Karla's Cottage

Birdsong class projects

Lori sent the prettiest kits to make these tone on tone, romantic wreaths.  She'd sent a couple boxes by UPS ahead of her flight, filled with kits and packaged pretties to sell at our vendor night.  The boxes arrived soaked to the bone! So wet that the tape was falling off and the boxes were caved in.  Luckily, she'd wrapped everything in plastic and there was no damage.

What did the driver say about it? "Sorry, my truck has a leak" Well, it must have been quite a leak, or else he has been parking in the lake.

This is my second bad experience with UPS. The mural I sent to CA was dropped off to be packaged and sent by UPS, and when it arrived, the paint was damaged due to the box being too loosely packed and the painting bobbing around, and rubbing inside the box.   I was able to repaint the damaged area, but wasn't very happy about it. 

Anyway, nothing of Lori's was ruined and her kits were wondrous. 

 During her class, I was a bit busy due to bad planning on lunch.  I was too busy with other stuff to chop and prep ahead of time (oops!) for our build your own burrito bar and spent the whole length of Lori's class working on it instead.  Silly me!

I did pop in to visit and get a peek of the class every once in a while, but didn't get to sit down and make a wreath myself with them.  But Lori saved a kit for me and I was able to get to it later on.  She included some great images and papers to make tags to tie onto the fabric wrapped wreath, and I had a good time with it later in the week when I had a chance to get to it.

Mine is a little different.  I actually used a necklace from my class to cut up and add to it. (Lori's suggestion, it is what she is planning on doing with hers too)

This way, I have two projects in one!  Double the memories to hang in my studio.

Both teachers were just The Best!  I loved having them here.  Both pitched in and helped with miscellaneous chores, and Beth was in charge of accounting for the vending tables.  And while I was trapped at the cutting board, I had no worries about being needed out in the classroom, which was quite the relief.

Beth had a great  project that everyone enjoyed too.

Wasn't her teacher table set up pretty?

She had tons of extras to share, and we had a huge variety of hearts and birds being stuffed and potted.

I was doing two classes, one each day after lunch was served and cleaned up.

I have a few kits that I'd made up extra for my birdcages with fairies and my knotted ribbon necklaces.  If you'd like to buy one, they are each $30 plus shipping. The birdcage kit includes the online workshop, with instructions for multiple birdcages and cloches.  

Please email karlanathan@sbcglobal.net or comment if you are interested.

Cute, huh? I'll leave you with some scenes of the creativity in action.

 

More gratefulness

More Birdsong photos are on their way.  I'm kind of taking my time and enjoying  the editing process, reliving the moments.  And wishing I'd taken more.  Luckily, there are pretty pics from friends too. It's always interesting to see the same event through different lenses.  Tami, Mercedes, and Beth have all posted some that I've shared on Facebook.

When Picnic closed last year, I was frantic about what to do to edit my pictures.  It has been replaced by many sites just as easy to use.  My favorite is Picmonkey. Not free, but well worth the little bit that they charge.  It's self explanatory and simple to adjust photos with.  And boy, does it make a difference in a picture to take the time to edit it.

On Birdsong Eve, we had a little gathering at a restaurant downtown.  All of my pictures were off color and too dark due to the lighting there.  Once again, I wished I'd taken more, but I did make time to snap a few.  But when I opened them, they all looked like this.   Here is a before of Angie and Sugarwings.

With Picmonkey, here is the same photo.  It has been cropped, lightened, sharpened, and then I used Orton Effect, and faded that.

This was a bonus gathering for our group, I asked if anyone was going to be in town the night before and wanted to meet up, and we filled the front of one of my favorite restaurants with a flock of 26 Peeps.

This photo is  a bit beyond repair, but I liked it so much, I salvaged what I could of it.The evening happened to be my lovely friend, Angie's birthday and she baked cupcakes to bring.  She was a vendor at our little shopping extravaganza and is always a welcome addition to any gathering. I hope she can attend classes next time.

Sugarwings passed out cupcakes to everyone, after not taking her eyes off of the beautiful display throughout her dinner.  When she finally was allowed to have one, she didn't eat it, she politely asked Angie to take a bite of her own first, because the birthday girl always needs to go first.

Birdsong had ended up being a family reunion for me as well as an art gathering.  Guncle Randy, Sissy, Bobbie, and Terry all came to be a part of it.   For me, it was an opportunity for my family to see just what it is that I do.  (I don't know if my husband has ever quite figured that out yet)  It was wonderful to have them here and to meet my friends and be a part of my world.

And on the other side, it was very special to have so many friends come to see me and be a part of my family for the weekend. Birdsong is a homey, comfy event where all guests are family while they are here, not clients.  I hope that they can feel that while they are here.

My family were all soooo helpful.  Terry baked and baked and baked, her treats were  the highlights of our meals. (and brought her husband to keep my own guy entertained on the golf course all weekend)  Guncle Randy nominated himself "Parking B**ch" and directed cars, plus spread his charm around and welcomed everyone.  Bobbie and Sissy were hauling trash to the curb and unloading the dishwasher non stop.

My son, Mr. Zen, cleaned up the yard and helped with a lot of prep for the weekend.  Then, walked around the room to do some head and neck massage for those who were getting kinks from leaning over the tables and working on projects (and dealing with some of my not-so-great chairs).

Sugarwings had been as excited about the upcoming party as I was, and was constantly wanting to help get ready for it.  She was very busy making plans for "Our Birdsong" and wondering what the "Birdsong Ladies" would be like.  She was hoping they would show up in beautiful gowns, but we are a bit more casual than that.

When I took down the table that Sugarwings and Dewdrop had been working at all week to make room for the big tables for Birdsong, her little heart was broken. She'd been so sure that there was a place for her to be there and craft along with everyone else. 

But, all the ladies made her feel welcome and Auntie Beth did some work with her out on the porch.  She forgave me for taking her work table down.

I hope that our friends didn't mind all the family being included. It probably wasn't all that professional of me, but if anyone who knows me or reads my blog, they probably don't expect me to be all that professional.

Once again, I'll have to say how lucky I am that I was able to have the people I love here with me, along with so many kind and generous friends. I can't imagine a better weekend.

 

Thankful and lucky

I've been seriously derailed by Empty Nest Syndrome now.

The last of the "Birdsong Ladies" have flown the coop.

Birdsong ended on Saturday, but the fun continued for me a while.

Guncle Randy, Sissy, Bobbie, and Lori were still here.  Karen and Sherry stayed to play for the evening too. We snipped and glued till after midnight. 

Lori had to be off to the airport on Sunday morning and was gracious to offer to go a little early so we could combine trips and take 2 of my husband's brothers who had been in town to play golf and keep him company while we whooped it up in the studio.

We spent another evening in the workplayroom past midnight with Guncle Randy on Sunday, but had to take him to the airport on Monday.

My sisses and I had a day of shopping in KC after dropping him off, but by then, I was starting to droop.  Hopefully, I wasn't too cranky, but man- was I tired!  Days of prep, then the blast of excitement (and work) of the event, and so much fun hanging out with family that we kept staying up past midnight, were starting to hit me hard.

I just don't get to see my family often enough, so I did my best to stay awake, but I'd finally hit a wall and gave up.  I climbed into my bed mid afternoon with the Puppeesh, and 3-1/2 hours later, I woke up more like myself than one of the walking dead.

That was the best nap of my life. At least the most needed!

So, I was able to enjoy the rest of the visit with my sisses, and we had yet another day to play in the studio, where Beth joined us after a birthday lunch for her downtown.

But the party couldn't go on forever, as much as I'd like it to.

Today, I had to drop my sisses off at the airport and the place seems soooo empty and quiet with everyone gone now.

The quiet has given me a chance to reflect on all of the hustly bustly goings on of this last week.

Time to go over the details while it's all fresh in my head, what to do differently next time, what to add, what to change, what to adjust. 

But mostly, just to savor the memories and think about how lucky I am that so many people came to see me and spend time at the cottage.

How lucky I am to have a family that helped me pull it all off and never stopped washing dishes, to have such talented friends who taught classes, and to have so many old and new friends who wanted to be a part of our weekend, who came from all over the country to cut, snip,  glue, and laugh with us. 

I've got lots of photos of our party to edit and show you.  But for now, I think I'll have another little nap.  And I'm sure it will be filled with sweet dreams of Birdsong and the lovely people who came to see me here.

 

Birdsong 3 friends

What nice people! We had a lovely time.

I'm missing the "Birdsong Ladies" as Sugarwings calls them. 

But I still have my sisses and Guncle Randy for a bit of a visit.  I'll edit some pictures of all the fun and post again soon.  But now, I'm off to enjoy the last bits of Birdsongness, with the remaining guests.

 

Birdsong Eve

We've gotten the nicest gifts for Birdsong! Hope made these felted nests with sparkling, sugared birds and even included bags of mica flakes for everyone too.

Karen sent this lushly embellished train case for a door prize.

Not only is it made with sweet birdie details, she has also filled it up with "tweets" too. 

In the box were some birdie beverage napkins to use for our weekend, and a big ass bag of candy. Sadly, it came a week before the party, so the bag isn't quite as full as it was when it arrived, and my ass is the big one now.

Terri has sent these ephemera packs, and I spy a bird theme in the packages.

Look at the sweet details she added to the label!  A touch of glitter is an elegant touch.

I've been whipping up more samples for my class, because these three were shipped off to Jewelry Affaire.  I was very pleased to share our Birdsong weekend project with Somerset.When the magazine comes out in October, it will be fun to reminisce while looking at the photos. 

Our party starts soon, I'm all tingly just thinking about it.  This year, I've promised myself to be done and ready plenty early.  I want to relax and enjoy my family and friend's visits. We are doing a dinner party on Thursday night and calling it "Birdsong Eve".  There are 26 of us meeting at a restaurant downtown to kick off the weekend. 

I'll be preposting to my blog, but will not be checking emails much, so please forgive me for not answering comments.  I'll be back next week with pictures of our gathering.

Royalty

Pure bliss.  Sugarwings has loved Ariel since she was barely two.

While she is enamoured of all the Disney royalty, and can insert herself into any of their stories, she has always been loyal to her first and best favorite, Ariel.

During the princess luncheon at Cinderella's castle, she was pretty much in heaven and happy to meet these people whose stories she can't get enough of.

Each princess is announced as they walk into the room, and then they make their way around to each table for photo ops and chats.  As Sugarwings spoke to Snow White, Ariel's visit was announced, and poor Snow was dissed mid-sentence for a view of the most wonderful princess of them all.

Snow White was set aside like a pile of dirty socks the minute Ariel walked into the room.

As she waited nervously for her special princess to come around to our table, she clutched her chest and told me, "I just don't know what I'm going to say to her when she comes here!!".  Which is completely unlike our little chatterbox who is never at a loss for words.

This is a little girl who lives more in her imagination than in the real world around her,  to her, this was all 100% real.  So, after meeting Jasmine at lunch, she was not surprised to see a look alike of her, in a waitress uniform at a different restaurant that evening. 

Our supper waitress was named Jasmine and Sugarwings was as happy to meet her that night as she had been earlier in the day.  Jasmine told us that most little girls dismiss her when they don't see a fancy gown, but Sugarwings is a girl who knows that princesses don't always have to wear a dress to be royal through and through.  (My husband preferred the lunchtime Jasmine's costume)
It was all quite special, but anytime we can watch our little grand fairy indulge her imagination is wonderful to us. And it was fun to be able to give her mommy a first time visit here and to watch her become a little girl again too.

PS- If you are going to Disneyworld, I highy reccommend the food and everything about the meal at the castle. And any food at all you get at the California park.

The Florida one, on the other hand, seems to have a lower standard for Food and Beverage, at least on the few trips I've been to it.    And it is hard to get into a restaurant without reservations. Unless you want to eat hot dogs or other fast food, make a reservation or pack a picnic. Next time I go, I'm taking a cooler and a picnic lunch.  We rented a double stroller to haul our stuff and to keep Sugarwings where we could find her, so it would have been easy to put a cooler in there too.