antiques/junking – Page 26

Why I most likely will not be wearing a prom dress to Silver Bella

antiques/junking, fairies, family, Moving to DC, paintings, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 30, 2008

You might have heard that at Silver Bella this coming November, there will be a vintage prom night.

Well, I saw this pretty pink confection at Lucketts today, for a bargain price, and thought, just maybe this one would work for a ‘more mature’ prom princess.

It wasn’t quite as frothy as most of the 50s dresses I’ve seen, and had a bodice that seemed a bit easier to wear for someone who didn’t have the shoulders of a 15 year old.

I also thought it didn’t look quite as tiny as most of the vintage gowns out there.

oops, I was wrong.

Not only am I past having the shoulders of a 15 year old, my waist and butt aren’t anywhere near that age group either.

But I bought it anyway! It might be right for another Bella, if not, it will look nice on my dress form and I can use it to display the jewelry I make and plan to sell at Silver Bella.

I also found these hand made, old Barbie prom dresses, 3 lamp shades for 40% off, and a hat loaded with scrumptious pink blooms.

I spent a total of $38 today. Which really isn’t much for how much I got, but is quite a bit if you look back at all of my recent posts and see just how much shopping I have been doing lately….

This Jack and Jill book from 1948 has the sweetest fairy illustrations and was only a dollar, and I got a bag of velvet ribbons for $2, but these pictured are the prettiest of the colors. (I don’t care for the oranges and bright blues, but will find a use for them, I’m sure)

To stop myself from buying more, I came back to our apartment in Centreville and worked on Sugarwing’s birthday book.

I started a tea party sketch, here is a rough draft.

Then I started to refine it a bit, and add ink. Later, I’ll do watercolor tints to the picture too.

This page will say:

"When there is a tea party, Sugarwings and Twinkle serve delicious, pretend treats. Twinkle doesn’t understand why she can’t see or taste the cookies that her sister is eating, but would really like to have one." Luncheon

Speaking of tea parties, here is Heather’s dining room set up for our luncheon on Sunday.

Everywhere you look in her house, there is something pretty, and sometimes it is looking right back at you, like this birdie!

Or the pretty porcelain ladies that she has scattered about.

If you read her blog, you already know about her sense of style. Everything there is pretty, just like her name says, "Pretty Petals".

I had some trouble viewing her site from the hotel lobby computer! It was blocked due to "adult content"???? I wrote her and said I was afraid she was one of those Internet predators my husband is sure I will run into at any moment.

So, I told her that if she picked me up Sunday morning in a big white van like serial killers always drive, or was wearing a trench coat, I was not going with her!

But all was well, she didn’t try to kill me, and we had a lovely day at Karlapalooza, and a great time at her house afterward.

I’m just a girl who can’t say no to sparkles!

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, paintings, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 29, 2008

More from Karlapalooza- here is a picture Heather took of me, buying- what else?? Gems! Sparkling gems. I was like a magpie that day, constantly stopping for every sparkle I saw out of the corner of my eye.

This guy had piles of boxes of jewels and I couldn’t leave his booth. No prices were on them, he said they ranged from $1 to $7. I told him I’d make a pile and if anything was over a dollar, he could pull it out.

At first, I was trying to be polite and not hog all the good stuff from my friends, but they made their choices and moved on, so I piled it high!

He actually charged me much less than $1 each, because I bought so much. I ended up spending $35 there, not all of this is from that booth. But I didn’t spend over a dollar on anything here but that crystal stoppered bottle, it was $6.

I bought a few baggies of jewels for $3 a bag, and picked out the ones I wouldn’t use. We went to a friend’s house for a cook out last night and I knew his little girls would love to have some jewelry to play dress up with. I promised to bring them more next time I come too.

Heather Karlawski made the most lovely tussie mussie for me, and I thought that was just another example of how much we had in common, since I brought a tussie to her too!

And Kitty Karla had rolled up and decorated pretty vintage papers for us. I haven’t been able to bring myself to unroll it yet, it is too pretty as it is!

And yes– I found some hats! I pulled the flowers off of them and kept the flowers, leaving a couple of the naked hats behind for Heather to work her magic on and foof up. Have you ever seen how pretty Heather makes her hats?? Wow, they are beautiful.

I also bought old calling cards- notice the "Bella" card? I foresee many Silver Bella projects with that image!! And the two dolly dresses are for Sugarwing’s babies. I think that all of her toys at her Grammie Karkie’s house should vintage.

My favorite find of the day was the cake plate all these pretty purchases are sitting on.

It is a metal cake plate music box. When you wind it up, the plate turns and it plays "Happy Birthday"- plus it has roses on it and was only $4!

Sugarwings calls every cake a "happy" since they are often served with a serenade of "Happy Birthday".

She has her 2nd birthday coming up and I can’t wait to bake a cake with her and set it on this cake plate so we can sing along.

I miss my little fairy grand baby!!

I decided that for her birthday on August 16th, I would make a book to give her.

Here is my first sketch and this is the text that will be on the page:

"Sugarwings has a best friend, named Twinkle. Twinks is actually a dog, and Sugarwings is a little fairy girl, but these two think they are sisters. Isn’t it nice when your sister is your best friend?

Of course the two do fuss and argue sometimes. Often they want the same cookie or toy, but they have learned to share."

I have plans for paintings of them at a tea party, with Twink’s head cocked at an angle because she doesn’t understand why the baby is eating pretend cookies and is wondering where the real cookie is. And another page of the the puppy getting Sugarwing’s toes. A total of 6 illustrations and 6 pages of text. Not a big book, but just right for a two year old.

I didn’t take as many photos at the flea market as I should have. We were enjoying the day too much and didn’t stop for photo ops often. Here is Heather and Lori admiring some cute dolls.

I did take LOTS of

pictures of Heather’s home- and by the way, it is even prettier in person. When you walk in, you just feel tranquil, with all the soft colors and pretty things around.

I’ll show more next time!

And remember my TWO giveaways end in a few days, and it is not too late to enter. I will add a piece of the jewelry I bought at Karlapalooza to the prize pack of summertime bright color jewels I have wrapped up for the August giveaway.

And if you are interested in any of the little watercolor sketches from the previous post, the two pink cupcakes and the dove are spoken for. Thanks, Amy, Ruby, and Bobbi!

Sweet as Pie

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, parties

By Karla Nathan / July 28, 2008

Well, this photo kind of sums up my trip so far- Yummy!

This pie is actually a special recipe by Jack Nickolaus, that is only served a couple weeks at year at Firestone Country Club, when the PGA tournament is playing there.

Of course, I had to order some! And yes, it is as good as it looks, creamy, with a coconut crunch.

I don’t and NEVER will play golf, but I can certainly enjoy the beauty of the courses and the gourmet food and pampering service you find at a private club! Firestone was particularly interesting because they were getting ready for the PGA event. There was not a blade of grass out of place anywhere.

We have had a lovely time so far, but one of the best parts was when my husband surprised me with a bouquet of my favorite flowers.

We’d seen Queen Anne’s Lace growing in the ditch beside a restaurant we were stopping at (no, not at a golf course NO WEEDS there!!!)

He snuck back out side and picked some, then had the waitress set them on the table without me knowing.

As much as I adore roses, this lacey weed, will always be the prettiest flower to me. And now even more so.

But I am simply not cut out for a life of luxury and hanging out at country clubs or shopping while my husband works. By day 3 of my trip, I was ready for something to do, and stopped at Michaels to pick up some art supplies for in the hotel room.

The trouble was, I didn’t have my work glasses with me. So, the paintings I did had to be VERY simple, since I couldn’t see the details well.

But, you know, simple is fine, and not every painting needs to be a "serious" one. Watercolors can be quick and cute.

These are all about 4"x 6" and I think will trim down to fit into a 3"x5" matt nicely.

When I get home from my trip, I might list them on Etsy for, what, maybe $10 each?

If you’d like one, feel free to leave a comment or email and I will save it for you, $10, no postage. the dove, long pink gown, teacup with the dark background, and the two pink cupcakes are sold, thanks!

I can’t mail them till I get back though.

The whole trip has just been the best, and Karlapalooza was such fun! In case you were worried, you’ll be happy to hear that Lori found her hat full of flowers and it is a beautiful one, lots of old velvet blooms!

And isn’t she cute as a little pixie, herself?

I’ll have more flea market photos later, and pictures of Sweet Heather’s sweet house. By the way, Heather has to be about one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She was a joy to talk to.

We had a fun day of chatting and shopping, with Heather’s mom, Kitty, and her friend, Stephanie, then Heather fixed a tasty lunch at her home for us. There will be photos, I promise. Her home is as warm and welcoming as she is.

And if you are looking for a macaroni salad recipe, I’d say ask Heather! Hers was really good.

Like I said before, a YUMMY TRIP!

Karlapalooza!

antiques/junking, parties, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / July 23, 2008

Oh my, I just wrote this post and lost it. Now, if it pops back up and I have two similar ones, please forgive me and ignore the extra one until I get a chance to delete it.

I will be away from my computer for a bit, and am trying to pre-post articles to publish later during the week, but I just might be screwing it all up.

What is Karlapalooza???

It started like this:

Lori Karla, (Faerie Window) saw a comment that Karla Natale (Sugar Bear) left on Heather’s blog (Pretty Petals), saying that she wanted to visit and go to the flea market Heather does so well with.

Lori Karla thought I had left the comment and emailed me saying that if I was going, she was going.

I said, I am in! where are we going?

My husband was travelling to Pittsburg on business, so I am tagging along and meeting up with these blog friends at the flea market!

Since we had: Karla Nathan, Karla Natale, and Lori Karla, we started calling our trip, Karlapalooza and changed Heather Kowalski’s name to "Heather Karlaski."

Unfortunately, Sugar Bear Karla can’t come. But Heather’s mom, Kitty (Reflections from the Stone Nest) can make it.

So, we’ll have to call her "Kitty Karla."

These artworks were created by two of my favorite Karlas-

Heather Karlaski did the tussie mussie and Lori Karla made the birdie box and cute tag.

This trip should be such fun! And there will be photos when I get back, for sure.

While I am away, my husband is taking me out for dinner to celebrate our 23rd anniversary a couple of weeks early.

Bill Clinton’s White House chef is going to be preparing a special meal for the members at Treesdale Country Club, and we are going to go!

That is the good news, the bad is that I need to buy a dress, urhg. I’d rather spend my money at the flea market.

But more good news- my SWEET and handsome and generous and funny husband of almost 23, (almost all great) years, called me to say that his foursome won a golf game today and his prize was $250- which he is giving to me for extra shopping money on the trip! EDIT- I was wrong, my husband didn’t win the golf game, I was a bit surprised that he did. The prize was from some other part of the meeting! The golf course they played was Firestone, where a PGA tournament will be next week, so winning on a tough course like that would have been quite remarkable for him! Anyway- I still get the $250 American Express gift card, so I don’t care where he won it!!

After the Pittsburgh flea market, and big night out, we are driving to Virginia to spend a few days at our apartment there.

So, I will not be around for a week, I will try to do the pre-post thing, but really, should be packing instead…..

I won’t be able to answer emails or comments, but feel free to leave a comment if you want to enter my two July giveaways. I definitely will enjoy reading all comments later on!

How to find the fairies that are living in your garden, without them knowing that you are spying on them

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, fairies, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 21, 2008

Thanks again to everyone who gave me suggestions on gift basket goodies.

I am sending out 12 one ounce packs of my home made milk bath salts in tomorrow’s mail.

The labels are done on this lush, ‘new’, OLD flocked wallpaper that I just scored! I have the pile of packets laying on a piece of the wallpaper, isn’t it the best???

The fairy on my "Fairy’s Bliss" Milk Bath Salts is from an image I got in a trade with Andrea who sent me a big bundle of great old papers to play with.

You know how I feel about fairies. (I’m a believer).

Well, I just got some very interesting news on how to spot a fairy in your garden, from a reliable source.

I’m going to copy what I wrote for Etsy, instead of typing it twice, pardon my laziness, but there is only so much time in one day!!

"I recently was told by a 7th generation Hungarian gypsy how to find fairies. Honest, I am not making this up, she was very serious when she told me about this, and I can see how it might work.

It requires a blue mirror, and you have to carefully look into it, over your shoulder, not letting the little ones know you are looking for them.

I have always had an interest in blue vintage mirrors and collect them, now I know why!

Here is a good one for sneaking up on the tiny people. It is a small mirror, one in a frame that has been made into a piece of art, so that the fairies will just think you are enjoying the artwork, not peering into the mirror to seek them.

The glittered, horseshoe shaped frame is OLD. The picture inside, the blue posy necklace around the frame, the bow shaped brooch, and lovely white velvet flowers are old too.

Four tiny mirrored squares line the edges of the frame, with a single blue one at the top, to which I have added a rose bud shaped button with a blue rhinestone center (old too, of course!).

The young lady in the picture has been delicately glittered with sparkly gold ink on her dress and a touch of fine glitter on her 3-D wings.

Its all tied up and ready to hang by some gorgeous silver ribbon with blue roses, that I simply can’t believe I found to match this frame so perfectly!! (the fairies must have left it on my desk just for this)

To the silver ribbon, I have added a tag explaining how to use the mirror, and accented it with a vintage, pearl white ballerina, meant to top a cup cake. Now she is a fairy, with the sheer white wings I have added to her."

I’ve had a good day in the studio, and accomplished a lot. I have photos taken and hope to list a bunch on Etsy tonight, then tomorrow, I have to run errands and get ready for my trip.

I am going to Karlapalooza! (details to come tomorrow)

All of my packages are going out in tomorrow’s mail, and then I am afraid I will be away till the 30th, no more packages will be sent until August 1st.

I’ll try to write up a few extra posts for you to read while I am gone, but I am afraid I won’t be able to answer your comments.

But please do continue to leave comments if you want to enter my TWO GIVEAWAYS. for the month of July.

I’ll announce the winner when I get back from my trip to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

I am filling up the baskets for my friends, using the ideas you all gave to me.

Debbie and Sandy arrive soon after I get home from my vacation, but in between, a brother-in-law and his family will be here. I’ll be in a frenzy of preparing for guests when I get home!

But that is what my cottage is all about, I love to entertain, and can’t wait for them all to arrive!

12 presents for you for 10,000 comments!

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, give away, how to's, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 20, 2008

Wow! Thanks for the helpful ideas for filling up gift baskets for my childhood friends coming to celebrate our 50th birthdays together.

I’ve taken the picture frame idea, and made a couple of frames (photos later, after the glue dries and I can stand them up), and today, my family and I made bath salts to add to the baskets.

Oh- plus I got these two white baskets FREE at a garage sale this weekend, along with the chalk ware lady ($1)

And the mini dresser tray and two perfume bottles. ($1 also).

I wasn’t going to go shopping at all this weekend, after my big buys last week.

But…. I was driving by one… and saw a yard full of OLD things. How could I not stop??

This vintage ruffled slip was hanging on a clothes line in that yard, along with some of these antique lace panels.

I need to dress in a vintage prom style for Silver Bella, and am thinking that this slip could come in handy that night, and it was only $10 for all of the lace and the slip. But that was all the shopping I did, my total for the weekend was $12. I was proud of myself for holding back.

Have you ever made bath salts? I made up a recipe, using:

sea salt (two containers)

half of a box of powdered milk

about a 1/4 cup of baking soda

and approximately a third of a bottle of glycerin

We mixed in a handful of ground lavender fresh from my herb bed, and some vanilla/citrus essential oils I had made up a while back. I’m hoping it will be soothing and refreshing, it smells delightful.

Sugarwing’s Daddy did the mixing, he is much more thorough than I am, I would have just stirred it a bit with a spoon and been done.

He put on gloves and mixed each and every granule by hand for at least a half hour.

Of course, no project in the kitchen gets done around here without my expert helper. She likes to be in the center of everything we do.

I’d like to make some pretty labels up for the bags of bath salts we made up, probably will do that tomorrow.

And as a thank you, for the people who were so kind to leave comments with ideas for filling baskets- I want to give away 12 of my one ounce bags of the mixture to the first 12 people who say they’d like some.

So, here is what you need to do- if you sent me some advice about the basket, and you’d like to have a small pack (enough for one good, relaxing soak in the tub), leave a comment and let me know you’d like some.

This is to celebrate going over 10,000 comments on my blog during the last post! Thanks again for taking the time to stop and visit and leave comments, I love to hear from you. edit-thanks, I have 12 people who would like a sample of bath salts. I wish I could send some to everyone else too!

Here is my 12:

1-Cheryl

2-Karen

3-Robin

4-Heather

5-Donna

6-Connie

7-Joanne

8-Terri

9-Caitlin

10-Jodi

11-Beverly

12-Betty Lou

(still need addresses for the last 3)

This tag that I just finished is too big to use for the gift baskets, it is 8"x4". If you are interested in buying it for $9, (includes postage-US) just email me.

I loved all of the ideas, and will make use of quite a few, these free baskets will hold a LOT.

Here is what I think I’ll add:

*personalized tags tied to the handles

*the match boxes I already made, with mini candles

* CHOCOLATE!! (that was a popular suggestion)

* a magazine (rolled up and tied with a bow)

* decorated frames so they can display a photo of the trip when they get home

*snacks, like granola bars

* a water bottle with a pretty label

*bath salts (homemade)

*Bath and Bodywork’s lotion

I’ll line the basket with some of the vintage linens I bought last week.

Now, I have to think about the 50th birthday gifts I want to give them!!!!!

I haven’t had more than a few minutes to make stuff this weekend, Sugarwings has been staying with us quite a bit, and today FIVE of her friends came to play.

They were all calling me Grammy Karkie and wanting to paint, or play dolls or in the garden hose at the same time. It was hectic but fun. So hectic, I didn’t get a camera out!

The lake was beautiful this weekend. If you’d like to see a VERY short clip of Sugarwings making up a song while hopping on her PopPop who is laying back and relaxing on a raft, click here.

One of the strangest things happened to us at the lake!

About 6 weeks ago, we caught our anchor on something on the bottom and had to cut it loose, and buy a new anchor.

Yesterday, as we drove across the cove, our motor shut off, due to a rope wrapped around the prop. It must have been floating around, and we just happened to drive across it as it bobbed around the water.

As we untangled it, we thought it looked a lot like our half of a blue rope that was attached to our new anchor, and the we had some trouble getting the mess untangled because it seemed to be stuck to something. Well, we tugged, and found out it was attached to something- our OLD anchor that we had cut loose earlier this summer!

What do you think the odds are that it just happened to be US who got caught on the rope of our own anchor lost weeks ago??? That rope could have hooked any boat on the lake. What odd timing that it was us!!!

I wonder if that ladder we lost will be coming back soon???

New blog title: Crazy, Obsessed, Shopaholic, Bargain Hunter’s Crowded Cottage

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, fairies, flowers, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 17, 2008

Some one stop me!

I have been on such a roll with the bargains this week, that I can’t quit looking for them. And they seem to LEAP out at me.

I heard the call of the hats yesterday, and asked a friend if she wanted to take a spur of the moment, quick trip with me to go and buy hats.

We only had a couple hours, knowing it was late in the day and the stores would close, but we went anyway, and I was glad I did.

This loot was $1 a single flower and $7 for the loaded hat!

And even though, I have plenty of buttons after last weekend’s garage sale, how could I pass this up?

The ironstone bowl is worth at least $15, let alone filled with buttons!

Not only that, but SORTED and cleaned buttons.

The bowl has already come in handy, on my desk filled with these trims that I bought too.

There are some really nice pieces in here, lots of old beading and delicate laces. These were only $1 a zip lock bagful.

Those trims were the first thing I played with after I got home, I couldn’t wait to do something with them!

These tussie mussies are made of vintage flocked wallpaper, lined with old, French paper, then encrusted with some of the fancy trims, jewels, and flowers that I bought yesterday.

These are gifts. I won’t say who for yet, but the hint for the new owners is in the themes I used to make them:

birds*fairies*pretty flowers

This trim was my favorite, so dainty and old. There was quite a bit of it, too.

I was glad to discover when I cut into it to use it on the tussie mussie, that all the beads stayed in place and didn’t run every where. I had been worried about using it, but it was wonderful to snip and glue down.

And yes, I bought more vintage jewelry. Just when I think I have cleaned out all the old jewelry bargains in the state, I find even bigger and better deals.

Can you believe that a lot of this was in the ten cent box?

Some of it was a dime, some of it was sold in bags full for $3 – $4 a bag.

Yes, I bought all the bags! I’m not even showing all the jewels I got, because I am starting to overwhelm myself with all this bounty.

These were 50 cents each.

I’ve not used beaded trim pieces much in the past, but I will have fun making use of these black ones at Halloween, won’t they be great on witch hats?

This is an example of how much was in one $1 zip lock bag. I can see some Silver Bella projects in the future of that silver velvet string!

There was a big bundle of towels and doilies for $5.50, which at first I thought I didn’t need. But then, I remembered that I had planned on buying dish towels at Target later this week.

So, why would I pay $3 a towel for plain ones at Target, when I can get a big bundle of beauties for $5, with extras thrown in at an antique store??

These gals were $1 each, and soon will be covered in flowers, beaded trims, and sporting fairy wings.

Now, if I can just stop shopping long enough to stay home and make some stuff with all of this!!

By the way, thanks so much for all your purchases from me this week. I appreciate it! (Plus it makes more space for me to go shopping again myself!)

A lucky day (again!!)

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 16, 2008

Sugarwings will have to take my title as the "Hat Whisperer". We stopped at a couple of antique shops on the way to the zoo.

(that kid is happy anywhere I carry her, she will shop for hours and love it)

Her job was to find a hat. I wasn’t having any luck, and she was doing pretty good finding plain ones, or ones in photos on the wall. I thought that was what she was telling me about, a cowboy in a photo, but no, she saw this $3 beauty that I missed!

She is the one who found the box of old sewing supplies for 25 cents each too.

Did I need another hat?

I used to pull the blooms off and organize them by color. ( I have a similar, smaller box by my work table, too)

But lately, I have been on such a roll, I haven’t had time to sort through them all and pull off the flowers. Yes, this is a heap, there are hats on top of hats, on top of hats.

But, the way I look at it, these are only getting more and more scarce and I won’t always find them at such bargain prices, like Sugarwing’s $3 bonnet.

Especially when all of you out there tell me how hard millinery flowers are to find.

Same way with this stuff.

Yes, I found more deals on old jewels! All of this (and more not shown) came from 3 bags marked $4 each.

Would you hate me if I tell you that I found a 14kt gold piece, that I think has a real diamond in it?

These are far from perfect, but old and really cool! Ideal for projects and gluing.

I know I’ll be happy to have sparkly little reindeer at Silverbella to add to my holiday projects.

And I can’t wait to use the roses with colored rhinestone centers on something special.

Last night I decorated a few button filled jars with some of my new treasures.

I had sprayed a flower with walnut ink and it got on this old French book page, and look at how the colors bled and spread.

How cool, that walnut ink turned into a tie dye rainbow of colors on this paper! I made a label out of it and went with a hippy, flower power theme for the bottle.

This tiny jar already had the cutest rosey lid ever. I just added some goobers to the jar itself to foof it up, then tied on a vintage velvet bow and filled it with pretty buttons in colors to match the outside.

Yes, it was a very lucky, lucky day.

Sugarwings and I had a lovely day, with shopping and the zoo. Not many animals were around to see on such a hot day, but we didn’t mind.

Not many people either, it was later in the afternoon, mid week.

So the attendant let us play on the 100 year old carousel as long as we wanted, no one else was there to ride.

We sat on every single animal there, then when it was time to ride, we were told to ride as long as we liked.

I’m afraid I had to stop the fun early, I get motion sickness. My head was spinning for a while after a few turns. So we just played on the horses instead of going in circles.

By the way, do you know what a cowgirl says? According to my fairy grandbaby, it is "moooooooooo".

And maybe you can help me with this question-

Do you know what these shells are called? When I showed a necklace that my great aunt had made with similar shells, a reader pal said she thinks they are rare.

If you have any info, I’d appreciate it. Thanks!

Don’t forget to leave a comment to enter the Christmas in July giveaway and the regular monthly giveaway, if you’d like a few colorful pieces of old jewelry and some cute buttons!

Forget me not?

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, flowers, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 15, 2008

I don’t typically grow flowers from seed, I am more of an instant gratification type. I like to buy big flats of blooming flowers for instant color.

But on Mother’s Day this spring, I gave Sugarwings a package of forget-me-not seeds and her own pink, plastic shovel, opened the seed pack, and turned her lose.

Here is my little gardener’s first bloom! I haven’t touched the patch she planted, I wanted it to be all her own, so they are kind of clumped up and not where I would have planted them, but I do love them more than anything else in the gardens because they are hers!

Today will be a Sugarwings Day, and I get to go pick her up soon. I’m not sure what we’ll do, maybe the zoo? She is happy anywhere I take her. Sometimes we just sit on the sidewalk and talk to bugs. Other days, we’ll paint rocks, or water the flowers (and each other).

I might dress her in this vintage sun suit I bought at the Bling and Button Bargain Blowout garage sale last weekend, it was only $1. It looks tiny, but she isn’t very big. My fairy baby is only in the 3rd percentile for her age group, she is dainty like the forget-me-nots she planted.

I’m glad she is tiny, I carry her everywhere. We won’t pack a stroller if we go to the zoo, I’d rather hug her all day.

Some of you were asking me to show more of the vintage greeting cards I bought, so here is a close up. How cute is this?

I must have bought over 100 of them. I’ll use a few in projects, set a basket of them out in my studio to enjoy, and add some to collage kits that I make up to sell on Etsy.

I listed a couple sets on Etsy this morning. I doubt if I will do many this way, they are too handy to have around for other purposes.

This will be listed soon, I am trying to get my shop filled. I don’t understand why it is so hard to get the inventory up over 50. My goal is 100, but I think what I ‘d need is a couple totally uninterrupted days of nothing but listing, and I’d get BORED doing that.

So, I putz around and list a few things here and there. I try to be regular about it and update a few days a week.

I listed ONE hanger from this bunch so far. They are the end of my millinery flowered padded hangers, the rest have moved on to their new homes,

If you’d like one of these for $9, please let me know.

Any of them, but this one, it is available on Etsy, but it costs a little more than the others, it has a bigger and more velvety rose and the hanger is older. So this one is "special".

The child sized ones that I made up are going to stay here with me. I will use them for my fairy grand baby’s clothes.

Here is a full picture of one of my button bottles that I listed, I only showed a bit of it before.

This one is "special" too. I try to keep my prices very reasonable, but when I spend a bit extra on supplies I have to charge a bit extra too.

This bottle cost more to start with (but was worth it!!) so it is $28, filled with white buttons and decorated. sold, thanks!

This bottle didn’t cost me as much, and it is only $15, filled with buttons and all embellished.

They both took about the same amount of time, and supplies, and are equally gaudied up.

Any way, thought you might want to understand my price variations.

Since I can whip out creations pretty quickly, and here in the Midwest, I get lots of bargains for my supplies, I try to keep my prices affordable for my shoppers.

I hope you agree with me that they are a good value!

Speaking of selling stuff, I just got some good news! An email came from Teresa (or T Mac, as I have been hearing her called!) and I will be a vendor at Silver Bella. Yay!

It isn’t too early for me to start planning and plotting, pasting and painting! I plan on filling a 10 x 10′ booth.

Heather and Natasha are flying in to Kansas City and riding up with me. I am renting a big van, and taking up my booth goodies, and Heather is mailing boxes of her things to me here to take up too, since she is vending also.

Holly (who will be vending) is driving up from Oklahoma, and Carol (another vendor) is coming from Kansas City and we are making a caravan up to Omaha for the event. Stopping in St Joe, MO at my favorite antique mall on the way.

Don’t you think I need a big glittery banner to tie to the van???

Using the good stuff

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, Silver Bella, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 14, 2008

Its been a lazy day here at the cottage. Reading, boating, gardening took up most of the day.

I spent the evening putting some of my Bling and Button Bargain Blowout finds to work.

I also used some of the fantastic French papers that Gwen brought to me during our bloggers craft day party this week.

The labels on these bottles are made from the French ephemera that I "cuddlebugged" (by the way, I found out, it is really called a CUTTLEBUG)What ever it is called, that thing is COOL. I loved using it!

Then, I filled the bottles with painstakingly sorted buttons, and dooded up the labels with old photos and tons of pretty sparkling jewels. Doesn’t this brooch make a nice little frame?

The Christmas in July giveaway is all wrapped up and ready to go out to who ever wins it.

(check out the previous post to see what is inside)

Then, I listed a couple of my beveled glass covered collages on Etsy.

Like I said, kind of a quiet day around here. I’ve been daydreaming about Silver Bella. Yes, I know that is MONTHS in advance, but I am really looking forward to it and hoping to plan and hostess a swap or two for it.

I am already hosting a small swap for the event, so that a group of us who are going can get a bit acquainted before we meet up there.

I am so happy with my list of swappers who will be sending me some of their favorite crafting supplies. I will then package them all up and send a little of each to everyone who signed up.

We’ll each get a goodie bag with pretties from everyone else.

Take a look at this list and you’ll see why I am excited about it! These are people who have BEAUTIFUL things!! I can’t wait to see all the presents coming in the mail for me to play with, I mean, divvy up and send out.

A Get Acquainted- Get Inspired

Pre- Silver Bella Swap

1-Heather* http://www.prettypetals.typepad.com/

2-Cheryl Dack * http://roseyposeyconfections.blogspot.com/

3-jennifer hayslip* http://sweeteyecandycreations.typepad.com/

4-Jessi Nagy * http://www.scrappyjessi.blogspot.com/

5-Kim Caldwell * http://www.artisticbliss.typepad.com/

6-Holly * http://www.hollydoodledesigns.com/shop/

7-Natasha* http://www.natashaburns.blogspot.com/

8-Analisa * http://www.leesiebella.typepad.com/

9-Andrea* http://velvetstrawberries.typepad.com/andreasingarella/

10-Cheryl Stoneham* http://www.insidethebubble.typepad.com/

11- Tiffany* www.shabbyscraps.typepad.com

12- Carol Spinski * http://raisedincotton.typepad.com/

And if you like presents, remember I have two giveaways this month, check out the last two posts for more info. Every comment is entered in the drawings.