Sugarwings – Page 27 – Karla's Cottage

Angels, fairies, and snow princesses

celebrations, fairies, family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, parties, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 16, 2010

We had a Kid's Holiday Party yesterday and the little ones indulged me with a little dress up play and modelling.

I tried to make the photo part quick so they would think it was fun, then got them back to the main event- goodies, and art projects.

We had hot cocoa with all the fixins, eggnog, brownies, pumpkin bars, veggies, and rollups. It was an early out day for school, so the party was from 2-5, so these weren't meant for dinner, just after school snacks.

We had a couple different projects to do too. I picked up a dozen Santa hats from the dollar store, and a bagful of half price holiday floral pics from Hobby Lobby. There really is a lot of fun stuff on those wire picks, jingle bells, flowers, pretend candies, glittered leaves, etc. I just took some wire cutters and separated all the big sprigs into individual pieces, easy for gluing on to the hats and set out a few other fun tid bits for them to have at too. There is always plenty of extra goodies around the studio to share.

They got to make some chip board ornaments too, and all the mommies each made a couple of those for their trees too.

We ended up not getting photos of all the kids. The boys weren't as interested in posing, and my fairy grand girls were busy with playing and artwork. I can catch them later for pictures, though.

A few years back, I painted a Christmas tree mural on plywood and had cup hooks on the tree branches to sell ornaments off of at antique shows. Now, I bring the mural in from the shed and set it in my living room for the holidays. With a few other props in front of it, it made a good backdrop for the pictures.

This morning, I've been doing some editing to the pictures. I LOVE PICNK!!!!!!!!

Playing with hand tinted photos is almost as much fun as painting, but easier and quicker! And way, way too addictive.

I should be out doing some Christmas shopping instead of playing with pictures.

But can you see why I love doing it so much, when I have such gorgeous little models to work with?

I'll get some prints made and maybe these can be some of my Christmas gifts this year.

Its been a hectic, busy, Christmas packed couple of weeks. Before the trip, I had my book club bash, then while we were in Virginia, we were treated to a holiday office party dinner out with my husband's co-workers.

Since I've been back, I have had Sugarwing's school play, craft day, and his little kid party. Plus a couple of Sugarwing Sleepover nights, and those are a party in themselves….

Tomorrow is a party at a friend's and Saturday I'm having another dinner party.

And do I have presents purchased and wrapped? Heck no.

I thought about shopping while in Virginia, but my family is not easy to buy for. I can't just pop into JCPenny and buy a gift for any of them. They like specialty items, dance costumes, art supplies, hand made stuff, or recycled goodies. So, I've put it off.

Those hand made items are going to be biting me on the butt if I don't get moving on them…. I have hopes to do some small paintings for the kid's rooms.

Waiting till the last minute, then throwing one party after another might not have been the smartest holiday plan…

I'm afraid that by the time I get done with all my parties, and its time to do that last minute gift rush, I'll be feeling like Sugarwings was last night after the party!

(no editing can help this little model, I'm afraid- she partied hard)

Did I mention that there was face painting at the party too? I painted the kids' and they reciprocated by painting mine.

My hair is still a bit crisp from the paint.

One of the few gifts that I bought and have ready to give, has to be returned! I bought matching fairy gowns for Pixie Pie and Sugarwings at Tuesday Morning for $10 each, and Pixie Pie showed up wearing the same dress for the party!

She looks so beautiful in it, I just knew it was the perfect dress for her. But now, what do I give her?

While we are talking about gifts, I need to announce the winner of the 1,000,000th visitor giveaway.

Thanks so much for leaving all the kind comments about my milestone! I wish I had a gift for you all (but as you just heard me complaining about- I don't even have gifts for my family for Christmas yet!)

This gift goes to:

Pat Spone (no blog) Pat, please send me your address and I'll get your gift in the mail.

A new holiday tradition?

celebrations, family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 5, 2010

When my boys were little, we had a tradtion of hanging candy canes on the Christmas tree, one for every day until the big day came. In the evening, we'd take one down, share it and read a story together, sitting by the tree.

This year, Sugarwings thought of an improvement to our holiday rituals. She saw a cup of cocoa with a candy cane in it, on the pages of her Rudolf book, and wanted to give it a try.

Life with little girls gets a bit fancier than with boys. We weren't just going to sit by the tree, we had to create a pretty party!

She and I moved her little table next to her pink, glowing tree (that she decorates and undecorates herself, over and over) and had a hot chocolate party, in the dark while we sang Christmas carols together.

We had French vanilla marshmallows shaped like snowmen, and chocolate mint candy canes to add to our drinks, and pulled out the good tea party dishes to serve it on.

This cocoa party was so fun, we did it again the next night she stayed with me. I make the hot chocolate with organic milk, a little melted Belguim chocolate and some honey, so its a bit of a healthier snack than packaged cocoa. Yes, the marshmallows and candy are full of HFcorn syrup, but hey, its the holiday season and we need to splurge sometimes!

We also discovered that Dorkies love candy canes. And can climb up on the little table to steal them if the treats are left unatended.

A tradition that begun last year was the never ending gingerbread house. When she comes over to stay, she adds to it with more and more goodies and icing. I have to help with the can of icing, but Sugarwings does great with heaping on the candies.

She and I agree that there is no such thing as too much when it comes to decorating. And she also knows this house isn't for eating. I was impressed with how fast she learned not to snack on the house. We have plenty of other treats around, but this is a "pretty" and way too much fun to destroy by eating it. I've told her that if she eats the candy, we won't be able to keep adding on to it, and that solved any issues with sneaking treats off the rooftop.

We might have another new tradition. I've always been a fake tree person, I like pink, white and silver. But there is something quite wonderful about the smell of a fresh cut tree, for sure.

This year, my fairy grand baby kept talking about chopping down her pink tree and gluing it back together. At first I thought it was just a craft project she had in mind… then I realized that she wanted a traditional tree, and wanted to go pick it out and cut it down herself.

So, I found this tiny little seedling growing in my flower bed and gave her the clippers.

There wasn't much to it. She probably could have taken it down with nail clippers.

The little guy is so tiny that I had to support it with a wire. I added a metal star and jingle bell to the top of the wire, the tree wouldn't hold much in the way of decorations itself.

We stuck it down into a flower pot that was on the porch, added some moss and a hint of silver tinsel, then a bow.

Since decorating is an ongoing thing around here, we redid the pot with a teeny vintage glass ball on a strand of tinsel and took off the bow. We liked this better.

The star has a rhinestone jewelry remnant on it. Do you ever use The Ulitmate? I love that glue! After the wire was in the dirt supporting the tree, we thought the star needed something, so I glued this jewel on. It was too late to lay it flat to dry, but that glue is super tacky and held the piece in place as it was.

If you'd like to enter the giveaway for my ONE MILLIONETH vistor (yippee! thanks guys!!) please leave a comment HERE before the 12th, when I will draw a name for the lacey trimmed bag full of holiday cheer.

One in a million!? A giveaway and some winners

give away, sewing?, Sugarwings, We're having a party, Workshops, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / December 4, 2010

This week, I've caught the sewing bug. And I hate to sew. But embellishing ready made bags (vintage postal bags that I've coffee dyed) is simple and fun, and addictive. I gathered up some trims and flowers, sat down to the machine and before I knew it, there was a pile of decorated bags.

These bags were found in Texas at RoundTop, and had Kansas City, Kansas postal labels on them. I bought all that was left in the pile, and am just now getting around to using them.

I've had to make myself stop embellishing, because, I have too many other things that I need to do. These can wait… But I wanna play with these pretties!!

Do you blame me? I just love making them. Of course, I started it all while I had a little helper, the new baby was laying on a pillow under the table while her momma and I sewed. Now that she isn't here, it isn't quite as fun.

So, I can get back to my other duties, I've got an article due, and a few other projects with deadlines. Some of you are asking about my Cottage Art Event at May Day, and I really need to pull those details together. I'll be working on it this weekend. Info coming soon, I hope. Thanks for your interest!

See, how cute she is laying on her pillow under the table?? Of course, it was hard to concentrate on working with so much cuddliness nearby. But we managed to get a lot of work done, anyway.

Aggie Rose seems to be every bit as fascinated by this baby as Twinkle was with Sugarwings. We got Twinks when Sugarwings was 6 months old and they grew up together. I think doing it this way, with the dog a bit older than the baby is better. She is still a puppy, but not as fragile.

Here they are together on the day they met. Twinks adored her girl from the beginning and no amount of ear pulling or squeezing ever bothered her.

Twinkle has taken on so much of Sugarwing's personality, I have to wonder if AggieRose will be like Mayara?

Sugarwings and her pup are both fiercely loving, loyal, and happy, excited girls. Always exuberant and dramatic. Curious, bouncy, and packed with way too much personality to fit into their tiny bodies. So far, Mayara and Agnes both are pretty calm, laid back types. It will be interesting to see if they continue to be a match as they grow up together.

Or is it just odd that a grandmother lumps her baby doll's personalities in with the dogs?

I forgot to announce the winner of my Romantic White Christmas giveaway. This bunch-o-baubles goes to:

Sue Elseth

And my November Giveaway goes to:

Susie Q (no blog)

She will get Mrs. Santa's Slipper from our Romantic White Christmas classes.

For the December Giveaway, I'm not sure yet…. But please leave a comment, all comments all month go into the drawing. Since it doesn't mail out till January, I don't want the prize to be too Christmassy. So, I'll come up with something this month and let you know.

Guess what milestone I just passed? I'd been watching my stats knowing this was getting close, but it came and went before I realized it!

MY ONE MILLIONETH VISITOR!

Wow. When I started blogging, I sure never thought I'd even reach 1,000 people looking at my little on line diary. Thanks so much to all of you who come to visit. I enjoy the comments and the company.

So, since I missed out on seeing who exactly was number 1,000,000- I'll have a drawing here.

I'll fill up one of my decorated postal bags with some treats for you.

Some vintage angels, a brooch, mini bottle brush trees…

A frosted angora rosette…

A tiny test tube filled with mercury glass beads…

And a free entry into Romantic White Christmas ezine.

Deadline?? hmmmm… I'll give you some time. I'll draw a name next week when I get back from my trip to VA. Sunday the 12th. That way, the winner gets the little angels in time to enjoy for the holiday season.

Remember, all comments on all posts count toward the December Giveaway, what ever that will be, but for the 1,000,000th visitor prize drawing, please leave a comment here.

And thanks again for coming to visit!

The ABCs of my day- Airplanes, baby, and contraversy

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, sewing?, Sugarwings, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / December 2, 2010

Our newest fairy baby came to spend the day while her momma and I worked on projects.

It was her very first craft day!

She rested on her pillow under the sewing table with the fabric scraps and dog toys and seemed pretty happy just to hang out with us.

Ace Hardware has 6 foot banquet tables on sale for $29 each, so I bought three for my May Day celebration and art event here in the studio next Spring. Since I still had my studio dining tables set up for Thanksgiving and was loving the table scape and not ready to disassemble it, I just set up two of the new tables for us to stitch at, and that worked out great.

During our Thanksgiving dinner, we had started talking about Magnolia Pearl and a few of us decided we wanted to make some bags like hers.

So, this craft day became sewing day. Here is my new purse, a colorful confection of left over bits and pieces. I was going to go all neutrals, but fell in love with a swath of dyed velvet and a magenta silk ruffle, and had to use those, whether this purse will match anything I own or not!

Adam's Beloved brought a grab bag of old clothes and scraps to cut up and she had the best stuff to play with. The velvet was from a long skirt that had been torn along the side.

She scours thrifts for old clothes to reuse and had a great assortment.

She is making a Gypsy diaper bag for the baby. Here is the flap all pinned and ready to sew on. The bag itself is made of patch worked velvets. Both of us were inspired by Magnolia Pearl for our own bags, but I made a few others that were not as elaborate too.

Well, this one is still pretty elaborate, its got some MP influence going on too.

You notice I said that Miss Robin inspired us? Who has NOT been inspired by an admirable artist? We studied her look and used the ideas to make our own creations. I'm a big believer is sharing ideas and tricks, techniques, and styles. And I think that anything you create using something you've learned or seen should be your OWN creation.

Take what you've learned or seen and make it in your style. We all do it, its not stealing. None of us has a monopoly on an idea. Just because I make wallpaper covered journals, or decorated bottles, or fairy Charlottes doesn't mean that I think I own the idea! I started making jewelry with vintage pieces in the 80s and I certainly don't think I have a monopoly on it. I'm thrilled to see it everywhere now that it is so popular, and I am smart enough to know that I am not the one who popuarlized it to start with too.

A friend was flipping through a magazine the other day and stopped at a page to ask if I'd done the art. I thought maybe I had, then took a look and saw it was someone else with an idea much like the one I had published a year earlier. Was it stolen? NO! It was their take on it. Or maybe they had never even seen my article, but if they had, then GOOD, I hope they learned a little something from what I did.

And if you ever take one of my classes or are inspired by one of my pictures, I'd be sooooo flattered if you got your project published. But I do hope that you put your own spin on the piece. Its one thing to follow step by step instructions and then claim them as your own, its another to learn a technique and then make something with it.There is not one thing wrong with learning by doing step by steps, of course. I taught myself to paint by copying painings I liked. Plus I teach online classes and I know that its perfectly okay to do the patterns and steps to create and learn.

. Its one way of learning. But once you learn a technique, try challenging yourself by adding to it and doing something that says YOU with it.

No students should try to market the exact same class and patterns that anyone sold to them, BUT- if you learn a trick or get an idea from my class, and make your own project to market from that idea, then GOOD FOR YOU!! That means I am a good teacher, so YAY ME!!

I certainly will never say that no one who takes Romantic White Christmas classes can never, ever teach a class about an altered shoe or a garland. Geez.

Which brings me to the lovely, gracious, classy Dawn, who tackled this in her blog this week. She stated her opinion with no name calling or bad blood, like I said, Classy. My pal, Lisa, is a passionate artist who puts a lot of herself into her creations. She used tips learned from another artist and did well with what she learned. Isn't that what every teacher wants? I'd say that is the mark of a successful class! She did NOT reproduce the items in the exact way, she made her own creations.

As far as classes go, why take one if you are not going to use what you learn in your own work?

I don't want to get too serious or contraversial, but I care about Lisa and know her work. And I loved Dawn's post, its worth you popping in to read.

Also, I am honored to have Lisa and Dawn teaching at my event this spring, along with Carol. I dearly love their styles and look forward to how much fun I'll have with them here at the cottage with me!

Since I just mentioned that I have been making necklaces from old pieces forever, I had to show you this!

Our Gypsy Beloved found it at a thrift store and brought it to me because it reminded her of me. I took one look and remembered making it in 96, as a holiday special order for someone 14 years ago!

How serendipitous.

(by the way, my style has changed a bit over the years, but I still like this one)

Okay- back to bags, thanks for listening to me and my mini rant– I made this hobo sack for the oldest of the grandgirls. The fabric is from a pair of Goodwill jammie bottoms, already in a patchwork pattern of India print cottons.

Here is the back of the bag. I cut the pockets out of the pants and added them to the bag, along with a few extra trims. A grreat short cut way to make a funky, fun bag for a young girl.

The second sis gets a smaller version from the same fabric, with one of my angora roses (learned in Betz White's class) pinned to it, and a ruffle made of embroidered doilies.

I took what I learned from the Silver Bella class, and added my own twist. My roses are more opened up and have extra petals. I changed her pattern to make it look more the way I wanted the roses to turn out and now, I feel like I can feel good about making these myself. I'm using her idea, but my own pattern, and have added to it, plus put it together differently.

This is from Betz' class.

And this is MY take on her class.

Yes, I learned how to make them in Betz White's class. But I've taken the techique and used what I learned to create something that looks like I made it myself.

EDIT:

Well guess what??? The rosettes are from a free tutorial that Betz posted HERE,

and she says she got it here.

And that person got it from Martha!!

Well, doesn't that just fit PERFECTLY with what I was saying earlier?????

Share the love, share the tips, lets all learn from each other and pass it on!

The pocket on it is made from some scraps and the ruffle at the top came from a package sent to me by Robin -I had to save the wrappings, since it was so pretty. Sugarwings got a bag too, with lots of pink rosebuds. We are going to fill all the gift bags with little presents and give them to the kids for Christmas.

My husband was horrified that I was making one for the 5 year old grandboy too. He thought it was a purse. We said no way, its a toy bag. I tried to make it macho by using corduroy (the leg of a pair of pants) and a man's tie as the handle and the pocket.

The pocket is pretty cool, it was Gypsy Beloved's idea to turn the tie over, and use the backside of it as a pocket. You know how ties are open on the back at the point? The tip of the tie is now a flap that folds over and closes by sliding into the little tab that is on the back with the name of the store on it. This one said "Dillards" but I covered that up with a pinking shear trimmed bit of the India cotton, and added a little plastic airplane given to me by my dear friend, Lisa.

She sent a giant box of goodies to me out of the clear blue! (pictures later)

In all I made 7 bags in the 9 hours we spent hanging out with our sewing machines, chatting, creating and baby snuggling. And I don't even enjoy sewing. But this was fun to do.

I am linking to Tea Rose Home's show and tell today.

Please check back Saturday for a giveaway announcement!

The happiest of Thanksgivings to you all!

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 24, 2010

I probably don't even have to say how thankful I am do I??? You guys all know that there were worries about the baby long before she came, and her poor momma was having a rough time. I couldn't be more thankful that both are happy and well now.

And I'm so thankful to have a new litle fairy to add to my flock!

Not only do I have my own two little grand fairies, and great niece Pixie Pie to play with, I've also grown to love Adam's Beloved's little ones. And no one appreciates a make believe game of dress up more than Miss Clover. What would I do without her in my life?

And this little sprite-let? I can't tell you how much I love her. She is quite the handful, and keeps us hopping, but the moment she leaves to go to back to her parent's home, all we can think about is when we get to see her again, no matter how tired we feel after playing with her. There is so much personality packed into that tiny little body that she wears out anyone near her, but it is a wonderful exhaustion. Kind of like a day of gardening, when the sun is shining, there is a cool breeze, and your flowers are blooming and looking great. The day was a lot of work, and you are ready for a rest, but the feeling is a good, satisfied tiredness, a happy one.

My fingers are crossed that her baby sister will take on some of the qualities of her second middle name, Zen. I don't know if I can chase two kids with the bounciness of Sugarwings….

But I'll do my best. Grand babies have a way of keeping you young, all these little ones are bringing out the kid in me. I love seeing things through Sugarwing's eyes. Today, a lonely leaf blew across the parking lot of the grocery store and she told me a long story about his family that he was trying to get back home to.

Tiny little things that I would walk right by with my own 52 year old sensibilities become magical, beautiful things when I look at them with a 4 year old's perspective. We amble every where we go and are always on the look out for a fuzzy bug, or a twig that might really be a wand with special powers. Simply walking across the back yard can be an adventure when I have this little person with me.

Yes, a lot to be thankful for. A handsome, funny, husband who was told at his checkup today that he was in tip top condition.

Two sons who tried their best break me in their teenage years, but grew into strong, kind hearted men that make me proud.

Sugarwing's smart and sassy Hippy Chic mommy who is my baby girl now. And Adam's Beloved Gypsy who is a kind and gentle soul, with a lovely outlook on life. I hope she considers me her mom too.

Sisters, and neices that I love like the best of friends and best friends that I love like sisters.

And a house full of Dorkies. There is nothing more cheerful than a stampede of tiny little feet running to greet me when I come in the front door.

Oh, and how can I leave out my STUDIO!? Its a dream come true, after a life time of using dining room tables, folding tables, or whatever corner I could find to set up my stuff?

Please forgive me for being schmaltzy. But this is a time of year when I get sentimental. I'm still a little teary from watching the touching scene in Glee last night…. New babies do that to you too, its easy to tear up and get emotional when there is a newborn in your life. When my kids were little, I thought it was the hormones that made me cry at TV commercials, but now I know its just the nearness of a little cuddle bundle that does it to me.

I hope all of you get a chance to count your blessings tomorrow. In between all the hectic meal prep and clean up, take a moment just to look around at faces you love and breathe in the happiness.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Its beginning to look a little bit like Christmas

fairies, family, flowers, Silver Bella, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / November 22, 2010

Over the weekend, I spent a little time lightening up the living room. (I was going to say de-flowering, but that just sounds wrong)

For the summer, I'd hung rose pattern curtains, scattered rosey pillows around the room, and set out some floral plates and trays as accents. Since the basics of the room are neutral, its really easy to switch out looks by changing accessories.

I hung my Target Shabby Chic white velvet drapes, duct taped an old velvet duvet cover over the sofa cushion, and took out anything pink or rosey.

No, not all rosey things! Agnes Rosebud stayed, of course.

After covering the couch cushion, I stuffed a crocheted table cloth under it, to peek out a bit, and got out my neutral pillows.

But the best part of the change over is the banner! My side swap from Silver Bella got hung up too. I used bits of lace tied together to hang it from.

And for the Holidays, I think I'll add some glittered letters to spell JOY.

And Suzanne Duda.

Great swap, huh???

And at the Silver Bella Vendor Faire, I was also lucky enough to get one of Lesa Daily's beautiful birds. She sells out FAST at any show she is in. That lady has some skills!

I'm kinda decorating for the holidays, but not quite. Just a hint of whats to come. Its fun to do it gradually.

For now, I've just set out some of my Silver Bella projects and the Romantic White Christmas things that I made for the online EZine (which reminds me- if you are showing any of your work from the class on your blog, please let me know!)

My plan during classes in Omaha was to make all the projects coordinate. I packed lots of white, silver, gold, and neutral and made everyone of my classes into something Christmassy to use in my home.

Usually, I have a vending booth and my free class period is spent in a craze of setting up, and this year I didn't vend. So I spent some of my free period in the hotel room puttering around on finishing stuff up, but I got lonely. So I took a walk downstairs and popped into other classes to visit and see what everyone was making. In Kari Lynn's class, I saw a bunch of friends, so they invited me to pull up a chair and visit. Someone gave me some wire, so I made this little door (with bird) for the cage I had already made in one of Kari Lynn's previous classes.

I was in two of her classes, then crashed this third one. Then, on Sat. she sat next to me in another class and as we were working away and chatting, I turned and introduced myself and said I didn't think we'd met. She said "YOU WERE JUST IN TWO OF MY CLASSES! " Ooops. I told her that her classes were so good that I was concentraiting on the project, not her face!

After that, she started calling me Dory. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming" (from Nemo) At least its not as bad as the year I asked Mary Englebrait to take my picture with someone, not knowing who she was…

Thing is, Kari Lynn's classes were wonderful and I just adored them and her. She is teaching at Kim's next wonderland, and that is one of the reasons I am going. Well, her and Colleen, who I got to know too. I really enjoyed them both.

I'll show the other projects when I finish my Christmas decor. I ran out of time, we had family over to meet the new baby on Saturday night.

Sugarwings and Pixie Pie had some dress up fun.

I can't believe how grownup this girl is getting. But all of a sudden, all my babies look HUGE, since we have added the tiny, newest fairy to the flock.

On Sunday, I got some more trees done and a few are in the Etsy shop now, more to come! Thanks for all the tree love.

These are a little something different, I tried some sepia ones. I like them, they fit well with my neutral living room. I hope people don't think they look like trees left up way too long.

I'll leave you with some new Etsy goods:

Cinderella at work

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / November 7, 2010

We had the best kind of weekend, one filled with a Sugarwings visit! I had a ton going on, with two dinner parties coming up before I head up to Omaha for Silver Bella this week, and all that entails for getting ready.

Plus, I wanted to get some bottle brush trees bleached, dyed, glittered, and listed for sale before I went out of town.

Luckily, Sugarwings likes to play princess. So, I told her that she was Cinderella and I was the wicked step mother and I was going to make her work ALL weekend.

She got busy unwrapping bottle brush trees right away. The whole time, she was singing, "We are Santa's Elves" from the Rudolf TV special that is on every year.

That is better than when she dresses as Snow White to help me clean house. "Whistle While You Work" is fine, but when she starts muttering about "Dirty, Dirty Dwarfs" its always a bit disturbing.

Every fall, I throw a couple packages of trees into the sink to soak, then dye and glitter them. And then go to the store for more and do it again. And then do it again. And again.

Today I had a better plan.

After filling the sink with two packages of little trees, we hopped in the car and went to buy more.

And came home with 240 of them to throw into the tub! (Just watch, this will be the year that no one buys trees, and I am stuck with all of them!) Well, at least we had plenty of fun working on them today.

I'll let you know when they are in the shop.

After all the hard work indoors, I took Cinderella outside to enjoy this unusually perfect fall weather and do some work outdoors too. We blew leaves (and maybe jumped in a few), cleaned out my car (with the leaf blower, that is such a handy alternative to vacuuming!), and then tidied up the Fairy Berry Trail.

Agnes Rosebud helped.

Sparkle just sat and observed. Twinkle chased off after a critter in the woods and was gone THREE heartbreaking hours. She came back so covered in filth she looked like she'd been digging the whole time. And of course, my tub is full of trees. She's sleeping in a kennel tonight.

After picking up sticks in the yard, Cinderella's work still wasn't done. We had to unload the sticks onto the bonfire berfore we could sit donw and enjoy the blaze.

There is nothing like a crisp fall afternoon by the bonfire. Especially when your marhsmallows are PINK.

And when I have my Sugarwings with me.

Her Pop Pop kind of likes having her around too.

Baby Update:

We are waiting impatiently for the new gypsy fairy grandbaby. Her momma was having serious contractions last night and we thought the time had come.

Once again, the contractions stopped. I think I might start calling this baby Peek-a-boo, since she has been playing this game with us for over a month and a half now!

Oh, and THANKS so much for all the sign ups to Romantic White Christmas!! I think we'll have fun working on it together. If you'd like to sign up too, click on the button at the top of the right hand side of the blog for more info.

Hope to see you there!

Sticky door knobs

family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, parties, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 30, 2010

We managed to fit in one trip to the Pumpkin Patch before the season ended. Sugarwings and I spent almost 3 hours there, just talking to pumpkins and meeting new fuzzy friends. She certainly is a nature child and is happier playing with dirt than toys most of the time.

Here she is in a quickie little video of her naming her newest buddy.

We found a few little pumpkins to adopt, and it was hard to convince her that the caterpillar couldn't come home with us too. She was satisfied when I told her that next time we went there, she could visit him again and he would be a butterfly.

We did a little shopping at the local Salvation Army too, where I got her a big bagful of new clothes for 20 bucks. Isn't this little outfit cute? It was a pale blue, but I dyed the shirt and floral overalls in a fuchsia dye to brighten them up. The whole outfit cost $2.00. (I'm not counting the cost of the dye, because I bought it to dye the sheets for the Gypsy Fairy Wagon Bassinette and just threw these in with them)

Kids clothes are so expensive, and fit for such a short period of time, that I am always on the lookout at thrift stores and am thrilled to get hand me downs for her too. Plus, since she is such a dirt aficionado, its nice to not worry about what she is wearing. I might not be as quick to let her wallow around, happy as a pig in mud if I'd spent $20 on one outfit instead of on a whole bag of outfits. Plus, have you looked at the price tag on kid's clothes? $20 wouldn't get me very far!

This has been a particuarly fun Halloween season, with Sugarwings big enough to really get into it all. She loves the Monster Mash as much as I do, we've been singing and dancing to it all week.

For our party, I set up a caramel apple making station in the treat cabinet, and I think that the adults enjoyed making their treats as much as the kids did.

My fairy grand baby was as happy to make a caramel apple as she was to do her very own witchy face makeup.

Pixie Pie liked them too. Seems like anytime you give kids an oportunity to do something themselves, they are pretty happy. We do a lot of "make your own" parties- mini pizzas, cupcakes and tacos are all fun for kids to put together. And with 4 little dorkies in the house, the floor doesn't get too bad while kids are creating their plates. The dogs hang out under the table and are enjoying the party more than anyone else.

We set up a pumpkin decorating station outside the kids were given paints and brushes. I had big plans to clean off all the seeds and roast them, but there was just too much going on and a bit too much paint mixed in with the pumpkin guts to do it.

When Sugarwings and I carved our own pumpkin earlier, she helped me pick out all the seeds. I'd never roasted them before, but there wasn't much to it, here is how we did it:

First, we washed the seeds and got all the strings off.

Then, tossed them with sea salt and a splash of olive oil, then spread them out on a cookie sheet to bake at 350 until they started to look about half way done.

I melted a 1/4 stick of butter, added just a little cinnamon and sugar and a cup of pecans, Sugarwings stirred them altogether and we both spread the mix back out on the pan again. I cooked them till they were crunchy.

I wasn't sure how long they needed to bake, so just checked on it every few minutes. When the seeds started to explode and pop, I figured they'd gone long enough! I wasn't expecting that.

We've been eating them on salad all week. They are only lightly sugared, and its pretty tasty that way. They'd be good on ice cream too.

It started to turn cold later, but was still pretty nice for this part of the evening.

We still haven't had our first frost yet! I'm thinking about hauling my potted topiary rosebush into the studio while it is still blooming.

My aqua eyeshadow as face paint was popular, lots of us ended up with an unearthly blue glow.

The kids painted mini pumpkins and made ghosts too. Its always funny to me, how serious the kid's faces are while they are working.

Yep, it was a fun Halloween week for us here at the cottage. Now, if only I could whip up a magic spell that took away all the sticky hand prints from my door knobs… I've been finding remnants of the caramel apple extravaganza everywhere!

Today, I'm still scanning and printing images for the Romantic White Christmas, and Beth and I are working on a banner for the class. Its still in progress, but here is a peek.

While I was scanning images for Christmas, I found these pumpkins for you. Just right click, save the larger image in the window to your computer and print.

My little punkin

family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 14, 2010

One of our favorite things to do this time of year is to visit the pumpkin patch. Right outside our town, the cutest lil patch of pumpkins in the world exisits. Everything is free to do, you aren't even required to buy a pumpkin. There are tractor rides, a hay bale maze, play areas, cows to visit, and lots of pumpkins to meet.

We try to go often and each buy a small pumpkin and a treat each time. They have home made lemonade, and frozen cherry cider too. And I've learned to buy a few jars of local made pumpkin butter early, because towards Halloween, its all gone.

Kansas is beautiful this time of year. And so are these two. I try to get a photo of them like this at the patch every fall.

That's one hot grandpa, huh?

This just seems like yesterday…

She's growing up. No matter how wonderful it is to watch, its still hurts a bit to see it happen so fast.

To Sugarwings- and THANKS swappers- and OOOPS

a lapse of memory again, or am I just careless?, Books, I do tend to run on, don't I?, parties, show and tell, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 11, 2010

Sugarwings and I had a pretend tea party this weekend, and we both opened hostess gifts from the Dorothy tag books swap. I'm so touched by all the thoughtfulness! Anyone who knows me, knows that the way to my heart is to spoil that little fairy grand baby of mine.

Or to make something for me, I Iove hand made things! Or to give me ephemera and supplies to use in my own work. Or to to make a thoughtful gesture. I guess there are lots of ways to get to me, I so appreciate an act of kindness!

Before the party started, we opened a gift from Barbara, that she sent, "just because". I swear, don't you meet the nicest people in the blog world?

We called it the Yellow Brick Road Dress. It's a colorful concoction featuring a road, appliqued ruby slippers down the front, and poppies stitched to the shoulder.

Sugarwings has both red glittered slippers from the Oz movie and silver glittered slippers that were in the Oz book. I found them at garage sales, and she loves them so much, that she insists they are on her bed at night when I tuck her in. Not exactly cuddly, but they make her happy. And I know how women can be about their shoes. Personally, I have Fred Flinstone feet and am always happy to find a non-Birkenstock that fits me. So, I can't be a shoe person like she is. Wish I could.

Agnes Rosebud was invited to the party, and I dressed her up in the poppy headband that Barb had made to go with the dress. But the little pup wasn't all that interested in our presents.

Until this one came out of the box! Even the dogs were remembered with a hostess gift of tasty treats.

And oh my! Do you see that flying monkey on the altered blocks?? Sorry its not facing the camera completely, the two blocks spell OZ in green glittered letters and its cuter than a bug! Its from Amy Bauer.

The monkey was all wrapped up as a gift to me, but Sugarwings can't quite believe it is not for her. If we have to arm wrestle for it, I think I can take her.

The ribbon in her hair was part of the wrapping that I saved from the packages filled with tags. I salvage every little bit of tissue, bubble wrap, and ribbon that comes along with the avalanche of artwork. When you order goods from my shop, I try to use as much recycled packaging as I can, and the outside of the envelopes often are covered with black sharpie scribbles marking out the old addresses. But I really take time and care to make the purchases look good when you get the package open.

And so many of the swappers did too. I did some oohing and awing over the way some of the tags were wrapped up. Then, I scooped up the stuff to save and use again! Thanks, swappers!

The Good Witch/Bad Witch buttons that are pinned to her Yellow Brick Road dress were gifts from my Sissy to Sugarwing's Hippie Chick Mommy. This kid gets her love of all things Oz from her mom and her dear departed Nanny, who were both huge Oz fans.

As much as I enjoy the Dorothy story, I don't come close to those girls. They are fanatics.

I've become more of an Oz afficionado since being around them. I can definately quote the movie, act it out, and sing the songs when called for.

Toto is my favorite character, so I really enjoyed this cute zipper pull and will add it to my little fairie's winter coat.

Many of the swappers included extra tags for my own book, or hand made thank you cards that were so cute, I had to add them to my tag book.

This one features little Agnes Rosebud as a tiny baby.

When I host a swap, I'm lucky to get lots of extra tags to fatten my books up. I have them all on display in the studio hanging from this metal shelf. And everyonce in a while I'll take them down to flip through. Its wonderful to have a mini collection of so many artist's work.

To receive hand made, personal gifts from the artists too, is just amazing! Cheryl made this box and book and I was floored when I opened it. Do you ever feel like a dweeb compared to other artists? I was overwhelmed by so many of the really extrordinary art that arrived at my doorstep for this swap. Its impressive to see the talent out there, and even more impressive to see all the tags spread out on my table tops to drool over.

So, if your book is a little curled up on the edges, that is just drool from my admirations.

Okay, now here comes the embarrassing part. I hate to admit this to you, but I might have screwed up. After finishing all the mailing, there is still a book on my desk….

I never said I was good at this. I just said I tried really, really hard to stay organized.

All the names are marked off the list. So, I have no idea who didn't get one.

On the other hand, so many people sent in extra tags, and I made so many myself, and of course, that will really throw off the numbers.

So, if you don't have your book by the end of the week, please let me know. So Sorry. Very Sorry.

Also, someone didn't get a Toto tag in their basket on the cover of the book. If your basket is empty let me know. There is a Toto on my desk waiting to be reunited with his Dorothy. ooops again.

Thank you, to all who were part of the swap and thanks also for all of the thoughtful gifts! Totally unessacary, but greatly enjoyed by us both!