magazine pictures or articles – Page 3

Charming flocks

By Karla Nathan / June 25, 2011

While my computer was being worked on and reworked on and worked on again by the Geek Squad for two weeks, I sure missed having access to photo editing and to my blog! I know that there is a way to do it all from my marvelous, beloved, Ipad, but I sure don't know how.

$3.50 each

After showing you the glittered charms for the Bird Swap tag book swap, I had a lot of requests for them, and sold quite a few in the Boutique. Enough that I needed to order a few more for the swaps! So, being me, instead of ordering what I needed, I ordered another 100 or so. And painted them.

The ones I did before were meant for decorative use and people were asking me about using them as jewelry. Since the glue I used for the glitter was water based, that wasn't such a good idea. So I made some of these up, non-glittered and top coated with poly.

They should be durable for normal use, and would be so cute on a charm bracelet!

$3.50 each, sold as a set for $14

There are a bunch in the Boutique now if you are interested. But I'm off to see the Guncles in Jacksonville, so can't mail them till I get back. All orders will be shipped on Wed. the 29th.

While I was in Texas, Beth was flipping through this magazine I'd brought along and she saw a kid that looked like Sugarwings. It WAS her. I didn't even notice that article was in there! What a lovely surprise. Beth notices things better than I do.

Beth also noticed that the link to my publication page, with a few of my magazines on it was not working and I just now emailed Hope about it. That lady fixed it within moments. I swear, if you ever need to hire a blog redo-er, Paper Relics is the one to pick. Thanks, Hope!!

By the way, Hope as a redo at her blog, and its really cool, very unique. Plus, she is giving away free images, check it out here.

The winner of an online dress form tutorial is:

Amy Carver

And I'll be drawing another name next week. If you already have signed up for the class you can win a kit with everything you need to make the dress form.

This was pre-posted while I am visiting the Guncles in Florida. I'll be checking emails on my Ipad (or pink princess computer, as Sugarwings calls it), but will be busy swilling champagne and singing show tunes with my baby brother, so might not have a chance to answer comments.

If you sign up for the Mini Dress form tutorials, I will send you the password. All orders from the Boutique will be sent out on Wed. the 29th.

Good stuff, messy stuff, odd stuff, new stuff

By Karla Nathan / May 25, 2011

Its always nice to see an article with one of my pretties in it. And how nice to see two together here in Somerset Studios Gallery. (summer issue)

The cover had me drooling. What a gorgeous selection of art work and colors.

And even better news, my bud, Beth, is in these two magazines- and she says she'll teach a class from one of the projects at my studio next time I have an arty weekend here for students.

Here is a not so attractive photo. Agnes Rosebud has a habit of scrounging the studio for playthings (some that are NOT hers) and piling them up in this area. I guess I should be glad that she doesn't do this any where else, just this corner of this one room.

She seems to think that anything on the floor, or near the floor (a low shelf, Sugarwing's doll house) is fair game. And if nothing is close enough, she'll hop right up on the work table and steal from me. Luckily, she isn't very destructive, just messy.

And she is smart enough to be embarrassed by her mess. Look at her try to slouch away. Of course, Twinks saw me get a camera out and had to pose. Any time she sees a camera in my hand, she stands ready for her close up. Even if I am taking a picture of the ceiling, she is at my feet posing and thinking its all about her.

Which kind of explains why I call them Dorkies. They are such silly, funny, little dorks.

Sugarbaby $12

While talking about studio oddities and messy stuff (no, not related to this photo, its of something added to the Boutique)- I have a computer bug.

Not a virus, a real LIVE bug. I saw a tiny gnat crawling on my screen and tried to smash it, only to find that it is living under the glass.

I hope it is full grown and not one of a billion tiny eggs that just hatched. I can live with one teensy little critter hanging out with me, but I hope this isn't the start of something.

Beaded clutch $8

I'll leave you with a few photos of some new stuff in the Boutique and on Etsy.

Don't forget, there is FREE shipping on all millinery for May Flowers (US only). There are 6 days left to have flowers delivered free of charge.

Vintage playing cards, 8 for $3

Pair of vintage tea towels $8

Registration is open for Paper Cowgirls!

antiques/junking, bird song art event, how-to projects, magazine pictures or articles, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / February 23, 2011

Paper Cowgirls is open for registration!

I've already signed up to take a couple classes and am really looking forward to the event. Over the last couple years, I have heard so many good things about it and have wanted to get down to Texas to give it a try.

And I am thrilled to be one of the teachers this year. Well, that is IF ten people sign up for my class…. If ten don't sign up, it gets cancelled.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Personally, its a class that I would sign up for, if it wasn't my class, I mean. I really like the piece we'll be creating. I spend lots of time working on the prototypes and figuring out the steps on how to make these mini dress forms.

An idea can be the easy part. Making it work isn't always as easy! It took me a while to fine tune the process and get it down good enough to show others how to do it. I had a practice class with some friends before I submitted the project to Paper Cowgirls. And I'll do a couple more practice classes with two other groups of friends before I head to Texas to actually get paid for showing people how to make them.

As I've visited my favorite antique stores, I've been keeping my eye out for great pieces to add to my kits. Last week, I came across a few bags full of these insulators. Won't they make cool toppers for these dress forms?

Here's another pile of toppers I've assembled. My plan is to have a wide variety for the students to chose from, so that all the end products are unique.

When I go to a class, I always take my extras. And usually from the Bestie pile I've been talking about lately. Because I like my own piece of art to look like MY OWN piece of art, not just like the teacher's.

Oh, I get a lot from the classes and enjoy and use the kits. And I seem to learn a lot from everyone sitting at the table with me. But- I do like my creation to look like I was the one creating it, so I bring supplemental goodies to add to the kit the teacher provided.

So, for Paper Cowgirls, just like I am with Bird Song, I am giving the students the opportunity to make their own choices. There will be kits of course, and they will be filled with lots of vintagey goodness. And since most of the stuff is vintage, not all will be just the same in each kit.

For some of the supplies, I want to have piles on the tables for everyone to pick through.

I'd rather they didn't have to bring their own unique things unless they really want to. I'd like to provide enough to make sure that while we all follow the same steps and instructions, everyone has the chance to veer off the beaten path a bit and art the piece up in the way that calls out to them.

And with all my classes, the students will be Using the Good Stuff! Look at these great laces I bought yesterday from Beth. She gave me a deal so wonderful that I can afford to treat all the students to nice, old lace.

We spent the day together, she let me help her redo her antique mall booth, and I'll have some photos of that for the next post. And she bought me lunch, then hauled me to Costco so I could mooch off of her membership and buy plates/cups/etc for Bird Song and for another gathering I have coming up.

Over all, this has been a great week. Well besides the awful cold that settled into a sinus infection. But now, I have myself heavily medicated for that and the pounding in my sinuses is just about gone. I had Sugarwings a few nights, which makes any week wonderful. Even though, at my age with a sinus infection, chasing a 4 year old and getting up with her in the middle of the night isn't as easy to do as it used to be. Its worth it.

Besides lots of Fairy Grand Baby time, and getting to spend a day with Beth to play decorator in her booth, and signing up for classes at Paper Cowgirls, I also got this copy of Somerset Apprentice in the mail.

I've never been in it before, and honestly had never seen it, I wonder if it is new? But it is GOOD. I read the whole thing cover to cover while I was in the Dr.'s office waiting room and was impressed with the photos and the layout, not to mention the directions.

The whole magazine is step-by-step directions from many artists. It was well done, easy to read and follow. I got some good tips from it! And it made an unpleasant visit to the Dr. go much better.

Hey, thanks for all the comments and emails about Using the Good Stuff. I think the subject was close to the hoader's heart in all of us!

Style Evolution party

antiques/junking, magazine pictures or articles, parties

By Karla Nathan / February 1, 2011

Has your look changed over the years? Mine used to constantly change, back when I was working full time as a decorative painter and antique dealer. My home was my workshop and where I experimented.

Now that I don't do either of those professions much, I've stopped the revolving door of furniture moving in and out, but I do still come up with some upgrades here and there.

This was my dining room a few years back, this photo is from Country Almanac, or Country Victorian, I can't remember which magazine.

Here is the dining room now. Less flowery, more neutral. Definitely less country. The hutch in the first photo was a maple one that my mom had, and when she died, I took it home with me and gave it a redo. But it never really fit in with my home, so I gave it to my niece.

Yet another version, this was in Paint magazine. Sometime between the two previous pictures. It was just a little too blue for me. I liked it for a while….

Now, this is a REALLY old version of my dining room (from Country Almanac). It was so different then that it used to be a living room! When we first bought this old farmhouse, we used to move the sofa to the room with the wood stove in it every winter, then switch the living and dining rooms back in the spring time.

I liked the idea of having a portable space, one that you could easily adapt for the seasons. But then, we got a satellite dish and all the TV hook ups and wires changed that concept. It became too hard to switch the entire room, the TV cabinet wasn't easy to move. (with my love of TV viewing, I'd trade a wide screen for versatility any day!)

I can still change the look of the living room for the season just by changing the accessories.

In the spring, I bring out all my rose pattern pillows and curtains, then in the winter, I like to go all white.

Here is a shot of the white version, taken by Carol Spinski when she photographed an article for Somerset Home.

This look was in Romantic Country. Its from when I first discovered white paint and learned how to make slipcovers. I fell in love with light and airy, but burnt out on the over the top floweryness of it all.

I can afford to do the big switcheroos because everything I get for the rooms is dirt cheap. I scrounge and shop garage sales, estate sales, auctions, and have been known to go through a dumpster or two. I find things that need work, are beat up, or on clearance and redo them myself. When I do treat myself to something new, its usually not expensive, like these curtains from Target, or the rug from TJ Max.

And I recycle things from one room to another, this salvaged mantel has been in the dining room, living room and now is a head board in my bedroom. (this photo is from Romantic Country too)

This shot was taken for Romantic Country, almost used twice but rejected at the last minute each time. Funny, I like this look so much better than the previous pictures of my house that were actually used in the magazines.

This was in Country Victorian, I think… there is that mantel again. And the same furniture, different slip covers. I wish I hadn't painted over the border by the ceiling, I kind of liked that.

This used to be what my studio looked like, not too long ago. Twice, I have been asked to be in Where Women Create, but nothing has come of it. I adore my studio and would LOVE for it to be photographed for that publication.

Here is the same corner now. I use the bench (hand built by my son, from an old headboard) at the studio dining table.

I feel pretty lucky to have been in so many magazines, probably about 40 or so at this point. I don't really pursue it, its a hobby. Every once in a while I come up with an idea and run it by an editor. I wouldn't exactly say its a job, even a part time one. Its just a whim, and every time I do an article I think its probably the last time, because I can't believe that I was even chosen to do one let alone dozens.

I'm certainly not a professional writer, or decorator , just one of those people who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Just lucky, huh? Its always fun to do an article, and I really do like having these old pictures chronicling my home's metamorphosis.

If you enjoy looking at before and afters, please check out Jen Rizzo's blog today, she is having a Style Evolution party and the pictures of her home are just to die for. Gorgeous!! She makes me want to redo mine….. hmm…..

By the way, if you'd like to come and visit me and spend time in the studio, sign ups for the spring workshop are coming soo. I'd love to have you come to the cottage! Meeting blog friends is always a good experiance.

Lucky

antiques/junking, family, housework, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2010

You guys are all pretty nice to have around, you know it? Thanks!

Its such a beautiful day here in Kansas, what a great October weekend. We are going downtown with good friends to hear some live music in the park, and to enjoy this weather. But before that….

I have to make a stab at cleaning out this.

It used to be my antique shop. Before that it was a chicken coop. And now we are thinking about turning it back into a chicken coop again.

So, I've been trying to get ahold of people who I thought might want some of the junk that is left over. I'd like to have the building empty by tomorrow. What no one takes will be on the curb, feel free to stop and look through my trash if you are driving by!

And this is only half the shed. The other side is just as bad.

I'd thought about turning it into a play house for Sugarwings, but the idea of fresh farm eggs is just too tempting. We already have some fencing we could slap onto the back of the building and we have some shelves that would make good roosting.

No matter what we do with it, I need to get it de-junked. This stuff has sat here for years, unused and unloved. I know there has to be someone who wants it. I thought about doing a rummage sale, but it turns out that I am too lazy. Cleaning it will be bad enough, but sitting out there early in the morning trying to sell stuff for quarters and dimes? Its better just to find homes for it all.

I had to tell myself that I've already made my profits from that business, and now I'm out of the antique shop biz and the rest of the inventory has to go. Do you ever hang on to stuff, knowing that its worth something? Well, this is GOOD junk, that for some reason just didn't sell. Wrong time, wrong place, I guess. But even though it is "worth something" its worthless to me just rotting in the shed.

The stuff deserves a new home. And I deserve a clean shed.

Untill the chickens poo all over the shed, at least. Not so clean then.

Have you seen the newest Somerset Life? Lots of blog friends are in it!

Including these pretty pages by my Texas shopping bud, Lisa.

I was lucky enough to score two articles in it. And that sweet Lisa actually called me to congratulate me on them! I don't think she has any idea how touched I was by her gesture.

See, around here, no one is very impressed by my work.

One article is about my peat pot frozen Charlotte fairies. The photography was really nice on this article, I loved the faded, blurred pastel backgrounds they used for the pics.

And I was excited to see that one of the upcoming challenges for artists is to use a peat pot in their own artwork and send it in. The deadline is Feb. 15th if you are going to make something for it.

And speaking of good pictures- my friend, Carol, took the photos of my house that are in the current Somerset Home.

I'm feeling pretty lucky right now. Not just being in two magazines on the stands at the same time, but in having good blog friends who leaped to my defense about the deleted post without even knowing the story behind it. Once everyone knew that it was the mom who didn't like what I said about the photos, everyone understood. Many of us were new moms at one time and knew completely how she felt.

And I'm lucky to have such a good family that pulls my foot out of my mouth for me every once in a while when I get it stuck there. And then they love me anyway, even with toe breath.

Pixies and Pixels

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

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, the horror of it all!

Its the Process that Counts

antiques/junking, celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Hand Painted Furniture, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, swaps, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 7, 2010

Lately, one of Sugarwing's favorite games is playing bride. Today I was lucky to find a vintage dress up bridal gown at a flea market, still in its original box! She spied it in the studio immediately and had to marry her puppy as soon as she could shimmy into the dress.

The dress is about 10 sizes too big for her, and kind of fragile. I'm not sure if its the right outfit for my little wild child to play in. Plus, now that she and the dog are already married, she doesn't really need to wear it anymore. It was a quick ceremony, but lovely and heartfelt, so the dress has had its use.

And we have the wedding photos from the day. Of course, she might want to save the gown, hoping that her daughter (or puppy?) will someday want to wear it, but it seems to me that most daughters want to pick out their own gown, and rarely wear mom's.

I might hang on to it for a while, to see if she asks about it again. If she's forgotten about it in a week or so, I have a feeling it will end up in the Boutique.

Another game we had fun with today, was "Find the Picture". My copy of Somerset Home has arrived, and it has the article about my home in it (with photos by Carol Spinski). Sugarwings looked at the pictures in the book and then found the spot in the house where they were taken.

She is much better at that game than my husband is. One time, when his mom was visiting from out of state, he was proudly showing her an article that I had written for Country Victorian and talking about the house and how these photos were of the room upstairs, and those were of the kitchen before we remodeled. I looked over his shoulder and saw that the article wasn't even mine.

The photos weren't even of our own house.

That is why I can do anything at all to my cottage and foof it up any old way I please. My husband doesn't even notice! He could live in a pink cotton candy explosion of a doll house and not know the difference. That gives me full license to foof!

Of course, over the years, there have been a lot of changes and I can't blame him for not being able to keep up with what our house looks like. When I was in the furniture painting and antique biz, the look would change weekly sometimes. If I found something wonderful at a garage sale, it would go right into the house and the piece it replaced would go to the mall.

Now that I don't sell furniture, the revolving door has slowed down. But I do like a change now and then, and mostly get it by repainting and rearranging.

This photo is of my studio a few years back. I've added it and a few more pictures to the Where Bloggers Create Studio Tour (hosted by Karen Valentine) post I did a while back, and added a button to my side bar with a link to that posting, if anyone wants to see some of the past looks I've had in the room.

As a matter of fact, while out junking and scrounging today, I found a new glass door cabinet to fill with supplies, so my studio is getting another mini redo this week too. I'll have some more pictures to add in the next couple of days.

Since I don't have the antique business anymore, I try to keep myself entertained with smaller foofing projects. Gift wrapping has become a big hobby of mine. This is a package sent out this week, it was a Bible Quotes booklet, so I wrapped it in hymnal sheet music and tied a little cross to the ribbon.

No matter how big or small the project is, its "the process that counts". Beth and I quote Jenny Doh to each other with that line a lot since we heard her speak at Kim's event in California. That phrase struck us both, as good words to live by. As an artist, its not always the end product that counts, its the process and the love of creating.

So, if I can't remake a room on a monthly basis anymore (yes, I was pretty bad, Beth called me a serial painter), I can get my fix in the little things I do and love the process, no matter what I am spending my time on.

Simply being creative brings joy. To paraphrase Horton the Elephant, "A project's a project, no matter how small."

If you feel like being creative with me, I hope you'll join us for a small project. 6 tags with a Dorothy theme in a collaborative tag book swap. Email me if you want to join! Just click on the button on my sidebar for more info.

We have 40 some people entered to swap so far, and room for YOU too!

Happy and sparkling

Books, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, magazine pictures or articles, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / July 9, 2010

My gazebo planter boxes rarely do well. I don't know why. This year, I planted colorful foliage instead of flowers and that seems to be a good fix for the problem.

The violets are wild, and I like the look of them. Its always nice when nature adds her own touch to my gardening!

Of course, adding Agnes Rosebud is always a nice bonus. She's a sweet little posy!

After visiting Carol and Fifi (by the way, she really is FABULOUS!) I stopped at the mall while I was in Kansas City to find some new sandals for my trip to California. The mall is a rare trip for me, I'm a Goodwill, garage sale, and TJMax shopper.

The parking lot I like is covered and out of the heat, but the doors open into Neiman Marcus- or Needless Markup, as I call it. I don't shop there much because I'm cheap. But as I stepped into the door, these jewel encrusted sandals were the first thing I saw and, I had to pick them up and drool over admire the sparkly rhinestones!

Since I was already in love, I was afraid to flip them over and see how much they were, but I sucked up the courage, braced myself and took a peek.At first I thought the tag read $158. And I was not surprised. That's pretty typical there.

But they were only $58! And now they are mine. And for that price, I can still afford a pedicure to go along with them!

Little Aggie Rose takes after her mom, Twinkle and thinks every photo is of her. By the way, Twinkle is posing too, but got cropped out. They both see a camera and start to ham it up.

Yesterday, I took everyone's advice and returned to the salon for a do over. It was a good idea, I much prefer a brighter look, and the hair dresser was sweet as can be about it. No charge, so I gave her a $20 tip.

I was feeling very happy and sparkly inside after the good news about the new baby, so wanted to look sparkly outside too.

My earrings are from Curious Sofa. Hand made
from Victorian buttons, and I just love them. Normally, I make my own
jewelry or wear vintage, but I'm a sucker for anything Debbie has to
sell… I love that store. She's sold my jewelry there before too. Its
an honor to sell there, she has such great taste.(here is some of my hand made earrings, on this page)

So, since I've been splurging, with new shoes, new hair color, and earrings I'd better get some things listed in my own shop and recoup some of the cash I blew.

When I cleaned up the studio last week, I filled a 33 gallon container with stuff I need to photograph and sell.
One tub doesn't sound like a lot, but when a bunch of it is jewelry pieces, it feels like a LOT. The tub is brimming with little things.

So far, there isn't much of a dent in the box.

But I'm working on it. Here is some of what I snapped pix of today. Which doesn't exactly mean that I've got it in the Boutique yet…. but its coming!

The best news EVER

Books, family, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 7, 2010

The superduper, extra strong, magnifying, scrutinizing, high def sonogram says that the baby is FINE. Fine, just fine. What better news could any grammie get?

Thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes and commiserating stories. It helped to have you guys to "talk" to while I was freaking out.

The baby's mama kept saying that she could feel that the baby had good energy and was okay. I wish I could have been as calm while waiting to find out.

Sugarwings hung out with me while all the testing was going on today, and we mostly played outside in the sweltering humidity. We went for a long walk in the woods and told scary stories about the Big Bad Wolf. I've yet to find anything that kid is afraid of, her favorite part of any story is the scary part.

She was over here about 5 hours today, and I am shocked that I was able to accomplish anything after playing with her out in the heat. (I'm still hot flashing from having my Premarin dosage cut in half, and the heat has been gruesome. My reaction to it is much scarier than any Big Bad Wolf)

I was able to make these two books in the little snippets of time I could grab here and there. The fairy grand baby went and laid down to watch a movie with my poor sick, husband. Remember how much I enjoyed a day to myself to putter in the studio while he was resting up with a sore throat?? Well, I feel really bad about that now, the poor guy has strep throat and had to be rushed to the Dr. yesterday with a fever so high he was delirious and crazy. He's better today, and appreciated Sugarwing's company.

I was surprised to hear from the Dr. that strep throat isn't that easy to catch and to not worry about the little one catching it unless she was drinking from the same cup. Or getting kisses. So, I let the two of them have some quiet time while I tried to recover from the humidity and hot flashes with a bit of nice air conditioned, peaceful studio time. Creating took my mind off the endless waiting to hear what the Super Duper Sonogram had to say too.

This darker book is made from a cabinet card folder, and filled with ephemera and water color paper pages that I stitched together.

Notice the initials on the tag? I found a brooch with C S on it, ideal for a gift to give to my buddy, Carol Spinski!

Her home is being photographed tomorrow by Fifi and I wanted to make a scrapbook/album for her to put copies of the pictures in. I found some French text about homes to use, and I sure don't know what it says, but its purdy. I thought it was fitting, since the Fabulous Fifi is French.

Looking through my stash, I found old pictures of farmhouses to use as accents.

There was a portrait in this card that I tore out, and I kind of liked the texture the glue left underneath. So, I didn't cover it up all the way, I just inked over the torn cardboard a bit with two colors of brown, and then added my embellishments over it.

The other book is for Fifi. Its more of a notebook, or journal for her trip to the Midwest to photograph farmhouses and also features old homesteads. Its a bit foofier than Carol's book.

I included garden pages from old magazines, and items with a "home" theme. And whenever I do one of these keepsake books, I always add lots of envelopes for tucking things away.

This book is made from one large piece of flocked wallpaper. I folded it in half and sewed all the way around the edges. Then, I turned up the bottom 1/3 to the inside, and stitched that to make a pocket all the way across the lower portion of the interior of the cover.

After stitching the cover together, I gathered water color paper and ephemera to make the pages and sewed them in.

Carol graciously let me invite myself over to say hi during the photo shoot. I've worked with Fifi before, but only over the phone, never in person.

I'm not known to be shy. So, of course, I asked if I could come over and visit and meet Fifi.

I promised to stay out of the way and keep my mouth shut, but offered to help if needed. I've gophered enough times during photo shoots to be helpful if they need someone. And I'm bringing a cake and some flowers. You never know what you might need for styling, and sometimes a piece of cake is just the right touch in a photo, or a simple pot of white flowers is a good filler in the background.

If its not needed, we can just eat the cake. It won't go to waste!

I've also styled enough shoots to know that another opinion isn't wanted, and I'll not bother them with mine. If I'm in the way, I'll say my 'nice to meet yas' and head out after delivering the goodies. But I've also known from shoots that I've done in the past, that sometimes, another body can be nice to have around for running errands, ironing something, trimming back a branch, tying up a loose end, or fetching a glass of water.

I'm a handy gopher.

Another editor that I've done articles for but have never met is Barbara Jacksier. Its ironic that tomorrow while I'm meeting Fifi, I am missing an opportunity to talk to Barbara during a live online chat and meet her!

I hope that you can tune into the chat and ask her some decor info. She
has always seemed like such a nice person, I'm sure she is easy to talk
to. And boy, does she KNOW her stuff!

Here is the info you need to visit her:

She is going to be on their Home Front
live chat as a follow up to her book.

It's Thursday July 8 from 11 AM
til noon. Please spread the word.

The Live Chat link is http://live.washingtonpost.com/home-front-07-08-10.html if that doesn't automatically link click
on www.barbarajacksier.com

A box full of Mermaids

fairies, how to's, magazine pictures or articles, parties, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 28, 2010

Do you love Lisa as much as I do? I'm kicking myself for not going to Paper Cowgirls. It would have been great to have a chance to hang out with her in person. If she is half as much fun as she is on her blog, she'd be a blast.

So, of course, I was happy to participate in her soap box challenge. The box is kind of like egg carton texture, and to me looked like a perfect little shadow box frame.

Since I'll soon be heading out to Kim's event in California, I thought I'd get myself into a mermaid mood and turn my mini shadow box into an under sea treasure chest.

I've heard wonderful things about Kim and her art affairs. I'm so glad to finally be going to one. My husband will be flying out with me and going on a brothers golfing trip for the weekend while I am with the arty crowd. Then, he and I are meeting up for a spa get away. The company he works for owns some luxury resorts, and we were able to score some rooms for fantastic employee rates.

I'm going to feel like a princess. Or at my age I should say Dowager Queen? And an itchy, poison ivy crusted one at that. If I don't get this crud cured, I won't be doing much spa time.

Since I am soon to be treated like royalty at a couple top of the line resorts in California and spend an entire weekend filled with creative fun with friends, I'm already feeling a bit royal with the anticipation of it all. That influenced me to add a "crown" to my shadow box.

The sparkly topper is made of a corner bracket from an old photo album with a rhinestone necklace glued over it, and a rhinestone clasp underneath.

My sea creatures are made with two sizes of frozen Charlottes, with the smaller one in back and glued directly to background, and a larger one in front, raised up by gluing her to a button and shell. I thought this might give it some depth.

The Charlottes have mermaid tails made up of paper clay, that has been painted and glittered. I added crowns of German foil and crystals to their heads.

Each is glued down pretty solid, but their sea horse friend is suspended from a wire, so that she sways a bit. The seahorse charm was gold toned, and I drew on it with a black sharpie, and wiped that off a little, then wiped some white paint over that. I also swiped a swatch of white paint over her wire so it didn't stand out so much. If I were to do this over again, I'd use fishing line instead of wire, because the wire is still prominent even with the paint.

The box sits in a plate stand that I wrapped in vintage ribbon. For a touch of extra gaudiness, I tied an aqua ribbon to the front of the stand and dangled a star fish charm from it. Because by the time I'd got to that stage of creation, the gaudiness was already pretty thick and I thought I should just go for it and gaudy it up even more. Once you've crossed the line of over doing something, there's no turning back and you might as well just revel in it.

See what I mean? There is a LOT of foof happening here. The inside of the box perfectly fit an old button card with the words "Mermaid Pearls" on it, along with two buttons.

Along the inside walls, I glued ruffles sewn from pattern paper, then I edged it with a strand of pearls.

Then, the cut out on the lid was lined ink, glitter and a lace ruffle.

The large parts of the box were covered in aqua wallpaper that has a nice sheen to it. The sides of the box have a raised edge where the lid meets the bottom, and it looked just too hard to cover in paper. So, I ran a bead of glue around it, and wrapped a ribbon around it, gathering as I stuck it into the glue.

Yep, this project was just what I needed to start feeling like a Mermaid Princess and get me in the mood for my trip. Its been a rough week, and I look forward to a get away.

Thank you to everyone who shared scary pregnancy stories with happy outcomes, that encouragement helped. And thanks for all of your well wishes and prayers. I'm doing my best to stay distracted until we get news from the Dr. about the newest member of our family.

And a big thanks to Lisa for hosting this party! It was a fun challenge and a well needed distraction for me.

I'm sending Lisa a had that I thought was suitable for her palette of colors. She always seems to appreciate my hat whispering skills, so I thought I'd share.

Puppy Not Included

Today I was also able to finish up my articles for Somerset Life. One is about this altered book.

The other was about my Peat Pot Pretties with frozen Charlotte fairies. And remember, that this one is the giveaway for June. All comments all month are entered.

I'm also giving away another present from my followers. So, please join in on my list if you'd like to be in the running for that gift, a pair of vintage rhinestone earrings.