family – Page 63 – Karla's Cottage

The secret to having it all

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 30, 2010

My finds from the fantastic flea mkt yesterday still aren't unpacked yet. But I did pull a couple hats from the bags to play with.

Some how, today got away from me I had a lot of errands to run before picking up the fairy grand baby from school. Then, Sugarwings and I baked brownies and invited some friends over to hold puppies. Playing with all the babies seemed much more fun than getting all my stuff unpacked, cleaned, photographed and listed for sale.

I'm pretty lucky to have the flexibility to spend a day like this, aren't I???

Not a lot of real work got done today. I did squeeze in time to make some more wallpaper folder/bag things to pack stuff in. Every package that I dropped at the PO was packed up in a pretty little pouch today. The little pink flocked wallpaper one in front contains April's Giveaway and is all ready to mail as soon as I draw a name on May 1st. You can still enter to win it by leaving a comment today.

Next to the pouches are some of the hats that I scored yesterday.

I really can't believe that tomorrow is May already! In a few days, I turn FIFTY TWO.

Birthdays make me think about life. I really am very lucky to have the life I do. When I was in my 20s, if you had tried to tell me that I'd be where I am now at this age, I wouldn't have believed it.

Of course, if you'd told me that I would have posted a photo of myself with no makeup, uncombed hair, and wearing gym clothes on the internet, I would have been shocked. Then, I might have said, "what is an internet?"

Of course, in my 20s, I never left the house without makeup, and would have screamed at anyone who tried to photograph me that way. But now I know that being comfortable with who I am and liking my own skin, no matter how saggy it might be getting, is a key to a happy life. I don't take myself or my looks (or lack there of) very seriously.

Enjoying and excepting what I have and what I am, and being more aware of the world around me than of myself is something that I wish I'd learned when I was younger.

Last week, I won a giveaway from Myrna and had a choice of her gifts. When I saw this phrase on her tag, I had to chose the little book it was on.

What great words to live by. Happiness is what you make of it. There are many ways of looking at your everyday life, and I chose to look at mine through what a friend used to call my "Karla Goggles", which meant rose colored lenses, I think. Well, you can look at the gloomy side of things and never be satisfied with what you have. Or you can look at the good stuff with a smile on your face and feel like the luckiest person on the planet.

Life goes by so quickly. Just a couple weeks ago, these guys were tiny as mice and all piled in their nest. Their world is expanding by the moment as they start to explore and experience life.

Yes, that is dust on my floor in this photo. Just like those were wrinkles on my face in the earlier photo. But that is just a part of life and I'd rather focus on the the joy of seeing the pups take their very first steps out of their nest and of the happiness on my face when I hold Sugarwings.

I have a feeling that in the next 50 years of my life, I'll be a LOT more wrinkly than I am now, and my house will not be much cleaner. But I sure am excited about seeing all the good things those years bring, dust, wrinkles, and all.

Buried Treasure in a Ghost Town

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 29, 2010

We had a GREAT day at the flea market! I bought tons of sparkly rhinestone bits and about 15 floral hats. A few other odds and ends too. I'll show you some photos after I unpack. This is the tub in the back of the car with some of my hats in it.

Sparks and White Cloud, KS have the most unique flea markets ever. I really can't figure out what the towns are about, it looks to me like they are ghost towns that only are used twice a year for this market. But then, I did see a few houses that looked occupied too.

Sparks is mostly a big field with some old buildings scattered around, and lots of tents and trailers filled with treasures.

About 10 minutes down the road, is White Cloud, a downtown area filled with empty buildings. Some of the stores are filled up for the weekend, the rest of the dealers set up in fields and on the street. Every time I go, I see the same 3 legged dog running around town, no owner in sight.

You never know what you'll find there, and I sure would never miss it. To me, its not just shopping, its an Event. With a capital E.

It was a wonderful day, it always is for us up there, rain or shine. And today, we had lots of sunshine!

But its good to be home with all the babies.

How to paint and distress furniture

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Hand Painted Furniture, how to's, how-to projects, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 25, 2010

Twinkle's babies are still all curled up in their nest. Even with their eyes opened now, they aren't ready to explore or do much but sleep and eat.

They are still living in a box in my bathroom at night, and come out to the studio with me during the day. As soon as they are big enough to need more space, the studio will become their full time home.

I haven't had a heck of a lot of time in the studio lately, with or without pups. I've been working on some indoor projects, plus celebrated Earth Day by buying 6 fruit trees to plant in the yard.

After that, I went with some friends to an Earth Day fashion show, where all the clothes were 2nd hand, redesigned or re-purposed. To my surprise, Sugarwing's Hippy Chic Mommy was in the show with her hula hoop group of performers. The whole show was more performance than fashion, really fun to watch, and kind of funky.

My big indoor project has taken a big chunk of the weekend, but now is done. I've repainted my dining table and chairs, along with a buffet to match (kind of). Its been something I've wanted to do for a long time, but hadn't had a chance to get around to it.

Of course, if I could just snap my fingers and have all the projects done at once, what kind of fun would that be? Its the journey of redoing and tweaking, and finding just the right piece or color that makes me do it, not really the finished product.

The buffet (hardware and all) got painted with bonding primer tinted gray. Then white washed with ivory glaze, and that was wiped off with a soft, damp cloth.

Then, I took the cloth with the white glaze on it, wadded it up, and patted the buffet, to make a marbled look. When dry, I sanded a bit here and there, not much, and clear coated it for protection.

Here is a little tutorial on how to paint distressed looking furniture:

Please note that the trick to doing this technique is to NOT BE PERFECT. All the little imperfections are what make the finish interesting.

I started with this factory finish from the 60's. Not bad, but not exactly to my taste. I wanted an older look and thought this dining set looked dated.

The first step was to brush on tinted gray bonding primer. I used Glidden Gripper. It came already tinted gray.

I used a cheapo, flat brush about 2 inches wide. Kind of bristly and rough.

The primer was brushed on in a messy way, not covering up the whole surface.

I'd recommend taping off the edges and covering fabric if you don't have a steady hand.

Second step same as the first, but with creamy white paint ( I use eggshell finish). Messy, uneven coverage is the trick!

Next, rough it up with sandpaper, as soon as it is dry to the touch. If you wait too long, you have to sand harder and it takes the paint off to the bare wood. I wanted the original colors of ivory and gold as well as my gray layer to show through.

After sanding here and there, cover with a top coat. I like Minwax Polycrylic. Its water based and goes on easy for a durable finish.

The table was done the exact same way, with one addition. Before putting on the top coat, I brushed it with a heavy coat of porcelain crackle glaze. Not the entire table top, just random strokes here and there.

I'll be on the look out for new accessories for the room and will have some after pictures to show you once I've finished. My favorite flea market is this week, so the timing is just right!

Here are some of the supplies that I used.

Pansy Pendant Prize and getting my snorer-snipped

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, jewelry, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 21, 2010

Did I mention that I LOST the pendant that I told you was going to be the giveaway for April? Well, maybe misplaced, not totally lost. Its somewhere in my studio. Who knows when it will turn up. So, I'm subbing this one. In the Mid West, pansies are one of the first things you can plant, and I'm always excited when they start showing up in front of the grocery store and in the parking lots of hardware stores.

So, to replace the previous pendant, here is a pansy shard necklace to welcome spring. Its from a really nice English bone china bowl that I was sad to see break.

All comments all month are entered into the drawing for the pansy pendant. All sign ups on Google Friend Connect are entered into the Peat Pot Pretty drawings (multiple pots are being given away).

Look at how big our cuddlepups are getting! Their eyes are not open yet, but we've hidden the markers for now. Sugarwings is still pretty worried that they can't see. I guess I should hide her package of googly eyes and glue too. We don't need the pups to turn into art projects.

These guys are getting big fast. Next week, they'll need a bigger box. I'll have to dig out the puppy pond. We use a kid's wading pool as a play pen when the pups are big enough to run around. Its easy to wipe out and keep cleaned up, and keeps the kids contained, yet gives them space to run and play.

We had a mini craft day yesterday, only Beth and Mary could come. Beth had just returned from her Grandmother's funeral, so I picked some lilacs and made a little arrangement for her. I rarely order flowers from a florist, I'd rather do something personal when someone passes.

This was a simple arrangement. I wrapped lilacs in a wet paper towel, then in plastic wrap, and next in ephemera. To the ephemera, I glued an old button (Beth is a button person) and a small banner with her Grandma's name written in purple glitter ink.

Then, I dropped it into the jar onto some moss and added a glittered bird.

The jar is from a garage sale, I'd found two of them over the weekend for $4.50 each. She'll be able to empty the stuff out of it and use it for storage in her studio later on.

The pin that I clipped to the gross grain ribbon (taken from an old hat- when I take apart a hat, I use ALL the pieces!) is a pair of bird scissors! I'd found it in a jar of junk jewels and had been saving it for Beth, because I know she loves sewing supplies. Too bad it was such a sad occasion for me to finally get to use it.

She can take it off the ribbon and wear it on a jacket if she'd like.

In case you were wondering, my husband lived through the tree trimming above the house. You can see from this angle why I was worried about both him and the roof! And the air conditioning unit that sits right below the limb.

From this photo, I noticed that the storm window in the attic guest room is up. I have to wonder if it was up all winter. No one opens that window… Geez, no wonder we pay such huge propane bills.

This afternoon, I'm having a minor surgery. My snoring has gotten so loud, no one in the house can sleep and I have decided to have something done about it. From what I've been told, I'm louder than the chainsaw.

I'm crossing my fingers that it works! But I may be away from the computer for a few days, so please forgive me if I don't have a chance to respond to emails or comments.

I'll get all orders from the Boutique filled and mailed before I go in for the snipping. Anything that is ordered after won't be mailed till Saturday or Monday depending on how big of a wimp I am.

A little Zero Dollar decorating, a cute puppy, a give away, and an adorable baby in a flowered hat

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

By Karla Nathan / April 16, 2010

Its been kind of lonely around here for me, Twinks hasn't left her babies for more than a minute or two. I'm used to having her at my feet all day. Right now, she has a few little guys at her feet instead! She's a happy mama, and honestly seems to enjoy her pups. I've had dogs that are good mothers, but for them it was all business. Twinkle likes the company of her babies.

Luckily, I still have this buddy to keep me company. I scored a bumble bee and a lady bug costume at garage sales today for $2.50 each (both still were in the packages and marked $34!). So we dressed up and went for a walk in the woods. I got to be the lady bug. The dress didn't quite fit, so I had to go with just wings and antenna.

(and my clothes, of course, that didn't sound quite the way I meant it. No one wants to see a Lady Bug Grammy naked in the woods)

Does blog surfing inspire you to make changes? I had a colorful, pastel, faux finished guest bathroom that was perfectly fine. But every time I saw photos of gray or white rooms on someone's blog, I'd sigh and wish it was mine. The guest bath seemed to be the easiest place to make a big change with just a few adjustments and very little cash.

So, I mixed up a dove gray for the walls, and a mushroom color for the floor. Then I took down the floral shower curtain and put up some dumpster drapes after repainting the room. I dug these out of a dumpster a few years back and have used them over and over in different areas. There had been 12 panels at one time, and I sold most of them. These are the last three and I'm glad I kept them, they were just what I needed to finish this room on a budget. Since they are lace, and were a bit too long, I just folded them over on the top to shorten them and looped the curtain ring right through the lace.

(they are pretty old and kind of tattered, but I like that look)

After painting the floor that mushroom shade, I realized it would always look filthy. So I splattered some dark flecks around to camouflage any dirt we track in. I might distress it with sand paper a bit too.

The ceiling stayed a soft purple, the door is painted gray like the walls, and the trim is bright, shiny white. I found a rusty ceiling tin piece in the shed and sat it on top of the built in cabinet. It could use some thing else up there, but I'm in no hurry. I redid the room for the cost of the paint, so far, and really don't want or need to spend much more on it. Maybe I'll find something cheap but fabulous at garage sales.

I guess I'm in the spring cleaning mood and ready for some more Zero Dollar Decorating like I was into right after the holidays.

I'll leave you with a few photos from our Cupcake Tea Party, that turned into a walk down the Fairy Berry Trail and to the creek. It was such a beautiful spring day!

Please don't forget that we have the regular monthly giveaway going, a china shard necklace is the prize. Its open to anyone who leaves a comment.

If you want to win a Peat Pot Pretty, please sign up as a Google Friend Connect follower.

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!

Gifts, gifts and more gifts

family, give away, holiday decor, show and tell, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 2, 2010

Everyone was so complimentary about the shard necklace for the March giveaway, that I thought I'd offer one for the April Giveaway too. It is pink rose china with two dangly beads taken from vintage necklaces.

And by the way, the winner of the March Giveaway is:

Andrea of Freckled Star

I'm giving THREE gifts instead of two for all the friend sign ups, because I really appreciate having friends out there! I'll give away one Peat Pot Pretty for the first 100 sign ups, and then draw again at 150. Thank you to everyone who signed up, you are all still in the hat for the next draw.

The first one goes to:

Dawn of the Feathered Nest

And I'll send the bonus giveaway of a glittered egg to:

Jingle

Vicki's shadow box kit goes to:

Freda

I hope she has as much fun making it as we did making ours on craft day!

So far we have no plans for Easter. I'm hoping that Sugarwings will come over for an egg hunt. She and I have been making eggs all week.

We also made up goodies for the bake sale at her school.

We put a cupcake into a teacup and the granola bars on vintage plates. Since I go to so many garage sales in the summer, I never pass up cheap but pretty dishes. They are good for sending leftovers home with people after big dinners, or to use for bake sale goodies too. When I wrap up baked goods like this, I also like to include a list of ingredients for the buyer.

Notice the cute little "Spring" tag and the sweet, stuffed bunny behind it? Those gifts came to me from Freda, so I was really excited when I saw that I had drawn her name to send a gift to!

The pewter bunny was from my pal, Sherry.

There are a couple more gifts I need to show you, its been downright Christmassy around here with all the presents!

Sugarwings got these adorable gifts from sweet swappers who participated in the Alice Tag book swap.

She is a lucky kid, and has so much fun with the thoughtful things that have been sent to her. I wonder what she thinks of it? I can only imagine how impressed I would have been as a kid if my grandma's friends mailed packages to me out of the blue, and its not even Christmas!

This last gift was from Beth. I'm afraid I didn't get a good photo, with the sunlight coming in through them, the curtains don't show up as good as they could. I'll have to try again later, because these valances are worth a second look! She gave me a pair of French net toppers that I have tied together and hung over my studio window for now. I might put them onto a rod later.

I think I'm pretty lucky too. Sugarwings and I both are! Thanks!!

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.