Karla's Cottage – Page 255

mixing metaphors and brushes with greatness all done in bad lighting

By Karla Nathan / December 8, 2008

Well, I might have recovered from Miss Frenchie's sale now! I've had a lovely, relaxing afternoon of touring holiday homes with friends, and going to a movie. Plus a book signing by another friend, who does the most amazing work.

Have you seen this book yet? It was named by the New York Times as one of the top illustrated children's books of the year. Its written by Stephen Johnson, a multi talented artist who has a whimsical twinkle in his eye. I always enjoy seeing him at parties, he has a way of making conversations go in odd little directions that are a lot of fun.

A typical question from him over the wine and cheese at an art opening or cocktail party goes like this- "Have you thought much about polka dots lately?". Not your typical topic, but somehow it was an interesting one that stuck with me long after it was over. Who knew that a group of us had so much to say about a simple little polka dot?

Here is a sample of his book, I bought a copy for the fairy grand baby. Its quite unique and totally Stephen! Lots of quirky thought went into it (along with talent.) Sorry about the bad photos. I'll bet that even if I did have that Canon Rebel I am jonesing for, the bad lighting at my house at night would still make for bad pictures. At least, that is what I am telling myself.

As Miss Frenchie's sale wound down, I managed to do a little shopping for myself from the other vendors. (more bad lighting, more bad photos, more apologizing)

The doll is from Beth, she had a shelf full of these beauties! The "crown" bowl was from Carol, French post cards from Gwen, and the ornament was made by Julie. I'd never met Julie before and didn't know much about her. We were all admiring her work (she knits too, and had one of a kind scarves). Someone asked her if she got the center medallions for the ornaments at Michaels, and she said, no, she made them.

Gwen said, "but I've seen these at Michaels". And Julie explained that she DESIGNED them for K & Company and Michaels sells them!!

I feel like I've been runnin with the big dogs this weekend!

Here is a photo of her ornies. She sold out completely, the first night, then brought in more for Saturday, just to sell out right away again. I was lucky to get one.

Julie was just one of the interesting people at Miss Frenchie's. I was thrilled to be part of the group that came together for this show.

Elizabeth was a whirlwind of energy, and manages to look beautiful the whole time. She drove in from St. Louis with a giant rented truck filled with jaw dropping goods, stayed up all night transforming the barn. All while looking like she was posing for a magazine herself, as she was busily taking photos for an article for Romantic Homes. (yes, hopefully we'll be hearing about Miss Frenchie in one of our favorite magazines!)

She had great displays, plenty to drool over. I eyed one of her small side tables all weekend, then when it was still there at the end of the sale, I ended up giving in tomy longings and buying it for myself as a souvenier of the event. I'll get pictures of it as soon as I figure out where to use it. I might put my Christmas tree on it for now. Although, putting the tree up on a table will just tempt Miss Sugarwings to climb up to get it. My tree might be more stable sitting on the ground for her to pluck pretties off of.

Bethhas an interesting post about Miss Frenchie's. She sums it up well, explaining that part of the joy of the whole weekend was that people "got it". These fellow vendors and the shoppers there understood why Elizabeth scattered book pages around the floor of her area. Although, Gwen's sweet little mom was pretty cute trying to sweep them all up!

And everyone "got it" that old starched collars looked great hanging from a chandelier.

Of all the booths, mine was the tamest. It looked more like a craft fair booth than a super dooper Miss Frenchie celebration display. I knew it going in, and felt a bit down about it, but dealt the hand I had. Or is it played the hand I had? Speaking of cards, Beth did mention that I don't exactly have a good poker face and she knew I was unhappy with my booth.

But all day today, I have been daydreaming about April and our next show…. I plan on having a spot that makes me look like I can keep up with those big dogs I am running with!

Or playing poker with. The way I am mixing metaphors, who knows what I am talking about.

Any way, I want to thank all those style mavens who made up Miss Frenchie's group and say once again how honored I was to be a part of it all. Wow, these gals can verve a booth!

Thanks to:

French By Design
Sisters and Partners – Gwen McClure and Teri Elliott
Featured at Mission Road Antique Mall

Elizabeth Maxson, formerly of Elizabeth House, St. Louis
Designer, Stylist, Photographer
Contributing editor, Romantic Homes magazine
Website: elizabethhouse.us

Blog: elizabethhousestlouis.blogspot.com

Carol Spinksi,
Co~owner Raised In Cotton
Embellisher of Vintage Inspired Goods, antiques and adornments
Website: www.RaisedInCotton.com
Blog: http://raisedincotton.typepad.com/

Julie Reed
Knit, Crochet & Felted Fancies (scarves, brooches, bracelets).
Etsy: Reed Design's Shop
Blog: bricolage-julier.blogspot.com

Beth Leintz
Antiques, Collectibles & Odd Little Finds
Blog:bethleintz.typepad.com

And of course, the ultra stylist-

Retailer Debbie Dusenberry
owner of Curious Sofa
Debbie will feature new antiques, custom designed products and Curious Sofa favorites.
Website:curioussofa.com
Blog:curioussofa.blogspot.com

By the way, just because I haven't figured out what the gift will be yet, doesn't mean that there isn't one for this month! Heck, since its Christmas the drawing will be for a nicely wrapped, special present, for sure!!

Also, a lot of my emails are being returned to me by some new and unusual Typepad glitch. I try to answer comments, and don't get to each and every one of them. So when the ones I do answer don't get through about 20% of the time, it is sure irritating. Sorry, I did try to respond!

Scenes from a sale

Miss Frenchie's

By Karla Nathan / December 6, 2008

Miss Frenchy's Holiday Brocante was a wild success! But at the moment, I'm feeling a little bit worn out like Pearl here. So, I will leave you with a couple of photos of the event for now and write more details later, after I recover. Thanks for all of your well wishes for the weekend, I appreciate it!

Joyeux Noel at Miss Frenchie’s Barn

antiques/junking, Miss Frenchie's, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 5, 2008

Things are looking Frenchie-fied at the old barn today! Set up began for Miss Frenchie's Holiday Brocante and that rustic building was in for a major transformation when everyone started hauling in their goods.

Elizabeth brought in a huge truck load. So did Gwen. My measly pick up truck load felt kind of pale in comparison to the goods the others were unpacking! When I left this evening, those two were still bringing stuff in. (and the temps were dropping to below 20 degrees after a balmy, mid day height of 30)

Deb, Carol, and Elizabeth had a Vision for the set up. Yes, a Vision with a capitol V.

And the place was certainly a diamond in the rough to start with. The place is perfect for this event, lots of space and big, high ceilings. But definately in need of Vision.

I had brought some velvet curtain panels to use as table toppers, but when I saw that I had rusty old tools as background, my plans changed and I moved the curtains to the wall behind my space.

Bringing my 'portable' mural was a good idea too. It is an 8' x 4' plywood board that I cut and painted a couple years ago for a show. Its been out in my shed and I'd forgotten about it. I like the way it brightens up my corner and has a festive, holiday feel. The painted tree has hooks on its branches, and I will hang ornaments from each one. In this photo, there are stockings on the hooks, but they won't stay there like that.

My space feels like the dessert table at this buffet…. Look at some of the in progress set ups for the other ladies:

And all of this is just a few little peeks, not much was ready yet. I can't wait to see what Deb and Elizabeth do in their corners, they have that Vision to make happen.

Hmmm, what could be going on up above?

Giant, blow ups of vintage French Christmas cards will grace the railing! It just keeps getting better and better.

Come by to see us if you can, I can guarantee, it will be special!

putzing around the neighborhood

Etsy Goodies, fairies, give away, holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / December 3, 2008

Happy December! Time to deck the halls! Well at least it should be for me- I usually go all out by Thanksgiving weekend, but this year a combination of things is slowing down my tinsel flinging. Guests, parties, shows, more parties, another show, and biggest of them all, a 2 year old fairy grand baby. I'm wondering if I even will decorate much at all this year.

We might not be decorating the house much yet, but Sugarwings and I have been dying bottle brush trees. She unwraps them and tosses them in the sink to soak, while we sing Christmas songs. With her help, I have colored about 120 some trees. It almost seems more like Easter than Christmas, with all the dipping and dying going on!

I've re listed a few on Etsy today,(5 minis for $11) and will have more to add soon.

There is a little bit of Christmas foof around the cottage. We had a dinner party on Saturday night, so I did a quickie holiday centerpiece for company.

When Beth and I used to share an antique mall booth, I noticed that any odd object she put under her "magic cloche" would sell right away. Our theory was that ANYTHING looks more important under glass. Put something under a dome, cake cover, or a cloche and you have an instant display! So, I put one of my decorated bottle brush trees, a $4 blue deer from a friends's shop (wearing some old rhinestone jewels, of course), and some ornaments under this one and then surrounded it with old ornaments.

More old ornaments are nested in glittery faux branches on the old chandelier I use as a candelabra (there are tea light candles in the sockets where the light bulbs should go). A few more Shiny Brites spill over onto the runner, and next to them is a cast iron fairy that Sugarwings brought in from the garden. There has to be a fairy somewhere in all my table scapes, of course!

After our party, I started feeling a bit "iffy" and went to bed early. I stayed there from Saturday night till late Monday morning, ugh. Some nasty bug got a hold of me, and I hear that our dinner party guest didn't go to work today, I think the same bug bit him too. Yeah, he'll really have fond memories of coming to visit us in Kansas and eating dinner at Typhoid Karla's.

While I had the box of vintage balls out (and before I realized I was coming down with Typhoid) I stuck some in a few cabinets.

It almost seems like cheating to just stick a few old Shiny Brites around for holiday decorating, but I like the simplicity of it. After going whole hog last year and having a few hundred people over for an open house, it might be nice to scale back a bit. Or a lot.

Plus Sugarwings has been in a redecorating mood lately. She loves to rearrange all of my stuff. The other day, an old mermaid figurine was missing and in its place was a potato masher. The figurine turned up in the bathroom, and the soap dish from the bathroom was in the living room on the coffee table. Then, I found my alarm clock (it doesn't really work, it just runs on "pretty time") on the kitchen counter. I can just see what fun she'd have with my heirloom holiday treasures.

She and I will have to figure out something. Maybe she can have her own little tree that is mess-with-able?

When I was a kid, I fell in love with little putz houses, and sitting elf dolls. Maybe this year, I can unpack all the elves and let Sugarwings deck the halls with those. In the meantime, I am having a blast of my own with a big box of putzes that I bought!

They seem to go so well with all my little Easter Egg colored trees!

There must have been about 15 or so houses in the box I bought, and most were pretty cute as is. But, it isn't like me to let well enough alone….

So I created a whole village of these houses on decorated boxes.

On most of the boxes, I covered the insides with coordinating wallpaper. All the bottoms are covered in pretty papers. And I have added extra trinkets and sweet little ornaments, and extra glitter to the scenes, even repainting some of the garish colors on a few of the houses. Yes, I know they are vintage and probably worth more before I messed with them. But I HAVE TO.

I just have to.

All of these little houses will come with me to Miss Frenchie's sale. As soon as the glitter and glue dry, I'm taggin and packin them up. I know I have too many for the sale, so will most likely be listing on Etsy when I get home this weekend.

If you are interested in coming to the sale, there will be some amazing vendors there! I'm impressed with the line up and have been pinching myself about being a part of the whole thing! Here is the info, please go by and take a look.

And before I forget- did you want to know the winner of the November gift that I made as a Silver Bella souvenier? It goes to Vicki.

Thanks to all of you who left a comment and entered the drawing. Don't forget, a new one has ALREADY started. Every comment all month counts towards the present I give out. I don't know what it will be for December, but I have a feeling it will be something glittery….

A “Family Tree” How-to

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, how to's, how-to projects, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 28, 2008

Did you have a wonderful Thanksgiving feast? Sugarwings and her sweet little Pixie Pie cousin sure did. But in hindsight, this idea of using the baby's craft table for their dining wasn't the best. It was a food free-for-all, with two little toddlers up and down and knocking each other over and dumping plates. I can already see that at Christmas dinner we'll be using a duo of high chairs instead.

At my house, we craft before and after holiday dinners. I prepped the meal way ahead of time, making mashed potatoes in the crock pot, and had noodles slowly simmering on the stove all day, while the green bean casserole (from scratch, no canned soup) and turkey were ready to pop in the oven when the time came.

Guests brought side dishes made at home, so we had time to play instead of slaving away in the kitchen! The guys were watching the game and playing pool, so we went to the studio and started cutting and gluing.

We were making the Christmas stars in two sizes, large for tree toppers and smaller ones for ornaments. Or wouldn't they be cute clipped to a ribbon and made into a garland?

We decided to use family photos on the ornaments, so we dressed the cousins up in their Christmas gowns and snapped a few quick pics of them to print out onto silver, holographic paper.

I wish the photos showed how pretty this shiny paper is.

A lot of you asked for how-tos for this Christmas star, so I thought this would be a good day for it. If you have a houseful of family together for the holiday weekend, this is a fun project you can all do together. Take photos of each other for the centers of the stars and you can make a "family tree" for Christmas.

Card stock works best. I wanted a vintage image, so copied this sheet music onto parchment colored card stock. You can use scrapbook paper, or heck, even plain card stock, what ever colors you like for a background.

Cut a piece of paper in half lengthwise and then fold both pieces in accordion pleats.

Then do a second piece to match.

Staple all four pleated sections together.

I suppose that for a tidier look, you could use glue, if you had an issue with not wanting staples to show. But if you do, you'll be wishing you were an octopus. I quickly switched to staples, after starting out using glue.

This is what it should look like.

You will need to cut 2 pieces of card stock to fit the back and the front of the star to hold it in place. Any shape, any paper that pleases you for your design.

For this tree topper, I used plain white on the back.

For the front, I used flocked wallpaper glued onto the card stock, then cut into an oval. After gluing, weight the paper down for minute or two till it sticks good.

That is a good time to take a break for a quick cuddle with someone furry and cute.

After the glue dries, you can trim the edges to get a star shape. Then with a paint brush (or fingers, like I use) add glue to the clipped edges and sprinkle with glitter.

At this point, it is ready to decorate however you'd like. Streaming ribbons, photos, flowers, sparkly things, whatever suits you.

If you think you'd rather make the smaller size, instead of the tree toppers, use one piece cut into 4 equal strips lengthwise instead of 2 pages cut in two strips.

And if you'd like extra sparkly edges, use Stickles as the glue that you add glitter to. (by the way, Stickles is now available at Hobby Lobby!!!)

There are actually some new things listed on my Etsy site. Some hand dyed bottle brush trees (more to come) and I am about to list some glittering vintaeg doves that I do-dadded up.

There are also some of my flower packs listed. If you need a specific color that isn't listed yet, just ask. I might have it!

You also have a couple more days to enter the giveaway for November. Good luck!

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

family, holiday decor, Silver Bella, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / November 25, 2008

Is your turkey thawed and ready? I have my 22 pounder resting in its roaster, rubbed and seasoned, in the fridge so all I need to do is pop him in the oven on Thursday morning. I'm quite happy about that, because I am often the type who realizes at the last minute that my bird is still frosty and not going to be ready for dinner on time!

These birds are courtesy of Deb at Curious Sofa. Doesn't this display put you in the holdiay mood? Of course everything about her store is perfect down to the smallest detail, and I love her style.

Umm, apparently I am not the only one who she impresses! Look at this, it is one of her walls of fame, highlighting magazine articles her shop has appeared in.

Its pretty exciting to be part of a show that she is partnering on. And guess who else has been added to the sale roster?? Wow, this is pretty cool- Elizabeth Maxon. Yep. For real. (by the way, Deb has photos of Elizabeth's fairy tale wedding on her blog, you really really need to see these!)

Heck, I don't even know yet what I am bringing to the gala. I should be thinking about it….

Instead, I worked on these today. This is a tree topper for the Festival of Trees, a fund raiser for a local charity. My friend is donating a tree from her business, and a group of us made ornaments for it today. We also made tussie mussies to match, 12 of them will be filled with coupons for a free meal from her store, one per month.

Is anyone interested in a tutorial on making these tree toppers? I really liked doing it, although it took me longer than it should to figure it out. Now that I know how, I want to make more! If you'd like me to share a how to, let me know.

Beth joined us today while we made tree decorations and helped me figure out the process for the star burst tree topper. I think we probably could have gone to the Martha Stewart site and got directions there, she seems to have a how to for anything you'd ever dream of making. But, it was kind of fun to figure it out on our own.

Beth has been complaining lately about being a faithful commenter and NEVER winning a drawing! Funny, Cammi won two in a row, and I didn't even realize it until she told me. Anyway, ~~to shut her up~~ , I mean make her feel better, I gave Beth a bonus prize, this little pear watercolor. We usually have tidbits of stuff for each other when we get together. I had snippets from all my new wallpapers for her, and this painting, she had boxful of German rose patterned dishes from an auction and a batch of crisp and buttery, homemade cookies from her mom for me. (I'm eating a gingersnap right now!)

Well, I am at the end of my Silver Bella trip photos! All I have left are the ones of Natasha, Heather and I at my house and at Curious Sofa before they flew back home.

After Bella-ing all weekend, then being blown away by the Land of Never Ending Wallpaper, we had a quiet night by the bonfire when we got back to my house.

Oops, Typepad is about to reject me and freeze up my screen again!

I'll try to leave you with a few pictures from our trip to Curious Sofa, and hopefully won't get cut off. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving from Sugarwings and I!

A rant

Current Affairs, Etsy Goodies, give away, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / November 24, 2008

Its been hectic here, and I was feeling a bit down. Beth got ill (just a cold and feeling yucky, not serious) and couldn't go to see Twilight with me, and then, last night was the end of True Blood on HBO till next summer! I'll miss Vampire Bill. Of course, I could re-read all the Sookie Books, that might hold me over.

I wonder though, why is the vampire always the one to win the girl? Now, I am a huge vampire fan myself, and the Buffy series will always be my number one favorite show, but I have to wonder, why do werewolves always lose out to vamps when it comes to love?

(Yea, I know these photos have nothing to do with what I am talking about. I just listed this stuff onEtsy and was feeling kind of proud of myself for accomplishing something).

In the Twilight series, I was pulling for Jake. In True Blood, for Sam. Maybe it is the broodiness of vampires? The dog-guys seem happier and more fun to be with, while the blood suckers are dark and gloomy. Not all that romantic to me. That might be why I was a Spike fan instead of an Angel fan.

(Yes, more photos that don't' go along with what I am saying… this is the giveaway for November, made in my Sally Jean class)

I hope to see Twilight soon, but really hate to think about young girls seeing it. OK,here is where I put on my granny hat and start harping about kids today…. I personally was bothered by the fact that Edward was 100 years older than Bella. I know, I know, Angel and Spike were older than Buffy and that never bothered me, but Buffy was super human. Bella is just a kid.

A kid who wants to give up her entire life for her first love? As a person who married her first love and years later came to regret it, and was able to start over with a wonderful man and live happily ever after, I hate to see young girls everywhere drooling over the romantic dreams of puppy-lovesick Bella.

(here is the back of the pendant for the giveaway, my fairy grand baby!)

Maybe because I have a young lady in my life, someone I want to grow up strong and smart and healthy, I abhor what Bella is doing to herself for her teen age hormone induced cravings for a MUCH older man.

Ok, rant over. And I am still going to go and see the movie.

Anyway, I was feeling a bit down, due to a few things. Like someone saying some unkind things about me on a chat board, and it hurt my feelings. But, an apology came and I feel much better. Also, look what came in the mail! A sweet reader, for no reason, just kindness, sent me some ephemera and old books she knew I would love. How can you be down when there are nice people like that around?

Her goodie box and that apology came on a good day, when I needed it. There is a lesson there somewhere. Like, always take the time to do or say something nice, you never know when it will be just the thing someone needs at that moment!

And of course, I have this event to look forward to! Read about it here.

The Land of never ending wallpaper

Silver Bella

By Karla Nathan / November 23, 2008

Amazing! That is the only word for Marilyn's home. Her entire downstairs is wall to wall wallpaper. And it is the pretty stuff, too! All old, all lovely! She had some masterpieces, it was like a museum, but without all the boring stuff.

After Silver Bella, we drove an hour east of Omaha, and took Andrea with us. We shopped longer than we planned, since it was so hard to get away, we could have gawked all day long! But then, we had to hurry back to Omaha and get Andrea to the airport, getting lost a few times, but getting her to her flight. Heather and Natsha came back to my house.

Imagine the way my little wallpaper lovin' heart started to thump when Heather told me she had an invitation to visit Hannah's Treasures in Iowa while we were up at Omaha for Silver Bella!

Marilyn (who named her business after her daughter, Hannah) sent invitations to bellas who have been customers of hers and I glommed on to Heather's invite and brought myself along with her to shop! (Of course, I was the driver, that helped!)

This is Marilyn, pictured with the scrappy little Aussie chick, Natasha. Look behind them!!! And yes, that is another room full of rolls, beyond the room they are standing in. Plus another room to the side.

It was overwhelming. She had over 1200 rolls on display, and says there are storage buildings full outside!

Everyone bought quite a few, but each of us picked one really special roll to have from the more expensive pile. Natasha chose this, over the top, elegant, beautiful roll. We were all a bit dumbstruck while shopping, it was almost too much. Did I say, "AMAZING"? Hog Heaven is another good way to describe it.

Marilyn had some special prices on "background" styles, like this one that I thought looked very pinky-Christmassy.

As a matter of fact, I have already used it on a hollowed out book that I am making into a holiday scene ala Teresa Mcfayden's Christmas Pageant class last week.

My husband rarely looks at my blog, unless there are fairy grand baby photos, so I guess it is safe to say that I bought 20 rolls…..

Many of the rolls are in this border pattern, but all different colors and styles of roses.

I bought this blue, rosy confection as my special choice, not because it was my absolute fave, but because Rachel Ashwell had also purchased the same roll!

Wouldn't you have picked it too??

Here is the info for the sale that Deb, Carol, Gwen, Beth and I are having. I have a feeling I'll be mentioning it a few more times between then and now!

Another installment of Bella Blather

Silver Bella

By Karla Nathan / November 22, 2008

Typepad answered me with a fix on the problem with my screen. Hopefully I will get all the way through this posting without any problems. I've not been able to finish or properly edit my last couple of posts due to Typepad's "improvements"!

Still in the slow process of adding to my Etsy shop. I purposely made and prepped WAY too much to take up to Silver Bella, so I'd have an inventory of goodies to add to the shop. Plus Lollishops is opening soon and I've decided to join that.

Now what makes me think that I can keep two shops stocked? And start a new website??? Oh, and did I mention that I have been invited to participate in a local Kansas City sale with those KC area Bellas who made me beam with regional pride with their set ups at Silver Bella!? Elite company, that I am lucky to be a part of!

Gwen came up with the idea and Deb of Curious Sofa worked her magic and hit the ground running with a theme and artwork and ads! Wow, it happened fast and I'm impressed as well as a little overwhelmed. But no way I'd miss being a part of it! Carol, Gwen, and Deb are renting a location today, andBeth and I will be part of the show, as well as some yet to be named artists/antiquers.

Have I mentioned that I am a lucky person??

Here is a snippet from Carol's booth at Silver Bella, cool, huh?

She has that special touch with display. Of course, she has great stuff on display, that doesn't hurt either. I'm really sorry that I have so few photos of other vendors, but as I said, it was a shopping frenzy. If I didn't have my pals who pitched in, the Super "S" Girls, Sheila, Stacy, Shelli and Shawn, I wouldn't have survived!

Holly had some pastel prettiness going on.

And so did Heather. (who has some Bella pics on her site too)

Have you seen these bags that my friend, Kim, makes? Perfectly fitted for toting all your supplies to classes. (Kim also has some pretty Bella photos on her blog now) Of course, everything that Deb touches has that special, Curious Sofa look. Her booth was wonderful too.

After seeing Carol, Gwen, and Deb's neutral pallet booths on Friday night, I was inspired to try something a bit more tone on tone than what I usually do in my Sat. morning classes. I sat next to Carol in this Pam Garrison class, and did my best to channel her Carollness and do something neutral.

It didn't happen. All started out ok, lots of grays, silvers, tans, whites and gold papers went into the background of the pages.

The next thing I knew, it was covered with fairies and pink silk ribbons and flowers and foof and glittering crowns and all sorts of gaudiness!

In my next class, Portrait Rustique, with Kim Kwan, I tried even harder to go neutral and had better luck. The frame I used started out pink, I sanded it and rubbed it with a succession of brown inks that got darker with each one.

Looks to me like it came out a little bit "Carol-ey".

Well, Typepad and its stinking "improvements" are threatening to freeze up my screen again. I just got my warning, I'd better go!

Part two of this morning’s interrupted post

Silver Bella

By Karla Nathan / November 21, 2008

Thought I'd give Type Pad another try, I had to cut off my last post before finishing earlier today, the screen was freezing up and I didn't get to edit, or make any links, let alone finish. Plus, I didn't want to leave you with the impression that I was upset with sales at Sliver Bella, far from it!

The sale was magnificent! I probably sold as much in a few hours as I usually do at a three day weekend art show. That is nothing to complain about. I was just saying how it is odd that at some sales, some items are hot and at other sales different things are the ones flying out of the booth.

I'm not one to stick with one medium, I tend to like to try lots of things, so I usually have a variety with me. Which is lucky, considering some sale at one show and some do better at others. And a lot of it is display, the things that are highlighted do better. Subtle differences in lighting will affect sales too. Shoppers will look at the better lit areas in a booth, and not even realize they are doing it. I think it is human nature.

Every show is a learning experience and feedback is always welcome. If you were at my booth last Friday night, I'd'd love to hear from you about what you thought.

Ooops, Typepad is getting goofy again, I'd better get off before my screen freezes up again. Maybe I will have to be doing a lot of shorter posts until this glitch gets fixed. It sure is irritating, but it also keeps me from blathering on too long!

There is more Silver Bella to come, hope you are not getting tired of it! I have photos of other vendors booths, more class projects, and the magical trip that Natasha, Heather, Andrea and I made to the land of never ending wallpaper!! My gosh, it was a collector's dream come true, thousands of rolls for us to play in.

Don't forget about the giveaway for November, I'll have some photos of that coming too. Drat this new Typepad upgrade, it sucks!