Sugarwings – Page 42 – Karla's Cottage

Where does the day go? Putzing and puttering and then Poof- its over!

antiques/junking, fairies, give away, jewelry, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 15, 2008

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that the days are getting shorter. I know, I know, Spring is here and the sunlight is lasting longer, but why don’t the days last long enough for me to ever get caught up?

Could it be that I putz around the antique malls and shops too much? I did that this morning while waiting for Sugarwing’s Daddy to get out of the dentist’s office.

I gave him a ride, mailed my packages, (thanks for your Etsy purchases by the way!! I appreciate it!!), ran some errands, then had a few minutes to kill, and of course, since I heard the siren call of a $7 floral bonnet, I couldn’t resist!

I was glad I popped into the mall, I got two bags of broken bits of vintage goodness for $3 each. Loads of flower power in these jewels.

Then, Sugarwings and her Daddy helped me clean out our boat after it’s long winter of dust and spiders.

After we got it sparkling clean (or as sparkling as it will get after 6 years of wear and tear!), we went for a spin out on the lake. Captain Sugarwings was a fine skipper until she decided that a penny would fit perfectly into the cigarette lighter.

She was right, it fit very well. It also shorted out the whole instrument panel! Luckily, the boat still started, but the lights, stereo, gages, etc are all dead.

At the fairy grand baby’s nap time, I did some yard work. Mostly it was puttering around and enjoying the beautiful day and seeing what was sprouting.

But I did plant a few flats of annuals.

You can tell I certainly didn’t get around to mowing the lawn! The grass is almost knee high, but my son is coming over to mow tomorrow while Sugarwings and I plant more flowers.

I fixed lobster ravioli for lunch today (from Costco, gotta love that place!) and he will always work for food. I think I can get away with feeding him leftovers of the ravioli tomorrow.

Sons are so wonderful, especially when they are hungry and helpful.

There isn’t a lot blooming yet, or many flowers planted, but I love this lush, green time of year before all of the flowers come on.

This is the pathway back to our bon fire pit, and see, we have a big pile of wood ready for the next fires. The evenings are still cool, it is a great time of year to sit by a fire and eat s’mores.

May is my FAVORITE month. I can’t get enough of it.

As a matter of fact, I am feeling so May-ish that I added another present to the May prize pack, a bottle of Bath and Bodyworks orchid lotion.

So we are up to:

1- satin hanger with a fluffy vintage rose

2-white leather Brighton coin purse

3- a tiny dancer

4- a gold band (yes, real gold)

5- a cute pearl pen

6- vintage greeting card

7- lovely lotion

So, leave a comment, any comment, any post all month and I’ll draw a winner June 1st!

Well, I am running out of daylight, just as I complained about. I got no artwork done today. If I wasn’t such a TV addict, I’d do some now, but Thursdays are a big TV night for me, so I have to get my butt parked in front of the set before I miss anything I can’t live without!

I have to be there when Jim asks Pam to marry him. And when McDreamy realizes Rose isn’t for him. (although, I like Rose) And when Luca comes back to Abby. And just HOW do the Oceanic Six get off the island?? This is all much more important than me gluing some paper together!

By the way, do you think that this $1 candle holder is a fairy or an angel? I think she is a bit flirty to be an angel. Her skirt is up pretty high.

The Hat Whisperer’s skills have been passed on! And an addition to the May Giveaway prize pack

antiques/junking, family, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 13, 2008

I think it is genetic. My fairy grand baby seems to have inherited my millinery flower finding skills!

We were downtown enjoying being out doors and shopping for a gift for her little Hippy Chic mommy on Mother’s Day, when Sugarwings turned to me and said, "Hats!"

Since we were near the antique mall, I thought it would be smart to pop in and see if she had heard a specific flower calling to her and yes, she did!

This child is a gifted hat whisperer. She found one circled with a dozen of these pretty peachy blooms for only ONE DOLLAR!

We also found this purse. It is much too nice to tear apart for its flowers, I plan on actually using it, even though Sugarwing’s Daddy was horrified at the thought of me carrying it. He was reassured when I told him that I would most likely keep tiny flowers in it on my desk in my studio, not carry it when we go out to lunch downtown like we do every Thursday.

But now that I am 50 and officially eccentric, why not carry it? It is a lovely bag. I just don’t want to tear it up. From the looks of it, it has never been used, and is so perfectly pretty.

I’ve been making use of some of my stash of vintagey blossoms.

These old satin hangers each have a fluffy pink flower and some vintage seam binding added to them and are for sale for $10 each if you are interested, comment or email me and let me know.

I will add one of these embellished old hangers to my May prize pack along with the white leather Brighton coin purse and simple gold band.

Each week of May, I will add another prize for the giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment, any post, as often as you wish, all comments are entered.

I hope everyone had a nice Mothers Day? My family did my favorite things, they pitched in and helped me with stuff that needed done.

Sugarwing’s Daddy repaired my falling down gazebo while she helped me plant some seeds in the garden and Ryan fixed dinner.

Not a bad day at all. Have I mentioned lately how lucky I am??? I never forget it.

Garden helpers and purple posies

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 7, 2008

Another beautiful Spring day around here. I am spending it in the studio working on a project for Vintage Workshop. (but with all the windows and doors open to enjoy the day!)

I downloaded images from Vintage Workshop last night. Once I got started, I got a bit carried away and ended up spending hours playing around with different sizes, color settings, etc. I now have such a big stack of images to use, I could fill 3 books instead of the one I planned on making!

I also got some jewelry listed on Etsy. Did I mention that when I packed up for the art show I was in last weekend, I forgot to pack up all the new jewelry I had made just for the show???

Anyway, it is now available on Etsy. I’ll be listing more as the week goes on, so far there are two necklaces and one bracelet.

Why does listing seem like more work than making the item to start with??

Today, I might be indoors working, but yesterday, I had a perfectly beautiful afternoon outside planting flowers with all my little helpers.

We planted a lot of purple, I have an upcoming photo shoot with Carol for Fifi at Romantic Country in a few weeks and will need fresh flowers to pick.

The article we will be doing is supposed to be for fall, but it will be shot outdoors in the spring.

So, I planted a lot of cool season flowers that bloom Spring and Fall both: Pansies, stock, violets, and ornamental cabbage.

Being the thrifty soul that I am, I know it is much cheaper to pick your own flowers then to buy an arrangement.

And the smaller the plant you start with the cheaper it is. So, I bought flats of annuals, and set them out now. They have time to grow and will be ready to pick and arrange when it is time for the pictures in a few weeks. Right now it all looks a bit spindly, but with a little sunshine and some time, these will be perfect for our theme.

Sugarwings and I took a ride on the John Deere out on our 10acres, scouting out a good spot for the photos. (Twinkle ran along behind us the whole way)

I am thinking this is a lovely spot for an outdoor picnic. Do you think it will be picturesque enough, once Carol does her magic and brings all of her tables and props?

Sugarwing Themed gifts (the best kind of sweetness!)

antiques/junking, Books, Moving to DC, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / April 28, 2008

I just got home from our East coast apartment, and look what was waiting for me in the giant, overflowing basket of mail that came while I was away!

Talented Miss Lori Karla sent this along with her Card for Caroline as a random act of kindness.

Isn’t it the cutest? Such a perfect collage for this picture of my fairy grand baby.

And lucky me, how scrumptious is this???

My Centreville, VA blog pal, Robin made this frame from an old clock for my birthday.

We met up for coffee, the she offered to take me to own of her thrift store faves. (well, maybe I coerced her a bit)

I bought a cart load of goods for $13.90, between that trip and my Leesburg shopping adventure, I completely filled an extra suitcase for the trip home.

These two ladies’ creations sure are special to me. Not only do they involve pictures of my sweet little Sugarwings, they are such thoughtful and talent filled works of art.

I just love ’em to pieces!

Not everything is unpacked yet from my trip. Instead of putting away suitcases, I went through the cards for Caroline that came in the mail, and I have to tell you, there are some beauties there!

I’ll get organized and photograph them soon, and have a whole post devoted to just that, along with the list of updated names.

For now, I’ll show you a couple of pictures of the book I made in Debbie Shue’s class on Saturday.

The flowers on the cover are from some of my souvenir hats I purchased on my shopping day with Debbie.

She furnished rub ons and stickers, but I ended up doing doodles and added glitter instead of using them.

Debbie had a great kit with all the papers cut and ready to go. The whole book was assembled in the 2 hour class (that is impressive, that she can time it so perfectly and know just what to show everyone)

I changed mine a bit, and tried to make it part art journal/part scrapbook. I also purchased some Glimmer Mist and tried that for the first time.

I have to tell you, that stuff is FUN! I bought Robin’s Egg and Pineapple and plan on getting a lot more colors.

Don’t forget you can still enter my giveaway for this month.

EVERY COMMENT IS ENTERED for the entire month.

And all comments until May 5th are entered into my special 50th birthday celebration giveaway.

Girls Day Out and a birthday giveaway

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, jewelry, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 22, 2008

The sun was shining and today was about as springy as a day can be.

Sugarwings and I decided to have a girly day together. We started with a little shopping spree. She picked out glittery pink shoes at Target ( I wish they had them in my size!)

And a stop at the antique mall turned up the perfect grandma hat for me. (only $6!!! And it has FIVE large pink roses on it) Of course, I wore it the rest of the day.

When we saw these matching dresses for toddlers and their dolls on sale for only $10 at TJMaxx, , we had to snap them up and find a dolly to fit the dress.

Those dresses simply couldn’t stay in the bag, not when they went so perfectly with the new shoes! We changed "the girl’s" clothes in the car before going downtown to stroll in the springtime sunlight and show off our new finery.

Since it was Girls Day Out, the three of us treated ourselves to a ladies luncheon. Over our BBQ (hey, we are Midwesterners, not dainty girls- we like MEAT) we tried to come up with a name for the new baby.

"Baby" and "Good Girl" were the names Sugarwings suggested. Scraps_417

I voted for "Miss Daisy" because after our trip, we decided to go for a ride in the little pink car. I drove Miss Sugarwings and Miss Daisy all over the neighborhood.

These two best friends wanted to make a stop in the park for a bit.

Twinkle was jealous of Sugarwing’s new friend and reminded her who her true best friend really was.

How can a day be more perfect than this???? Well it gets even better!

Ryan surprised us and had dinner cooked and ready when we came home from our spring fling! Chicken, rice and ice cream cones topped off our spring fling! And I didn’t have to cook.

Then, once the fairy grand baby went to bed for the night, I was able to make a little more jewelry.

This bracelet and matching earrings are assembled from vintage religious medallions.

The necklace is a variety of chain sizes, beads and aqua rhinestones, with a pendant of old keys.

And is my day over yet? Nope, now I get to go watch a tivo-ed American Idol featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber. (Don’t even ask me how many times I have been to see Phantom, you don’t want to hear me sing the whole thing either).

And not only that, Cloverfield is out on video, so Ryan and I are having a horror movie night. What a perfect way to end a perfect Girls Day Out!

You know, my birthday is just around the corner. I can’t imagine any party I plan being more fun than today!

I’d like to share my special day with you guys and give away a piece of the jewelry I have been making on my 50th birthday, May 5th.

Any comment between now and Monday May 5th goes into the drawing.

And don’t forget that ALL comments this month are entered into my monthly giveaway.

Hmmm, what will I be sending as a present for April??? hmmm, let me think. I have been on an endless tag marathon lately, maybe a tag?

Or a tussie mussie! In time for May Day flowers?!

I know, I will give the winner a choice!

On Wed. April 30th, I’ll draw a winner for a choice of one of these prizes:

1- a pair of earrings

2- a May Day tussie mussie

3- a Birds and Bonnets Vintage Workshop images tag

4- a Cottage Collage Kit with vintage wallpaper and millinery flowers

Granny Panties full of Rocks

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / April 17, 2008

I’ve had a fun couple of Sugarwings days this week. We had some gravel delivered and before I get out the shovel and start spreading it, the fairy grandbaby and I decided to play a little king of the hill.

Or "princesses" of the hill. Sugarwings and Twinkle had a blast in the rocks. So did I. We climbed, rolled, slid, dug, and fell all over them. And I may never get all the gravel out of my socks and clothes. I was downright crunchy by the time we were done.

If you are asking yourself why Karla has a dress hanging out the window of her chicken coop, well, good question. I really should clean that building out, it hasn’t been used since an antique sale TWO YEARS AGO! The other day,there was a big wind storm (yes this is Kansas), the window blew open and a vintage dress blew out.

For all of you who think I get so much accomplished, this is proof that a lot of things just go by the wayside and never get done! That shed sure could use a cleaning out.

Anyone want an old dress or should I haul it to Goodwill?

I could save it for Sugarwing’s dress up parties, she can be a fairy and I can wear that ugly old thing and be Auntie Em!

Beside playing with the baby, and picking rocks out of my granny panties, I did make time to do a few tags for the Birds and Bonnets Vintage Workshop Swap that Beth and I are co-hosting.

We will be having a drawing for presents for the participants. So far, we have:

2 clutches with a set of pearl beads, one from Beth, one from me

6 $25 gift certificates from Vintage Workshop for free downloads

Some tags from me

And now, here is a new one!!

Not only is Vintage Workshop providing all these cool images from 3 of their collections for us to use in the swap, plus the 6 gift certificates, everyone who enters will also receive a free download collection of their choice!

I thought that was a nice little bonus!

I made all of these tags from the wallpaper backgrounds collection that we have available for the swap.

To the backgrounds (various wallpaper patterns that I printed in different sizes then glued down in a crazy quilt way) I added some roses cut from my stash of wallpaper, some ladies from the Vintage Workshop collections, old seam binding ribbons, buttons and jewels.

And of course- millinery flowers!! My projects don’t feel ‘done’ until I add a flower.

Speaking of my vintage wallpaper stash, I just added a bunch for sale on Etsy. And it is flying out of there! If you are needing wallpaper, this is a good time to check out the shop, before it all flies away.

And what is flying in to me? CARDS! CARDS! AND MORE CARDS!

This is from Shawn Behrends and her daughter Bethany (3 yrs old)

(Shawn do I have you on the list??)

And this is from my pal, Scrappi Jessi, one of the liveliest people in blogworld. Using one of her terms, "you rock, girl!"

This tasty cake is from Kathy Algonzzine

Pretty pink roses from Betty Bates.

Lovely faded flowers and portrait embellished with Caroline’s initial from Debbie Doughty.

Old fashioned romantic style from Kathy
Maximo.

Here is a photo I received of a card on its way from Nancy Burns. Ooo La la!

And this one is being sent in by my East coast buddy, Robin (Thrifty Miss Priss).

I am so excited about the beauty and generosity pouring into my mail box!

But, I do need to warn all you nice people that are sending in cards. I tend to screw things up. Bad lists, mixed up piles. So, if I make a mistake on saying who sent what as I post the 100 cards or so that are coming in, please don’t be offended, and please correct me!

I already accidentally deleted half the flickr file and am going back to reload it after I do this.

Please check it out when you get a chance, but give me a few minutes to correct my screw ups.

Here is the updated list of contributors. If you are not on it and should be, please tell me, because this is the list that I am drawing names from for prizes.

The clutch is one prize. Maybe some vintage wallpaper and millinery flowers? A card kit to make some more cards?

You are doing me a big favor and a sweet thing for my aunt. What would you like to get as a gift for helping out?

100 cards

Karin http://madrekarin.blogspot.com
Michelle http://www.ginghamworld.blogspot.com
Pam http://blogcabinfever.typepad.com
Lesa Farmer
Robin~ thrifty_misspriss@yahoo.com
Robin Foster
Lori http://faeriewindow.blogspot.com
Kathy http://www.kathyscottage.blogspot.com:80/
http://oodlesandoodles.typepad.com/
Carol Spinsky RaisedInCotton@aol.com
http://soinspired.blogspot.com
Lori http://pinkfadedroses.blogspot.com:80/
Janine http://angelgurl.wordpress.com/
http://emmaspaperpatch.blogspot.com:80/
Liane Tatum
http://bluemuf.blogspot.com:80/ Karen
http://simplysage.blogspot.com Mahala
Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com:80/
Debbie Doughty http://queendebbee.blogspot.com/
Alice Wingerden http://www.paintedwhite.com:80/
Karoline http://www.cherishedvintage.blogspot.com
Joyce Rodli
Lili http://lilimsadventures.blogspot.com:80/
Mandy Blake
*Heidi* http://journals.aol.com/hwoodred/everyday-cookies/
http://www.bonoramamama.blogspot.com:80/
Kirstie http://adelinecountrycottage.blogspot.com
Phyllis http://shabbyinthecity.blogspot.com
Sherry (Edie Marie’s Attic)
Pinkie Denise
Marilyn http://marilynbutler.blogspot.com:80/
Melissa http://melissaburford.typepad.com:80/burford_designs/
Lisa Russell http://www.violetsandsnapdragons.blogspot.com/
Crystal http://www.fariebees.blogspot.com
Janice Rehmeyer
Meredith http://www.thevictorianlady.blogspot.com
Nancy ~ Fete et Fleur http://feteetfleur.blogspot.com
Jessi http://www.scrappyjessi.blogspot.com:80/
Donell
Jenn~ http://whinenroses.blogspot.com/
Lolly http://lollysnestegg.blogspot.com
Gail Sell
Kathy http://www.vintagesnapsandscraps.com
Barbara http://smith411.typepad.com
crchaffee@cox.net
Edie Marie http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com
María Elena
Kelley http://www.junqueygal.blogspot.com/
Kelley: http://teacupmosaics.blogspot.com
Carlene http://carlenefederer.blogspot.com/
Barb http://www.123lavenderlollipoplane.blogspot.com:80/
Louisa http://beachyscapecodcupboard.blogspot.com

Jen http://Sanctuaryarts.blogspot.com
Sandy Babb
Colleen Cavanaugh http://cc-creativeramblings.blogspot.com
Rachael http://theroseroomnz.blogspot.com/
Valerie http://Queenschocolate.blogspot.com
Joy http://www.thejoyof.blogspot.com
Sheri Ingrande http://www.pawshpoodle.com
Mary Isabella http://daisybouquet.blogspot.com
Natasha Burns http://www.natashaburns.blogspot.com
Di Ann Sheps
Pat
Cami http://www.camillefano.typepad.com
3rdEyeMuse http://3rdEyeMuse.blogspot.com
M.Kate http://www.melialissa.blogspot.com
DELIA http://brooksidecottage.blogspot.com/
Kathy
Samantha
Karen http://karenharveycox.blogspot.com:80/
Sarah Lee (Adelaide’s Country Cottage)
Louise http://pinkgate.blogspot.com/
Betty http://shessewpretty.typepad.com/
Amy Wald
Tera http://Stampqueen.blogspot.com
Kari and Kijsa http://www.kariandkijsa.blogspot.com
Kathy Jacobson kathyjacobson.typepad.com
Vickie http://www.whisperofinspiration.blogspot.net
Amy P http://www.rubymoonart.blogspot.com
Shannon J http://www.faithandchocolate.blogspot.com:80/
Gail http://boutiqueginabeana.blogspot.com/
Cindy http://yappingcatstudio.typepad.com/my_weblog
Rhonda http://rhondamum.blogspot.com
Irma http://irmasrosecottage.blogspot.com
Rhonda RhondaMum.blogspot.com
Alison Gibbs
Paula Kay
Jeanette http://scrapnchick-keepmeinstitches.blogspot.com/
Lisa http://reflectionsinagazingball.blogspot.com/
Jeanie http://www.themarmeladegypsy.blogspot.com
Whitney Johnson http://www.kindredjoy.blogspot.com
Corina http://corinaj.wordpress.com
Lisa Lee l-lee@sbcglobal.net
Sammy don@stafney.com http://sammystuff.blogspot.com/
Rachael’s Princess
Rachael’s Mum
Sissy
sonya http://www.loveofyellowroses.blogspot.com
Beverly http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/
Holly Abston >http://www.hollydoodledesigns.com
Adla http://www.vintagedelights.blogspot.com
Anja http://newclassichome.blogspot.com
Angelina http://beautifulcards.typepad.com/angelinascards/
Maxine v.maxlie@charter.net
Jennifer
Heather R. Kowalski http://www.prettypetalsboutique.blogspot.com/
Barbara York http://panhandlesuequiltingspot.blogspot.com

Off with her head!

antiques/junking, collections, Etsy Goodies, fairies, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 8, 2008

One of my favorite bloggers, Lori is hosting "Doll Day" and I just had to play along, even though I didn’t really think of myself as a doll person.

Of course, there is always, Sugarwings, she is my doll baby!

This new one that I have plans to doodad up is an obvious choice to photograph, she is quite the doll.

Then, I thought, well, thats all to that story.

While I was cooking lunch (crusty baked chicken strips), Sugarwings opened the china cabinet and reminded me about all of the dollies in there, she loves to take sneaky and grabby peeks at them any chance she gets.

I took pictures of a few of these guys, but thought, no these aren’t dolls, they are figurines. No matter how much the fairy grand baby and I enjoy playing with them.

Since they are right on her level and she can open doors, many of these little fairy and pixie creatures are down to only one wing, or have chipped toes.

But since everything I own is from garage sales or auctions and much of it chipped already, that doesn’t bother me too much.

And I broke this one all by myself with no help from Sugarwings at all.

I can glue her head back on and make a necklace to cover the seam.

Or leave her as she is and make a box with her and call it "Marie Antoinette AFTER the Guillotine"?

That sparked my memory and I realized I have HEADS! Doll heads! These are from a junking trip with my sisses in Greenwood, Indiana last summer. I bought a boxful of these old pieces ($24) to fix up and sell, but kept them as they were and set them in my bathroom cabinet.

And this elegantly coiffed head is from my shopping trip last weekend, she was only $1. I don’t think she is old.

This doll head (wearing my fairy grandmother tiara) is from a junking stop on the drive to Silverbella last November. Beth and I ran into Carol there and the 3 of us shopped together.

Sugarwings also reminded me that she had a few dolls up in her room. I like to buy old bears and dolls for her at garage sales so we can tuck them in to the cradles and doll beds I fixed up for her.

I found this cradle for $2, cleaned it up and painted it with roses.

Do my fairy ballerinas count too? No, I guess they aren’t technically dolls, they are meant to go onto cupcakes.

This one is on clearance in my Etsy shop right now.

Here is a selection of some of the things I marked down. If you go to the shop, and look over on the right hand side near the top, where it says "sections" you can click on "clearance sale priced" and see the 28 things that are on sale right now. I was in a mood to clear some things out.

Because I always need to make room for more!

I bought these beveled glass panels at an antique mall this weekend, and got 6 of them for a dollar.

I am making collages in them and adding copper to the back and hope to get my soldering iron out this week to finish them and put hooks onto them.

I also went to an auction with Beth this weekend and bought way too many plates! But I love plates with the double handles and plan to loop some ribbon through those handles and hang the whole stack of plates along the soffet in my studio.

Beth gave the silver ladle to me, it was in a box of stuff she got and wasn’t something she wanted (plus she is good about sharing, very good!)

I might use it as a glitter dipper. And I have a feeling the lidded candy dishes will be filled with buttons soon.

One more doll before I go get Sugarwings up from her nap.

This guy pretends to be the biggest, roughest, meanest barn cat you’ve ever met. He breezes in every couple weeks from wherever he prowls when he isn’t around here and acts like we owe him big time for showing up.

But honestly, he is nothing but a fluffy old doll baby himself.

Oh, and PS-

JAYHAWKS ARE NUMBER ONE IN THE NATION! Yay Lawrence!

Gardens of Velvet and Silk

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 6, 2008

It doesn’t look like I am the only one who is crazy about millinery flowers.

I use them all the time, seems like I can’t make anything anymore without adding a posey or two!

If I haven’t actually used them in the composition, I love to twist them up into the ribbons that I hang the piece from.

I started out very greedy and hoardish with them. But now, with my (sorry, I think I mention this a LOT, but it is a major issue with me) New Years resolution to use my good stuff and enjoy it, I have generously used these flowers in globs and bunches and garlands as well as just simple accents.

(all of the projects pictured are listed in my Etsy shop)

If you love old hat blooms as much as I do, you’ll have fun today browsing through blogland and checking out the gardens of velvet and silk that are part of Sugar Sugar and Little Pink Studio’s show and tell.

This is definitely one of my obsessions. And I store them in a vintage wallpaper covered box, to compliment another of my collection compulsions.

And in a wallpaper covered drawer.

With a little glass full on my desk within easy reach if I need one quickly!

Not to mention the ones scattered here and there on my desk from past and present projects.

Oh, and the leaves!! I adore the leaves too!!!

There are always hats around for playing dress up with for Twinks and Sugarwings.

Aparently this one isn’t quite the right style for her.

The hats aren’t bought to keep as is, I buy them just for the flowers, but store them intact and pluck one here and there as I need it.

Up until lately, I had tossed the naked hats when I was done with them, but then decided they would be perfect to save for the fairy grand baby and I to decorate together when she is older.

Won’t it be fun to invite all of her little friends over for a tea party and give them each a hat and a pile of foof to add to it? I can just see the glue, glitter and doodads flying everywhere in my studio from all the little girls designing their wearable works of art!

These are my latest acquisitions. The perfectly aged, ROSE wallpaper covered hat box was $3, and the hats were $3 and $5. I almost passed on both hats, the pink one didn’t have many flowers on it, and the orange one was hideous.

But then, I thought about it, and realized that the pink one’s few flowers were definitely worth the $3 price, plus PINK is the best color to find!

And I made myself look past the hideousness of the orange hat, and plucked off all the creamy colored flowers, realizing that I had a bargain!

And after taking off the ugly (or so I had thought) orange ones and getting them away from the uncomplimentary tone of the green leaves, I saw that they were actually a very pretty sherbet shade.

Not a bad haul on that one $5 hat.

My favorite flowers to find will always be the dainty white ones.

And I never turn down a big velvety red rose. Although, so far, I have not used any in a project. They just make me smile when I come across them while digging through the blossoms to find just the right one to finish a project.

Because you know, it just isn’t done till I add a flower!

Hmm, I think that my giveaway for April should include some of these in some way. Remember, every comment during the month is entered to win.

I Heart Lawrence, KS

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

By Karla Nathan / April 5, 2008

Sunshine! Wow, I had almost forgotten what it felt like. What a long and rough winter we’ve had. I don’t think it is quite done with us yet, but I am taking advantage of today’s nice weather and planting some pansies.

There was no way I was going to wait any longer. The grocery store has their pansies out on the sidewalk and I can’t pass by them to go in for a gallon of milk and a case of Coke Vanilla Zero without stopping to daydream about warm weather.

Then, Target had garden tools with pink handles in thier Dollar Spot. How could I resist?

Pansies are pretty hardy, they should do well. And their little faces sure do brighten my own every time I walk by them planted by my front door.

Yesterday was delightful also. I went downtown (Lawrence, KS has a lively, active and entertaining downtown area with lots going on) and we went to visit one of the big Jayhawks that I painted and mosaic-ed with another artist a couple years back.

I could possibly be the only person in this entire town who isn’t planning on watching the big KU game tonight. The downtown atmosphere was pulsing with excitement.

I may not be a basketball fan, but I do love my town and know how important the game is to it.

My husband is a HUGE fan, and is in DC right now, so I bought Sugarwings a KU shirt (pink, of course) and took some photos to send to him before the game.

When I got the pictures back, she was so cute, I had to make some scrap book pages.

As a non-typical fan, I couldn’t just do a sporty page. I used vintage wallpaper, some old sheet music (one song about basketball, the other about the state flower of Kansas, the sunflower).

And since I am a lazy scrap booker, I made a pocket on one page to put multiple photos into, instead of trying to think up ideas for using all of them on the pages.

I used KU colors, of red, blue and yellow, but had to do it in flowers and ribbon.

When I make scrapbook pages, I tend to not worry too much about making it perfect. Edges are a bit crooked and things aren’t lined up exact. Mostly, I just want to get the photos into the book and get something attractive on the pages with them.

If I worried too much about it, I’d never get them in the books, and having fun memories in the albums is the main goal.

And anyway, that baby is so cute, no one notices what I do to the page, people who look at albums are more interested in the pictures of her, and the backgrounds are just that- backgrounds.

I’m off to enjoy more of this pretty day and walk out in our woods with the dogs. Of course, that means I will probably be picking cockle burrs off of them this evening but hey, I wasn’t planning on watching the big game on TV tonight anyway!

A winner, A feature, A first auction, and A redo

family, give away, I do tend to run on, don't I?, parties, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 30, 2008

First of all, I want to thank everyone who came to the "What do you LOVE about your Birdie’s Home" party that Beth and I had on Thursday. What a fun turnout, lots of blinged out birdhouses to see! Wow, thanks so much for coming by and for creating such palaces for us to enjoy.

I had forgotten to show this one that I made, it is a music box, jewelry box, and used to be a Swiss Chalet. I faked the birdhouse part, by adding this tiny blown glass bird and the piece of black onyx jewelry to represent a hole and a perch.

Thanks also to everyone who bought a birdhouse from me! If you buy one from that post, it is only $15 each. I will be listing them on Etsy for slightly more later on.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that one goes as a gift to a commenter during the party? The winner is:

Denise

And on Tuesday the 1st, I will draw a name for the monthly prize, so you still have time to enter that. The prize is a secret. (Because I haven’t picked out a gift to send yet)

I also want to thank the group at the Snooty Women’s Club (they really do seem nice, not snooty as their name implies!) for featuring me this week. Thanks, ladies! Good luck with your new site!

It has been a bit hectic around here, Sugarwing’s poor little Hippy Chick mommy had her gallbladder out this week, so I have had the baby staying with me.

We went up to see her mommy in the hospital a few times, went for walks in the park, played with Twinkle, had tea parties, mostly just stayed very busy so she wouldn’t be asking where Mommy was too much.

I even took her to her first auction! Here she is with Beth, we just popped in to visit and eat her pretzels. Beth got a ton of great stuff and I was a bit jealous, but staying to bid wasn’t really an option with my little helper along.

While at the hospital, my son pointed out one of my paintings hanging in the office!

I didn’t even know that the hospital owned it, they had purchased it at a benefit auction I had donated to a couple years ago.

What a nice surprise to see it hanging there.

Look at what I have been doing while the baby napped or after she went to slept at night! Organizing, big time!

I’ve taken every single piece of paper in my studio and FILED or stored it!

Tuesday Morning had all these pretty desk organizers on sale and it inspired me to try to pull the whole room together.

I hung all my past blog banners on the wall along with my business card template and a photo of my grandma and some rosey plates.

Well, that lead to repainting my furniture so that the pieces matched each other, and looked more pulled together, then rearranging it all.

I made used of all my old wallpaper storage items, and turned this vintage shoe rack on its side, then used it to file scrapbook goods into.

I didn’t repaint the black and white cabinets with the roses on the door, thinking I might like the contrast, but now am not sure. I might paint it lighter (but leaving the roses on the doors).

When I didn’t have enough storage containers, I made some by covering Girl Scout cookie boxes in old wallpaper. Don’t ask why I had so many boxes….

I moved some rolls of vintage wallpaper close to my desk and stored them in this old trash can holder. I think it was meant for a park, to keep animals out of the trash. I found it at an antique store and have been using it for bubble wrap, but I like the rolls of paper in it.

The front part of the room got a clean up too.

There is only so much I can do with this room, it isn’t easy to tidy. I keep so much out there and it has so many uses, that even with about 1000 square feet, it is jammed full.

And no matter how much I tidy up there will always be a card table set up full of junk to be sorted, mailed, put away, or made into something, etc.

Just like, I think I am going to write a post that is tidy and everything looks pretty together, and next thing you know, I have done this- run on and on and on about a dozen different things and then the posting is all messy and run together.

My life tends to be like that, lots going on at once, and all the pretty things jammed in with the clutter and mess of it all.

But I love it that way, there are some sweet little details jumbled up in that mess and they are worth sifting through it all to get to!