Karla Nathan – Page 82 – Karla's Cottage

Guncle Randy’s Paint Pour Book

Books, family, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / October 24, 2018

When Guncle Randy was here in August, We had a paint pour day and he did a "swipe" technique on this cover. I finished assembling the book to mail to him later.

And of course, I couldn't help myself…. I had to add some vintage papers to the book for him to use as a background for his own work. He plans on using it for a Halloween/Autumn journal, so I kept with a darker or fall theme. Including this great horoscope book cover from the 1800s!!!

(I'd been saving it for something really special.)

Grey flowers seemed to be ideal for Halloween.

As were these black and white pages.

The red might be a little bright for the season, but I guess he could consider it gorey… I made a pocket from some paint poured paper, and filled it with tidbits to use in his own work.

The Dream Book page is a scan and copy, but suits the mood.

As well as the Gispy Fortune Teller page.

This lovely lady was cut from an old fairy tale book, and I added green marker to her face to make her witchy.

This boy is scanned from an old photo and printed onto a transparency for a ghostly look.

Typically, I chose text for shape and style, but sometimes I find some that fits the mood of the page too. While this is simply about Tom Thumb and is a cute fairy tale, I thought the first sentence seemed a little creepy and went well with a Halloween book.

The inside of the back cover gets a paint poured note card to open and fill up, and a cute (but slightly vampire-ish) boy and his dog. I added a sparkly, rhinestone poodle too, since the guncles have two cute poods of their own.

Have fun filling your book up, Randy! I love you and loved getting this ready for you!!

I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd. All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks!

Omaha Zoo

family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 21, 2018

We took Sugarwings to the Omaha Zoo to gather info for a science project.

The subject was cats, and she took the day pretty seriously. Our mini photographer took photos of all of the large cats, as well as all of the information signs about them.

It is a VERY large and wonderful zoo, I've never seen the entire place in the one day we usually have to spend there.

In the past, I've gone with either a larger group, or two preschoolers who were happy to be watching bugs on the sidewalk instead of conquering the whole park.

This time, we were concentrating on the science project, and getting the photos she needed. But we did stop for rides and lunch. While she might be getting slightly too big for the carousel (but still loves it), we discovered that she is no longer frightened by the skyride. We floated above the park a couple of times, and could've done more trips if we'd had time.

We missed Dewdrop, but I will make myself feel better about that by using it as an excuse to go back again when she can tag along. She went with us to the Topeka Zoo a few times over the summer, but we never made it up to Nebraska to go to this zoo with her before she left to spend the year with her mom in North Carolina.

By the way, I've discovered that my Topeka Zoo membership, which is only $50 annually for a family of four, gets us into other zoos at a discount. In Omaha, it was 50% off, which helped a great deal. In Sarasota, the Mote aquarium was free with a Topeka membership.

Also, it is sure nice to have the card to drop by the Topeka zoo whenever we feel like it, even if we only have an hour. If we were paying full price to get in each time, I'd make sure I had enough hours to "get my money's worth" out of the trip. With a membership, that isn't an issue, and there were quite a few short trips that we enjoyed, but wouldn't have made if didn't have that card.

I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd. All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks!

Karen’s (Daisy) Book

Books, friends, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / October 18, 2018

Back in August, Karen gathered a group of us together for a getaway and shopping, then the group came to my house to try their hands at pour painting. This book cover is Karen's creation from the day.

My painting friends were visiting from Florida, and the paint takes 3 weeks to cure completely, since it is so heavily applied and has conditioners in it. So, I kept the pieces here to dry, and mailed them later.

But before I did, I put this book together for her, and another for Guncle Randy. Both were empty covers that they'd painted.

And since I LOOOOOOVE making books, I couldn't help giving her a head start on her pages.

About half are blank, and I added some vintage wallpaper, lace and embellishments to the rest. Now, she has some backgrounds ready to add her own art, or poetry to.

My Special K, as I call her, loves Gatsby. And identifies with Daisy. So, I made sure there were plenty of daisies in the book for her.

She has a lovely poodle, Queen Satine, so when I saw these rhinestone poodles, I knew they had to be a part of the book too.

It is a joy to use these papers, I hope Karen loves working with them too.

Her cover turned out so sweetly, I wanted to honor it with an equally sweet interior.

Thank you for hosting our group for the flea market getaway and for coming to play with paint with me, Karen!!

And if any of you want to make a book with the two of us, I'll be teaching a class at her studio in Deland, Florida in February. Details to come…

I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd. All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks!

Why fit in when you can fly instead?

Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 15, 2018

This photo simply IS Sugarwings. Happy, joyous, exuberant, effervescent, out of the ordinary, fearless, and adorable.

I don't know what it is from, she had the snapshot on her "about me" collage from Social Studies, and told me that the class was told to make silly faces.

I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd. All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks!

Crown Crafting with the Crew

friends, guncles, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 13, 2018

Besides junking, sipping wine, sitting by a bonfire, playing with piglets, and eating too much like I was a piglet myself (thanks for the great food, Tracy!!), we did some crafting on Labor Day weekend when i was with my buddies at the hunting cabin.

Royal Style!

Tami brought enough supplies to top off the entire British monarchy.

And we loved every bit and bauble she brought.

Here is a Gatsby-esque one that she gifted to Karen.

And here is a heart shaped, nature inspired, Fairy Crown that I made for Sugarwings.

She placed it on our lamp when she took it off, I kind of like it there.

This is the woodland example that Tami brought.

Angie is modelling the Ice Queen crown.

I made one similar to it.

I'm also creating a Raven crown, from a beaded flapper dress I found at a flea market. It is still in progress, I'm thinking it will require some black feathers and maybe even a feathery bird. I'll be wearing it with my raven dress to a fairyland ball that my sis, Terry, is throwing next summer. It is never too early to plan ahead, is it? This will be a big occasion, so Guncle Randy and I both worked on our headpieces.

Here is the beginning of the base of his. He ringed it with more stones, and we aged it with two colors of Rub-n-buff when we got home.

He will also add vines and sprigs to fairy it up.

They all looked great together.

Thanks for the beautiful project, Tami!

(I only wish we'd thought of posing some of these onto the mounted deer and turkeys around the house!)

I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd. All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks!

Pretty girls

family

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2018

The girls were headed downtown for a performance, and had some pictures taken before going.

Cute, huh?

I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd. All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks!

Our Annual Sister Trip is Starting with Some Disney Magic!

celebrations, family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 11, 2018

This morning, I'll be meeting my sisses in Orlando for the beginning of our annual Sister Trip to Florida. This year, we are doing something different, instead of visiting Sarasota, (home of our late grandmother).

We are going to Disney World!

Bobbie and I are thrilled. Sissy is being open to the idea and I hope we win her over and she enjoys it as much as we do.

And yes, I do Love, Love, Love going to the amusement parks. If you are counting, this is my 3rd trip this year… And I am definitely an adult (sorta). This is the second sister trip this year, I went with Terry for my birthday, and then with the grandfairies after our Disney cruise, also, uhm, for my birthday.

60 is shaping up to be a good year for indulging in trips and visiting the Mouse.

ps- I'll be away for a good, long time, this is a ten day trip (only a couple to the parks) Anything ordered from my Bootique or Etsy shop will be mailed on the 24th. Thank you for your patience.

Grouting Day

friends, paintings

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2018

My pal, Shanna, has a group of friends most Thursdays for mosaic projects. I usually bring something else to work on, since I'm not a glass artist, but this time, I did take her up on an offer to dip into the piles of cut glass she had for me to use.

I thought that a mosaic frame would look nice on this beach painting.

Shanna also helps with grouting, and there were a couple of other projects that needed finished that day. This is Margie's table to donate to a fundraiser.

And a mirror that she did. I called it Boho Gothic.

Thanks, Shan!

The Kansas City Renfest- I’ve missed you!!

fairies, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 6, 2018

In 2017, we did not make it to the Renfest for the first time in forever.

We were very happy to get back to it this season!

Ki Ki is putting her artistic skills to good use by doing Henna tattoos there. I see a big future for that girl, she has done well for a kid with paying jobs that use her creativity.

Heck, she has done better than most adults working as artists. Good for her!

And Sugarwings was glad to be rejoining her fairy tribe.

Since she was a tiny little sprite, she has always walked right up to the Fay at the Renfest and joined in, just like she knew she belonged there with them.

She always fits right in.

Here she is years ago, making friends.

And now, look how grown up she is.

Oh my.

No matter how big she gets, she never loses her adventurous spirit.

Or stops throwing herself full force into an activity, no matter what others are doing.

I love it that she sees the magic around her.

And believes in the magic within herself.

She's a fun fairy to hang out with, and I had a great day.

Yep, we both enjoyed being there and being together.

I doubt we will let this much time go between visits. I'll be back next season for sure.

ps- I just wanted to comment, that after complaining about a few details that weren't as sharp as they used to be at the Renfest, I found out that they are under new management. I still loved going there, but have to admit that it is not ran quite as good as it used to be. It has lost some of the individuality and creativity that used to be there. I still recommend going, but I certainly preferred the way it used to be.

Rich autumn tones and old silk ribbon flowers in a lush book

Books, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 4, 2018

The colors of this painted cover inspired me to dig out some of my treasured, very vintage, ribbon flowers to add to the front along with this pretty porcelain piece.

I wish I wasn't running low on my ribbon roses….. They have been a JOY to use.

Which is why I'm hitting the end of the hoarded pile. I believe in using that GOOD STUFF, not hiding it away.

If a piece is worth doing your best work on, isn't it worth your best supplies too?

I've loved working with the paint pourings to make book covers too.

But sadly, I have packed away all of the paints, tables and racks that I've used all summer to work on making them. My garage has been a paint studio for months, but with fall here, it was time to return it to its purpose of hosting my car. Sugarwings and I were sad to see it all put away, she and I have had a blast making art together out there. I've had lots of parties and gatherings with friends coming over to paint with me too.

I'm already looking forward to next spring and putting the garage back to a better use by doing more of them then!

I'll probably have enough canvases to cut up and turn into books and banners til then, I was so enthusiastic with the technique, I've filled my studio with stacks of paintings to use.

And thank you to all of you who have helped support my habit by buying the books I've been crafting.

This one is a thick one, four sets of blank pages ready to fill with your own art, musings, photos, or dreams. You can find it in the Boutique.

Author name: Karla Nathan