Workshops – Page 4 – Karla's Cottage

A Romantic White Christmas at the Cottage, two days of classes

By Karla Nathan / November 10, 2014

Any body want to come and play?

I'm planning two play dates in my cottage studio for Christmas. These will be two different sessions, and you would be welcome to sign up for either, or (even more fun!), for both.

On Friday, December 5th, we will make 3 ornaments from kits, and with the remainder of the day, hang out and make as many paper doll dress ornies as you'd like to while we relax and enjoy some holiday treats. Or continue working on the three class decorations, if you'd rather spend more time on those.

Both days will include lunch, coffee, tea, and Christmas cookies.

Both days will also include everything you need to create the Romantic White Christmas pieces we will be making, plus a table of extras to chose from for personalization.

Although, of course, since we will be using vintage items, no two artists will end up with the same exact finished products. (but it wouldn't be Karla's Cottage without extras! And it will be "The Good Stuff")

And on Saturday Dec. 6th?

We will turn a vintage cabinet card folder into…

… a lush, art journal, covered in white velvet and trimmed in tons of lace.

And of course, millinery blooms and rhinestones.

The book will have an angel theme, with this Heavenly Charlotte doll on the cover (perfect year round, or used as a holiday book).

I'll have a very, very old, very, very tattered wedding gown to cut up for trimming the books. Feel free to chop away at it, to layer and foof your journal.

This book is a no sew class, except for adding the button to the cover.

We will make the book from scratch, fill it with blank pages ready to hold your holiday memories, or to record your blessings, musings, and day dreams year round.

If you finish the book early, I'll have some vintagey goodies out for you to start working on the interior pages, if you'd like. If you don't have time to make some pages, I'll pack up a to-go bag for you with some ephemera to work with when you get home, so you can get started there.

So, here is a recap of the details:

Friday, December 5th- A COLLECTION OF ORNAMENTS

including:

1- "Angel Pie" a tart tin tassel with a mini frozen Charlotte

2- "On Gilded Wings"- a glitter winged cherub, with flowing lace gown, to hang or turn into a tree topper

3- "Lady's Lacey Stocking"- a felted wool stocking, stuffed, glittered, and filled with vintage pretties

Saturday, December 6th- ANGEL THEMED ART JOURNAL

"Heavenly Charlotte"- a cabinet card folder, re-envisioned as a book, covered in lace and velvet

Both classes will be limited space. And are going to be very laid back and homey. We'll hang out in the studio, have lunch in the dining room where the halls will be decked, listen to some Christmas music, and play with pretties.

If you are coming in from out of town, and just attending one day of class, you might also want to go to Kansas City for the West Bottoms antique district, that will be the weekend it is open for business.

Cost per day $120

If you attend both, you will receive a package discount of $15 each day for a total of only $210.

Please email me if you are interested and I can send an invoice.

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

Both days include lunch, beverages, treats and full kits to completely finish all of the projects. All you need to bring is your basic tool kit. We will start at 9:30 am and play till 5pm. With Saturday's class, you also will receive my online tutorial, Creating an Art Journal.

Vintage cabinet card photos turned into art journals

Sugarwings, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / September 9, 2014

Wow, it has been exciting for me to see how many of you love to make journals as much as I do! Thanks for the purchases of the tutorial!

On Saturday, I added another book to the class, it is the small cabinet card one in the front, covered in barkcloth. (I also added scans of the cabinet card folders to use as a pattern if you do not have a vintage photo of your own to make one)

You can never go wrong with barkcloth, can you? Especially, a yummy, rosey pattern.

Yep, yum. Double yum, I love that stuff. Almost as much as old Rosy wallpaper, but not quite, because I'm just not as mechanically inclined to work with fabric as I am to handle wallpaper.

Which is why Beth posted this hilarious sewing machine illustration for me, knowing that any monstrosity of a sewing machine is a mystery to me.

And why the tutorial I wrote for the journals is about making them with GLUE. Although I an proud to say that I did brave a couple of sewing ideas to show too.

All three of these cabinet card books are done with glue only.

My world is a happy place when I don't have to go near that scary monster of a sewing machine.

Of course, a page like this would be just as nice stitched as it is glued. But I've done something nasty to my machine and the cry hole is all wonky.

(Isn't the title of this article great!? I thought it was appropriate for the tutorial, it is nice to help someone become more arty)

Sometimes all we need is a few tips and some cheering on.

The Early Bird Gets the Earworm, Birdsong recap #1, of about a gazillion, there were a LOT of pictures and fun things to tell about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bird song art event, studio tour, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / June 13, 2014

I don't even know where to start. I had the BEST week! Birdsong itself was only a couple of days, but with all the pre and post activities and visitors, it was a week for me.

I guess the place to start is at the prep and set up?

I love decorating and getting ready for the guests.

Making name tags, hanging banners, covering the tables.

In the past, I've used white plastic table cloths, or white craft paper to cover the tables. This year, I bought rolls of white gift wrap at the dollar store, and have to say, it was not only the cheapest way to hide my marred up, marked up, messed up tables, it was the best way to do it.

The gift wrap was heavier duty, and lower cost than any other cover I have used. I always draw on my table covers, and previously, used quotes about birds. This time I used song lyrics. Which was pretty, but oh my goodness, those were whirling through my head non stop.

When I get an "ear worm" song stuck in my head, I tend to just go with it and sing along. But this was a cacophony of tunes, from the Beatles' "Blackbird" to Stevie Nicks' "Rhiannon". I also used "I'm Like a Bird," and a couple others that are still humming along in my brain.

I also spruced up my folding chairs a little better. Before, I slipped a pillow case over each one. This made the room look more uniform, but it was a bit sloppy. I always thought I'd cut them off and stitch them up to fit, and finally, for the 4th Birdsong, I finally did.

It was such a quick project, I don't know why I waited so long to do it. All I did was cut off the bottoms and the corners, turn them inside out and do a fast zig zag around them. They remind me of tea cozies, so I call them my chair cozies.

I also wrapped some drop cloth fabric around some of the other chair seats. That was pretty quick too, instead of stapling, I just wrapped the seats like little presents and finished them off with Sealah tape.

Last year, I'd hung some branches from the ceiling, and liked them so much, I think they just might be permanent. I've changed what I dangle from them throughout the year. For this gathering, I hung some birds and the cages we made from this class.

On one wall, I have a grouping of framed wallpapers. It's a perfect spot to switch up for occasions too. For this one, I added vintage bird pictures, some things I'd made or gotten in swaps.

And this party was the perfect excuse to redo my table top display. I took all the clutter from the top of this one, and redid it with fresh clutter. It's now home to all the examples from our fairy class.

PS- If you'd like a fairy kit, I made a few extra.

Please email me at: karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

to order one for $40 plus postage. They come with illustrated instructions and plenty of supplies for foofing the girls up.

My decorating time was also deep cleaning time. Throughout my whole house, as I spiffed up a room, I delved into refolding linens, cleaning out closets, filling boxes of things to send to Goodwill or to add to the sale in the garage. I even sorted through every single tool in the garage and redid that area too.

Most of my decor was using what I already had. These angel wings got a spritz of blue Glimmer Mist, and I wrapped lace around the dress form and added some birdie brooches from my jewelry box.

That keeps costs down for the event. I don't spend more than a few bucks on things like the table covers, all of my decor is done with clutter and crap I have lying around pretties from my studio.

Another new idea for this year, was to add seating in the living room for meals.

There isn't enough space in the dining room for those who didn't want to eat outside.

Although, we got pretty lucky with the weather. We had a miserable, drenching start to the weekend, with a monsoon as everyone got out of their cars. But after that, the clouds cooperated and we were able to make use of the new patios.

I'm so in love with the new backyard! Even after all the stress and hard work of getting them done in time for Birdsong. I think that the remodeling was so hard that all the other work felt like a breeze. After all of that, I was thrilled to just be rearranging things in the studio and sprucing up for the guests. That patio about did me in.

I'll leave you with some more pre-Birdsong pics and will be back with more photos of the weekend in a couple days.

Sightings and sightseeing in LA: Ghosts, Stars, and Cupcake Thieves

We're having a party, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / May 13, 2014

Before the big bash in LA began, Beth and I headed to the wholesale district and scooped up some deals.

We also saw some ghostly apparitions! We'd heard that the Millineum Biltmore hotel was haunted, but we didn't expect ghosts downtown too. (actually, these are just fabric displays, but we thought they were cool)

We wondered if we'd see a real ghost, and spent some time talking to a housekeeper at the hotel who told us some spooky stories from some of the employees' experiences.

And then we noticed the writing on the mirror…

It didn't show up after the first couple showers, but then Beth saw it after hers. We couldn't read it. Some other language, I guess.

I tried to sound it out, then wondered if I cursed us by speaking it aloud, (as in many horror movies) but when nothing bad happened, I figured that like in some movies, you had to say it three times for the ghost to appear. (I learned a lot from Beetlejuice).

We didn't think we should tempt it, so I didn't sound it out again. Lori wiped it off and tried to sub her own joke message, but after my shower, her message wasn't there. And this one was.

We also experienced ecto-goo. Well, at least that was what I was claiming it was. Items around our room were wet for no reason and Lori's dress was slimed.

As Dewdrop would say, "cweeepy!"

An equally fascinating sighting for a midwesterner visiting California, was this sign.

Matthew Broderick and Warren Beatty were shooting a movie at the hotel.

And in the courtyard outside.

I can see why. Wow, what a place.

The place itself, ghosts or not, was beautiful in every detail. Service was impeccable, and the rooms were comfy.

And have I mentioned the food? OH MY!

But not all treats are safe…. I sat down with a group who were discussing a serious cupcake disappearance from a past gathering Kim hosted.

uhm………

It was me.

I am the Cupcake Thief.

But really, there were circumstances behind the theft! Peer pressure, a bottle of wine, and the most delectable treats sitting in a hallway, all alone, on the floor, I couldn't help myself. They were left overs from our earlier party, and we didn't get one then.

Soooooo, when we saw them there, tempting us with their deliciousness, how could I resist scooping them up and running with them to one of our rooms, where we had a little midnight party going on????

Well, there are two sides to the story. One is a group of tipsy gals being silly and sneaking treats. The other side is a poor, hungry young lady yearning for a cupcake, that disappeared from her doorway.

When I heard the other side of the story, I had to make amends and purchased the best little cake I could find to replace the stolen goodies for Cynthia, the victim of our crime.

I think she forgives me.

A Downton Affaire

paintings, We're having a party, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / May 11, 2014

Once again, Kim created a beautiful environment for her event. She never misses a detail or a chance to make something special.

Here is a photo of the room during vendor night by our Fancy Farmgirl photographer, Tiffany. Pure glam, huh?

The hotel itself was spectacular.

The table settings were sweetly done.

Of course, soon, the area was filled up with loot thoughtful gifts from table mates.

And by our great kits and projects. Andrea had us making necklaces from some softly colored pearl beads she found as vintage old stock, and lots of rhinestones on tarnished brass chain.

And in Charlotte's class, we had needle work to do. Here is my almost finished piece, (under Andrea's kit) with very little stitching done on it. I cut out the teacup from her kit, and used it as an applique on a vintage linen then glued a bunch of crap to it, instead of stitching all day.

This is what she had provided. Pretty, but it simply was too much needlework for me to even contemplate. Although, I was proud of myself for using a needle for some of it. I didn't break out the glue for at least an hour.

I also incorporated the silk ribbons and color swatches that Kim had sent to me to match up my paints with for the banner.

When she mailed them, Kim had asked me to return the curtain fabric swatch and I completely forgot. oops! Dang it. She reminded me RIGHT AFTER I finished cutting it up and gluing it down. I swear, I'm lucky to remember my own name some days.

The banner itself had a little glitch. Kim had told me to paint it 10×8', and I did, but I didn't center it, not realizing that would matter. I left a much bigger margin on the left than the right and when she hung curtains over it, the bare canvas showed. Poor Kim had to maneuver fabric around to hide the extra bare spots on that side.

She made it work. And I was honored to have my work used as a backdrop for the gala.

Andrea Singarella, Jenn Hayslip, Tiffany Kirchner Dixon, Lori Oles

This is how I finished Andrea's necklace. I always like to do a bit of a switcheroo in classes by bringing my own supplies to add to the piece for a personal touch. (Tiffany took this photo too)

In Karen's class, we were making fabric books. She had the high quality, heavy fabrics all stitched together and ready for us to add a cover and start foofing. I brought my own cover supplies, and extra lace too. The fabric I used is from an old Flapper dress my Sissy shared with me.

The final project was a garland of doll dresses from Pamela Huntington. I'd brought plenty of lace, so used that on mine. I also wanted some varied styles of dresses, so I cut the pattern a bit differently.

This project had my heart before I even started working on it and I would love to make garland after garland of dresses. I decided to make a few different ones, the first all ivory and cream like the first photo, then a row of pink ones too. This was from class, then I was able to make a few more rosy ones in the hotel room on Sunday.

My roomies checked out in the morning and I had the room till noon when it was time to go to the airport to meet Sugarwings and my husband for our Disney adventure, so I was happy to have a suitcase full of craft supplies to keep me busy a few hours.

I'll have more pictures and stories from the weekend in my next posts. There was simply too much wonderfulness to squeeze into just one.

Packing for Vendor night

vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / April 30, 2014

Maybe I should have planned ahead for vendor night at a Downton Affaire…. I waited till the week before the event to think about what to take. I knew I had some things in mind, and didn't worry too much. Till I saw how little the pile of stuff I'd been setting aside was! I had to whip up some items, and then I had too much for my suitcases.

A better plan might have been to get things ready early, and ship them ahead, huh?

(this is written and pre-posted before my trip)

I'm flying Southwest, so get two free 50 pound bags plus two carryons. So, I figured that my goods would all fit in the bags, but that was before I made up a stack of art journals with ephemera kits for embellishments, and cut a TON of vintage wallpaper.

I've been shuffling things back and forth between my roller bag, and two large suitcases, weighing, removing, thinking, and reweighing them all day.

The heaviest things, like the box of Frozen Charlotte dolls, will have to go into my carryon, along with the journals and maybe about a half ton of that wallpaper.

I also had to rethink my displays. I can't just pile it all on a table, it has to be easy to shop through and be attractive enough to make people want to come to look at the goodies in them. I found that cardboard, covered in vintage wallpaper was the way to go.

This quickie display screen is part of a priority mail box (those are the lightest boxes) folded in half and covered. It is ideal for hanging things on and weighs 3.2 ounces. Yes, I weighed everything on a postal scale, before putting it in the suitcase.

Periodically, I weighed the suitcase with a digital luggage scale and was shocked at how fast the weight added up.

Of course, my millinery packs are very light weight, and easy to throw in the bag. I wish everything was that simple.

The vintage dolly fairies don't weigh much either.

But even with the heavy books, Charlottes, and wallpaper being in carried instead of checked bags, all those little lightweight things add up!

Yikes! I'd better get back to it. I've got a lot more weighing and shifting to do. Plus, all the last minute things that I need to do before the flight.

This is what our backyard looks like right now. I've been getting bids for a new patio, and finally have it set to get done, but need to run to the zoning office to get a permit before I go out of town. I'm worried about getting the courtyard whipped into shape before Birdsong.

I'll leave you with some photos of what I'm trying to cram into my suitcases. I hope I have room for some clothes…. At least those lacy tops and dresses that will fit the Downton theme aren't heavy!! Hopefully, I'll have space for my clothing too, I haven't even got that far yet.

EDIT- Silly me! I had my hand held digital scale for luggage set for metric not pounds!! Once I figured that out, I had plenty of space in my bags. So, the bags are filled, nothing is left behind and I am on my way. See you when I get back!

Romantic Cottage Christmas in the Studio

celebrations, holiday decor, studio tour, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / November 30, 2013

Seems like I've been full tilt into Christmas for weeks now. With all the fun of getting ready for my holiday workshop, I had my decor up and running way early this year.

I don't always deck the studio, but I sure am enjoying having all the holiday pretties up in here.

The party itself was such a good day. I hope the ladies enjoyed it as much as I did.

On Monday, I've got another group of friends coming over for an ornament making party, and on the 20th, I'm having a family ornie party. So, I'm hoping to keep the room tidy till then.

There is something about a tidy studio, that just fills me with anticipation. Because I know that it wouldn't be all cleaned up, if something fun wasn't about to happen in it!

It's exciting knowing that the room is looking it's best and ready for company!

And having holiday decorations in the room makes it even more fun. I kept the decor simple, but still festive. I exchanged the hanging birds, still up from Birdsong, with some ornaments.

And traded out bird pictures in the old frames for some glittery holiday messages and stars.

And of course, the Treat Cabinet always looks better when filled up with goodies.

But my favorite part?

A room filled with creative souls, laughing and making pretty things together.

I'll leave you with some pictures from the day.

PS, there are still some kits available for the cherub and the tree on a spool in my Etsy shop.

Christmas ornament kits

holiday decor, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / November 26, 2013

Our workshop was such fun on Saturday! What a nice group of ladies.

I'll have photos of the day to show you, but today has been crazy. We own a driveway full of vehicles (3 cars, 2 trucks), and are down to one that runs, or isn't loaned out to someone. We've been jumping, towing, trying to find rides, swapping them out, loaning them out, it has been a jumble around here.

The Hippy Chick's car died too, and we loaned her a truck that, of course, died. And our other truck died on the way to fetch her and Sugarwings when they were stranded on the roadside in the cold.

But I wanted to pop in here quickly, to let you know that there were still a few kits from the party left over. I made up extra of three of the projects, and they are going fast on Etsy.

I will be listing some of the angels that I made in preparation for the class, later on, if you are interested in those.

Or there are still kits if you'd like to make one of your own!

There are versions in pink and in gold/neutral tones.

Hopefully, in the next couple of days, I'll get some photos edited of our lovely day making these Christmassy goodies and get a new post up about it.

In the meantime, please check out the ornie kits for sale. Grammie needs a new alternator belt (and a compressor, and a battery, and well, probably a whole new car…)

Cagey

holiday decor, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / November 22, 2013

When I am planning a class, I always make more than one example of the project. When I made the little wire birdcages, I probably made two thousand or more, since they were pretty complicated and I wanted to streamline them before writing up instructions for the online class. Online versions have to be extra careful since the student isn't in the same room to easily ask questions like at an art event workshop.

So, as I was spiffing up the studio and getting ready for company and for the holidays, I came across those two thousand plus cages- here, there, and everywhere around the room.

Instead of packing them away to make room for holiday things, I decided to use them as holiday decorations on my mini tree.

Of course, the tree is pretty tiny, and they take up most of it, but I like the look. I think I'll put some on my big tree in the house too.

Wouldn't they be cute with a few tiny shiny brites in the cage?

Since I have a few thousand of them to use….

For every before and after, there is an in between

celebrations, We're having a party, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / November 20, 2013

Saturday is my party!! I feel like a kid waiting for my birthday, I'm so excited. I sincerely enjoy throwing these little arty bashes, and when you add Christmassy decor to it, I'm plain old giddy about it.

My kits are together, but the room is still a mess. I've skipped over and tripped over piles of stuff to take a break from the boring part of getting ready to do some of the fun stuff, the foofing.

And when I say "tripping" I mean it. The room is a wreck. But- it is an organized mess. Those Trader Joes bags on the table? Each one is full of 20 kits for each of the ornaments we will be working on. It might look like chaos in here, but it's all coming together, and my stacks and piles have purpose. Soon, they'll be packed up and piled elsewhere, or used, or arranged, or something, and it will all be ready for company.

But I am not the type of person who can do all the grunt work at once. I need little pick me up, fun breaks. So, I'll trim ribbons, cut paper, and print images to pack up a kit, then I'll sneak over to hang a banner or pretty up a corner of the room.

The clutter will be cleared from the tables eventually, the dog pee pads will be picked up and tossed out, and the floor mopped, but having my pretties up on the walls around me as I do the drudgery part makes it more bearable.

Although, I might be sorry I am taking my time and preparing the room in the fun way instead of the practical way. Last night, the handle snapped off of my kitchen sink faucet!

No repairing, this needs replaced. Now, I'm off to Home Depot and have to clear the whole counter top and under the sink. A bit of a time suck, when I have a lot to do in the studio. I might have to be a firmer taskmaster to myself to get the room ready for Saturday.

On the other hand, it is nice to know that a lot of the pretty part is done and waiting for guests. I can always shove a bunch of stuff in the garage and the room will pull itself together quickly if need be.

Wish me luck….