Karla's Cottage – Page 147

Gilding, Frenchness, and fun

By Karla Nathan / May 15, 2014

Darling LA locals, hauled a group of us around before the Downton Affaire began.

Cheryl and Andrea were kind to take us to visit Gilding the Lily, and the owner even accommodated us with an extra hour of time before the store opened. (photo by Tiffany)

The jewelry making side of our group really loaded up. There are vast amounts of charms, beads, dangles and doodads there.

And it is a charming place to shop.

I loved the props used for display!

And of course, the items that were on display too. Who can resist shiny stones?

Or piles of paper?

After, we were invited to the French General for a cute make and take plus shopping and lunch. All elements, including scissors and glue were provided, but I couldn't help shopping in the ephemera stashes and buying some special paper to cover my own box.

Lunch was perfectly wonderful. Kale salad with chopped cabbage, dried fruit and nuts, along with sandwiches and ginger cookies.

There were sweet little embossed name tags for the luncheon, and my pal, Hope, known for her world class journalling skills, wrote karla on mine. Since my handwriting is so bad that when I wrote one, it looked like Harla instead. (by the way, this photo was edited to leave out the sagging neck)

Normally, I'd have just left the name tag as I'd written it and pretended my name was Harla, but Hope was hosting a travel journal make and take at the Downton party and I wanted the name tag for the book.

My friend, Sherry, gave me this bit of ephemera that she found at the French General, it is going in the travel journal too.

A lot of our trip was spent eating. Lunches, and dinners out, many, many, many treats. I loaded up on goods at Louie's to share with everyone, then we were served a ton more at the dessert buffet during our party.

Good friends, good treats, shopping, and projects. And everything around us was simply much prettier than real life.

Just when I thought the trip couldn't be more perfect, it was time to meet Sugarwings to go to Disneyland. Yep, it was a fantastic week. I'll have some pics of that trip too, but for now will leave you with some more scenes from Downton

(that is my vendor night, lace fanny pack. I guess I should have taken it off for pictures, huh?)

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

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.

A little paint, a little shuffling, a little bit of a new look

studio tour

By Karla Nathan / May 8, 2014

My studio is hard to rearrange, because there is soooooooooo much crap in it. All the cabinets are overflowing, and all the surfaces are stacked to the brim. But I had some ideas for a little shuffling to make a bit more space and decided to battle the clutter and see what I could shove where to make company feel more comfortable. A few inches here and there make a big difference when 30 people join me in the room!

I started with the office section. That blue hutch is much heavier than it looks. I was shoving and pushing and getting no where. I realized that taking off my shoes and pushing barefoot gave me more traction and had better luck with moving it. Because when I wore my slippers, the hutch stayed put as I pushed, and I was the one sliding across the floor!

Maybe, unloading it would have been even smarter, but I'd still be working on that if I'd taken every thing out of all the cabinets before I moved them.

There isn't a big change in the area, seriously, it is only a few inches. But, those inches helped. The spot seems more functional to me, and I was able to shave off enough space to move that big white piece in the first photo to the area behind these doors to the left that I use as a divider.

(It's tight in my office, but most of it is only used for storage for my online inventory and packing materials. The area around the desk, where I actually spend time, feels more open than it looks in the pictures because there is no wall behind the chair, it is open to the main part of the room)

The blue desk and green table to the right still need new homes, and the little white piece near the door is going to the girls' room.

I'm not sure about the new door color. I like the shade, it reminds me of vintage lingerie. But it might be too dark. The back door is also painted that color. And the outside of the back door is a deep, azalea pink. That pink looks great for the garden, but was too bright for inside the studio. Which is why I toned it down with tan to make the color I used on the interior doors.

I hung this old poster on the closet door, but over night the washi tape peeled off.

So, I patch-worked wallpaper on the door and glued the poster over it. A much better look anyway, I should have taken my time and did it right in the first place.

These toy appliances got a fresh coat of white paint and are headed to the grand fairies' room.

Originally, they were done for a friend's business, and another friend bought them at the closing auction. She is moving, and gave them to me. So, I touched up the paint while I am on a redo binge.

The front of the studio should be more spacious with this narrow cabinet in the spot where a bigger one previously sat.

But I'm not done yet….Oh my, what lot I have left to do. It might look awful, but actually this is pretty organized. Two tables hold kit items for Birdsong, another holds sponsor gifts and extras. Cardboard boxes are being filled with Goodwill donations. The pile in the foreground is stuff to tag and get ready to sell for my vendor spots at Downton and at Birdsong.

So, now that the foofing and painting and moving is done, it's time to start sorting through this mess and getting this side of the room straightened up.

Spring painted right over Winter

bird song art event, paintings

By Karla Nathan / May 6, 2014

Way back when I used to have an antique booth, I used to sell a ton of Xmas ornaments. And I came up with an idea to display them, by cutting a 4×8' sheet of plywood into an arch, and painting a Christmas tree in the snow onto it, and adding hooks to hang the vintage Shiny Brites right on the tree. It was cute, and I used that plywood board for years as a holiday decoration.

It was nice to have kids pose in front of for pictures too.

But I was ready for a new look, something that I could use more than a few weeks a year, and leave in the studio year round. That thing is too heavy to haul out to the shed in the cold after Christmas is over!

I painted over the winter scene, leaving the rock arch around it. (and the holes from the hooks still there, guess I should have patched those)

With Birdsong on my mind, I added a couple of bluebirds. Doves might have been a better match for the soft colors of the piece, but I just love bluebirds. And I know that a male and female pair are different colors, the lady is a more muted color. Still, I painted what I liked instead of what is accurate, and have two vivid birds that really stand out against the pastel shades of the landscape.

In the distance, there is a pink tree blooming, with a nest in its branches.

Speaking of Birdsong, I got another box with sponsor gifts for the drawing. These are from the Guncles. Kevin is an avid antiquer and has a great booth down in Jacksonville. He also sells on Ebay. While out scouring the city's estate sales for his business, he found these old bird prints. He and Randy were kind enough to send them here to share with my Birdsong Peeps.

Thanks, Guncles!

My friend, Laurie Jackson along with her pal, Kathy Bremer, sent these beautiful, old prize ribbons. Won't everyone attending feel like a winner when they open these?

Terri Wilkerson made up these cute little packs of goodies for our group.

If you'd like to be a sponsor too, please email me at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

How nice!

antiques/junking

By Karla Nathan / May 4, 2014

My sweet friend, Angie, gave me the nicest birthday gifts before I went out of town! We'd been trying to get together for months and the timing was just not right. She had Christmas, Valentine, and birthday presents all in one giant bag of goodie heaven for me.

Including this lovely custom creation.

Lots of lovely thoughtfulness.

Thanks, Angie!!

Downton Abby, Highclere Castle painting for A Downton Affaire

paintings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / May 2, 2014

As you read this, I'm in CA at Kim Caldwell's latest party, A Downton Affaire.

Once again, I was honored to be asked to paint the banner used as a photo backdrop for the event.

My first one, was this whimsical Tiffanys themed one.

And last year,this giant mural was done for the Snow White themed party.

There was a castle involved in last year's painting, but it was very faint, way, way far away, and made up in my own mind.

This year's castle was a whole different story. It was a famous English manor that fans of the show all know and love. My painting had to be accurate. That just about killed me. I had to measure, do fractions (well, I had my husband do fractions for me) and use a level to get it right.

There was a little bit of leeway, since it was set in the distance. But still, this castle was the focal point of the whole painting, so I couldn't have it too faded and far away. There was a lot of angst, turmoil, tears, cussing, and nearly giving up.

Straight lines and architectural things aren't in my comfort zone.

I did fudge some details, since it was in the distance, I hoped that I got the impression of the Downton home close enough without being perfect. Far from perfect.

I studied photos of Highclere Castle online and used artistic license to change the angle of the castle from this view point.

This is the view of the estate that I liked, which I think is the back.

And this is the view of the building that I liked. The front, I think. My painting is a mix of both, with flower gardens thrown in.

Throughout season 4 of the show, I studied the sets. And even took photos of the TV with my phone. It was funny to be looking through pictures on my phone and come across pictures of Mrs. Crawley or the Duchess, like they were friends whose pictures I'd taken.

Then, before starting on the 9×10' banner, I painted a sample on paper.

Even with the sample painting propped up in the garage as I worked on the mural, I had to feel it out and make changes as I went along.

When working on a landscape like this, here is my plan:

First- sky, next mountains in the distance, far off treeline, and then I painted the grass that is the major part of it all.

That involved two ladders and going back and forth a hundred times to get it all blended. After a smooth blended background, I took chalk and drew in the trees, and roughed in the the flower beds.

Next, I painted the castle, where I stalled out and got stuck working for almost two days. As I mentioned, it wasn't my strong point.

After that came the flowers, from furthest to closest.

Then, the trees, leaves, and some highlights and details, like a butterfly and nest. Fingers crossed that it all hangs straight and looks good at the event. Hopefully, I'll have plenty of pictures of happy friends in front of it, to show you when I get back.

I'm also meeting Sugarwings and my husband in CA, for a few days at Disney. I've become quite the Disney addict in the last few years. And while being in LA for the art event, it seems like such a waste to not stop in to visit Micky and his pals! I'll be having my birthday lunch at Ariel's grotto, with my own little princess by my side.

See you when I get back!

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!

Painted Butterflies

Dew Drop, paintings, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 28, 2014

I've been in a painting mood lately. Years ago, I painted almost every day, so much that when I awoke, I'd just dress in old paint clothes. Because if I didn't, I'd end up getting paint on whatever I was wearing because I'd sneak in some painting that day even if I hadn't planned on doing it.

I kind of like wearing real clothes now, I guess I didn't even realize what a slob I looked like all the time, in my ratty old clothes. Even worse, I had a bad habit of wiping my brush on myself, and the clothes would get such a heavy build up of paint, they were stiff.

Which is how I discovered that paint is permanent on tee shirts, and I started painting shirts to sell in the 80s. One year, I sold over 1,000 hand painted shirts.

Painting rarely happens around here any more, but when I get in the groove, I go with it. I've had the big, Downton banner to paint for Kim, and since I was decked out in paint clothes, I kept thinking of other things I'd like to set my brushes to.

There were a couple of new babies I wanted to gift with some painted onesies, but I didn't care for the bright white of the shirts, so I hand dyed them first. I liked the mottled color that I got from wadding up the shirts before dipping in the dye. I used Rit, wet the shirts, dipped in one color, rinsed, wadded it up and dipped it in another color. I know this isn't the way you are supposed to dye, but it works for me.

After they dried, I slipped a piece of cardboard inside to stretch them flat to make a good painting surface and to keep the color from soaking through to the back of the shirt.

The onesies were so much fun, I started looking around for another shirt to add a butterfly to, and found a plain, stained one of Sugarwings', and put the butterfly right over the stain.

When my boys were little, I used to paint their tee shirts. Here is a photo of them in their matching ET shirts. I'd have portraits of the kids eating ice cream with Big Bird, or flying with Superman, or just pictures of thier favorite things.

I've painted very few for Sugarwings and Dewdrop, though. Sugarwings liked it so much, I really should do some more.

Nowadays, I tend to paint more with photo editing. Here is a picture I "painted" with Picmonkey, from Easter, the original is in this post.

I've turned the egg Sugarwings found into a magical orb. And I wish my backyard really did look like this fairy land! Of course, the little girl is beautiful in any circumstance.

Little Dewdrop saw the picture of her sis with pink hair and wanted to know where her pink hair was. So, of course, I had to tint another one just for her.

Fresh

cottage

By Karla Nathan / April 24, 2014

After finishing my Downton banner, I wasn't ready to get involved with another big project, so I took a creative break to do some housework.

ugh

Since I had a ladder out for the banner, I decided to climb up it in the kitchen and de-web, de-grease, and overall clean up everything on the shelves and on top of the cabinets.

I always put off doing it, but really, it isn't that bad once I get going. There is something nice about the fresh feeling the room has once the sparkle is returned to the china. I pop most of the pieces into the dishwasher, and go after the walls, cabinet doors, and top of the shelves with a Magic Eraser and a bowl of hot water with vinegar in it.

This time, I even treated the lamps to new shades. Actually, I had no choice, the other ones had seen better days.

While on my perch above the kitchen, I noticed that the chandy was getting fuzzy. That is never a good look, is it? Funny how it sneaks up on you. Those crystals end up dull in no time, but man, they sure are pretty after a wiping down!

The china cabinet got a slight spiffing up, it didn't take much though, glass doors are a blessing.

Believe it or not, crowded as this looks, I edited and futzed the pretties around a bit. There are less things in here now. And on the shelves too. The fresh feeling was even stronger after I'd gotten rid of about a third of the pieces on the shelf.

See, now there is space between the ewers, pitchers, and creamers. That has never happened before.

I kind of like it!

Not so much, that I want to get rid of all of it and not have to go through this again, though. But it is nice to have a little less up there.