Karla Nathan – Page 280 – Karla's Cottage

Fairy Greetings

fairies, family, how to's, Sugarwings, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 13, 2007

Greetings from Indiana! My sisses and I have been doing some shopping while I visit here, and one of the things I found was a bag of old greeting cards for $1.

I asked my niece’s girls to pose as fairies for me and then printed the photos and cut them out. Today we had a fairy paper doll day by gluing the photos down onto the greeting cards.

I simply added a touch of glitter (well maybe more than a touch, maybe a bucket of glitter), some wings cut from a fairy flower book, and a little bit of drawing.

Recently, in tracing Gabby’s family tree, a connection was found to the PRESLEYs- yes, those Presleys. Doesn’t she look like Lisa Marie??? Well, that is, if Elvis’ daughter was a fairy.

On Maddi’s card, I used a gold gel glitter pen to draw a wreath of vines around the little flowers at the edge of the card. I’d not used those pens before, that is another fun thing about creating projects with others, you get to try some of their favorite techniques!

Little Miss Sugarwings was not here to pose for me, but I was able to use some photos of her from my blog so that she could be a fairy too. I glued her photo onto scrapbook paper and used the little birds and pussy willow illustrations from one of the cards as well as wings that I drew onto old paper to make this fairy portrait.

Sissy had some sparkly paper I wanted to try. I used the red for my sister, Bobbie Sue’s girls, because her last name is Valentine.

I added hearts to the wings in honor of their name, too.

Sissy had written out some pretty phrases in her delicate handwriting onto aged paper and gave me a bundle of the phrases as part of our swap. On these girls’ picture, I used

"May your dreams come true"

Of course, we couldn’t leave Toby out! He has the personality of a mischievous elfish guy, so I turned him into one on some of the sparkly green paper, washed over with blue ink.

Sissy used her grandson, Toby on a piece of sparkly black paper stamped in gold, then found a wizard picture to cut out for a costume to dress him in.

Tomorrow I drive back to Kansas, it’s always sad when a vacation comes to an end, and even sadder when I have to think about driving for 9 hours!

A girly Guest room and a Girl on my head

fairies, family, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 11, 2007

We’re having a wonderful time in Indy, LOTS of shopping- and Sissy has such a pretty guest room set up for me. (Well, I’m sure it usually looks like this, but I feel like it was set up just for me)

Looking down on me over the bed, is this sweet little ballerina.

I can read at night by light of this lovely lamp that sits on the night stand. She even set out a framed print of a topiary painting I did to make me feel welcome.

And look!!–PRESENTS!!

Beth, Sis, and I did a swap. Here are the beautiful packages Sis made up for us.

Her gift bags are so nice. And they are STUFFED with loot.

Ooops- well, once I got into the boxes, I found the goodies, that is. Sometimes, Mod Podge tends to stick when it is humid. August in Indiana means a lot of things are sticky, not just mod podge.

(one trick to prevent Mod Podge from sticking, is to top coat it with a clear water based top coat, which I will add later)

Sis and I also did an Art Doll Hat swap. She found a pretty picture to use, and we both copied it and made up dolls for each other from the same image. We discovered that they make perfect party hats.

I adore all the pretties she gave to me. There is even a Dorkie in one of the prints. Fairies, witches, roses, mermaids, post cards, lovely ladies, soaps, candles, books, sheet music, and so much more were all in the boxes and bags she made up.

I’ll get a close up when the light is better, its great stuff. I can’t wait to start gluing and creating with it all!

And here is some of the wonderful things Beth sent to Sis. Sissy likes witchy things, so Beth made up a tag and a tussie mussie just for her with a Halloween theme.

There were crystals, a mini shell purse, French lace, old trims, an embellished box- so many cute things.

We’ve had such a good time with it all in our swap that we want to host a swap with hand embellished gift bags with a Halloween theme, a bit later on, closer to the holiday. Then another one at Christmas.

Get back to me if you are interested in being in the swap and I’ll contact you when we are ready.

I want to thank everyone who came to visit during Artsy Mama’s Artful Blogger party, and who left a comment.

I’ll answer them when I get home from my vacation, right now we are knee deep in junking, parties, and family reunions.

Also, I wanted to announce that since I got such a ton of comments, I will add a 2nd drawing to my giveaway in August. Every comment I get is entered into the drawing, and please- enter as often as you’d like.

I’ll come up with a prize for the 2nd place winner. First place is choice of a Cottage Collage Kit, or a piece of something I have made from some of the vintagey goods in my kits.

Artful Bloggers Party- How to Paint Furniture

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, how to's, how-to projects, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 8, 2007

Yes, I am back for a second time today, but wanted to get an early start on the Artful Blogger’s Party hosted by Kari. I am leaving for a family reunion tomorrow (and hope to post from my sis’s house while gone) but needed to get my part of the party started before I go!

I just looked and Kari already has 3 party guests with their "how to’s" up and running, it promises to be a big bash!

I bought two of these chairs (hand carved and signed on the leg!) at a garage sale for a great deal. Some think it is a shame to paint old pieces, but if they are unwanted, and unused as is, then what is their true value?

I start with light sanding. You don’t have to sand it to the bare wood, a light touch is all that is needed.

I like my power sander, but a piece of medium sandpaper by hand works too.

I keep a beat up, old, fluffy brush to dust off sanding residue and spider webs.

ALWAYS PRIME!

Make sure your primer says "bonding" or "will stick to glossy surfaces". Zinzer and Gripper are good ones. But read the label and make sure it will BOND. There are many kinds of primer out there and the wrong one will ruin your project.

For these chairs, I used 3 colors, white, tan, and taupe. I poured a bit of each into the paint tray, with the colors butting up next to each other, and mixing as I used them.

I dipped my sea sponge into all 3 colors at once, smooshing and mixing it together as I dabbed it on.

I keep a cheap-o 50 cent brush around for pushing paint into crevices.

Notice how the paint starts to blend together in the pan? I add in fresh paint a little at a time if it starts to get too mixed together. Also, I dampen and rinse out my sponge regularly in a bucket of water I keep nearby.

Once the chair is painted, I start on the details, I painted the oval emblem white.

I got out acrylic craft paints in the colors I’d need for my flowers.

At first, my roses are blobby. But that is only background color. I let it dry, and I painted the scroll work around it, green.

Over the background colors, I swirled highlights over the roses and leaves.

Because the backs of the chairs were such a cool shield shape and show every bit as much as the front, when pulled up to the table, I added flowers to the backs also.

Again, I did a background color for each flower, and kind of sketched it out with paint.

I dipped my brush into more than one color at once as I applied the paint, so that the flowers had more dimension. I started with the base color sketch, in the darkest shades.

To the darkest shades, I started adding highlights and details.

Its important to let each application dry before adding more. If you try to add the highlights to wet paint, you just get smears.

Letting the coats dry in between will give you layers and depth.

Sometimes, you need to go back in with a little bit more dark paint, like I did in the center of the rose. But mostly, the last layers are all lighter and lighter colors as you add them.

Once the flowers were done, I added metallic gold paint, with a 1" wide brush, twisting it to a point as I pulled it down into a swirl.

To give the chair some age, I used a medium grit sand paper on the edges, for distressing.

I "distressed" right across the hand painted flowers too.

To complete the "aging", I used a stain and poly mix.

I buy throw away brushes at estate sales so I don’t have to wash them out with turpentine when I am done, since I hate the smell of that stuff!

I brushed on the poly/stain in small areas at a time and wiped it off with a soft cloth. An old tee shirt cut up works well.

I used "rub-n-buff" on the bead trim around the oval. It is a metallic wax that comes in a tube, and goes on with a fingertip.

Ta dah!

Thanks, Kari for hosting the Artful Blogger Party and congratulations on your publication!

I am on my way to a family reunion, but might be posting and checking emails from Sissy’s house. If you have any furniture questions, I’ll try to answer from there, but it might have to wait till I get back.

Kari’s work is published in Somerset’s new magazine about blogging. I can’t wait to get a copy.
This Cottage Collage Kit is going to be in a Somerset magazine also.

If you would like to win one, just leave a comment (as many times as you’d like) to enter my August drawing.
If you aren’t an artist and would rather have a finished item instead of a kit, just let me know (when you win) and I’ll make something for you instead!

Enjoy all the rest of the Artful Blogger’s Party by checking out Kari’s site!

Tagged and Tags with a Sissy Swap

family, Hand Painted Furniture, I've been tagged, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 7, 2007

22 years (and a waistline) ago on August 10th, I married my sweetie. We are not going to be able to celebrate this year, I’m afraid between his business trips and my family reunion trip coming up, we are missing being together that day.

After being together for so long, we’ve learned that being together on the date itself isn’t as important as the fact that we enjoy being together every day.

When I get to Indiana, my sis and I are doing a swap, with Beth. Sis and I were already doing an art hat doll swap together, and Beth and I have already swapped supplies. But now, we are making gift bags and swapping some other fun items.

I made this bag from a big brown grocery bag, scrap booking papers, a copy of an old postcard, ribbon, stamps, gold pen and of course- glitter!

Then, I tied on two tags I had made, one with her initial (s for Sissy, or Sharon) and a smaller copy of the same birdie postcard I used on the bag.

The other tag has been stamped with red and brown inks, then one of my hand painted wallpaper medallions was glued to it.

So far, I have packed up a bundle of the bubble silverware that I bought at a garage sale and Sissy liked, a couple of fairy stories from an old book, and a vintage dishtowel with her initial on it.

This little hand carved angel is something I bought at the Renaissance Festival a few years back, and repainted. I thought Sissy might like it for her garden.

I also have a glow in the dark garden stake for her.

We decided that we wouldn’t mail the art doll hats to each other, we’d save the money from postage and use it to buy a bottle of wine, then we will wear our hats and drink the wine together while we open up our swap gifts!

I have spent the rest of the morning making tags, since I was "tagged" by Phyllis for a unique form of the tag game.

You are supposed to write the names of the taggees onto a "world wonder". But Phyllis used chalk boards and Sandi used green tomatoes, so I figured I could use what I wanted, so I used TAGS.

I started with Kim at Daisy Cottage, with her lively reds and yellows, it was fun to work with a different palette and make this "K" for her.

Next is a wonderful artist, my new blog friend, Bethany . I did some hand drawn swirls and added this artist pallette copied from an old post card.

Next, is my buddy, Beth who has a passion for vintage sewing supplies.

One of the very first bloggers I met was the wonderful Vicki who was so kind and helpful when I was a newbie. She also makes the greatest stuff, and right now has a funny story on her blog about things that go bump in the night.

EDIT- Phyllis just emailed me to ask where I found the "Marryville" for Mrs Staggs, her blog is about "Merryville". It was a total random accident and I didn’t know I had done it!!!

And for the kind and genteel Mrs. Staggs who is taking a blog break right now, due to family illnesses. But I thought a little tag in the mail would help cheer her up, and let her know that even though she isn’t blogging right now, we haven’t forgotten her.

And last ( I think I was supposed to do 8, but ran out of time to make tags, I have a trip to pack for!)

Connie who is so techno savyy and is always ready to jump in and explain how to fix a problem. Check out the hand made roses she is doing on her blog right now!

OK, taggees, if you want to play, you tag some people yourselves and add their name to a picture. Most people have used photo shop, I don’t have those skills, so I hand made some real life tags.

Tomorrow, Kari

is holding an Artful Blogger party to celebrate her article in the magazine. She is asking for tutorials, so I decided to post "How to Paint Furniture". It will include step by steps on how I did these two chairs.

Hope you come back to check out the party tomorrow!

August give away reminder

I will give the winner a choice- if you are an artist and want a Cottage Collage Kit filled with vintage goodness, I’ll send that. If you are not and don’t want the kit, I will make something for you from one of my kits!!! Leave a message to enter, as often as you’d like. I do love me some comments!

Surprises

Etsy Goodies, fairies, flowers, give away, how to's, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 6, 2007

It was hot here in Kansas this weekend. So hot that no one wanted to go out on the boat. We did go to the lake in the evenings, but I spent the daytime in the studio working on some paintings.

While I had paints out, I did a background for an ATCard that

Debra posted a picture to use, as a challenge. I snipped out the angel she posted, glittered it up, added silver paint pen, drew curls in the hair, then added crystals and a vintage posey to my painted background. The angel is on her site if you’d like to do your own.

I got a bit carried away on the wallpaper medallions again! I really enjoy painting those little ovals, and this time I was in fairy mode.

I dooded up some of the borders of the medallions too.

Others, I left simple, but all of them got glittered. (of course)

While I was at it, I did a few more cupcakes with more glitter (of course).

Oh and a few more pink roses. (of course)

And one little ballerina that I added to a large shipping tag with vintage wallpaper, pink tulle, crystals and some posies from old jewelry.

I will list them on myEtsy Shop if you are interested, but it might not be today, so if you want one, feel free to email me. The medallions are $5 for each section, and the ballerina tag is $9.

I will give the angel ATC to the first purchase of two items or more!

My sweet husband did the sweetest thing. He was mowing in the 100 degree heat, and came in to tell me that there was a flower along the mower’s path and wondered if it should be saved. (he didn’t know if it was a weed, or whatever, he doesn’t understand flowers, but cared enough to ask)

I didn’t realize the surprise lilies were up yet, I guess that is why they are called surprise lilies, they come out of nowhere over night!

I’ve heard them called naked ladies too, because of the bare stem. I thought about titling my post "my husband and the naked lady" but thought I’d get all the WRONG hits on it today.

The painting of the house my dad grew up in is finished and I am off to make copies of it for the family reunion.

First I wanted to tell you that I decided what to do for my August give away!!

Leave a message to enter, as often as you’d like. I do love me some comments!

Cottage Collage Kits and a Little B&E

antiques/junking, family, give away, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 4, 2007

Today, I packaged up my July giveaway, the Cottage Collage Kit, and got it in the mail to the winner, Carol.

I gave the pack a summery, bright colored theme and lots of vintagey goodness.

*Some of the anaglyptic wallpaper that I glazed

*A piece of the wall paper that I painted roses on

*BUTTONS

*An old postcard

*This cute old plastic rose, that actually has a hair clip attached

*Old photos from my latest garage sale haul

*Polka dotted netting from an old hat

*A snippet of red vintage wall paper that Beth gave to me

(by the way, Beth told me how to use LINKS, instead of adding the entire address! I look SO much more professional now, don’t I?)

*I also included copies of some of my paintings, like the fairy in th teacup, roses, and a few others

*Old yellow ribbon and a big white buckle

*Red and white earrings

*A copy of a sweet little French post card

*And a bunch more.

I had a great time putting the pack together, hope it is something Carol can use!

Don’t forget that I will be having an August Giveaway too. Leave a comment and I’ll enter you. So far, I have buttons, and old photos in it, but there will be more, I need to come up with a theme for it, and when I do, I’ll let you know.

Today I painted this watercolor of lilacs, then one of the home my dad grew up in. It is 90% done, but needs some tweaking.

I don’t know why I don’t do more watercolors, they are so enjoyable to do. This lilac one is a bit different for me, I also used sepia colored ink on it.

I will finish the old homestead painting tomorrow so I can make copies of it to take to my family reunion next week and pass out to any cousins or aunts and uncles who want one. Here is a photo of the house my grandparents raised 7 kids in, it was torn down this summer. I’m lucky that I was able to go and visit and get photos a couple of years ago.

I also broke in through a window (it has been vacant for a long time) and took a look around. I took an old light fixture that was broken and laying on the floor in some trash as a souvenir to fix up and re-wire. My Dad was horrified and was sure the sheriff was on his way, and told him no one would miss it, but it meant a lot to me to have a little piece of the house he grew up in.

As we took off in our get-away car, he told me that the house didn’t have electricity while they lived in it! So much for my little piece of his child hood, that light hadn’t been a part of the house when he was child!

(Yes in my tradition of posting really bad photos of myself, here is one of me breaking and entering)

Eight Random Thoughts with a side of Garden Sauce

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, family, Food and Drink, give away, I've been tagged, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 4, 2007

Bethany at http://bethanyjanehissong.blogspot.com/, tagged me to write 8 random things about myself. A while back, I did the "7 weird things" list, I guess this one is different. So- here goes, 8 off the top of my head things.

First, here is the sketch that Bethany did of Twinkle!! How wonderful, she has some really good sketches on her site, she can certainly capture the personality of her subject. Go take a look!!

Which brings me to #1- I don’t sketch. I wish I did, I love to see pencil drawings. I just don’t do it.

Here is a painting I did today of Sasha, my cousin’s Dorkie who passed away this year.

I kind of draw it out before painting, but not in too much detail. When I do a mural, I don’t draw on the wall first, I just walk up to the wall and start painting.

#2- I am never sure of blog etiquette. I probably should have asked Bethany before I showed her drawing. I hope she knows I posted it in awe and enjoyment of her work and that I wanted everyone to see it and go to her site, that I wasn’t trying to steal it.

#3- I don’t use recipes, I wing it when I cook.

I make things up as I go along, but here is a summary of my garden sauce if you want to make some:

saute an onion, garlic, some banana and green peppers from the garden patch in olive oil, then throw them into the crock pot on low

chop up tomatoes and throw them into the crock pot until it is full

add fresh basil, thyme, and what ever other herbs you have grown that taste Italian-ey, with salt and pepper, some raw sugar and red wine

cook on low for 24 hours or so, bag and freeze. Drink some wine.

Make sure the zipper on the bag is closed tight, or you have to take everything out of the freezer and clean out the shelves.

#4- My niece’s son, Conner, is a ribbon winner in goat raising!

Oh no, I just realized while looking at this photo that the sheep I showed to Sugarwings at the fair yesterday, were not sheep, they were goats. oops

#5- Sugarwings and I spent more time sitting on the floor at the hog barn, yelling into the giant fan than we did walking around the fair. She liked the way the fan warped our voices, so we did a lot of hollering at it.

#6- I love cement people. This one lives in front of my studio, and is wearing some of my garage sale finds from today.

#7- I am really loving wrapping up the packages of stuff I sell on Etsy!

I am not usually a fancy gift wrapper. One year at Christmas, I only used one gift bag for everyone. I stacked up presents in a pile for each person, and kept them in the back room. For every gift, I played "Santa" and went back to the room with the same bag over and over and slipped a gift into it. Our family always opens one gift at a time, so it worked out well.

#8- my fairy grand baby can say everyone’s name but mine. My son says that it is because I am not consistent in trying to teach her what to say.

I tried to go by "Grandmama Karkie" (my family calls me Karkie) but it sounded like ‘grandma McArkie’- so I just went with "Grandmama", but no one in Kansas says it with the right syllable emphasized, and it sounded very country, not elegant. (and I am not exactly elegant anyway)

So, now I am going for Grammy Karkie. Or maybe I’ll see what she comes up with.

I am going to tag: well, Beth, of course! http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ (check out her estate sale finds from yesterday, wow!)

and Amy http://www.myspace.com/primitivezen ,

who kindly sent me this mail art.

Don’t forget to enter the drawing for my August give away! All you have to do is leave a comment and you are entered. I’m not sure what it will be yet, but I can assure you that there will be a photo from this group of 75 I got at a garage sale this morning for only $5 for the whole box!

And BUTTONS! There will be some buttons!!

More Corners of the Cottage Garden and an abundance of BUTTONS

antiques/junking, Books, Etsy Goodies, flowers, give away, hand painted signs, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 3, 2007

The Cottage Yard Tour: part two

I thought I’d show a few more photos of my yard and the exterior of the cottage. This is the back door to my studio, I painted this sign to set out when I had my studio set up as an antique shop once a month. Because of the horrid road construction, I had to stop having my sales, but I liked the sign and keep it by the back door. It is painted on a board I salvaged from the barn we had to take down. I wish I could paint my whole house that pretty blushy pink color!

I bought a stack of these ornate iron pieces at Hobby Lobby’s 90% off garden clearance a few years ago. They make great hose guards, and add interest around the beds. This one is in a raised bed guarding the thyme.

I built all the shutters on the house myself, out of boards I salvaged from an old garage we tore down. I’m also big on hanging "wall art" on the outside of the house, like this round iron piece from an old cook stove.

This large terra cotta piece hangs on the back of the house. It has been up there for about 16 years now and is starting to get a patina on it.

A tiny convex mirror in an ornate frame hangs on the outside of the patio fence.

On the inside of the fence, I hung this ceramic fruit basket over the bench.

I like to tuck little odds and ends into flower pots. This one has an angel made from a table leg (garage sale 75 cents) and an onyx ball nestled into the plants.

A friend of mine makes hand blown glass Christmas ornaments, and I buy a lot of irregulars from him at a very reasonable price. I use them all around the yard in planters.

My bird bath is made out of stacked stones around a metal base. The pots next to it are new and I don’t have them planted yet. I am going on vacation for a few days, so will wait till I get home, so I’ll be able to baby the new plants.

And here is Kitty Boy, the barn cat. But we no longer have a barn, he was heartbroken when we tore it down. I keep a velvet chair in the chicken coop for him to cozy up on now.

And of course, around here NOTHING goes to waste. The barn wood was all saved, we used as much as we could to panel my husband’s office.

I built this bathroom vanity in my husband’s office myself! The frame of it, under the siding looks pretty crooked, but it doesn’t show. I cut the Formica top pretty crooked too, but I covered it with barn wood trim and it doesn’t even show.

This is a painting i did of our yard the year we bought the place. The old barn sat where my garden is now. We left the foundation and put the garden right inside it. Over 100 years of manure and compost make the best tomatoes!!

The other barn painting in Rich’s office is of his grandfather’s barn. I am much more comfortable with a paint brush than I was with the nail gun and power saw while building the vanity!

People ask how my husband can live in my rose strewn home with all the pink everywhere, but he has this man-cave of an office with the barn siding, pool table and gym equipment, so he is pretty happy up there.

I also believe in lots of sitting areas in the yard. I keep chairs and benches everywhere. They used to be for show, but the older I get the more I sit and rest while working in the yard!

Speaking of sitting, I spent the better part of the evening sitting and sorting all these buttons I bought today. Some went into this pretty jar I got from Phyllis at http://shabbyinthecity.blogspot.com/. Others are sorted by color into small lidded dishes.

Why on earth does anyone buy so many buttons that it takes an evening to get just half of the sorted? Who knows?? They were a bargain, and pretty, and I just know I’ll use them for something! I’ll add some to my Cottage Collage Kits for Etsy too.

And why did I buy more old books, a stack of postcards and some jewelry? Well, I paid very little for them and am SURE that I will use them for something pretty, sometime!!!

Look at the colors of these cards, and see the art palette and roses on the one on the top? Had to have it, it was only 50 cents! And look at the font on the sheet music, so delicate. That will make a gorgeous background to some project, and also was under a dollar for the book of music.

I got the sweetest, unexpected mail too. A thank you card from Benny who is 3. I took him for a boat ride on Sunday and he drew a fish for me as a thanks for the trip.

Then, I got a post card from Carole of http://scoundrelsandrogues.blogspot.com/ from her Hawaiian vacation! And if that wasn’t enough kindness in the mail, I got mail art stuffed with goodies from Karen at http://bluemuf.blogspot.com/.

Every one was so nice, it just reminds me that I need to come up with a giveaway for August! Stay tuned, I’ll think of something nice and am open to suggestions. Leave a comment to enter, there will be some sort of prize at the end of the month!

Now, I need to get back to my simmering tomato sauce. I am cooking sauce to freeze. I’m making it from the garden produce. Lots of fresh herbs, tomatoes, peppers and onions, straight from my backyard!

Construciton woes

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers

By Karla Nathan / August 1, 2007

The road in front of our house has been torn up for about 14 months now.

Actually, it looks much better now than it did. For a while, we had a construction trailer and a porta potty at the end of our drive.

Our yappy little dorkies think it is wonderful to have all these guys out in front of the house to bark at. These workers also like to leave their fast food trash laying out, so that a trip up the hill with me to our relocated mail box, means a snack bonanza for the dogs.

Here is the view from the foot of my driveway. My blog buddy, Carlene, http://carlenefederer.blogspot.com/ , was showing the ocean view from her vacation condo, and it got me thinking about my own views.

My views really are improving, although it is hard to tell from these pictures. It has been nasty for the longest time. But we are down to one crew only right now! We did have the county working on the bridge, TMobile putting up a tower, and the city working across the street.

The tower is done and really isn’t as bad we thought it might be from up close. Living through the construction was the hardest part.

I think the view for the neighbors is much worse that it is for us, we don’t even see it, only the fence at the base, the top is way up over the trees. Yes, I know it is ugly, but the checks that come every month pay our mortgage!! Yes,I know it is ugly, but when the mortgage is paid off, the monthly checks will help fund our retirement. I try to see dollar signs when I look at it, instead of shiny metal towering over me.

But after a year of this road torn up and the front of the yard gutted, I have gotten pretty good at ignoring ugliness.

I try to look at how lush our garden is this year and how big the tomatoes are.

And at how pretty the wisteria is and how well it is growing.

Here is a side view of the cottage.

I just have to ignore that it is August in Kansas and unless I want to water the lawn and gardens every day and get nothing else done, I’ll just have to live with some wilty plants and some brown grass. I try to notice how nice the gazebo looks and I concentrate on watering th plants hanging in it. There is only so much one person can do to keep things up in a big yard.

This is the back of our house, as seen from my garden. Yep, I know there are weeds growing in the gravel of the driveway.

But look at how big my forsythia has grown and at all the firewood we have cut and ready for winter!

Another casualty of mid-summer in Kansas, the poor flower beds around my chicken coop are a bit sad and run down. But the greenery and vines are doing great, and I give the flowers enough water to keep them alive to start flourishing again when the summer cools down into fall.

I’ve planted enough hardy native ground covers so that it doesn’t look too bad when I don’t have time to tend to it all. And I try to use vintage finds from garage sales to liven up areas, like this old suitcase I painted white, and filled with dirt to plant in.

And I’d rather think of the peeling paint on this gate in the front of the house as rustic, instead of an eyesore. Eventually, I’ll get out there with the paint brush to spruce it up, but maybe not this season.

Behind the chicken coop, the rose of Sharon is blooming and brightens the area up, even though the aqua paint on the door has a peeling problem too. I found the awning along the road in the trash, brought it home and hung it on the coop.

And thank goodness for old fashioned creeping myrtle! It stays green and happy, all year, making this path way on the side of the house welcoming even on the hottest days. I don’t even bring a hose over here, all the plants on this side of the house are native varieties that take care of themselves.

When I did the landscaping on this old farm house, I tried to keep it easy to maintain. Lots of gravel pathways (I personally hauled 11 tons of gravel with a wheelbarrow over the course of a summer), perennials that don’t take much care, and lots of little vignettes to add character when the flowers aren’t at their peak.

A frog planter with chippy paint (rustic and charming, not messy and needing work, right???) hides in the euonymous.

I found this old arched bridge in a land fill and dug it out to make a path across a flower bed full of day lillies, myrtle, and spirea.

A rusting stove lid hangs on a fence.

My herbs grow in an iron planter that used to be a hot water tank.

I keep my garden chemicals in a metal cabinet that I also found in the trash and repainted with roses. And I hand painted my deck with big green leaves, trying to keep it unobtrusive.

Oh, my I have run on too long. I can show more of the "making the best of what you have" cottage yard tour tomorrow if anyone wants me to. Or should I move back on to some more pretty things?

Also, I have been tagged by http://bethanyjanehissong.blogspot.com/ to come up with 8 random things about me. I think I have run on long enough, tho, I’ll think about it and do that one later.

A Sugarwings Day

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 31, 2007

I had a Sugarwings day today. No creating art, just creating fun. We read stories, went for walks, did some shopping, and she played with her new toy. Is there a kid on the planet that doesn’t love these Fischer Price push toys?

This cutey sure loved it!

And speaking of cute- You HAVE to check out Little Miss Twinkle’s portrait by the talented Bethany Hissong at http://bethanyjanehissong.blogspot.com/. Wonderful, huh??? She really captured her personality. And look at the sketch of the pig-tailed little girl while you are there, so adorable.

And speaking of artists– Remember me telling you about my friend’s estate sale, at her fabulous home? Here is some of her work, on these cards.

If you have ever bought holiday paper cups or plates at Target or Walmart, or a needle craft pattern at Hobby Lobby, chances are you have bought some of her work. Her name is Vicky Howard and her art is everywhere, and should be, it is so pretty.

I do own one of her originals, not her typical work, though. She and I were on a committee to decorate the tables at a big fund raiser for a kid’s art organization here in town, and we made painted flower pots as centerpieces. They were then sold that night to add to the other money raised.

I bought two pots from her, this one I use to keep my gardening tools in on a mosaic table in my breezeway.

Speaking of that estate sale– I hadn’t shown a photo of this wrought iron garden bench I bought from Vicky. She gave me the patina-ed terra cotta cherub, she is a sweety. Actually, both are sweeties, Vicky and the cherub.

I also bought this oval vintage painting at the sale last week. It is actually on ceramic. The frame too, it is all one piece. Unique, huh?

I have another Sugarwings day tomorrow, can’t wait!

Author name: Karla Nathan