contrast for the photos I was taking of the steps.

And notice that I didn’t sand the edges first? I wanted you to see the rough wood, it shows up better on the blue house, look inside the hole at the jagged edges. A quick little twist of the sanding block inside that will knock those bits down pretty smooth.

Here is a short cut I came up with for making the houses go more quickly. I have been making a LOT of houses, so speedy tips help me a lot.

I used glitter paint to draw lines across old sheet music. You could also use plain glue or glitter glue.

I sprinkled glitter over the lines.

Next, I used a paint brush to spread the rows of glitter out a bit flatter.

With decorative scissors, I cut narrow strips of sheet music, just perfectly sized for gluing onto the edges of the roof or around the base of a bird house.

For this house, I decided to glitter the painted roof. I used the same glitter paint that I used on the sheet music.

It was brushed on after the paint was dry, and then I sprinkled more glitter over it while it was still wet.

After all my prep work was done, I gathered up my supplies. I looked around to find colors and tidbits I wanted to work with.

Go ahead and pull out extras, you are never sure how much you will end up using, but having a pile to chose from, already selected, and in the chosen palette not only saves time, but is an inspiration for the project.

You will need:

a sanding block (or sand paper)

an exacto knife (and be generous with yourself- replace the blades as needed!! It really does make a difference to have a fresh blade)

glue (I always store mine upside down so it flows better)

a Popsicle stick or something similar to burnish paper down with

scissors

goodies to add to the house

Here is a point where you might want to make a pattern. I just go ahead and use my wallpaper. I fit it to one side of the wood at a time, bending and creasing to show myself where to snip it with the scissors.

You can also trim it with your exacto knife.

If you are making more than one birdhouse of the same design, or have a limited amount of old paper and don’t want to waste any, it might be a good idea to make a pattern this way and then using the pattern to cut out your chosen papers.

I poke the perching post through the paper, then trim around it with the exacto knife.

After the paper is cut, I liberally add glue to the house. Attach the paper, and using my exacto knife, poke a hole into the area where I think the house’s hole should be.

I then saw with the exacto knife to the edge, and around the hole to cut it out.

Wooden Popsicle sticks or coffee stirrers are great for rubbing the paper down.

Once the glue is dry, I lightly sand the edges with the sanding block again, being careful to not tear the paper.

Now we get to the fun part. Decorate it! Baubles and buttons and doodads and glitter and stripes of coordinating papers. Old jewelry, ribbons, lace, what ever makes your bird joyous.

I have a few more houses to foof myself. One is actually a little Swiss music/jewelry box that I got for a quarter at a garage sale. But of course, this decopauge technique will work on all sort of different things, not just bird houses.

Another suggestion I have to offer is, that whether you use scrap booking paper, vintage papers, or whatever you decide, the papers do seem to look better with a smaller print, or an over all pattern. The smaller the house you cover, the smaller the print you should try to use.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. My husband is leaving to go back East and I am going to be lonely. So any question is welcome, I could use the company!

I hope you’ll make a few and join the party on the 27th! Feel free to add this button to your blog so people will know you are participating.

I’ll be adding bling kits to my Etsy shop and fill them with fun bits and pieces to work with if you need supplies to make a house.

And remember, I will give away one of my creations to someone who comments on this posting, plus another to someone who leaves a comment on our party day.

And if you would like to be in my St Pats tag swap, you have until March 5th to send me two tags and I will send out two tags to you from another swapper. Email or comment to ask for details.

One thing I love about blogland, is all the holiday decor! I haven’t gotten into decorating for every holiday like this since my boys were toddlers! Most years, I totally ignore St. Pats or Easter as far as setting out pretties or making things for them.

I haven’t seen much about St Pats in blogworld, we have all jumped ahead to Easter. But Easter seems early this year, so I can see why.

Speaking of Easter, My pink bunny watercolor is finished and hanging in my studio, although hopefully not for long, I have it in my Etsy shop now. This is an original watercolor I have added to a vintage wallpaper base, then dooded up with some of my favorite pretties.

Have fun blinging out that birdhouse!

Edit, added on:

Here are some highlights of the $10 Cottage Collage Birdhouse Bling Kits I added to Etsy today. More coming, no two are alike and they take a while to photograph and list!!

Keep in mind that these kits would be pretty used in many projects, not just a birdhouse, and that there is more in a kit than is needed to finish a small house.

Some Easter-y cuteness

Etsy Goodies, paintings, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 23, 2008

Today, was a blingy birdhouse day, getting ready for my tutorial on Monday on how to foof up a birdie home.

But, I figured that I’d need to straighten up my work table a bit if I was going to be taking step by step pictures. That turned into a major clean up/redo, trying to make my area more efficient. It took up most of the day, but it was worth the effort, it is so nice to have a cleaned up workspace!

Here is one thing I came up with, a shopping cart full of partial rolls of vintage wallpaper, handy and easy to get to as I needed them right by my chair.

On Monday, I don’t know if my post can actually be called a "tutorial" it will be more like some helpful tips and suggestions on how I do my own birdhouses.

I guess I could have called it "Birdhouse Bling Short Cuts and how to Avoid Things that I Learned the Hard Way"

Beth and I are having a party and showing our birdhouses, kind of a
"What do you LOVE about your birdie’s home" day on Thursday March 27th.

We are asking everyone to post photos of birdhouses you have fixed up and want to swap or sell,( or just keep and enjoy. )

Or, if you’d like, just show off some of your favorite birdhouses you have around your home or gardens. Although, hopefully not all of you have gardens buried in the snow like mine is right now.

Most of the bling kits I had listed on Etsy have sold, but I have a couple left and will try to get more made up. And if you are interested in being a part of our Bird House Bling Day, you can read the details on this post.

Sugarwings and her little cousin, Madison, are coming over tomorrow and I wanted to have a gift for the little girls.

With Easter coming up, I thought they’d look cute in matching shirts.

Michaels had some glitter and pearl paints on sale for TWENTY FIVE CENTS each!!! And I wanted to play with them, so baby girl’s shirts were just perfect for experimenting on.

And it looks like the poor little child could use a new shirt!!

Actually, she had an impromptu sleep over here last night and ran out of clothes. Her grandpa dressed her in a pair of his socks and one of my painting t-shirts while we waited for the dryer load containing some things that might fit her a bit better.

Once we had her dressed a bit more appropriately, and she went back home, I hit the studio, got it cleaned up and got a few things made. A few birdhouses, the painted shirts, and also this piece.

The glue is still wet, and you can see the clamps holding the vintage velvet ribbon hanger in place as it dries.

The picture is a watercolor I did of a pink striped bunny. I mounted it on a sturdy piece of cardboard, over two really pretty wallpapers (vintage- of course!).

I had some gorgeous old velvet ribbon in white and pink, used that, a string of pearl beads and some millinery flowers to "frame" it.

Hopefully, I will get it listed on Etsy tomorrow. I am ready to quit for the day now and go relax for the rest of the evening. My husband is in town for a couple of more days, so I need to spoil him with some home cooking, not sit out here on the computer all night!

Nest-a-palooza or Nesty Etsy

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / February 21, 2008

More snow??? How could that be?? What about that global warming I was promised? This has been such a cold, never ending winter.

I decided to make my own spring time. I spent a day making spring themed nests and other things with birdy and fairy elements.wreath sold

A funny thing about this latest snow storm, the sun is shiny and bright between the flakes floating down. Actually, they aren’t floating, they are the big, fat, splatty flakes.

So, I was surprised that the light coming in my studio window was so pretty. I took advantage of it and photographed all the things I was making and listed them on Etsy.

I don’t even know how many things I have made or listed today, I am a MACHINE! Bam- one after another.

Do you ever have one of those days when everything just flows together as it should? When you seem to never run out of ideas and the work just keeps coming? I could use more days like this.

This painted bowl is something I had made a while ago for an article in Paint magazine. (not today) It is actually a light fixture that used to be in Sugarwing’s room, but we had to add a ceiling fan in there instead because the upstairs was too stuffy for a baby to sleep in. I now use the fixture as a bowl on this gazing ball stand.

These teacup nests weren’t made today either, but I listed them while I was adding all the other nesty type things to my Etsy shop. So, I can still feel productive about them, even though they were made earlier! sold

A regular customer asked for more Peat Pot Pretties, so I made these and listed them as a hold for her. sold

Yesterday at Hobby Lobby, I bought a bag of tiny wooden eggs for 30% off of 99 cents, and painted them robin’s egg blue.

It was pretty easy to do, I mixed up the paint color, rolled the eggs in it, then rolled them in glitter while they were still wet.

By the time I was done glittering eggs, my fingers were 10 times their normal size, and looked like big old giant Smurf hands, but then Smurfs are teeny, so that might not be a good comparison.

But not everything makes sense. Do fairies actually have eggs? And why does my blue bird have robin’s eggs? (shoe with pink ribbons is sold)

This little painting is also something made earlier, that I finally got listed today. I added two of these rose portraits to my shop this morning. Or is it afternoon? This day is all running together at this point. Maybe I should stop for nourishment.

roses on sheet music sold

I am so happy with my little Etsy store. I know it is only a "virtual" store but it feels real to me and I enjoy arranging things and adding things to it, just like I used to at the antique mall I sold from for years. Or from the gallery gift shop I used to help run.

I just added another wallpaper folder (from the ones that Somerset Life is featuring in the Spring issue)sold

This one is still in the shop too, but the third one has sold already. (the green one has sold too)

What is that poem about sleet and snow and the post office? Anyway, I might be snowed in, but the mail arrived safely.

With gifts! Could this day get any better? I read a few chapters in a really good book, then had plenty of creative time, plus good light to take photos and list things to sale, I got an email from the Fabulous Fifi who might be interested in an idea I presented to her, talked on the phone to a couple of really good friends, and now presents?????

What did I do to deserve such a good life? Plus, tomorrow, Sugarwings and I get to pick my husband up at the airport. See, life is REALLY good.

My present was a OWOH giveaway that I won from Angie. It comes with a delicious vanilla scent, that is just driving me crazy, it smells so good. Did I mention that I worked through lunch today?

I think I’ll take a lunch break then, will have time to do a bit more work before Survivor starts. Yep, tonight is Survivor. This day is about as perfect as a day can be!! (well, if the Office was back, it could be better, but I have no complaints today) oh, I almost forgot that Idol is on too! Wow, this day just gets better and better. And LOST is on , how could I forget Lost??! I will have my bottom firmly parked in front of the TV all night!

(And that is about the only time that the words "firm" and "my bottom" will ever be used in the same sentence)

And don’t forget to come by on Monday for my tutorial on Birdhouse Bling! I’ll be giving away a birdhouse that day and will have directions on how to go about making your own.

I have TWO bird house bling kits still left in my ETSY shop, I will try to make up some more by Monday.

Also, it isn’t too late to enter my St Pat’s wap. All you do is send 2 tags to me by March 5th so I can get them mailed out to everyone by the holiday.

Author name: Karla Nathan