Karla's Cottage – Page 32 – by Karla Nathan

Some Precious North Carolina Time

By Karla Nathan / October 22, 2022

My recent trip was a buffet of travel. Visiting family in Charlotte/Asheville mountains/ scenic downtown Charleston and a dress up art event in Jenn’s spectacular home/ then sister beach time in Florida.

All I was missing was some snowy venues or desert time.

My boy treated me to breakfast at his favorite spot in Asheville to start off our visit and after dripping sweet potato gravy down my shirt, we had a full day of exploring thrift shops, riverbanks, and downtown.

He and I can both spend hours just looking at rocks by the water and that is just what we did.

I had hoped to visit one of the construction sites where he has been creatively doing his woodwork art installations, but time was short.

But then, any time I get one on one with my son is too short. It has possibly been years since we have had this kind of time together.

While in NC, I got to visit the latest family members to become Ashevillians. Our oldest grandfairy and her mama now live in the area. And I was there for Dewdrop’s first day at a new school after she and her mom moved across town.

She already met a new friend on the bus. That kid is such a social butterfly, I fully expected as much. But was still relieved to hear it.

While there, I decided that I definitely need more time in NC. Not only is the sand full of semi precious stones like garnets, mica, and quartz- the state is full of very precious family members.

And I found a boulder shaped like a throne.
I belong there!

Back in business

Etsy Goodies, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / October 19, 2022

This week, I am in the process of reopening my Etsy shop and Boutique.

It never officially closed. But in 2019, I was busy with my art event and lots of travel. In March of 2020 I had surgery and then Covid hit. Everyone else with online shops sold tons of stuff, but between surgery recovery, home schooling, and just keeping our family together (plus horror stories about the PO), I didn’t even try to stock up.

Just as things were improving, we lost Ryan. I did not care about anything after that.

It has been a couple of years now, and getting the booth at Good Juju has been helpful for my creativity.

So much so, that I over produced. As I tend to do anyway. When I saw that there were unsold items after the two day sale, I realized I’d made enough to stock a booth for a month, not two days.

I also realized that I missed my online stores. I cannot say that the tedious parts are enjoyable, the hours of computer time that it takes to fill the pages. But I do love the packaging and wrapping of the items and sending them out to their new homes across the country.

In my time away, technology left me behind. There were some re-learning curves and some changes. That took me a bit of figuring out, but once I got into the groove, I started listing items like I hadn’t even had a break from doing it.

This old dog learned new tricks!

Basically, it was the same thing, there were just some improvements here and there, some buttons were in a different place, or had been replaced by newer processes. But I have it down now and hope to keep both spaces up to date with new inventory.
I have already had the pleasure of wrapping up pretties to send out! Thank you to my shoppers.

A Blessings Angel fund raiser for Florida’s hurricane victims.

fairies, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 17, 2022

My trip to Florida was short but so,so, very nice. We were in Siesta Key, our favorite city and were relieved to see so little sign of damage from the storm.

Many places weren’t so lucky. To help out, (in a small way, but every bit helps, right?) I decided to craft one of my sea shell fairies into this spectacular shell that I bought. Oh my, it’s so pretty! I had thought about using a shadow box, but when I saw this, I knew it would be the ideal home for my little Blessings Angel.

Here she is in her iridescent shell at the beach.

While still in Florida, I posted about her on FB. I am asking for bids to raise money for the official disaster relief fund set up by the state.

If you are interested in making an offer, please contact me at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

I will announce the person with the highest donation Tuesday evening, send their donation to

https://www.volunteerflorida.org/donatefdf/

and mail the Angel to them.

The Beauty at Bridgerton

friends, Lori's Class, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 14, 2022

I am home from a varied and jam packed full of fun trip.

And speaking of jam packed- you should have seen my luggage!

I started my journey flying to Asheville, then hiking with my baby boy, then off to Charleston in a rental car for Jenn Hayslip’s Bridgerton event. I had one bag filled with kits to teach a class.

Plus my normal supplies to take my pal, Lori Oles’ class, as well as a selection of items to sell, and even more supplies for projects to work on at the beach.

Siesta Key was the final flight of my trip, off to see my sissies.

My two, overly stuffed, giant pieces of luggage and equally bulging carryon had to include warm clothes for the mountains, dress up things for the art event, and beachy outfits. Along with kits, supplies, wares for the market, and little gifties.

All I can say is thank goodness that suitcases have wheels. Even if they don’t like thresholds and rolling onto elevators , those wheels made the juggling of all those bags possible.

Still, even with all that packing, I screwed up. I didn’t pack proper attire for the big party. I brought a dress, but it wasn’t fancy enough. So, the kind hostess, who also has multiple, amazing, to die for closets full of gorgeousness, had me try on her clothing until we found something that could work on a grandma attending a ball.

Jenn’s wardrobe is suitable for being the bell of the ball every day of her life and it was a joy to be invited to play in those closets! Here is what she wore. And the dress she loaned to Lori. Neither one of us packed right.

Everyone else brought their finest gowns! Oh my, the dresses were lovely.

Looked at this beauty! Wow!

Jenn’s adorable husband got it right and was a great sport while looking cute as can be.

Jennifer does not miss one detail when it comes to making every aspect of her events perfect.

So I felt bad about letting her down with my lack of fabulousness.

But that kind hearted lady was gracious and generous about finding a fix for my attire.

I felt very pampered instead of embarrassed by the way she handled my faux pas.

Everything about being in this luxurious home was pampering.

And beautiful.

Simply, delightfully, beautiful.

I could’ve just wandered around and gawked all day, the home was that pretty. Lori and I wanted to play a drinking game, where every time we heard someone say the word PRETTY, we would take a shot. But, since I am a very bad drinker and have never done a shot in my life, I’d have lost quickly. I’m more of a wine sipper.

Every city that I visited and all the people I saw, made for such a lovely adventure. I’ll leave you more pictures of Jenn’s perfectly detailed and pretty, pretty, pretty party for now, and will have more about the rest of my travels later.

Cheers!

More hearts

Hearts, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / October 11, 2022

We all need someone to lean on sometime, don’t we? Ryan was my rock, and I used to lean on him a lot. These hugging, rock hearts made me think of how he used to be that for me.

I mentioned in my last post that the puppy sitting job was good for my soul. Besides the wreck and worries about the horrendous hurricane, I have been missing my boy so much lately.

I always do.

He is there in my heart at all times. Some weeks, grief is just a low key, background noise. Other times, it’s an all encompassing heartache, and others, a sweet little smile to myself over a memory or a moment I know he would have enjoyed.

Lately, his loss has been heavy. I try to pick out reasons why this happens, like waking up in the morning and piecing together what that weird dream I’d just had was about.

The stirred up grief can be from so many elements. I think they are now called triggers, but I dislike that term. It sounds harsh and scary.

After feeling extra bereft, I decided to take a walk on his favorite trail, which I had been avoiding for months. As I turned the corner around the pond, I remembered why I never go that way. There is a wet area that never dries, even in a drought, that section of the path remains slimy and slippery. Ryan always took my elbow as we crossed there. Now, I know I am getting older, but I’m not a frail little old lady and I used to tell him I didn’t need any help. He responded the same way each time- “You are my mom, and I love you.”

As I stepped across the mossy slime this day, without Ryan by my side, (and sobbing because he wasn’t) Sugar spotted a goose and lunged for it, pulling the leash and pulling me behind her as I hydroplaned through the gucky spot.

It was surprising that I didn’t fall and get yet another concussion. And as I was thinking how lucky I was I looked out at the pond and saw many floating hearts made of clumps of algae.

Maybe Ryan had still been protecting me after all. And left a sign that said he loved me.

Puppy Sitting was just what I needed

dogs

By Karla Nathan / October 8, 2022

Before I went on my many legged trip, I had a little baby sitting gig.

A friend was called out of town and needed a puppy wrangler.

Since I have such an ideal set up for a back yard dog nursery, I offered to watch them.

Tending to little ones was just what I needed! I miss having little doodles around and these 7, little (big) Great Pyrenees help fill that gap in my heart since it has been too long since we’ve had pups of our own.

It had been a particularly rough week, after watching the devastation in Florida and worrying about people and places I love there.

Also, the day these guys arrived, I was in a terrible wreck. I was not injured, my car is pretty jacked up, but the event itself was devastating. A 16 yr old boy on a dirt bike, was speeding through an intersection, whipped illegally around a car in a round about and slammed into my car. He was taken in an ambulance, but was up and walking before he left. I have no idea how he is and it haunts me to think of him.

It only takes a second for a life to change. Sugarwings and I were together, and were happily planning a Hocus Pocus watch party, when out of the blue, our car was hit. Seeing this child on the ground after the collision was just awful and such a contrast to our laughter from a moment before.

I was extremely proud of my grand fairy and the calm way they called my husband, talked to the police, and to other witnesses while I help tend the injured motorcycle driver.

You can see why I was so ready for the uplifting puppy snuggles.

Too bad I can’t fill my bag with pups to take with me to Florida because they could use some puppy hugs there too.

I debated whether or not I should even follow through with my plans. Vacationing in an area that just missed being wiped out by a hurricane like the surrounding areas felt wrong. On the other hand, I know that tourism dollars are important there. And Siesta Key is up and running, ready for guests, we won’t be in anyones’ way.

The pups left the day before my flight, and I am very glad I had the trip to distract me from their loss.

A new career in junking for a surprise helper

antiques/junking, Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / October 5, 2022

This week is First Fridays at the West Bottoms and Good Juju will be open for business.

I’m afraid I will be missing it!

But my stuff won’t. It is all set up for action, I took care of that before I flew off on my multi legged adventure.

First leg is North Carolina to see my grown up, baby boy.

Second is South Carolina to participate in Jenn Hayslip’s fabulous Bridgerton event.

And the third leg (because it’s spooky season and time for three legged monster type critters, and this is a monster of a trip) I’ll be jetting down to Siesta Key to be with my sissies for part of the annual Sister Trip. They have two weeks, which I just couldn’t do, but I managed to squeeze in a few days at the end of my journey.

When I get back to Kansas, it will be time to pack up my Halloween leftovers and start setting up the November show. Which I look forward to being a part of, it’s always such a fun time there.

Who is watching the store while I am away? Well, I’ll have my buds, Beth and Angie there for most of the time, but Beth has some obligations. While she is out, I have an all star replacement lined up.

Rich!

Yep, my husband is being extra supportive and covering my shift for me. He might be a bit overwhelmed and in over his head, but he is willing to go for it.

If you are around, please check on him for me.

He will be feeling like a fish out of water. But I have faith in his skills. If he could run dozens of golf courses in his past life, I’m sure he can sell some beat up, old junk and crappy crafts.

I will miss being there myself, but it will be in good hands.

More mini makeovers

antiques/junking, redos

By Karla Nathan / October 2, 2022

My garage sale days have provided soooo many redos lately. These mini pumpkins and gourds got a coat of glitter and paint.

They started out gray. And free. I’ll take free, ugly gourds any day. The jewelry stand was $1 and also on the ugly side.
Or just tacky?

Ta dah! A quick makeover, because paint is just plain magic, isn’t it?

I thought of adding a layer of decopauged lace onto the torso, but then worried that it could snag any jewelry hung on the piece. So, I’ll leave it as is and am happy with the look.

Dolly do-overs

friends, redos

By Karla Nathan / September 28, 2022

The Halloween witches and zombies that I showed you previously started out with a bag of old dolls. I sorted them into categories-

beyond repair became zombies
sorta bad shape, witches (if the skin was messed up, I repainted them green like Elphaba)
decent shape, but needed work, angels

It is not even Halloween yet, but I zipped through my ghoulish gals in time to take into Good Juju’s September and October sales am now sparkling up some angelic babies for the November First Friday.

This one is actually a tree topper from the 60s. Her base is a cone to fit on a Christmas tree. I reused her wings on the smaller girl and made new ones for her from curled feathers. Both had their hair replaced with wool roving.

My pal Tami invited us over for a craft day and offered styrofoam pumpkins to make over (mine is covered in lace) and tart tin dolls for the projects. I also whipped up my two angels and a few lil schroomies.

She went to a lot of trouble with her sleepy eyed doll. It required sawing it in half, and gluing in a cork that was also cut in half to the doll could be put back together with the tin in the center.

The tin makes a cute skirt top, doesn’t it? Thanks, Tami, for the fun day filled with lovely projects!

My year of embracing orange and a redo-rescue

antiques/junking, cottage, holiday decor, redos

By Karla Nathan / September 25, 2022

For the first autumn of my adult life, I’ve been drawn to fall colors. It kind of coincides with my attraction to the mix of warm woods that I’ve now blended in my house along with the existing whites and creams.

For decades if was just the whites. But I sure am enjoying the wood textures we have added. Also the dark leather chairs by the stone hearth.

Did it start with this dining table? Maybe. I’ve added quite a few touches of wood around our house since.

The hutch is painted white, but has a natural top. This has been my new, go to move. There are a few pieces with this paint on the bottom, wood stain on the top look in the last few years.

But orange? That is brand new for me. And I like the pops of brightness that color brings to the season.

For a while now, I have loved red accents on a white background at Christmas. Having a neutral background means that I can switch things up lot lot with just a few changes of color splashed around the room.

This over blown monstrosity was at a garage sale for one dollar, and typically, I’d have walked right by it. Or paused to wonder how the basket would look spray painted white (probably very nice, filled with roses).

It is actually a very nice shape and looked good with a pot of mums as is.

Instead, I decided to accept the orange and see what I could do with it.

It had a lot of big, velvet pumpkins inside, two I added to the urns in the top pic. The rest I set aside along with about 50% of the crazy, over the top amount amount of leaves and berries and bows.

The abundance was pared down to a more reasonable amount in the basket, and I still have a lifetime supply of leaf and berry picks to use for something else.

So that makes three more palatable arrangements and a leftover bag of supplies for $1, plus the 50 cents each I paid for the urns at the same garage sale.

Plus, plenty of stems leftover to fill this caldron (also from a garage sale).

All filled with my new enjoyment of autumn tones. I won’t be changing over my entire decor to pumpkin colors, but I am liking the hints and peeks of them I have scattered around.