Karla's Cottage

Nests and fairies and birdies and peeps

While I was in CA, I celebrated my 54th birthday, and it was a joy to be with friends that day.  A group of them took me out to lunch the day before, and Carol treated me to dinner that night.  

My roomie, Lori, even brought me a sweet little gift in bed when I woke up on my birthday.  Now, that is special treatment!!

Lori has some photos in Jenny Doh's new book, and one of them is of me! Well, part of me, at least.

As a thank you to my freinds for making my birthday so nice, I made up some wire nests (from my Twining and Twirling online workshop).

These are all on their way to my thoughtful buddies now.  Just a token to thank them for the great weekend.

(I've added a few nests to my Boutique also)

While we are talking nests, I thought I'd show you my banner from the Birdsong swap I joined. I wish I could have been a part of all of them, but I was a little overwhelmed at the time. There were some really great swaps, I was impressed. And so glad that I was in this one!  I usually try to join one swap whenever I go to an arty event, because I spend so much time oohing and ah-hing when I watch the trades getting opened and end up jealous over the beautiful loot everyone gets.

These letters were temporarily clipped to my curtain rod in the kitchen, but I kind of like them there, and they might hang out that way for a while.

This book is a Birdsong treat that I got from my friend, Tami.   

Its more than perfect, because when I send messages to the Birdsong group, I call them my "peeps".  Plus, I kind of like fairies a bit...

Its an adorable book, that Sugarwings and I fell in love with right away. Cute illustrations,and a fun little story filled with songs and poems and lots of fairies.

 She has been entranced by it, and after I read it to her, she sat and looked at the book for over an hour.

And this is a kid that doesn't sit still much.

The peeps who came to Birdsong were overly generous! Very thoughtful gifts came our way, what a wonderful bonus on top of the great weekend of fun that I had with all the ladies. 

I'll leave you with a scan of one of my favorite pages, and of the cover.  Click to open in a larger size before you save them to your computer to print.

I had some much needed Sugarwings time over the weekend, and as always, she brought lots of smiles to our house.

She helped me with some sugar cookies, although she doesn't realize that her batch never made it into the main pile of goodies. I wouldn't call myself a germ-a-phobe, (then again, some people do think that), but I'm always really careful about stuff kids bake.  I separate the dough, give her some of her own to work with and do whatever disgustingly fun stuff she can think of to do to it.

I think our littlest fairy will be enjoy baking with us too. Dewdrop got out of the tub the other day, saw me making cookies, and ran naked as fast as she could to her play kitchen to get a spoon, and zoomed to me demanding to help!

Sugarwings and I also played dress up with the wedding gowns I found in a closet and got out to sell at Birdsong.

(bad photo, sorry)

The train was her favorite part of the gown.

She also helped me with my latest obsession, Drawsomething.

She likes to add the finishing touches to my pictures.

On Saturday, I took a break from working on Birdsong set up, and spent the entire day with my handsome husband.

We cleaned our old, beat up pontoon boat and got it ready for the lake.  On the way there, we tried to save a few bucks by filling the tank at the gas station instead of paying Marina prices.

He wasn't quite sure it was worth the effort, but did it for me.  I'm the cheapskate in the family. But hey, that extra dollar a gallon adds up!

We also ran errands around town, went out for a sushi dinner and saw Hunger Games (my second time, and I'd be happy to see it a third time)

Beautiful weather, accomplishments made, great company, good food, and a handsome man by my side. Not a bad weekend.

He's a pretty hot grandfather, huh? 

There was even time to play a few more games of Drawsomething.

Not as many as I would like, though.

If I didn't have Birdsong to get ready for, I think I'd be playing this game way, way too much!

By the time I'm set up for Birdsong, I hope I still have energy left to play, but I have a feeling I'll be doing more of this!!

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail, Hopping down the Fairy Trail

Happy Easter!  We celebrated ours early by hosting an egg hunt on the Fairy Berry Trail in the woods behind our house. Our Gypsy and Dewdrop had foofed it up beautifully, and lined the whole trail with pinwheels (from the Dollar Store).

We started out letting the baby have a few minutes to gather some eggs for her basket at the top of the trail, then the race was on.

Sugarwings was ready to hit the trail in high speed as soon as she got the go-ahead to race away.

She might have been in a hurry to fill her own basket, but took time to stop and help her little sister when her eggs fell out of her basket.

The trail really looks good, better than it ever has.  What a gorgeous spring we are having!

Since Sugarwings was going to be at her aunt's for Easter Sunday, she and Fin wrote the bunny a note and asked if he would hide eggs early, and left it out in the woods with a carrot as a bribe.  Fin is older and knew that (spoiler alert- if you are a kid, or just a kid at heart, don't read this!)  that the Easter Bunny isn't the guy who does all the eggs himself, but he got behind the idea and seemed to forget about that. 

Dewdrop was pretty pleased with her first Egg Hunt too. I don't really think that the whole "give the baby a few minutes to find eggs first" was needed. She held her own with the big kids.

And was very fond of the organic jelly beans and gummi bears I'd put into the 150 eggs out in the woods. (I didn't want the parents mad at me for handing out too much candy, but had to put something in the eggs, so settled on a couple organic jelly beans in each, and made sure to have some healthy after school snacks for everyone before we cracked open the eggs and hit the sugar!)

I loved watching the different approaches to finding the eggs. Seems like the bigger you are, the faster you go.

The smallest kids ended up finding the most eggs, because they lingered.  

And Dew Drop was happy just playing with the eggs themselves, but when she realized there was stuff in them, it got even more exciting.

Sugarwings must have been watching some old movies, because she was certain that white gloves were required with Easter dresses, and kept hers on the whole time.

but didn't necessarily keep them white...

This gown has been in her dress up closet, along with the garland Aunt Sissy made for her, for years and is one of her faves.  Its good to have a piece in your wardrobe that is so versatile and can be worn for tea parties and fairy walks, as well as egg hunts.

I'm looking forward to garage sale season so I can replenish her dress stock. Most of them are 2nd hand to start with and are starting to show it after years of dress up play. 

One thing I've noticed over the years, is that as much as the kids like princess gowns, that are meant for dress up, they seem to prefer  pretty dressy-dresses.  And of course, those are much sturdier than the clothes sold in the toy department too.

And Dewdrop seems  to be enjoying dressing up.

In the past, she has been irritated by Grammie trying to put her in fairy clothes, but I have a feeling that its growing on her now.

Not only did our Gypsy add pretties to the trail this spring, I started some plantings out there.  Around the fairy tree house, I planted some Virginia Creeper, which I hope with cover the over hanging branches eventually and make it feel more enclosed.

I also planted some variegated and plain vinca, and some ivy.  We'd spent a day edging the flower beds up by the house, pulling up vines that were growing beyond their borders and straighting the rocks that lined the beds before we had new gravel delivered.  Instead of tossing all those vines, I filled two wheelbarrows up with them and took them down to the Fairy Berry trail to  line the walkways.

It feels good to have fresh gravel everywhere! We did the driveway and sidewalks too. And we PAID someone else to do it all. In the past, I've spent weeks with my wheelbarrow and shovel spreading gravel from the pile we had delivered.  But I discovered that the labor cost of having it spread was only $250. 

Seriously?

I spent weeks of back breaking labor to save $250?  I know I'm cheap, but I am NOT that cheap. Its not worth my time (or back) when two guys with rakes and a bobcat can do it in one day!!

And now, everything looks so fresh and clean, like the ground does after a new snow. Of course, it will be a matter of days before weeds peek through, and I noticed this morning that we already have a gopher mound.

I hope your Easter is a blessed one and that your basket is over filled with chocolates!

Sprucing up the Fairy Trail

The girls pitched in to help me get ready for Birdsong.  Its still early yet, but the weather was so good, we decided to spiff up the Fairy Berry Trail.  I hired these two as my Fairy Designers for the job.

In the fall, I put away the decorations we use on the trail out in the woods, so the girls loaded the wheelbarrow full of pretties and head out into  the woods to replace it all and foof up the trail.

Of course, they needed to be dressed properly for the job!

This will be the first year that Dewdrop is old enough to play out on the trail, I hope she likes it. 

Since she has spent a big chunk of her life living in a yirt in a woodland, so playing outside in the trees has been an every day thing for her!

The trail is looking prety, lined with pinwheels down its whole length.  We are hoping to plant some vines and flowers out there this year too. And spiff up the tree house (to the left).

A nice nest full of fairies and a nasty nest full of squirrels

As promised, I added directions and pictures to download to create this fairy nest to my 3 Wire Workshop tutorial.

If you've already bought the tutorial, just scroll down and you'll find these directions added to the end of the nest and egg how to's. No additional charges, its a bonus!  Included is a sepia photo of this family and a hand tinted one with my wings attached.  Plus a couple more vintage pictures you could use in the nest instead if you'd rather.

I hope to add some holiday decor ideas and more wreaths in the fall too. 

This workshop comes with directions for a wreath, nests, and crowns, all made from wire, with ideas for embellishments. I've added some instructions for decorated eggs too.

 

 Speaking of nests, we had some uninvited guests build a nest in our dryer vent!   I heard scampering in my laundry room every morning this week, and it took me a while to figure it out. Squirrels had gotten into the vent pipe from the outside and made themselves at home!

We had to take the cover off, reach in and pull out the nesting materials and replace the cover with one that has a cage over it. They had done a bit of damage, so I'm glad I had a sweet, grown up son around to take care of it for me and get the varmits out of there. 

It was a nice day to be out in the yard, and Little Dewdrop kept us company.

Who would have thought that we'd be outside splashing and playing in the water in March? What beautiful weather!

Sugarwings took advantage of the 80 degree day to do some planting and finger painting. 

I think she painted the dirt and herself more than her paper.

And these pictures were taken before she even got very messy. (and no, the paint did NOT come out of her pink clothes, no matter how much I soaked and sprayed it.)

Yep, a perfect day to be outside, we turned on the garden hose and let her play in that afterwards- yay, Spring!!

Kansas Spring

Wow, what weather we are having!  Dewdrop and I have made the most of it by doing LOTS of yard work while the sun is shining.  These delightful days are unpredictable this time of year, so when one comes along, I make the most of it, knowing that it could be a fluke and I won't have a chance to work outside again any time soon.

But, they just keep on a coming. One beautiful  day after another, with just enough rainy ones in between to make everything grow and turn green.

I just hope they keep on a comin.  I could use this kind of weather for Birdsong at the end of April! I hope the prettiness continues. (Birdsong is full now, thanks!)

So far, just about every spring blooming tree and shrub has prematurely burst into glorious buds all at the same time.  Its one of those breath taking Spring times when everywhere you look, there are blasts of pastel color.  As much as  I love it, I think I'd still prefer the step by step color, where a few bushes start blooming, then more open up a few at a time.  Its a head on collision of color this year.

I do love seeing  it, but I worry that this way, its all going to be played out early and done by the end of April when my guests arrive!

Its tempting to plant too much too soon, and I've tried to stop myself from getting too carried away. Its entirely possible that we could get a late snow or at least a hard frost yet.

So, I've planted only things that would hold up if the warmth fades.  Lots of pansies and snapdragons so far.  Plus, I've been cleaning and clearing. Every year when I start my Spring yard work, I'm kicking myself and declaring that NEVER again will I wimp out on clearing all the fall leaves in Autumn.  Because every year, I spend a few hours blowing leaves mulitple times in October and September, but we have so many trees, it barely makes a dent in them.

At first, I'm enjoying being outside and in the crisp fall air. 

Then, my arm starts to get tired. 

Then, the leaf piles seem bigger and bigger.

That is when I start to day dream about moving away to a condo on a beach somewhere. With no elm trees. No walnut trees. No whipping Kansas wind blowing the leaves back in my face as fast as my leaf blower shoos them away.

Then, the resentment begins to build and I start to get ill tempered.

So I quit, thinking I'll get back to them "later".

And usually I  end up leaving quite a few of  them till Spring.

And every Winter, they pile up, all soggy, wet, and heavy, half decomposed and rotting, waiting for me to brave them in the Springtime.

One phrase I've always preached to my kids is this- "Ignoring your problems only makes them bigger and worse. Fix them while they are still small and easier to deal with"  But do I listen to my own advice when it comes to leaves?

Never.

But Spring always comes, and I finally have no choice, I have to face the leaves. I'd like to think that our flower beds are happier with all of the decayed vegetation overwintering in them.  And I try to leave as much of it as possible where it lays and just top it with mulch. I've got 20 bags to start with.

The rest of the leaves, I blow into the woods. It always seems like a lot of work, but at least I don't have to bag and haul them.  We like it natural around here.

And having a helper out in the yard with me makes the work go faster.

New skills

Congratulations to Agnes Rosebud for catching her first mouse!  She might end up being as talented as her mom, who has a voracious appetite for chasing varmits.

Agnes Rosebud isn't the only one learning new skills.  Dewdrop got a painting lesson from her big sis this week.

Sugarwings is a bit of an unconventional artist. She is always ready to set the paper aside and try something new.  She likes to paint all of her small toys, and anything else that she can get a hold of.  I figure, as long as its just watercolors and she is painting her own belongings, that is fine. I'll wash them down and she can paint them again later.  She;d rather paint her toys than play with them.

She knows to ask before she starts painting any of  my stuff that is within her reach.

  Well, most of the time.  Every once in a while she needs a reminder.  I've not had anything too important turned pink yet, just a few tidbits and supplies. 

We bought some markers for window panes, and she has this big window by my garden door that she likes to work on. I can see why she enjoys this canvas, I like to draw on the window with her.

Their father is a bit worried that Dewdrop will take this idea and redecorate the world with it.  My thoughts are to teach them when they are little where they can paint and where they can't, but give them some interesting options.  He's afraid that she is way too little to know the difference and might just color all of the walls she sees now.

But as a person who used to paint murals for a living, and who painted that faux brick floor that the girls are pictured on, its hard for me to limit them to just paper.  Its good to see them coloring outside of the lines and being individuals.

When I teach a class, its hard for me to limit the kits to just exactly what is needed. I like to have a pile of extras for the students to pick through, so they can create a one of a kind piece, and do their own version of "coloring outside of the lines".

So, I'm gathering up a nice selection of goodies for the Paper Cowgirl class I'll be teaching in March, down in Texas.  The class isn't full yet, if you'd like to dig through the pile of pretties and make a wreath with me.

 

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.

Wigged out for the holidays

This is my favorite holiday photo from our weekend. Little Dewdrop snuck up onto the table while her elfish father was fixing dinner.  He wore the hat and cape for most of Christmas and I thought it added a festive touch.

We spent a lot of our time in the kitchen, and having it be one, big open space was just great.  Now, why didn't we think of this years ago? Its made our house such a cozier place.

We had one wonderful meal after another, and since the kids were staying with us instead of driving back to the woods and going to their yurt each night, we even went all out for breakfast in the mornings. On Christmas Day, our Gypsy made this fluffy, puff of deliciousness for us from a recipe we saw in the Sunday paper that morning.

Poor Sugarwings had been pretty sick all week leading up to the big day, and stayed here with us for most of the time, with her parents having sleepovers with her at our cottage.  She rallied by the time Christmas Eve came around, but was still not quite herself.

We were sad to see her so weak and tired, but It was nice to have a houseful for the whole week, instead of just seeing them for the dinner and present times.

This year, between Sugarwings being sick, and me travelling, I was behind on gift buying.  I did a whirlwind shopping trip, throwing things into the cart as I buzzed down the aisles.  By the time I got home, I wasn't even sure what I had for who, I just hoped it was done.  And for some reason, I bought wrapping paper, not bags.... silly mistake!  If you wait till the last minute to buy gifts, there is no time for wrapping, those late gifts need to be slipped into bags.

That was NOT the highlight of my week.

But watching these little fairies tear through that paper was.

Dewdrop was very fond of her new toys.  She was busy giving all the dollies lots of kisses and hugs.

She wasn't quite sure what to think  about the dress up wig that her big sister got though.

I think it added a lot to the festivities, as she wore it to pass out the gifts.

We had two celebrations, all gifts to each other on Christmas Eve, and Santa's presents on Christmas Day.  My husband's family has always done it that way, and it has become our tradition too.

  I grew up with being able to open one gift the night before, saving the rest for the main event. I was always disappointed that the one preview gift was PJs every single time. I thought it was just plain old bad luck that I always picked the one gift that was not fun at all, when there was a sparkling pile of things waiting under the tree for me. 

Of course, now I know that Mom planned it that way, so that I'd have new jammies on for Christmas morning when I woke her up at the crack of dawn.  But at the time, I was crushed that once again, I got pajamas,  not a Barbie on Christmas Eve.

Now, I am pulling my own version of the jammie trick, and let the girls each have one gift to open after dinner, before bath time and the rest of the gifts.  Yep, they each had a new pair of matching PJ's as their sneak peek gift just like I did when I was a kid.

We had a third holiday bash on the day after Christmas, with the rest of the family (at least the ones in this part of the world) over for dinner, and all 26 of us fit into the new kitchen. 

The house seems really quiet now with everyone gone.  I've kind of gone into hibernation, with a good book and a box of kleenex (I caught Sugarwing's cold). I've not even checked out the post holiday sales yet, and don't know if I will.  Although I keep thinking about all that clearance price Russell Stover chocolate.... out there, just waiting for me, all marshmallowey on the inside and shaped like chocolate Christmas trees. 

But I'm kind of enjoying being snuggled up with a book and staying home in my jammies.  I think I'll pass on the sales and go have another slice of that white chocolate peppermint cheesecake that I made instead. By the time I leave the house, the only thing that will fit me will be my elastic waist jammies.

If you are into holiday sale prices and don't want to leave your comfy home either, I have a sale in my Boutique and now on Etsy too.  And yes, it covers tutorials, millinery, charlottes, and all of the other vintage goodness in my shops.

 Everything is 30% off in the Boutique if you use  THIS LINK.

And the small print says: The only catch is, that I won't be doing any mailing for a few days.  You might not recieve your box till after New Years.

And if you click on the website directly, you can't get the sale price, its only available from THIS LINK

When you fill your shopping cart, you need to type in the words-  happyholidays   - then hit "recalculate" to get the special price. Its simple to do.

For Etsy, use the same code word- happyholidays  -to get 30% off there too.

And by the way, a Very Happy Holidays to you all!

A new holiday tradition?

We had a Fairy Merry Christmas, and I hope that you did too.  On the Day Before the Night Before Christmas (the title of one of our favorite songs around here), we had the girls here for a sleep over.

They decorated bottle brush trees in the studio, then decided to fix up the Gingerbread house for the fairies that live on our Fairy Berry Trail through the woods.  

It got a whole new set of furniture, made of graham crackers.

After the painting/gluing in the studio and the icing/sprinkle excitement in the kitchen, we decided a bubble bath was in order. I poured them all (plastic) flutes of sparkling juice and filled the tub with Sugar Plum Fairy bath salts.

Calliope said that she felt like a princess.  That gave us the idea to surprise them all with a princess party after their soak. The Hippy Chick ran upstairs and found some dress up clothes that were appropriately royal and had them laid out for the girls to slip into when they were done bubbling.

Of course, our girls lean toward the fairy side of "fairy princess".

Our tiniest sprite got to play a little dress up, but fell asleep before the other festivities began.

It was girl's night at the hot chocolate party. 

One of the fun parts of the party is mixing your cocoa just the way you like it. We serve warm milk in teapots, and pass around Giradelli chocolate, mini marshmallows, shaved white chocolate with peppermint, candy canes, and for the moms, some Kaluha.  

It was special. I'm lucky to have all these little girls to play dress up with.  They are pretty sweet.

and now for the winner of my Christmas Secret Surprise Giveaway!  Its a hand painted and decorated box with a nesting, ephemera covered bird on it.  Pretty for the holidays, but not so Christmassy that you can't leave it out all winter.   I'll fill it with some home made bath salts and send it to.....

Deborah Woodrow

And remember, if you have Christmas gift cash to buy yourself a gift, come on by the Boutique. Everything is 30% off if you use  THIS LINK.

And the small print says: The only catch is, that I won't be doing any mailing for a few days.  You might not recieve your box till after New Years.

And if you click on the website directly, you can't get the sale price, its only available from THIS LINK

When you fill your shopping cart, you need to type in the words-  happyholidays   - then hit "recalculate" to get the special price. Its simple to do.

Merry Christmas!