bird song art event – Page 5

A Studio Tour from Birdsong 5

By Karla Nathan / July 10, 2015

This photo is from the night before Birdsong 5 in June. I'm just getting around to posting all the pictures of the event, and the timing is perfect to also be a part of Karen's Where Bloggers Create Tour.

I've participated in her studio tours every year and it is a treat to click through the links and visit the other spaces. And I've also been featured in the actual, Where Women Create magazine from being chosen out of this annual event Karen hosts. You can see some of the studio pics from the magazine here. And here are some photos from the shoot for the story.

I always look forward to Karen's gathering of blog workspaces, it's fun to click through and see so many great storage and desk ideas in one place. If you'd like to see how my studio has changed over the years, you can find past tours here.

Since I have shown pics of the studio every year for the blog tour, I figured I wouldn't have anything new to offer this year. But the tour just happened to cross over with me finally getting around to posting the Birdsong set up in the studio, so I thought I'd link to the party after all. These views are a little different than my usual arrangement of the space.

And the room is spruced up for a party, anyway!

Most of these shots were taken at night, before all the guests arrive on Friday morning. Here is the view out of the room's back door, with the LED lights glowing on the new fence that my son built last fall. I keep the lights on a timer, from dusk to dawn, year round, even though I'd first put them up just for Christmas. I like the twinkles and it makes me smile to see them from my bedroom window, or from the studio on nights I work late.

Normally, this is the spot where I have my own work area. For Birdsong, I pack up my personal supplies, shift tables around, set up more tables, and bring out the folding chairs (with their backs covered in cut down vintage pillow cases). The room is right around 1,000 sq ft, and I am constantly trying to streamline the supply cabinets to make more space for people and parties.

The room has changed a lot over the years, mostly in filling the space with better storage solutions and slight shifts that make it a little more functional each time. Here is a link to a recent change in storage, and here is another one about trying to eek out a few more inches here and there. The room is pretty big for just me to work in, but when you consider all the crap lovingly collected supplies that I have, and the fact that sometimes I invite 30 plus friends over to play with me, an inch here or there is important.

The theme for Birdsong is "nature inspired", which can mean a lot of things. And of course, includes a lot of sweet, little birdies. I don't go all out with decor, I just tweak (or tweet?) the existing set up and add some birds here and there. Like these vintage bird brooches on my dress form. I also spritzed her angel wings with Glimmer Mist to turn them into bluebird of happiness wings instead.

Previous years' projects, like this 'nest' banner above the bench, and the birdcage on the dress form add atmosphere.

The collage is from Beth's class a couple of years ago.

The fairies were one of last year's classes, and since we were working on art journals this year, I set many of mine out around the room for guests to flip through for ideas.

I did the same thing in the dining room of the house, I thought that as everyone sat down to eat, they might want to look at my journals before they started on their own books.

Oh- but back to the studio-

I have some favorite vintage wallpapers on the wall in old frames painted white. I like to add some birds torn from aged books to the frames. Usually, just stuck into the edges, sometimes anchored with stick pins.

Changing out the pictures is an easy way to update the room for different holidays or themes without going to any expense or much time at all.

The banners in the front window are from various classes or swaps, and I added "nest" from playing cards for the weekend.

And of course, having art work from the teachers on display is great too! This is what Lori Oles was teaching this June.

Over the years, I have gathered lots of birdsong type decorations, like this 'sing' banner from a swap our first year. And many of my guests gift little birdie tidbits to me, that I can set out in the spring before everyone arrives.

As much as I enjoy all the feathered friends around the room, I try to keep all of the pieces special by tucking them away in the fall. It's nice to have a change for seasons, and when spring comes around again, I love pulling out all of the treasures to sit out around the room.

The tables get covered in white paper (I use gift wrap from Dollar Tree, it is very affordable compared to white craft paper), I toss a curtain over the TV, and hang some pretties from branches wired to the ceiling and from the chandeliers. The branches are permanent, the tied on danglies change a few times a year. I hang shiny brites at Christmas, hearts at Valentines, and sometimes some ghosts at Halloween. I'm not always on top of the changes…. it isn't unheard of to have ghosts swaying above my head at Thanksgiving or hearts still there for Easter…

The birdcages are from a previous class too. I like having the decor up above the work tables as opposed to on them. Once the ladies start getting kits open, and setting out their supplies, helping themselves to a plate of cookies and a cup of coffee, anything else on the table is just a nuisance, no matter how pretty it is. I try to keep the table tops limited to paper towels, wash wipe packets, or lamps and stick to decorating above, not on, the tables.

It's always so festive to have the space set up for a party! Planning an event is also a hefty reason to keep the room reasonably tidy. Working on big projects, shipping things from my Boutique, doing swaps, can all cause major trashing of the studio, but knowing that I have a group coming to visit in the not so far future keeps me inline and helps stop any hoarding tendencies from getting the best of me.

When it is all over, I miss everyone, and the place seems very empty.

It's a very special feeling to have the room filled with creative souls.

And smiling faces!

If you are here from the studio tour, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy all the fascinating spaces offered on Karen's links. And I hope to see you here again sometime.

If anyone has interest in Birdsong 6, or for the Romantic Gothic Ghost workshop this fall, please email mail me at: Karlanathan@sbcglobal.net and I'll add you to the mailing list for info.

If you'd like extra project kits for Birdsong 5, you can find mine here.

Birdsong FIVE weekend- vendor night

bird song art event, family, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / July 6, 2015

If you are interested, Birdsong kits are available here.

Seriously? It has been a month since Birdsong? Well, I think I, personally, have recovered from the bash and from my whirlwind of a vacation right after, but my studio and garage sure haven't. If you walked into my garage, you'd think that it was a store, not a place to keep a car. I don't know why it takes so much longer to put things back to normal than it does to set it all up.

Well, maybe I do. Getting ready for a big party is exciting. There is the giddy anticipation plus deadlines to meet. But after it is all over? It's just a job, packing up, cleaning up, putting up. I'm fed up with it!!

This is how the garage looked, pre-birdsong as I was getting ready. The room was emptied out, and I rolled out strips of vintage wallpaper and tacked them up to brighten the dingy place, then filled that wall with an assortment of frames painted white.

Here it is after I got them all together. And while quite a few of the frames are gone now, I'm afraid that the wall still looks pretty much the same. You know, it isn't a bad look for a garage, is it? Maybe I can just leave the wallpaper up there…

It was a little hectic on vendor night. Luckily, I have a helpful crew who run the show, I am in the kitchen getting our dinner ready, and swaps are going on at the same time. I was in three of the swaps, but I wasn't able to fully participate, I had to do a run by swapping, I practically tossed my swap to my partner as I speeded by on my way to the kitchen.

And I completely LOST one of my swaps. It wasn't a partnered one, or I'd have kept searching til it was found. It was an exchange where numbers were drawn to chose partners, so I didn't leave anyone in the lurch by not joining in at the last minute.

But I was disappointed to not be a part of it, and irritated with myself for being careless. But if you saw my office and studio during Birdsong, I think you'd understand how anything could be misplaced. There was (and still is) stuff everywhere.

Slowly, but surely, I'm working my way through piles and getting it rearranged and back to normal.

Vendor night is fun, though, even with all the running around I have to do.

My helpers make it all go smoothly, and I hope that the rest of the Peeps enjoy it all too.

While I have to hurry through swaps, I do love peeking out to see all the happy exclamations over the generosity and talent that went into the pieces being traded. And I'm also pretty happy about all of the treats around that night. This year, I made some apple rosette tarts, and they were pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.

What I like about them is how deceptively simple they are. Apples, sugar, cinnamon, pastry, and that is it. The trick is to use a very flavorful apple and let that taste shine through.

I also tried to whip up some macarons. Not quite as successful as the tarts, but they tasted better than they looked. And you really can't go wrong with anything filled up with white chocolate ganache, can you?

Karen sweetly brought this box of hand made, bird shaped, chocolates for us.

Terry was a constant help in the kitchen, while Randy ran errands, took out trash, did all the heavy lifting, 'guy' type jobs, and was just plain old, great to have around. As were all the kindly family members who chipped in to make this thing work.

What would I do without my family?

Shelli helped me use cookie cutters to add chicks to the watermelon salad.

Since making it that way, Sugarwings and I have done that same trick every time we cut open a melon. why eat a plain old slice, when you can have a butterfly or a star????

The salad was made like this:

I ran a fork along the sides of a cuke to make pretty ridges, then sliced it up thinly.
We sliced two small melons, into a thickness that coordinated with the cookie cutters and then cut shapes on a cutting board.
A lot of watermelon goes to waste when using cookie cutters, it can't be re-rolled out like sugar cookie dough to use the remnants. So, we had a separate bowl for the ugly pieces. That is why it took two melons to make enough for one big salad.
We mixed the melon and cucumber, drizzled it with lime juice and topped it with fresh mint. (you could also use balsamic dressing instead if you'd rather, I serve it that way sometimes too)
The feta cheese was served on the side, so it didn't get soggy.

I'll leave you with some photos of my house before it all began.

And this is the puff pastry crust I made for the pot pies. And yes, I see now that the R is backwards! ha!

Maybe I should stick to birds? I'm slightly fond of birdies!

PS- I've been adding the to Boutique, if you couldn't make it to Birdsong to shop, you can shop here.

Birdsong FIVE kits for sale

bird song art event, Books, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 30, 2015

This is the project led by Lori Oles for Birdsong 5. Delightful, isn't it? And after she left, I found it in my studio, left behind as a surprise gift! All of the teachers trade kits too, so I also have one to make, which I am looking forward to doing. I was a bit busy during her class and didn't get a chance to sit down and work on my own.

I asked Lori and Lesa to make up a few extra kits just in case we needed them, and also to offer to our past Birdsong Peeps and sponsors who couldn't make it for the weekend. Lesa had a few personal orders to fill too, so her kits went really fast.

I have a few more of Lori's if you'd like one for $40, please email me at::

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

While I was kitting up packages, I made ton of extras of my own kits. For one thing, I really love pulling together coordinating elements and packing up pretties for someone to open and enjoy. And I did a LOT of kits for my two classes.

Only one is sold out, I have the others still available.

You can find the Doodling Tips and ideas here.

And everything you need to make this collage page is found here in neutrals.

Here for pinks and here for blues. Please keep in mind that all are going to be unique, since I've filled them with vintage papers and materials.

There are also journal making kits available. With aqua , moss, or chocolate velvet ribbon. Every kit comes with instructions. The journal kits have hand illustrated ones so you have diagrams to look at.

While getting ready for the class, I made lots of examples too. I've got two of the books listed for sale, this one comes with an ephemera pack to finish the pages.

Both are fully constructed and ready for you to finish and fill.

And believe it or not, I ACTUALLY ADDED SOME THINGS TO THE BOUTIQUE!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I had to use all caps, because that was my equivalent of shouting it from the rooftops. I'm so impressed with myself for finally getting around to cleaning up my little online shop. (I'd much rather be impressed with myself for getting this done, than ashamed of myself for the long term neglect up til now, that is better for the soul)

Now, I'm not saying the store is fully stocked, as of yet…

But it is a start!

And you know what? It was fun to do. I'd forgotten how much I liked filling up the pages of goods. So, I've planned to set aside some time every day this week to add a few more things here and there.

I've got a lot of things to market, so I hope I can keep up this momentum. Please check back to see.

Edit- Lori's kits are now sold, but Lesa does have a couple, please contact her here: https://www.facebook.com/lesa.dailey?pnref=story

A bounty of blossoms

bird song art event, flowers, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 26, 2015

If Beth and I look slightly delirious with joy, it is because we most certainly were. And Sugarwings was here to capture the moment.

We had a very good reason to be soooooo happy. Our pal, Carol had posted a photo years ago of some beautiful, gorgeous, dreamy, scrumptious, silk flowers and it was one of those pictures that stayed with me. Then, for some crazy reason, but lucky for me, she posted that she was selling them all! In one big, giant lump of unbelievable beauty.

Beth messaged me when she saw it, and I had a little stab of jealousy, but then was happy for my friend. Then, she said she was waffling and I asked it if would help to split it.

Yep! She shared the bounty! And I contacted Carol before the treasures were scooped up and we missed out.

Carol lives just down the road, and dropped it in the mail box, by Priority, that afternoon. The next day, Beth and Sugarwings were here for craft day and the box arrived. Perfect flowers and perfect timing!

See why we squealed??? This is new, old stock. Never used. Here is how Carol described them on her blog. And she also says she has more goods to sell in the next couple months, so if you are wanting some very special things, keep an eye out for what she'll be offering!!

Over the Summer, I’m going to be offering for sale a select few of my very special and very vintage stash of goods.

To start will be my collection of Vintage Millinery Flowers and Trims that I’ve kept tucked away for several years. This amazing old store stock, is from the Emery, Bird, Thayer Department Store of Kansas City, Missouri. Handmade of vintage fabrics, ribbons and some velvets including many flat appliqués and trims in gorgeous muted shades of color. A few still have the original EBT sale tags. There are over 100 pieces to this collection, some range from very delicate petite to large size flowers and trims. If you’re a collector or crafter of vintage millinery, you know how rare it is to find a grouping of embellishments such as these.

There was bag after bag after bag of these beauties in our box of delights. Plus some cool trims. They were easy to share, too. We opened one bag at a time, and between the, "Oh my gosh, look at this one" and the "Oooh"s and "Oh my goodness"es, we managed to take turns picking out what we wanted, one piece at a time, till the piles were gone.

Then, we found a bag that had slipped off the table and landed on the floor, and the squealing resumed.

Sugarwings took a thousand or so photos, which took her away from her own work, but she was having fun watching the old ladies be silly.

She wasn't allowed to touch our blooms. She was deep into her own Project Runway style creations and had a tad of paint and glitter on her hands.

Earlier, we'd hosted a Birthday Luncheon for Beth and Angie, with Sugarwings as my co-hostess. She decorated all the cupcakes, and set the table using her favorite trick. Here is what she does-

Make an a-okay sign with both hands.

Notice that the left hand looks like a "b"

The right hand looks like a "d"

The "b" stands for bread plate and goes to the left, the "d" stands for drink and goes to the right.

That is a quick way for a kid to learn about where things go at a table setting, and she enjoys doing it so much, she makes the a-okay sign each time she sets the items down, even though, she already knows where to put them.

The day was so much fun. And while I am supposed to be getting caught up after Birdsong, and trying to put the studio and garage back to normal, while also selling leftover kits (first offered to sponsors and past attendees, soon to the rest of our friends), it was nice to have a day just to laugh. All day long. And that is what we did.

Sugarwings was glad I didn't have the studio back to normal yet. I still had the big tables up, her small ones weren't back out yet, and the larger ones were still covered in paper.

Instead of doing a project on the table, she made the paper covered table her actual piece. It was a fashion themed day for her, and she had previously drawn dozens of gowns in chalk on the patio, side walks and breezeway floors, for us to take a walk through her "fashion museum".

Then, the table cover became a full length ball gown, covered in red glitter and embellished with sparkling tape.

Afterwards, she cut it out, and we hung it up in the studio. I love to see her creativity run amok. She was into this for hours.

My project for craft day was working on Lesa's kit. I'd already made one of them, and someone gave me their kit to finish, and I was happy to do it, I love these little birds. And again, perfect timing for the flowers to arrive, just when I needed them to make this special birdie, extra, extra special!

Thank you for parting with the blossoms, Carol, and thank you, Beth for sharing with me.

All of Lesa's kits are sold now. I have a couple of Lori's and I made quite a few extras of my own. I'll be marketing them as soon as all the Birdsong Peeps have had a chance to get first pick at them. So please do check back if you are interested in one. I'll also have some posts about Birdsong coming up soon.

Gift bags for Birdsong and free images

bird song art event, free images, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / June 16, 2015

Every year, my gift bags have been something different. This year, I found a sale on heavy duty canvas tote bags with free shipping, since I was buying other supplies there at the same time.

Dying silk 015

And when I saw this- yards of rosey fabric at Victoria Trading Co's outlet store for a DOLLAR, I knew just what I wanted to do with the bags. But the fabric was a little too gray for the natural canvas, so while I was dying silk, I dyed it too.

I dyed some of these cut, silk velvet scarves too. Yummy! These are available in white from Dharma Trading Co, where I buy all of my fiber reactive dyes.

This is the original robin that I used for the bags (and the Birdsong 5 button, although I didn't use the words on the bags)

And here it is doctored up with some faded sheet music behind it, and the reds changed to pinks. You can use the image yourself by clicking on it to open in a larger window, and saving it to your computer from there.

I knew I wanted to print an image from a vintage card onto fabric, sew it onto a square of this floral fabric and create a pocket on the bags. But…. not only were my sewing skills not quite up to par, my machine was not behaving as it should. It could be that I sewed too much glittered tulle with the machine, I can see where that could mess up the innards.

So, I used pinking shears to cut everything out, and fabric tack to add them to the bags, then embellished with millinery and ribbons using more glue. I'd say the pockets are sturdy enough, but I doubt if I'd put anything too heavy into them. My plan was to put a list of sponsors in the pockets.

Both sis,Terry and bro, Randy are into steampunk much more than flowery birdies, so I made this design for them from 5 different pictures I got from the Graphics Fairy.

It was pretty complicated to do, but not that bad. I found a guy on a bike, erased the bike with the cloning tool on picmonkey, then added a raven using 'upload your own backgrounds', after that, I layered some clock faces, light bulbs and other pictures with backgrounds, and faded those, tinted it all sepia, then used 'clone' to erase part of the man's leg so that it appeared to be behind the bird. After that, a little coloring in with eye tint, and it was done. Oh, and I drew the halter with a narrow, black line from 'drawing' and a yellow dot.

If you'd like to use this image I made up, feel free. Just click to enlarge in another window and save from there.

My buddy, Lori, got a custom image too, done in the same manner, but in a more romantic style.

I'll share her too, grab this one if you'd like also.

Over all, though, the bags were the same birds and floral fabric. I like the way the colors look in the room.

Hand made name tags

bird song art event, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 12, 2015

Every year, for Birdsong, I like to make the nametags a little different. This year, I edited a vintage birthday card with bluebirds to make the tags. Each is printed onto matt photo paper, and glued them onto card stock for sturdiness.

I used glitter pens and markers to fancy them up, and added a small crystal, one for each year of attendance. These tags are for Peeps who are coming to their first Birdsong. I've been calling these ladies my "fledglings."

After drawing on and adding a crystal, I embellished with lace and flowers.

When possible, I like to personalize them. I couldn't pass up using this swoop of pearly lace that looks like a "J" for Jenn.

My friend, Sandra, coming up from Texas, used to live in Lawrence and is a Jayhawk fan. Her bluebirds had a little transformation into Jayhawks to welcome her back to Kansas.

Two other friends are colorful creatures, as bright and happy as the colors they love. I had to make special tags to match their rainbow personalities.

And Betti's initials are BZ, which has led to her fondness for bees, so I drew one on her tag.

Beth and Michelle have similar styles and both work with old, bold graphics a lot, so I changed theirs up a bit too.

It was easy to jazz up family tags. I know Sissy loves roses, Randy raises butterflies, and when I think of Karen, I always think- sparkly and pink. Terry is into steampunk,so her bird got a top hat. Hmm, I should add one to Randy's too, he is a steampunk fan. Even though the top hats I drew for Terry are just plain hats, not foofed up with gears and other steampunkiness.

The three ladies who have been here for every single Birdsong from the very first each have earned their 5 Year Pins. I pinned them right to the nametags for now, they can take them off later if they'd like to.

I could just keep going on and on with the name tags. I might just host the event for the sheer pleasure of having a reason to make these.

I'll be busy as can be the next few days with my husband's birthday, entertaining and feeding 30 plus visitors including 4 houseguests, 6 trips to the airport, and right after that, flying off to Florida with a party of TEN to relax on the beach. But I have pre-written a few posts, so please come by. When I return, I'll have pictures of the Birdsong Five Bash, and of grand fairies splashing in the waves.

I hope you are having a wonderful kickoff to your summer too!

Sweet Snippets

bird song art event, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 10, 2015

Last year at Birdsong was the first time I'd seen a snippet roll. They are an interesting project, and can be displayed rolled up, or hung on the wall.

Barb (one of our peeps) has hosted a snippet swap for our party, and I debated on whether or not to join, but was enticed by the idea of making one. And when my pal, Shawn, needed a partner, I decided to jump in.

It was right at the time I was heading to Texas for the retreat, and I hoped to have some spare time to work on this, so I filled a bag with tidbits ( I guess I should call them snippets, not tidbits, huh?).

This Victorian, hand embroidered and painted lace was something I've clung to for years and haven't found just the right thing to use it on yet. It was just what I needed for this!

Now, I've never made a snippet roll before, and really wasn't all that familiar with them. I'm under the impression that some things are meant to be able to be taken off. But I don't know where I heard that. It could be wrong.

I could've made it up.

But either way, I added some charms that tied on, a dress clip that clipped on, and a itsy bitsy corsage that pins on.

Recently, I realized that I never, ever use my silver cutlery for dining. Just a few favorite pieces and that is all. So, I'm on the path of finding homes or uses for it. I pulled out this spoon to use instead of a typical spool for the top of the roll.

Between redoing knots in the silk ribbon ties, and glue holding it in place, I got things a little messy. So, I glued more crap over the messy spots embellished over those areas.

This charm had been on my desk forever. I'd painted it way back when and I guess it was just waiting for the right home.

I loved making the first roll so much, I decided to make a mini one to give to the swap hostess as a thank you.

I'd packed a big spool, just in case the spoon didn't work, so I put it to work on this snippet.

Karen had a vintage wedding gown to share with us, and I cut off a bit of the hem to use as the back drop for the additions I was gluing down.

Guncle Randy had given me a scrap pack full of great ephemera, and this nest was packed in there.

There is a possibility that I see more snippets in my future. This was another instance where I was glad I made the time to enter a swap. I'm in three of them, which isn't like me, because I always think I'm too busy. But the cottage, the matchbox easel, and now this snippet roll have all shown me that making the time to join the fun is worth the effort.

I'll show you what I get in return once I get back from my trip to Florida.

A Matchbox Swap for Birdsong

bird song art event, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 8, 2015

My pal, Betti, offered to host a swap for Birdsong. It was a new idea for me. We have done a matchbox swap every year at the party, but this one was a little different. Her idea was to attach the matchbook to a mini canvas, and stand it on a little easel.

I enjoyed doing it so much, that I made up four of them (there were four easels and four canvases in the packages from Michaels). This one I crafted for Betti as a thank you. She has a blog called Betti's Beehive (hence the little fuzzy bee that I added) and loves bright colors, to match her vivid personality.

For all of my creations, I covered the canvas in old wallpaper, and made two copies of an old photo. One, I glued down to the wallpaper covered canvas. Then, I embellished the matchbox, and glued it down.

After that, I took the second copy and cut out the arms, and glued them over the box to make it look like the person was holding the box like a wrapped package.

All the easels were painted white, then rubbed with ink pads. I added a few embellishments and filled the box with tiny treats.

I'll show you what I get in the swap when I get back from my trip. (I've pre-posted this before heading to the beach)

Here is the cute, and colorful example that Betti made for the swap.

A little cottage creation

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

By Karla Nathan / June 6, 2015

My long time friend, Gail, hosted a swap for Birdsong. It involved those paper mache cottages you find at hobby stores. The minute she announced it, I HAD to make one!

Fairytale village 071

My first step was to paint all of the edges and corners that might show. Then I covered the roof in vintage wallpaper, cut into scallop shapes to make shingles.

The rims that fit the lid to the base of the box were also painted white, because if you cover that with paper, the box lid sticks and never quite fits right. I also painted the inside and front walls pink, and wallpapered the back inside wall. I thought it would be much too complicated to try to paper the walls of windows, too many tiny holes to sand around!

The bottom, or floor, is covered in a large patterned, flocked wallpaper.

Next, I covered the chimney with another wallpaper, and poked two holes in the top of it to thread wire through and attach a bird cage from. The little glittered cage now dangles over a table made of an empty spool of ribbon covered in a paper doily.

I lazily cut out strips of lace to cover the upper and lower windows instead of making separate curtains for each. They are gathered up and squished into a bead of glue to hang.

The chairs are made of chip board and are covered in scraps of vintage fabric we are using for my journal class. And the portrait on the wall is a small frame that I painted and added a post card picture to. It is a little over sized for the room, but I prefer to think of it as dramatic.

The final interior touch was a bowl of posies. They are millinery blooms in a mini tart tin.

The exterior was covered in strips of text from a 1930s Kansas Primer. Well, I'd hoped it would look like siding, but it really doesn't. The window and door trim is strips cut from an old book about birds.

I glittered the "siding", added moss on the "ground" and two small pink trees. Then, I thought it looked way, way too Christmassy.

Adding some blooms to the trees and some flower beds around the foundation helped.

I thought a bird's nest made it more springlike.

As did some climbing vines.

But my favorite part? The anticipation of the excitement of swap night at Birdsong! Swaps are such a generous sharing of talent. I am always touched by the thoughtfulness.

Mulberry season

bird song art event, cottage, Dew Drop, family, Food and Drink, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 5, 2015

It's mulberry season here at the cottage. Which means that Sugarwings spends hours up on a ladder snacking away, and filling bowls up, just to spill onto the ground and start over again.

With dozens upon dozens of mulberry trees (which is how the Fairy Berry Trail got its name), there are plenty to go around, so if a few spill, no one worries about it. The chickens are actually pretty happy about that when it happens.

Dewdrop has a ladder of her own, but prefers being down on the ground.

Especially if there is anything soft around to cuddle. I'm always surprised at just how silky, soft a hen is. they are so nice to pet. Sadly, only a few of our ladies are friendly. The dozen we bought this spring still act like we are only entering the coop to murder them, not to feed, pet, or gather eggs. But there are still some older gals around who don't lay eggs anymore, but who are very sweet, little pets.

We had a nice family evening, watching Sugarwings drag her ladder from one tree to the next and eat her weight in berries. I popped her into the bath before dinner, and as soon as she was done eating her grilled shrimp, she was back outside and climbing up the steps again, this time way, out in the woods- with no bug spray on. I had to toss her right back in the tub again before she left with her day, so she wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night, itching and scratching from chigger bites. (if you use soap after being out in the woods, you wash away those pesky things)

We managed to get one bowl filled with enough mulberries (thanks to her daddy) to make a cobbler. I used about 6 stalks of rhubarb and a pint of strawberries in it too, since mulberries are a little bit bland.

This was far from bland, and I had a big dish full for breakfast this morning. Now, that is the way to start a day. I'd love to make more for my Birdsong peeps who are arriving soon, but I have a feeling, time is too short. I need to bake bread, cupcakes, and a few other treats yet. And this cobbler isn't going to last long enough to feed it to my guests this weekend, although I do know someone who is up to the task of picking enough to make another one.