Karla's Cottage – Page 245

Deep thoughts and chicks partying

By Karla Nathan / March 6, 2009

Its been NICE around here! 80s yesterday, 70s today. So, spring fever had me opening all the windows and setting out a springy table display.

Easter is about a month away, I might have jumped the gun a bit by setting out all of the bunnies and eggs.

But it was fun to do and Sugarwings seems to appreciate it all. I try to provide a little something she is allowed to touch and play with to apease her and keep her out of the rest of my stuff. A typical conversation around here starts with me saying, "Now, is that Grammy's stuff or your stuff?" and often there is a little bit of bickering over the fine points of just what she can touch and what she can't. But we hug it out and make it work. ( I really watch too much TV, those were Entourage and Runway catch phrases)

Our family says just pack up all the junk till the baby is older. Oh no, I just can't. I love my stuff, it is what makes my home, MY home. Plus, don't you think that toddlers need to learn? And really, none of it is exactly priceless. I decorate with garage sale goods and have pennies invested, not thousands of dollars.

If a kid can't learn to enjoy her home without messing it up and breaking things, how can you expect to take her out in public, anyway? And I do believe that a child's soul is nurtured by living in a home that is lovely and that people love living in.

Which might be a little bit of a self important sentence after showing you pictures of bunnies and of chicks in party hats!

Sew what?

Books, how to's

By Karla Nathan / March 5, 2009

In my last post, I mentioned that Bethwas having a giveaway. But I didn't tell you what a GOOD one it was!! She is offering a book by Amy Barickman of Vintage Workshop and Indygo Junction as the prize. Amy is another reason to be proud to be from the Kansas City area, she is just one of many of our local girls with talent.

Beth and I came very close to finishing our table clothes on Tuesday. I made 2 and almost completed a third, but ran out of the right fabrics. I could have whipped up something that would work, but Beth says she has two more old embroidered pillow cases I can have as part of the skirt. And that sounds perfect.

Plus, Beth needs time to finish her 2nd cloth. So, instead of my normal way of doing things, which is work on it till its done, then clean up the mess, I decided to LET IT SIT FOR A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!! Not easy, I tell you. But, I'm doing it. All the sewing stuff is set up in the studio along with a nearly finished table skirt that is calling out to me every time I walk by it.

But I am being patient. Which I rarely am. And I took advantage of having the sewing stuff set up and made pillow cases for my bench.

It was a quick stitch thing, since I hate to sew. Instead of tailored pillows, I took the existing (on sale for $4 each at Hobby Lobby 3 years ago) pillows and made little cases to slide them into. I sat the pillow on the fabric, cut out around it, then straight stitched up the sides and sewed fringe onto the open ends.

The cushion on the seat got a similar treatment, but no fringe. It is just left open in the back where no one can see it. If this was a cushion that got more use, I'd sew on ribbons to tie it shut, but it won't be getting butts scooting around on it daily like it would if it was in a dining room or kitchen. People only sit there to eat a few times a year.

All of this was done on a whim, sloppy and quick, (isn't that something Bobby Lee says on MadTV?) but it sure makes me happy, because I never liked the original cushions and pillows. I'd had them on the bench for a design house it was in. But the cushion was made by a professional and seemed to nice too change even though it was dark and not me.

But this is!! ~~Sloppy, quick,~~ Casual and FLOWERED!!

Once I had the bench all flowery, I decided that I needed some in my wallpaper frames. So, I added German die cuts to some of the frames with vintage stick pins.

And while this frame probably would fit in better if I'd taken the time to paint it white instead of pink, its kind of growing on me like this.

For this flocked gold paper, I wanted something really special, but was out of small frames. So, I glued some of the world's prettiest wallpaper (from either Heather or Natasha, we shared scraps of our finds that we bought on our trip to wallpaper heaven with Andrea) to a circle I had cut out of foam core poster board. I edged the edges in gold ink and hung it from a ribbon.

This one is something I had hanging in another part of the studio. Its a vintage rose print (I definitely wanted all the flowers to be roses) on satin, not paper. I had wrapped toile fabric around the mat board and popped it into a white frame. If I was doing it just for this project, I'd have used wallpaper instead of fabric, but this is just fine and sometimes, just fine is enough.

My Mom had a sewing room that I adored, even though I hated sewing (still do). I could play with her ribbons and stacks of fabric for hours. And I am talking about when I was in my 40s, not as a little kid.

She was a gifted seamstress and made her own patterns. But she measured and took pride in her stitches. If I had to do it that way, I'd never thread a needle again. I like to sew the way the mice and blue birds did when they made Cinderella's dress. They didn't take a lot of time with it, used what was laying around and just whipped up something pretty!

Hip Hip Hooray!

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, holiday decor, Miss Frenchie's

By Karla Nathan / March 4, 2009

"I did it, I did it!! Yippee, Hip- Hip- Hooray!"

I am quoting Sugarwings there, that is what she says when she is proud of something she did. I was telling Beth today while we were working, that its too bad we don't cheer ourselves on more as adults the way a 2 year old does. You can learn a lot from a toddler. They take so much joy in small accomplishments. Sugarwings gives herself a good old, hop-hip-hooray quite a few times a day. I've adopted her habit and have taken on that chant, it really makes the day more exciting.

So, here is a hip-hip-hooray to myself for hitting 500! And a thanks to all of you who take the time out of your day to visit. As a thank you, I drew a name from comments on post #499 to send out a pair of earrings to:

Gail Horowitz

I was looking through a list of things I'd been giving away over the last couple of years, and believe it or not, I've passed out more than 50 prizes. Which averages one every ten posts. Geez, I had no idea I was able to ~~get rid of so much crap and clutter around the studio,~~ I mean, gift things to so many of my friends.

Twinks took time to chase bunnies today, that was a good sign she is getting over her pups leaving. Its good to have hobbies.

Beth and I SEWED today. We decided we wanted our tables for Miss Frenchie's saleon April 17th to look professional, so we made table skirts. I had some ticking that I had dyed to look old and she had a tub of ivory table clothes. As soon as we saw each other's stuff, we traded! I made a "collaged" skirt, as she was calling it, from a hodge podge of whites and creams and lace and pillow cases, and doilies and curtains.

This picture is of the skirt, in progress. A far cry from the ticking stripe I started with, huh?

Yesterday, I spent about 12 hours in the studio all alone with my papers, glitter, and glue.

Do you ever have one of those days where you just slide into your zone? Well, today's sewing project sure wasn't one of them, but yesterday's glue fest was.

My favorite part of the day was sugaring the little lambs and bunnies and chicks. My fingers were all goobered up and stuck together with glitter and glue, but in a fun way. It had been too long since I'd had the glitter out. I'd been missing it, and didn't even realize.

I'm going to have to raise the glitter quotient in my life back up to a respectable level. Some sparkle and that self cheering I learned from my fairy grand baby are a couple of things that can take a blah day and turn it into something a little more special.

Or is it just weird that I sit for a dozen hours in my studio with my fingers all glommed together, yelling out "Hip- Hip- Hooray, I did it, I did it!!"?

PS- Beth is having a good Giveaway , you should check it out.

This is the post to comment on for the 500th giveaway prize (yea, I know, not a very clever title, but it did get your attention, right?)

antiques/junking, celebrations, Etsy Goodies, give away, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 1, 2009

Wow, what an outpouring of caring and sympathy from everyone about the last pup going on to her new life. Thanks so much, to all of you. I think we will all miss those little furry sweethearts, won't we?

Sugarwings got a little extra attention, although it is hard to give her any extra attention, when she already gets it ALL. I took her to Toddler Tumbling for the morning and my handsome husband splashed with her at the indoor pool for the afternoon. She played hard and wore herself out, I think that helped her cope with losing the puppy. I'm trying the same thing with Twinkle. She is still searching everywhere for the babies, so we've spent a lot of time throwing the squeaky toys for her to chase and be distracted.

Me too! I'm keeping busy myself. I actually had some studio time, which I have really missed. Today, I made this pedestal from a hankie box, a salvaged bit of a chair leg, some trim, wallpaper, millinery blooms and fringed trim.

The lingerie box in the first photo was from a flea market I went to yesterday. Today, I plucked some blooms from my hat garden and foofed it up a bit. I might line the interior with wallpapers, but am not sure yet. I just love the old rose printed cotton fabric on the top of it.

There was a tiny bit of trim from the pedestal left, so of course I couldn't waste it! So I edged out the bottom of an 8" shipping tag with it and then started decking it out. This is listed in my Boutique right now for $9 and has lots of vintage goodies in its makeup!

Remember last week when I bought the boxes of tid bits from an assemblage artist's sale? The curly-que metal bracket on the top of this wallpapered covered box is from that. I started this box before Christmas at a craft day with friends, and didn't feel inspired to finish it, until I found that metal piece in my goodie box last week. My craft pals were coming back out to visit, so this was the perfect time to pull it out and get it done.

The little doll was a gift from my friend, Jenn, and I turned it into a fairy princess with a millinery flower petal skirt, and an old rhinestone earring made into a crown. Oh, and of course, some wings. These are a pair of feathered wings from Michael's that I cut down to fit this teeny baby. She is hanging from a fishing line to a screw I added to the top of the box. The screw is hidden under an old button.

And what would be the best thing to make a nest for the fairy to sleep in, but an old corsage with some shredded paper! If I was a fairy, I'd want to sleep there.

Speaking of Jenn, she sent this elf to me, just out of the blue after I gave her a little painting advice! How sweet was that?

This surprise arrived in the mail too, from Coddy, who I met in Virginia for a flea market day last fall. My pal, Robinwas there too and Coddy sent her a similar bracelet. It sounds like Coddy, is planning to start a blog, I'll let you know if she does! She makes these bracelets from seashells, and it looks pretty intricately done. Sugarwings saw it and called it a Mermaid bracelet, I think that is a good description!

Isn't this a pretty find? I've discovered that a lot of you love old brooches as much as I do, and I am filling the shop up with a variety of them. This one is only about 1" long and is extremely delicate, yet still sturdy enough to wear.

The next post will be my 500TH!!!!!!! Geez, how did so many go by so fast? Probably because I never shut up….So, I'll have a special giveaway for that. Not these earrings, they belong to:

Kerryanne as the winner of the February giveaway!

I'll chose another pair of earrings for the anniversary giveaway. So, now onto the 500th post giveaway, if you'd like the yet to be determined pair of earrings.

I'm going to do this a bit different than my usual way. For this you have to:

Leave a comment on THIS POST. I'll let you know who the winner is on the actual 500th post itself.

I feel like I deserve Dorothy’s house to land on me

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / February 27, 2009

One last puppy post. All the babies are gone, and gone to good homes. Brenda, who was in our Puppy Love swap, and who I met through this blog drove all the way down from Minnesota to pick up Millie yesterday. Her plans are to train the pup to be a Hospice dog and comfort patients. This baby will be well loved, and is going to do a lot of good in her life.

But that didn't seem to make it any easier for us.

We dressed the puppy up in a polka dotted ribbon foofed up with a Kansas Sunflower and planned a going away party for her with home made muffins and tea. Sweet Brenda and her adorable family came bearing gifts, to take Sugarwing's mind off of losing the dog. It worked for a while, the new baby doll and balloon kept her pretty happy till we waved good bye as Millie drove away.

Then, Sugarwings laid her head on my shoulder, with tears rolling down her cheeks and said, "I sad."

We held each other and cried a bit. She surprised me, it wasn't a typical, 2 year old's dramatic tear fest. This was quiet, and deep felt.

She then, lead me over to the puppy pen, pointed to the bed and said, "Puppy go there now, please". In a toddler's world, "please" is a magic word. Great things happen when they say please. But not today. She sadly and softly said, "Please, please, please, please". But her wicked witch of a Grammy couldn't bring the puppy back at that point. I have never felt like such a horrible person in my whole life. What was I thinking??? She is way too young to understand losing her pets.

I've raised many litters of Yorkies in the last 10 years and while it is not fun to see the pups leave, sometimes it is a bit of a relief after the weeks of constant care they require. Not this time. My sons were in high school when I first found homes for litters of puppies. But a teenager's reactions can't be compared how a toddler feels about losing a fuzzy little baby dog.

It was heart wrenching to see that little girl stand in front of the puppy's bed and ask gently, "Please" to have her puppy back.

These little girls sure stole our hearts. We loved every second of having them here and I am so glad they all went to such loving homes. All the money we got from selling them is going into Sugarwing's college fund, since Twinkle is her dog.

So, lots of good came from the pups. That is just hard to remember today when we are all missing them so much and the house seems so empty without them.

Bittersweet

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / February 25, 2009

Thank you for all of your well wishes for getting over my crud. Luckily, I was up and back in the land of the living today, because it was the last puppy's last day with us. I'll be feeling pretty lousy again tomorrow, but it won't be a cough and cold this time. My heart will be breaking. Its going to be so hard to see the baby leave us!

Its not just me, either. Sugarwings isn't going to understand when the baby she calls "My Millwee" is gone. Our day started with her climbing in bed with me, and bringing the pup along with her.

Seems like every step she took today, was with My Millwee in her arms.

Even when she put the baby down, she laid down with her. Right on the dog's pillow by the wood stove.

What a stroke of good luck we had that this last day, was a burst of springtime sunshine and just gorgeous! We played outside, and of course, the pup was in her arms for most of it.

When the pup's little feet did touch the ground, she ran right after her buddy and waited to be picked up again.

As if Millie didn't get enough kisses, Sugarwings had to blow kisses to her too.

We enjoyed this gift of false springtime as long as we could and stayed outside till dark.

How could I resist this face during bath time? Her big, blue eyes wouldn't leave the dog, so of course…

I couldn't keep them apart!

Everybody got toweled off and cozy.

And now, for a little bit of snuggling and watching a DVD before bed.

We'll miss you, Millie!

On a cheerier note, I finally (25 days late) pulled together something for the February giveaway. All comments all month count toward the drawing for these earrings made with vintage beads.

Also, I am 3 posts away from #500, so there will be a little giftie for that one too!

Still Under the Weather

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, jewelry, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 24, 2009

I'm sorry if you have tried to buy from my boutique and haven't been able to complete your purchase. I am working on the glitch and hope that it is fixed. If you do have any problems, please email me and I can sell the item to you directly instead of through the website. Sorry about that!

I'm still not feeling well. Today I made it out to the studio to visit and feed Twinks and her little last pup, but didn't have the energy to play with them. Luckily, my husband is in town and took the girls for a romp and a run in the field. It is a beautiful day and they deserve a break.

Looks like she got plenty of exercise, she seems worn out!

Even though I was feeling pretty bad yesterday, I worked on some more of the ledger books that I bought from Beth.

After doing a few pages, I gave up and went back to bed.

Probably, if I would just STAY in bed, I'd be getting better sooner. But, on the other hand, I'm not exactly doing anything strenuous, and doing this little bit of creativity cheered me up.

But not today. I can't quite seem to muster the energy. So, I have been listing more items in the boutique, I just HAD to do something. There is only so much laying around I can take. Although, now that I am done, I think I will spend the rest of the day with a cup of hot tea, a good book and a pile of Dorkies.

Yesterday I listed a few wallpaper packs. Both of them include some of my "Rachel Paper". The lady I bought it from said she also sold a roll of the same one to Miss Shabby Chic herself. Can you guess which it is?

The blue one with the white rose. I wonder if we'll be seeing this design on bedding?

Today I mostly listed old jewelry. I had previously cleaned and photographed it, or I wouldn't have gotten that far today!

This one will be hard to part with!

Hey, did you hear that Somerset has another magazine coming out??? This one is to be called the "Gift Club" and will feature pretty gifts and packaging ideas. The editor asked me if I was interested in submitting something, and of course I am! This is right up my alley. If you have bought anything from my shop lately, you can probably tell I enjoy wrapping things up uniquely. I might send her one of the ledgers I am making, those sound like something that could make a lovely gift.

Okay, that pile of Dorkies and cup of tea are calling out to me pretty strongly about now. And a shot of Day Quil sounds pretty good too. I'll leave you with some more photos of the new additions to the Boutique, then head to bed.

Bye Bye, Babies!

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / February 23, 2009

Isn't she gorgeous? And talented too! When Bethany comes over here for craft day with her mom, Shawn, she usually gets a lot more accomplished than the rest of us do. Although, for this craft day, we spent a lot of the time cuddling puppies. (photo by Shawn, and I am jealous of her camera)

We had a new friend join us for craft day, this time. Marycame and brought these pretty things. She said she knew I liked "girly" stuff, and boy, she was right. I love these! I've already used some of it in a journal I worked on that day.

Beth has been selling these old ledgers, and I bought a few to fix up.

Last week, I made one for myself, with postal rates, birthdays, addresses, and passwords in it. For this one, I didn't write in an page titles, but will customize it for free for up to 6 categories for whoever buys it. I am listing this book in my Boutique today.

Its a bit more expensive than my stuff usually is, but this is all GOOD STUFF, great papers and really old. Plus, a lot of time and thought went into the planning of it. I wanted it to be lovely as well as functional.

The old handwriting in the pages is so nice, so I wanted it to show, but had to figure a way to keep it and still have the pages ready to be written on by the new owner. So, I have used a variety of papers, such as this glimmer misted 8" tag, with ribbons tailing out the bottom of the book, and some water color paper. On other pages, I have used old stationery, or wallpaper to cover the words.

This page makes use of the stationery paper, as well as one of the girly cards from Mary.

There are lots of hand drawn embellishments too. I've done them in glittery or metallic inks.

Most of the hand drawn pretties are vines, swirls and butterflies.

Some pages are left plain, some have ephemera glued down, others have the hand drawn elements.

And I have even included a hand painted tea cup filled with roses.

There are a total of 14 pages (28 counting both sides) so I won't show them all.

While I was cutting up vintage wallpaper for the project, I cut up a few extra pieces and listed some packs in the Boutique.

Then, I listed a few more bits of last week's loot on Etsy.

Thanks to all of you who came by to shop and get some of these collage goodies!

I've got more to list in the shop soon, but right now am busy getting caught up on real life. After craft day, all of a sudden, I caught a cold. One minute, I was fine, the next, I was sneezing, blowing my nose and feeling awful. So I spent a day in bed, and slept for most of it. I had to, there was nothing on TV till Oscar time, and my head was throbbing too much to read.

Oscars were a bit anticlimactic. My favorite part was a red carpet interview with Miley Cyrus who talked about her movie, saying she hoped to be nominated next year for it. I laughed out so loud that I scared the dogs.

Nothing can make you feel better than a good laugh. Puppies are usually pretty good for a laugh too. I've been out in the studio with the lone pup that is left today and she has been pretty entertaining.

What am I going to do when they are all gone?? I'd better go get some cuddling in while I still can, only a few days left with my last little one.

(these photos of pups are from Shawn and her magnificent camera too) It dawned on me, that I could have bought my dream camera with the puppy money I got from Twinkle's babies. Man, what was I thinking when I promised it to Sugarwing's college fund??? Oh well, I am sure that is a much better way to spend a chunk of cash. Investing in the baby's future can never be a mistake.

Giveaway reminder- yes, there is a present for February! All you need to do is leave a comment. I don't know what it will be yet, so lets call it a SUPER SURPRISE!

Swappers are still adding posts about their Puppy Love Tag Books. you can see Ele's here.

Chasing Sugarwings

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / February 20, 2009

Whats better than hugging a fuzzy puppy on a sun shiny day?

How about a whole armload of them?

Yep, not much is better than snuggly puppies.

These guys are becoming such fun, and I am losing them! We are just getting to the good part, where they come running at the sound of our voices and want to play. Even though Sugarwings tends to be a little rough (she's only 1-1/2), these babies were still following her every move when we took them all outside to play today. They are either really brave, or really stupid, because they keep coming back for one more, too-tight squeeze from her.

Two more girls leave on Sunday, then I will only have one until the 28th when her new family arrives to get her. Trouble is, she is my favorite, and a week alone with just her is going to make it even harder to give her up!!

Well, once all the girls are gone, I will have more time for actual work. Right now, a lot of my studio time is spent playing with pups.

I did sort out more of the loot from yesterday and make a couple of little crowns.

One box had a bunch of these old metal trim pieces, and I can see all sorts of tiaras being formed with these!

Soon, everyone in the studio will be sporting their own crown. Hmm, I still have a couple of days to make puppy crowns, don't I? Or as Sugarwings calls them, "corns".

This is some more of the loot that I am keeping for projects myself. I'm not sure what I'll make, these bits and pieces are all great materials, though!

And thanks to all of you who filled up shopping carts at Etsy!

This is another collage/assembly kit that I added to Etsy today.

Details, of the kit.

I hope to add more of the vintage loot packs to Etsy, but right now, I hear Sugarwings getting up from her nap.

She's worn me to a frazzle today, too bad the nap wasn't a little bit longer, I've enjoyed my little break in front of the computer. That is one BUSY kid!!

Salvaged goods

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 19, 2009

Like Mother, like daughter?

These pups are everywhere, following every move that Twinkle and I make! Remember the movie, Gremlins? Now, that these remaining babies are so rambunctious, I feel like I have a house full of Mogwai that are taking over. I'd better not feed them after midnight…

Today,Beth and I went to a great sale. A Friend, who is a magnificent assemblage artist was clearing out before a move.

We loaded up on her fun bits and pieces.

When I got home, I started playing with them all right away. I made a crown from some salvage metal trim (photos later, its not quite done yet), then I organized my purchases. And realized I bought more than I can use…

See what I mean? Cool stuff. But this is only a fraction of the boxes and boxes I snapped up.

So, I started listing small lots for Etsy. Then, I got bored with listing and packaging and describing it all, knowing that Thursday is the most glorious TV night of the week, and I had SHOWS to go watch soon! So I lumped a bunch of vintage delights into one big listing to finish up.

I still have a couple more things to add, but tonight is good TV and tomorrow is a Sugarwings Day, so it won't be till this weekend that I get more up. I have some goodie packs with ephemera included too.

A lot of you have asked about the knobs I showed photos of yesterday. Thanks so much for asking. I will probably list some and take the rest to Miss Frenchies. I'll keep you posted.

And now, it is time for Survivor, I have to run. I'll leave you with more shameless huckstering. Here are photos of the latest goodies listed in my Boutique.