antiques/junking – Page 28

Happy Birthday Beth

By Karla Nathan / June 14, 2008

How’s this for some GREEN? Sadie Olive‘s seeing Red posts were such fun, now she is hosting some greens.

The lovely lady prancing down the stairs is my BFF, Beth. She’s feeling light hearted because we went out to celebrate her birthday today. This photo was taken at Nell Hills (Mary Carol Garrity’s shop) in North Kansas City.

The main Nell Hills is in Atchinson, and I have to tell you it is soooo much better than this one. One thing (I thought) you could count on from Miss Nell is affordable and wonderful things. But her new shop has a different type of theme, and knick knacks were priced at HUNDREDS of dollars! Ouch.

It was really a fun stop, though and we enjoyed going there as sight seers, just not shoppers. As my mom used to call shopping with out buying, "feeling".

Thankfully, Nell Hills wasn’t our only stop. We started out at estate sales about 8:30am, hit a couple of good scrap booking stores, went to lunch at Pei Wei.

We went "feeling" at some hoity toity antique shops, and worked on Beth’s antique mall booth too. Whew, that was a full day. And full of laughs too.

Once upon a time, I had a booth at the same antique mall, and used to get free rent by painting murals around the store. Many are still there, some have been lost to renovations and remodeling.

This faux finished wall and painted columns is one of my favorites.

I’m glad we had such fun today, because Beth has had a really tough week. Her Kramer-haired sweet heart, Milo passed away this week from liver failure.

He was a good dog, and always greeted me with affection when I visited, I will miss him.

I did this portrait of him on a liquorish (Beth’s favorite) Altoid tin, and added vintage velvet trim to the sides, flocked wallpaper to the bottom, and a bone shaped charm to the side.

I also made a wallpaper journal for her with my BEST wallpapers. Notice the date on the old ledger paper? (the paper is from Rhonda)

I can’t believe I cut into a piece to make a tag and right on it was "June 13"- her birthday! What a co-inky-dink. I keep a file of these type of things, this one is going right on the list!

Beth had presents for me, she always finds junk for me at auctions and has gifts when I come to visit.

This time, it was a set of this old (made in Japan) but sturdy, doll furniture for Sugarwings. I will paint it to match her doll house.

The saucy little dancer is from Carol. She had a bagful of them for me, and I (of course) will fairy them up. Right now, I have a spray coat of white primer on them.

And how adorable is this?? A gift for me from my pal, Lori.

When I saw this curly feathered little fellow on her Etsy shop, I had to have him, and when the box arrived, she included the fairy tag and a roll of nice papers tied up beautifully with ribbons and a buckle.

Have you ever been to see Sandy Mastroni? Her blog is so funny, and her art is full of personality and charm. I was lucky enough to win this cupcake set of cards featuring her work.

Yep, I am pretty lucky.

Here are some of the bargains I found this week, out junking with Carol and with Beth.

The wallpaper is from Beth. So we don’t get jealous of each other’s finds, we have a pact. Whenever one of us gets a good roll of wallpaper, we cut off a hunk for the other one. It keeps our friendship safe.

Show and Tell Sunday this week is about flea market finds. Between garage sailing and flea markets and estate sales, I got the table top full, plus a few other things that didn’t squeeze into the photo. Its been a good week for bargain hunting around here!

If you want to see what others have found at fleas, Heidi is guest hostessing this week’s show and tell.

Don’t forget that I am assembling a good prize pack of June Junking Finds for my giveaway. If you want to win some garage sale swag, just leave a comment and you are entered.

A NON-virtual Blogger’s Tea Party in the Garden

antiques/junking, celebrations, parties

By Karla Nathan / June 11, 2008

We had a sweet little Blogger’s Tea Party in my garden yesterday in honor of Becca who was driving across Kansas and stopped to visit.

Since her blog is called "bluebirds and roses" I used that theme in my table decor. See the blue bird nesting in the etched glass compote with chocolate eggs?

I decorated bottles to give out as party favors, and used lots of roses and birds on the labels that I made.

This is Becca, myself, and Marilyn. It is so nice to meet blog friends in person, I have never been disappointed when I do.

Since it was mid afternoon, I kept the refreshments light, mostly snacks and goodies.

Instead of sitting down around the table, we pulled up chairs to the patio table and took our plates outside to enjoy one of the loveliest days of the whole season. What luck, to have a garden party on such a pretty day.

Especially when so many people across the country are battling terrible weather conditions.

My pal, Barb in Wisconsin is really having a stretch of bad luck, with family health problems, and now floods on top of it. I am sending her a package of crafty goods to create with, because her craft room flooded and she lost so much. With all the bad stuff going on, I knew that she could use a break from it all to be creative and rest her mind from her worries a bit.

I don’t like to take my good luck for granted, days like this should be appreciated because not everyone ends up like this. Not only the weather, but the friends who came by to visit, plus the fact that I am lucky enough to have a great life where I am able to take a sunny day and turn it into a porch party.

Becca made a "Twinkle" stuffed dog for Sugarwings, who loves presents more than anything. She is at that age where she thinks that everything is for her anyway.

Isn’t this just the cutest? Thanks, Becca!!

And thanks to Beth, Carla, Marylin, and Shawn for coming out to party on the porch with me and meet Becca.

Carol is also a Kansas City area blogger, but couldn’t make it yesterday to the garden party.

I needed to interview her for the article I am writing for Fifi for Romantic Country. So, we went junking in St. Joe, MO for the day, and then at the very end of the trip, we did a 3 minute interview in the parking lot!

I’ll have to email some more questions to her as they come up, but this was a great excuse to get out and play while pretending to work!

I might have bought a few hats today…….. I don’t know how many. I don’t want to know. But look at these!! Doesn’t the green one look like a mossy nest? It has birds and butterflies in it too.

And that pin cushion doll looks like she might have some fairy wings in her future if she hangs around me for very long.

And see the beautiful blue spread??? Twenty bucks and exactly what I was looking for to redo my bedroom!

It is vintage-ish, kind of older, but not old-old. And in perfect shape, plus the exact blue I wanted. On the way home, I bought two gallons of paint to match it to repaint the walls.

I am going to STOP myself from painting quite yet. It is hard. Very hard. Every cell in my body is telling me to stay up all night and paint the room. I have little elves dancing on my shoulder and whispering in my ear, "open the can, dip in your brush!! It will be sooooo pretty"

But- now that I am 50, maybe I have developed a bit of common sense and discipline??? I need to photograph all the cards for my Great Aunt’s 100th birthday and get that flickr site filled! Plus count them up and draw a prize winner. Or a few prize winners from all the kind people who made a card for her. I also have a mural to do on a business downtown and a commision paint job for a freind. So, no new wall color for me till I get my work done. I have to have my priories straight.

That painting job will be waiting for me as a reward for getting my work done. How is that for a grown up attitude?? Oh, but first, one more junking day, tomorrow is Beth’s birthday party, and we have a day out!

Seeing some more reds and getting an eyeful at the Wakarusa Fest

antiques/junking, Books, family, give away, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 7, 2008

I’m still seeing red! This time, it is tie dye and wild, hippy reds!!

We went to the Wakarusa music festival yesterday, not camping out for 4 days like most festival goers, we just bought a one day pass and took our fairy grand baby out for some good music, sunshine, hula hooping, and dancing. Oh, and FOOD!

I discovered that snow cones are her favorite food on the planet and that she can determinedly try scooping them it with the long plastic straw/spoon, long after the ice has melted away into a puddle of syrup.

Sugarwings traveled in style, in her canopied red wagon, complete with fairy wings on the back.

Sugarwing’s Hippy Chick mommy was one of my favorite things to watch at the fair, she was so graceful and pretty while doing her hula hoop dance.

Can anyone give me an idea on how to load a short video of Sugarwings dancing at the concert?

In the meantime, here is a link to the video on Flickr- its very short if you’d like to watch it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/karlascottage/2561653016/

I’m not a huge concert fan, myself. I typically listen to National Public Radio instead of music, but this festival was more "event" than concert for me and I had a great time.

The lead singer of the Flaming Lips arrived in a giant hamster ball and crowd surfed while bubbles and confetti were shot out from the rainbow colored stage. And for some reason, giant Tele Tubbies danced away on the stage to every song. During one song, naked women from the audience joined in and danced with the Tele Tubbies. Now that isn’t something you see everyday!

Another thing you don’t see very often is me out garage sailing and forgetting to take my purse!

I didn’t realize until I got all the way across town this morning, that I didn’t have it with me. I guess I was beat from the late night at the Wakarusa fest and wasn’t thinking clearly.

So, I dug into my ashtray where I keep my emergency frozen custard money, and challenged myself to a morning of garage sailing on $8.75.

Not only did I do fine with a limited budget, I came home with change!

Not enough to stop for frozen custard, though.

I bought:

*3 hand made lawn baby gowns

* a delicate embroidered baby’s pillow case

* sweet little pink booties

* a small, old bottle with a glass stopper

* a tiny wooden doll to fix up for Bethany’s art show

* and this cute little child’s toy hutch to fix up for Sugarwings.

I promised that my June giveaway would be garage sale finds that I get this month. So, here is the first of the batch, one of the lovely, old baby gowns I picked up today.

Check back to see what gets added as the month goes by!

And leave a comment, on any post all month to enter, as often as you’d wish.

One more red, and some thank yous- Sarah, thanks for the "Seeing Red" week, it was a fun challenge.

Thanks to Rhondi for belatedly adding me to her porch party. I had been left off the links and thought I must smell bad or something, because I seem to be getting left off of party links lately!! She was kind enough to add me in to the party today. Even though, everyone was showing beautiful porch pics and all I had was a burr covered dog in a gazebo.

And thanks to everyone who inquired about my Friday Flea Market items in the last post, and to those of you who bought some pretties!

The table cloth and some hand made vintage wallpaper books are still available.

Here is what the covers look like, I was feeling Flocky when I made them!

Red Rover, Red Rover

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 5, 2008

Sadie Olive’s idea to post our reds has got me looking around. There does seem to be touches of red throughout my studio and yard. I’d take pictures of some things in the house too, but the place is trashed right now. You DO NOT want to see that!

I’ve had the fairy grandbaby stay all night a few nights this week, plus worked on the Romantic Coutnry photo shoot with Carol for Fifi, and my house is beyond neglected right now.

If I manage to get a shovel and clean up the place, maybe I can add some interiors reds for the next installment, but for today, lets stick to the studio, it is safer.

Was I inspired by thinking of reds to add touches of the shade to Zack’s wings? Could be.

This is my brother-in-law, Randy’s dog and I painted it as a gift for when I go visit him down in Jacksonville soon. My sisses and I are going to my Great Aunt Caroline’s 100th birthday party (and thanks so much for all the cards, they are still pouring in, I’ll count and photo graph soon!–plus give away the prizes).

While visiting our aunt in Florida for her 100th birthday, we will swing by and visit Randy and his enchanted fairy garden too.

It will be Randy’s birthday while we are there too, so I whipped up this watercolor for him.

I’ve added gold glitter pen swirls in the sky and accents to the wings.

Maybe you can tell in the close up, but not very well, I guess. In real life, it has a nice sparkle to it.

There was also some red lurking on my desk in the midst of all the clutter.

Last night I made wallpaper journals, so had lots of vintage wallpaper scraps spread out.

I haven’t used the red flocked piece yet, but it is in line for the next book cover.

I usually sell these booklets on Etsy and will list them soon. But we can have a little flea market Friday if you want one today. (the one on the right is spoken for)

These are all vintage paper, ready for you to embellish as an art journal, photo album, scrapbook, what ever you’d like to use it for. I’ve bound them with a white spiral ring binder, and the front and back covers are flocked paper. All the pages are nicely coordinated and the books are cute as can be.

$30 each (includes postage) if you’d like one. I’ll include some wallpaper scraps for you to adorn your books however you’d like.

While we are shopping, here is something pretty (and RED). This postcard album isn’t in the best of shape, it is a cover with just a few pages left in it. But- wouldn’t it be a great starting point for a project?

Or pretty as is on a table?

$6 includes postage Milo_zack_024 sold thanks!

There is a front porch party going on today over at Rhondi‘s. This is my gazebo, not my front porch, but hey, anywhere Twinkle goes, there is bound to be some fun. She’s always the life of any party.

The vintage applique table cloth underneath the book and on the table in the gazebo is for sale too. Its square, has pretty edging and is hand made. Not perfect, but close. A couple of tiny spots are on it.

$6 includes postage for this one too.

Funny, I did find some red in my studio, but here I am trying to get rid of it!

These are pretty things, but like I said, I just don’t use much in the way of red.

So, here is one more:

A pair of pillow cases with red roses cross stitched onto them, and edged in hand crocheted trim.

I’ll stick to $6 including postage for this too. sold, thanks!

These prices all include shipping within the US. If you are elsewhere, I’ll have to charge a couple dollars. Let me know if you are interested in added a splash of red to your life (and helping me clean out the cabinet in my studio!)

This bench that my son made from an old head board, and I painted flowers onto, is a red that I won’t be trying to get rid of.

As far as the partied-out little dog in the red rose kercheif, I don’t think I’ll sell her either, unless of course, she keeps getting so full of burrs when she is out chasing bunnies that it becomes a full time job keeping her picked clean.

Did anyone else win any prizes during the Cottage Charm Giveaways? I won these from Inis Lovely and have just the perfect place to use them.

On Tuesday, Becca is driving through Lawrence and is stopping to visit. I am trying to round up some local bloggers and people who have participated in the swaps Beth and I have done to see if they want to come by for a little tea party and meet her.

If you are in the KC/Lawrence/Topeka area and are a blogger or blog friend, please contact me.

Two Sugarwings Fairies!!!

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, fairies, give away, paintings, Sugarwings, swaps

By Karla Nathan / May 28, 2008

The swap panels are coming along nicely.

There are only about 400 or so to punch holes in and ring together.

But honestly, it isn’t monotonous or boring at all. I look at it as a chance to examine and admire each artwork.

Since Beth and I sorted them according to colors, styles and themes, they are already in piles ready to be assembled in groups that coordinate nicely.

Its kind of like doing one of those Flickr mosaics.

Or more like doing dozens of those Flickr mosaics!

I’m happy with the way they are looking, and hope everyone agrees that it was worth our time to match up sets of four instead of randomly hooking them together.

Tomorrow, Beth comes over for the day to finish and pack up the rest so we can get them in the mail.

A number of them will be late, though. Amy Barrickman wants to have a large selection professionally photographed for her newsletters and possible other publications.

We’ve had so many gorgeous ones come in, it will be hard to chose a few to send to Amy, so we are giving her a box full and letting her decide.

There are prizes going out to a LOT of swappers. Not based on their art (we love it all!) but by random drawing.

6 gift certificates from Vintage Workshop

2 clutches made by Beth and I with Vintage Workshop images

This lightweight cotton scarf, hand made by Beth and dyed by me

And a slew of tags I made from the images Amy provided

We’ve informed a couple of winners, but not all prizes are drawn yet.

I feel like I won a prize, look at the score I made today on a quick junking trip!

Sterling silver mini tiaras covered in crystal rhinestones, ready for me to foof and doodad up even further. I can’t wait to make these even more gaudy!!

Also, vintage trims and more cabinet cards. I KNOW I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO BUY ANY MORE PHOTOS. But when they are 50 cents or so, how can I not??? (the tiaras were $4 each and are going to be the most gaudily gorgeous things ever!)

Well, not as gorgeous as my fairy grand baby. Nothing is, in my book.

And look what I got, from my pal Lili! Isn’t she just adorable??? Thanks so much, Lili, I just love it!

I have my little fairy baby hanging on a chandelier in my art studio and can’t wait for her to come and see it there. She always notices my light fixtures and has a comment on them. I like to hang extras from them to surprise her, since she appreciates it so much.

Do you remember this photo of little Sugarwings at the zoo?

Today, after taking my husband to the airport at FIVE THIRTY IN THE MORNING– ugh- and going to the gym- double ugh- I sat down and painted a quick watercolor of this picture.

I ‘fairied" her up a bit more and added glitter. No respectable watercolorist adds Stickles glitter to their work, but hey, who needs to be respected? I’d rather be sparkly!

By the time this baby is in school, I’ll have enough paintings and collages of her to fill all the walls in my house.

If I had any sense at all, I’d spend my time on commissions instead of painting my own baby over and over!

Or instead of buying hats all the time. But, at least I pulled a few more flowers (and cherries!) off of a few and listed them on Etsy. And some on Ebay too. I hadn’t done Ebay in months. It isn’t hard to do, I just don’t enjoy it like I do my sweet little Etsy shop.

Thanks to all of you who help keep my shop going, I couldn’t do it, if I didn’t have you all shopping there. Yuck, I’d have to go and get a real job and not have time to waste on blog writing and reading all the other fun blogs out there!

That is why I am so happy to do giveaways. I owe you!!

So remember, you still have till the end of the month to enter to win the birdhouse for the Cottage Charm giveaway. And check out my previous post for the pics of my other giveway prize pack for May.

Hats, and Papers, and Bears, OH MY! Plus a Cottage Charm giveaway

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 19, 2008

Kim is hosting her 2nd annual Cottage Charm Giveaway and of course, I had to participate!

I have a lot of crap, I mean hand made creations, lying around my studio and I should dump them somehow, I mean give them away to readers.

So, if you would like to win a cottage style bird house, just leave a comment any time (and as many times as you’d like) between now and the end of the month.

Your comments will count towards this giveaway as well as my regular monthly prize. Which really isn’t all that regular, since I am so in love with May and am adding to the prize pack every once in a while.

Check out Kim’s site for a list of other giveaways all over blogland. There will be some good stuff out there waiting to go to a new home!

Our trip to the Topeka Zoo yesterday was delightful. Its a cute little zoo, just the right size for a toddler’s visit.

I saw a lot of these type of expressions on Sugarwing’s face, she was so excited to see the animals.

This photo might just have to become the basis for a fairy painting of her.

When I go to the zoo, or an amusement park, or any other tourist spot, I rarely photograph the place itself. I like pictures of the people I was with (and of course lots of Sugarwings!)

I don’t want to fill my photo album or scrap book or computer storage with stock photos of giraffes. The look on the baby’s face as she sees her first giraffe means a lot more to me.

Before leaving to go to the zoo, we all met downtown to have lunch. As we walked toward the restaurant, I heard the faint, but persistent call of the millinery flowers.

So, I told my family I’d meet them in a minute, and ran down to the antique mall to find this pile of hats, for $4-$6 each!!

I didn’t even miss lunch, when I got there, they had saved me a fajita.

I know you are asking yourself, what is that under the hats? Is that the elusive PINK flocked wallpaper?

(I refuse to believe that you are really saying, "there is a serious problem with this crazy lady and her hat problem. AND HER WALLPAPER PROBLEM.")

You are right, it is FLOCKED vintage papers in beautiful shades of pink, ivory and tan!

I’ll be making up some packs to sell on Etsy if I can force myself to share. I could be a little bit stingy about this stuff.

This one, I simply cannot call vintage, it is only from the 80s and I get irritated by that label on stuff that is not OLD.

I bought this paper to line a cabinet for Sugarwings. She is the worlds biggest Care Bear Fan.

She is so crazy about Care Bears that I added a pink rainbow bear decal to the window of my car, so she could see it from her car seat. And I am not a decal or a sticker person.

Before you start to think that all I do is shop for flowers and wallpaper, or play with the baby, I want to show you a project I actually made!

Yep, I sat at my desk and made something, it seems like it has been a while since I had a chance to do that. I spent most of the day working away on cleaning the studio, listing supplies on Etsy, and watering all my new plantings outside. But I did take time to use some of my favorite things and make this piece.

It has hand painted roses, vintage flocked wallpaper, pink pages from an old French book (from my pal, Lili), velvet millinery flowers, an old earring with rhinestones, seam binding ribbon, and sheet music. Wow, I don’t think I could have possibly squeezed in one more bit of any of my obsessions onto this gaudy little dumpling of vintage goodies.

Its rosey red and faded pink, I like those colors together. A little different, but nice.

One more thing before I go, in case you haven’t made up your mind that I might be crazy.

Remember the fall themed photo shoot I have coming up this spring with Carol? I decided to try painting some leaves, to make the trees look more fall-like. So, here is a tiny sample, and it seems to work.

I used a red spray paint meant for florists, so I doubt if it will kill the trees. I only painted a couple of leaves to see how it went, don’t you think they look like autumn?

Linens and Things

antiques/junking, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 18, 2008

Today is Show and Tell day again and I have to thank Little Pink Studio and Sugar Sugar for coming up with yet another topic of obsession. At first, when I saw the subject was antique linens, I thought I wasn’t a collector. But, then a quick glance around my house and I realized they are everywhere. I guess I don’t think of them as a collection as much as just part of my decor.

Most of what I have are doilies that I buy in bags or boxes at garage sales for a couple bucks a bagful. I tuck them here or there around the cottage, layering them and bunching them up. Nothing too perfect looking, I don’t want them to feel fussy or Victorian-ish.

I like to mix the styles of doilies when I layer them.

And I use all shades of white, but really prefer the darker ones, in more of an ecru.

I also am big on using old embroidered tea towels and hand towels. And I actually use them, not just set them out for display.

The texture of the fabric is so absorbent, and really feels good to dry your hands on.

Tea towels and old linen napkins are actually cheaper to buy than a brand new dish towel from Target, and they are so soft! I rarely pay more than 50 cents for one, and they are so much nicer than any new towels.

Another thing I never turn down at garage sales are old shawls. I have a few around the house that I use over table tops, and each were just a couple of dollars at estate or garage sales. I don’t care if they have holes in them, I think it just adds to the allure.

Every once in a while, I shake them out or throw a bunch in the bath tub and hand wash them, but basically, I just let them gather dust like everything else in my house. We try to change the furnace filters once a month, and buy decent ones that trap dirt, plus keep the house fan running all the time to circulate and clean the air. That helps, as well as hitting stuff with a feather duster sometimes.

I can live with a little dust as long as my floors are clean and junk is picked up. Clutter gets to me, and I have to constantly battle piles of crap and toys, so I pick my battles. Dust isn’t worth the fight for me!

One time when I was at my favorite auction with Beth, I bought a big box of linens for $3 and 2 of these edged bedspreads were in it. I used them as bed skirts in my room and in the guest room.

I rarely pay much for the things I find, so, when I do see something that I really love and it costs a bit more, I don’t feel bad about splurging. This table runner is actually a curtain that I bought last time I was in Leesburg, at the Cottages. It was $30 (yes, very rich for my blood!) but was so perfectly tattered and elegant at the same time and seemed to be just what I needed to complete my new dining room redo, that I had to go for it anyway.

And I was glad I did.

OK, I just told you about how dirty and dusty I am, now I will show you how messy and unorganized I am by opening the door to the linen cabinet of clutter and chaos. I know I said I don’t like clutter, but if I can shut a door on it, that isn’t so bad.

In honor of today’s theme, I reached into the linen cabinet of clutter and chaos and pulled out a pretty little embroidered doily to add to the May Giveaway Prize Pack. It now includes:

1- a vintage cake topper ballerina

2- a vintage GOLD band

3- white leather Brighton coin purse

4- embroidered doily

5- pretty pearl pin

6- vintage greeting card

7- Bath and Bodyworks lotion

8- satin hanger with a millinery flower

Every comment all month is entered, thanks for visiting!

A bit of vintage linens thrown across this ugly swing might help it out. Or probably not. Its just plain ugly. But, it is nice to have on the upper deck outside my husband’s office. When he works at home, he sometimes sits out here and swings while he is on the phone doing business.

Sugarwings and Twinkle make it look a lot better too!

Enjoy visiting the other sites that are showing their linens today. I look forward to seeing them all too, but will have to check them out later, I am taking my fairy grand baby to the Topeka Zoo today.

But that is one thing that is so nice about blogs, I can come back later tonight and look through the show and tells at my leisure.

Where does the day go? Putzing and puttering and then Poof- its over!

antiques/junking, fairies, give away, jewelry, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 15, 2008

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that the days are getting shorter. I know, I know, Spring is here and the sunlight is lasting longer, but why don’t the days last long enough for me to ever get caught up?

Could it be that I putz around the antique malls and shops too much? I did that this morning while waiting for Sugarwing’s Daddy to get out of the dentist’s office.

I gave him a ride, mailed my packages, (thanks for your Etsy purchases by the way!! I appreciate it!!), ran some errands, then had a few minutes to kill, and of course, since I heard the siren call of a $7 floral bonnet, I couldn’t resist!

I was glad I popped into the mall, I got two bags of broken bits of vintage goodness for $3 each. Loads of flower power in these jewels.

Then, Sugarwings and her Daddy helped me clean out our boat after it’s long winter of dust and spiders.

After we got it sparkling clean (or as sparkling as it will get after 6 years of wear and tear!), we went for a spin out on the lake. Captain Sugarwings was a fine skipper until she decided that a penny would fit perfectly into the cigarette lighter.

She was right, it fit very well. It also shorted out the whole instrument panel! Luckily, the boat still started, but the lights, stereo, gages, etc are all dead.

At the fairy grand baby’s nap time, I did some yard work. Mostly it was puttering around and enjoying the beautiful day and seeing what was sprouting.

But I did plant a few flats of annuals.

You can tell I certainly didn’t get around to mowing the lawn! The grass is almost knee high, but my son is coming over to mow tomorrow while Sugarwings and I plant more flowers.

I fixed lobster ravioli for lunch today (from Costco, gotta love that place!) and he will always work for food. I think I can get away with feeding him leftovers of the ravioli tomorrow.

Sons are so wonderful, especially when they are hungry and helpful.

There isn’t a lot blooming yet, or many flowers planted, but I love this lush, green time of year before all of the flowers come on.

This is the pathway back to our bon fire pit, and see, we have a big pile of wood ready for the next fires. The evenings are still cool, it is a great time of year to sit by a fire and eat s’mores.

May is my FAVORITE month. I can’t get enough of it.

As a matter of fact, I am feeling so May-ish that I added another present to the May prize pack, a bottle of Bath and Bodyworks orchid lotion.

So we are up to:

1- satin hanger with a fluffy vintage rose

2-white leather Brighton coin purse

3- a tiny dancer

4- a gold band (yes, real gold)

5- a cute pearl pen

6- vintage greeting card

7- lovely lotion

So, leave a comment, any comment, any post all month and I’ll draw a winner June 1st!

Well, I am running out of daylight, just as I complained about. I got no artwork done today. If I wasn’t such a TV addict, I’d do some now, but Thursdays are a big TV night for me, so I have to get my butt parked in front of the set before I miss anything I can’t live without!

I have to be there when Jim asks Pam to marry him. And when McDreamy realizes Rose isn’t for him. (although, I like Rose) And when Luca comes back to Abby. And just HOW do the Oceanic Six get off the island?? This is all much more important than me gluing some paper together!

By the way, do you think that this $1 candle holder is a fairy or an angel? I think she is a bit flirty to be an angel. Her skirt is up pretty high.

The Hat Whisperer’s skills have been passed on! And an addition to the May Giveaway prize pack

antiques/junking, family, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 13, 2008

I think it is genetic. My fairy grand baby seems to have inherited my millinery flower finding skills!

We were downtown enjoying being out doors and shopping for a gift for her little Hippy Chic mommy on Mother’s Day, when Sugarwings turned to me and said, "Hats!"

Since we were near the antique mall, I thought it would be smart to pop in and see if she had heard a specific flower calling to her and yes, she did!

This child is a gifted hat whisperer. She found one circled with a dozen of these pretty peachy blooms for only ONE DOLLAR!

We also found this purse. It is much too nice to tear apart for its flowers, I plan on actually using it, even though Sugarwing’s Daddy was horrified at the thought of me carrying it. He was reassured when I told him that I would most likely keep tiny flowers in it on my desk in my studio, not carry it when we go out to lunch downtown like we do every Thursday.

But now that I am 50 and officially eccentric, why not carry it? It is a lovely bag. I just don’t want to tear it up. From the looks of it, it has never been used, and is so perfectly pretty.

I’ve been making use of some of my stash of vintagey blossoms.

These old satin hangers each have a fluffy pink flower and some vintage seam binding added to them and are for sale for $10 each if you are interested, comment or email me and let me know.

I will add one of these embellished old hangers to my May prize pack along with the white leather Brighton coin purse and simple gold band.

Each week of May, I will add another prize for the giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment, any post, as often as you wish, all comments are entered.

I hope everyone had a nice Mothers Day? My family did my favorite things, they pitched in and helped me with stuff that needed done.

Sugarwing’s Daddy repaired my falling down gazebo while she helped me plant some seeds in the garden and Ryan fixed dinner.

Not a bad day at all. Have I mentioned lately how lucky I am??? I never forget it.

Karkie or Karla?? And 7.1 vs 12.1, does it make a differance?

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, I do tend to run on, don't I?

By Karla Nathan / May 9, 2008

Amy Barickman of the Vintage Workshop and Indygo Junction gave me some cool papers to play with and some blank board books by Create & Treasure to use them on.

The papers were canvas and fabric textured and it was fun to experiment with those along with using different settings on my editing software to print Vintage Workshop images in multiple sizes. I also love the trick I learned from Beth, to change the papers to sepia for a romantic and neutral background.

This first book is all neutral with splashes of color from rose pictures.

This book is more colorful, I was going for the pop of some spring pastels with it.

And look how generous I was with my sprays of old velvet flowers! I am so happy with my commitment to my New Years resolution to "use my good stuff and not hoard it"!

This little one is a tag book, I’d never made one before, and really enjoyed the concept. The shape is cute and since it is so small, it was an easy one to pull together.

The background papers we have for our Birds and Bonnets Swap are a big favorite of mine and I used them on this book too.

The framed picture on the front of the book and the cut out one of the kids on this page are both printed on canvas paper.

On my way to Kansas City to visit Amy to take her these samples that I made, (and also to repaint Beth’s antique mall booth yesterday,) I stopped at a garage sale and picked up this little cutey. (it is now listed on my Etsy shop)

At the same sale I bought the pink velvet earring display (complete with vintage clip on earrings) I found these two plates for $1.

But my best purchase of the day was at a trip to Costco. I bought a new camera!

Isn’t this clear and sharp? The two photos of my garage sale finds are on the new camera (Cannon Power Shot SD950 IS 12.1MP)

The other photos posted today are taken with my old Cannon that was a 7.1 MP. Can you tell a difference?

This photo of Beth’s booth is from the older camera too. It really wasn’t a bad camera, but I just wanted a bit sharper image.

Isn’t the color we painted her walls perfect? We spent a long time discussing what she wanted. We decided that "ish" was what she needed. One of those colors you aren’t sure what it is. Greenish, bluish, grayish, depending on how you look at it.

I’m still searching for the color I want to paint my bedroom and I think, this just might be it.

See, this old camera didn’t do closeups too badly.

After we painted the walls the perfect "ish" color, we got to decorate and redo her booth.

She had been inspired by all the photos in blogland of Round Top and was collecting items to fit the look that we were calling "Texas Chic".

The big difference is in the prices, though! Beth’s things are bargains. By the way, she had tons of cabinet cards in her booth for $1 and under.

She does have cool stuff.

A newish blogger friend who Beth discovered was her neighbor, came by to visit as we were finishing up too. Another Carla, she is the one on the right.

I’ve never met so many Karlas and Carlas as I have since I started blogging. I am considering changing my blog name (but not the URL, you’ll still be able to find it)

My family calls me Karkie and I think maybe I should switch this over to "Karkie’s Cottage"

What do you think? Too confusing? Doesn’t matter? Good idea?

That chandelier in Beth’s booth was a job to hang. It involved both of us on a giant ladder, with lots of giggles and reminded us of the scene in Friends with Joey and Ross trapped on the fire escape.

I know, I know, I have run on for too long again. But I wanted to see more photos with my new camera! These millinery blooms are shot with the Macro setting. (they are for sell on Etsy too)

I had been looking at EXPENSIVE cameras and settled on this pocket sized digital one instead. I have 30 days to return it if I decide it isn’t sharp enough, then I can move on to the bigger and better (and bank account busting) camera.

But I think this one might be good enough for me. Hmmm. Will you all help me decide over the next couple of weeks?

Here is another comparison for you. The flowers and fairy bear are the new camera.

The last two of the necklace and package are the old camera.

This is the package I sent out to the winner of my Birthday Giveaway.

Don’t forget that there is a special giveaway in May too. You can enter by leaving any comment on any post all month.