celebrations – Page 26 – Karla's Cottage

Blowing it all away, plus some Oz images and a tag swap deadline extension

Books, celebrations, family, housework, paintings, parties, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 12, 2010

Look what I found on Etsy! I bought all the little plastic shoe charms that I could find, even though they weren't the right colors. I fixed them by using red glitter spray to get them wet and sticky, then tossed them into a bowl of red glitter.

I mean "ruby red" glitter.

The first 50 people in our Dorothy Tag Swap will get one on their tag book. For the rest, I need to come up with something else….

The swap is still open, and I've had a lot of people say that because of Back To School, they are swamped. So…. we are extending the deadline. Instead of Sept. 15th, lets go for the end of the month. You get a couple more weeks to work on them!

Also, we have a flickr group, please join!

Personally, I'm glad to have the extra couple of weeks too! I've been trying to get ready for Sugarwing's Under the Sea Birthday Splash Party.

Yesterday, I painted this mural onto a canvas drop cloth cut down to fit the wall above the bed in her big girl room at her Hippy Chic Mommy's house.

For the party, the mural will be nailed to the side of the house. I'm setting up a tent for kid's crafts and this will be the decor behind it.

Years ago, I used to paint murals for a living. It was a goooood living. But hard. When I'd paint hotels and bars, it usually involved a lot of scaffolding, and that is heavy to move around, plus I have a fear of heights and really detested being up 20 feet high. The worst thing ever is to be on a LADDER on top of SCAFFOLDING! It gave me the willies.

Plus, not a lot of Kansans were open to murals. But gosh, other states love them! When I was painting a public space in Florida, I'd get a ton of job offers and ended up working nights in private homes as well as days on the job I had traveled there for.

My favorite thing to paint was kid's murals. One thing I always did was to make sure that each character in the painting had a buddy. Lots of conversational groupings make the picture more interesting for kids.

Painting "murals to go" sure is easier than doing it directly onto a wall! I liked using the drop cloth, I could work at my own pace, in my own home while playing with the dogs, snacking, watering the garden and taking breaks!

I thumb tacked plastic to the wall of the garage, and then tacked up the canvas over it so the paint wouldn't seep through to the wall behind it. I worked on the scene through out the day and was able to get other stuff done too.

Sugarwings loves Mermaids, I hope she likes this birthday gift from me!

While I was taking breaks from the mural, I repainted this hutch in my studio. Since I am the one who painted it in the first place, I knew that the top coat on it was water based poly. So, it didn't need any pretreatment of priming or sanding. I was able to simply dry brush a couple coats of white satin paint over the existing taupe glazed with brown.

After it dried, I lightly sanded it all for a distressed look. Silly me, I was too lazy to run to the store to get a coarse sandpaper, and now have a sore arm from sanding with with a fine paper. It took way too much work and too many sheets to rough up the hutch! I have a bad habit of not stopping until I am done, and really should have just quit yesterday, until I had a chance to pick up another pack of sandpaper.

Another thing I got done for the party was to get a start on cleaning the studio. Its such a mess and this is spider web season. Why does my home get so cob webby every single July and August??? This year, it is so bad, I am tempted to leave them, let them spread a couple months and just throw a Halloween party.

While I had the garage cleared out to do the mural on the wall, I used the leaf blower to clean the room. I dreamed of being able to use that to just blow all the cob webs away in the house too. If I were a minimalist, it wouldn't be so bad, but as a collector of junk, I have too many things that would blow away along with the mess.

I did clean the stair way that goes up to my husband's office with the leaf blower. There was nothing that could be ruined or blown away, and I have to tell you, it was a magnificent thing to do. What a great idea! I cleaned the breezeway and my car while I was at it.

Are you wondering what the pictures of poppies have to do with cleaning my house with a leaf blower? Nothing at all.

I just thought that you might like these. I used a lot of these vintage greeting cards with poppies in my Oz tags.

I've also scanned more pages from my 1920s Oz book for you. You don't have to be in the swap to use them, help yourself if you want some.

All you need to do is click on the picture for it to pop up in a larger size,save, and print it.

Some of these are edited into sepia for you, too.

Silver

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 10, 2010

Today was special, its my 25th wedding anniversary! But my true love had to be out of town. That's okay, we celebrated for a week in California last month, it was quite the trip.

Yep, 25 pounds ago, I mean years, my buddy and I got married. We are very different people,He is a businessman and I am an artist. We look at the world from opposite viewpoints, but share a love of laughing and of family and of each other. What more do you need?

I'm pretty lucky.

I thought I'd celebrate by playing dress up with the pup. She turned out much cuter than me.

These little tiaras didn't stay in their silky hair for very long, so I put it in my summer-time frizz bomb of a hair do and it stayed just fine.

See why I call my Yorkshire Terriers "Dorkies"? What goofy looks they get on their little faces. They have the funniest personalities, and are such dorks.

Today I saw that I've done my 800th post! Wow, I do seem to think I have a lot to say, huh?

Also today, I had my 25,900th comment! On the 800th post. I figured that was worth a prize, so I will come up with a little giftie to send to #25,9000, Vivian.

Since this is my silver anniversary, I'll have to send her something silver colored. Or silver itself. I'll look through my jewelry creations and see what I can come up with.

I'm also still flying high on my zone day yesterday. There is nothing like a day of NO interruptions whatsoever in the studio!! I finished up this vintage wallpaper journal (its in the Boutique now)

But mostly I made tags for the Dorothy tag book swap. I only needed 6 plus a cover, but made about 20, both sides.

This one is an old envelope that has a flap I tie shut with ribbons. It has a flying monkey theme, and inside is a Wicked Witch of the West tag.

Honestly, I thought I'd be making pretty tags. Like Glenda and Dorothy and ruby slippers, all just lovely and sweet. But I surprised myself and got really interested in all of the old illustrations in the book that I had, even though the pictures were far from lovely.

Most were in black and white with maybe one color, so I tinted them with markers and ink. It was like being a kid and coloring again. Maybe that is why I was able to ignore all my obligations and play at my desk all day, I was being very juvenile!

The illustrations are very different than the movie. Hollywood varies quite a bit from literature, doesn't it? Even True Blood, my favorite TV show is veering away from the book series quite a bit. But I still think its successful in keeping the characters and emotions in the story accurate, so that's okay.

I'm expecting a range of tag styles from all of the entrants. They don't have to be just Dorothy, of course, I think the whole Oz theme will be explored.

The twister was especially fun to do. I drew it in 3 metallic inks, then used glittery silver Stickles over it. At first, I tried making one with wire. Notice that you aren't seeing pictures of that one?

This buckle is new in the shop.

Now that I am done, and overly done, with 20 tags created instead of 6, I'm a bit sad. I was just getting on a roll with these!!! And in one day, I'm finished. Its a bit of a let down.

Oh well, I'll start having a blast when all of your tags start filling my mail box. I just can't wait, its so exciting to check the mail everyday.

And please remember, if you haven't signed up yet, its not too late. I look forward to seeing what you make!

Plus, Beth and I are working on a little sumpthin-sumpthin together for you. I'll get my fill of lovely and moody and romantic with that one. Plus GHOSTLY-hint hint. More details when we get them…

That elusive ZONE

celebrations, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 9, 2010

Today, I was in The Zone. I was at my desk for about 12 hours with no interruptions and nothing to do but make stuff. While still in my jammies. Dogs at my feet, a box of Cliff bars nearby, a stack of ephemera to sift through and create with, what could be better?

These kind of days don't come along often. The kind where you think you might need to get up to turn down the air conditioner and never get around to it. The kind of day when you think that maybe you need to get up for a glass of water, and two hours later realize that you forgot and are thirsty enough to drink glue. The kind of day when you know you have a million errands to run and that you figure you'll make just one more thing before you do them…. and a few hours later, you just admit that the chores are going to wait till tomorrow.

These are the kind of days that I treasure because I know they are rare. Usually life gets in the way of slipping into the zone, dinner needs to be fixed, or laundry folded, appointments kept. Not today.

Today, I made stuff.

I felt like I sat down to work about 3 hours ago, not 12. That is what The Zone is all about. Losing yourself in your work. It doesn't matter what you make, its just making it.

Tonight, I'm stiff and tired and I think I might stink (remember the air conditioner that I never turned down?). But what a day!!

Its the Process that Counts

antiques/junking, celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Hand Painted Furniture, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, swaps, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 7, 2010

Lately, one of Sugarwing's favorite games is playing bride. Today I was lucky to find a vintage dress up bridal gown at a flea market, still in its original box! She spied it in the studio immediately and had to marry her puppy as soon as she could shimmy into the dress.

The dress is about 10 sizes too big for her, and kind of fragile. I'm not sure if its the right outfit for my little wild child to play in. Plus, now that she and the dog are already married, she doesn't really need to wear it anymore. It was a quick ceremony, but lovely and heartfelt, so the dress has had its use.

And we have the wedding photos from the day. Of course, she might want to save the gown, hoping that her daughter (or puppy?) will someday want to wear it, but it seems to me that most daughters want to pick out their own gown, and rarely wear mom's.

I might hang on to it for a while, to see if she asks about it again. If she's forgotten about it in a week or so, I have a feeling it will end up in the Boutique.

Another game we had fun with today, was "Find the Picture". My copy of Somerset Home has arrived, and it has the article about my home in it (with photos by Carol Spinski). Sugarwings looked at the pictures in the book and then found the spot in the house where they were taken.

She is much better at that game than my husband is. One time, when his mom was visiting from out of state, he was proudly showing her an article that I had written for Country Victorian and talking about the house and how these photos were of the room upstairs, and those were of the kitchen before we remodeled. I looked over his shoulder and saw that the article wasn't even mine.

The photos weren't even of our own house.

That is why I can do anything at all to my cottage and foof it up any old way I please. My husband doesn't even notice! He could live in a pink cotton candy explosion of a doll house and not know the difference. That gives me full license to foof!

Of course, over the years, there have been a lot of changes and I can't blame him for not being able to keep up with what our house looks like. When I was in the furniture painting and antique biz, the look would change weekly sometimes. If I found something wonderful at a garage sale, it would go right into the house and the piece it replaced would go to the mall.

Now that I don't sell furniture, the revolving door has slowed down. But I do like a change now and then, and mostly get it by repainting and rearranging.

This photo is of my studio a few years back. I've added it and a few more pictures to the Where Bloggers Create Studio Tour (hosted by Karen Valentine) post I did a while back, and added a button to my side bar with a link to that posting, if anyone wants to see some of the past looks I've had in the room.

As a matter of fact, while out junking and scrounging today, I found a new glass door cabinet to fill with supplies, so my studio is getting another mini redo this week too. I'll have some more pictures to add in the next couple of days.

Since I don't have the antique business anymore, I try to keep myself entertained with smaller foofing projects. Gift wrapping has become a big hobby of mine. This is a package sent out this week, it was a Bible Quotes booklet, so I wrapped it in hymnal sheet music and tied a little cross to the ribbon.

No matter how big or small the project is, its "the process that counts". Beth and I quote Jenny Doh to each other with that line a lot since we heard her speak at Kim's event in California. That phrase struck us both, as good words to live by. As an artist, its not always the end product that counts, its the process and the love of creating.

So, if I can't remake a room on a monthly basis anymore (yes, I was pretty bad, Beth called me a serial painter), I can get my fix in the little things I do and love the process, no matter what I am spending my time on.

Simply being creative brings joy. To paraphrase Horton the Elephant, "A project's a project, no matter how small."

If you feel like being creative with me, I hope you'll join us for a small project. 6 tags with a Dorothy theme in a collaborative tag book swap. Email me if you want to join! Just click on the button on my sidebar for more info.

We have 40 some people entered to swap so far, and room for YOU too!

Air clay vs paper clay and some more mermaidy goodness

celebrations, collections, show and tell, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 30, 2010

I appreciate all your input on my Silver Bella worries about clique-ishness. My reason for bringing it up, is that I LOVE that event and would hate to see it develop any kind of bad rep. I always find such a happy, creative atmosphere when I am there, that I feel sad to think others might not see it that way.

Thanks for joining in on the conversation. I hope that you will consider coming to Omaha in November and see for yourself just how magical the weekend is.

My life is finally getting back to normal from my trip out to CA. I'm listing some new things in the Boutique and getting back to work. The first few days back, I had a horrible time trying to focus on doing anything constructive. I just wanted to water flower beds, play with Sugarwings and Agnes Rosebud, and keep reading. My mind didn't want to switch out of vacation mode!

After a week of having plenty of time to enjoy reading good books, it wasn't easy to put them down. Especially when I was in the middle of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I just had to finish it before I started back up with real life.

Yesterday, I was able to combine playing with Sugarwings and working. She and I got some clay out and made mermaids.

This one is still a bit rough. I used cheapo air clay by Crayola instead of getting the good stuff, the paper clay recommended by teachers at my Mermaid getaway in CA. I found this harder to work with, it gets really goopy and easily messed up. The paper clay is easier to use, is lighter weight and dries faster.

It feels like it will be days before this one is dry enough to paint. Before I do, I'll get out some fine sandpaper and clean up the facial features, since I was simply smearing them around with my fingers dipped in water. I must have wiped her poor little nose clear off her face three times. This clay got so mushy, it just washes away.

Paper Clay works wonderfully with wet finger tips as a smoothing tool. So, I ordered some online from the site that Jenny suggested, Creative Paper Clay Company

The site had kind of high prices, ($11.99) but offered a wholesale price too ($6) . So, I clicked on the wholesale button, and got the packages of clay half price. With no minimum order and no questions about whether you were a business or not. Odd. But I was happy they told me that I could buy it for less if I left their retail site! How nice of them to let us know.

One of the teachers I especially enjoyed in CA was Julie Haymaker

Her class was a crown/headband, but she encouraged mixing it up and trying something different. Knowing I wouldn't be comfortable in a head band (they give me headaches) I decided to use her ideas on a collage instead.

There was an itinerary on the table in front of each of us, conveniently printed on sturdy card stock. So, I flipped it over, covered it in vintage papers and turned it into this. I liked using that, because this piece becomes even more of a souvenir of the event, with the time table on the back.

Charlene gave me the transfer of a mermaid that she made from instructions by Lisa from a class at Paper Cowgirls. It was exactly what I needed.

Julie provided us with star fish made from Paper Clay, and head pins with beads to make the sprays coming out of the shell.

I added a frozen Charlotte mermaid and some rhinestone sparklies.

Our last class of the weekend was this journal/album taught by Melissa Phillips. It has a canvas cover that we embellished with Glimmer Mist and stenciled shapes.

I brought some old wallpaper and paper dolls with a summer time feel, and used those instead of the papers provided. The papers were interesting and I'll save them for a photo album. I use scrap book papers in scrapbooks, but for art projects I prefer old things.

I'm saving space in this little book for some photos of my buddies at the event. Its full of pockets that I've already tucked business cards and mementos into.

And I don't think I've shown you won of my lucky wins, have I? This art doll mermaid is from Jennifer Norman

I was lucky to get Jenn Hayslip as a swap partner in Jessi's art bottle swap. She found sheet music featuring a fairy boat and made the cutest pink bottle with this little baby fairy on it for me. Yep, it was my lucky week!

You still have today and tomorrow to enter the drawing for my mermaid inspired pearl earrings. Where did July go, anyway???

Sirens of the Sea Swapping Sisters

celebrations, swaps, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / July 17, 2010

Swaps always sound like fun, but I always run out of time and rarely enter them. At Silver Bella, I usually feel left out because I didn't join in. So, for my trip to CA and Kim's siren of the seas adventure, I made sure to join up for one, and told my roomie, Beth the same thing. It can be sad and lonely on swap night to have no presents to trade with a friend!

When I saw that my buddy, Jessi was hosting a swap with decorated bottles, I knew I'd found the right one for me.

I made the mermaid from one of those china half dolls, and added a tail made of paper clay that I glittered and glued on after it dried.

Then, my buddy, Jenn was paired with me to swap bottles with and I knew I could make something extra foofed and she'd love it. She's even more foof-a-fied than I am, and that is a hard thing to be.

Isn't that chandelier drop a unique shape? Beth had some in her booth at the antique mall, so I bought a handful of them to make into charms. I glued a vintage bathing beauty picture to the back for this one.

The charm is hanging from a silk ribbon that I have tied to a message tucked into the bottle.

Part of the swap was to slip a recipe for a cocktail into the bottle, but I did something a little different. Have you seen Jenn? She is GORGEOUS. And I know that she is fond of champagne. So, I wrote this note for her and glued it to the back of an old add for champagne.

I've got the world's worst hand writing, I should have done the note on the computer- It says:

"Jenn- you are much too pretty to mix your own drinks! Bat those eyelashes and some handsome guy will bring you some bubbly!"

As a hostess gift for Miss Jessi, I made another bottle with a 1" Frozen Charlotte sporting a tail made from paper clay.

No recipe for cocktails in it, either. I filled it with pretty little shells, crystals, and pearls instead.

I want to make more of these girls!!

The first couple that I made were for the soap box challenge Lisa hosted. I'm big on being efficient when I can be, so I killed two birds with one stone by making the challenge into a gift for my pal, Kim for hosting the mermaid event.

Hopefully, the mermaids will travel well. I've got them all wrapped tightly in bubble wrap and tucked into lidded plastic containers in my suitcase. I packed the gift wrap separate so that I can pretty the packages up there after checking to make sure the presents arrived safely.

In all the trips I've taken, I've never had my luggage lost or damaged. But I have had it rifled through by inspectors, but no problems from that. So, I figured these will be okay in the checked bags instead of the carry ons.

I'll "see you" when I'm done gallivanting around the beach with the mermaids. Please forgive me if I can't answer emails, or comments till I get back. All purchases from the shop will be sent out after I return too.

But please do feel free to leave a comment, I enjoy them, and will be able to read them from my new Iphone toy, I just haven't figured out how to answer them from it yet… And each comment is entered into the drawing for the July Giveaway, these pearl earrings.

Frickets

celebrations, parties, show and tell, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / July 16, 2010

Its been Mermaid Madness around the studio getting ready for my BIG weekend in California.

I'll be in Manhattan Beach for a sea side art escape hostessed by Kim. Who, I've heard, is the world's best hostess. From spending time with her in the past and hearing her stories about preparing for her events, I believe it. She is dedicated and does it all with devotion. I know we are in for a good time.

And from looking at the class descriptions, I can tell that the projects will be just wonderful. I'm sure they come with lots of goodies, but I like to pack extras to give the finished products my own touch.

These two mermaids might end up on the journal or the crown… not sure which, but what project wouldn't be appropriate to add a sparkling little merperson to?

I've made these sprites with vintage cake topper ballerinas. I doubt if this would work with the reproduction ballerinas, the plastic they are made of is too hard and would crack if you tried to cut into it. The older ones are of a softer material and were easy, well not easy, but semi-easy, to cut with jewelry clippers.

I cut off their skirts and legs (remember the movie "Boxing Helena"?) then made a tail from paper clay, let it dry, glued it on and glittered it.

The silver one has a bit of a chunky butt going on, because I didn't trim enough skirt off. But I can't hold it against her, I do too. So, I added an accessory to draw the eye away from her extra wide hips. All those years of watching "What Not to Wear" have taught me a little something.

Besides supplies, and gifts for my swap hostess, (tomorrow's post) I wanted some extra little gifties to pass out here and there. So, I made a mermaid from a girl cut from a Victorian scrap book, and added a wallpaper tail.

Then, I glued her to this pink underwater wallpaper (how cool was that to find in my sample books!?) and made copies on card stock.

After cutting them all out, I embellished each with metallic inks, ribbons, ruffles, and trims.

Each one got a Mother of Pearl button and a little shell.

To the top of each, I tied a small vial filled with teeny shells, crystals, and pearls.

If you'd like to make your own mermaid, here is the original scrap art that I used. If I have done this right, you should be able to click on it to make it bigger. Then, print the larger one to cut out and use in your art. If you print it directly from the post as is, it won't have enough pixels to make it usable.

And here is the girl with her tail on the back ground if you'd like to print it this way to use. I hope I've done it right. If not, let me know and I'll try to redo it when I get back from my trip next week.

Another perk for the upcoming weekend, is the parties. Beyond the event itself, there are bonus parties thrown by some of the attendees. One is a cupcake gathering, that can't be bad.

So, I used a couple of my hand painted cup cake pictures and made up gift tags as thanks for the ladies who are treating us to the frosty goodies.

Another couple of ladies are hosting a welcoming cocktail party. I wanted a little thank you for them too, so made up these vintage test tubes filled with shells and baubles to use during the weekend. I topped them off with these plastic mermaids that hang on the side of a drink.

I think they are fitting for a cocktail party. By the way, I saw new ones like these at World Market, if you need some.

And last but not least, a room mate gift for Beth.

Did you just gasp with awe at its beauty? Or shriek with terror? Yes, its a gag gift, and about as tacky as anything could be.

Its an ucky story behind it. Sugarwings got herself a head full of lice. She says they hop like "Frickets". I think she means crickets. But to me, lice will always be frickets. And she said it in a very upbeat, cheerful way. Frickets!!!!!!

My head itches just thinking about it. No matter how many cleanings the house gets and the heads get, it still freaks me out and I itch. Of course, I already have chigger bites, but not on my head.

Gee, don't you love coming to visit me and hearing about chiggers in my drawers, lice, snakes, and rats? Maybe I should change my blog title to "Karla's Creepy Crawly Cottage".

Its brave of Beth to room with Creepy Crawly Karla, so I wanted to give her a little thank you gift too, a glittered and foofed lice comb of her very own.

Since I'm in CA as this posts, I won't be able to answer emails, comments, or ship packages till I return. But please do leave a comment, I'm giving away some pretty pearl earrings for this month's gift.

Frittering

Books, celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / July 6, 2010

Yesterday, was a lazy one. My husband stayed in bed with a sore throat and we had a gentle rain all day, so all boating plans were canceled. I considered it a free day to do what ever I wanted, by myself. A bonus studio day! But actually, I puttered about and did almost nothing. Which was kind of nice.

I did start this little collage.

And I put together this mini art journal. I listed it in my Boutique this morning for $12.50 if you are interested.

That's about it, for 8 hours in the studio! I frittered away time blog surfing, and just poking around, organizing some supplies and watching a few episodes of the Tudors that I had recorded. I'm going to miss that series, I've always been attracted to that time period. Showtime did a good job with Henry, next they are tackling the Borgias. I can't wait for that one!

I used to loved historical romances. When I was in my teens, I read the ones written under the name Victoria Holt and just about adored those. Later on, when I found out that she had written about all the kings and queens of Europe under the name Jean Plaidy, I quickly devoured those. And there were a LOT of them. Here is the list.

And here are the Victoria Holt titles. Just looking over that list brings back so many memories of the time of my life when I was hooked on all of her writing.

There is another long list of books under the name Phillipa Carr. Which for some reason I never read many of. I think that once I out grew the Holt novels and discovered the more historical Plaidy novels, I didn't care to go back to read light romances any more.

Its been ages since I've read any of those, but I have enjoyed the Tudor/Bolyn series by Phillipa Gregory. I hear she has started on the Plantagenets now, and look forward to reading those.

Seems like I don't bother to read as much as I did when I was young. I had a 2-3 book a week habit back then. Now, I rarely find something that pulls me in and makes me finish it as fast as I can. It could be that its just too tempting to flip from blog to blog and spend my free time reading those.

But for the trip to California next week, I've been stock piling some good reads for the plane and the beach. The Worst Hard Time (for bookclub), and the new Jennifer Weiner to start with.

When I'm home, I just seem to be too distracted to read a lot. I always have one open, but it sometimes takes me a week or two to finish it. I do love TV… that cuts into book time.

And yesterday, puttering around the studio took up most of the day. I had some packages to wrap up, and was having way too much fun filling boxes that I was sending out. This one is for a friend. I was sending her a little something and ended up adding more and more since I was using a flat rate box, I thought it should be full!

This little person is another reason why I don't get lost in books like I did in the past. I read more "Hop on Pop", the "Grumpy Fairy" or "Miss Mary Mack" than I do anything else.

On the 4th, we got to visit one of Twinkle's puppies. Remember the parti colored guy? He is HUGE! He is almost double the weight of Agnes Rosebud, and he was the runt of the litter.

We had Sugarwings for most of the day on the 4th. She and I baked cupcakes for America's birthday and had a parade with sparklers while belting out patriotic songs I couldn't remember the words to. Then, we went downtown to a party in the park with live music, games, and food.

But we didn't stay for dinner, my handsome husband (that is him behind the fairy grand baby. Cute, huh?) took me out to a restaurant and a movie while Sugarwings stayed at the park with her mommy.

It was a pretty good holiday weekend, over all. I hope yours was too?

This is a long one! A studio tour, two giveaways,almost 3 dozen pictures, and a rambling video

celebrations, collections, I do tend to run on, don't I?, paintings, parties, show and tell, studio tour, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 18, 2010

This post shows my studio over the years. For my most recent redo in 2024, please look at these posts here and here.

Edit- this post is my studio from June 2010. A 2013 post is Here , 2012 post is here, and the 2011 studio tour can be found here.

Welcome to the Where Bloggers Create party! This is the view from my desk, cluttery as it might look now, this is really an improvement. It was actually cleaned up this week. There is always a lot going on, no matter how organized I think I'll try to be…

The room is almost 1,000 sq ft. And I love every bit of it!! I've made use of dining tables, spare rooms, garages, driveways, sheds, you name it, over the years I've used it as a studio. So when I got this space, it was a dream come true and I will NEVER take it for granted. I give a little sigh of happiness when I come into the space every morning.

Its one big room, divided up with old doors that I have hinged together, and furniture placed back to back to create walls.

This view is from the same seat, at my desk, but looking to the right, at one of my favorite parts of the room, the TV.

During the day, I listen to NPR on the radio, but evenings and weekends that TV gets a work out. My husband travels a lot, so there are nights that I stay out in the studio till 3 or 4 am watching shows that I have recorded and playing with old papers to my heart's content.

Its important to me to have stuff easy to get to, so the work area is a U shape, with lots of shelving. This is behind my desk and holds a lot of the stuff I use daily.

Having attractive displays is important to me too. I cover a lot of old boxes with pretty papers, or use vintage flower pots, cups, and baskets to store things in.

Just about everything in the room came from garage sales, auctions, or thrift stores except this glass topped table that I used to store my jewelry. Its from TJ Maxx and was only $58. It was already white, I just added a vintage wallpaper border to it so it felt like it wasn't so newish.

I kind of like old jewelry.

I kind of like old hats too.

But its really the flowers from the old hats that I crave, not the hats themselves.

Glass jars with lids make a handy storage display too. So many of the things that I use for my artwork are vintagey things that are pretty as is. So I enjoy having them out where I can see them. Plus, if I tuck things away in drawers, I forget where they are.

Here is a video of part of the studio, if you have a couple minutes to watch it. Its a little long and meandering, plus I tend to babble. Sorry.

This large cabinet holds all my fabric and sewing goods. I got it in pieces, for only $15, and had to rebuild it and fix it up.

It has a large drawer in the bottom that I keep watercolor supplies in, even though I don't paint as often as a should, I do get around to it a few times a year. The framed hydrangeas by the prom dresses is one of my paintings.

So, is this one. Its from the Grumpy Fairy book that I made for Sugarwings. I framed my favorite scene and hung it on one of the French doors that I use as a room divider.

On my previous post, I showed hand painted furniture that I use in the studio. I just don't paint as often as I used to, when I do its smaller pieces like this salvage bit over the door.

Or this plank over the window.

All around the room, I've displayed things that make me smile. Little projects that I have done, things that could be projects some day, gifts from friends, or just odds and ends.

I'll leave you with a few scenes from around the room. Make sure you visit Karen for a full list of the bloggers who are showing their workspaces this weekend. There are about a billion of them. I can't wait to work my way through the list, even if it takes a couple of weeks to see them all. Its kind of like peeking into an open house in an exclusive neighborhood. I just love to see how other people decorate!

Oh, and don't forget, that all comments all month are entered to win a Peat Pot Pretty with a frozen Charlotte fairy.

And if you add your name to the list of Followers, I'll enter you in a drawing for another prize. edit- this giveaway is over now, but I do have a new monthly giveaway ongoing. All comments, all month, on all posts count.

(yes- that is a dog pen in my studio, I just raised 6 pups)

The wallhanging is a gorgeous gift from Beth.

And yes, the guardian angel seems to be watching over co-joined twins, one with an ax in her head.

Okay, I'm getting carried away, this is plenty! Have fun browsing the Where Bloggers Create party. Thanks for hosting, Karen.

Edit- Lucky me!! I am one of three winners from all the wonderful studio spaces shown for Karen's party!! Jo Packham is going to feature the three blogs in
"Where Women Create"

Thanks again, so much Karen, for giving me this opportunity, and thanks to you too, Jo!

I'm adding more photos of the studio to this post, the room changes a lot, so here are some views of the room over time:

Getting ready for a Creative Cottage Getaway with friends coming to play in the studio

Extra tables set up for company

Set up for a photo shoot for a magazine article a couple years ago

The hand painted floor

My Treat cabinet in Romantic Country Magazine with an article I wrote about how to find your personal Valentine's decorating style.

From the same article. I now use this cabinet for storing my shipping supplies.

Yep, this is actually in the studio! It was set up for an open house and sale that day.

This gazebo type structure is now where I have my computer and desk sitting. The tulle and lights didn't last, spiders and dust seemed to be very attracted to them.After a few months it was starting to look kind of haunted.

Another photo shoot set up. The room is no longer used for this, at one time, I sold hand painted furniture, and used this space for displaying the pieces and having sales.

This was also for a photo shoot. Now, I use the table for my sewing machine. When I have guests for a dinner party, I feed everyone in the studio instead of the house, we can seat over 25 people out there, if I move things around and organize a bit.

The stained glass door, is not really stained glass, its paint. The door was taken from the kitchen of our old farm house before we remodeled.

But usually, I just have a dozen or so guests and push the two dining tables in the front of the studio together.

My fairy grand baby and I love inviting friends over for cupcakes and tea.

Sugarwings loves the room as much as I do.

This is the front door of the studio, since this was taken, I've painted the doors bird egg blue and added hydrangeas to the hand painted shutters (they used to be bi-fold doors, found at a garage sale for a couple dollars).

My husband and I like to have our morning coffee out here on the porch. Its also nice to sip a glass of wine on during a thunderstorm.

I love every inch of my wonderful studio space and know just how lucky I am to have it. Thanks for coming by to visit!

How much fun can you fit into one day?

antiques/junking, celebrations, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, I do tend to run on, don't I?, parties, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / June 7, 2010

Omaha was great, we had such a nice trip! Don't I have the world's sweetest husband, to chose a weekend at the zoo and the Holiday Inn's water park with all the kids as his 50th birthday celebration?

We LOVE this little water park in Omaha, its in a newer Holiday Inn that has great service, and free meals for kids. The indoor pool area is meant for smaller children and has never been crowded or busy while we are there.

Plus, the hotel is located near the Old Town area, with great food and shopping. While the kids napped between swimming in the morning and zoo time in the afternoon, I escaped to 2nd Chance. Where I found a pile of floral hats for under $7 each.

Plus a pile of Victorian scrap and old photos. I'm planning on making some fairy ornaments (hopefully a make and take at Silver Bella in November.) Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find just the right photos to make into fairies? You need to make sure you get both feet, a standing or sitting position that works well when the person is cut out of the photo, and no fingers to have to cut around.

Well, you don't want the person to be fingerless- you just don't want the fingers to be splayed and beyond the edges of the girl's dress. Its just easier to not have to cut out each tiny finger.

Normally, when I am on a family trip like this, I don't get in much shopping. This time I also got to stop at Rusty Chandelier in St. Joe on the drive home. It was a quick trip, to stretch legs and for my husband to fill up the car while Sugarwings and I looked around antique mall.

But I just knew that I had to stop, and I was right, my hat whispering skills had led me to a couple more hats that were waiting there for me.

How PERFECT is this sequin top hat???? Silver Bella's theme this fall will be hats and Teresa has been using a cute top hat as the symbol of the event this year. I found not only this hat, but this bit of Victorian scrap with this little girl wearing a top hat herself. There are some possibilities for that rolling around in my head right now!

So much for my theory that pictures for fairies need feet. I can see her as a little sprite, can't you? She might be the foundation for my design for the make and take for vendor night.

And there are a few pictures of Sugarwings that I might make into a fairy for my photo album.

We had lucky weather while in Omaha, there was sunshine and a light breeze at the zoo. Sugarwing's Daddy and his new family (well some of them, not all the kids could make it) came along for the trip and I discovered that its even more fun to have extra grand kids to spoil and play with!

Before the trip, I bought the girls matching dresses, and a coordinating red shirt for the little guy. Corny? Yep, but I thought it was adorable, plus it made them so easy to keep track of all day. We knew that the red blurs running up ahead were ours.

Our hotel was around the corner from the Qwest Center, where Barnum and Baily Circus happened to be for the weekend. We hadn't planned on attending, but the kids had never been, so when the zoo closed at 6, we swung by for the next performance at 7.

The morning started at the pool, then napping, then zoo, then circus, then ended at the pool again. Whew! That was one jam packed day.

But, my husband and I decided at the last minute to play hooky and just buy tickets to the circus for the rest of the group. He and I snuck over to Old Town and had a romantic dinner, then walked around holding hands and enjoying the evening.

As ideal as the kids were all day, sweet, polite, and fun- it was nice to have a night out with just the two of us. When we got back to the hotel, we joined the kids at the water park, where I taught them how to play shark tag, and let the parents go have their own little get away dinner.

I think my handsome husband had a fantastic birthday, I hope he enjoyed the trip as much as I did! He's a great guy and deserves a good celebration!

Still, its nice to be back home with our puppies again.