give away – Page 3 – Karla's Cottage

Just Because

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2011

One of my recent flea market purchases was a big box of lace. Good lace, lots of the the netting style that I love, but mostly scraps. Still, it was only ten bucks, and I love scraps. I prefer scraps.

I added strips of a variety of the laces to some old table cloth material and made another pillow case for my bedroom redo.

And I have been covering old mail bags with the scraps too.

This one has a little pocket on it.

I'm a crookedy sewer. But I kinda like that look. Like I prefer scraps to rolls of lace.

And I love the way this flower is wonderfully tattered. Perfectly imperfect.

Not that my sewing is anywhere near perfect, oh my. Its a struggle. But I keep doing it.

These bags are in my Boutique now. I actually had a spare moment to do it after all the kitchen packing got done. I've had Sugarwings a couple of "bonus" days this week too, so am extra proud of myself for getting something added to the shop!!!

Something that took my mind off the drudgery of packing was the mail. A couple of sweet gifts arrived recently. This book is from one of our Birdsong Tag Book swappers, Sue Emmerson. She sent it to Sugarwings all the way from Australia. Its a sweet story about a little koala bear who is adored by her mommy, but then, the mommy has a lot of babies and is busy with them, so the little bear decides to win a big contest to win her mommy's love. What she finds out is that her mom really loves her so much, and doesn't care if she wins or loses.

Which was good for Sugarwings right now. Her mom just started nursing school and is super busy, and she misses her. But she knows that no matter what her mom is busy with, she is always loved.

This gift came from my pal, Laurie, just because. Don't you love 'just because' gifts? She said she saw it and thought of me, inside is a fairy medallion, that is every bit as wonderful as this beautiful wrapping she did.

The last time Beth and I shopped together, I bought a few tea towels at an estate sale. I never turn down a $1 tea towel, you can't even pick a hand towel up at Walmart for that price, and of course they never look this good.

Beth told me not to buy more, she had a stack of them in her basement. So, last craft day, she brought a big bag full of towels and napkins too. I feel like I need to throw a dinner party to use the napkins! (but I don't have much of a kitchen right now)

ps-If you'd like a gift too, sign up for our Craft Day Giveaway drawing, please leave a comment on that post.

You'll get goodies from Beth, Mary and I.

Also, please forgive me for not answering comments right now, our remodelling project just started!

Craft Day Giveaway

flowers, give away, swaps

By Karla Nathan / September 6, 2011

A while back, at Craft Day, Beth mentioned a round robin swap she planned with Lisa and asked if I'd be interested in joining. I said I didn't have time, but couldn't stop myself from joining anyway. Its a year long adventure, and only involves making one page a month and sending it on. That isn't too big of a commitment unless you consider the postage. By the time the books are near the end, they could get pretty heavy, and we are sending it around a lot. Only four people are in it, Beth, Lisa, and Sandra, so it goes back and forth a lot.

But worth it. Even though I am cheap, and know that the postage will end up being at least 50 bucks for me by the time I am done. It won't seem that bad, because it will be a little bit at a time! Not $50 at once.

The first month, we do our own cover and one page to get our book started. It goes to the next person who adds a page and then… it confuses me, but Beth is good at keeping me on track and made up an intricate schedule for us to all follow.

The theme is "Her Life In Stitches" Well, I don't sew much, all the rest of the group are good with textiles. I thought, maybe I could make a joke book, and have everyone in stitches, laughing…

But then, I thought, no, I'll dedicate it to my mom and honor all that she taught me. She was an excellent seamstress and while I did not inherit those skills, she taught me a way of looking at things and knowing how to figure out how something is made, step by step. And to have a creative mind while doing it.

I cut the title "Home Arts" out of an 1890s magazine and glued it onto my cover, since I think that suits the topic. My book is beyond sewing, and stitches, but is about the love of home, making stuff, and the art of making a house a creative home.

Beth, Mary, the other Karla and I have been trying to get together more regularly for craft days. We each have our own projects to do, and it just seems like the work goes so smoothly when you can chat and be with friends. Its always ultra casual, some days, I barely kick stuff out of the way so they can get to the table. I know they don't expect a red carpet from me, they are coming to share ideas, gossip and our latest projects, not judge my housekeeping,(or lack of).

Sometimes we share more. Mary brought a stack of old images the other day and let us chose a few. While going through them, I thought about how much fun the whole craft day experience is, and how much it meant to me to have such low maintenance friends, with so much in common. We all drool over the old supplies and half the fun of the day is looking at each others stuff. Everyone likes to share tidbits here and there also. Tips, tools, and actual bits of scrap get passed around.

I thought you might enjoy being a part of it too, and would like involved with the sharing. So, I asked Mary if I could have a stack of her images to pass along. She was generous with them and gave me a good pile. I wrapped up a selection of them with velvet ribbon and added a few millinery blossoms from myself. Beth says she'll throw in a treat from her supply stash too. I'll let you know what it is when I get it from her. But you know she has good stuff!

(oh, and in case you didn't know it, Mary Queen of Glue Books, is hosting a glue book swap)

Here is one of the images from Mary's ephemera stash, and you don't have to do anything at all to get it. Just click on it, open in a larger window and save it to your computer. It will be all pixely if you try to print it as is, so please do open the larger version.

If you'd like to win our Craft Day Giveaway, please leave a comment on this post. Deadline is Tuesday Sept. 20.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the newest listings in the Boutique. Lots of autumn toned millinery!

Who is this woman???

fairies, family, give away, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 8, 2011

Can you guess who this photo is of?? If you guessed Karla Nathan, I just don't know if you are right or not.

Someone named Carla Ross, on Facebook, says it is her. She is using it as her profile picture. I'm a bit freaked out about the whole thing. I reported it to Facebook, and heard nothing back. I left her quite a few messages, asking her to remove it, and heard nothing back.

Yep, I'm more than a bit freaked out about it.

I've changed my profile photo to this one, and changed my password too. Honestly, I don't think there is much more I can do. Except hope that Carla Ross is just camera shy and borrowed a photo, and that she isn't really some weird, creepy, guy out to steal identities.

Now. onto a much more pleasant, happy subject- Romantic Homes has a blurb about my wallpaper obsession collection on page 26-27.

This is one of the photos they used. I was squeamish about doing my own photos for them, since I am not a real photographer, I'm just a picture taker. My camera is a nice one (and I LOVE it), but not a great one, and I don't use big girl editing like photoshop, just picnik. I'm good enough for blog pictures and scrapbooks of fairy babies, so was really worried about doing a magazine shoot, even a mini one.

(that bench was built by my son, from a Victorian headboard that I painted)

I'm still plugging away on the tag book covers. My God, what is wrong with me, that I offered to make 135 covers????????????????? By the way, the swap is at full capacity now, thank you to those who joined.

I promise I am not really cursing you all as I glue trim onto yet another in the never diminishing pile of tags. They will get done. I know they will. I can do it. right?

That is, if I live through this weekend… I am babysitting the tiniest fairy grand baby for the first time.

For 3 days while her parents are teaching their zen and energy stuff at some festival. I will have Sugarwings too, and she is a full time handful when she is here, so it could be exciting. Did I mention that the baby is still breast feeding and has never been without her mommy over night?

Maybe I will have to use this as my new facebook picture after doing 135 tag covers and watching the girls for the weekend. I'm feeling hagard just thinking about it.

Honestly, it will be a good experience for us to have both girls together. And we need to spend more time with our littlest one, she hasn't been over as much. I remember lots of late nigths cuddling baby Sugarwings and rocking her when she couldn't sleep. This will be my first shot at it with her sis-star.

Wish me luck!!!!!!

Oh, I almost forgot- the winner of the dress form tutorial is

Kim Caldwell

That was such an easy giveaway, I think I'll do it again!

Leave a comment if you want a chance to win.

I'f you've already purchased the $15 online class, and you win the drawing, I'll send you a kit. ( I really do have kits made, I simply have not photographed and listed them yet. It has been crazy around here.)

Charming flocks

give away, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / June 25, 2011

While my computer was being worked on and reworked on and worked on again by the Geek Squad for two weeks, I sure missed having access to photo editing and to my blog! I know that there is a way to do it all from my marvelous, beloved, Ipad, but I sure don't know how.

$3.50 each

After showing you the glittered charms for the Bird Swap tag book swap, I had a lot of requests for them, and sold quite a few in the Boutique. Enough that I needed to order a few more for the swaps! So, being me, instead of ordering what I needed, I ordered another 100 or so. And painted them.

The ones I did before were meant for decorative use and people were asking me about using them as jewelry. Since the glue I used for the glitter was water based, that wasn't such a good idea. So I made some of these up, non-glittered and top coated with poly.

They should be durable for normal use, and would be so cute on a charm bracelet!

$3.50 each, sold as a set for $14

There are a bunch in the Boutique now if you are interested. But I'm off to see the Guncles in Jacksonville, so can't mail them till I get back. All orders will be shipped on Wed. the 29th.

While I was in Texas, Beth was flipping through this magazine I'd brought along and she saw a kid that looked like Sugarwings. It WAS her. I didn't even notice that article was in there! What a lovely surprise. Beth notices things better than I do.

Beth also noticed that the link to my publication page, with a few of my magazines on it was not working and I just now emailed Hope about it. That lady fixed it within moments. I swear, if you ever need to hire a blog redo-er, Paper Relics is the one to pick. Thanks, Hope!!

By the way, Hope as a redo at her blog, and its really cool, very unique. Plus, she is giving away free images, check it out here.

The winner of an online dress form tutorial is:

Amy Carver

And I'll be drawing another name next week. If you already have signed up for the class you can win a kit with everything you need to make the dress form.

This was pre-posted while I am visiting the Guncles in Florida. I'll be checking emails on my Ipad (or pink princess computer, as Sugarwings calls it), but will be busy swilling champagne and singing show tunes with my baby brother, so might not have a chance to answer comments.

If you sign up for the Mini Dress form tutorials, I will send you the password. All orders from the Boutique will be sent out on Wed. the 29th.

Yay Carol!!!!!!!!!

antiques/junking, Books, give away

By Karla Nathan / March 26, 2011

Have you ordered yours yet??? This is going to be the prettiest book, wow, I can't wait. you can get it early through Amazon, right here. I ordered mine today!

My beautiful friend, Carol's beautiful home is in the book, along with lots of our favorite bloggers. I went to visit Carol during the shooting and finally got to meet Fifi. She and I had worked together before, but I'd mostly dealt with her by email and a couple times over the phone.

Next weekend, while I have a houseful of arty, bloggy friends, we'll be headed to visit Carol, and ooh and awe over her home in person. She's invited us for wine and pizza after we do some shopping in KC.

And great shopping is in store! Its Bottom's Up weekend, and I can't imagine a more interesting place to bring out of town friends.

Maybe we'll see you there?

Ready for a prize? I know I was supposed to bring you back something from the Long Beach Flea mkt while I was in Cali. But since I ran with the Bad Girl Crowd, I didn't make it there, we played hooky and hung out elsewhere.

After unpacking, I realized I didn't buy a suitable souvenir for a blog prize. So, here is your memento of the event, one of my projects.

I'll leave sign ups open for a bit longer, please leave a comment if you are interested. All comments between March 16 and the 31st will count.

Are you up for the challenge?

fairies, give away, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / March 5, 2011

What a wonderful day I have had. Its about 8pm, and I am still jammied up. I've spent the entire day in the studio elbow deep in my favorite things, and was too busy to even get dressed. (which also explains why these photos might be a little fuzzy, I just finished, and took the pictures in bad lighting. But I wanted this post to be up and ready for you to link to on Sunday)

My goal for the day was to delve into some of those supplies that I'd bought to use, but that were so wonderful as is, I'd just left sitting in my studio and never touched. Like these little figurines.

For years, and years, I've had this red velvet, vintage album cover, just waiting to be turned into something, and today I finally did.

And I didn't hold back. Every tiny bit that I used on it is something wonderful, French text, rose wallpaper, handfuls of millinery flowers, a rhinestone butterfly, and a GREAT, old, English cottage print.

It was the best time! I cut and glued and played all day, my husband is out of town and I am on my own. No meals to cook, no one to tend to, America's Next Top Model and some other deliciously awful trash TV recorded to watch. And the determination to use The Good Stuff. Yep, a great day!

Beth had given me a bagful of these butterflies last week, and one of those was just perfect to use for the fairy princess's wings. Its tempting to fill an apothecary jar with these and just admire them, but I made myself pop the head off of one and glue it to the figurine's back, (I do think that the antenneas and heads should be removed from a butterfly before adding it as fairy wings. You don't want it to just look like a complete butterfly on her back, you want it to look like the wings are actually hers.)

Earlier this week, I'd sewn up some ruffled strips of salvaged fabric, and while they were not "worth" a lot, I still include them in my besties. And they are something that normally I would have used sparingly, but today, I went whole hog and used THREE rows of ruffles on this can-can girl dress form that I made.

And not only did I use a nice old rhinestone button for the top of the mannequin, I also ringed it in rhinestones. I double foofed it, even though the button alone looked good, the extra sparkle really made the piece.

We all know its not the cost of the item that makes us want to hoard the best things, its much more than that. It can be the sheer beauty, the rarity, or a memory tied to it. We tend to get emotional about our best finds, don't we?

This piece of round, domed glass came out of a ratty frame, and was a dollar at a flea market. But I've left it on a shelf in my studio for what seems like forever, just because it looked nice with a collection of other clear glass items I had in the pile.

But I sure think it looks better over this bird picture than it did on a plate on my shelf!

It felt good to use it.

And I'll bet you can guess what the hoarded item in this piece was- yep, the ROSES. Oh my! Some of the prettiest I have ever had.

I also used TWO rows of old velvet ribbon, and a beautiful jet bead earring.

The back ground for these collages is something I just got, and I treated myself to a stack of them before listing some in the Boutique. Sometimes, I tend to sell the best things I find instead of keeping them for myself.

This one features a frame that I'd been holding back on using.

The frame is something that I've had for at least 10 years. Now what the heck was I thinking???? Why would I buy something like that and leave it in a cabinet? Sometimes things get set aside, just waiting for the right project that never comes along. And it will just sit neglected in a drawer or closet, out of sight, out of mind. Just because I thought it was too good to use when I first bought it.

Is it too late to make a New Year's resolution? If not, then, mine is to dig through my cabinets and rediscover hidden treasures. And USE THEM.

Like this key hole that I found in a drawer today.

Uhm, did I mention that I was productive today? And inspired!

If you've embraced the challenge and have been brave enough to dig into your Good Stuff too, I hope that you will add your link to this post so you can flaunt your efforts.

We all know that it isn't easy to use "the best" and if you've read any of the comments I've been getting on the subject, you'll know that many of us suffer from this. We buy amazing things to create with and then are loathe to do it. Our hands shake, and our forehead breaks out in sweat beads when we reach for that perfect, faded rose, or we try to cut into that length of hand made lace.

But sometimes, you gotta just go for it. A good piece of art deserves are best supplies in it. That note book I covered wouldn't be nearly the same in scrapbook paper, as it is in that beautiful, old, rosey wallpaper.

And I find there is a lot of joy in using the besties. I hope you've found that joy too!

So, here is what you do to join in our link party.

Show your challenge project on your blog (or flickr or facebook, or whatever you use)
Click on the title of your post, and copy that URL into Mr Linky, not the URL of your blog.
Add your link to the bottom of my post where it says, "Click here to enter"
Please add my blog address to your post so people can come and visit all the participant's blogs.
If you want a chance to win a "Good Stuff Prize Pack" from me or from Mrs. Staggs, please leave a comment on my blog for mine and visit her for her rules.
You can use this button if you'd like to

A few thoughts on Good Stuff

Books, give away, show and tell, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / February 21, 2011

In honor of our challenge coming up, I delved deeply into the Good Stuff yesterday. I had a stack of chipboard rectangles covered in fantastic old wallpaper, that had been on the shelf above my desk for about a year, and I'd never used them.

Now, I have tons of wallpaper, and plenty to chose from. In my mind its all great stuff. But weirdly, there was something just a little special about these covered boards, all set and ready to go that held me up. I kept thinking that they were too "nice" to just use for nothing special.

So, I decided that if they were all that nice, it just meant that they deserved to have other great supplies added to them! Each little book that I made was done with only the best stuff in my stash.

There are different ways to attack the Good Stuff pile of accumulated supplies you are afraid to touch.

You can ease into it, just using one nice thing to elevate your creation. Or you could sprinkle them throughout, for a nice mix. (my typical plan) Or you can just go for it and use all Good Stuff. I chose the latter when I made these and went whole hog.

Every bit that went into these journals was from my Besties pile.

Including inside the books. Why have a boxful of French post cards if I am just saving them? I never see them inside the box on the shelf (although it does feel really good to know that they are there, near by and sooooo pretty).

But you know what? It feels just as good to know that there is a beautiful French postcard inside this ephemera book!

Once you get going, its a very liberating feeling.

Of course, there are limits, and you don't want to waste your best things on projects that aren't good enough. Well, maybe that isn't how I meant to say it. I believe that everything I make needs to be good enough, everything should be done to my best abilities. When I make something I picture someone picking it up, looking at the details, turning it over.

I want it to be well constructed and properly finished as well as pretty.

But- I also figure price. Would I make a tag with a $5 piece of jewelry on it? No, but I'd make a tag with the best supplies I could afford to put into it and still make it at a reasonable cost.

Also, knowing what the piece is going to be used for plays into the supply decision. A special gift deserves an upgrade, right? But the label or tag on the gift itself should be looked at as possibly thrown away later on by the recipient.

Another thought, for artists who sell their work, is "Can anyone afford to buy this piece???"

Its tempting to layer on the Besties, but there comes a point when the cost factor comes into play. Luckily, I find good bargains on my pretties, and also the things that I often consider my best stuff aren't exactly high priced items.

Its not always the price that makes something wonderful, of course. Like the ruffle on this tag. I trimmed the fabric off a very old pair of curtains that were falling apart. The curtains weren't worth a fortune, that isn't what makes it special to me. Its the perfectly faded old pink color, and the softness of the old fabric. And the fact that I can't just run to Hobby Lobby to buy more if I run out.

Sometimes it seems like we artists tend to work for the cost of materials. Our time isn't always covered in the price of what we sell. But when the creations are from the heart, it just feels so good to have someone care enough to buy them, that we just keep on cranking the stuff out.

Beth and I like to quote Jenny Doh's speech from Kim's mermaid event last summer, when she spoke of why we make art.

"It's the process"

She meant that as artists, it's often not what we get out of selling the piece we've created, it's just the process itself of making it that counts. So, why not treat ourselves to making our art with the best possible stuff we can?

I take a lot of joy in using beautiful and special materials. It elevates not only my artwork, but the process itself. It makes me happy to play with pretties. What a great job I have!

I may never be rich, but I sure do like what I do for a living!!!

If you'd like a chance to win a packet of my Good Stuff supplies, please leave a comment on any post (or all of them for more chances) between now and our challenge link party on March 6-7.

And if you'd like to do a little show and tell of creations you've made using your Besties, please come to our link party on Sunday March 6 and Monday March 7.

That gives you two weeks to get up the nerve to dig in to the Good Stuff. Believe me, you'll be glad you did!

Bookworms partying

Books, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Food and Drink, give away, holiday decor, parties, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / December 7, 2010

Last night, I hosted our book club's holiday party. It happened to fall on a dear friend's birthday, so we got to sing and have cake too. How festive!

Now, I'm trying to remember what books we have chosen for the upcoming year…. I know that one was Cleopatra, I heard a reveiw of it on NPR and was interested in reading it. Lets see… something about freaky cows by a local professor, A Tale of Two Cities, and an apocalyptic book called …. uhm…. Hand Made World? or something like that There are a total of 6, but I can't remember them.

I was most intersted in that last one, I'll have my fingers crossed that there are zombies. I'm sad that the AMC series, Walking Dead is done for the season. Wow. It was like a new horror movie every Sunday night, so well made and scary. Of course, that is what you can count on from AMC, very well made, not always scary though.

We also each brought a wrapped book to trade, and played that game where you can open a gift or steal one from someone else instead. My pal, Shan, brought a wrapped book for me, I was such a loser this year in the reading department that I had nothing to give away. I read too many novels that weren't quite up to book club standards and didn't want to look like I had low class taste.

Not that I was embarrassed, I just didn't want to give a book that no one wanted.

I guess what I mean, is that my books this year were not high quality literature, they were just books that I loved. The only "good" books I read were the same ones that we read in book club last year, so everyone had already read them.

Novels that I enjoyed- the latest Sookie (and can't wait for the next!), the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, the latest from Jennifer Weiner and Sophie Kinsella, and not much else. I used to read at least a book a week. Now, I'm down to about one per month.

TOO MANY GOOD BLOGS OUT THERE TO READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are the club books that I read:

Edger Sawtelle

The Worst Hard Times

Something about gay rights at Stonewall

And… well, I've forgotten again. I remembered first two because I loved them so much.

My friend not only brought me a worthy book to give away, she made this stain glass star for Mayara! And tied it to a bottle of wine!!

Its just perfect for my little Star Brite's first Christmas ornament. Hey, that seems to be a good nickname for her….I like that. Sugarwings and Starbrite.

My living room was a bit crowded, with 13 people in it. We all squeezed in anyway and everyone was so nice about it. They all said they would come back next December for our holiday party even if we had to practically sit on top of each other.

My old house has the original living room, and its small. We have a big house, just small rooms in the old part of it. But I have space where it really counts- the studio!! I could have had the party out there, but decided to stick with the main part of the house since it was decorated more.

Plus my studio is knee deep in stuff again.

And I waxed the living room floor! That rarity deserves to be noticed and enjoyed!!

For the party, I set up a coffee service, with home made, fresh whipped cream, shaved light and dark chocolates, orange peels, cinnamon sticks, decaf, and a bottle of 150 year old Grand Marnier.

When I go to schmancy dinners with my husband at restaurants his company owns, they always impress me with the goodies that come with the coffee. You don't need to order dessert there, the coffee treats are dessert enough. So I wanted to set up something similar.

I think I'll do it again for my next craft day. But I doubt if the orange liqour will be as popular at lunch time as it was for this party. Everyone drives in from Kansas City, so there isn't much in the way of drinking going on at craft day.

The cart is a vintage one from my garden that I brought in to use. On the bottom, I set out these glittered letters that were meant to go on a garland that never got made.

Agnes liked it. She thought it was a great place to hide, hoping for food to be dropped down on the floor.

Tomorrow, I'm leaving for a few days in Virginia, and this will be my first time leaving Agnes home alone for long. We have a great system for the dogs, they get penned up in the living room where they can get to a doggie door and a fenced in yard. And my oldest son, Ryan lives here too, so he'll be taking care of all the dogs.

She is just getting used to the set up, and is now an expert at running in and out of the swinging door. But I think we'll miss each other.

I've preposted for the rest of the week while I am away. Each day, there will be Christmas decor from another room of my home, so please check back.

All comments will be entered into December's drawing, but if you want to enter ther 1,000,000th Visitor Giveaway, you need to leave it on THIS POST by the 14th

Sugarwings and I made crustini for the party, by cutting leftover bread slices with her holiday cookie cutters, and brushing them with a little melted butter and olive oil, with garlic. Then, we slow baked them till they were crunchy. I'm going to take the leftovers and smash them up to make bread crumbs for my next turkey meatloaf.

Well, I'll be back this weekend, and will be checking messages on my phone, but its just not that easy to answer everyone that way. so please forgive me if I don't get back to you.

And if you'd like to skip seeing the blog posts and see the holiday decor at my cottage, I've loaded it on HGTV's Rate my Space.

I'd love to get your votes!

Here is the living room

Dining room

Kitchen

One in a million!? A giveaway and some winners

give away, sewing?, Sugarwings, We're having a party, Workshops, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / December 4, 2010

This week, I've caught the sewing bug. And I hate to sew. But embellishing ready made bags (vintage postal bags that I've coffee dyed) is simple and fun, and addictive. I gathered up some trims and flowers, sat down to the machine and before I knew it, there was a pile of decorated bags.

These bags were found in Texas at RoundTop, and had Kansas City, Kansas postal labels on them. I bought all that was left in the pile, and am just now getting around to using them.

I've had to make myself stop embellishing, because, I have too many other things that I need to do. These can wait… But I wanna play with these pretties!!

Do you blame me? I just love making them. Of course, I started it all while I had a little helper, the new baby was laying on a pillow under the table while her momma and I sewed. Now that she isn't here, it isn't quite as fun.

So, I can get back to my other duties, I've got an article due, and a few other projects with deadlines. Some of you are asking about my Cottage Art Event at May Day, and I really need to pull those details together. I'll be working on it this weekend. Info coming soon, I hope. Thanks for your interest!

See, how cute she is laying on her pillow under the table?? Of course, it was hard to concentrate on working with so much cuddliness nearby. But we managed to get a lot of work done, anyway.

Aggie Rose seems to be every bit as fascinated by this baby as Twinkle was with Sugarwings. We got Twinks when Sugarwings was 6 months old and they grew up together. I think doing it this way, with the dog a bit older than the baby is better. She is still a puppy, but not as fragile.

Here they are together on the day they met. Twinks adored her girl from the beginning and no amount of ear pulling or squeezing ever bothered her.

Twinkle has taken on so much of Sugarwing's personality, I have to wonder if AggieRose will be like Mayara?

Sugarwings and her pup are both fiercely loving, loyal, and happy, excited girls. Always exuberant and dramatic. Curious, bouncy, and packed with way too much personality to fit into their tiny bodies. So far, Mayara and Agnes both are pretty calm, laid back types. It will be interesting to see if they continue to be a match as they grow up together.

Or is it just odd that a grandmother lumps her baby doll's personalities in with the dogs?

I forgot to announce the winner of my Romantic White Christmas giveaway. This bunch-o-baubles goes to:

Sue Elseth

And my November Giveaway goes to:

Susie Q (no blog)

She will get Mrs. Santa's Slipper from our Romantic White Christmas classes.

For the December Giveaway, I'm not sure yet…. But please leave a comment, all comments all month go into the drawing. Since it doesn't mail out till January, I don't want the prize to be too Christmassy. So, I'll come up with something this month and let you know.

Guess what milestone I just passed? I'd been watching my stats knowing this was getting close, but it came and went before I realized it!

MY ONE MILLIONETH VISITOR!

Wow. When I started blogging, I sure never thought I'd even reach 1,000 people looking at my little on line diary. Thanks so much to all of you who come to visit. I enjoy the comments and the company.

So, since I missed out on seeing who exactly was number 1,000,000- I'll have a drawing here.

I'll fill up one of my decorated postal bags with some treats for you.

Some vintage angels, a brooch, mini bottle brush trees…

A frosted angora rosette…

A tiny test tube filled with mercury glass beads…

And a free entry into Romantic White Christmas ezine.

Deadline?? hmmmm… I'll give you some time. I'll draw a name next week when I get back from my trip to VA. Sunday the 12th. That way, the winner gets the little angels in time to enjoy for the holiday season.

Remember, all comments on all posts count toward the December Giveaway, what ever that will be, but for the 1,000,000th visitor prize drawing, please leave a comment here.

And thanks again for coming to visit!

A Tulaya tutorial- or how do you say that name???

Books, celebrations, family, give away, holiday decor, Silver Bella

By Karla Nathan / November 18, 2010

Just breath taking, aren't they? I'm starting to feel the need for a baby fix, I haven't seen her yet today. Its been almost 20 hours since I got to hold her…

Look at all that dark hair! I just want to kiss the top of her little head.

Everyone has been asking me about her unique name. So, here is the story. Her momma's family has a Hungarian Gypsy background and a tradition of a 2nd middle name. Apparently, you never say all the names out loud at once. No matter how mischevious the child is being!!

A lot of thought and love went into her name.

Here is the pronunciation:

My- R- uh * Two- lay- uh

Mayara means "holy trinity"-

ma= divine mother Mary

ya= universe

ra= divine father

Tulaya is from some ancient city full of fairies. And Zen refers some how to the sign on the Mayan calender that she was born under.

A big name for such a teensy, 7lbs 4 oz, cuddle bundle, huh?

I still don't have a nickname for her… I'm leaning toward TuTu, but after sitting in on listening to the parents find a proper 3rd name, I'm kind of liking Sugar Star. Goes well with Sugar Wings, and she was almost named Star instead of Zen. (I was voting for Starla, kind of half star, half my name but both of them looked at me like it was a joke.) Heck, maybe that is my nick name for her!! Sugarwings and Starla? How does that sound? Oh well, just talking out loud at this point, I need to get to know her.

Any thoughts?

She has no idea that over two thousand people checked online to hear about her birth. What a lucky little girl to have so many people who cared about her. Thanks so much to all of you who came by to wish us well and congratulate us. We're extremely happy!! And after all the worries, its wonderful to hold such a healthy little baby in our arms. (well, except for the little tummy ache she has, that is)

Here are the random names I drew for the angora roses and nest brooches I made while waiting for the baby's birth:

Stephanie who has a brand new baby too!

Debby

Shawn (no blog)

Seven winners for 7 pounds of baby.

The felted flowers are from a class at Silver Bella. This was one I was whining about and was sorry I had signed up for, and almost dropped at the last moment. But, I was so glad I went!! It was outside of my comfort zone and color palette, but I got so much from the teacher, Betz White. She was an interesting woman and since it was a small class, she sat right down with us and told stories about Martha Stewart's show.

Here is what the class project was supposed to look like, but I changed mine up a bit, and found variation on the roses that looked more like my own style.

I can't tell you how to make the roses themselves- they aren't mine to share, but she has a book and I have to tell you that they are so simple, you'd LOVE making them! Buy the book!!! You'll be glad you did.

I can share my variation with you. I cut my sweater strip kind of curvy and scallopy, then pushed in on the center once it was made. After that, I added extra petals to the bottom, for a more full blown rose look.

EDIT: the rosettes are NOT in the book! Betz got them originally from Martha Stewart and from this blog.

Here is what my completed frame looked like. Betz was nice enough to tell me how she did nests too.

(the vintage Christmas card opens up, I'll put a baby photo in it)

I've got plans to make one for each person who signs up for my May Day celebration and classes here at the studio next spring. Won't these be ideal for pinning to the goody bags???

This week has been crazy/exciting. There are still lots of other Silver Bella photos to share, but I've been busy with baby stuff this week. I've been trying to help out with the big kids (oh man, now all of a sudden my little Sugarwings is a big kid????!!!!). I'm giving them rides back and forth to school, and last night had a sleepover with 3 of them. Sugarwings has stayed with me all week too.

Yesterday afternoon, I cooked and baked for the new parents. A good friend is going through chemo, so I fixed her some meals while I was at it. I made vegetarian white lasagna with fresh mozzarella, stuffed manicotti with tomatoes from the garden, black bean burritos with peppers from the garden, and a big fresh spinach salad. Then, some home made granola and muffins for snacking on too.

These last few photos are of new items in the Boutique and Etsy shops. This box is made from the papers available for downloading in the Romantic White Christmas class, using Beth's directions for making her Pretty Pixie. (I changed it up a bit)

Beth and I are doing some videos for the workshop tomorrow, and we are having some goodie bag giveaways on it too.

It was nice to have some "normal" time today to take photos and list things for sale. The last couple of weeks have been quite extraordinary! All wonderful, but still, I enjoyed a having a plain old, boring day today after all the excitement lately.