Karla's Cottage

Surfaces

My oldest son had a birthday this week. I realized that I rarely get photos of him, so when the family took him out to celebrate at his favorite restaurant, I made sure to bring my camera. 

He always chooses this Japanese steak house on his birthday for Sugarwings because he knows she has so much fun there. 

He's a loving uncle, a handsome guy, a hard worker, a sweet man, and I'm proud to have his as a son.

He has a strong work ethic and has been working 2 part time jobs for years, but just recently went full time at one of them.

He goes to the gym almost everyday,  takes care of himself, saved up for and bought his own car, does his own laundry, and is a good cook. 

He lost about 100 pounds and has kept it off for years and years.

Ryan has never had it easy.  He has to try a lot harder than other people, but he never gives up. He has excelled in his life and when I tell people that my son works full time at a convenience store, I say it with a big glob of pride, every bit as much pride as the mother of a gifted student who becomes a rocket scientist would have.

Probably more pride because I know how he has struggled to get so far. 

When customers are rude to him and tell him to hurry, I wonder if they realize how hurtful that is?  That they are being cruel to someone who always tries his hardest and has accomplished more than anyone ever thought he would?

They don't see past the surface.

I think people see his blue eyes, handsome face, and 6 pack abs, and don't even realize that he has learning difficulties.  They might see how shy and quiet he is and not realize that he has a speech problem, they will just think he isn't friendly, or has little to say.  He has also been called stoned or drunk when people hear his speech or see that he is slow at times when trying to do something.

Ryan has been taken advantage of by some bad people in the past. Low lifes who used his sweet nature against him, so now he lives with us, in an apartment we built over my studio.  Its important for him to have his independence, but also to be near family. 

But we are lucky to have him here.  He helps around the kitchen, mows our acreage, carries in groceries, and never, ever leaves a room without saying "I love you".  And that is usually accompanied by me getting a kiss on the top of my head.

Is my family as perfect as it looks on the surface? Oh heavens no.

When you look past the surface you see something better than perfection. 

You can see what caring, love, and strength built by adversity and a determination to make it all work better than it should, can do for a circle of people who need each other in their lives.

 

A little home rehab for a very little home

after

Maybe I've mentioned that I am behind? Well, its been so bad that I didn't give my buddy, Angie, her Christmas gift!  Christmas is long gone at this point, but there are still hints of it here and there in my home. I keep stumbling across a bauble that I missed packing away, or a bit of broken ornament peeking out from under a dresser.

Every year, I break quite a few Shiny Brites.  I used to wonder what on Earth my family was going to do with all the holiday crap I have once I am gone.

But after breaking so many every year, I realized that by the time I am dead, they will be all gone. 

before

Anyway, I had made this Christmas box for my friend, but its a bit late to give her a Christmas themed gift.

So, last week, I re-foofed it for the next holiday, by adding some Valentiney stuff.

after

The little angel by the door now holds a heart cut out of a red sequin, and the front sports a frosted glass heart with old rose wallpaper behind it, and some crepe paper. 

And it isn't Valentine's Day without roses, of course.

Hopefully, her belated gift will have an extended shelf life now, so she can enjoy it awhile.

 

Patches

Thanks for all your kind comments, but I'm not about to fall to pieces. I'm just a bit blue and slightly overwhelmed at the moment, but things get better. Life is an up and down thing.

When things go wrong, you fix what you can, patch up the messy spots and keep your eye on the happy shiny stuff ahead!

So, please don't think I'm in bad shape, I hope I wasn't complaining too much. Sometimes I over share on this blog...

Maybe to even out my negative post about being down I should print a happy list?

1. I have nice kids to worry about.
2. Sugarwings' elbow will heal.
3. My husband is buying chain saw pants to wear for the next time he cuts wood!
4. Sparkle was the sweetest puppy mama and lap dog EVER, and we were lucky to have her for as long as we did.
5. Winter might suck, but this one has not been very cold, and I've not got snowed in once. I've not even slid across the driveway and fallen on my butt yet. NO ICE!!!
6. Grandfairies are pretty cool to have around.
7. Our Hippy Chick is academically gifted and doing great in nursing school
8. Our Gypsy is starting at KU this week and loves her classes, and both girls will pass on the love of learning to the grandfairies.
9. My husband makes me laugh.  A lot.  He's fun to live with.
10. Agnes Rosebud could possibly grow up to be as sweet as Sparkle was.
11. My studio is a wonderful retreat, even when I am not feeling arty, its a beautiful place to be and I'm lucky to have it.
12. I have a new kitchen. A perfectly vintage, brand new, big kitchen.
13. All of our cars are repaired and back on the road and hopefully will go on for a long time before they need replaced.
14. American Idol is back and better than ever.
15. I sure enjoyed baking all those Christmas cookies that are stuck to my backside. Sugarwings and I love to bake together. Dewdrop has decided she wants to help in the kitchen and likes to stir the batters with us.
16. My shop is practically empty, and needs restocked.  
17. People from last year's Birdsong are signing up to come back again and bring friends.  That must mean that they liked it here at my cottage with me. That is a lovely compliment that so many are returning.  And I look forward to seeing them again!
    
18. My friends are some of the funnest and caring people around. 
19. I'm at a place in my life where if I want to take a couple of days off to feel blue, I can.  My home won't be taken from me, my family won't go hungry, no one will even notice if I am not working a couple of days.  I'm my own boss.  That is a big plus right there. 
20. You guys cared when I was a little down, even though it was just a little down. Thanks!

(3 kinds of new rhinestone chain is available in the Boutique, $3.50 a foot)

And the cupboard was bare

Thanks to those of you who shopped in my stores over the holidays and the New Year clearance sales.  I was torn up about Sugarwing's arm and losing my dog, among other issues, so I was not paying proper attention to the shops and decided just to let them clear out so I could start over. 

And the clearance sale did just that for me! wow.  This is one of the cabinets I store most of my tidbits in after listing them, and as you can see, it is down to bare bones. I've got piles of new things ready to photograph and add to the shops, but for now, its just down to a few basics that I keep in stock and not many other items.  Etsy is completely empty and there are only 5 pages in the Boutique, compared to the 14-15 I had rockin for the holidays. There were multiples of all the millinery packs, and now each one is the last of its kind, all the others sold.(But I have more to come, if I can snap out of my doldrums and get out the camera)

Did I say, THANK YOU??  I appreciate you coming here to shop with me, I know that the web is huge and there are tons of choices bombarding you everytime you look around.  I try to make my packages extra pretty to let you know that I'm glad you came  by and visited my store.

I have not made a dent in the pile of new items left to stock so far. I did restock the Charlottes, because that was easy, I just renewed the existing listing. For the other goodies, I'll have to take photos, edit, and list them one by one. But I promise, there is some gooooood stuff comin!

That is, if I can get myself in gear.  I'm just not feeling it right now.  Typical winter blahs maybe, but the weather has been far from blustery and blah.

Sparkle is missed, that is for sure. I'm sad about that. 

And there have been some other issues family wise that are getting to me.  Just enough to sap my creativity.

In the meantime, I'm making myself do little crafty things.  Just enough to keep me from hibernating with a book and avoiding the world around me.

Last night, we had the family over for soft fish tacos (broiled cod, red & green peppers, and onion, drizzled with olive oil, lime juice, chilli powder and sea salt then wrapped in sun dried tomato tortillas and topped with white cheese and heirloom tomatoes).  On the side, we had fresh guacamole.  So, I had about 5 avacodo peels.  And I hate to waste anything, so I made dye.

The peels were boiled in about 4 cups of water, then left to sit over night.  Today, I dipped ribbon and lace in the water.

Avocado peels make a beautiful, old pink, not a bright one.  It looks like the color of vintage silk slips.

After about 3/4 of the dye water was soaked up, I added leftover coffee and dyed some more lace with that color.

Then, when that second batch was about gone, I poured in more water and added a few drops of blue food coloring.

What a pretty robin's egg color it makes!  These ribbons will be perfect for tying up some little somethings for Birdsong in April, isn't it the perfect springtime color?

Birdsong Two is almost full, we have space for 5 people.  Its really nice that so many people from last year returned and a couple are bringing friends.  That means a lot to me, that so many ladies who were at our first party want to come to our second.  That's probably enough to cheer me up right there, if I wasn't in such a blah, contrary mood, I'd be dancing around with joy just thinking about it.

I don't think there is anything wrong with letting myself feel a bit down now and then. Life is about contrast, there has to be some down to the ups. 

So....

I'll roll with it. I acknowledge that I'm down, and let myself mope a bit but not waller in it. 

I'll try to do little crafty projects until I'm back to feeling arty again and I really want to make something.

I'll indulge myself a bit.

I'll  make a list of why I'm sad, face it, honor and understand it.  To bury the sadness just plants a seed to grow depression.  

 

Here is my list, it does help to write it all down and get it out of my head.  I see what I can face, what is trivial, what is just part of life, and what really deserves attention.  If not, its all some amorphous blob of doom over my head that I can't define.

1.  My dog died
2. Seeing Sugarwings and my husband hurt shook me up, even though I know they are fine now, I'm still reacting.
3. Post holiday let down
4. I worry about my kids
5. its winter!
6. Picnik is closing, and I love that site, and use it daily!!
7. Ryan's car broke down
   
8. Sometimes I get treated like a doormat
9. I worry about my kids
10. Christmas cookies are stuck to my butt.
11. I miss my sisters, the older we get the further away they seem
12. Taxes are lurking
13. My studio is knee deep in clutter and I don't want to deal with it
14. I worry about my kids
15. Its winter.
16. I need a nap
17. I'm always behind, can't quite catch up
    

See, its not like I have giant, looming issues. Life is really pretty durn good around here andI know that I'm lucky. But for now, I'm going to take the rest of the day off the read a book and rest up a bit. Mabye an afternoon movie too...

I could do a "good things" list that would be thousands of times longer than my bad things list. But I won't for now, I'm going to roll with the downess a bit and then get on with the good stuff.

Gathering the Good Stuff and whispering up a load of hats

Maybe I've mentioned that I've been behind a bit?  Well, I'm getting caught up.  Finally, I think I have all the supplies needed to create the necklace for my Birdsong Two project.

Since I was only using vintage beads, I had to scrounge to find enough old necklaces to take apart before I could make my prototype pendant.

Slowly, but surely, I gathered beads, crystals, and pearls in clear, taupe, cream, white, brown and pale pink.

As I accumulated baubles, I snipped them apart, carefully counted and sorted the treasures, and then made up a chart to keep track of how many of each that I had.  For every kit, I needed beads in increments of 25, (Plus some for the examples too) so I divided them up into bags of 25, 50, and so on, then did a little sketch of each one, added a description and a number into my ledger.  As I sorted, I started a separate bag of beads to set aside for the example, making sure I had the exact number for myself that I have for the class kits.

Yep, it would have been so much easier to order a package of pearls on-line or at Hobby Lobby.  But I wouldn't want a necklace made out of those, why would I think my guests would want one?  We are going to Use the Good Stuff.

My jaunts to antique malls have been fast and single minded.  I've had Sugarwings, her Daddy, his Gypsy and our little Dewdrop staying with me while we nursed the broken wing of our little fairy. They all tagged along with me to get out of the house and the searches were to the point, no time to meander about.

But, who could blame me for spying a floral hat here and there while I was on a desperate hunt for crystals?

Its been  Hat Bonanza Bonus Week around here! And I found a handful of necklaces too, old pearls, lots of aurora borealis crystals, and some mother of pearl.

There are probably enough gems in my treasure chest to start crafting my necklace. My chart might seem a bit of overkill for sorting beads, but by nature I am not an organized person. I have to severely train myself to be careful, double count, and make lists. If not, things go in one ear and out my mouth. I'm  not even organized enough for the traditional in one ear and out the other style of doing business.

Thoughfulness

My friend, Meleen, sent me a nice surprise this week. A beautiful box full of boxes! And not just any boxes, very vintage, never used, bird seed packaging. 

Meleen is from Oyster Bay and embellished the gift with this cute idea.

These boxes will be IDEAL for Birdsong Two.  I already have something in mind for them.  And I will be adding Meleen's blog to my side bar as an official sponsor for the weekend.

If you would like to sponsor the event, please contact me.  All you do is donate something that the ladies will enjoy. Most of the gifties will go into the goodie bags they will be receiving. Hmmmm..... that reminds me.... I need to brainstorm some goodie bag design ideas........ heck, I don't even have my project done for you to see, let alone details like goodie bags pulled together yet.

I could be behind due to the fact that I have spent a lot of time here, in the "force field", which is what Sugarwings has been calling her clubhouse/fort under the dining room table.

Its a cozy spot, with an assortment of fluffy pillows- a soft, princess pillows, a tooth fairy pillow (a gift from Cindy), and a unicorn Pillow Pet/  Plus, handmade afghan from our Gypsy, a DVD player with a stack of movies, some fairy friends dangling from the bottom of the table as well as some drawn underneath the table top.

What more do you need? She slipped into her princess gown, and slung on her decorated sling, grabbed a dog and settled in for a few movies. I curled up next to her with a good book, and didn't want to come out.

Yesterday Dr. Pretty Boy (the resident at Children's Mercy that took care of our little broken wing fairy was quite beautiful to see, her mom and I really enjoyed his visits) gave her the go-ahead to return to school, with limited activities.  Over protective Grams didn't take her first thing this morning, I thought a half day was a good transition after being hurt and out of class for a while.

But, now she is back to pre-K and my time is my own again. Hopefully there will soon be a necklace to show you for Birdsong, and my mind can start percolating on some goodie bag ideas.

More gifts came recent;y too. Beth had a tattered lace table cloth for me, just perfect for turning into leaves for my Song Of Spring wreath class for Paper Cowgirls, and a pretty water jug to serve tea in at Birdsong Two. 

Beth brought all these to me on our last craft day, as a bereavement gift for losing poor little Sparkle.   Although, Beth never really needs a reason to bring gifts, she finds things for me at auctions and estate sales and picks up little tidbits all the time.

Another bag full of lace was delivered in person to my front door by a new friend who read my blog and knew I'd give her grandma's lace a good home.  She happened to be in town having a girl's day out with her quiliting buddies and they all came by to see me.  It was so nice to have company, and so thoughtful of her to bring me the pretties. How  sweet!

PS- Beth will be at the Old Summit Antique Show this weekend. Will I see you there?