flowers – Page 7 – Karla's Cottage

More roses on the wall

By Karla Nathan / September 12, 2017

While I had my paint brush out, I thought I'd do a few more flowers. This "WISHES" sign is done on an old cabinet door.

The word seemed to call for some sparkle. So, I accented it with silver glitter.

Here are some close ups of the rose vine I showed in my last post.

I hated to put away my brushes and paint, but it was time to move on, I have a lot to do to get ready for the holiday season, with Snowbirdsong coming up as well as a Christmas home tour.

Both of which I am looking forward to, but it was still hard to stop painting!

Although, I do have a few more of these egg ornaments to do, so it won't be put away for too long.

Hand painted roses

flowers, paintings

By Karla Nathan / September 9, 2017

Last year, I dropped a quart of red paint in the studio. It splattered so far that I am still finding spots I didn't see before.

What a mess!

I cleaned up as much as I could, touched up paint on doors, cabinets, etc, and ignored the main sploosh that went up the wall and onto the ceiling, it was too much to face.

Eventually, I knew I had to deal with it, but since I didn't have any more paint in the wall color, it would mean that I had to repaint not just this red splotch, but the entire west wall of the studio, behind the computer, my storage, and the big, heavy, wardrobe I use as a treat cabinet.

As nice as fresh paint in a new color would be, I decided it was too much work. So I painted over the red blotches only.

And I am happy that I did! I really like having a rose garden in my workshop.

While the ladder was out, I touched up the red freckled ceiling with white, so everything looks tidy again.

Now, I just wonder why I lived with that ugly bunch of blotches for that long before I thought of this save.

A little dinner party

cottage, flowers, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / August 30, 2017

There is a 50% off sale in the Boutique!!! To access the bargain prices, type in

LABORDAYSALE

at the checkout, and hit "recalculate" and watch the amount drop in half.

I'll be out of town and away from my computer and out of touch for a few days, so shipping will be next week. Please remember that the postage prices will be adjusted when I get the actual total from the USPS as I box the goodies up to send to you and I will refund excesses.

www.karlascottage.com

Aren't these hydrangeas pretty? I am hoping to keep the plant I picked them off of alive, but while hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers, they are not one that like me back that much. Maybe I love them so much because of their elusive, playing hard to get, attitude toward my garden?

Sometimes I think I wouldn't be any worse off if I'd simply planted 20 dollar bills instead of hydrangeas. I sure don't love that aspect of them.

We had some little dinner parties this summer. For all of them, I kept the table simple. In the winter, I love layers of table cloths, but for summer, I preferred the bare table top.

It felt nice at the time, but looking back at the photos, it seems a little stark, doesn't it?

A Herb bouquet

flowers

By Karla Nathan / November 10, 2016

Our book club was lucky to have the author of last month's selection speak to us about her experiences. Robin wrote "The Feast Nearby" (a very interesting story and even better when we had tales directly from her).

The book was about local and fresh foods, so I brought her a posey of herbs as a thank you for coming. My herb bed is still hanging in there, and I was able to pick a handful to wrap up.

This is a sweet way to gift fresh flowers or herbs to someone special if you don't have a vase to give along with them. I gather up some plants, and trim the ends. Then dampen paper towels, fold them up around the bottoms of the stems. I slip a sandwich size baggie over the towels to keep the wetness on the the plant, and fold pretty paper of some kind over the bag to hide it. (for this I used a book page with a bird picture on it)

Tie it up with a matching ribbon or two and the flowers will stay fresh for a day or so from the saturated paper towels.

I know I do ok with bringing buds to buddies in the spring when they are so abundant, but fall is also a season to be generous. You have a last chance to give from your gardens and flower beds before bloom time comes to an end. It might not be too late to get creative with a bundle of greens. Herbs that have bolted and blossomed, a branch with leaves beginning to turn, or a precious handful of the last of the flowers in the garden all make a nice gift.

Who will you take a posey to?

Quick and Easy Vintage Lavender Sachets

flowers, how to's

By Karla Nathan / November 8, 2016

When my buddies were coming to town, I wanted to have a welcome gift for each of them, but was extremely short on time. I was just finishing up the mosaic floors, and also planning a dinner party for 10 of my husband's co-workers the day before my friends were due.

The gifties needed to be something quick to make, so I decided to fill some muslin drawstring bags with lavender and decorate them. Well, actually, the other way around, I decorated them FIRST, then filled them.

The dreaded sewing machine was already out, for another progject, so I attempted to stitch the lace on, but couldn't go across the top, or I'd sew them shut. I could only use the machine on the sides and bottoms. That lead me to looking through my sparklies cabinet and finding vintage brooches to pin the lace to the bags at the tops.

After all the lace was attached, and the trinkets pinned on, I glued some old millinery blooms to the bags.

The best part? Besides being so quick to do, I mean. That wonderful lavender scent! I can never get enough of that.

I’m stuck

flowers, paintings

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2016

This is a painting I started and am struggling with. For now I've hung it on the wall to watch it and plan what changes need to be made. Sometimes a break is what is called for when I'm stuck.

I like this flower, just not the other one (not shown here, because it is annoying).

A new fairy garden

fairies, flowers

By Karla Nathan / May 30, 2016

Last spring, Sugarwings and I created a fairy garden in a pot outside my studio's back door. Sadly, Honey loved it even more than we did, and dug the whole thing out. She has a thing for flower pots, and if left unsupervised around one, will empty it out and try to wear the pot on her head like a hat.

So, this Spring, we made Fairy Garden Number Two, and placed it by the front door of the studio, outside of the fence, hopefully where the dog won't find it.

This one is even better, but still needs some creative touches, like painting the house and adding props.

I can tell how much this girl has matured in a year just by seeing her style of gardening. This time, the pot is more of a garden design than a toy to her.

She made the trench filled with blue marbles to create a river, and asked me to make a bridge for the pathway from the house, and over the little creek. One of the pink, plastic flower pots that the plants came in was perfect to cut into an arch to fit over the water way. Sugarwings planted each flower herself, and even took the wheelbarrow to the massive piles of dirt in our front yard from the construction project, and dug up soil to fill the planter herself.

Dewdrop is becoming a gardener too. She was in charge of the marigolds in her grandfather's veggie garden.

Wild Phlox

cottage, family, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 16, 2016

The wild phlox is blooming out in our woods! And was blooming down in Southern Missouri where we went for the wedding too.

Sugarwings picked some for Miss Tree's bouquet.

It was a non traditional wedding and this was a last minute idea by my grand fairy. Quite a good one, too. Pretty, huh?

Coffee Filter flower buds

flowers

By Karla Nathan / February 29, 2016

Coffee filter roses seriously took over my life for about a week over Valentine's Day. I had no reason or need to be making them. But once I thought about doing it, I had to try.

And once I tried one, I had to do more.

And more.

And then try little tricks to make them better.. I found that adding a narrow roll of paper to make a bud really brought the blooms to life. As did using watercolors to deepen tones along the edges of the petals.

I never did perfect the use of floral tape. That stuff is high on my list of nemesisses. It doesn't even respond well to glue. And I actually got out the hot glue gun, that is not a typical tool in my crafting arsenal.

This called for the Big Guns.

Although, I did find that the tape was ideal to cut into pointed strips and use around the buds and at the base of the flowers. It was not at all easy to attach, I glued each piece on, then added more glue over it with strips of tape wrapped around that . And glued it down on the ends.

Still, the tape has an ethereal quality and naturally curls up when cut in the strips. So, while it wasn't easy to do, it was worth the effort.

Eventually, I had to force myself to stop making coffee filter flowers and get on with my life. I gave some away to loved ones, and made a couple vase fulls for myself, and then tucked away the supplies with a promise that I'd dig them out again when I had more time.

Because I am not done yet, those blooms are addictive.

Having the Farewell to Downton book to work on was helpful to get my mind off the roses. Also, planning the trip to San Diego got me into gear. There is nothing like a deadline to pull me away from an obsession.

If you'd like to be a part of the art journal swap, please email me at: karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

I'm in CA for a nice, long, visit, but will return your emails and sign you up when I return.

Midwinter pick me ups, look for happiness wherever you can

cottage, flowers

By Karla Nathan / February 19, 2016

There is no reason why I should be complaining. None at all. The week the weather was hovering at zero, I was in Florida. At the end of February, I'm going to California. And most of our winter has been pretty mild.

But Kansas is soooooooo gray in the winter.

Soooooooooo gray.

I have to keep looking around to find reasons to not let winter get to me. Buying some new houseplants to give my kitchen and living room a shot of green, was a good start. Especially since it gave me an excuse to finally purchase one of those terrariums that I always walk by in Hobby Lobby and day dream about owning. Heck, they aren't expensive, and even go on sale for half price on a regular basis. But I'm glad I waited til the mid winter blahs struck before indulging myself. It feels good to have some live plants cheering up my space now when I need it.

One of the very first things I do every single morning is stand at my back window and look out into the yard as I brush my teeth. In the spring, I'm on my toes with excitement watching for the latest blooms, and I love seeing what new flowers have popped up to greet me. Summer is just pure enjoyment, because all of the plants are at their peak. And fall holds all sorts of changes daily with the trees changing.

But winter?

Mostly gray.

We haven't even had much snow this year. Still, I love looking out the window, contemplating the new day as I scrub my teeth, whether there is much new to see or not.

But every once in a while, I get a view like this- BLUEBIRDS GALORE!!!!!

Ahhhhhhh, that was just what I needed. And near them, were redbirds. Little flying flowers, all throughout my trees.

You've got to look for happiness, sometimes it is right in front of you and if you are not paying attention you'll miss it.

I had jury duty recently, and from my seat in the juror room, I could see this Happy Tree through the slats of the blinds on the window in our semi-basement room. It was a windy day, the branches were blowing, and the tree looked like it was talking to me.

Of course, I didn't mention the talking tree to the rest of the jurors, I thought I might lose my position of head juror, or even get kicked out of the box if they knew I was slightly crazy.

Because this is what I saw all day, in my own mind.

Yep, it is the reminder of spring that green plants bring, elusive bluebird sightings, and silly little things like this that keep me sane during the long, GREY, winter months.

Or am I?