family – Page 54 – Karla's Cottage

Tru-Blood premiere party at the guncles

celebrations, family, Food and Drink, guncles, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / July 2, 2011

Uhm, did I mention that the guncles and I had a good time? With lots of silly fun? The weekend went fast, but we managed to pack in a lot of goofiness, including a Tru Blood mini marathon.

With HBO Go on my Ipad, we were able to watch the second episode of the new season after the premiere. So, of course, we made a PARTY out of it!

Because everything is a party at Randy and Kevin's house!

I drew some Tru Blood labels that we added to some empty bottles, and we drank out of red, crystal goblets, and painted our faces to look like vamps.

Since the guys bought my plane ticket, I wanted to treat them to dinner. We talked about getting dressed up and going out, but decided it was more fun to get dressed as vampires, watch our favorite show and eat in. So, I bought some lobsters and we had the best meal ever.

Crusty bread, still warm when we bought it, a crisp lettuce wedge with Kev's home made dressing topped with a chopped, fresh tomato, and giant, lovely, delectable lobsters.

I was disappointed in fairy land on the show, were you? I've come to terms with the fact that the show doesn't follow the books. And since they do stay true to the actual characters themselves, I don't mind, and actually enjoy the surprises that the show wouldn't offer if it did follow the books.

But man, the fairy land is NOT what I had hoped for at all. And Bill is King?

But that's okay. I still love me some Sookie and am a loyal fan.

I love me some guncles too.

Every night, the suppers were so good. One night was seared scallops in a vermouth and heavy cream redcution.

And another meal was grilled flounder with fresh asparagus and fingerling potatoes roasted in butter and onions. See why I was worried about my zipper still working? Did I mention homemade German chocolate cake?

Oh, and please remember, that there is a giveaway for one of my Mini Dress Form online workshops. If you win, and have already purchased the $15 class, I will send you a kit full of vintage goodies to make the dolled up dress form with.

Angels and pups in the Guncle’s Garden

dogs, fairies, family, guncles

By Karla Nathan / June 30, 2011

While I was down in Jax, we took a break from creating, crafting, and eating delicious seafood, to hang out in the garden with my furry niece and nephews. Yes, those are angel wings on that little white fur ball. And they suit her perfectly, she is a sweet heart. And she wasn't the only one to play dress up….

This is the newest member of the family, Perry the Party Pup. Or Zippy the Circus Poodle. He's got some wild jumping skills and I think he could have a great career in the circus if he decided to join one.

And here is beautiful Bella. She's still just a pup too, so between the two of these guys, its pretty lively around the guncle's house.

I was glad to see that she was no longer "Yella Bella" and that the yellow marker that Sugarwings decorated her with last January didn't leave a permanent stain.

Darling, serious Zackie, who loves to pose.

And here is the whole, handsome family, all together.

Sadly, it happened to be mosquito mayhem in the garden that weekend, so we weren't able to stay out there long and enjoy all the hidden treats and gorgeous blooms.

But we did spritz some bug spray on and play out there a little while.

Randy indulged me in posing as a sweet angel in the paradise of his backyard. He looks every bit as good as Bella did in the wings, huh?

There is nothing like having family that you can be silly with and have endless fun doing silly things with.

Aren't I lucky to have married his brother and have him as part of my family now? And then he married the sweet, Kevin and I have two of the best brothers-in-law that anyone can ask for.

Kevin is the one who bought me a plane ticket to bring me down to visit. What a sweet thing. Thanks guys, it was the best!!

A whimsical mantel redo

fairies, family, flowers, guncles, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 28, 2011

My Guncle weekend was just wonderful, as I knew it would be. Kevin bought my plane ticket as a birthday gift to Randy, lucky, lucky me!

It all went by too fast, we played all weekend, and got sillier as the days passed by.

Jacksonville is great, but we were having too much fun to get out and explore. We stayed in the craft room, garden or kitchen except for a quick run to pick up more seafood to cook or craft supplies to work with.

We got a bunch of these little wooden birds at Michaels and foofed them up for part of a redecorating project we wanted to do. This one is perched on a grapevine wreath that we turned into a nest for the display.

When I arrived, the guys mentioned that they were ready for a mantel makeover. Here is a Before shot of that corner.

And Ta-da! Here is the whimsical after. We turned the fireplace into a magical fairy land, by shopping around the house, arranging some silk flowers, and making a few little tidbits to add here and there.

After taking everything down, so we could start from scratch, we decided to remove the fireplace screen too. The logs are wrapped in mini lights, and we perched fairies with red glass wings, and some other fun creatures inside, then tucked lots of greenery all around.

Out in the garage, I found a couple of large, metal bread racks, one in this great red, the other with chippy white paint. We leaned these up against the ornate mirror that was hanging over the mantel, then started tucking things behind the racks and hanging other stuff on them.

Kevin just happened to find a big bagful of marble eggs at a garage sale that morning, and we nestled them all around, in mossy nests. (we were pretending they were fairy eggs)

He also found two of these old bird books, one we used for display, the other we greedily tore apart and made things out of in the craft room.

The guys had lots of fairies, elves, and sparkly creatures around the house and in the garden for us to add.

I'd brought them a Nest banner that I'd made, and we hung it right in the center.

At Christmas, Randy had made a glittering nest in this top hat, and for summer, we redid it with the little Fairy Frog Prince that I'd brought to him for his birthday.

And this magnicficent art deco piece is a light fixture that Kevin found along the road in the trash!! Randy arranged some flowers in it, since it neede rewiring before we could turn it on.

Yes, we know that its busy, and there is a lot going on. But to us, that just made it all that much more fun. More treasures to discover each time you looked through the display, more magic to enjoy.

Neither one of us really get "editing".

For me, it was such a blast to get to shop his house for all the goodies we used. And to do something so bright and playful, since my house is all pastels and creams. Plus, I got to play with my baby bro, and there isn't much better than that!

Frog Princes and Guncles

fairies, family, guncles, how to's

By Karla Nathan / June 27, 2011

Have you seen the little papermache creatures at Michael's in the dollar bins?

That is where I picked up this frog. All he needed was a kiss to be turned into a Froggy Fairy Prince! (well that, and some ephemera, glitter, glue, and a crown)

The best part about him, though, is his eyes. I had a vintage Easter bunny that Agnes Rosebud thought was hers to play with, so it was missing a couple of its not-so-lucky rabbit's feet. I popped the eyes out of it and added them to this frog after decoupaging it in old text. (I'll be watching out for trashed dolls at flea markets and garage sales just to harvest the eyes from. Kind of creepy, but worth it, these eyeballs really made the whole project)

Next, I used pink chalk to make blush for his cheeks, and rosy up his tummy, and drew his grin with a brown marker.

Over that, he got a generous helping of clear glitter.

I made his wings with the patterns I drew for the Mini Dress Form tutorial. (see, there are LOTS of things in the class that you will use for other stuff too, not just the dress forms!!)

To get the wings shaped the way I wanted them, I made two pair, back to back and sandwiched wire in between. That way, I could bend them around like this. I inked the edges of them and added glitter to the rims. For dimension, I cut the top half of the set of wings off of the bottom half, then layered them on top of each other.

I also used a brown ink pad to accent the frog's body. Probably should have thought of that before the glitter instead of after, but it was still ok.

His crown is a snip of screen that I cut to fit, and added sparklies and millinery to, then glued on.

This lil froggy guy will be winging his way to the Guncle's house with me. I'm off to Florida to celebrate Guncle Randy's birthday. Sugarwings wanted to go too, but I told her I didn't have a plane ticket for her.

She said, that we could go to the movie theater, they sell tickets! Then she could come too. She loves visiting her Guncles (gay uncles) and the beautiful beach they live near. Plus, she knows how fun those guys are. I'll miss her, but this weekend is all planned for grown ups. I promised to take her to the beach and to see the Guncles another time.

I'll be in heaven this weekend-

great food (they are the BEST cooks, and always have fresh seafood)
a weekend long craft-a-thon
champagne!
show tunes to sing along with
non-stop laughter
and the most beautiful fairy garden to sit in

(this was pre-posted, I am away from my computer right now, and all orders from my Boutique will be shipped out on Wed. the 29th. I'll be reading comments, but might not get to answer them all. )

Umbrellas-ellas-ellas

family

By Karla Nathan / June 26, 2011

Now that my computer is back, she is still not quite feeling right. She is functional and in good working order, she's just feeling confused and a bit lost. So many files are hidden away somewhere deep, and we can't seem to coax them out.

Like the last 6 months of our financial records. And ALL of my Paper Cowgirls getaway pictures. Many of my files are all dumped into one big, lump, not broken down into files like they were before. I've spent about 6 hours just today trying to get organized.

Its all been frustrating, and I am sure you are sick of hearing about it. Sorry. But you know, a computer really does become more than just an appliance in the home. It contains so much, that when things go wrong, its traumatic!

But, I'll stop whining and complaining. I think I'm pretty lucky that my stuff is still on it, just scrambled into new and unusual places. I'll try to think of it as a treasure hunt as I find little tid bits of my life hidden away here and there.

At Paper Cowgirls (which I am still hunting for pictures of) I had this wonderful drink at the Polka Dot Prom and have made it every day since I've been home. Its club soda with lemon, a sprig of mint, and fresh strawberries. I've got a giant patch of mint growing right outside of my studio and its good to have a delicious use for it.

Cindy had made this drink for us in Texas, and I was so over heated and tired, that I just couldn't stop pounding them down. This concoction is so simple and refreshing!

I made another version of it for company too- with fruit tea instead of soda.

We were going to have the boys over for Father's Day and the party blossomed to 23 people. And it was such a pretty day, we all sat outside in the courtyard. This little dumpling is so fun to watch eat. I've never seen a baby who just eats 'real' food like she does. Her parents have been feeding her what they eat themselves for months now, and she is happy with it all. The other day, I saw her chomping on a radish. At 7 mths old?

She likes peppers, and cucumbers, and anything else that is handed to her. She is not picky and doesn't even eat baby food, or has anything chopped up for her. I've learned a lot from watching these two parent her. Most of what we think we have to do with our little ones is pure marketing from big companies. A baby doesn't really need all the equipment and specialty items that we think we have to buy for them.

Before everyone came over to the dinner party, I foofed up this umbrella. I'd painted it years ago, and the paint faded. So I took a sharpie and outlined the flowers and leaves to make them stand out again. This umbrella used to be a dark, dark green, but I've had it 15 years and bought it used at a garage sale. Its faded out to a nice, soft no-color shade and is holding up fine. Newer ones that I bought aren't made as sturdy and have broken in some of our harsh Kansas winds.

Of course, if I were they type to remember to put them away for the winter, that could help.

The pink umbrella in the previous photo is from an estate sale this summer ($20), I hope it holds up. Its such a cheerful burst of color in the center of my courtyard.

I hope your Father's Day was a good one too!

This was pre-posted while I am visiting the Guncles in Florida. I'll be answering emails and if you sign up for the Mini Dress form tutorials, I will send you the password. I'm sorry I won't be able to answer all comments, though, and all orders from the Boutique will be sent out on Wed. the 29th.

Holding Space

family

By Karla Nathan / June 24, 2011

Old Blue is actually my husband's truck, but it spends more time at my son's house than at home. He's had some major gardening projects this year and Blue has been hanging out with him since spring, and always seems to be full of dirt, or mulch, or some other fun pile for the kids to play with. Kind of like a sand box on wheels.

When we pull into their drive way, we usually see kids climbing all over Blue, like he is some sort of jungle gym. It will break their hearts when we finally pick up that pick up and bring it home.

Now, the truck is being used to haul stuff to Sugarwing's Daddy's new business! "Holding Space" is a massage therapy, energy work, and healing center.

I've been helping them get it ready, the place was not so nice to start with. He has been cleaning and patching and soundproofing for weeks. We've just started painting, you can see the two rooms behind him, they are the ones that are done. The white walls will soon be looking like a fiery sunset.

Here is a close up of the massage room wall. We painted the base deep blue (I am in LOVE with Behr's new paint and prime together. It covers in one coat, even with deep colors!!!!!!), and after the blue, I glazed it in darker blue, raspberry, purple and red.

Over all of the glazes, I flecked white from my brush, and while it was wet, swirled some of it with a rag. The room is going to be kept dark, and restful. We thought this would be a calming finish for the walls in there.

This room is the entrance, where they will have some small tables and chairs. We painted it sand colored, and glazed over it in all metallics. Bronze, pewter, gold, and copper. I think it makes a dramatic entrance for the guests, don't you?

I used to do faux finishes and murals for a living, and travelled around quite a bit doing walls for hotels, day care centers, and what felt like billions of other places. I love to see what a rag and some color can turn a plain room into, but honestly don't miss the hard work.

It was fun to hang out with my boy and spiff up his new workspace, but I am glad that I no longer have to haul ladders, buckets and all the other stuff around like I used to. Painting itself is fun. Its the prep, set up and clean up that is so awful.

And it tends to make me achy. But, painting at a healing center is ideal! After I climbed down from the ladder for the last time, with my shoulders tight and my arm in pain, my son worked on it for about an hour and I felt better than before I started. That kid can even take the arthritis from my right thumb.

I have a feeling that his new space will be a success. He has some amazing skills.

They have a nice, big space, with high ceilings and a sky light. The far wall butts up to a restaurant kitchen, and the room was loud before. So my son hung rolls of old carpet over it, and covered that with bamboo. It deadened the sound, but is not done yet, he'll be doing a clay/plaster treatment over the top of that too. All very green and cheap.

If you are local and want to attend a workshop on how it is done, please let me know.

And if your thumb hurts, come to see Adam!

Gilding

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, flowers, paintings, Sugarwings, swaps

By Karla Nathan / June 23, 2011

My computer is home safe and seems to be working. Even though it was all backed up, the Geeks had some trouble finding where all the stuff was hiding. And a lot of it, they restored in weird places. I'm hunting and gathering and finding odds and ends as I go along. My email files are a wreck, all jumbled and not in files anymore, just years of saved things smooshed together.

But it still feels GREAT to have her back.

While my computer was out of commission, I was kind of on a forced vacation from work. While I kept up with emails on my Ipad and still worked in the studio, I also did some puttering around, reading, entertaining, and playing with grandies.

It was good to have some extra cuddle time with this dumpling.

And I hitch hiked along on Sugarwing's class field trip to a farm.

But it wasn't all play time. A huge start was made on the tag book covers too. I did a little painting of a bird, on a page torn from an old book about birds. Then I had it copied onto premium card stock and I really like the way they came out, very vibrant.

In the original, all the bars of the cage are black. So, I am going over each cage, slowly but surely, with metallic inks or glitters, gilding the black lines. I get bored easily and keep changing up how I do it.

If I am ever When I am done with this part, I'll cover the backs with pretty wallpaper, cut them out, trim 'em up with lace, add a charm and that is it. They'll be ready to put together.

Which reminds me-

If you are in the swap, all the details, including my address, can be found on the swap info page. You can get to it by clicking on the button on my side bar.

Also, I'm taking a trip to see family in Utah on July 14th, so I'll be extending the date from the 15th till the 18th. But please do go ahead and mail your tags by the 15th, they will be here in time for me to start assembly.

But, even though I just told you my address and the fact that I will be out of town, don't think you can come and rob me. My son lives here and he is a weight lifter, very strong. His weightlifting friends hang out with him here too.

I also have 3 attack dogs. And an alarm system. So don't even try to come by and raid my hat collection while I'm away, its well protected.

Happy Birthday Rich

celebrations, family, Food and Drink, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 7, 2011

My husband had a birthday this week and Sugarwings helped me bake him an ultra healthy, low fat cake to celebrate. He has high cholesterol and really works hard at keeping the numbers down, but he also has a sweet tooth. So I came up with a guilt free cake for him. Well, semi-guilt free, at least, healthier than a double fudge chocolate cake anyway.

We took fat free, cranberry/orange muffin mix, and added 1/2 cup of applesauce, 1 cup of blueberries, 1/4 cup of ground, golden flaxseed, 1/2 cup of shelled and finely chopped pistachios, 3/4 cup of chopped pecans, and 3/4 cup of toasted coconut, then about 1/2 cup of water.

While it was in the oven, we cleaned and sliced strawberries. Then, I covered them with 2 spoonfuls of organic brown sugar and a 1/4 cup of lime juice.

After the cake was cooled we poked holes all over it and topped it with the strawberries and lime juice. (It was an ooey, gooey, moist cake!)

Over that, we added this mix, which is what really made it yuumy:

1 cup of Dannon Greek 0 fat plain yogurt- That stuff is so thick and rich, you'd never know it was low fat!!
1 block of low fat cream cheese
1 cup of fat free sour cream
1 tsp real vanilla
1/4 cup organic powdered sugar
splash of lime juice

That was fluffed with the blender and dolloped over the berry covered cake, then spread. To top it off, we served it with low fat Cool Whip.

Sguarwings had 3 pieces and shared a bite of hers with the birthday boy. I didn't feel bad about her eating so much cake since it was mostly fruit, nuts, and yogurt.

She also shared some messy kisses.

And thought it was funny to wipe the cream cheese topping off of his face afterwards.

Maybe all three pieces didn't make it into her tummy, she looked like she was wearing quite a bit of the dessert, so went right into the tub after.

Ps- all of the bird cage charms I listed in the Boutique sold out right away, so I have replenished the supply. If you are in the Bird Song Tag Book Swap, don't worry, I have plenty of pretties to adorn the books with! I've ordered more charms to paint too.

By the way, we are at about 120 swappers. I have room for a FEW more, since I haven't started making the covers yet. Email me if you are interested. Details HERE.

(I will be away, so please forgive me if I don't get right back to you)

Shopping at the Habitat for Humanity Restore

family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2011

What a lovely weekend we had, but then any weekend with our Sugarwings is just the best. We spent Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market where I loaded up on fresh veggies and Sugarwings found a little "house" to play in.

At my cottage, I try to cook healthy things, local ingredients,vegetarian a few days a week, chicken and fish the rest, organic when I can afford it, or when it really matters. I think we eat okay around here.

But no matter how hard I try, I'll never live up to my son's family's guidelines for healthy eating. These guys are all natural. Recently they have gone vegan. So, we tried out some vegan doughnuts at the market, and I just don't think they were all that great. Just because its vegan doesn't mean its good for you, it was still a deep fried, greasy hunk of dough.

Sugarwings liked it, but she loves anything with pink icing.

Her parents are nice about letting me bake with her and give her treats, and don't insist on me following a strict diet for her at our house. I think they trust me to not let her fill up on Koolaide and junk food, and to feed her stuff that is good for her. So, they'll let me give her some sweet treats or a piece of chicken when she stays with us.

I like it when people are true to their own beliefs but don't try to force them onto others.

I like my kids.

Adam is working on opening an energy/healing center. He has the spot rented and is fixing it up, as greenly as he can. So, after the Farmer's Market, we went shopping for supplies. At the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, he found big rolls of carpet for only about $10 each, and will be stapling those to the wall for sound proofing.

Now, that sounds a bit like a shagadellic 70s look, doesn't it? But that is only the first step. Over the carpet, he will mix tinted plaster and clay-mud and trowel it on. It should look really nice, I'll get some pictures of the walls when it is done. Its "dirt cheap", green, and arty. I'm looking forward to seeing the process.

We also went to see the Doo Dads over the weekend. They are a band that plays rock for kids. And they have TWO bubble machines on the stage. Sugarwings and Pixie Pie were entranced by the bubbles.

And all the girls danced their hearts out.

Very little work got done this weekend, and Paper Cowgirls is fast approaching. It will get done, I still have two weeks, but I am starting to feel a little wriggly worry in the back of my mind. Once I get something completely done, like all of my kits packed, or the instructions written for the class, that feeling will pass. At this point, I have a lot of started, but not completed things going on.

The mini dress forms class that I am teaching in Texas, will also have an online class. I'd like to have it online before I go to Paper Cowgirls so I can give the link to all of my students there. That way, when they get home, they will have access to a refresher course if they need to finish their mannequin later, or make a few more of them.

My plan is to offer the class two ways. You can buy a (limited supply) kit in the Boutique and get a free link to the online classes. Or you can furnish your own supplies and just buy the instructions (they will include some images of vintage papers to download).

I'll let you know when its ready to roll.

But for now, I'd better get back to work on it while I can, because I never know when I'll get an opportunity to go play with the grand fairies. When that happens, all work stops!

Going nutty

family

By Karla Nathan / May 19, 2011

Have I showed you Creature yet? He is a baby squirrel rescued by Mayara's biggest brother and that little baby is fascinated by him. I was over there yesterday and the squirrel was sitting on her head in her baby swing and she was laughing like it was the funniest thing that ever happened in her entire 6 months of life.

Now, that is a good reason to start carrying a video camera with me, at all times, huh? Baby belly laughs are a treasure.

This little squirrel climbed up me and tried to burrow into my pocket, he's a friendly guy.