friends – Page 9 – Karla's Cottage

Bad girls day out

By Karla Nathan / January 6, 2018

For most of December, my pals and I tried to get together for a day out and movie. First one thing came up, then another. Sad things, sore throats, business concerns, and more.

Finally, we decided that we were going for it, no excuses. We'd seen Bad Moms and Bad Moms Christmas together in the past and planned a Bad Moms' Day OUT.

Beth had a rough week and told me to "bring the tooth", a basket to carry her in (she was feeling like a basket case) and a selfie stick for photos with Santa.

I took her serious and did just that.

Back when I knocked my front tooth out, I had a flipper with a fake one to cover up the gap. If she was sad, I could make her laugh by taking it out and letting it dangle a bit while wiggling the tooth around.

I brought the flipper on our day off, in a basket along with a selfie stick, and wore it so that the single tooth could stick out of my mouth. (I thought I looked a little bit like Nanny McFee)

We went out to lunch, redid Beth's antique mall booth, and crafted. Not such bad girl stuff, huh?

Time got away from us and we hadn't seen Santa yet, it was time to go to the movie we'd chosen for the night, so we decided to pass on trying to visit Mr. Claus.

But as we were driving away, we saw a blow up St Nick at the neighbor's house and yelled, "STOP THE CAR!" We jumped out, feeling that delicious, naughtiness that can cause laughing fits when you are being extra goofy as we ran up to the lawn and posed with the giant Claus.

We were selfie stick rookies and had some issues with getting it to work, which caused even more laughs, as well as that feeling of trying to hurry to escape from a situation, but being trapped by nervous fumbling while trying to rush.

There was a deflated one across the street we raced up to photo bomb also.

And we found a small Doggie Claus that we had to lay down on the ground with to get in our shot.

While we really weren't doing anything to break a law, just a tiny bit of trespassing, which I doubt if anyone would have minded, we felt like we'd made our Bad Moms' quota. There was running as fast as we could, pulling each other along, and laughing our butts off.

I was reminded of the silly pranks I did with my high school friends way back when, giggling and running, thinking we'd be caught and in trouble. But having such fun, no one cared.

Sometimes, a little bit of silliness is just what you need, huh?

There isn't much better than having friends to play with, huh? I think we got Beth out of her basket.

A trip to Sparks and White Cloud with friends

friends, Travel

By Karla Nathan / September 27, 2017

I didn't think going to visit my friend, Karen, meeting Becky, and staying at a hunting lodge near my favorite flea market could get any better.

Till I saw these! The lodge came complete with a batch of 6 week old puppies.

They got some cuddling while we were there.

And did you notice the view??????

We were up on a bluff, overlooking a bend in the Missouri River. In the mornings, it was covered in fog, for an extra dreamy effect.

We stayed in the Land of Antlers.

Actually, it was called, Rawhide Camp Outfitters.

But you have to see what I mean when I called it that.

What a collection!

The place was homey, comfy, and friendly. The owners hung out and we talked Homecoming courts and Tayiah's chances of being queen, with the teenage daughters.

Meals were provided and we even got a lesson in making pasta from scratch.

My new buddy, Becky, created this framed image for the family as a thank you. It fits in perfectly!

I loved the place, and the company too.

And the location can't be beat! Just around the corner from my favorite flea markets.

Sparks and White Cloud need to be seen to be understood and appreciated. This is one scene from our day of shopping.

You never know what you'll find, I loaded up on $4 millinery and $1 jewelry. After shopping and a good dinner, we had some craft and movie time, with wine of course.

And spent the next day at the Old West Bottoms district in KC.

These two got to continue the non stop laughing and fun for a couple of more days, but I had to head back to family time, which wasn't bad, since I had a couple of grand fairies waiting to hang out with me.

Thanks Becky and Karen for including me in one of the funnest getaways I've had in a long time. And to Dana for letting us use her home and introducing us to her family.

By the way, Tayiah win Homecoming Queen! Congrats!

A redo

friends

By Karla Nathan / August 25, 2017

Did I confuse you with this room?

Nope, not my house!

Not my style at all.

Never the less, or perhaps even more because of it, I loved being a part of the redoing of this space for a friend.

A few of us got together to repaint and rearrange this office.

While I don't get one bit tired of the romantic, cottage look that I have in my own home, it sure is fun to play with some brighter tones and a more modern look. Especially when we had such great art to plan the design around, and a room full of good friends to hang with while we worked on it.

Mermaid craft day (and a redo that helps a little bit at least)

friends, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2017

For the last couple of years, Tami has been inviting a group of local ladies who met and became buddies at Birdsong, over for craftdays themed for the season. She goes ALL OUT, way, way out, on making us welcome. For our summertime get together, she filled her house with seashells and gave us a beachy get away right in the middle of Kansas.

She is also, way, way over the top generous with the supplies she provides and projects she plans.

I chose to make a mermaid from Sculpy clay and seated her in a shell chair. I wasn't too worried about the thick neck, sunken shoulders and wormy arms, knowing that she would have flowing, wool roving hair and be holding some things in her hands so those parts wouldn't show much.

Over all, I was pretty happy with my sculpture.

And I loved the shell "easy chair" made with coral and a half shell.

I also wasn't too worried about the texture of her tail, since I was going to cover it in mica flakes.

But maybe I should have worried a little bit more….

ugh

Or should I just say, UGLY?

This mermaid should probably slip her head right back under the waves.

Some days, we just have to face it that what we make isn't as good as what we make other days, right?

Even the crown that I worked on isn't very pretty. I've only shown a snip of it, it isn't worth showing you the whole thing. Oh well. It was such a fun day with good friends, that I didn't care that my creation was more Creature from the Black Lagoon than Little Mermaid.

Thanks, Tami! I had a blast, as always!!

EDIT

Well, if you know anything about me, you'd notice that I hate an unfinished or bad project. After looking at the photos I posted earlier, I was more than slightly aggravated by how my poor little mermaid had turned out.

So, I sanded some of the bumps in her face, repainted it, added some different colors to her hair and redid the crown as well as what she was holding.

She still isn't the prettiest thing I've ever made, but I feel better about her.

There are things that cannot be fixed, like the way she slumped down into the chair and is sitting at the wrong angle, and the fact that her hips are too narrow, and oh, so many more. Far from perfect, but now I feel like I can place her on my shelf and enjoy her as a memento of a lovely day and not cringe every time I walk by!

Visiting the neighbors

friends, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 30, 2017

I miss having horses. We used to have a wonderful, old barn filled with these creatures with the world's softest noses.

Seriously, what is softer than the velvet of a horse's nose????

But while that barn was wonderful to me, it wasn't exactly stable. Over 100 years old and leaning, it was near toppling over. And the cost to restore it? More than we could handle at the time.

(If I had it to do over again, I'd have taken out a second mortgage, and done anything I could to save it!!)

It has been gone for years now. And we are horseless.

But our neighbors have some we can visit!

We hopped on the 4 wheeler and drove up the road to call on them, and Sugarwings fell head over heels for the horses.

She was in heaven there for the afternoon and keeps asking me why we don't have a "real farm".

But as much as I miss having a barnyard full of these guys, I also remember how much work they can be.

For now, I'll just consider myself lucky to have neighbors who welcome us when we want to come over and be reminded of how good a horse's neck smells when you put your arm around it and just how velvety their noses are.

Galentine Crafting fun

friends, holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 23, 2017

My pal, Tami, has been hosting craft days for a group of friends, many of us who met at Birdsong. It means the world to me that some of theses buddies were introduced to each other at my home and are now close.

I sincerely miss Birdsong and all the camaraderie, crafting, and caring that we shared there. Last year was ROUGH on me, so I was glad I didn't host the party, and this winter, when it was time to plan another event, I still wasn't quite myself, and I decided not to have it.

But- man, I feel good again! Back to my old self!!

Yet, I thought I'd missed the window of opportunity and it was too late to invite my Peeps to a bash for 2017. Then, someone mentioned waiting til Fall instead of having a Springtime craftathon.

hmmmmm…..

tempting……..

I'm turning that one over and contemplating the possibility. It has been so nice to get inquiries about Birdsong '17, and my whistle has been wetted.

I'll give it a little more time, and will let you know when I come to a decision.

In the meantime, until I reunite with Peeps at my own home, I'm thrilled that Tami includes me in her crafty group. She is generous with her time and space, and we love gathering there for a day of laughter. Here are some of the examples she made in advance for us to see before we started work on our own projects.

She is generous with her supplies too, and set up a big buffet of goodies for us to use.

I brought my own lace, because I wanted to make a heart from the tattered remains of my beloved curtains. The fabric is French Net, and was very old. It was in great shape when I hung them up, and I adored the curtains in my kitchen for years. But after those years of use, they just couldn't hold up. We like windows open, and blowing in the breeze wasn't the healthiest thing for 100 year old, dainty lace.

I salvaged what I could to make new curtains when we remodeled. You can see here, I used some of the netting over vintage dotted swiss, hoping that will be a sturdy enough backing and they will hold up better now.

But I missed the ornate scrolls of lace that I previously had, and wanted to make a heart from some of the remnants to hang over the remade curtains.

Ta- da!

I like it so much, I might make one for each window and leave them up year round. Who says hearts are only for Valentines?

While at Tami's though, I made a second one from this beaded lace since I didn't have more curtain material with me.

It is from the same vintage dress I'd taken apart to make angel wings for Christmas. Those are still hanging above my mantel. While angel wings are sweet for Christmas, and hearts are traditional for Valentines, I feel both are just lovely year round. I took down all of the overt holiday things on the mantle and left my wings over burlap up for the winter. I'll return to roses and bluebirds when spring finally returns too. Til then, I'm enjoying the neutral tones.

For now, this second heart hangs in the kitchen window above the grand fairies' play area.

Which is why you are only seeing a close up of the details, not the whole nook. I'd need a bulldozer to move Legos, crayons, piles of paper, and scissors out of the way before I could take a picture of the area.

Tammy also had out cotton batting for us to use to make embroidered hearts. Instead, I used two layers of it, glued together and stuffed to make this hanging heart. (no sewing for me!)

It is covered in the same lace, using the beaded scalloped hem as the top of the heart. I've added a print of a vintage picture (from Tami's stash of treasures) and framed it with ruffled seam binding.

That one was so quick and easy to do, that I made another one the same way. I was out of scalloped trim (durn it) but I did have the edging from the sides of my old curtains to add to it.

My wires on the other hearts are actually coat hangers, bent into a heart shape. I found it was easier to get the corners smoothed out of them and reshaped with a pair of pliers.

Then, I decided to wrap the wire in fabric before gluing the lace to it, that gave something for the lace to stick to better than just the wire. (Tami sewed hers, so that wasn't an issue for her pretty creations)

The beads, MOP buttons and rhinestones are woven around the shape on thin wire.

To glue the millinery in place, I placed bits of fabric behind the lace, so the flowers would have something to stick to. I was afraid that if I tried gluing them to the delicate lace, they wouldn't have anything to grab onto.

The day was filled with hearts. Beth was stitching this one onto some of the cotton batting.

And Nora made this with foam core board and wrapping paper.

But hearts weren't all that was going on. Look at this foam core guitar covered in treats!

Yep, lots of goodies, lots of lovelies, lots of laughs.

Thanks, Tami!

ps- I made a few more of these hearts, most have sold, but at last check there was still one on Etsy.

Salt Shaker Snow Gals at a girlfriends’ gathering

friends, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 18, 2016

A few of our Birdsong Peeps gathered at Tami's house as she hosted one of her generous craft days.

At last year's holiday party, I was admiring her collection of salt and pepper shaker snow people. So, when I heard that was the project for this season, I was thrilled! Here are some that she made and that were sitting out as examples.

She provided a bountiful supply of goodies to deck the snow gals out and we rolled air dry clay and glued pretties onto little snow ladies all afternoon, only stopping for a delicious luncheon.

Here are a few that friends made.

And here is what I made that day.

Tami always goes all out to make our days in her studio special, so I wanted to bring her a special gift. Since she is a button collector, I thought a necklace made of vintage mother of pearl buttons would be a good idea for a gift.

Lovely ladies, fun projects, tasty food, non stop laughter, all made a perfect day-

Thanks Tami!

A holiday dinner party at the cottage

celebrations, cottage, friends, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 12, 2016

Last week, I hosted the annual holiday book club party. Here is 2014 and here is 2015. In the past, I've just done snacks and treats, but this year, I thought it would be nice to have a sit down dinner.

Since we have the new space, I was thrilled to have a chance to use it. Plus, the book club ladies are a nice group, it is good to have a night where we can kick back and chat about things other than books.

The new space is ideal for entertaining. I picked up a small, drop leaf table that I keep in the hearth room by the door, and we carried it to the dining area, slanted the main table and added the drop leaf one onto the end of it.

Originally, I thought I'd get a gigantic, rustic, farmhouse table to fill the space, and to seat my large family.

But then, I saw the price tags.

So, I bought a $60 drop leaf table to create more seating instead.

The drop leaf fits nicely, and solves the problem when needed. It is wonderful to have plenty of room to seat everyone without bringing in a folding table. In the past, I'd have to move the island (I built it on wheels), set up a folding table from the studio, and cram in a few extra chairs.

Now, all of the guests fit comfortably without having to move the island.

As much as I like the look of a farm house table, I think I prefer having a more flexible set up. My dining table has 3 leaves and expands to 110", the little drop leaf adds space for 5 more people. We had 11 for the party, and I think I can probably make three more fit if I got creative with where the chairs go.

Nothing on my table matches, and all of it is from garage or estate sales. Sometimes, I think, maybe I should go buy some matching silverware, or glasses…. but honestly, I don't think anyone minds. The lights are dim, the candles are lit, there is plenty of wine.

For this party, I used white dinner plates, table cloths and napkins, clear and gold salad plates, floral bread plates, and clear glasses. I added a string of battery power lights to a bowl of painted pine cones topped with Shiny Brite fruit, and put some sparkling branches with lights, a pink glass garland, and gold Shiny Brite balls.

My local grocery store has $1.99 flowers on Mondays, and just happened to have some perfect ones for the party marked down and waiting for me. Pink and green, with a touch of red for the holiday.

I was going for a white on white look with a splash of color.

I made vegetarian lasagna, and stuffed shells with chicken and butternut squash a week ahead of time, then pulled it out of the freezer to bake up that night. I always believe in as many short cuts as possible when planning a party. Everyone brought wine to share, I baked some bread, bought packaged salad, and kept the dinner part simple.

Add a nice bunch of ladies, and it was a very nice party!

A girlfriends’ day out on the town in the Big City

celebrations, friends, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 10, 2016

My pal, Angie, once again, generously invited a group of us to visit her apartment in the sky over looking the Plaza in Kansas City.

We started the afternoon with a late lunch at Union Station, and ended up with wine and desserts at Angie's home to enjoy this view of the Plaza lights.

As always, she went all out making it special for us.

Beth says that Angie is determined to bring some culture into our lives. She takes us to museums, botanical gardens, and other big city things that I never think about doing, but adore visiting when I'm taken there.

On this day, I did something WAY, WAY out of my comfort zone! We explored Science City at Union Station, and all of us rode the sky bike.

I'm terrified of heights, and have no balance. But apparently, this thing can not tip over, it is balanced by the load of bricks that hang beneath it.

Hmmm…

It felt like I was going to plummet to the ground. Bypassing that net somehow, of course.

But I did it. Twice! I did not enjoy either time, but it was good for my soul to give it a try. Just like all of the culture Angie has me soaking up, that is a nice change from my typical days, a little change of scene has been good for me.

We checked out the Kaufman Gardens to see the Poinsettias, and goofed off with a photo shoot. I'm channeling my inner Zoolander here.

Silliness was the main part of the day, we played like little kids, giggled, and belly laughed all afternoon.

In my opinion, adults need to get some childlike, joyous, laughing fits going every once in a while to stay sane.

I started out my day with some crafting, so was already in a very happy mood. In the last month, I've not spent much time with my glue bottle. I made up a few of these ornies to pass out at our lunch, and it felt wonderful to be doing things I loved again.

My heart rate seems normal, and at Science City, I could run up and down stairs without needing a break or getting light headed. Looks to me like my cardiac procedure was a success, and I was celebrating feeling normal again.

I don't think I realized how bad I'd felt for how long. Most of my summer was droopy and tired.

Of course, spending a day with fun friends, is always helpful.

I've been throwing myself headfirst into holiday happenings, and for a while was feeling like I'd over scheduled and it was too much, but just this week, I've gotten past that and am loving all of the activities and excitement.

Now, my problem is trying not to feel guilty about not getting any work done…

I'd told myself earlier that I'd just take it easy and not worry about work for a while, so I haven't updated my Boutique with new items for Christmas. That was fine when I was still a little weak or droopy, but now that I'm flying through the sky on bikes, that seems a bit hypocritical.

Well, too late, the holiday selling season has about passed. I need to let go of the guilt, enjoy feeling better, and plan for getting some work done in January instead.

For now?

I am Merry Christmassing it up. Going for the glory and the joy of the month. And I am blessed by my new found good health!

A girlfriends’ weekend

friends, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / October 11, 2016

Andrea Singarella, Jenn Hayslip, and Lori Oles came to visit over the weekend for some relaxation…

Craft time…

Shopping in the West Bottoms antique district…

Boating…

Girlfriend time…

And lots of laughs!

I'd asked my family to demonstrate the circus apparatus in our new room, and was happily surprised when they generously showed up with costumes, music, and an entire performance for my guests.

We even got lessons on doing some tricks ourselves.

Kia showed me how to do this move.

And Sugarwings taught me her favorite one, "Man in the Moon." More like, "Crazy Old Grammie Who Will Have a Stiff Neck the Next Day".

On our first evening, Beth joined us and Angie invited our group to her deluxe apartment in the sky on the Plaza "for a glass of wine" and this is the beautiful spread we found when we got there.

Afterwards, we had dinner at the museum across the street from Angie's apartment.

We squeezed a lot into the few days they were here, and most important for me, we had some studio time. I feel like I've been away from creating time too long because of the renovations we've been doing to the cottage. Now that those are behind me, I'm looking forward to being out there beading, painting, cutting, and gluing a LOT. It was great to be in the workroom with a few friends and a glass of wine. While I often have the grand fairies as company while making things, the wine was a rare treat. Hmm, I wonder if I should keep some stashed in the treat cabinet on a regular basis?

Our weather was ideal for boating on Saturday, but cool enough on Friday that a soak in the hot tub was refreshing. More wine –of course- and steam rising as the heat from the water met the chilled air was a relaxing way to end a day spent finding treasures at Good JuJu, Top Hat, and Bottoms Up. We had trudged from one end of the antique warehouse district to the other and the jacuzzi was appreciated afterward. Shopping there is practically an endurance sport and we needed the pt after it was over!

Here is what I bought. Now that I am a full fledged circus performer like my kids, I'll probably need it, huh?

Our time flew by too quickly, like fun times seem to do.

I'm lucky to have found such nice friends to get together with, even though it is not for as long as I'd like.

And to know that even if we aren't together often, when we are, we take off right where we left off, with lots to laugh about, family stories to share, and arty interests to talk about. We spent over an hour in Michaels discussing beads, favorite supplies, and resources for them on our way to the airport. It is good to have someone to share complaints with about too small holes in pearls. Who else would listen to me go on about that?

(We came across Jenn's cover story in Romantic Homes at Michaels too!)

And it was nice to have my family get to know some of my favorite people. And for my friends to hang out with my loved ones.