paintings – Page 5 – Karla's Cottage

Upcoming Class Announcements, Autumn Glory and A Snowbird’s Song

bird song art event, paintings, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / May 15, 2019

She is a darling sprite, isn’t she? Here is what Karen has to say about her:

Welcome Fall with Felicity the Flower Fairy!

Mounted on a vintage shaker and posed in a shimmering rose bloom with her flower wand, Felicity will now work her Autumnal magic- making all of the flowers in the world bloom one last time before winter steals away all of their petals!

All pieces including vintage bisque baby are supplied for you. Just bring anything special of your own that you wish to use; such as any small rhinestone bling.

6a00d83451ead569e20240a48e7f19200b-800wi

This class and a watercolor lesson will be offered in my studio at the Cottage on Saturday, August 31st.

You will have a choice of Autumn Ecru or Soft Pink for Karen Hillman's project.

6a00d83451ead569e20240a494f767200b-800wi

My class will be a watercolor lesson on how to paint a bluebird. You will receive a hand drawn bird, instructions, and watercolor markers to complete your own painting. Once painted, we will cut out the image and pop it into this sweet, little frame and embellish it with lace, ribbons, and vintage rhinestones.

6a00d83451ead569e20240a447313e200c-800wi

Included will be a watercolor journal covered in a painted cover (by me).

6a00d83451ead569e20240a44731b2200c-800wi

Inside the back pocket is a print out of watercolor tips and tricks to help you fill the book with future paintings

The day will include lunch, beverages, and treats. Also a sweet treat presentation on making Apple Cider Cake Pops from Karen, Hospitality Queen of the Cozy Castle.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

Class size is very limited, please contact me for more info:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

Date:

Saturday, August 31st

Place:

Karla’s Cottage- Lawrence, KS

Cost:

$115

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Includes:

Lunch, beverages, goodies

Karen’s kit for making Felicia the Flower Fairy

A set of watercolor markers, a hand done drawing for you to paint, a watercolor notebook, painted frame with embellishments, and an instructional chart for my project.

I hope we will see you there! The class size is limited to the amount of antique dolls Karen has on hand. This is a makeup class for the one we had to postpone in April, so priority will go to previously signed up guests.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

To register, please email me at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

ps- If you are coming in from out of town, this is also Sparks Flea Market weekend, one hour and 20 minutes from my house, up north a ways. It is a fun, and funky place to shop, and is open Thursday- Sunday. I plan on being there on Thursday, myself, but I promise not to buy it all, there will still be some vintage goodies left to shop for!

And guess what???

Birdsong is BACK!

Registration will be open soon, I am working on details now.

I hope to be welcoming you to the Cottage for both workshops, I love filling the room with my Peeps!

Hand painted birdie greeting cards

paintings, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / April 13, 2019

When I was planning the workshop with my buddy Karen, I made up lots of sample paintings to figure out which I wanted to use for the class.

Sadly, we had to cancel our class!

I used the paintings to make some springtime cards to send to the ladies who had signed up to come to our workshop, with my apologies and a discount for them to use if they sign up to take the make up class.

Karen will be back in August for a workshop, and I hope to offer this watercolor doodley class later this spring. It will be a one day playdate, along with another project and lunch. Let me know if you are interested, seating will be limited.

Details to come, when I get all settled from my trip down south to teach in Georgia.

More books? Why yes!

Books, paintings

By Karla Nathan / April 2, 2019

While I was on a roll with book making… I just kept on a going.

I have soft, Easter colors like pink…

Ocean and mermaid tones….

And soft grays (with more pink!).

But these are not all, I still have a stack on my desk. I think I will transform one into a travel journal for myself.

Paint pour tag books

Books, paintings

By Karla Nathan / March 30, 2019

Remember my months long obsession with acrylic paint pouring? I still LOVE it, but put the supplies aside for the winter, because I needed to reclaim the garage I'd been working in. During my dream state of making one canvas after another, I also painted on some tags. These were used to make a couple of books.

And since I love playing with wallpaper too, I covered the interior of one of them.

These are going to be on my vendor table at Once Upon an Easter. I am bringing SO MUCH STUFF, that I know I will never sell it all, so I should be listing some stuff to sell in my Boutique when I get home and settled.

Hand painted book covers for the watercolor class

bird song art event, paintings, Tutorials, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / March 17, 2019

Between getting ready for Once Upon An Easter and prepping the kits to send to Georgia, I’ve taken some breaks to work on the watercolor journals for the class at the cottage on Saturday, April 20th.

Each is a small, watercolor notebook with 140lb paper. I have enveloped them in a deconstructed pour paint canvas, then embellished them and added a ribbon tie.

On the inside of the back cover, I’ve added a pocket.

The pockets are designed to hold the watercolor tips and tricks page that I made.

It gives steps on how to paint the little bluebird that I will hand draw on the front page of each notebook.

You also will receive a pack of watercolor pens to keep so you can practice in your new book.

Once painted, the bird will be ready to pop into a little frame that can be foofed up with a selection of vintage jewels, ribbons, and lace.

I have had a lot of interest in the classes (Karen Hillman will be doing two pretty lessons that day too).

But- it is Easter weekend.

Not the best date to plan an event, huh? Well, my buddy happens to be visiting at that time and we are happy to have the day to play together, hoping a few people could join us.

And luckily, a handful of Peeps are able to attend.

But many have said it is an action packed family time or Easter dinner prep day.

At first I was only offering the classes and luncheon as a package deal. But since people are so busy, I thought I’d modify that to say that if you would like to come in the morning and stay for lunch to do Karen’s two projects, or come for lunch and stay for my afternoon project that would be an option.

You could play with pretties for just half a day, then still have time to get that cake baked and those eggs dyed.

If you are interested:

Morning session with lunch is $60

Afternoon session with lunch is $60

No time to relax over a meal? A session alone is $50

(But don’t think you will leave hungry, I’ll pack up some treats to go for you!)

Email me at:

Karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

The Last Foof of February

cottage, paintings

By Karla Nathan / March 3, 2019

Well, it’s almost Spring, and in the meantime, while waiting for flowers to bloom and save me from the horrors of winter, I’ve surrounded myself with flowers indoors.

Besides a tiny bit of online shopping for the quilt and shams in previous posts, most of my “rosy-up the house” make overs have been switcheroos from one area to another. Or digging things from cabinets to bring out and reuse.

These roses are some that I painted years ago, and the tiny framed pieces had been on a shelf in another room.

There is a new piece here. My BFF, Beth, gifted me with a folding mirror for Christmas. It has a gorgeous picture on the front, and I’ve sat it up on the cabinet top, nestled behind some greenery.

This cabinet top got shuffled around and I added some projects made in classes over the years. They are sat in front of a watercolor I’d done ages upon ages ago, but will never be tired of.

There are always happy memories tied up in the decor when I can incorporate pieces from past art events!

Ps- These are all paintings that I have done myself. The watercolor marker tricks I will be sharing at A Song of Spring are meant for art journaling, or smaller projects. But the techniques behind them are universal. Learning the basics for cute doodles can be the start to learning how to paint something to hang over your mantel.

details for the class are here:

https://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2019/03/a-song-of-spring-sign-ups-are-open.html

A Song of Spring, sign ups are open

bird song art event, flowers, Food and Drink, paintings

By Karla Nathan / March 1, 2019

Registration is open for our Springtime class at the cottage, with Karen Hillman and myself.

I will be showing you how to use watercolor markers to create sweet, little images in your art journals or to frame. And speaking of framing, everyone gets a small frame to embellish and pop your finished painting into.

Also included is a set of watercolor paint markers, a watercolor notebook to practice your techniques, and I will draw a little bluebird for each guest to use as a guideline. (Or you can ‘wing it’ and draw your own.)

My talented friend, Karen, will be making “Felicity the Flower Fairy” with us. Everything pictured is provided, (including the darling, bisque dolly) you will need only your glue, tools, and any personal bits you would like to add.

Karen will also walk us through sugaring violets and mint leaves to enhance your holiday baking. You will need to bring a food safe paint brush and will go home with a prettily wrapped, vintage plate to hold your scrumptious flowers.

Date:

Saturday, April 20

Place:

Karla’s Cottage- Lawrence, KS

Cost:

$115

Includes:

Lunch, beverages, goodies

Karen’s kit for making Felicia the Flower Fairy

Fresh cut violets and mint leaves, and the ingredients to transform them

A set of watercolor markers, a hand done drawing, a watercolor notebook, frame and embellishments, and an instructional chart

I hope we will see you there! The class size is limited to the amount of antique dolls Karen has on hand. Anyone who has contacted me already will be given first priority, in the order that I heard from them.

Please email me at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

to join in on the fun we will be having Easter weekend in the studio!

as before, return guests, (Peeps) get a ten percent discount)

The King and Queen of Hearts

celebrations, family, paintings, Valentine's Day, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 8, 2018

My sister, Bobbie Sue just celebrated her 50th anniversary with her husband and their darling daughters threw them a party, that truly surprised them.

Their last name is Valentine, and my silly sis LOVES goofy photo ops. So, I painted these cut outs for them to pose in as the King and Queen of Hearts.

Other party-ers had some fun with them too.

After measuring my largest suitcase, I cut plastic, corrugated poster board to fit the bag and primed them before painting the royalty with holes cut out for faces. Then, I flipped them over and painted the other side for double the fun.

The fairy and gypsy were done with lots of glitter and metallic paints for a sparkly effect.

The entire evening was a sparkling night of fun! My nieces rented a limo to pick their folks up at their farmhouse, and we all piled in for the ride "out to dinner". But instead of dinner, we went to greet the room full of family and friends ready to jump up and yell, "SURPRISE!!!"

It was all pretty cute, and the kids pulled it off with an amazing skill of twisting the truth around so no one guessed what was coming.

Personally, I was quite impressed with my own ability to spin tales. I possess a super power that until now, has lain dormant. Wow, I am a very, very good liar!!!!! I even had them pull up the online menu of the restaurant we were pretending to go to. And faked plans to visit old friends so I could sneak out and deliver the painted photo op boards.

The twisted untruth about meeting up with old friends, ended up turning around and becoming the real truth, and I got to visit some high school buddies I hadn't seen in years. That was the icing on the cake for this wonderful, but too quick trip to Indiana.

Well, not all of the icing. There was some delectable cake too.

And cousin time, that included seeing a long lost stepsister.

And of course, I never get enough sister time.

Yes, it was a beautiful weekend, and I was thrilled to be a part of the celebration of this love. These two are truly the King and Queen of Hearts.

Art from the past

paintings

By Karla Nathan / November 30, 2018

While in North Carolina, we visited my husband's mom. She had some artwork I'd done years ago, framed and hung on her walls.

This is a painting of the house she grew up in.

And this is the home her husband grew up in.

A watercolor iris.

And a butt.

Grouting Day

friends, paintings

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2018

My pal, Shanna, has a group of friends most Thursdays for mosaic projects. I usually bring something else to work on, since I'm not a glass artist, but this time, I did take her up on an offer to dip into the piles of cut glass she had for me to use.

I thought that a mosaic frame would look nice on this beach painting.

Shanna also helps with grouting, and there were a couple of other projects that needed finished that day. This is Margie's table to donate to a fundraiser.

And a mirror that she did. I called it Boho Gothic.

Thanks, Shan!