Painting with thread – Karla's Cottage

Heartfelt

Good JuJu, Hearts, Painting with thread, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / January 22, 2025

January’s sale at Good Juju was cut short due to horrid, terrible, awful, nasty, cold, blizzardy weather.

Surprisingly, we had quite a few customers brave the oncoming storm and shop with us. I was quite pleased and thankful that those guests came to see us.

Still, it wasn’t quite a full crowd.

Typically, holiday goods are sold in advance of the actual month of the celebrations, so January is when most of my Valentine inventory would be on display. Since we didn’t have our regular, larger turnout, I’m using that as an excuse to keep making heart themed crafts and bringing them in, even though the sale is only one week before the holiday.

Honestly, I love making hearts. And in my opinion, they aren’t seasonal. I figure I can keep bowls of velvet and lace hearts out year round. Right now, they look like they are blatantly Valentine’s Day items. But without the candy boxes and other decor around them, I think I can keep on making these to bring in.

But not this one, it is going as a gift to someone special.

I did get a photo

flowers, Painting with thread

By Karla Nathan / November 17, 2021

On an earlier post I showed this shirt in progress and said I didn’t have a finish of it completed. But then, I saw this one and realized I was sorta wrong. There is more to the design, with leaves and embellishments on the other side of the shirt too. But at least I did have a picture of this flower finished.

Pink Roses Galore

flowers, Painting with thread, paintings

By Karla Nathan / November 4, 2021

I’ve been on a pink roses kick. This one was done this week.
(The rose on the left side, second row down needs work, huh? A bit wonky)

Here is a close up. I like the layers and depth in this one. It’s a little different than the others I painted before my trip.

This shirt got an embroidered rose. But not pink!

I didn’t get a final picture before giving it away, this is a “during” photo. You can see the drawing, done in water washable marker, but as I work on these things, I don’t always follow my sketches, so it turned out a bit different.

I can’t remember if I showed you some of the other paintings.

As you can tell, they all kinda look alike. I showed one to Kia and she said, “Didn’t you just paint that one last week?”

Lavender

Painting with thread

By Karla Nathan / July 8, 2021

My buddy has been working part time at a lavender farm. So, for her birthday, I attempted a lavender inspired tee shirt for her.

I was going for muted colors and might have lost the feel of the flowers it was supposed to be. But my intentions were good!

Trying to be creative

Corona virus, cottage, dogs, family, Painting with thread, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / February 4, 2021

The malaise of 2020 is spilling over into 2021 for me. I have made efforts to be creative and busy, but haven’t had any project consume me, like they have in the past.

Lots of embroidery happened, because it’s kind of a mindless task, just to keep my hands busy in front of the TV.

I’ve had some studio time, but it is all a lot of simple projects, like doodling on this tag.

Or trying to make my own dog tags. I have also painted a lot of things, repaired and reorganized. But most were “one of”. Nothing prolific, as I have always been in the past. Typically, if I make something, I can’t stop and next thing you know, there are twenty of them.

I made a scrapbook for Ryan, fairy wings with the grand fairies, and added a vinyl floor to the closet/laundry room.

That was a long delayed job, and has made the floor much warmer.

I even decided that I’d start grooming the dogs myself.

At least the little dogs.

So, I’ve kept busy. I’ve gone for long walks, had socially distant visits with friends, and stayed active. I think the unease and uncertainty in the world because of the virus, and the unimaginable loss of my son who was also one of my best friends has dampened my drive.

We have a camper trip planned, and I hope to clear my mind and refresh my soul with some sea air. When I get back, I’d like to work on reopening my shop. It’s not exactly closed, but it is ignored right now. It would be good for me to revamp and restock for spring.

It has been important to me that I don’t lose myself to the sadness, that I keep crafting, creating, contributing. And while nothing will ever be the same, I am slowly trying to rebuild my world.

Painting with thread on black

dogs, family, flowers, Goldendoodle Puppies, Painting with thread

By Karla Nathan / December 29, 2020

Once the puppies were living in their new homes in November, I found myself at a loss on what to do with my time. Those babies were pretty much a 24 hour a day job for me for months. Those guys needed so much care they really kept me hopping and I had no time for creativity.

Molly just did not understand when I went from Puppy Servant back to my own life, she had only known me as the lady who spent every waking hour (and some during the night) catering to the needs of her and her fluffy sibs.

Not that she wasn’t still getting plenty of attention, but I was also doing some things just for me too.
She soon figured out that she could lay on my feet while I stitched. As long as I was close, she accepted that I wasn’t playing with or petting her.

I am still not completely caught up on sleep, Molasses needs to potty a couple of times during the night, but I have convinced her that 5am wake up calls are not acceptable to me and that she needs to go back into her kennel until at least six.

Some days, she has even made it to seven, if I put Honey in there with her!

She is a very mild mannered, calm girl. But when she needs to go out at 3am, she is quite insistent.
While I am not sleeping as much as I wish I was, It is enough that my spark is returning. I had this shirt to embroider for my sweet, hippie kid who loves flowers.

Since I mailed his gift box to North Carolina, and he surprised us by hiding under the tree and popping out on Christmas Eve, I don’t know if it fit him, or if I got a little too dainty with the flowers. If it isn’t what he wanted, he can pass the shirt along to Sugarwings and I will stitch another.

It felt good to be working on a project again and I’d enjoy an excuse to do more. But not a black shirt. That was more difficult than any other stitchery I have done. Typically I use a washable marker to draw on the fabric, but on black, none showed up. I was making it up as I sewed with this one.

I’m sure Molly would be happy to keep me company if I need to work on another shirt. And I appreciate the warm toes on a cold night when she does.

Back to Stitching

Painting with thread, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / December 2, 2020

This tee shirt was started as a birthday gift for a friend in September. Then, 16 puppies took over my world and everything else fell to the side.

I loved those babies to pieces, but damn, they were a lot of work!

The fact that I spent any extra time that I had playing, snuggling, and training them didn’t help. Well, I guess it did, it helped me. Happy, wriggling puppies wanting to share love are pretty wonderful. But fleeting, they grow so fast.

I didn’t want to miss a moment of it, so I put everything else on hold.

My friend’s September gift got to her in November instead.
The flower looks a little bit like a poinsettia, so maybe it was meant to be a holiday gift after all.