vintage paper/collage art – Karla's Cottage

Vintage photos and plates

By Karla Nathan / May 28, 2026

Before driving to Indiana to attend my 50th high school reunion, I made sure my spot at Good Juju was ready for first Friday in June.

I’m trying out a new crafty idea there. I’ve added some vintage photos to chippy, old plates.

Most are simply circles, but some are old text with cut outs from the photos added.

I’m crossing my fingers that they go over well, because I’d sure enjoy making more.

Personally, I adore sepia photos, but I’m not seeing them fly out of my booth in the frames. Maybe they will do better on the plates? Either way, I like the back drop they make for my displays.

Guncle time part three

antiques/junking, cottage, dogs, family, guncles, Hand painted, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / May 16, 2026

Besides lots of good food and wine, how was the guncles visit? Never long enough, for one thing. We hit the jackpot on junking trips, one full day at Sparks Flea Mkt, two garage sale mornings, and one afternoon estate sale.

This window is from the flea. I bought it for resale, but, uhm, oops, it somehow got hung in my hearth room.

Molly might not look like she approves, but she is just typically scared of getting her photo taken. Or maybe she is upset about warning the guys that they shouldn’t be hanging it up, it should go into the inventory stash in the garage? Oh well, if even the guard dog can’t stop the process, I guess that window belongs there.

Fate. Beautiful, colorful, fate. Isn’t that stained glass ideal there!?

Time flew by, with all the shopping, cooking, eating, laughing, and lots of small chores the guys helped Rich with since I cannot use my right arm for much as it recovers from surgery. (Like hanging my spectacular, new window!)

Randy and I were left with limited time in the studio. He worked on his handmade cards, and I also made a few, along with some door prizes for my upcoming class reunion. These hand painted bookmarks will be packaged up with jewelry I am crafting, to make three gifts.

All of us found treasures in Sparks, and I’m hoping this becomes a tradition, and the guncles come back next season too.

Randy made friends there, as always.

Sadly, the cards I made during studio time were not happy ones. Recently, too many people I care about have lost loved ones. So I was creating sympathy cards to get into the mail.

There were also many quick trips to the hardware or grocery stores. While on one run, I snagged Kansas sunflowers for the table for Kevin’s birthday dinner. I looked everywhere for a cut flower bouquet, but ending up buying a pot full.

The plant has already started to bloom again, and will be a summer-long reminder of the lovely time we had together. I miss you, guncles!

Wallpaper heart table covering

Food and Drink, friends, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 9, 2026

Before going in for rotator cuff surgery mid February , I wanted a big night with friends to fill up my fun-o-meter.

Rich had been gifted this giant, dbl magnum of one of his favorite wines and that was a good excuse to invite people over. There was no way we could’ve finished off that ginormous bottle on our own before it went stale on us.

And sharing a bottle of good wine with friends over dinner was just what I needed.

Our get together was on Valentine Eve, so I went all out on the reds, pinks, and roses. I used the great big, vintage wall paper hearts I’d made or hang from the ceiling at Good Juju as my tablecloth.

After setting the table, I realized that I didn’t have a center piece. So, I scattered dried roses (from a bouquet I’d gotten back at Christmas) down the middle of the table and gathered all of the votives I could find for a glow. The wine decanters acted as decor too, since the wine was the star of the show.

The weather was strangely perfect for grilling (in February?!) so we had some juicy steaks along with the wine. But the best part?

So much laughter. What a great night.

Our annual Bookclub holiday party

paintings, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 14, 2025

I have no idea how long we’ve held this tradition, 20 years, maybe? Hmm, Sugarwings is 19 now, so maybe not quite 20. 18 or 17?

I tend to date events by the ages the kids or dogs were at the time.

It’s an evening I always look forward to.

Each year I try to make a gift to set at each place setting.

This year, it is hand painted book marks. I thought of doing Christmas ones, but I thought flowers might be more practical.

This is what I wrote for the backs.

Since they are watercolor, the paint needed protection. Originally I’d planned to laminate the tags with clear packing tape, but oops! It was too narrow!

The party was that night and I didn’t have time to get extra wide tape. So I experimented by using an acrylic clear coat. It went on fine, no smearing. I was surprised and happy. I hope they hold up.

A garden party theme for June at my Good Juju booth

antiques/junking, Garden, Good JuJu, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 2, 2025

It’s that time again!

Good Juju in the Old West Bottoms of KC’s First Friday weekend is this upcoming Friday and Saturday from 9-6 both days.

For a fun, summertime display, I hung these hot air balloons and vintage wallpaper banners that I crafted on a snowy day last winter.

I was saving them for this big garden party styled look and they are exactly as I’d hoped it would be. Festive, isn’t it?

Here is the view from the front of my booth looking at the back half.

I also covered lampshades in vintage lace.

The crystal sun catchers are hung with a mini spotlight on them and a small fan causing a gentle breeze that makes them move slightly.

Here is a closeup of one of the banners. I think I have about a dozen or so. Most are hanging, but I left a few where they could easily be picked up if someone wants one.

I’ll show you the other sides of the booth in upcoming posts. I have a revamp on my June wedding corner, some beachy goods, and of course, loads of jewels.

In appreciation of a generous friend

Books, friends, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / May 8, 2025

A while back, Beth gifted me a bagful of vintage paper scraps, odds and ends, plus a pile of delicious, old linens.

Inside the bag of goodies was a book cover she had started but never finished.

There was wonderful ephemera, original and printed along with pages of cardstock she had stamped too.

And the lace!

Oh! The lace!

I see fairiy dresses galore in my future. So many great bits and bobs to craft with.

As a thank you, I finished putting her book cover together into a junk journal she could embellish. The only item I used that wasn’t part of her de-stash, was this Charlotte tag.

I decorated the cover with a sweet button card that was in the pile of never ending, vintage goodness and used the two remaining buttons on it as a clasp to wrap a string around as a closure. It was hard for me to stop at that point. I adore crafting a book, but I wanted her to have fun adding tidbits to the interior.

Thanks, Beth!

Generosity and Joy

collections, jewelry, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2023

I cannot begin to tell you my absolute dumbfounded joy when I was gifted with boxes of beauty.

Where to even begin? This is just a portion of the bountiful gorgeousness that came my way.

I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Thank you, Liz!

Free download to make a FALL banner

free images, holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 24, 2023

For this banner, I thought I’d try a new trick (new to me at least).

I scanned vintage text, edited letters onto it, then printed them on card stock. Using a circle punch, I cut them out and added ink to the edges.

Since straight lines and mathematical shapes aren’t my thing, I’m always looking at craft store clearance aisles for banners. I’ll pick one up whenever I see it cheap and stash it away for when an idea strikes.

So I went to my cabinet of shapes and goodies to look for a premade banner that seemed fall-ish.

Burlap! Yep, that’s the one. And it was long enough to make three banners of four letters. ( Sorry, sold the third before it was photographed).

After cutting out the letters and gluing them on, I decorated each segment with vintage lace and velvet ribbon and tied them to a string. Easy as pie. A wonderful, warm apple pie for fall.

If you’d like to create one of your own, here ya go. Click on the image to open into a larger window, and save from that.

And yes, there are two separate Ls instead of using the same background twice. I think it’s more attractive that way. The old papers are pretty cool, you should possibly save the part you cut off to make into something else. (My scraps became mini witch hats).

Next up, I hope to make “BOO”. But I’m tight on time, I’m starting a major studio redo. I might be waiting to do “JOY” or “MERRY” instead. If I do, I’ll share letters if you’d like to make one too.

Patriotic and still Cottagey decor

vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / May 28, 2023

Red, white, and blue are not typically my colors. But this year, I wanted to play with them and use the tones with my own aesthetic.

Vintage wallpaper is one of my favorite things, so I whipped up a few flags from it. The large one is on foam core, the smaller ones on vintage book covers.

While I was at it, I used the scraps to make tags.

With roses, birds, and wallpaper, this color scheme made me pretty happy.

Also, I’ve always wanted to make one of these ribbon flags. I scoured my home and studio for red ribbon and lace, to find just enough to make this one. I thought I’d make smaller ones with the scraps, but there wasn’t much left over. Most of the trims are vintage, a couple of the reds are not. And the blue tulle is cut from a cute skirt that Sugarwings wore as a little kid.

The hanger is not a part of it, that is behind the piece. Sorry, should’ve hung it elsewhere for the photo. The ribbons are tied to nails pounded into a branch. I’m going to put a dot of glue on each knot to keep them in place.

This was such a fun project, I’d love to make another, but do not want to use brand new red ribbons. I might dye some vintage lace and use that. A soft, faded red would be nice, this a bit bright for me.

All of this stuff will be at Good Juju for First Fridays in June. I’ll show you some pictures once I get it all set up.

Sugarplum Fairies

fairies, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / November 21, 2022

I have been a busy little elf.

Not just making more Sugarplum Fairies, but also making some tiny, itty bitty, snow globes for some of them to hold.

Seriously, I cannot get enough of them!

Well, I just love fairies and angels of all kinds. Anyone with wings is special to me.

Throw in vintage bits of fabric, lace, and baubles, and I never want to stop crafting.

Slowly but surely, I am restocking my Boutique. But there are issues with changes in the programs that I use that have made it more slowly than surely.

I’m a big girl, I’ll figure it out. It’s just annoying and takes more time than it used to. A few steps have been added to my process, but it works fine. At my age learning new steps slows me down more than it should.

If you’ve seen my Sugarplum Fairies or Witchy girls before, you might recognize some faces. I do reuse the old photos that I have scanned and printed, but I can promise that no two ever turn out exactly the same.

Because, what fun would that be?