Etsy Goodies – Page 11 – Karla's Cottage

Blue Bird Realty

Etsy Goodies, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 10, 2008

Beth and I have a plan. We wanted to do a swap, but something a little different. And something spring-ey. It is so durn cold here in Kansas, I need a breath of spring!

Plus, I fell in love with her post about the beautiful birdhouses she was making.

Using her ideas, I made one for myself too. But I wanted to trade her for one of the sweet birdie abodes she had made.

We decided others might want to trade too.

So we came up with a "What do you LOVE about your Birdie’s Home?"

Other wise known as "Bling your Birdhouse Day"

It will be a challenge for everyone to show their creations (date coming) and to swap or sell their birdhouses from their posts.

Details as soon as we work it all out. Anybody want to come and play with us??

I’ll be offering a tutorial on blinging the houses out (date coming). Also some bling kits of doodads and vintage papers you can use on your own creations.

Besides making this one little birdhouse (and the realty sign in front of it), I’ve had a lazy day. Wrapped some packages to mail from my Etsy shop, played with the baby, and made a pot of ham and bean and veggie soup for tonight. We have a forecast of freezing rain and I needed fortify myself with a hot pot of soup. And corn bread, of course. How can you have bean soup with out cornbread?

I listed one thing on Etsy, a paper doll dress ball gown. Like I said, a lazy day. Listening to John and Kate plus 8 (how do those people survive???), finishing my book (The Other Boleyn Girl – I love the Tudors!!) and not much else. Aren’t Sundays wonderful???

The Art of Rejection and Sugarwings thinks that nothing is more fun than a wrestling rat

Etsy Goodies, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 8, 2008

Ever have something for sale that you know that you just love and wonder why no one seems to be interested in it? I had this hand made folder, made with some pretty wallpaper and hand painted roses for sale, and the listing just expired.

So, I took a look at the photos, and decided it was not well represented. A little dark, not clear enough, bad background, and the ephemera it was packed with looked messy.

These are the re-do photos.

I rearranged the ephemera to a prettier order, added a vintage brooch to the tulle bow, and lowered the price. Now, if it sells, how will I ever know which trick was effective? well, you just don’t anyway. You do what you can to make your pictures and your prices as attractive as you can and then you cross your fingers! You just hope someone likes what you put out there.

And as an artist, you have to learn to have a thick skin about rejection.

I’ve been the juror at enough art and craft shows, screening the people who apply to sell their work, to know that "no" doesn’t mean "yuck". It means, "not right for this right now."

I’ve turned away really good art, that wasn’t right for an art festival. Or I have been working at a gallery, hanging a show and just have to leave out a piece that was nice but that wasn’t fitting in.

I guess what I am trying to say to other artists out there, is don’t be discouraged. Keep trying, keep making the things you love and keep looking for your audience.

Rejection is never easy, but after so many years in the business, it honestly doesn’t bother me the way it did when I was younger. I’ve learned that if a piece doesn’t fit in one place, usually it will fit into another.

Or if it doesn’t sale, the right buyer still hasn’t seen it.

Or maybe I didn’t display or photograph it as well as I should, or had the price correct, or have it for sale in the right venue.

Or maybe the piece needs a bit of tweaking and a slight redo.

Other times, I just need to admit that maybe the piece wasn’t as good as it could be, and it just wasn’t going to sell anyway. That’s the hardest one to learn.

So, I redid and relisted the folder on Etsy. And my magic wands that Somerset is sending back I will list also. Somerset Life is using some of my folders in the next issue. Also, a framed baby doll dress is still there with them, and I think that they will be using this memo board.

I made the memo board from old ceiling tin cut to fit this frame. The magnets are buttons, jewelry and millinery flowers.

I’ll let you know if they plan on using it for the July issue. As an artist, sometimes you can feel like you hear "no" more than any other word!

As a grandma, you hear it a lot too. Sugarwings is in a "NO" mood today and yelled it at everyone and everything.

So what do you do with a contrary baby who is tired of being cooped up inside on a cold, wintry Midwestern day?

You go to the pet store!

Chinchillas and canaries at Pet Smart are as exciting to a one year old as a trip to the zoo would be to an older kid. It got all of us out of the house and smiling.

ps- the wallpaper folder is sold and is on it’s way to Jeanne!

Dorkies in the Snow

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, I've been tagged, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 6, 2008

When is SUMMER coming? I am not a winter person.

Twinkle, on the other hand is loving this snow.

Sparkle, our Little Miss Butterball, who you’d think has enough fat on her bones to keep her warm, wasn’t any happier about the snow than I was.

After walking the dogs, I scurried right back into the house and stayed there. I made use of the snow day by continuing my scrap booking.

Slowly but, surely, I am working my way through the 7 months worth of photos I am behind on.

I seem to have gotten out of chronological order somehow, here is Thanksgiving, and I don’t have Halloween in yet.

And on the page next to Thanksgiving, here is a sunny summer photo.

Hey, at least they are getting done!

When I got to our trip to the Renaissance Festival, there were so many, I need to do some collage work with a couple of pages. I used the guide map from the festival for the background and added our tickets to it too.

I didn’t want to fill a whole book with nothing but Renfest, but on the other hand, all the pictures of Sugarwings that day were so cute, I had to include them! So I made a big pocket and filled it with loose photos.

Look at the mess on my desk, do you wonder how I get anything done? I work and accumulate scraps and mess till I can’t take it anymore, before I finally clean up.

If only I could get into the habit of picking up as I go along.

I also made some time to list a TON of things on Etsy.

SOLD

Not a bad day for staying put at the computer for a while, getting things listed.

I am feeling so much better now, thanks for all your well wishes. I didn’t have a very bad case of the flu. I’m not saying it was fun, but it wasn’t as bad as it could be.

And tomorrow, I get to go and play in Kansas City with Beth. I’m glad I recovered in time! We plan on seeing a couple movies, so we are closer to being caught up on the Oscar list.

Another friend, Sandra has tagged me for this "meme".

If any of you want to play along, consider yourself tagged!

4 JOBS I’VE HAD

Mural painter

Bartender

Jewelry maker

Antique dealer

4 MOVIES I LOVE

The Jerk

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

Labyrinth

A Christmas Story

4 PLACES I’VE LIVED

Lawrence, Kansas

Pendleton, Indiana

Russellville, Arkansas

Wertheim, Germany

4 TV SHOWS I WATCH

Only four?? You’ve got to be kidding. I am a

TV junkie!! Idol, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Top Model

Top Chef, Runway, Survivor, ER, Office, How I Met

Your Mother, the Tudors, Flight of the Conchords,

Trading Spaces (now that Paige is

Back!) and on and on and on

4 PLACES I’VE BEEN OUTSIDE THE US

I’ve been to the Bahamas a few times and lived in

Germany for a couple of years

4 PEOPLE I EMAIL REGULARLY

Beth, Sissy, Bobbie, and my handsome husband

Plus I answer the dozens I get every day

4 OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO EAT

Another one of those, you’ve got to be kidding ones.

Only 4??? OK, I’ll go with what I eat most of the time

And love, baked chicken, cinnamon rice cakes, vanilla

Yogurt, pasta, sweet potatoes, chicken pad Thai, popcorn

4 PLACES I’D RATHER BE

I love to be here in my studio! But, anywhere with

Sugarwings, at a movie with my husband, junking

With Beth, on the lake with my family- but not in this

Weather, it would have to be summer time!

4 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO

Baby-sitting Sugarwings, making things,

Going to DC to see my husband next week and having

a special Valentine’s Day with him, SUMMER

Sugarwings, scrapbooking, and soup

Etsy Goodies, family, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 5, 2008

The flu bug is still attacking me, but I think I see an end in sight, finally. I am starting to feel more like myself. But not good enough to babysit for Sugarwings today.

She went to play with friends today, and I got out some of her photos and made a much delayed start on a new photo album. It has been forever since I sat down and ‘scrapped’.

I started with an album I had decorated earlier, it was waiting for me, ready to fill with pictures. I tied a tag onto it that came from my friend, Karen . I plan on using a lot of the tags I received as gifts from our Sweet Treats Swap in the scrapbook. On the back of Karen’s tag, I glued a photo of the fairy grand baby.

I like to use a lot of pockets in my albums too. The one on this page, is simply a pretty envelope I had received from someone, that I glued to the page.

Tying a ribbon to the corner of a picture before tucking it into a pocket makes it easier to take out and look at. I also make sure to either glue two photos back to back, or to glue pretty paper to the backside of the photo, for stability. That way the hole punched for the ribbon is sturdy and won’t tear.

It might be hard to tell from this picture, but the photo of Rich and I is in a greeting card. I save cards that I get and use them as folders in my albums.

The ticket inside the card is one that Sissy made for me, it says "wishes".

I embellished the page with scrolls drawn with a blue marker and added a German die cut that went with the garden theme on the first picture.

I haven’t done any scrap booking since Sugarwings turned one in August! I have been trying to keep organized, and setting aside things I wanted to use in the new album, and the photos I needed to put into it, all in a Rubber-maid container.

It was getting kind of full!

I am keeping up with my New Years resolution to do more hand drawn or painted things in my collage work. I’ve added lots of simple scrolls and posies to these pages, and hope to get my paints out tonight when I do the next few pages.

Speaking of hand drawn work, these cards came in the mail today from Jen R.

I won them in a contest on her blog, but they felt like a get well present today! Thanks, Jen, they are so pretty.

I stayed in bed most of yesterday and today, trying to get over this cough and sore throat. But I did get this wallpaper book finished, and listed on Etsy after finishing it.

I used one of the wooden cut out birds I had covered in blue flocked wallpaper on the cover, and painted a branch for her to nest in, then built her a nest from shredded wallpaper.

Inside the book is a whole collection of my favorite papers, and it also comes along with a scrap pack of wallpapers I had used when making the book, to use in your own project.

I can see these as art journals or scrap books. Can’t you just imagine a photo of someone adorable on each page? hmmm, maybe I need to keep one just for Sugarwing pictures!

I sold the one I listed yesterday, and plan to list a couple more, but don’t know how many I will be making. If you are interested, feel free to email me about any of them in the previous post.

In case anyone’s paper doll has a Valentines Ball to attend, I listed this ball gown today too. It is made of a great wallpaper of brocade silk, one of my all time favorite papers. I had actually bought the paper to do a wall in my home and never did. I had it packed away for about 20 years, and am glad to have it for projects now, because as fickle as I am about home decor, it would have been torn off the walls years ago and replaced, and wasted if I had actually used it as wallpaper.

Has anyone seen the Mermaid swap that is going on now??? I am crazy about Mermaids. You can see all the photos at this Flickr Site. It is yet again, another great swap I missed out on joining!!

This is one that I made (last year), she is a German porcelain doll that I dooded up. Her hair is a fluffy yarn that I dyed to match the fabric I bought to make her tail from.

I don’t sew, that made the tail a challenge for me. I figured it out somehow, and made the thing tail-like by sewing a long pipe cleaner inside it to give it shape, then filling it with beans to give it form.

She was then glued onto a starfish that I added pearls and tiny shells to.

And of course, I had to glitter up the starfish.

It has been days since I have felt like eating, even tho my sweet son Ry, bought me a can of soup. But today, I must be doing better, because I have some chicken simmering on the stove, ready to make my own soup.

Well, that and the fact that my other son, Sugarwing’s Daddy, has caught the same bug, and I need to make soup for him, since he is my baby. I need to get it done and take it across town to him before the big snow storm starts (yes ANOTHER one!).

The Blue Bird of Happiness flew in with 3 giveaways for February!

Etsy Goodies, give away, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 3, 2008

Has any one seen this One World One Heart giveaway? It is a group effort by Lisa Ocean Dreamer and she has linked a ton of bloggers who will be giving away gifts on Valentines Day.

I haven’t had a chance to enter more than a couple of drawings yet. I want to wait until I have time to sit back, relax and browse through all the wonderful new blogs that I haven’t seen yet, plus visit some old friends I haven’t been by to see in a while.

I’d like to offer this large altered tag as my giftie for the event.

It features hand painted roses, old wallpaper, glitter, and vintage jewelry- all my faves!

That makes THREE GIVEAWAYS for February for me!

Here is the list and the rules to enter my 3 drawings:

1. One World One Heart-leave a comment on THIS post only to enter

2. One Year Blog Anniversary on Valentines Day- leave a comment on any post up till the 13th, all are entered.

3. My regular monthly drawing– leave a comment any time all month, any post, all are entered.

I have been enjoying myself, playing with wallpaper all weekend. I have a bad cold, terrible cough and a fever that comes and goes, so in my delirium, who knows what I might end up creating?

Maybe I should just go to bed and rest, but I seem to be on a roll and very productive right now. Plus, if I lay down, I feel like I am drowning in my own snot (well, I guess that goes without saying, I sure wouldn’t want to be drowning in someone else’s snot).

So, I have stayed in my studio slicing and dicing wallpaper, mostly making books.

I felt like experimenting with the binder I bought. I might take it back, but I am not sure yet. I kind of liked using it to make these wallpaper journals, or scrapbooks. What ever they are.

Each page is a different vintage paper, ready for embellishments. I think these will be the perfect backgrounds for some one who wants to make a unique book, or a special photo album, and who loves old wallpaper!

I purposely left a lot of space for adding goodies. The pages are fit loosely into the binder, and there is room to expand.

I know that when I work on a scrapbook, I tend to make it so thick it won’t close anymore. Hopefully the way I assembled these will help out with that problem.

Plus, I was feverish and didn’t want to make anything complicated. I simply was cutting and gluing and binding. And I LOVE the collections of old papers. Yum. Or as Sugarwings says now, "Numms"

I did make a few other things too, when my fever abated and I was feeling like trying something more creative than cutting out pages.

I also spent some time listing things on Etsy.

This box is something I had made in the past and used to keep some supplies in. I thought it deserved a better life, instead of being stuck in a drawer full of magnets, like I had it. So, I listed it in my shop.

I also listed some paper doll dresses.

This one is a tutu.

I also decided to make another magic wand to send to Somerset Life. (The editor did like the photos of my last ones and asked to have them sent in, but that doesn’t guarantee that they will be used.) Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I just had to make this one. The stuff spread out on my messy work table practically assembled itself!

Don’t you love it when all the odds and ends in the craft room seem to just belong together? My Sissy sent the silk ribbon and rose with her book pages for our swap. The ribbon looked so beautiful with the flocked wallpaper I had just cut a book cover out of.

The crowns and wooden cut out birds were left laying on the table from making recipe swap book covers. And the wand itself? I finally packed away the Christmas decor from my studio (yay!) and had broken the handle off of a sleigh. It was laying in the pile of debris that I work out of.

Sometimes, being messy pays! All of these things that had been tossed aside, just called out to me from the chaos and like I said, practically made them selves. That is magic, huh??

She is the Blue Bird of Happiness and is ready to grant happy wishes to all.

I just wish she’d make my cold go away.

I’m off to make more wallpaper books, and watch the PBS marathon of the Jane Austen movies. They are starting in a couple minutes, so my spell checking might not be as good as usual. Blame the delirium from the fever too, if this is illegible.

Can a dumpster diving, midwestern artist with trailer trash roots survive a resort spa get away in Palm Springs????

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 23, 2008

I should be doing so many things.

1- packing

2- cleaning my house

3- mailing my packages

4- straightening out the crazy mess my quarterly sales taxes got into (by the way, never send the state of Kansas your own hand written forms, they really, really, really prefer that you use THEIR forms. I sent the money in and apparently, that doesn’t count if you send your own improvised forms with it.)

Instead of doing what is on my list, I got a little side tracked and worked on this old doll clothes collage I had done months ago. I thought it needed MORE.

So, I added a little hand painted border of posies, the little girl image from an old greeting card and a banner made of silk wallpaper with a word cut out of an old book, that says "Dolly".

Oh, and a ruffle at the bottom, from a vintage children’s book.

I am infatuated with ruffles and banners right now. And little hand painted embellishments.

I have listed this piece on Etsy if you are interested.

In the last month, I have successfully avoided my lingering Christmas decorations by hanging out in my studio or running around and being social.

But yesterday, I had the baby all day and we were in the living room, surrounded by all the dusty, over powering holiday things. My skin started to crawl and I got itchy and antsy and couldn’t take it any more, those decorations were driving me up the walls!

Maybe having a 15 month old help pack away Christmas decorations isn’t the best idea.

Not a lot got packed away and the room ended up worse than before we started. Only two ornaments broke and no one was cut, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

My husband has been gone almost three weeks now and will be coming back this weekend after our Palm Springs trip.

I really should do something about this room, it isn’t much of a welcome home, is it?

After Sugarwings went home.I skipped out and went to a movie instead of finishing the pack up.

I saw Juneau- it was really sweet and witty. I also saw Cloverfield this week, and was enthralled by it. Plus all my running around, with art openings and parties and coffees, and shopping, and of course, the start of American Idol, and the book club books I have to read, and making magic wands and book covers—-I have simply stayed out of the living room for a long time. But today, I face up to the empty boxes and fill them with holiday memories.

Or at least, that is the plan. I will make this room habitable while Project Runway is on tonight, then pack my bags and head off to sunny California!

This is me in my more natural environment. (the picture is from last summer)

Which might explain why I am living with my house looking like something out of a dumpster right now?

But tomorrow, I am off to Palm Springs, to be pampered at a spa!

I bought a dress to wear to the Country Club we will be dining at. I had hoped for something springlike and floral, but this is Kansas in January, that doesn’t exist here and now. I did find this dress on clearance, and don’t think it looks too wintry, at least I hope not.

I do worry that it might be a bit young for me??

So, I pulled out a couple of jackets to try with it.

Frumpy?

Too much?

I am not a polka dot person, but these dots are more random and I felt that suited me.

Plus I loved the vintage looking buckle! (it gives the illusion of a waist too)

My husband is a sweetheart, he said, take a few hundred dollars and buy a dress. Now, that is sweet, but silly—does he know who he is dealing with here?

I spent $22 on clearance, at Dillards (a classy department store, so don’t worry that I went to KMart, or found it in a dumpster)

Not only did I find dress up sandals, I got a pair of silver beaded thongs too. I am set for a resort get away. A trip to the clearance section of J Jill filled my suitcase with pastel long sleeve tees at bargain prices and the cutest blush colored light weight sweater I’ve ever seen.

So, I have the costumes ready to go. Think I can fool everyone into thinking I fit in?

ps- my Sissy says to stop calling myself trailer trash. And since it is her birthday this weekend, I will explain that SHE is NOT trailer trash!! Just me.

Actually, our family had a real solid foundation home (even with a pool in the backyard) till I was 11, then mom and I lived in trailers for a while, Sissy and Bobbie Sue didn’t, they were off and married by then.

And thanks to everyone who is warning me about the CA cold spell! I repacked and added socks and jackets to my suitcase. Close call, there. Thank goodness for blog friends all over the country!!

Abracadabra

Etsy Goodies, fairies, swaps

By Karla Nathan / January 22, 2008

We had a slight break in the cold, yesterday the temperature zooooomed all the way up to 32 and that was enough to thaw my fingers out and get the crafty juices flowing again.

Of course, I woke up to 5 degrees this morning and news that the temps would be in the teens and twenties all week.

But yesterday, I was able to stay put in my studio and made magic. Well, magic wands!

Jenny Doh at Somerset Life sent me a list of topics that they are featuring in July to see if I wanted to send something in to them.

"Magic Wands" was the one that leaped off the page at me!

Now, of course, this doesn’t mean she will like them or even want to use them, my wands might not be what they had in mind at all.

But I wouldn’t mind. I could use a wand or two anyway. Who couldn’t?

Wish me luck, please. Or maybe I should swish one of them around and wish for luck myself?

And, sadly- I finished all my book covers for the swap. I am going to miss this project.

Here are the backs of the ones I did yesterday.

They range from way, way over the top-

To simple and sweet.

I was thrilled to see that this necklace formed a heart shape when fussed around with and glued down.

I don’t have all of my cards ready yet, for my own page in the book, and of course, Beth and I need to assemble the books themselves. But I already am missing the swap, it was such a joy to make all of these! I am not sure how many I made. Too many, but we’ll be able to pick and chose as we assemble.

This one that I showed you previously, got a re-do yesterday. I decided it was too heavy with the key on it. We are trying to keep the shipping costs down.

So, it became this. I won’t use it for the swap, I will list it on Etsy later today. After Sugarwings goes home, there is no way I will have time to do that with that little bundle of energy around!

I have added quite a bit more to this piece, including the banner, "Flow’rs and Dreams at the Dance" on silk brocade wallpaper.

The background got treated to some robin’s egg blue paint, behind the ballerinas as well as on the back ground of the grey wallpaper, and as a swirling border around the edges of the piece.

I am enjoying my resolution to add hand painted touches to my collage work.

I glued German die cuts around the page too. One little butterfly is on the vintage playing card, and flowers form a garland that looks like it goes under the center medallion.

I am trying to not let the cold get to me too much. Today, I will build up the wood stove and will keep warm by chasing that fairy grand baby from one end of the house to the other. That is, when she will let me put her down. She is of the opinion that Grandmama Karkie is supposed to carry her everywhere when she comes to visit. And I really don’t mind. She is so tiny and cuddly, but won’t be like this forever. I need to take advantage of it while I can.

Maybe she can help me pack for my trip to sunny California. I had no luck finding a spring dress, but did find a black and white one on clearance that wasn’t too wintry. I just hope it isn’t too young for me…. I might try it on today and ask Sugarwings what she thinks.

And remember my worries about finding sandals in Kansas in winter, that actually fit my Fred Flintstone feet?

I desperately searched one end of Kansas City to another.

Just when I was about to give up, I decided to bite the bullet and go in Nordstroms, and not even look at price tags, just see if they could help me.

The sales lady took one look at my feet and said "YOUR TOES ARE ALL THE SAME LENGTH!!!!"

Then, she went into the back and came out with the prettiest little bronze strappy sandals with a small heel and a square toe that fit me like I was Cinderella. And only $39. At first I thought they said $399, some sandals are that high there. Wow, my lucky day. And that was before I got a magic wand!

I’m off to fetch that baby. Talk about lucky– the rest of my day is going to be wonderful!!

Cold hands, warm NOTHING- I’m a popsicle and Twinkle is a pupsicle

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, I do tend to run on, don't I?, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 20, 2008

Beth is now a contributer to The Vintage Workshop. Her how to projects will be in upcoming newsletters. Sign up HERE for a free newsletter and learn all of her crafty tricks!

Thanks for all the nice comments about the pictures of my home in the snow. Here is a photo of the front of the house. Like I said, it is a weird one, we have added on so many times, it is a conglomeration of different shapes and styles stuck together!

It is still FREEZING here. I can’t get warm, no matter how many pairs of socks I wear or shirts I layer on. The part of the house that is about to turn 100 is drafty, the new part is on a cement slab. No where is warm when it is this cold outside!

My studio/office has a cement floor and Twinks refuses to stay down there. I can’t keep her off of my lap for anything. It isn’t that easy to type with her helping me, but painting is even worse.

So, I put away the brushes and decided to work on more recipe book covers for the swap.

Some are going way over the top.

I wonder, is my resolution to use my ‘good’ supplies making my work a bit too much?

This one is a little bit more restrained, but uses some of my favorite things.

I covered this 25 cent wooden cut out from Michaels in old, pink wallpaper, then painted her up a bit, and added a glitzy necklace with a heart charm. (it dangles)

Isn’t the image I used wonderful??? Sissy found a website and emailed it to me.

It is a blog run by a generous person who posts vintage pictures and ephemera to share!

Check it out, the Graphics Fairy has a lot of great pics to offer!

(I drew the crown onto this lovely lady that I downloaded from her)

After I finished this cover, I realized- it had no roses!

Maybe I will add a rose to the hair of one of the ballerinas. hey- wait, it looks like their dresses already are garlanded in roses! That qualifies!!

I liked tying tidbits to the bottom of it, a rusty key, a heart charm with a red stone, and the last tassel from the pillow that Twinkle chewed up.(waste not- want not)

And how beautiful is this??

Last night, I went to an art opening that some of my friends were a part of.

I was delirious about this beaded piece! Laurie said she worked on it for a YEAR. The time she put into it certainly shows.

I would love to own it, but it is slightly (ha) out of my budget. (but worth every penny of the $6,000 price tag)

Laurie offered to custom make a single square for me at an extremely reasonable price and I almost teared up.

She asked me to pick a style I liked. So, I pointed out about a dozen that I loved most, and told her that I liked the soft colors, and to surprise me with one.

It was hard to choose, I just couldn’t. I loved them all.

Here is our group of art appreciators in front of one of Linda Baranski’s paintings. (I am the one with the spinach between my front teeth- the food was great there!)

I wore two shirts and a big heavy furry lined sweater. I cannot get warm this week.

I wish that it would warm up even just to NORMAL winter cold. This single digit stuff is creeping into my poor old bones and starting to get me down.

It is so cold, I haven’t gotten done nearly what I wanted to this week. I should work out in the studio till midnight or so, but I am giving up and going in to sit by the fire and shiver. I’d go and rent a movie to watch, but that would involve going outdoors.

This is a box I had made previously, but to make myself feel productive, I listed it on Etsy. I didn’t make anything to sell today, but I felt better having listed something.

SOLD-THANKS!

I am nearing the end of the book covers.

Soon, soon, I will be done with them. I have loved making each and every one, but it has been a big job!

Of course, I am already trying to think of a good idea for a new swap with Beth, we have loved hosting this one so much!

But before I do, there are some projects I want to make, and things I want to create to sell on Etsy.

Hopefully, there will be photos coming in the next week or so!

I can’t say NO

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, give away, paintings, Sugarwings, swaps

By Karla Nathan / January 18, 2008

Can you restrain your self when you see a bargain?? Apparently I can’t.

I’d never tried Bath and Body Works shampoo and conditioner before, but it was on clearance for $3 a bottle. I figured, for that price it would make my little Dorkies smell good if I didn’t like it for myself.

Well, I tried it and decided it was the best shampoo I’d ever tried! My hair felt so soft and smelled so good. I am not wasting this stuff on the dogs!

I went back and bought a couple more…. but I am not hoarding it- I am giving sets to all my friends. (This photo is after I have already packed up a couple sets for buddies. )

NOT HOARDING is my goal for this year. I have adored working on the Sweet Treats book covers and using my favorite things on them, no holding back and saving bits and pieces for "something better"!

See, look at this rose!! I have been hanging on to this waiting for a good excuse to use it. But today, I just plucked it out of the pile of flowers and glued it right down with no second thoughts.

And it made me smile!

This card was one of the first I made when Beth and I planned the swap.

It was a prototype, and we decided we needed heavier cardboard for the covers, this was too flimsy.

So, along with my "waste not want not" New Years resolution and my Not Hoarding resolution, I decided to add a bunch of stuff to it and make it into something else.

Same with this cover, it wasn’t heavy enough for a book. So, I foofed and painted and added goodies to it.

Both of these are available in my Etsy Shop. I have been listing some things today and hope to add more tomorrow., unless of course I get sidetracked, which happens around here a lot.

Yesterday I got NOTHING done at all.

I started the day with great intentions.

It is snowy and cold, and I planned to stay in and work all day. I have 8 more book covers to make and a few more of my own recipe pages to finish gluing on.

(this photo is of my art studio, garage, and my husband’s office, the main part of the old house is hidden by the trees. The house is L shaped. Its an oddly built home)

Ryan had my wheelbarrow full of firewood, and like I said, I had plenty of good intentions to hunker down for the day, keep warm and keep working.

Then, my friend, Jen called and invited me to coffee. Well, that sounded like fun. (I took her some shampoo)

Then my son called and he and Sugarwings wanted to go out to lunch. How could I turn down dining with a fairy baby????

Well, after that, I came home to work, and of course, the phone rang. Sharon was asking if I’d meet her at the gym. Well, I’d gone out for breakfast and lunch, I thought maybe I could use some treadmill time.

I thought I was done gallivanting for the day, but the phone rang again.

Angie called and wanted to go out for a glass of wine at the Eldridge, a beautiful Civil War era hotel, downtown Lawrence.

We have a great time together and laugh our selves silly, so I had to go!! ( I took her some shampoo too)

She is ready to start dating, and somehow, I doubt she’ll have trouble finding a guy- look at her! I need to hang out with her now while I can, as soon as men in this town hear she is ready to date, she will never have time to see me.

If the men in my family are any example, guys get a little goofy and dreamy when she walks in a room.

My husband and sons both sigh after saying her name and talk about her all evening after she has been to visit us. (I wish I had a better photo to show you) Plus she is so sweet and kind hearted, she doesn’t realize she is beautiful.

So, not one bit of work got done yesterday. I am trying to make up for it today, Sunday is the 20th, the deadline for our swap cards to be in. I need to be ready to put these covers on and get the books into the mail. I hope it works out, the deadline is a Sunday and then Monday is MLK Day and no mail. Looks like Tuesday at the earliest is when we can put our books together. But we should wait till the afternoon mail on Tuesday…. well, maybe I do have a few more days to get my covers done!

Just in case, I am NOT answering the phone today. I am staying put at my desk!

The recipe packs are rolling in, it has been exciting. Most go to Beth’s house, but a couple are coming here. This one is from the other Karla, sugarbear. Such pretty wrappings, it was like a box full of sherbet.

And look what she sent along, a pink puppy and a fairy doll for my Sugarwings!!! There is a surprise for Beth and I in there too, but I am waiting for her so we can open them together.

(isn’t that rose tag yummy?? Or as Sugarwings says instead, Nummy)

Did I show you the back of Sissy’s recipe yet? A ballerina rose!

I just checked and I am at 5392 comments right now, and by the way THIS is my 250th post!!

Remember, the person who happens to be comment #5558 (my birthday) gets a special surprise. (I don’t know what yet…)

And every comment you leave gets entered into my monthly giveaway. Details Here.

Waste not want not, and some belated resolutions

Etsy Goodies, fairies, jewelry, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 15, 2008

I can’t let anything go to waste! This recipe page was too cute to not re-use some how, and the swap book will already have a copy of it inside, so I turned it into a Fairy picture to hang on a wall.

After taking advantage of the big sale at the UPS store on copies (29cents, not 19, but still good!) I had copies of my fairy painting done.

I used an exacto knife to cut around the hand painted roses and the wallpaper hearts over the recipe, and made a slit to slide in the portrait that was cut to fit.

Then, I made a new banner, with the word "Fairy" cut out of and old fairy tale book and added a ruffle and a sheer organza ribbon to hang it from.

It is now listed on Etsy, but I wonder if I should have kept it and hung it in my studio? I do have a thing for that fairy tale wallpaper I used and have to get over the miser in me who wants to keep my greedy paws on every scrap! SOLD

I also changed one of my book covers yesterday. I had to add this German foil crown that I got in the mail from Speckled Egg. I ordered a bunch of pretty things from her, some brass heart charms, die cuts, more crowns.

One of my belated New Years resolutions is to use more hand painted elements in my paper collage work. Here are the backs of the covers I have done so far. I am finishing the backs of all of them, I do think that is important. If it is pretty wallpaper, I am leaving it, but if it s more simple, I am adding some flourishes.

I painted a few lockets too.

Some I am going to tie to the recipe covers.

The rest, I am using for other projects like this button jar. SOLD

I just listed it on Etsy too.

I thought I had more of the heart lockets, but I could only find a handful to paint. I am trying to be productive and work on what is in FRONT of me (another resolution!) instead of spending all my time hunting around in my stashes for something I think I just Have To Have.

Another resolution I made, just this morning (yes, very belated) is to only use my fabric scissors for fabric. No paper, I want to keep them sharp.

And along those lines, I will not use my regular scissors for cardboard or WIRE. Only for paper. That might be the hardest to keep.

I also resolve to take down my Christmas Tree before Valentines Day. Or at least I sure hope to. I am beginning to avoid my own home and just hide out in the studio to avoid all the dusty, holiday decor. Of course, there are Xmas trees out there too, but I am used to that room being a mess.

This last cover that I made yesterday is a bit different. My friend, Jen, who is in the swap too, came over. We were going to work on the project, but her time was shorter than she planned, so we ate chocolate cake, had coffee and hung out.

I dropped my piece of cake on the floor and broke a favorite plate. But I do that sort of thing a lot, being a klutz. The thing is, I always feel like no one will believe that I didn’t actually eat the whole cake, or the last piece of lasagna or what ever, that I really dropped it. That sounds like such an excuse- like something I’d make up to cover up finishing off the whole thing myself. (I was glad to have a witness!)

Anyway, she did have time to go through my stuff and pick out what she wanted me to put on her cover. I hope she likes it.

Well, now I am off to Beth’s, we are going to work on covers for the swap today, then I am going to do my dreaded shoe shopping while I am in the big city.

Oh- guess what!! Lucky, Lucky me- I won the contest from Remember my Childhood

and won a hand sewn skirt for Sugarwings!! Here is a photo of one of the skirts from her website.

I told her that I’d be happy with any skirt that had pink flowers on it and she could chose one and surprise me with it.

Thanks, Clarice for hosting this giveaway! The fairy grand baby and I will have a dress up tea party and she will wear her new skirt and her pink wings from Carol, and I will of course take tons of photos of her, because I can’t help myself.

Aren’t digital cameras great? You can take all the photos you want, plus you don’t have to have the camera right up to your eye, you can still be a part of what is going on.

Ok, I’d better pack my glue and my sparkly things, I need to go make pretties with Beth! This will be a great day!