flowers – Page 9 – Karla's Cottage

Autumn in Kansas, with two free pumpkin patches to visit

By Karla Nathan / October 6, 2014

Dewdrop and I had a day out together and visited the two pumpkin patches here in Lawrence.

One has a butterfly sanctuary. You are given a flyer with info and pictures of the different species living there, and instructions on using a "one finger touch" when approaching the little flutter-ers.

Then, the hunt begins.

Of course, it doesn't take long to spot the butterflies, they are everywhere.

Dewdrop tried holding very, very still, hoping one would land on her.

And decided that the butterflies on the pink flowers were ideal for one finger petting.

But the best part was watching them fly away after the petting.

The butterfly sanctuary was the highlight of her day.

While both pumpkin patches are free and have lots of things for kids to do, Pendleton's Country Market was the only one that had a batch of kittens to hold.

She much preferred the kittens and butterflies to the pumpkins. The gourds aren't nearly as cuddly. This one had a crack and she felt very sad about that.

I love the vastness of the fields, and the open views off into the horizon.

Yet, if you turn and look the other direction, there is Kansas University off in the distance, up on the hill.

Schaake's Pumpkin Patch has a lot of cute, kiddie elements like the hay bale minion in the previous picture and this witch on the silo.

There is also a hay bale maze, multiple play grounds, and cows to watch. Pendleton's is also a garden center, both are working farms. Pendleton's also has a lot for kids to do, a tricycle track, a corn bin filled with dried kernels to play in, and a scenic tower to climb. There is also a pretty bonfire pit for cooler days.

Both have free hay rack rides and nice stores. I left with 4 big mums, a bag of sweet potatoes, a jar of pumpkin butter, a bag of gourds, a large green pumpkin, a large white pumpkin, 3 smaller white pumpkins, 2 mini orange pumpkins, and a couple of bottles of water for the two of us, FOR ONLY $45!

You really can't beat Kansas for free fun.

Of course, with Dewdrop around, any where we go is fun!

Kansas Sunflowers

family, flowers, photography, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 15, 2014

Outside of Lawrence, halfway to Tonganoxie, there is a sea of gold, stretching out as far as the eye can see.

I've lived in this town for over 20 years and this was my first visit there. How could I have been missing out on walking through the rows of sunflowers? What was I thinking?

While I always thought it sounded pretty and that I'd like to go and see the flowers in bloom, I had no idea that the field would have such an enchanted feel to it.

Lots of families were there, all taking photos, probably a dozen cars full of people. But, the moment you step into the rows of flowers and are swallowed up by the blossoms, you are alone in a world of yellow and green, lost in the rows of looming giants.

How strange, to be ten minutes outside of the city, and amidst at least 50 other people, but feel so isolated and hidden.

But not in a scary way, it is a magical feel. No, an enchanted feeling. That is the only way to describe it.

I grew up in the middle of an Indiana corn field. Walking into the corn, and into the sunflower field is similar, but the flowers are so much prettier and special. I loved playing the corn when I was young, and could lose myself in the stalks, or find a hiding place to lay back reading a book for a few hours with my Irish Setter as a pillow.

The sunflowers had me reminiscing about those days in the Hoosier corn fields, but as much as I enjoyed those times out in my brother-in-law's crop, this was something different. At some points, we were completely hidden away, with flowers topping 8-9'. Other spots, they where shorter, or there was a slight hill to stand on and we could see acres of yellow off into the horizon.

I think my girls shared my excitement. I don't know how you could walk out into the vastness of the field and not feel the magic.

In some spots, there are clearings, that beckoned me to grab a dog for a pillow and bring a good book to hide out with for a while. I could have easily spent hours in one of those little rooms with green walls.

And then, there would be places so dense, we had to back track and find a new route through, and we'd wonder just how far we'd wondered from the car, just to find out that we were actually only ten feet from the road.

And woven all about the stems, were blue morning glories, the color of our Dorothy's gown.

We discovered that sunflowers weren't just to admire, you could also play with them.

By plucking out a few seeds, you can make happy faces, we wanted them to look like they were laughing, so they would feel as happy as we did.

I hope that others walking through the field see our sunny faces and smile back at them.

Sugarwings made a happy face too.

The fields are free to visit, anyone is welcome. The farmers ask that you leave them as you found them, take out your trash, and pay a dollar each for any flowers that you pick. There is a donation box to help the land owner defray the costs of the field.

We paid for the ones we defaced (well, really we "faced" them) and we picked a couple too.

I hope to take Dewdrop there for a few pictures too. I think she'd look cute in a fairy gown. Being dwarfed by the towering blooms makes a perfect backdrop for a fairy photo shoot.

Plus, I just can't wait to get back there myself.

Hat Whispering in Kansas

antiques/junking, flowers

By Karla Nathan / September 4, 2014

At last week's flea mkt, I hit the jackpot on millinery blooms.

At a booth of mostly linens and doilies, Beth found a pile of flowers, and picked a few out. I nervously stood by, hoping there were be some left when she was done.

She had a handful, and I looked at her in disbelief and asked if that was all she wanted.

Yep, she was done.

You're sure, really sure?

Yep. She had enough.

Then, I dove in.

I don't have the control she does. I bought them ALL.

For THREE DOLLARS.

Yep, $3.

Seriously.

All were still in the original packages, so I had to hire a helper to get them all unwrapped. It was her idea to sort them by color too.

I found a few hats on our junkin trip, all under $5 each. Before I came across them, there was only two other floral hats I'd seen all day, and both were over $25, so I'd been worried that I'd lost my touch and wasn't going to score on millinery that day.

It was a relief to know that I had not yet bought out the last of the cheap hats in Kansas.

There was lots of shiny stuff there too. I bought a few giant bags of jewels to sort through, here are some of the keepers. There is another whole different kind of keeper pile, that my assistant found. She was happy to sort jewels with me and got some plastic beads and Easter bunny brooches to wear with her dress up clothes.

She also tried on a hat or two to see how they looked with a twirly skirt.

Pretty dang cute, if you ask me.

Summer’s end

cottage, flowers

By Karla Nathan / August 8, 2014

The lazy days of summer are almost ending. Dang, what happened to school starting after Labor Day???

It has been such a great summer, I dread seeing it end. Usually, by this time of year, I'm longing for the cooler fall days. But this season, we've been blessed with ideal weather. Our gardens have never looked so good.

The flowers have been overly pretty.

Our little hummingbird moth has been enjoying them too. She comes back every year and visits the cleome patch. Well, at least that is how I see it. There are probably bunches of these creatures that are attracted to this flower bed, but to me, it is the same little bird-like butterfly that comes back to visit each July and August.

The weather has been more than wonderful for dining outdoors too. Our friends' have the best patio ever for brunching on and we never turn down the delicious meals they serve there.

Watching these two kittens grow bigger each day, has been like having a daily reminder of how fast time passes. As they morphed from spring time babies to almost full grown cats in what felt like a matter of a few short weeks, I was glad for the visual reminder that we all are changing and growing daily, even if we don't see it.

I've taken time to slow down, watch the flower gardens and grand fairies blossom, and enjoy as much time with the children as I could get. Because, before you know it….

Summer is gone.

Kids are grown.

Kittens are cats.

Oh bummer! I didn't mean this to be sad!! I'm loving it all. That is one of the reasons why I chose the theme, "Nature's Blessings" for the journal swap I am doing.

Noticing and appreciating daily life is something we need to stop and remember to do. I'm looking forward to having a journal to slip notes and photos into, maybe save a handful of seeds in, or a momento from a sweet day.

If you'd like one too, you can either order an empty book with a finished cover, or join the swap. Details here.

Rosemary Garlic dinner rolls

cottage, flowers, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / May 28, 2014

There has been a lot of entertaining going on around here lately. Three weeks in a row, my husband has had someone from his company in town, and we've had a dinner party for them.

Typical of my house, there is a Twister game on the floor to greet the guests. There is usually a toy or pile of toys of some kind around.

Luckily, it has been peony season, they have been in bloom for me to pick for all three little parties.

Peonies can be a lot of work to de-ant, but worth the trouble. I rinse, soak, whack, rinse each flower. If I accidently break one off while getting the little ants off of them, those big, fluffy, flower heads look every bit as pretty floating in a tea cup.

I think I got all of the ants off. None of the guests spoke up to say one was crawling around on the table. I wasn't too worried. Those flowers are so sweet, that if I did miss an ant, it would be soooo in love with the flower it was on, that it wouldn't want to leave it and bother us.

The dinners have been a great excuse for me to over indulge on rolls. I've been baking for each party. These are rosemary garlic.

Here is how I make them, please note that my measurements are guestimates, I don't actually use measuring cups or spoons, I eyeball the amounts.

Dump together in greased bread machine pan:

1-1/2 cups warm water

1-1/2 tsp. sea salt

2 Tbl olive oil

1 Tbl Guar Gum (helps in rising)

3 Tbl sugar

Add:

4 Tbl dried rosemary

1 Tbl minced garlic

3 cups bread flour

And last, 2-1/2 tsp of yeast on top.

Turn on the bread maker till all is mixed, then remove. Pinch off pieces, roll them into balls (with greased fingers) and line up in a greased cake pan. Oil the tops. I don't cover them because I let them raise in the closed microwave.

I set mine to rise for an hour or so. I've found that the perfect "Hot Box" for me to use for bread dough is the microwave. I boil a cup of water in it, turn on the light, and that light along with the hot water is enough to keep the temperature evenly warm for the dough to rise. Usually it takes 30-45 minutes to rise.

Bake at 350 til golden.

That is about how I make all of my bread, except not pinched into balls, divided up into bread pans to rise instead.

I use the same basic recipe so much that I never have to think about it. I just throw in different things for variety. Every loaf is the same amount of water, sugar, salt, guar gum, oil, flour, yeast.

Variations can be chia or sunflower seeds, or ground flax. I try to use chia and flax in almost all the loaves, but find that with the rosemary, it is better without those. I've also thrown in about 3/4 cup of whole multi-grain cereal and cut back on the flour a little. I'm surprised at just how simple and easy it is to bake bread. We rarely buy a loaf any more, and we have developed a bad habit of eating way too much bread.

I'd love to bake enough for Birdsong, but I'd have to make it ahead of time, and while that is good, it is not the same as standing by the oven with a stick of butter in your hand, waiting impatiently for it to finish baking.

Unless this hot weather turns the lettuce bitter before my Peeps arrive, I do plan on serving fresh greens from the food forest.

All this entertaining has me in good practice, I'm excited about all of my friends arriving soon for Birdsong!

Planning? Novel concept, but hopefully a good one!

drawing, flowers, paintings

By Karla Nathan / April 5, 2014

I've had a little more peat pot action going on here in the studio. These are those larger pots, about twice the size as the regular ones.

I'd decorated a few, figuring out how I wanted to do the pots for the Fairy Swings project for Birdsong, then made some extra to sell in the Boutique, just because they are fun to make. Then, I started in painting and glittering these bigger ones and adding ruffled crepe paper and vintage trims to them too.

But I stopped at two and decided I really needed to get the stuff done that HAD to be done, not just what sounded like fun to do.

It has just been too cold to work on my banner for A Downton Affaire!! I have to hang the canvas on my garage wall and before that could happen, I had to clean the garage. Because I didn't want to get any of the grit from built up salt and dirt on the floor on the canvas as I spread it out to hang it. And Spring is simply not cooperating with us.

Finally, we had a day warm enough to hook up the new power washer (Oh My Gosh, how did I ever live without one of these in my life?????? It's addicting, I cleaned EVERYTHING with it)

Now, the canvas is hung and ready to paint. But it got cold and rainy again! I'll need the garage door open while painting for good light, so I still have to wait for some sunshine to get the work done.

But at least I have a plan. I started a small painting to get some ideas on what I'd do for the large one. Here is the background of it. After looking through hundreds of pictures of Highclere Castle and its gardens, as well as even more pictures of English country gardens, I think I have a good plan.

Here is a corner of it.

I'm thinking about using the small painting to make my tags for vendor night. Or even cards to sell? What do you think?

Now, I'm itching to get started on the big banner. It's smaller this year than the one I did last year, only 10'

The one for last year's Enchanted Affaire was about 6' longer. And it was one that I did to keep for myself, but it was sooooo big, I didn't have a wall large enough for it.

So, it is now cut up and hanging in the girls' room. They love it, and so do I. I spent weeks on that piece, and a lot of love went into making it.

The one for Downton will be much smaller, not as tall, not as long. It should go quicker because I took the time to do a sketch, which isn't typical of me. But last year's painting got carried away. I painted and painted and painted, covering up the background with the foreground, changing colors and adding things, it was crazy. I felt like I was lost in that forest at times. It had become my second home, imagining myself out in those trees.

Hopefully, my planning ahead will stop my meandering through the woods in this scene. I worked a lot of it out on paper instead. Now, I just have to keep my fingers crossed for good weather, because I do not have weeks and weeks to get it done.

Please wish me luck!

Happy Birthday Mom

family, flowers, free images, paintings

By Karla Nathan / February 16, 2014

Today is my mom's birthday. I always miss her, but even more this time of year.

She was creative and funny. Silly and loving. Goofy and full of laughs.

(to use these two postcards yourself, click on the images to open in a larger window and save them to your computer to print)

When I visited my sisters, we looked at some of Bobbie's old family pictures. One was this of my grandma.

You are welcome to save this picture to use in your artwork if you'd like. Grandma was crafty too, as well as most of our family.

She liked to make things, so while she might think it was odd that people would want to use vintage photos of strangers in their artwork, she would probably understand the love of creating.

Mom died a few years back, and Bobbie had some photos from the funeral. I'd painted the casket for Mom, and I know she'd have been so tickled.

When I was a single mother, struggling to get by, mom took me and the boys in to live with her. We both loved seeing the first irises of spring, and bringing them in to put in vases all around her house. Painting the blooms became one of my obsessions. That made the flower become her favorite and she'd pre-ordered a big bouquet of them to be at her funeral.

She was quite the planner, the whole memorial service was lined out, payed for and planned to the tee years before she passed away. Complete with photos of her next to the casket she picked out and next to her grave plot.

The casket wasn't decorated in irises though. I sure wish she could have seen that. She'd have loved it.

There is a factory in our home town that makes caskets and hers had been ordered there. Luckily, they let me come in with my brushes for a couple of hours and embellish the top. They didn't even bat an eye at my request, either.

Bobbie also had this picture at her house, not a photo, but my original drawing of our other grandma, this one on Dad's side.

It was from a high school art class, and had been hanging at my Daddy's house since then. When he died, it stayed there with his wife. She passed away awhile back and recently, Bobbie went to get it for me. I have no way to get it in a suitcase (it's huge) so I asked her if she wanted to keep it.

She also gathered up this watercolor of a barn my dad had helped build. I think it is his brother's barn, not the family homestead. This is hanging in my sister's guest room too. Or "my room" as I call it.

I enjoyed seeing paintings hang in there, and looking through photos too. And the best part was that I was with people who share the same memories that I do.

It's great to reminisce with family.

I think that today, in honor of her birthday, I'll see if I can find some iris at the florist for my dining room. Mom would like that.

Hearts,flowers, and rosemary

cottage, flowers, Valentine's Day, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 31, 2014

Beth came over last week for a craft day. It had been WAY too long, because we were just now exchanging Christmas gifts!

She gifted me with this great, Victorian coffee pot, to use as a vase. I can't wait to fill it with roses, but since I'm going on a trip, I settled for a handful of dried rosemary. Because I don't think my husband would even notice or appreciate it, if I bought fresh flowers for the dining room before I went out of town. I'll wait and treat myself when I get back, because I know I will be very appreciative of them.

And I love it that my hands smelled like rosemary all day after cutting it, even though the plant has been out in the garden, dried and dead through all kinds of weather. It still smells wonderful. The only problem is that I can't stop thinking about making a pizza with rosemary and provolone…

This pot is perfect! Just the right amount of tarnished, beaten-up-ed-ness.

Beth and Karla hadn't been to a craft day in much too long. I need to make time to do this sort of thing, it's good for the soul to laugh with friends while creating.

Beth was working on stitched hearts for Laurie's swap.

Hers were so pretty that I wanted to make one too. But mine is glued, not sewn. I used some of the fabric she had given to me along with the perfectly tarnished coffee pot.

Dang, I wish I'd had time to join the swap! This is going to be a nice one. I'm looking forward to seeing the results on friends' blogs.

Free Images to Sweeten someone’s day for Valentines

flowers, free images, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / January 27, 2014

There isn't much that is more fun to me than a day in the studio. Especially with friends. Which is why I adore Birdsong so much and why I want to plan more mini workshops at the cottage.

Last week, I was able to have a little get together in there with a few good friends, and little Dewdrop. One friend works for United Way and was putting on a coordinated workday with the Boys and Girls Club to make some cards to deliver with Meals on Wheels for Valentines Day.

She asked her crafty friends to help with some samples to display for the event, and brought her supplies over for us to come up with some cards using them. Well, it's always fun to delve into a pile of new goodies, of course, so I was all for it. Since I usually work with vintage papers, it was a challenge to try something different than what I am used to. Lori brought pretty scrapbook papers, so it was a joy to try them out.

Still, I did make some copies of flowers and old Valentines, plus some messages to add inside the cards.

I'll post them here for you to use too. Maybe you'll make a card for someone who otherwise might not be getting one this year?

Some of these I might have posted before, some are new. All would be pretty used in a Valentine! Click to open into a larger window and save the image to your computer before you print it off.

Hand painted ornaments

flowers, holiday decor, paintings

By Karla Nathan / December 5, 2013

For my guests at Romantic Cottage Christmas, I painted some ornaments.

Hand painted balls used to be a huge tradition with me. I have no idea how many hundreds I've done over the years. When I was a poor, single mom, I hawked these like crazy to earn money to buy the kids' gifts.

Then, for 20 years or so, painted ornaments were gifts I did for family.

Somehow, I've gotten away from making them. A few here and there maybe, over the last few seasons, but not to the extent that I used to make them. My boys have one for each year while they were growing up, with all sorts of pictures, from snowmen, to Santas, to a picture of their first cars, but I don't think I've made any yet for the grand fairies.

Maybe I needed that little break from making these, because it sure felt good to sit at the desk and swirl roses out of pink paint onto glass balls. Ryan came by the studio while I was working on them, and seemed so pleased to see me back at it. I guess I didn't realize my family had missed them.

I'd kind of branched out into different types of holiday projects once I discovered how much I loved playing with vintage elements. But painting was my first love and I had a great day making some for my friends.

Maybe I'll get out the brushes and make a few more…