fairies – Page 29 – Karla's Cottage

Not just one Winner, but TWO Winners for March

Etsy Goodies, fairies, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, hand painted signs, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / April 2, 2008

As I selected a name for my monthly giveaway, I was pleased to see that the winner was

BOBBIE VALENTINE

With that last name, I just had to pick out something special to send to her, and thought she might like this heart shaped locket with a hand painted rose.

Well, I should know what she’ll like, Bobbie is my sister!

So, then, I decided that maybe that wasn’t fair, and I pulled another name to send this hand painted sign to.

Michelle

If you want to win a prize from me, all you have to do is leave a comment, any comment, any post, any time during the month and it is entered into my monthly giveaway.

Remember my dilemma about the cabinet with the black trim? I just had to paint the trim white. I loved the black, but it took away from the calm, serene look I was going for in my studio redo. With so many supplies and so much going on, I wanted the background to be more subtle and that black stood out too much.

I also simply couldn’t leave this cabinet alone. When I got the new, and much more formal table, this cottagey corner cabinet just looked too country.

If you remember from this post, I had already repainted the cabinet a warmer white, added a piece of trim to the top, rearranged the shelves, and then covered the bead board interior with vintage wallpaper,.

That didn’t quite do it. It needed more. So, I added these round embellishments to the center of each window panel and rose embellishments to 4 outside corners.

Then I brushed on and wiped off a pale tan glaze. I’m much happier! for now……..

While looking at the photos of the new cabinet, I got to thinking about some past redos of that room.

These red floral curtains and black accents were an attempt to try something really different for me. I didn’t like it for long. But the curtains were clearance fabric, that I didn’t even sew, just cut to fit and clipped up on the curtain rods, and the black chairs just needed a lighter coat of paint, to change the whole look.

So, it became this, with some vintage blue toile curtains, and still a few touches of black. (There are more dark items not pictured, on the other side of the room, that makes it work)

Then, when Twinkle refused to be housebroken, I threw out the rug. And lightened up the room for Christmas.

Oh, did I mention this was all in little more than one year?

Before that, it looked like this. (this photo is by Bill Mathews, styled by Gloria Gale and was featured in Paint magazine).

I’m not quite finished with my current look. I might just have to paint the natural wood table top… And if that dog is EVER house broken, I’ll get a rug.

I do enjoy my redos. The one from the studio this week has been a deep cleaning and major redo, I delved into cabinets, drawers, boxes of junk and resorted it all.

I came across a lot of supplies that I figured I wasn’t going to get around to using and have listed some collage kits on Etsy for $12 each. Some have already sold, but I am making up more to list if you are interested in one.

I also stumbled across these buckets that I had tucked away and never done anything with. So, I foofed them up with some vintage goods and old wallpapers.

A redo can be a creative stimulus, coming across things I’d forgotten about, looking at a room and its function in a new way, re-purposing items, and getting rid of stuff that I knew I wasn’t going to make use of.

And along with my New Years resolution to not hoard my good stuff, I pulled out my extremely favorite, expensive, beautiful, wonderful, most perfect wallpaper and cut out a piece to decorate this bucket with. Look at the 1930s fairy on this, isn’t she something?

Well, back to work, this wallpaper doesn’t glue itself to the junk I have lying around!

Time to preen your feathers and Bling that Birdhouse!

Etsy Goodies, fairies, parties, swaps, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / March 27, 2008

sk! What do you LOVE about your Birdie’s home??

Welcome to our Self Linking, Self Swapping, Self Marketing party! Yes, Beth and I are lazy hostesses, she says this is the equivalent of inviting people over and asking them to bring all their own food and drinks, then clean up after themselves.

The rules are simple: you can buy, sale, or trade, if you like, just let people know in your posts, or on the flickr site if you want to moving the real estate.

I will be giving one house away today to someone who leaves a comment.

The rest are FOR SALE!

And for a special price too, any of these cuties, big or small, simple or ornate, blingy or elegant (who am I kidding, these are all blingy and gaudy!!)—if purchased this week from this post— are only $15 each plus postage.

Ok, so those are my personal specs for sales. Make sure you state yours if you want to sell or swap a home during the party. I am also up for a swap…… I could use a special bird house for some fairies to move into up in Sugarwing’s bedroom.

The birdhouse with the kitty is sold to Louisa

Now, for the party linking rules. Like I said, we are pretty laid back about this one!

All you do is leave a comment, on my blog, Beth’s blog or BOTH.

In your comment, tell people that you are inviting them over to see your creations. Birdhouse_201

Make sure you leave the URL or link to your blog, or you can show the birdhouse on our flickr site if you don’t have a blog.

Everyone is invited to play along! Flickr is free and easy to do, so jump in and give it a try.

Birdhouse_203 Simple huh? Leave a comment, join the party!

Now, if you want to party hop and visit all the homes on display for our feathered friends, all you need to do is read the comments on my blog and Beth’s blog.

Not everyone who reads my blog leaves a comment and if you haven’t because you don’t know how, here is what you do:

At the end of the post, the small print says the time it was written, a list of categories, and then "comments". Click on that word.

Then, you get to read all the previous comments. Usually, you can click on the author’s name and it will take you to their blog. Sometimes, you can’t.

If there isn’t an active link, then you can copy and paste the URL that the birdhouse blinger has left for us to find them and see what they have made.

Any questions, feel free to ask. Email me or Beth and we’ll do what we can to help you get to visit everyone or to help you invite people to visit you. Fairy Banner house sold to Betty

Fairy houses count too, right? I’m sure that if a bird wanted to share the rent, they’d be allowed to move in.

The postage might be a bit higher on these fairy homes I have made. A couple of them are covered in stones, glass, beads, and trinkets, which tends to weigh more than the vintage wallpaper I put on most of the houses.

All the fairy homes come complete with a nest ready for the fairy to curl up on.

As you can probably tell, I got a bit carried away, like usual. I tend to make more than one or two when I try something…. I might have a done a couple dozen houses or so.

I could just keep going and going, these are such fun to decorate! I hate to have this challenge come to an end.

But I am sure I will feel exactly the same about the next project I take on. Don’t you just love to experiment? In the last year of blogging, I have had opportunities to participate in so many fun swaps and challenges and each one I did, the nests, matchboxes, tiaras, doll hats, all of them, I just wanted to make more, more, more!

Blogworld is such an inspiring place to be. Always a new project or idea to sample.

So, Beth and I decided to sponsor another swap. Details to come, but it will be through Vintage Workshop and we have permission to feature their images and offer free samples to our swappers to use!

We’ll let you know when we get it all worked out and are ready for sign ups.

Please check back later if you are interested in our Spring Swap.

And for today, thanks so much for coming to Our Bling Your Birdhouse Day and please go and visit some of the other bird abodes that our friends came up with!

Over the top? Why of course!

fairies, family, how to's, magazine pictures or articles, paintings

By Karla Nathan / March 26, 2008

So many people were asking me about the mural I did on my baby B-I-L, Randy’s, floor, that I thought I would post more photos.

Here are a couple of snaps of it that I have in my scrap book.

This little fishy is drawn in the scrapbook too. He is a reminder of the one painted by the threshold in Randy’s craft room, kind of like a Walmart greeter, for everyone who comes in. We named him "Wallerford" after the Walmart greeter and the beautiful crystal Waterford glasses we were sipping our champagne from while we painted. Randy does know how to treat his guests right!

Here is Wallerford in person. Please ignore the twig laying on him, and by the way, it is a good idea to sweep the floor before photographing it, if you don’t want sticks in the picture.

Last year, I did a how-to on painting a concrete floor. If you’d like to read it, you can find it here.

Randy’s craft room was painted in stages. One night, years ago, we started painting family and friends on his wall as fairies.

It became a tradition, every time I’d go to Jacksonville to visit him that we would listen to show tunes (we both love Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and Dreamgirls), drink champagne, and add more paintings to the room.

Now, two walls are a fairy forest, this is what the rest of the room looks like, a garden wall and sky.

Little whimsical details are everywhere. Like this frog chatting with a dragonfly while holding a champagne glass.

And one trip to visit was spent making the ceiling a sky.

After that, he HAD to pull up the carpet and turn the floor into a pond. What kind of magical, fairyland garden is carpeted??

Now, every inch of that room is all muralled up. I still add characters when I go now, there will always be room for a flying puppy, or Randy’s best friend as an elf somewhere in the gardens.

While I had my photo album out to get these pictures of Randy’s craft room, I came across these pics of "Jayhawks on Parade" and with the Kansas Jayhawks doing well in March madness, I thought I’d show you some of the work I did on the giant Jayhawk sculptures that were on display in Lawrence, KS a couple years ago.

This peacock represented team pride and was commissioned by the Art Center. It is painted in iridescent colors and features stained glass mosaic.

The "Marvelous Mosaic Floral Fantasy Joyous Jewelhawk" is the gaudiest thing ever! And you know I love gaudy.

Hand painted flowers, mosaics, beads, old jewelry, and more- this creature is one blinged up baby.

Over the top? Well, yep, just the way I like things.

Speaking of Blinged up, tomorrow (Thursday March 27) is our Bling your birdhouse day.

Hope to see you there!

Remember, I will be giving away one gaudy home for birds to someone who leaves a comment on the party post.

Oh, and GO Jayhawks!!

What are you hoppy about this year?

Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 22, 2008

My studio is semi- cleaned up and the tables are set for our family Easter dinner tomorrow.

Every holiday, we go around the table and take turns saying what we are grateful for this year. At Christmas, I ask what they are "Merry" about.

And at Easter, I ask what they are "Hoppy" about.

Everyone rolls their eyes and makes a protest, but they all go along with it to humor me, and I think, that they really do enjoy it, since it is such a tradition at this point.

As far as setting the table, I don’t go to a lot of trouble. All I do is the center pieces, the food stays right on the stove and everyone serves themselves buffet style.

But look at my pretty pan for tomorrow! A PINK skillet from TJ Max. The Easter Bunny brought it by to me a little early so I could whip up something tasty in it for guests.

I line the center of the table with some pretties, usually my latest projects. This year, I have teacup nests and lots of birdhouses.

And of course, a fairy or two! This one is listed for sale on Etsy right now.

(oops, I just realized it is not listed yet! If you are interested for $18, email me)

I’ll put out some fresh flowers and probably fill the center of the table with even more pretties I have made. I like it to be full and have something interesting in front of each dinner guest.

There will be more birdhouse pictures on Thursday for the party Beth and I are having, "Bling your Birdhouse Day" or "What do you LOVE about your Birdie’s Home?"

I will be giving away one of these birdhouses that day, leave a comment to enter the drawing.

I have my Easter bonnets all ready to wear. I think I might try this new blue one, I got it today for $6 and it is abundantly full of blooms!

It was a lucky flower day, I got the little white flowered hat for $5 and the roses, carnation, and little velvet posies were a gift from a friend. Now that is a good friend! She knows what I like.

Since I knew that Easter would be busy, with turkey basting, egg hunting, and all the visiting, we got the littlest Nathans together early and took photos in their fancy dresses.

One of Sugarwing’s photos is already framed, so I can surprise my husband with it as his Easter treat.

Another copy of that picture has been added to my scrapbook. I cut out around the baby’s picture, then cut a slit into the rose cart with an exacto knife, following the outline of the roses. The portrait was then slipped into the slit and glued down, then the whole thing was glued to some vintage wallpaper.

hmm, I should add some fairy wings to this….

Little Madison was a much better poser than my Sugarwings. She is still too little to get away from the camera!

My fairy grand baby was too much of a moving target, running up and down the stairs, and dumping out the baskets full of grass and bunnies.

Most of her photos are of her diapered backside as she scoots up the steps again for the 50th time.

Her dainty dress and her tidily fixed hair didn’t last long either. This little wild child was having too much fun to care about pictures.

And to me, this shot of my pixie is even more precious than the perfectly groomed and posed ones we had hoped to get.

I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday with your own cherished loved ones. I can’t wait to see mine tomorrow!

Frilly Things, Blings, and Butterfly Wings

fairies, family, holiday decor, how to's, parties, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 20, 2008

I was invited to a fairy tale party with Sugarwings yesterday and of course it was right up our alley. We got to wear our wings and frilly things, plus do some blings !

The party was at our local HyVee grocery store promoting the release of "Enchanted"

All the little girls got craft packs to decorated crowns and wands, that of course came with a ‘poisoned’ apple, since they were all fairy princesses. Sugarwings decorated me with most of her glittery stickers instead of putting them on her tiara.

Afterwords, when I went grocery shopping to get some forgotten items for the dinner for 18 I was cooking that night, I looked very sparkly in the store with my extras the baby added to my fairy grandmother outfit.

They dined on mini pizzas. Dessert was a chocolate fountain with lots of goodies to dip into it. So, she wasn’t too hungry for my build your own burrito bar that night for the big family dinner. I don’t blame her, its hard to come back to reality and eat a burrito when you have spent the afternoon as a princess and being served chocolate from a magical fountain.

With company here, gallbladders going bad every where I look, and tax season approaching, there certainly has not been much creative time at my cottage lately.

I was able to squeeze in an hour or so yesterday and made 3 eggs. I’d seen these made at Amy’s and hers are so much better, but I chose to use throw away materials, not anything wonderful like her velvet ribbons and rhinestones.

The trim I used was just snippets of crepe paper and tinsel. I was too cheap to use the ‘good stuff’

Heres a quick how to:

Start with the large sized plastic eggs

pick a paper you want to cover the egg in, tear in small strips and soak the paper for a moment in water

brush glue onto one side of the egg, add paper strips, mushing them down well with your fingers, then brush glue over the top and sprinkle with glitter (I used the kind that looks like sugar)

Repeat with the other half of the egg, being careful to get close to the edge but not interfere with the lip.

Glue trim along the edge to cover the rims, so they don’t show when the egg is put back together.

I’d keep these out of candy baskets, because of the glitter, but they make a pretty display and I will put a gift card in them to give to the bigger kids.

I also got started covering my Swiss Chalet music box. Not exactly a birdhouse, but it is a house and I will add some birds, so I think that if I get it finished, it can come to our Bird House Bling Party next Thursday.

Check out the details if you’d like to be a part of it. And remember, you don’t have to be a blogger, you can get a free flickr account and upload photos there too.

This chalet is barely begun, but I think that the pink polka dot ribbon might be jarring. I usually go for all vintage trims and maybe this one is too new looking?? The velvet is a scrap from a rocking chair I redid for Sugarwings when she was born. I found some white velvet, and was able to do a soft pink marbley look with fiber reactive dyes. Her little Hippy Chick mom loves tie dye, so this was done just for her.

Today will be a craftapoolza- Beth is coming to play! We will be making birdhouses all day to be ready for next week (I hope you join us! Feel free to add the button to your blog too). We’ll also be plotting our next swap, so I hope you’ll join that also.

We aren’t the only ones planning a party, there is always something fun going on in blogworld. Sandy is hosting an Easter Parade today and is asking us to show our Easter Bonnets. Here are some of my latest purchases, in a basket on the fairy grandbaby’s piano. She likes to wear one while she serenades me.

She is going through a hat phase right now and luckily, I can keep her supplied with plenty of rosey ones to show off in.

Thanks, Sandy!

And over at the Part Tea Planner’s there is a tea party welcoming the first day of spring.

Enjoy the celebrations!

St. Patty’s Day Two Tag Swap and a BIG, Ole, THANK YOU

fairies, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 16, 2008

Thanks!!

To all the people who wished Ryan and Sugarwing’s mom quick recoveries on their gallbladder dilemmas. (both are doing well, and Ry is home from the hospital now)

And thanks to all the people who joined in on my St. Pats Two Tag Swap, late as it is going out.

There were so many pretty little extras tucked into the envelopes people sent to me.

I shared as much as I could and sent divided up a lot of the extras to include in the envelopes that I sent out.

I also included some vintage wallpaper scraps with plenty of greens from my insane, over stocked, stockpile of crazily hoarded old beautiful papers.

I feel AWFUL that I mixed up the boxes and don’t know who this is from!!! Whoever you are, thanks, I will be wearing these tomorrow! I can use some good Irish luck, after the hospital stays we went through this week in Nathanville. EDIT- the socks I’ll be dancing a jig in on St Pattys are from Jeanie-Thanks!!

And look at how darling this is, a rose patterned cosmetic bag, that I will make lots of use of on my trips to DC.

It was made by Lisa, and is such a pretty thing. Thanks, Lisa!

This PERFECT for me brooch was sent by Wanda (among a huge box full of treats, equally wonderful)

Look- is symbolizes my heart in DC, for when my husband is staying there!!!

It came in the cutest little birdhouse jewel box, that I will show photos of on our "What do you LOVE about your Birdie’s Home?" Day (otherwise known as Bling your Birdhouse Day) that I am hosting with Beth on March 27th.

To be a part of it, all you have to do, is leave a comment with your link to your blog. Details can be read by clicking on the button at the top left of my blog. We also have a Flickr site, if you don’t have a blog and wish to participate, show your photos HERE. A flickr account is free and easy to set up if you don’t already have one.

But back to the St. Pats Two Tag Swap- look at the cuteness!

I tried to get some photos of all the tags, but some pictures were blurry, and by then, all the tags had been wrapped up and tucked away into the packages going to their new homes.

Twenty swappers participated and each and every envelope was a pleasure to open.

I was so pleased with the quality of the tags that everyone made, it was hard to give any of them up!

It was such fun for me to do a swap this way, so that I got to look at and play with all the tags!

I just hope I didn’t screw anything up, and everyone gets the proper goods in the mail! I am an artist, not a secretary and I am not known for good organizational skills. (I already mentioned shamefully losing the name of the sweet person who sent the cheerful socks)

I worked with 3 different checklists to make sure everyone got:

1- a package (sounds simple, and elementary, but really, I had to double check twice)

2- two tags from two different people

3- a little surprise from the goodies that were sent

4- some vintage wallpaper from me

Please, please, please— let me know if you didn’t get what you were supposed to! If you didn’t, it was due entirely to my inability to be organized.

Well, after telling you how bad I am at being organized and making sure all the swaps go out correctly, you probably don’t want to hear this, but- Beth and I are planning another swap!

(by the way, she is EXTREMELY organized)

Details to come, we’re making plans this week, hopefully we will announce it during our Bling your Birdhouse Day party.

And lucky little Miss Sugarwings was given a box full of fun things by the kind hearted Wanda,

And this sleeping fairy baby is for her too, from my pal, Pam along with a blooming rose pin for me.

I feel every bit as spoiled as that rotten little Sugarwings

Thanks everyone for being so nice.

And good luck chasing the end of the rainbow, I wish you all the Luck of the Irish on St Patty’s Day!

The Snow Ball Effect- Avalanche Style

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, fairies, holiday decor, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 2, 2008

After seeing that gorgeous stairway while shopping in Virgina, I have been on a redo roll. Avalanche style, right down the mountain, gathering momentum and growing and growing.

I call it the snowball effect for two reasons. One- we’ve had the worst winter I can remember in years and I have been snowed in staring at my house way too much. Staring and finding fault.

Two, because as the project rolls along, it grows and grows.

Redoing the stairs meant that the walls should be repainted while I had the carpet up. I am entranced by Strawberry Whoppers right now and love the color as much as the taste. So, I mixed up a gallon of paint just slightly muted in that shade. (I used some leftovers in the garage, mixed and matched and added some tints till I got just the right pale, malty pink)

Under the rug, I knew the wood was going to be construction grade and meant to be covered with carpet, and that there would be some gaps here and there. But man… it was bad.

We ended up buying new pine steps for $7 each at Home Depot.

And to cover the gaps along the risers and the wall, I found these little corner pieces ($2 each) that just fit.

The steps are replaced, the paint is on, the walls are painted. Now I need to wallpaper them all.

When I cut out and held up slice of vintage rose patterned wallpaper, I loved it so much, I started to hate the rest of the room. The stair way is open to the dining room and all of a sudden it just wasn’t measuring up.

I bought a new (antique) dining set on sale at my friend’s store ($600). Then, of course, the curtains won’t match the new chairs. I picked up lace panels at Target ($60) Doesn’t Target have the best curtains???

And now, standing back from the baby’s room and looking down the stairs, I am thinking that carpet in there could use replacing…. And I saved so much by making my own paint and using vintage wallpaper that I already had and finding bargains for the dining room. And by doing the work myself with my son instead of hiring someone, that labor savings was huge! Heck I am redoing TWO rooms for way under $1000, on Trading Spaces they can barely do one. (well does a stairway count as a room??)

Aren’t I good at rationalizing?

I am feeling very spoiled by getting these re-dos done, but I am not nearly as spoiled as this little one. Sugarwings got some gifts in the mail from blogging friends.

How cute are these?? The little purse is from my pal, Phyllis and the cute collage with the baby’s photo on it is from Mahala. I think I will fill the little bag with Easter grass and toys, and tie the tag to it to give to her at Easter. Won’t they be cute together?

Of course, this little girl is just as happy to eat mud as she is to eat candy. I babysat her all day yesterday and she did quite a bit of mud snacking. (notice her lips)

So Grandmama taught her how to spit. That is a trick I am sure her parents will appreciate. We also went down to the creek to sit on the bank and throw rocks. Spitting and throwing rocks, yep, her parents will be thrilled with me.

Between working on the stairway and babysitting, I found some time to make pretties too. I bought these child’s tea cups from Shabby in the City with plans to give them to the baby, but she is too young yet for china cups.

So, they became nests for a fairy and a couple of sugared birds with vintage millinery flowers. I hope to get them all listed on etsy but time seems to be getting away from me.

Time has not been on my side lately. Listing seems to eat up a lot more time than actually crafting!

I managed to list these two little Easter peat pots that I made, the pair for $10. I made a TON of these last night, because I just can’t seem to make one of anything. For me, creating things is like a bag of Lays potato chips. (remember those commercials?) One is never enough.

If you would like one of these I will sell them to my blog readers for $4 each, plus postage instead of the Etsy cost of $10 a pair, for the saving me the time of listing them!

Same with the child’s tea cup nests- if you’d like one with birds now, it is only $10. $12 for the fairy.

While my house is torn up with remodeling and changing out furniture, I am extremely behind and am happy to give you a discount if it means I don’t have to edit pictures for Etsy right now!

These aren’t the best photos are they? Come to think of it, this isn’t a real pretty posting, with the murky photos and the ripped up stairs. Oh well, there is a Sugarwings picture, that makes the post beautiful to me!

In case you can’t tell, the peat pots are glittery and sweet, I used lots of vintage goodies, old soft yarn and trims, plus some German die cuts. No two pots are alike.

Email me or comment if you are interested. If not, I hope to get them Etsy sometime before Easter passes me by and it is too late!

And oops, I can’t forget this–

My winner for my February giveaway is:

PENNY

And don’t forget, if you are entering my St Pats Two Tag swap, they need to be mailed to me by March 7th. Isn’t that the date I said? I forget.

And honestly, it isn’t my fault- look at my calender!!!! It has the first half of Feb. and then goes directly to the second half of June!!!

Last year the calender I had gave me 31 days in each month, and I didn’t notice until August. Now, two years in a row, I get a bad one, what are the odds of that???? And I never know what date or day of the week it is anyway, so this really doesn’t help me at all.

Thanks everyone for entering my drawing. In March, you get another shot at winning, actually two, because I am giving away a bird house on March 27th too.

Good luck!

Teaparties and presents

Chandeliers, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 30, 2008

I am getting ready to put together the Sweet Treats and Roses swap books with Beth tomorrow and luckily two of the books are being mailed to people I am sending gifts to, so I thought I’d slip these into the packages.

The purple flowered pendant with the amethyst drop goes to my buddy, Barb, who also shares my birthday.

She had surprised me with this Fairyland ornament for Christmas and I wanted to do something nice for her. I am keeping it up year round, and hung it from the chandelier above my computer, so I always have my Sugarwings close by.

The other necklace goes to the winner of my 5558th comment prize, my pal, Heather. Having gotten to know Heather through reading her blog and exchanging emails, I think that she will like the colors I have chosen for her pendent.

Speaking of presents, Sugarwings got this wonderfully cute skirt in the mail!

I’d entered a giveaway on Clarice’s blog a couple of weeks ago and won this skirt for the fairy grand baby.

The skirt was made by Christy Misty and she has some adorable pants on her website too. Thanks Christy!

This skirt is a 3-4 and is a bit too large for my little sprite yet, but she’ll grow into it.

She loves to play dress up and for now will wear it as a tea party dress.

When I take her up the stairs to her play room, she always hands me something pretty to dress her in. She expects her special play room to be a formal occasion and can’t just wear any old thing up there where all her favorite bears and dolls will see her!

And of course, she likes to see others play along. Its a good thing that little Twinks is a happy dog who will do anything for her "litter mate" . These two grew up together and are inseparable.

The wings were a gift from Carol, and I can see they will be getting plenty of use in the future! I think it will be my turn to wear them next.

Finally, I attacked some of the Christmas decor that was still lurking upstairs. While the baby played with the puppy and the dolls, I took down the decorations in her room. Not all of them made it to the box, a lot just got shuffled around the room to live there year round, like these fairies that I put on the chandelier over the day bed.

I don’t know which of them came up with this idea, but they both seemed to enjoy it.

Twinkle is a good hearted dog and I think I see lots of doll clothes in her future. I hope she enjoys dressing up as much as the baby does, because I doubt if she’ll have a choice in the decision in the next few years.

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!