Karla's Cottage – Page 187

A little home rehab for a very little home

By Karla Nathan / January 27, 2012

after

Maybe I've mentioned that I am behind? Well, its been so bad that I didn't give my buddy, Angie, her Christmas gift! Christmas is long gone at this point, but there are still hints of it here and there in my home. I keep stumbling across a bauble that I missed packing away, or a bit of broken ornament peeking out from under a dresser.

Every year, I break quite a few Shiny Brites. I used to wonder what on Earth my family was going to do with all the holiday crap I have once I am gone.

But after breaking so many every year, I realized that by the time I am dead, they will be all gone.

before

Anyway, I had made this Christmas box for my friend, but its a bit late to give her a Christmas themed gift.

So, last week, I re-foofed it for the next holiday, by adding some Valentiney stuff.

after

The little angel by the door now holds a heart cut out of a red sequin, and the front sports a frosted glass heart with old rose wallpaper behind it, and some crepe paper.

And it isn't Valentine's Day without roses, of course.

Hopefully, her belated gift will have an extended shelf life now, so she can enjoy it awhile.

Patches

family

By Karla Nathan / January 26, 2012

Thanks for all your kind comments, but I'm not about to fall to pieces. I'm just a bit blue and slightly overwhelmed at the moment, but things get better. Life is an up and down thing.

When things go wrong, you fix what you can, patch up the messy spots and keep your eye on the happy shiny stuff ahead!

So, please don't think I'm in bad shape, I hope I wasn't complaining too much. Sometimes I over share on this blog…

Maybe to even out my negative post about being down I should print a happy list?

I have nice kids to worry about.
Sugarwings' elbow will heal.
My husband is buying chain saw pants to wear for the next time he cuts wood!
Sparkle was the sweetest puppy mama and lap dog EVER, and we were lucky to have her for as long as we did.
Winter might suck, but this one has not been very cold, and I've not got snowed in once. I've not even slid across the driveway and fallen on my butt yet. NO ICE!!!
Grandfairies are pretty cool to have around.
Our Hippy Chick is academically gifted and doing great in nursing school
Our Gypsy is starting at KU this week and loves her classes, and both girls will pass on the love of learning to the grandfairies.
My husband makes me laugh. A lot. He's fun to live with.
Agnes Rosebud could possibly grow up to be as sweet as Sparkle was.
My studio is a wonderful retreat, even when I am not feeling arty, its a beautiful place to be and I'm lucky to have it.
I have a new kitchen. A perfectly vintage, brand new, big kitchen.
All of our cars are repaired and back on the road and hopefully will go on for a long time before they need replaced.
American Idol is back and better than ever.
I sure enjoyed baking all those Christmas cookies that are stuck to my backside. Sugarwings and I love to bake together. Dewdrop has decided she wants to help in the kitchen and likes to stir the batters with us.
My shop is practically empty, and needs restocked.
People from last year's Birdsong are signing up to come back again and bring friends. That must mean that they liked it here at my cottage with me. That is a lovely compliment that so many are returning. And I look forward to seeing them again!
My friends are some of the funnest and caring people around.
I'm at a place in my life where if I want to take a couple of days off to feel blue, I can. My home won't be taken from me, my family won't go hungry, no one will even notice if I am not working a couple of days. I'm my own boss. That is a big plus right there.
You guys cared when I was a little down, even though it was just a little down. Thanks!

(3 kinds of new rhinestone chain is available in the Boutique, $3.50 a foot)

And the cupboard was bare

By Karla Nathan / January 24, 2012

Thanks to those of you who shopped in my stores over the holidays and the New Year clearance sales. I was torn up about Sugarwing's arm and losing my dog, among other issues, so I was not paying proper attention to the shops and decided just to let them clear out so I could start over.

And the clearance sale did just that for me! wow. This is one of the cabinets I store most of my tidbits in after listing them, and as you can see, it is down to bare bones. I've got piles of new things ready to photograph and add to the shops, but for now, its just down to a few basics that I keep in stock and not many other items. Etsy is completely empty and there are only 5 pages in the Boutique, compared to the 14-15 I had rockin for the holidays. There were multiples of all the millinery packs, and now each one is the last of its kind, all the others sold.(But I have more to come, if I can snap out of my doldrums and get out the camera)

Did I say, THANK YOU?? I appreciate you coming here to shop with me, I know that the web is huge and there are tons of choices bombarding you everytime you look around. I try to make my packages extra pretty to let you know that I'm glad you came by and visited my store.

I have not made a dent in the pile of new items left to stock so far. I did restock the Charlottes, because that was easy, I just renewed the existing listing. For the other goodies, I'll have to take photos, edit, and list them one by one. But I promise, there is some gooooood stuff comin!

That is, if I can get myself in gear. I'm just not feeling it right now. Typical winter blahs maybe, but the weather has been far from blustery and blah.

Sparkle is missed, that is for sure. I'm sad about that.

And there have been some other issues family wise that are getting to me. Just enough to sap my creativity.

In the meantime, I'm making myself do little crafty things. Just enough to keep me from hibernating with a book and avoiding the world around me.

Last night, we had the family over for soft fish tacos (broiled cod, red & green peppers, and onion, drizzled with olive oil, lime juice, chilli powder and sea salt then wrapped in sun dried tomato tortillas and topped with white cheese and heirloom tomatoes). On the side, we had fresh guacamole. So, I had about 5 avacodo peels. And I hate to waste anything, so I made dye.

The peels were boiled in about 4 cups of water, then left to sit over night. Today, I dipped ribbon and lace in the water.

Avocado peels make a beautiful, old pink, not a bright one. It looks like the color of vintage silk slips.

After about 3/4 of the dye water was soaked up, I added leftover coffee and dyed some more lace with that color.

Then, when that second batch was about gone, I poured in more water and added a few drops of blue food coloring.

What a pretty robin's egg color it makes! These ribbons will be perfect for tying up some little somethings for Birdsong in April, isn't it the perfect springtime color?

Birdsong Two is almost full, we have space for 5 people. Its really nice that so many people from last year returned and a couple are bringing friends. That means a lot to me, that so many ladies who were at our first party want to come to our second. That's probably enough to cheer me up right there, if I wasn't in such a blah, contrary mood, I'd be dancing around with joy just thinking about it.

I don't think there is anything wrong with letting myself feel a bit down now and then. Life is about contrast, there has to be some down to the ups.

So….

I'll roll with it. I acknowledge that I'm down, and let myself mope a bit but not waller in it.

I'll try to do little crafty projects until I'm back to feeling arty again and I really want to make something.

I'll indulge myself a bit.

I'll make a list of why I'm sad, face it, honor and understand it. To bury the sadness just plants a seed to grow depression.

Here is my list, it does help to write it all down and get it out of my head. I see what I can face, what is trivial, what is just part of life, and what really deserves attention. If not, its all some amorphous blob of doom over my head that I can't define.

My dog died
Seeing Sugarwings and my husband hurt shook me up, even though I know they are fine now, I'm still reacting.
Post holiday let down
I worry about my kids
its winter!
Picnik is closing, and I love that site, and use it daily!!
Ryan's car broke down
Sometimes I get treated like a doormat
I worry about my kids
Christmas cookies are stuck to my butt.
I miss my sisters, the older we get the further away they seem
Taxes are lurking
My studio is knee deep in clutter and I don't want to deal with it
I worry about my kids
Its winter.
I need a nap
I'm always behind, can't quite catch up

See, its not like I have giant, looming issues. Life is really pretty durn good around here andI know that I'm lucky. But for now, I'm going to take the rest of the day off the read a book and rest up a bit. Mabye an afternoon movie too…

I could do a "good things" list that would be thousands of times longer than my bad things list. But I won't for now, I'm going to roll with the downess a bit and then get on with the good stuff.

Gathering the Good Stuff and whispering up a load of hats

bird song art event, flowers, jewelry

By Karla Nathan / January 22, 2012

Maybe I've mentioned that I've been behind a bit? Well, I'm getting caught up. Finally, I think I have all the supplies needed to create the necklace for my Birdsong Two project.

Since I was only using vintage beads, I had to scrounge to find enough old necklaces to take apart before I could make my prototype pendant.

Slowly, but surely, I gathered beads, crystals, and pearls in clear, taupe, cream, white, brown and pale pink.

As I accumulated baubles, I snipped them apart, carefully counted and sorted the treasures, and then made up a chart to keep track of how many of each that I had. For every kit, I needed beads in increments of 25, (Plus some for the examples too) so I divided them up into bags of 25, 50, and so on, then did a little sketch of each one, added a description and a number into my ledger. As I sorted, I started a separate bag of beads to set aside for the example, making sure I had the exact number for myself that I have for the class kits.

Yep, it would have been so much easier to order a package of pearls on-line or at Hobby Lobby. But I wouldn't want a necklace made out of those, why would I think my guests would want one? We are going to Use the Good Stuff.

My jaunts to antique malls have been fast and single minded. I've had Sugarwings, her Daddy, his Gypsy and our little Dewdrop staying with me while we nursed the broken wing of our little fairy. They all tagged along with me to get out of the house and the searches were to the point, no time to meander about.

But, who could blame me for spying a floral hat here and there while I was on a desperate hunt for crystals?

Its been Hat Bonanza Bonus Week around here! And I found a handful of necklaces too, old pearls, lots of aurora borealis crystals, and some mother of pearl.

There are probably enough gems in my treasure chest to start crafting my necklace. My chart might seem a bit of overkill for sorting beads, but by nature I am not an organized person. I have to severely train myself to be careful, double count, and make lists. If not, things go in one ear and out my mouth. I'm not even organized enough for the traditional in one ear and out the other style of doing business.

Thoughfulness

bird song art event, fairies, family

By Karla Nathan / January 20, 2012

My friend, Meleen, sent me a nice surprise this week. A beautiful box full of boxes! And not just any boxes, very vintage, never used, bird seed packaging.

Meleen is from Oyster Bay and embellished the gift with this cute idea.

These boxes will be IDEAL for Birdsong Two. I already have something in mind for them. And I will be adding Meleen's blog to my side bar as an official sponsor for the weekend.

If you would like to sponsor the event, please contact me. All you do is donate something that the ladies will enjoy. Most of the gifties will go into the goodie bags they will be receiving. Hmmmm….. that reminds me…. I need to brainstorm some goodie bag design ideas…….. heck, I don't even have my project done for you to see, let alone details like goodie bags pulled together yet.

I could be behind due to the fact that I have spent a lot of time here, in the "force field", which is what Sugarwings has been calling her clubhouse/fort under the dining room table.

Its a cozy spot, with an assortment of fluffy pillows- a soft, princess pillows, a tooth fairy pillow (a gift from Cindy), and a unicorn Pillow Pet/ Plus, handmade afghan from our Gypsy, a DVD player with a stack of movies, some fairy friends dangling from the bottom of the table as well as some drawn underneath the table top.

What more do you need? She slipped into her princess gown, and slung on her decorated sling, grabbed a dog and settled in for a few movies. I curled up next to her with a good book, and didn't want to come out.

Yesterday Dr. Pretty Boy (the resident at Children's Mercy that took care of our little broken wing fairy was quite beautiful to see, her mom and I really enjoyed his visits) gave her the go-ahead to return to school, with limited activities. Over protective Grams didn't take her first thing this morning, I thought a half day was a good transition after being hurt and out of class for a while.

But, now she is back to pre-K and my time is my own again. Hopefully there will soon be a necklace to show you for Birdsong, and my mind can start percolating on some goodie bag ideas.

More gifts came recent;y too. Beth had a tattered lace table cloth for me, just perfect for turning into leaves for my Song Of Spring wreath class for Paper Cowgirls, and a pretty water jug to serve tea in at Birdsong Two.

Beth brought all these to me on our last craft day, as a bereavement gift for losing poor little Sparkle. Although, Beth never really needs a reason to bring gifts, she finds things for me at auctions and estate sales and picks up little tidbits all the time.

Another bag full of lace was delivered in person to my front door by a new friend who read my blog and knew I'd give her grandma's lace a good home. She happened to be in town having a girl's day out with her quiliting buddies and they all came by to see me. It was so nice to have company, and so thoughtful of her to bring me the pretties. How sweet!

PS- Beth will be at the Old Summit Antique Show this weekend. Will I see you there?

Feathered friends

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / January 17, 2012

The kids have some new pets out at the yurt, a flock of baby banties. (Silky Bantam chicks) These are the fancy kind that look more like llamas than chickens, and are super cuddly and friendly, since they have been hand raised and live indoors. Yes, they are house pets, till spring and a new coop can be built for them. In the mean time, they have a chicken wire encased dome over a giant, sand filled litter box to live in.

The family stayed here with us at the cottage most of the week, so we could all be a team in nursing our Sugarwings back to health, and I was really tempted to bring the chickens back with us when we all drove out to the yurt to visit and feed them, but I had a feeling that Twinkle would have enjoyed their visit a little bit too much.

And so would the kittens.

We are building an area for chickens at our own place, but we won't have house pet chicks, ours will be big, fat, laying hens that have their own house and a fence to keep the dogs out. We plan on letting them roam around the yard to keep fleas, ticks, and chiggers away from us during the summer, but it will only be when the dogs are indoors. The chickens will have to learn to take turns with the dorkies on yard time.

I am so excited, day dreaming about a chigger free summer…. Oh, what lofty dreams I have. I can't imagine the joy of going bug bite free for the season. Years ago, I raised birds and they really do the job. Then I decided to transform the chicken coop into an antique store, which was great for a while, but has not been in use for a few years now. Time to fill it back up with bug eaters! The fresh eggs are just a bonus for me, its the pest control quality of hens that excites me.

While I am enjoying this extra mild, no-snow winter we are having, I'm already dreading the on-slot of spring time bugs that a mild winter means. As much as I hate snow, I love to have those pesky biting bugs zapped by ice.

Notice that both grand fairies have a favorite bird? This one is Marshmallow and seems to enjoy her cuddles.

I like Phoenix, the ginger one. I think the other is Licorice. There are a few more orange and black ones, but only one white, and that is the fur ball that both girls seem to want to latch on to.

We've had a nice time with all of the kids staying here most of the week. Sugarwings is an energetic, little force of nature and doesn't like to be told not to run and play. But her injury is a serious one and she needs to rest it for the nerve damage to heal properly. So, we've done our best to entertain her while keeping her down.

She has spent a lot of time in her "force field" as she calls it. I made up a fort under the dining table with lots of pillows to lay on, and her portable DVD player to watch endless movies on. I've crawled in there too, with a good book (I'm on book 4 of Game of Thrones), and its pretty cozy.

One day, we all decided that we had to get out of the house before cabin fever set in, and we spent a day junking in Topeka. I was on a quest for vintage necklaces to take apart for my Birdsong 2 project and its surprising just how many beads you need to make up 25 kits plus a couple example necklaces.

My goal is to use only vintage materials, so I can't simply figure out what I want to make, then order the supplies. I have to make sure that I have plenty of supplies before I design the piece. My thoughts on kits is that they should be complete with everything that is shown in the example, so I've searched high and low for just what I needed for the project.

I think that after a few junking trips, I've got enough to get started on the creating part. There are pearl beads in cream, white, ivory, taupe, and tan. Crystal beads in aurora borealis, clear, amber, and pale pink. Plus some hand carved mother of pearl ones too. As well as a couple of surprise elements to make the pendant extra fun.

There is room for a few more people at our gathering if you are interested in joining us! I'll have photos of the 4th project up soon.

And please consider that the Valentine Wreath class is still on schedule for Saturday, Jan. 28th at 10am. We'll make a wire wrapped wreath, topped with vintage goodness and two nesting love birds. There will be lunch, treats and supplies for making Valentine cards too.

$65 for the whole day

$100 for two if you want to come with a friend!

Round Robin Honeymoon and an even bigger and better sale!

Books, Round Robin Book Swap, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 15, 2012

Also, I am in the mood to seriously CLEAN HOUSE. After all the turmoil lately, I feel the need for freshness. So, my clearance in the Boutique and Etsy is amped up.

You have to go to the Boutique from this link:

http://www.karlascottage.com?code=January

And you will get 60% off with the code word January.

Use the same code word, January to get 60% off in the Etsy shop.

When I was invited to be a part of a round robin group, I almost said no. I thought I didn't have time, but I am glad I made it work! It has honestly been fun to do, and I am very excited about the art I will get in return too.

This is my latest page for Lisa's book. Hers has more of a theme than mine does, and Beth's most recent page for this book was really interesting, the "heroine" of Lisa's story got married on Beth's last creation.

So, on mine, I decided to send her on a honeymoon.

I found a photo in an ad from a very old Vogue of a young lady in lingerie looking into a mirror. I cut her away from the mirror, glued it onto old text over frayed and faded red velvet torn from the cover of a tattered photo album, and then used one of the photo mats over it.

To the topside of the mat, I glued the girl. The mirror is slightly tucked under the edge of the mat, so you don't see the shape of where she had been snipped away.

To give the mirror some sparkle, I outlined the frame in Stardust Gelly Roll gold ink, and rubbed it away with my fingertip, so it left a subtle sparkle. I filled in the glass part of the mirror with Diamond Glaze, for a shiny finish.

I thought the girl looked like a young bride, giddy and in love waiting for her new husband to come to her.

The page is decked out with some old jewelry, and the bridegroom is cut from an old photo and glued to a big metal button, dented with time.

As its seen in the book, following the other pages, I hope the story is clear.

Most of Lisa's book, as well as all of ours in the swap, are "low color". But Lisa set the stage for introducing red with the quilt scrap she used on the back of her own page. And Beth had used a hint of red in the heart she crocheted on the back of hers.

So, I think that the tattered red velvet won't be too much for the book. The back of my page is the center one pictured. I think that it will have a nice flow with the others.

I haven't had a heck of a lot of time to create lately. I've been trying to get my Birdsong Two projects together, though (still need to work on one of them!) plus the other stuff going on around here, I've been out of it as far as pretty-making goes.

But when Lisa placed an order in my shop, I wanted to wrap her purchase up nicely, and ended up sewing this pouch, then decking it out with, well, honestly, with some stuff laying on my desk. Well, you know, if you only use things you like, and only use good stuff, then the scraps that are laying around are usually worth using too!

See what I mean? These flowers are OLD. Some of the oldest I've ever come across. Definitely good scraps!

I know Lisa uses "the Good Stuff" too. She's made up this fairy assemblage for Birdsong Two, and it looks like she has picked out some winners to use in her kits. (she makes great kits, I was in one of her classes, wow)

I'd love to see you at Birdsong Two.

To check out the details, go here.

And if you'd like to be a Birdsong Two sponsor, please contact me. As a thank you for goodie bag gifts that you give to our guests, I'll post your link on my side bar of both blogs for a year.

What will we be making at Birdsong 2?

bird song art event

By Karla Nathan / January 13, 2012

One of my projects is ready for Birdsong 2. I'm still designing and gathering goodies for the other one, which will be a pendant made up of all vintage beads and charms, with a little bit of tatting as a surprise element.

This class is on how to make a paper mache mushroom, covered in ephemera. This photo shows the underside of the fungi.

This is the top.

Hiding under the mushroom is a Charlotte fairy dressed in millinery blooms and petals.

More little flowers plucked from old hats grow in the moss carpet under her feet. Although, her feet aren't touching the moss, she is suspended above it, in flight.

We will assemble the whole scene from scratch, and every thing is supplied for the class.

Beth and Lisa have their classes ready to show too. Beth is digging into her deep drawers filled with paper and pulling out a selection of old text and handwriting to show her signature torn paper collage backgrounds. She'll also provide collage sheets of images and birds and walk us through how layering and building levels creates drama in your work.

Lisa's piece is an invitation by the fairies to come into their world of vintage beauty. We will build a vignette covered in ephemera as a multi media home for these sweet sprites. And if you have ever been in one of Lisa's classes, you will know what beautiful supplies she gives us to work with!

(you notice I say, "us"? Heck, yes, I'm taking these classes too! I try to plan the weekend so I can hang out and soak up the fun too, while creating with my crafty peeps)

I'll have pictures of the necklace I'll be helping everyone make, as soon as I take one more little junking trip to get a few more tidbits to add to it. Right now, I'm a little busy with Sugarwings and her broken fairy wing.

There are still some spots left at Birdsong Two. We are very lucky to have more than half of last year's group returning.( I think that means they liked it!!) And how nice that they signed up sight unseen while we were still cranking out the proposed projects.

But now you can see some of what we will be making and there is space for some new friends to come and play too. I hope we will see you there?

Also, I am in the mood to seriously CLEAN HOUSE. After all the turmoil lately, I feel the need for freshness. So, my clearance in the Boutique and Etsy is amped up.

You have to go to the Boutique from this link:

http://www.karlascottage.com?code=January

And you will get 60% off with the code word January.

Use the same code word, January to get 60% off in the Etsy shop.

Good bye Sparkle

dogs, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 11, 2012

Well, little Sparkle was just too sick to hang on. Its heartbreaking to say goodbye, but we knew it was coming, just not this soon. Thanks for your kind words and encouragement for our family right now.

In happier news, Sugarwings is doing well with one arm and its not slowing her down one bit. Even though the Dr. says she needs to be slowed down…. that kid is hard to stop. Her teeth and toes are always ready to help out that left hand when needed and so far, she doesn't seem to mind not using her right hand.

Today, she came out to the studio with me to decorate her ugly, navy blue sling. We played around with gutting a stuffed animal and making that into the sling, but I was worried that I wouldn't get the angle right, and that we should stick with using the one that was provided by the hospital. Now we have an empty plush dog that Dewdrop thinks makes a fine puppet.

She might seem to have a lot of energy right now, and is tough to keep at rest, but she cries out in pain while sleeping, so I know that it must really hurt.

My husband's leg is doing well, and he says it hurts enough to remind him just how dumb he was to be careless with the chain saw.

Okay, enough sadness and fear for a long, long while.

Sparkie Jo (my mom called me Karkie Jo, and I called Sparkle, Sparkie Jo) was a sweet girl, and the most gentle dog you could meet. She had lots of puppies in her life and of all the mama dogs I've ever owned, she was the most loving toward her pups. She treasured and cuddled and spent much more time just playing with them than most mother dogs. She was like that with everyone, always ready to show caring and sweetness.

I choose to remember how lucky we were to have her with us for the ten short years she was part of our family. And also to count myself lucky that Sugarwings and my Handsome Husband were not hurt worse than they were and that we will have them around for many more decades and decades.

Next post, I hope to have some more fun things to talk about. In the mean time, the sale is still on in the Boutique (40%) and the Etsy shop (50%). I haven't had a chance to take it down. You can get some good deals on millinery, doodads, pretties, and other stuff. Tutorials are also on sale!

It was the best of days, it was the worst of days

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family

By Karla Nathan / January 9, 2012

French by Design

Saturday started out Great. Extra Great. So wonderful that I wouldn't shut up about what a Great Day it was.

Seedbox

Beth and I met up to go to Bottom's Up. The BEST antiquing experience in KC. Gwen and Terry find the most intriguing dealers whose displays and talent are crammed to the brim with inspiration and wow.

Raised in Cotton

But best of all, we kept running into friends and spent lots of time chatting and catching up with fellow junking buddies.

I'd had a bad cold and a back ache for a couple of weeks, through the busy holiday time, and kept pushing myself to pretend I was fine and to keep enjoying the jingle bell season instead of letting myself get rested and over it all. Plus, Sugarwings had been sick before Christmas and I'd been traveling, and well, you know how worked up a person can get at that time of year anyway, add a few tasty little tid bits like that and moods can really turn dour and sour when the whole after Christmas let down period kicks in.

Yep, I was down, and tired and not quite myself. I've been trying to get my examples for the Birdsong Two classes done and nothing was clicking, because of my mood.

So, I took some time off from trying to be creative, eradicated all trace of holiday decor from my house, and zipped off to KC to Bottom's Up and to hang with my BFF.

Did I mention that it was a Great Day? And I was so happy, I was obnoxious about it. I desperately needed a day of pure fun.

And not only did I visit with friends, see beautiful old stuff, I BOUGHT a lot of beautiful, wonderful, old stuff. At beautiful, wonderful prices. Yep, Bottom's Up is a top-of-the-line place, but there are deals to be found there too. You can find exquisite, one of a kind, high dollar items, and you can also find exquisite, one of a kind, great deals!

What really made me happy was that I found just the ideas and supplies I needed to make my Birdsong projects for the classes!

Yep, not only did I come up with a plan, I found enough to make 25 kits, plus extras for examples and to practice on.

I hope to get them done soon and get the photos up.

I'm so pleased with the registration for Birdsong Two. Its filling up quickly. I've been away from my computer, so don't have an exact count, but its getting there. (you can still join us the last weekend of April if you'd like!)

Yes, a Great Day was just what I needed, Beth and I went to BU, as well as all the other pop up stores that are only open one weekend a month in the Old West Bottom's region of Kansas City, tucked into warehouses and abandoned buildings. The backgrounds of the stores are always interesting.

Look what we came across at one of the places, I can't remember which. There are LOTS of them now, all within a few blocks. Maybe it was at Bella Patina?

Anyway, its a buffet that I painted years ago and sold at my old antique mall booth.

Its always cheery to see one of my pieces out in the world. And I was feeling so cheery by then, I was almost punch drunk. I think I told Beth that I loved her a few times.

Then, things started to fall apart. I dropped Beth off at her home, just as the phone was ringing to tell me that Sugarwings was in the hospital, not far from Beth's house, luckily I was ten minutes away.

When I got there, I heard the story that she had been at one of those big, indoor play places at a birthday party, and had fallen from the top level, luckily hitting a bouncy slide on her way down before plummeting to the ground.

Her mommy was the hero that day. She couldn't find anyone to help her or to let them out of the play area, through the canvas sides. So, she had to scoop up our little fairy with her broken wing and carry her through the rest of the kid's obstacle course to get her out of the building! Up and down a slide, through the ball pit, etc, she ran while carrying her daughter. No employee came to help her or answered her calls to let them out a short cut.

All of the family gathered as soon as they could at the hospital. Her Daddy's truck wouldn't start, and he took off on his bike to meet my husband to get a ride from Lawrence, leaving his bike in a ditch when he finally met up with his dad and hopping in his truck.

When they arrived, my husband was limping. And wouldn't tell me why, said it could wait till we got our fairy baby transferred to the Children's hospital for surgery.

Apparently, he knew I had needed a fun day out and hadn't called me earlier to tell me that he'd stood on a dead log that broke in half while he was using his chain saw, and that he gashed his leg open with that saw. Well, that is my nightmare come true. I hate those things and have been dreading this for years.

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers while I was staying up at the hospital with our girl, who is much braver than I am. She is feeling better and uses her left hand and her toes to do about anything she wants to.

We are home now, and its hard to keep her quiet. It was a very serious break, and she is not to play outside for a while. Somehow or another, we are supposed to keep that little fireball tranquil a few weeks so she can heal. She has 3 pins in her elbow and some nerve damage in her hand, that the Dr. says should heal within a year. But its important to not bump or move it all around much for right now.

So, we are watching movies, and movies, and more movies. Today we all went to see TinTin in 3D.

I'm doing better now too. That first night, I concentrated on not fainting or letting my thoughts dwell on chainsaws. I was in more than a bit of shock, and didn't cope well with either accident. But both patients are sturdy and doing well. And I think that my Great Day with Beth helped me quite a bit and gave me the boost I needed to cope.

Sadly, while we were staying at hotels near the hospital a couple of days, our little Sparkle's health has deteriorated. Her kidneys have been failing, but now its beyond that. I came home to floors covered in, well, we won't go into that, you've heard enough. I bathed her, sanitized the floors, and called the vet. If you have any well wishes left to spare for my family, I'd appreciate some sent to "Special Sparkle" as Sugarwings calls her. She's frail and not doing well at all.

Thanks again for caring. I was too shaky to read any of my book, and newsprint just blurred in front of my eyes while I was in the waiting rooms. It was nice to have those sweet, caring Facebook and blog comments to read. Some people don't understand and wonder why I care what strangers have to say. But these weren't from "strangers".

Some were from our family, some were close friends, some were blog friends, some Bellas, some art buddies. All were people who cared. And reading those caring words really did help.

Thanks so much.