jewelry – Page 7 – Karla's Cottage

Meanwhile back at Birdsong- yep, here comes MORE

By Karla Nathan / June 25, 2014

Yes, I know, I'm still blathering on about our party. It is a huge deal for me, and I love every minute of it. Plus,( just ask my family), it takes over my world for quite a while, so it is hard to let it go when it ends.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend is the party night. We drink some wine, eat dinner, shop in the garage, and hang out. I try to keep it all pretty laid back, and fun for me too. So I cook ahead of time, making up huge pans of food in advance, to have frozen and waiting to go into the oven that night, and have the other vendors in charge of shopping.

This year was just a little more complicated when I started to set up the vendor space, because I forgot to use plastic on the walls when I hung a canvas up to paint a banner there this spring. (the wall was a tad bit, uhmm, colorful) I had to repaint before I could fix the garage up and turn it into a store.

I painted the wall a pretty sky blue (leftover from that banner), and wrote "peeps" in Xmas lights on it, then covered it all in a huge piece of lace. After carrying out typical garage junk, and bringing in some rugs, I set up tables with white cloths on them and we filled the room up with vintage goodness.

I'm afraid I didn't get any photos during the sale! These are from set up before the room is done.

But here is a picture of what I bought there. This is a necklace from Lori.

And here are the necklaces that Lori and Andrea gave to me. I've always adored cameos. And when Andrea told me to chose a necklace from her vendor table, I had to go for the one with the large bird that matched the bracelet kits she had.

I've been very inspired by both of them, and have been on a jewelry binge since they left. Here is a necklace I made from Andrea's kit.

She included some very nice pieces, and I had some beads that matched nicely, and was able to add a bit more chain and doo dads to make it longer.

Weeks before our weekend kicks off, I start baking and filling the freezer with treats. I try to be very prepped in advance, so I can have fun once the party starts.

Do you know how hard it is to live in a home that has a freezer full to the brim with treats???? Sometimes, when my husband would be out of town, and I'd still be up late in an empty home, watching TV or reading, I could hear the sound of those cookies calling my name from the freezer in the garage.

Cookies can be very loud after midnight. They never shut up, when they know you are home alone and it is late at night.

Believe it or not, there were still cookies left in the freezer when the guests arrived. I don't know how they survived, but some did.

These were made with alphabet stamps I found at TJ Max. I didn't notice till I was half done making them that I'd loaded "PEFPS" instead of "PEEPS" into the cookie cutters. I was able to transform that F into an E with a knife point for some cookies, but many were already baked, so got served as "pefps".

We ended up with way too much food. Besides the misspelled cookies, I made what Suzanne called a "bird bath full of apple deliciousness". I had kind of a huge bowl of it to serve. Part of the problem, was that there was a storm right before I went grocery shopping, and the power was out! I had to push an over loaded 500lb cart in the darkness and browse by the light of my cell phone flashlight ap.

I wasn't as careful of a shopper as I could have been. But I think it's better to have extra than not enough.

And boy did we have extra.

One thing that people seemed to like was the corn. I'd fixed chicken pasta, and needed a side dish. And I wanted something fresh, easy to make, and kind of Italian.

Here is what I did:

I cut the corn off of two dozen ears the day before, and stored it in ziplock bags in the fridge to save space. When you are feeding 35 plus people for multiple meals, fridge space is a big issue.

My son chopped a bag of carrots in the food processor while my sis sauteed 3 diced red peppers in olive oil. Then the carrots were sauteed. All of that went into a bag in the fridge too.

The next day, I emptied all the bags into a giant pot (I made way too much, thinking that 24 ears of corn for 35 people was okay, but I probably only needed half that much), added butter, sea salt, white pepper, and fresh thyme.

Then, I had anyone who walked through the kitchen taste it. We all kept thinking, more thyme, more thyme, more thyme, maybe more salt? By the time we all added thyme, it was pretty durn tasty.

And wasn't I lucky that making something up on the fly worked out? I'd never tried carrots with corn and thyme, but we all loved it. If it had sucked, I'd have been in trouble, since I had a vat of it and a bunch of hungry crafters!!

Varieties of pretties

Dew Drop, jewelry, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 18, 2013

My son has been making these "alchemy" pendants with semi precious stones and other properties, and hopes to get an Etsy shop going soon for himself. They sold very well at the Renaissance Festival and have a lot of meaning behind them. He's versed in what crystal combos do, although I don't exactly understand, I enjoy seeing him being creative and leading his Zen lifestyle.

Plus, they are pretty. I do understand that aspect of them!

I do love me some pretty!

At Victorian Trading Company's outlet store in KC, I loaded up on it last week with Beth.

This velvet coat came home with me for less than half of the catalog price, plus came with a $20 gift certificate that I spent on a whole big pile of clearance items along with that apothecary jar in the previous picture.

See the skirt under the coat? It's not a skirt, it's a ruffle at the bottom. Kind of like a skirt dickie for a coat. I can feel dressed up even when I'm not. And I rarely am. I'm the type that wears slippers outside. But hey, don't these slippers look like boots? They are warm, cute and were only eight bucks at the outlet store.

Do you watch Big Bang Theory? I love those guys. And Wallowitz's colorful outfits, each with a dickie under his shirt. So I have been calling this my Wallowitz coat.

Part of my $20 gift rebate haul was a $3 card making kit, that Sugarwings went bonkers over. She made cards, slipped them into envelopes, and gave them to everyone. She was a regular, one person, Hallmark machine.

I also got a free, crystal wreath brooch, cup cake wrappers, a cute coffee mug, and way too much candy.

And all of it, pretty as can be, piled up on my dining table.

But the prettiest thing on the table?

Sugarwings decided to act out some sort of play going on in her imagination by crawling up on the table and swooning away till her prince charming came along. Of course, a Grammie will indulge such funny, foolishness instead of shooing her off the table.

Then again, Grammies are the type that like to indulge little fairy girls a lot. We bought some Crayola window markers that dry in a crystallized design and I let them draw all over my windows with them.

How to make a 3-D collaged charm

fairies, how to's, how-to projects, jewelry, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 16, 2013

After Birdsong, I had a few of the pendant charms left and had a good time playing with them. So much so, that I bought a few more.

Quite a few more! Actually, a couple hundred… I tend to over do when I get interested in something. But, I figure that if I find it so much fun, then others might too. So, I get plenty to stock my Boutique with.

Yep, I did it! I added some stuff to my shop. Finally. Did you even remember I had one? Except for my whining here and there about ignoring it, you probably forgot it even exists.

But now, it is filled up with plenty of primed and antiqued tray pendants in a couple sizes and in multiple colors.

I have a few more to put in there too.

While I was at it, I primed, painted and glazed some fairy charms too to put in the shop.

And added lengths of rhinestone chain in lots of colors.

And lots of rhinestone clusters.

And in case you were wondering how to use all these components, I thought I'd do a little tutorial with some ideas.

I've used the Mod Podge glaze on all of mine, though in the past have liked the Paper Glaze too. It tends to dry slower and can be milky if you use it too thickly. Mod Podge is shiny and clear, and dries fast.

To create a pattern to fit the interior oval of the pendants, I simply place a thin piece of paper over it, and trace with my fingernail.

For me, this is better than the charm coming with a pattern. Because you can create your own pattern for any size charm quickly and easily if you learn this trick.

I cut out the pattern and use it to trace onto my pretty paper, and then cut out that. For mine, I prefer using a tan marker, because it makes the edges look aged.

Next, glue it into the pendant.

Over this, you can create your collage, anyway you'd like. If you are going to add a 3D piece, use a drop of Ultimate Glue under it.

Rhinestones, charms, many things make a pretty addition over your paper collage.

To transform this teensy, weensy Charlotte doll into a fairy, I laid her onto sheet music, drew wings to cut out and color with markers.

Then, glued down the wings to the pretty paper in the pendant, and glued the doll onto them.

I found a word I liked, Joyful, and slipped it underneath.

Have you ever watched Martha Stewart ice cookies? You do the glaze the same way she does her icing. You outline the area (make a "dam"), and "flood" the interior after. (The rim of the oval tray holds the flow of glaze in place. The Mod Podge brand is pretty fluid and almost requires a contained area, but the Paper Glaze is thicker and can be used on a flat surface with no rim)

If you end up with bubbles, pop them with a pin. If those bubbles roll away and won't pop, your pin isn't sharp enough. I like those tiny, thin, quilter's pins if I have trouble with a regular one. And wipe off the tip every single time. The glaze builds up on the end of the pin and it won't penetrate the bubble.

Then, set it aside to dry. Between the glue under your chosen 3D element and the hardened glaze around it, the piece is secure.

I've worn many necklaces with rhinestones, charms, etc. added to a pendant this way and all have held up well.

These fairies come with a ring at the top to hang them, and look nice this way too. If you decide to use them in a pendant instead of hanging off of one, you should snip that ring off. I use the Tim Holtz red handled magic scissors that cut through anything, but you could also use wire cutters.

Of course, the pendants look cute with simple paper collages in them also. (oops, missed some bubbles under the word there)

And they don't have to be used as jewelry. I glued one into my journal too. I'm picturing some Christmas tree ornies too. Hung from ribbons? Maybe with dangly crystals?

Please note that when adding metal pieces, like the rhinestones, a patina forms from the chemical reaction between the glaze and the metal. I like it it, myself.

ps- After looking at my photos and seeing how messy my nails look, I think my next project will probably involve this.

Birdsong Eve

bird song art event, jewelry, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 6, 2013

We've gotten the nicest gifts for Birdsong! Hope made these felted nests with sparkling, sugared birds and even included bags of mica flakes for everyone too.

Karen sent this lushly embellished train case for a door prize.

Not only is it made with sweet birdie details, she has also filled it up with "tweets" too.

In the box were some birdie beverage napkins to use for our weekend, and a big ass bag of candy.
Sadly, it came a week before the party, so the bag isn't quite as full
as it was when it arrived, and my ass is the big one now.

Terri has sent these ephemera packs, and I spy a bird theme in the packages.

Look at the sweet details she added to the label! A touch of glitter is an elegant touch.

I've
been whipping up more samples for my class, because these three were
shipped off to Jewelry Affaire. I was very pleased to share our
Birdsong weekend project with Somerset.When the magazine comes out in
October, it will be fun to reminisce while looking at the photos.

Our
party starts soon, I'm all tingly just thinking about it. This year,
I've promised myself to be done and ready plenty early. I want to relax
and enjoy my family and friend's visits. We are doing a dinner party on
Thursday night and calling it "Birdsong Eve". There are 26 of us
meeting at a restaurant downtown to kick off the weekend.

I'll
be preposting to my blog, but will not be checking emails much, so
please forgive me for not answering comments. I'll be back next week
with pictures of our gathering.

Bird collage pendants

bird song art event, fairies, family, jewelry, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / May 10, 2013

I did it! Not only did I finally figure out what my second class was going to be for Birdsong, I got lots of samples made and packed every single kit up and have them tucked away ready to go when my peeps arrive!

Beth, Mary, and Karla came over on Tuesday to participate in a practice class, here are a couple of their pieces. The book they are lying on is filled with little bird images and was published in the 1800s. I've used these old birdies in the kits, so of course, no two will be alike. In case someone gets a bird they don't care for, there are plenty of extras to chose from so the artist can find just the right little creature to put on her collage.

This is the actual pendant we will be working on, it's a large one, so we have space to play with the collage.

Now, I just need to get the bird cage kits packed up for my other class. All of the elements are prepped and ready, I just need to get them wrapped up.

If you would like to make a bird cage/wire cloche, I have spent weeks working out the best way to make them and have made a tutorial with step by step illustrated instructions, along with downloadable images to make fairies to keep in the cages once you get them made.

I've come up with a way to make the cages that I've not seen anywhere else. My son helped me come up with some great ideas that simplifies the process and keeps the wires from springing out every which way and driving you crazy.

He really deserves a lot of the credit, the boy is great with wire, and is a talented jewelry maker. This bracelet that we collaborated on will be featured in Jewelry Affaire. I'm thrilled to be doing an article with my son!

And greatly appreciate his input on the birdcage problems I was having.

A Book of Enchantments

Books, Hand painted, jewelry, parties, Snow White, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper, We're having a party, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / May 8, 2013

The weekend in CA at An Enchanted Affaire was filled with fun and friendship-from so many nice people…

People like Charlotte, who I've known a long time through blogs…

And my husband's sister, Terry, who came along to her first big art weekend…

And goofy gals who I am lucky to meet up with again at various getaways like this…

And tables full of new people to get to know.

Teaching at one of these is the best way to meet people, I was flitting from one end of the room to the other, pausing to talk to everyone at the tables.

Here is part of my table. I took classes as well as teaching this time, and asked to have "newbies" sit with me if they wanted. It was fun to get to know some different people. At most events, I sit with my same friends every time (and really LOVE that) but I realized that I'd met them all at these kind of places and I should open myself up to meeting some more new friends.

Good idea!!

This is another one from the class I taught. Being up and moving around during class made for a good time to get photos of everyone at work. Normally, during class, I'm so involved with the project, I don't get to see what everyone else is doing.

Hopefully, the ladies enjoyed the class. The first half of it was pretty much busy work, tons of gluing paper to card stock to create the background of the book.

After making the pages, we crafted the cover and assembled the book.

It looked like most people at least got that much done, not many were able to start decorating, though.

But I provided an overflowing kit full of goodies, so they had plenty to play with later when they were ready to start embellishing.

If I teach this again, I think it would be better in an all day class, so we can do the decorating of the interior of the book too.

There were lots of examples for interiors, and many ladies took photos inside of my own books for later on when they finish theirs.

Here are some completed covers by the students.

Here is another.

When they started working, I'd told them that it was absolutely impossible for any two of them to have the same book when they finished, even if they tried their durndest.

With vintage supplies, and a big page of collage images to chose from, the completed books were bound to be filled with variety!

Since my book was titled, " A Book of Enchantments" I decided that I needed a few enchantment spells to add to it. So, I wrote 4 little poems about finding joy, happy dreams, a true prince, and hope. They are printed on vellum and are part of the embellishment package.

(by the way, I made extra kits, if you want to buy one for $65, there are a few left. Many ladies bought a second while there, so I think that means they liked them)

EDIT: my email is down, if you could leave a comment or contact me on FB, I'll check those to see if anyone is ordering kits. They are selling, but there is still a few left.

Kim had asked all the teachers to provide a prize for the drawings, so I brought this assemblage.

It was won by my pal, Natalie, another teacher.

I LOVED HER CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used a smokey quartz and ruby on my own creation.

I'll leave you with a few more photos from my class, and still have some more pictures of the event to show you later.

Collage filled lockets for Snow White

Dew Drop, jewelry, Snow White, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 1, 2013

Earlier I showed you these lockets from Victorian Trading Co. that I foofed up with some Snow White themed collages inside. I didn't mention what they were for though. These were packed to take to CA with me to use as table mate gifts. They can be added to a ribbon or chain to wear, or tied to the journal we are making.

I made one for myself too, using a copy of the image I had painted for the event.

The little door lockets came with a key on a chain, but I changed that and added a few more trinkets.

Then tied it to a red silk ribbon. While working with the locket and trying to bend a crooked door, I broke the door in half. ( Hence, me keeping one for myself) I tried to repair it with metal glue, but honestly, I don't trust the stuff. I hope it holds. I added a mini strand of rhinestones to help keep it together too.

It's been a bit of a locket kick for me lately. I also joined the swap hostessed by Terry Frias. I made one of the door pieces up as a hostess gift for her.

My swap partner was my husband's sister, Terry Neibaur.

We had a questionnaire to fill out about styles and preferences. Terry said her birthstone was garnet, and she liked gems but not bright colors, and wanted something more delicate, but steam punk or fantasy.

I was able to find garnet beads in some pretty colors of green and gold, and a teensy locket. The larger beads on it are bronze colored pearls which I thought would be pretty with her red hair.

This photo (taken earlier) shows a key, but it was only temporary till I could find something steampunky or fairyish.

Here it is after I fantasied it up. And added a gear with a rhinestone to the center of the pendant. I'm not a steampunker normally, but I think the gear is at least a nod to the genre.

Terry's favorite princess fairy tale is Sleeping Beauty, and even once named her shop, Briar Rose. When I found this page in a vintage storybook, I knew I had to save it to make something for her. Terry even has the same hair as the lovely princess on the page.

So, I created this box to wrap her necklace in. The text on the outside is from the Sleeping Beauty story, and the inside is covered in vintage velvet.

Hope she likes it!

********************************************************************************

I've been working on this wire birdcage tutorial, and now have it ready to send to you! You can get the details here.

Jewelry-o-rama in front of the TV

family, jewelry

By Karla Nathan / April 25, 2013

My son and I have both been making some jewelry. He does wire wrap and crystals, more of a new age look. But I thought one of his amethyst crystal pieces would be perfect for me to wear to Snow White.

He does a silver wire base, adds crystals to it, puts it into a mold and pours epoxy over it all. Or something like that.

Then, he added the strip of violet suede to make a bracelet. I had some gemstone beads, in ruby, garnet, amethyst, and laborite that I made chains out of for the sides.

These beads aren't my typical colors, but I loved the stones. And the bracelet Mr. Zen created. So, I added some of the gems to my pendant from Victorian Trading Co.

It's been jewelry-o-rama around here lately. A friend of mine and Guncle Randy's, Regina, gave me a bag of gemstone beads and I can't stop playing with them. Last week, I was meeting friends for a little birthday celebration at our traditional hang out. (we do happy hour appetizers and half price wine at a place called 715 when one of us has a special occasion)

So, I whipped up a few pair of earrings with stuff laying around on my desk to take as party favors.

Besides making jewelry, I've been puttering, getting things set for Snow White and Birdsong mostly. And watching too much tv. What's on the DVR that I've been getting caught up on? Loads!

The Voice- Blake and Adam are adorable
The Following- thrilling
The Americans- well made
Game of Thrones!!! – I'm a huge fan of the books too, why can't he write faster?
Shameless- Smart kids trying despite bad surroundings, and don't you think that Lip looks like a young Robert Mitchum? (oh my, that shows my age, and also makes me feel like a pervy old lady to be eying that kiddo)
Girls- annoying people, but interesting writing
Modern Family- best comedy on TV
Once Upon A Time- well dur, it's a fairy tale
Idol and Survivor ( I'm not as enthusiastic, but can't quit them)
I haven't gotten to Bates Motel or Hannibal yet, I heard they were good
The Middle- Sue Heck is my hero, she never gives up
Mad Men- John Hamm? Swoon! I wish he'd do more comedy too.
Sofia the First- Sugarwings and I love her to pieces and she looks like my little girl
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic- Dewdrop and I end up watching this while I work at my desk and she paints at her little table so her parents can work in the garden, and I have become a fan against my will.

My list is actually much longer than this, but I'm embarrassed to let you know just how much TV I watch. It's pretty bad.

I've also been reading the Walking Dead graphic novels since I am having withdrawals from the show. Trouble is, they are eight bucks a piece on my Kindle Reader app, and the books only last an hour or so. It looks to me like I could spend a small fortune in a day or two, so I stopped at #5. That took some will power!

I've been working on this wire birdcage tutorial, and now have it ready to send to you! You can get the details here.

Blue bird lockets

jewelry, Snow White

By Karla Nathan / April 19, 2013

Between painting projects and gardening goings ons, I've been making some lockets.

These have a, yes, you guessed it, Snow White theme. Hmmmm, wonder what I'll do with those?? (I am in a locket swap but none of these are the item I have made for it, I'll show you that after the gifting)

I've done mini collages on the insides, and coated them with Diamond Glaze. It's not dry yet, you can see where it is a bit milky around the edges. I'm waiting for it to get good and dry to add beads and whatever to the exteriors.

These lockets with doors were cute as is. I thought they looked like doors to the Dwarves' cottage. I found them at Victorian Trading Co.

We have the only outlet store for the catalog here in KC. Typically, I prefer junk shops, but this store is my weakness. And having everything there 50% or more off the catalog price doesn't hurt.

This photo is from the catalog. They call it a Fairy Door, and that works for me too, of course! But I thought it would be great for Snow White. The other lockets I made collages for are from there too.

The reason I was shopping there was to find a dress that had a fairy tale feel. I tried on everything in the store, some were too Victorian, a lot were too young looking, most were too small. But I did end up with these two (I didn't get green, I got taupe)

They could probably be worn to a Downton Abby party too, if anyone wants to invite me to one. hint hint???

I'm thinking about wearing them with velvet jackets and boots. Less fussy, more me.

And the best part is that they were much cheaper than the catalog, less than half price, plus for every $100 you spend, you get a $20 gift certificate. Which bought me a bagful of lockets!

Pools Of Light

how to's, jewelry, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 15, 2012

My sissy is a vintage jewelry expert. She collects a wide variety of beautiful pieces and I've learned an appreciation about the subject from shopping with her or looking through her vast, luscious piles and stacked boxes of precious pretties.

I've long admired her "Pool of Light" beads, without really knowing what they were,thinking just pretty little crystal ball type dangles.

So, when Beth had some junk jewelry for sale and had some of these little marble thingies in it, I was quick to snap them up to make my own necklace with.

Then I did some research about the balls, here is one thing I found:

For thousands of years this optically clear quartz has been used as gemstones because of its enchanting ability to absorb and affect light in the way that it does. Images viewed through genuine rock crystal balls appear to be reversed or upside down. They are brilliant, luminous and will be a conversation piece wherever worn. These literal works of art are finely crafted and are from turn of the century.

I also found out that they were very expensive. And felt a bit guilty about buying them from her for a couple bucks. But I'd already made a necklace for myself, and one for a birthday coming up for some one else.

And I did NOT want to take off my necklace!!

So, I made a necklace for Beth too, using pieces I thought she'd like, including an old luggage tag from the Santa Fe railroad.

And that didn't seem like enough, so I foofed up a box for her too. Its an old jewelry box, and to the top, I added text that included the word "prism" (seemed fitting) and a die cut rose. Over that, I smeared modelling paste, let that dry and added ink.

To the interior, I glued text to the inside lid, and a tiny die cut rose over that.

Next, I layered hand writing from a ledger page, that had been waxed, so had a nice, transparent quality, and scraped it away from the rose under it, and glued a teensy millinery posey under that.

While my jewelry tools were out, I made this necklace too, as well as some earrings for a pal.