magazine pictures or articles – Page 2

By Karla Nathan / November 8, 2013

This is what I was working on right before I had to spiff up for the Where Women Create photos in the studio.

Tiny trees in process, everywhere. But the room was tidy as can be, I set up folding tables and rolled up the rug and tried to contain the messes I was working on.

During the "try not to mess it up stage" between cleaning the studio for a shoot, getting sick and postponing, then trying to keep it nice for a couple weeks for the next shoot, I even had a mini craft day. Beth and Karla came over, and Beth made elf shoes from Dawn's tutorial.

There wasn't a lot of space to work, since I was trying to keep all chaos contained as much as possible. But tiny shoes don't need a big workspace.

It was the third date Carol and I had set for the photos, I'd cancelled two times due to illnesses. That means I had to get the room ready THREE times.

And the every day nature of my studio isn't exactly pristine. I've learned that the more space I have, the more I fill. When one table is uninhabitable, I move onto the next!

While it was a struggle to keep the room semi neat while waiting for the date with Carol, it was so worth it. She got some lovely pictures. (not these, hers are saved for the publication and are much better than what I take)

I'm enjoying the temporary tidiness, but it won't last long. I'm in the midst of whipping up prototypes, then kits for our projects on November 23rd, at Romantic Cottage Christmas.

(this fairy and angel are from my online Mini Dressform tutorial, not for the upcoming class)

Now that the photos and article are turned in to the editor, and all my trees are glittered up, I'm ready to focus on the upcoming class. I've been day dreaming about Christmas cookies and other treats…. I guess I should be thinking about the workshop projects instead.

If you are in need of mini, glittering trees, I have some in my Etsy shop. Not a lot yet, but if you don't see what you want, just ask me, as you can see, I have plenty.

Where Women Create

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), magazine pictures or articles, photography, studio tour

By Karla Nathan / November 4, 2013

What a fun day!

Carol came out to shoot my studio for Where Women Create. After me cancelling on her TWO times due to illnesses. One nasty sore throat bug and another was when I swallowed a string from a grilled tenderloin, and ….. well, it's an odd story and ended up with my esophagus being scratched, then irritated, then dilated at the hospital through a scope… but anyway, finally, I was able to reshedule Carol's visit to Lawrence.

It wasn't easy, she is a busy lady (and rightfully so). And the editors gave us a deadline extension, so all should be set for the January edition.

Unless I broke Carol's camera. She did her best to get some portraits of me for the article. But posing isn't my strong suit. She had great directions for me to follow, but when I am told to do something with my body, I seem to be totally incapable of doing it, and do the opposite instead. You should see me in something like aerobics. I'm the one turning right instead of left and hopping back or into the next person. No grace, no skill. Kind of the way I dance.

Which is about as good as my singing…

When she asked me to drop my shoulders, lean forward, cross your legs, put your weight on your back foot, relax my forehead, lower my chin, all it sounded like to me was, "pretend that you are Quasimodo."

Carol had me laughing, so most looked like this, or if it was any good at all, my eyes were closed, of course.

I watch America's Next Top Model, but it didn't seem to help. To "smize", you need your eyes open.

I offered to throw in a few booty tooches.

But do you know who is a good poser? Tinks.

That dog was a real ham, and a hard worker too. Whenever there was a "hole" that needed a styling fix, we plopped in the dog. And she was pleased a punch to help out.

When we tried to get photos of the two of us together, Twinkle followed Carol's direction, cocked her head, smiled, kept her eyes open. Too bad she had eaten a pile of cat poo earlier, her breath wasn't too sweet when we were up close and personal for the shots.

By the end of the day, she was worn out from all the hard work and was done with helping out. She'd filled holes in several shots and I think made for some really cute vignettes.

We were all tuckered out at the end of the day, and finally stopped for a lunch break about 3. I picked a couple handfuls of greens from the garden and warmed up some soup I'd made for Sunday dinner. It had started out as vegetarian chilli, but I kept adding to it. Our garden had too many goodies still growing in it that I wanted to use. I even added pureed pumpkin, and it was pretty durn tasty.

Isn't soup always better the second day?

I've got a billion or so photos that I took with my camera, but I feel like I've shown my studio a billion or so times. You might think they are all kinda redundant. I guess if I don't get any other pictures taken this week, I'll show them. I mean, these are new and different angles and not boring at all….

Details about the winter workshop, Romantic Cottage Christmas, here at the studio are on my side bar.

If you'd rather come to see the room in person, I'd love to have you join us!

Magazine Clean

cottage, family, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2013

Before Fifi came to take photos for Romantic Country, I had to clean and spiff up. Like I mentioned before, I knew not to try to pre-style the place, but it still had to be clean, arranged, and ready.

Not all the rooms were shot, so I thought I'd show you the photos I took of my sparkly, clean house instead of wasting all that work!!

I guess it wasn't exactly wasted, I enjoyed the peace and quiet of banning my family and having a clean cottage for about 24 hours.

And yes, I really did BAN them. I packed a picnic breakfast and fresh clothes for the little girls and sent them with their dad to sleep in the office!

The house was oddly quiet, and spookily spotless.

I even banned the dorkies. Those poor pupeesh couldn't believe they were being kept out.

My husband was out of town on business, which worked out well. He wouldn't have put up with any banning. And while he is adorable, he might be the messiest of them all.

The girls weren't all that happy with it either, and everyone gladly came in to clutter up and make it all more homey and real as soon as Fifi and Mark pulled out of the driveway.

I admire people who can keep their homes up to this standard of tidiness, but I don't know how they manage it.

Of course, having tiny fairy girls tromping about doesn't always lead to chaos, it just seems that way sometimes.

But the kind of chaos they create is so much more fun than cleaning house!

I do try to keep things picked up, and the little sprites know to leave my "pretties" to an eyes only, no fingers exploration.

Most of the time.

They know they can pull out all their dress up clothes for a fashion show, or empty all the crayons and markers onto their table, or bring in their latest pretty rocks or bugs found outside, and Grammy will enjoy seeing the newest creation or them all dressed up.

Sometimes, I have to draw the line about bugs, though.

Sugarwings and Dewdrop leave to go to their mommies and I if I'm not too worn to a frazzle from all the goings ons, I'll shovel out the mess when they are away.

But even then, my house rarely looks this good! I'm glad I have some photos to prove it can happen.

See, not a juice bottle, dirty sock, or naked Barbie anywhere.

Which reminds me, why do all the dolls have to be stripped? Even poor Ariel gets her tail snapped off if it is removable. There isn't a doll that we own that is wearing anything. Although, sometimes Dewdrop will take off her own panties and put them on a doll.

Which is a bit weird.

While it's nice to have a day of tidy living, I miss the clutter that comes from family. Sometimes when the girls leave, I purposely walk around a pink shoe in the middle of the floor instead of picking it up. Because it reminds me that soon, a little girl will be back to fill that shoe.

When they first leave, my husband and I will take a deep sigh of relief for the quiet. Then, an hour or so goes by and one of us mentions some funny thing one of them had said or done. In another hour, we start to wonder how long it will be till we get to see them and laugh with them again.

Someday, too soon, they will be busy with friends, college, jobs, and finding a true love. My house will be clean and I'll miss those naked Barbies and forgotten socks.

Who am I kidding? My house will never be perfectly clean!! I'll still have dogs bringing in sticks, tracking in mud, and leaving toys all around. And remember that adorable, but messy husband I mentioned? I can't imagine our dining room table will magically lose it's collection of crossword puzzles saved from the newspaper, or the half empty coffee cup on it!

Magazine clean just isn't real. It's a fun fantasy for a day, but that is about as long as I could live in it.

PS-Leave a comment on this post, if you would like to enter my two giveaways. I'm away at the moment, but will draw names after Labor Day weekend

Recovering a lamp shade and some other touch ups

cottage, flowers, how-to projects, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / August 18, 2013

Before Fifi asked me to do a photo shoot for Romantic Country magazine, I was already on a home fix up binge. I've been making pillows, slip covers, touching up paint, rearranging and foofing. Good timing for her call!

This bench was brought in from the garden a couple years ago, so we'd have a spot to sit and put on shoes by the front door, and the baskets under it are perfect for toys and kid's shoes. But I'd never made cushions for it, I've been wrapping fabric around a cushion that didn't match and making do with that.

About ten years ago, I'd found some old, floral curtains in a dumpster (I nicknamed it the "Dumpster of Gold", there was so much beautiful bounty in it!!!). They were just the right fabric for making pillows for this bench. The top pillow is stuffed with poly fluff, but the bottom one is just a pillow case over that same cushion that I'd been wrapping around fabric before. That way, I can slip it off and wash it after muddy dogs spend time on this bench. Which they love to do. It's Twinkle's perch so she can keep an eye on the front door and protect us.

The pink rag rug was one that used to be white, but the white wasn't coming back after years of use. (I don't throw much away) It was still in decent shape, so, I dyed it, along with some stained tees and other odds and ends. Because when I have a dye pot going, I always feel the need to scrounge around the house looking for other things to dip in it.

I used the liquid Rit Dye in fuchsia, but only a 1/2 bottle along with a 1/4 bottle of tan to tone it down. I think I could have done 1/4 of pink and 1/8 of tan and been happier with the result.

It seems like I've been on the go nonstop for the last couple of years and hadn't really had a chance to nest. Since I declared this the Summer of Whammy and took time off to simply be a grammy and enjoy my family and home, I found lots of little projects that needed tending to. Like this lamp shade that I revamped.

If you have ever covered a lamp shade, you know that with the curved shape, it's hard to smooth fabric down onto. To avoid measuring, I decided to patch work it. I took scraps of rose pattern cotton, and brushed the lamp shade with school glue, and brushed some onto the scraps too, then laid them onto the shade.

After piecing in a background of roses, I covered the seams with lace applique bits (picked up on the Enchanted Affaire bus tour in downtown LA for 25 cents each). And made a bottom trim border from some old tatting over a row of dangly beads.

Around the top, I used some trim from a vintage skirt. All the lace and trim was attached with Ultimate glue, but I'll bet fabric glue would work the same. School glue wasn't strong enough for this part.

Tah Dah! Just perfect for the Rosey Room, to go on the $4 Goodwill lamp that Aunt Sandy left behind for me when she left here.

The throw on the bed got a make over too. It was one that I thought was just lovely, but it sure fell apart fast. The top is sheer with cut velvet roses, and velvet trim. But the backing on it shredded and fell off. I saved the top because it was such perfect fabric and I always thought I'd use it someday for something.

Who knew, that I'd return it to being a throw again?

I came across the piece of fabric when I cleaned out the closet for the Studio Tour and decided I was ready to reuse it. What great timing, since soon after, Fifi made arrangements to photograph the house. And this was just what the Rosey Room needed.

All I did was buy some stretchy, crushed velvet on sale at Hancocks for $4.40 a yard, and sew it on the back. I am hoping that the stretchiness will help it last longer than the previous lining. And the crushed velvet is soft and comfy to wear over my lap as I watch TV. So, this throw will go to the living room now that the photos are done. The guest room doesn't get used often enough to keep it up there. It's so pretty and soft, I want it in the living room to snuggle under on a regular basis.

A Romantic Country Photo Shoot with Fifi, or the Adventures of the Pink Flowered Rug

cottage, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / August 11, 2013

Last week, Fifi came to my home to do an article for Romantic Country magazine. We had worked together in the past on a few small projects but I'd only met her briefly at our friend, Carol's home. It was a joy to spend the day with her and I was happy to have her come and visit the Cottage. She's cute as a bug and filled with interesting stories. Accompanying her was photographer, Mark Lohman, who was witty as well as talented. He made me giggle quite a few times during the day, with his teasing comments.

He also showed me a photo he had taken of his dogs, that has to be the most beautiful pet portrait I have ever seen. His two Shih Tzus are running toward the camera, with their hair flying in the wind, happy looks on their little turned up nose faces, and a blurred out, elegant garden behind them. That guy is an artist. What a picture.

Fifi and Mark made my home look lovely, I was impressed with their work. And I enjoyed not working on the story myself, just stepping back and letting the pros do it. In the past, with numerous articles, I've been the stylist or was writing the story. This time, I was just the home owner, and that was nice.

I never really considered myself a professional, even though I was involved in dozens of published articles. It was all a bit of a lark, and I like having it on my resume (if I actually had a resume, which I don't), but I never considered it a real job.

Since I have worked on past stories, I did know how to be prepared for the chaos of styling and how to be ready when Fifi and Mark arrived.

If you are going to have your home photographed, here are a few suggestions:

1- Don't try to pre-style it, you don't know what the camera angles will be.

2- Don't have your heart set on a certain look. Things WILL be moved, rearranged, shuffled, changed, and might even be a totally different take on the room than you'd ever thought of.

3- Have fresh fruit and flowers ready to go, but don't put too much time into flower arrangements, chances are they will be redone more than once throughout the day. Have extra vessels handy for switching blossoms around to reuse in different rooms. You don't need a ton of flowers, because they can be recycled from room to room. (and save your receipt, the flowers are usually reimbursed)

4- If you own extra pillows, throws, rugs, china, etc, have them handy. The stylist will have ideas on making the house fit the magazine, and a color theme she has planned, and it helps if she has access to your extras to bring her ideas to life.

5- Have a place to stash the coffee maker, toothbruses, and other mundane, daily used, objects. But don't put it away too soon, you might want to offer a pot of coffee while everyone is working.

6- Clean up as you go, because the messes just get worse from photo to photo, as things get pulled out of cabinets to be used, or items get stored to one side of the room to be out of a shot. If you save all of the pick up for the end of the day, it will be too much to handle!! But do be careful not to put away things that might be used again. Like the pink flowered rug I brought down from the girl's room, it ended up in almost every shot, all around the house.

7- Don't be insulted or hurt if your home doesn't look like your version of your home in the pictures!! Its all your stuff, just rearranged. You might even pick up some good design tips from the experts and leave your new look in place.

Here is my bedroom after some of Fifi's redos.

Here is how it looked when they arrived.

bedroom BEFORE

My home was a little too neutral for what Fifi wanted, but it was easily fixed with throw pillows from the sofa, and the studio along with a pink rug and quilt from the girl's room.

bedroom AFTER

I love this look, but couldn't leave it this way, or my sofa would not have any cushions…. And in "real life" if the chair was in the middle of the room, you couldn't walk through to the bathroom. Or see the TV, which is high on my list of importance.

AFTER

My two footstools got a work out, as well as the chippy chairs that the kids use, all were used in other areas too. And see the pink rug again? Like I said, it made it into almost all the shots. The floral can filled with lilies was the bedroom trash can.

The surprise lilies are growing in abundance right now, and we could gather an armload for her to use in this shot. They were plopped right on top of the remnants of trash in the bottom of the can. Glamorous, huh?

Kitchen BEFORE

living room AFTER

There is that pink rug again!

In "real life", if you had that many pillows on a sofa, there would be no room for your backside. But it looks nice for the magazine, doesn't it? I could be tempted to leave it this way, but I think I'd get too many complaints from the family.

I didn't hear the dogs complaining about too many pillows, though. They'd be happy if I left all of those on the couch.

living room BEFORE

This isn't quite my "real life" look. Because the pupeesh think that rugs are pee pads, I don't usually have one on the living room floor. I swiped this one from the upstairs. And that half wall is actually a dog pen. I keep a gate across it, and the dorkies have access to the fenced in yard through a pet door in the corner. For the occaision, I took down the gate and put away all the dog bedding.

The pupeesh were also banished for the day, but forgave me when they got plenty of snuggles when Fifi and Mark finished.

I'm afraid I didn't get photos of the styling upstairs. Sugarwings will be sooooo thrilled to see her room in a magazine. She was counting on them taking pictures of it, even though I told her that it wasn't a done deal, we'd have to see what Fifi chose to feature. Plus, I'm not sure she even knows what a magazine is, but she was excited about it anyway.

A photo shoot ain't for sissies, that's for durn tootin. After a day of housework to prep, and a day of pictures, plus the clean up that goes along with it, I was beat.

But no matter how exhausting it can be, it sure is fun to see the spread when it's published. Plus, Fifi and Mark make the experience delightful, they are such nice people to spend a day with.

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.

A clutter solution

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Kitchen remodel, magazine pictures or articles, paper cowgirl

By Karla Nathan / March 25, 2012

It has been wonderful having the two grand fairies staying here with us at the cottage part time. The best part is the morning, when they both come down the stairs with big smiles on their faces and hair sticking up every which way, with that sweet scent of sleepy babies. They both wake up happy and laughing and ready to face the delights of a new day.

The bad part? Clutter.

With extra people in the house and no space to put away all the kicked off shoes and scattered toys, the entry way was always a mess.

My solution was to drag this bench in from the garden (I found it at a garage sale about 10 years ago, and have had it outside since) and put baskets under it to toss shoes and toys in. I have space to add another basket for mittens, and probably should pick one up while Michaels has them on sale for 40% off, but was too cheap to buy all three at once.

The bench had a painted plywood seat, that was nicely chippy and I thought that would be fine, till I drug it all the way up to the house, and realized I was covered in ants. The wood had gotten all spongey and wet, and was nothing more than a nest for the critters, so I carried it out to the burn pile and cut another piece of plywood, wrapped it in fabric, and lined it with pillows I had in the closet.

Agnes Rosebud is pretty happy about the whole thing and I'm glad to have the shoes tucked away.

Now, we'll have to see if anyone actually USES the baskets!

Here is a picture of an earlier incarnation of the bench, I'd used it for an article in Romantic Homes a while back.

This pretty photo of Beth's class is from Kristi Knox Day

Speaking of clutter, our hotel rooms at Paper Cowgirls were really knee deep in it all. Between finishing up class projects we took, and working on our own teaching projects, plus helping Lisa with her kits, our rooms were like obstacle courses. Which is why Beth's little slide show is soooo funny. She is one witty gal. Here it is if you want to see it (its very short, only 5 pictures will silly comments)

Karla at the Crafting Obstacle Course

Somerset Apprentice

holiday decor, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / March 6, 2012

In the Boutique

As I was making up kits to pack for Paper Cowgirls, I realized that I'll be in Texas for St. Patrick's Day. Not that I'm a fan of green beer, or that I go out on the town, but I am fond of all holidays. Even more since I became a Grammy, Sugarwings loves any reason to celebrate.

And my sister is a dedicated geneologist who has traced the "Downey" side of our family (my maiden name) back to Ireland and County Downs. So, I should at least slap some green on for the day!

Maybe my little grand-leprechauns and I can do something special for it when I get back. When my kids were little, they got green food coloring in their cookies and milk and whatever else I could find to tint for them. Now-a-days, I avoid food coloring for the girls.

I need to find some good organic food colors to use, because I miss pink icing. And green milk is just too much fun to have for St. Pats!

We are even celebrating Sadie Hawkins Day this year. There isn't much we don't turn into a party here at the cottage. Sugarwings and Dewdrop have been staying here quite a bit lately and it seems like every morning is a party when they come trouping down the stairs with their big grins, bed heads, and happy voices, ready to start their day.

Here is something else I have to celebrate, I got my advance copy of Somerset Apprentice in the mail.

At a glance, I can see its a wonderful issue, and am honored to be featured as a "Pro".

I can't wait to get time to kick back and relax to read it cover to cover. Not only for the pretty pictures, but I saw that there are lots of wonderful tips and tricks to learn.

Its always an honor to be in any of Stampington's magazines, but this one really meant a lot to me. Sometimes, my so called job is a bit iffy. Am I an artist? Or a crafter? Or just a shop keeper? Sometimes I think that maybe I'm simply a babysitter and housekeeper.

But hey, somebody out there thinks I'm a PRO and actually printed that belief.

Yep, that means a lot. Thanks, Somerset Apprentice!

PS- notice the Google Friend Connector is missing from my side bar? Yep, they are no longer working on Typepad blogs as of March 1st. If you want more information on how to follow a blog, Marianne has done some homework and explains it all very well here.

She also has a good tutorial on using Google Reader here

and here.

I have asked Hope, who designed my blog, to add a connect button for all of these various blog following sites for me. She'll be doing that soon.

The newest Italian Super Model

fairies, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / February 24, 2012

Jenn's over the top, dreamy affair in NC last fall was published in this Italian magazine. Jenn deserves all the accolades and world wide attention she got for this, it was amazing.

Woo Hoo! I feel very America's Next Top Model in Italian Vogue! (Yes, I'm a sucker for all of those Top Model shows, ) But I have a feeling I'd be voted off the episode for that stiff pose and lack of "finding the light". And I'm more suited to be an Italian grandma making pasta than a sleek super model.

But hey! This is not something that I ever would have dreamed I'd see and I'm tickled pink about it. A photo of me in a European publication?

pictured: Natasha, Dee, Lori, Jenn, Andrea, and me

That is me in the top left, I was helping decorate for the event and put some of the decorations on my head. I do tend to do that sort of thing. In the bottom right photo, Dee Foust is wearing one of the crowns that I made (shameless plug! Tutorial available here ). That is beautiful Jenn strolling across the meadow in the larger photo.

I have wonderful memories of the weekend in the mountains, with great friends old and new. Thanks again, Jenn!

This pretty weekend was also covered in Sonia's Creating Vintage Charm, an indie magazine that is really well done. I think that the fairy tale interlude is probably being published in a zillion other magazines too, it was pure photo op, all the way through and the talented Tiffany was there to snap it up.

Seriously, there wasn't a spot anywhere that you didn't feel compelled to point a camera at. It was that beautiful.

Sonia and I got to sit together during craft day at Once Upon a Dream and hung out a bit during the weekend. I plan on being a regular buyer of her zine. As much as I love reading blogs, its nice to have an actual magazine in your hands to flip through too.

And she fills it with charm, just like the title.

Funny, this photo didn't make any publications….or Top Model, even though, in my mind I was using all the modelling tips that I'd learned by being a faithful follower of the show.

Of course, I spent my youth watching "I Love Lucy" and that might have sunk in more than "America's Next Top Model" did.

On a completely different subject and one that ticks me off almost as much as losing Picnik, have you heard that Google Friend Connect is closing too? I'm wondering, will I lose the followers on that list? What do you know about it?

If you read my blog on Google Reader, but got there by subscribing on my side bar with Google Friend Connect, maybe you should subscribe directly on Google Reader, or I could just vanish from your list. I really am not sure what will happen. But I'd hate to lose you as a "Friend" even though Friend Connect is gone!

Beth has a good post about it here.

Thankful

magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / November 27, 2011

Do you ever work with paper clay? I wish I did more often, when I do, I just love the stuff. I use the kind that comes in the black bag, labelled "Creative Paperclay". I've tried other brands, but really like this one.

This fairy is a half doll and her gown holds a painted cage with a nesting, glittered egg.

I'd made the doll's head a while ago, and she was lying on my desk staring up at me, wondering when she'd be given a body. I finally felt guilty enough about making her wait and pulled this look together.

Lately things are going well for me, productively. Not only did I make an avalanche of little snow people, dye and decorate billions of bottle brush trees, and a whole bunch of other crap, I made this college too.

The little painting of a bird in a cage was the prototype for the cover of my Birdsong Tag Book swap last summer. I've had the original sitting on my desk since then, thinking I needed to do something with it.

So, I finally got around to making a college with it. The background is a leather bound, padded lid from an old box, that I painted white and glazed over in tan. I cut a rectangular hole into the center of it, lined that with old wallpaper and rimmed it in tulle-ish netting.

I finished it off with a trim of sheet music as a frame around the opening, and added a strip of frayed velvet, a buckle, some lace and a few curled feathers.

Funny, that box cover has been on my desk forever too. It just all happened to come together. Its good to get this done, and use up those two items that have been hanging around waiting to become something. I just had to figure out what they needed to be.

This is a project that I had about 90% done and just now finished. I guess I'm in the mood to tie up loose ends. Somerset Apprentice asked me for some pictures, and I wanted to show a variety of different styles of work that I do, so it was a good time to finish these three things.

This wooden box/fairy house had been waiting for some feet. Beth gave me these salt cellars and I added the words inside them and glued them onto the bottom of the box.

The finishing touch that it needed was this brown velvet ribbon and old rhinestone buckle.

I had thought that the box was too plain before and wasn't satisfied. But I'm happy with the feet and the belt now.

Inside is a large Charlotte fairy in her millinery rose nest. All of these pieces have the common theme of "nests" even though they are different styles of work. I'll let you know when they show up in the magazine, its always exciting when those come in the mail, even though I've done dozens of articles, its still a pleasant shock when I see my work published. Its one more thing to be thankful for this holiday weekend!