family – Page 65 – Karla's Cottage

God Bless you, even if you are are a Nebraska fan

celebrations, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 26, 2009

Boy did we ever get the snow. My handsome husband spent the day driving around in the 4 wheel drive pick up and pulling stranded people out of the mess. He was having so much fun doing it, that he came home to pick up Sugarwing's Daddy and his cute gypsy girlfriend to go out and be good Samartatins with him.

We live in a town loyal to Kansas Jayhawks, and my husband grew up in Nebraska, so has a Cornhusker sign on his big red truck. One guy that he pulled out of a drift said to him, "God bless you, even if you are a Cornhusker fan."

He wasn't the only person out saving people from the drifts. Living in the Midwest is pretty nice. Strangers will come out in the cold just to help you if you need it.

Luckily, we had a little Christmas party for Sugarwings and Pixie Pie before the storm hit, because our big Christmas day event was canceled due to the weather. We were able to safely get Sugarwings and her Mommy to their family in Kansas City, so they could all be together on Christmas Day, though. It was very important to get them there, since Nanny passed away this week. Those siblings all needed each other.

(As you can tell from Sugarwing's shirt, my husband is also a Jayhawk fan!)

On Christmas Eve, we did our gift exchange and Sugarwings insisted on being Santa and loading the gifts in her new sleigh to deliver them.

The only trouble was, that the red velvet pants that I'd just bought for her, were not quite the right size and tended to slip a bit. She walked right out of them a couple times, but was not going to let that stop her from delivering Santa's gifts!

Twinks was asked to play "Max" and Sugarwings was the Grinch for a while too. That sled got quite the workout in the house, but when her daddy tried to take her out to use it in the 4 foot snow drifts, she didn't want to have anything to do with it or the cold.

Some of you had asked about the painted tree. Its on a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood, and I had painted it to decorate for my antique booth at the holidays. I put hooks into the wood and sold ornaments off of it. But this year, I brought it into the living room for Christmas. We used it as a backdrop to take some holiday photos of our little girls.

And since there were little girls around, no vintage ornaments were on the hooks this year, they went up on the chandelier out of reach, instead! Hey, I might be a sucker for those kids, but I am not a fool. If I care about something, it goes where no grabby little hands can get it.

Its been an odd holiday. Sugarwing's Nanny passed away, we had a huge snow storm that canceled most of our plans, and so many other people's too. But we made the best of it, and celebrated what and when we could. Holding those you care about close when you can and grabbing snippets of joy where you can find them is what matters. Enjoying the funny, little moments like watching a miniature Santa walking right out of her red pants, and helping strangers stranded in a ditch are things that made our Christmas '09 something we'll remember.

Of course that fridge full of food to feed 20 some people who couldn't come to dinner is a reminder too.

A home for the holidays?

family, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 23, 2009

Thank you so much for all of your kind condolence messages about Sugarwings losing her Nanny. Her other grandmother was also a big part of our fairy baby's life and our little one will miss her.

We appreciate all of your sweet comments.

Sugarwings isn't the only one who will miss her Nanny. This furry cuddle bug was a rescue dog in need of love just a couple years ago. Amy (Nanny) took her in and gave her a new life of love and caring. Now, this little sweetie needs a home again.

If you know of anyone looking for a small dog who likes to hug, please let me know. This Lhaso Apso is an older gal and is pretty quiet and laid back. She is used to kids (Sugarwings) and has had a rough life but hasn't let it get her down. She is kind hearted and loving. (also housebroken and used to apartment living)

She will be staying with us for a bit until we find her a home, but hopefully not for long. Twinkle seems to hate her for no reason, and this poor thing is pretty scared of her. After all she has been through, she doesn't deserve that kind of treatment. She should be somewhere that she feels at home and safe.

A loss

family

By Karla Nathan / December 22, 2009

Today, Sugarwings lost her other grandmother. Unexpectedly, suddenly, and sadly. A simple surgery last week, that had supposedly gone well, turned into sepsis that took her in a matter of hours.

No one has told our little fairy baby yet. Would she even understand at 3, what all of this means? For now, her Mommy has been staying with us, we spent the early morning hours at the hospital in case we were needed for support. But honestly, what can you do? Me, I feed people. I made a big breakfast when we got back to the house.

And what else can I do? For me, making things helps. I had planned a craft day with good friends and decided to keep our plans. Sugarwing's "Nanny" had once given me a bag full of colorful feathers from a dear bird she had loved. So, today's projects made use of the feathers in honor of her.

Using pom poms spritzed with Glimmer Mist, and the feathers that Nanny had carefully saved, I made this parrot to give to our sad little Hippie Chick. Not that she needs a memento of her mom to remember her, not that she is in the mood for holiday decorations, but I guess because it meant something to me. I had Sugarwings make a bird for her with the feathers too, for me, hands on cooking or making something shows love. And creating something with Sugarwings is even more so.

I'll leave you with a few photos of the birds I made today.

Good bye, Nanny. Your daughter and your fairy grand baby will miss you.

Zipping around

celebrations, fairies, family, holiday decor, Moving to DC, paintings

By Karla Nathan / December 21, 2009

This guy has been zipping around our house all afternoon, racing from one wall into another, never giving up and never slowing down. That's kind of how I've felt this week getting ready for Christmas! Not only did I have the regular, shopping, wrapping, baking, etc, we had the added pleasures of unpacking a 14 foot U-Haul trailer.

My husband gave up his apartment in Virginia, he will still office there, but will hopefully be home more, and only have hotel rooms a few days a month out that way. So, we had to make space for all the things he brought back home. Just as I was enjoying my pretty holiday decorations and thinking how peaceful and nice it all looked, he brought in boxes and bags and 2 extra TVs and extra mattresses and who all knows what.

So much for tranquil and pretty!

He works for a golf course company, and every year I paint a Christmas card for him to send out. In between unloading boxes, and wrapping gifts, I whipped up this little snowman and elf for him to use this season.

While I had my paints out, I painted this long sleeve tee shirt for Pixie Pie. I hope to paint a matching one for her cousin and buddy, Sugarwings.

The cartoon of the two of them together tickled me so much, I repainted it onto an ornament to mail to their great grandma.

Then, I painted on of Sugarwings alone for her special ball for 2009.

This is the one that I made for myself. I have a fondness for little pink putz houses and wanted one that felt like those.

For my brother Randy and his husband, Kevin, I painted their 3 dogs playing in the snow.

Max got a tree frog.

Addie's is a princess kitten.

It was nice to sit down and paint for a couple of hours while I watched the Survivor finale. There hasn't been a lot of sitting around lately! Today I shipped packages to family far away, and tonight, Sugarwings and I are making candy. Tomorrow is a big party, a craft day with friends, so after candy making, I need to clean the studio.

I'd better be racing off and get busy!

Candy for breakfast

celebrations, family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, Sugarwings, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / December 15, 2009

Over the weekend, we took Sugarwings to have breakfast with Santa. Our normally exuberant pixie was a bit subdued and couldn't take her eyes off the old guy while she was participating in the craft projects offered for all the kids. We thought that maybe, she was trying so hard to be good that she almost forgot to have fun.

She was distracted and quiet till she got her turn going to sit on his lap.

Her request from him? A candy cane. Come to find out, the stares all morning had been for the candy that the kids were getting from Santa, not Santa himself. All she could think about was getting her hands on a big hunk of sweetness, knowing that candy before breakfast was a big deal and she didn't really trust that she was going to get any until it was gripped tightly in her fist!

As soon as her candy cane was safely in her tiny little hands, she was all smiles, hugs, and happiness. Back to her normal, over the top with excitement, self.

I know just how she feels, I'm usually pretty obsessed with holiday fudge!

Also, when I've stepped into a flea market that looks especially great, I need to concentrate on getting to my favorite things before I can relax and have fun.

I always have to do a quick double check for millinery or wallpaper if it looks possible that I'll find some!

Which is why I am so happy to see that so many of you love old wallpaper as much as I do. Man, that last batch in the Boutique went FAST! Today, I made up 3 packs of what I already had cut, each is different, not multiples like I listed the other day, but the same papers.

I might get more cut soon, but still have gifts to wrap, (and buy!) presents to make, and all that other holiday fun to enjoy. So, this might be it for a bit.

The Grumpy Fairy books are restocked in the Boutique, so there are plenty of those and time to order one before Christmas if you are still doing your holiday shopping too. Thanks again for for coming to my shop for the holidays! I'm still sending a vintage greeting card with each purchase as a thank you.

Now, I'm off to get my little fairy grand baby so we can see the new Princess and the Frog movie together. We've been waiting very impatiently for that to come out!

Just heavenly

celebrations, family, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / December 14, 2009

My email is fixed!! Weird thing, it was the clock on my computer some how set incorrectly that was messing up my messages. Apparently, some computers thought I was some robot from the future trying to contact them and wouldn't allow my messages to go through. I finally just picked up the phone and called AT&T, and the nice guy there fixed it in a flash.

What a relief. I was having a heck of a time contacting anyone. Some of you had asked me to let you know when I listed more Heavenly Wallpaper. Hopefully, those emails made it through.

I've only listed a very few packets, but HOPE to gather up some more this week.

Before heading out the door to do some Christmas shopping (I'm getting a very late start this year!) I took some photos of wallpaper to list tomorrow when I have more time. This certainly is a hectic time of year, just too much fun going on. Last night, we went to a birthday party and Sugarwings got to play with her cousin, Pixie Pie. This blurry photo pretty much represents the whole evening, those girls were in constant motion, and no photos of them turned out!

Here they are jumping on the bed in Pixie Pie's cute room at her grandparent's home.

She has the best vintage pictures on the wall of her pastel room. Feel free to download and print them for your own projects, they are adorable!

See what I mean? How sweet!

This is my favorite. I'm going to go to the Art Center today and sign Sugarwings up for Ballet class. So, I'll print this one to make the tag for her present that will go under the tree, her very first ballet slippers!!! I'm so excited. Little girls are such fun to have around!!

Bookie

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, paintings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / December 11, 2009

Poor Bookie. He just had his 14th birthday and isn't doing so well. See how he lists to the side? That is permanent. I wonder if he's had a stroke? We've bought him a space heater and the guy rarely leaves his pillow by the warm air now. He is only sitting on the couch to please me, and desperately wants to get back to his pillow.

Its so sad to see our pets age. To me, he'll always be a baby, but actually, he's a little old man. And smells pretty bad too. Sometimes I have to poke him two or three times to see if he is still alive, and I am dreading the day when the pokes don't get him to move. On the other hand, I will be relieved to think of him falling asleep on his favorite pillow by the space heater and drifting off to comfort. I can tell he is just not been himself for yeas, but lately, it seems much worse.

I've gotten used to Bookie hiding away, apart from the family and have let him go his own way. But opening up the boxes of hand painted ornaments from years past and seeing his happy little face, in a younger, happier time made me realize just how much he had changed.

You know, this isn't the post I started to write, it was going to be photos of my holidayed up living room. But I think I'll save that one for another day, and go hold my little stinky guy for a bit and tell him I'll always love him while I still can.

A warm pink glow to ward off the freezing weather

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, give away, holiday decor, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / December 9, 2009

Just a note to let you know that my email is being a bit screwy. Its not a Typepad issue, Typepad has been very sweet and cooperative lately. I don't know what the deal is, just that I respond to emails (not just on comments, regular emails too) and they are not getting through.

Its frustrating to answer emails, then get a message from the Postmaster or the Mailer-Daemen saying they are undeliverable. Sorry if you were one of the dozens of people I couldn't respond to! There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason, some (quite a few, actually!) messages just are hitting a dead end.

We've had our first snow and it was a doozy. More cold than deep, but enough to keep me indoors by the roaring fire. Trouble is, my husband is out of town and the stack of wood is getting low. I'm feeling like a wimp, but just DO NOT want to go out there in the single digit weather and fill a wheelbarrow with wood.

On the other hand, a fire in the wood stove sure feels better than just turning up the thermostat. (and is much cheaper too!) I'd better man-up and go load the wheel barrow.

We've been staying indoors decorating and redecorating the tree. I think that Sugarwings will make her pink tree an ongoing project for the season.

Each ornament has been on every single branch of her tree at least once so far. Sometimes all the decorations seem to be on the same branch at the same time.

I filled a basket will all of the unbreakable ones and let her do as she pleased with them. Of course, she had a little bit of help from Twinkle.

Although, after a couple of hours of hard work, even Twinkle was getting tired. And Sugarwings was just getting started.

I don't think this will get old for my fairy grand baby, she's in pink heaven with that glowing tree.

(and I am loving those heavenly curtains!)

As for me, I think I'm done with my share of hall decking. Its a mini explosion of holiday glam this year for me, and I'm kind of liking it kind of laid back.

Well, laid back for ME, that is!

These peacock feather fans go a long way in adding some flair when I tied one to a lamp shade and another to a plain white feather wreath.

Years ago, I used to raise peafowl and these feathers were gathered from Percy. He dropped them all every summer and it was a treasure hunt for me to crawl around the barn and walk out in the woods every day searching for feathers. Some days, I 'd find one or two, other days maybe a couple dozen.

Now, I've taken bundles of the plumes and wrapped them with vintage ribbons, added a millinery flower and a jewel. Plus a touch of glitter.

There are a couple left from Miss Frenchie's and I have them listed in the Boutique, as well as the celluloid box I've posed the fan next to.

Don't forget that you can win this book by Amy Barickman (isn't she a peach to offer it?) Along with the book, you'll get a couple of hankies from me to use in the projects and a gift certificate from Amy to use for downloads from Vintage Workshop.

My December giveaway is open to everyone. No tricks where you have to post about it on your blog, or add yourself as a follower. All comments, all posts in the month count. I just like to say thanks for taking the time to come by to visit!

I just wish you were here in person and could help me heft that wheelbarrow of wood.

Also, if you'd like to see more holiday decor, go visit
Thoughts from Over the Rainbow

for a hall decking party!

Shameless hawking of wares, Artist Class Ala Carte, a mini Tutorial, and prizes!

Etsy Goodies, family, give away, holiday decor, how-to projects, I do tend to run on, don't I?, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / November 27, 2009

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, with lots to be thankful for yesterday!

We had a smaller than usual group this year, and WAY too much food. I've already made turkey soup from leftovers for supper tonight. While cleaning up the kitchen and putting away the food, I have a pot simmering on the stove that veggies, turkey, and broth go into. I throw in a few handfuls of rice, and some seasonings and by the time I'm done with the kitchen clean up, the soup is ready to be cooled and put away for the next day.

Family brought side dishes, and we had the meal all under control on auto pilot, so while the guys watched football and played pool, some of us made paper doll dresses for our Christmas trees. We kind of have a family tradition of doing projects together while the turkey roasts. I keep the day low keyed and simple, so we can all enjoy it and not feel pressured or rushed. The meal is all served buffet style right from the stove top, so when its time to eat, all we do is line up. I can play with glitter and glue right up until its chow time!

This year, I had actual patterns ready for the guests to use, thanks to the tutorial I did for Mary's Artist Class. I enjoyed seeing how the "class" went in person, and they seemed to like it.

Artist Class is still available to purchase as a group of 12 projects, with lots of extras (use my Karlascottage code to save $10) and now, Mary is also offering an ala carte menu to pick and chose a few classes here and there too.

Click HERE to order the paper doll tutorial that I did.

You will receive the dress patterns, the hand drawn doll that the dresses fit, directions, and ephemera to down load and print out to make your creations. This class, on its own is $15.

I will be listing some more ephemera kits with extra patterns in my Boutique soon too. Along with that gorgeous wallpaper that I am slowly, but surely getting cut!!

Here are some of the creations that family made yesterday with the patterns. Its great to see the range of styles that some simple patterns can become!

This is one of mine, made from that wallpaper that I'm so far behind on getting packaged to sell! I've got a few rolls of it cut, but have about 10 more to get through. Thanks for your patience. I'd planned on doing it today, but when Sugarwings asked me to take her to a movie, how could I say no? Wallpaper will just have to wait, fairy grand babies take precedence!

If you'd like to make your paper doll dresses into ornaments to hang from the tree, here are some simple steps to do that.

First, punch holes in the shoulders.

Next, select your ribbon.

For holiday sparkle, I chose this vintage tinsel that was a gift from Beth.

Cut about 7-8"

Thread the ribbon through the holes from the front (although, you can tell from the floral dress I made, that I put the knots in the front, that is OK too)

Tie knots on both ends, then trim off any danglies.

To Christmassy-up a couple of these dresses, I added some glitter. Simply brush your finished dress lightly, with white glue, and sprinkle on glitter, then tap off. I used the vintage crystal "Diamond Dust" because it has such a pretty shine. Make sure you don't use something metallic or heavy that covers up your work completely! You want to use a transparent glitter and apply in a fine sheen, not thick or gloppy.

The dresses I've shown are available in my Etsy shop for $6 each, if you are interested.

And now, after what sounds like a lot of hawking of my wares-( but hey, I have to make a living here, don't I??), I have some gifts to announce!

The winner of the original, hand drawn and painted paper doll goes to:

Laurie Jackson

And an ephemera kit for making the dolls goes to:

Sandra Thompson

And of course, everyone who leaves a comment anytime this month is entered into the

November Giveaway.

While up at Silver Bella, there was a discussion among some friends about giveaways. A lot of people don't care for them and think there are too many. I know I have a lot, and yes, some of it is just to bribe you guys to leave comments, but that isn't the only reason I do it.

For one thing, I have so MUCH. And I like to share. I find good deals and I'm able to giveaway pretty things without hurting my pocketbook.

And also, to quote Kurt to Finn on Glee, "I honestly love you". My blog, and blogfriends that I've met through it mean a lot to me. There are billions and billions of blogs out there for you to visit and I just want to say thanks for you to take the time out to come and see me, and bother to leave a comment.

So, yes, there will be more giveaways here. And lots of them. Its appropriate to say at Thanksgiving time that I have a lot to be thankful for. So, I just wanted to let you know that!

Being Thankful

celebrations, family, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / November 25, 2009

Today, Sugarwings and I spent a few hours in the kitchen, working on getting goodies made up to fill the treat cabinet for our guests.

We made 2 pumpkin pies, a pumpkin cheesecake, brownies, pecan cheesecake, fudge, and pralines.

This recipe, torn from a 1933 magazine has been on my desk taunting me for weeks. I don't typically make food from recipes, I make up my own, but this, well, this one looked special. Plus, I loved the idea of recreating something from 70 some years ago.

Also, my favorite candy store in the world, Savannah Sweets in St. Augustine, FL has pralines that look just like these and I adore those yummy, rich, pecan treats!

Not owning a candy thermometer didn't stop me. I like doing the "soft ball" test. I kept a glass of ice water by the stove to check for the right temp. But honestly, if you've ever made fudge from scratch, this is similar and you can about tell by looking at the bubbling goo to see if it is ready to remove from the stove or not.

One thing I changed from the original recipe was to add Belguin chocolate chips.

Another change was to use this silicon pan instead of buttered aluminum foil or wax paper. I got this one at Target for $9 and use it like crazy. Nothing sticks, and all the desserts or muffins look so pretty when they come out.

See? Nice little squares. I dropped the brown sugar mixture over the chocolate chips and pecans that were waiting in the sprayed pan, and pushed it all down into the squares. The recipe said it only made 9 servings, but using mine ended up filling two of these pans. I used more nuts, broken up instead of 3 big ones per piece of candy.

And I'm glad I added the chocolate. Wow, these are good!!!

I hope you all have a sweet holiday, with plenty to be thankful for.

I know what I am thankful for. I'm extremely lucky that my life has turned out the way it is, with healthy, happy sons, a husband who makes me laugh, and Sugarwings to snuggle with.

Life wasn't always this good, we've seen some major bad times.

I've broken my back and didn't know if I'd ever over come chronic pain. I've lost both parents in recent years, and I thought I'd lost my son to addiction. My husband and I have lost jobs, beloved dogs, and savings accounts, but have never lost each other.

Yep, I'm VERY grateful.

Plus, I got my studio clean and am ready for guests!!!

I'm really thankful that is behind me. I'll leave you with a few pictures of the cleanup and of the dinner table. I used white bottle brush trees down the center of the table along with all the other things I am taking to sell at Miss Frenchie's next week. After the holiday, I'll just stick price tags on it all, pack it up and I'm ready to go.