Karla's Cottage

New neighbors and starchy snowflakes

What a nice surprise yesterday when I started getting emails congratulating me on my article in Somerset Life!  I've been so busy with Sugarwings while her Daddy and my husband were out of town, that I hadn't even got the mail in yet.  So when I heard that this was out, I had to trot down to the end of the drive and take a peek in the mailbox. Yep, it was here! Now, I just need some time to curl up by the fire and read through it....

Looks like its a interesting issue, and I've glimpsed through and saw lots of friends in it too, so can't wait to have a good look!

What's keeping me so busy?  Well, things like this.  While Sugarwings is a school today, I dug out this book that was my sons' favorite when they were little. I'm going to surprise her after school with this sleepy bear in her dolly bed and a few Christmas bears in her doll house.

Years ago, we'd buy a new bear to add to the collection every year.  But since my boys have grown up, I kind of stopped getting the bears out. My Christmas palette has changed to pastels, gold, and silver.  But with the fairy grand baby 3 now and loving all things Christmas, I think she'll be very excited to see all these furry guys in red and green waiting in her doll house after school today.

My own house has more of a snowy color theme this year.  I'm glad the cheery and bright bears are finding a home in Sugarwing's room. I've missed them, and will be happy to see them out and about this year celebrating the season with us.

While the guys have been gone and its just been girl's week around here, (actually, its only on the 3rd day, but it kind of feels like a week.  Three year olds need a whole family to help with them, not just one, poor, old, Grammy by herself!!) we've gone to see Princess and the Frog (GREAT!!) and made 6 batches of fudge, plus some glittered snow flakes.

This was an easy project for the two of us.  We dipped these hand crocheted circles (made by my Great Aunt Caroline) into starch.  Sugarwings dumped most of a bottle We sprinkled glitter into the bowl of starch before dipping the snow flakes in it, and then flattened them out onto a cookie sheet.  Now that they have dried over night, I tied ribbons to them to hang some on the tree. The glitter looks better in person, than it does in the photos.

While she has been in school, I've tried to add to the shop, but really haven't got much done.  I've got two sets of these place setting markers. You can write the names on with dry erase markers, or with crayons like I did here.   I can also see them used in craft projects. Pretty, huh?

I've also made some attempts to do my own Christmas shopping, but all I seem to buy are clothes for you know who. My current obsession is that Gap commercial with all the little girls chanting "I love my comfy sweater, how cute are these boots?" and I just keep finding colorful, comfy, cute clothes for Sugarwings instead of shopping for the stuff I should be buying!

That Gap commercial just sticks in my head...

Hey, don't forget that Amy Barickman has given me this book PLUS a $25 gift certificate to download images at Vintage Workshop as a prize for my December giveaway.  I'm also including a two sweet hankies to use when you make a project from the Hankie Style  book.

Do you want a copy of Hankie Style by Amy?

Time for a winner!  This bundle of vintage trims, wrapped up in an embroidered doily, and topped with a millinery rose goes to:

SUZY

Which is really cool, because she is a sewer! I'm sure she'll whip up something wonderful with the old lace. 

Notice the sweet little white tree I tied onto the ribbon? I just love those. I bleached, dyed, and glittered a bunch of them to sell, but have kept them all to tie onto packages this holiday.

Wrapping up packages in special ways probably has become my main hobby now.  I have such fun digging through my goodies to make the things I send out look nice.

This tag goes to a friend, and it was made with little scraps of my Heavenly Papers. 

Personally, I prefer using bits and pieces of old papers instead of cutting into a big piece if I am doing a small project. Plus, its all so dear to me that I can't waste an inch of prettiness!!!

So, I wrapped up the trimmings from my wallpaper cutting this week and listed 3 bags full in the boutique.

I HOPE, that I will have time to list more larger pieces, man those went fast!! Thanks again, its good to see that my obsession is shared by so many of you. After Miss Frenchie's I'll try to wrap some more up for the shop, I appreciate all your inquiries.

Packing is going slow for Miss Frenchie's. I might be doing a last minute crunch to be ready.  Not my style at all!! I like to be ready a week early so I can relax. But this time, life got in the way. 

We had a couple of bonus Sugarwings days (always worth postponing work for!)and Saturday the weather was so beautiful, Sugarwings, my husband, and I just had to clean out the garage and pick up the garden a bit. We had a big bonfire going as I ruthlessly pitched stuff, burning lots of useless crap. What a good feeling, to have an uncluttered garage.

But not such a good feeling today. I only have half a tub ready to take!

Believe it or not, I am ready for the new giveaway and it is only the first day of the month. Usually I have to ponder on the piles I have accumulated to see what I want to put up for the drawing.  But this time, a friend offered her newest book.

Its written by a local Kansas City gal,

Amy Barickman

who runs Indygo Junction and Vintage Workshop, and is full of great ideas and style. Just another reason why I'm proud to be in the KC area!  Its great to have such talented women around- Amy, Carol, and Debbie, are just a few of the locals whose sense of vintage style I admire.

Amy is also generously giving the winner a $25 gift certificate for vintage image downloads!!  Yahoo!

Since the book was about hankies (which I just adore, and hoarde collect) I found a couple that matched the picture on the cover to include, in case you wanted to make that pattern with them.  You can also purchase downloads of vintage hankie prints here: 

http://www.thevintageworkshop.com/store/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=1&keywords=hankies&x=9&y=10

(or use your winning $25 gift certificate!)

If you don't win you can buy a copy of the book here: http://www.indygojunctioninc.com/store/

All comments, all month count.

If you are anywhere close to Kansas City, or can get there, come to see some of the great goods that we have to offer around here this weekend. Its our 3rd Miss Frenchie's sale and it promises to be a good one!

I'm a Big Bella

I'm pre-posting this for you while I am up in Omaha at the big Bella bash.

Did I mention that I had a little sis?  In my family, I'm the baby of the girls (funny that I say "baby" and "girls" about women in their 50s and 60s) but at Silver Bella this year, I've got a little sis.

Veteran Bellas are adopting newbies and helping them out, showing them around, and answering questions.  My lil sis is Robin, who is my East Coast Buddy.  When I go out to VA to stay at our apartment, Robin and I try to get together.  So, I was happy to have her as my sis.

While shopping at Lucketts this summer, I found this book that was just perfect to alter for the occasion. It was old and beat up (just the way I like things!) and only a couple dollars, but filled with the sweetest, pastel sister pictures ever!

So, I cut it apart and reassembled it, adding glitter, flowers, and sparkle.  Of course, since it was for Silver Bella, each girl got a tiara to wear.  The book has lots of blank space, and empty pages simply decorated with a die cut robin or rose, so there is plenty of space for her to use it as an art journal or photo album.

Not only did I find the perfect book to make this, I also found the perfect wrapping paper! Old sheet music titled, "the Robin's Return".

This morning, I've been wrapping up all the gifts I've made to take along.  For Marilyn, who is opening her home for me to come and shop in, I've packed a couple of my bottle brush trees.

Marilyn's business is actually called Hannah's Treasures, but in my mind, it will always be Wallpaper Heaven!  She has thousands of rolls of vintage wallpaper and its overwhelmingly wonderful for an ephemera junkie like me.

 More little trees are packaged up for roomies. Yes, it looks like a lot of roomies, and no, I'm not sleeping 8 to a room. 

Jenn, Tiffany, Lori, and I made plans to go in a day early to go to Wallpaper Heaven.  They are all roomies, and are letting me sofa surf that night since my reservation is for the next day.

For the rest of the weekend, I was supposed to be sharing with Heather Bullard, in a connecting room with Carol and Shelly.  But, Heather had to cancel, she just didn't have time to come to Omaha.  You should have seen me scrambling, trying to find a new room mate at the last minute!  No luck, so I am paying full price instead of sharing a spot.  Oh well, it worked out, since Sugarwings will stay with me one night when the family comes up to help me set up my Vendor Faire

And hopefully, Carol, Shelly, and I will have connecting rooms.  I'm perfectly capable of staying on my own, but Silver Bella weekend is all about being social and I like the late night giggle fests that go on.  So, a roomie is a good thing to have.

Carol, Shelly, and I are co-hosting the Glitter Lounge.  Last year, we invited friends up to our room for a kick off toast to start the weekend on Thursday night.  It was such fun, that we are making it a tradition and hosting again this year. I've got my disco balls all packed up and ready to go!

But now I need to get some cupcakes made to take too, I'd better get cookin.

Its just too hard to stop myself

While wrapping up some gifts to take to Silver Bella, I thought I'd gather up the gift for the November Giveaway. So many of you were hoping to win the bundles of vintage trim that I gave away earlier this month, that I thought I'd tie up a few more bits of it and offer that as the giveaway. 

I'll be away for the weekend, and will be swamped when I return, so might not have time to answer your comments, but will enjoy reading them. And each one goes into the drawing for the prize.

The blog redo that Hope did for me, is so pretty and is exactly what I wanted. I'm loving the new look! So I wanted to thank her and bring a little gift to show her how much I appreciate her work. I look forward to seeing her again, its so good to reconnect with buddies at the event! The flocked wallpaper I glued onto the book is the same that she used for the side bars of my blog.

She keeps an art journal, and is a champion doodler.  I thought maybe she'd enjoy an ephemera filled book with her name on it to fill up with her artistic ramblings.

Making a book for Hope got me fired up to make a few more...

Mary had given me a stack of old book covers, and I am finding them very compelling.  Little books filled with old papers has been something I've been making for a couple years now, and it is even more fun with these book covers.

Each is filled with with a mismatched assortment of papers, plus some tags that I like to trail ribbons and doodads from.

The last few days have been a hodge podge of little projects, as well as running errands, packing up and over all getting ready to go.

There is still a LOT left to do.  So why do I get so side tracked?  I didn't need to make books. I should have been packing up my supplies instead.  Or why did I make myself a brooch to wear on my coat?  That's just how it goes around here.  I can't help myself.

My Sissy gave me this cubic zirconia pendant, that looks like a crown, and I thought it would be great on one of my vintage medal ribbons with the "K" pendant that was a gift from Carol, last year at Silver Bella.  With a tiny  millinery rose added, of course!

My table is filled with an assortment of things that I decided I need to add to my booth, so I still have some price tags to make and packing to do. The truck is loaded and ready, but there are always odds and ends that get added at last minute.

I almost envy the people who ship their vendor goods... they at least have to limit themselves and not go crazy with inventory.  I went crazy with mine.

Ghostly gowns, grumpy fairies and a dog two ways

Its done! I have the Grumpy Fairy book hand glittered and ready to sell. I've actually listed it in my Boutique and it is available now, if you would like one.

The story is illustrated with my watercolor and ink paintings, then each picture is layered over vintage flocked wallpaper in coordinating colors.

The pages are printed onto high quality, gloss card stock and it is bound in white. I really like the colorful, but soothing palette of colors and took a lot of joy in pulling it all together.

The fairy on the front cover is hand glittered, and I've added a touch or two inside the books too.

You had to guess when you saw this wreath on the bed in the first photo, that this picture would be coming, didn't you??

Beth came along to keep me company today while I glittered books. She worked on some Christmas ornaments in sepia while we chatted.  But first, I helped her with photos of these glorious gown she is listing on Ebay.  We have had some cold weather, but no hard frost yet, so the flower bed in the center of my drive way is still blooming a bit.  We thought it made a pretty setting for the prom dresses.

YUM!

Isn't the skirt on this one about as frothy as a concoction can be?

After taking the pics, we had some fun with Picnik, and made this one ghostly. It was done in "ghostify". 

This photo was retouched with "vampire scope", but I don't think it is actually spooky, just a cool look. I hope that these applications are available after Halloween, too, I really like this one. I used it on the ruffles above too. 

I'd better get back to glittering. Too bad I can't just photo edit that in....

And remember, if you want to win one of my Grumpy Fairy books, I'll be giving one away next weekend as the gift  for my October Giveaway.

All comments, all month count.  And I also want to thank so many of you for the kind, kind words you sent my way. I needed that.

In the pastel forest

Thanks for all your well wishes for poor little Bookie.  His fever is gone, and he is doing better. But I can tell that he is still feeling bad, he follows me around and stares at me, like he is begging me to help him. It just breaks my heart to see him in pain and confused about what is going on with him.

My trees are coming along well.  I have some of the actual vintage ones that I have dyed and glittered listed in my Boutique.

There weren't very many to list, because I was using them all up in my own projects! I've been decorating the trees themselves, and also using them on the Putz houses that I've been remodeling.  But I've got lots more soaking in the bleach right now and will be dying them tomorrow. 

Sugarwings has offered to help, so I'll be dying them in Kool Aid.  I've never tried that but hear its wonderful to use.

There are a few more finished pastel trees in my Etsy shop, too.  Not many until the fairy grand baby and I get that soaking sinkful finished.  Hopefully, we'll do that tomorrow, because I need to RE-DO  the glitter on my Grumpy Fairy books over the weekend!!

The printer made a mistake and the covers that I spent hours glittering were cut wrong.  But I didn't cry.  My lip might have trembled a bit, but I took a deep breath, and took the box of pages back and asked for a redo.  I'll just need to set aside a few more hours to glitter these new covers.  Oh well.  That kind of mistake happens, I just have to deal with it and get glittering.

While waiting for the new book covers and for the dark trees to bleach out, I started planning my Silver Bella booth.

Next week, we are going to Florida to help clear out my Great Aunt Caroline's home, so I want to have everything done and ready before then. When I get back, I'll do price tags and pack it all up.  I'm  happier if any show I do is packed and ready at least a week before the event. It makes life so much more calm and enjoyable!

So, in the front half of my studio, I'm setting up a 10' x 10' booth to play dress up with my goods. We have a very small window of time to set up the booth on Vendor Night at Silver Bella, so I want to be as prepped as possible. No surprises, no problems, all planned ahead.

Plus, it would be hard to relax on my trip to Florida, if I was fretting about all the work I've left behind.  And this is a special trip, Sugarwing's first time on an airplane!

We have a day to go to the beach in Jacksonville, then down to Orlando for a day at Sea World, and another day that we don't have plans for yet.  We can't take her to Disney World... a long story that I'm sure you don't want to hear...  If you've spent time in the Orlando area with a 3 year old, I'd love some tips on where to take her for that last free day.

Any ideas?

 

And please remember, that all comments go into the drawing for a copy of the Grumpy Fairy bedtime story book as the gift for the OCTOBER GIVEAWAY.  

If it ever gets done and glittered, that is.

Piles of Pretties

Thanks to everyone who has signed up for Artist Class using my code!  I hope you enjoy all the tutorials, it looks like a good range of classes and lots of fun.

I've been working away on the Grumpy Fairy book.

The hardest part about glittering the book pages is simply space.  The pages need to be seperated so they don't stick together, so I need to spread them all out.   Funny, that even a large studio isn't big enough.... I have one table filled with jewelry making projects, one with book pages, two with pre-bella set up, and another with an assortment of odds and ends that I am working on.

So, I've moved into the kitchen and am filling all availalbe spaces there too!  My kitchen cabinets are covered with hand dyed bottle brush trees and the dining room table has more book pages.  

 
 
 My little Sugarwings and I had a fun Girl's Night, and I had plenty of opportunites to be the wicked witch.  Luckily I was wearing a hoodie, so I could pull up the hood, cackle and offer her an apple.  She'd take a bite, fall over, and I'd have to quickly switch to a Dwarf's hat (a stocking cap) and cry that Snow White was asleep and wouldn't wake up.  Miss Snow White would then lay still, looking beautiful, and trying not to giggle until her Prince Charming would kiss her face.

And who got to be Prince Charming? Twinkle.  She was happy to lick Sugarwings face every time Snow White would lay down on the floor. 

About 40 times.  I think the movie was  a hit with her.  Usually, we play Wizard of Oz over and over. But now, my flying monkey arms might get a break for a while, maybe we'll play Snow White instead of Dorothy for a bit. 

Back to my tables full of piles, and piles.....

Whisked away

My Handsome Husband whisked me away to Chicago for the night to see our favorite musician, Lucinda Williams in concert!

Typically, I'm not a concert goer. Too bad, my husband loves them, and would really appreciate it if I'd go with him to more shows.  But Lucinda is such a favorite of ours, and the setting was a more intimate club, not a big convention center or stadium.  We had great seats, and she is so real and down to earth,  I'd go to a lot more concerts if they were as nice as this.  Not too loud, not too crowded, just right. Geez, do I sound like an old fuddy duddy? But, I've always been like this even in high school. I'm just not a concert person.

Even though the hall was all black and set up with typical stage lighting and paraphenelia, I had this pretty view above our table. The building used to be an old theater and they were smart enough to save the intricate plaster work on  the ceiling when they remodeled it.

Before the concert, we went out to dinner at Art Smith's cozy little restaurant, Table 52.  I'd seen him on Top Chef Masters, and if you've ever read my blog, you know what a tv junkie I am, so I was excited to go to a place I'd heard of on one of my regular programs.  I was as excited as Sugarwings would have been if she'd gone to Arial's grotto for dinner.

And not only was it a lovely place to eat, the food was amazing.  And I do like good food. 

The next day, I flew home just in time to make it over to my friend, Angie's house to be a part of a surprise party for her.  She had NO idea that we were all in her home  waiting for her,  it was so cute to see her reaction and to see all the love and caring that her family put into the planning.

See the painting behind us?  She got it at an estate sale, and took it to Antiques Roadshow.  She was told it is worth $8,000, not bad for a $30 estate sale piece, huh?

Why do I show bad photos of myself? Yes, I was pretty tired, (and look it, too) after two days of travel and being stuck in Chicago traffic, and waiting at the airport for hours on standby, trying to get back a bit early so I could be home for the surprise.

But honestly, NO ONE would look good next to Angie, she is such a beauty.

I guess you could say she is the fairest of them all.

Tonight, Sugarwings and I are having a girl's night. Its just the two of us and we are going to spend it watching Snow White and making caramel apples.  She loves to act out her favorite parts of movies, so I bought her this gown to wear and I am prepared to be the wicked witch. I am always assigned the scary parts, the wicked witch, a flying monkey, or the big, bad wolf. 

In the meantime, I have a few hours before she gets here for our Snow White Festival  and will start assembling the Grumpy Fairy books.  I'm extremely happy with the paper quality, and color.  But am not so happy with the mountain of work ahead of me, binding them all myself.

Especially since I decided to hand glitter highlights on the pages.  Stickles is a wonder product, and the sparkles won't rub or flake off like gluing down regular glitter, so I think this is the answer to getting Sugarwing's wings to look sugary and not having glitter all over the reader's hands.

I'll let you know if I ever get any ready to sell... I hope to have them in the Boutique in time for holiday shopping, and also have some to take to Silver Bella.  But I will for sure have one ready to give away for the October Giveaway. 

All comments all month count for the prize.  (I do appreciate your comments!)

Dollar Day

Yesterday, I had a mini craft day. Beth, Mary, and I all had things to do for Silver Bella, so we decided to hang out and do them together.  I had a few little gifties for them, some ephemera and a chocolate from See's Candys.

Beth brought a giant tub of jewels, a big box of buttons, and a stack of laces to tag and sort, one of those boring jobs that goes better with company.  Although, the jewels weren't boring to me, I loved looking through and playing with them. 

She even paid me a dollar to sort them out.  She also offered Sugarwings a dollar to sort buttons. Maybe Beth comes to visit for the cheap labor? 




It was a day full of finished projects for me, I am thrilled to be getting long neglected things completed!

For a while, I have been buying sewing boxes, jewelry boxes, and other vintage containers to foofify.  And hadn't touched them, they've been piling up and overflowing from the tub I had them in.  I felt like they were going to bury me in an avalanche if I didn't get around to them soon.  So, it was a relief to take an afternoon to whittle down the pile and get a few foofed.



There are a couple million dolls waiting for my attention too.  Some things, I just can't pass up while shopping, even though I should... Old dollies can be pretty cheap, and all they need is a bit of love, care, glue, cleaning, millinery and ironing.  Well, that does sound like a bit of work, no wonder I avoid them after I buy a pile of them.

But yesterday, I grabbed a couple of dirty dollies and got to work. And learned a trick from Beth.  She said that ribbons can be ironed on a lightbulb!!!!!!!

I had no idea, but it sure makes sense and really does work.

So, I pulled off a lamp shade and rolled a ribbon across the bulb, and that took all the wrinkles out immediately. I didn't even have to get out the iron and the board. 

So, I figured I'd try it on a doll skirt.  That worked great too, just open the skirt, drape it over the bulb and rub it around.  It looks very, very wrong while doing it (because the doll was stil in the dress), and elicited a few off color remarks, (I'll leave those to your imagination) but hey, it was easy and the wrinkles are gone!

I just hope these poor dolls don't feel too violated.



I got a good start on earring making too.  During the summer months, I collect vintage bits and pieces to remake into pierced earrings, necklaces, and bracelets for the fall art shows I do.



So, I'm planning on devoting most of this week to getting my jewels made up, tagged and ready to sell.



Isn't this a PERFECT display for them!?  I hope to have it all filled up by the end of the week. Then, I'll just close the lid, set it aside and it will be all ready to go when I leave for Silver Bella.




Sorting out Beth's jewels not only earned me a dollar, I found this little girl pin that was perfect to put on the cover of the Alice in Wonderland book I'd been working on.  Beth also brought me the rings to put the book together with.  So I got that finished too.

Not a bad day of production!



When I was done, my son had this meal waiting for me! Roasted red peppers from the garden, rice with cilantro, and grilled tilapia.

Not a bad day at all.  Plus I made a whole DOLLAR. There are lots and lots of days that an artist can't say that!

Bungled baubles, an Alice Obsession, and parading pooches

Yesterday, at craft day, Beth brought her embossing supplies for me to try. I've never done that before and was intrigued with the idea of embossing small collages on these medals.   So, I thought I'd share some step by step how to's with you.

But, it turns out that I am not very good at embossing.  The paper bubbled and burnt, the finish looked thick and gloppy.  Maybe you'd appreciate instructions from someone who actually can do it correctly?  You certainly could do better asking anyone else but me!

Sorry.

So, no new charms to add to the Boutique.  I will probably salvage them to tie onto things, they are cute enough to use that way. Just not good enough to make into a charm bracelet or necklace. 

I did finish this old box and add it to the shop, though.   It was in pieces when I got it, so it is all repaired and re-glued and covered with pretty vintage papers, then topped with a pale pink rose.

My guess is that it at one time held a manicure set. What do you think?

Also, thanks to everyone who snapped up one of my vintage goods prize ribbons. I made another with a triple row of ruffles, then thought I'd make up a few more till I ran out of crepe paper.

So, there are a few more added to the Boutique, waiting for you to let me know what initial needs to be added.  All the initials are hand drawn and glittered, no stencils, or patterns.  Also, no two are alike. And now, I'm out of crepe paper, and since it was an old roll from a flea market, that is the end of that.

Now, I am obsessed with making an Alice in Wonderland book.  No reason, just because.  It really is a bad idea to get started on.... I've got Silver Bella to plan for (those 10 feet vendor booths hold a lot of crap to sell), house guests coming for the rest of the week, and a trip to Florida to help clean out my Great Aunt Caroline's home. 

Also, the Sugarwings Grumpy Fairy book needs a tweaking.  The website that I had it printed on sucked about as much as my embossing skills.....

So, here I am, fulfilling a whim and playing with this Alice spread instead of acting like a big girl and getting my work done.

But look at how much fun it is!!!!  I've had that cat with green eyes postcard on my desk for years. When Mary gave me an old Alice in Wonderland book cover, I knew immediately that I needed to add a Cheshire grin to this picture and turn it into a book.

I drew the grin onto paper from the back of an old greeting card, so it wouldn't look too new and stand out for the wrong reasons. then glued it on.  I've made up about 8 pages so far, so hopefully,  this obsession with be done and over with soon, so I can get back to business.

Before I get back to work, I want to tell you about a fund raiser to help pets.  You can get details at Kelee's.

She is hosting a blog party and every link earns the charity $3. 

Hope to see you there, Sept. 30!