flowers – Page 19 – Karla's Cottage

Back to normal

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, flowers, holiday decor, show and tell, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 27, 2009

Its so nice to have everything back to normal, with Twinkle home.  Sugarwings is no longer telling everyone "Toto has wunned away" and the two of them are happy to be reunited.  Since she is convinced that she is Dorothy, she has also decided that Twinks must be Toto.  Which works out fine, because she can't say "Twinkle", she always says "Ankle" instead. 
Yes, Toto sounds like a cuter name than Ankle. And that dog will answer to anything. 

Thank you for all of your kind words about my little dorkie taking off.  I really don't deserve them, it was ALL MY FAULT.  Poor dog. But, she is home now and I am making sure she stays this time.

Over the weekend, I finally broke my losing streak in hat gathering. Lately, I've not done well at all, and Beth reminded me that I had created my own shortage by buying all the hats up in the surrounding area.  But I did manage to find a few this weekend and might be able to reclaim my hat whisperer title. I thought I'd have to retire it, I'd been on such a long dry spell of hatlessness.

Most are already stripped naked and packed up, ready to fly out of here.  I love this little bouquet of about a dozen white flowers with a scattering of purple velvet posies. When I saw the hat with those next to the ugly green and orange hat, I knew that together, they'd be great for Halloween decor or crafting. 

It was an estate sale blast this weekend!  One here in my town was amazing, a beautiful, newer home on the golf course isn't usually the place to find old things, but it was jammed with a lifetime of great stuff. I was so surprised to see all of it. I was glad I didn't blow it off, like I normally would a house in that neighborhood.  I bought boxes and boxes of sheet music and a big stack of these spooky old napkins. So, I made up little craft kits with some of these things and have them listed here.

 On Friday, I explored the unexpected treasures at the country club house, and made a big haul.  Then, Beth invited me to Kansas City to shop with her on Saturday. And how could I turn that down? She is an estate sale master and knows where to go, what to avoid, and how to find the best deals.  Plus, I was still an emotional wreck from the Twinkle-less week and wasn't feeling too creative. I thought some more shopping therapy could help.

And of course, it did!  Isn't a bit of junking is good for the creative soul?  Sometimes, buying some new, old crap is just what I need to get me wanting to hunker down in the studio and work away.
I'll be getting out the jewelry making supplies and playing with all the rhinestones that I've been lucky enough to find lately.  

Don't you think that this picture is just trying too hard?  Its a great example of Photo Styling Gone Bad.  Too much loot, too much trying make it look cute in a picture. Just because I found pink Christmas lights, does it mean you really need to see them? 
 Sometimes I wonder about how I spend my time….  I'd better go do something productive, I'm off to the jewelery making tools and getting to work!

 And don't forget, if you want to win some vintage jewels, you still have till the 30th to enter by leaving a comment on any post. 

French Ephemera is a handy thing to have around.

family, flowers, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 16, 2009

Craft day was not only fun, but productive, that is just the best. We had a nice lunch (aren't pitch in meals the most fun? I enjoy the variety of what everyone brings) then a walk on the Fairy Berry Trail before getting to work.

When I went to Savannah during Jenn's retreat
I found a French magazine from 1901 that I fell in love with, but felt like it was way to expensive to buy. My pal, Tiffany, got one and reminded me that the price averaged out to only $2.50 per page, so I splurged and bought one. Now that I am doing a swap with these friends from our trip to Georgia, I am so glad I bought the magazine, the cafe au' lait cover was perfect for the center of these medallions I am making with all of their initials.

This side of the swap page is all vintagey goodness. Old crepe paper, and ribbon, wallpaper, and millinery. And of course, the cool, French ephemera. The only new thing on this, is the initial. I cut diamond shapes (thanks for the shape idea, Marilyn!) out of parchment card stock and drew the initials in metallic inks and markers.

I was so enthralled by my new trick of making these, that I used one as a label on this package wrapped up for another Silver Bella swap. (the glue is still wet in this photo)

These medals, or medallions might be cute made into pins too…

Like I don't have anything else to do. Today, I am mudding the new dry wall for a mini remodeling project and tonight I'll be painting the walls as they dry. Tomorrow, I am having a group of friends over for breakfast and we are making a few charms.

And of course, it is the hey day of the garden season. Last night, we picked a couple sinks full of tomatoes, so I made up a LOT of sauce to freeze.

Its Sugarwing's job to pick the littlest tomatoes and put them in her bucket. They seem to get dumped in and out a lot, but if a few get stepped on here and there, it doesn't really matter. I'm being over run with tomatoes anyway, I kind of feel like stepping on a few myself. It would be that many less to clean, cook, and freeze.

One of our plans was to make and can salsa. Somehow, it just is not happening. We have the ingredients, just not the time to learn how to can.

Ah, aren't gardens wonderful? I might complain about how much work it is, but I am loving the results!

But now, I have something to really complain about, I have to go and do dry wall mud. ugh.

A bonus giveaway to share the joy

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, flowers, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 2, 2009

Yesterday was such a good day! One for the record books.

* Lovely weather

* Family helping with yard work, getting things trimmed and tidied, and enjoying being outside together

* A bonus of a few extra, unexpected hours to play with Sugarwings

* The look of joy on my fairy grand baby's face when she saw the new additions to the Fairy Berry Trail

* A thoughtful, surprise gift in the mail from a reader (thank you, Susan!!)

* Giant mums in bloom, on sale for only $5.99 (I bought 6!)

* A delicious meal whipped up from our garden, by my son

* The happy anticipation of getting ready for the big family reunion this weekend

* A furry friend, who is always happy even when I have to pick tons of burrs from her silky hair.

* Time to spend in the studio making up some pretties

It was one of those days that make me happy and grateful for my life.

It was such a good day, that I wanted to share some of my good luck, and draw two names for the August giveaway instead of just one. Plus, I realized it was my SIX HUNDREDTH post.

So, here are the two winners, each get one of these hand painted charms.

And the second winner is:

Gabrielle

Bur dog 115

Yep, yesterday was a beautiful day, and you know, today is starting off pretty good too. Hope yours is also!

24

antiques/junking, family, flowers, Travel

By Karla Nathan / August 19, 2009

We took the trip to the East for a combination of reasons.  My husband's nephew was getting married, it was our 24th wedding anniversary, and my husband had some work to do.  A lot to squeeze into less than a week, and a lot of traveling from one place to another.
  
 But it was wonderful to spend time with family and see this little guy all grown up and happily married, so we were glad we went.  
 This antique mall was in Nag's Head, or Kitty Hawk, or one of those pretty little towns that run into each other.  We stayed at a hotel on the beach in Nag's Head for 2 nights, but got in late the first night and left early, so really had only one whole day there.   
On the trip in, I kept seeing one antique shop after another and of course, we were on a mission to get to the hotel and go out for dinner, so didn't have time to stop.  Well, that is what one person in the car thought, anyway. 
   But that worked out fine, the non-antiquer in the family had to work the next day so, I spent the morning exploring and was able to trace my way back to most of the shops I had seen on the drive in.
Those shops were as cute as I had expected them to be, and I was able to find some millinery, but not a lot.  Some hats were over 40 bucks.  ??!!??  But I turned on my hat whisperer skills and searched out the under $10 variety and did okay.   I especially like the velvet petals on the sagey green flowers, they are such a perfect color to use.  That color is nicely faded and just plain old looking!  Like the pink on the skirt of the dolly, I'm sure it was a pretty shade to start with, but the years have made it even better.

Some flowers have been added to the Boutique but I am once again- on my way out of town, so if you want to purchase some, I can't mail them until I return, thanks for your patience. 
Our balcony was on the side of the hotel, but we still had an ocean view, and I sat out there for my morning coffee and a glass of wine in the evening. I was able to twist around with the camera and get a semi-ocean background for the picture of my flowers.
 
My husband took me to see one of the golf courses his company runs, on Nag's Head.  I have never played a round of golf in my life, and know for a fact that I never will, but I can still appreciate the beauty of the places and am always happy to go and see some of them with him.  
As long as he doesn't expect me to learn to play!  Just like I don't expect him to take up the never ending millinery hunt with me.
 
  We've got it all worked out pretty well, after all of these years together.  If I am lucky enough to have the longevity of my Great Aunt Caroline and live to be over 100, I plan on keeping him around for it.

Feeling down, but not very far down

fairies, family, flowers

By Karla Nathan / August 4, 2009

This is the aftermath when Sugarwings leaves to go to her Hippy Chick Mommy's house. I should pick up the fairy dress and sweep away the bits of play doh off the studio floor, but I kind of like seeing it all there, it makes me feel like she is still close by.

Today is a down in the dumps day. No real reason why, just a few little things that have got me down. It always seems quiet around here after I've had the whole family here and a lot going on, then they go off to their own ways and I'm on my own. I usually take advantage of those days and zip through a lot of studio hours, but for some reason, today, I am having problems adjusting.

So, I took myself out of the house and into the garden so soak up some sunshine and have a little bit of flower therapy.

Being greeted by a sea of pink Surprise Lilies every where I turned was just what I needed. (And I did a good job of looking at the overgrown masses of perennials that needed divided and weeded as "lush" not "messy".)

The purple cone flowers were still in full force too. This mild summer has kept everything beautiful. A typical August usually means a dry and cracked ground with brown grass. Not this year!

And the cleomes have taken off too! They are still short, and will grow another foot or so, but the blooms are thick and filled with little white butterflies.

I'm just sure that there has to be a few fairies flitting about in that jungle of blooms.

I'm feeling a little better after my walk around outside. But I might just take off and see a movie this afternoon too. There is magic in a dark movie theater, I love to go to afternoon movies all by myself. Especially if there is a zombie movie to go see, but looks like I'll have to settle for a sappy romantic comedy. I've heard great reviews of 500 Days of Summer. Sounds like a good cheer up one to see.

Feeling a bit down isn't exactly a bad thing. I guess you need some blah days to really appreciate the best ones when they come around. A bit of bleckiness won't hurt me now and then. On the other hand, I'm not a believer of wallowing in self pity or letting the sad days take over. So, I'll take a bit of today to let myself be sad about some things that are not going well, miss my family, and feel a tad bit lonely. Then, I'll get over it and move on.

Enjoying the flowers in the garden, and playing with my garden of vintage hats, seeing a movie, then maybe treating myself to ice cream for dinner and taking joy in the fact that I don't have to cook for anyone should be just the ticket for cheering up my day.

(I spent some time taking pictures of millinery for the Boutique today, including some fall and Halloween colors)

And how can I stay down for long, after getting this beautiful party invitation from the mailbox!? My sister, Bobbie Sue is turning SIXTY, and Sissy is throwing her a slumber party where we all get to dress up in our fairy wings.

Thanks to all of you who helped me get a hold of my Typepad dilema. I'm trying out Mozilla Firefox as a browser, so far, so good!!!!!!!

Fluttery friends

fairies, family, flowers, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 31, 2009

The Omaha Zoo is fantastic! Our little Topeka zoo is cute and easy to take little ones to for a couple of hours, but the one in Omaha is in a whole other category. Its not just a simple walk around a park with animals to look at, here, each building is an adventure. We especially liked the aquarium where you could walk under the glass tunnel of sharks.

My husband and I had just taken Sugarwings there a few weeks ago, but saw less than half the zoo, because we let her go at her own pace, and if she wanted to sit and play with dirt and rocks instead of squeezing in another sight, we let her. This time, we took her Daddy along with us and his attitude was, that she can amble along and be entertained by dirt anytime. Today was the day to see what the park had to offer.

And still we didn't see all of it!

It might have been a bit much, this is what we ended up with. Our fairy baby wore herself out. We rented a wagon to pull her in and it was worth every penny of the $12.95 it cost. She was able to rest up and get her happy face back on so she could enjoy the butterfly house and the jungle experience.

She started out a little sleepy and cranky in the butterfly house, but once she got to put on her own butterfly wings, she felt better.

And when she got to make friends with some of the other winged creatures, then the fun started.

Her Daddy took this picture. He seemed to know more about my camera than I did

and taught me some tricks with it.

The butterflies were our favorite part of the day!

But this dainty little "Fairy Bluebird" had to be my favorite zoo inhabitant. Isn't she pretty?

Its been hard to get back to work today after such a fast, but fun filled trip. I wasn't feeling like sitting right down and painting more illustrations for the Grumpy Fairy book, so I spent a while sorting some old millinery flowers. These sets are listed in the Boutique. I also "cleaned house" there and deleted some sold goods and added some more easy to follow categories.

But now, I need to get cracking on the fairy paintings. I was so caught up in the painting process, I hated to stop and leave for the trip on Wednesday, and now that I am back, I have to restart the creative flow and get into that groove all over again. I don't transition well….

All items
Sale priced goods
Flea Market Finds
Hand made by Karla
Vintage Craft Supplies or Kits
Aprons
Vintage jewelry
Millinery blossoms
Vintage wallpaper

Here are the new categories, what do you think?

Kansas Countryside

celebrations, family, flowers, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / July 27, 2009

Kansas Julys are usually miserable. I'm a summer-lovin person, but even I get burnt out by the blasting heat of late July in Kansas. But not this year! Its been as sweet as June all month long. We went to a friend's for dinner over the weekend and were lucky enough to get to sit on their country patio and enjoy our meal along with the scenic views.

Of course, I always have to get pictures of the food…. its as pretty as the view from the porch!

And their view is more than a little special. This stream is right in front of the deck of the log cabin that they built themselves.

The stream looks natural, but the home owners built it too. My husband went out and spent a day helping move rocks to form the creek bed a couple years back. Which, he would never do at our house. Funny, he'd do anything for a buddy, but when it comes to gardening at our own cottage, well, he's not that into it, I guess would be the polite thing to say…

So, do I have a little bit of creek envy? I have to admit that I do. This yard is ideal. It is all landscaped into flower gardens up by the house and the rest of the land is left to go in native grasses that never need mowed or watered.

Most of the areas are left to natural landscaping.

And other areas were steered into that direction. Some native plants that spread and become ground cover make this hillside a no-care delight now that they are all established.

This makes me miss living in the country! When we bought our farm years ago, we were in the middle of no where. Now we have civilization on three sides of us, with just the back acreage that we own still wild and free.

But I'm feeling the farmhouse vibe now, anyway. Its time to put up corn for the winter!

I'm doing it the short cut way. We shucked a few dozen ears, dumped them into the sink, then poured a pot of boiling water over them, and iced it all down after.

Then, we cut the kernels off with a simple corn cutting tool from Bed Bath and Beyond, that made the chore zip by quickly.

The kernels went into freezer bags, and one of the bags was marked Thanksgiving , another was marked Christmas. We save up big servings of fresh frozen corn for holiday family dinners, because there is nothing like the taste of Kansas summer in the coldest part of winter!

There is lots of new stuff in the Boutique right now. I've been playing with the millinery flowers and made up some deluxe, rosey collections!

Also, I did snag a little something to add to the JULY GARAGE SALE GIVEAWAY PRIZE PACK. I just haven't had a chance to get photos.

I might have time to get some photos tomorrow. I've had Sugarwings a little bit extra this week, so we've been pretty busy with the other things I found at garage sales this week, princess dresses and tea party toys!

What can you get for under $100 in Lawrence, KS on a Saturday morning?

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, Hand Painted Furniture

By Karla Nathan / July 18, 2009

Ahh! That's better. I've had a rough day and a pale pink rose sure helps!

Its not been a bad day, just an exhausting one. Well, I guess the part about my computer refusing to recognize any Excel programs is kind of bad… Mostly it was just a long and tiring day. Sugarwings woke up with the sunrise this morning, so she and I went garage sailing together. (and yes, I have goodies to add to the giveaway, and will take photos soon. You can leave a comment on any post to enter the drawing)

Usually, the baby and I don't try going to garage sales together, she'd rather have a lazy morning telling stories and making pancakes. But when I saw an ad in the paper for an All Shabby Chic estate sale, I packed that kid up fast as I could and headed out. This table and chairs wasn't something I actually needed…. but won't I enjoy having it right outside my studio's back door?

I kind of repainted it, but not totally. I wanted it to still look weathered, just not so shabby it was looking trashy. So I misted some spray paint on lightly and evenly to clean it up, and then sprayed a bit more heavily in other places.

And of course, I didn't NEED this either. But for $35, I sure wanted it for my studio. I can get rid of some cluttery small pieces of furniture and consolidate the stuff in them into this.

It almost didn't make it home, on one corner, the top of the hutch went sliding and tilted out over the bed of the pickup. I drove slow and with my flashers on the rest of the way home, and we made it ok. Ryan helped me to get it out of the truck, and we almost lost it again then, when it came sliding down a little faster than we thought.

When I bought it, I thought it would be a simple slap of paint and I'd be done. Then, I saw to my absolute horror, that the person who painted it before DID NOT PRIME or sand it!!!!!!! Their paint could be peeled off in long strips. Which I did, for about an hour.

Then I finished it with the steps on my side bar, primer spray and glaze. The glaze is cream. I might add vintage wallpaper to the inset panels.

These were at the same house. I think they are meant for hanging on a chandelier. Not a bad sale, huh? And when we got there it was all picked over, I'd love to have seen what was sold before we arrived.

It would have to be a heavy chandy to hold these fruits, they have some heft to them.

Sugarwings spent the day with her Hippy Chick Mommy and is back for tonight, so my little "shadow" and I will have some play time tonight. I hope she is in the mood for something less strenuous than usual. Last night, I was the flying monkey and she was Dorothy and I had to scoop her up and run to lock her in the Wicked Witch's castle. (over and over and over) After hauling and painting furniture all day, I don't think my flying monkey wings will flap tonight.

Scrapbook swapping ettiquette woes

antiques/junking, flowers, Sugarwings, swaps

By Karla Nathan / July 16, 2009

Wouldn't your heart skip a beat if you were invited for a craft day, and when you got there, this is what was waiting for you?

Mine sure did! When I saw this entry, I knew this was going to be a special place.

I was tempted to say, "The heck with crafting, where's my margarita?" and just plop down on the porch without even going into the studio.

But as good as the patio was— the inside was even better!

Laurie rents out her studio for the day, as well as teaches classes. It was a fun place to meet up, and gave our group a break from all having to drive to Lawrence to come to my place. All of them live in KC and Laurie's studio was more convenient for them.

Her home is chocked full of vintagey fun, and I had a hard time concentrating on what I wanted to work on, because I really wanted to explore and look at all the art and fun finds she had on display around the room.

Like this piece that I was really attracted to, even more so, when I saw that it said "Nathan & Co." on the top of the card.

Actually, it wasn't just the surroundings that kept me from getting to work. I'd brought photos from my trip to Jenn's event last May to add to the Flower Fairy Scrapbook that a group of us from there swapped pages on.

The book was gorgeous! So pretty that I was hesitant about using it. But- we all made our pages with the intent of adding photos, so I starting gluing. Plus, all the people at craft day assured me that they had been in swaps like this and swappers understand that the pages get altered a bit when you start adding your own stuff.

So, I got out the markers and pens and added journaling bits and swirls and doodads (according to Beth's last post, Journaling is the New Black). I snipped off bits of the ribbons that Kim tied to the beautiful cover she had made for it and used some of those inside on the pages to trim pictures. I also created pockets on some pages to add the pictures in, while saving the artist's original work and adding it to the top of the pocket, or on a tag to tie into the book later. I also took the liberty of re-distributing some butterflies and adding sparkle marker and details to them when I glued them back to the page around the photos.

Hopefully, I kept the intent of the artists intact and haven't offended anyone. I was so impressed with the care and skill that they all put into the book!

Was I wrong to add my own touches and drawings, and scoot some other artist's work aside and move it to make room for photos? I'm feeling a bit guilty…. What do you think?

I sincerely hope that I haven't offended the other artists and that they know how much I will treasure their work in this lovely book.

Mementos of a trip are important, and I will enjoy that book for a long time! I made up a little something for Sissy as a souvenir and thank you for her help on our trip to Florida to Aunt Caroline's funeral. She loves crows and witchy things, so when I saw this pink hat on a doll while we were shopping together, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it when I got home!

The hat got a foofing with some old flowers and tulle trim, then I glittered up the bird, gave her a necklace and plopped on the hat.

And none of these girls needed the hat, once I was done with their makeovers. I hope to get a few of these little Miss Vintagey gals listed in the shop today, along with more millinery, if the cloudy skies ever clear up so I can take a good photo!

I'm cleaning up the Boutique, deleting all the sold goods ( by the way, THANKS!) so you could shop more easily there and even created a new category- Sale Priced Goods

And don't forget, what ever is left in the Etsy shop is half off the price it is listed at, details in the previous post.

edit- there are sequinned girls, millinery packs, and new (old) jewelry added to the Boutique now.

Damsels in Distress

antiques/junking, fairies, family, flowers

By Karla Nathan / July 1, 2009

The trip to Florida wasn't all sad stuff. My Aunt's funeral was uplifting, so many people had such good things to say about her. She was gracious and kind and a wonderful role model to live up to.

While down in the Sunshine State (where we were just about guaranteed a big blast of heavy rain every afternoon), my Sissy and I road tripped it from coast to coast and saw family (and antique shops) all the way.

We stayed with baby bro, Randy, and his family in Jacksonville. This mosaic is of my furry little niece and nephews. (Yep, that represents more Picassa fun time there, I learned a few more editing tricks!)

Randy and Kevin's garden is set up as an open invitation for fairies to come and play in the flowers.

Butterflies too! The yard is pesticide free, so the soon to be butterflies will be safe.

The place was so inviting, all I wanted to do was explore all the nooks and crannies, because there were such delightful surprises tucked in under the blooms!

And what did I buy on the trip? Well, I have to say that my hat whispering skills were top notch!

It was heart breaking to see that Mt. Dora is no longer chocked full of antique shops. Even so, we did manage to keep busy and I over filled my suitcase. To the point that it was over the weight limits, and I thought I'd have to stuff my carry on bag full of the heaviest stuff (5 rolls of gorgeous old wallpaper for $2.99!!!) But the Southwest Airlines agent let me leave it as is and didn't charge me for the overweight bag. SW is always the BEST.

These girls were so wrong, they were right. They caught my eye right away, well, with those garishly bright colors how could I miss them? But I saw potential in them, even if they are so unattractive they are too embarrassed to look at the camera as is.

First thing I did was cut those extra long, monkey styled arms in half! Then, on this one, I pulled off the brightest of the trims, and added some pretty pastels. Old crocheted lace, millinery flowers, a new hat (made from velvet flower petals), and of course, some fairy wings!

Now she is feeling self confident in her appearance and is saucily looking right into the eye of the camera.

Her formally red, white, and blue sister (who looked a bit too much like Wonder Woman to start with) really had a beautiful design of sequins, I just couldn't live with the colors. So, a little bit of spray paint with glitter sprinkled on while the paint was still wet gave her a makeover.

She also got a flower petal hat, more flowers on her gown, jewelry and a magic wand made from a hat pin. And of course, no more monkey arms. She has dainty little fairy wings, that don't show in this photo.

Sometimes I wonder about what I spend my time on. I am so far behind from being gone on one trip after another and I know I need to get caught up, get things listed on line and clean up my Etsy and Boutique, but I couldn't help myself. I saw these poor ugly ducklings and had to be their fairy godmother and turn them into swans!

I'm also finishing up the books I promised to list and will add all the new items to the shop at once and have a much needed makeover there too.

For now, it is back to my job as a fairy godmother, there are a few of those girls still waiting for my help!

Oh, and the winner of the June giveaway is:

Becca of Bluebirds and Roses. She was one of my very first blog friends, how nice!

Don't forget, a new contest starts today! All comments, all month are in the drawing for whatever the heck that prize will be.