Karla's Cottage – Page 172

Simple Pleasures

By Karla Nathan / October 22, 2012

I could go to the Pumpkin Patch a dozen times and not get tired of it. Sugarwings agrees I think.

We usually hit it a few times a year, since she was barely big enough to toddle around.

Oh my, she has grown so much!

But she loves the maze, and the fields of pumpkins every bit as much as she did when she was tiny.

Of course, she has fun wherever she goes. That kid is as happy sitting in a pile of dirt as she is going to a movie, boating on the lake, or any other activity.

That is a sunny, happy outlook that will do her well in life. Finding pleasure in the little things is a lesson we could all use.

Family Mega Craft Day

family

By Karla Nathan / October 20, 2012

My family and I had so much fun in Beth's class at Romantic Gothic Ghosts that we continued working on our books all evening and all the next day. Here is a page that Sissy did.

And one from Guncle Randy.

He bought the earrings at the Victorian Trading Company outlet store in KC, and used one with his costume and one in his book.

We'd had big plans for the Renfest on Sunday, but the weather was chilly.

So, instead we had a mega craft day and some of us put on costumes.

Everyone worked on their own projects. 4.0 student, the Hippy Chick, did homework.

Calliope decorated some shoes.

Terry did jewelry. She creates her own chain.

My son worked on some resin and crystal jewels.

While his Gypsy Beloved made wire wrapped fairies.

Beth came over and did needlework and the little girls smeared glitter glue on anything they could while the big girls worked on more pages from the class Beth had taught the day before.

As sad as we were to miss the Renfest, it was nice to have a laid back, easy going, work at your own speed kind of day.

But most of all, it was nice to just be together!

Romantic Gothic Ghost Weekend part Boo, I mean Two

Romantic Gothic Ghosts, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / October 18, 2012

Have you seen those cute little velvet pumpkins every where this season? I'm not a sewer, but I thought I'd give it a try. This one is cut from a skirt of a vintage black velvet dress. Its tiny, and the black doesn't show up as well as the other colors I've seen. If I make another one, I think I'd do it a little differently. But this one satisfied my urge to own one and I didn't spend $25 on it, I used what was around the studio.

Hmm, looks a bit like an apple, though, doesn't it?

My studio seems lonely now that Romantic Gothic Ghost workshop is over!

I'm enjoying all the decorations and will leave those up for a while.

They remind me of all the fun we had.

Too bad I can't have a roomful of friends and family more often! What a great way to spend a day.

The pups were extra needy after everyone left, they had gotten lots of attention for a few days while we had company, then all of a sudden, they were left with just me trying to keep 9 babies attended to!

Laurie has a world record set in holding all 9 at once!

I usually balance one at a time.

Sissy made votives for everyone, with images printed on velum. I found the spider web bags full of gummy candies at Victorian Trading Co.

There were lots of gifties to go around.

For the door prizes, I drew names and let each person come up to the table to chose a pressie.

I think that worked out well, hopefully everyone got something they liked.

I hope they enjoyed the classes too. I know I did. Beth's class was one of those where you could just keep going and going on the pages. I ended up working on mine for days, adding more and more to it.

That is kind of what my wishes for the class at Kim's to turn out like. Students will make a basic book, and I'll be giving them directions, plus Good Stuff to work with, and they can be as creative and inventive as they like with it. Books are perfect for exploration.

I liked the variations on my Raven class too.

By the way, I have a few extra kits. Please email me:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

if you'd like one for $25 plus postage.

Dewdrop's mommy, our Gypsy, came to the classes, and also volunteered to give readings. She is skilled with the Tarot cards, and it fit right in with our theme for the day.

The room was decorated in past projects I'd done for demos for the Romantic Gothic Ghost online class.

I used the free images provided in that class for the Ghosts hanging around the room too.

They are printed on transparency, then blotted and cut out and hung with cheesecloth and tulle.

I've used them here, there and everywhere, from the ceiling as well as in apothecary jars and frames.

Something tells me that it was more fun getting all this stuff set up in the studio than it will be to put it all away…

So, I'm going to enjoy it while its here! I'll tell myself not to grumble as I pack it up after Halloween, and try to just remember how much I loved having everyone here with me instead.

Maybe I should have a box of Xmas goodies out and ready to swap when I take the Ghostly decor down. I might just skip over Thanksgiving.

Or maybe I'll do a big short cut and tell everyone that those are not ghosts, they are angels. Pull them out of the jars, slap some wings on them and put them back…

Tie a jingle bell around the black cat's neck and slip a halo on the devil…

Oh, my, I think I'm more tired than I realized! I should go snuggle some puppies and take a nap.

I'll leave you with some photos of the weekend. I wish I had taken more! Beth has some on her blog too.

And I wish I'd had more time to mingle!

There just wasn't enough time to visit. A two day workshop is better for hanging out.

But on the other hand, this one was such fun, and so much easier to pull off. I could probably juggle more workshops if they were one day only.

What do you think?

An Enchanted Affaire

Snow White, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / October 16, 2012

Its such an honor to be a part of Kim's spring time event in California! Her parties are intricately planned and gorgeous down to the smallest of details.

And what a great theme!! Snow White is a lifetime fave of mine. When I was little, I re-read Snow White and Rose Red over and over. And of course, Sugarwings and I love the Disney version, we often re-enact the apple poisoning part of the story. She is always the heroine, I am the cackling witch. The dogs play the part of all the dwarfs, because they rush to her side and circle around her when she lays on the floor. Whoever is the first to lick her face is the handsome prince who awakens her.

When she was three or four, we could play this game for hours on end.(oh my gosh, i can't believe she is SIX now!! The time has flown!!)

We love the story so much, I made a magic mirror for her room. I have a tutorial for it here.

The last year in media was filled with Snow White fun too. Two movies that I adored, plus a TV show that I can't get enough of. I'd have to say that this is my favorite fairy tale character. Maybe its the house she moves into in the woods? That little cottage is my dream home.

So, I was beyond thrilled when Kim asked me to paint a portrait of the fairest of them all for her button to advertise the Enchanted party she was throwing.

Then, later when she asked me to be a teacher?!? Woo hoo! I was dancing a jig and singing around the room like my favorite dwarf, Dopey. (yes, I know, he is silent in the movie, but I am sure he whoops it up when the cameras aren't on him)

For the class, we will be making a book of enchantments, filled to the brim with the old wallpapers that I love best. I've been buying tons of OLD, OLD fairy tale books to (eeks) rip apart to use the pages of too. If you are a librarian, please avert your eyes, because I am about to confess to chopping up a beautiful book more than 120 years old.

Ooooh, but it was so fun to tear up!! There is something about old papers that you can't replicate with the new stuff. It just feels better. Even when its crumbling.

Since my papers are all vintage, and not just something I can order more of, my kits will all be individual and unique. We will be using lots of millinery blooms too.

Only The Good Stuff.

And did I mention that the classes would be at the Happiest Place on Earth? I am such a fan of Disneyland. I went for the first time last spring, and fell hard for it. I've always enjoyed Disneyworld down in Orlando, but there was something more intimate about the original California park that drew me in.

Sign ups begin Monday for her past guest list and Wednesday for newcomers. The other teachers are people I greatly admire, and can't wait to spend time with.

Kim's events are always the most fun. I've been to a few and loved every one. Great times, great friends, great projects, oh, I could go on and on. Please just tell me to shut up if I gush too much as I make plans over the next few months.

I hope to see you there!

Believe it or not, there is new stuff in the Boutique! And a puppy stampede

the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / October 15, 2012

It feels like ages since I've added to my Boutique. Between summer trips, 9 pups, the Faery Book Swap, and Romantic Gothic Ghosts, I'm lucky to have gotten anything at all done.

But when Stampington returned the cuff bracelets used in Jewelry Affaire, I thought it was a sign that I should get some photos and get listing.

So, I snapped a few pics of the cuffs as well as some of the jewels and flowers I'd been accumulating and hadn't had time to market.

Plus a zombie bride that I'd ghouled up for the party here in the studio. I'll probably have more spooky props to list, but seriously doubt if I will get it done in time for the Halloween holiday.

Oh well, its a start. I'm just impressed with myself for getting back to business.

There is a ton of stuff waiting for my attention. I seriously doubt if I will have time to get a swap together for Christmas. I'd love to, and thanks for the enquiries. But I've noticed that as I get older, my time gets shorter.

So, I'm trying to not over schedule myself. Tough lesson to learn for me, I'm not good at being reasonable about my time.

Maybe I can do a Valentine swap instead…. By then, maybe I'll be caught up. Sadly, the little fuzzballs will be off to new homes soon.

The babies have taken over the garage as their den, we turned the whole room into a play pen for them. But that isn't enough. They needed to get some fresh air and sunshine, so I made a fence around the back door to my studio too. And leave the studio door open so they can run in and out while I am working.

Its so cute that they still want to sleep in a pile together, in a little dog bed, no matter how big they are getting.

I tried to get a photo of them all together, but as soon as they heard me step outside, they all started to stampede right at my feet.

It went quickly from 9 to-

7 to-

5 to-

3 to-

just one little guy waiting for me to come and pick him up as the others swarmed my toes.

Annual Lawrence Kansas Zombie Walk 2012

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / October 14, 2012

Before the Romantic Gothic Ghost weekend began, my family mini reunion started. After picking my sisses and Guncle Randy up at the airport, we shopping at Victorian Trading Co. I found this great white witch hat for $5! Perfect for the weekend.

After all the guests arrived, we met downtown for the annual Zombie walk. I'd made reservations for the outdoor patio of one of my favorite restaurants, but the weather wasn't cooperating very well.

It was slightly drizzly off and on, and the air was brisk. Which is a polite way of saying, we should really have dined indoors. But, I had a blast, and hope our family did too. I slapped on a pair of Toasty Toes (which I buy by the case every winter) and passed some out to whoever wanted to try them.

Sissy said she was going to sit on a couple, since she has a negative body fat count and is cold all the time.

Anyway, they all braved the cold, drizzle, and monsters with me. We were able to spend the whole evening on the patio, enjoying our meal as the zombies paraded by.

That is, most of us. When the ghouls started coming, Dewdrop went for a walk with her daddy.

Sugarwings watched most of the ghoulfest from under the table with me. It was our fort, complete with flashlights and glo sticks.

The little fairy looks solemn here, but we had a good time in our fort pointing our our favorite zombies.

It wasn't hard to chose, once her siblings came by as part of the shuffling herd of undead. Calliope and Clover were pretty in pink with blood splatters.

And Fin was scary too.

Clover never left character.

Not that she needed any help with her act, but here is a photo that I zombied up with Picmonkey editing.

The march of ghastly creatures wasn't quite over, but these two little zombies stayed for hot chocolate with us instead of continuing on. That was nice.

There were some really good ghouls. My camera had that blob of goo smooshed onto the lens, so most of my pictures didn't turn out between that and the darkness.

And I don't think there were as many as the year before. In 2011, there were 850 walking dead. This year, the hoard seemed lighter.

Maybe Zombies haven't heard of Toasty Toes and were too cold to come out.

As much as I enjoyed the individual creative costumes, my favorite part was when big groups came trudging by together.

This guy had a whole entourage. Mitt Zombie was shaking hands and kissing, or biting? babies. He was terrifying.

I don't know what kind of fake blood they use, but this stuff has some staying power. We went downtown shopping a few days later and the sidewalks were still splattered.

Kitty Boy and the Pups

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), kitties, puppies!, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2012

There are more photos of our Romantic Gothic Ghost weekend, as well as the Zombie parade, but first I wanted to show you some of the cuteness that is always under foot around here.

We took the pups out to run and enjoy the great weather (where was this sunshine while company was here??? We had to cancel our trip to the Renfest, everyone was too cold).

The babies were so excited that most pictures I took were just a blur of joy.

They followed Twinkle like baby ducklings. Or I guess, like baby puppies. But when the tough, old barn cat came by, they veered off after him.

Which he didn't care for.

Luckily, no one was hurt. A hiss was enough to give the pups pause.

Well, most of them. This guy was too curious to let it go. They have seen nothing but snuggles and love all of their little lives and have no idea that not everyone thinks they are adorable.

ps- I'd pretend that our grass looks so awful just because of the draught this year, but honestly, we don't have much of a yard. So, please, avert your eyes from the pufts of grass sticking out of the dirt and enjoy the pups. You would never know from looking at our yard that my husband works for a golf course company, huh?

Romantic Gothic Ghost Weekend

family, flowers, holiday decor, Romantic Gothic Ghosts, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / October 10, 2012

Our ghostly weekend was a real treat. I just hope my guests enjoyed it half as much as I did! We had such a lovely group, and it was so fun to have a family reunion along with the class, I'm thrilled that my family got to meet some of my friends and see what I do.

This envelope was in a scrap pack of ephemera that Pam won as a door prize, and look at the date! Our class was exactly 103 years from the day this was written.

Another ghostly oddity of the day, was that every single picture that I took of a person had a glowy smudge look to it. At first I thought all my photos were ruined, then I decided to just go with it and enjoy the ghostly effect, and edit them even more ghostly.

I looked on my lens and saw that there was a real life smudge, not a ghost doing it. I'm lucky that I got any photos at all from the weekend!

The close ups of things around the room weren't too bad.

And except for some halo around the lights, the whole room shots weren't either.

But portraits sure had some spookiness to them.

I loved every minute of the classes. Beth's was so much fun, I had to drag myself away to make lunch.

I served quiche that day, instead of making it up ahead of time, I wanted it fresh as can be, with eggs just gathered, so waited till it was time to go into the oven to make it up.

We also had green salad with cranberries and candied pecans, and a fall veggie mix of squash and sweet potatoes.

And of course, way, way too many desserts! Carmel apple cupcakes, lots of brownies, and these white chocolate witch hat cookies.

I set up an extra table for seating in the living room.

And decorated it with a 25 cent black lace shawl from a garage sale, and $2 bunches of roses that were marked down at the grocery store. I cut them short, and made an arrangement with the stems too. Remember how Morticia and Gomez from the Adam's Family always put the stems in the vase and threw away the flowers? I wasn't up to tossing the roses, but I did arrange the stems.

With a family reunion going on this week too, it was handy to have that table in the living room, I left it up the whole time, and it got used a lot.

Normally, the studio is where we have our family dinners when a big group is here, but this time, the studio was occupied with all of the set up for my Ghoul Friends and the classes.

Sugarwings came to spend the day too, her mom was studying and our fairy girl kept herself entertained while we all worked in the studio. She is getting so grown up!

Before our guests arrived, she wanted to get all dressed up in her wings and her new fairy dress from Aunt Bobbie, because she said, "Grammie's friends think I am a real fairy, so I'd better wear my wings!"

The puppies joined the party too. They missed all the attention after everyone left! I miss all of our friends and family as much as they do. The house seems so empty now that its over.

Time to plan another party…. While the studio is decked out I think I'll throw another Halloween bash and have my buddies bring their kids over for a craft day to make masks.

Off to the Pumpkin Patch

Dew Drop, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / October 8, 2012

One of my favorite things about fall is the pumpkin patch. Going there reminds me of my dad, who used to grow pumpkins for me when I was a kid. I loved each and everyone of them, named them, loaded them in my wagon and pulled them around wrapped up in baby blankets.

I feel like a kid again when I take the little grand fairies to visit our pumpkin friends, and every Autumn, I try to make as many trips out there as I can. Its a nice walk on a crisp fall day.

Especially since I got to spend an afternoon with my grown up son and his baby. In our busy world, we don't get a lot of time together. When he was little, I used to call him my shadow. In my mind, he'll always be that little five year old who never left my side.

Time goes on, little ones grow up, seasons change.

Fall is a reminder of the changes in life as well as seasons. I hope that I am creating some long lasting memories for Sugarwings and Dewdrop. I know that they are doing that for me. Meandering through the pumpkins every Autumn with the little girls will be something that stays with me forever.

Such a simple way to spend an afternoon, but aren't those kind of days always the best?

Sleepy babies

Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), puppies!

By Karla Nathan / October 6, 2012

Little Dewdrop fell asleep in the car on the way to visit. So, when they arrived, her parents made a bed for her in the shady bushes while we did some yard work. Her little friend joined her for a nap.

Napping is still his number one favorite pastime. My newest hobby is lining sleepy pups up together on their backs. It's not as easy as it looks, these guys are wiggly and if one decides to play, the game is up and all of them are up and running.