vintage paper/collage art – Page 45

Christmas Comes Early-way too early- and a visit from Dusty

Etsy Goodies, fairies, Hand Painted Furniture, holiday decor, I do tend to run on, don't I?, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / September 16, 2007

Thanks for all the people who are letting me know that they will be part of the party!!

Here are the rules again, since there have been questions-

For fellow bloggers:

1- Take photos of something you love about your home.

2- Comment on my blog about your post Tuesday Sept. 25th and I will list all the participating blogs and link to them, so our party guests can mingle.

3- If you’d like to let people know that you will be at the party, you can add the button invitation to your side bar

4- All participants will be entered to win a copy of Romantic Country

For readers:

1- Leave a comment the 25th about something you love in your own home and you will be entered to win a copy of Romantic Country

Thanks! I can’t wait to Party Hop from blog to blog and see your homes!! And don’t forget, that every comment you leave throughout the month, enters you in my Sept. giveaway drawing, for either a Cottage Collage Kit with old wallpapers, or something made by myself from one of the kits.

What do I love about my home?? Well, love and care goes into every inch here at the cottage and I love it all. That is, until I get tired of it and have to make a change!

Right now, I am prepping for a photo shoot.

I am decorating the guest room for Christmas, and will just leave it up for the Holiday Homes Tour first weekend of Dec.

Its not done yet, these are the in progess pictures.

I’m trying to keep this room Romantic and lush, with gold, silver and roses.

I’m adding some angels, and vintage postcards of lovely ladies.

I found this tiny tree at a garage sale this summer for a nickel. I added vintage Wilton cake decorating plastic crowns that I sparkled up, and some old jewelry.

I’m also decorating Sugarwing’s room.

I spent part of today making tags and paper doll dresses to hang on her little pink tree.

They were fun to make, since I had rolls and rolls and rolls of new -old- wallpaper to play with!

I also am hanging vintage ornaments in pink, aqua, and soft green.

And of course, I hung all of the sugar coated fairies I made (from inspiration by Holly.)

They are so dainty and sweet.

Here are some of my great new wallpapers! I spent a huge chunk of my day yesterday ironing and cutting and packing the papers up for Etsy.

As much as I love it all, no one could use that much, even me!! So I am making up packs of it, since I also spent a huge chunk of money for it all.

I also made up specialty packs, like this chocolate and roses pack. I only had enough of the right colors to make two of these.

And since I am in the throes of Christmas, while every one else is enjoying fall, I made up some vintage Holiday packs.

My friend Becca bought one of these Cottage Collage Kits of my pretty wallpapers, and I made a blue bird tag for her in honor of her blog name "Bluebirds and Roses".

And speaking of friends,look who came to see me, Dusty. His mother, Lady, used to be one of the horses we boarded for a few years. She lived with us while pregnant, but her family built a barn for her right before Dusty was born. I almost felt like I was his grandma, or at least his great aunt. It was so nice to see him.

Maybe I have run on long enough now??

Beths’s Button and what I love (besides loving Beth for bailing me out)

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / September 14, 2007

URGGHG!!

That sums it up. I struggled over and over trying to make a button for the Romantic Country Party on the 25th, I must have loaded it (incorrectly) 20 times or more. Then I gave up, and posted my blog for the day, those long rambly, take my time, things that I do, and as I hit save, Twinkle (or shall I call her STINKLE) stepped on the power strip and turned off the computer.

I have forgiven Stinkle and Beth created the button for me, so I am off to re-do my post for the day.

If you want to put the party invitation button on your sidebar so people will know you are showing photos of what you love in your home on the 25th, please do. If you need help, you can try to ask me, but I might have to send you to Beth!

I thought I’d start showing some things that I love about my house, maybe a few with each post till the party (I love everything about my house!!)

This pitcher is from one of my first trips to the annual flea market Beth and I go to. It was only $5 and I use it to keep my remote controls in.

This little side table that I painted is another favorite thing. It was part of a set of 2 night stands, 2 twin beds (gorgeous with curved foot boards) and a dresser with big mirror that I got at an auction for $140 all together. I painted them up and sold them one at a time, but kept this as a living room table, its narrow shape makes a perfect fit in a small room.

Sometimes, it is the little things that can make a room. I LOVE my curtains and tie backs. I usually change my curtains with the seasons, but these Shabby Chic (Target) drapes have been up for over a year and I am not tired of them at all.

I tied them back with white velvet ribbon edged in pearls and held that in place with a vintage buckle.

The interior of my home is done in soft and calming colors, but the breezeway rocks! I love to walk in the doors and be welcomed by this cheerful green color.

The azalea pink and black accents really make the colors pop. I doubt if I’d be comfortable with these shades to live in, but as an entry way, it always makes me smile walking through.

And there is big LOVE for this piece. My son took this old table I had in the shed (garage sale $10) and made it into a sink for me.

I’m looking forward to seeing all the things my blogger friends love about their homes too, during our Romantic Country Party. If you don’t have a blog, you can leave comments and tell us what makes you smile in your home!

What have I been up to today besides pulling my hair out over computer woes?

Glitter up to my eyebrows.

Hobby Lobby has theirs on sale half price this week and I bought a bagful.

I’ve been making all of my vintage cake toppers into Christmas decor and at my cottage, that requires a bagful of glitter!

Did I mention I have to have part of my house decorated for Xmas by Sept. 24th for a photo shoot???? And that I have a sweet house guest this week? I think I’ll put her to work stringing lights!

Today I turned little peat pots into ornaments by filling them with vintage yarn nests, little angels, millinery flowers, buttons and GLITTER, GLITTER, GLITTER.

My flock of red flocked birds are now sugar coated and ready to grace holiday decor.

I feel even more like it is Christmas, because not only have I made a few dozen decorations today, I have a gift! These are from Michelle, I won her give away and she geared the gifts towards what she knew I would like- yep, she was right, I LOVE them!

Don’t forget I am having a few giveaways that you can enter by leaving a comment:
One is my regular monthly giveaway and the prize is your choice of a Cottage Collage Kit or a piece I have made from my vintagey stash of goodies.

.The second is a copy of Romantic Country magazine to a blogger who participates in the party and a copy to a non-blogging reader

And now for a mini parade of tussie mussies that I made today from my new toys- vintage wallpapers I ordered!

Seconds, anyone? Plus another Party Announcement, a Giveaway Announcement, and a parade of tussie mussies in honor of my wallpaper addiction

Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, give away, I do tend to run on, don't I?, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / September 12, 2007

Thanks for coming to my tea party on Monday- ready for another cup?

Also, I’d like to throw a celebration of another kind and am inviting you to join in. The issue of Romantic Country with my home in it will be out soon,and I’d like to invite my fellow blogging friends to show everyone what they LOVE about their own home. I will design a button to use as an invitation, and you can link to me on that date with pictures posted of your own lovely homes.

The date will be TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25th.

I will give away one magazine to a participating blogger and one to a non-blogging party goer.

Make Mine Pink is hosting a tea party all week, so I thought I’d play along and have another day of tea sipping. Its better than finishing my book for book club tonight, I really am not into it and have given up. I’d rather have a party!

(The Power and the Glory by Grahm Green- not my cuppa tea)

Thanks for all of your kind comments, out of the 39 that were left for Monday’s party, I drew Maria Ellena’s name for the present. Maria, please send me your address and I will mail you this refrigerator magnet.

Many people were asking about the embellishments on these cabinets my son built for my kitchen. They are from a company called "Elements" and can be ordered online, the company is in Chicago. They are made of glue, and you simply steam them and stick them on to the surface. I’ve also seen these type of things advertised in the backs of many home decor magazines.

Today’s party is in my breakfast nook, in the sunny corner of my kitchen.

Of course, I had to invite some pixies!

These guys are sitting on a wooden tray I found at a garage sale for 50 cents and painted with roses and stripes.

And I made a trip to the $1.99 clearance floral area of my grocery store for some posies. I was delighted to see they were selling dyed Queen Anne’s Lace! I used to pick these as a kid and put the stems in glasses of water tinted with food coloring. Shasta Daisies were fun to do that way too.

A friend gave me a zucchini the size of a baseball bat, and I sauteed some of it for supper last night, and the rest I chopped up to freeze and to make muffins. I didn’t have a recipe for that, so here is what I made up:

2 1/2 cups zucchini
1/2 stick butter (melted)
1 cup applesauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1 t Cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup flax seed
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 buttermilk powder
whole bag of milk chocolate chips to counteract the healthy stuff I added

Mix it up together and pour it into paper muffin cups and bake it at 375 till the tops crack. Place on a dainty plate and garnish with a china flower.

For something a little different and totally impractical, but still cute, I used tussie mussies to hold the napkins and silverware.

I spent yesterday making the tussies from my new wallpaper stash. So far I have made tags and tussies from each type of paper, but I still have 6 new rolls that I ordered that aren’t here yet! And tomorrow, Beth is coming over to share some of her new (old) wallpapers, and we will do a swap.

OK, now time for the parade of cones.

Most have a Christmas theme, but not all.

I love adding special little details to them.

Everything on them is vintage, except of course, the glue and the glitter.

No two are ever alike, or I would be bored making them!

Aren’t these some of the prettiest wallpapers you have ever seen???

Especially this paper, how lovely!! I am crazy about this flocked green vintage paper, and not only is it pretty, it was a gift! From Sandy , plus she added some other cute goodies to the box.

Now that the month is half over, I have decided what my giveaway for Sept. should be. Not too original, but how about the same as last month?? Your choice of a Cottage Collage Kit, or a hand made something or other that I have made with the vintage paper kits.

To enter, just leave a comment. All comments left this month are already entered.

I will be listing cones on my Etsy Shop for $20-$25 each, depending on how elaborate they are. I won’t have all listed, but if you see one of these that you like, you can order them directly from me, through comment or email.

Teaparties, A Gift for YOU, Fairies and a sprinkling of Dust to top it off

a lapse of memory again, or am I just careless?, antiques/junking, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, give away, I do tend to run on, don't I?, I've been tagged, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2007

Welcome to the Tea Party! It is being hosted by those pretty pink people who make everything so nice and everyone is invited to join. The teaparty will go on all week, so you can return for seconds on scones and tea!

Tomorrow is my day to have Sugarwings, so she can’t be here for this party today. She’s still a bit young, but I can see that very soon, she and Grandmama will be playing fairy tea party together.

And Twinkle is up for any party, any time.

These are the hand painted doors to the closet in Sugarwing’s room here at her grandparent’s cottage. Inside, are all the dress up clothes I am starting to collect for her from garage sales for her to wear at future tea parties.

And of course, I have started to collect some fairies to invite as guests to our upcoming events.

The itty bitty ballerina fairy was a gift from Holly, who always has the cutest stuff.

This pretty cobalt teapot was my mom’s. The blue framed photo in front is of her, wasn’t she pretty too?

The little rose covered book was made by Beth.

Yes, I see the dust too. Don’t you know that a person who owns this much junk also owns a lot of dust???

I used to have a larger collection of teapots, but edited it down to rose-themed, matte white or tarnished silver and threw in some tea cups to match.

My son built these kitchen cabinets for me, and I had him make sure there was plenty of teapot space on top.

The little pot in front, is my Grandma Smith’s. She would pack it up in her suitcase and bring it every time she came up to Indiana to visit us from Florida.

Grandma Smith’s is what got me started on the collection.

Here is a watercolor I did of her silver teapot years ago when I was into quilts and dried flowers. Now, I just have the painting in the closet of my studio. I should ask my family if anyone wants it.

Nieces? Sisters? Any of you read this? If you want this painting, let me know.

There is a teeny little self portrait in the reflection of the silver

Here is another sentimental thing for me, my mom’s tea cup (it is under the cake plate and has china roses in it.)

When mom died 5 years ago (it still feels like just yesterday sometimes) Sissy was sweet and divided up mom’s beautiful rose dishes so that we each had 2 place settings to display. I have built up a collection of matching dishes, well in color and style, if not in pattern, and keep them all on this shelf in my kitchen with fairies, angels and elves. And probably more dust.

Did I mention that I love teapots? I’ve tied mini ones from my kitchen chandelier too.

I bought new vintage wallpaper this week and had a wonderful time making tags, tons and tons of tags. Here is a sample.

And since you have been such nice guests at my tea party today, and no one complained about the dust on their teacups, I have a present for you.

I made this refrigerator magnet with some of my new-old wallpaper and brass charms I bought at the flea market last week.

I will give it away today as a gift to a commenter. And remember, I have a giveaway for the month of September, you just have to leave a comment. The comments to win the magnent will count toward that too.

I was tagged by MJ and a couple other people (sorry I lost the emails) for the Thoughtful bloggers award, back when I was coming home from my vacation and never got around to posting about it, I was so behind on everything. I want to thank them and apologize for not noting it. I was also tagged for the name game by Priscilla and by —- oh my— I lost that email too. I’m sorry. I’ll find it later so I can thank them.

Anyway, my middle name is JO so, this will be short (even from me, the QUEEN OF RAMBLING)

J– Junk!! I Just love Junk!

O– Oh my gosh, I Just love Junk!

A Romantic Country Article and then a bug that I wished would just KILL me and get it over with

Etsy Goodies, give away, hand painted candelabras, Hand Painted Furniture, I do tend to run on, don't I?, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 7, 2007

First of all I wanted to let you know that for some reason, my answers to comments are not all going through. About 1 out of 5 gets sent back to me with a failure notice. I really am answering them, I don’t know what the deal with Typepad is. Anyone else having this problem???

Karlascottage2 Tuesday night after the fairy grand baby went home to her parents, I finished an article I am writing for Romantic Country. Here is a teeny peek at one of the pictures.

The story is about tips to create a romantic style bathroom. I don’t know when it is to be published, I’ll let you know when I hear. Sometimes, I just check the stands when the new magazines come out and am surprised to find photos of my house inside! Barbara Jacksier used to be the editor there and she was so helpful, she used to always send advanced copies. Editors don’t always have a chance to do that, but she always made time to. She would even send a reprint of a photo from one story into a different magazine, not even an article I had written.

She has a new cottage book coming out, check out her blog for lovely details!

I enjoyed making the paper doll wedding dress for Stephanie as part of her August Give Away prize so much, I made a few more. Eventually, I will list them on Etsy for $6 each, plus shipping, but if you want one now, please email or comment and you can buy it directly from me.

And thanks to the nice purchasers of my hand painted buckets. The two rosy ones have been sold. The angel bucket is still available.

LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU WANT TO ENTER SEPTEMBER’S GIVEAWAY!

You all know I tend to be a tad bit productive,(which is why I can keep my prices so low for what I do- I do a LOT) but the article and dresses are all I managed all week. I was hit hard with a BUG of some kind and spent the last two days wishing I would just die. I doubt if you need anymore details than that.

I had my old mural and painted furniture photo album out the other day, so I thought I’d show some pictures from that.

The quality might not be as good as it should be, since I have simply taken photos of photos in an album. Sorry.

I used to paint furniture on just about a daily basis. I kind of miss it, and I just drool over cheap, beat up bargain pieces at garage sales that are calling out to be saved. But I restrain myself and no longer have a double car garage, an antique mall booth, a garden shed and a showroom full of this stuff.

This cabinet was in my kitchen for a while. I used to constantly change out furniture, find something new, take the old piece out to sell. It drove my family crazy.

Here is my garden shed before a sale. The table cloth on the drop leaf is actually hand painted.

These palm trees were painted at the Tampa Country Club. That is the best job I ever had, I stayed at their private hotel for 2 weeks, with free room service (great food) and hung out by the pool or drove to a really cool movie theater nearby when I wasn’t working on murals.

I did research on palm trees before I went down there, to know what they looked like, but then, I realized once I got to Florida, all I had to do was look out a window for ideas!!

(Molding was added to the walls right under where the paintings stop)

This photo was in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine and was taken by Bill Mathews.

It is of a ceiling I painted to camouflage a missing piece of curved molding that the designer didn’t want to try to replace.

And this gloriously gaudy fruit picture is from my friend, Kari’s, kitchen. She is a hair dresser and I get my hair done for free when I paint for her.

My client for this mural wanted her whole dining room – every inch of the walls- painted in a scene she found in a book. She had me add the family pets to it too.

That sweet little white dog hung out next to me the entire week I painted at her house.

Looks like even when I don’t have anything new to say, I can still run on and on, can’t I?

****EDIT****

-ADD ON-

There is a Spring Party going on at this blog site on the other side of the globe. After feeling so sick and run down all week,I have been gloomy, thinking about fall and winter coming in- being cooped up, having colds, BEING cold. I think I will just pretend it is Springtime and go enjoy this party! Want to join me?

Painted angels, my little fairy angel, and an angel from the past

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, give away, paintings, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 4, 2007

My little fairy grand baby is with me today, and supposedly taking a nap. She doesn’t nap much at Grandmama’s house, we seem to keep pretty busy playing.

Before Sugarwings came over, I did get a little work done. I painted the 3rd (and last) bucket from Goodwill. Wish I could’ve gotten more, but that is the story at thrift shops- just be glad you found what you did, you never know if there will be anything there or not!

This bucket has not been glazed in umber yet. I might do a metallic bronze instead.

All three of these buckets are available for $12 each plus shipping if you want one. Shipping is probably around $5.00.

I won’t be listing them on Etsy, so if you want one, just email or leave a comment.

I also made up my give away gifts for Stephanie. She is planning her daughter’s wedding, plus has a pretty wedding themed collection in her bedroom.
(Isn’t it funny how we all know things about each other’s homes?)

I had this teeny little June bride that I thought she might like.

Stephanie was the 1st place winner for August’s giveaway. Since she isn’t a crafter, she had the option of a custom made gift for her, instead of the Cottage Collage Kit.

(I just got three of my kits off in the mail this morning to the editor of Somerset Living! Feels good to knock a project off my list)

I decorated a box for the bride figurine by adding old papers, tons of glitter, and this hand painted rose medallion. It is covered in diamond glaze and isn’t dry yet, that is why the roses look a bit milky.

I added a teensy millinery flower and a heart charm to the top of the box.

I also found this English die cut of a bridal party in my stash of never ending vintagey goodies. I know Stephanie says she isn’t a crafter, but it just looks like something that could come in handy for a person who collects wedding themed things!

And of course, I am still hooked on paper doll dresses, I just can’t stop making them. It is like trying to just eat one peanut. I can’t do it. A better analogy for me, might be cookies.

I can never stop at one or even a couple cookies.

I plan on making tiny dresses to use as Christmas ornaments next.

The glue is still wet on the pearls on the dress too. I never can wait to take my photos until the pieces are dry, can I? I listed something on Etsy that had sanding dust all over the piece. I should have wiped it off before photos, but I just get too impatient, when something is done, I am ready to move on!!

Elaine is my 2nd place winner. She loves ROSES. So I made a tag for her with one of my hand painted rose medallions.

I put it on a tag that Beth gave to me. She had covered a few in some of her pretty wallpapers and generously handed me a stack of them.

By the way, she has a bunch of paper doll dresses on her site too, but they come with a story about the girls who own the dresses.

I decided I am a "Gina". Read the story and see which sister you would be!

After getting the prizes done (don’t forget, you can enter this month’s drawing just by leaving a comment)I whipped up a couple of tags.

The blue bird is from the swap I did with my sis. It is covered with a crackle glaze and the crazing looks good in person, those just never show up on these posts though.

Then the fun began- Sugarwings came over to play with her Grandmama.

We watered flowers.

And we watered Twinkle.

And we played with some of the most fun toys ever, empty boxes.

She is reminding me so much of her daddy at that age, I had to get out the old album. (I wish I’d been a scrap booker then, I have very few photos from that period!)

See the similarities???

Stephanie, and Elaine, I have your addresses and will mail your presents as soon as the glue dries. I might take photos while the glue is wet, but I am smart enough to let it dry before I pack things!

September’s giveaway drawing has already begun, I just don’t know what the prize is yet. Leave me a comment if you want to enter!

Spooky things, Storing things, and trying not to Hoard things

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, flowers, give away, I do tend to run on, don't I?, magazine pictures or articles, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2007

While going through my stash of goods from the big flea market this week, I came across some things that had a touch of Halloween flair (lucky numbers 7, unlucky 13, some old ribbons in black and orange, and a bunch of other fallish things)

So I decided to make up Cottage Collage Kits with a Fall Theme.

For each one, I used a bit of the papers to make a sample of what could be done with the kits.

I don’t do a lot of Halloween decor myself, but can appreciate the colors and I really enjoyed putting these packs together for someone else who would get more use out of it than I would.

I have the kits listed on Etsy for $12 each, if anyone wants a big bunch of Halloween goodies to work with.

Each kit contains a generous handful of orange and green millinery flowers, because I seem to have a lifetime supply!

Look at all these flowers! I just want to spread them out and roll in them, I love them all so much. I am FORCING myself to not hoard them, to actually use them and enjoy making pretty things with the flowers.

Trying to put away my new acquisitions from the flea market made me reorganize my studio so I’d have a place to store them all within reach and within sight. If my supplies are hidden away, I forget about what I have and don’t use it.

Plus, it is fun to have all my favorite things out where I can enjoy them!

This stuff is just too cool to hide away.

All of the storage containers were things I already had, except these lidded glass jars. I had a chair from TJMaxx that broke, and when I returned it, I saw these on the clearance table for $7 -$10 each. There was cash back on this purchase after returning the broken chair, that is always nice.

After organizing, I couldn’t wait to play with my new pretties!

So, I finished decorating the folders I am making for Somerset Living.

I swore to myself that I would not hoard my vintage wallpaper either. I am using it and enjoying it!

The first two folders were from wallpaper that Beth gave to me, and the third is from some I ordered on Etsy.

The inside of this folder is a watercolor wash I did on some heavier paper.

And see- I used two big millinery flowers on this one! Good start on the pledge to not hoard!

While I am trying to not be stingy with the papers, I am also not being wasteful. I save all the teeny bits in a big hat box and dig through it for detail items, like the tags I made on all 3 of these folders.

It might seem silly to save such little pieces of scrap, but I don’t think this card that I made would have been nearly as pretty without the thumbnail sized bit of wallpaper that I added and wrote "rose" on.

I made that ATC into a birthday card and tied it to a bag that I put one of the $1.99 rose pots into and gave it to a friend for her birthday yesterday.

We went to an art opening another friend was having at KU, and then out for margaritas

to celebrate.

And now, I need to announce my gifts for the winners of the August giveaway!

Since I had so many comments I am giving two presents. Second place will be a hand made paper doll dress. And it goes to

ELAINE

And first place, with the choice of a Cottage Collage Kit or a hand made item is

Stephanie. Ladies, please contact me and I’ll get your goodies in the mail. And thanks to everyone who entered. I appreciate all your comments and conversations. That is why I have a big giveaway every month. And since today is Sept. first, I have started a new contest!

All comments from the month get entered, and I’ll let you know what the prize will be when I figure it out.

I am glad my husband never reads this, he’d hate knowing how much junk I bought today!

antiques/junking, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 31, 2007

What a great day at the flea market in Sparks, KS! Beth and I found so many goodies, but most of what I got was project material.

I was surprised at the end of the day, how many of my purchases were "supplies" for making it all into collage art or scrap booking.

These 1930s prescriptions were a couple dollars for "a handful"

The grocery store price tags were $2 for a baggie full, and I got another baggie full of pretty little rose themed greeting cards for only $4.

I did get carried away at one booth where I found lots of vintage brides, bridesmaids, and other bins of craftable goodies.

That booth also had bundles of never used, but old, velvet millinery leaves.

Then I saw all the brass charms, not old, but charming. I spent about $40 at that one stop.

A bag filled with a dozen of these sweet birdies was $6.

And GEESH, do you think I got enough old hats and seam binding ribbons????? There were about 80 packets in the bag of ribbons, for $15. And the hats ranged from $1 to $4 each, and have wonderful flowers to pluck off and use in projects!!

The teeny velvet pillow with the needlepoint robin was only 50 cents, and the wall paper covered box I have it all stored in was TEN BUCKS.

And isn’t this a pretty book? All the pages are lovely, and so was the price, $1.

The photos were 5 for $1, so I got about 25 of those.

The large card in my favorite shade of blue was $1, but is a bit ragged. And the velvet bow was a dollar too.

Throughout the day, I scooped up lots of sparkly rhinestone bits of jewelry for $1 each.

And I haven’t even photographed the beautiful French book ($20- big purchase of the day!) and the bags of Christmas ornaments ($5 a bag) that I found, yet.

Sparks is a unique place to go, I don’t even know how to begin to describe it, that town is a puzzle to me.

I can’t imagine that anyone actually lives there. All the homes, barns, and businesses look like they have been turned into shops that are open twice a year for the flea.

I heard that this used to be the bank. This building seems to be the least decrepit of the area, it is pretty cute.

We shared an order of biscuits and gravy at Bubbles Cafe for breakfast. I don’t think Sparks is notable for its food, but they weren’t bad.

We ran into a blog friend, Carol was there too. It was good to meet her, she will be at Silver Bella this November and we will be seeing her again then.

I have to wonder what the town looks like after everyone packs up and leaves? A ghost town? I really HOPE no one lives there, that would be kind of sad, the place is pretty run down. But it sure makes for a great flea market, and I am already counting the days till spring and it is open again!

Lost Friends, Blogger Friends and my generous friend, Beth, as well as some witchey women who look like they might be close friends

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, how to's, jewelry, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 29, 2007

My husband called from a road trip last night to say that there were funeral services he was going to miss this morning for a wonderful lady who used to work for him years ago.

He asked me to order flowers for her, but I wanted to do something special, she was such a nice person.

So I took one of the $1.99 mini rose pots that I got at the grocery and painted the pot in 3 golds with a sponge, and added hand painted roses.

I cut a banner from scrap booking paper, aged it with ink, and wrote her name, Mavis, across the banner in gold outlined in black, then added gold glitter glue. The glitter seemed too heavy, so I took a paint brush and cleaned up the lines, took the extra glitter that I removed and touched it here and there to the leaves of the plant.

I needed to be at the funeral home by 8am this morning to drop it off for the family, so my day started early.

It is amazing how much you can get done when you get a jump start on the day. I even ran errands and stopped at the gym on the way home.

Then, I listed A TON of stuff on Etsy, including some jewelry that I had made.

I don’t make jewelry very often, but when I do, I get on a serious kick and make a lot of it for days on end. A couple times a year of those binges keeps me stocked up for all of my art shows, or where ever else I sell it.

I only use vintage beads and crystals, and try to keep each piece unique.

I don’t know how well it will do on Etsy, but was worth a try.

I added a few more paper doll dresses and a couple of other pretties made from ephemera.

AND MY EARLY START ON THE DAY WAS GONE!!!!!!!!!

It took forever to list all of that, I didn’t finish until 1:30.

Finally, by 2, I got to play with wallpaper!!!

I made up more witchey women with the copies of that old photo I am crazy about.

These are my "pastel witches"

Beth had given me some tags she’d glued wallpaper to, and I used those as a base.

I drew on the wallpaper with a gold gel glitter pen, that is my favorite new toy!

Then, I used the ladies on a large shipping tag (4×8) covered in some of the wallpaper that I bought on Etsy last week.

This time, they get to be royalty instead of witches.

But they really are meant to be witches, so in the last collage that I did with the photo, I gave them witch hats made from green velvet cut from vintage millinery flowers.

I started decorating the folders I am sending to Somerset. The pattern I am using to make them came from my sister

She had made this pretty pink one for me as part of our swap.

I’ve been tracing her folder and making them out of wallpaper.

The emblems on this one are copies of old postcards covered in crackle glaze.

Too bad you can’t see in this photo the cool way the glaze dried, all crazed and old looking.

These aren’t done yet, I need to play with them a bit more, and then I get to fill them up with vintage collage supplies and ship them off to Somerset Living. I just love that magazine and am thrilled to be included in it!

Tomorrow, Beth and I jaunt off to to our semi annual flea market up in Sparks and White Cloud, KS. It is Memorial and Labor Day weekends and is so much fun.

Last spring, I found this box of beautiful glass hardware

and this box of old receipts.

I am all a-twitter about what I might find tomorrow!!

We are hoping to meet Carol there, she is a blogger friend that we have never met in person, but lives in the Kansas City area (which is a great part of the country to live in if you love junk!)

Our other blogger friend, Carlene is always saying she can’t find such great things in AZ. So, sweet, generous soul that she is, Beth is making her a boxful of vintage Christmas goodies! I am including this dear little deer for her.

She likes pink, on one of the first posts that I read of hers, she had just died her hair pink.

The pink rose on its head reminded me of Carlene’s pink hairdo. Hope she likes it!

I need to finish up my studio work for the day and pack up my car for tomorrow’s big event- SPARKS AND WHITE CLOUD!!!

Heck, I thought I was up and on the go early today, tomorrow is going to be really early for me. But worth it!

All the rest have 31

a lapse of memory again, or am I just careless?, antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, flowers, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 28, 2007

Does anyone else notice anything wrong with this calender???

It was a gift from my BIL, the guy on the left in the photos. (my husband is the guy in the middle – but this was 20 some years ago!) He gathered up great family pictures, took them to a copy place and had a memento calender made up for Christmas.

I just realized today, that August really isn’t over. I don’t think it is my fault that I was confused, although, don’t most people know that only Feb. gets down to just 28 days?? I should remember that poem about the months!

The Month Poem
.

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
February has twenty-eight alone,
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting Leap-Year, that’s the time
When February’s days are twenty-nine.

Anyway, there are a couple of bonus days in August for me!! And that means more chances to enter the drawing for this month.

I didn’t get much work done today. I thought I might, I found this baby corral at garage sales. Actually, it is two that I put together, so she’d have space to roam in.

But of course, why would Sugarwings want to be corralled when she has a Grandmama to play dress up with? And Twinkle to read stories to?

Or shopping carts shaped like cars to ride in? We went to the grand opening of the new CVS in our town to use up all of the grand opening special coupons that expired Sept. 1st, (which, is NOT tomorrow, like I thought).

The shopping cart was so fun, we walked around and around the building and played with it outside till another little kid came along who looked like he and his mom needed to borrow it from us.

So then we went to the grocery store, where the carts aren’t nearly as much fun- but they do have $1.99 flowers!

I bought a bunch of glads and three pots of mini roses, including the cute tiny trellis in each pot, all for $1.99 each.

I did manage to make ONE THING today, and only half of it is done. I used some old floral cardboard from a chest that had fallen apart to make a folder for one of my Cottage Collage Kits.

I keep paper goods in a similar chest, but it isn’t much longer for the world, it definitely has seen better days. I won’t let it go to waste, though. I can see many craft projects in its future after I find a replacement for storage!

You can see the back of the folder here in this photo next to some garage sale purchases from this weekend.

I see a tea party in the making here. I can’t wait till Sugarwings is big enough to play big girl games with me! I’ve been collecting tea sets, doll cradles, dress up clothes, and all sorts of fun things for us to do together.

Don’t forget, there are actually a couple more days left in this month, go ahead and enter the drawing again!!