Silver Bella – Page 6 – Karla's Cottage

Blingy Bella Bags

By Karla Nathan / October 4, 2008

I’ve still been crowing around.

Did you read this post from Beth?

She got a deal on these plain bags,and gave me a good deal to buy a stack of them from her.

I wanted to dood them up for Silver Bella, so searched high and low for crown stamp I liked. I checked Ebay, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels, and none of them had what I wanted. I wish my town had a scrap booking store…

So, I ended up buying a princess style wall stamp and restyling it with an exacto knife to make it a bit more grown up looking.

Then, I tried dying a couple of the bags in my left over morning coffee. But it wasn’t a rich enough color.

So, I took a handful of regular teabags and added a couple cranberry ones too and added them to the coffee. There was only about 2 cups left so it was very concentrated. I then soaked the sacks in that mixture.

The cranberry bags have a very slight pink tint to them that I really like.

After they dried overnight, I stamped the crown on and outlined it in Stickles (the world’s best glitter invention), and smeared the lines a bit with my finger.

Looking for crowns I liked has not gone well recently. I found these charms on Ebay, but wasn’t thrilled with them.

But with silver metallic spray paint and some Martha Stewart white gold glitter, I like them better!

These wouldn’t be appropriate for jewelry, but glittered up like this, they are just the right touch for my Bella Bags.

FOUR winners!

Etsy Goodies, fairies, give away, holiday decor, magazine pictures or articles, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 1, 2008

Yesterday, I had a brunch for some friends and decided that I should set out some of the fall decor I have, and some of the pumpkin bottles I have been making.

I turned a white tussie mussie from Heather upside down and it became a hat for my white glittered pumpkin, I think that is my favorite part of the tablescape.

Sugarwings was in "Extreme Two Year Old Mode" yesterday and EVERYTHING on the table top was her favorite.

That girl was so quick at getting into stuff all day long, that every photo I took of her was a blur.

Am I finally going to have to give in and baby proof my house? I usually just tell her "that is Grammy’s that is yours, you play with your stuff, not mine" but yesterday she was swinging a lamp by the cord and hiding the phone under the bed.

I guess I can’t really put all the lamps and phones away, as well as wrapping my whole home in bubble wrap. She is just acting like she is a two year old and I need to be an eagle eye around her to keep her away from my stuff and directed towards her own things.

Of course, having sparkly witches on the table is enticing for a baby girl.

And she really enjoys playing with these little pumpkins. I do too. We take the tiny crowns off and put them on our fingertips to turn our fingers into princess puppets.

This little witch’s hat was a gift from my Sissy when she was here. She made it herself and it has a jingle bell in the stuffing.

The fairy was a present from my sister, Bobbie Sue, isn’t it cute? And her colors seem just right for a fall display. She’s an earthy fairy. My neice, Shelli also brought me a special gift. A package of Imitrex! I get migraines, and on our insurance the meds are $200 a package, but on hers it is $15. So she gives me her extras.

Sugarwings and I made more scuply pumpkins yesterday. I let her paint them all herself when they were cooled off, so maybe now that she has her own pumpkins, she will be content to not play with the ones on the table?

No, I am kidding myself there. No such thing as a contented two year old, they want to touch everything they see!

Yet another reason why I don’t use much real glass glitter. I cut myself enough with that lethal stuff, I don’t need the baby getting hurt on it!!

Oh, but now, I am sure you are interested in hearing which one of you is going to get your own hands on a crown? Here are the winners for "Karla and Carol’s Romantic Country Celebration Giveaway"

Thanks for all the comments to Carol about how wonderful her crown and pumpkin ideas are! The name I drew from her comment log to win a crown kit is:

Cammi

And the winner of a pumpkin topped bottle from my Silver Bella bonus drawing goes to

Bella Wanda.

Now, ANOTHER winner of a pumpkin topped bottle (not this bottle, it is listed on Etsy, I don’t have a photo of the one I’m sending handy).

The Winner is:

Bobbi

But wait, we aren’t done yet! I have one more giveaway to announce!

My Sweet September Prize Pack goes to:

Sheila

I think I’ll add a little glittered pumpkin to it too.

Remember, I constantly have a giveaway going.

Aren’t they fun? I sure like doing them! I’m not sure what October’s prize will be, but all comments starting today, will count for it.

These are some more Silver Bella creations I am making. Lately, I have been buying trophies, inspired by a gift of a nesting bird in a teeny trophy from Robin last spring.

I have a boxful of vintage automobile trophies that I can’t wait to froof and doodad up.

Before I go and get back to work on my trophies, I want to thank Sara Duckett of Sadie Olive for helping me de-clutter my blog a bit and add my latest magazine covers to the side bar.

If you notice, now the blogroll is on a separate page that you can click on to go and visit.

I spent a little time redoing the blogroll while Sugarwings was napping, but didn’t get very far. I need to organize the rest of the names and add a TON of fun places that I go to. I will let you know as I get more added.

My links have not been exactly true to the blogs I read the most often and I want to add some of the dozens of addictive places I visit!

Crowning Glories

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, give away, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 29, 2008

This has been a good weekend for "crowning around". Miss Sugarwings spent a big chunk of the weekend here with me and the crowns are a good project to do in the little spurts of time I have between bouts of chasing her. this crown is sold

This poor little cherub lost its arms when it got knocked over onto the cement, and I have had them buried in the gravel, reaching up to the air like zombies trying to come up out of the earth. The spot I put them in was by Ryan’s front door, since he is a big zombie fan, just like his mom.

And not for Halloween, I did this last Spring.

But this week, Sugarwings found the arms, and spent a good deal of time trying to re-attach them too the "ouchy baby" as she called her.

A good sized pile of crowns got done, but honestly, it isn’t much, and these aren’t even for Silver Bella. I had big plans to lock myself into the studio and not come out, since my husband is out of town.

Instead, I got slightly sidetracked by my fairy grand baby and we ended up working in the garden together and playing play dough, and making up songs. the two crowns on the bottom, back right are sold, thanks

Carol’s crown design is such a fantastic idea, I can’t get enough of them. I’m putting my own spin on them and making them in my colors and style too.

Remember, as part of "Karla and Carol’s Romantic Country Celebration Giveaway" you can win a kit to make your own. Go to Carol’s blog and tell her how much you like them! I’ll chose someone from her comments on the first.

And you can still win my Sweet September Prize Pack by commenting.

Plus I have two ways you can win a pumpkin topped bottle. If you are an 08 Bella, let me know, because one will be going to a Silver Bella attendee, and another will go to another reader.

Aren’t presents fun?

Earlier this week, before the little fairy baby came over to distract me with that dimply grin of hers, I painted this dove bottle and decorated it.

Did I say that Carol’s screen crowns were addictive? So was her bottle topped sculpy idea! Maybe it is all the hours I have spent with Sugarwing ‘s play dough that got me in the mood, because I am sure in love with sculpy! the dove is sold, thanks!

And if you are wondering what I do with all of the old wallpaper and vintage flowers I buy, here is a tiny little dent into my collection.

I’ve been scooping up old boxes all Summer at garage sales and this week, got a few decorated.

This one had the most beautiful knobs on the drawers, that I simply had to save it.

It has been painted silver and distressed, then the front of the drawers and the insides were covered in coordinating old wallpapers.

These roses were so pretty, they inspired the redo of this box. I made a corsage, and glued it down, along with vintage ribbons and an old pink buckle.

The inside is simply covered in old wallpaper, then trimmed with narrow, velvet ribbon.

And the smashier the better for me with old roses! I love to see them show their age. (maybe because I show mine?)

This wooden box was painted pink, and the top was covered in flocked wallpaper, then the edges inked to age it.

Inside, is more wallpaper, and some hand dyed velvet, left over from a chair I recovered for Sugarwing’s nursery.

I trimmed it out in old lace and buttons.

I’ve got a stack of boxes done, and more in the works, that I will be taking to Silver Bella. I plan on packing other things to sell inside of them, and using them as part of the display.

So even if they don’t sell, they will be handy to have to show off other things.

Today, I will try to list some of the crowns on Etsy.

But I am hosting a brunch tomorrow, and Sugarwings is spending the night, so who knows if I’ll get anything done or not….

How to win a do it yourself crown kit and the hat whisperer strikes again

antiques/junking, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), magazine pictures or articles, Silver Bella, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 27, 2008

Wow! I appreciate the response to the crowns and pumpkins! And if I was smart, I’d start mass producing ravens, I sure had a lot of inquiries about that one.

All of the crown kits that I showed are sold, but I can make up more (I have pink glittered screen left) if you want to make a custom order request.

And I did put a few together for some custom orders. I really appreciate your compliments on them, but want to make sure you all know that it was Carol’s design, not mine! She gave me permission to make some up, but the idea is all hers.

If you want to win a crown kit of your own to put together, here is what you need to do:

Show Carol some of this crown love!

Go to her blog and leave a message about how cool these are, and I will sneak a peak at her comments and pick a winner from one left on HER blog, not mine!

If you want to enter to win a crown kit, tell Carol how much you like them! Leave a comment on her blog, Raised in Cotton between now and Tuesday the 30th. I will announce the winners of all three giveaways on the first.

Today was a picture day for me. I rarely buy framed pieces, but the ones I saw while out garage sailing this morning couldn’t be passed up! I am crazy about the white witch in the first photo, that will be going in my living room.

These charmers and the row of paper dolls (that I got for 10 cents) will probably be offered at Silver Bella.

You might have noticed that I am a dog person, but this cat print melted my heart. And without taking it all apart, I am not that sure that it is a print. Does anyone recognize it as a reproduction they have seen? Because it really looks like it could be a pastel drawing. I’m not sure…

And yes, I bought another load of jewels, as well as this metal dress form to hang them on. I was at a sale today where things were 10 cents and a quarter. Now, why even bother to charge someone if it is only a few cents? Well, maybe because people like me will fill a car and it adds up. I spent about $30 on dollar and under items.

The frame that this print is in really caught my eye. Perfectly weathered paint, and lovely scalloped edges!

The green shoes were a dime too, I bought them for the rhinestone buckles, once those are pulled off, the shoes will go into Sugarwings dress up closet to play with. (that makes the rhinestone buckles only a nickle each)

And what a stash of post cards! These aren’t from the garage sale, they were one of Beth’s bargains. Not only were they a good deal, she brought them over to my studio and we sat and talked and made things for a few hours.

Lately, I have been collecting ballerina pins. I don’t have a plan for them yet, but when I get around to it, I know that these will be great to add to collages in some way. And it was another dime item!

Don’t you love aged whites? The silk ribbons on this baby bonnet are just gorgeous.

I got two bonnets, the shoes, a doll bridal veil and the soft (calfskin?) purse for $1.50.

I had to drive about a half hour out to the middle of no where to a barn sale, but it was worth it. The lady who was having the sale was such a sweetie and kept going in the house to bring more things out for me.

When I told her about my search for a vintage prom dress, she got this sparkling top for me. And it fits! I can wear it with jeans and a corsage and be dressed just right.

It was the most expensive thing she had to sell, and it was only 2 bucks.

And when I mentioned hats and old flowers, look what she rounded up for me! Not bad for 75cents to a dollar each.

She said that she had more yesterday but sold them all. I’m lucky she had these left and brought them out to me.

It never hurts to ask. You never know what will turn up.

It isn’t exactly like I needed more flowers….. I just bought these from a friend a couple of days ago. She found the boxful in her attic, it had been up there for years.

And it is a good sized box too! The box itself is wrapped up in nice, old gift wrap.

She only wanted $40 for it all, but I gave her an extra $10, there are so many wonderful, big roses the bunch.

Seems like all I do is shop instead of work, doesn’t it?

I bought this dress thinking I’d wear it to Silver Bella Vintage Prom Night. It was made way back before proms were invented, so I have been calling it my Vintage Cotillion dress.

What do you think, should I go WAY vintage and wear this 1920s dress or stay 50s retro and wear the sparkly aqua top with jeans for prom night?

While Lou Wanda was outside modeling my dress, I had her try on this hand made, hand dyed gown too. It is being donated to a fund raiser for a friend and I volunteered to photograph it to sale.

Just as pretty without the jacket, isn’t it? There is a store in town here that is a Lawrence institution. It has been around for as long as I can remember and is called Calamity Jane’s. It features hand sewn, romantic style dresses.

This dress was purchased there for $200 and never worn, so is being donated to raise money for the Unekis Fund. My close, long time friend, Jen Unekis has MS and her husband was recently diagnosed with an ugly type of cancer.

I hope to do some fund raising for them in the next year, we are starting rounding things up for a garage sale and also selling donated items like this (size Medium/stretchy/loose fitting/comfy/beautiful) dress.

If you are interested, let me know and make an offer. We haven’t put it on Craig’s List yet.

Lou Wanda isn’t our only model today. Sugarwings was quite taken with herself in the vintage pinafore I tied over her pink dress.

Thanks again for your comments on the last post, I was overwhelmed. And remember to leave a comment on Carol’s blog to tell her how much you like her crowns and pumpkins! I want to make sure she gets the credit for the design. (plus she just had Sadie Olive re-do her blog and you just have to see it!)

I’ll draw names for all three giveaways on the first. All comments count!

The wallpaper pact

antiques/junking, collections, flowers, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 2, 2008

Obsess much, Karla?

I went to help Beth redo her studio a bit today. After we got it all tidied up, we got to play in it and get it all messy again!

Our goal was to empty a small box full of wallpaper scraps she wanted used up. She has a new Cuttle Bug (I call them Cuddle Bugs) and I went a bit crazy making tags with it. This photo shows just a drop in the bucket, there are tons more.

I didn’t seem to be able to stop. Or leave. I was one of THOSE guests. 8 hours later, there I sat in the studio cutting "one more" out.

I made use of the embossing plates too.

She gave me the vintage shoe tags, as well as the wallpaper in the background.

We have a "Wallpaper Pact". When one of us gets a new pattern of paper, we always share. That keeps us from being jealous and resentful of each other.

The pink paper in the background of this is part of the pact too.

And the tags? Beth gave these to me, what a cute way to wrap up some ribbons. And VELVET ribbons are my faves!

While spiffing up the studio, we looked around her basement for items to foof with. And of course, I just had to do some shopping. If you ever go over to Beth’s house, ask to see the bargain basement first! I bought a lot, but the light is fading now, I’ll take some more pics tomorrow of all the stuff once it is in place in my own studio.

One studio display idea we came up with while checking out the bargain basement was this birdcage/ribbon holder. At first, I found an old, naked lampshade and wanted to hang it from the stand, but it was too wide.

Then, we dug up this cage and it seemed perfect to hold ribbons by the desk. Its also good to clip papers to, almost like a bulletin board.

We brought up this child’s hutch from the bargain basement, too. It made a handy shelving unit for supplies near the desk.

The room is 10 x 10, but she has made an efficient use of the space, by using tall shelving and making use of vertical spaces.

She is sooooo organized! Look at all the labels! I envy her ability to find anything, any time she needs it.

This is my favorite corner, probably because of all the ice cream colored wallpaper. the back of the hutch is lined with a patchwork of the vintage paper and the doors of the lingerie cabinet are covered in it too.

We almost made our way to the bottom of the scrap box she wanted to use up, but not quite. I didn’t do anything arty, I just pasted, cut and embossed all day, kind of mindless and soothing. I called it all back ground work, stuff I can embellish and make into something nice later on.

When I got home, an envelope had arrived from Phyllis with this sheet music in it!! I’ll have to copy it and make it into some sort of price tag or label for my vendor booth at Silver Bella.

And I don’t think I’ve shown you this little beauty, have I? Wow, isn’t this birdie darling? It was a gift from Heather, who makes the prettiest things.

Her package arrived for our Pre-Bella Get Acquainted/Get Inspired Swap. This is a gal who loves old wallpaper as much as I do. Take a look at the paper bow she made for the presents she sent.

If you’d like to see more of the swap, I set up a Flickr site, open to the public.

I’ve photographed all the packages that came in from the Bellas as well as the goods inside. Yummy, yummy, they are really quite something!

And so is Kansas at this time of year. There is a reason we are called the Sunflower State! Now, about January, when things are bleak and gray, you won’t hear many praises for the views around here, but September can be quite spectacular.

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!

After the shoot

Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, Silver Bella, swaps

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2008

My bedroom photo shoot went well, Diane and I finished in record time.

My Queen Anne’s Lace was tinted perfectly blue over night and was ready to go into the bottles on the mantel in time for the pictures.

Normally,we count on about one hour per photo, but yesterday, we had sparkling sunlight shining through the windows and that made the whole process go so much easier! We had all 7 photos in 3 1/2 hours, that is a record for us.(although these blog photos were taken at night with a flash, not nearly as pretty as the ones with sunlight for the magazine)

By the way, this trick of using food coloring in the water to dye white flowers works with blossoms other than this weed. Try daisies or carnations too. It is a great teaching tool for kids so they learn how flowers soak up water through their stems, too.

Here is a snippet of my first paragraph:

"A romantic retreat with morning light dancing through lace curtains and reflected from antique mirrors will make you want to linger in bed with a tray full of treats while sinking into plush pillows."

The first time I did a photo shoot, I thought it would be a perfect time to have a party, afterward. I thought that my house was at its most spotless and foofed up best and I should invite people over while it looked good.

But, at the end of an exhausting day of hard work, my house looked like some one had picked it upside down and shook it!

During a shoot, all throughout the day, furniture and knick knacks are shifted here and there, moved out of the way, switched around, taken in and out of the frame, and moved away to make space for the camera.

Kind of a mess, with stuff piled up everywhere to get it out of the sight of the lens!

Not the best day for a party! Since then, I have learned to not plan anything else but sitting down after the shoot ends.

I wait and put it all back together and write the article the next day when I have recovered. No matter how much fun it is to do, there is a lot involved and it does tend to wreck the place.

But today, all is back to normal, my piles of books and bottles of water are back beside the bed and all the clutter is spread back out where it usually lurks.

I’ve been adding to my etsy shop this afternoon.thanks, this one is sold

Nothing that I have made, but creative pieces for others to use. I keep seeing Halloween projects popping up all over blogland and thought the timing was right to make up some millinery flower packs in these colors. sold

Making up kits and supply packs is almost as much fun as actually creating a piece. I just love picking out items that go together prettily and imagining what they will become when they go to their new homes.

If you have ever ordered anything from me, you’ll notice that I love to wrap and make the package pretty. One thing I don’t do though, is use brand new packing boxes. I do my best to recycle and reuse, and don’t much care if the outside of the envelope has past addresses marked out.

all Halloween packs are sold, but I am listing more. I will have maybe 8 more to list, then am out of black and orange!

It is important to me to make the presentation of the item itself pretty, but the envelope, I’d rather reuse and keep my shipping prices down while helping to save the world in my own little way.

But after receiving this box, that was perfect from the outside, in, I might have to change my practices!

Oh my, it was delightful. Even the outside was pretty, every detail was gorgeous.

The box was from Andrea, and was filled with her goodies for our Pre-Bella swap.

Oh my.

Did I say that already? Well, this gift box was so pretty, I might have said that a few times while gazing at it, trying to decide if I should open it or place it on a shelf and enjoy the box as it was.

Of course, I opened it!! And once again, OH MY! Look at the prettiness involved in this box.

This pile is gifts that Andrea sent to me, as hostess. Oh my, I haven’t even opened my swap box from her yet. I am waiting till all of the packages are in from the rest of the swappers.

I am so lucky to be a part of this talented group of artists who agreed to be in this swap with me. Here is the list, if you’d like to visit any of them, they all have wonderful blogs! I know I have posted this list before, but it is a fun group and definitely worth you going to visit.

A Get Acquainted- Get Inspired

Pre- Silver Bella Swap

1-Heather- http://www.prettypetals.typepad.com/

2-Cheryl Dack- http://roseyposeyconfections.blogspot.com/

3-jennifer Hayslip- http://sweeteyecandycreations.typepad.com/

4-Jessi Nagy- http://www.scrappyjessi.blogspot.com/

5-Kim Caldwell- http://www.artisticbliss.typepad.com/

6-Holly- http://www.hollydoodledesigns.com/shop/

7-Natasha- http://www.natashaburns.blogspot.com/

8-Analisa- http://www.leesiebella.typepad.com/

9-Andrea- http://velvetstrawberries.typepad.com/andreasingarella/

10-Cheryl Stoneham- http://www.insidethebubble.typepad.com/

11- Tiffany- www.shabbyscraps.typepad.com

12- Carol Spinski – http://raisedincotton.typepad.com/

And don’t forget that every comment is entered into my August giveaway. Heck, maybe I’ll even wrap it up in a pretty new envelope to send it out!

Why I most likely will not be wearing a prom dress to Silver Bella

antiques/junking, fairies, family, Moving to DC, paintings, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 30, 2008

You might have heard that at Silver Bella this coming November, there will be a vintage prom night.

Well, I saw this pretty pink confection at Lucketts today, for a bargain price, and thought, just maybe this one would work for a ‘more mature’ prom princess.

It wasn’t quite as frothy as most of the 50s dresses I’ve seen, and had a bodice that seemed a bit easier to wear for someone who didn’t have the shoulders of a 15 year old.

I also thought it didn’t look quite as tiny as most of the vintage gowns out there.

oops, I was wrong.

Not only am I past having the shoulders of a 15 year old, my waist and butt aren’t anywhere near that age group either.

But I bought it anyway! It might be right for another Bella, if not, it will look nice on my dress form and I can use it to display the jewelry I make and plan to sell at Silver Bella.

I also found these hand made, old Barbie prom dresses, 3 lamp shades for 40% off, and a hat loaded with scrumptious pink blooms.

I spent a total of $38 today. Which really isn’t much for how much I got, but is quite a bit if you look back at all of my recent posts and see just how much shopping I have been doing lately….

This Jack and Jill book from 1948 has the sweetest fairy illustrations and was only a dollar, and I got a bag of velvet ribbons for $2, but these pictured are the prettiest of the colors. (I don’t care for the oranges and bright blues, but will find a use for them, I’m sure)

To stop myself from buying more, I came back to our apartment in Centreville and worked on Sugarwing’s birthday book.

I started a tea party sketch, here is a rough draft.

Then I started to refine it a bit, and add ink. Later, I’ll do watercolor tints to the picture too.

This page will say:

"When there is a tea party, Sugarwings and Twinkle serve delicious, pretend treats. Twinkle doesn’t understand why she can’t see or taste the cookies that her sister is eating, but would really like to have one." Luncheon

Speaking of tea parties, here is Heather’s dining room set up for our luncheon on Sunday.

Everywhere you look in her house, there is something pretty, and sometimes it is looking right back at you, like this birdie!

Or the pretty porcelain ladies that she has scattered about.

If you read her blog, you already know about her sense of style. Everything there is pretty, just like her name says, "Pretty Petals".

I had some trouble viewing her site from the hotel lobby computer! It was blocked due to "adult content"???? I wrote her and said I was afraid she was one of those Internet predators my husband is sure I will run into at any moment.

So, I told her that if she picked me up Sunday morning in a big white van like serial killers always drive, or was wearing a trench coat, I was not going with her!

But all was well, she didn’t try to kill me, and we had a lovely day at Karlapalooza, and a great time at her house afterward.

Forget me not?

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, flowers, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 15, 2008

I don’t typically grow flowers from seed, I am more of an instant gratification type. I like to buy big flats of blooming flowers for instant color.

But on Mother’s Day this spring, I gave Sugarwings a package of forget-me-not seeds and her own pink, plastic shovel, opened the seed pack, and turned her lose.

Here is my little gardener’s first bloom! I haven’t touched the patch she planted, I wanted it to be all her own, so they are kind of clumped up and not where I would have planted them, but I do love them more than anything else in the gardens because they are hers!

Today will be a Sugarwings Day, and I get to go pick her up soon. I’m not sure what we’ll do, maybe the zoo? She is happy anywhere I take her. Sometimes we just sit on the sidewalk and talk to bugs. Other days, we’ll paint rocks, or water the flowers (and each other).

I might dress her in this vintage sun suit I bought at the Bling and Button Bargain Blowout garage sale last weekend, it was only $1. It looks tiny, but she isn’t very big. My fairy baby is only in the 3rd percentile for her age group, she is dainty like the forget-me-nots she planted.

I’m glad she is tiny, I carry her everywhere. We won’t pack a stroller if we go to the zoo, I’d rather hug her all day.

Some of you were asking me to show more of the vintage greeting cards I bought, so here is a close up. How cute is this?

I must have bought over 100 of them. I’ll use a few in projects, set a basket of them out in my studio to enjoy, and add some to collage kits that I make up to sell on Etsy.

I listed a couple sets on Etsy this morning. I doubt if I will do many this way, they are too handy to have around for other purposes.

This will be listed soon, I am trying to get my shop filled. I don’t understand why it is so hard to get the inventory up over 50. My goal is 100, but I think what I ‘d need is a couple totally uninterrupted days of nothing but listing, and I’d get BORED doing that.

So, I putz around and list a few things here and there. I try to be regular about it and update a few days a week.

I listed ONE hanger from this bunch so far. They are the end of my millinery flowered padded hangers, the rest have moved on to their new homes,

If you’d like one of these for $9, please let me know.

Any of them, but this one, it is available on Etsy, but it costs a little more than the others, it has a bigger and more velvety rose and the hanger is older. So this one is "special".

The child sized ones that I made up are going to stay here with me. I will use them for my fairy grand baby’s clothes.

Here is a full picture of one of my button bottles that I listed, I only showed a bit of it before.

This one is "special" too. I try to keep my prices very reasonable, but when I spend a bit extra on supplies I have to charge a bit extra too.

This bottle cost more to start with (but was worth it!!) so it is $28, filled with white buttons and decorated. sold, thanks!

This bottle didn’t cost me as much, and it is only $15, filled with buttons and all embellished.

They both took about the same amount of time, and supplies, and are equally gaudied up.

Any way, thought you might want to understand my price variations.

Since I can whip out creations pretty quickly, and here in the Midwest, I get lots of bargains for my supplies, I try to keep my prices affordable for my shoppers.

I hope you agree with me that they are a good value!

Speaking of selling stuff, I just got some good news! An email came from Teresa (or T Mac, as I have been hearing her called!) and I will be a vendor at Silver Bella. Yay!

It isn’t too early for me to start planning and plotting, pasting and painting! I plan on filling a 10 x 10′ booth.

Heather and Natasha are flying in to Kansas City and riding up with me. I am renting a big van, and taking up my booth goodies, and Heather is mailing boxes of her things to me here to take up too, since she is vending also.

Holly (who will be vending) is driving up from Oklahoma, and Carol (another vendor) is coming from Kansas City and we are making a caravan up to Omaha for the event. Stopping in St Joe, MO at my favorite antique mall on the way.

Don’t you think I need a big glittery banner to tie to the van???

Using the good stuff

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, Silver Bella, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / July 14, 2008

Its been a lazy day here at the cottage. Reading, boating, gardening took up most of the day.

I spent the evening putting some of my Bling and Button Bargain Blowout finds to work.

I also used some of the fantastic French papers that Gwen brought to me during our bloggers craft day party this week.

The labels on these bottles are made from the French ephemera that I "cuddlebugged" (by the way, I found out, it is really called a CUTTLEBUG)What ever it is called, that thing is COOL. I loved using it!

Then, I filled the bottles with painstakingly sorted buttons, and dooded up the labels with old photos and tons of pretty sparkling jewels. Doesn’t this brooch make a nice little frame?

The Christmas in July giveaway is all wrapped up and ready to go out to who ever wins it.

(check out the previous post to see what is inside)

Then, I listed a couple of my beveled glass covered collages on Etsy.

Like I said, kind of a quiet day around here. I’ve been daydreaming about Silver Bella. Yes, I know that is MONTHS in advance, but I am really looking forward to it and hoping to plan and hostess a swap or two for it.

I am already hosting a small swap for the event, so that a group of us who are going can get a bit acquainted before we meet up there.

I am so happy with my list of swappers who will be sending me some of their favorite crafting supplies. I will then package them all up and send a little of each to everyone who signed up.

We’ll each get a goodie bag with pretties from everyone else.

Take a look at this list and you’ll see why I am excited about it! These are people who have BEAUTIFUL things!! I can’t wait to see all the presents coming in the mail for me to play with, I mean, divvy up and send out.

A Get Acquainted- Get Inspired

Pre- Silver Bella Swap

1-Heather* http://www.prettypetals.typepad.com/

2-Cheryl Dack * http://roseyposeyconfections.blogspot.com/

3-jennifer hayslip* http://sweeteyecandycreations.typepad.com/

4-Jessi Nagy * http://www.scrappyjessi.blogspot.com/

5-Kim Caldwell * http://www.artisticbliss.typepad.com/

6-Holly * http://www.hollydoodledesigns.com/shop/

7-Natasha* http://www.natashaburns.blogspot.com/

8-Analisa * http://www.leesiebella.typepad.com/

9-Andrea* http://velvetstrawberries.typepad.com/andreasingarella/

10-Cheryl Stoneham* http://www.insidethebubble.typepad.com/

11- Tiffany* www.shabbyscraps.typepad.com

12- Carol Spinski * http://raisedincotton.typepad.com/

And if you like presents, remember I have two giveaways this month, check out the last two posts for more info. Every comment is entered in the drawings.