Karla's Cottage – Page 185

Somerset Apprentice

By Karla Nathan / March 6, 2012

As I was making up kits to pack for Paper Cowgirls, I realized that I'll be in Texas for St. Patrick's Day. Not that I'm a fan of green beer, or that I go out on the town, but I am fond of all holidays. Even more since I became a Grammy, Sugarwings loves any reason to celebrate.

And my sister is a dedicated geneologist who has traced the "Downey" side of our family (my maiden name) back to Ireland and County Downs. So, I should at least slap some green on for the day!

Maybe my little grand-leprechauns and I can do something special for it when I get back. When my kids were little, they got green food coloring in their cookies and milk and whatever else I could find to tint for them. Now-a-days, I avoid food coloring for the girls.

I need to find some good organic food colors to use, because I miss pink icing. And green milk is just too much fun to have for St. Pats!

We are even celebrating Sadie Hawkins Day this year. There isn't much we don't turn into a party here at the cottage. Sugarwings and Dewdrop have been staying here quite a bit lately and it seems like every morning is a party when they come trouping down the stairs with their big grins, bed heads, and happy voices, ready to start their day.

Here is something else I have to celebrate, I got my advance copy of Somerset Apprentice in the mail.

At a glance, I can see its a wonderful issue, and am honored to be featured as a "Pro".

I can't wait to get time to kick back and relax to read it cover to cover. Not only for the pretty pictures, but I saw that there are lots of wonderful tips and tricks to learn.

Its always an honor to be in any of Stampington's magazines, but this one really meant a lot to me. Sometimes, my so called job is a bit iffy. Am I an artist? Or a crafter? Or just a shop keeper? Sometimes I think that maybe I'm simply a babysitter and housekeeper.

But hey, somebody out there thinks I'm a PRO and actually printed that belief.

Yep, that means a lot. Thanks, Somerset Apprentice!

PS- notice the Google Friend Connector is missing from my side bar? Yep, they are no longer working on Typepad blogs as of March 1st. If you want more information on how to follow a blog, Marianne has done some homework and explains it all very well here.

She also has a good tutorial on using Google Reader here

and here.

I have asked Hope, who designed my blog, to add a connect button for all of these various blog following sites for me. She'll be doing that soon.

Birdie Bed Banner

cottage, how to's, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 4, 2012

Everyday, I am loving our new, plush, lush, cozy bed more and more. Its hard to pull myself out of it every morning and I find that its pretty nice to lay there, sip my coffee and check emails on my IPad instead of heading over to the cold studio, turning on the heat and reading my emails while waiting for the room to warm up. Especially this week, I've had a kidney infection and that extra laying around time in the morning has been welcome.

As a matter of fact, I stayed tucked in all day on the 29th, and got good and rested up. At least it was an extra bonus day on the calander so, I don't consider it a real day off.

(years and years ago, from Country Almanac- by the way, the stylist pulled pillows from all over the house to pile into this picture and I never thought they matched)

We've never had a head board that we could actually lean against while sitting up in bed and reading or watching TV before. I've always gone for found objects, cool junk, or vintage iron headboards in the past.

(before this new bed, I used a mantel as a head board)

Even with a stack of pillows, all of my previous beds were not good for leaning against.

Our padded head board with soft pillows against it has completely won me over. But I thought the vast expanse of linen was a little too plain for my taste, no matter how nice it was to lean on.

It kind of reminded me of an inspiration board, so I thought I'd turn it into one. But I didn't want anything to ruin its comfiness factor.

I decided to print some vintage pictures onto some soft, old, lawn hankies, and simply pin them up with pearl topped pins. The linen covered padding is nice and tight, and deep, so the pins went straight down in, and I don't have to worry about them poking into my skull. That would certainly have taken away most of the comfiness.

I pinned a few soft flowers and some lace up between the pictures to make it look like a banner.

In my stash, I have zillions of old pictures and books, but I wasn't in the mood to sift through it all till I found just the right ones. So, I made a quick visit to the Graphics Fairy and grabbed a couple of pretty drawings of birds and roses. I had to do a little bit of editing to get them just as I liked, but not much. This is two pieces that I edited together. As the kids from Glee would say, its a "mash up" of images.

Beth prints on fabric all the time, I'd never tried it this way. I've used purchased sheets of canvas, but its expensive and I didn't want it stiff like the stuff I've bought before. She sent me home with the materials I needed and it was every bit as easy as she said it would be. I practiced on a couple of other pieces before I pulled out the vintage, embroidered hankies.

First, I ironed the hankies, then pressed one onto a full page Avery label, and smoothed it out. A hankie isn't quite the same shape, so I trimmed the edges really good. My worry was that something would tangle up inside the printer and it would be all screwed up like the bobbin part of my sewing machine is right now. But that is another project story and one that didn't turn out as nice as this one did. You don't want to hear about it, and I don't want to think about it. I'm avoiding that sewing machine, with its giant web of thread.

Anyway, I smoothed the hankie onto the sticky backing of the label, trimmed it up, and slid it through the printer, no problems.

You can't really tell from the photos, but the cloth has some pretty little hand done touches to it.

So far, they seem to stay in place, even with pillows bunched up against them while I'm reading and enjoying my coffee. I purposely hung them a little tousled and messy, so if they ended up that way it would look natural.

And the whole room feels serene, not busy like previous incarnations of the space.

PS- thanks to all of you who have purchased my Three Wire Workshops! (nest, crown, and wreath) Its selling well, and I appreciate that.

and another PS- notice the Google Friend Connector is missing from my side bar? Yep, they are no longer working on Typepad blogs as of March 1st. If you want more information on how to follow a blog, Marianne has done some homework and explains it all very well here.

She also has a good tutorial on using Google Reader here

and here.

I have asked Hope, who designed my blog, to add a connect button for all of these various ways to follow a blog for me. She'll be doing that soon.

Cartons, Kidneys, and Kits

paper cowgirl, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / March 1, 2012

This week, I've been knee deep in ephemera scraps, covering these boxes in bits of old paper, with a flower and bird theme.

After they got foofed, I started filling them up with goodies to make the wire wreath for the class at Paper Cowgirls. I've not got very far on the kits themselves yet, I came down with a kidney infection and being on my feet was starting to get to me, so after making the boxes, I quit for the day.

When I do kits, I spread everything out and take up a few table tops. As soon as my antibiotics kick in, I need to get this finished so that I can have use of the room again. Beth is coming over to help me assemble our Round Robin Swap books to mail to Somerset and I need the space.

Really, I'm not that sick. I went to see my Dr. as soon as I started to feel bad. I'm old enough and wise enough (finally, something good about getting old! Learning from the past) now that I don't wait till I'm so sick I can't get out of bed to go to the doctor, if I feel a twinge of something coming on, I get an appointment that afternoon and start feeling better fast. In my youth, I would wait and wait, thinking whatever I had would soon get better, but instead I'd just end up more and more sick.

The boxes started out not really all that bad in the first place, but they were too shiny and new looking for me. I found them for $1 each, and liked the size and shape, so I bought a whole carton full of them. 20 cute boxes for $20 is not bad. I saw something kind of like them at Tuesday Morning for $8 each.

Here they are with a coat of tan spray paint misted over them. I used it to tone down the apple green interior so I wouldn't have to cover it too, and also to soften the bright colors so they wouldn't show through the old paper I was covering them with.

While I was papering them, I started to feel crappy, and thought it was the lingering smell of the spray paint, and didn't realize I was getting a fever and a kidney infection until later.

No two are alike, but that is how things go when you use vintage goodies. And I'd get bored if I had to make a stack of clones, anyway.

Each one is covered in a similar manner, then tied shut with ribbon and a bird cage charm.

My class didn't come close to filling. But its not in my nature to do just a few of something…. And these boxes were fun to make, so it was hard for me to stop. After Paper Cowgirls, I'll have some kits left over if anyone is interested. Each will come with the new tutorial that I am doing now too.

It includes the wreath (with supplies in the kit), a nest, and a crown, all made of twisted and twining wires.

She also has a good tutorial on using Google Reader here

and here.

I have asked Hope, who designed my blog, to add a connect button for all of these for me. She'll be doing that soon.

Finishing up my Round Robin Pages

bird song art event, Books, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 28, 2012

Most of the pages I made for our Round Robin book, are "low color". But every now and then, I slipped in some floral tones, just because I thought it needed a little something. This page for Beth, is a tissue pattern paper background, glued down nice and wrinkly, then rubbed with an ink pad.

A ruffle of pattern paper was glued across the top, and a swath of lace was added near the bottom of the page. The B for Beth is drawn in glitter, onto a very old, hand written letter in French. I centered it inside a post card, with a circle cut out, layered it onto text from an old sewing magazine from the 20s that I'd covered a tag with.

The ribbons hanging down have glass buttons tied to a couple of their ends.

The theme of the Round Robin was "Her Life in Stitches", and I simply don't sew. All of my pages are glued, while the other women spent time doing lovely stitch work. I tried to use the theme by incorporating some sort of sewing item on each page. I tended to rely on buttons, lace, and ribbons quite a bit, I'm afraid.

Beth is one of the few people I've known who uses both sides of her brain to the fullest. How many ultra artistic accountants do you know? Her head is quite ambidextrous.

So, I thought I'd show both sides of her in her pages, creative and pretty stuff along with the business side.

This one has an envelope and report cards from a business college and is dated 1918. The background is a great old, gold leaf wallpaper.

There are layers of lace, ruffled ribbon, and a bejeweled hem from an old dress, along with a selection of buttons.

The back is kind of plain. Grey wallpaper, with a strip of the gold leaf paper, some lace and a pretty Victorian card.

Since the books all need to be sent off to Somerset soon, (how exciting!!) I hurried and made a few pages up for each person in the swap. All the pages were done in the same day, so a lot of the ideas and supplies were duplicated, but none were exactly the same. Everyone got an initial, Sandra's is done in pearls.

Lisa's too.

My own initials went on the inside of the back cover of my book. Since I'm not a sewer, my book is dedicated to my Mom, who was. Her photo is on both the front and back covers. Under her picture, I layered a page from a journal that I'd found that was signed, "Martha something Downey".

Mom's name was Martha Downey! Not that common of a name, especially with the "e" in Downey. I used the bottom of her photo to cover up the incorrect middle name.

Another unifying element in the pages I made the other day, is this jeweled and beaded fabric. I bought a flapper style dress that was encrusted with beads and rhinestone trim for only 12 bucks! I think everyone who was shopping at the antique mall heard my squeal when I came across that gem. It was tattered and falling apart, so that took all the guilt out of chopping it to pieces.

For this pocket, I cut around the beading pattern, then glued it to a matching piece of card stock.

Its attached to a background of white, flocked wallpaper. When I make a pocket, I always run a bead of glue along the bottom and sides, right at the edges, then slightly bunch it up, before pressing it into place. The bunching gives it a bit of a pouch effect, so that you can put items into it easier. Its not all that noticeable, just enough to be useful.

To fit the stitches theme, I slipped a dress form tag into the pocket. The tag is one that I made for my dress form tutorial, the class is about making a miniature dress form to decorate, but I also included patterns for collage too.

Sandra got a similar pocket from the glorious, gemstone encrusted, dazzling dress.

The tag I added to this pocket is a regular shipping tag, spritzed with two shades of Glimmer Mist, then inked around the edges. I glued a high fashion lady cut from a very old magazine onto it, added some ribbons.

Its been such fun to be a part of this swap and have a different book arrive each month in the mail. I'll miss being a part of it.

Other fun stuff has been coming in the mail too. Laurie Jackson offered to be a Birdsong Two sponsor, not just once,

but twice!

Two boxes full of goodies for my "Peeps" attending our workshop/party in April came from her this week.

Laurie took the time to actually create little gifts for all of the women, plus gave them some vintage goodies to work with, and packaged them up really cute.

But that wasn't the end of it, she also asked the author of this book, that she collaborated on, to send a copy for each lady! I can't wait to peek into one. I can always use some selling tips. I wonder if one of them, is to get off your behind and get busy and do it, not just talk about filling the shop up?

If you'd like to be a sponsor, please let me know, the ladies will be thrilled to open their gift bags.

Or if you'd like to attend, we have three spaces open. There were only two, but due to an illness, one chick had to leave the nest.

Arietty is so Pretty

antiques/junking, Books, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 26, 2012

My friend, Lisa, told me that she was so excited about a movie coming out about the Borrowers, her favorite book from childhood. I vaguely remembered the book, and took another look at it, she was right, its such a fantastic story. I think it spoke to me more as an adult than it did as a kid. I'm trying to read it to Sugarwings, but the fact that it is based in England years ago, makes the language a little too difficult for her.

She held up all of her fingers and told me to read it to her again when she was that many.

But I took her to the movie as soon as it opened and now she rates Arietty right up there with Ariel and Dorothy as her favorite heroines. And I agree. The movie was so beautifully done, I couldn't get enough of the artwork. Even Sugarwings, as lost in the story as she was, kept pointing out how pretty everything was and was asking me the names of the painted flowers.

The next morning after seeing the show, I surprised my fairy grand baby by leaving a pearl topped pin on the breakfast table (after snipping the sharp end off with wire cutters). Arietty sports a pin she found and tucked into her dress, as a sword, and even uses it to save her Mother's life at one point.

We are now writing a series of notes with little gifts to leave for the Borrowers who live in our own walls and have been making up stories about Sugarwings and Arietty playing with the kitties in our garden.

As a thank you to Lisa for sparking my interest in this story that my little one and I both love so much, I made this page for the Round Robin Swap that we are both in, to add to her book.

I took the ideas from the novel, about the teeny people "borrowing" ordinary things from the human beans in the house and re-purposing them for use in the walls to make a cozy place to live. The book describes letters hung sideways on the wall to make vertical striped wallpaper, and pictures of the queen (stamps) hung on the wall along with a ladies watch as a clock.

Arietty's mom adored a picture of the ocean taken from a card, and I came as close as I could by cutting out a picture from an old postcard that featured water.

The dining table is made from a playing card box, the vase is a thimble, and the table cloth is a lace scrap. On the table is a letter written with a quill pen and Arietty's sword/pin.

Popsicle sticks, rubbed with ink make up the floor. When it came to seating at the table, i was stumped because I wanted to use spools like in the book, but was also trying to keep the page flat enough to fit in the book, so I drew some spools on card stock, cut them out and wrapped thread around them.

I had some trouble finding just the right stamps, so I asked Beth if she had any I could use. Here is a sample of her pile of stamps I had to chose from! I was able to pick out not only the perfect pictures, but I love the colors they were too, I think they compliment the other colors I already had in the page.

The other thing I was lacking was a thimble. Not a single one, anywhere in my studio. So, of course, i asked Beth, who has everything.

Not only did she have a selection of regular sized thimbles, she brought out a Monopoly game piece one that is what I ended up using.

While I was in KC visiting Beth, we hit a few estate sales. I bought this old jewelry box for its faded pink interior. At the same sale, I found a pile of keys for a good price and bought a bagful. Beth bought was what left, I hadn't realized she was interested, or I'd have offered to split them.

But while I was looking for stamps at her house, I saw all of these, so didn't feel so bad about not sharing. I envy her piles of goodies!

It was an okay estate sale day, I've seen better. But we had such a good time, I told her she could take me to the Dollar Store instead and I'd enjoy it just as much. It was the company that counted.

Besides the keys and box, and a few other little tidbits, I bought at set of vintage cut glass drinking glasses for $12 and this other new stuff for my kitchen. Sugarwings and Dewdrop will enjoy the little white pitchers at our next tea party. Its time to start showing that littlest fairy how to pour her own cream!

Beth and I worked on bagging up her kits for Paper Cowgirls. I still have mine to do yet. I probably should not have taken the day off to go and play in KC, that was one more thing that was NOT on my list of what I need to be getting done.

But it will all get done somehow. I'm sure of it. Or at least that is what I tell myself…

I'll have some more round robin pages to show you this week. I made quite a few of them this week. The books are being sent to Somerset, so this week, I'll need to label all the pages and pack them up. I'll snap a few more photos as I do.

The newest Italian Super Model

fairies, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / February 24, 2012

Jenn's over the top, dreamy affair in NC last fall was published in this Italian magazine. Jenn deserves all the accolades and world wide attention she got for this, it was amazing.

Woo Hoo! I feel very America's Next Top Model in Italian Vogue! (Yes, I'm a sucker for all of those Top Model shows, ) But I have a feeling I'd be voted off the episode for that stiff pose and lack of "finding the light". And I'm more suited to be an Italian grandma making pasta than a sleek super model.

But hey! This is not something that I ever would have dreamed I'd see and I'm tickled pink about it. A photo of me in a European publication?

pictured: Natasha, Dee, Lori, Jenn, Andrea, and me

That is me in the top left, I was helping decorate for the event and put some of the decorations on my head. I do tend to do that sort of thing. In the bottom right photo, Dee Foust is wearing one of the crowns that I made (shameless plug! Tutorial available here ). That is beautiful Jenn strolling across the meadow in the larger photo.

I have wonderful memories of the weekend in the mountains, with great friends old and new. Thanks again, Jenn!

This pretty weekend was also covered in Sonia's Creating Vintage Charm, an indie magazine that is really well done. I think that the fairy tale interlude is probably being published in a zillion other magazines too, it was pure photo op, all the way through and the talented Tiffany was there to snap it up.

Seriously, there wasn't a spot anywhere that you didn't feel compelled to point a camera at. It was that beautiful.

Sonia and I got to sit together during craft day at Once Upon a Dream and hung out a bit during the weekend. I plan on being a regular buyer of her zine. As much as I love reading blogs, its nice to have an actual magazine in your hands to flip through too.

And she fills it with charm, just like the title.

Funny, this photo didn't make any publications….or Top Model, even though, in my mind I was using all the modelling tips that I'd learned by being a faithful follower of the show.

Of course, I spent my youth watching "I Love Lucy" and that might have sunk in more than "America's Next Top Model" did.

On a completely different subject and one that ticks me off almost as much as losing Picnik, have you heard that Google Friend Connect is closing too? I'm wondering, will I lose the followers on that list? What do you know about it?

If you read my blog on Google Reader, but got there by subscribing on my side bar with Google Friend Connect, maybe you should subscribe directly on Google Reader, or I could just vanish from your list. I really am not sure what will happen. But I'd hate to lose you as a "Friend" even though Friend Connect is gone!

Beth has a good post about it here.

A forgotten drawer of pretties and a not forgotten, but delayed Fairy Swap

bird song art event, fairies, flowers, paintings

By Karla Nathan / February 22, 2012

The other day, I needed some supplies for a quick sketch to determine the style of a mural I am planning, and had to dig through my painting supplies drawer to find the paper I needed.

While I was in there, I took a little time to look at some paintings I have stashed away in the drawer. Some I had plans for, some I just did for the heck of it, the others were the basis of cards or something else that was a one time thing.

Recognize the roses? They were used as part of my blog design. I really should frame those, its one of my favorite paintings.

In the last few years, I have not taken the time to paint like I used to.

Finding a drawer full of paintings that I'd forgot about brought back a lot of memories.

Normally, I finish everything I start, whether I'm feeling satisfied with it or not. Its just a quirk of mine, I keep going till its done. So I was surprised to find this half completed fairy in the drawer. Hmmm, while I have my paints out, I might just have to finish her. Looking at all of these has got me in a painting mood.

On the other hand, I have plenty of other things I need to get done and I do my best to not get sidetracked with projects that are intriguing but not on my list. Durn list! Its pretty long at this point. And adding to it won't make marking things off go any easier. I'm even considering writing the list down, its getting so long and I dont' think my brain can take holding any more on this mental list of things I have hovering above me like a storm cloud.

Sometimes I think that seeing things written down makes them easier to tackle and less intimidating.

Writing directions and photographing step by steps for the Twining and Twirling Tutorial, 3 Wire Workshops was NOT on my list. I do tend to get sidetracked and have now spent three days on creating that blog site. Well, at least I got a lot of nests made for Birdsong while I was at it!

Speaking of Birdsong, I got the loveliest gift in the mail from Mercedes!

She had hoped to come to our weekend party in April and couldn't make it after all. She found this box of spun cotton tiny birdies and a vintage date book filled with birdie illustrations, and sent them to me. I will share some of them with the attendees, and add Mercedes to our Sponsor list on the side bar of my blog.

If you'd like to sponsor something for the drawings or goodie bags, please contact me.

Another new sponsor is Gail Schmidt of Shabby Cottage Studios. She has donated two $25 gift certificates to her shop for door prizes at Birdsong. Her shop is filled with things that the winners will be thrilled to shop through! Here are some of her sites:

www.shabbycottagestudio.com

www.shabbycottagestudio.net

www.creativeworkshops.ning.com

www.shabbycottagestudio.etsy.com

Thanks, Mercedes and Gail!

Oh, and the sketch I needed to do for the bigger project, that got me started digging through the drawer of watercolor memories? All done. If I had a list written down, I could cross this off of it! Here is a snippet of the picture, I don't want to give away the whole surprise.

On my mind since before Christmas, was hosting a Fairy Swap. I want to do a book of fairies, and I still plan on doing it. But so many things came up in my family since the holidays, I never got it planned for this winter. Now, here comes spring and I'm on the countdown to Birdsong.

I could probably squeeze in time to do a swap, despite that looming list- but its the space that the packages take up that is stopping me. Could I squeeze those in?

I will be turning my studio into a classroom for 25, and a hundred piles of fairies spread out over it might not fit very well with the students!

As I have done for Alice, Dorothy, and Birdsong swaps in the past, I'll paint a cover for the theme, copy it, and then embellish each cover by hand and add some nice vintagey pieces.

But for this one, I'm planning something Bigger and Better. Details to come, lets plan on May, okay? I think the fae prefer springtime any way, don't you? Their little wings would be frosty now.

So, please bear with me, I do plan on hosting this swap, and am excited to do it, sorry that I have to wait!

Some twists on a new tutorial

bird song art event, Tutorials

By Karla Nathan / February 20, 2012

My quest to make nests has turned into something much bigger. At first when I started working on making 20 plus nests for Birdsong, each took me over an hour to figure out. As I moved on and figured out a few things they went faster and got cuter and cuter.

So, while I was at it, I decided to take some pictures as I worked and do a tutorial.

And since I'd gotten so many inquiries about the wreath class I am doing, I decided to add that too. And one of the things people ask me about most is the fairy crowns that I do. Since all 3 of these are done with the same basic ideas, I decided to lump them all into one Wire Workshop that I am calling, "Twining and Twirling".

In these, you get all my tips and tricks, hints and how tos. As well as patterns for the leaves on the wreath and down loadable French text to print and use to cut the leaves out of. Also to decoupage the bird in the wreath, or eggs in the nest with too.

There are lots of pictures, and instructions, examples, and ideas. And I'll probably be adding more to it as time goes by. If you are one of the hundreds of people (thank you, thank you, thanks so much!!!) who bought my dress form tutorial, you already know that as holidays came along, I did extras for the occasion and added them to the existing tutorial for no charge. I already have some ideas for Easter that I want to play with and will tell you about on the tutorial.

You can click on the button to check out the sign up page. The cost is $20 for all three workshops. They will be set in blog form, and are up indefinitely. As long as I have a TypePad blog, and I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon.

By the way, everyone who is attending Birdsong Two, has already got a free entry to the workshop to try it out. There are three spots left for our party at the cottage in April, if you are thinking about coming, this online workshop is a little bonus you'll get for signing up!

Because I like to spoil my "peeps".

Galentines Day with the Gal Pals

family, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / February 18, 2012

My husband was out of town for Valentine's Day, but I kept myself busy by planning THREE parties in one day. The dogs were my official greeters when guests came to the door, and I needed their help. When I opened the door to say hi, I realized that I had laryngitis!

Luckily, it wasn't an all day thing, my voice has been coming and going a lot since then, but I manage to keep talking no matter what.

I had one group of friends over for brunch, and another for afternoon crafting in the studio. We called it Galentines Day, had some goodies, and a lot of fun.

These little Valenine treats were simple to make, by the way. I like to serve easy things that look a lot more complicated to make than they really are.

For these, I cut puff pastry with a heart shaped cookie cutter, and baked them ahead of time.

After they cooled, I spread a bit of cream cheese onto them, topped it with a slice of fruit and drizzled melted chocolate over it all.

That evening, I got to spend with the kiddos. Any day I hang with them is one jam packed with lots of love!

Craft day was good for me. I'd lacked time or oppurtunity to be creative for a while and had hit a dry spell. so, a day in the studio with gal pals and time to just make stuff was exaclty what I needed. And I cranked stuff out, after I loosened up and got going.

First I started with something really simple, these vintage ceramic shoes were already cute to start with, and I just glued some crap to them to foof 'em up a bit. These kind of are along the style of Lisa's wonderful tutorial, but there isn't nearly as much to these little ceramic shoes.

Then, I moved on to something a little more complicated. It was nice just to be gluing and thinking about where things go. This is a teensy little box that a bar of hotel soap came in. The legs are bingo tiles and the Charlotte fairy is only 1" tall. (she is in the Boutique now)

I made a few more things that day too, but haven't got photos of them yet. I did get some pics of some things to add to the shop, I'll leave you with a selection of whats new. I hope you are having a great weekend and still enjoying your Valentine goodies.

Mothers and Daughters

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family

By Karla Nathan / February 16, 2012

Today is my Mom's birthday and like always, she has been on my mind a lot. I learned a lot from her, and wish that I'd learned more. We were very much alike, yet oh, soooo different in many ways.

She was a sewer and for a while owned an upholstery shop. I can't stitch a straight line, but at least I absorbed a lot of knowelgdge about how it was done by sitting under her sewing table for hours as she worked when I was a kid. I know the basics on how to do any of it, but its the actual needle and thread work that stumps me.

She took pride in perfect stitches and even knew exactly how many per inch she hand sewed into her quilting or upholstering.

But me? If I pick up a piece of thread, it automatically starts twirling itself into a million knots. So, I transferred her love of creating to paint and other craftiness. Sewing has always eluded me.

Even this crazy quilt that she made is not as random as it seems. I remember her showing me the individual blocks that she was putting together with mathematical precision.

She taught me to take joy in hard work. That a job worth doing is worth doing right. That a clean house feels, and smells good and is worth the effort it takes. Now, I certainly don't take it to the levels she used to, this is a lady who used to vacuum under the bird feeder out in the yard. I've never gone so far as to vacuum the grass, but I do like my home tidy and comfortable.

Mom taught me never to be afraid to tackle anything. Any big job can be broken down into smaller parts, tackled one at a time, just like her quilts were patched together square by square.

Twinkle thinks this picture is about her, like every photo I take. Even if I'm taking a close up of something on a table, she is posing under the table thinking that the camera must be about her.

Mom made this quilt for me too. Its one of my favorite patterns, Log Cabin. You can't see the detail in the center, but its a hand stitched drawing of iris. In person, it shows up nicely, but the camera doesn't do it justice.

In honor of my mom's birthday, I put this quilt on Sugarwing's new Big Girl Bed. Maybe she'll feel my mom's love wrapped around her the next time she crawls in.

I chose this bed because of the ovals. Don't they look like frames, just waiting for a painting? I have plans to add some pictures soon. Lately, there has been too much going on and I think I might have mentioned, and maybe whined a bit about the fact that I am NOT caught up.

Hopefully, Sugarwings and Dewdrop will learn from me, just as I learned from Mom, to love having a pretty home around them, and taking joy in making it that way. Whatever talents they have as they grow up, I want them to know that you can tackle any job if you do it one block at a time and that nothing is too big to face if you are willing to do the hard work to achieve it.

And that hard work is much easier to face if you find something to laugh about while you are at it!

My mom was FUN. I hope all of my kids and grands think I am too.