Food and Drink – Page 18 – Karla's Cottage

Gifts for me and gifts for you

antiques/junking, celebrations, Food and Drink, parties, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 1, 2010

As wonderful as the shopping was in Roundtop, the best part was the people. Of course. I just love meeting up with blog buddies, and finding out that they are even more fun in person than I expected.

Lisa and Jodie came with gifts too, that's always a big plus when your buddies are artists!!

And I got to meet the beautiful Elizabeth, who'd I'd heard so much about on her Mom's blog.

Sandy also brought her cute daughter, Jen, who I had wanted to meet. Sandy and I have shared stories and worries about our kids and hate it that we live so far apart. If we didn't, I'd be playing matchmaker for Ryan and Jen!

Lisa and I got into the theme of the night for Sweet T's party. We were supposed to come up with unique serving ideas made from junk.

I brought my crown "cloche" for a plate of crackers to go along with her doll head dip holder. The winner was a pair of mellons in a bra, but there were some great ideas. The lamp shade behind our dishes has a plate of treats on top of it, and there was also a chandelier with the votives filled full of strawberries.

And Yay! I got to meet Cindy. Who is not only talented, she has the prettiest complexion you'll ever see. If I ever get down to her Paper Cowgirls event some day, I'll have to drag her skin care secrets from her.

Sandy made these cheerful booties for my new grandbaby. Tonight we are going to the baby shower, so I'll be bringing them to the expectant mom, she will just love them!

And there were gift bags filled with treats from the French Cupboard. From all the gifties and treats, that everyone was giving out, I could have gotten by without doing any shopping at all. But….

Of course I shopped! At Cole's, Lisa found these French net curtain panels, but didn't get them. I scooped them right up as soon as she turned them down.

Heck 2 years ago, I didn't know what French net was, but now I can't get enough of it. I guess I'd always seen it and loved the look, just didn't know the name. Its a very delicate lace, with flowers over a fine netting.

That kind of lace can run really high, but I've been lucky. These were slightly damaged, but I didn't care. The four panels were $125, which is cheaper than buying lace panels at Target. And these are Victorian. Since they were made for some old, elegant, turn of the century mansion (well, at least that is where I've pictured them) they are LONG. Like 9 feet or so. I've just draped them over a tension rod and clipped them in place with a curtain hook.

There was a tent in the "fields" that had vintage linens in mounds on table tops, for great prices. They also had them for sale by the pound too.

I bought decorated scarves, some as gifts and a chiffony one in gray with rosebuds to use as a runner on my dining table. It was 5 bucks!

I found a few more odds and ends, as I unpack I'll take some photos. But the biggest bargain of them all was this basket of flowers.

I'm choosing two winners from the guesses, no one got it exactly right. There were 89 bundles of flowers, and Sue guessed 88.

But if I count the individual blooms, there were over 250!! Cheryl guessed 135, that is the highest guess I got, so she'll get a corsage too.

Thanks for taking the time to guess. Its surprising to see just how many there were. I was shocked when I actually counted them out.

Wow, is it really October? I have to announce the winner of my September giveaway, one of the projects from Romantic Gothic Ghosts. The tutorial is still up and running, you have time to make some Orange-free, romantically inspired Halloween decor for your own home.

Or if you just want to win something to decorate with, leave a comment any time this month. I'll be giving away another one of my creations for October!

September's winner is: Elaine (Etta Rose)

Bella Playdate in the Cottage

celebrations, collections, Food and Drink, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 19, 2010

Yesterday was just the BEST. I had a roomful of Bellas here to get to know each other before the big event in November. It was a small group, but the attendees are so spread out across the country, that its not easy to get a lot together at once. Julie drove down from Chicago, and Lori came up from Arkansas, which really meant a lot to me, for them to make that much effort. Jamie, Carol, and Nora are all kinda local, they are from the Kansas City area.

The best part of the day? Being able to talk about Silver Bella all day long and not having anyone roll their eyes at me. All of these people are as excited to go as I am, and none of them are sick of hearing about it like everyone else around me is.

The cuffs I made were used as napkin holders, then were the party favors that I gave out as a thank you for them all coming to see me.

Lunch was a pitch in, and my husband grilled salmon for us, which was really sweet of him and kept it so simple for me. I wanted to relax and have fun with everyone and not spend all my time in the kitchen. It worked out great that way. I set the table and marinated the salmon the night before, so I didn't have much to do but enjoy my guests while they were here.

Carol came early with her super dooper camera and took photos of the table to send into Somerset. They had a call for dinner party ideas, and since I was serving artists, I decorated the table all in things from my studio- old lace, pearls, rhinestones, sheet music, and millinery flowers.

With Carol doing the photos, the editor will have to love it. Carol makes anything look good!

Plus, she is a hoot. This is a person that can really make you laugh.

There were laughs to be had all day. And since Silver Bella's theme this year is hats, we all played in my stash of millinery after working on projects and chatting.

Lori and I came up with the BEST plan for my own head for the event. It involves me foofing up one of her cast offs from the day. Which is perfect for me, I love to recycle things other people don't want, especially art by the talented, Lori Oles! I'll be thrilled to wear her "trash" on my head that night!

Its soooooo nice to have the studio all cleaned up and cleared out. I feel like I am getting over the nightmares I had after watching Hoarders. Now that the room isn't so cluttered, I'm recovering from the horror of that show.

I doubt if I'll ever watch it again, though!

At each person's place at the studio, I laid out some little treats and supplies for them. I found this great die cut of a little girl in a top hat, and copied it onto some of my favorite old wall paper. It went so well with the Silver Bella hat theme that I had to share it.

Now that the guests are gone, I need to fold up the extra tables and put them away before I fill them up with clutter. I've noticed that the more space I have the more I use. And having one or two tables filled with my crap is plenty. All extra tables need to be stored away until company comes again!!

But its so tempting to leave them up…. Think of how much I could spread out.

Here is one table that I wish was always in my studio! Sugarwing's Daddy, Mr Zen, came over the night before the party with his massage therapy table and gave me a treatment. No more back pain! That guy is really talented.

Sugarwings was here for the day while her parents worked, and she kept popping in to visit,and see what we were making, and visit the cookies in the treat cabinet. I promised her some craft time as soon as everyone left, and for a four year old, that is hard to wait for. Throughout the day, she came in to see if it was her turn yet.

So, at the end of the day, I took off my apron and let her wear it – not for crafting, this one is nicer than any dress I own! And it fit her for a dress, so she wanted to play Bride in it.

I won this gorgeous hunk of fabric as a door prize at Kim's event this summer.

Doesn't she look pretty in it?

She stayed for a sleepover and we did get some crafting time in. After removing the elegant apron, she got to be elbow deep into glitter and glue.

Yep, a great day, from beginning to end.

A little Zero Dollar decorating, a cute puppy, a give away, and an adorable baby in a flowered hat

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 16, 2010

Its been kind of lonely around here for me, Twinks hasn't left her babies for more than a minute or two. I'm used to having her at my feet all day. Right now, she has a few little guys at her feet instead! She's a happy mama, and honestly seems to enjoy her pups. I've had dogs that are good mothers, but for them it was all business. Twinkle likes the company of her babies.

Luckily, I still have this buddy to keep me company. I scored a bumble bee and a lady bug costume at garage sales today for $2.50 each (both still were in the packages and marked $34!). So we dressed up and went for a walk in the woods. I got to be the lady bug. The dress didn't quite fit, so I had to go with just wings and antenna.

(and my clothes, of course, that didn't sound quite the way I meant it. No one wants to see a Lady Bug Grammy naked in the woods)

Does blog surfing inspire you to make changes? I had a colorful, pastel, faux finished guest bathroom that was perfectly fine. But every time I saw photos of gray or white rooms on someone's blog, I'd sigh and wish it was mine. The guest bath seemed to be the easiest place to make a big change with just a few adjustments and very little cash.

So, I mixed up a dove gray for the walls, and a mushroom color for the floor. Then I took down the floral shower curtain and put up some dumpster drapes after repainting the room. I dug these out of a dumpster a few years back and have used them over and over in different areas. There had been 12 panels at one time, and I sold most of them. These are the last three and I'm glad I kept them, they were just what I needed to finish this room on a budget. Since they are lace, and were a bit too long, I just folded them over on the top to shorten them and looped the curtain ring right through the lace.

(they are pretty old and kind of tattered, but I like that look)

After painting the floor that mushroom shade, I realized it would always look filthy. So I splattered some dark flecks around to camouflage any dirt we track in. I might distress it with sand paper a bit too.

The ceiling stayed a soft purple, the door is painted gray like the walls, and the trim is bright, shiny white. I found a rusty ceiling tin piece in the shed and sat it on top of the built in cabinet. It could use some thing else up there, but I'm in no hurry. I redid the room for the cost of the paint, so far, and really don't want or need to spend much more on it. Maybe I'll find something cheap but fabulous at garage sales.

I guess I'm in the spring cleaning mood and ready for some more Zero Dollar Decorating like I was into right after the holidays.

I'll leave you with a few photos from our Cupcake Tea Party, that turned into a walk down the Fairy Berry Trail and to the creek. It was such a beautiful spring day!

Please don't forget that we have the regular monthly giveaway going, a china shard necklace is the prize. Its open to anyone who leaves a comment.

If you want to win a Peat Pot Pretty, please sign up as a Google Friend Connect follower.

Twinkle’s shameful secret???

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 14, 2010

Aren't they sweet? Yorkies are always born black with tan, like an itty bitty Doberman. You don't know until they shed their puppy hair and their adult coat grows in if they will be silver or black. Those are the only accepted colors for this breed. Sometimes as babies, they have a little white patch on their chest, but it turns tan or blond as they get older. There is not supposed to be any white on a full grown Yorky.

So, imagine our surprise when we saw this! My first thought was, "Twinkle, you dirty girl, what have you been doing? Sneaking out the windows at night after your family is asleep???"

This pup does NOT look like a Yorkshire Terrier at all! I've heard that a litter of pups can have different fathers for each baby, but she was not unsupervised at all, and Teddy is her only man.

After checking with Teddy's family to be sure they didn't have a beagle or some other spotted male hanging around, I surfed the web and read about Parti Colored Yorkies. These colored dogs are controversial and not very common. Looks like some people are purposely breeding them as designer dogs, but I don't think they are recognized by the AKC even though they are full blooded Yorkshire Terriers, they don't meed the breed standards.

They can turn up in a litter if both parents have the recessive gene for this abnormal color.

Here is a picture I snagged from one of the Parti-colored dog breeder's sites. I think they are just cute as a bug, and am excited to have one of these little "special" guys!

Yorkies have the funniest, goofiest, sweetest personalities. And there is something about the way they look at me with that silly expression on their face when they want to tell me something, that first made me tell one of our dogs that she was acting like a dork. Since then, I've always called them Dorkies.

I raise well loved, socialized, cuddled and nurtured babies. They aren't show dogs, they are pet quality dogs, and I do my best to give them a head start on being a wonderful pet. Lots of attention, lots of varied experiences. They play outside, they play with kids, they play with cats, they spend every day with me in the studio while I work, and are about as social and ready to face the world as any pup can be.

(Another pic from that breeder's site)

So, I don't mind that our parti boy isn't to breed standards on color. I don't expect any of my dogs to win any trophies. But I do expect them to adore their new owners and be great companions.

I have a feeling that this parti boy will get tons of extra attention and cuddles and be an even better dog than most of my babies. And I sure hope Twinkle forgives me for calling her a dirty girl.

Plus, we LOVE parties around here. So a parti pup is right up my ally. And we don't mind showing some individuality. He'll fit right in here at the Cottage!!

Our Cupcake and Tea Party was a blast yesterday. As soon as the pups are big enough for company, I'm going to throw another one, and make sure all the puppies get held and played with by the kids.

Sugarwings had a good time at the party. Since we were in the studio, she slipped over to her art table and did a little painting before coming to the table to create her cupcake. Funny, she worked so hard on making it beautiful, she didn't care a bit about eating it. A true artist!!

I'll have more party pictures and more puppy ones too, later on. For now, I need to go see who was voted off on Idol. That show is getting better, I'm glad I didn't give up on it earlier in the season.

Before I run, I wanted to let you know that Peat Pot Pretty C
harlotte Fairy kits are available in the Boutique now. As well as a new shipment of Charlottes!

Celebrating!

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, flowers, Food and Drink, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 13, 2010

Time to celebrate! I'm so glad Twinkle and the babies are home safe and settled. She is a happy little mama and won't let them out of her sight. I'm having a party today and will probably keep the babies away from everyone, Twinks is feeling a bit worried since we moved the pups around so much yesterday.

She actually tried to hide them under the porch this morning. So, I am giving her a lot of attention and have her in a quiet spot so she feels like the pups are protected, hopefully she won't run off with them again.

During the all night labor marathon, I stayed up with her and worked in the studio. I don't even know how many of these Peat Pot Pretties with Frozen Charlotte fairies that I made. (as well as 12 kits for you to make your own-6 are spoken for)

Some are going to Somerset Life (yippee!), some to the shop to sell, and a couple I will be giving away as prizes for people who sign up to follow me (Google Friend Connect on my side bar)

But for today, they are centerpieces for a Cup Cake and Tea Party that I am having.

The treat cabinet is filled with everything a kid will need to decorate a mini cupcake (or two).

Since Twinkle is being very nurturing today, I thought I'd try to leave her alone as much as I can, but I knew she wouldn't mind me taking one picture.

cute, huh!?

She is such a pretty girl. I'll have more pictures soon, probably more than you want to see!

Oh Baby, Baby! Twice the fun as just one.

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, Food and Drink, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / March 10, 2010

Surprise! Today is a surprise baby shower for our sweet as can be, friend, Andrea. She is expecting a little sister for her two boys.

So, a group of us are helping her celebrate by sending her some hand made girly gifts to Hope, who lives near Andrea and is gathering all the presents and surprising her with a shower.

My gift is a little cartoon painting of her two sons as elves, holding a newborn fairy girl.

Its done in watercolor with ink. And I added some pearl paint to the baby sister's wings, with a hint of glitter.

Her gift was sent wrapped in vintage paper, and I used very little tape, so she could reuse it for a project. Don't you hate getting some cool old paper and having it ruined by the tape?

Here is a section of the paper that you can click on to enlarge if you'd like to print it to use.

Please visit the other shower "guests" and see what pretties they have made! Here's a list of who is attending the shower today.

And of course, what is a baby shower without some yummy treats? I made a carrot cake up for yet another baby shower. Tuesday, we celebrated Shawn's upcoming addition with a Craft Day Baby Shower Tea Party at my cottage.

As a surprise, I made a fairy picture of Shawn's daughter, Bethany holding a new baby brother.

We really wanted an Alice theme for our tea party, but since I had the photo shoot the day before, my time was short. I was able to make a mini effort to Alice up the table. The party favors were little Charlotte babies that came along with a pig picture cut out of a vintage book. Since Alice was holding a bundled baby that turned into a pig.

And I cut out little "drink me" notes to put by all the tea cups.

Beth was the Mad Hatter (or Russel f
rom Survivor?) and I was the March Hare.

Shawn and Bethany came with Rabbit Ears too.

Shawn has more photos of the day here.
Shawn's baby is due after Twinkle's babies are coming, so I told everyone we had to squeeze in one more craft day and make it a baby shower for Twinks. (if you live nearby and want to come, let me know!)

For Shawn's gift, we bought her an album and each created a page for it. Her husband is an aquarium enthusiast, so I thought that a fish theme would be good for my page. I made a pocket out of watercolor paper that I painted like to look like water, with little purple fishies in it. I cut out fish shaped tags for her to glue photos to, and slid them into the pocket.

Next, I painted some colorful fish and grasses on watercolor paper and cut them out to glue onto the pocket for a 3-D effect.

For the back side of my page, I used sparkle scrapbook paper over reversible scrap book paper that I folded into a pocket page. I do like pockets in photo albums. The little card with the old fashioned baby picture opens up, so that Shawn can add a small picture there too.

But that isn't all the babies, or all the gifts! Our other friend, Holly, is expecting her 3rd son. I wanted to send a little something to her and since I am on a Charlotte roll, I thought I'd use one of them. Although her child is a boy, so we won't say Charlotte, we'll say Charles.

The carriage is made from a box that I have cut down and covered in flocked wallpaper, then lined with white velvet, and trimmed with ruffled ribbon. The wheels are mother-of-pearl buttons.

And geez, as if this post wasn't already long enough, I need to let you know that I've restocked the crown rings in my Boutique.

Also, I will be emailing everyone who asked me to save a Peat Pot Pretty with Fairy for them, and will have a couple left to add to the shop too. Thanks so much!

And congratulations, Andrea, Shawn, Holly, and Twinkle on this spring's new crop of little ones!

360s of a fleeting cleanliness, while getting ready for a little TV segment for Romantic Decorating

flowers, Food and Drink, housework, show and tell

By Karla Nathan / February 4, 2010

Are you tired of this display? What, 3 posts in a row, I've showed you this one… but each time a bit different. This is the final look for the little TV segment I did today. Roses were the finishing touch, I added those, plus more M&Ms, and a floral hanky.

Now, I won't make you look at this set up any more. Because it will soon be destroyed anyway, I plan on eating one of those candy bars that are wrapped in scrapbook paper!

The roses were a bargain. Our local Dillons grocery store marks down their flowers to $1.99 a bunch on Mondays, and this week, there was a TON of them to chose from, and late in the week too! I guess the week before Valentine's Day is a slow flower week, everyone is saving up for the big splashy bouquets for the big day instead. So, I got 4 bunches of flowers for 8 bucks.

Yellow isn't usually my color, and probably isn't associated with Valentine's Day, but I liked the cheerful splash of color in the bathroom.

So the holiday tips for this room are:

1- Put fresh flowers in every room!

2- Use a pretty, floral china plate for a soap dish, and set out a nicely scented, special bar of soap. (this one is home made, and was poured into a heart shaped mold)

3- Make a photo copy of a vintage Valentine postcard to wrap around your liquid soap bottle. I glued mine on, and after the holiday, I can just soak the bottle in warm water to remove the label and change to another look.

In the kitchen, I filled my white creamers with pink roses and white mums. One bunch of roses can make a much bigger impact if you spread it around, instead of having one vase filled with all of them.

From this bundle of sweetheart roses, I got 8 arrangements.

While my house was clean, I thought I'd take some full room shots. When TV cameras come over, you can't get away with just cleaning one side of the room, just in case. So, the whole durn downstairs is all picked up and all the floors are mopped throughout!

There are more Valentine Day's decorations to show, but I think I'll save those and just revel in my clean rooms and post those pics. Usually, I have to kick stuff to one side of the room to get a good picture. Today I can do 360s!

This is the view from my dining room into the kitchen/breakfast nook. That white cabinet is Sugarwing's play kitchen. Its big, bulky, and in the way, but we couldn't function without it. Next to that is the wood stove. Not pretty, but it sure can put out heat. And with MORE SNOW coming, I'll be firing it up soon.

You know, this is kind of a blah view. Maybe a 360 isn't a good idea after all? I guess I usually show the room from the best points of view.

This one is from the other side of the toy kitchen, standing in the breakfast nook. See what I mean about Sugarwing's kitchen being in the way? It makes getting into the pantry a pain, but is so worth it. She loves that thing.

For this, I was standing next to the wood stove. The screen around the stove is from Tuesday Morning's clearance aisle. I painted it with high heat paint because it was a dark bronze to start with.

This one is from the bedroom door looking into the kitchen.

No, those aren't dead birds on my chandelier, they are angel wings.

Another view of the woodstove. The mosaic thingy by it is a cement piece of yard art that I covered in china, glass, and old jewelry, then topped with a bird. The thing was actually a lighthouse, I hope that isn't too apparent. For a while, I was on a mosaic craze and everything got covered in broken glass and tile, then grouted. Hmmm, on second thought, this little lighth
ouse/bird/thingy might need to go outside. Do you ever just have stuff around for years because that just happens to be where you set it and it stayed there, not because it looked great, but just kind of out of default?

Taking a photo of your room and looking at that, can make you really SEE the room. I guess I just kind of always over look this and didn't realize how much it didn't fit in. It will be much better in the garden this spring. If spring ever comes- we have snow forecasted again!!!!

One more angle, this is from the stairway. I'm still not done with this room, the table in the corner is too small, I need a buffet type piece for under the mirrors. I could use a rug too, but just hate trying to keep one clean under a dining table where a 3 year old eats. The dogs spend a lot of time sitting under her chair, but even they can't lick up all the mess she creates.

Okay, that's plenty of angles of the same room over and over. Now, I'm going to go let the dogs out of their pen so they can start dragging in leaves across my mopped floor, and soon Sugarwings will be home and start pulling out her toys. All of this unnatural tidiness will soon be gone.

If you are in the Lawrence area, the 5 Romantic Decorating Tips for Valentine's Day will be on channel 6 Monday, for the 6:00 and 10:00 news.

If you want to see the rest of the decor tips, I'll post more later on, but for now, I've loaded them on HGTVs

Rate My Space

But I have to warn you, that site is addictive!!

If you are in the Kansas City area, and want to find some of the best shopping ever, you need to get to this sale by some friends of mine! I was invited to be in it, but just couldn't make it happen. I do hope to go, if I don't have Sugarwings all weekend.

Its in an 8,000 sq ft warehouse in the historic West Bottoms.

1200 W 12th St (12th and Sante Fe)

Feb 5th and 6th from 9am-5pm

And if you are not in the Kansas City/Lawrence area, here is another option for you. The lovely Cindy, at the lovely, My Romantic Home, is having a show and tell party.

A couple of tiny ballerinas

celebrations, Food and Drink, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 26, 2010

Sugarwings went to her first ballet class yesterday.

Before the class began, she practiced her moves by copying some poses she saw in photos out in the

hallway of the Art Center.

We are so lucky to live in a town with a resource like this. Our art center is vibrant, busy, and there is always something fun going on. When it was being built, I was on the committee to chose installation artists (I had NO idea what I was doing, I just picked what I liked, and tried to not feel intimidated by the real artists on the committee.)

One of the selected artists was a good friend of mine, Shanna Wagner, who also teaches at the center. She did this stained glass mural in the stairwell, and it was such a huge project, that she enlisted friends to help out. My bit is the yellow/orange area to the lower right.The piece is breath taking in person. I just love going to the Art Center and seeing it.

Speaking of breath taking, the speed that the wallpaper is flying out of the shop is astounding! Thanks, guys!!!

Today, I added a few snack packs of scraps. I have some more to photograph, but some packs are already sold out. These small pieces are perfect for little artworks, like tags or ATCs.

Its nice to have scraps to use for mini projects instead of cutting up a large piece for a 2 or 3 inch bit.

The packs were what I worked on for a while when friends came over for Craft Day. That and some photo albums that should have been put together a year ago, I've gotten a bit behind on my photos…

I wish every week had a craft day in it! Those days are the best. Although, I think Beth was doing an expose on the REAL Karla's Cottage while she was here. Keep an eye out for incriminating photos on her blog. I told her to go for it, I've shown some pretty bad messes around here. And when you see a photo of something pretty, that means that the other side of the room is a disaster because I've kicked everything over there out of the way, or else it is just cropped out.

See what I mean? Here is the same view, uncropped with the clutter showing around it. I have a feeling that Beth found worse, though.

About half way through the day, Marilyn mentioned that it was her birthday yesterday! Luckily, we were prepared for any emergency around here, and I whipped out a cupcake and topper with a candle.

We also styled a photo of Beth's project for Mary's Artist Class. Notice a third dessert pictured? Yes, it was a day of treats. Homemade marshmallows by Shawn, and brownies from the birthday girl, cheesecake from me and cupcakes from Beth. Sometimes, pitch-in lunches can be slanted in one direction, can't they? Shawn also brought a deli tray and I made soup, so we weren't totally relying on sweets for lunch. Although, that doesn't sound too bad, either.

There are still a few days left to enter this month's giveaway. I'm offering a foofed up love bird made out of a vintage cotton fiber cardinal. There are a few in the Boutique also, in case you win one and it needs a feathered friend.

Little Indulgences

Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, magazine pictures or articles, show and tell, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 21, 2010

Today is kind of blah. Yucky weather, I woke up with a bit of a stiff neck, and I am still facing a pile of wall paper to finish chopping, ironing, photographing, and listing. But our days are what we make them, right?

So, I took a little break from the drudgery of making packets of paper to sell, and treated myself to a tasty treat instead of grabbing a power bar and eating while working. Sometimes, its the little things that cheer me, like serving myself on a pretty plate. It wasn't a fancy meal, but peanut butter and sunflower seeds on a toasted whole wheat bagel tastes pretty good with Italian soda, while reading a magazine. (and getting away for work for a few minutes!)

This issue of Somerset Life is available now, when I showed the advance copy, it hadn't been out on the stands yet and some of you had asked where to get it. I usually find them at Borders, or other book stores like that, or at Michaels.

Over the years, I've done lots of magazine articles. (Here or here is a list of a few of them) But I've never gotten so many nice congratulatory notes as I have for this one! Thanks, to those of you who noticed it and came by to say "hi".

I guess we all love Somerset, huh? I'm sure thrilled to be in it.

The magazine was a good one to indulge myself in while getting away from work for a while. The issue is full of inspiration to keep me going on a yucky day! And now, after treating myself kindly with a pampered little break, I'm ready to face the piles of papers waiting for me in the studio.

After rolling out the papers, cutting, and ironing them, I stack them up and press them flat.
These trophies have enough heft to help flatten the pieces. I feel like I deserve a trophy myself after all this work!

That doesn't look like much does it? But it represents a few days of grueling labor… The paper can be very delicate and difficult to cut into squares. Once they are cut up, it is much easier to work with, but the long pieces tend to split and tear if I'm not extra gentle and take my time. So, just as I relax and get on a roll, I'll forget to take it easy and have a big piece rip up on me!

That's heartbreaking, since each bit is beautiful and valuable to me. They don't make this stuff anymore! I save all the scraps and make sure they get used.

I'll have some scrap packs to list in the shop too. Scraps are good to have for small projects, like tags or ATCs, you don't want to cut into a 10" piece for just a 2" bit!

Okay, my break is over. Thanks for keeping me company while I rested up enough to go and face the exacto knife and ironing board again. I'll leave you with some photos of what I listed yesterday in the Boutique and on Etsy.

And don't forget, all comments, all month go into the drawing for a vintage bird that I've foofed a bit.

(this just sold)

These are flocked as well as glittered.

The Snow Princess

Books, celebrations, Chandeliers, fairies, family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 10, 2010

Things are still icy around here and I am still too big of a wimp to go outside. If it is below 10 degrees, I just don't think a 3 year old needs to be in and out of the car, and even though I am feeling better and over my bug, I didn't want to be in and out of the car either.

So we decided to make the most of a snow day, and have a Snow Princess Tea Party. We got all dressed up for it.

Well, kind of. One of us did at least. I'm wearing my husband's long johns, two sweaters, hair that hasn't seen a fixin in days, and a black lace "wicked witch" jacket.

The idea came about when we were out in the studio and I realized that cabin fever was really getting to both of us, if I was letting a baby play with power tools. So, I started to make up a story about snow and princesses and fairies, and it turned into a 3 hour adventure for us both.

(Notice the new chandelier? It was out in the studio, I used it for lighting for above my jewelry display at shows, now it is staying in the kitchen. My son and I hung it last night- More Zero Dollar Decorating!!)

We scoured the studio for props, and made up the story as we went along. I covered Sugarwing's little table in layers of white and slipped pillow cases over our chairs.

After creating a snow princess crown, she decided that I should wear it instead of her. Sadly, she isn't a hat person. But that is okay, she usually indulges me in so many other ways, that I can forgive her for not playing with all of my vintage hats with me.

And what do you serve a snow princess? All white foods. Snow ball candy (yogurt raisins) were the hit of the day.

Here is the story:

Once upon a time there was a golden haired, happy little princess who loved to dance and sing in the sunshine. Every where the sweet girl went, flowers bloomed and birds sang with joy, just to be near her. Butterflies and fairies flit about above her just because she was so fun to be near. And her warm, kind heart always drew them to her.

One day, a nasty gnome who liked to spend his days in darkness and gloom heard the boisterous laughter of the happy little princess and all of her flying friends. This nasty gnome hated happiness and his ears ached from the sound of glee that was coming from the friends dancing and singing in the blooming garden.

He crept closer and peeped through the hedgerow to see where this hideous laughter was coming from. And he saw the pretty princess twirling and leaping in the flower beds. The sight of such playfulness brought pain to his eyes to match the pain in his ears. He couldn't take seeing and hearing anything as beautiful as this little girl. To him, it was not beauty at all- it was torture! He had to stop it.

So, he pulled out his crooked, magic wand and waved it through the air, then pointed it right at the happy little princess and cursed her with a spell to put a stop to all the singing.

The sweet princess suddenly felt a chill. She looked to the flowering ground beneath her silk clad toes and saw the flowers wilt and frost form over them. Quickly, the pond that was filled with long necked swans started to turn to icy slush, then freeze into a solid sheet of ice. As the princess looked up, a fat flake of snow fell right onto her once rosy, now pale cheek. She smiled at his sparkling crystal beauty, even as she felt herself growing cold.

All around her, the birds, and fairies, and butterflies flapped their wings trying to warm themselves as their world became covered in ice and snow and the sun was buried behind a gray cloud of doom.

As the nasty gnome still peaked through the ice-crusted hedges, he almost smiled. But he couldn't because he had a heart colder than any block of ice. But his ears no longer ached from the sounds of song and his eyes were no longer in pain from the sight of joyous dancing.

Because, the pretty little princess who loved playing in the sunlight, slowly turned into a snow princess. Her golden hair became as white as a blizzard and she was as frozen as the ice on the pond.But as she became a statue of snow, her face froze in an expression of wonder and delight as she saw the sparkling snow flakes fall.

He trudged away, feeling satisfied with his spell, knowing that her friends would fly away to someplace warmer, leaving the princess cold and alone like he had been his entire life of 568 years.

But as he left, he looked over his shoulder, expecting to see a flight of fairies, butterflies, and birdies deserting their princess. Instead, he saw something different! All the creatures fluttered around her, staying close to bring her what little warmth they could. The littlest fairy gathered herbs to make tea to warm her, as the swans plucked their down feathers to cover her frozen limbs.

Because the sweet princess had such a loving and kind soul, no one would leave her. Even though they were so cold and had wings to fly away from the frozen garden back to sunshine, they stayed with their snow princess. They would not stray from her side no matter how cold and miserable they were!

Maybe it was the tea that started to warm her. Or the fluffy swan's down? But she knew that it was the love her friends showed her that warmed her heart and melted the ice that held her captive. All the love and caring freed the happy little princess and broke the evil spell the nasty gnome had cast.

He saw the sun coming back out through the clouds and the flowers shaking off their frost and reopening their petals. He heard singing, even more loud and joyous than what he had heard before! This time, he ran as fast as his stubby, gnarly legs would take him, far, far away from the horrid sounds. He ran straight to a cave deep inside of a hill where he could hide forever in the darkness and gloom where he belonged.

A rainbow appeared in the sky as the ice storm cleared and the snow princess thawed. She felt the sun on her skin, wiggled her toes in the soft dirt of the garden and grinned the biggest, happiest grin she'd ever grinned before. But from that day on, her hair stayed white as a blizzard and was never the color of sunshine again.

When she saw her reflection in the pond, she was reminded of the nasty gnome and his evil spell. But she was never frightened when she remembered that day. To her the white hair was the color of the downy swan feathers that her loved ones tried to warm her with. Her memories of that cold, cold day were of the love and caring that she shared with her friends.