magazine pictures or articles

The Gilded Journey

Books, magazine pictures or articles, photography

By Karla Nathan / March 27, 2016

A few months back, I was asked to participate in this book by Anne Freund and Cynthia Schaffer. It is now out and ready for sale here. and I think on Amazon, too.

It looks like it is going to be a beauty. These pics are just lovely, and I'm impressed by the list of artists who have contributed.

I feel so lucky to have been included with artists I admire.

My project was a travel journal to illustrate the chapter, "Those who wander are not lost"

You can see some of my book in this post if you'd like.

Evolving styles in my cottage kitchen, or why I would never get a tattoo

antiques/junking, cottage, Kitchen remodel, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2015

My kitchen sure has had some shuffling and reshuffling over the years.

The biggest and best redo was when we tore out the wall between the dining room and kitchen. We had always wanted to do that, but had been told that we couldn't move a retaining wall. Then discovered 20 years later, that NO, it was not a retaining wall!!

And adding the ceiling tin was one of my favorite changes of all. It not only hid the fact that the two rooms that had been joined had different heights of ceilings, it is a look that I love. And fairly inexpensive to do too.

My house from the photo shoot

Before we finally pulled off that move, I did lots of cosmetic changes, just because I was never satisfied.

These are the original cabinets before we did any big remodelling. They were blah brown when we moved in, with giant, silver toned, disc looking knobs. I put them through many coats of paint, never getting it just as I liked it, but one thing that I've been true to since my very first redo at the cottage, is the glass knobs. I added these mismatched,vintage knobs very early on, and have used them since, even on the brand new cabinets that my son built for me.

Kitchen

Here is the room right after my son built them.

And this is what it looked like ages ago.

Looking at this now, makes me very happy that I couldn't afford to gut the kitchen when we first bought the place. Because my style has evolved so much in 25 years, and that evolution to what I love now is due to the making do, making it work, and learning from my mistakes.

It would have been awful to invest $10,000 in new walls, flooring, ceiling, cabinets, and appliances just to end up with this look from the 90s.

I'm glad we waited, and that I experimented with paint and salvaged pieces, and learned as I went along about what I liked and what I didn't. And I am glad I didn't do anything permanent like get a tattoo at this age. I'm sure that 20 years later, I'd be hating it.

ps- this is from a magazine shoot, and I didn't usually have soooo much clutter. The stylist empties out the cabinets and really fills up a room.

Sculpy_099

Being an antique dealer helped me learn my style too. I had a revolving door of hand painted furniture to play with.

Dining_room

Like the time I painted all the chairs black…

Buttons_001

But then decided that white was better.

Kitchen_001

And once I thought I'd like a neapolitan ice cream look in the kitchen. I do think that the dark wall really makes the cabinets stand out, and there are things I like about this, though. After seeing this picture, I went and pulled that striped and rose curtain out and hung it back up there again to give my burlap and lace one a break.

We have gone through a series of floors too, ending up with this wood that was beneath all of the layers the whole time. When we first bought the place, I was told that the floor was not salvageable, it had linoleum glued to it and was ruined.

Once again, I'm glad that we didn't try to use this original wood 25 years ago, I wouldn't have settled for the beat up, weathered look that it has now and would have tried to fix it. I'm glad it laid in wait until I could uncover it and appreciate it in all of its flawed beauty.

And after living with off white tile floors, and before that, white linoleum, I learned that I wanted a darker floor, and I'm glad that I stained the wood a deep, dark, walnut. Not only for the contrast, but for the ease of taking care of it.

We spend so much time in the kitchen, much more there than any other room. Lots of big family dinners, or quiet times reading the paper, having coffee and talking about what is ahead in our day.

So, it means the world to me that the wall cutting off the kitchen from the dining room is gone. And (for now??) I'm thrilled with the light tones and bright whites. I've always wanted an all white room, and have drooled over them on blogs and magazines, but felt like I was too far removed from that look to ever achieve it.

I guess it was a step by step process for me to get here. Little by little, I lightened up and changed my style. Now, I wonder, am I here now, where I want to stay? I'm happier than I ever was with the space. Many of the redos were because I was never satisfied and wanted to experiment. This is the most pleased I've ever been, and it is a good feeling.

Plus, I'm slightly exhausted. I might not have another redo in me!

PS- I often write posts in advance, and this one was written in September BEFORE I did a mini redo on the kitchen and showed it for the Blogger's Fall Home Tour. Ha! I did have some redo left in me after all.

I painted and hung two matching, new chandeliers, and made a new curtain from vintage fabric to go under the kitchen sink.

Creating Vintage Charm

friends, magazine pictures or articles, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / August 8, 2015

One of the highlights of going to Karen's delightful retreat hosted by Stacy at Whitworth Ranch Retreat, was renewing my friendship with Sonia Cruz. She and I had met a few years back at Jenn Hayslip's fairy tale getaway in North Carolina.

Sonia publishes a pretty magazine, available digitally or printed through magcloud.

In the latest issue, she features not only the fun time we had at the Texas elegant hoe-down, she also shows off my Fabulous friend, Karen's pretty in pink studio. I've been to Mt. Dora, FL and visited this work room and the pics Karen took of it are as fab as she is. And she is pretty durn FAB. Lovely pictures of a lovely space, taken by a lovely lady.

And looky here! I'm a magazine model. Ha! Here I am with Karen and Sonia at the Texas party, we are all decked out in our Downton duds.

Over the years, I've been lucky enough to have my artwork, projects, home, studio, or styling featured in some publications. Once, a photo I had taken of Sugarwings was used in Where Women Create, too. But it seems odd to see myself in a picture…

And now this is the second time I've been in Sonia's Creating Vintage Charm.

Hmmm…. I saw on the new season of "America's Next Top Model" that Tyra has taken out the height requirements, I wonder how she feels about age limits? She should do a season with "America's Next Top Short, Round, Grammie Models" and I'd sign up.

Because of course, now I have a portfolio to show for my audition.

Uhm, did I honestly just admit to watching ANTM? Ooops. Well, I do like my trashy TV shows. Although, that one has become too argumentative for me, I used to like it much better. Now, I fast forward through all the ridiculous flirting and silly, pouting, fights and just watch the makeovers and photography. I'll bet that if Tyra would feature grammies that would cut down on the bickering and boozing.

At least on the bickering. At our age, we are thrilled to get out and have fun on a getaway. Which is why I love going to art events like Jenn's, Karen's, and Stacy's. It's wonderful to be with friends, creating and sharing.

I've met some very nice people when going to or hosting events. And it made me happy to see one of them, my buddy, Linda, had one of her creations shown on a full page of Sonia's magazine. Linda had made one of these colorful, candy filled confections for each of the guests at the ranch. She is a generous soul and I was thrilled to see this in the pages of the story.

If you want to attend a (mini) arty getaway, and meet some nice people, maybe I'll see you in October at the cottage? Details in the next blog post, or email me at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

A Daphne’s Diary Surprise

collections, cottage, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / April 26, 2015

A while back, Fifi and Mark styled and photographed my home. The pictures were in Romantic Country and Country Sampler Home Tours. When you sign a release, you have no ownership of the pictures and it is a good thing for the photography team to be able to market them and use them as much as possible. It's also flattering when the pictures are popular and resold.

But…. it is nice to know when they are going to be published. I know, I know, I know, that once the team leaves my home, I am out of the loop. That is just how it is. They are on to the next venue and not looking back. That is the industry.

I've done dozens of articles, sometimes as writer or stylist, this time just as the home owner.In the past, I've seen a picture of my bedroom from one article show up years later in another article featuring 5 or 6 different bedrooms. Same thing with my bathroom, or other pictures here and there.

It was always a sweet,little surprise.

But I've never had a whole entire article published in a magazine without knowing about it before. This was a huge surprise.

A friend mentioned to me on FB that she had enjoyed seeing the article. I was flummoxed. What article?

Now, I'm not saying that I'm pissed or that anybody did anything wrong, because no one did. This is just how the publishing industry works.

BUT… it would have been nice to get a heads up.

When you open your home to a photo shoot, it can be a TON of work to get ready. And when I spend time on getting my home ready, I neglect the rest of my work. So, it not only doesn't pay, it takes away from time I could be working and earning some moola.

I think of it as a lark, though, and do enjoy the experience. And I adore my home, it is special to me. So, it is a delight to see it in print.

That is why, it would be nice to know if and when it is printed. Seeing the house in print is the only perk you get from all the prep and hard work, and from the chaos and mess of the day. After photos are taken, the house looks like it has been through hell and back, from all of the moving, shifting, and redoing that happens all day long.

From looking at the article, I'd say that the writer took a glance at one of the other articles the pictures had been used in. And what they didn't get from that, they just made up. Like saying the ceiling was plaster, not pressed tin. Or saying that I recovered a sofa with worn upholstery. Nope, the sofa was in great shape, I just covered pillows in vintage fabric to change it.

Not that these details really matter at all to anyone, nothing earth shattering or rude or unpleasant.

Just incorrect.

Because no one asked me. They just wrote what they wanted to.

Although, if I really had a piece of Chinese pottery, I'd be hiding it in the back of the closet, because I really dislike that stuff.

And while my son did build my cabinets, they are far from plain, I added ornate embellishments to all of the cabinet doors.

It was very kind of Daphne to compliment me on my painting, but the piece of furniture that she added to the page was not anything I own, painted, or have ever seen before.

And I didn't exactly horde a special roll of wallpaper for years, I am an avid (obsessed) vintage wallpaper collector and can open a cabinet in the studio to pick up a roll anytime I need one.

So, attributing the statement that I held onto it, knowing it would come in handy someday, is pure fabrication.

As is saying "that Karla had so much fun doing it."

Not that it wasn't fun to redo the old farm house. Well, some of it was fun, I guess. But I didn't tell her that it was so much fun. She made that up.

Maybe some of the meaning was lost in translation. It is a magazine from the Netherlands. And it is a very, very pretty issue. It is an honor to be a part of it.

So to recap, here is what I'm trying to say:

I'm honored, it is a lovely article
I wish I'd known about it
I wish someone had interviewed me
No one did anything wrong, or violated copyrights, I'm not angry, and hopefully I don't sound bitchy about it
Thanks to Diane for letting me know I was in this, or I might never have seen it
I hate Chinese pottery and do not use it along with jugs when entertaining
I didn't paint that green piece of furniture

ps- If you're interested in seeing a few of the other publications I've been in, I have some listed here. I recently updated it, this page had been neglected for quite a while.

Country Sampler Homes Tour giveaway

cottage, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / February 22, 2015

The photos of my home that Fifi and Mark took a while back were split up between Romantic Country (last fall, I think) and Country Sampler Homes Tour 2015.

I am beyond pleased with the photos, the colors are printed exactly as they look in real life, and they are nice and big, with a few full page ones.

If you ever get a chance to work with the people at Country Sampler, please go for it, they are so pleasant, helpful, and generous! Quite often, if your home is photographed, you don't even know when to expect seeing the issue it appears in, and have to check the magazine stands each month to see if the issue is out. And you don't get a free copy of some.

Country Sampler didn't do that. Not only did they send an issue and a letter to me to let me know that the magazine will be on stands soon, they also sent a second package full of magazines for me to share.

Did I mention how pleased I was with the whole experience? And the spread itself?

I'll keep a couple of issues for my own collection, send one to Guncle Randy, and then will have a giveaway at Birdsong 5, another on Facebook, plus one here on my blog.

If you'd like a chance to win, you can "like" and leave a comment on this post, on my personal FB page or "like" my Karla's Cottage FB page. And leave a comment on this blog post.

That is three ways to win one, or heck, come to Birdsong 5, I'll be giving one away there too.

Lost Swap Pages, a very sad tale

Books, magazine pictures or articles, swaps

By Karla Nathan / November 24, 2014

A few years back, I participated in a round robin swap with three talented ladies. Beth Leintz, Lisa McIlvain, and Sandra Blanks.

Here is a post from March '12 when we were packing up the completed books to send to Stampington, per request of an editor there.

Here is the cover that I made for my own book. The theme of all four books was "Her Life in Stitches" and since I didn't sew, I dedicated mine to my mother, who was a talented seamstress. So, I added her photo to the cover that I made from an old book.

Well, two years later, the books have returned from the magazine, after one of us asking for them to be returned. Some pages of each of ours had been published, which is always an honor.

This photo shows the back side of the pages I showed in the first photo for this post.

And it is also a picture of my whole, entire book.

Yep, it is the ENTIRE BOOK.

I received two pages back from the whole swap, no covers, nothing else. And one page here was sent to me by Sandra after the books were complete, so it has been sitting in my cabinet waiting for the rest of the pages to be sent back so I could add it to the book.

This is a special page that Beth made for me, in honor of my mom too. It wasn't returned.

Now, hopefully, this means that the missing pages are being published some day? I hope it doesn't mean they were treated casually and just lost in the storeroom. I've sent a message to the magazine and got a nice response, saying they will look around for them. But I've lost other things there, and know others who have too.

Sure, they get tons of art sent in, some by request and some just from artists hoping to get picked to appear in their magazines. These books were all requested. Beth and I took the time to pin a tag to each and every single page, reading- "Made by Beth Leintz for Sandra Blanks" or "Made for Karla Nathan by Lisan McIlvain", etc.

Beth and Lisa are very happy with their books. I haven't heard from Sandra about hers.

Lisa (who Stampington mailed all the pages to) mistakenly sent me some pages made by myself for her, Beth, and Sandra, and I've got those ready to send to the rightful owners. So, their books will be nice and full. The photo I saw of Lisa's book had quite a few pages, and I'm sending her 3, so hers should be fat, full, and look complete.

Although, this special page I made for Lisa, with a "Borrower's" theme wasn't in the photo she sent to me of her book. This one was made because she mentioned how much the book had meant to her as a child.

Here are a couple of posts I did about the swap at the time. This is Lisa's cover. Here is a page I made for her, that was published.

I'm not trying to dis Somerset here. I can understand how this happens. I told you in my last post, just how hard it is for me to get things right when I host a swap for 100 people. Just imagine how hard it is to keep track of the bazillions of pieces that Stampington must get in the mail.

In the past, I've never complained about lost items that I've made. No big deal, I'll make more. But I am saddened by the loss of gifts made for me by these talented ladies. And I guess I'm bringing this up to let you know that this is a very common thing. If something is precious to you, I recommend hanging on to it, not sending it in to be featured in a magazine.

Somerset has beautiful publications and I've always been pleased to be in them. But, if you are sending something in to any publication, please keep in mind that they deal with so many applications and so many pieces, that mistakes will be made. DON'T send in anything that you don't mind losing.

If more of my pages are found, I will be sure to let you know. I'll be singing it from the rooftops.

EDIT:

The pages were found! My entire book, is all in one piece and will be sent home. I have to thank Miss Shawna Horan for searching for and successfully finding it. I am thrilled to be getting the artwork made by the other swappers back again. Delightful news!

If you do send in work to a magazine, keep records. Remember who requested it, who you talked to and have photos. I did none of those. But I went through my blog archives and found some pictures that helped in the search.

Real life vs magazine shots

cottage, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / October 13, 2014

This has been a lucky year for me as far as publications go. First, Where Women Create, and now Shabilicious and Romantic Country. I've also got an upcoming feature in Country Sampler, but I think that might be 2015. The Country Sampler article has already been written, and the photos will be from the same batch as the Romantic Country article, but different photos.

I was so pleased to see that the writer of the Romantic Country article was kind enough to link back to my blog. And since I wrote the other two articles, I blathered on plenty about my blog and the art events that I have in the studio.

Who knows if that creates any extra blog traffic? But it's worth a try. Although I don't really know why it matters… I haven't had a chance to add anything to my shops in a while, so I don't need my blog to advertise that, I haven't got much to hawk at the moment. So sometimes I wonder how I even justify having a blog. anyway.

Wait! I've got an Art Journal tutorial for sale right now!! Yay, justification!!

So, it isn't pure vanity that makes me spend two weeks cleaning, rearranging, and foofing my house for photos.

Right?

It was for business reasons that I put myself through the grueling turmoil of making my house spotless (which is far from its normal condition).

Although, I have to admit, it is a lark, to do a magazine shoot. Even though, sometimes, between the stylist rearranging things and the editor tweaking the color on the photos, it doesn't even look like my cottage did to start with. And it is a LOT of work to get the house ready, then even more work after it is over.

After a stylist going through cabinets to find the items that fit her needs to make the house look more interesting for photos, and moving stuff from one room to another, by the end of the day the home ends up looking like someone picked it up and shook it.

And what isn't changed physically that day, can later be changed when the pics are edited. In real life, this quilt is a faded blue, but in the magazine, the saturation was turned up for a brighter look.

This is the color of the quilt before it got tweaked for the magazine.

And in real true life, this quilt belongs in the linen closet to use when we need an extra blanket in the grand fairy's room, and my bedroom is all very, very neutral colors, with no pink rose pillows on the bed.

This is how it really looks. See, too boring for a magazine photo. Darling Fifi gave me a new look for the day to make the room more photogenic.

Here is a link to the blog post I did last summer after her photo shoot with some details about how she worked her magic.

And here is a picture of what my living room really looks like on a daily basis (but probably not that clean, there are usually toys everywhere along with some weird thing that Sugarwings decided she needed to play with, the curtain over the TV is always open, and the kids have knocked most of the pillows onto the floor) I also have to keep rugs put away because the horribly untrainable, nasty mongrols puppeesh think it is a pee pad.

This is where the rose pillows from the magazine picture of the bedroom came from, along with some from a bench in the studio too.

And this is what it looks like after being styled for pictures. The pillows are moved back in from the bedroom along with the ones from the studio, a pink rug from the grand fairies' room is brought in, and all the flowers from other vases in the kitchen are added to the table top.

This is a photo I took of Sugarwing's bed (before I painted a mermaid on it).

And here is how it looks in the story, with the colors deepened, and no longer faded.

The original colors are more pastel.

It is an honor for my house to be published and I enjoy seeing it all special-ed up. It looks different in the same way my head does after I get home from the salon. I look in the mirror after getting my hair dyed and cut, knowing that it is in a style that I wouldn't normally wear, or possibly couldn't replicate if I wanted to. But it is fun to see and a very nice change.

I've worked on, written, styled for, or had my home in quite a few magazines over the years. Here are a few on a shelf in the office part of my studio.

I don't know if anyone noticed me in them, but I did enjoy the process and it is nice to have a record of how my style has changed over the years. (or in some cases, how the stylist who set up the shot liked my home to look, but still it is my stuff she is arranging, so it is still me, I guess?)

Shabbylicious

magazine pictures or articles, studio tour

By Karla Nathan / August 14, 2014

Kerryanne English is an artist I have always admired, and was an early blog friend of mine.

If you are wondering why I'm talking about Kerryanne and showing pictures of my studio, it is because she has asked me to be in her magazine, Shabbylicious.

She caught me at a good time, to get studio pictures. I'd just finished Birdsong, and was getting the room cleaned up, and organized.

So, the room was actually ready for pictures. This year, I have been in a mood to put things away correctly, and efficiently in a pretty way.

It probably doesn't look much different to anyone else, but there is a world of difference to me. Cabinets are cleaned out, supplies are more sorted and accessable, and I've made tags with labels for things hidden away in boxes.

While working on the room, I found a lot of things I forgot I had and really didn't care about anymore. My garage now holds about 6 boxes of neglected goods ready to go to the thrift store. It hurt just a little tiny bit to do that, but the pinch on my thrifty soul didn't hurt for long. It felt good to have things cleaned out once it was done.

I'm so proud of it all, I should be taking pictures inside of cabinets instead of outside!

Even though the guts of the room aren't very pretty, to me they are quite lovely.

I seriously don't know what got into me. This sorting and stacking stage that I've been in started even before Birdsong. While getting ready for the event, I did a lot of redoing along the way. If I needed a tablecloth for the studio, I pulled out every thing from the linen closet, refolded and restacked it all, sorting them by size.

Seriously, what happened to me? Have I become my mother? She had enviable linen closets. Mine have always been very haphazard.

It's an honor to be in Kerryanne's pretty magazine, even though all you can see is the outside of my cabinets, not my glorious stacking and sorting skills hidden inside of them.

It is an online one that you can look at for free, or order a digital or printed copy for yourself. If you buy a printed version, you get the digi one for free.

I've enjoyed going back through her past issues too. The magazine is very well done, and the pictures are lovely. (you can follow her magazines online too, and never miss a copy)

These photos are not in the magazine, these are some of the dozens I sent to her to chose from. I don't have photoshop, and am not savvy about sizing for publishing, so she offered to edit and foof the photos she used for the publication.

I typically use picmonkey, which I love, but isn't suitable for a professional printing job, they tend to shrink the pixels down too much when you save the picture. These photos I'm showing today, are not edited as I usually do, you can probably tell they are "befores", for example, this second Fairy Dress picture is one that I did edit, the first one was not. Sorry that all are not edited!

She was a real doll to work with. If you'd like to see pictures she chose and edited, as well as the other artists featured in the magazine, please visit her here.

And thank you, Kerryanne for including me in your pages! I've ordered my copy and look forward to getting it in the mail.

PS- I'm working away on the covers for our Nature's Blessing Journal swap. If I could do assembly line style work, I'd be done so much faster, but that is BORING. I have to stop and assemble a few as I go, or stop and make pages of my own to keep sane. So far, 45 are assembled.

If you'd like to buy a journal with blank pages, or swap pages with another artist and receive a full book, details are here.

Hold fast to dreams

magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / February 13, 2014

This issue of Where Women Create is out now and I'm so thrilled to be a part of it. I've done many magazine articles over the years, but this one is standing out as special to me.

Probably because I love my studio so much!

I was so worried about getting the room just right, that I didn't bother much with myself. I had Halloween fingernails, since the photos were taken at the end of October. But compared to how my hands normally look, green was better than natural, I guess.

My dark roots were showing too. If I had it to do over again, I think I'd have applied some darker lipstick and had my hair done. I just wasn't thinking about how I'd look.

For the article, I was asked to include a quote. I'm just not a person who remembers quotes. I love hearing them, but they go in one ear and out the other.

When I was in Indy recently, my sister brought up our grandma's middle name, Belle.

Belle!!???

I was thrilled! I love that name. I had no idea that is what her name was!!

Till we realized that I react that way every time I hear it. I'm easily pleased because it is all new to me. Oh my, I've just admitted that I am an idiot, didn't I? Anyway, you can see why quotes (or names of people I've been introduced to ten times, let alone related to) don't stick with me.

It was rough finding a quote. At first, I was going to use "April showers bring May flowers" because the article was originally set for spring and that is something my mom used to say to me a lot when I was little. My birthday is in May and it always made me feel special. And flowery.

But that didn't work for January. So, I looked through famous quotes and grabbed this one from Langston Hughes because he is from Lawrence, KS and it mentions birds.

"Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird who cannot fly"

And it is really a good thought too. Not that I'll ever think it again, but it fit with the article okay, since I talk about the dream of working toward getting my own studio.

Thank you for all the kind words and sweet compliments that have come my way over this story. I love sharing the room with friends. Hopefully I'll see some of you here in the future at a class?

And thanks to Carol for the great job on pictures, and to Jo Packham for including me in her magazine.

What a year, wowzers!

cottage, Dew Drop, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, guncles, magazine pictures or articles, Nathan Family Fairy Food Forest, parties, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 1, 2014

For 2014's shiny new beginning, I thought I'd look back at 2013's biggest events for me, and show you some of my favorite photos.

Sugarwings starting first grade was major stepping stone in our lives last year.

In my mind, I always picture her like this. Darn the calendar! The pages flip too fast.

I think the biggest event of 2013 for Dewdrop was the day she received this "fincess" dress. She has hardly taken it off since October.

(we love that she calls 'princess' 'fincess', because her brother is named, Fin)

Of course, starting a sustainable food forest with a fairy playground on our land was a HUGE move.

When it was in full bloom, and veggies were popping up everywhere, it was the prettiest garden I've ever seen. And to know that this is only the first year, of a lifetime plan, fills me with excitement.

The year began with a longed for trip to Hawaii with my husband's sister, Terry and her husband. It was the first of many visits with her. I had a GREAT year of trips and visits with family and friends.

Wow, I'd say it was a record setting year for sistering. My sisters came here to see me twice, and I went to Indy to see them.

I got to visit darling Guncles, seeing my little bro, Randy FOUR times.

Starting with the pure fabulousness of going to Karen Hillman's Cozy Cottage to teach a class as a surprise birthday gift for her friend.

I got to introduce Fabulous Karen to Fabulous Randy, and it all led to a Fabulous Black Velvet Christmas party in Jacksonville.

And seriously, I probably didn't say the word fabulous enough, that word was written just for Karen and Randy. It should never be used to describe anything else, it belongs to them.

I saw Terry again in California when I taught at Kim's Enchanted Affaire, where I met up with good friends that I love like family too.

Painting the mural for the event was a biggie, I loved working on it so much, that I really put myself into it, and every day that I painted was like a little trip to a fairy tale forest. After the workshop, Kim mailed it back to me and it is now chopped up and stapled in the fairy girls' room

Before it was sliced up, I also used it at Birdsong 3.

Which was another big highlight of my year. Oh my, sooooo many nice people came to play at the cottage. I can't wait for BS4. Yep, 4, I can't believe it is coming up. I'd better get to planning, huh?

After the CA trip, I went to Disneyland with Terry. Then, for the Hippy Chick's college graduation, we took her and Sugarwings to Disneyworld in Florida. It was a Disney-rific year.

But I have to say that one of the best things I did all year, or maybe in the last ten years, was to take a summer off to be with the kids.

We went to zoos, parks, carnivals, boating, beaches, all sort of things.

We played dress up.

We blew bubbles.

We had craft days. Lots of craft days.

We invented a new game, called "Hoppity Hearts". It is a bit like Hopscotch without the boring squares.

Summer spilled over into fall, and we kept on playing. We saw the Renfest twice.

Even Uncle Ryan came along, just two weeks after his heart attack. His illness was the bad spot of the year, but I have to say, it brought us closer together.

I also got to see good friends again in October on a trip to Georgia. (and yes, that same shirt I'm wearing has been in three other of these photos,I'm surprised it isn't in more. Looks like I got as much use from that shirt as I did from the Enchanted Forest mural)

It was also a year of parties and more classes. I had a small, Valentine workshop in the studio.

And then another group of friends came by for a Christmas ornament making workshop.

I was in a few publications too. My Tiffany's mural from Kim's Affaire at Tiffany's the year before was in Mingle. I wasn't named as the artist, but I still think it counts, don't you?

And it was so special to me to see my Birdsong projects in Jewelry Affaire. I was in that one earlier in the year for another project too.

Fifi came out to shoot my cottage for Romantic Country.

And my pal, Carol was here to shoot the studio for Where Women Create.

I must have made hundreds of little birdcages prepping for two classes and an online class I have offered.

And I even did some redos on the house this year. I made new slip covers for the sofa and pillows for the bedroom. Spiffed up, repainted, rearranged rooms, and recovered a wall.

Yep, 2013 was one for the record books.

No wonder I'm tired…