Food and Drink – Page 23 – Karla's Cottage

Sweet Treats and Roses- a Valentine’s Swap coming up

Books, Food and Drink, holiday decor, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / December 14, 2007

Thank you all so much, for participating in our "What do you LOVE about your holiday home?" party!!

Wow, it was quite the tour of homes. I loved getting a peek into the creative and colorful as well as the traditional and charming decor that you all shared.

I am blown away by the beauty and the response for the get together!

I’ll continue to link as many people who want to join until Christmas. So keep checking back, and take your time looking through a few particpant’s homes here and there for a taste of holiday cheer throughout the season!

I’ll announce my drawing winners tomorrow- for today I have a special announcement.

As Beth and I were hanging out and making things yesterday ( I made this banner), we decided to host a swap!

I LOVE blog swaps!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!!

So, what would be more fitting than hosting one that is full of Valentine LOVE?

Yes, I know it is really early, to be thinking about, it isn’t even Christmas yet! Am I as bad as Wal-Mart, having the next holiday out on display before this one is even over??

There’s no hurry, sign up is until Jan. 2, 200EIGHT.

We were just too excited about our idea to wait till later to tell you about it.

These photos are a hint of what is to come.

The swap involves you making photo copies of a decorated dessert recipe and Beth and I making covers for them and assembling the cook books.

So, yesterday, we made up a few sample covers to show you.

These first two are mine. All will have a rose theme, but no two will be alike.

All will be made with lots of vintagey goodness to go along with your yummy recipes.

Here is one that Beth made.

How pretty is that???

We will ask that along with your copies (color on card stock) of your treats, you send in a rose themed decorated tag, (one original) that we will tie onto another swapper’s cook book after we add the cover and assemble it.

And look at this one from Beth! I am looking forward to getting one of her covers, that is for sure.

I will be in DC setting up my part time apartment there after the holidays, so please RSVP to Beth at her blog, Gathering Dust.

She and I will be sharing hostessing duties, and you are lucky about that, because she is very organized and I am not. She’ll make sure that the books all get the right amount of pages and get mailed to the right addresses. And are on time.

So, please contact the detail oriented one of our group to sign up.

And speaking of details, here is what she wrote up for us- the Swap Rules are:

Karla & Beth’s Roses and Sweet Treat

Cook Book Recipe Swap

Put your favorite sweet treat recipe on a 5 ½” x 8 ½” piece of paper turned vertically, and decorate the page. (5 ½” x 8 ½” is half a regular sheet of paper.)

Make as many copies as there are swap participants- we’ll let you know the number when the sign ups are complete.

Also make a tag (approx 2” x 4”) decorated in some way with roses.

Send to Karla and Beth. They will assemble the recipes into a “Sweet Treats” Cookbook. Each cookbook will have a unique cover, handmade by Karla or Beth, and a tag decorated by another swap player.

The Details

Recipe Card– 5 ¼” x 8” with the recipe vertical. The books will be bound on the top, so leave at least a 1” margin for binding. The copies should be well made, in color and on card stock.

Sign Up Date- Sign up by emailing Beth, using the email link on the upper left side of her blog. The deadline is Jan 2. We’ll limit the number of players to 40.

On Jan 3, we’ll send a confirmation email to all participants letting them know how many copies to make. (To save on copy costs, you can print 2 per page, and cut the paper in half before sending to us.)

Receive by Date – We’ll need to RECEIVE your copies by January 20^th so we have time to make the covers and assemble them.

Cost- The cost for a padded envelope, mailing and materials is $5. Please include the $5 with your copies and tag.

What You’ll Get

A Sweet Treat Recipe Book with a one of a kind handmade rose themed cover created by Karla or Beth, decorated with a tag from another player. We’ll mail the books by Feb 7, so you’ll have them in time to make sweet treats for Valentine’s Day.

Can you imagine how cool the individual pages will be from all those great artistic crafters out there in blog land?????? I can’t wait to see what you all send in for this!

Here is the button for the swap:

PS- thanks for your interest, we are full now! And we have GREAT players!! thanks to all of them, can’t wait to see what they make!

Oh, Fudge!

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, give away, holiday decor, Moving to DC, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 10, 2007

It’s almost time for our "What do you LOVE about your holiday home?" party!

I’ll do my post later Tuesday evening and start linking up as comments come in.

Please remember that you have to leave a comment on THAT post, the Holiday Home party, or I will miss you and won’t link.

And what have I decided to send as a prize? Well here is one of them, this great book, Crowns & Tiaras. I’ll have more party door prizes for guests that day too.

I will have separate drawings for bloggers who participate and for readers who leave comments about what they love about their holiday homes too. I just want to make sure some one from each group gets a prize.

Here is one little tidbit I love about my own holiday home. This welcoming pink glow in the breezeway, where I have wrapped pink lights around an iron garden topiary frame and set it into a wicker plant stand. People get an idea of what to expect from the rest of my house when they are greeted by this!

And there is more to love around here, my dorkies of course. All cozied up by the wood stove on a fluffy pillow staying warm while an ice storm rages outside.

The weather makes it a perfect night to stay in and make holiday candy. I am a fudge creator. I make tons of fudge each year to give away. Beth claims that my fudge is the reason she had to join the gym

I make the short cut, simple to do, nothing to it variety, always perfect, and quick. All it consists of is melting a bag of chips into a can of sweetened condensed milk and then beating it till it is fluffy and pouring it into a pan. Best, creamiest fudge ever. And everyone thinks you slaved over it. Oops, my friends won’t think that anymore, will they? My secret is out. I’m bad with secrets, you can tell by the way I run on and on, I tend to blabber about everything.

I bought these ceramic pans at a garage sale this summer for 25 cents each, never used, still in packages from the store! They are oven and freezer safe, and I will fill them with fudge and wrap them up pretty and give them to friends this year.

So, tonight, I make 14 batches of fudge. I have to have plenty to give away and to feed the family when I host lots of holiday get togethers! I have a 6’4" nephew who is a size 28 waist and can really pack away the peanut butter chocolate fudge. He’ll get a batch all of his own.

Yesterday I showed the 3 slate tables I bought for our Eastern apartment, but didn’t show why I got them.

The tables are to remind my husband of our home here, they match this floor in our entry way.

I laid this tile myself. I don’t know how to use a wet saw (and am afraid of those anyway, I nicked a knuckle on a power saw once and still get the heebie jeebies thinking that I could have lost my right hand!)

Since I couldn’t cut the pieces, I made a mosaic with small stones and 4" tiles throughout the 12" tiles. It really was pretty easy to do, except for the kink in my back from crouching on the floor so long.

I also did some of the trim in this area- it is barn wood we tore out of our 100 year old barn that couldn’t be saved. (That is how I caught my knuckle on the power saw. ) I sure prefer less dangerous projects like painting, or gluing wallpaper!

Twinkle just can’t understand why she shouldn’t be in every photo, so I just humor her.

This snowman tree is from Paula Kay’s home. She was a door prize winner at our last party and sent me a photo of the tree she created this year.

I am really looking forward to our party tomorrow. If you’d like to take a peek at the last one we had, it is here: http://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2007/09/what-do-you-lov.html

Here is a photo of something my neice loves about her holiday home- Baby, her cat peeking out of the tree. Twinkle just wishes she could do that with ours.

Hope to see you all Wednesday!

What Is Lurking out in the Pet Cemetery behind my cottage????

family, Food and Drink, I've been tagged, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 31, 2007

Ghouls just wanna have fun!

Welcome to the Halloween Blog Party!! It is sponsored by a group here and they have their scary tunes going, I have them playing in the back ground while I write to get me in the mood.

My niece, Shelli, made this ghostly cake. Enjoy a piece while you mingle at the party!

And Sissy has been crafting again! Look at this creation, I just want to move right into this cottage.

There is even a crystal ball waiting for me on the table. Have I ever mentioned my fortune telling hobby? I call myself Madame Karkina and wrap the nearest table cloth around my shoulders like a shawl and pretend to read palms. (It is usually after a couple of glasses of wine.)

That is a picture of Sissy as a witch next to the black cat.

And speaking of familiars- oops, I mean pets-

did I ever mention this?

Yep, I have a pet cemetery on my 10 acres, right along I70. It used to be a bit of a land mark around here, but as it rusts and the trees grow up around it, you don’t notice it along the highway any more.

Yesterday was such a pretty fall day that Sugarwings and I got dressed up and went back to the punkin patch for another visit.

I went as a princess and she was a pink butterfly. (I am wearing big sunglasses to hide from the paparazzi and trying to teach her the princess wave- also known as the beauty queen wave: ELBOW ELBOW WRIST WRIST WRIST).

Her grandfather didn’t wear a costume. As usual, he just dressed as a handsome husband.

Aren’t they so cute together? This might be my favorite photo of the two of them.

Tonight for trick or treat, she will be dressed as Dorothy and Twinkle will be Toto. I have a feeling I will be posting photos…. Sweet2btreat2bread

I was tagged by Michelle to name 3 blogs I like to read. That is HARD to do, I am a blog-aholic and love to peruse the boundless bounty of blogs.

So, I’ll just list who I looked at this morning, these are some good ones:

Bethany has hand made felt goodie bags for Halloween

Heather always has some of the prettiest photos around, and she is showing some Silver Bella themed kits she will be selling

the queen always has great photos too, and right now there is a wonderful vintage Halloween masked ball print to see.

And of course, I always check out my buddy, Beth to see what wry and witty things she has to say or what fab finds she got at the last estate sale. Right now, she has an infestation of creatures creeping around her place and hiding in all the nooks and crannies.

One last Halloween Witch, looking really really scary before I remind you this is the last day of the

October Drawing. I will wait till the 2nd to announce the winner so you can leave comments on THIS POST till then. (COMMENTS FROM ALL MONTH COUNT TOO)

The prize is a Cottage College Kit with vintage wallpaper OR a hand made item from one of my kits.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Of course, you know what that means tomorrow is?? The biggest candy bargain day of the year! I will fill my shopping cart with 75% off chocolate and start the count down to Christmas weight gain early.

Guests come by the Cottage and one is a real live doll

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, Food and Drink, give away, hand painted signs, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 20, 2007

We have house guests at the cottage this weekend. An old college friend of my husband’s and his 3 teenagers with their dog, Bennet.

So far, Bennet and Twinks have wrestled non stop since he got here. It sounds like an entire herd of dogs running around upstairs. That is, when Twinkle’s feet get a chance to touch the ground. Our beautiful guest,Maddy is quite the dog lover and has been carrying Twinks everywhere she goes.

Maddy looks a bit like this paper doll doesn’t she?

I did this picture yesterday and have it listed on Etsy today.

Something a little different than what I usually do. I discovered that framed collage pieces require a a different mindset than the tags.

I made a couple more hanging pieces while I was at it. This one has a unique frame, it is a metal dish that I found junking this summer. Those portraits are tinted with pastels and then set down into the 2 cups of the tray. The piece itself is like a nut dish, or something like that. I can see it used for mints and nuts at a wedding a long time ago.

I am pretending that the old photos are of two sisters, one kind of plain and serious and the other blond and flirty and cute. Sounds a bit like the beginning to a Jane Austen novel, doesn’t it? I’m sure that the plain and serious sister married well and for love. And had nuts and mints at her wedding.

This is another metal tray from an estate sale, maybe it was meant as a boudoir tray? I think it might need a word or a phrase added to it. I am not good with that part of collage, but I will think about it, and look through some old books. Down near the doll there is a spot that could use a little something.

How sick are you of me showing button jars? I LOVE making those. I listed this one yesterday, all the others have sold and I only have 5 empty jars left to embellish, a couple of them will be commissions.

I’ll have to start checking out other jars to use, because they are so fun to make and it is rewarding when they fly out of the Etsy shop!

Although, I really need to get ready for my Holiday Sale. I should be getting serious and getting some painting done. I have to hand paint a few dozen ornaments and make some more of these signs.

As well as a million other things I need to have ready. I try to make a list of what needs to be done when, but I simply can’t follow it. I am not wired that way. I get side tracked by shiny objects and go off track and do something totally different.

Or I get sidetracked by my fairy grand baby. She has spent a lot of time with me this week. Last night she helped me make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from this recipe. I don’t usually use recipes, I wing it. But I saw this on Monica’s blog.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:
2 Cups flour
1 cup quick or old fashion oats, uncooked
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter /margarine, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Libby’s Solid Pack Pumpkin
1 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels

preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Cream butter; gradually add sugars beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix well. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin, mixing well after each addition. Stir in morsels; drop by rounded spoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 20-25 minutes, until cookies are firm and lightly browned. Remove from sheets and cool on rack.

With a houseful of teenagers for the weekend, I thought I could use some more snacks so I mixed up a big batch of honey roasted nuts, regular peanuts, cashews, candy corn, broken up Hershey bars, and peanut butter chips.

I like to keep bowls of treats out to spoil the kids when they come to visit, and this is about as easy as it gets.

Speaking of cooking, I need to go tend to my huge pot of black bean chili that is on the stove. I am feeding a lot of people while they watch a KU game this afternoon. Maybe while they are watching football, I can squeeze in painting a few signs.

I will have my 200th post on Monday. Please leave a comment on this one, #199, or the 200th and I will have a drawing for the Foof of Life book and a hand made book mark to go with it. The drawing will be on my 201st.

Seconds, anyone? Plus another Party Announcement, a Giveaway Announcement, and a parade of tussie mussies in honor of my wallpaper addiction

Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, give away, I do tend to run on, don't I?, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / September 12, 2007

Thanks for coming to my tea party on Monday- ready for another cup?

Also, I’d like to throw a celebration of another kind and am inviting you to join in. The issue of Romantic Country with my home in it will be out soon,and I’d like to invite my fellow blogging friends to show everyone what they LOVE about their own home. I will design a button to use as an invitation, and you can link to me on that date with pictures posted of your own lovely homes.

The date will be TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25th.

I will give away one magazine to a participating blogger and one to a non-blogging party goer.

Make Mine Pink is hosting a tea party all week, so I thought I’d play along and have another day of tea sipping. Its better than finishing my book for book club tonight, I really am not into it and have given up. I’d rather have a party!

(The Power and the Glory by Grahm Green- not my cuppa tea)

Thanks for all of your kind comments, out of the 39 that were left for Monday’s party, I drew Maria Ellena’s name for the present. Maria, please send me your address and I will mail you this refrigerator magnet.

Many people were asking about the embellishments on these cabinets my son built for my kitchen. They are from a company called "Elements" and can be ordered online, the company is in Chicago. They are made of glue, and you simply steam them and stick them on to the surface. I’ve also seen these type of things advertised in the backs of many home decor magazines.

Today’s party is in my breakfast nook, in the sunny corner of my kitchen.

Of course, I had to invite some pixies!

These guys are sitting on a wooden tray I found at a garage sale for 50 cents and painted with roses and stripes.

And I made a trip to the $1.99 clearance floral area of my grocery store for some posies. I was delighted to see they were selling dyed Queen Anne’s Lace! I used to pick these as a kid and put the stems in glasses of water tinted with food coloring. Shasta Daisies were fun to do that way too.

A friend gave me a zucchini the size of a baseball bat, and I sauteed some of it for supper last night, and the rest I chopped up to freeze and to make muffins. I didn’t have a recipe for that, so here is what I made up:

2 1/2 cups zucchini
1/2 stick butter (melted)
1 cup applesauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1 t Cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup flax seed
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 buttermilk powder
whole bag of milk chocolate chips to counteract the healthy stuff I added

Mix it up together and pour it into paper muffin cups and bake it at 375 till the tops crack. Place on a dainty plate and garnish with a china flower.

For something a little different and totally impractical, but still cute, I used tussie mussies to hold the napkins and silverware.

I spent yesterday making the tussies from my new wallpaper stash. So far I have made tags and tussies from each type of paper, but I still have 6 new rolls that I ordered that aren’t here yet! And tomorrow, Beth is coming over to share some of her new (old) wallpapers, and we will do a swap.

OK, now time for the parade of cones.

Most have a Christmas theme, but not all.

I love adding special little details to them.

Everything on them is vintage, except of course, the glue and the glitter.

No two are ever alike, or I would be bored making them!

Aren’t these some of the prettiest wallpapers you have ever seen???

Especially this paper, how lovely!! I am crazy about this flocked green vintage paper, and not only is it pretty, it was a gift! From Sandy , plus she added some other cute goodies to the box.

Now that the month is half over, I have decided what my giveaway for Sept. should be. Not too original, but how about the same as last month?? Your choice of a Cottage Collage Kit, or a hand made something or other that I have made with the vintage paper kits.

To enter, just leave a comment. All comments left this month are already entered.

I will be listing cones on my Etsy Shop for $20-$25 each, depending on how elaborate they are. I won’t have all listed, but if you see one of these that you like, you can order them directly from me, through comment or email.

A Fairy Grandbaby and a Grandma in Fairyland

antiques/junking, fairies, family, Food and Drink, give away, parties, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 19, 2007

A quick question for you- is anyone noticing a faster loading time since I learned that I am supposed to make my pictures smaller? Also, any loss of quality in the photos? thanks for letting me know

Sugarwings loved every second of her birthday party last night!

I think her favorite gift was the pink ball with sunflowers on it. And doesn’t it look so pretty with her birthday frock?

She enjoyed the party down to the very last crumb of her cake. I enjoyed the evening too, she was such a joy, so happy and fun and loving her party!

I started a new photo album today, to mark the beginning of my fairy grand baby’s 2nd year.

I found an album for 50 cents at a garage sale and redid the front of the cover with vintage wallpapers. The inside was doen in textured, flocked paper.

The original cover was brown cardboard with a car on the front, not exactly my style, but a good sized album at a very good price.

With a few added embellishments, it is now "me".

Right down to the "K" on the front. I cut that out of an envelope that came with the box of goodies I won from Natelea. This black and white wall paper is from Beth and if you want some- she is having a giveaway of a good pile of wallpaper!!

There is something about a brand new book, ready to fill with pictures. Kind of like picking out your school supplies in the fall and taking out that first crayon.

I wanted a special photo for the first page. My cousin emailed this B&W picture of our Grandma Downey at Fairyland Caverns.

I rubbed pastels onto it with my fingers, used a gold glitter gen pen to outline some areas, then make the entrance to Fairyland sparkle with glitters. It was then mounted onto pink glitter paper (you can’t have too much glitter in Fairyland!!) and is ready to add to my new scrapbook. But, first I have to get some fixative to spray it, or I’ll have a mess.

If you’d like an assortment of old papers and photos in a Cottage Collage Kit or a project made from one, if you are not a collage-er– – just leave a comment and you are entered into my August give away!

Eight Random Thoughts with a side of Garden Sauce

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, family, Food and Drink, give away, I've been tagged, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 4, 2007

Bethany at http://bethanyjanehissong.blogspot.com/, tagged me to write 8 random things about myself. A while back, I did the "7 weird things" list, I guess this one is different. So- here goes, 8 off the top of my head things.

First, here is the sketch that Bethany did of Twinkle!! How wonderful, she has some really good sketches on her site, she can certainly capture the personality of her subject. Go take a look!!

Which brings me to #1- I don’t sketch. I wish I did, I love to see pencil drawings. I just don’t do it.

Here is a painting I did today of Sasha, my cousin’s Dorkie who passed away this year.

I kind of draw it out before painting, but not in too much detail. When I do a mural, I don’t draw on the wall first, I just walk up to the wall and start painting.

#2- I am never sure of blog etiquette. I probably should have asked Bethany before I showed her drawing. I hope she knows I posted it in awe and enjoyment of her work and that I wanted everyone to see it and go to her site, that I wasn’t trying to steal it.

#3- I don’t use recipes, I wing it when I cook.

I make things up as I go along, but here is a summary of my garden sauce if you want to make some:

saute an onion, garlic, some banana and green peppers from the garden patch in olive oil, then throw them into the crock pot on low

chop up tomatoes and throw them into the crock pot until it is full

add fresh basil, thyme, and what ever other herbs you have grown that taste Italian-ey, with salt and pepper, some raw sugar and red wine

cook on low for 24 hours or so, bag and freeze. Drink some wine.

Make sure the zipper on the bag is closed tight, or you have to take everything out of the freezer and clean out the shelves.

#4- My niece’s son, Conner, is a ribbon winner in goat raising!

Oh no, I just realized while looking at this photo that the sheep I showed to Sugarwings at the fair yesterday, were not sheep, they were goats. oops

#5- Sugarwings and I spent more time sitting on the floor at the hog barn, yelling into the giant fan than we did walking around the fair. She liked the way the fan warped our voices, so we did a lot of hollering at it.

#6- I love cement people. This one lives in front of my studio, and is wearing some of my garage sale finds from today.

#7- I am really loving wrapping up the packages of stuff I sell on Etsy!

I am not usually a fancy gift wrapper. One year at Christmas, I only used one gift bag for everyone. I stacked up presents in a pile for each person, and kept them in the back room. For every gift, I played "Santa" and went back to the room with the same bag over and over and slipped a gift into it. Our family always opens one gift at a time, so it worked out well.

#8- my fairy grand baby can say everyone’s name but mine. My son says that it is because I am not consistent in trying to teach her what to say.

I tried to go by "Grandmama Karkie" (my family calls me Karkie) but it sounded like ‘grandma McArkie’- so I just went with "Grandmama", but no one in Kansas says it with the right syllable emphasized, and it sounded very country, not elegant. (and I am not exactly elegant anyway)

So, now I am going for Grammy Karkie. Or maybe I’ll see what she comes up with.

I am going to tag: well, Beth, of course! http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ (check out her estate sale finds from yesterday, wow!)

and Amy http://www.myspace.com/primitivezen ,

who kindly sent me this mail art.

Don’t forget to enter the drawing for my August give away! All you have to do is leave a comment and you are entered. I’m not sure what it will be yet, but I can assure you that there will be a photo from this group of 75 I got at a garage sale this morning for only $5 for the whole box!

And BUTTONS! There will be some buttons!!

Teaching a Lesson

antiques/junking, Books, family, Food and Drink, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, hand painted signs, paintings, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 28, 2007

I had a teaching day today! It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning, painting roses with a fellow rose lover! I had set up some treats in my "dessert wardrobe" but mostly we were too busy with our paints and brushes to indulge in the cookies.

Actually I had 2 students. Gail brought her 10 year old daughter, Deja to learn how to paint a rose sign too.

I was able to get 2 done myself while demonstrating the flowers.

These are on lightweight, metal, pre-made signs. I liked working with them, it was a change from the usual old wood that I use for my signs.

While I had my brushes out, I finished Sugarwing’s purple pony that I am painting for her first birthday. I added a lot of glitter to it, so it will need quite a few more coats of poly, so the glitter won’t be sharp against her baby soft skin.

Last night while cleaning up my studio to get ready for today’s sign painting, I decorated a candle. I used bits and pieces of paper and trim that were left on the craft table from previous projects and fixed up a candle that had been on sale at Michaels for 50 cents.

What caught my eye about this candle, is that the card stock circle on the top of it, is actually a sticker. Once that circle is peeled off, instead of tossing it, it can be re-used onto something else.

So, I thought it was worth the time to glitter and foof up the cover. Then, I added some vintage trim to the jar rim, and polka dotted glitter on the jar itself.

The pretty angel image I used came from the FABULOUS estate sale that Beth and I went to this week.

My friend, Vicky, invited us to her home early to shop before she was open to the public, and she has the best stuff. She is an artist also, but extremely successful- I’m talking about a 4 story house with an elevator!!! Wow, you don’t see those in Lawrence, KS. She does beautiful work and has a similar taste in decor to me (hers is just on a grander scale).

I bought stacks and stacks of lovely old books from her, suitable for all sort of crafts and ideas. Remember the cabinet I mentioned a while back, that I said I didn’t even use for storage? I do now! It is filled with books from Vicky.

She had some pinks and whites for my kitchen. The Hull pitcher with the roses on it, was only $5.

The creamer was a gift from Beth! She gets boxes and boxes of things from auctions and sometimes brings me flowery things that aren’t her style. She brought 2 flats of goodies for me this time.

This scrap book from Vicky was FILLED with vintage images! For TWO DOLLARS! I will add some of the images to my Cottage Collage Kit giveaway that I will be drawing names for at the end of the month, too.(leave a comment to enter)

Let’s, see, what else did I get. hmmm… This cute topiary type pot (that I will glitter up and decorate for Christmas) was $2 too.

3 urns for $18 (great for storing wallpaper!), a wrought iron garden bench, and a ton of interesting terra cotta pots (that she gave to me)

And a box full of these wonderful appliques! Her whole house was trimmed out in these, everywhere, all over, even the turret. Yep, her house had a turret. Wow. My kind of sale!

I’m sure I am leaving some purchases out, I just was overwhelmed by the sale, it was all such great stuff. Check out Beth’s blog to see what she got at the sale too. http://bethleintz.typepad.com/

Mini Spa Day at Home for the New Mom

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, family, flowers, Food and Drink, give away, parties, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 20, 2007

What a nice day! We had a fun Mini Spa Day at home for my niece to celebrate her baby’s two week birthday, then I got to work in the studio, and now my husband is back from his business trip. And I was smart enough to make up extra Cordon Bleu for lunch today and don’t have to cook tonight!

I didn’t actually get to make things today, but I did bundle up some Aqua Themed Cottage Collage Kits for Etsy and got them listed ($14).

And I played with my new purchases from my estate sale shopping with Beth. This vintage wallpaper was being used as shelf paper in a cabinet in a basement, I pulled it out and got 3 large pieces for ONE DOLLAR!!

Velvet ribbons, rick rack, buttons, a sequins all came from the same basement. I added the green ribbon and the mother of pearl button, with a vintage flower to the top of the little jar full of sequins. That is about as creative as I got today, mostly it was unpacking, and packing and finding new homes for everything.

All of these little rhinestone earrings will make pretty snow flakes for Christmas projects and look at these tiny Button Crowns!!!!!!! Oh, I see a Silver Bella project in their future.

And this little clear button is a Scotty, but it is awful close to looking like a Dorky. I never find Dorkies!! The world is filled with Stupid Scotty dogs tho. Oh well, this is cute and like I said, almost a Dorky!

Twinks has claimed the feather pillows as her own. They were only $2 each, that is pretty cheap for a dog bed, but they sure are pretty. Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ says they should go into a hammock. Well, I don’t have one, but it is a good idea.

And look at this rug- I have always wanted one of these. I paid a bit more than I usually spend when out shopping, but it sure is a lot less than buying a new rug at a "real" store or even buying an old one at an antique store. This one is 10′ x 6′ and was $75. Ooh, that makes me cringe to admit I spent that much.

There were 3 of these brass lady-stake things, I only bought 1, for $2. I should have got all three, but was spending like a fool already. Now why did I think that another $4 would break me??

I like it in the flower pot. I don’t know what it is really for, but she seems content in the rose moss.

I found a bunch of ric racs and ribbons for a total of $4.50, quite a few rhinestone buttons for $1, got this cute aqua colored card for only 50 cents, and the trash can was $1.50.

You can’t beat shopping in the basements and garages of estate sales! That is where the sellers put the stuff they think is junk and not worth much.

These leather covered booklet thingys are cute, the one on the right is actually a box, the left one is a note pad, and the middle is a funeral home booklet. All three were $4. I can see all sorts of possibilities with them.

The prettiest pretty of them all today, was Madison Catherine. She is 2 weeks old and seemed to be enjoying her party. We all got to hold her while her mom soaked in the tub.

I lit some candles for the new mom, got out scented lotions and tossed some pink rose petals into the jacuzzi.

I set up a special chair for Brooke to sit in for lunch, and tied up the back of it with a bundle of flowers I got in my first swap from Karin at http://www.creativechaos.typepad.com/

We ate salads with feta, cranberries and almonds, then had cordon bleu with spinach fettuccine and a side of broccoli. (the broccoli got mushy but the rest of the meal was good)

The new grandma brought a Tiramisu, who needs broccoli when you can have that?!! I picked a gladiola from the garden for Grandma Gladys who loved Brooke so much and would have loved to see her baby. She was with us in spirit today.

Brooke wore the crown I received in the tiara swap from Barb at http://www.123lavenderlollipoplane.blogspot.com/.

I have one more thing to list on Etsy, then I am going in to have a plate of leftover cordon bleu. I wish I had leftovers everyday, man I hate to cook dinner.

Please leave a comment if you want to enter the drawing for a Cottage Collage Kit!

Sister Swaps, Buddy Swaps, and some Freebies for you

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, family, flowers, Food and Drink, give away, how to's, paintings, parties, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 18, 2007

I have had the best day! I missed having time on my own in the studio in the last couple of weeks. Now, I loved the guests and I loved the trip and babysitting the fairy grand baby is a beautiful way to spend time, but man, I missed my studio!!

I worked all day (well, since noon at least, I had errands to run this morning) and my husband is out of town, if I want to, I can power up with a power bar and work all night too.

I am in the Art Doll Hat swap hosted by http://craftingbycandlelight.blogspot.com/ and have been making plans for that, but also, my sis and I decided to swap art doll hats, both using the same picture.

So, here is what I made for her. Sissy loves to collect, wear, hoarde, and buy tons of jewelry, so I decked out my doll in jewels.

She likes holographic papers too, so I used a gold holographic party hat for a base. The over skirt is my favorite scrap booking paper, a blue with roses. Over that is a bit torn off of an old curtain I found in a dumpster, I thought it tied in with the upper part of the dress in the picture.

I added some gold glitter to compliment the holographic base.

The crown/hat on the doll’s head is also scrapbook paper that is glittered up with a rhinestone button added. The button was given to me by my great aunt Caroline who just turned 99 this week.

I gave the doll some vintage flowers to hold and wrapped them up in ribbons to match her dress. I hope that Sissy likes the hat better than the Dorkies did. Twinks refused to wear it and Sparkle wore it grudgingly.

Here is the doll that Sissy made for me, look at that great skirt! And the magic wand!! I love it!!

Lets see, what else did I get done today? I made mailable art for Michelle Wards challenge this month. http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/ I wasn’t going to participate this month, because it isn’t my style, but I saw envelopes I really liked at http://pennyrabbitart.typepad.com/penny_rabbit_art/2007/07/gpp-crusade-mai.html and thought I’d try the spray paint technique.

Here is the front, (and I bought pretty stamps to use too). Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/gathering_dust/2007/07/beginner-mail-a.html is also doing this challenge, and she is offering to give hers away. Part of the challenge is to actually use them in the mail.

So, if you want one (ask Beth for hers, she might still have some) or ask me. I’ll mail them to the first 4 people who ask for one. Who knows, maybe there will be a little something tucked inside them??? Also, leave a comment if you want to enter July’s drawing for a Cottage Collage Kit.

Speaking of Beth, she and I are doing a crafting day tomorrow in her new studio. We are also swapping bags of paper goods.

Trouble is, SHE HAS EVERYTHING. What do you trade to someone who has the best selection of craft goods on the planet???

A letter from the School for the Feebleminded written in 1931. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she already has one.

I also got two rolls of this textured, paint-able wallpaper border at Goodwill today for 99 cents each. I cut off a length with 3 medallions, glazed it in umber, and added roses to the middle oval. I included a couple single ovals too, she can add a picture, or who knows what, these are COOL for collage work!

Ipacked up some odds and ends of old papers for Beth and while I was at it, I made up more Cottage Collage Kits for Etsy. These four are all neutral colors.

I included some of the glazed wallpaper pieces, papers from 1913-1930, a millinery flower, old buttons, pictures, lace, quite a bit actually. I haven’t listed them yet, if you want one they are $14 plus shipping. Oh, I made up 3 aqua themed packs too. It is surprising how long and involved that process is.

Then, I set the table for Friday’s Mini Spa Day at Home for the new mom. Yes, I know I am early, but I won’t be using the table and setting it up is so fun.

People have mentioned to me that maybe the new mother shouldn’t soak in the tub. But, she and her mother are both RNs, so I am not worried about it, they know what is safe to do. I have an assortment of bath enhancers, she can decide for herself if she wants to use one or not, or just enjoy the jacuzzi as it is. I like to use the Vaseline Intensive Care Bath beads. I think it is pretty gentle, but I’ll leave it up to my guest. Thanks for caring about her and warning me.

Well, I need to pack up a bag of stuff to take to Beth’s to work on tomorrow. We are doing Silver Bella stuff!! Yay, Bellas!! Can’t wait.