Sugarwings – Page 39 – Karla's Cottage

A Modeling Career for Sugarwings and an answer to the MEAN comment

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), holiday decor, magazine pictures or articles, Silver Bella, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / November 5, 2008

Wowwee! Have you seen this yet? Somerset has done it again, this magazine is just so, over the top, good! Kudos to Jo Packham, the editor.

The quality of the photos and stories are every bit as good as the book that preceded it. Impressive. Here is a link to Jenny Doh’s blog with her post about this issue.

Now, I am really overwhelmed to think that my studio (!?) will be featured in a future issue of this publication. Heck, my head might not even fit through the doors of the studio after that, this is a cool thing to be in!

I’m extremely proud to be included in this issue, for this little corner on the back page. A photo I took of Sugarwings helping me face paint at a birthday party was used.

She is not wearing a shirt, so I am hoping this won’t be a big career move for her. I’d rather not see her featured topless in any more magazines as an adult.

And yes, I KNOW I should be cleaning and getting ready for company, packing up supplies for my Silver Bella classes, but I ended up making more bottle brush trees, and while cutting apart the strands of old mercury glass beads, I decided to bottle a few of them.

If I don’t end up selling these, I think they’d be cute as a bug in my kitchen replacing the spices on my rack during the holidays!

The teeny blue ribbons and gold and white labels are some that I got in a mini swap with my Dutch pal, Lili. Sbella_booth_256

Sugarwings ended up spending the evening with me, so I stopped gluing goodies to trees and took the advice of my friend, Valita, who said I should sell bottle brush tree decor kits at Silver Bella.

I bagged up some trinkets to add to trees, each bag is different and most are best suited for the taller trees, although I’d say that if you were decorating a bunch of little trees, the stuff could be spread out among a few. The old clip on earrings (that I cut the backs off of) are great to use as ornaments on a bigger tree, but work better as a single tree topper on the tiny trees.

This tree is one of the larger ones, so it could handle a handful of old earrings glued to it.

Tomorrow, Beth, Carol, and I are going to visit Deb and check out the Curious Sofa Holiday Open House. Deb has quite a way with display, this should be fun! Plus, dinner after with my two buds will be a nice way to spend an evening and avoid cleaning my studio.

And I seem to be very fond of dinner lately… I gained TEN POUNDS since I turned 50 six months ago. Is this what being old does to you? A complete shut down of the metabolism?????

By the way, I got my very first MEAN comment yesterday by someone who thinks Twinkle should not be having puppies.

This person left an purposely incorrect email address, so I couldn’t answer her. So, I’ll say it here-

Yes, I know that there are LOTS of dogs and cats without homes in the world, and I have taken in my share of them plus donated time to our local shelter, as well as donating art to fund raising auctions and free murals that I painted on the walls of the building.

Just because I raise pure bred Dorkies doesn’t make me a bad, uncaring person. These babies will go to people who will love them and give them good homes.

I believe in helping the less fortunate dogs, and have been the mastermind behind some adoptions of homeless dogs, numerous times. But I still like my Dorky babies and will always have them around. They bring joy to me and to many others.

Just like I believe in recycling and buying as much as I can second hand to help lower my own carbon foot print, but that doesn’t mean I am not going to buy something brand new and shiny here and there too.

I heat with wood as much as I can, turn off lights, put on a sweater instead of turning up the heat, run as many errands as I can at once so I won’t waste gas. I do what I can to save the planet. But that doesn’t mean I won’t drive across country to take a trip or spend a day driving from garage sale to garage sale.

I guess what I am trying to say, is that I believe in being a responsible inhabitant of our planet, and I do try to do good things. But life is give and take. You cut back here and there, help out when you can, but you have to live it and splurge on the things you enjoy.

So nice we went there twice

fairies, holiday decor, Moving to DC, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 29, 2008

We love the punkin patch so much, we had to go back for another visit. And I was day dreaming about more jars of the local pumpkin butter, I’d used up what I bought on the last trip to make batches of pumpkin bread.

Sugarwings doesn’t get tired of visiting the pumpkin farm either. She is enthralled by every detail, and we are so enthralled with her that we are happy to sit on the hay wagon and ride it round and round as long as our fairy grandbaby wants to.

Thanks for your interest in the tiaras! I did make more and will have some at Silver Bella.

I should be packing for my trip, I leave for DC tomorrow morning, had Sugarwings all day, ran errands all afternoon, then wrote captions for a story coming out in the next Romantic Country tonight.

Did you see that Fifi was back from France??!! With great photos of her trip and of her patio remodel. She is also asking how readers enjoyed the last issue of Romantic Country. If you read the article Carol and I worked on together, I’d really appreciate you mentioning it to Fifi. It never hurts…. Thanks!!

I am no where near ready for a trip and will probably be doing laundry at midnight. But I did get my early voting done today, Sugarwings went with us and got a fistful of stickers that said "I Voted". She was also telling everyone she saw at the grocery store about it afterwards. But she says "mybomma" instead of Obama.

While I am at our Virginia apartment, I’ll draw the winning names for October and will get the gifts in the mail when I return. you can still enter till the 1st.

Hopefully, I’ll have some down time while there and can update my blog roll too… I’ve been meaning to do that.

I also have a play date while out East! A few blog friends and some fella bellas are going to meet me at the Chantilly Big Flea on Sunday morning. We will be shopping in a pack that day, I can’t wait.

Well, I’m off to do laundry and find something to pack. I tend to spend all of my money on wallpaper and hats, and never have anything decent in the closet. I hate packing.

Fun with Fabrics

antiques/junking, family, flowers, parties, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 25, 2008

I’ve been playing hooky the last few days. Maybe a case of over confidence? I am so close to being ready for Silver Bella that I am doing fun stuff instead of finishing the work that needs to be done. I hope nothing comes up unexpectedly and I don’t have time to finish after all…

Today was a tie dye day. Normally, we do our dying outside, but the weather was just a tad to cool, so this is what my studio looks like now!

Here is a shirt I dyed last time, its an ombre type style. To get this affect, you saturate the piece with the base color of dye, then splash on colors that blend, starting with lighter at the top, darker at the bottom.

Then hang it to drip for 24 hours while the dye sets. I love the way the colors bleed as it hangs.

Last year, these hoodies were sold at Silver Bella, and I wore mine so much this year that I almost wore it out. It was white to start with and after a year of enjoyment and use, you couldn’t call it white any more. So the dye was a fix to make the shirt "new" again.

I also embellished the faded (from many washings) printed design on the back, with bronze metallic and silver glitter fabric paints.

If my other tie dye creations turn out picture worthy, I’ll show them later. Right now, they are wrapped up in rubber bands and soaking away in plastic bags.

Beth indulged me and took a hooky day shopping on Thursday, we went to the Jr. League Holiday Shop in KC. Hmm. Not my typical type of shopping, and we kept saying that we felt like tourists in another land. Everything was NEW and expensive, not stuff either of us buy!

But then, we came across Deb Dusenberry’s Curious Sofa booth like a beacon of light in the darkness we found her beautiful displays of fab finds!

See why I was so happy? Her style is so perfectly perfect. That woman has an eye for beauty, I love everything she does.

And while there, I found out that Deb is driving up from KC to go to the Silver Bella vendor night, so I made sure to invite her to visit Carol and I in our "Glitter Lounge". Carol (who is a good buddy of Deb’s) and I are stocking our room with wines and chocolates and inviting friends up to hang with us there. (Last year, after Silver Bella vendor night, we had a cocktail in the lounge, then a slumber party in Heather Bullard’s room. This year, Heather isn’t coming, so Carol and I will be having the girly night in our room instead.)

After eating enough free samples of gift basket style food offerings to justify our tickets to the Jr. League show (every other booth there had jam and crackers or spinach dip and pretzels), Beth and I escaped the newness of the holiday mart and made a run to Mission Road Antique Mall where Beth has a booth. We did a redo on her spot (sorry, no good pics of that, too bad, she has GREAT stuff- but there are pictures on her blog) and it was joy to play with vintage goodies after an afternoon of walking through booths of brand new goods!

Remember me telling you about the art show at Blue Plate Dinners that I painted a pear for? We went to the opening last night and what a cool event! The art was all food related and displayed in one gallon zip lock bags.

Quite a few friends of mine had artwork in the show, so it was fun to hang out with them for the evening.

Notice anything odd about my picture? Well my hand is a bit colorful from the tie dying.

Most people didn’t even comment, they are so used to seeing me covered in something, glitter, paint, dye, etc. that it would cause even more comment if I showed up somewhere pristine…

Vicki gave me a blog award, how sweet. I always appreciate the kind thoughts behind those, I am sorry I don’t always follow through with them. For this one, I am supposed to list 6 things that make me happy, so I thought this photo summed up most of them-

1- Sugarwings!!!

2- flowers

3- summertime and sunshine

4- pretty colors

5- a day with the family

6- spending time in this town I am so lucky to live in, downtown Lawrence has so much to offer.

Time flies

Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 19, 2008

Silver Bella is getting closer and I am happy to say it looks like I will be ready in plenty of time to take a week off and go to DC with my husband! Right now, all of the things I am making are just "gravy" on top of everything else that is ready to go.

This morning, I took a break and made this bracelet for myself, from some old watches I have been collecting. On one, I took out the ‘guts’ and replaced them with a teeny millinery flower.

Some of the watches were made into pieces to sell to.

This necklace seems appropriate for Silver Bella, doesn’t it look like the watch is wearing a tiara?

This one is much simpler, but still pretty, I think.

That is the end of my jewelry making for 2008, I’m pretty sure. I have all the tools and supplies packed away and am moving on to the next thing, as the year winds down, I’ll be concentrating on holiday decor items.

But while I was still playing jewelry (as Sissy and I always call working with our baubles) I remade the crown charm that I wanted to wear to Silver Bella. I’d made this bird pendant from one of Sissy’s plates at a craft day in her kitchen a couple years back. All I did to it this morning was add some of her special, antique blue topaz stones and the crown dangling charm with pearls.

Maybe I will wear it on a ribbon.

I’ve also made up a few tags, this fairy one is from the label I created for my milk bath salts.

And I am wrapping up vintage trims to take with me to Omaha to sell too. Beth gave me a few of these cute shoe tags and I am twisting trims around those and tying them up with ribbons and flowers.

Have you ever tried printing images on holographic paper? This photo doesn’t do it justice, the paper is so sparkling and pretty. I am using pictures I print on to this to wrap my vintage bits of trim around too.

Sugarwings needed some new duds, and one pair of pjs came with this tag on it. How could I just throw it away?

Well, of course, I couldn’t toss it! I covered it in pink, flocked wallpaper, aged the edges in silver ink and used black crystals for the eyes and nose.

Sometimes, I am as excited about the tags that come on new clothes as I am about the clothes themselves. The tags are great raw materials to make into something, usually good shapes and heavy duty papers.

Yesterday was a perfect Kansas autumn afternoon. We took Sugarwings to the pumpkin patch and ate fresh roasted corn on the cob and hot kettle corn harvested right there from the farm we were visiting. Food doesn’t get much more delicious than that.

Her Hippy Chick Mommy was on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin to decorate at a pumpkin carving party she is going to.

But our little Care Bear was judging pumpkins for their fit as a slide or as a horsey.

Today is just as beautiful as yesterday was, and I need to get outdoors and enjoy what is left of the sunshine! Twinkle and I will be working in the garden, cleaning it up for winter.

FOUR winners!

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

By Karla Nathan / October 1, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cammi

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

Bella Wanda.

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

The Winner is:

Bobbi

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

My Sweet September Prize Pack goes to:

Sheila

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

Remember, I constantly have a giveaway going.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Karla Nathan / September 27, 2008

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

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

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

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

Show Carol some of this crown love!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Cuppy Cake Song works magic

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), magazine pictures or articles, paintings, redos, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 27, 2008

Sugarwings loves her new play dough from Robin! She spent about 3 hours in the studio with me while I worked and I was able to get a lot done, as long as we sang and talked and I sat down to make things with her here and there.

She sculpted play dough for about an hour, then was ready to move on to an hour of markers, then an hour of paint. I was amazed that a 2 year old could be as obsessive about working in the studio as I am! We are definitely related.

Robin scented and colored the play dough with Kool Aide, so there was a lot of sniffing, and calls for "Mell this one Grammy!"

By the 3rd hour of artwork, she was wearing only a diaper and war paint, with stickers up and down her arms and play dough in her hair. She started out cute though.

We played in the garden hose a while after this.

While the fairy grand baby worked on her crafts, I redid Lou Wanda and Lucinda.

They’ve been with me forever, used as jewelry displays. I’ve tried to use them for blog photos, but they are so dark, it never works well.

So, I decided to go for a lighter, brighter look, but wanted to keep their feet as is, I had painted flowers on them years ago and still like that part.

This is a remnant of a favorite fabric of mine, it was the last little bit left, but not quite enough. So I decided to do a crazy quilt look, with different shaped patches cut out and glued down. I left frayed edges showing, and was happy with the look.

I’d cut a piece of fabric, then glue it on and trim off the excess, till I filled in the whole form.

Then, I lightly sanded the black knob on top and painted it shell pink with crackles, added vintage beaded trim and a millinery flower.

Now, Lou Wanda is dressed in that prom dress I couldn’t zip up. And seeing it on her, I understand why!!

Yes, that is a dog sitting on my dining table, but actually, the table is for work, not food.

And yes, that is an extremely thick layer of filth on that mirror on the wall. I just bought it for $2 and it needs cleaned up and repainted. Its on the wall now to get it up off the floor and out of my way.

Of course, not a lot of the fabulous fabric shows while Lou Wanda is wearing the prom gown, but she won’t always be dressed, so I am glad I covered all of her up.

Lucinda got the same treatment, but with an assortment of creamy upholstery fabrics left over from a slip cover project.

She also has some cut up doilies stuck to her and a spray of old, perfectly smooshy velvet leaves.

I dressed her in an old half slip.

I’m still shocked that Sugarwings worked on her projects the whole time I worked on mine. I have to thank Jennifer Hayslip for some help, she has a song playing on her blog right now, that the baby loves. We looked it up on line and played it over and over and over for hours.

And I still can’t get the words right. I am hopeless at learning lyrics. I always end up making up my own.

After Sugarwings went home, singing her own version of the Cuppy Cake Song, I made up a few wallpaper journals and packed up tidbits to sell along with them for the new owners use to for embellishments.

Jenny Doh might be interested in them for Somerset Life, but of course, that is never official until she sees them in person and makes up her mind then. Some things they use, others they send back. I certainly don’t take it for granted that they will be used, and I also don’t get hurt or sad when things are not accepted.

I’ve juried art shows and craft shows myself and understand the process. "Not accepted" rarely means "REJECTED", in the negative sense. It just means, "not what we were looking for this time".

But I did get some good news! My studio will be in a future issue of "Where Women Create"! This is a new magazine coming out from Somerset (don’t they have the most diverse and interesting selection of publications?) based on the book by Jo Packham.

So, I decided to do something about my seating in the studio. I found a cheapo computer chair and slipped a cover over it and tied a rose from Holly to it.

Who knew that a slipcover meant for a dining chair would work??? I had one (from a garage sale) in my linen closet and thought it was worth a try, and hey, perfect fit and length, I don’t roll over the hem at all.

And it is so comfy. I used to have just a hard backed chair from a garage sale to sit on, and if I sat there too long, my legs fell asleep.

While Sugarwings crafted, I not only covered the two dress forms and spiffed up my chair, I also got this gift wrapped up. It is the 1950s House Wife Kit for my August giveaway, already to be mailed to you. Well, to one of you. Just leave a comment and it might be YOU.

Tomorrow I am going to Sparks and White Cloud with my BFF Beth to shop at our favorite Flea Market. Maybe I’ll pick up something there for September’s giveaway.

Before I leave for the day, I hope to post something for this event, a tribute to Tasha Tudor.

Check out Clarice’s site for info.

I’d like to paint a little tribute to Miss Tudor, since I am supposed to have my paints out to work on another project. Man, my days are not long enough…..

Still redoing the studio

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, how to's, I do tend to run on, don't I?, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 24, 2008

Brenda is hosting a tour of "Where Blogger’s Create" today and since I have some studio pictures here, I thought I’d join in. For a list of other bloggers who are showing their studios today, go HERE.

And please, remember that all comments are entered into my August Giveaway, the 50’s housewife kit- jewels and a frilly vintage apron!

I’m still plugging away on the studio redo. It is taking so long because I stop and make things as I go and spend too much time on fixing up the storage areas. Like this little hutch, that I am storing glitter supplies in. (it still needs glass knobs)

Here is the before, sitting outside my studio’s back door.

1-I primed it with Zinzer Bullseye spray, bonding primer, then a spray coat of aqua.

2- Let it dry, then sanded it quite a bit with a palm sander.

3- Topped it with a black walnut stain/poly mix and wiped it down.

4- As a finishing touch, I dipped the brush back into the stain mix and flicked it over the hutch for speckles, then dabbed the more pronounced ones a bit with a rag.

So, things like that get me side tracked, and instead of just making the room cleaned up and functional, I do projects.

Like this one. I bought an unfinished pine folding screen at a garage sale for $10 last weekend and decided to make a mini studio within my studio for Sugarwings with this as walls.

The side facing out is covered with my floral papers and trimmed in white paint top coated the same way I did the little hutch. (which I had bought to use in Sugarwing’s studio, but it ended up in mine!)

On the fairy grand baby’s side of the screen, I painted the trim in pink and blue and white polka dots with chalk board paint in 4 of the areas, and some Care Bear wallpaper in the others.

Then, perfect timing- (but is there ever BAD timing for a lovely gift???)

Robin sent a huge, overflowing box of goodness our way!!!!!

I had admired the apron she had posted on her blog, and look- here is one for Sugarwings!

Not only did she send the apron that I admired, she made up scented play dough, this sweet tag, and this cute little collaged box too.

As well as TONS of other surprises. The birdies are from her too, I added one to the top of the screen, by just looping it’s wire around the hole in the picket.

All of her packages in the box were wrapped so cutely, and she used old greeting cards to make up tags for each package, then included the play dough recipe on one too.

That box of goodness was jammed packed full of fun. I’d also admired one of these ceramic hands that she showed on her blog, and Robin sent one of those too. I was sad to see it had broken into a million pieces in the bottom of the box.

That hand was definately worth putting some time into fixing, so I glued it all back together, then decoupaged it with pages from an old French book to cover the cracks and gaps that were stuffed with tissue paper.

Robin lives in the same city where my husband and I keep an apartment out East, so I will keep this hand on my desk, as a friendly wave from a neighbor.

I’m embarrassed to say that Robin’s box was part of a swap we did. She had bought a hat covered in tiny pink flowers and I offered to trade a handful of her pink ones for a mix of a bunch of my other colors, so she’d have a variety to work with.

And because the pink ones she had were so perfectly pink!

And yes, she sent the pink flowers, I have them tied to the storage box. And what did I send to her?

Just a handful of flowers. And I haven’t even shown you all of what she sent to me!!! Like I said, that box was jammed full of goodies!

Thanks so much, Robin!

And thanks also to Carol. She sent in her swap boxes for the Pre-Bella Get Acquainted Swap that I am hosting, and included this giftie for me.

That K is going onto my chandelier filled with collected Ks that hangs right over my computer.

I didn’t peek into her swap boxes, they are just too darling to open. I am afraid my photo of them wasn’t as good as it should be, but the one on her blog is. She owns one of those Canon Rebel cameras I whine about all the time.

You should look at her photo, she is a talented stylist and every picture she takes is a beauty.

I forgot to mention that the flowered china in this picture is a gift from Beth. She thinks of me when she is at an auction and is always bringing me pretties she gets there.

I tried re-taking this photo (same as the last post) in daylight, but unless I have direct light, my photos are never good.

That is why every photo I take of something for Etsy is in front of the French doors in the light. I try to use different papers and table clothes as backgrounds, but it is always the same location, since it has the best light in the room.

This Witch’s Boot might be my only Halloween offering, besides black and orange millinery. I won’t have time to do much for Halloween, I am going to skip straight to filling up my 10 x 10 booth at Silver Bella for Christmas and making things for Lollyshops.

Trying a new trick

antiques/junking, family, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 17, 2008

Before picking up Sugarwings to spend the day together for her birthday, I stopped at a couple of garage sales. One sounded promising, it said "fancy hats".

When I got there, it was not the kind of hats I crave, it was modern day Lady’s church wear.

BUT- since the people at this sale weren’t into vintage stuff at all, what they did have along those lines was dirt cheap.

I’ve noticed that non-vintagey garage sales have great giveaway prices on vintage items if there are any around. These aprons were 25 cents each.

This table cloth and apron were each a quarter too, and they gave me an idea.

A friend, who loves funky, kitschy things is going through a rough time. Her husband starts chemo this week, and I thought I’d make her a hospital survival bag and fill it with handy things to have while sitting with him during his sessions.

I included:

water bottles

coin purse filled with quarters and dollar bills for vending machines

a 1940’s magazine to read

granola bars

home made trail mix

Italian candies from 100 Wishes

Kleenex

and a book mark

Sewing isn’t exactly my top skill. I learned that pinning is important and so is keeping the sewing machine manual next to me at all times.

I cut out the table cloth to the size of the apron and PINNED it together, right sides facing each other (I was so proud to have done that correctly!).

So, I stitched the two pieces together, making the apron and is pockets one side of the bag.

I was zooming along so nicely, that I got brave and added a pocket made from half a doily and some trim to the table cloth side.

Then, the tie that was supposed to go around the waist of the apron, was tied together to become the handle of the bag.

Its big and slouchy and can hold lots of magazines or what ever she needs to take with her.

The only problem was my inability to put on a button to hold it closed.

I solved that by making a drawstring bag (also with trim on it!!) that pins (with a heart brooch) to the inside of the big bag, in case she wants to carry something that needs to be secured, like a cell phone or wallet.

The sugar bag and some of the trim came from the box-o-goodies that I won from Heidi. The doily that became a pocket is from Lori. Those gifts came in handy!

Sugarwings had a sleepover with us, so I had to get up early to make this while she was still snoozing this morning.

When she woke up, she thought it was for her. After a day of birthday gifts, she expected more presents. Plus, everything she sees makes her yell "MINE!" now that she is two. This sewing thing went pretty good for me, I was surprised. I might make a bag for her from one of the smaller aprons.

A group of friends is going to take turns supplying the hospital survival kit each week when our buddy goes in for chemo treatments. My suggestion was to have practical things in it of course, but to also throw in one odd thing that will make her wonder what on earth we were thinking when packed it. And maybe make her smile.

My little weird thing for this time? Just a tiny, yellow, plastic bird about the size of a thumb tack. It is in the coin purse with the change.

Sugarwings was her sweet self for her birthday party, that was a relief. What ever evil gnome had come and switched my little doll for the changeling child the day before decided to return her.

We had a simple party, in the park. She got to chase bubbles and play on the swing set.

Her uncle Steve got her a big girl bike and gave her rides on it!

We all had a lovely day, but it was enough to wear the little fairy girl out.

I decided to add one of the pretty 25 cent aprons to my August Giveaway along with this vintage brooch with the blue stone, and the pink clip on earrings.

Whoever wins can wear them all together and look like a spiffy 50s housewife as she cooks dinner for her family.

By the way, have you seen this post at Heather’s? I took the quiz and was humiliated to see that I am a SUPERIOR 50s housewife!! In today’s day and age that isn’t a compliment.

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Putting together a baby shower while babysitting a grumpy baby

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, flowers, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / August 16, 2008

For a while today, I didn’t think I’d be able to pull off tonight’s baby shower!

Sugarwings spent most of yesterday and today with me, and while she was very helpful making birthday cupcakes for her mommy yesterday, today, she was a bit of a challenge.

That is not like her at all, and had me worried. I hope it is just a phase she is going through.

But I kept things very simple for the party and served ready made foods, like a mix of pink jelly beans in a cut glass dish.

And a basket full of mixed nuts with dried fruits.

Then, Beth brought a cheese cake and someone else made brownies and treats. All I had to do was set the table, make some herbal tea/punch and open wine.

Setting the table looks much more complicated than it is. I layered pink flowered table clothes (the baby is a girl!), and borrowed one of Sugarwing’s vintage doll cradles that I had painted roses on to hold the plates and napkins.

The plastic silverware is sitting in her fluffy bunny basket (from Easter) that is lined with a floral napkin.

I snipped a few flowers from my garden and tucked the blooms into child’s tea cups and popped a little ballerina in with the flowers. Since I didn’t have time to go to the store and buy flowers, these little rose buds and a handful of pink baby’s breath from my yard were the only bouquets I had.

I’ve found that, making myself be creative with what I have is much better than going out to buy something ready made. At least it is cheaper!

A few nesting tea cup birds from my Etsy stash of stuff for sale, and some birdies I got from Robin and Lori, and I was done.

I wrapped up a few more packets of bath salts to give as party favors.

Then, placed a doll crib in the living room to fill with presents.

Oh- and I also hung some pink glittered birdies from my Sissy on the chandelier along with a tussie mussie from my friend, Heather. I love the long, dangling ribbons on the cone, and might just leave it there for a bit and enjoy it.

Of course, the fun part was when the doll bed was filled with pretty pink presents for the expecting momma to open! (she was a good sport and wore the party hat I made for her too, even though it was kind of top heavy, but I think that at nine months pregnant, she is used to being off balance by now!)

Sparkle joined the party and spent most of her time on Aunty Beth’s lap.

Beth gave Shanna the cutest gift. She is planning on knitting a blanket for the newborn, but it wasn’t done yet, so she made a tiny one and wrapped it around a dolly as an IOU.

I gave Shanna my all pink version of the Sugarwings and Twinkle book, and added a hand painted cupcake to the teaparty page, along with a teacup that I drew onto rosebud paper and cut out.

I wanted it to have some special touches.

Here are a couple of the names that are being considered for the new little girl due this week:

Lizzelle and Audry– How pretty!! I like them together, Audrey Lizzelle.

Tomorrow is Sugarwing’s 2nd birthday, and I certainly hope she is back to being herself again so she can enjoy her party. It is so sad to see her unhappy and grumpy. I feel like we’ve been given a changling and someone is hiding our sweet little fairy girl!!