family – Page 47 – Karla's Cottage

Ponies and free holiday images

By Karla Nathan / November 30, 2012

While decorating the house for the holidays, I took a mid day break to go visit "ponies" with Dewdrop and Fin. She adores watching My Little Pony, and talks about ponies all the time. Its her favorite word. Many conversations with her go like this:

Me- "Hi, honey, how are you?"

Dewdrop-"pony?"

Me- "Can you say 'Grammy'?"

Dewdrop- "pony!!!"

So, we thought she'd be thrilled to see some real, live horses.

She might have been expecting pink ones that fly, because she was a bit underwhelmed. She did give them lots of love, and enjoyed snuggling big, ole, Dusty even though he wasn't pink or purple.

(Notice the orb in the photo? She is putting out some loving energy)

Our neighbors (owners of Twinkle's Puppy Daddy) have a whole herd of horses and were nice to let us come and take the kids for a ride.

Mr. Fin did a great job solo as well as holding his baby sister while horseback.

Notice there are no photos of ME on a horse? You won't be seeing one either. I love horses, and think that their necks are the perfect size for a hug and they have the world's most velvety noses. But when we had our own herd, I fell off of a pony (not a big horse, a little pony. And yes, fell off, wasn't thrown) and fractured 2 vertebrae.

From then on, I've felt happier talking to horses with my feet on the ground. I'm not scared of horses, and have recovered, as long as I keep myself limber and do my stretches, my back is fine most of the time. But I don't have any inclinations towards climbing up onto another horse any time soon.

We have discussed getting some horses of our own again. My husband thinks maybe when he retires, he would like to have some. But I'm iffy on the idea. I enjoy being around them and think they make nice pets, but they are really big and a lot of hard work. There are days when I'm overwhelmed with just a few chickens and herd of dorkies.

That face is hard to resist though. We will probably end up with a few. Especially when the grand fairies are older and can be responsible for their own horse or pony.

We will see if the grands even want horses when they are older. My sons never did.

Dewdrop just might want one.

At the indoor play center, when I gave her a new shirt with a pony on it for her birthday, she quickly stripped naked to change clothes, right there at the table.

She was very excited about it.

Here are some presents for you, some free holiday images. I used the farmhouse in the snow for Carol's Shine workshop, (where I am at today, please wish me luck!) as the labels on my kits. And the birds reminded me of my Birdsong friends, so I just had to share them.

These are all on one page, so click on the set of images to open in a larger window, save to your computer, then print it.

Painting puppeesh

celebrations, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, paintings, parties, puppies!

By Karla Nathan / November 26, 2012

Isn't Ashley a beautiful bride? The wedding was lovely and our teddy bear of a nephew, Travis looked very happy.

The wedding was held in a shabby chic lover's dream house. I could have wandered around drooling over the furniture and decor all night. I wish I could have got more photos, but my camera broke and I forgot my phone.

Toward the end of the evening, it dawned on me that my husband had an Iphone that I could borrow it and email a few pics to myself. But by then, the light wasn't as good and I'd missed all the best shots. This close up of my handsome husband and I needed severe editing to make it usable. The rest, weren't salvageable.

Luckily, my camera didn't shoot craps till right as the ceremony started, and I had it for the bridal shower which was such a fun time!

It was held at Wine and Design where we all got to do a complete painting to take away with us, drink wine and eat yummy chocolate cheddar cheese ( from Trader Joe's).

This art studio is a GREAT idea that I would love to snag. You get a prepared canvas with a sketch on it, and the instructor paints along with everyone and they do a painting step by step.

Our class was a chandelier, but I was feeling a little homesick for my dorkie pups and for the kids. It was Dewdrop's second birthday, so I thought about her and painted a puppeesh (as she calls them) as a gift for her.

Its not the best painting I've done, but its aimed for a 2 year old. She likes it, and talks to the picture, telling it stories.

My idea of a fun party, is having a project to do, so this was right up my alley. They rent out to groups, and have a schedule of regular classes too. I think it could be fun to do in my studio, not as a regular thing like this was, but maybe a little class here and there, or teaching a painting of birds in a nest for Birdsong next spring?

Years ago, I used to be a painter, I rarely pick up a brush any more. I don't miss it until I do one, then I wonder why I don't paint more often.

The bride and groom are crazy about their pup, Barkslie, and I offered to do a painting of her for their gift.

This is done in watercolor, but I cheat, and use white acrylic too. I know that in the purest world of watercolor painters, this is frowned upon. But, I figure, its my picture and I can do as I like. So I do. I think the watercolor wash of shadows and spots on the snout is nicely accented with the white hairs over it. Now, the proper way to do this is to save the white of the paper, by using a masking fluid before painting the colors. But I prefer the layers, so I don't bother doing it the right way.

(the whites of the eyes are pure paper and so is most of the white fur, just not the accents over it)

If I do painting classes here at the cottage, I'd tell people not to listen to snobs who tell you that your technique is wrong and go for a finished look that YOU like instead.

Anyone interested? If so, please let me know and we can try to set up a class.

Happy Thanksgiving!

celebrations, family, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 23, 2012

Did you have a good holiday?

Ours had its missteps here and there, like any family gathering. But for the most part, it was a lovely day.
A 20lb fresh, organic turkey baked with garden herbs and olive oil went into the oven early and I got to hang out and play with the kids. I thawed corn that we froze this summer, baked bread and pies the day before, made mashed potatoes early and plopped them into a crock pot to stay warm, and I was FREE.

Setting the table is part of the fun, so I don't count that as any of the work of getting ready. Plus, I did it pretty simply, like the rest of the day, a few pretties in the center of the table and moving some furniture around to set up a second table, and it was done.

Ten of us went to see a matinee of Wreck it Ralph, which made me cry. That was a cute movie, and so much more than I expected. I don't care for video games, so didn't really want to go, but promised little Finn that I'd take him. I'm glad I did.

Afterwards, we played outside and in the studio. Perfect weather and perfect company. Who cared that we were doing this a day early? Everyone had the day off on Wednesday, and the date itself didn't matter to any of us.

All who came brought side dishes, that only needed warming up once they arrived. That was a delight! Every time I took a lid off a pan to see what was inside it was like a mini surprise party, and each one made me so happy. I love pitch in dinners, its so much tastier to try everyone else's favorites.

And I didn't spend all day in the kitchen.

This year, we tried to start a new tradition. Usually, I coerce everyone to say what they are thankful for before we eat. This year, I decided to do a "blessing tree", so diners could write their thankful thoughts onto a paper leaf and add it to the tree.

That way, those who didn't feel like speaking up could still contemplate their blessings and think about the reason for the day, beyond just snarfing turkey.

Sugarwings, Finn and I went out on the Fairy Berry Trail to gather up some leaves to use as templates.

I put all the kids to work producing enough leaves for the whole group.

Each person got a leaf and a glitter pen to write on it.

I made the mistake of using a base that was too light weight for the tree and it toppled a few times, but no harm, even when it dove into a candle.

If this is going to be a tradition, next year, I'll get a better pot for the tree. Maybe even bring in a living potted tree…

This is Sugarwing's leaf. (before the glitter got so thick you couldn't read it). I think it says it all, don't you?

Fine Fall Days

Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 9, 2012

These buddies had a good time the other day. Dewdrop's parents came over to plant some trees for me, and instead of helping, this kiddo and I took the pups down the Fairy Berry Trail.

We have not used it as much this year as we usually do. Sugarwings and I have spent lots of time out there having tea parties and picnics in previous years, but this summer was so hot, and then we had the wild cat scare (no sign of him again), so the Fairy Berry Trail was avoided.

Dewdrop was thrilled with all the details. At Birdsong last spring, some of the ladies brought pretties to foof up the trail extra fairy-ish for us. And it really does look cute this season! Dewdrop looked around like it was her first time there, and I felt bad that it was all so new to her.

That trail in the woods is such a part of my heart, I didn't even realize this baby was too little to remember playing out there last spring. But it was fun to see it through her eyes again. She had to point out every single fairy to me.

I'll try to make it up to her before the weather gets too cold. But I am still a little worried about the Big Giant Cat that came through this summer. The trappers expect him back this winter and are returning to try to get him.

Maybe Dewdrop and I will wait till the cat is gone…. We might just play in the yard for now!

Sugarwings and I have been working on the yard. Or lack of yard, I guess I mean.

We spread some straw over the bare spots, hoping they would reseed for next summer.

Of course, we had some helpers.

The babies are growing. Albie Brave and Strong can now sit on command. Dorothy Rosebud can run in and out of the doggie door on her mom's coat tails.

Two Millionth Visitor

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / November 5, 2012

No, I'm not talking about the puppies. There were days when 9 pups climbing all over me, felt like a million or so, but I meant my blog- sometime over night, my TWO MILLIONTH visitor came by!

Oh my. I certainly never expected that when I first started my blog and had 3 people a week looking at it.

Thanks so much for coming by to see me. My blog started out as a marketing tool, but has become so much more to me. I've met the best people, and made some lasting friendships.

Definitely blogging has become more than work.

Its my journal, my scrapbook, my musings. I can whine a little about my problems, I can share my joys. Its nice to have a place to show someone what I've been working on, like this painted tee for Sugarwings. She told me that she wished all pumpkins were pink and shaped like hearts, so I created one for her.

Having a blog has led me to capturing photos of the grand fairies that I will always treasure.

I wish I'd had this kind of incentive to snap photos of my own sons when they were little. Of course, no digi cameras back then, I was dirt poor, so film and developing were a luxury.

And where else could I talk about flea market and garage sale finds with people who get it and drool along with me? My husband's eyes just glaze over when I start showing him my purchases. Until he starts to wonder just how much I've spent…

Yep,my blog has been a great marketing tool, but I'd say its the sharing that means the most to me.

Working as an artist, I spend a lot of time alone. But with my blog, I have friends to chat with right here with me, just a click away.

Thanks for keeping me company!

Happiest Halloween

celebrations, Dew Drop, family, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 29, 2012

We had a Halloween party that kind of morphed into a multi-layered event.

At first it was going to be just our Gypsy and I making some masks.

But for most holidays, I try to have a kid's craft day with my friends, so I decided to invite all of them too.

And we decided that maybe it would be fun to have a bonfire also, and invite husbands to hang out there while we made things.

We figured that while we were all together that we should do a pitch in dinner and make a whole evening of it.

Complete with a late night, impromptu tea party in the gazebo with the little girls.

And of course, some puppy cuddling too!

So, I picked up a bunch of supplies for the kiddos.

And found these paper mache masks at Target for only $2 each.

Michaels had these wooden ones for $1.

After dinner, we worked out in the studio off and on between visits to the bonfire for s'mores, or having a game of flash light tag.

I'm always impressed at how hard the kids work when we have these craft parties.

There is a wide range of creativity, and you never know what they will come up with.

There were mini pumpkins for the kids to decorate too. The younger the kid, the more projects you need to have. Older kids and adults can spend all evening on one thing, but the more petite artists like to move from one piece to the next pretty quickly.

We had perfect weather for the night. Wow, what luck! It was nice enough to dine outside, but just chilly enough to enjoy the bonfire too.

And while I preach anti orange and purple for the holiday, its still fun to have some more obvious decor for the kids.

I had plenty of traditional colors in the ribbons and stickers too. As a matter of fact, I had more than enough, so I bagged up leftover stickers and took them to Sugarwing's kindergarten class to use.

I think the little ones had a good time.

I know I did!

Poor Dorothy Rosebud! and bye bye little puppies

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, puppies!

By Karla Nathan / October 25, 2012

Poor Dorothy Rosebud had a horrible Tuesday! She and the rest of the pups still here played out in the front yard in the fence with Aunt Sandy's two Yorkies while Twinkle and I were in the studio.

I've heard in the past, that female dogs in a household would try to kill another female's pups, but Daisy and Dixie are such tiny little, mild mannered dogs, it never occurred to me that they could hurt our babies. I figured that the pups were old enough now that all would have fun wrassling and playing together. Stupid me.

See the huge bruise on her tummy? It goes all the way across her back too.

This wasn't their first time together, but it was the first time unsupervised. And 3 pound Dixie decided she didn't like 1-1/2 lb Dorothy Rosebud.

I found the baby under the porch, covered in mud and vomit, and not moving. I rushed her to the vet, she was crying softly, nonstop and was very listless.

He said she didn't seem to have any internal bleeding and the only thing we could do is keep her comfortable, quiet, and medicated and watch her. Xrays wouldn't show intestinal damage and that is what worried him. If she came down with a fever or her gums turned pale, he said he would recommend surgery.

So, Aunt Sandy the RN, listened to her bowel sounds throughout the evening, and the baby slept on my lap, she was still very still, and crying.

I took her to my son, the massage therapist and energy healer, and he said her bowels were fine, the problem was some tendon damage in her thigh and her hip was out of alignment. After working on her for a bit, she started to feel better, was looking around and stopped crying! She could even walk again.

That guy has some major skills. His fix was a lot better than the surgery the vet suggested for this morning.

Last week, I had tendinitis in my right arm and couldn't do a thing. It even hurt to use my finger to turn pages on my Ipad books. So, Mr. Zen worked on my arm, and I felt a little relief. Then, a couple hours later, I realized that there was no more pain. The repairs kind of sneak up on you, they aren't immediate.

That is what happened with the puppy. She felt a little better right away, after he helped her hip. Soon after, she was looking around and interested in the world again. She is still hurt, but not listless and crying. I'm certain she is recovering.

That boy has amazing intuition in knowing how to find where the pain is and he is pretty good about helping the pain leave. Sugarwings says her daddy is magic.

I no longer have problems with arthritis in my thumb and he can make a migraine disappear too. I was glad to find that he was able to help animals as well. It was heartbreaking to see such a tiny dog in such pain.

I feel awful about letting it happen. From now on, no pups around Dixie and Daisy. And Dorothy can't play with anyone else for a few days, so she is isolated. And Twinkle hates Sandy's dogs, so they are kept separated.

We almost need a chart to figure out who can go to where and when.

Since we have to spend so much time taking care of Dorothy Rosebud, we decided to send the other pups to their new homes. One went to St. Joe, MO to my antiquing friend, Pat. Another went to our next door neighbors! And the night before, 1 left for Indiana and 2 to Virginia.

It will be nice to have one of the puppies right in our own backyard, in the house behind our shed. You know they must be nice people if they can put up with this view and not complain.

So, now we are down to two. Dorothy Rosebud, my poor, hurt baby, and sweet faced Albie, otherwise known as Big Head. He is the one who stopped up the whole works and sent Twinkle to the hospital in the first place, due to his huge size. (named for my husband's grandparents, Dorothy and Albert)

The trouble now, that we made choices and fell in love, is that we found out that my husband will have to be living part time in the DC area again. Since I will be travelling back and forth with him, I worry about taking care of two pups. I'm sure Beth will help with one baby sometimes, but I hate to ask anyone to take on two.

It would be hard to give him up now, but we might have to. I probably wouldn't have even let Twinkle have pups at all if I'd known we'd have such a rough year ahead of us. I'll think on it a few more days. But there might be one more darling pup available soon if we decide we can't keep two. ugh, this is sooo hard– I want them ALL.

Isn't this blankey cute? My SIL, Terry, who was here for Romantic Gothic Ghosts, made a blanket for each puppy to take with them when they left. I made sure the throws were covered in Twinkle's scent before they left with it, hopefully that comforted them after they were in their new homes.

We are now out of blankets from Terry, so that means I might just have to keep this last little boy….

This photo is of Frodo, who went to live at Sissy's house. As hard as it is to see the babies leave, its wonderful to know how loved they are with their new families.

ps- there are new things in the Boutique!!

Family Mega Craft Day

family

By Karla Nathan / October 20, 2012

My family and I had so much fun in Beth's class at Romantic Gothic Ghosts that we continued working on our books all evening and all the next day. Here is a page that Sissy did.

And one from Guncle Randy.

He bought the earrings at the Victorian Trading Company outlet store in KC, and used one with his costume and one in his book.

We'd had big plans for the Renfest on Sunday, but the weather was chilly.

So, instead we had a mega craft day and some of us put on costumes.

Everyone worked on their own projects. 4.0 student, the Hippy Chick, did homework.

Calliope decorated some shoes.

Terry did jewelry. She creates her own chain.

My son worked on some resin and crystal jewels.

While his Gypsy Beloved made wire wrapped fairies.

Beth came over and did needlework and the little girls smeared glitter glue on anything they could while the big girls worked on more pages from the class Beth had taught the day before.

As sad as we were to miss the Renfest, it was nice to have a laid back, easy going, work at your own speed kind of day.

But most of all, it was nice to just be together!

Romantic Gothic Ghost Weekend

family, flowers, holiday decor, Romantic Gothic Ghosts, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / October 10, 2012

Our ghostly weekend was a real treat. I just hope my guests enjoyed it half as much as I did! We had such a lovely group, and it was so fun to have a family reunion along with the class, I'm thrilled that my family got to meet some of my friends and see what I do.

This envelope was in a scrap pack of ephemera that Pam won as a door prize, and look at the date! Our class was exactly 103 years from the day this was written.

Another ghostly oddity of the day, was that every single picture that I took of a person had a glowy smudge look to it. At first I thought all my photos were ruined, then I decided to just go with it and enjoy the ghostly effect, and edit them even more ghostly.

I looked on my lens and saw that there was a real life smudge, not a ghost doing it. I'm lucky that I got any photos at all from the weekend!

The close ups of things around the room weren't too bad.

And except for some halo around the lights, the whole room shots weren't either.

But portraits sure had some spookiness to them.

I loved every minute of the classes. Beth's was so much fun, I had to drag myself away to make lunch.

I served quiche that day, instead of making it up ahead of time, I wanted it fresh as can be, with eggs just gathered, so waited till it was time to go into the oven to make it up.

We also had green salad with cranberries and candied pecans, and a fall veggie mix of squash and sweet potatoes.

And of course, way, way too many desserts! Carmel apple cupcakes, lots of brownies, and these white chocolate witch hat cookies.

I set up an extra table for seating in the living room.

And decorated it with a 25 cent black lace shawl from a garage sale, and $2 bunches of roses that were marked down at the grocery store. I cut them short, and made an arrangement with the stems too. Remember how Morticia and Gomez from the Adam's Family always put the stems in the vase and threw away the flowers? I wasn't up to tossing the roses, but I did arrange the stems.

With a family reunion going on this week too, it was handy to have that table in the living room, I left it up the whole time, and it got used a lot.

Normally, the studio is where we have our family dinners when a big group is here, but this time, the studio was occupied with all of the set up for my Ghoul Friends and the classes.

Sugarwings came to spend the day too, her mom was studying and our fairy girl kept herself entertained while we all worked in the studio. She is getting so grown up!

Before our guests arrived, she wanted to get all dressed up in her wings and her new fairy dress from Aunt Bobbie, because she said, "Grammie's friends think I am a real fairy, so I'd better wear my wings!"

The puppies joined the party too. They missed all the attention after everyone left! I miss all of our friends and family as much as they do. The house seems so empty now that its over.

Time to plan another party…. While the studio is decked out I think I'll throw another Halloween bash and have my buddies bring their kids over for a craft day to make masks.

Dewdrop’s first craft day

Books, Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, holiday decor, puppies!, Romantic Gothic Ghosts

By Karla Nathan / September 27, 2012

Dewdrop came over with her mom to do a practice class for Romantic Gothic Ghosts. The babies came outside to play since it was such a beautiful afternoon. I left the studio door open and made a pen for them right outside.

The little guys played so hard, they tuckered themselves out and just fell asleep where they stood. It looked like the aftermath of a fraternity party.

One even fell asleep with his head in the food bowl.

Dewdrop was perfect at her first big girl craft day. She decided she needed an apron to wear while she worked. Her favorite part was the pockets, she filled them with so much she could barely sit down.

Her Gypsy mama created one of Beth's books for the upcoming class. Beth is providing lots of great materials, and I got out some of the images from the online class too.

(All attendees get the online class included for free. I'll be printing off some of the images for them to use too. And if you are coming, mabye these pictures will give you some ideas on what you might like to bring to add to your own book)

I made a book while Beth made my Raven tea cup project.

It was fun to try the faux tintype technique.

No two books from the class will turn out the same, Beth is providing lots of goodies and tidbits, and some kits will differ.

My book and Dewdrop's Gypsy mama's book looked very different from Beth's.

I can't wait to see all the variations that the rest of the students come up with!

Of course, there were lots of breaks to play with puppies.

I'll leave you with some more of the pages our Gypsy created, she really had some nice ones. She made it her own by adding some gypsy colored ribbons here and there.