swaps – Page 10 – Karla's Cottage

Good thing the puppies don’t hold still much

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Miss Frenchie's, Sugarwings, swaps, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / February 4, 2009

Today is the last day for naming a puppy. There sure have been some good ones, choosing will be hard. Some are almost too good to give to a puppy that will be leaving me in a few weeks! There are names in the list that I want to give to a dog that I will keep forever!

Beth and I had a fun craft day yesterday, and she brought a Valentine ribbon to tie around this little one's neck. Of course, the minute I put her (the dog, not Beth) back in the Puppy Pond, she was turned into an object of tug-o-war and her sissies pulled off the ribbon and are still playing with it today.

Besides making up little heart shaped "Puppy Love" tags for the swap, I spent the craft day covering anything that didn't move with vintage wallpaper.

In honor of Miss Frenchie's sale (April 17th), I lined the drawer of this shelf with a page from an old French dictionary.

And speaking of Miss Frenchie's, here are some new additions to our group there, as well as new additions to the blog world! Three Shabby Chicks have a beautiful new blog, go by and tell them I sent you to say hi! They only have two posts up so far, but you can tell by looking at them, that they will have pretty things to come.

Back to my quest to paper the world- isn't this old silverware box great with the top wallpapered? The interior is a perfect match for the pink of the roses too.

Maybe I should name this pup "Vanna White" she is great at showing off the products.

Beth and I debated over these metal boxes I covered. We both thought it needed something. I decided that they should be left as is for now, what they need is a label stating what is stored inside. And for now they are empty. But the vintage cards I glued to the front have the PERFECT place to write on when they do find a purpose. I think I will take these to Miss Frenchie's sale too. I used more of the French dictionary pages here too. I wonder if I should come up with a pretty word in French to add to the labels before I take them in to sell? Or leave them blank for the new owner to label themselves?

What do you think?

Know any pretty French storage type words??

These bits and pieces of old sewing goods and trims were just listed in the boutiquetonight, while I listened to Lost. I got a good over view of the program, but will go back and watch it on TIVO later tonight, and of course I will watch Idol on TIVO too. Yes, pathetic soul that I am, I watch it TWICE in a night.The first time, I am usually working and listening (and tonight, it was while opening some of that package avalanche I have been expecting) so I watch it a 2nd time to actually sit down and see what is going on.

Top Chef is looking good too. Gotta love Wednesdays! And of course, Thursdays. Although Mondays aren't so shabby either.

OOOOOOHHH, that reminds me!!!!!!! Did you hear about Rachael Ashwell??? She is declaring bankruptcy. I hope all works out for her business, I'd miss all the gorgeousness.

Of course, I have plenty of gorgeousness right here. Little Miss Sugarwings is awful nice to look at. She is being sweet and cuddly tonight, her Daddy, isn't feeling well, so she is snuggling up to make him feel better. And to keep them company is a fluffy puppy that came in a red felt Valentine purse from Stephanie Oyler. Thanks, Stephanie, she really is enjoying it!

Stephanie's gift was part of the avalanche of swap goods (this is about half the stuff!). You can't tell from this photo, but I am being very organized with this swap. Even Beth, the account, said she was proud of me for keeping track of everything.

I have a check list on the table where I mark if the address was included, then I slip the address itself into an envelope and mark down if the postage was included and put the money on the pile of dollars. Tags get counted and marked off the list, then go into the large wire basket. All ribbons and tissues and boxes and bubble wrap are "harvested" for reuse. I recycle!

On the wall, is another project I started today. Remember the soffit in the studio that I covered in rose and floral wallpapers? On this side of the studio, I decided to feature flocked, neutral colored papers in old frames I painted different shades of white. Its not done yet. I might add some sepia toned photos. And more small frames to fill in.

Well, it is time for the Top Chef judging table and I have to be able to look into Tom's eyes for this. I've got a slight crush on Chef….

Oh, quickly before I miss Chef's eyes- Beth brought me these wrought iron pieces!! Love them!

How noisy would a pocket full of puppies be?

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

By Karla Nathan / February 3, 2009

You know that avalanche of packages I am expecting? Well, it will be a big one, because I am expecting over 30 this week, and today only one came and yesterday's mail just brought two! My friend, Carla sent her tags wrapped up so sweetly. See why it is fun to open these boxes???

My mom used to watch for the mail man everyday like it was a major event. I used to tease her about it, she wasn't ever really expecting anything but bills, and flyers. Now, with all these packages coming to me, post time is becoming the highlight of my day too! My kids were teasing me about watching for the mail lady.

(art work bySara)

Of course, with these guys now living in the studio, I have plenty of distractions to take my mind off the mail.

Uhm, maybe I need something to distract me from posing pups in odd places? Actually, they seem to enjoy it, and are always pretty pleased to be the one singled out for extra attention. Twinkle simply can't understand why on Earth anyone would point the camera at anyone but her, though.

Thanks for all the puppy names! Keep them coming, every time I have a fave, another good one comes along. And remember, if there are duplicates, those comments will be pulled from a hat to break the tie.

Details on the contest here.

I've added some new things to the Boutique

And toEtsy as well. Aren't these photos wonderful? I love that they were mounted onto pastel cards, not the typical dark colored ones I usually see. I did save a couple to make something with them myself, but kind of think that I like the idea of just laying them in a bowl on the table, not even making them into anything else.

Although, it is hard for me to NOT foof….

Today should be fun, I am making Valentines with Beth. Then going to a movie night with the girls. I wonder if I can sneak a pocket full of puppies into the theater with me??

I’m a Winner too!!!!!!!!!!

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, flowers, give away, how to's, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 2, 2009

AND THE WINNER IS—ME!!!!!!! Well, it sure feels like I am a big time winner, you should see all the pretties that have come in the mail to me this week!

Honestly, these are wrapped too pretty to open. Sugarwings and I will have a dress up tea party together and wear our floral hats and open the pile of pressies together when she comes over at the end of the week. For, now, I am enjoying the lovely wrappings!

So many of our Puppy Love Tag book swappers have sent in lovely gifts, I just don't know where to start in thanking everyone. Tons of generosity and thoughtfulness is filling up my mailbox along with all the beautiful tags!

These gifts are a sweet bonus to the fun of doing the swap. I am slightly overwhelmed. Well, more than slightly… Bowled over is more like it.

But I absolutely do not want to give you the wrong idea, that gifts are required or expected when you send in your packages of tags!! Or any other swap I host.

So, I want to thank ALL of the swappers who joined in to trade tags, and let you know how much I appreciate the effort that each and every one of you has made to put these cute books together. And yes, they are going to be really cute. I love the ones I have seen so far!

And I have to say, if you have never hosted a swap before, you should give it a try. Anticipating the mail lady's arrival each day, opening up the boxes and packages to admire the tags, meeting all these talented artists, it has just been a blast.

The reason I like this swap so much, is that it is collaborative. It does mean extra work for me, but it is worth it to see all the creations all togther and in person. I don't care for one on one swaps, (even though I was paired with GREAT swappers and got cool returns on what I sent in, when I have done some!!) I've heard horror stories of swaps gone bad, but with this type of swap, if one person doesn't come through with their portion, no one is left in the lurch without a partner. (like I said, it didn't happen to me, but I have talked to people that it did happen to)

The deadline for tags to be in is Feb. 5th and I will be showing you some pictures of the books as I put them all together. I'd say about half are in already, so I should have an avalanche of packages coming in filled with tags in the next few days!

In the middle of receiving the first 30 or so bundles of tags, I got these gifts in the mail from two different blog contests that I won! The millinery flowers (YUM!) are from Andrea and the sugared house is from Side of the Road. Thanks, ladies!

Oh, but you are probably interested in who won the January prize from me, huh? I keep running on about me and my gifts, well, here is one for you- and it goes to:

Mahala

And hey, she is a Puppy Love swapper!

Don't forget, we are still having the Name That Puppycontest going till Feb. 5th, so leave a comment on the previous post if you want a chance to win a milliefiori heart charm and name one of my furry little buddies.

This heart is a leaded and beveled glass one that I foofed and spiffed with vintage wallpaper and a red velvet flower. I'm going to list it in my Boutique tonight.

Today was mostly paper work and boring crap, no time to make anything at all, but I did get a few millinery craft packs listed on the boutique.

Oh, and I fixed up this gumball machine that I found at the Goodwill a few days ago. I've never been an orange fan, but that was an easy change.

All it took was a can of "Ballerina Slipper" pink spray paint, sandpaper and white acrylic paint. After a coat of sprayed on pink, I roughed it up with the sandpaper, and dry brushed a hint of white over the top. Its now filled with yogurt raisins and sits in the studio so that Sugarwings and I can have a snack when we need a boost of energy during those big play dough projects!

(artwork by Tiffany)

The puppies are up and running now, well kind of. If you'd like to see a video of them on Flickr to help inpire a name for them, please check it out here. But please keep in mind, that I thought the camera was off when it really wasn't and the second puppy video has me talking baby talk to one of them (and sounding like a doof).

Name that Puppy

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, Sugarwings, swaps, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / January 29, 2009

Ready to Name the Puppy? We have six little Dorkie Princesses, and 5 of them need to be named. One is already called "Little Star" (as in Twinkle Twinkle). I'm asking your help in picking names for the rest.

Keep in mind, their Mommy is named Twinkle, their auntie is Sparkle and their owner is Sugarwings. That might be a little hint about what kind of names we like around here. Well, actual that I like. My husband doesn't really care for standing on the porch and calling "here Twinkle, here Sparkle!"

For inspiration, here are some close ups of the little fuzz balls.

And the contest rules:

1-ON THIS POST leave a comment with a name choice.

2-You can enter more than once, but please enter separate names in separate comments, and only on THIS post.

3-I will pick 5 names that I like for prizes. If there are duplicates, I will write the names of the commenters onto slips of paper and have Sugarwings draw the winner.

4-A very pretty hat will be used to hold the slips of paper!

5-The prizes are glass, heart shaped, millifiori charms.

Deadline? Hmmm, how about one week from today?

That is Thursday, February 5th.

There has been a lot of interest in helping me with names, so please, if you have mentioned one previously, add it to THIS post!! You have given me some good ones already, so I'd like for you to have a chance to win a prize for helping out.

Prizes are fun for me. I have to tell you, I get so much back from my readers, that I just feel like I want to do something in return. So I try to always have some gifts for you, such as my regular monthly drawing and other little giveaways here and there.

There will be a prize for Valentine's Day, also, since that is my TWO YEAR blogaversery. Has it only been two years?? And what did I do with all my time before I discover the blog world?

My 500th post is coming up soon, as well as my 15,000th comment. Oops, scratch that, I just looked to see how close it was and I passed it!! Thanks everyone for all your kind comments, I do love to hear from you, even though I don't always answer, or I do answer and the email gets bounced back to me. There are a few of you out there who have never gotten the email answers I send and you still keep commenting, even though you must think I am rude. Thanks for coming back anyway!

I'm also close to 500,000 views. My gosh, what a surprise. Who ever thought, 2 years ago when I started this ramble, that any one at all would even look at it. Thanks so much to those of you who come to visit and keep me company here. Working as an artist can be a solitary adventure, it is nice to know that company is always just a click away when I need a break.

Tell you what, I will go back and see who was # 15,000 and send her one of these pretty little hearts too.

Be right back…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I'm back, and the winner is:

Diane

Here is her comment:

Diane, please contact me with your address. And thanks so much to all of you who comment. I always like to hear from you.

Here is a reminder of the prize for January. There will be some more Valentine themed gifts coming for the 500th post and the anniversary too.

I have some gifts that I was sent as part of the Puppy Love swap to show you too. Swappers are generous souls and not only are they sending me pretties, but Sugarwings has some to open too!

My fairy grand baby is head over heels, crazy about the puppies herself. She has adopted them as her "babies" and likes to give them rides in her carriage. Which is better than squeezing them with joy, this is a nice compromise that the puppies appreciate.

Thanks again to everyone who has left such nice comments and to all of you who come by to visit. Also to those of you who take the time to join in my swaps and make them so much fun. Now, start thinking up puppy names!

The January Giveaway (finally)- you still have time to enter

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, swaps, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / January 26, 2009

The babies have moved into their new home and are now my studio buddies during the day.

When I go to work, they will come with me and play in the "Puppy Pond". So far, they are just barely contemplating the idea of running and playing, they still prefer their nest. At least they have the option now! In a few days, they will be glad to attempt to wander out and have some fun.

There is already a difference in their expressions. I can see some recognition when they look at me. And some interest in people, not just in their Mommy.

Fun times are ahead! I'm ready for them to come running to the edge of the Puppy Pond every time they hear me coming. Its such a wonderful feeling!

The movie date with my sweetheart was nice, but the movie should have been a rental instead. It wasn't exactly the best of the "Underworld" series. My husband didn't care for it much, he only goes to see these vampire movies with me because of Kate Beckinsale and she wasn't in this one.

I made time this morning to list this Valentine's Bird on Etsy, and also had a chance to create some thing, even with the distraction of puppies in the studio!

I bought two of these little jewel boxes on my last junking trip, knowing they would be perfect for foofing up as a Valentine piece.

This one is topped with a little Fairy painting I did a while back. The inside is pale pink and I dooded it up too, with old wallpaper, millinery and a glittered crown. I'd show you, but the glue is still wet and if I open it, it would fall apart.

When it dries, I'll get some pictures and list it in my boutique.

While I am on a Valentine's kick, I thought I'd offer this tussy mussy full of treats as my January giveaway.

The image on the front is a gift from one of the Puppy Love Tag Book swappers, Ruth. Thanks for the thoughtful gifts, Ruth, I'm already making use of them!

All comments from the first of the month are entered. All comments, all month long. (that is the easiest way for me to handle it!!)

Curious puppy not included…

Here’s looking at you, kid!

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 17, 2009

Hmm, I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but the puppies have opened their eyes! For some reason, I was thinking they weren't due to be looking back at us yet, so I was surprised when Sugarwings held one up and said "he can see me!" She was pretty excited to be the first to notice, but up till now, she had been worried because the puppies wouldn't look at her.

Probably because, in this house, that is all we do is, Look At Sugarwings. Its our favorite pastime.

Although, lately, another regular pastime of mine is cursing at Papashop. That is the web hosting site for my new online store, and my friends have been over-the-top helpful in setting it up, and I can see where it will be really easy to use once I get it fine tuned. But— I keep finding glitches. I thought I was ready to open and discovered that I had NO LIMITS on my inventory. If a shopper wanted to order 1,500 of a one of a kind option, there was no stopping them. Not that I get those kind of sales…. maybe a more reasonable illustration would be that if a shopper wanted to order TWO of a one of a kind item, I couldn't stop them.

This is an item that I have three of, one is listed. Since I can't open my shop yet, I figured I should tell you about it here. So many people have inquired about the swap tags, that I made up a kit with the copies of the ones I made.

The kit includes 6 of the collage/painted tags copied onto card stock and then their backs were covered in vintage wallpaper. Two red flocked, two pink flocked, and two rose patterned.

Snippets of wallpaper scraps, some ephemera, lots of rick rack, ribbons and bows, three sprigs of old millinery blooms, and a scattering of vintage buttons are included too.

Plenty of pretties to deck out the tags and make your own Puppy Love Tag Book if you didn't get into the swap. Or, if you are a swapper, these would be fun to add to your book and double the size of it!

The kits are $25 each (plus postage. Postage is free if the kit goes out in the mail with a completed swap book to a fellow swapper) and as I said, only 3 available. If you are interested, please contact me by email. I can't open my web boutique yet, but hopefully will soon! I have other Valentine's goodies there too!

Like this piece. It has a pink flocked heart on it, so it would be nice to have for sale by Valentines Day! I'm sure I'll be able to get the store figured out. Heather and Beth have been so kind and have taken so much time to give me advice. I'll let you know when I have my GRAND OPENING.

Heather and Beth aren't my only generous friends! Two Puppy Love Swapper's packages have arrived and Samantha Miranda sent coloring cards for Sugarwings and Dove chocolates! Ruth Flowers sent marvelous ephemera die cuts. Thanks, ladies!! And by the way, both of you both are so lucky to have those names. Don't they just roll off the tongue? Samantha Miranda…Ruth Flowers…. how pretty.

This photo should make you wish that you were one of the 65 people in the swap! Aren't these tags that Samantha sent in just beautiful!? (Ruth's are too, but my photo didn't turn out. Ruth, I know you wanted photos I'll get some to you when the light is better)

Hopefully, the swappers will be adding their photos to the flickr site so we can all see their creations…

I'll leave you with a couple photos from an antique show today. I met Carol there, and Beth had a booth, so I took her some treats. I have pictures of Donny and Sandy's booths, but they don't have blogs, although Carol and I tried to tell the Fabulous Donny that he needs one!!

How long till Spring?????????

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, paintings, swaps

By Karla Nathan / January 14, 2009

January seems like the longest month of all. Ugh, not only is it cold, we have severe wind warnings, which means that all of my lawn chairs (yes, maybe I should have put them away before winter??) are blowing around and it is too cold to go outside and pick them up. Well, they can't go too far, I'll pick them up on a nicer day.

This is a good time of year for indoor projects. I'm enjoying working on the tags, and am so glad we had such a big turn out for the tag book swap. I started a Flickr group for the swap, so if you would like to add photos of your tags, please do.

It is an open group, anyone can join or look at pictures. So, please, add your Puppy Love tags and spread the word!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/998886@N21/

This cold weather has me thinking about Spring time. I have this little painting hanging in an area where it doesn't show much, so I rearranged and brought it out where I can see it and day dream of springtime.

I've always loved vintage greeting cards, and did this acrylic painting about 30 years ago, inspired by an old card. Probably not the best painting I ever did, technically, but emotionally, I think I hit the mark with it! Every time I see it, I think Spring. Also, I had given it to my Mom, and it had hung in her house for a very long time. That makes it extra precious to me, now that she is gone.

Pockets of Springtime are all around my cottage. I am definitely NOT a winter person. I'd love to live somewhere with sunshine year round.

Of course, January does serve a good purpose for me. Its a great month for mini redos. Being cooped up indoors and staring at the same walls over and over, prods me to rearrange a few things here and there. Simple changes like hanging this old oval picture on my Gothic window frame give me a bit of a cheer up.

And who can have gloomy thoughts when there are little cuties like this around to cuddle up with on a cozy chair by the fire???

Thank you to everyone who inquired about buying some of the tags I am making for the swap. I still have about 28 to make yet just to fulfill my obligation to the swap! But I think I'll make a few extra to give away for some prizes too….. There are a lot of prizes, the January and February giveaways, as well as my 2 year blog anniversary on Valentine's Day and seems like there was another…. Oh, yes, we will have a name the puppy contest! As soon as they open their eyes and start to get some personality, I'll post photos of each and ask for names. Puppy Love altered tags will be prizes in that.

Guess I'd better get back to the craft table!

Tagging along

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 13, 2009

How is that for some puppy love? At this point the little princesses are mostly sleeping and eating. They curl up and they cry for mama and that is about it.

Beth came by to help with my website today, and we spent some time cuddling the puppies, although at first she thought they were too tiny to hold. But these little guys enjoy being held and Twinks doesn't seem to mind.

Although, she certainly doesn't take her eyes off of them once we pick them up! I could tell she was a devoted mother, when she went out to potty yesterday and a rabbit ran right in front of her. Instead of taking off like a shot into the woods to get tangled in cockle burrs, thinking that she might just catch the wascal this time, she simply turned around and came to the door to be let back in to her babies. Not even a glance over her shoulder to see where it might have gone to.

Worrying about your kids can sure take precedence over other things, that is for sure.

Luckily, at this point, my kids are doing well, so I can worry about tags! 60 some tags. Now that is a lot of worrying.

As I was blog hopping (instead of making tags) the other day, I saw a pretty hand painted tag by Suzanne Duda and used her idea as inspiration. I added hand painted designs to the vintage papers of the one on the right, and then added a bit of old papers to the painted roses on the tag on the left.

I think this one is my fave, though. I painted a floral heart wreath directly onto an old photo and added the words to the top.

And this one is about half and half, with some flocked wallpaper as a heart. I'm copying them all and then embellishing the copies with millinery blooms, lace, ribbons, glittery ink, etc. That sure helps me toward my goal of 60 plus.

This one is a copy I made of one of the painted tags. I think they copy well. I added lace and glittery ink in accents, then covered the back in wallpaper. By the time they get uber-foofed with charms and ribbons when tied onto the books, I think they will look fine.

Today's mail brought some sweetness from Sugar Sugar.

What a nice surprise from Analise!

Beth spent the day here in the studio with me, we worked on swap pages and website stuff, with a LOT of help emailed to us from Heather. Now, I am getting ready to head out the door and go see a movie with some friends. Looks like "Slumdog Millionaire" did great at the Golden Globes the other night, I am looking forward to seeing it. Last night, I went to see "Benjamin Button" and can't stop thinking about it. Maybe it is too soon to go see another flick, since the one last night was so good, my thought are still lingering on it.

Nah- its never too soon to go to another movie!! My idea of a great afternoon, is to see a double (or Triple!) feature.

So, before I head out, I'll leave you with a few pictures of this beautiful little book I bought in St. Joe the other day. It is signed and dedicated in 1922. I really appreciate those little written introductions in old books that were given as gifts years ago.

Oops, puppies everywhere in this house!!

Time to add the Buttons

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 11, 2009

Thanks to all of you who joined my Valentine Tag Book Swap! We are at 50 right now, so unless I have communicated with you about joining and we haven't gotten back together about it yet, it is too late to join.

Or, if you have commented that you wanted to join and haven't heard back, please email me. I have some trouble with TypePad at times and can't always return comments. One that got returned to me was from Carrie, and I have no way of contacting her.

I've added this button to my side bar. If you are in the swap, please grab this and add it to yours too! Thanks for being a part of it all. Now, I just need to go and whip up about 50 tag covers….

Time does have a way of getting away from me- especially when I blow a day by going shopping and not working.

But shopping IS working for me, not just recreation. All these old watches will make gorgeous necklaces! The other goodies will be wonderful things to take to Miss Frenchie's April in Paris sale this spring.

Not the trims, though. Those were a gift from Beth (who was my partner in playing hooky for the day). She gave them to me to use in my new obsession to "Pearl Up" my home, after reading the Magnolia Pearl book.

Beth also made this pile of tags for me with her cuddle bug and a deck of cards. I'll make use of many of them in the swap book covers. Especially ones that have hearts on the backside!

Red isn't typically my color. I bypass it at Christmas, but at Valentines, I get sucked in by juicy redness. Especially when I see such a sweet baby doll dress with tiny flocked, dotted Swiss style hearts on it!! (I wish it fit Sugarwings)

I know I am not the only one who enjoys a splash of red for February, so if you'd rather have ruby tones for the blog swap button, please help yourself to this one.

My hat-whispering skills weren't focused during our jaunt to St. Joe to visit Jesse James Antique Mall and The Rusty Chandelier. (both worth the almost 2 hour trip). But I snagged a couple of flowery concoctions. Man, the one on the bottom left is just asking to be ripped apart. Some hats are so pretty as they are, that I don't take them apart until I need a specific bloom from it, but this one is just plain awful as is. Like some sort of smooshed up wedding bouquet made by a blind florist. Who designed this? It is one of every kind of flower, in each color, with no rhyme or reason to the placement. But good for me, because, did I mention- one of every kind of flower? Beautiful to use in other projects!

These grocery store price tags are nicely aged. But what I like about them is the holders. Can't you picture them as place card holders? I just can't wait for my next fairy tea party!!

This throw was found at the Rusty Chandelier too, it isn't all antiques. This isn't exactly new, but far from old. I fell for it, because of the soft, plush velvet and the metallic bronze vines that go so well with the ones I painted on the ceiling.

And see the blue rhinestone? They are scattered across the vines, and match the room perfectly! Nothing like a little sprinkle of added sparkle.

For those of you who needed a puppy fix, here's one of the teeny tiny babies. For those of you who are already tired of me posting dog photos everyday, we'll just pretend this is a picture of the blanket I bought.

Tag Book Swap samples

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

By Karla Nathan / January 10, 2009

After Sugarwings went to bed last night, I made up a sample tag book to show you. Many were wondering what they would be like when finished. Well, no two will be just the same, of course, but this will give you an idea.

The 7 tags that I made last night will all be used as covers on the swapper's books. (sorry about photo quality, my better –not good, like my longed for Cannon Rebel, but better than this- camera is out in the car and my husband drove off to take Sugarwings to her Hippy Chick Mommy's house.)

This is the back side of my 7 tags. Notice one isn't covered? I will ink it up a bit, but not all tags have to be finished on each side, that is the swapper's choice.

Also, note that the tags are similar sized, but not exact? I tried to make a variety of sizes for the sample book, so you'd get an idea of how varied the actual book will be. With so many artists participating, it will be a potpourri of sizes and shapes. Just as long as you stay near the target size, you'll be fine with your tag.

Just as I expected, this swap was a good jump start for me. January is a sluggish craft time for me every year. I have lots of things coming up that need to be planned and worked on, but I simply wasn't facing any of it. Plus, it was all vague, out there, in the future stuff.

Committing myself to possible dozens of tag book covers, well, that got me going. And I have noticed in my life, that the more I do, the more I WANT to do. If I get away from my studio for a few weeks, like I just did over Christmas and New Years, I need a push to return. Then, I am firmly lodged in there and can't be removed.

Good timing for me, my sweetheart is leaving for Virginia today. He will be gone 12 days, so I needed a project to do while he was gone. Since October, we have been together pretty much all the time. He has been able to work here from Kansas, or I have traveled with him to VA. We'll have an adjustment period to deal with. Sugarwings will too, her Pop Pop is a big factor in her life. Last time he was away, she called him and said "I want Pop Pop at the DOOR not at the PHONE."

I will miss him as much as Sugarwings does.

But I have my blog friends, and all these projects (Miss Frenchie's, a new web site, an Etsy shop to fill).

Some of the tags I make to cover the books will be copies of my originals, but knowing me, I'll make quite a few originals. Each book will be tied up with vintage ribbons, like this one is, and will have the tiny, heart shaped, "Puppy Love" tag attached, as well as maybe some charm or other goodies. I ordered lots of vintage gum ball dog charms in pretty colors of plastic and have lots of little brass charms, as well as other tidbits to dangle here or there.

So, remember to not add anything to the TOP of your tag. You can add what ever you want to to the bottom, and have it dangle there, if you want. Ruffles, ribbons, charms, etc. That will make the book more interesting.

Here is a photo of true Puppy Love to inspire you. Teddy and Twinkle all cuddled up together, back in their free spirited days before they became parents.

There is still room in the swap, I might be crazy to commit myself to so many covers, but hey, that I just how I roll.