yorkies – Page 5 – Karla's Cottage

Cinderella at work

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / November 7, 2010

We had the best kind of weekend, one filled with a Sugarwings visit! I had a ton going on, with two dinner parties coming up before I head up to Omaha for Silver Bella this week, and all that entails for getting ready.

Plus, I wanted to get some bottle brush trees bleached, dyed, glittered, and listed for sale before I went out of town.

Luckily, Sugarwings likes to play princess. So, I told her that she was Cinderella and I was the wicked step mother and I was going to make her work ALL weekend.

She got busy unwrapping bottle brush trees right away. The whole time, she was singing, "We are Santa's Elves" from the Rudolf TV special that is on every year.

That is better than when she dresses as Snow White to help me clean house. "Whistle While You Work" is fine, but when she starts muttering about "Dirty, Dirty Dwarfs" its always a bit disturbing.

Every fall, I throw a couple packages of trees into the sink to soak, then dye and glitter them. And then go to the store for more and do it again. And then do it again. And again.

Today I had a better plan.

After filling the sink with two packages of little trees, we hopped in the car and went to buy more.

And came home with 240 of them to throw into the tub! (Just watch, this will be the year that no one buys trees, and I am stuck with all of them!) Well, at least we had plenty of fun working on them today.

I'll let you know when they are in the shop.

After all the hard work indoors, I took Cinderella outside to enjoy this unusually perfect fall weather and do some work outdoors too. We blew leaves (and maybe jumped in a few), cleaned out my car (with the leaf blower, that is such a handy alternative to vacuuming!), and then tidied up the Fairy Berry Trail.

Agnes Rosebud helped.

Sparkle just sat and observed. Twinkle chased off after a critter in the woods and was gone THREE heartbreaking hours. She came back so covered in filth she looked like she'd been digging the whole time. And of course, my tub is full of trees. She's sleeping in a kennel tonight.

After picking up sticks in the yard, Cinderella's work still wasn't done. We had to unload the sticks onto the bonfire berfore we could sit donw and enjoy the blaze.

There is nothing like a crisp fall afternoon by the bonfire. Especially when your marhsmallows are PINK.

And when I have my Sugarwings with me.

Her Pop Pop kind of likes having her around too.

Baby Update:

We are waiting impatiently for the new gypsy fairy grandbaby. Her momma was having serious contractions last night and we thought the time had come.

Once again, the contractions stopped. I think I might start calling this baby Peek-a-boo, since she has been playing this game with us for over a month and a half now!

Oh, and THANKS so much for all the sign ups to Romantic White Christmas!! I think we'll have fun working on it together. If you'd like to sign up too, click on the button at the top of the right hand side of the blog for more info.

Hope to see you there!

Redos and repairs

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, flowers, holiday decor, parties, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / November 5, 2010

Wow, thanks SO much for the response to our Romantic White Christmas e-zine! I've been working away on it, and actually wrote 11 posts in 2 days. Whew! Plus making more stuff for it. I have a habit of not being able to stop once I get started….

I've got a couple of "bonus" projects made and a couple of other extras too. Just some simple little pretties for the holidays.

Today, I started cleaning up mystudio to get ready for a dinner party and was able to use some of the Romantic White Christmas things in my decor. These aren't over whelmingly screaming CHRISTMAS, they are just sparkly, vintage and festive.

Well, this one kind of does. At least it screams "NOEL"!

When Beth and I shot photos for the classes, we had all the things we made on display, and I liked the look of this up in the window so much, that I'm leaving it. I already missed the Romantic Gothic Ghosts banner, the window felt naked without it.

I might just be a banner adict now. I'll need one for every season.

We took everything off the top of this buffet and redid it in whites and silver as a back drop for the projects and I liked it so much, its staying this way. It had been a pink explosion before, now there is just a hint of blush here and there.

Sadly, when I started putting the tables together and pulled out my favorite table cloth, this is what it looked like. Its really old, and the fabric is just falling apart. I am too lazy to was afraid to try to sew it, and thought it was a goner. Then, I remembered Kay Ellen's Sealah Tape. The stuff is amazing!

Its a two sided tape that her mom invented and is so easy to use.

A few holes here and there don't bother me, but that was big enough to lose a dinner plate in. So I covered up the bad place with a few bits of lace and some tattered silk.

While I was at it, I covered up a few more rips with lace. (These girls don't realize I am taking a photo of the table cloth. Please don't tell them. They think cameras are only meant to focus on them)

Today I made time to finish up my hat for Silver Bella too. Here is a little bit of it. Its a bit different as far as head wear goes….

Ahhhh, October!

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, I've been tagged, swaps, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / October 3, 2010

How is my weekend going? Oz-ish. I'm up to my elbows in all things Dorothy.

Doesn't this shot make you wish you'd joined the swap??? Wow, such talent out there. I'm taking way too long to open the packages and sort all the tags, because I have to stop and admire each one.

And because there are about a million of them. These two photos are just a smidgen of the piles.

I waited for the deadline to start opening all the packages, but I'm afraid not all are here yet. I think that I wasn't all that clear, some people thought the 30th was the mail by date, not the date I needed them. I have to apologize for not being more clear.

But- it takes days to sort, and assemble the tags into books, so I'll be adding the stragglers to the last books as I make them, as long as they are here before I finish.

There have been some lovely hostess gifts included too, I'll have photos of those as soon as I am caught up on the books themselves. Sugarwings and I have plans for a Dorothy party together where we will get to open and play with the goodies.

Aggie Rose is already planning her wardrobe for the party. I think I'll be the Wicked Witch. I have a feeling that Sugarwings will be Dorothy, since she kind of thinks that is who she is anyway. That kid lives in an imaginary world where she has multliple personalities. Often she is a mermaid, sometimes Dorothy, and then there are the lesser personalites, of a Baby Monkey, Fairy, Bride, Princess, Frog, Monster, Puppy, Alice, or Goldilocks.

Of course, she includes me, and I usually get to be the evil protagnist of any story that is going on in her head. I spend a lot of time as a Big Bad Wolf, Wicked Witch, or Flying Monkey.

Just once, I'd like to get to be a princess too. If I'm lucky, I get to be a Fairy Grandmother. But I know to never, ever, ever try to be Dorothy. That is HER.

Its a beautiful day here at the Cottage. I woke up after about TWELVE hours of sleep, to a crisp, clear autumn day. I know I need to be making Dorothy books, but I just had to walk around outside and luxouriate in this weather. Soon, leaves will be dropping and my yard will be something I dread going into because I'll be trying to avoid the rake.

But for now, its that perfect time in between summer's heat and winter's cold. The weeds have slowed down, and the leaves haven't fallen yet. I can go outside and not be reminded of how much work the yard needs. I can just enjoy it as it is.

Of course, while I'm outside enjoying the day, I'm also avoiding those tag books….

But not for long, I'm already gearing up for the big tag book marathon. But I think I'll leave the studio door open so dogs can wander in and out, and I can breathe in the sweet October air while I work. And I think it will be a jammie day. That makes it even better.

A furry transformation

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2010

Little Agnes Rosebud got her first hair cut this week. All Yorkies are born black and as they grow, their puppy hair gets fuzzy and matted over the new silky, adult hair underneath. And I mean matted. Her hair was so bad, that when I tried to just snip off a bit, I realized it was all one big, connected mass. Ugh. So, I slid my tiny scissors beneath the knots and started to snip.

It all came off in one hunk. Like a pelt. Or like a little old lady's wiglet. You know the ones that you see in every closet at an estate sale?

Yea, gross. I'd rather think of it as her cocoon. She emerged from it as a beautiful butterfly. It certainly is a transformation. Her brother, Button and sister, Lili Bella, got theirs cut this week too. Teresea has cute before and after pictures of Lilli, I didn't since my hair cutting was unplanned. I just snipped a bit away and realized I was trapped and couldn't stop.

I don't think this poor dog has two hairs the same length on her entire body. Maybe I should stick to using my scissors on old paper…. but she still manages to be pretty durn cute.

We spent some time doing yard work over the 3 day weekend, and I planted some late summer to fall blooming hydrangeas. For about a decade, I couldn't get a hydrangea to grow for anything. I could have just as easily been planting dollars in the ground instead, it had the same result.

But I seemed to have found the secret to keeping them alive and now can't get enough of them.

And of course, I can never get enough of old jewelry. Beth and I spent last Friday at one of my favorite places in the world, Sparks Flea Market. Its always good for a big bag of jewels!

I've yet to go through my pile of goodies to sort and see what I bought. Hopefully, later today, I'll get a chance. I'm making cuff bracelets today, and will need to at least pull some blingers out of the pile for those, even if I don't get to sort them completely.

When I buy piles of jewelry, I sort it into these categories:

Too Nice- add to Boutique
needs minor repair
broken, missing stones, not worth repair but great for crafting (some to keep, some to sale)
single earrings
suitable for making jewelry

Then there are sub-categories:

clear rhinestones
colored rhinestones
flowers
shapes/figures
cameos
buckles
lockets
pearls

See why it takes a while? Plus, its so fun, I feel like the King in his counting house while I play with it all. So, I don't like to be rushed.

One of the new brooches from the flea has already found a home on this wall hanging that I made for Romantic Gothic Ghosts. I thought this would be nice on a door, in place of a wreath. Its a quickie, and simple to make.

Its a BONUS tutorial! I've added it to the end of the class. I've had so much fun with the class, that its hard to stop, I had to make another piece for it! We've included lots of extras in the class, videos, giveaways, lots of images, and decor tips.

The tutorial blog will be up for as long as I have a Typepad account, and many of the ideas can be used for more than just Halloween. But, if you want to enter the giveaways, you need to play along in "real time", because they will end this Sept.

If you'd like to see what some of our artists have made with their take on the class, you can look here.

And if you'd like to win one of the projects I've made, please leave a comment. Sandy at Quill Cottage is giving away one of hers too!

Falling for pastels and the August giveaway winner

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, Tutorials, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2010

Beth and I had the best day on Tuesday with our craft day/photo day. We sat up a few displays using the finished products we made in Romantic Gothic Ghosts so we could add some posts with Halloween decorating tips. Orange-FREE tips!

We also made a few little instructional videos, and it took a bit longer than planned because we had to scrap most of them due to giggle fits. After that, I was able to work on one of Beth's first projects, and she made it easy for all of us. Not only did she include how-to's, she provided the entire collage as a finished piece. I printed it as it was and just embellished the piece.

Some of the classmates are posting their projects on Flickr if you'd like to take a peek. If you want to join the class, please do! Its open indefinitely, but all the giveaways end when we post the last set of instructions. To win the prizes, you need to be enrolled during the "live" part of the class. (The millinery pack is just one of our presents to be offered during the class)

Today I was able to get around to adding some things to the Boutique as promised.

Maybe because I've spent so much time working with the warm tones and sepias of the Romantic Gothic Ghost class, I've been especially drawn to pastels and sweetness.

As I was flipping through my stash of things that needed to be photographed for the shop, I kept going back over and over to florally pastels.

And cutie pie baby things.

Like this 1940s baby book.

The can of Mennen baby powder still smells so fresh, like the top of a new born's head. Funny how long that powder scent lasts.

And can't you imagine this pillow being under a tiny baby's head years and years ago?

In honor of fall, I did list some more neutral tones too.

Can you believe its September???? Sugarwings is back in school and doing well. I think that for her, the Montessouri school is a better fit than the Waldorf. She seems happier there.

And since Sept. is here, I need to announce the winner of the August giveaway-

Debbie Berracha!!

I'll be sending her one of the projects I completed for our Ghost class. I think I'll do the same thing for September. If you'd like to win one of my Romantic Gothic Ghost Halloween decorations, just leave a comment on any post all month. I'll get some pictures soon.

Here are Button and Agnes Rosebud, enjoying yesterday's play date while Beth and I set the table for a fake dinner party to take pictures of it. But we didn't mind, we got to eat the chocolates afterwards. And the dogs had fun watching us!

Some pretties

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, holiday decor, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 31, 2010

Did I mention how wonderful it was to be home with little Agnes Rosebud? She is the sweetest pup, ever. Cuddly, devoted, and always right next to me. Here she is only a few months old, and calm enough to be a model for my pictures. She is helping me out with selling this vintage pillow. I've been getting photos ready to do a major list-a-thon of new products in my Boutique.

I'll let you know when I get them up for sale. In the meantime, there is too much other excitement going on.

Beth is coming over today with Button for a play date with Aggie Rose. Which means that Beth and I get a play date too.

We are going to foof around with our Romantic Gothic Ghost projects and come up with some ideas for Halloween decor that is moody but won't scare the socks off of you when you see your lovely home all decked out in garish orange. That's right, we are lobbying for an Orange Free Halloween this year.

As part of our online tutorial, we want to offer decor tips and little videos too. We'll be posting a few between classes.

As well as a few giveaways. I thought it would be nice to offer some of my favorite supplies to participants. For the Banner class, I'm giving away my extreme fave, these Stardust Gelly Roll clear sparkle pens.

Next, a selection of old velvets and blooms that would be great to use in any of the projects we are doing.

After that, I'll probably do some rhinestoney things. None are big giveaways, but just little sweet treats to aid in finishing the projects. I figured it would be more fun for the people who have signed up to have lots of little door prizes, instead of one big one. Beth has plans for goodies too.

And while I am on the subject of goodies- here are some extra good ones! My pal, Heather whipped up this bracelet and hand stitched the bag for it, especially for me before our lunch last week.

She has recently opened an Etsy shop if you are wishing you had one of these… she makes the prettiest jewelry.

Around the studio

collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 26, 2010

Recently, I posted a picture of this hutch that got repainted. A reader asked me for close ups to see how it was decorated inside. Well, its a bit of a jumble inside, no real decorating plan went into it, I'm afraid.

Since it is in the studio, its more storage than anything else. It holds things that I've made, or stuff that I want to make into something else.

It houses my Sugarwings Themed Art Obsession Collection too.

As well as all things Dorky. I like vintage dog things, and Yorkies are hard to find, so there are a few Scotties in the collection that I pretend are little Dorkies.

There is a large section that is crown related too. Mostly just stuff i like. Things that make me smile.

This cabinet is also in my studio, its my newest piece. I got it pretty cheap, and just love to have glass doors on a cabinet. If I don't see what I have, I forget its there. Especially with supplies in the studio.

Its important to me that my studio is pretty, a place I want to visit, not just to work, but just to be happy in. I'm always adding and changing things here and there. And decorating for the seasons, too. Here is the banner I made for "Romantic Gothic Ghosts".

If you'd like to make one yourself, (all images and directions are provided) please check out the class!

Hypocritical colors?

collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 22, 2010

This week, I'll be taking a little road trip with my honey. But before I go, Beth and I are going to get the class description for "Romantic Gothic Ghosts" open and ready for you to see. I'll also write some posts ahead of time, so I won't be gone a week with no postings. You can still leave a comment to enter the August Giveaway for one of my completed Gothic Ghost projects too.

EDIT- Registration is open now!! Check out the class info here.

My projects are done, and I've got my instructions ready to go. Its that durn pixel thing that is getting me, I don't have the scans of the images loaded yet. I want to get them just right, so that when you print them, you will smile. Not curse at me.

To free my mind from all the pixel problems, I played with pretties. Here are some things listed in the Boutique.

See what I mean? Really pretty! But since I will be out of town for most of the week, I can't fill your orders till I get back. All packages will ship out on Tuesday, August 31. Please, shop away! I'll get your new goodies to you as soon as I can.

There are lots of fall colored flowers in the Boutique right now. Agnes Rosebud and I had a hat plucking frenzy going on in the studio today.

As soon as all the blooms were pulled off, Agnes got the naked hats to wrestle to the ground and fight with. She was so worn out, that she curled up in one to take a nap.

I don't think she realizes just how much she has grown.

She might be needing a bigger hat.

Our "Romantic Gothic Ghost" tutorials will be all tone on tone, neutrals and sepia and I just love that look.

But, as much as I've been making anti-orange and purple Halloween statements lately, I have to admit, that when it comes to millinery, any color can look good!

The way I see it, if you are going to be making Halloween colored things, you should be using beautiful supplies to do it with. Take at look at these and tell me if you agree!

I've started a new category in the Boutique too, "Halloween" is filled up with stuff you might need for fall swaps, scrapbooks, and other projects. Its not too soon to start. Especially swaps….

Geesh, where did summer go?

August Giveaway announcement and some ghosts drifting by

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, paintings, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 18, 2010

Beth came over yesterday for a craft day, and brought Button.

He and Agnes Rosebud were thrilled to see each other, and it was wrestle mania for most of the day. They had some ferocious growling too. Well at least, they thought they sounded pretty fierce, I kind of thought they sounded like a sewing machine.

Beth also brought her projects for our upcoming classes for me to photograph. Yep, we have decided to do some online tutorials!

Romantic Gothic Ghosts, for all of us who would love to decorate our homes for Halloween but don't want to put up with orange, purple and black! We will focus on the moody, flowing, dark style of old Gothic romance novels. Think Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, and did I mention, moody?

Details coming- I hope you'll join us. I've been BUSY scanning and editing tons of illustrations, backgrounds and portraits that we'll provide for you to copy and print to use in our projects. And I have a feeling that you'll find lots of uses for all these images!

Now, I just need to get busy and come up with some projects myself. I'm behind! Beth had a boxful of great stuff she'd been doing, and all I've done is prep work so far. Now that Sugarwings' birthday bash is behind me, I can get to work on my dark and dreamy creations for the classes.

Can you take one more mermaid from me? I've been on a siren of the sea kick for months, haven't I? But this is something special for my pal, Majia.

Its her 50th, and Jessi gathered up 50 artists to each do a page in a scrap book as a gift for her. My page is a watercolor of her as a mermaid "holding court" in the lounge of the hotel we stayed at during Kim's event last month. Happy Birthday, Majia!!

Now, I'd better go brainstorm and make some stuff for our upcoming classes. I have some ideas brewing and my fingers are itching to get started.

Please leave a comment if you'd like to enter my August Giveaway. I'll be giving away one of those upcoming projects. One that is still in my head, so I can't show you any photos yet!

Its the Process that Counts

antiques/junking, celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Hand Painted Furniture, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, swaps, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 7, 2010

Lately, one of Sugarwing's favorite games is playing bride. Today I was lucky to find a vintage dress up bridal gown at a flea market, still in its original box! She spied it in the studio immediately and had to marry her puppy as soon as she could shimmy into the dress.

The dress is about 10 sizes too big for her, and kind of fragile. I'm not sure if its the right outfit for my little wild child to play in. Plus, now that she and the dog are already married, she doesn't really need to wear it anymore. It was a quick ceremony, but lovely and heartfelt, so the dress has had its use.

And we have the wedding photos from the day. Of course, she might want to save the gown, hoping that her daughter (or puppy?) will someday want to wear it, but it seems to me that most daughters want to pick out their own gown, and rarely wear mom's.

I might hang on to it for a while, to see if she asks about it again. If she's forgotten about it in a week or so, I have a feeling it will end up in the Boutique.

Another game we had fun with today, was "Find the Picture". My copy of Somerset Home has arrived, and it has the article about my home in it (with photos by Carol Spinski). Sugarwings looked at the pictures in the book and then found the spot in the house where they were taken.

She is much better at that game than my husband is. One time, when his mom was visiting from out of state, he was proudly showing her an article that I had written for Country Victorian and talking about the house and how these photos were of the room upstairs, and those were of the kitchen before we remodeled. I looked over his shoulder and saw that the article wasn't even mine.

The photos weren't even of our own house.

That is why I can do anything at all to my cottage and foof it up any old way I please. My husband doesn't even notice! He could live in a pink cotton candy explosion of a doll house and not know the difference. That gives me full license to foof!

Of course, over the years, there have been a lot of changes and I can't blame him for not being able to keep up with what our house looks like. When I was in the furniture painting and antique biz, the look would change weekly sometimes. If I found something wonderful at a garage sale, it would go right into the house and the piece it replaced would go to the mall.

Now that I don't sell furniture, the revolving door has slowed down. But I do like a change now and then, and mostly get it by repainting and rearranging.

This photo is of my studio a few years back. I've added it and a few more pictures to the Where Bloggers Create Studio Tour (hosted by Karen Valentine) post I did a while back, and added a button to my side bar with a link to that posting, if anyone wants to see some of the past looks I've had in the room.

As a matter of fact, while out junking and scrounging today, I found a new glass door cabinet to fill with supplies, so my studio is getting another mini redo this week too. I'll have some more pictures to add in the next couple of days.

Since I don't have the antique business anymore, I try to keep myself entertained with smaller foofing projects. Gift wrapping has become a big hobby of mine. This is a package sent out this week, it was a Bible Quotes booklet, so I wrapped it in hymnal sheet music and tied a little cross to the ribbon.

No matter how big or small the project is, its "the process that counts". Beth and I quote Jenny Doh to each other with that line a lot since we heard her speak at Kim's event in California. That phrase struck us both, as good words to live by. As an artist, its not always the end product that counts, its the process and the love of creating.

So, if I can't remake a room on a monthly basis anymore (yes, I was pretty bad, Beth called me a serial painter), I can get my fix in the little things I do and love the process, no matter what I am spending my time on.

Simply being creative brings joy. To paraphrase Horton the Elephant, "A project's a project, no matter how small."

If you feel like being creative with me, I hope you'll join us for a small project. 6 tags with a Dorothy theme in a collaborative tag book swap. Email me if you want to join! Just click on the button on my sidebar for more info.

We have 40 some people entered to swap so far, and room for YOU too!