flowers – Page 23 – Karla's Cottage

The crazy hat lady strikes again

antiques/junking, flowers, jewelry, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / May 3, 2008

You’ll never guess what I bought at the flea market yesterday.

Millinery flowers! Beth asked me how I was going to display my hats, and I told her "I don’t like hats" and that just struck our funny bones, considering I’d just bought 15 of them!

Honestly, I don’t care for the hats themselves, I only buy them for their blooms.

At first, I didn’t think it was going to be a good hat day, but then, I heard the whispers of them calling to me from a large booth of vintage clothing.

The dealer had just returned from Round Top . Her prices were sky high too, $38 for a flowery bonnet?? Yep, those are big time flea market prices, not Kansas prices!

So, I asked her nicely if she had a volume price. I bought 8 hats including the one previously marked $38 for only $64 total. And I didn’t stop there, I found pairs of hats here and there throughout the market for an average of $2.50 each. Which is why I ended up with a pile of FIFTEEN flowering beauties!

I was worse with old photos. I told Beth that she had to steer me away from any more, it wasn’t funny at that point. I didn’t think I could stop, but she was able to help me and I got through the rest of the day avoiding the photo bargains.

Most pictures were $1 each and when I’d gather an armful of ten or so, the dealer would usually name a price averaging about 50-75 cents each.

Which is how I ended up with THIRTY NINE photos.

Sparkling old jewels were priced about the same as the photos at so many tables we stopped at. Of course, if they were priced higher than that we didn’t stop.

I don’t know how many pieces of rhinestone jewelry I ended up with, but with paired earrings at under $1, I might have bought a couple…..

This photo? A drop in the bucket.

And look at the "Princess" jewel box! It was only $4 and I have plans to foof and jazz it up on the exterior. The inside is lovely just as it is! (the pretty as a picture alarm clock is a birthday gift from Beth- lucky me!)

I bought $1 dolls to fix up too. The bust (Marie?) was only $1 and I might paint it white.

The pink skirted tiny dancer is actually a music box that plays "Always" (the song my parents played at the their wedding). Consider this a "before" photo of her, I have big plans for a transformation to come.

French, German, and other old books were only $1 each

Clear Lucite containers were how much? $1 a piece (wish I’d bought more)

26 Vintage ballerina cake toppers were how much? $1 each

Keys? 2 for $1

Vintage scalloped edge stationery? $1 a box

But of all the things I bought, what is the best? This $4 dotted Swiss dress for Sugarwings.

In the same booth, I found a close match for her baby doll.

I think I’ll ask her to wear them for my birthday party on Monday. (which is my actual birthday, even though I have been celebrating for weeks.)

I’ll draw a name on May 6th for a winner of a birthday gift from me. All comments count towards that and toward my May giveaway, which I think will have to be extra special this month.

In one $5 bag of jewels from the flea market, there was a dainty gold band. I think I will include it with my May prize. Along with the gold band is a white leather Brighton coin purse.

I’ll be adding to the May Prize Pack throughout the month, so stay tuned and keep entering! Any comment, any post.

April’s winner, Clarice had a choice of prizes. She chose a Cottage Collage Kit with vintage wallpaper. She has two daughters that she makes great craft projects with, so I included some extras for them all to have fun with.

Gardens of Velvet and Silk

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 6, 2008

It doesn’t look like I am the only one who is crazy about millinery flowers.

I use them all the time, seems like I can’t make anything anymore without adding a posey or two!

If I haven’t actually used them in the composition, I love to twist them up into the ribbons that I hang the piece from.

I started out very greedy and hoardish with them. But now, with my (sorry, I think I mention this a LOT, but it is a major issue with me) New Years resolution to use my good stuff and enjoy it, I have generously used these flowers in globs and bunches and garlands as well as just simple accents.

(all of the projects pictured are listed in my Etsy shop)

If you love old hat blooms as much as I do, you’ll have fun today browsing through blogland and checking out the gardens of velvet and silk that are part of Sugar Sugar and Little Pink Studio’s show and tell.

This is definitely one of my obsessions. And I store them in a vintage wallpaper covered box, to compliment another of my collection compulsions.

And in a wallpaper covered drawer.

With a little glass full on my desk within easy reach if I need one quickly!

Not to mention the ones scattered here and there on my desk from past and present projects.

Oh, and the leaves!! I adore the leaves too!!!

There are always hats around for playing dress up with for Twinks and Sugarwings.

Aparently this one isn’t quite the right style for her.

The hats aren’t bought to keep as is, I buy them just for the flowers, but store them intact and pluck one here and there as I need it.

Up until lately, I had tossed the naked hats when I was done with them, but then decided they would be perfect to save for the fairy grand baby and I to decorate together when she is older.

Won’t it be fun to invite all of her little friends over for a tea party and give them each a hat and a pile of foof to add to it? I can just see the glue, glitter and doodads flying everywhere in my studio from all the little girls designing their wearable works of art!

These are my latest acquisitions. The perfectly aged, ROSE wallpaper covered hat box was $3, and the hats were $3 and $5. I almost passed on both hats, the pink one didn’t have many flowers on it, and the orange one was hideous.

But then, I thought about it, and realized that the pink one’s few flowers were definitely worth the $3 price, plus PINK is the best color to find!

And I made myself look past the hideousness of the orange hat, and plucked off all the creamy colored flowers, realizing that I had a bargain!

And after taking off the ugly (or so I had thought) orange ones and getting them away from the uncomplimentary tone of the green leaves, I saw that they were actually a very pretty sherbet shade.

Not a bad haul on that one $5 hat.

My favorite flowers to find will always be the dainty white ones.

And I never turn down a big velvety red rose. Although, so far, I have not used any in a project. They just make me smile when I come across them while digging through the blossoms to find just the right one to finish a project.

Because you know, it just isn’t done till I add a flower!

Hmm, I think that my giveaway for April should include some of these in some way. Remember, every comment during the month is entered to win.

I Heart Lawrence, KS

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

By Karla Nathan / April 5, 2008

Sunshine! Wow, I had almost forgotten what it felt like. What a long and rough winter we’ve had. I don’t think it is quite done with us yet, but I am taking advantage of today’s nice weather and planting some pansies.

There was no way I was going to wait any longer. The grocery store has their pansies out on the sidewalk and I can’t pass by them to go in for a gallon of milk and a case of Coke Vanilla Zero without stopping to daydream about warm weather.

Then, Target had garden tools with pink handles in thier Dollar Spot. How could I resist?

Pansies are pretty hardy, they should do well. And their little faces sure do brighten my own every time I walk by them planted by my front door.

Yesterday was delightful also. I went downtown (Lawrence, KS has a lively, active and entertaining downtown area with lots going on) and we went to visit one of the big Jayhawks that I painted and mosaic-ed with another artist a couple years back.

I could possibly be the only person in this entire town who isn’t planning on watching the big KU game tonight. The downtown atmosphere was pulsing with excitement.

I may not be a basketball fan, but I do love my town and know how important the game is to it.

My husband is a HUGE fan, and is in DC right now, so I bought Sugarwings a KU shirt (pink, of course) and took some photos to send to him before the game.

When I got the pictures back, she was so cute, I had to make some scrap book pages.

As a non-typical fan, I couldn’t just do a sporty page. I used vintage wallpaper, some old sheet music (one song about basketball, the other about the state flower of Kansas, the sunflower).

And since I am a lazy scrap booker, I made a pocket on one page to put multiple photos into, instead of trying to think up ideas for using all of them on the pages.

I used KU colors, of red, blue and yellow, but had to do it in flowers and ribbon.

When I make scrapbook pages, I tend to not worry too much about making it perfect. Edges are a bit crooked and things aren’t lined up exact. Mostly, I just want to get the photos into the book and get something attractive on the pages with them.

If I worried too much about it, I’d never get them in the books, and having fun memories in the albums is the main goal.

And anyway, that baby is so cute, no one notices what I do to the page, people who look at albums are more interested in the pictures of her, and the backgrounds are just that- backgrounds.

I’m off to enjoy more of this pretty day and walk out in our woods with the dogs. Of course, that means I will probably be picking cockle burrs off of them this evening but hey, I wasn’t planning on watching the big game on TV tonight anyway!

Making more space and making money stretch

antiques/junking, Chandeliers, fairies, flowers, give away, holiday decor, I do tend to run on, don't I?, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 2, 2007

I have been hearing that Romantic Country has been hard to find for a lot of people. I’ve seen that with these Harris Publications before. They have great magazines and people love them, but it takes some searching to find them sometimes.

So, today, I am mailing a copy to my sweet and tiny little mother-in-law out in Utah and my genteel and gracious great aunt down in Florida (who is turning 100!!). I made them each a book mark with their initials. I used some pretty scrap booking paper and brass charms but didn’t delve into my stash of vintage wallpapers and old ribbons. I knew they would just think it was old stuff and would probably appreciate the new papers more.

I redid the little corner of my studio that I call my office this week.

The rug is a linoleum remnant I painted for a magazine article "how to" story a couple of years ago. I switched from a larger table to this petite one and now the rug shows more. I’d almost forgotten it was there.

I use doors that are hinged together to make the partition that creates the space, and even though the doors have windows, the spot is dark. So I repainted the big hutch from black to pale, icy blue, and added another chandelier.

The table lamp is from last weekend’s garage sailing, $2.50- with the shade!!

Its hard for me to make an office a pretty spot, too many functional things, electronics, papers, BILLS, that I need to keep out.

Of course, the piles of Etsy stuff on the little blue desk doesn’t help the clutter, does it?

I might have mentioned a couple (or a thousand) times that I like fairies. I make my own from old dolls, or paint them, or transform vintage photographs into little fairy kids, but I also buy store bought ones.

TJ Maxx has these sparkly babes in with their Christmas decor for $5 each. I added these warm colored ones to my fall centerpiece in the dining room.

The velvet rose is from a bundle of the quarter ones I got at a garage sale, I glued it and some moss into a creamer from another garage sale that was only 15 cents because it was chipped.

My house doesn’t usually have fall colors. but I wanted to do something to celebrate the season and still be true to my own palette and style.

Fresh flowers are always welcome here. These are from last MONDAY at my local grocery store’s $1.99 clearance bin.

A vintage table cloth with roses in autumn colors, that Beth was selling for $3, and just gave to me instead, a basket from garage sales last week for 50cents, some of the vines and flowers (with lots of sparkle to them) from garage sales for a quarter a stem, and an 80% off after Christmas spray of glittered fruits from Hobby Lobby are part of the display.

I also added a gold carnival glass dish that was my husband’s grandmother’s and filled it with china roses that I collect for mosaic projects. Oh, and a bag of white pumpkins for $2, and a beaded pumpkin for $1. All of this, for what it normally costs to buy a flower arrangement!

Even though the flowers from last week’s sale bin are still thriving, I bought a dozen roses for $1.99 yesterday. Look at the deep reds and the wonderful striping of greens and yellows!!

The grocery store had a pot of white hydrangeas for $1.99 too. I hope to plant it outside as soon as we get a good break in the weather.

But for now, the pot looks good on my studio porch with the fall display there.

I might have saved a ton on flowers, but I went slightly overboard at TJMaxx on the fairies.

I bought one in every color they had for the baby’s room.

Even though I am decorating for the Christmas Parade of Homes, I don’t think these will come down after the holidays, they look like fairies that should live here year round to me.

One more bargain, before I go make things. I’d hate to only have 2 book marks and a rearranged room to be all I accomplish today.

My friend was having a yard sale and I bought this desk from her for $30. If I had bought it from a stranger, I would have offered $25, but very politely, I am never pushy or rude when I wheel and deal!

This attic room is in its beginning stages, you don’t want to see the rest of it yet.

And one more "one more thing" this is what I sent to Priscilla, who won the Sept. giveaway.

The tag is one that I made by cutting up my Romantic Country party invitation. I thought it looked fitting for her, as a Flea Market Queen.

I added her initial and a charm that I had made with old papers.

The charm can be worn as a pendant if she’d like.

I hope she enjoys her throne.

Please leave a comment to enter the Oct. giveaway. Maybe I will keep it as the Sept. one was, custom fit to the winner?

And the Party Goes ON!

flowers, give away, holiday decor, magazine pictures or articles, parties, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / September 26, 2007

I want to thank everyone who participated in the "Romantic Country- what do you LOVE about your home?" party!! And everyone who came to visit me and who party hopped around blogland to check in on the party locations too.

I have 2 winners for an issue of a magazine, one will go to a reader, the other to a blogger.

And they are:

Cindy and Paula Kay!!

Please contact me with your address and I’ll get the magazines into the mail (as soon as the editor sends me the bundle of copies, should be soon). Remember I said I would have a surprise for the winner who was a non-blogger? Here is a small autumn leaf watercolor I have done. Hope you like it, Paula!

I do think that this subject is dear to all of our hearts, we all love our homes. Would you like to have a "What do you LOVE about your Holiday Home?" party in December? I have another Romantic Country article due out about then—-more celebrating!!!

Don’t forget you can still enter the Sept. drawing for a giveaway choice of a Cottage Collage kit with vintage wallpaper, or a hand made item from one of my kits!

Today I had a real life party, here at the cottage. A few good friends came by for muffins and yogurt and coffee.

I made the muffins with applesauce instead of oils and added lots of healthy extras like walnuts, raisins, flax seed, whole wheat flour, etc. They really were good and gooey and moist. (and I had cream cheese icing on the side in case the muffins were too healthy)

We had 3 kinds, Carrot Cake, Chocolate Zucchini, and Blueberry-Cranberry. Wish I could throw a real life party to meet all of you!

But I will be seeing Silver Bellas soon in Omaha.

Remember when I told you that Monday was the Bloglandia Ball? Well, now I am telling you that is TODAY again. And this time I am right!

(I have more gowns posted on the earlier entry fomr two days ago)

You can visit the ball here. Please do, you’ll enjoy it!

Also, I will keep adding links to our What do You LOVE about your Home party for the rest of the day. There seems to still be a lot of interest in it and I’d hate to leave anyone out.

Thanks again for coming to see me and my friends!

Its 3am and little old ladies like me should be tucked in and sleeping

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, flowers, hand painted signs, holiday decor, how to's, magazine pictures or articles, swaps, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / September 23, 2007

I was pleased to see that Romantic Country is out on the stands and this issue of the magazine is just beautiful!

There are a few fellow bloggers featured and they will be joining in on the party Tuesday. Come by to meet them and see more of their homes!!

Here is my favorite page!

The photos of my home are from almost 2 years ago and nothing looks the same now. My living room has been through 3 changes since then and I am planning another soon.

But the biggest change was done by the photo editors at the magazine,thanks to them, my kitchen has a completely new floor plan. It’s been fun to show the pictures to people today and ask what is wrong with the kitchen. They all stare a few minutes, then yell- "Its backwards!" Looks like the editors must have cropped a couple of photos together and then flipped them so it is a mirror image of the actual room. Really, it looks pretty cool, it makes me feel like I have gone through the looking glass.

If my photos seem a bit blurry today, it is because I am blurry myself. My SIL is visiting and we have had a whirlwind day, starting with garage sailing at 7am. It is almost 3am and I am working in my studio now, still decorating for my magazine shoot on Monday.

Here is a detail of a painting I did on glass to make a sign out of an old cabinet door.

Oh, no, this one is extra blurry. Or am I just too tired to tell the difference? Maybe it is clear and I am the one messed up.

We made paper doll dresses tonight, I finished a garland of them for over the window in my studio.

This little dress is made from some cute old wallpaper.

I’ve been scooping up wallpaper like crazy, and so has Beth. We decided to share our finds with each other, and she brought me these pieces the other day.

Beth and I are in a mini swap of paper doll dresses with Debra and with Betty.

Debra sent a wonderful Halloween assortment to me.

And Betty sent some sweeties.

If you’d like to see all of the swap, you can check out our flickr page HERE

These are something different that I made tonight. I hate to waste anything. So when a stained glass lamp broke, I took it apart and turned it into sun catchers.

I cut each section out with scissors, took out the glass, tied a chandelier prism in the opening and added a bow. These could look good on Christmas trees too.

Another 2am project was making a wreath. It is hiding in this "Wheres Waldo" style photo of a pile of silk flowers I bought today at a salesman sample garage sail.

Think I got enough flowers???? They were a quarter a stem and were such nice ones. I bought $17 worth, how ever many that is!

If I am able to get out of bed tomorrow, I’ll show more garage sale finds. A granny like me should not be up for more than 20 hours straight!! I’m way too old for these kind of hours. Good night!!

I want to be the Fairy Queen!!!

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, flowers, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / September 8, 2007

After sleeping most of the week away, with that killer flu bug I had, and having my first cup of coffee for the week yesterday- I found myself up at 2am unable to drift off. I had IDEAS. So, at 2:30, I gave up and went to the studio and made fairy wings for Twinkle and fairy princess headbands for the rest of the group going to the Renaissance Festival today.

Trouble is, Twinks hated the wings and really isn’t very good on a leash anyway. Sparkle was extremely jealous, and kept trying to get me to put the wings on her. She does like to dress up.

So, Sparkle came along with us instead, but she is older, easily worn out, and fat (hey, being middle aged isn’t easy for some of us ladies!). So she ended up in Sugarwings stroller most of the day. I am not allowed to post photos of my husband pushing the stroller with the Dorky in fairy wings riding along like a queen.

Our little fairy grand baby had better things to do than sit in a stroller and be pushed around! There were crystal balls to gaze into, and new friends to meet.

Yes, we put that tiny little sprite up on a giant elephant.

I decided what I want to be when I grow up now- look at this fairy queen! Can you see me in my 70’s on the RenFest circuit, traveling the country and dressed up like a fairy royalty? I sure can. When my eyes get too bad to paint any more and my arthritis too bad to make jewelry or do collage, I plan on joining the Rennies and being a fairy queen.

The Kansas City Renaissance Festival is for 8 weekends every fall. It is set in a lush, wooded acreage and when you visit, it feels like stepping back in time.

I have always enjoyed going to the festival, but it is so much more fun to go with Sugarwings.

The costumes are to die for.

And the hairstyles aren’t bad either!

Next year, instead of just flowers, I want a bird in my hair!

For this year, I made a little wreath from paper roses and wired ivy vine and clipped on two vintage earrings and a matching brooch. Simple and fast, but no bird.

I think Sparkle got as much attention today as the real fairies that were there.

Everywhere we went, people asked if they could take her picture.

She loved every minute of it, too, and spent a lot of time posing with some of her fairy friends.

The fair is very dog friendly, but not as many people bring their dogs as they did in the past. Now, dogs need to buy a ticket! Only five bucks, but it is a good idea, because you have to show proof of shots to buy the pass for your dogs.

I am already looking forward to next year (when I will be wearing a bird in my hair) because little Madison will be old enough to go and we’ll have double the fun with two little fairy babies. (I hope she doesn’t mind sharing her stroller with dorkies.)

Hey, there really is a give away for Sept. Keep leaving comments to enter and I promise I’ll come up with a prize!

PS- I am attending a Tea Party on Monday and would like you to come by. I heard about it from Sweet Rememberance and here is the link for more info. I have a cute little "Tea for Two" refridgerator magnet that I will be giving away that day.

Spooky things, Storing things, and trying not to Hoard things

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, flowers, give away, I do tend to run on, don't I?, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2007

While going through my stash of goods from the big flea market this week, I came across some things that had a touch of Halloween flair (lucky numbers 7, unlucky 13, some old ribbons in black and orange, and a bunch of other fallish things)

So I decided to make up Cottage Collage Kits with a Fall Theme.

For each one, I used a bit of the papers to make a sample of what could be done with the kits.

I don’t do a lot of Halloween decor myself, but can appreciate the colors and I really enjoyed putting these packs together for someone else who would get more use out of it than I would.

I have the kits listed on Etsy for $12 each, if anyone wants a big bunch of Halloween goodies to work with.

Each kit contains a generous handful of orange and green millinery flowers, because I seem to have a lifetime supply!

Look at all these flowers! I just want to spread them out and roll in them, I love them all so much. I am FORCING myself to not hoard them, to actually use them and enjoy making pretty things with the flowers.

Trying to put away my new acquisitions from the flea market made me reorganize my studio so I’d have a place to store them all within reach and within sight. If my supplies are hidden away, I forget about what I have and don’t use it.

Plus, it is fun to have all my favorite things out where I can enjoy them!

This stuff is just too cool to hide away.

All of the storage containers were things I already had, except these lidded glass jars. I had a chair from TJMaxx that broke, and when I returned it, I saw these on the clearance table for $7 -$10 each. There was cash back on this purchase after returning the broken chair, that is always nice.

After organizing, I couldn’t wait to play with my new pretties!

So, I finished decorating the folders I am making for Somerset Living.

I swore to myself that I would not hoard my vintage wallpaper either. I am using it and enjoying it!

The first two folders were from wallpaper that Beth gave to me, and the third is from some I ordered on Etsy.

The inside of this folder is a watercolor wash I did on some heavier paper.

And see- I used two big millinery flowers on this one! Good start on the pledge to not hoard!

While I am trying to not be stingy with the papers, I am also not being wasteful. I save all the teeny bits in a big hat box and dig through it for detail items, like the tags I made on all 3 of these folders.

It might seem silly to save such little pieces of scrap, but I don’t think this card that I made would have been nearly as pretty without the thumbnail sized bit of wallpaper that I added and wrote "rose" on.

I made that ATC into a birthday card and tied it to a bag that I put one of the $1.99 rose pots into and gave it to a friend for her birthday yesterday.

We went to an art opening another friend was having at KU, and then out for margaritas

to celebrate.

And now, I need to announce my gifts for the winners of the August giveaway!

Since I had so many comments I am giving two presents. Second place will be a hand made paper doll dress. And it goes to

ELAINE

And first place, with the choice of a Cottage Collage Kit or a hand made item is

Stephanie. Ladies, please contact me and I’ll get your goodies in the mail. And thanks to everyone who entered. I appreciate all your comments and conversations. That is why I have a big giveaway every month. And since today is Sept. first, I have started a new contest!

All comments from the month get entered, and I’ll let you know what the prize will be when I figure it out.

All the rest have 31

a lapse of memory again, or am I just careless?, antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, flowers, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 28, 2007

Does anyone else notice anything wrong with this calender???

It was a gift from my BIL, the guy on the left in the photos. (my husband is the guy in the middle – but this was 20 some years ago!) He gathered up great family pictures, took them to a copy place and had a memento calender made up for Christmas.

I just realized today, that August really isn’t over. I don’t think it is my fault that I was confused, although, don’t most people know that only Feb. gets down to just 28 days?? I should remember that poem about the months!

The Month Poem
.

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
February has twenty-eight alone,
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting Leap-Year, that’s the time
When February’s days are twenty-nine.

Anyway, there are a couple of bonus days in August for me!! And that means more chances to enter the drawing for this month.

I didn’t get much work done today. I thought I might, I found this baby corral at garage sales. Actually, it is two that I put together, so she’d have space to roam in.

But of course, why would Sugarwings want to be corralled when she has a Grandmama to play dress up with? And Twinkle to read stories to?

Or shopping carts shaped like cars to ride in? We went to the grand opening of the new CVS in our town to use up all of the grand opening special coupons that expired Sept. 1st, (which, is NOT tomorrow, like I thought).

The shopping cart was so fun, we walked around and around the building and played with it outside till another little kid came along who looked like he and his mom needed to borrow it from us.

So then we went to the grocery store, where the carts aren’t nearly as much fun- but they do have $1.99 flowers!

I bought a bunch of glads and three pots of mini roses, including the cute tiny trellis in each pot, all for $1.99 each.

I did manage to make ONE THING today, and only half of it is done. I used some old floral cardboard from a chest that had fallen apart to make a folder for one of my Cottage Collage Kits.

I keep paper goods in a similar chest, but it isn’t much longer for the world, it definitely has seen better days. I won’t let it go to waste, though. I can see many craft projects in its future after I find a replacement for storage!

You can see the back of the folder here in this photo next to some garage sale purchases from this weekend.

I see a tea party in the making here. I can’t wait till Sugarwings is big enough to play big girl games with me! I’ve been collecting tea sets, doll cradles, dress up clothes, and all sorts of fun things for us to do together.

Don’t forget, there are actually a couple more days left in this month, go ahead and enter the drawing again!!

Cottage Collage Kits coming up in Somerset Living!!

Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, flowers, how to's, I do tend to run on, don't I?, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 27, 2007

I’m still on my paper doll dress kick, they are too fun to stop!

But I did take a break to make some of my wallpaper folders filled with vintage supplies to list on Etsy. This lavender themed one is in the shop and I stuffed it with lots of cool papers. I only made one, because purples, lavenders and periwinkles just don’t come up too much in the things I buy to use.

But I did come across some good ones to put in it. Lots of one of a kind items are inside.

And look- sheet music for "Lavender’s Blue!"

The wallpaper that I ordered for myself came from Etsy today too. And just in time, I need to make 3 of my Cottage Collage Kit folders for Somerset Life!

I cut two out and got them started,but not foofed up yet.

Some of the wallpaper that Beth gave to me was perfect to use on this tiny little photo album. I got it in the Michaels clearance aisle for 50 cents and embellished it to fancy it up.

I covered the inside and outside of both covers with Beth’s wallpaper, then glued old seam binding ribbon around the edges to keep the paper from shredding up on the corners.

I added glitter to the ribbon to cover any messy glue spots, drew on the wallpaper with a gold gel pen, added an English die cut flower to the inside cover and added MORE GLITTER.

The brass corner brackets and the green vintage earring on the clasp finished it off. (look at the glue on my fingernail, I was so glopped up at the end of this project!)

It has sleeves to slide photos into and I can just see a grandma using this as her brag book for her grand baby. But then, I can’t quite get enough albums myself for my fairy grand baby, so maybe I’ll keep it!

I am in two mini swaps with Debra, she, Beth and I are swapping ATCs, one fairy, one Halloween. Here is my fairy one, a bit odd, not a dainty fairy, that is for sure.

But don’t you think fairies come in all shapes and sizes just like people do???

We are also swapping paper doll dresses. I made this one with a page torn from a child’s book, The Tortoise and the Hare. Debra is an avid bunny collector. I found another old child’s book about bunnies to send to her too.

She over whelmed me with gifts when we swapped matchboxes so I owe her an ‘extra.’

She designs Halloween dolls for Bethany Lowe (check out her site, there is a big box of samples on it now!!!).

So, I made a Paper Doll Halloween gown. This one is on black paper with sparkles in it.

I drew the spider web with my gold gel pen, added crackle finish mixed with brown ink to age the whole dress, then sprinkled black and purple glitter onto to it. For a finishing touch, I ruffled up a sheer purple ribbon and glued it on the back to peek through as an under slip.

Betty and Beth are in the mini paper doll dress swap too.

Good thing I have someplace for these to go, because I can’t stop making them!

Although, these two sold on Etsy right after I listed them. That is a nice feeling.

I am not making two alike, and am not using patterns. I draw them as I make each one, so the sizes are way off kilter, there are giant ones and tiny ones!

When I was a kid, I loved my paper dolls. I wasn’t one of those kids who tore or trashed them, I played with the same ones for years.

That might explain my fascination with these little cuties.

I’ve enjoyed all the swap crafts that have been going around this year, the art doll hat, match boxes, tussie mussies, all have been fun to do. But I LOVE making these paper dolls!

And I LOVE the old wallpaper I have been playing with too.

I even turned some into a key chain (also in the Michaels clearance aisle for 50 cents).

As pretty as I think old wallpaper is—this is prettier! Sugarwings and her baby cousin, Madison, got matching dresses to wear to a party Saturday night.

While at the party, I noticed a cabinet at the house that I had forgotten that I painted. It is always a nice surprise to come across a past work in someone’s home.

I spent a lot of time gluing today. The day started out early in the garden while the morning glories were blooming and now it is evening

and the moon flowers have opened. I’m glad I have leftovers and don’t have to cook tonight.

Yesterday I picked tomatoes, peppers, fresh herbs and garlic to make home made sauce, and put together at big lasagna for Sunday dinner.

Ilearned that you shouldn’t eat a big lasagna lunch before you go out on the lake on a day with a 100 degree heat index. But Sugarwings didn’t seem to mind if the rest of the family was over full and lethargic, she had fun on the water!

Well, I’m off to eat a plateful of leftovers right now, and kick back on the couch for the evening. I am all glued-out.