fairies – Page 20 – Karla's Cottage

Peonies and puppies

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, flowers, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 27, 2010

Here are a couple of little videos of the pups on You Tube. Each is a minute or so, really short.

Springtime is my favorite time of year. I love seeing the ground wake up and turn green, and plants take off blooming. While I don't have the greenest thumb around (sometimes, I think I should just plant dollar bills, I wouldn't be any worse off) I have learned about gardening by experience.

And after 19 years at this old farmstead, my yard has come to be a place that I look forward to spending time in every Spring. After all these years, most of the big, hard labor jobs are done. I've moved tons of rock with wheelbarrows, I've planted dozens of trees, hundreds of flowers, built sidewalks with stones I've dug up from the side of the road.

This is the year to really enjoy all the previous years of hard work. There is still a lot of maintenance to do, and weeds to pull, but the major projects are finished and now I can take time to sit in the garden swing with my little buddies and soak up Spring.

Nothing around here is very polished or perfect. Its homey. Its home.

When something really insists on growing somewhere, like the violets in this planter, I just let them go. Instead of weeding them out, I just added a couple of coleus for color.

I've learned that this big old yard will never be well manicured, that some plants live and some plants don't. That a favorite area one year might not do well ever again, and to enjoy that area while it is thriving.

And that any garden looks better with puppies playing in it!

The little guys have taken over our world here, they are underfoot every step I take. We've been spending a lot of time outdoors lately. But tiny pups need naps, so while they sleep, I've gotten a little work done. I've added wings to the Charlotte on my bird house.

And now have got all these Charlotte fairy projects done and ready to mail to Somerset Life.

This is the bottom of the pocket watch with the fairy in it. Its one of the images from Mary's class. She has tons of images that she has included for the glue books, and I just had to use this one somewhere.

During the dorkies' nap time yesterday, I made up a couple of these little books (less than 4" square). They are filled with watercolor paper and the inside of the covers are lined with rose wallpaper.

I've added one of the books, and some of these fun vintage doggies to my Boutique.

Sounds like nap time is over and there is a basket full of furry babies calling out to me. I'd better get them outside to potty!

Joining Mary’s Glue Book class and some Charlotte inspiration

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 12, 2010

At craft day on Tuesday, Beth came across an old velvet doll hat in her box of supplies and of course, we had to try it on one of the pups! This is the biggest girl, and she is not shy at all when she wants some attention, she will call me until I come over and give her a snuggle. Its fun to see just how much these guys love people already, even when they are still living in the nest with the other babies.

Mary is offering a glue book class online and gave us all a sneak peek yesterday, as well as personal tutoring and downloads of the extensive paper selections for the class!

I didn't have a book to start, but wanted to make a sympathy card for Beth's mom, who lost her own mother recently. So, I used Mary's images from the class as well as her guidelines for a glue book. The rules are pretty simple:

ONLY GLUE AND PAPER ALLOWED!!

Which was a challenge for me, where was my ink, my glitter, my buttons, ribbons, and of course, my MILLINERY FLOWERS!!! I had no idea how difficult it was to make a collage with no 3-D objects. Mary had to walk me through it, and when I got really shaky from millinery withdrawals, she suggested that I cut out a picture of a flower, and that seemed to get me through it okay.

The class begins Sunday if you'd like Mary to give you all the tips to working on a glue book. She certainly knows them all! I learned a lot from her. You can too.

Working flat was quite a stretch for me, I even used fluffy millinery in this collage that I then smashed under beveled glass. But its always good to try something a little different, and I got a lot of good ideas from Mary. I'm looking forward to playing along with the classes and trying a few more. (plus you can use the ideas and papers for other projects that you do, not just glue books)

When I finished the card, I went back to my old ways and started sticking flowers everywhere.

This little Charlotte fairy is nesting in a pocket watch.

This is my favorite of all the Charlotte fairies and I was thinking of her as the queen even before I came across the words "Fairy Queen" in a 1930s book. How lucky was that? Her wings are a rhinestone studded, leaf shaped brooch that I cut apart.

(the background for this is some of Mary's paper too, she provided LOTS of good backgrounds)

A canning jar lid is the home for this 2" Charlotte sprite. Her wings are sequined leaves off of an old hat.

The inspiration for all of the fairies that I made came from this tiny little fairy collage that Beth made in a tin. Its done with one of my 1" eensy Charlottes.

It was good to see how many of you loved the vintage new stock necklaces that I loved too! I added a couple more to the shop, then that is the end of them. (Except for the ones I kept for myself!!) This one is really something, a pink glass rose pendant, that is kind of mirrored.

And there is this rhinestone one too. I think all but one of the others have sold. Its really special to think that these are almost 100 years old, and were packed away, never worn by anyone.

There are a few more new things in the Boutique, including a lot of prize ribbons from 1950s garden club shows.

And by the way, all comments are entered into the May giveaway. What ever it is…. I'll see if I can find something extra special at garage sales this weekend. I know you love junk as much as I do!

Twinkle’s shameful secret???

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 14, 2010

Aren't they sweet? Yorkies are always born black with tan, like an itty bitty Doberman. You don't know until they shed their puppy hair and their adult coat grows in if they will be silver or black. Those are the only accepted colors for this breed. Sometimes as babies, they have a little white patch on their chest, but it turns tan or blond as they get older. There is not supposed to be any white on a full grown Yorky.

So, imagine our surprise when we saw this! My first thought was, "Twinkle, you dirty girl, what have you been doing? Sneaking out the windows at night after your family is asleep???"

This pup does NOT look like a Yorkshire Terrier at all! I've heard that a litter of pups can have different fathers for each baby, but she was not unsupervised at all, and Teddy is her only man.

After checking with Teddy's family to be sure they didn't have a beagle or some other spotted male hanging around, I surfed the web and read about Parti Colored Yorkies. These colored dogs are controversial and not very common. Looks like some people are purposely breeding them as designer dogs, but I don't think they are recognized by the AKC even though they are full blooded Yorkshire Terriers, they don't meed the breed standards.

They can turn up in a litter if both parents have the recessive gene for this abnormal color.

Here is a picture I snagged from one of the Parti-colored dog breeder's sites. I think they are just cute as a bug, and am excited to have one of these little "special" guys!

Yorkies have the funniest, goofiest, sweetest personalities. And there is something about the way they look at me with that silly expression on their face when they want to tell me something, that first made me tell one of our dogs that she was acting like a dork. Since then, I've always called them Dorkies.

I raise well loved, socialized, cuddled and nurtured babies. They aren't show dogs, they are pet quality dogs, and I do my best to give them a head start on being a wonderful pet. Lots of attention, lots of varied experiences. They play outside, they play with kids, they play with cats, they spend every day with me in the studio while I work, and are about as social and ready to face the world as any pup can be.

(Another pic from that breeder's site)

So, I don't mind that our parti boy isn't to breed standards on color. I don't expect any of my dogs to win any trophies. But I do expect them to adore their new owners and be great companions.

I have a feeling that this parti boy will get tons of extra attention and cuddles and be an even better dog than most of my babies. And I sure hope Twinkle forgives me for calling her a dirty girl.

Plus, we LOVE parties around here. So a parti pup is right up my ally. And we don't mind showing some individuality. He'll fit right in here at the Cottage!!

Our Cupcake and Tea Party was a blast yesterday. As soon as the pups are big enough for company, I'm going to throw another one, and make sure all the puppies get held and played with by the kids.

Sugarwings had a good time at the party. Since we were in the studio, she slipped over to her art table and did a little painting before coming to the table to create her cupcake. Funny, she worked so hard on making it beautiful, she didn't care a bit about eating it. A true artist!!

I'll have more party pictures and more puppy ones too, later on. For now, I need to go see who was voted off on Idol. That show is getting better, I'm glad I didn't give up on it earlier in the season.

Before I run, I wanted to let you know that Peat Pot Pretty C
harlotte Fairy kits are available in the Boutique now. As well as a new shipment of Charlottes!

Celebrating!

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, flowers, Food and Drink, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 13, 2010

Time to celebrate! I'm so glad Twinkle and the babies are home safe and settled. She is a happy little mama and won't let them out of her sight. I'm having a party today and will probably keep the babies away from everyone, Twinks is feeling a bit worried since we moved the pups around so much yesterday.

She actually tried to hide them under the porch this morning. So, I am giving her a lot of attention and have her in a quiet spot so she feels like the pups are protected, hopefully she won't run off with them again.

During the all night labor marathon, I stayed up with her and worked in the studio. I don't even know how many of these Peat Pot Pretties with Frozen Charlotte fairies that I made. (as well as 12 kits for you to make your own-6 are spoken for)

Some are going to Somerset Life (yippee!), some to the shop to sell, and a couple I will be giving away as prizes for people who sign up to follow me (Google Friend Connect on my side bar)

But for today, they are centerpieces for a Cup Cake and Tea Party that I am having.

The treat cabinet is filled with everything a kid will need to decorate a mini cupcake (or two).

Since Twinkle is being very nurturing today, I thought I'd try to leave her alone as much as I can, but I knew she wouldn't mind me taking one picture.

cute, huh!?

She is such a pretty girl. I'll have more pictures soon, probably more than you want to see!

Hippity Hoppity Fairy Berry Trail

celebrations, fairies, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 4, 2010

On Saturday, we got our boat out of storage and took it to the Marina for the upcoming season. Sugarwings offered to help and since we weren't going to see her for Easter, the bunny hid a little basket for her on the bank of the lake.

But sadly, her mommy's plans for driving to see relatives in Missouri today changed when Sugarwings woke up with a fever. The two of them came over here instead, where they could cuddle up and watch movies and rest, but still be with family.

While the two of them were all tucked up on the couch, the we took advantage of the spectacular, 80 degree, sunshiny day and got to work on the Fairy Berry Trail. All the fairies came out of the shed where they had hidden for the winter. And the bunny came over to hide a few eggs.

The poor kid had a fever of 104 earlier, but was feeling a bit better, so we carried her down to the woods in her jammies to visit her fairy friends and the other creatures who live on the trail.
At first, she was so happy to see her favorite frog prince, that she didn't even notice the trails of carrots.

But she has spent enough time with her Grammy to always notice the sparkle of glitter and be attracted to it! So, she soon noticed some of the hidden plastic eggs.

She didn't want to eat any of the jelly beans inside because she thought the fairies might be mad at her.

Then, she saw her new play house. My husband is the world's best grandfather and we worked for a long time to put this together today, but forever and ever, the Easter Bunny will get all the credit for building her a "Glitter House" as she calls it.

We mowed a 12 foot area between two trees that were draped in vines. Then, I sprinkled glitter all around on the ground, and set up a little chair and table for her (later on, we'll get a picnic set big enough for all of us).

Then, we gathered fallen branches from all over the woods to build "walls" to make a little room.

Over time, we'll foof it up even more. But for a spur of the moment idea using what was laying around, its pretty fun.

I could possibly go broke if I try to keep the ground glitter covered, so I think we'll switch to mulch. I can't wait to see this with all the leaves budded out, it will really feel like a fairy house in the trees then!

After a few jubilant dance moves in her new play area, our poor little fairy grand baby was worn out and didn't even look for the rest of her hidden eggs. And she never did eat a jelly bean, so we knew she must be feeling pretty bad.

In the short time we had her out doors, her fever spiked back up and she said her back hurt. It got back up to over 104 again, so we took her to the ER, we could tell she was feeling awful. I'm glad we did, she has a urinary track infection and is now on antibiotics.

By the time we got back home, her fever was gone again and she was hungry. I whipped up an impromptu Easter dinner
with chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, asparagus and broccoli, while my husband grilled some ruby trout for the vegetarians of the group.

We were glad to see Sugarwings eat a bit, but she still isn't quite herself. She and her mommy will stay all night tonight and hopefully, she'll be up to hopping down the fairy trail tomorrow.

While its sad that she is sick, and she missed out on a family reunion with her mom, it certainly will be an Easter we never forget. I hope yours was a memorable one too!

ps- No pups yet! Twinkle kept up with us all morning clearing brush in the woods and foofing up the bunny trail. Maybe all that hard work will throw her into labor tonight!

Shadowboxes, buddies, and tagging along plus 4- count ’em FOUR giveaways at once!

fairies, flowers, give away, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 31, 2010

This week is craft-o-licious! Beth came by all day Sunday and we had so much fun chatting and gluing and cutting that we forgot to even have lunch till 4pm. Then, on Tuesday, the regular crowd of snippers and gluers came by to hang out and have an Italian themed pitch in lunch. No way we'd forget to eat that meal, it was excellent.

Usually we all bring whatever we feel like making that day, but we tried a little something different this time and had a group project. Vicki has designed these shadow boxes and sent some for us to play with.

At the end of the day, there was plenty of oohing and awing. Vicki had also included collage sheets to use, and most of us used those plus a mix of vintage goodies we already had.

Clockwise these are done by:

all of us, Shawn (who made the lasagna!), me, Mary, Beth. I'm sad that I didn't get a good photo of Marilyn's hers was impressive. There are photos on her blog of all of them, you can see her masterpiece there.

Shawn's daughter, Bethany, bonded with Sugarwings over the jelly bean dispenser in the treat cabinet. Little Bethany has been part of the craft group since we started, but Sugarwings is a wild crafter and I get nothing done after she joins us in the afternoon, so she isn't there for the whole day.

Beth left her Cuttlebug with me on Sunday and I might have gotten a bit carried away making tags from old papers with it….

But what a great use of scraps! Plus, these will be wonderful to make into tag books, and to tie to packages I send out with orders from the Boutique.

One tag book is already done, and ready to list in the shop.

Its not listed yet, but if someone wants it before then, please contact me, its $20.

And here are all the giveaways I tantalized you with in the title:

1- Today is the last day to enter for the March Giveaway, a rose quartz and china shard pendant. All comments all month, any post are entered.

2 & 3- If you sign up to be my Google Friend, you are entered to win a prize, I am giving away two Peat Pot Pretties with vintage flowers. (details in the sticky post at the top)

4- We have one extra shadowbox from Vicki that I will offer to someone who leaves a comment on THIS post. Thanks, Vicki!! These things are really cute.

5- And hey, is this #5?? Yep, Officially, the April Giveaway starts at midnight tonight. And I'll do my best to announce what it will be soon, instead of forgetting till the 20th or so…

Party prep

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, I do tend to run on, don't I?, jewelry, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / March 25, 2010

We are counting down the days till puppy time, poor Twinks looks about ready to pop! She still has some time to go, and it looks like she is going to spend those days resting.

The whole time I am in the studio, she curls up in this dog carrier/purse. She barely fits anymore, and I'd hate to have to sling it over my shoulder with her (and that tummy full of pups) in it at this point.

It was given to her when she was a puppy herself by a friend, and I used to carry her around in it. It has become her dog bed under my work table. Now that her birthing time is getting closer, she rarely leaves the bag.

Or maybe she just hides in it to escape the chaotic mess that my studio has become?? I feel like hiding when I look at it too. I have two craft days and an Easter Egg party coming up, one tomorrow, so I might need to rent a back hoe to clean this quickly.

Here is something I have learned about having a nice, big studio to work in.

THE MORE TABLES I SET UP, THE MORE STUFF I LEAVE OUT.

Its really sad, because I enjoy having a pretty place to work in, and I'd never let my house get to this point. My home always looks lived in, but not scary like the studio. I like things pretty and peaceful. But out here, things just pile, and pile, and pile. Till I force myself to do something about it.

I knew I'd let it go too far when Sugarwings lectured me about covering up her Play Doh table with packing materials. We talk a lot about her not messing with my stuff, and I was in the wrong to over flow into her area. And I sure heard about it too.

It may look like utter chaos, but there really is a working order to it… at least that is what I tell myself. I'm sure that is what all the people on "Hoarders" say to themselves too.

So, today, I've spent the morning clearing away the last of the Alice themed goods. I've listed the remaining 4 tag covers (I think I'd made about 100!) in the Boutique and all of the materials I used while working on the tags and books are stowed away.

Then, I finished up making Peat Pot Pretties with Charlotte fairies from all of those materials that were still out. I've listed these two and have a few more to photograph. Soon, I hope to gather up what I need to make up the kits that you have asked for to make your own. Maybe after I face the taxes….

There was a big pile of flea market finds that I was trying to get photographed and listed, and that is done now too.

The trouble with cleaning up, is that I can't just put things away. I have to finish up whatever I had them out for in the first place. And use up the scraps. So, of course, when I come across something like an old candy box that was torn, I had to make tags out of it. If I'd packed it away, then it would have just become clutter and would have looked like I was saving torn up trash. Then, I really would have felt like a Hoarder!

So, I made tags from the box. And took photos, and listed them. (I'm patting myself on the back big time over that) I used tidbits laying around on my desk. That is such a much more fun way to clean than to just pack it all away. Plus, its a challenge to limit myself to using what is on the desk, not getting anything new out.

And then, when I get to the place when there is not much left to use on the desk, I can get back to the rest of the clean up.

I'm kind of looking forward to it. I have all day and all night by myself, till as late as I'd like to stay out here and putter and clean. I'll watch the Idol results and Runway while I work and eat granola bars for dinner.

Although, so far, this season of each has been kind of blah to me… Still a fan, but just not as excited about either this time around. I'm still hanging on to LOST too, but I kind of feel like every time they give us one of the so called, promised "answers" its still a question. So, is Richard right, is the island Hell, or was that just his way of seeing it, because of his background??

And please remember, if you want a chance to win this month's giveaway- the shard and rose quartz pendant, you can leave a comment on any post, you don't have to go back to the one where I ann
ounced the MARCH GIVEAWAY.

Okay, back to work for me. But first a quick trip to the PO and the gym.

The Tiniest Dancers

antiques/junking, celebrations, fairies, family, parties, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 23, 2010

When I found these teeny little ballerinas, I was just charmed by them. At barely an inch, they are just as dainty and sweet as can be. I didn't get many of them, just a few to add to the shop along with some of their big sisses, and a few for me to use too.

It was a girly day for the Boutique. I added fairies, ballerinas, Charlottes and Alices.

Don't you just love the badly painted faces of the OLD cake topper ballerinas? So ugly they are cute.

This shipment of Charlottes is of all eensy weensy little girls. Each is every bit as dainty as that tiny ballerina, at about 1 inch long.

I scrubbed at a couple to see if the dirt comes off, and most of it will. But I am leaving it on, in case the new owner likes "patina" as much as I do.

They are just so tiny and sweet.

Kind of like these two, the sweetest little dancers ever.

We had a little tea party so Pixie Pie and Sugarwings could open the gifts that were sent to them by Debra Ganas. They loved them!! Thanks, Debra!!

Sugarwings loves her cuddly dog. But I made a mistake in my Swap Book notes and only wrote down that there was a gift for Sugarwings next to the giver's name, not what it was, because it wasn't open at the time. So, I won't know what is from who!

How rude of me. I'm sorry.

She has a couple more to open, and tomorrow is my Sugarwings Day, so she and I will spend some time enjoying the thoughtfulness of the givers.

You know that feeling after a holiday, or big event when all of a sudden, its over and you wonder what you are going to do with your time? That is kind of how I am feeling right now, I miss the Alice Tag Book Swap!

So, today I made up a book of my own tags, plus a few kits if anyone would like to make a book.

Confessions of a sloth

fairies, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 21, 2010

Sloth-dom agrees with me. While off of work this week, I've read Edgar Sawtelle plus a few back issues of Newsweek, rented Precious and A Serious Man, went to see Alice, She'd out of my League, Green Zone, and Shutter Island. Not to mention every single episode of anything that was waiting for me on TV in the DVR.

A few years back, I had tendinitis and learned the hard way that if you don't let it heal up, it can go on for months. So, I stayed away from work all week and didn't pick up anything besides a remote control or a book. I'm surprised at how easy it was for me to get out of my work-a-holic habits and just relax. It might have had something to do with the pleurisy, that kind of made me feel run down and yucky too.

Since it was spring break for Sugarwings and her Daddy, I didn't get any fairy babysitting in, which was a good thing, since I couldn't really lift her with my old lady achiness going on. But I did get to spend a day with the two of them at Crown Center in Kansas City. There was a fairy tale village sponsored by Hallmark, and it was cute as can be. Sugarwings was in princess paradise.

The event is free and so well made! Plenty of interactive stuff too.

She got to pull Pinocchio's strings to make him dance. That was a nice change for her, usually its my strings that she pulls.

Yes, she has had a lot of practice tugging on my heart strings.

Thanks again for all of your messages and nice comments. I'm trying not to type much, so please don't think I'm rude for not responding. I've enjoyed reading them all.

And if you want to be entered to win the March giveaway of this rose quartz/china shard/vintage crystal pendant, please leave a comment. Although it sure doesn't feel like March. 8 inches of snow on the first official day of Spring???

Thanks!

fairies, Sugarwings, swaps

By Karla Nathan / March 19, 2010

Thanks for all of your well wishes. I tried to return a few emails, but the typing is making my arm ache. I am enjoying reading them, and hope to visit soon.

So, for a few days, I'm going to try to keep myself out of the studio and away from the keyboard. NOT EASY!

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the tag books they received, didn't people send in some beauties? OK, I'm off to rest up some more. Its kind of nice, lots of movies, TV, and Sugarwings! Not bad. But I do miss my studio and computer.