vintage paper/collage art – Page 34

A rant

Current Affairs, Etsy Goodies, give away, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / November 24, 2008

Its been hectic here, and I was feeling a bit down. Beth got ill (just a cold and feeling yucky, not serious) and couldn't go to see Twilight with me, and then, last night was the end of True Blood on HBO till next summer! I'll miss Vampire Bill. Of course, I could re-read all the Sookie Books, that might hold me over.

I wonder though, why is the vampire always the one to win the girl? Now, I am a huge vampire fan myself, and the Buffy series will always be my number one favorite show, but I have to wonder, why do werewolves always lose out to vamps when it comes to love?

(Yea, I know these photos have nothing to do with what I am talking about. I just listed this stuff onEtsy and was feeling kind of proud of myself for accomplishing something).

In the Twilight series, I was pulling for Jake. In True Blood, for Sam. Maybe it is the broodiness of vampires? The dog-guys seem happier and more fun to be with, while the blood suckers are dark and gloomy. Not all that romantic to me. That might be why I was a Spike fan instead of an Angel fan.

(Yes, more photos that don't' go along with what I am saying… this is the giveaway for November, made in my Sally Jean class)

I hope to see Twilight soon, but really hate to think about young girls seeing it. OK,here is where I put on my granny hat and start harping about kids today…. I personally was bothered by the fact that Edward was 100 years older than Bella. I know, I know, Angel and Spike were older than Buffy and that never bothered me, but Buffy was super human. Bella is just a kid.

A kid who wants to give up her entire life for her first love? As a person who married her first love and years later came to regret it, and was able to start over with a wonderful man and live happily ever after, I hate to see young girls everywhere drooling over the romantic dreams of puppy-lovesick Bella.

(here is the back of the pendant for the giveaway, my fairy grand baby!)

Maybe because I have a young lady in my life, someone I want to grow up strong and smart and healthy, I abhor what Bella is doing to herself for her teen age hormone induced cravings for a MUCH older man.

Ok, rant over. And I am still going to go and see the movie.

Anyway, I was feeling a bit down, due to a few things. Like someone saying some unkind things about me on a chat board, and it hurt my feelings. But, an apology came and I feel much better. Also, look what came in the mail! A sweet reader, for no reason, just kindness, sent me some ephemera and old books she knew I would love. How can you be down when there are nice people like that around?

Her goodie box and that apology came on a good day, when I needed it. There is a lesson there somewhere. Like, always take the time to do or say something nice, you never know when it will be just the thing someone needs at that moment!

And of course, I have this event to look forward to! Read about it here.

Packing it Up, and more about the SPARKLY SURPRIZE GIVEAWAY

celebrations, give away, parties, redos, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / November 11, 2008

The bag I needed to pack my supplies in turned up! But after a summer of being filled with sunscreens, picnics, and carried to the lake, it looked a bit rough.

To cover some blotchy spots and stains, I squirted the canvas with glimmer mist. Is is washable? Who knows? Will I have blue running down my arms if I get caught in the rain while carrying it? Could happen.

I also added silver Stickles glitter and a few crystals. So, if the color runs away, at least the sparklies will stay around!

Hey, did you see that Hobby Lobby sells Stickles now! Yippee!

While there, I picked up a few things for the trip. I feel like I am getting ready for the first day of school, with all of these new supplies! I treated myself to all these new goodies, it just makes it even more fun. There is nothing like the feeling of opening a brand new box of crayons (or color crins, as we always called them) and seeing those sharp points that have never been put to paper yet!

Sugarwings gave me one of her new glue sticks. I thought Belle was appropriate for the occasion!

The hotel we are staying at has a free breakfast, so I will be well fed in the mornings, but thought it wouldn’t hurt to have some easy to grab food with me when there isn’t much time between classes for lunch.

What else goes in the bag? Trinkets that sparkle, a book of wallpaper samples, some French sheet music, jewelry tools, mats, and doodads.

Last year, I took a lot of extras with me and was glad I did. This year, the instructors have asked us to bring some extras along.

Plus, it seems like there are a lot of items called for this year, like books, frames, game boards, etc.

This ballerina pin and card are coming along just because I like them. I have no idea if they will fit into the theme of any of the classes!

Now, the classes all sound really interesting and I’m sure they will be great to take. But- the photos of the projects are more like sneak peeks, and it is honestly hard to tell just what they will be like when done. At least for some of the artwork.

Sadly, I didn’t join in any of the swaps this year. But my friend, Valita offered to trade some wallpaper and photo album mats for vintage crystals! I jumped right on that.

So, her trade is packed, as well as some special orders and gifts that I am bringing.

Tomorrow, Heather and Natasha arrive! I decorated some little boxes for the presents I made for them, as welcome gifts. While I was gluing paper, I fixed up this mini chest of drawers for my roomie, Carol.

If she hadn’t agreed to share a room with me, I might not have decided to go to Silver Bella because the costs were just too high. I owe her! So, I made her a thank you gift and then fixed this up to package it in.

When I clean house, I tend to get side tracked. While mopping the dining room to be ready for house guests, I just got to thinking how much I hated the table top. It was a blah wood, that was dinged up and cups left rings on it every time we used it.

I love the table and chairs, and really didn’t want to repaint the whole set.

That problem was solved by painting the table top kind of to match, but not too matchy-matchy. I used metallic champagne paint that I had left over from a previous project, then a gold glaze over it, blending while the paint was still wet.

I like the shimmer the metallics make, and am glad I stopped to do this. It was so much more fun than mopping the floor.

Lets see, supplies packed, house cleaned, table painted, gifts made, truck loaded with my wares, and these wine charms made to give as party favors tomorrow night.

I think I am about ready to go!

These are wine charms that Gwen, Carol and I made up earlier for the Glitter Lounge. I still need to pack the pink sugar with edible glitter to rim the champagne glasses for our party. The Godiva chocolates are in my bag, and ready to be sprinkled with glitter too!

I also need to pack my clothes. Ugh. The worst part. Did I mention that 10lbs snuck up on me?

After packing, I need to run to the post office and mail this silk outfit to my Sissy. She left it with me to tie dye for her and I want to mail ti before I go out of town. I hope she likes it, it started out a butter yellow, and now looks kind of mermaidy. Silk takes the dye different than the cottons I am used to, so it was a bit of an experiment.

This formerly white shirt goes to her too. I have a raspberry dyed shirt for myself to wear this weekend too.

I’d better get to packing it, I still have a dinner party to get ready for too.

I don’t know when I’ll get to post again. Hopefully after the party tomorrow night, but maybe not till after Silver Bella.

I promise to bring you a souvenir! This month’s SPARKLY SURPRISE GIVEAWAY will include some of the edible glitter to sprinkle on your holiday treats, and something, who knows what? from my weekend in Omaha.

Leave a comment to enter!

And please excuse me, if they don’t get answered. I’ll be away, then have company, then need to get caught up, unpacking and re-opening my shop. I will read and enjoy each and every comment, but I am sorry I won’t be able to answer.

Proud to be a Mid Westerner!

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, give away, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 27, 2008

Sbella_booth_230 Today is a packing and pricing day, the last table top of Silver Bella goodies are going into their boxes! Although, all the tags are falling off the stupid bottle brush trees, how irritating is that? I went with sticky tags on the bottoms, not string tags, because I didn’t want the strings to tangle. Now, I have a pile of loose tags at the bottom of the box.

I’ll have to keep that in mind as I tag the rest of the crap, er, I mean lovely inventory.

I HATE pricing. It is one of the chores that seemed to never end back when I used to host mini flea markets in my yard and chicken coop. For this event, I am doing as many signs as possible, instead of individual tags. I packaged things, like wallpaper journals and millinery flowers with the idea of saving tagging time. I did the same with hand painted charms, tags, vintage greeting cards, and china shard pendants too.

Too bad that idea won’t work for the old Christmas ribbon, some spools are nearly full, others aren’t, so the prices can’t be uniform.

And for small things like this, it is easier to do tags, than to take up space with a sign.

And the decorated bottles are all so different, it just doesn’t work well with them either, they will need to be tagged.

I’ll place a small sign on this basket that says "Embossed and Stamped Tags 3 for $1"

I also have a big picnic basket FULL of odds and ends for $1 each. Doilies, trims, cake decorating tid bits, just a hodge podge of goodies. I’ll set it on the floor because my tables are overflowing.

10′ x 10′ sounds like plenty of space, but I could have used twice that amount. Of course, I also could have been a little smarter and not planned to bring so many cheapo priced things….. and made better use of the space I have…

But- this booth really does represent what I have to sell in my Etsy shop or on my blog and that is what I wanted to accomplish. There will be bargains and surprises and good deals all piled together to dig through. I hope that the booth is enjoyed as much as I have enjoyed putting it together!! And if most shoppers are like me, they will appreciate some good deals and have fun digging through it all.

Dont forget that if you want to win something from my booth, I am having TWO giveaways!

A pair of crown earrings goes to a Bella, and another pair, along with black and white rose linens and a white glittered pumpkin will go to another reader. All you do is leave a comment to enter.

Speaking of Silver Bella vendor night, guess who is going to be there selling after all? Deb of Curious Sofa! Now, that will be a beautiful space to shop in!!!!!!

I am going to be glowing with pride to be part of the Kansas City contingent up in Omaha. With my friend, Gwen, who shops only in France for her wares, Carol the Queen of primitive glamor, and Deb with her unique Curious Sofa style all there and all from KC, those three will be showing off the best that the Midwest has to offer!

Makes me wish I’d gone for a better display instead of just piles of stuff… these three ladies will have the kind of spaces that make you stand at the entance and just say WOW.

Table #2 packed and ready to go!

Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 14, 2008

Progress is happening with my preparations for Silver Bella!

I have table #2 set up, priced and PACKED up!!

These photos are a rough draft. I don’t know why I show bad photos…. but I do.

I think this table is plenty FULL. Of course, it is a foot shorter than the one I will actually be using up in Omaha at the event, so that will help the display a bit.

The doll house shelf was great for height, and I can fill it will lots of pretties, it is a unique display piece.

One thing I really like about it, is that I can turn it on its side and all the little ‘rooms’ become spaces I can pack the stuff in to take.

But, instead of just wrapping the pretties and packing them into the ‘rooms’ I put all the goods into cardboard boxes first.

That way, when I go to set it up, I can remove the boxes and turn the shelf upright, then start loading the shelves directly from the boxes.

If I had packed directly into the ‘rooms’ I’d have had to unpack all the little stuff onto the floor or somewhere in the way while I turned the shelf upright. I’m glad I thought of that.

Well, actually, I’d already packed it, when I thought of it, and had to re-pack it. But I’m glad I did ! It will save time when I have a short period to get the truck unloaded and the booth set up.

Oops, as I look at this hat full of vintage cards, I realize that I forgot to make a price sign for the cards.

Wonder what else I have forgotten??

This display is a jewelry cabinet with a glass door, that I painted, and laid on its back instead of standing up.

I have tussie mussies and pastel trees sprinkled around the table top, and lots of little things here and there.

I tried to have a variety, and a good price range. There are things as low as 50 cents. Now why is it worth my time to pack, price, and drag something that is only 50 cents all the way to the sale??? Oh well, those quarters add up I guess, and also, there are some cool little things that I liked and figured other people would too. So, I am bringing them, whether it makes sense or not!

For vintage Christmas ornaments and little doo dads, I bundled up and packaged some things together in gift bags, perfect for little hostess or teacher gifts, and priced them at $3 each.

Yep, I have some bargains!

And I made up another box full of my millinery blooms.

It feels good to have two tables completed and packed away, priced and ready to set up! One table was jewelry, this was pastels and pretties, the third will be neutrals and whites. I hope to get to it later this week.

Today is a craft day with a few blog friends, so I’d better go and clear some crap off my work tables before the baby gets up and I don’t have a chance to do it and no one has a place to craft at!

Flaming Fall Fun

Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, holiday decor, parties, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 13, 2008

Between throwing a party and hauling our boat in from the lake for the winter, I managed to sneak in a few minutes of crafting time.

These tags are listed for sale at my Etsy shop now if you are interested. I certainly have been neglecting that shop lately….

The wallpaper they are laying on came in the mail Saturday, isn’t it gorgeous!! I can’t wait to make something with that. Maybe I’ll get to tomorrow, I am having a craft day with some friends.

The weather for our bonfire on Saturday could not have been more perfect!

I think we had about 20 or so for dinner, I pulled a bunch of tables and mismatched chairs together from the patios and studio and set it all up out in the courtyard.

All the rectangle shaped tables were covered in white table cloths, and I put my only fall colored one on a round table in the center of the line.

(you can tell I didn’t waste any time ironing them!)

My centerpieces were a hodgepodge of whatever was around.

This white, glittered pumpkin is one that I have used over and over, it is from Hobby Lobby and I added glitter to it.

The rest of the centerpieces were just vases of flowers I picked from the garden, a few votives,gourds, and some real pumpkins. Simple and easy, no money spent, not much time put into it.

This pumpkin (from a garage sale) I sat in a flower pot and placed on a tray full of gourds and a vase of flowers. It really has a cool glow in the candlelight!

So does my pretty friend, Angie.

Here is the aftermath, once the food was gone and we moved on to the bonfire.

Dinner was simple and easy too. Well, at least it was for me! Everyone brought a side dish, I just made a spaghetti squash casserole (from my garden) and the cupcakes that Sugarwings decorated for me.

My husband grilled salmon and chicken, all I did was set out the food and plates buffet style in the house. I love parties that are effortless. I’m never shy to tell people to bring something with them, for one thing, it is fun to taste all the different things that people make. For another, I want to be able to have fun and be part of the group, not stuck in the kitchen.

(to Beth’s left is her handsome husband, Jeff. Too bad you can’t see his face, he is a cutey. But you can tell he is a cyclist, look at that physique!!)

I don’t know why we don’t use our bonfire pit more often. When we, sadly, had to take down the old barn, we kept the foundation and filled it with gravel, then added a curving gravel pathway back to the area. The big, gravelled space in the clearing of the woods makes a perfect area for a fire.

For parties, I string white lights along the path on one side and set out candles on the other.

The evening was one of those nights when it wasn’t so cold that you HAD to have a fire to stay warm, the fire was more of an accent to stare at and enjoy.

Although the flames did get a little hot when I decided to throw an old chair onto them. We all had to back away for a bit till the heat let up.

My husband thinks I have too much junk and he is thrilled when I surprise him and burn some of it at a party. Well, you do what you can to keep them happy, huh?

Prolificity

holiday decor, jewelry, magazine pictures or articles, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 8, 2008

Have I mentioned that I work fast? Last night during the debate and the discussion afterward, I made these earrings and bottles.

I’d found some cute little sterling silver crown charms, but they didn’t look as good in person as they did online when I found them. So I soaked them in a patina solution and aged them a bit.

After making so many pairs of crown earrings that I was starting to go cross eyed, I decided to use them for some other things too.

Like this bottle’s necklace.

And what do you think of my bottle toppers? Beth was selling some of this Victorian glass fruit and of course, my mind went directly to using it for stoppers.

It was a bit pricey for this use, but worth it, I think. So much more interesting than a cork!!!

On Monday, before Sugarwings came for her sleep over, I worked on making some more price signs for my Silver Bella booth.

To save time, I am doing simple pricing, with a sign that states the price of an entire species of craft. No individual tagged items, or at least not many.

So, I am trying to have multiples of items to sell. No two will be alike, of course, but lots of things in the same genre.

Wallpaper folders are complicated to make, but I love the results. My Sissy had made a folder for me using a cabinet card as a pattern and I got the idea from that.

But I glue two vintage papers together to make them covered inside and out, and these papers can be fragile to use. Also, I try to make sure they are interesting from all angles.

Including the backs.

Then I fill them up with ephemera, coordinating wallpaper and old book page scraps to match the design of the folder.

While I had ephemera and glue out, I made a few post card Christmas ornaments.

Only 3 so far. If I don’t get more made, I will have to price them individually instead of using a sign!!!

These are some jewel cases that I bought at a flea market earlier this year. The insides are a perfect pink, and one has a rose, the other says Princess!

But the outsides were kind of blah.

To spiff up the exteriors, I added velvet ribbons, rhinestones and old velvet flowers.

If only that would work on me. Seems like the opposite is true with me, the older I get, the less froofy stuff I can wear. Not fair!!!

Not like I would ever have worn this any way. Who could?? I think it was either a Halloween costume or dance recital dress. I hope it wasn’t real clothing….

Being a cheapskate, I was attracted to the the fact that it was only $2 but covered in about $40 worth of sparkly things!

Sparkly things that looked like they would be easy to pick off.

But aren’t.

Sometimes it sucks being a cheapskate. Now I HAVE to pick them all off or I will feel like I wasted my money. All two dollars of it.

Crowning Glories

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, give away, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 29, 2008

This has been a good weekend for "crowning around". Miss Sugarwings spent a big chunk of the weekend here with me and the crowns are a good project to do in the little spurts of time I have between bouts of chasing her. this crown is sold

This poor little cherub lost its arms when it got knocked over onto the cement, and I have had them buried in the gravel, reaching up to the air like zombies trying to come up out of the earth. The spot I put them in was by Ryan’s front door, since he is a big zombie fan, just like his mom.

And not for Halloween, I did this last Spring.

But this week, Sugarwings found the arms, and spent a good deal of time trying to re-attach them too the "ouchy baby" as she called her.

A good sized pile of crowns got done, but honestly, it isn’t much, and these aren’t even for Silver Bella. I had big plans to lock myself into the studio and not come out, since my husband is out of town.

Instead, I got slightly sidetracked by my fairy grand baby and we ended up working in the garden together and playing play dough, and making up songs. the two crowns on the bottom, back right are sold, thanks

Carol’s crown design is such a fantastic idea, I can’t get enough of them. I’m putting my own spin on them and making them in my colors and style too.

Remember, as part of "Karla and Carol’s Romantic Country Celebration Giveaway" you can win a kit to make your own. Go to Carol’s blog and tell her how much you like them! I’ll chose someone from her comments on the first.

And you can still win my Sweet September Prize Pack by commenting.

Plus I have two ways you can win a pumpkin topped bottle. If you are an 08 Bella, let me know, because one will be going to a Silver Bella attendee, and another will go to another reader.

Aren’t presents fun?

Earlier this week, before the little fairy baby came over to distract me with that dimply grin of hers, I painted this dove bottle and decorated it.

Did I say that Carol’s screen crowns were addictive? So was her bottle topped sculpy idea! Maybe it is all the hours I have spent with Sugarwing ‘s play dough that got me in the mood, because I am sure in love with sculpy! the dove is sold, thanks!

And if you are wondering what I do with all of the old wallpaper and vintage flowers I buy, here is a tiny little dent into my collection.

I’ve been scooping up old boxes all Summer at garage sales and this week, got a few decorated.

This one had the most beautiful knobs on the drawers, that I simply had to save it.

It has been painted silver and distressed, then the front of the drawers and the insides were covered in coordinating old wallpapers.

These roses were so pretty, they inspired the redo of this box. I made a corsage, and glued it down, along with vintage ribbons and an old pink buckle.

The inside is simply covered in old wallpaper, then trimmed with narrow, velvet ribbon.

And the smashier the better for me with old roses! I love to see them show their age. (maybe because I show mine?)

This wooden box was painted pink, and the top was covered in flocked wallpaper, then the edges inked to age it.

Inside, is more wallpaper, and some hand dyed velvet, left over from a chair I recovered for Sugarwing’s nursery.

I trimmed it out in old lace and buttons.

I’ve got a stack of boxes done, and more in the works, that I will be taking to Silver Bella. I plan on packing other things to sell inside of them, and using them as part of the display.

So even if they don’t sell, they will be handy to have to show off other things.

Today, I will try to list some of the crowns on Etsy.

But I am hosting a brunch tomorrow, and Sugarwings is spending the night, so who knows if I’ll get anything done or not….

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 wallpaper pact

antiques/junking, collections, flowers, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 2, 2008

Obsess much, Karla?

I went to help Beth redo her studio a bit today. After we got it all tidied up, we got to play in it and get it all messy again!

Our goal was to empty a small box full of wallpaper scraps she wanted used up. She has a new Cuttle Bug (I call them Cuddle Bugs) and I went a bit crazy making tags with it. This photo shows just a drop in the bucket, there are tons more.

I didn’t seem to be able to stop. Or leave. I was one of THOSE guests. 8 hours later, there I sat in the studio cutting "one more" out.

I made use of the embossing plates too.

She gave me the vintage shoe tags, as well as the wallpaper in the background.

We have a "Wallpaper Pact". When one of us gets a new pattern of paper, we always share. That keeps us from being jealous and resentful of each other.

The pink paper in the background of this is part of the pact too.

And the tags? Beth gave these to me, what a cute way to wrap up some ribbons. And VELVET ribbons are my faves!

While spiffing up the studio, we looked around her basement for items to foof with. And of course, I just had to do some shopping. If you ever go over to Beth’s house, ask to see the bargain basement first! I bought a lot, but the light is fading now, I’ll take some more pics tomorrow of all the stuff once it is in place in my own studio.

One studio display idea we came up with while checking out the bargain basement was this birdcage/ribbon holder. At first, I found an old, naked lampshade and wanted to hang it from the stand, but it was too wide.

Then, we dug up this cage and it seemed perfect to hold ribbons by the desk. Its also good to clip papers to, almost like a bulletin board.

We brought up this child’s hutch from the bargain basement, too. It made a handy shelving unit for supplies near the desk.

The room is 10 x 10, but she has made an efficient use of the space, by using tall shelving and making use of vertical spaces.

She is sooooo organized! Look at all the labels! I envy her ability to find anything, any time she needs it.

This is my favorite corner, probably because of all the ice cream colored wallpaper. the back of the hutch is lined with a patchwork of the vintage paper and the doors of the lingerie cabinet are covered in it too.

We almost made our way to the bottom of the scrap box she wanted to use up, but not quite. I didn’t do anything arty, I just pasted, cut and embossed all day, kind of mindless and soothing. I called it all back ground work, stuff I can embellish and make into something nice later on.

When I got home, an envelope had arrived from Phyllis with this sheet music in it!! I’ll have to copy it and make it into some sort of price tag or label for my vendor booth at Silver Bella.

And I don’t think I’ve shown you this little beauty, have I? Wow, isn’t this birdie darling? It was a gift from Heather, who makes the prettiest things.

Her package arrived for our Pre-Bella Get Acquainted/Get Inspired Swap. This is a gal who loves old wallpaper as much as I do. Take a look at the paper bow she made for the presents she sent.

If you’d like to see more of the swap, I set up a Flickr site, open to the public.

I’ve photographed all the packages that came in from the Bellas as well as the goods inside. Yummy, yummy, they are really quite something!

And so is Kansas at this time of year. There is a reason we are called the Sunflower State! Now, about January, when things are bleak and gray, you won’t hear many praises for the views around here, but September can be quite spectacular.

oh, rats!

family, give away, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2008

Happy Labor Day! I hope everyone is having a relaxing 3 day weekend.

Ours has been fun, hanging out at a campsite with family, boating, gardening, and babysitting for a fairy.

Sugarwings had a couple of sleepovers this weekend and all she wanted to do was PAINT.

For some reason, blue paint always get tasted, you can tell by the blue lips in every photo of her at work on her creations.

While the fairy grand baby was napping, I was able to glitter the tags I made for the Pre-Bella swap I am hosting, and get the packages I am sending out wrapped up.

Each package is wrapped up in vintage wallpaper, soft old ribbon, and a doo dad of some sort as an accent.

This pack for Carol has millinery fruit on it, nicely aged and distressed, the way she likes things. She was with me when I bought the fruited hat it was plucked from, so I thought this was appropriate for her.

And anyone who knows Jessi, knows her love of Barbie. I added a vintage Wilton cake topper to her pack.

Sweet Jennifer loves kiddy-type cuteness, so she gets Raggedy Andy.

And do you think that Andrea gets tired of Velvet Strawberries coming her way?

All the packages are topped off with a little pretty to use in a project, I hope they are going to be something everyone can use. They were certainly fun for me to chose!

And what is in the goodie bag from me? Flocked wallpaper, something I cannot do without! This swap was a "get acquainted- get inspired" trade, and we were all supposed to send some of our favorite things to work with to each other.

Everyone has been so over the top, generous with their goodies! I’ve enjoyed getting to know them through this and can’t wait to meet up with all of them in November at Silver Bella.

I need to say thanks to all of these generous souls, not only for their goodie bags, but also for resending extra money for postage so I could send out their boxes. I had misjudged the amount needed, but really, honestly wasn’t worried about it, I was happy to pay the difference myself. But, next thing I knew, PayPal emails started filling up my box with all sorts of extra postage cash! How kind, and thoughtful.

There was time this weekend to sneak away and make some more wallpaper journals for Somerset Life this weekend too.

Not everything about this weekend has been fun, though. Urgh- we had a RAT come up from the basement into the PANTRY!!!

He chewed his way in, and had his way with everything in the cabinet. Did I say, urhg? I opened the door to see him staring straight at me.

I emptied the cabinet, threw most of the contents away, bleached the outsides of the canned goods, then filled the holes the monster came in through with steel wool. After that, I bleached the cabinet itself and repainted the interior.

But not until after we caught him. He came to live in the pantry while my husband was out of town, and I tried to set the giant trap, and almost broke my finger in the process. I cried like a baby with pain and frustration, after an hour of trying to set that trap by myself.

But, my hero came home and killed the varmint for me, just in time! Look at what the pest was trying to do, he chewed in from the basement into the pantry, then tried to chew his way into the house itself through the pantry doorway!!

And this damage was done overnight. Double URGH.

Now, every single tiny crack in the pantry walls is stuffed with steel wool, and we pulled up the boards of the deck outside and stuffed steel wool all around the perimeter of the house into any crevice I thought a rodent could get into, plus we have traps all over the basement.

Life isn’t always pretty in a 100 year old house!

If you are still interested in a gift from me, even though I live in a rat infested slum, my September giveaway starts today. All comments, all month are entered.

The winner of my August Giveaway of the 1950’s house wife kit is: Sheila

Congratulations, Sheila!

She is actually a neighbor, well, kind of. She lives in Kansas City, although we have never met, we will soon at Silver Bella.

And even though I have posted this before, I will add these links to the participants in the Pre-Bella Swap, just because they are such fun places to go an visit!

Most are addresses, not links, I guess. You need to paste them to your browser, not just click on them, sorry.

1-Heather- http://www.prettypetals.typepad.com/

2-Cheryl Dack –http://roseyposeyconfections.blogspot.com/

3-JenniferHayslip http://sweeteyecandycreations.typepad.com/

4-Jessi Nagy http://www.scrappyjessi.blogspot.com/

5-Kim Caldwell- http://www.artisticbliss.typepad.com/

6-Holly- http://www.hollydoodledesigns.com/shop/

7-Natasha- http://www.natashaburns.blogspot.com/

8-Analisa- http://www.leesiebella.typepad.com/

9-Andrea- http://velvetstrawberries.typepad.com/andreasingarella/

10-Cheryl Stoneham- http://www.insidethebubble.typepad.com/

11- Tiffany- www.shabbyscraps.typepad.com

2- Carol Spinski – http://raisedincotton.typepad.com/

And one more little doo dad trim piece to show you, I glittered a ruby slipper for Natasha. She is coming to Kansas for the first time, from Australia.