Today is the day that I am teaching my shadow box project in Jekyll Island, GA.
I had so much fun getting examples ready for the class!
And you know me… it was hard to stop.
This is how they will used. Every kit comes with a collage sheet so the artists can choose which girl to use in her creation.
I can't wait to see what they come up with- and I'll take plenty of pictures to show you what they make when I get home again.
The art event I will be going to next week is Easter themed.
So, along with the tiny baskets and fluffy critters decked in pastel posies, I have made some seasonal banners too.
This one is for springtime.
But most are made special just for the holiday.
I don’t know what it is about banners that draws me in like it does.
I could get lost in making one after another, after another!
Kind of like crafting art journals, I am every bit as wrapped up in those.
Did I mention that I made so many books to sell that I couldn’t possibly take them all with me?
Yes, I get a bit obsessive when I am left alone in the studio with some time to create… I tend to prolifically keep going until I run out of those specific supplies or the world interferes and I need to move on.
Which means that when I return, I should have plenty of books to add to my Boutique. I’ll show you some pictures soon.
I am slightly in love with them.
What a perfect way to welcome springtime! I made pastel, floral, Easter banners all morning.
This one has a Charlotte bunny.
And some sparkly jewels. Lots of Good Stuff was put to good use on it.
Afterwards, Ryan and I had a nice, long dog walk. Then Sugarwings and I had a meandering bike ride.
We topped off the afternoon with froyo, I refuse to eat icey desserts in winter. And I’m extra happy that spring is here, and along with it, ice creamy delightfulness!
Yay, Spring!
My friend, Beth, gives me cool stuff she finds at estate sales. A while back, I got this domed piece from her, and tucked it away, not sure what I’d be using it for. When my studio got a deep cleaning in preparation for A Lovebird’s Song, I came across it and promptly sat down to make something from it.
Because what is more inspiring than a chance to avoid cleaning?
Sorry, no before pics. (I was excited to get busy avoiding my chores and couldn’t wait to start)
I’m sure you can picture it, plain, blonde wood base, with scraggly bits of floral foam glued to it. I painted the base and glued an old, metal lid to the center. The lid is covered in wallpaper. Around that, I drizzled a ton of glue and pressed moss into it. I cut small millinery blooms to add to the foreground, and larger ones for the back. They are all standing on their wire stems, not glued flat against the moss.
“Garden of Memories” was clipped from sheet music. I make a habit of cutting out interesting phrases from old text to have on hand when I need just the perfect words. These words were ideal for this garden, because the photo I used was from a fun play date with a friend, Karen- a lovely memory!
A couple of vintage butterflies were added the same way as the flowers. I glued their wires into the moss, instead of sticking them right onto it. Then, I bent the wires to make it look like they were flitting about.
The faye child sits on a wooden spool, covered in blooms, with a teensy bluebird of happiness by her side. Her dress is netting cut from a vintage gown, her antennae are flower stamens, her wings are old text.
She has added a little bitty, bright spot of spring to this gloomy, winter day.
But now, I need to go clean after this refreshing break from work!
Are you up for some romantic crafting projects? I have two opportunities for you to join me in creating ruffled, lacey, crepe paper wings, adorned with vintage millinery along with a charming autograph book, inspired by a very old and uniquely shaped signature book. The book will be made from the ground up, you will learn how to construct the covers from chip board and paper.
One set of classes is being hosted by the lovely, Karen Hillman, in Deland, Florida. She will serve a luncheon to us in her impressive and gracious style and we will create both the angelic wings and distinctive booklet.
Info on how to sign up is here: Cozy Castle Events
Did I mention it was Reninger’s Antique Extravaganza weekend?!?!
While the flea market adventure isn’t exactly part of the workshop, I highly encourage you to attend it and shop to your heart’s content at one of the South’s top fleas. The classes are on Saturday, and the market is in full swing Friday thru Sunday, just down the road in the delightful town of Mount Dora.
I used to spend some time in the area back when I’d visit my Great Aunt Caroline (who lived til the day before her 102nd birthday!), so I became familiar with the joys of antiquing there, way back then. I fell head over hills for the hidden gem in the heart of Florida, and have filled my suitcase many times with precious goodies from shopping sprees while visiting.
The signature book and angel wings have a romantic feel to them, but are not necessarily Valentine decor. I hung some wings in the cottage for Christmas one year, and decided to leave them up for Valentines', then liked them so much, they stayed up year round. Who doesn’t need a sweet reminder of heavenly blessings nearby?
The book also, can be filled with sweet nothings and love notes, or used as a mini scrapbook, art journal, diary, or simply enjoy as a display piece and reminder of a day of creativity with other talented friends. Here is a page from my inspiration book (a gift from the Guncles that Karen and I both freaked out over and wanted to copy). I will be including a vintage calling card and other pretties for each kit.
Karen’s gathering will take place on February 16th, which makes it even more special to me. It is my mom’s birthday and she adored her Aunt Caroline. I’m excited to be spending her day in an area she loved.
I've been busy hand dying crepe paper and sewing it into yards and yards of ruffles for you.
No two kits will be exactly the same, since vintage materials will be used. I'm supplying roses for each set of wings, in your choice of color. Tiny vintage flowers will top the album also. Crepe paper is available in cream and white or pink.
The classes at my home will be on Saturday, January 26. You can choose to make the wings in the morning, the book in the afternoon, or stay the day and do both. Lunch is included.
Both cottage workshops are $55,
but if you sign up for the set,
you’ll save $5 on each
for a total of $100 for the day.
(I hope you will stay all day, I’m looking forward to spending it with you!)
We will have a Valentine themed luncheon and the Treat Cabinet will be stocked with chocolatey, yummy, sweetness. If you’d like to be part of this party, you can email me at karlanathan@sbcglobal.net for an invoice. And please let me know if you’d like white, pink, or red for your wings.
I could possibly do blue or lavender if you wish also. Ask for your fave and I'll see what I can find for you. My cottage does hold a couple of hats to choose from….
And if you like to go to the Florida and Kansas versions? First of all, I’d be thrilled! Second, I can make you two different colored kits.
I'm still enjoying the bounty of paint pours from my creative binge this summer and am now using the pieces to make holiday tag books.
You can purchase them HERE, in the Boutique.
I seriously adore the technique and the look of the swirled paints. Acrylic flow painting is the BEST!
I'd gone with Beth to attend the wedding of The Other Karla's son in St Paul and brought crafty goods (including these painted tags) with me to play with in the hotel room, then found a bounty of beauties at a flea market on the way there.
Once I got started on making these, I couldn't stop. I was a bad friend and sent Beth out on her own to have lunch with her Minnesota nieces while I stayed in my jammies and made book after book after book that day, till it was time to get ready for the wedding.
Because- WOW- look at this paper I'd found!!!!! How could I leave it uncut, when I had all of these pretty, painted tags to make things with????
I'd also bought 1928-29 women's magazines from December with lots of helpful Christmas tips, along with an old book of hymms that included Christmas carols.
And stacks of holiday ephemera.
And did I mention that it was 13 degrees outside? And I'd driven through mini blizzards to get there. Yes, I was content to do hotel crafting in my jim jams and had a beautiful, wonderful, magical day.
It was the BEST.
Not only did I have a fab night with friends, then a day at a flea market on the way to the wedding, I had an entire day with the most magical of vintage supplies, topped off with a night of dancing and laughing til my sides hurt at the wedding.
Or did my sides hurt because I was way to old to dance that hard and that long?
Either way, it was a perfect weekend. Laughter, road trips, making things, attending a lovely wedding. Yep, the BEST.
I had never met Karla's son, but soon realized he was a catch. His wife won my heart quickly too, when she told us about the family tradition of using this vintage cake topper.
Karla made ribbon wands that were waved in the air when the couple entered the reception, and soon we were all dancing and waving them around out on the floor. Not only were they pretty to see flying about, but they had magical properties.
When we twirled them about, we were FANTASTIC dancers. We were the BEST.
And personally, I can't dance and have less rhythm than, well, I can't actually think of anything or anyone with less skill on the dance floor than I have.
Between the laughing and the ribbon wands, my dancing skills suddenly became amazing. Everyone's did.
Yep, it was the BEST.
S
When Guncle Randy was here in August, We had a paint pour day and he did a "swipe" technique on this cover. I finished assembling the book to mail to him later.
And of course, I couldn't help myself…. I had to add some vintage papers to the book for him to use as a background for his own work. He plans on using it for a Halloween/Autumn journal, so I kept with a darker or fall theme. Including this great horoscope book cover from the 1800s!!!
(I'd been saving it for something really special.)
Grey flowers seemed to be ideal for Halloween.
As were these black and white pages.
The red might be a little bright for the season, but I guess he could consider it gorey… I made a pocket from some paint poured paper, and filled it with tidbits to use in his own work.
The Dream Book page is a scan and copy, but suits the mood.
As well as the Gispy Fortune Teller page.
This lovely lady was cut from an old fairy tale book, and I added green marker to her face to make her witchy.
This boy is scanned from an old photo and printed onto a transparency for a ghostly look.
Typically, I chose text for shape and style, but sometimes I find some that fits the mood of the page too. While this is simply about Tom Thumb and is a cute fairy tale, I thought the first sentence seemed a little creepy and went well with a Halloween book.
The inside of the back cover gets a paint poured note card to open and fill up, and a cute (but slightly vampire-ish) boy and his dog. I added a sparkly, rhinestone poodle too, since the guncles have two cute poods of their own.
Have fun filling your book up, Randy! I love you and loved getting this ready for you!!
I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd. All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks!
Back in August, Karen gathered a group of us together for a getaway and shopping, then the group came to my house to try their hands at pour painting. This book cover is Karen's creation from the day.
My painting friends were visiting from Florida, and the paint takes 3 weeks to cure completely, since it is so heavily applied and has conditioners in it. So, I kept the pieces here to dry, and mailed them later.
But before I did, I put this book together for her, and another for Guncle Randy. Both were empty covers that they'd painted.
And since I LOOOOOOVE making books, I couldn't help giving her a head start on her pages.
About half are blank, and I added some vintage wallpaper, lace and embellishments to the rest. Now, she has some backgrounds ready to add her own art, or poetry to.
My Special K, as I call her, loves Gatsby. And identifies with Daisy. So, I made sure there were plenty of daisies in the book for her.
She has a lovely poodle, Queen Satine, so when I saw these rhinestone poodles, I knew they had to be a part of the book too.
It is a joy to use these papers, I hope Karen loves working with them too.
Her cover turned out so sweetly, I wanted to honor it with an equally sweet interior.
Thank you for hosting our group for the flea market getaway and for coming to play with paint with me, Karen!!
And if any of you want to make a book with the two of us, I'll be teaching a class at her studio in Deland, Florida in February. Details to come…
I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd. All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks!
Besides junking, sipping wine, sitting by a bonfire, playing with piglets, and eating too much like I was a piglet myself (thanks for the great food, Tracy!!), we did some crafting on Labor Day weekend when i was with my buddies at the hunting cabin.
Royal Style!
Tami brought enough supplies to top off the entire British monarchy.
And we loved every bit and bauble she brought.
Here is a Gatsby-esque one that she gifted to Karen.
And here is a heart shaped, nature inspired, Fairy Crown that I made for Sugarwings.
She placed it on our lamp when she took it off, I kind of like it there.
This is the woodland example that Tami brought.
Angie is modelling the Ice Queen crown.
I made one similar to it.
I'm also creating a Raven crown, from a beaded flapper dress I found at a flea market. It is still in progress, I'm thinking it will require some black feathers and maybe even a feathery bird. I'll be wearing it with my raven dress to a fairyland ball that my sis, Terry, is throwing next summer. It is never too early to plan ahead, is it? This will be a big occasion, so Guncle Randy and I both worked on our headpieces.
Here is the beginning of the base of his. He ringed it with more stones, and we aged it with two colors of Rub-n-buff when we got home.
He will also add vines and sprigs to fairy it up.
They all looked great together.
Thanks for the beautiful project, Tami!
(I only wish we'd thought of posing some of these onto the mounted deer and turkeys around the house!)
I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd. All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks!
The colors of this painted cover inspired me to dig out some of my treasured, very vintage, ribbon flowers to add to the front along with this pretty porcelain piece.
I wish I wasn't running low on my ribbon roses….. They have been a JOY to use.
Which is why I'm hitting the end of the hoarded pile. I believe in using that GOOD STUFF, not hiding it away.
If a piece is worth doing your best work on, isn't it worth your best supplies too?
I've loved working with the paint pourings to make book covers too.
But sadly, I have packed away all of the paints, tables and racks that I've used all summer to work on making them. My garage has been a paint studio for months, but with fall here, it was time to return it to its purpose of hosting my car. Sugarwings and I were sad to see it all put away, she and I have had a blast making art together out there. I've had lots of parties and gatherings with friends coming over to paint with me too.
I'm already looking forward to next spring and putting the garage back to a better use by doing more of them then!
I'll probably have enough canvases to cut up and turn into books and banners til then, I was so enthusiastic with the technique, I've filled my studio with stacks of paintings to use.
And thank you to all of you who have helped support my habit by buying the books I've been crafting.
This one is a thick one, four sets of blank pages ready to fill with your own art, musings, photos, or dreams. You can find it in the Boutique.
