Sugarwings – Page 20 – Karla's Cottage

Customized scarecrows

holiday decor, Romantic Gothic Ghosts, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 3, 2012

Sugarwings saw all my decor for Romantic Gothic Ghosts and wanted to help. Her tastes run more to the traditional colors of Halloween, while I was trying to keep my palette orange and purple free.

But I admire her work and sense of style too, so I let her have free reign over her project.

We picked up a "Grammy" and a "Sugarwings" scarecrow (half price last week at Michaels) and clothed them in some witch clothes from our dress up closet.

Next came the make up. Lots of marker and glitter work went into this. At least an hour's worth of foofing.

Then, the ladies got some jewelry and accessories.

Ta Da!

Everyone who is coming to our crafty day in the studio knows how I feel about Sugarwings and her art work. I think they will appreciate her efforts to welcome them, even if she follows her own palette and differs from our theme, don't you think?

The room is ready for our guests, and the treat cabinet is decorated like a "haunted mansion" as Sugarwings calls it. I've been baking up a storm and this will be filled with goodies soon.

Family arrives here on Thursday and my Ghoul Friends, or Lovely Spirits come on Saturday. I'll be pretty busy having fun, so I have pre-posted on my blog for the next few days.

I have deleted the sign up page for Romantic Gothic Ghosts so I don't
oversell accidently. We are keeping it limited to a small group. But if
you are interested, please email me for info.
karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

Little Ghosts, a little puppy, and a little fairy princess

antiques/junking, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, puppies!, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2012

There was a fairy surprise inside the box of swap pages coming from Deb Ganas, a whole pile of fairy garments, wings and slippers.

Dewdrop has a bit of a shoe obsession, so she will glom onto the slippers right away. Look at how funny the barefoot fairy feet shoes are! My husband has recently started wearing barefoot shoes for running, he thinks they are amazing. (his are not this cute) I'll have to clock the girls and see if these make them run even faster. I already can't keep up with Sugarwings, but I doubt if anyone could!

And isn't the package with the pages wrapped so sweetly? I should make sure and get a photo of her artwork too, it's really nice.

So far, a couple of tubs of packages have been mailed out. It will take a while to get through the whole set of swappers, but I've got a great start on it.

And the dilemma of how to wrap them is solved. Each book is swathed in fabric or tulle. Some of them are getting these elfish playing card tags. I only have 52 of those, so its a random selection for the tags.

I've got a few different airy fairy fabrics and tulles to use too, that really makes packing them up more fun. It gets monotonous if every single one is the same.

Of course, no two books are the same either. I'll be sad when I am done assembling them, I love sorting and sifting through to find pages that coordinate well together.

Last week was a short one for the kids. Not only were they out of school for Labor Day, Tuesday was some sort of day off too. So, I was able to spend some time with the big group of grands, and went to a garden center close out, lunch and a movie.

Mexican food, and Para Norman- which was a bit scary but had a wonderful message about accepting the differences in others and not being judgemental. Too bad it had to be taught by a scary, 300 year old Pilgrim Zombie Judge. But I love zombies, so really enjoyed the movie.

Poor Fin, looked at me about halfway through the movie and said, "why did you have to bring us to a scary movie?" And Sugarwings crawled up on my lap to clench me. I hugged Fin, held Sugarwings, asked if they wanted to leave, but both wanted to stay. I'm glad they did, it had an uplifting ending and Norman was a town hero.

We have a family tradition at movies. As the show ends, we go down to the front of the theater and dance to the songs that play during the credits. This time, I was too exhausted from lack of sleep due to puppies, but it was a really good song that I was sorry to miss out on dancing to. Little Ghost from the White Stripes, was so fun that we sat in the parking lot and played it over and over on my Iphone, then sang it all night.

The best part of being a grandmother are those kind of moments. At this stage of life, I know how fast it all zooms by and I like to stop and let the little ones take the time to explore and listen, and absorb the world. If we want to sit on a sidewalk and listen to a song a few times, why not? What is the big hurry to get in the car? Home will be waiting when we get there, we might as well grab onto something fun when we see it.

The garden center sale was a doozy. These weren't half dead, end of season clearance items, these were lush, thriving, pretty plants. I was thrilled to load up a cart at a dollar a pot, my yard had taken a beating from the heat and the chickens. I discovered that hens have a sweet tooth for begonias and petunias, and all the planters filled with those flowers have been pecked naked.

So, I have some pots to replant for fall and this sale was just what I needed. I want things to look pretty for Romantic Gothic Ghosts in October! If I get this new batch of plants settled in the dirt now, they should be ideal for company that week.

This photo was taken on 9/5, the little ones are opening their eyes and are getting strong enough to try to walk instead of scooch on their tummies.

Happy birthday Sugarwings!

celebrations, Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, Mayara, puppies!, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 24, 2012

Sugarwings' birthday was such a fun day for us. We went to lunch at T. Rex to see the dinosaurs, but at first, Dewdrop wasn't sure if we should go in. Once she realized that there were cute little baby dinosaurs there, she was fine.( I don't know why the restaurant keeps the biggest, scariest one of all right inside the door to greet everyone. I guess they want to test the kids right up front to see if they can withstand the atmosphere before they waste table space incase the little ones have to leave before the food comes? If the kids can get past the giant monster at the door, they must be brave enough to sit and eat there.)

Sugarwings has always loved it there. Dewdrop took some convincing, but not much, She was careful to not look at the bigger ones, but was happy to give hugs and kisses to the colorful, cartoony beasts.

We walked around the shopping center, and let the kids run around on the Yellow Brick Road sidewalks. It was a favorite pastime for Sugarwings when she was little. Now that she is turning 6, I wanted to take her there again before she was too big to enjoy it.

Hopefully, she'll never be too old to be silly with Grams.

And honestly, she is happy anywhere she goes. Her idea of fun is just exploring. It can be along a yellow sidewalk that takes her imagination to Oz. or just sitting in the grass meeting whatever bug crawls by. It all entertains her.

Dewdrop had a good time on our day out too. And I was pleased to spend time with my boy, remembering when he was a little guy and running way ahead of me wherever we went, just like his daughter does now.

A pretty table cloth, a pitcher of Chocolate milk so that the kiddos could pour their own refills, and letting the baby join the big kids table all made a special meal for the birthday girl that night for dinner.

We also covered a big chair and tied balloons to it, creating a birthday throne when cake and ice cream time came. Then, her cupcake was served on a musical, wind up cake plate that plays "Happy Birthday", but not very good. Its kind of old and wonky, but still a fun tradition for us.

It was all I could do, to not be teary all day. I can't believe she is six now.

The last few years have zoomed by!

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment HERE.

Sweet little chicks and cactus flowers

family, Hens, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 23, 2012

Ever have one of those days when lots of bad or stressful things happen, but you still feel like you had a good day?

Lets see, today I woke up with a sore back and realized that the bed frame had broken and I was sleeping downhill (time to lose some vacation pounds?), then had to go on a opossum hunt through the wild, over grown flower beds in my jammies and high heels (they were the quickest shoes I could grab, since they were still on top of my suitcase from the party and I had to get the critter before it got my chickens!). The beast didn't get a bird, and I lost its trail, but searched high and low, trying to find where it scurried off to. By the way, I was wearing a vintage cotton night gown, the best of bed head styles, and carrying a big pink shovel. That opossum was right to run, I looked crazy.

The dogs did nab a hen later today, but didn't harm her, just her feathers. It was quite traumatic. And its over 100 degrees again today.

Ryan's car broke down, twice. Once, it was out of gas, the second time the battery ran down. Sugarwings and I missed a movie we were headed to when we had to help him instead. He pushed his car to work for blocks uphill, in this heat. We drove off thinking all was well, and it wasn't, I don't know why he didn't call us back!

There was a disagreement with a family member and I'm not one to loose my temper, I'm more of a cheek turner. But today I blew. Not proud of that one.

We made a loaf of bread and the paddle didn't turn, so I had baked flour with wet crusty edges. Not a big deal, but just one more thing today. And did I mention that it was 107 degrees again? The heat is unbearable.

But there was a bloom on our cactus, a gift from a grand child and sits in a pot painted by one of the little fairies.

It kind of stands for the day I've had, lots of problems and cactussy moments, but some how the day bloomed anyway. Having a happy little Sugarwings by my side all day kept me from feeling bad about all the issues that could have gotten me down.

She's my sunny, little cactus flower. Its impossible to have a bad day when I'm with her.

Instead, I enjoyed the good parts of the day. Here are the good points of the day that outweighed the bad ones:

Watching Sugarwings pretend to be in a parade through the grocery store whille holding 2 dozen pink roses on sale for $5.

Dewdrop running into my arms and showing me that she could do all of the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Seeing Ryan handle his car problems with a good attitude and being proud of the man he grew up to be. He has lots of LD issues and was a very short tempered, frustrated child. He is a fine man now and I'm proud of him.

Picking a bag of fresh veggies from the garden, and popping a sun warmed tomato in my mouth

Watching the hens play in the sprinkler to beat the heat.

Taking a meal to a friend who hasn't been feeling well. I wish I saw her more often and I really should try to help more, I'm glad I made time today.

Laughing with my sister-in-law, Sandy who is living with us. Its good to have a freind around to share a silly thought with now and then. I also appreciated having her here to listen to me grumble about all the problems today and to accompany me on the oppossum hunt.

Getting a funny text from my husband who is quite proud of breaking a bed after being married 30 years.

Feeling Twinkle's puppies move for the first time. I love to try to count the bumps in her belly to guess how many will be born.

Seeing how sweet Sugarwings was about missing her movie. She is not a grumbler when things don't go her way. That made me want to not grumble about my peeves either.

Baking a second loaf of bread that turned out crustily wonderful on the outside and soft and almondy on the inside- just in time to have for dinner. As a matter of fact, a slice of that would make a nice bedtime snack too. Except I have no bed, I'll be sleeping on the couch till we get that bed frame repaired.

Oh, and I have a Project Runway recorded and ready to watch, that is the icing on the cake to top off this day.

just stuff

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / July 21, 2012

It sure didn't take long for me to mess up the studio again! I've had a fun project in the works, actually a couple of them, that I can't wait to tell you about. I'll get to spill the beans soon, but not quite yet.

During the studio tour, someone asked to see a close up of this table that I have a box full of ribbons sitting on. The veneer on the table was peeling up, so I covered it in textured, paintable wallpaper (not vintage, available at many home decor stores). I then painted and glazed the whole table and the wallpaper to match.

When I cleaned up the studio to get photos for the tour, I thought this bowl tucked away under a small table would be a good place to store lace and trims. Twinkle seems to agree with me… but I might need to rethink this plan.

Although, this is her favorite place to relax. Twinkle has decided that with the heat that Kansas has to offer this year, the lake is the best spot to tolerate it.

Dixie and Daisy, my sister-in-law's little dogs love it too. Twinkle and Daisy bonded over hunting ducks.

Mostly, the garage sales I've been to lately have not been worth the effort to get up early. But I did get this little Dorothy dress at one for $1, and Sugarwings loves it so much, she insists on calling Twinkle, "Toto" and wearing the dress over her bathing suit.

I'll leave you with some photos of what I added to the Boutique before we hit the road for Utah.

We will be home over the weekend, all purchases will go out on Monday.

And if you want to sign up for the Faerie Book Swap, please email me, details here. I'll add you to the list when I return.

A feathered guest at a fancy wedding

Dew Drop, family, Hens, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 17, 2012

Thanks for all of your visits during the studio tour, I know I've shown the room dozens of times before, so I wondered if anyone would even care to see it again. I tried to post photos of different parts of the room than in the past, but some of it was a bit repetitive.

Sugarwings was with me almost every day last week, and luckily we had a break in the weather and were able to enjoy the outdoors for a change. Although, I'm not sure if the cooler air was really cool enough for gloves….

We like to sit in the garden, under an archway covered in vines. In the past, I used to trim them, but now, we let them grow wild and crazy, so that we have an enclosed area to play in. Its shady and cozy. When we sit under the low hanging branches, we feel like we are hidden away in a world of our own. Its a good spot for picnics, hiding from ogres, and for weddings.

We had a special guest at this garden wedding. One of our cuddly, Rhode Island Reds decided to join us in the arbor clubhouse.

These sweet, little hens are becoming part of the family. Its so fun to have them follow us around the yard, curious about what we might be doing in case it involves crumbs of any kind.

Of course, ask me about mid- January when I have to slosh through drifts of snow to go take care of the birds a couple times a day, if I still love them as much.

The chickens are NOT doing their job of eating enough of the bugs. So far, they've been great with grasshoppers in the flower beds, and we've not had to use any pesticides at all in our veggie garden. But they haven't eaten a single chigger from the yard. We are all suffering from chigger attacks, and Sugarwings and I have tried to play only on the paved or gravel areas to avoid getting chewed up.

We are hoping to buy some Guinea fowl, they are champion chigger eaters, but we can't find any full grown hens around to buy.

Every time I wake up at 3am scratching, I swear I'd pay a fortune to own a couple chigger eating birds. Anyone know where I can find some?

We don't like the idea of spritzing the little fairy grand babies with bug spray at all. Especially since I coat my ankles with it and still get bitten.

But this year is the worst I've ever seen for pests. I suspected it would be when we had such a glorious, mild winter. As much as I hate snow and cold, it serves a purpose, and does help keep the bugs down.

So, I'll try to remember that when I feel like complaining about going out to take care of hens in the cold this winter. It probably won't shut me up, though, I most likely will still grumble about the cold.

A girls weekend

Dew Drop, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 25, 2012

Dewdrop had a sleepover with us this weekend. And while she was here, she wanted to help me in the kitchen with everything I did.

I learned with Sugarwings, that few things entertain a baby longer than playing with water. A bucket and a plastic fish, a sink full of bubbles, or a sponge and a bowl, all were endlessly entertaining to her. Looks like her little sis feels the same way.

The only difference is, now I have wooden floors instead of tile. Which changes my carefree attitude about sloshing around.

We still enjoy splishing and splashing, but I have to be a bit more vigilant about where the puddles end up. Dewdrop was surrounded by a pile of towels today while washing dishes for me. It didn't interfere with her fun, but it saved some sogginess for my flooring.

Both girls came to spend the day, and I can't imagine a better way to spend a Sunday.

I did manage some time to work on a painting, but its not something I can show you, till the person who commissioned it shows it herself. I hate having something new and not posting it! That's not like me. I write my posts the way I talk to my friends, the minute something crosses my mind, I say it, usually without filters. Not showing something is a lesson in self control that I could probably use…

I've also started a couple more fairy paintings, I'm on a painting kick right now. I've got some more vintagey ideas for the Faerie Book Swap cover.

If you are interested in joining, click on the button on my side bar for more info, or scroll down a couple of posts and read about the details.

Happy Birthday to my handsome husband

Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 14, 2012

For my husband's birthday, I had some help whipping up homemade blueberry pies.

It was pretty exciting. But anytime Sugarwings does some baking, its a joy-fest.

I tried something a little different with the pies. We filled a shell with fresh berries, then topped it with a mixture of butter, organic brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. We drizzled a little water over it, added a heart cut out of pie dough, and baked it. The berries' juices mixed with the topping as it melted into the pie, and it was really yummy. It left a slight, crispy top, but not the same as a crumble, because I used very little flour in it.

Along with the pies, I made fried chicken,(catfish for the vegetarians too) mashed potatoes, gravy, corn (fresh from the cob) green beans, coleslaw and rolls. Plus a strawberry cheesecake.

whew.

4 and a half hours in the kitchen, I made it all the old fashioned way, like my grandma and mom used to. What a lot of work. How on earth did they cook like that on a regular bsis???

It was a good party, and the kids gave Pop Pop a book to read to his littlest grand fairy, plus he got plenty of hugs and cuddles, so he had a happy birthday.

They made him some flower pots, and he got a mint plant and lime tree to grow his own garnishes for cocktail hour.

He's one hot grandpa, isn't he?

ps- you can still enter the drawing to win this collage by leaving a comment

Discoveries

give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 9, 2012

Since Sugarwings and I will be spending a lot of the summer together, I needed to find some things for us to do that didn't involve baking and eating cookies.

Although lately, "cookie" is her favorite word and she yells it out when she is happy, instead of "yay" or "wow" or "yippee". (does anyone use the word, yippee, any more, anyway?)

So last week, we set out to discover the Discovery Zone in Topeka.

There are lots of hands on (and noses on), sciencey things to do there.

As well as full rooms set up as different professions, and all the toys and tools needed to pretend to work there.

Kind of like a trade school for preschoolers.

There was even an exam room where Dr. Sugarwings could take my blood pressure, then cram a big plastic thermometer into my ear.

But our favorite part was this big acrylic room where you paint right onto the walls.

The whole place was really something, and only a 20 minute drive away. I can see us spending a lot of time there this summer on days too hot or too wet to play outside. And its only 6 bucks to get in.

The place had a lot to offer, she was able to make friends and play with other kids. There were a lot of activities that needed an assistant (like the grain elevator) and that encouraged cooperation. I sat aside and let her play with other kids while I read a book on my magic phone when I wasn't required to be a patient or place an order in the bakery. We both had a great time!

I am away right now, tagging along on a business trip with my husband to Raleigh and Nags Head. But please do leave a comment, all comments are entered to win one of the collages that I made from Beth's Birdsong class.

And if you know of any good junking areas around Raleigh or Nags Head please email me with some shopping ideas!

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

Cooking up some paintings

Food and Drink, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 5, 2012

Sugarwings and I decided to make our own paint. I'd heard you could make it with food coloring, cornstarch and water, but had no instructions.

But how hard could it be? So we gave it a try.

Each batch turned out a little different since we aren't the measuring types.

Our colors might have been a bit more festive if the head chef wasn't so thrilled with squirting out the food coloring. She practically emptied each color in to the first batch, which produced a deep black.

Using more cornstarch made a pastey paint that you could kind of mold, and was fun to squeeze. Less made a more paintable liquid.

Mix water, cornstarch, and food coloring in a saucepan, cook till thick. I used about a cup of water each time, maybe a 1/4 cup of the cornstarch, but it varied.

We used paper cups leftover from our Halloween party to pour the paint into, then set it in the freezer to cool off fast so we could get to work playing with it.

While it cooked, we thought it looked a lot like pudding. Of course, as soon as we were finished, we just had to make some pudding too! We decided to make the pudding into a fudgesicle ice cream cake while waiting for the paint cooled off.

We mixed the fresh made, chocolate pudding with a cup of vanilla ice cream. Half of that went into a glass bowl, over a layer of granola.

Next, a layer of vanilla icecream, then more granola. And a drizzle of Trader Joe's carmel sauce, then the rest of the pudding.

We slipped it into the freezer, then after dinner, sat the bowl into a pan of hot water for a moment to loosen the treat, and flipped it over onto a cake plate. It was as pretty as it was tasty!

I'll let you know if the paint comes out of the side walk next time it rains…. It did dry lighter than it was than wet, so I have a feeling that there will be a gradual fading away.

I kind of hope it doesn't. I like her little green hand prints all over the driveway. Of course, she has already left her prints all over my heart.

PS- a new friend, is planning a shopping/crafty class weekend in Sept. Its in St Joe, and you know, that city is filled with great junkers and wonderful stuff for sale. I'm always up for any reason to visit there. More details later…