Karla's Cottage – Page 198

Holding Space

By Karla Nathan / July 27, 2011

This girl is just getting cuter and cuter. She seems to think she is big enough to keep up with her sibs and likes to chase Sugarwings now.

And when all the big kids got balloons at the ice cream shop, she had to have one too.

She likes hanging out at her parent's new business, Holding Space. There is plenty of room to crawl around, a big mirror she can meet another baby in, and lots of bright colors.

I painted the rooms for my son, according to his feng shei designs. The entry is all metallic, the treatment room is blue and purple swirls for water. This room is "fire", so I did my version of a sunset.

We painted the top 1/3 of the wall red, the bottom 1/3 yellow. Then I brought up some yellow rays into the center, and around that, I painted the middle of the wall orange. (I saved money by mixing the red and yellow to make the orange, instead of buying another can of paint)

With a torn up tee shirt, I dabbed on, and blended some bright colors of acrylic craft paint.

The lower part of the wall is very colorful, but as I worked my way up, I changed to accenting with just a couple of colors.

There are high ceilings with a skylight, so its the perfect environment for plants.

The whole place is so inviting, I love the bright colors, even if they are the opposite of what I do at home. I used to do murals and faux finishes for a livng and kind of miss getting to lots of things that I wouldn't do for my self. Its fun to experiment with the bright side.

I gave up doing this full time because it is such hard work, and I felt like I was crippling myself doing it. But now that I rarely do decorative painting, and have a son who is a massage therapist, it isn't as painful as it used to be. After i finished this work, my sweet boy gave me an hour's treatment on my neck and shoulder and I felt better after that than I did before I'd even started painting.

Kind of makes me think his business will be a success, since he is so good at making aches and pains go away!

If you are in the area and need to feel better, give him a call.

We still have work to do, at the Habitat resale store, we bought a $5 window to put in this opening to give the massage room more privacy. After that, we'll paint the trim. Around the doors, I painted the trim with bronze glaze in a dry brush technique. For this, I'm not sure yet. I'll have to see how the window turns out, we are going to paint the glass with a mandela pattern.

Canvas drop cloths are waiting to be dyed and made into curtains and Sugarwing's Daddy has some other green/low cost decor planned too, but the space is already functional and open for business.

I gave them one of my favorite lamps, made by a friend. I hated to see it go, but it looks so good here, I just had to. I've got some hand blown glass lamps that I'm sending over too. I love them, but right now, they are just hanging in my shed, which is a silly waste of their beauty.

His Gypsy Beloved will be making her "Freaks", for sale. She makes funny little fairies and sock dolls too. Plus, she will be doing guided meditations. There is already a good following building up for her Wednesday night group sessions.

And my boy will be selling his silver wrapped jewelry. He has some skills, doesn't he? I love seeing the detail in his work.

Of course, I think these are his best creations.

He also travels to festivals to do massage and energy work, so I made a sign that he could easily transport. Its an old door panel, that I painted blue, flicked with white, then did some swirls on. This looks complicated, but takes only moments to do.

I dip my rag in multiple colors and do quick swirls with it.

Over that, I did some lettering, making the "o" a planet. My writing is far from professional, but suited the theme.

To get the watercolor look on the lettering, I let the white dry, outlined one side with black, let that dry, then outlined the other side with blue. While the blue was still wet, I used a brush loaded with water to bleed the color over the white paint.

I hope to do a larger, more permanent sign for the business too, but need to wait till I get caught up on a few more projects. Tag books for one… a painting of my grandma for a family cookbook, some decor for Jenn Hayslip's event in the fall, and about a billion more things. If you were wondering why I hadn't been making my little pretties or adding new goodies to the Boutique that explains it!

Thank goodness this is still selling each day! Thank YOU to all of you who are signing up for the $15 online classes. And I'm sorry I haven't had more kits to list, the ones I put in the Boutique went fast. I'll try to make up some more, I have a table top of supplies set up to go…. But- there is only so much time in a day. And not quite enough of it.

If you have any questions about the classes, feel free to ask. And I'd love to see what you make. Maybe we should have a linky party and show our creations? No two turn out the same.

Seems like this is becoming my "Summer Giveaway" too. I'm giving one away for each drawing I do. Leave a comment if you'd like to have a chance to win.

Marauders

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By Karla Nathan / July 25, 2011

On Friday, Sugarwings and I had a Girl's Night Out. We got all dressed up to go to the local community theater to see a play about pirates. Before it was time to leave, I double checked the theater's online site to see when we needed to be seated and saw that there was a costume party before the play! Now, how did I miss that before, that is the kind of thing that we just love to do!

We had about 15 minutes to devise a costume that looked piratey. What we came up with is kind of a shabby chic, princess, cowgirl, gypsy pirate, but she loved it.

Especially since she had a treasure bag hung on her belt that held some jewels and a half a roll of Lifesavers.

She also raided my jewel box and put on an armload of bracelets and a few necklaces.

The cowgirl boots were the only boots we had in her dress up closet, and were a few sizes too big, but she insisted that they were just right. Of course, they ended up in my purse, and I carried her most of the night because they kept falling off every time she took a step.

She was entranced by the play, and thinks she won the costume contest, even though she didn't. She was so enthralled by the show she let her "Shiver Me Timbers" float melt and forgot to drink it.

I'm hoping the theater will have more kid's productions, this was a blast for both of us.

So, Friday ended much nicer than it started. I got up early that day, with a fistful of dollars, and all the garage sales circled in the ads, finally heading out for some thrill shopping, it has been months since I got to scour for junk. Even though there were only a minimal amount of sales listed in the paper, I was up at 7 am and ready to hit them.

Instead, I walked out the front door into the breezeway and saw this mess! (it was even worse than pictured, I took the photo after picking up a bag of ripped up trash)

We'd had our own pirates over night. Coons came through the window to raid the cat food.

That is my curtain and the rest of the window's weather stripping on the floor. They tore the screen right off its frame and shredded it.

We've had trouble with raccoons in the past (I've walked right into a herd of them in the pitch dark, lurking in the breezeway, waiting to eat me- now I turn on the light before entering the room at night) so, I keep the windows closed out there, but since its been 104 degrees with a heat index of the surface of the sun, I cracked it open a a few inches to let out a bit of steam.

Who knew that the marauders could get through such a small opening?

The destruction they did seemed unwarranted for the small amount of food that they got. I think they were mad there was so little there for them and they wanted to teach me a lesson. They got a handful of cat food (stored in a plastic jug with a lid on it) and two juice boxes from the cooler. There was no good trash for them to eat, they just ripped the bag open out of spite.

You'd think that these guys might have barked while our home was under siege. They bark if a bunny comes within a 100 yards of our house or if a leaf falls from a tree. Although, even if they had warned me, I doubt if there was anything I could do. Coons intimidate me, they show no fear and always win a stare down contest when we get into them.

At first I was sad about these curtains, but then, I realized this was just the reason I needed to redo the room and get new ones. Its been this bilious green for years, and I've been wanting to redo it, just haven't done it.

Now, of course, its too hot to even think about, plus I'm still knee deep in tags. But I'll start the hunt for the curtains and that will lead me to the right colors for the room and I'll be thrilled to get it painted. I chose this green the day a beloved puppy died and I wanted something physical to do, and a color that was bright. So, not a lot of thought went into the color, I just grabbed a bright can from the store (oops paint, which someone else was smart enough to turn down), ran home and started to paint to take my mind off being sad.

The thing is, I just don't like living with brights too much. I prefer soft backgrounds. So, time for a change. And when I get the new curtains up, I'll keep the windows all the way shut to protect them from pillagers.

I'm continuing this giveaway. The prize is a dress form tutorial. If you have already purchased one of the $15 classes, (thank you!!), then I'll send you a kit of vintage goodies instead if I draw your name.

Name That Tag

bird song art event, swaps

By Karla Nathan / July 23, 2011

Yesterday, 50 tag books went out in the mail! That means I'm over 1/3 done. I'll work on as many as I can this weekend, then take a break for a few days while the stragglers come in. Your tags should all be mailed to me by now. If they have not been, please let me know.

photo #1

I thought you might want to see some of the combos I'm sending out.

photo #2
There have been some lovely books being compiled, because there is so much beauty for me to chose from.

Photo #3

Great work was sent in for this swap, I'm loving the theme and what everyone has done with it!

Photo #4

Sorry I can't link to each and every artist I'm showing, but these have already been mailed, I can't look at the backs to see whose is whose. Some I remember and some I don't. I don't want to list a couple people and not all.

Plus there are about 3 billion of them and I just don't have the limitless time to do the links PLUS make the books. Sorry.

You can look at our Flickr group to see more tags and see who has done which if you'd like.

Photo #5

Ya know, it might be nice if the artists left comments if they see their work and let us know where they are, such as:

"photo 3, row 1, tag 2" and their name.

Photo #6

With so many tags to pick thru as I put the books together, playing match up and assembling ones that look nice together has been a piece of cake.

Photo #7

But I do have to warn late comers, that their books might not blend as well, if I don't have as many to chose from. When it gets down to the last few books, whatever is left goes into them.

Photo #8

But honestly, I don't think anyone will mind! The artwork will be just as fun in a variety as it is in a matched up book.

Summertime

Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 22, 2011

Some of us don't mind this heat wave at all!

Hope you are finding ways to keep cool too.

Hosting a tag swap

bird song art event, Books, how to's, swaps

By Karla Nathan / July 20, 2011

The tag books are starting to come together. Well, sorta. I have about a dozen or so made up. Thats a start! Its been such fun to open them all and see the talent inside the avalanche of mail. And here and there, I come across a sweet treat like this extreme goodie pile from Sharon, and that makes it even more fun. Like a treasure hunt. Its all I can do to be polite and gently unwrap everything and be organized with the tags, and stop myself from being like a kid at Christmas ripping into pressies!

And look at these beauties from Rebecca! There is the perfect spot for that spoon in my kitchen cabinet.

I thought you might enjoy a rundown on the process of the whole swap. I am NOT an organized person by nature and I have to be very strict with myself to make sure it all runs well. I have lots of steps each package goes through and I have to concentrate while doing them, so I don't screw up.

It starts with the sign ups, as people email their info to me, I add it to a word doc on my computer, when it is full, I alphabetize it and print it out.

No packages get opened till the swap begins. They trickle in a few at a time for weeks, then as the deadline approaches, they arrive in a daily mountain on my porch. The mail lady doesn't even knock any more, she just stacks them on the chairs in front of my studio.

Here is a snippet of the list, as I open a box I mark it delivered, and paid.

Everyone was asked to send their mailing address on a separate piece of paper. If they forget, I cut it from the return address on the box.

I arrange each person's pile of tags with their info underneath. I don't use these as the mailing label, they are just to keep me straight on whose tags I am dealing with and whose books have been made.

When the books are done, I make pay pal labels. It costs more and takes a lot more time than just taping down the label they sent in and having the mail man add the postage, but this way I can track each package, just in case we need to trace it.

It would also be quicker to just make books willy nilly, without knowing who each one goes to. This might sound silly and time consuming. but I like to know who is getting the book I made, and I enjoy looking at the artist's tag and trying to make a book of other tags that I think she'll like.

It probably doesn't even show, but it matters to me. I make the books with love.

I try not to send the artist her own tags back, but sometimes it happens, especially with later tags when there aren't as many to chose from. In the beginning, with billions on the tables, its easier. As I compile the books, I mark each off the list.

Cash and checks go in this box, with the tags that were sent to me as gifts. I think that my personal swap book is going to be extra fat and gorgeous this time!!!!!!!! There must be 30 tags in there. How lucky am I to get so much cool art for myself?

Tags that look pretty together get stacked near each other as I open the boxes, so as I make the books, I gather the tags from the area surrounding the artist's own tag. A more left brain person would probably put the tags out in the order they come in and work from first to last. I go by color and style instead.

Hey, I have to make it fun and interesting to me, or I'd go crazy! This is hours and hours of work. I know I could do it more simply, but I want to do it right. Each book of tags has to look good together. I'm not going to put a wild colored one in a book with all muted colors. The wild colored one will go with a selection of other colorful and fun tags.

While I am unpacking, I sort and recycle. Pretty ribbons, tissue, and wrappings get saved in one tub, and another fills up with bubble mailers. Boxes get stacked and saved, too. I can always tell when it is time for another swap, when my packing materials get low! I'd like to say that I am saving the earth, but honestly, I'm just cheap.

As I go through the packages, I have to force myself to stay on task, and put all the gifties aside for later. But all I want to do is PLAY with them! Its hard to not open and peek inside the gifts for Sugarwings too. I get as excited as she does about them. And when I get art supplies, it takes a lot of self control to not go sit down and make something right then and there. You know how tempting new supplies are.

There are too many to make to wait till all are here before I start the assembly. It will take me a couple of weeks to get them all made and shipped.

My workspace has a stack of fresh, new padded envelopes, lots of lace and ribbon, a crop-o-dile to punch holes for the people who forgot or made them too small (about 1 in 6), pretty bird paper of some kind to wrap the books in, and tape to add their label to the envelope.

I'll make up a dozen or so loose books, then sit and tie them all, and stuff then slip the envelopes into a basket by my side. When its full, I go and make labels. After the label is made, I mark that person off the list as shipped.

It helps to break the job up this way, bringing a dozen or so to completion before making more. Selecting the tags for each book is the fun part, if I did it all at once, then the tying and labelling would feel like punishment. I like to know that I can get up and go make more choices as soon as I finish my stack of envelopes.

I will be working on these for quite a while, so if you haven't sent yours yet, don't waste money by overnighting them! Please email me and I'll let you know whether you have time to get them in.

Thanks so much to all of you who sent your artwork in to me to enjoy and play with. I'll do my best not to drool on it. And I'll try to keep plugging away at these books and not get too sidetracked by how pretty the tags are. Just don't make them too sparkly or shiny, because I get mesmerized pretty easy by shiny things.

And thanks to those of you who sent my little fairy grand child some tidbits. I've given her a couple of them, and might throw a tea party and let her open the rest then.

The winner of my mini dress form online workshop is Debbie Jullieret.

I think I'll do another giveaway. The prize is a dress form tutorial. If you have already purchased one of the $15 classes, (thank you!!), then I'll send you a kit of vintage goodies instead if I draw your name.

Thankful for family

family, flowers, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 19, 2011

Our family getaway to Utah was very special. It was good to see nieces and nephews we rarely get to visit and to catch up on laughs with some of my husband's sibs.

We'd never been to his sister's newer home, and it was a beautiful place to stay, full of original artwork that was right up my alley.

I never got tired of walking through the house and admiring the paintings. Especially the fairy themed ones.

They also had family portraits that were so beautiful, they held as much magic as the sprite and fey paintings did.

Even the pets were represented in oil. What a dreamy place! The artist of many of these works is Lynn Lupettii and I have to say, I'm quite a fan.

But the magic wasn't all just paint, we muggles spent some time visiting Hogwarts too.

Quite a few of the group headed to the theater about 5 am on Thursday to watch a Harry Potter marathon that ended with the midnight showing of the latest flick.

Due to flight delays, I didn't get to join them quite that early, but I made it for movie #4 and was surprised at how fast 3 am came and it was all over with. We had blankets, a ton of snacks and food and drinks, and it was such fun to be part of the large crowd saying a fond farewell to Harry. The very last movie was just as moving to me as the book was. I sobbed again just like when I read the happy ending to the series. Even knowing what was coming up, I still cried like a baby when**************************.(sorry, don't want to mess up the end for you, but I can't quite believe there are Harry fans who haven't read the book yet!!)

Its one of the best series endings I've ever read. Heck, I have tears in my eyes now just thinking about it.

But the real, honest magic of the trip, was Utah itself. Everywhere we went, there was beauty. And not much is more beautiful than Thanksgiving Point.

Its kind of a botanical gardens, but it is very user-friendly and almost like taking the kids to the park for the day. A very special park!

(this photo of Grandma Joan is NOT doctored up, the colors were that vibrant there!!!)

Kids are allowed to run and play, and even to roll down the big hill. The grass was a thick, cushion of plush green, nothing like around my house. Better than any golf course I have seen too. Plus NO CHIGGERS! Its been years since I have sat down in the grass out of chigger fear. I was so drawn to this lawn that I even tried rolling down the hill with the little girls.

Since I weigh quite a bit more than the kids, I took off rolling a bit harder and faster than they did, and after about 2 turns, was dizzy and ready to stop. But gravity had other plans for me, and it felt like an hour on a roller coaster later when I finally stopped, although it was probably only a few feet. It made me so dizzy that I even feel slightly nauseous looking at this photo, although the picture doesn't really capture just how steep it really was.

This park reminded me of Disney-world with no rides. It was over the top, and the detail was amazing.

The whole weekend, I kept seeing things Sugarwings would have loved, and I missed her terribly. I knew she'd have had a good time with her 2nd cousins.

And this park was a perfect setting to play fairy. She'd have been deep into her imaginary world if she'd been there.

I can just picture her having a conversation with this dragon. Its the base of my sis-in-law's mailbox! Her home is filled with dragons and fairies and gnomes.

The back yard was two levels, with a curving downhill path following a series of waterfalls.

The pool at the base of the falls was lit up and misty. Of course, Sugarwings is what we politely call a "hands on" child. It would have been an non-stop challenge to keep her out of the waterfalls.

But I was pretty content to sit out there to enjoy the veiw adn the sound of trickling water. In Utah, we had zero humidity, and could open our windows at night and listen to the creek as we slept. Not like the 110 degree heat index we have today in Kansas.

That fountain alone would have been worth the trip! I had to change from the upstairs deck to the downstairs porch back and forth, I couldn't make up my mind which had the best view.

Still, the very best part was getting to spend time with my husband's sweet family. What nice, generous people they are. It was a lovely trip.

I know how lucky I am to have a husband I love so much, but I'm also lucky that he has a family that I love too.

Next post, I'll announce another winner of my online dress form tutorial. If you have already purchased one of the $15 classes, (thank you!!), then I'll send you a kit of vintage goodies instead if I draw your name.

Leave a comment if you want to be entered, you still have a couple of days to enter while I am waist deep in Bird song swap tags!

My Studio Tour link

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / July 19, 2011

If you are here to see my studio tour for the 3rd annual Where Bloggers Create party, please look HERE

For newer posts, please scroll down.

Home sweet home

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / July 18, 2011

We are back from our family fun getaway in Utah and when I returned I was greeted by three overflowing tubs of packages!

Sugarwings was here to hang out with me most of the day so I’ve only managed to unpack, open, sort, and admire the contents of one tub.

I’ll be checking out the others and editing photos from the trip tomorrow. But for now I just wanted to pop in and say “hi” and thanks for the kindly studio comments.

A studio tour, a giveaway, and a how-to

studio tour, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / July 15, 2011

Welcome to my studio! I'm showing (tons and tons) of photos of it today as part of Karen Valentine's "Where Bloggers Create" party.

Last year, I was chosen as one of the winners of the tour, and my studio was supposed to be photographed for Where Women Create. But… I've worked with enough magazines to understand that things don't always play out as planned. I've done dozens of articles over the years for many publications, and I've also done quite a few that have never appeared anywhere.

It happens.

But I'm still happy to be a part of this tour and I'm glad Karen is hosting.

I'll start with the views from my desk, standing at my workspot and taking a few pictures in all directions.

I've shown lots of photos of my studio on my blog, so these might be redundant to you if you've been here before.

But there are always changes here and there throughout the room, so maybe you'll see something different. I was looking through my post from last year and decided that the room is much nicer now.

Its still over-full, but to me it is less cluttery. Not to my husband, he mentions the "H" word sometimes when he ventures into my space. I always cringe, and start to justify my pretties. I saw 3 episodes of Hoarders and can never watch it again, its just too spooky.

Yes, I have a lot of stuff. But its good stuff!! And its organized, and I have plans for it. (does petting it and saying "my precious" over and over count as a plan?)

But I have a feeling that I don't have to justify any of my pretties to my blog friends. Unlike my spouse, you guys "get it".

It takes stuff to make stuff! And I looooove to make stuff.

This side of the room, that I've shown you, is the working area. I have one big square space, just under 1,000 sq ft, and I love every inch of it.

The front half of the room also over flows into work space, I usually leave my sewing machine set up there when I am not entertaining. We use these two dining room tables for big dinners.

And they come in very handy when I do a tag book swap. Here is just the beginning of the tag piles that I'm stacking up before I start making the books.

But mostly, the front of the studio is just storage.

All of the furniture has to do double duty, and has to have plenty of storage space as well as being pretty.

And its has to be cheap too. Every single piece is from a garage sale, flea, or auction, and I repainted and fixed it up.

The treat cabinet is very useful. It holds a great deal of wallpaper up on the shelf, and under the table cloth, I store all of my paper plates, cups, etc.

And of course its always good to have sweets available on craft days!

The furniture isn't arranged in a way you'd do in your home. I clump the pieces together to seperate the room into different areas. I also use old doors and screens to divide the space.

To create an office, I grouped French doors around a faux gazebo made of salvaged porch columns.

The rug is actually painted vinyl flooring. Here is how to do it:

Buy a scrap of heavy vinyl from a remnant pile at most flooring stores (usually under $10)
Trim to the shape or size you want
Flip over, and use the smooth bottom side to paint on
Roll on a coat of BONDING primer (the label will say "will adhere to glossy surfaces", I use Glidden Gripper from Home Depot)
Paint or stencil as desired (I hand painted mine like rocks and moss)
Top coat with Minwax Polycrylic (or whatever product you like, I personally love this one)

Even Sugarwing's work area has double duty furniture. Her block seats are also storage for play dough and coloring books.

She has her own cabinet full of supplies too, but I guess I cropped it out of this photo. I took a photo of her corner, then when I edited it, I forgot that the focus was supposed to be her stuff.

This column might not be out here long. We are thinking of remodelling the kitchen, and it will possibly be used in there.

The dress form was decked out for Bird Song and liked the vines and birds on it so much, I'll probably leave it this way.

I've painted the stand, and wrapped the whole thing in grape vine that I cut off our fence.

While I'm talking about dress forms, I'll let you know that I'm having a giveaway for one of my Mini Dress Form online tutorials.

Leave a comment if you'd like to win one. If you have already purchased the $15 class, and I draw your name, I'll send you a kit of vintage goodies to make the dolled up dress form with.

Here is some good news! A box of these little girlies are on their way to Somerset. Its always an honor to be in one of their publications.

Lets see, where was I? Here is a bigger picture of the front part of the room.

We added onto our house about 6 years ago, and I didn't want the new part to look too out of place with the original old farmhouse. So, I've tried to add details that give this space some age.

I trimmed these windows and did some of the baseboards myself to save money on the construction. Since I'm not a very good mitered corner cutter, I butted the boards up to these vintage bullseyes instead. No mitering needed, and it ages the window.

Okay, this area might be one of the reasons my husband uses the "H" word when he comes in.

The buffet top sure is not going to be cleared to serve a buffet from anytime soon.

Its a bit full.

But I love my stuff and pretties. Some of it is completed work, some is supply type stuff for future work, others are just things I like.

Having it out in the open where I can see it, reminds me to use it.

Although, sometimes its just plain fun to set up and arrange. Kind of like playing with a doll house.

This banner was one of my examples from the Bird Song weekend here at my cottage. I've had lots of inquiries about when the next is. Well, we are still waiting to see what our remodelling project will entail. No one would want to be here during that! So, I am waiting to get things settled with the contractor before I plan anything.

I'm hoping to do something early in November. I'll let you know. The last one was so fun, I can't wait to do it again. I'd have had one already if our redo plans hadn't been so up in the air.

Beth and I wanted to do one in September, kind of a B&B weekend with just a few guests staying here with us and creating in our jammies at midnight, sipping wine, eating chocolate and playing with old wallpaper. Sounds fun doesn't it? But I don't know if I'll have a kitchen then, so that is probably out of the question.

Durn it.

But I do like the idea of a new kitchen.

This lamp shade was Debbie's project for Bird Song.

And this is what I made in Lisa's class at Paper Cowgirls.

Well, I've been blathering on for a while, and still have what looks like about 300 photos yet to load. If you are still with me, maybe you'd prefer just some detail photos of the room, and not so much chitter chatter?

Because I know that there are a lot of studios to visit on Karen's list.

Isn't this pretty? Beth made it for me.

Here is a photo I did of my littlest fairy grand baby. I love having sentimental things around the room.

Like this watercolor of Sugarwings for the Grumpy Fairy book.

And gifts from friends, this is from Hope.

And this basket is from Lori.

And here is another gift from Beth.

She gave me this little wallpaper cabinet just this week.

The pink cup is from her too. I have Beth gifts in every corner of the room.

Of course, this is one of the best things in the studio.

Its always wonderful to have my little buddies at my feet while I work.

(millinery)

Did I say that I was going to stop chitter chattering and just show photos? Then, I just kept chatting.

Sorry! If you are still here, I'll stop the rambling on and just leave you with the rest of the photos. Enjoy the studio tours, and thanks for coming by to see mine.

(Charlotte (Charlottes!)

Studio Tour to come

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / July 13, 2011

On the 15th, Karen Valentine is again hosting her "Where Bloggers Create" party. I look forward to looking through all the studios, there are about a zillion people signed up to show their spaces. I'll be in Utah at a mini family reunion, but will have my Magic Pink Princess Computer (that is what Sugarwings calls my Ipad) with me and hope to do some surfing.

Please forgive me if I don't answer comments, I'll be knee deep in family fun all weekend.

Here is my post from last year's tour. (its LONG too)

And when I get back, it will be time to start making tag books! The fun never stops!

My post is going to be a ridiculously long one. So, I'll leave it up till I get back, and won't plan on other new postings till Monday or Tuesday. It might take you that long work your way through it, I went a bit over board with the photos.

Before I go, I want to update you on the Facebook Face Stealer dilemma that I had. Looks like she has blocked me, so I couldn't check her page, but someone else looked for me and apparently she (or he? uck!) has replaced my pilferred profile picture with one of her own. Or one of somebody else's. Who knows. I'm just relived that my photo is not up there any more. It was creepy.

When I get back, I'll announce another winner of my online dress form tutorial. If you have already purchased one of the $15 classes, (thank you!!), then I'll send you a kit of vintage goodies instead if I draw your name.

Leave a comment if you want to be entered. On any post.

ps- I forgot to tell you that I listed some of the kits in my Boutique, and they are almost gone now. One left! I'll make more as soon as I can.