jewelry – Page 13 – Karla's Cottage

Feeling like a Queen and having the Crown to go along with it

Chandeliers, fairies, Food and Drink, give away, jewelry, paintings, Sugarwings, swaps, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 28, 2007

Look where I have been! the Chase Plaza in St Louis has to be the best hotel EVER. Pure luxury. I feel quite quennly when I stay there.

These two photos are of the lobby, one from each direction. I am happy to just stand there in the hall like a rube and stare at all the marble, granite, chandeliers that are bigger than my living room, and the gorgeous architecture. I’ve stayed there many times, but I never get over my awe of the place.

The rooms are newly remodeled, but I loved it when they still had an 80s vibe to them too. Now they are updated, streamlined and sumptuous.

The restaurants are as over the top as the lobby, and "Eau" is our favorite when we are in town.

I felt like I was visiting "Top Chef", I even ate an amuse boocsh or however that is spelled. It is French for a one bite appetizer to delight your mouth. Mine was delighted. I’ve seen them served on Top Chef, so felt like I knew all about them. This one was a strawberry brushetta.

See? Delightful!

And the salads were so pretty. Mine had truffles.

There are 3 restaurants in the lobby along with a movie theater. When the movies are over, an attendant offers you chocolate on a silver tray as you leave.

The pool is right outside one of the restaurants and I love to lay by the water with a good book (this time it was a Stephanie Plum novel) order lunch with a strawberry margarita.

And sometimes I just put down the book and gawk. I never get tired of the beauty of that magnificent, old building.

Yep, I’m a rube.

I should have packed my tiara! This is one location where I would have felt properly dressed to have one on!

Barbara http://www.123lavenderlollipoplane.blogspot.com/ sent me this beaut, and not only was this wonderful piece of queenly head wear in the package, she sent presents!!!!!!!!

A hat box, vintage laces, a sweet fairy for me and a fairy framed mirror for little Sugarwings!!!

The generosity of blogger/swappers never fails to amaze me. I think she really over did it. Thanks, Barb!

I got this photo from Sissy, she has been making gift bags. She doesn’t have a blog, and makes such pretty things, I had to show you sicne she couldn’t. I am thinking about seeing if anyone wants to do a gift bag swap? But later on this summer. Or, hey, it would be a good one for getting ready for the holidays, wouldn’t it? Let me know if you think we should do a holiday gift bag swap later on!

While I was in St. Louis, I didn’t spend all my time eating, laying by the pool or gawking at the big city sites. I spent a couple of hours working one morning. I did this little chubby cheeked fairy painting and also a commissioned pet portrait.

This is the beginning stage of the painting. Whenever I do a portrait, the first thing I paint is the eyes. If you can capture life in the eyes, you know it will be a good likeness. If not, I throw it away and start over.

Here is the finished product along with the photo I was using to work from.

I always wonder what the housekeepers think when they come in and see the suite transformed into a watercolor studio. Or sometimes, I take jewelry to work on while I am at the hotel. I just can’t stand to not get any work done at all for more than couple of days!

Thanks for all your input on my blog being slow. Typepad says that maybe I should try doing excerpts, but I don’t want to do that. They also said to try not having as many postings listed on the first page. I’ll be keeping all but a few in the archives and see how that goes. Please let me know if that helps?

Today is the 28th, so only two more days to enter the giveaway for the hand painted rose charm. (and yes, I counted all the "happy birthdays to Beth "http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ )

On Saturday I also have to write an article for the fall issue of Romantic Country and have little time to get it done, so my drawing might be late that day. So you’ll have all day to enter. And I will start a new drawing on Sunday! Maybe a matchbox full of goodness?

As much as I loved living in the lap of luxury in St Louis at the Chase Plaza, it was good to get home. We went straight to see Sugarwings and took her out to dinner. I think she wore more than she ate. I still thought she was cuddly, even covered in some sort of goo that she was eating. I couldn’t get enough hugs after not seeing her for a few days!

REDRUM

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, jewelry, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 24, 2007

What a perfect Garage Sailing Saturday! Good weather, lots of sales, good prices, it was just right.

I love the $1 robin’s egg blue frame. I might just put it on the wall and hang plates inside it. I found many 10 cent pieces of glassware, a old pin cushion (with a crown pin!) for 50 cents, a made in Japan pink fish from an aquarium -50 cents, another old floral tray- $1, a solid old chair to paint- $4, a box of Italian framed prints to fix up and add new paintings to- $5,

a bagful of vintage seed packets- $2, 2 dozen old postcards for $1, a beaded purse- $1 and a McCoy pink pot that I splurged on for $20.

I also broke one of my Garage Sailing rules. I usually don’t go to the 2nd day of a sale, but I did to this one, and hit the jackpot. Barkcloth, old table clothes and vintage trim!

I will need some of this silver/grey trim for some Silver Bella projects (and the tiny pin crown too). But I got YARDS of it and will be selling it by the yard at my Etsy shop.

I found old lace too! This crocheted table cloth with fringe will be perfect for my dining room during the Christmas Home Tour. Can’t you just picture the table set up with all white and cream? I have some old white Wedgewood (big stack at an auction for $11), some Ironstone, and crystal. I know it is only June, but I have my Holiday Table all planned!!

Love this trim too. I will be selling it on Etsy, the butterflies are adorable, so I’ll have to keep some. Probably will make an art journal page for Sugarwings with it.

For all that fabric, trim, and a few very old books to cut up, I spent $17 at that sale!!!! I don’t even want to think about the barkcloth I missed by not going on the first day. Oh well, I am happy to just enjoy what I did find, never does you any good at all to be greedy about junk. It comes and goes, I am thrilled when I find goodies, but can’t fret about what I missed.

As if my day wasn’t good enough already, we went to a wedding in Kansas City and stayed over night at the Savoy, where the wedding was held.

This place is a pure faded elegance. It has a run down neglected feel in many parts of it, like this entryway.

And these long, dark hallways make you think that you will meet up with those twin ghostie girls from the Shining around the corner. but around the corner, is- nothing. Empty halls with walls ripped out and doors bolted shut. Very little of the hotel is operational and in use.

The rooms are cozy, and furnished with antiques.

I’d say the bathroom fixtures are original.

It is all decorated in a bare bones way. I think they do the best with the budget they have and let the old architecture speak for itself. There is a lot of charm there, but it is a bit neglected and has the feeling of an old bouquet left in a vase to droop.

There was some fantastic wallpaper in the spooky halls.

And the lobby was pretty much original too.

Since they only have part of the hotel in use, the front desk becomes the bar and the lobby is where the wedding cake was set up.

The cake was delicious, a fudge marble swirl.

The entire front of the old building is stained glass, done by Frank Lloyd Wright himself.

Harry Truman and Harry Houdini used to be regulars here. And the place feels like you could walk up to either one of their ghosts at any time.

I actually had to buy a dress for the occasion. Didn’t care for that. But found this nice, stretchy black one at TJMaxx for $32. Not bad, it was comfy and I didn’t need a new bra or shoes, or have to wear panty hose! What more can you ask for in a dress? I did make a necklace to wear with it.

What the Savoy saved on in renovations, they spent on FOOD AND SERVICE. Oh my god, it was better than being on a cruise ship. We were catered to every second. Great staff, some of them have been there for over 25 years. Our water glasses and coffee cups stayed filled to the brim and we had 2 waiters fluttering about.

Starched white linens, heavy silver, great food. And coffee made just for them from the Roasterie (best coffee in KC), called "Savoy Blend". They give you a bag of it in your room! Along with a plate full of fresh cookies, and a gift bag of sample sizes of toothpastes, and toiletries and candy bars. All complementary.

These are the breakfast choices. Notice my husband chose boring old Bacon and Eggs?? What was he thinking?? I got the Lobster Bisque and Coquille Saint Jacques. and it was wonderful.

Breakfast is included in the room price of only $99.

Amazing. I’ve paid more than that to stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

If you are ever in Kansas City, you have to stay here, it is quite an experience, a one of a kind hotel.

And of course, if you are in KC, you have to promise to call me too. I’d meet you there for a cup of that coffee in the morning!

Dumpster Diving, Glittering Bottles and a Shimmering Fairy

antiques/junking, fairies, flowers, jewelry, swaps

By Karla Nathan / June 20, 2007

Some signs are meant to be ignored.

Especially when they are on the side of a dumpster full of good stuff! Well, not all of it was good, but it was all old. Much was broken or ruined from rain on the dumpster the night before or from years of neglect in the basement.

And by the look on my face, some of it smelled.

If only I was searching for polyester, I’d be set.

But I did see an old bottle at the bottom that might be interesting.

Here are my favorite finds from the dumpster. Love the mirror!

The shelf and the rusty wire thing are cool too. I also got a gold Syroco Mardi Gras type mask.

I did manage to dig out the bottle I was digging for too. It is a Johnson & Johnson glass bottle, not all that old, I’d say early 60’s. But it is a cool shape and cleaned up nicely.

I filled the bottle with glitter, added a silver engraved bit from an earring to the top, an aurora Borealis rhinestone pin to the bows, and a lovely tag from Holly Doodle to the neck of it. I tied another of her tags to the Tuesday Morning clearance aisle bottle that I got for 99 cents and am using it for glitter too.

And how was I lucky enough to get these pretty tags with "K"s on them from Miss Holly Doodle?

Natasha Burns http://www.natashaburns.com/ set up a mini fairy swap, with Holly http://hollydoodledesigns.com/WordPress/ and Heather http://prettypetalsboutique.blogspot.com/.

The package that came in the mail today from Holly had the prettiest box, covered in old wallpaper and sheet music.

Inside the box were three vintage wall paper tags with glittering "k"s on them.

And nestled down into a pink tissue nest, was this little ballerina fairy. She is sprinkled with shimmering glitter and seems right at home here at the cottage.

I have her next to the pansy mug I bought at Junker Jo’s garage sale for $2. It is filled with my $1.99 clearance roses from Monday’s floral markdowns at the grocery store. Aren’t they are perfect fit together?

Will Work for Food, and garage sales that make your heart skip a beat!

antiques/junking, Food and Drink, give away, jewelry, paintings, swaps

By Karla Nathan / June 16, 2007

Lawrence, KS is full of beautiful homes, but when I get out of the car at a neighborhood garage sale and the houses look like this, my heart skips a beat. You just KNOW these people will have cool stuff!

I bought this mirror (to paint white with roses) for $7.50. Now, don’t ask me what I will do with it, the thing is about 4′ wide and didn’t fit in my car. I have to go back with the truck this afternoon. I have no place for it, but couldn’t resist. That happens to me a lot.

How can I stop myself from buying treasures when I am in such a pretty setting? It makes everything for sell look even better!

Speaking of pretty places, I had to go back to Junker Jo’s to see what I missed yesterday (the $20 trunk was sold, too bad)

Jo’s husband BUILT THIS PLAYHOUSE FOR HER!! (My husband is a great guy, but far, far from being handy- he’ll never build anything like this for me)

She stores inventory in it between sales and uses it for a showroom for the sale dates.

Look at the antique french doors on it!!

This is the 2nd day of the sale. The first day, her lawn was filled with furniture. I’d say she’d had a good weekend.

The kids were selling ice cold pop for a quarter.

What did I buy from Jo today? A pink chalk poodle ($2). Well, it isn’t a Dorkie, but she seems to fit in fine with the rest of the collection of vintage dog planters and fiures.

Last night, I went to Blue Plate Dinners, a friend, Lori Johns owns it. (her husband, Barry Fitzgerald, a professor of illustration at Kansas University, and a fine softball player, did the artwork on the wall)

Before she opened this winter, she hired me to decorate her public restroom. I used the blue plate theme by mosaicing an antique mirror and a child’s toy hutch in broken Blue Willow. no, I didn’t smash it for the mosaic, I had !eek! dropped a whole box of it. and saved the bits for a project.

My friend, Jen did the faux finish, and I provided the furnishings, custom painted to match.

I added round mirrors from a hobby store to 3 blue plates I found at a garage sale.

A vintage toy stove is a side table. I was glad she let me use these two child’s pieces (found at a flea market for about $50 for both). I thought it aded a whimsical touch to the place.

Lori paid for the supplies in cash, then paid for my labor in food!

So, last night, I made up 12 dinners from their menu and now have a fully stocked freezer. I just have to pull out a dinner, thaw and bake. Her meals have very generous portions and lean meats. Excellent recipes that I would never bother trying at home, but with all the ingredients out in front of you, organized and ready, it is easy to do at her shop.

I’ve bought food from her before and plan on going back again as a customer after we eat our way through this stash.

Lori made us all snacks and we had wine while we worked. My cooking budding, Shanna, and I had a blast. Its like a big night out on the town when you go with friends and cook together. Or am I just getting old? My "big nights" are a different classification than they used to be. I know that I prefer Blue Plate Dinners to going out to hear a band and have a cocktail.

Here is a reminder about my give away for June. A hand painted charm that you can win by leaving a comment or an email. I know that for some reason, some people have trouble leaving a comment with typepad.

And look at how pretty this is!! A little swap from Sonia, how sweet! Thanks, Sonia!!

http://ccraftscollectibles.blogspot.com/

I Heart Potatos, and I Heart Beth’s House too!

antiques/junking, jewelry, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 14, 2007

You know a day has to be a good one when it begins with a heart shaped potato! Now is that a good luck charm or what?

After scrubbing the lucky tater and tossing it in the crock pot with the roast, I went to see Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ and give her the birthday gift. She added this painting of Maddie to her shelf with the painting of Milo along with the Christmas ornaments I had painted their portraits onto as gifts last year.

This is a little charm I made and tied to her package. I had made a dozen of these, vintage paper, an added word, some glitter and a pile of diamond glaze into an oval bezel that I soldered jump rings to. This is the ONLY one that turned out! On the rest, the diamond glaze never set right, it is still milky. It has been months, I keep thinking it will clear up, maybe it will. I keep checking to see, and the words are slowly appearing like the message in a magic 8 ball.

These Marie Antionettish boxes were sitting next to Beth’s computer. She has them listed on Ebay right now, and they are even prettier in person!

I love to poke around her house, she has the coolest displays.

We each bought one of these chalk ladies on a junk day together. I sold a couple and kept one in my bathroom to hang jewels on. I wish I had bought more, there were a bunch of them for $10 each. Some were guys though, I only like the females. The males had hats. And they were pilgrim hats. There is something not right about a naked guy in a pilgrim hat.

This is the mantel in Beth’s living room, she has such deep, rich colors. We painted a gold and bronze faux finish over the china red walls, I don’t know if it shows up too well on this picture, though.

I’ll give you a sneak peek at her tiara. I wanted to add lipstick to the glass head, but we had other things to do.

My tiara is not nearly as far along as hers. I need to glitter it up and add the fooferific stuff.

I’m always touched to see things I painted years ago on display in someone’s home. I gave this to Beth a few Christmases ago, along with a bunch of home made fudge (my specialty).

After messing with the tiaras, we went to Mission Road Antique Mall to redo Beth’s booth, that once upon a time, we shared. I miss working on it with her, so she lets me come and play sometimes. I’ll show photos of it later, we did it in a red, white, and blue Americana theme.

This photo is of Terry’s booth, she ships over containers of wildly expensive and beautiful things from France.

We had to go and visit my old booth there and see if the floor was still the way I left it painted. I miss my ‘garden stone’ floor.

Well, time to check the crock pot and see if the heart shaped potato tastes as good as it looks.

Don’t forget to enter the charm drawing by leaving a comment. And check out the last post if you are interested in a magazine article of your home.

12,165 hits * 4 months * 100 posts * countless new friends *

give away, jewelry, paintings, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 12, 2007

So, today is my 100th post! Time for reflection? I’m not a very reflective type(although, I do like shiny objects and those sort of reflections).

Here is a list of what I love about blogging:

1- Well, I started doing it to promote my business, to show my paintings and use the blog to feature some Ebay things like these drawer pulls. I am not a frequent Ebayer yet, am still learning. And there are lots of nice bloggers who offer advice!

2- I keep up with my family who live far away. I sometimes feel like I am talking to them when I write. Sissy sends me photos of some good junk she finds and I can share that too. She just got this fairy tale book at Goodwill.

3- I am motivated to get things done! Not that I always need that, I do tend to keep busy. But I also have been known to not do anything creative for days on end, but with the blog, I am often thinking about what I can post tomorrow and that can be an incentive to work on a project instead of reading a book. But it won’t stop me from watching too much TV, nothing can get in the way of my TV addiction!

Here is the garage sale cabinet I picked up on Saturday when I was out junking with my friends. It needed a slight re-build, since it was in pieces. I re-enforced the back, added trim and repainted it while I was at it.

4- Have I mentioned the friends???? Great people that I have so much in common with and enjoy "talking" to. Big hearted and generous people too. Natasha http://natashaburns.blogspot.com/ arranged a mini fairy swap for me when I told her I was bummed about missing the fairy jar swap I saw on so many other blogs. Here is what she sent. Looks to me like it is just perfect for Sugarwing’s room. So many people gave me advice, added me to their links, and welcomed me when I started. I’ve met with nothing but kindness and friendship since I started doing this. The community was a bonus I never expected at all.

5- Having giveaways! I love doing the gifties and treats! I think I will always have one going, leave a comment, enter the giveaway for this month!

6- WINNING GIVEAWAYS!!! I have been lucky enough to win a few so far too. I won this vintage paper pack from Cheryl Connell. http://fromthepines.blogspot.com/ Look at all the great stuff she put in it!

I also won this tag with a card and some goodies from http://whispersofinspiration.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html I used it in a journal I made about our vacation.

7- Swaps- swaps- swaps- swaps!!! Yep, another addiction. A May Basket was my first swap and now I am joining them right and left. I am working on a tiara and a match box this week.

And look what I got in trade for one of my measley little charms! Michelle http://www.ginghamworld.blogspot.com wrote that she’d like to swap and I told her I liked her bags and the color pink. She sent this beautifully wrapped hand made bag as well as this pearly "K".

Not only that, there was a cute heart pin in the package. My sister, Bobbie Sue’s last name is Valentine, and I have a fondness for hearts.

See what I mean about the generous people I meet??

8- Comments! Why do you think I bribe you all with give aways? I LOVE TO GET COMMENTS. ( I’d do the give aways anyway, but I am not above using them as a bribe!) I love to leave comments too. You’ll see me scattered all over the web on comment pages. I like to sometimes go to a comment page from a favorite blog and click on every single name there, checking out their sites and leaving comments on them all.

9- Which brings me to How much money I have saved on magazine purchases! I read blog after blog and it is so much more satisfying (and cheaper) than buying a stack of decorating magazines. Hmm, should I say that since I sometimes write for magazines??

10- Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ and I get to talk and gossip about the blog people we know like they are neighbors just down the road.

11- Sugarwings! Well, actually, my fairy grand baby is just the best thing about every part of my life, so I had to include her here. And my blog is a wonderful spot to show off photos of her.

You have no idea how hard it is to hold back on the granny urges to have an All Sugarwings, All the Time- blog. I could just stare at nothing but her. I found this little rose bud dress for her at a garage sale for $1, so she and I played dress up and took pictures in the garden.

Scents, Roses, and a Drawer full of Bubbles!

antiques/junking, flowers, give away, jewelry, paintings

By Karla Nathan / June 11, 2007

99 posts, almost 4 months, 11,912 hits and counting! I had no idea when I started this blog what it would turn into, or mean to me. I thought I’d use it only to show more of my work to clients. (like this rose painting that I did and then turned sepia in photo editing and this yard long rose painting I did on a door panel)

But, I soon learned, that not only did I get to show and sell my work, and have my family living in other states keep up with what I am doing, I was now in a wonderful social network of people who enjoy, crafts, art, junking, and just plain old surrounding themselves with pretty things!For my 100th post, I think I’ll do list of what blogging means to me

I can tell you right now, though- I LOVE GIVEAWAYS!!!!!

Not only winning them (yippee) but doing them. I think I will try to have one going all the time.

For June, I am giving away one of these hand painted charms. Out of the 30 that I made for the charm swap I am in (I LOVE SWAPS TOO), I have these 3 left over. (The other two are for sale $10 each plus $2.50 postage, if you are interested)

Oh, I forgot to show you a few gems from my garage sailing trip with my life long friends who came to visit this weekend.

I found this book to read to my fairy grand baby, for $3.

We will both enjoy the pop up flowers on each page, but I might save reading it to her for when she is better at looking at things with her eyes instead of her mouth.

And CRYSTAL BUBBLES silver ware!!! A huge box full, maybe 3 sets? Or more, I didn’t count them, for mearly five buckaroos.

So many that my drawer barely closes. I will need to weed a few out and save aside for later.

I often get comments about how much I can get done in one day. Well this silverware drawer is one of my little ways of prioritizing my life. Why sort silverware??? I dump the whole basket straight from the dishwasher to the drawer. I’d rather spend time on something else.

The silver ware, the book, all the fun things I bought out junking with my buddies will always remind me of them. Much as a song will bring you back to the first time you heard it, or a scent will remind of of what you were doing when you smelled it.

Michelle Ward http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/ brings up that subject in this month’s challenge: "Whats that Smell?"

It is a coincidence for me that this is the challenge for June. I have recently started using scent on my packaging. If you received anything from me lately, and still have the envelope, let me know if it still smelled pretty when it arrived!

I went downtown Lawrence, KS to a cute shop that allows you to make your own scented oils. I mixed up a few old fashioned flower and vanilla ones. For years, I would add a single drop to the inside of an antique dresser before I sold it to combat mustiness and add a happy smell. Now, I am using a drop on the corner of each envelope I send out to someone who purchases my work, hoping to bring a smile to the recipient before they even open the package.

Plethora of Packages and Presents

jewelry, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 4, 2007

While packing up fairy swap and other items that needed to be mailed, I decided I should be sending something to my family too!

So, I made up little packets of photos of our visit to see them all, added a hand made charm to each bundle and tucked a sweet little quote about sister hood into each before tying them all up with pink tulle bows and black velvet ribbons.

For my friends that are coming to visit on Wednesday, I cut some more sisterhood quotes out of the same book, but to these, I added a drop of vanilla rose essential oils and then glued down a vintage button.

I have made up flower pots to welcome them to my cottage. Inside are the scented quotes, magnets I have made from old jewelry, a white crocheted doiley, a floating candle shaped like a flower and wrapped in white tulle, and a pair of earrings.

I made the earrings for them from colored pearls. I don’t know how pearls get colored, but I like the result. They are genuine pearls that I bought in about a dozen colors or so. I kept them simple by just adding them to silver French hooks.

All of the earrings are wrapped in vintage newspaper quilt patterns I picked up when I was on vacation in Indiana. The date at the top of the paper says 1929 and 1930.

The earrings are hung from a business card, then wrapped up in the old paper and tied with raffia. I’ve added my buddie’s names in gold pen to the package before gathering up all the gifties to add to the pots.

Photo copies of my favorite watercolor, "Blue Hydrangeas" are glued to the terra cotta pots with gel medium, after backing them with a bit more of the 1929 newspaper.

This day has been a lot more fun than it would have if I had spent it cleaning house like I should have done. Between wrapping up bundles to mail, posting, blog reading, and making gifts, I read some of the 1929 articles, including some reviews of Lon Chaney as the Phantom and the lurid details of Joan Crawford’s brother’s ugly divorce. I’m sure my friends will be happier with presents and Hollywood gossip that I picked up, than they would be with sparkling light fixtures.

Although, they have never been out to visit and now that I am out of time, I am having second thoughts and wondering if I should stay up all night to clean so I can make the house look good……….

Pretty packaging and some procrastination

give away, jewelry, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 4, 2007

I have been packaging today. Funny how those little details at the end of a project can take as long as the project itself.

Here is how I finished my charms for the swap. I added beads to compliment the roses, I ended up using a variety of crystals. Then I tied each to a business card with a sheer ribbon. I will slip each into a little plastic bag as soon as my poor arthritis eases up a bit. Too much ribbon tying today!

I still have 3 charms left to sell, if you want one. Plus, you can win one in June by leaving any comment.

I jump from media to media, partly because I want to do EVERYTHING and also because I get easily sidetracked by shiny objects and go off to start another sort of project.

But also because I am always hurting, my joints are a wreck. So, I will paint a few days, do jewelry a few, etc. If I were to do the same thing day after day, I’d cripple myself. I need to keep changing my repetitive movements so that they aren’t too repetitive!

I had a good time wrapping up my fairy swap pieces to send off to Australia, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

I used pages from a flower fairy book to fold around each tag, and tied them up with ribbons, a business card, and made use of some of the hanging frames that came with the charms I painted roses on. I added a bead to the center of each open frame, hoping that Holly, Natasha, and Heather will be able to use these in one of their projects.

I really like the open frames, now that I decided I didn’t want them on the charms. I bought a million of the set (trying to save on postage and thinking I’d use a ton of them), and thought I was stuck with something I hated, but now can see endless opportunities for these as separate bits instead of together.

Well, I should finish the charm packing. Or I should unload the dishwasher from our dinner party last night. Or I should change the sheets from yesterday’s house guest and get ready for the next guests. Or pull weeds in the garden. Or attack that cobweb I saw swinging from the chandelier. (I know if there is one, there are others up there on the ceiling.)

But I think, I’ll goof off and play in the studio. The house always gets cleaned up somehow before guests arrive. And if I turn down the lights and use candles, maybe they won’t notice the cobwebs?? I know, I’ll make them gifts to welcome them! They will appreciate presents more than non fuzzy chandeliers! (but I will manage to change their sheets before they get here, for sure, don’t worry about that one)

To Frame or Not to Frame, that is the question.

flowers, give away, jewelry, swaps

By Karla Nathan / June 1, 2007

Thanks to everyone who helped out with advice! Overwhelmingly, the frames have the vote. But, here is a close up in case you want to re-think it.

3 ways of doing the charms are shown here:

1- plain

2- dangling frame

3- plain with vintage pink crystal

I think my problem with the frame is that it is kind of big, and slightly cheesey, too shiny, maybe?? And see how the rose paintings sway inside of the frame?

Well, the photo in the catalog I ordered them from looked so much better! I’m sure there are ways to age them, a little sand paper and a soak in an oxidizing liquid might make them more appealing to me. But, I do tend to be overly picky, maybe that is not necessary.

Here is what I did with one empty frame, I used it on a page in the scrap book I am making for my sister-in-law, Sandy. I added gold paint and glued a gem into the jump ring.( I went back and glued another tiny jewel in the other jump ring hole after I saw this picture)

Speaking of cheesey, not every page in a scrap book is a winner. This one is a bit much. I just gaudied after slapping down the picture by trimming it in gold paint and plopping some Michaels clearance stickers in the corners. Sometimes it is nice to just do some quick & simple pages and not worry about being ‘arty’!

My BFF, Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ came over today to work on charms together. She is in the same swap and we thought we’d hang out while we worked on them. She is in the tiara swap too. I’m really looking forward to that one! We’ll get together to make those too. It is always good to have another person to bounce ideas off of.

I should have taken a better photo of her charms, instead of just this one of the one on her nose.

Here she is in action. Looks like she is in CRAFTING NINJA MODE.

We are signing up to go to the Silver Bella classes in Omaha during November!!!! I’ve never done anything like that before, am more of a do-it-yourselfer than a class-taker. But I think it will be a blast and I hope to meet some blogging friends there.

If you want to join us, it should be a lot of fun, and we can take that sharp knife away from Beth if it frightens you.

We like to get together for projects as often as we can. The shirt she is wearing is one we did last summer. I threw a tie dye baby shower for Sugarwings, and everyone brought something white to dye. I ended up with a life time supply of fiber reactive dyes because I bought so many, wanting one in every color to use that day!

So every once in a while, we do a craft day with them. She and I both complain about how many shirts we ruin with Coffee splotches, and this is a good way to save a stained tee shirt. Tie dye camouflage!

I’m a coffee dribbler and about half of my shirts are dyed over. I’m wearing one in the photo above, with Sandy and I surrounded by stickers and gaudy gold paint.

You can still enter my charm/swap giveaway! I made 30 of them and only need 22. So for any comment left in the month of June, I’ll enter you to win one. And if you like them framed, that is how I will send yours to you.

I also have some to sell if anyone wants to buy one. They are teeny little paintings of a rose on a piece of textured watercolor paper attached to a metal charm then protected with diamond glaze. With or without a frame as you would like, with or with out a vintage crystal bead, as you would like. But no two are the same, all are hand painted. Some have hydrangeas with the roses, some have daisies too, but most are a single rose. Heck, I can custom paint one for you how ever you’d like too. They are fun to make.

$10 each plus $2.50 postage

I might need better photos. I am not having a very attractive photo day. Oops, no offense, Beth, that isn’t how I meant it!!