Sugarwings – Page 25 – Karla's Cottage

Shopping at the Habitat for Humanity Restore

family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2011

What a lovely weekend we had, but then any weekend with our Sugarwings is just the best. We spent Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market where I loaded up on fresh veggies and Sugarwings found a little "house" to play in.

At my cottage, I try to cook healthy things, local ingredients,vegetarian a few days a week, chicken and fish the rest, organic when I can afford it, or when it really matters. I think we eat okay around here.

But no matter how hard I try, I'll never live up to my son's family's guidelines for healthy eating. These guys are all natural. Recently they have gone vegan. So, we tried out some vegan doughnuts at the market, and I just don't think they were all that great. Just because its vegan doesn't mean its good for you, it was still a deep fried, greasy hunk of dough.

Sugarwings liked it, but she loves anything with pink icing.

Her parents are nice about letting me bake with her and give her treats, and don't insist on me following a strict diet for her at our house. I think they trust me to not let her fill up on Koolaide and junk food, and to feed her stuff that is good for her. So, they'll let me give her some sweet treats or a piece of chicken when she stays with us.

I like it when people are true to their own beliefs but don't try to force them onto others.

I like my kids.

Adam is working on opening an energy/healing center. He has the spot rented and is fixing it up, as greenly as he can. So, after the Farmer's Market, we went shopping for supplies. At the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, he found big rolls of carpet for only about $10 each, and will be stapling those to the wall for sound proofing.

Now, that sounds a bit like a shagadellic 70s look, doesn't it? But that is only the first step. Over the carpet, he will mix tinted plaster and clay-mud and trowel it on. It should look really nice, I'll get some pictures of the walls when it is done. Its "dirt cheap", green, and arty. I'm looking forward to seeing the process.

We also went to see the Doo Dads over the weekend. They are a band that plays rock for kids. And they have TWO bubble machines on the stage. Sugarwings and Pixie Pie were entranced by the bubbles.

And all the girls danced their hearts out.

Very little work got done this weekend, and Paper Cowgirls is fast approaching. It will get done, I still have two weeks, but I am starting to feel a little wriggly worry in the back of my mind. Once I get something completely done, like all of my kits packed, or the instructions written for the class, that feeling will pass. At this point, I have a lot of started, but not completed things going on.

The mini dress forms class that I am teaching in Texas, will also have an online class. I'd like to have it online before I go to Paper Cowgirls so I can give the link to all of my students there. That way, when they get home, they will have access to a refresher course if they need to finish their mannequin later, or make a few more of them.

My plan is to offer the class two ways. You can buy a (limited supply) kit in the Boutique and get a free link to the online classes. Or you can furnish your own supplies and just buy the instructions (they will include some images of vintage papers to download).

I'll let you know when its ready to roll.

But for now, I'd better get back to work on it while I can, because I never know when I'll get an opportunity to go play with the grand fairies. When that happens, all work stops!

A Springtime tea party

fairies, family, flowers, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / May 16, 2011

The weather around here has been weird, which means, its a typical Kansas Spring. The air conditioner was in use on Monday and by the end of the week we had the furnace back on again.

Sugarwings spent some of the weekend with me and we were both sick of the cold weather, so we cheered ourselves up with a Fairy Tea Party. A big part of the fun was setting her table and planning treats that our guests would like.

We made cupcakes together, then I put her to work making cherry tomato and cheese kabobs on colorful toothpicks. (she preferred to make her tomatoes connected with multiple picks, and her platter of snacks looked more like an erector set than kabobs)

I let her pick the flowers for the centerpiece and she chose all yellow, which is odd for her, she loves pink even more than I do. But I think she made a good choice for the table cloth and the teapot that she chose.

Our guests were Pixie Pie and Lola (which means Grandmother in Filipino, Lola is Grandpa Ardell's widow). All day, while getting ready for them, Sugarwings refused to call them by their names, she would only refer to them as "our guests".

And after they left, she set and re-set her table for guests to come again.

The goodies went over well. I don't have a single photo where someone isn't chewing. Everyone was pretty engrossed in the meal. (that is Sparkle in the background waiting patiently to clean up the floor under the table after the meal is over, Agnes Rosebud and Twinkle aren't that patient, they are under the table already.)

The girls might think that tea parties are all about the food, but I am sneakily teaching manners as we chow down. They learn about passing the food around, pouring their own cream, and sharing food, but not sharing the spoons or double dipping. As well as polite conversation and asking each person how their day was.

There might have been a little bit too much sugar in the tea, so we bundled up and went outside to run some of the energy off. It sure looks like Spring with all the iris in bloom, but it was too chilly for me.

Promising them a bubble bath got the two little girls to come inside again so I could get warm They were happy running full speed through the garden trails while I shivered, but a chance to play in the big tub convinced them.

And a warm bubble bath was good for them too, they were cold and sticky.

Thanks for all of your sign ups for my Birdsong Tag Book Swap!

And there is room for more. Scroll down to the previous post for details if interested.

New traditions

celebrations, family, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 9, 2011

How was your Mother's Day? Mine started off a bit weepy, thinking about my mom, but it turned around real quick when my girls arrived for a day of fun. My husband took Sugarwings for the day and was happy to do it. I think it was his happiest Mother's Day of all time. No pressure, just fun with the apple of his eye.

She rode on his shoulders while in line to buy tickets to see a kid flick. He says that she turned around to everyone in line and said, "This is my Pop Pop."

Then, she added, "And I am a Princess".

And then turned one more time to tell the crowd behind her, "Because my Pop Pop says I am!"

Yes, she knows that in her Pop Pop's eyes, she's pure royalty and just eats it up.

My Mother's Day was not bad at all, either. Typically, my sons and husband help me with a big job in the yard as a gift. It always turns into the most exhausting day of the entire year, with all of us working till we drop. (me too)

They are sweet to do it, and for non-shopping guys, it was pretty good. But I've decided to change the way things are done for the next generation of moms in the family. No more hard labor on Mom's Day!

Our plan for this year was to have a girly day out.

The littlest fairy wanted to be with her mom for the day, so she got to tag along. And since all she does is nurse, sleep, laugh and smile, she was a welcome guest.

We went out for seafood and steaks with bellinis for lunch then went to Liberty Hall, our local theater that has been around since Civil War days and started as an Opera House. Its always beautiful to see a movie there, and you can sip wine while you watch a show. We chose Jane Eyre, great for a girl's day.

I can see a tradition beginning, this was the best Mother's Day ever. Relaxation, conversation, a cuddly baby, and wine!!

And did I mention NO hauling mulch???? NO digging holes?? Yay!!!

It was a weekend of celebration, with friends over on Saturday night to share some good wine and sit by the bonfire. As if that is not enough, we also had Sugarwings for 3 nights in a row. Yep, it wasn't just a good Mother's Day, it was a GREAT Mother's Day weekend.

I'm feeling pretty lucky right now.

Its time that I pull a name for the winner of a Birdsong souvenir. I promised last week, and then forgot to do it. The present goes to:

Kim Allen

Today I've been taking photos of some flowers to list online for my April Showers Bring May Flowers sale.

My birthday is in May and my mom always used to tell me that little rhyme and tell me I was a May Flower. So I decided to have a sale in the Boutique and Etsy with FREE shipping on all millinery for the month of May.

On Etsy, the shipping is already marked FREE. In the Boutique, you'll need to pay for the shipping and I will send you a refund for the postage you paid. (USA only, sorry)

Right now, I'm in the middle of adding flowers. Etsy has some new ones, the Boutique will soon. Thanks for looking!

Happy birthday happy birthday – cha cha cha (as Sugarwings sings it)

celebrations, flowers, Food and Drink, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 6, 2011

What a great birthday I had yesterday! Carol and Debbie treated me to lunch at Julian's in Brookside, owned and operated by one of the cheftestants on Top Chef Masters. And I am such a TV junkie, that I'll eat up anything served by someone on one of my "stories".

Luckily, this place was cute as a button and over the top delicious.

Friendly, casual, and affordable too. Celina Tio, from the show (and formerly on Iron Chef) greets everyone at the door and is nice as can be. Pretty too. The TV show doesn't do her justice, she's much cuter in person.

I had some things to deliver to Carol and Debbie and we decided to meet for lunch. I said, why not Thursday, since it was my birthday, so the poor girls might have got a party ambush. But I love birthdays and am upfront about telling everyone its my day.

Thanks for all the happy birthday wishes! I had some prime baby holding time too, so it was a good day.

I'll leave you with some photos of what's new in Boutique. I've added a few millinery blooms, and have photos taken of more to add.

For the whole month of May, I'm giving you free shipping (United States) for all millinery. Pay as normal, and when I pack up and ship the item, I'll refund your shipping fees.

There will be more blooms added next week too.

I'm just out of time today, we get Sugarwings tonight. So, no more working, time to play!

Blessings

bird song art event, Sugarwings, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / May 4, 2011

Clover update: I answered so many emails about Clover and posted on Facebook about her, but I forgot to mention here, that she was OK. She had an abscessed tooth that got so bad, her tonsil got an abscess that grew so large it was cutting off her breathing and she needed emergency surgery to drain the swelling.

She woke up feeling "super" as she told the nurse. She's on antibiotics for now and is home from the hospital and back in school.

Its terrifying to think that a tooth ache can become life threatening!

Now that my little chicks have flown the coop and my studio is empty once again, I've been reflecting on just how lucky I am to have such a wonderful group of ladies come to see me.

Here is a before photo, taken while I was waiting for the group to arrive. Who knew my studio could clean up that well?? I was able to comfortably (at least everyone assured me, they were okay and comfy) seat 25 ladies.

To save space, I didn't do centerpieces, instead I simply drew on the plastic table cloths to foof them up a bit. At first, I was going to do a seating chart and write their names on the table (my pal, Lori's idea) but Beth told me that I should let them chose their own seats and I think she was right. Lori meant that I needed a personal touch, not just a seating chart.

I went with inspirational quotes featuring birds instead and added some quickie pictures. It was about a 15 minute project to do all five tables, so not the greatest art, but it was just "atmosphere".

Each table had a roll of paper towels and a box of baby wipes. Not so fancy, but necessary. I was going for practical and comfortable instead of gorgeous. And every inch of space counts when you are trying to create at a full table!

(I snitched this photo from Beth's blog- its taken before the table cloth got put on the garden tables)

Luckily the weather mostly cooperated and we could have meals outdoors. On Sunday, things got chillier, so I decided to build a bonfire for everyone to warm up by if they didn't want to stay indoors during lunch break. You should have seen me scurrying through the woods grabbing fallen branches and twigs for kindling! But by the time lunch was ready, I had a roaring fire going and was pretty proud of myself.

But its not easy to build bonfires while setting out lunch and I had a nagging feeling that I'd forgotten something. And yep, in my fridge sits a neglected vat of homemade coleslaw. It looks like a lifetime supply, but coleslaw does not quite last a lifetime.

My studio feels so empty with everyone gone.

About half way through Sunday afternoon, I was already starting to miss them and they hadn't even left yet. Luckily, the ones who weren't too worn out and those who weren't travelling that night or early the next day started making plans to go out to dinner and I was able to join in. I wasn't ready to say goodbye!

And the next day, I still had Sherry and Lisa at the house. Sherry treated me to lunch downtown before she flew home, and that helped.

But today? I miss them all!!!

Over the weekend, it was just too hard to express how much the weekend meant to me. I tried a few times, and would start to cry when I attempted to tell the girls.

So maybe I can say it here, in writing. Where you can't see my nose turning red and my eyes welling up.

When I cry, my nose goes all Rudolph on me.

You know I love blogworld, right? I've met some wonderful people online. And at various events around the country, that I've been lucky enough to attend. There is such a feeling of community, and creativity in the air at these places.

Silver Bella was the first that I attended and it got me hooked. I'll miss going there and am sad about its demise. But it wasn't the event itself, it was the people I met that mattered. (That place had its flaws, which I was able to overlook till this year.) Now, after flying out to Kim's weekends in CA, hosting my own, and making plans to go to Jenn's and to Paper Cowgirls, I see that we don't have to go to Omaha to capture the feeling. We can snatch it no matter where we gather, and honestly, I think that these smaller, more intimate gatherings are even more chock full of that glittery glow than the giant affairs are.

It meant the world to me that these women travelled from all over to be HERE, with me, that they trusted me with their precious time off from work and family and would come all the way to Kansas (a place not exactly in the top ten of vacation hot spots) to play in my studio with me.

Life has not always been golden for me, and I think it takes some really bad times to know just how blessed the good ones are. But having gone through rough periods, it can also be hard to have a healthy sense of worth, being beaten down can always leave a person doubting themselves no matter how hard they have worked to build up a new and positive life over the ruins of an old one.

So, I have to say that at some points during Birdsong, I was overwhelmed thinking that all these kind ladies flocked in from all over the country to come to my cottage in Kansas. And that caused some verklempt-ness. I felt a bit like Sally Field at the Oscars when she said, "you like me, you really like me!"

But luckily, I just got weepy instead of embarrassing myself with dopey words. Oops, I just wrote them for thousands of people instead of saying them in front of a couple dozen.

Am I a little too worked up over such a small gathering? Well, it wasn't 200 people that is for sure. But I know how hard it is to budget time and incomes and to pull off a girl's weekend for most busy moms or grandmas. So whether it was 5 people or 500 people, it touched my heart that these ladies each chose to come here.

I hope they know how much I appreciate that choice they made with their vacation time.

But now, its back to my every day life, with no big weekend to plan for. I thought I'd feel let down and lonely, but with this little fairy friend to keep me company, how could I? Plus, the weekend was just too good to feel down now.

Happy Easter!

celebrations, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 24, 2011

We are having a quiet Easter this year. Well, quiet meaning that we aren't having a big family gathering and dinner for dozens this time. Sugarwings spent the weekend and that isn't exactly quiet.

Saturday morning started with egg coloring. And I guess you'd have to say that she and I aren't what you'd call tong users when it comes to dying eggs. We prefer getting our fingers in the colors instead of using the dippers that come with the kit, and we like to use paint brushes to spiff up the shells.

Not just the eggs get colored either. When you have all those lovely dyes in front of you, and only a couple dozen eggs to dip, it hurts to waste it all. So we did some experimenting and found that the egg dye is beautiful on the unfinished wood of a bird house. (We had picked up this princess castle bird house at Michaels)

And it makes stuffed rabbits pretty too.

Not to mention Dorky heads. Yep, little Agnes Rosebud started it. She jumped up on my lap and put her nose in the dye to see what it was. Of course, how could we resist painting the top of her head with a paint brush dipped in purple?

Hope your holiday is a Hoppy one too.

Sorry I won't be answering emails or comments, but I will be taking time to read them. And I'll chose a name from commenters to give a Birdsong memento to later on.

The fairie’s surprise

family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 21, 2011

Recently I discovered the gardening junk at the Dollar Store and filled the Fairy Berry Trail with a gaudy cartful of rainbow-ey things.

Sugarwings was coming to spend the day with me, so I hurried out and filled the trail with the decor to surprise her. She thinks that the fairies decorated it for her. I never get the credit, but I don't mind.

What on earth would my life be like without my grands? I'd be doing something yucky like actually getting some work done instead of hanging rainbow wind socks out in the woods.

I'll be busy getting ready for BirdSong this week, please forgive me for not answering comments. I'll be taking the time to read them, tho!

Being Real

family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 18, 2011

Sugarwings and Pixie Pie spent the evening with us Monday night and like all evenings do when they get together, it ended in playing dress up. I'm always looking for fun princess, fairy, or other costume accessories and dresses for them at garage sales and thrifts.

This time, the dogs got involved too. I think that Agnes Rosebud was born to wear a boa, don't you? This is the one I am packing to take to Moulin Rouge, but I think she looks much cuter in it than I will.

Twinks got into it too. She could use a smaller size fairy crown, though, this one falls around her neck.

By the way, does anyone know what the term for these things is????? I've been wracking my brain for it, and I KNOW that there just has to be a name for them.

I love to see what costumes the girls pull together. You never know what will be coming down the stairs to curtsy and show off. It could be a bumble bee, a witch, a fairy, or a conglomeration of all of them at once.

Sugarwings often falls back on the Dorothy look. Although she puts her own spin on it, and is wearing two different shoes, not ruby slippers.

But her first outfit was the best. She hadn't been part of the parade down the stairs yet, and I went up to see if she needed zipped or buttoned, or helped out in any way. But there she stood, completely naked wearing her two mismatched heels, a crown, and pretending to drink a cup of tea.

I asked why she wasn't dressed up, and she said she wanted to be "real". She's real funny alright.

Sugarwing’s Low Sugar Freezer Jam, otherwise known as a strawberry spread type thing

family, Food and Drink, how to's, how-to projects, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 3, 2011

For not having a recipe and having never made jam before, we did okay last night when we gave it a try. What we ended up with was a unique strawberry spread type thing, and we really like it. So, I guess that is what counts. Whether anyone would ever call it "jam" when they ate it, doesn't really matter to us.

We were going rogue.

While I've never made jam myself, I knew a bit about it. Like you need a LOT of sugar for it to set up. And if you aren't canning it, you need to make freezer jam instead.

We used very little sugar, because I was making the jam myself so I could purposely cut back on it, since Sugarwings has a little bit of a jelly addiction. Well, with a name like Sugarwings, you might expect her to have a sweet tooth…

Here's how we did it, if you want to make some strawberry spread type thing for yourself:

First you need a good berry scrubber with skills in pulling off the "green parts".
After the green parts are gone, cut off the top, and toss the fruit into a blender. We used 2 quarts of organic berries.
We squeezed half of a lime over the berries in the blender and then purreed them. To get the most juice out of the lime, we played with it a while, and got it good and smashy before I cut it in half.
To the berry/lime mix, we added a 3/4 cup of organic sugar and about three good sized squirts of agave nectar syrup, and blended them all together. Have the lid on the blender before your helper pushes any buttons, or else be ready to wipe berry globs off your forehead.
We opened a packet of pectin (found on the jello isle at the grocery store) and disolved it in a 1/4 cup of boiling water. I have a feeling that the jam might have been thicker if my helper hadn't spilled quite a bit of the pectic powder when she poured it into the bowl. If all your pectin makes it into the hot water, you might have a better end product than we did.
Mix the pectin/water with the berries and sugar, then pour into jars. Leave space at the top of the jar for the jam to expand when it freezes.
Let set at room temperature for a couple hours before cooling in the fridge (or freezer if you want to save it for later)
Make labels while the jars set up.

The whole endeavor might have just been an excuse to make labels. Our yeild was small, only three partial jars, so we decorated the lids, too. We had looked forward to making labels too much to stop at three.

For our labels, we used some fruit rub ons and paint markers on water color paper shapes cut out with our punches.

My kitchen might still be a little sticky, but we sure had fun. And our so called jam really is tasty. And good for you too!

To me, it tastes a bit like a Margarita. Sugarwings thinks it tastes like jelly, but she's never had a margy. This spread has more of a fresh berry flavor than a jelly flavor. And I don't think it ended up costing any more than if I'd bought three jars of All Fruit spread. Sometimes, kitchen experiments can go a bit crazy in the budget department, but this one did okay financially.

Plus, its something we will really enjoy eating, and it wasn't hard to make. We also whipped up some home made yogurt, and for breakfast today, we swirled some of our "jam" into the plain yogurt, and it was heavenly.

My funny Valentine

family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / February 16, 2011

Did you have a good Valentines Day? We sure did, we had Sugarwings for the night and my husband whisked us away to see a romantic chick flick. Gnomeo and Juliet. And it was really pretty cute. First of all, I have a thing for yard gnomes. No, not a romantic thing, I just like them.

And second, the music was all Elton John. Can't beat that.

On the way home we scooped up some to-go food and served it on the good dishes when we got back to the cottage. After, Sugarwings and I whipped up a quick, festive dessert.

We skewered mini marshmallows onto red toothpicks, melted a hand full of Belgian chocolate chips in the microwave for a minute, then dipped the marshmallows in and quickly rolled them in sprinkles.

It took minutes to do, and she could do most of it all by herself. Plus they were tasty! The trick is to use the good chips. What a difference it makes to upgrade from Toll House chips.

In the last year, I switched over to the Belgian chips and they are make any thing I bake better. They cost a bit more, but are such better quality. If I am making cookies, I put the chips in a blender and chop them up, so they go further. I only use half as much that way.

I hope your Valentines Day was a sweet one too!