Karla's Cottage – Page 173

A few more fairies flying by

By Karla Nathan / October 5, 2012

While making the books for our Faery Book Swap, I had a few glitches. The couple of people who witnessed my screw ups were very sweet about it.

One of them was my good buddy, Kim. She had sent an extra page for me and one for me to add to her own book. I'm afraid I missed her note and just started making books up willy nilly with her 10, instead of 8 pages.

When I realized, I felt bad and made up an extra page to send to her. She's been going through a rough time with her dad's health and I thought the last thing she needed was her friend shorting her on a swap.

As the basis of the page, I used a copy of the Snow White painting that I did for Kim's spring event, An Enchanted Affaire.

But I needed to fairy it up. I glued down one complete print with the background and all to some coordinating wallpaper, then glued wings that were butterflies printed on parchment by my Sissy.I used three sets, so there would be lots of volume. I glittered those up and that made them curly, which I liked.

I then cut out another Snow White and glued her over the previous one, so the wings were between the two layers.

She got a teensy millinery flower garland, and her dress was embellished with metallic inks and lots of glitter.

For even more sparkle, I glued some of my 1940s crystals to her skirt, then gave her a bouquet to cover up the apple in the original.

Deliciously gaudy, and fairy-riffic.

Most of the books were mailed out way back, but the ones going to my family who are coming to Romantic Gothic Ghosts, were kept here, so we could open them all together. I can't wait for everyone to see their book! This is a page that Aunt Sandy made for mine.

My book is amazing!! I received the gift of an extra page from so many generous souls. This one is from Jay Hart. Along with a sweet little book that she made too.

I miss the swap, and am considering another. But it will have to be smaller and faster if I want to get it done for Christmas. I can't even think about it till after this big party this weekend though. We'll see if I survive that before I delve into the next thing. Which really, really should be beefing up my Boutique for the holidays, not more swaps!

There are a lot of basic supplies in the shop now, just no 'new' old things. I hope to recover from the Faery swap, the Ghost party and the puppies and get going on adding more soon. Here is a picture of an order I mailed this week, to Tara. Packing them up is the fun part!

Customized scarecrows

holiday decor, Romantic Gothic Ghosts, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 3, 2012

Sugarwings saw all my decor for Romantic Gothic Ghosts and wanted to help. Her tastes run more to the traditional colors of Halloween, while I was trying to keep my palette orange and purple free.

But I admire her work and sense of style too, so I let her have free reign over her project.

We picked up a "Grammy" and a "Sugarwings" scarecrow (half price last week at Michaels) and clothed them in some witch clothes from our dress up closet.

Next came the make up. Lots of marker and glitter work went into this. At least an hour's worth of foofing.

Then, the ladies got some jewelry and accessories.

Ta Da!

Everyone who is coming to our crafty day in the studio knows how I feel about Sugarwings and her art work. I think they will appreciate her efforts to welcome them, even if she follows her own palette and differs from our theme, don't you think?

The room is ready for our guests, and the treat cabinet is decorated like a "haunted mansion" as Sugarwings calls it. I've been baking up a storm and this will be filled with goodies soon.

Family arrives here on Thursday and my Ghoul Friends, or Lovely Spirits come on Saturday. I'll be pretty busy having fun, so I have pre-posted on my blog for the next few days.

I have deleted the sign up page for Romantic Gothic Ghosts so I don't
oversell accidently. We are keeping it limited to a small group. But if
you are interested, please email me for info.
karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

I’m crowded! Roll over!

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

By Karla Nathan / October 1, 2012

These guys are growing FAST.

Their meals have been supplemented from the beginning and now they are eating dog food, but they still waddle to mama whenever they can. She does her best to accommodate them. At this point, I think its more of a comfort than dinner, they chew on whatever part of her they can, whether it produces milk or not. Her poor belly is all marked up.

But she adores the babies and doesn't want to be kept from them.

No matter how much space they have, they still all sleep in a big pile together. Even when the pile gets so high that one rolls off, like this guy!

It reminds me of that Little Bear song that I sing to the grand fairies:

Five bears in the bed and the little one said
"I'm crowded, roll over"
So they all rolled over, and one fell out

Four bears in the bed, and the little one said
"I'm crowded, roll over"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

Three bears in the bed, and the little one said
"I'm crowded, roll over"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

Two bears in the bed, and the little one said
"I'm crowded, roll over"
So they all rolled over and one fell out

One bear in the bed, and the little one said
"I'm lonely"

They are learning to come when called now. I call "Puppies!" and they start to stumble to me. As each one makes its way, I pick it up, give it some love, then call the next, working my way all the way through the nine.

Funny, the same one is always last to come. The littlest girl sits and waits her turn patiently.

They are all getting personalities. This guy is the vocal one. Since he was born, he was always the one to speak up and let us know what he had to say.

I'm still not sure who will live with me forever. . It will probably be once they are running around free in the studio before I know who I need to keep. That will be the one who is always at my feet when I look down.

I'm waiting for someone to pick me, I guess.

Romantic Gothic Witch book

Dew Drop, Hens, holiday decor, Romantic Gothic Ghosts

By Karla Nathan / September 29, 2012

I have deleted the sign up page for Romantic Gothic Ghosts so I don't oversell accidently. We are keeping it limited to a small group. But if you are interested, please email me for info. karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

Well, no kits are made up yet, but I do have the studio cleaned and decorated for Romantic Gothic Ghosts next weekend. I'm feeling close to being ready. Maybe I spent a bit too much time on the fun stuff, but the room got cleaned up as I went and its always much more interesting to kind of foof and redo as you clean, isn't it? That makes me feel like I actually did something other than knock down cobwebs.

Of course, its a Halloween party, so I could have just left those up and gone with that.

I decided that I needed another door prize to give away. Friends and I swapped prizes for each other's events, but I wanted to make a couple more too. This is a stack of notebooks glued together and decorated.

All of the covers, inside and out are embellished, and the notebook paper was dipped into coffee to age it a little.

Of course I used "The Good Stuff"! That is the only way to go.

To hide the seam where the books were stacked and glued, I covered the bindings in vintage black velvet ribbon.

In the center of the book, is a page filled with envelopes to hide special tidbits in.

Other door prizes are from Karen and Jennifer.

Jennifer is hosting The Gathering this weekend, and I donated a couple of prizes to it. A wire wrapped nest and the online Three Wire Workshop.

You can read more about the Gathering on her blog. My good buddy, Carol. will be the guest speaker and I hope to go to hear her. She is always entertaining and full of info. Karen's holiday party in Mt Dora, FL is sold out, but she will have another event in Texas in the spring.

If you are wondering why there is nothing new in the Boutique…. well, I've discovered, you just can't do EVERYTHING, no matter how hard you try.

But I get done as much as I can.

Yesterday I made 20 some paper clay pumpkins with sticks as stems, painted them white and they are ready to drop into the Raven's Tea kits (when I have kits ready, that is). The students will guild and glitter them and add them to the tableau.

That is probably the first time in my life that I have used the word Tableau.

Anywho, the students will get the walnut dyed, coverless book to wrap in ribbon, goodies to make the rhinestone accented tag, and the pumpkin to finish and set next to the teacup.

I still have TWO spots left for our own party. If you want to come out to visit the cottage and meet the chickens and the pups, we'd love to have you!

If you can't come to visit and take the class, but would like some How-to's from me, here is an article coming out in the next Jewelry Affaire. Its always a pleasure to be featured by Stampington in one of their many wonderful publications!

Right now, this is what my kits look like. I think I'd better step away from the keyboard and get to work!

Dewdrop’s first craft day

Books, Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, holiday decor, puppies!, Romantic Gothic Ghosts

By Karla Nathan / September 27, 2012

Dewdrop came over with her mom to do a practice class for Romantic Gothic Ghosts. The babies came outside to play since it was such a beautiful afternoon. I left the studio door open and made a pen for them right outside.

The little guys played so hard, they tuckered themselves out and just fell asleep where they stood. It looked like the aftermath of a fraternity party.

One even fell asleep with his head in the food bowl.

Dewdrop was perfect at her first big girl craft day. She decided she needed an apron to wear while she worked. Her favorite part was the pockets, she filled them with so much she could barely sit down.

Her Gypsy mama created one of Beth's books for the upcoming class. Beth is providing lots of great materials, and I got out some of the images from the online class too.

(All attendees get the online class included for free. I'll be printing off some of the images for them to use too. And if you are coming, mabye these pictures will give you some ideas on what you might like to bring to add to your own book)

I made a book while Beth made my Raven tea cup project.

It was fun to try the faux tintype technique.

No two books from the class will turn out the same, Beth is providing lots of goodies and tidbits, and some kits will differ.

My book and Dewdrop's Gypsy mama's book looked very different from Beth's.

I can't wait to see all the variations that the rest of the students come up with!

Of course, there were lots of breaks to play with puppies.

I'll leave you with some more of the pages our Gypsy created, she really had some nice ones. She made it her own by adding some gypsy colored ribbons here and there.

Anything to avoid cleaning…

Romantic Gothic Ghosts, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / September 25, 2012

The studio clean up is progressing. Kinda. If I just wouldn't let the mess pile up in the first place, it wouldn't be as hard. If I could concentrate on cleaning instead of getting side tracked with little projects and decor ideas, that would help too.

I can be elbow deep in clearing off a table and all of a sudden, an idea pops into my head and off I go, to work on that.

Like this witchy hat. The dress form in the corner looked like it needed to be dressed up a bit for the weekend, so I added a black lace jacket and skirt, then decided I needed to whip up a hat to match. Of course, I didn't really NEED one.

It was easy and fast, using the steps from the Romantic Gothic Ghost online class. This hat is a "bonus" class that I added to the existing lessons.

The witch's hat was last year's bonus class, and the BOO tussie mussie is this year's. I added a few new images too, for downloading and printing.

If you have paid for the class when it first came out, and forgot the password, let me know. Its worth a second look, and there are new things too.

We made this site two years ago, and every fall, I have revisited it and found things I'd forgotten about from the past. There is a lot of info, plenty of projects, and files and files of images, patterns, and backgrounds to print and use. (the alphabet cards spelling boo and ghost are new additions)

This isn't one of the projects, but is a FAST and easy one that really needs no instructions. I used the spider and web image in our files, printed onto a transparency, layered it over a cut out "ghost" girl, and popped them into a frame.

To be honest, I did it in such a quickie, short cut way, that i taped the picture to the wall, and hung the spider and frame on the same nail. Something that is only hung up seasonally doesn't need to be done perfectly.

Another quickie decorating job to save me from cleaning was adding construction paper masks to some of my ladies.

I just might go and make some more of these. It sure beats sweeping….

You can tell from this photo that I'm desperate to avoid making kits and cleaning. Yes, I have covered the hand wipe cannisters in ghostly papers. I came across a file folder filled with printed images I'd made up from the online class and never used. So, of course, I quickly found some where to glue them.

I hope someone stops me before I start decopauging my broom. Its so much more temtping that actually using it.

And hey! Don't you think that it would look cute next to the witch in the corner!!?? I was making a joke, but now, I think I might go and do it.

oooh, I think I need help

Bye Bye Fairies, Hello Ghosts!

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, free images, holiday decor, Romantic Gothic Ghosts, swaps, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 23, 2012

Isn't this fairy from Linda sweet as can be?

It's sad that the Faery Book Swap is over! I made a couple more pages, as thank yous to some sweet people. And I have extra covers that I hope to list on Etsy or in the Boutique. If I ever get a spare minute to do it!

In the fairy frenzy, I'd made up about 16 pages for the swap, and didn't need them all of course, so I'll have a few of those to list too. But I didn't want to use any of those as thank yous. I thought "thanks" deserved something made special just for it.

I still have my family's books, they weren't mailed because we are going to open them all together when everyone gets here to visit for Romantic Gothic Ghosts.

I'm so glad that Guncle Randy, Sissy, Bobbie Sue and Terry can come out to play with us for the classes! We hope to go to see the annual Lawrence Zombie walk if everyone arrives in time, it will be on Thurs. the 4th and family is flying/driving in from Utah, Florida and Indiana.

Then, Friday is shopping at the West Bottoms district, with all the once a month junk and antique stores, as well as Bottoms Up.

Saturday the 6th will be our ghost filled craft day, with Gypsy spells and ravens. Sunday we plan on hitting the Renfest, all decked out in our fairy attire. A perfect little reunion!! Plus I get to have my blog friends meet my family, that will be nice. I'm glad that we are having a workshop while the relatives are in town.

Along with the thank you pages, I mailed out hand made envelopes stuffed with tidbits. To make these, I looked at a regular envelope to get an idea for the pattern, cut it out from an old book page, folded it up and glued the edges. Simple, and kinda cute. I might need to do more of these!

I've gone straight from sweet fairies to gothic ghosts.

These images (provided in the online Romantic Gothic Ghost class) are printed on transparencies and hung around the room.

And the room is a WRECK! I've started cleaning and decorating, but need to get all the chaos and clutter out too.

I started decorating at the ceiling first, then the cabinet tops around the room. I'm sure most people would have cleaned the whole room, put away the mess and then started fixing up. But I got too excited about making the ghosts and had to do the fun parts first!

See how they are hung from tattered tulle on the ceiling? (I'll have more photos later)

**********

Speaking of photos, I've noticed that no matter how good my camera is, and how well I edit pictures, they NEVER look as good on my blog as they do on my computer files.

I wish I could fix this…. I also noticed that if you click on one to open it in a bigger window, its sharper.

**************

Another instance of backward preparedness- instead of cleaning and making kits, I wanted to make some ghostly images to set around the room. This collage is an old trinket box with a glass lid that Beth gave me. I took out the image that came it in, turned it on its side and made it a shadow box.

A transparency spider image is across the glass, and a ghostly girl is layered over a gothic arch (from the albums full of pictures and images and backgrounds and patterns that were scanned and added to the online class) and glued to the back of the box. I then added some tatted trim and some very old, beat up flowers.

Its very small, and I seriously doubt that it adds a lot to the over all decor of the room. But it was something I really wanted to do.

We had lots of projects made up for the online class that I pulled out to use around the room too. This tag is pinned to my new curtains, hung just for the occasion. The tag is one of the "ready to go" bonus images from the class. All you do is print it and cut it out.

The curtains are from the Sparks Flea, and were $1. When I bought them, they were a hideous, fleshy peach. But I liked the over all pattern and the flocking was cool, so I gambled that dollar and bought them any way, hoping a bowl of dye would take.

It did and now I just love them.! Thing is, though, I bought them thinking I'd cut them apart to use in projects, and to test the dye, I cut a hunk off the bottom of one to dip. I loved it so much, that I dyed the rest of the panels and hung them up, even with a hunk missing at the bottom of one.

In the window, is a banner also made from the Romantic Gothic Ghost online classes. There are tons of projects, decorating ideas, and printable images in the class. I'd forgotten how much there was in it, and had a lot of fun looking through it with fresh eyes.

Everyone coming to the class at the studio gets the online class free too. We still have a couple spots open for our one day party in the studio if you'd like to join us.

You could hold a puppy on your lap while you work…..

A Passel of Pups

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

By Karla Nathan / September 21, 2012

I'm growing very fond of this little pup. Sugarwings calls her The New Agnes Rosebud. I told her that Agnes was very special and one of a kind, this pup deserves her own special name. If I keep her, she might have Rosebud as a middle name to honor Aggie Rose, though.

Agnes was my grandmother's name and our dog was named after her. My husband asked if we could name one after his grandmother, Dorothy. Dorothy!! One of Sugarwing's all time favorite people! Dorothy Rosebud should work just fine. I could call her Dot.

The babies are learning how to play. Its pretty funny when we call "puppies!", they bounce around and try to come to us and climb out of their pen. They look like burnt popcorn jumping around in a pan.

Its hard to get a group shot, there is so much motion, it becomes a blur.

But the chaos doesn't last long, a couple minutes of play wears them out and they are soon sound asleep.

We are still bottle feeding the herd. I've tried dishes and they get more on themselves than in. So, I cut a larger hole in the nipple and fill the bottle with a cereal, formula mix. They love it, and one feeding is usually about 4-5 bottles.

Aunt Sandy is feeling better now, she has had a sore back and couldn't work for a few months. Now, she is back at work with long days on the surgical floor as an RN, so I'm on my own for feedings for a while. Its more efficient (and cuddlier) to use the bottle, but soon, I'll have to train them to use a bowl. Or a trough.

My husband says we should keep two of them, since we are NEVER breeding pups again after the stress of what Twinkle went through.

One baby goes to the father's family, one to Dewdrop, one to my husband's assistant, and at least one to us.

That still leaves a passel of pups to sell, larger than most Yorkie litters! I'm not sure if I want two or not, I'm greedy about puppy time and would like to have just one to raise as my own so I can have her all to myself. If she has a litter mate, she might bond with him more than with me. Yes, I am greedy.

Although, Twinkle is a great dog, I really should keep as many mini Twinks as I can, or some day I'll be sorry. She has a great heart and is about as loyal and loving as a dog can be.

Notice the plants behind her? They are in the whiskey barrels I bought last spring, to turn the stumps into planters. The vines have really taken off and I've been happy with the result. Much cheaper than having stumps removed!

And the $1 solar lights from Walmart have been so pretty all summer. I bought the very plain ones, but now the fancier ones are on sale for $1 each, so I got a dozen of those for next year. My niece has some and says that hers have worked well for 3 years now, which is good to know. I'd not tried them before.

Speaking of cheap, I was at the garden center snapping up more clearance flowers, and they were snipping off the left over caladiums to pack the bulbs away for winter. There was a wheelbarrow full of leaves and Sugarwings asked if she could make a bouquet of them. She loves to pretend she is a bride and always needs bouquets.

The nice lady gave her an arm full, and one to me too. I put them in water when we got home, and they look every bit as fresh a week later. I wonder how long they will last this way? I'm loving them.

Puppy Snuggles

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

By Karla Nathan / September 19, 2012

These puppies are growing so fast! Dewdrop is their biggest fan, and her mommy says that she wants to see photos on Facebook of them all the time. She calls them Puppeesh.

Dewdrop is a gentle child and can sit quietly and just snuggle a baby pup.

Of course, being on her loving Pop Pop's lap makes snuggle time even more special.

The babies decided to learn how to play on Saturday and are starting to wrassle with each other. Mostly, it involves chewing on a brother's nose for a minute, putting paws around each other, then napping.

For now, they reside in the living room, inside the wading pool. I keep a box with their (ever changing throughout the day) blanket or towel in the pool, line the pool with newspapers and pee pads, and they have learned how to waddle out to the pads to tinkle. A LOT. Those pads get changed all day long too, buy stock in pee pads NOW.

Usually, the pups live in the pool this way for 5 weeks or so, but with this many, there just won't be space. They will need room to run and play.

I'm thinking about moving my car outside and turning the whole garage into a nursery for when we aren't with the dogs. When we are hanging out with them, they can be in the house, or taking over the studio like a pack of hooligans.

At night, I can bring them back in the house to their pool.

I'm treasuring this time of them being tiny, bottle feedings, and babyhood.

It goes by so fast. Just look at Dewdrop, she's a big girl now.

Or at least SHE thinks so! She and her Gypsy mommy have picked out a pup to keep. They are renting a new home that allows pets, and has a small fenced yard. And a passle of little kids ready to cuddle the baby!

A thank you, an apology, and a clarification

swaps

By Karla Nathan / September 18, 2012

This luscious bundle of ribbons, still on my desk because they are too pretty to use, is from Becky

All of my Faery Swap books have been mailed! (well, except two late people who missed out, but I am trading with them one on one)

I
want to thank everyone who left a comment about the person complaining
about the page she hated and threw away. Thoughtful, heart felt comments
came from the crafty world of swappers, and lots of private emails
filled with caring came too.

The
one thing I want to clarify is that the page that she complained about
was NICE. Really nice. Quality materials, done well. I didn't mean for
anyone out there to be feeling bad or having second thoughts about
their own work!!

This
shouldn't cast a shadow over this amazing swap, the work that came in
was top notch, filled with creativity. I was so impressed.

The only reason I brought up the whole issue, is that I was hoping she would read the comments you left and be too embarrassed to bring up the subject on her blog or Facebook. If she hurt the feelings of the person who made that page, it would break my heart.

And now I need to apologize to all of you, whose feelings I hurt by making you wonder if your page was the one in the trash. I should have kept the complaint to myself, but she was so ANGRY that I wanted to do what I could to make sure she didn't speak out publicly about this and name names!!!

Thank you all once again for being supportive. There is a wonderful arty community out there and I'm honored to be a part of it!