Karla Nathan – Page 79 – Karla's Cottage

Making the most of a getaway

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / February 17, 2019

I’m using my mini work trip to teach a couple of pretty projects at the Cozy Castle as the perfect excuse for a Florida vacation. Sugarwings and her Pop Pop are joining me tonight for a trip down the coast to stay on the beach a few days.

After sunning and swimming, we are headed back to Orlando to drop off my Handsome Husband for a golfing weekend with his buddies.

Then, the grandfairy and I are free to run amuck at the Magic Kingdom til it is time to meet up and fly back to Kansas.

Well why not? I was already going to be in Florida anyway… with airline points and companion passes, all flights were free. Hotel points went a long way too, not quite covering the beach stay but helpful. I have a Disney Credit card that racks up points for discounts.

I love wringing as much as I can out of a getaway, and putting the week together like puzzle pieces to see just how much I can squeeze into one flight. And of course, how could I not try to wrangle a trip to Disney in while I’m sooo close to the Happiest Place on Earth?

Thank you, dear Peeps!

bird song art event, Valentine's Day

By Karla Nathan / February 15, 2019

The ladies who came to A Lovebird’s Song were generous in gifting each other and me, too.

My pal, Carol made this holiday banner and it is ideal above my work table.

There were so many caring and kind, gifts, flowers, and treats!

Thank you all, for coming to spend a day with me and for being such nice people to hang out with.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Valentine's Day

By Karla Nathan / February 13, 2019

As I was petting Twinkle recently, a torn, dried up leaf, in the shape of a heart, fell off of her.

I love finding unexpected, accidental hearts. Thank you, Tinks! Of course I’ll be your Valentine.

Valentines on the Mantle

cottage, Hearth Room, Valentine's Day

By Karla Nathan / February 10, 2019

After spending so much time on spiffing up the studio for A Lovebird's Song, I kind of called it in for the rest of the house.

I added vintage candy boxes to white flower pots that were already on the mantle and hung a bit of lace with some old Valentines clipped to it.

The lace had hearts on it, and the cards were the 3-D, folding kind.

Those are so pretty, simply hanging them up made it all look special.

I did a bit more for the guest bathroom, it got some rosy curtains that used to hang in the studio at one point, and some new towels.

Well, I guess that isn't a whole lot, is it? But it was a refreshing change to get me out of a mid-winter, post Christmas, decor slump. A small change can do big things for a room when you are cooped up inside on cold days.

Great news for Good Juju lovers!

antiques/junking, friends

By Karla Nathan / February 8, 2019

And who wouldn’t love shopping there?

Beth, The Other Karla, and I went to the Old West Bottoms to shop during the February show.

As we’d expected, there were valentines galore.

With a mix of hand crafted items, salvage, restored furniture, and vintage decor.

I always like the variety.

And the display inspiration.

But as great as the place is, it is about to get even better….

Beth has joined the team of fabulous vendors! You can find her on the first floor starting on the first Friday of March. You’ll know what booth it is, by the crowd of thrilled bargain hunters filling their arms with cool vintage goodies!

Good luck, Beth! I’m excited for you.

https://www.goodjujukc.com/

Valentine shopping bags by Maggie

friends, Valentine's Day

By Karla Nathan / February 6, 2019

My talented pal, Maggie Raguse (and Birdsong Peep), has once again, designed some adorable shopping bags for Kroger. In our area, Dillons stores are the local Kroger franchise. If you are looking for one of these cuties, look up what the chain is called in your area.

Then, you’d better rush to get one, because they sell out quickly! They are very sturdy too, I used the Christmas versions in place of paper gift bags for presents.

Sprucing up in the Studio for my Galentines

bird song art event, cottage, holiday decor, housework, parties, studio tour, Valentine's Day

By Karla Nathan / February 3, 2019

While getting ready for A Lovebird's Song, I did a full on, happy new year, delve into the corners, serious cleaning.

I even washed and changed the curtains.

And rearranged some of the storage cabinets.

I went so far as to take everything off the tops of the furniture pieces, wipe it all down, and rearrange them too.

Originally, I was going to box up things to get them out of the way, and just set out some Valentine decorations.

But I got started on cleaning and just couldn't stop. I didn't even fill a single box of stuff to get things out of the way, I took care of each item by putting them away properly or getting rid of things I didn't want.

I even dusted branches on the ceiling. That is a rare occurrence.

(or should I say, a singular one?)

Afterwards, it felt so fresh and bright, I was pretty happy with myself.

The studio is basically just a workroom most of the year, and gets neglected when I am busy crafting.

I should invite people over more often, maybe I'd keep it tidier.

Because I sure am enjoying having it detailed!

Although, I have to admit, I was beyond exhausted when the party ended. I threw myself into prepping and cleaning for days ahead, then had an emergency with an icy driveway that had me spreading numerous, 40lb bags of salt on it, out there in the dark, cold, night before everyone arrived the next day.

And of course, I didn't have my trusty sidekicks, Terry and Guncle Randy to ease the labor load while I was teaching the projects.

And each year, I do get a teensy bit older…. That is a very hard one to admit. But I was feeling it!

Still, I adore doing these classes, even if I am a worn out, old lady when they end.

Food full of love, with a room full of hearts and roses

bird song art event, cottage, flowers, Food and Drink, Valentine's Day

By Karla Nathan / January 31, 2019

As always, I got a bit carried away with the theme for the party….

Hearts, EVERYWHERE!

The freshly baked rolls were baked in heart shaped muffin tins.

As were the cupcakes. But it wasn't all that clear unless you looked at the bottom of them.

Rainbow carrots were even cut into hearts.

(That might have been the moment when I realized it had gone over the top, it took longer than I thought it would, even with Kia helping. But it was kind of fun, even if it probably was not a good use of my time)

Of course, there were cookies cut out as hearts.

The Dove chocolates and Cadbury eggs aren't hearts, but they are "lovebird" themed.

The treat cabinet was strewn with hearts and roses from top to bottom.

Red isn't typically my color, but I do enjoy pops of it at Christmas and Valentines.

Especially when the red is rosey.

And while this calendar page on the Treat Cabinet door isn't purely Valentine's themed, it is from Jan.-Feb. and seemed to fit in perfectly.

Hearts made by Beth are hanging on the other door.

And LuWanda is dolled up in rhinestone birds on lace with a flocked wallpaper heart.

We had fruity iced tea in the Treat Cabinet, and in the kitchen, I set up a hot cocoa and hot tea station.

But to be honest, this is always here. We like to have the ingredients we need for tea or cocoa ready to roll. And the lace hearts? Those are year round too. I hung them up for Valentines Day a couple years ago and couldn't bring myself to take them down.

The chair covers were a very lucky find. I was at an estate sale for a closed catering business, and these brand new, never used, pink, pretties were only $1.50 each!

I almost didn't buy them, then came to my senses.

They were exactly what I needed, right?

Beth had just given me the pink napkins that match them, and the Guncles gifted me with the plates. Lots of sharing and love went into the table top.

Including flowers from our newest Peep, Amy.

Now that our day full of Peeps has passed, I think I need to throw a Valentine dinner party to enjoy all the decor some more.

I do love Holidays and all the pretty things that come with them.

A Lovebird’s Song day at the Cottage

bird song art event, Valentine's Day, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / January 28, 2019

I had the BEST day!

My studio is always more fun when I fill it with my Peeps.

And all of the creativity that flows from them.

I provide kits that contain everything needed to finish the projects as I have made the prototype, and then I set out a few extras, and encourage the guests to bring their own items to personalize.

And it makes me happy to see what everyone comes up with.

And while there is lots of laughter during the day, it is interesting to see how serious everyone gets at times while working hard to make their pieces.

Even Albie was taking it seriously.

The little dogs love it when the room is full of people ready to hold and pet them. They all got dressed up in their vintage kerchiefs for the occasion.

It is great to see everyone generously sharing with each other too. Many made valentines, purchased treats or cards to fill our gift bags.

(These were from Beth and she used THE GOOD STUFF!)

I set out old fashioned, paper bags with traditional, doily hearts for everyone to add treats too. The hearts feature quotes from Conversation Heart candy, and I made mini versions of the wing project to pin to the bags with cleft note brooches.

My contributions to the sacks included champagne gummy bears, candy, and Peeps.

Sugarwings gave each of the ladies one of handmade, hot glue, rose topped pencils.

Thank you to all of the attendees for spending their time with me at the cottage, for the kindness of the gifts, for the shared laughter.

What nice people!

A Garden of Memories for a Fairy

bird song art event, cottage, fairies, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 25, 2019

My friend, Beth, gives me cool stuff she finds at estate sales. A while back, I got this domed piece from her, and tucked it away, not sure what I’d be using it for. When my studio got a deep cleaning in preparation for A Lovebird’s Song, I came across it and promptly sat down to make something from it.

Because what is more inspiring than a chance to avoid cleaning?

Sorry, no before pics. (I was excited to get busy avoiding my chores and couldn’t wait to start)

I’m sure you can picture it, plain, blonde wood base, with scraggly bits of floral foam glued to it. I painted the base and glued an old, metal lid to the center. The lid is covered in wallpaper. Around that, I drizzled a ton of glue and pressed moss into it. I cut small millinery blooms to add to the foreground, and larger ones for the back. They are all standing on their wire stems, not glued flat against the moss.

“Garden of Memories” was clipped from sheet music. I make a habit of cutting out interesting phrases from old text to have on hand when I need just the perfect words. These words were ideal for this garden, because the photo I used was from a fun play date with a friend, Karen- a lovely memory!

A couple of vintage butterflies were added the same way as the flowers. I glued their wires into the moss, instead of sticking them right onto it. Then, I bent the wires to make it look like they were flitting about.

The faye child sits on a wooden spool, covered in blooms, with a teensy bluebird of happiness by her side. Her dress is netting cut from a vintage gown, her antennae are flower stamens, her wings are old text.

She has added a little bitty, bright spot of spring to this gloomy, winter day.

But now, I need to go clean after this refreshing break from work!

Author name: Karla Nathan