paintings – Page 18 – Karla's Cottage

Homework

fairies, paintings, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 9, 2008

Isn’t this mat wonderful? I bought a book full of them this summer – and full of old photos too!

I finished the little sketch that I had started 20 years ago and just stumbled across the other day. My sissy reminded me that it is of our Grandma Smith. Although, after I added to it, it doesn’t seem to look as much like her, I might have slimmed her face down a bit too much with the shadows.

Oh well, I still think it will be a good picture to use for the "Portrait Rustique" class that Kim Kwan is teaching at Silver Bella. We were told to bring a photo, a mat and a frame. I’ll bring some others in case this isn’t quite right, or I am not in the mood to use it. Gotta have choices when its time to sit down and make something!

While at it, I got some more "home work" done.

For Sally Jean’s soldering class we need to bring prepared artwork in three sizes: 1×1", 1×1 1/2", and 3/4×2".

I printed a bunch of my original paintings and a few old pictures on the printer’s ‘contact sheet’ setting. Then, I glimmer misted some old book pages and started gluing little pictures to it.

All of the little pictures got enhanced with sparkly inks.

Some got painted backgrounds.

And a couple got millinery blooms.

All are left on the page, since it will be easier to transport and harder to lose that way.

Good idea, because today I am such a loser. I am turning in circles looking everywhere for stuff I have misplaced. One thing I can’t find is a big travel bag to pack all my supplies in. Now there are only so many places that could be, and so far it is in none of them.

Hopefully I won’t lose all these little pictures now that they are ready to pack. I’m bringing a big assortment, plus extra small prints just in case, I never know what I’ll need, or what I will lose on the way there….

Over the Rainbow

paintings, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 6, 2008

Today is a Sugarwings Day, she and I have been painting rainbows (for her Dorothy doll) and having fairy tea parties. This kid knows all the words to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and will burst into song at any rainbow she sees. Trouble is, you can’t understand much of what she is saying, you just hear the word "rainbow" here and there in the song. I think she sings in Fairy Language.

Wow, thanks for the kind hearted responses to my mean comment! I really appreciate them all. I know that there is a big problem in the world with pet over population, but I think the problem leans more towards puppy mills than people like me who have a few little babies that are adored and coddled!

And by the way, there is already a waiting list for Twinkettes, these puppies will have wonderful homes.

I cleaned my studio last night after Sugarwings went to bed and came across this half done drawing, that must have been started 20 years ago and forgotten. Looks like I had a good start, I wonder why I stopped? Maybe I’ll do something with it now.

After looking through the "Where Women Create" magazine, I felt the need to spiff up a bit! I don’t know when my studio will be photographed, but I wanted to be ready. I think that anyone who reads this first issue of the magazine will feel the same way and want to dig in and redo something in their work areas. The pictures are very inspirational!

The changes I made to my room are the tables. I brought this white table downstairs from the library, where it really wasn’t being used at all, and put away a folding table that I can pull out and set back up when friends come to craft days.

Since this wooden table was shorter than the folding table, I finally had space for this little $3 green table from a garage sale and the chippey pink cabinet from the Sparks and White Cloud flea market.

At first, I was going to paint the table white, but I kind of like it green, since the chair has a green patterned slipcover. What do you think?

Well, I’m off to Curious Sofa’s pre-open house party! Don’t worry, there will be tons of photos!!! I feel pretty lucky to get an invitation to go to this party. Well, actually, I am tagging along with Carol, she is the one invited.

Autumn Gathering

jewelry, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, parties, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 23, 2008

Today there is an autumn gathering at Artsy Mama’s, and even though I don’t do much in the way of fall decor, I had to participate, just because Kari throws such fun parties!

To battle the fall chills, I trade out my summer curtains for some heavier wwight, velvet ones, and bring out a warm quilt.

The crazy quilt thrown over the arm of the sofa was made by my mom, so I get a double dose of warmth from it, one from the actual quilt and the other from warm memories of my mom’s hugs.

(That small chest being used for a coffee table is full of Sugarwing’s toys. I guess I should cover the inside of the wire screen, the toys are peeking through!)

One of my favorite garage sale finds this year is the vintage, framed white witch for $2. She is set out on the table for Halloween, but I might just keep her around a while.

Since I am trying to get ready for Silver Bella, I have skipped over fall pretty much. Last year, I was participating in a Christmas Home Tour and that kept me hopping, so autumn was over looked then too. Maybe next year, I can go whole hog, but for now, I will just enjoy all the elaborate displays I see in blogland.

Remember when I said I was all done making jewelry for the year and put all the supplies away? hmmm, my crafting whims don’t seem to follow the schedules I set for myself. I ended up painting these charms yesterday, so that means, the crystals, jump rings and tools need to come back out again!

Yesterday was also "Fun with Buttons Day" here in my studio. I painted a few to see how that went, and I think that they did fine. I lightly sanded some Mother Of Pearl buttons before painting them, then topped them off with paper glaze.

Other buttons were turned into magnets.

This ceiling tin message board was featured in Somerset Life, I am taking it to Silver Bella, and added some more magnets to it to sell.

They range from $1.50- $4 and as I was pricing the button magnets, and some other $2 and $3 items, I was wondering to myself just how much crap I had to sell to make this show worth doing if I was selling so much of the inventory at such low prices??? Oh well, it is the thrill of making it and the fun of setting up and talking with everyone as they look through it all that makes it all worth doing.

Here is a magnet that isn’t a button, it is a vintage box that I had some beads in. Won’t it be cute on someone’s fridge with a surprise tucked in it? I glued two magnets to the back of it, so it would be sturdy enough to use.

While I was gluing away, I replaced some missing rhinestones on the lid of this old pill box.

And of course, that wasn’t enough! I lined it with flocked wallpaper and fitted the inside with a crown.

The sweet little birdy in the martini glass got a crown too. Hers is one of the gutter screen crowns I made from Carol’s design for the Romantic Country article we did together.

Yum, this says fall to me! We brought in green tomatoes from the garden to finish ripening and so far, they are turning as we had hoped!

Sorry I didn’t have much more in the way of Harvest decor to show you, but I can promise tons of it if you go visit Kari and follow her links to parties across blog land!

If you are here for the party and are new to my blog, please check the previous post for details about my giveaway. I have presents to give out and all you need to do is leave a comment on any post to enter.

Enjoy the autumn pretties out there!

ps- thanks to everyone who commiserated with me about my poor nose. It doesn’t seem broken, just slightly green and lumpy today and feels much better!

And speaking of giveaways- look at this gown!!

Details here.

Two Tasha Tudor Tags

Books, celebrations, paintings, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 28, 2008

Isn’t Tasha Tudor an amazing woman? Her work is so sweet and simple, but her lines say so much. She certainly had a way with a brush and a pencil!

To check out other bloggers who are posting about Miss Tudor on her birthday, visit Clarice for more info.

In Tasha’s honor, I did a couple of quick little drawings in her style.

I’m not trying to be a copy cat, just doing an homage to sweet characters in my favorite book of hers.

I’ve made the drawings into tags, and decked them out in my own style.

The book that I love so much is "1 is One" and a blogger friend mailed it to Sugarwings last year on her 1st birthday.

I keep it stored out of her grabby, little, rippy hands for now. I only take it down to read it to the fairy grandbaby when I can hold onto it, so it stays in one piece.

Two year olds and cherished books don’t mix well.

This is the back of my tags, they are covered in pink flocked wallpaper.

I didn’t copy the pictures exactly, just used elements of the pages to make my own picture.

One tag is a gift for a friend’s daughter. The other one is for sale.

I’ll be out of town, so won’t have a chance to list it on Etsy tomorrow. If you are interested in my little tag painting, it is $18.

Please leave a comment or email me if you want to buy it.

While I was making the two Tasha Tudor tags today to treat…..OK, sorry, that was going a bit far with the alliteration.

Anyway, I made more tags from the same materials. These have a Silver glaze on the front, and lots of silver accents, and are pink flocked on the back.

I’ll add some silver glitter later on. It wouldn’t be Silver Bella without Glitter! But I’m out of time tonight.

These hand painted cupcakes on a silver background will each be tied to a Silver Bella Pre Swap package.

Notice that my friend, Carol has a chocolate cupcake? She isn’t a pink girl like most of the swappers.

Silver Bella has been a great way to meet new friends. Carol and I got to know each other there last year and this year, we did a magazine article together.

Jen Hayslip is another Bella, that I have gotten to know. She is having her home photographed for Romantic Country and I will be writing the article about it for Fifi. I’m excited, this will be a fun one to do! Gee, I am lucky to have this article lined up, along with all of the others I have coming out. I certainly don’t take them for granted. And I seem to be on a roll lately!

The Cuppy Cake Song works magic

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), magazine pictures or articles, paintings, redos, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 27, 2008

Sugarwings loves her new play dough from Robin! She spent about 3 hours in the studio with me while I worked and I was able to get a lot done, as long as we sang and talked and I sat down to make things with her here and there.

She sculpted play dough for about an hour, then was ready to move on to an hour of markers, then an hour of paint. I was amazed that a 2 year old could be as obsessive about working in the studio as I am! We are definitely related.

Robin scented and colored the play dough with Kool Aide, so there was a lot of sniffing, and calls for "Mell this one Grammy!"

By the 3rd hour of artwork, she was wearing only a diaper and war paint, with stickers up and down her arms and play dough in her hair. She started out cute though.

We played in the garden hose a while after this.

While the fairy grand baby worked on her crafts, I redid Lou Wanda and Lucinda.

They’ve been with me forever, used as jewelry displays. I’ve tried to use them for blog photos, but they are so dark, it never works well.

So, I decided to go for a lighter, brighter look, but wanted to keep their feet as is, I had painted flowers on them years ago and still like that part.

This is a remnant of a favorite fabric of mine, it was the last little bit left, but not quite enough. So I decided to do a crazy quilt look, with different shaped patches cut out and glued down. I left frayed edges showing, and was happy with the look.

I’d cut a piece of fabric, then glue it on and trim off the excess, till I filled in the whole form.

Then, I lightly sanded the black knob on top and painted it shell pink with crackles, added vintage beaded trim and a millinery flower.

Now, Lou Wanda is dressed in that prom dress I couldn’t zip up. And seeing it on her, I understand why!!

Yes, that is a dog sitting on my dining table, but actually, the table is for work, not food.

And yes, that is an extremely thick layer of filth on that mirror on the wall. I just bought it for $2 and it needs cleaned up and repainted. Its on the wall now to get it up off the floor and out of my way.

Of course, not a lot of the fabulous fabric shows while Lou Wanda is wearing the prom gown, but she won’t always be dressed, so I am glad I covered all of her up.

Lucinda got the same treatment, but with an assortment of creamy upholstery fabrics left over from a slip cover project.

She also has some cut up doilies stuck to her and a spray of old, perfectly smooshy velvet leaves.

I dressed her in an old half slip.

I’m still shocked that Sugarwings worked on her projects the whole time I worked on mine. I have to thank Jennifer Hayslip for some help, she has a song playing on her blog right now, that the baby loves. We looked it up on line and played it over and over and over for hours.

And I still can’t get the words right. I am hopeless at learning lyrics. I always end up making up my own.

After Sugarwings went home, singing her own version of the Cuppy Cake Song, I made up a few wallpaper journals and packed up tidbits to sell along with them for the new owners use to for embellishments.

Jenny Doh might be interested in them for Somerset Life, but of course, that is never official until she sees them in person and makes up her mind then. Some things they use, others they send back. I certainly don’t take it for granted that they will be used, and I also don’t get hurt or sad when things are not accepted.

I’ve juried art shows and craft shows myself and understand the process. "Not accepted" rarely means "REJECTED", in the negative sense. It just means, "not what we were looking for this time".

But I did get some good news! My studio will be in a future issue of "Where Women Create"! This is a new magazine coming out from Somerset (don’t they have the most diverse and interesting selection of publications?) based on the book by Jo Packham.

So, I decided to do something about my seating in the studio. I found a cheapo computer chair and slipped a cover over it and tied a rose from Holly to it.

Who knew that a slipcover meant for a dining chair would work??? I had one (from a garage sale) in my linen closet and thought it was worth a try, and hey, perfect fit and length, I don’t roll over the hem at all.

And it is so comfy. I used to have just a hard backed chair from a garage sale to sit on, and if I sat there too long, my legs fell asleep.

While Sugarwings crafted, I not only covered the two dress forms and spiffed up my chair, I also got this gift wrapped up. It is the 1950s House Wife Kit for my August giveaway, already to be mailed to you. Well, to one of you. Just leave a comment and it might be YOU.

Tomorrow I am going to Sparks and White Cloud with my BFF Beth to shop at our favorite Flea Market. Maybe I’ll pick up something there for September’s giveaway.

Before I leave for the day, I hope to post something for this event, a tribute to Tasha Tudor.

Check out Clarice’s site for info.

I’d like to paint a little tribute to Miss Tudor, since I am supposed to have my paints out to work on another project. Man, my days are not long enough…..

Pretty Pretty!

fairies, give away, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 25, 2008

A box bursting with happiness just came to my door! I swear, this Pre-Bella Swap is one of the most fun swaps, ever!

All of the women involved have extraordinary style and the packets of goodies they made up show it.

This came today from Jennifer. And it is sweet, sweet eye candy indeed, plus some real candy!!

And, oh my gosh, look what Holly sent!!!!!!!!!!

Those velvety flowers are amazing, lovely, and lush.

Not all the packages are here yet, but the table sure looks filled up, huh?

New homes have already been found in the art studio for some of the presents Holly and Jen sent along to me, I’ve used them in this centerpiece.

And when I cleaned the studio this week, I found the perfect storage spot for my unplucked old hats. (the plucked flowers are already sorted and stored elsewhere). They are all smooshed into the glass doored buffet in the alcove. The one with the crookedy candlesticks.

These sweet girl from Jen is actually a bell. I see fairy wings in her future…..

Look at that heart shaped little smoocher.

Her sis is nestled into a compote of flowers I received from Andrea.

And Taaa Daaa!! My studio is cleaned! I’m done, I’m done!! Just in time for Sugarwings to have a sleepover tonight and play in her new mini studio.

I’ve been working on this for almost a week. Hopefully, having this hopefully more functional arrangement will make me more productive and hopefully make up for the week I spent on it…. hopefully….

Everything is out in the open, easy to see and find, or at least the drawers have tags so I can remember what is where.

I don’t know that I am crazy about having a plastic table cloth over my folding tables, it might just get in the way. I think I’ll remove them, but for now, don’t the pink clothes brighten up the room?

While I was cleaning, I cleared out drawers, boxes, and junk. Ever notice how much stuff you forgot that you had? I came across this little painting from about 10 years ago, and decided she shouldn’t be shoved into a dark drawer, poor fairy.

So, I glittered up a mat for the painting, and added millinery, ruffled wallpaper, and a sparkling butterfly.

Recently, I was asked to post a how to on ruffling, but this is the first ruffle I’ve glued down in a while, and the light wasn’t good last night at midnight when I decided to make it.

I’ll show the steps next time.

While cleaning, I also found some pearls, as I promised to add to my August giveaway, the 50’s Housewife Kit.

leave a comment to enter

By the way, here are a couple of Before the Great Clean Up pics.

Babies, babies, babies

Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, paintings, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 12, 2008

I’ve been ensconced in my studio all day, and although the book is coming along, it is slow going.

So I took a little break from painting my baby to fix up this baby.

I had the perfect bittersweet colored silk dress for her, to match her auburn hair, but as soon as I put it on her, it shredded.

Sometimes, there is such a thing as TOO vintage.

So, I found this little silk number and gaudied it up for her. Here is what I said on Etsy:

"This darling little red head came to me needing some help, wearing nothing but a pony tail and a Made in Japan stamp.

I found a pretty silk dress in my collection of vintage play things, but it was a little boxy and didn’t really flatter her. So, I created an apron with old trims and pale pinkish seam binding ribbon, and it suited her much better. Custom fitted clothes are always so much nicer than "off the rack". (Although, I am sitting here in a ripped tie dye shirt and gym shorts, so I really wouldn’t know what custom fitted clothes are like)

Her long, flowing, pony tail was in good shape, but the hair on her head seemed a little sparse, so I gave her a ringlet of old millinery flowers. She liked them so much, I added some to the hem of her dress.

A few coordinating ribbons in her hair and a vintage, glass, floral button on her dress and she is all ready for her new home.

She is about 5 1/2" tall and her body is a very soft, pliable rubbery material. She’s Made in Japan, so is old, but over all has held up well for her age. Better than I have."

Four paintings are finished for Sugarwing’s birthday book. Two more to go.

Plus the backgrounds for the text.

I’ll take them to a copy shop tomorrow and start making up books, or at least I hope to.

This is my favorite of them all, its number 5. I need to paint it, and then do one more tomorrow morning so I can start working on embellishing the copies. I hope to make another one to give as a gift to a friend. I am throwing her a baby shower on Friday night, she is expecting her first daughter.

Or is that odd, to write a book about my own little girl and then give copies to another little girl? My friend has Dorkies too, actually puppies that are children of my oldest dog, Bookie.

I’m impatiently awaiting the day that Twinkle becomes a puppy momma, she should be ready very soon. And although Bookie is no longer capable of being the father, I have a neighbor down the road with the cutest little 4 pound Dorkie you’ve ever met and he has a bit of a crush on Twinks.

Maybe before winter comes, I’ll be a gramma again! I miss having little puppies running around, I just can’t wait!!

OK, back to painting. I’m running out of time, I’d better keep working. I just wanted to take another break and visit blogland a bit.

PS- I’ve had no time to add to the August giveaway, but promise to when I get caught up.

A rare treasure

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, flowers, paintings, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 11, 2008

You were all so thoughtful in cheering me up, thanks for your well wishes!

I am usually pretty upbeat, but I think I was suffering from vacation overload! I went from weeks of family and friends and travel to an abrupt stop and was feeling it. Isn’t that what makes blog friends so nice to have? They are always there to visit and company is only as far away as the keyboard.

Today’s sketches even went a bit better. Sometimes, sitting at my desk to work on my latest project can cure any worry or ill, but other days, it is just hopeless. And if it isn’t going well, I need to just walk away from the table and give it a break.

Yes, today was a good one, I was happy with the drawings, I heard from Fifi that the story Carol, Diane and I worked on turned out well and is set for the next issue of Romantic Country. Of course, she hadn’t given me any reason to think they wouldn’t use the article, but I am always reassured when the type is set and the magazine is final. Things get shuffled sometimes and it is good to know this didn’t.

Then, I heard from Jo Pakham that she could be interested in my studio for "Where Women Create". Of course, nothing is settled, it was only an inquiry, but I was flattered to be asked. I’ve heard a lot of positive buzz about this new publication, and I am honored to be considered.

I’ll spend part of next week taking a shovel to the room to make way for some sample photos!

I also kept to my deal with myself and listed more on Etsy today, another altered fairy and some flocked paper packs.

As if today wasn’t already a nice day, look what I found when I went out to do some yard work-

Surprise lillies everywhere! I adore these pink blooms that pop up over night sometime mid-August.

The fragrance outside my studio door caught my attention before I even saw the flowers. I picked an armful to bring in and scent my home too.

But there is more- Sugarwing’s Daddy came by to visit, just to hang out and talk. As close as we are, that just doesn’t happen as often as it used to, grown sons hanging out, one on one, just for the fun of it, is a rare treasure!

grumpy

Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, paintings

By Karla Nathan / August 11, 2008

My birthday book for Sugarwings is not going well today. Very little got finished this afternoon.

The tea party page is done as well as the text page to go next to it.

I painted a light background, scanned it, and then printed it with the words on it.

I’m sure that if I knew how to do digital scrapbook techniques, or just plain old, how to add text to a picture, this part would be easier!

The plan is to scan each page, then print and glue and embellish and sparkle them all up after I make them into a book. That way I can make multiple copies, with no two exactly alike.

But on this page she looks way too grown up. It’s not good enough to use. Luckily, not much time went into this picture, that also might explain why it isn’t very good??

Since painting wasn’t going well today, I took a break to add some things to my Etsy shop.

I seem to have piles and piles of crap, I mean finished art, around the studio that needs to be moved out of here!

So, I listed a few, but never seem to get many listings done.

I wondered if it was because I take so long with the photos, but from the looks of this one, that can’t be it, I didn’t even bother to comb this poor fairy baby’s hair before I took her picture!

Two fairies got listed and are ready to go to new homes.

And I dithered on whether or not I wanted to sell this wallpaper journal. It seemed like it should be a keeper, it is made with such pretty, old papers. But, I can make more if I need one later on.

It could be a scrapbook, or a journal, it is all vintage pages (9" x 11") ready to be filled with whatever the new owner feels like doing. It also comes with a scrap pack of coordinating wallpapers to use for further embellishments.

And lastly, this 8" x 4" tag.

Five items, is that all I listed today???? Geez, I am really not getting much done. I have a goal of 100 items, but have trouble keeping it at 50. And even though sales are not bad (thank you very much!!) they are not the reason I can’t keep up.

It is because it would take me a solid week to list another 50 items to get it up to that point! And I get bored doing it.

Its so much more fun to make things than to try to sell things.

Leelee_book_010 Sorry about the whining. Too much time off coupled with not enough time to finish a project that isn’t going well can do that to a person.

And maybe I miss my buddies who were here all week? It is sad to see them fly back to Florida and California. We’ve been friends since we were 11. Here is a picture of Sandy and I in our 20s, looks like we were hanging out in a bar…. probably were.

Plus, today is my 23rd wedding anniversary, and even though we had a wonderful celebration early, I felt a little lonely today, with Rich out East and me here.

Here we are with the kids that day, and my, we look like kids ourselves!

Doesn’t Sugarwings look like her daddy, my youngest son?

Thanks for listening to me be down a bit. Blogging friends are good to have. I’ll cheer myself up by blog hopping around and seeing all the beautiful eye candy out there on my favorite sites!

Before I go, here are a couple things I added to the August giveaway. A pair of pink vintage earrings and a Victorian calling card to go along with the brooch with the blue stone.

More goodies to come, you deserve it after putting up with my wallowing in self pity tonight!

ps- thanks to all of your kind wishes for my fairy baby. She is doing much better now.

Gone by in a blur

fairies, paintings, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 9, 2008

A little bit of painting got done today, not nearly enough. I only have a few days to finish this book for Sugarwing’s 2nd birthday!

Her party is one week from today. Its hard to believe she will be 2 already, but on the other hand, I feel like I have known her forever and can’t even remember what life was like before she came along!

Instead of making more illustrations for her birthday book, I puttered about instead. I did little projects like hanging my rolls of ribbon from a ribbon on the spool shelf I store my supplies in on the desk.

The ribbon ties to the spindles and can untie to change spools. It really only took a couple of minutes to do, so I can’t say what happened to the rest of my afternoon. It was a blur of non-productivity!

On 8-8-08, Sugarwing’s Hippie Chick mommy had a Leo birthday party and I went to face paint for everyone.

I was a bit early, so the fairy grand baby helped me get set up and tried out the paints. She wasn’t quite herself, and I realized the poor thing had a fever, so I took her to my house for a sleepover and her parents got to stay and enjoy their party.

We cuddled in front of a movie, and every once in a while, she’d turn to me and say, "I sick". She just was not feeling well at all.

Maybe being up checking on a feverish baby throughout the night explains my lack of accomplishments today?

Oh, I have a thank you to mention- look at these pretty butterflies! A kind hearted reader, Caitlin, sent a rainbow full of them for me to use to make fairies.

I will be making some little sprites, but for now, I had to hang a few of the butterflies up to enjoy.

With company and trips and everything else going on for the last two weeks, I haven’t made up a prize for the August giveaway yet. Any suggestions?

There is one going, of course, all comments count.

We just don’t know what the prize is yet, except for this little vintage brooch with a blue stone.