Etsy Goodies – Page 16 – Karla's Cottage

Nibbing around in Beth’s House while she isn’t home

collections, Etsy Goodies, family, give away, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 26, 2007

Now I have a new addiction. I love to make these doll dresses! Beth asked me if I wanted to be in a mini-swap with her. She is the in swap hosted by Speckled Egg and Debra mentioned that she was disappointed to have missed out on being in it too. So, Beth set up this mini swap with Debra and asked me to join in.

I’d never thought about making one before, but really got into it, once I drew some shapes I liked for the dresses. Beth had to keep telling me- "this is not Project Runway!" because I was drawing out elaborate gowns and getting away from the whole "paper doll" simplicity of it.

Which made me think- wouldn’t it be fun to have a ball gown paper doll swap at New Years!?? Thats about as close as I’d come to a glamorous outfit for New Years Eve.

I listed a couple of dresses on Etsy and have one to swap with Beth, and now have an idea for a special one to make for Debra, with a Halloween theme. I have a feeling I’ll be making more too. It is too hard to stop!!! They are so cute and so fun to do!

Look at what Beth gave to me when I went over to visit her!!! A wallpaper bonanza! And wonderful patterns too, such perfect colors to work with.

There is nothing like old wallpaper for doing collage work. I am simply crazy about it.

Beth also gave me a stack of tags she had started to cover with the papers, for me to play with and finish.

When I got to her house, she wasn’t home from her big girl job yet.Her husband was just leaving,and he foolishly let me in. So I poked around her house with my camera while I waited.

Doesn’t her husband know that I am curious and nibby? He should have made me wait on the porch.

In her garage was stuff from the latest auction she’d been to.

And here is a collection I found in her guest room.

Her craft room is wonderful and filled with pretty inspirational displays.

All of the craft room shelves have the supplies set up as art in themselves.

And you’ll never guess what I found under her bed! (just joking, I am not THAT bad at nibbing around)

I was delivering the box and bagful of goodies to Beth from the swap she and I did with my Sissy when I went back to visit my family in Indy. I hadn’t been to Beth’s since I got back, so she is just now getting her pretties!

She’s got some pictures of it all on her blog, its quite a haul!

Going through it all made me homesick for my sisters. Sis and I had such fun with the swap we did!

And today is my other sister, Bobbie Sue’s, birthday!

There was a rainbow that a crystal prism prjected onto the wall and I asked her to stand in front of it for this photo, and of course, the witch’s hat That Sissy made) seemed appropriate.

And yes, we do have hokey names. Sissy, Bobbie Sue, and Karkie Jo.

This week is also the anniversary of my mother’s death and my dad’s (who passed away last year) birthday.

I hope that doesn’t make Bobbie sad every year on her birthday, since her birthdate is forever tied to those dates.

We miss them so much, but I try to do something as a happy reminder of them on anniversaries like this.

Dad was an avid gardener, so I picked tomatoes from my garden and made up big pots of sauce to freeze, thinking about him while I worked. He always had a freezer and a pantry full of his garden produce.

Speaking of the last week of August- I will draw the two winning names for the give away on
Tuesday. You can still enter by leaving a comment if you’d like to.

Downtown Murals by Grandmama and some Witchy Women

Etsy Goodies, family, how to's, paintings, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 23, 2007

I’ve had an etsy-palooza-blowout week! I am thrilled (and lucky) to see so much go out of the shop in a couple of days! Thanks to everyone who bought something, I really appreciate it!

And as a hardworking business woman who wants to get ahead in the world, how do I spend my day? Do I make more stuff to list? Do I list what I already have laying around in piles in the studio and get my Etsy store restocked???

Nope- I played hookey! I walked around downtown with Sugarwings and her grandpop. We looked at some of the murals I have painted on business fronts downtown (I’d have photographed more, but my battery went dead!).

We rode the mini carousel, went out to lunch, then rented THREE movies to take home for later.

But I did manage to do something constructive before I skipped out for the afternoon to goof off with the fairy grand baby and my handsome husband (did you see those arm???? He lifts weights, I get older and saggier, he gets better looking all the time). I quickly made a couple of things.

Here are the three crones that were in the old photograph I copied for my Cottage Collage Kits.

I glued a piece of vintage wallpaper to a card, then glued it to a piece of black sparkly paper. Aging ink in pink was wiped on with a sponge before gluing down the lovely ladies cut from the photo.

I cut a frame out of anaglyptic wallpaper, and drew around it with a gold and a silver paint pen.

Black and brown ink pens were used for vines and accents around the silver.

I cut hats out of OLD black grosgrain ribbon and added a band with a sparkly gold gel pen. The same pen was used for sparkle on their bewitching gowns.

I wrapped vintage millinery flowers around the teeny bit of black gross grain that was left ( I rarely waste anything) and glued it into place to hang the picture with, then added a rose chipped off of an old earring.

Since I am so crazy about this photo, I had to do one more picture with it. This is on a piece of watercolor paper, that has been stained with 4 colors of inks, then drawn on with brown ink and gold gel pen.

The trim and the hats are cut from paper salvaged from an old photo mat board. I made ‘stars’ by adding swvarski crystals.

I quickly added the first witchy picture to my Etsy shop, then ran out the door to go play with Sugarwings.

Tomorrow I get another hookey day, I am going to visit Beth and play paper dolls. Actually we are doing a mini swap with Debra about doll dresses, I think. (She is also the person that the 2nd witchy picture goes to, we are swapping ATCs)

I have my third movie of the day to go and watch, so I’d better get back to playing hookey and get off the computer!

NOTE: MY WITCHY WOMEN ON ETSY ALREADY ARE SOLD, THANKS FOR LOOKING!!

10 Cottage Collage Kits (and that is all I managed to do today!)

Etsy Goodies, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 22, 2007

Thanks to everyone for letting me know about the speed (or lack of) for my blog loading. And thanks for the patience those who had to put up with extra slow loading and still opened it anyway!

Today I have put together more Cottage Collage Kits.

I made up 3 of these from a pattern my sister came up with. I used vintage wallpaper and heavy drawing paper to make the folders and duded them up with lots of foofy, vintagey things, then filled them with even more.

I listed them this morning on Etsy, and there are still two left there if anyone is interested.

I delved into my stack of millinery flowers and tied one to a 8" x 4" tag in each kit, with a bit of old trim.

I also made up bunch of these large collage kits.

I love going through my stash of goods and putting together packs of pretty papers that go together. It is almost as much fun as making something from it all.

While I am playing with the papers and matching things up, I do make a couple things to add, like the cards stamped with the Eiffel Tower.

And I plan pieces I want to make, setting aside items to use. I LOVE these 3 ladies! I copied it off so I’d have one for each pack, plus can make a witchy picture for myself with it.

I try to use a mix of old pages from books, clip art, copies of old things, as well as genuine OLD ephemera.

These kits definitely are rosey, but I leaned toward some darker colors for fall too.

They will all be listed tomorrow on Etsy. Unless I am so wrapped up with Sugarwings, nothing gets done.

I had her all day yesterday, and she was quite helpful at the grocery. I’m sure she’ll be as much help in the studio tomorrow!

Remember- less than a week left to enter the August giveaway by leaving a comment!

I might get a bit carried away sometimes…….

antiques/junking, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, give away, jewelry, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 15, 2007

It feels so good to be home. I had a great time while visiting Indiana and my family where I grew up, but I am a Kansas girl now, so of course- "There is No Place Like Home!"

Twinkle is glad I am back, and she has someone to play dress up with again. Well, I’d like to think she enjoys these games….

And, I might have bought a few hats while out junking with my sisses and at all the places along I 70 that I stopped at. I got some great deals and will now have a lifetime supply of millinery flowers for projects!

Sissy has this wonderful old dress that she decided she just can’t save from crumbling (she actually gets away with wearing this kind of stuff and looks wonderful) so is going to salvage it for projects too.

It looked to us like all these details were hand done!

As great as the treasures were that I found while out junking with my sisters, my best deal of the week was at a roadside shop in Illinois somewhere. I found BAGS of old jewelry on clearance, and wished I could have bought even more. But I did mention, it was on the way home- after a week of shopping, right??

I will pull out pieces for jewelry making, then some for collage projects, and pack up the rest for my Etsy shop to make up for my splurges.

The booth I got it from was selling quart size zip lock bags full of earrings for $6 a bag, and these are nice pieces, not broken or mismatched.

A gallon bag of pins, was only $10. There are lots of poodles, kitties, birds and other creatures, most really cute, except a few owls, but I have never been fond of owls.

Pink plastic birdies meant for birthday candles will be great in projects too.

And I never have enough of these German die cuts.

This plate was $2 at Goodwill in Indy. And I can’t wait to play with these old flocked red birds!!!!!! I see glitter in their future.

This rosey light was at the same Goodwill for $9.99. The lamp had a shade, but I didn’t care for it. I might foof one up special for it. I will also cover the white center pole (well, I doubt if that is the technical lighting term) in vintage paper.

Goodwill also coughed up this matte white vase for 99 cents. It is marked USA on the bottom and will fit nicely with my collection.

I dithered over spending $24 for all these doll pieces at an antique store in Greenfield, even tho I knew it was a good price, I was trying to stay on a budget.

But, of course, I caved in and got them, they are too cool not to!

The brass corner pieces were slightly pricey too, $1 each, and I bought a dozen. They’ll make wonderful additions to collages, and I’ll be glad to have them.

One of my favorite things from the trip is this silver necklace that Sissy made for me, as part of our swap. It is a disc she found a bag of at Goodwill, soldered jump rings onto and added crystals and a chain to.

It is soooo pretty and delicate. (Beth gets one in her box of goodies from the swap too)

Speaking of boxes of goodies:

If you are interested in my give away for August, please leave a comment to enter (as often as you’d like). You get a choice of a Cottage Collage Kit (that will be featured in an upcoming Somerset publication) or an item I have made from the goods that I put into the kits. (These links are to my Etsy shop and show examples, not the actual prizes) I will have a 2nd place prize this month too, since I received so many comments!

As wonderful as my week with Bobbie Sue and Sissy was, it is good to be home to celebrate Sugarwings birthday tomorrow! I can’t believe my little fairy grand baby is one year old.

Sugarwing’s birthday also marks the one year anniversary of my scrap booking obsession. I made two little pink ones to start with for her, and since then, have gone slightly bonkers.

Of course, momentous occasions like her first pair of pants, her first taste of ice cream, her first well, any thing she ever did, has been well documented in my stack of pretty books. Happy Birthday, my little fairy girl!

Artful Bloggers Party- How to Paint Furniture

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, how to's, how-to projects, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 8, 2007

Yes, I am back for a second time today, but wanted to get an early start on the Artful Blogger’s Party hosted by Kari. I am leaving for a family reunion tomorrow (and hope to post from my sis’s house while gone) but needed to get my part of the party started before I go!

I just looked and Kari already has 3 party guests with their "how to’s" up and running, it promises to be a big bash!

I bought two of these chairs (hand carved and signed on the leg!) at a garage sale for a great deal. Some think it is a shame to paint old pieces, but if they are unwanted, and unused as is, then what is their true value?

I start with light sanding. You don’t have to sand it to the bare wood, a light touch is all that is needed.

I like my power sander, but a piece of medium sandpaper by hand works too.

I keep a beat up, old, fluffy brush to dust off sanding residue and spider webs.

ALWAYS PRIME!

Make sure your primer says "bonding" or "will stick to glossy surfaces". Zinzer and Gripper are good ones. But read the label and make sure it will BOND. There are many kinds of primer out there and the wrong one will ruin your project.

For these chairs, I used 3 colors, white, tan, and taupe. I poured a bit of each into the paint tray, with the colors butting up next to each other, and mixing as I used them.

I dipped my sea sponge into all 3 colors at once, smooshing and mixing it together as I dabbed it on.

I keep a cheap-o 50 cent brush around for pushing paint into crevices.

Notice how the paint starts to blend together in the pan? I add in fresh paint a little at a time if it starts to get too mixed together. Also, I dampen and rinse out my sponge regularly in a bucket of water I keep nearby.

Once the chair is painted, I start on the details, I painted the oval emblem white.

I got out acrylic craft paints in the colors I’d need for my flowers.

At first, my roses are blobby. But that is only background color. I let it dry, and I painted the scroll work around it, green.

Over the background colors, I swirled highlights over the roses and leaves.

Because the backs of the chairs were such a cool shield shape and show every bit as much as the front, when pulled up to the table, I added flowers to the backs also.

Again, I did a background color for each flower, and kind of sketched it out with paint.

I dipped my brush into more than one color at once as I applied the paint, so that the flowers had more dimension. I started with the base color sketch, in the darkest shades.

To the darkest shades, I started adding highlights and details.

Its important to let each application dry before adding more. If you try to add the highlights to wet paint, you just get smears.

Letting the coats dry in between will give you layers and depth.

Sometimes, you need to go back in with a little bit more dark paint, like I did in the center of the rose. But mostly, the last layers are all lighter and lighter colors as you add them.

Once the flowers were done, I added metallic gold paint, with a 1" wide brush, twisting it to a point as I pulled it down into a swirl.

To give the chair some age, I used a medium grit sand paper on the edges, for distressing.

I "distressed" right across the hand painted flowers too.

To complete the "aging", I used a stain and poly mix.

I buy throw away brushes at estate sales so I don’t have to wash them out with turpentine when I am done, since I hate the smell of that stuff!

I brushed on the poly/stain in small areas at a time and wiped it off with a soft cloth. An old tee shirt cut up works well.

I used "rub-n-buff" on the bead trim around the oval. It is a metallic wax that comes in a tube, and goes on with a fingertip.

Ta dah!

Thanks, Kari for hosting the Artful Blogger Party and congratulations on your publication!

I am on my way to a family reunion, but might be posting and checking emails from Sissy’s house. If you have any furniture questions, I’ll try to answer from there, but it might have to wait till I get back.

Kari’s work is published in Somerset’s new magazine about blogging. I can’t wait to get a copy.
This Cottage Collage Kit is going to be in a Somerset magazine also.

If you would like to win one, just leave a comment (as many times as you’d like) to enter my August drawing.
If you aren’t an artist and would rather have a finished item instead of a kit, just let me know (when you win) and I’ll make something for you instead!

Enjoy all the rest of the Artful Blogger’s Party by checking out Kari’s site!

Surprises

Etsy Goodies, fairies, flowers, give away, how to's, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 6, 2007

It was hot here in Kansas this weekend. So hot that no one wanted to go out on the boat. We did go to the lake in the evenings, but I spent the daytime in the studio working on some paintings.

While I had paints out, I did a background for an ATCard that

Debra posted a picture to use, as a challenge. I snipped out the angel she posted, glittered it up, added silver paint pen, drew curls in the hair, then added crystals and a vintage posey to my painted background. The angel is on her site if you’d like to do your own.

I got a bit carried away on the wallpaper medallions again! I really enjoy painting those little ovals, and this time I was in fairy mode.

I dooded up some of the borders of the medallions too.

Others, I left simple, but all of them got glittered. (of course)

While I was at it, I did a few more cupcakes with more glitter (of course).

Oh and a few more pink roses. (of course)

And one little ballerina that I added to a large shipping tag with vintage wallpaper, pink tulle, crystals and some posies from old jewelry.

I will list them on myEtsy Shop if you are interested, but it might not be today, so if you want one, feel free to email me. The medallions are $5 for each section, and the ballerina tag is $9.

I will give the angel ATC to the first purchase of two items or more!

My sweet husband did the sweetest thing. He was mowing in the 100 degree heat, and came in to tell me that there was a flower along the mower’s path and wondered if it should be saved. (he didn’t know if it was a weed, or whatever, he doesn’t understand flowers, but cared enough to ask)

I didn’t realize the surprise lilies were up yet, I guess that is why they are called surprise lilies, they come out of nowhere over night!

I’ve heard them called naked ladies too, because of the bare stem. I thought about titling my post "my husband and the naked lady" but thought I’d get all the WRONG hits on it today.

The painting of the house my dad grew up in is finished and I am off to make copies of it for the family reunion.

First I wanted to tell you that I decided what to do for my August give away!!

I will give the winner a choice- if you are an artist and want a Cottage Collage Kit filled with vintage goodness, I’ll send that. If you are not and don’t want the kit, I will make something for you from one of my kits!!! Hows that?

Leave a message to enter, as often as you’d like. I do love me some comments!

Eight Random Thoughts with a side of Garden Sauce

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, family, Food and Drink, give away, I've been tagged, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 4, 2007

Bethany at http://bethanyjanehissong.blogspot.com/, tagged me to write 8 random things about myself. A while back, I did the "7 weird things" list, I guess this one is different. So- here goes, 8 off the top of my head things.

First, here is the sketch that Bethany did of Twinkle!! How wonderful, she has some really good sketches on her site, she can certainly capture the personality of her subject. Go take a look!!

Which brings me to #1- I don’t sketch. I wish I did, I love to see pencil drawings. I just don’t do it.

Here is a painting I did today of Sasha, my cousin’s Dorkie who passed away this year.

I kind of draw it out before painting, but not in too much detail. When I do a mural, I don’t draw on the wall first, I just walk up to the wall and start painting.

#2- I am never sure of blog etiquette. I probably should have asked Bethany before I showed her drawing. I hope she knows I posted it in awe and enjoyment of her work and that I wanted everyone to see it and go to her site, that I wasn’t trying to steal it.

#3- I don’t use recipes, I wing it when I cook.

I make things up as I go along, but here is a summary of my garden sauce if you want to make some:

saute an onion, garlic, some banana and green peppers from the garden patch in olive oil, then throw them into the crock pot on low

chop up tomatoes and throw them into the crock pot until it is full

add fresh basil, thyme, and what ever other herbs you have grown that taste Italian-ey, with salt and pepper, some raw sugar and red wine

cook on low for 24 hours or so, bag and freeze. Drink some wine.

Make sure the zipper on the bag is closed tight, or you have to take everything out of the freezer and clean out the shelves.

#4- My niece’s son, Conner, is a ribbon winner in goat raising!

Oh no, I just realized while looking at this photo that the sheep I showed to Sugarwings at the fair yesterday, were not sheep, they were goats. oops

#5- Sugarwings and I spent more time sitting on the floor at the hog barn, yelling into the giant fan than we did walking around the fair. She liked the way the fan warped our voices, so we did a lot of hollering at it.

#6- I love cement people. This one lives in front of my studio, and is wearing some of my garage sale finds from today.

#7- I am really loving wrapping up the packages of stuff I sell on Etsy!

I am not usually a fancy gift wrapper. One year at Christmas, I only used one gift bag for everyone. I stacked up presents in a pile for each person, and kept them in the back room. For every gift, I played "Santa" and went back to the room with the same bag over and over and slipped a gift into it. Our family always opens one gift at a time, so it worked out well.

#8- my fairy grand baby can say everyone’s name but mine. My son says that it is because I am not consistent in trying to teach her what to say.

I tried to go by "Grandmama Karkie" (my family calls me Karkie) but it sounded like ‘grandma McArkie’- so I just went with "Grandmama", but no one in Kansas says it with the right syllable emphasized, and it sounded very country, not elegant. (and I am not exactly elegant anyway)

So, now I am going for Grammy Karkie. Or maybe I’ll see what she comes up with.

I am going to tag: well, Beth, of course! http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ (check out her estate sale finds from yesterday, wow!)

and Amy http://www.myspace.com/primitivezen ,

who kindly sent me this mail art.

Don’t forget to enter the drawing for my August give away! All you have to do is leave a comment and you are entered. I’m not sure what it will be yet, but I can assure you that there will be a photo from this group of 75 I got at a garage sale this morning for only $5 for the whole box!

And BUTTONS! There will be some buttons!!

More Corners of the Cottage Garden and an abundance of BUTTONS

antiques/junking, Books, Etsy Goodies, flowers, give away, hand painted signs, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 3, 2007

The Cottage Yard Tour: part two

I thought I’d show a few more photos of my yard and the exterior of the cottage. This is the back door to my studio, I painted this sign to set out when I had my studio set up as an antique shop once a month. Because of the horrid road construction, I had to stop having my sales, but I liked the sign and keep it by the back door. It is painted on a board I salvaged from the barn we had to take down. I wish I could paint my whole house that pretty blushy pink color!

I bought a stack of these ornate iron pieces at Hobby Lobby’s 90% off garden clearance a few years ago. They make great hose guards, and add interest around the beds. This one is in a raised bed guarding the thyme.

I built all the shutters on the house myself, out of boards I salvaged from an old garage we tore down. I’m also big on hanging "wall art" on the outside of the house, like this round iron piece from an old cook stove.

This large terra cotta piece hangs on the back of the house. It has been up there for about 16 years now and is starting to get a patina on it.

A tiny convex mirror in an ornate frame hangs on the outside of the patio fence.

On the inside of the fence, I hung this ceramic fruit basket over the bench.

I like to tuck little odds and ends into flower pots. This one has an angel made from a table leg (garage sale 75 cents) and an onyx ball nestled into the plants.

A friend of mine makes hand blown glass Christmas ornaments, and I buy a lot of irregulars from him at a very reasonable price. I use them all around the yard in planters.

My bird bath is made out of stacked stones around a metal base. The pots next to it are new and I don’t have them planted yet. I am going on vacation for a few days, so will wait till I get home, so I’ll be able to baby the new plants.

And here is Kitty Boy, the barn cat. But we no longer have a barn, he was heartbroken when we tore it down. I keep a velvet chair in the chicken coop for him to cozy up on now.

And of course, around here NOTHING goes to waste. The barn wood was all saved, we used as much as we could to panel my husband’s office.

I built this bathroom vanity in my husband’s office myself! The frame of it, under the siding looks pretty crooked, but it doesn’t show. I cut the Formica top pretty crooked too, but I covered it with barn wood trim and it doesn’t even show.

This is a painting i did of our yard the year we bought the place. The old barn sat where my garden is now. We left the foundation and put the garden right inside it. Over 100 years of manure and compost make the best tomatoes!!

The other barn painting in Rich’s office is of his grandfather’s barn. I am much more comfortable with a paint brush than I was with the nail gun and power saw while building the vanity!

People ask how my husband can live in my rose strewn home with all the pink everywhere, but he has this man-cave of an office with the barn siding, pool table and gym equipment, so he is pretty happy up there.

I also believe in lots of sitting areas in the yard. I keep chairs and benches everywhere. They used to be for show, but the older I get the more I sit and rest while working in the yard!

Speaking of sitting, I spent the better part of the evening sitting and sorting all these buttons I bought today. Some went into this pretty jar I got from Phyllis at http://shabbyinthecity.blogspot.com/. Others are sorted by color into small lidded dishes.

Why on earth does anyone buy so many buttons that it takes an evening to get just half of the sorted? Who knows?? They were a bargain, and pretty, and I just know I’ll use them for something! I’ll add some to my Cottage Collage Kits for Etsy too.

And why did I buy more old books, a stack of postcards and some jewelry? Well, I paid very little for them and am SURE that I will use them for something pretty, sometime!!!

Look at the colors of these cards, and see the art palette and roses on the one on the top? Had to have it, it was only 50 cents! And look at the font on the sheet music, so delicate. That will make a gorgeous background to some project, and also was under a dollar for the book of music.

I got the sweetest, unexpected mail too. A thank you card from Benny who is 3. I took him for a boat ride on Sunday and he drew a fish for me as a thanks for the trip.

Then, I got a post card from Carole of http://scoundrelsandrogues.blogspot.com/ from her Hawaiian vacation! And if that wasn’t enough kindness in the mail, I got mail art stuffed with goodies from Karen at http://bluemuf.blogspot.com/.

Every one was so nice, it just reminds me that I need to come up with a giveaway for August! Stay tuned, I’ll think of something nice and am open to suggestions. Leave a comment to enter, there will be some sort of prize at the end of the month!

Now, I need to get back to my simmering tomato sauce. I am cooking sauce to freeze. I’m making it from the garden produce. Lots of fresh herbs, tomatoes, peppers and onions, straight from my backyard!

July’s Winner and News from Somerset!

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, hand painted signs, how to's, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 30, 2007

Forgive me for showing a photo that I have shown before, but I have two bits of news about it-

First, the winner of my July giveaway, the COTTAGE COLLAGE KIT- is

http://raisedincotton.typepad.com/raised_in_cotton/

Thanks everyone for your comments, I love to hear from you. I will have a new bribe, (I mean drawing) for August. Something extra special since it will be my 22nd wedding anniversary that month.

Second– Somerset contacted me to send them my Cottage Collage Kit to feature in a story about kits! How cool. I love that magazine!

I have also been talking to Romantic Country about an article about my bathroom. Another favorite magazine of mine. I do have an article coming out in that one this fall about my home, already. I really like working with them, Harris is a great company.

At Hobby Lobby’s 90% off garden clearance, I found a stack of thin, metal signs for under $1.50 each. I bought ALL of them and have been repainting them in my own style (after sanding and priming)

Here are a couple I did today.

I should be making Christmas decor for my sale in December, but I just simply gravitate toward pink roses, no matter what.

Last week, before accidentally dumping a quart of white paint on my Dorky, I primed and base coated a few pieces of furniture, and today, I finished painting two of these gorgeous chairs I got at a garage sale for $20 each.

I painted flowers on the backs too, because often you see more of the back of a chair than the front, when they are pulled up to a table.

I took photos all along the process so I can post a "how to" this week when www.artsymama.blogspot.com hosts a Artful Blogger Party on Aug. 8th. If you want start to finish steps on how to paint furniture, check back then! Also check back to see what I have to offer for my August giveaway, and thanks again for entering in July!

A Tussy Mussy Fest

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, Hand Painted Furniture, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 27, 2007

Thanks for all the nice comments about my $1 table. Here it is all finished. I put a dark oak stain and poly over the top to protect the paper and to age it a bit. Then I added gold rub-n-buf to the edges. I should stain the legs too, to deepen the paint color and make it richer, but I didn’t want to deal with all the spindles and carvings! I figure it is OK as it is and I kind of like the contrast with the darker top.

I can get so much done in a day, because I know how to "stop" on a project and not keep fussing with it. Sometimes OK is OK!

My buddy, Beth, http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ came over this after noon for a Tussy Mussy Fest. She was going with a Halloween theme, and made this cone with some great papers she found at Hobby Lobby.

I used all vintage wallpapers on the outside of mine, and old sheet music inside. This cone has one of my hand painted medallions on it, some vintage velvet ribbon, and millinery flowers.

Neither of us signed up for the Tussy Mussy swap, but thought it would be just as much fun to get together and make a few.

I will list these on Etsy, but might keep one just to enjoy here in the studio, they look so good on my pink glass doorknob! That knob is from Anthropology, that store can be PRICEY but has great clearance prices on hardware. I got these half price knobs for $20 each. I wouldn’t have paid $40 for them, but I sure would have thought about it!

We used party hats as a base for the Tussies, (I got a pack of 8 at the Dollar store, Beth had cool Dora the Explorer ones). She and I made cones a few years back for a magazine shoot and didn’t use party hats, it took us forever to come up with a pattern that worked.

This photo from the shoot was taken by Bill Mathews and styled by Gloria Gale. It was in Victorian Decorating, maybe 3 years ago? What a fun shoot, we made up a bunch of crafty things then went to this glorious Victorian mansion and spent the day setting up our projects for photos. The house is a museum and every time we touched something of theirs we had to wear gloves, it was a bit intimidating, but a unique place to hang out for the day!

If you are going to make a tussie mussie, I’d recommend using a party hat as a base, quicker and easier, they come out really nicely shaped, and the perfect size.

I had a teeny snippet of old wallpaper that I hated to waste. Beth quoted Pam Garrison to me, something about vintage wallpaper being too precious to waste a single scrap.

So I turned this blue scrap into a paper doll dress and made a tag out of it. I thought the shape looked like a dress when I saw it laying on my table. So I drew and cut out a little girl to put into it. (The paper doll tag is sitting on my $1 table’s painted sheet music top).

My blogging buddy, Heather, http://prettypetalsboutique.blogspot.com/ ordered a couple of my medallions from Etsy! She was one of the first people I met when I started blogging and was so helpful to me, I wanted to send her a little thank you with her order. I made a tag for her, and a mini card to go in the package too. I used one of the legal letters from 1917, isn’t the handwriting pretty? I think is says something about past due taxes, but we’ll ignore that part.

My studio is back to normal-so messy and piled up with stuff I can’t find anything!

Before Beth arrived and the Tussie Mussie Fest began, I was painting a rocking horse for Sugarwing’s birthday. I got it at a garage sale for $2 and am painting it her favorite colors, with flowers and butterflies. It is almost done, I am a quick painter. I’d say I’ll have maybe 2 hours into the project.

I can’t believe my baby will be a year old already. I wanted to make something for her and start a birthday tradition. It will be nice to make a gift every year, then add some money to a savings account we will hold for her till college. I hate to buy too many toys, or clothes that she doesn’t really need.

(yes, I just posted another bad photo of myself)

After the Tussie Mussie Fest, Beth and I went to an AMAZING sale, then came back home for a Panera Bread style tomato salad (with herbs and tomatoes from my garden) and some grilled chicken that I had been marinating while we crafted and shopped. Not a bad day. She even stopped to buy a loaf of Panera bread to go with the salad.

I still have some cones to fiddle around with and add prettys to, and a car to unload. Oh my, you wouldn’t believe this sale we were at! It will be so much fun to unload this stuff!!!!

Maybe I’ll find something cool in my new goods to add to the Cottage Collage Kit giveaway- leave a comment to enter, I’ll be drawing a name in a few days.