holiday decor – Page 38 – Karla's Cottage

Falling for pastels and the August giveaway winner

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, Tutorials, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2010

Beth and I had the best day on Tuesday with our craft day/photo day. We sat up a few displays using the finished products we made in Romantic Gothic Ghosts so we could add some posts with Halloween decorating tips. Orange-FREE tips!

We also made a few little instructional videos, and it took a bit longer than planned because we had to scrap most of them due to giggle fits. After that, I was able to work on one of Beth's first projects, and she made it easy for all of us. Not only did she include how-to's, she provided the entire collage as a finished piece. I printed it as it was and just embellished the piece.

Some of the classmates are posting their projects on Flickr if you'd like to take a peek. If you want to join the class, please do! Its open indefinitely, but all the giveaways end when we post the last set of instructions. To win the prizes, you need to be enrolled during the "live" part of the class. (The millinery pack is just one of our presents to be offered during the class)

Today I was able to get around to adding some things to the Boutique as promised.

Maybe because I've spent so much time working with the warm tones and sepias of the Romantic Gothic Ghost class, I've been especially drawn to pastels and sweetness.

As I was flipping through my stash of things that needed to be photographed for the shop, I kept going back over and over to florally pastels.

And cutie pie baby things.

Like this 1940s baby book.

The can of Mennen baby powder still smells so fresh, like the top of a new born's head. Funny how long that powder scent lasts.

And can't you imagine this pillow being under a tiny baby's head years and years ago?

In honor of fall, I did list some more neutral tones too.

Can you believe its September???? Sugarwings is back in school and doing well. I think that for her, the Montessouri school is a better fit than the Waldorf. She seems happier there.

And since Sept. is here, I need to announce the winner of the August giveaway-

Debbie Berracha!!

I'll be sending her one of the projects I completed for our Ghost class. I think I'll do the same thing for September. If you'd like to win one of my Romantic Gothic Ghost Halloween decorations, just leave a comment on any post all month. I'll get some pictures soon.

Here are Button and Agnes Rosebud, enjoying yesterday's play date while Beth and I set the table for a fake dinner party to take pictures of it. But we didn't mind, we got to eat the chocolates afterwards. And the dogs had fun watching us!

Some pretties

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, holiday decor, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 31, 2010

Did I mention how wonderful it was to be home with little Agnes Rosebud? She is the sweetest pup, ever. Cuddly, devoted, and always right next to me. Here she is only a few months old, and calm enough to be a model for my pictures. She is helping me out with selling this vintage pillow. I've been getting photos ready to do a major list-a-thon of new products in my Boutique.

I'll let you know when I get them up for sale. In the meantime, there is too much other excitement going on.

Beth is coming over today with Button for a play date with Aggie Rose. Which means that Beth and I get a play date too.

We are going to foof around with our Romantic Gothic Ghost projects and come up with some ideas for Halloween decor that is moody but won't scare the socks off of you when you see your lovely home all decked out in garish orange. That's right, we are lobbying for an Orange Free Halloween this year.

As part of our online tutorial, we want to offer decor tips and little videos too. We'll be posting a few between classes.

As well as a few giveaways. I thought it would be nice to offer some of my favorite supplies to participants. For the Banner class, I'm giving away my extreme fave, these Stardust Gelly Roll clear sparkle pens.

Next, a selection of old velvets and blooms that would be great to use in any of the projects we are doing.

After that, I'll probably do some rhinestoney things. None are big giveaways, but just little sweet treats to aid in finishing the projects. I figured it would be more fun for the people who have signed up to have lots of little door prizes, instead of one big one. Beth has plans for goodies too.

And while I am on the subject of goodies- here are some extra good ones! My pal, Heather whipped up this bracelet and hand stitched the bag for it, especially for me before our lunch last week.

She has recently opened an Etsy shop if you are wishing you had one of these… she makes the prettiest jewelry.

Hypocritical colors?

collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 22, 2010

This week, I'll be taking a little road trip with my honey. But before I go, Beth and I are going to get the class description for "Romantic Gothic Ghosts" open and ready for you to see. I'll also write some posts ahead of time, so I won't be gone a week with no postings. You can still leave a comment to enter the August Giveaway for one of my completed Gothic Ghost projects too.

EDIT- Registration is open now!! Check out the class info here.

My projects are done, and I've got my instructions ready to go. Its that durn pixel thing that is getting me, I don't have the scans of the images loaded yet. I want to get them just right, so that when you print them, you will smile. Not curse at me.

To free my mind from all the pixel problems, I played with pretties. Here are some things listed in the Boutique.

See what I mean? Really pretty! But since I will be out of town for most of the week, I can't fill your orders till I get back. All packages will ship out on Tuesday, August 31. Please, shop away! I'll get your new goodies to you as soon as I can.

There are lots of fall colored flowers in the Boutique right now. Agnes Rosebud and I had a hat plucking frenzy going on in the studio today.

As soon as all the blooms were pulled off, Agnes got the naked hats to wrestle to the ground and fight with. She was so worn out, that she curled up in one to take a nap.

I don't think she realizes just how much she has grown.

She might be needing a bigger hat.

Our "Romantic Gothic Ghost" tutorials will be all tone on tone, neutrals and sepia and I just love that look.

But, as much as I've been making anti-orange and purple Halloween statements lately, I have to admit, that when it comes to millinery, any color can look good!

The way I see it, if you are going to be making Halloween colored things, you should be using beautiful supplies to do it with. Take at look at these and tell me if you agree!

I've started a new category in the Boutique too, "Halloween" is filled up with stuff you might need for fall swaps, scrapbooks, and other projects. Its not too soon to start. Especially swaps….

Geesh, where did summer go?

Pixies and Pixels

fairies, holiday decor, how-to projects, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2010

Getting ready for this online tutorial has kept me hoppin! But between counting pixels and trying learn how to make pdfs, I took some time off to make a pixie too.

This one is on its way to Somerset, but in it, you can see two tricks that will be taught in my Romantic Gothic Ghost class…. Actually, there are 4 separate things in this picture that I will be giving how-to's for.

The technique I used in this Sugarwings creation is one of them.

She is also going to Somerset Life today. I'm always honored to hear from them.

All of my projects for the class involve a Gothic arch, moody colors, and NO ORANGE! Oh, what a pretty Halloween it will be this year!

Okay, now back to the hard part. I can make things like crazy, I actually made a book, a tag book with 6 original tags, a wall hanging, and a banner with five 8-1/2 x 11 collages for the classes yesterday. Plus two collages to send to Somerset Life.

When I'm on a roll, I can whip stuff out.

Its the pixels that kill me. Everything I used in all the projects has to be available to the students to click on and print to use themselves. Now, that is a spooky Halloween for me.

Oh, the horror of it all!

Happy 4th! and unhappy hair

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, holiday decor, jewelry, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / July 3, 2010

We've had a bit of much needed rain, but not enough to spoil any fun. Yesterday, we had a family cookout and a trip to the lake.

Sugarwings has taken off like a little mermaid this summer, and swims circles around us in the water (with a life jacket). Just a week ago, she was clinging to us like an octopus when we'd get in the lake together. Now, she is dog paddling all over the place and we have to try to keep up with her to keep her in sight!

We aren't the only ones trying to keep up with her. Little Agnes Rosebud is always following her around the yard.

That pup doesn't seem to mind the treatment she gets from Sugarwings and keeps coming back for more playtime, even though she is the toy.

Have I introduced you to Clover yet? She is one of our expected grand baby's big sisters. And she is a kid who LOVES to play dress up. I can see lots of fun times ahead for the two of us. Sugarwings likes to put on a pretty gown, then go play and get dirty in it. Or strips down naked and throws the dress in the wading pool. She is okay with the game, but it is just a small part of her play time. I think she indulges me sometimes because she knows I like it so much.

Clover takes it much more serious than that. To her, dressing up is the main event.

In a couple of years, she and I will have to teach the new baby girl to appreciate the fine art of dress up.

Please keep the new baby in your thoughts, she will be having a high def sonogram on Wednesday to find out more about her development. We need her to be strong and healthy for future dress up games!!

Bottoms Up was a blast yesterday. Well, anytime I get to visit junking buddies is a good time. Carol and I went straight to Beth's booth where I filled up a bag (and she gave me a discount on top of her already great deals, thanks Beth!) I'll have some pics of the loot later.

Then, we headed up to see our Texas friends, Linda and Ludmil of Willow's Nest and shop a bit with them before exploring the show.

Seeing Linda's glorious white hair makes me want to embrace my gray and go natural. Especially since I hate my new hair color. It is supposed to be highlighted and blond, but looks more mousy brown in the photos.

I rarely care about how my hair turns out at the beauty shop. I'm old enough to know I can do something different next time and can enjoy a look that might not be exactly what I wanted since I know its only temporary anyway. Too short grows out. Too dark can be lightened. I just wait till next time.

But this time, I just am NOT happy at all. It just feels blah. And I am not in the mood for blah.

I am going back for a redo and asking for a blonder look. When a trip to the salon costs about $140, I'd like to get the color I asked for. What do you think? Would you go back for a redo and complain? I'll do it politely of course!

Here are some of my favorites from Willow's Nest. I treated myself to a sparkling little shoe that Linda made. They remind me of Dorothy's slippers from the Wizard of Oz. In the books, the shoes are silver, they were only ruby in the movie.

I hope you have a wonderful Independence Weekend!

If you travel, be sure to buckle up!!

I'll leave you with a few new bits in the Boutique. I'm trying to add to it a little each day this week. Mostly vintage and flea market goods, but I will have some altered books coming this week too.

Hippity Hoppity Fairy Berry Trail

celebrations, fairies, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 4, 2010

On Saturday, we got our boat out of storage and took it to the Marina for the upcoming season. Sugarwings offered to help and since we weren't going to see her for Easter, the bunny hid a little basket for her on the bank of the lake.

But sadly, her mommy's plans for driving to see relatives in Missouri today changed when Sugarwings woke up with a fever. The two of them came over here instead, where they could cuddle up and watch movies and rest, but still be with family.

While the two of them were all tucked up on the couch, the we took advantage of the spectacular, 80 degree, sunshiny day and got to work on the Fairy Berry Trail. All the fairies came out of the shed where they had hidden for the winter. And the bunny came over to hide a few eggs.

The poor kid had a fever of 104 earlier, but was feeling a bit better, so we carried her down to the woods in her jammies to visit her fairy friends and the other creatures who live on the trail.
At first, she was so happy to see her favorite frog prince, that she didn't even notice the trails of carrots.

But she has spent enough time with her Grammy to always notice the sparkle of glitter and be attracted to it! So, she soon noticed some of the hidden plastic eggs.

She didn't want to eat any of the jelly beans inside because she thought the fairies might be mad at her.

Then, she saw her new play house. My husband is the world's best grandfather and we worked for a long time to put this together today, but forever and ever, the Easter Bunny will get all the credit for building her a "Glitter House" as she calls it.

We mowed a 12 foot area between two trees that were draped in vines. Then, I sprinkled glitter all around on the ground, and set up a little chair and table for her (later on, we'll get a picnic set big enough for all of us).

Then, we gathered fallen branches from all over the woods to build "walls" to make a little room.

Over time, we'll foof it up even more. But for a spur of the moment idea using what was laying around, its pretty fun.

I could possibly go broke if I try to keep the ground glitter covered, so I think we'll switch to mulch. I can't wait to see this with all the leaves budded out, it will really feel like a fairy house in the trees then!

After a few jubilant dance moves in her new play area, our poor little fairy grand baby was worn out and didn't even look for the rest of her hidden eggs. And she never did eat a jelly bean, so we knew she must be feeling pretty bad.

In the short time we had her out doors, her fever spiked back up and she said her back hurt. It got back up to over 104 again, so we took her to the ER, we could tell she was feeling awful. I'm glad we did, she has a urinary track infection and is now on antibiotics.

By the time we got back home, her fever was gone again and she was hungry. I whipped up an impromptu Easter dinner
with chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, asparagus and broccoli, while my husband grilled some ruby trout for the vegetarians of the group.

We were glad to see Sugarwings eat a bit, but she still isn't quite herself. She and her mommy will stay all night tonight and hopefully, she'll be up to hopping down the fairy trail tomorrow.

While its sad that she is sick, and she missed out on a family reunion with her mom, it certainly will be an Easter we never forget. I hope yours was a memorable one too!

ps- No pups yet! Twinkle kept up with us all morning clearing brush in the woods and foofing up the bunny trail. Maybe all that hard work will throw her into labor tonight!

Gifts, gifts and more gifts

family, give away, holiday decor, show and tell, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 2, 2010

Everyone was so complimentary about the shard necklace for the March giveaway, that I thought I'd offer one for the April Giveaway too. It is pink rose china with two dangly beads taken from vintage necklaces.

And by the way, the winner of the March Giveaway is:

Andrea of Freckled Star

I'm giving THREE gifts instead of two for all the friend sign ups, because I really appreciate having friends out there! I'll give away one Peat Pot Pretty for the first 100 sign ups, and then draw again at 150. Thank you to everyone who signed up, you are all still in the hat for the next draw.

The first one goes to:

Dawn of the Feathered Nest

And I'll send the bonus giveaway of a glittered egg to:

Jingle

Vicki's shadow box kit goes to:

Freda

I hope she has as much fun making it as we did making ours on craft day!

So far we have no plans for Easter. I'm hoping that Sugarwings will come over for an egg hunt. She and I have been making eggs all week.

We also made up goodies for the bake sale at her school.

We put a cupcake into a teacup and the granola bars on vintage plates. Since I go to so many garage sales in the summer, I never pass up cheap but pretty dishes. They are good for sending leftovers home with people after big dinners, or to use for bake sale goodies too. When I wrap up baked goods like this, I also like to include a list of ingredients for the buyer.

Notice the cute little "Spring" tag and the sweet, stuffed bunny behind it? Those gifts came to me from Freda, so I was really excited when I saw that I had drawn her name to send a gift to!

The pewter bunny was from my pal, Sherry.

There are a couple more gifts I need to show you, its been downright Christmassy around here with all the presents!

Sugarwings got these adorable gifts from sweet swappers who participated in the Alice Tag book swap.

She is a lucky kid, and has so much fun with the thoughtful things that have been sent to her. I wonder what she thinks of it? I can only imagine how impressed I would have been as a kid if my grandma's friends mailed packages to me out of the blue, and its not even Christmas!

This last gift was from Beth. I'm afraid I didn't get a good photo, with the sunlight coming in through them, the curtains don't show up as good as they could. I'll have to try again later, because these valances are worth a second look! She gave me a pair of French net toppers that I have tied together and hung over my studio window for now. I might put them onto a rod later.

I think I'm pretty lucky too. Sugarwings and I both are! Thanks!!

I could use some friends… be my friend and have a chance to win a prize!

holiday decor, housework, parties

By Karla Nathan / March 27, 2010

Have you seen this post of Amy's?

She posted it a couple years ago, and it was so good, I'm glad she recycled it. It gave me an idea for a craft night project that was simple and fast and really cute. I had friends coming over to hang out in the studio and thought I'd offer supplies and a project for anyone who wanted them.

I glued vintage paper on plastic eggs, and my little buddy, Adeline Grace, a friend's daughter, made these. No one else was in a crafting mood. Addie was prolific, and got more and more creative as the night went on. I asked her if I could be her Grandmother, we seemed to have a lot in common.

It was nice of my friends to indulge me and let me make things while we talked, sipped wine and ate treats. And good to catch up too. I've had the most AWFUL week, just a lot of drama going on behind the scenes that you don't want to hear about. An evening to catch up with friends was just what I needed.

And it spurred me to clean up my studio, which I also needed to get done.

Do you ever find yourself starting a project as part of a clean up? I'd got this shelf at a junk store for $3 and wanted to make it over. While I had the spray primer out, I thought I might as well paint this statue too. Someone had added some garish colors to it at one point (so I got it for half price at an antique mall).

Using the steps in my side bar on how to paint furniture (listed under tutorials), I sprayed primer, glazed and top coated them. If you don't count drying time, I'd say that it all took less than 20 minutes to do.

When I first saw the shelf, I knew it would be a great space saver on my desk. It allows me to have more supplies within reach, since I now have two levels.

The desktop is not quite done, I'll rearrange things a bit better when I have more time. I was more concerned about clearing the table tops off for my guests to have a spot to work at.

The big work tables really aren't very attractive and the plan was just to use two smaller tables, then bring in the folding tables when I had company and needed more space. But it has become a habit just to leave all the tables up and keep them covered in clutter. I might rethink that plan after my next two craft days coming up this week.

When there is that much flat, open space, its hard to contain myself. If there is a spot empty, I fill it.

It would be easier to plan craft days if I had the tables stored in the garage and could set them up just when needed. Which is the opposite of what I had been thinking before, that I should just leave them up so they would be ready for guests. Nope, if I leave them up, I have to spend a couple hours unloading them before guests show up!

During clean up, I took a break to blog browse and saw that my friend, Mary, had added Google Friend Connect to her blog. Now, for some reason, I thought those were only on Blogger, not Typepad, so I never added one.

She also is having a bribe gift to readers who sign up. Well, I'm not shy about bribes, so I'll offer one too!

If you sign up to be my Google Buddy, I'll enter you in a drawing to win one of these Peat Pot Pretties with vintage millinery.

Like I said, I've had a VERY rough week. I could use all the friends I can get. Thanks!

Oops, what about the February giveaway???

a lapse of memory again, or am I just careless?, Books, holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / February 22, 2010

Where is my mind? Here it is February 22nd and I just realized that I never announced a giveaway for this month! Maybe it has something to do with making 75 tag book covers, doing 4 watercolors of fairies, having my fairy grand baby for about 5 days each week this month, or from helping my son move to a new home, or maybe just because I've had a rotten cold and am just not thinking straight.

Some months are busier than others, huh? But at least I didn't forget completely. Since my mind is filled with making Alicey things right now, I thought maybe you would enjoy making some too. So, as a gift for this month, I'm offering a stash of supplies to make Alice tags.

Yep, I panicked and just swept up some stuff from my desk to give you. But, hey, its good stuff! You'll get 4 large tags, 2 small tags, a copy of one of the tags I was making up for the covers, 3 pages from the old book, some red gummed labels, blue flocked wallpaper (which reminds me of Alice's dress), a key with hearts, a heart charm, and some coordinating vintage trim (from my Great Aunt Caroline's stash).

Leave a comment to enter if you'd like to make your own Alice themed tags.

Today, I started to gather up a pile of stuff that had been accumulating on my "to sell" table. I've neglected getting photos done. So, I told myself that I was going to photograph and LIST every bit of it.

Five hours later, and my shop is newly stocked! I even deleted the "sold" items to clean house a bit and make it easier to shop there.

This week, I won't have Sugarwings as many days as I have had recently. I'll miss her, but I honestly need the time to get caught up. I dropped my husband off at the airport today, and I am kind of looking forward to a week alone to be a whirling dervish of activity.

Because, not only do I have a watercolor to get done this week, I need to clean up my house and get ready for a little photo shoot. My good buddy,Carol, who is a talented photographer, will be helping me with it next Monday.

I'd like to come up with something really interesting for the dining room table that will work for the pictures, plus for a baby shower I am hosting the day after the pictures. So, I'm hoping to get some "arty" time to create some centerpieces that will do double duty.

My little helper will be here for a couple days, so I'll still get my Sugarwings fix. I couldn't go a whole week without her. She seems to be adjusting to her new house with her Daddy, and its looking pretty cute. He was lucky to find a cool old house to rent, where he can have a massage therapy room for his business too.

I'll leave you with a few collages of the new goods in the shop. And then, I need to get back to gluing tags. Its exciting to have the whole evening ahead of me, no one to take care of, no dinner to fix, just me and my glue bottle and the TV. I'm almost giddy. I love my family and enjoy them when they are here, but I do treasure my studio time, and haven't gotten much lately.

Little romantic gestures

fairies, holiday decor, paintings, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / February 15, 2010

Did you get roses for Valentine's Day? If not, my boutique is stocked up with new (old of course!) millinery.

We had a nice day. For us, Valentines is a celebration of the anniversary of my husband adopting our boys, so we do a family dinner at a favorite restaurant with gifts to pass out to everyone. We might have been the only group seated at the romantic Italian restaurant filled with tables of couples!

Earlier in the day, I pampered my husband for the holiday, starting with a heart shaped breakfast.

Then, I made up a heart healthy snack mix of dried blueberries, pecans, and chocolate yogurt raisins and left it by his remote control, knowing he'd be happily surprised when he sat down to take a break and watch TV in the afternoon.

When you've been married for almost 30 years, the little gestures are even more important than when you are newlyweds. And small kindnesses like these are what keep you married for 30 years! I much prefer a thoughtful little gesture to something flashy and expensive. And I think he does too.

You can still enter the Alice Tag Book Swap, if you are interested. Details here.

The more the merrier!

I need to run, I'm having a big craft day, tonight and again tomorrow in my studio, so need to get my table cleared off. Its about a foot deep in junk at the moment.

But before I go, I want to thank you for all the well wishes for my 700th post and 3rd anniversary. Oh, and I need to announce the winner of the Grumpy Fairy book.

It goes to Suzanne Duda.