Karla's Cottage

Frenchie's preview pics and shop updates

While I've been busy gathering goods up for Miss Frenchie's sale this weekend, I've taken a break to package up some of that great wallpaper I told you about.

I  just loved playing with all the pretty papers and making packages for you to use!  I package them in a few different ways, one is all coordinated, another is a varied selection.  Also, I try to make varied sizes, some jam packed and others a bit smaller, to fit all budgets. 

You can find them in my Boutique, and it looks like they are already selling before I've even had a chance to tell you about them! Thanks, guys, its good to see that I'm not alone in my wallpaper love!

Also, just wanted to let you know that there are only a few Crystal Crown Rings left.  I'd better slip in and get one for myself before they are all gone!

The trees are re-stocked in my Etsy shop too.  Why do I have the trees in a different shop? Laziness. I sold them there last year, so now, I just have to renew the old listing, not take all new photos and relist.  Simple and quick.

Well, the bleaching, dying, gluing, glittering, packaging part isn't quick, but the listing is, and I'll take any little bit of help I can get!

Sugarwing's Daddy helped me cut wallpaper.  He's the sensitive, artist type and is always happy to help in the studio when I need him.   I was freaking out about my major budget blow out on all the paper I'd bought and how little time I had to get it packaged, with Miss Frenchie's sale looming.  So, he jumped in and started chopping. 

We sliced two sizes, 8 x 10 and 11 x 14. But, I don't have the clear envelopes to fit the larger sizes!! Someday, I'll have a chance to sit at the computer and look up glycine sleeves and get some ordered, then will list the bigger pieces. Sorry!   They are sitting here waiting for me to make time.

Twinkle is wondering when I'll have time to spend with her too.  As excited as I am to be going to Miss Frenchie's and as lucky as I am to be included on such a FANTASTIC, premier sale, I'm getting tired!  I'm ready to kick back with Christmas music on the stereo, a frosty glass of egg nog in my hand, and the Christmas tree twinkling in the dark.  Don't you love evenings by the light of a Christmas tree? Especially if there is a fire lit.

And we always have a fire lit, we heat our house mostly with wood.  Now, I just need the tree and the time to set it up and enjoy it!

This is why I am slightly exhausted.  I'm setting up my "trial run" for Miss Frenchie's, and getting it planned, tagged and packed.

I'll leave you with some scenes of my table. I'm heading over to it to pack it up and get it ready to load in the big red pick up truck on Thursday.

Shameless hawking of wares, Artist Class Ala Carte, a mini Tutorial, and prizes!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, with lots to be thankful for yesterday!

We had a smaller than usual group this year, and WAY too much food. I've already made turkey soup from leftovers for supper tonight.  While cleaning up the kitchen and putting away the food, I have a pot simmering on the stove that veggies, turkey, and broth go into.  I throw in a few handfuls of rice, and some seasonings and by the time I'm done with the kitchen clean up, the soup is ready to be cooled and put away for the next day.

Family brought side dishes, and we had the meal all under control on auto pilot, so while the guys watched football and played pool, some of us made paper doll dresses for our Christmas trees.  We kind of have a family tradition of doing projects together while the turkey roasts. I keep the day low keyed and simple, so we can all enjoy it and not feel pressured or rushed. The meal is all served buffet style right from the stove top, so when its time to eat, all we do is line up.  I can play with glitter and glue right up until its chow time!

This year, I had actual patterns ready for the guests to use, thanks to the tutorial I did for Mary's Artist Class.  I enjoyed seeing how the "class" went in person, and they seemed to like it. 

Artist Class is still available to purchase as a group of 12 projects, with lots of extras (use my Karlascottage code to save $10) and now, Mary is also offering an ala carte menu to pick and chose a few classes here and there too.

Click HERE to order the paper doll tutorial that I did. 

You will receive the dress patterns, the hand drawn doll that the dresses fit, directions, and ephemera to down load and print out to make your creations.  This class, on its own is $15. 

I will be listing some more ephemera kits with extra patterns in my Boutique soon too.  Along with that gorgeous wallpaper that I am slowly, but surely getting cut!!

Here are some of the creations that family made yesterday with the patterns. Its great to see the range of styles that some simple patterns can become!

This is one of mine, made from that wallpaper that I'm so far behind on getting packaged to sell!   I've got a few rolls of it cut, but have about 10 more to get through. Thanks for your patience.  I'd planned on doing it today, but when Sugarwings asked me to take her to a movie, how could I say no?  Wallpaper will just have to wait, fairy grand babies take precedence!

If you'd like to make your paper doll dresses into ornaments to hang from the tree, here are some simple steps to do that.

First, punch holes in the shoulders.

Next, select your ribbon.

For holiday sparkle, I chose this vintage tinsel that was a gift from Beth.

Cut about 7-8"

Thread the ribbon through the holes from the front (although, you can tell from the floral dress I made, that I put the knots in the front, that is OK too)

Tie knots on both ends, then trim off any danglies.

To Christmassy-up a couple of these dresses, I added some glitter.  Simply brush your finished dress lightly, with white glue, and sprinkle on glitter, then tap off.  I used the vintage crystal "Diamond Dust" because it has such a pretty shine. Make sure you don't use something metallic or heavy that covers up your work completely! You want to use a transparent glitter and apply in a fine sheen, not thick or gloppy.

The dresses I've shown are available in my Etsy shop for $6 each, if you are interested.

 

And now, after what sounds like a lot of hawking of my wares-( but hey, I have to make a living here, don't I??), I have some gifts to announce!

The winner of the original, hand drawn and painted paper doll goes to:

Laurie Jackson

And an ephemera kit for making the dolls goes to:

Sandra Thompson

And of course, everyone who leaves a comment anytime this month is entered into the

November Giveaway.

While up at Silver Bella, there was a discussion among some friends about giveaways. A lot of people don't care for them and think there are too many.  I know I have a lot, and yes, some of it is just to bribe you guys to leave comments, but that isn't the only reason I do it.

For one thing, I have so MUCH. And I like to share.  I find good deals and I'm able to giveaway pretty things without hurting my pocketbook.

And also, to quote Kurt to Finn on Glee, "I honestly love you". My blog, and blogfriends that I've met through it mean a lot to me.  There are billions and billions of blogs out there for you to visit and I just want to say thanks for you to take the time out to come and see me, and bother to leave a comment. 

So, yes, there will be more giveaways here.  And lots of them.  Its appropriate to say at Thanksgiving time that I have a lot to be thankful for.  So, I just wanted to let you know that!

New in the Shop and a super sweet Sunday

In case you hadn't heard, Mary is extending Artist Class by selling the classes individually.  If you'd like to order one or more classes, check here.

Our trip to Virginia was a nice break, that included a lazy Sunday where we just took off for a long drive to see what there was to see.

We ended up in Annapolis, and in this adorable neighborhood.    It was late in the day by the time we got there, so I didn't do much shopping, but that wasn't the purpose anyway.  We were just out looking around, enjoying the sunshine and each other.

And of course, lunch!  We found buttery crab that we could eat while enjoying this view. As delicious as the seafood was, any meal is improved with a view of the water!

Since we got home, I've tried to get caught up with the Boutique and Etsy.

I know, I know, you are waiting for floral wallpapers! I promise, they will be ironed, cut and packed up soon, but that is such a big job, I need an afternoon to devote to it, and today, I was only able to snag a bit of time here and there, so I listed a few little things in both shops. 

Thank you so much for your interest in the gorgeous old papers! I love hearing that you understand and share my fascination with beautiful wallpaper!

In the Boutique, I've added some tussie mussies filled with a prettily packaged bottle brush tree.

And I came across a big stack of vintage Christmas cards, so will be including one with each purchase from either shop.

Some of you asked about the crystal crown rings that I had for sale at Silver Bella. There are some of those in the Boutique now, in assorted sizes.

And I have a few bottle brush trees listed too.

There is more to add, so please keep checking back!

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.

Back to normal

Its so nice to have everything back to normal, with Twinkle home.  Sugarwings is no longer telling everyone "Toto has wunned away" and the two of them are happy to be reunited.  Since she is convinced that she is Dorothy, she has also decided that Twinks must be Toto.  Which works out fine, because she can't say "Twinkle", she always says "Ankle" instead.

Yes, Toto sounds like a cuter name than Ankle. And that dog will answer to anything.

Thank you for all of your kind words about my little dorkie taking off.  I really don't deserve them, it was ALL MY FAULT.  Poor dog. But, she is home now and I am making sure she stays this time.

Over the weekend, I finally broke my losing streak in hat gathering. Lately, I've not done well at all, and Beth reminded me that I had created my own shortage by buying all the hats up in the surrounding area.  But I did manage to find a few this weekend and might be able to reclaim my hat whisperer title. I thought I'd have to retire it, I'd been on such a long dry spell of hatlessness.

Most are already stripped naked and packed up, ready to fly out of here.  I love this little bouquet of about a dozen white flowers with a scattering of purple velvet posies. When I saw the hat with those next to the ugly green and orange hat, I knew that together, they'd be great for Halloween decor or crafting.

It was an estate sale blast this weekend!  One here in my town was amazing, a beautiful, newer home on the golf course isn't usually the place to find old things, but it was jammed with a lifetime of great stuff. I was so surprised to see all of it. I was glad I didn't blow it off, like I normally would a house in that neighborhood.  I bought boxes and boxes of sheet music and a big stack of these spooky old napkins. So, I made up little craft kits with some of these things and have them listed here.

On Friday, I explored the unexpected treasures at the country club house, and made a big haul.  Then, Beth invited me to Kansas City to shop with her on Saturday. And how could I turn that down? She is an estate sale master and knows where to go, what to avoid, and how to find the best deals.  Plus, I was still an emotional wreck from the Twinkle-less week and wasn't feeling too creative. I thought some more shopping therapy could help.

And of course, it did!  Isn't a bit of junking is good for the creative soul?  Sometimes, buying some new, old crap is just what I need to get me wanting to hunker down in the studio and work away.

I'll be getting out the jewelry making supplies and playing with all the rhinestones that I've been lucky enough to find lately. 

Don't you think that this picture is just trying too hard?  Its a great example of Photo Styling Gone Bad.  Too much loot, too much trying make it look cute in a picture. Just because I found pink Christmas lights, does it mean you really need to see them?

 Sometimes I wonder about how I spend my time....  I'd better go do something productive, I'm off to the jewelery making tools and getting to work!

And don't forget, if you want to win some vintage jewels, you still have till the 30th to enter by leaving a comment on any post.

Paper dolls

If you aren't following  Daisy Cottage
(well then, you must be one of the only people who aren't) you are missing a treat. Kim has the cutest cottage, in the most cheerful colors ever.  When she ordered something from my Boutique, I knew I needed to make the package extra special to go to such a special home, so I added some wallpaper, ribbons, and trim to the lid of this little tin to use as the packaging.

Five minutes and no expense (I bought the tin for the buttons that were in it, and the rest of it was lying around the studio) and I had a quickie gift wrap fit to go to live at Daisy Cottage.

But then, I always enjoy the wrapping part of sending out purchases.  I guess I was in an autumn mood when I packed these.

Today, little Sugarwings was feeling ill and stayed home from school. I managed to photograph and clean some old jewelry while she was napping, and got a few listed on Etsy.

Not as many as I would like, but I have all day tomorrow to add more jewels.

Poor Sugarwings was so freaked out by spewing her breakfast across the dining room, that she insisted on keeping a roll of paper towels next to her all morning.  I helped her out by turning the towels into a baby doll to hold.

One side is sleepy, the other is happy.  Kind of like the moods of a sick kid, they seem to perk up and feel fine for a while, then crash and need to take another nap.

Yes, the paper towel roll seems like an odd doll baby, but it really did comfort her. And when you are three (or fifty one) anything can become a toy!

 

She is feeling much better tonight, and luckily the paper towel baby doll didn't have to be deconstructed and put to use.  Here is a photo of her last week at the Kansas City RenFest, I don't want to leave you with a sad, tummy ache photo of her.  So here is a happy one. 

I'll post more Renfest photos of our happy, dancing fairy soon.


Here are directions for foofing a tin:

Turn the lid upside down and trace a circle onto the paper you want to use, then cut it out.

Using "The Ultimate" (my favorite) glue, adhere the circle of paper to the lid

Rub a dark ink pad around the edges of the paper, to age it.

Cut a length of ribbon to fit around the lid, and run a bead of glue around the edge to attach the ribbon

I glued a tiny crocheted daisy cut off of a doily to the end of the ribbon.

To the center of the top of the lid, glue down a matching button.

To the center of the button, add an embellishment.  I used a daisy snipped from some old trim.

No matter how much you spend on cupcake decor, if you can't get the icing right, the cupcake still looks homemade

 

Today is craft day, but with a twist, I am not cleaning up my studio and inviting friends over, we are using a rental studio in KC. ( I'll have details when I get back, I lost the blog address and am rushing right now).

But first, I wanted to take the time to thank you for your purchases and to remind you that the sale is still on at the Etsy shop .  Details are in the previous post, but I also want to remind you that you need to purchase the items from Etsy, go to the check out, but do NOT pay with check out. Email me and I will send you an invoice for half off whatever is left.

I'm fine with you just emailing me the info and I go to the shop and delete the items, but I doubt if Etsy would like it, and I might get booted from there, because they don't get their percentage that way.  I've done this for a few people, because it was quicker and easier than explaining and no problem to do, but I really don't want to make the big ole Etsy goliath mad at me.

  

I've made up cup cakes to take today, because crafting in packs is hungry work. We all get nibbly while we are cutting and gluing.

And you know, I really, really, sincerely tried to make pretty cupcakes.  These are okay, but not what I wanted.  I saw some on Andrea's blog once that made me sigh they were so lovely.  So, when I spent a day with her, I asked her secret and she took me to her cupcake decor source, where I bought a big bagful of icing roses.

But, its not the same.  Oh, yes, they are the same roses.  They just don't look as good without her magic cupcake touch. She has that touch with everything. Heck, she could probably have a cupcake hanging out of her nose, and everyone would think it was the most beautiful cupcake they ever saw.  She's that good with making things pretty.

I even tried the edible Glitter that I was introduced to at Debbie's party.  The glitter and the roses look good, but with my sloppy icing job and skimpy crooked cupcakes, it just isn't the same.

 

Well, they might not look like they came from a classy bakery, but they are tasty.  Pillsbury strawberry cake mix and a can of cream cheese icing, yum! 

See the stack of books?  I can't believe it, but I found more of these at a sale yesterday!  I listed a couple, the last ones went fast.  They are in the Boutique.  There are some sale prices here and there in the Boutique, but the Etsy sale is Etsy only.

 

These teensy framed prints were at the sale too, so I bought a bagful. This one is being added to theJULY GARAGE SALE GIVEAWAY PRIZE PACK, a couple others went into the Boutique, and I kept a few for myself to deconstruct and use in projects.

 

But what is the most special thing in the photo?? Ahh, aren't these just the best?? Aunt Caroline had her pink pearls sent to me.   Sorry for the bad picture, these deserve better than that.  But I need to throw some supplies and crap in a box and get my butt to craft day, gotta run! (that butt that is a bit bigger after making sure the cupcakes were tasty even though they only looked average)

An Ice Cream Social and a Christmas in July sale

 

 

 

Sweet Jenn at Sweet Eye Candy Creations is having a party today, and I've been to one of hers in person, so I know just what a wonderful hostess she is!

In honor of the occasion, I made a couple little dessert treats myself, but out of vintage wallpaper. 

 I also took Miss Sugarwings out for ice cream, but after seeing the perfectly groomed and darling children Jenn has shown eating ice cream at her house, I didn't photograph my wild child fairy grand baby smeared with bright blue "Cookie Monster" ice cream.  We found a yellow brick road (an actual yellow brick sidewalk through some landscaping)  in front of an ice cream store at a shopping mall and she danced and sang Wizard of Oz songs up and down that side walk until it was almost as blue as she was from the dripping ice cream.

When she decided to lay down in the day lillies planted along the yellow brick road, and tell me that she needed to go to sleep in the poppies, I wiped as much of the blue goo off of her as I could and we headed home.

 

My contribution to the party is photos of vintage wallpaper ice cream cones, that I whipped up this morning when I realized I had nothing to show for the party and I certainly didn't want to miss Jenn's shindig!

This mini notebook is covered in Flocked wallpaper, front and back, ledger paper on the inside covers and Neapolitan ribbons tying it up.

I've made an ice cream cone on the cover with a wallpaper waffle cone and two scoops of wallpaper ice cream in strawberry chocolate chip (glitter chips) and chocolate  with pink swvarsky crystal sprinkles.  The scoops are both coated in sugared glitter and I've added a strawberry colored velvet posy to a chocolate covered velvet leaf in the corner. 

 

The edges of the pages are coated in chocolate covered ink.

 

Its available in the Boutique  if you are interested.

 

 

I've also made this little sweet treat, and since a party should have favors to give out, this tag is going to be a gift to go along with the next purchase in my Boutique.

 

edit- OMG- I am so sorry about the background of the ice cream cone photo!!!!! I had no idea what the print said, it was just  a page from an old magazine that I thought had pretty type. So, that photo is replaced now with a cropped out version.  I'm SO sorry for not noticing that was there, and hope that it gets replaced on Google Reader, sometimes they are slow with changes.  

This is an odd Christmas card, isn't it?  Robins are usually thought of as a first sign of spring, not a winter bird.  But, it seemed fitting to use this to illustrate a CHRISTMAS IN JULY  sale at my Etsy shop.

 

 

 

So here are the details of the Christmas in July Sale

 

1- Anything and Everything in the Etsy shop is HALF OFF.  Including sale items!

 

2- All you do is make your selection, but DO NOT pay for it.  The discount has to come from me, it won't show up in the Etsy shopping cart.

 

3- This sale is for readers of my blog only. 

 

4- You need to email me at: karlanathan@sbcglobal.net to let me know what you purchased.

 

5- I will send you an invoice with the sale price and shipping.

 

Remember, if you don't email me for the corrected invoice, you won't get the half off discount!

 

 

The sale might sound complicated, but its not. Just make your purchase, email me and wait for the invoice before paying.  I offered this sale price last Christmas to clear out inventory and thought it might be a good time to clean house and offer some discounts again. 

 

So, go fix yourself a refreshing and rich dish of your favorite ice cream and visit Jenn's list of parties, and of course, check out my Etsy shop to help me get some clearance items whooshed out of there because I am sick of all that crap and want it gone  enjoy the sale!!

Won't you be my neighbor?

 

Before my trip, I started building this little housing development.  Then, when I got home, Beth came over for a craft day, and brought a similar project to work on! 

 

Funny, how we both had the same idea at the same time without knowing what each other was doing!  Yet, we both took a different route with our cottages.   We took the same idea and each "made it our own", as they'd say on American Idol.

  

My houses started as cheapo, chip board books from the Michael's dollar bins.  But all the building materials that went into the renovations of these cottages were top notch!  I like to think of them as those run down neighborhoods where an artist moves in, fixes up a place and then makes the block trendy. So that everyone wants to live there after that.

  

Adding all the little details was the best part of redoing these plain houses into artist's cottages.  Lots of vintagey goodness went into the renovations.  The chip board was covered in old wallpaper, back and front, then I hand drew some welcome banners, butterflies and vines. 

The curtains are old lace, the door knobs are vintage buttons, and the window boxes are blooming with teensy flowers I transplanted from my hats.

 

You might have noticed, I have become infatuated with mosaics..... I'm really enjoying the Picassa editing tools.

If you like Mosaics too, check out http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/ for Mosaic Monday!

While making up houses (some are books, some are just wall hangings)  I made another butterfly book too.  Its not pictured with the houses because it is the same size, and would look like Mothra devouring the houses in the Godzilla movies if it was next to my dainty cottages.

 

I'll be adding this butterfly to the website this morning, the homes are already there.  And please wander through Beth's open houses too, she has some beauties inherEtsy shop right now.

 

All of the books, hers and mine, are ready for your own embellishments over the base of old papers we have used.

 

When Beth comes over, she always has some tid bit of cool stuff to bring to me.  If you read her blog, you know that her life is one great find after another.  Recently she found this box and when she saw that it said "Nathan" (my last name) on it, she brought it as a gift. Along with some new (old) wallpaper too.  She and I have a Wallpaper Pact. Whenever one of us finds more paper, the other gets a hunk of it.

Its a good way to keep jealousy from coming between friends while shopping! Plus, isn't it more fun to share the joy when you find something great?

While she was here last week, we were joined by Mary, Queen of the Logomachy cards.  She just got a new flip camera and wanted to play with it.  We made up a couple "how to" videos and I thought I'd show you one.

Now remember, its off the cuff, not planned.  Not professional at all, on my part!  And while Mary does a good job with editing, and has learned a lot about the camera, there are still moments when the angles are a bit odd and we decided that the title of the movie should be "Karla's Cleavage" instead of "Karla's Cottage".

Also, I might not be very good at loading the video onto the blog. If you can't see it here, you can click on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZYx1iIyid8

More En Le Jardin with Jenn

 

Everyone is asking what we made at En Le Jardin.  Here is my flower pot, I didn't exactly follow directions.... They are supposed to be covered in chicken wire and then the embellishments added to that, but I left off the wire.  I also went a little crazy with the foofs, its about as gaudy as can be, huh?

 

I'd brought lots of goodies to embellish with, plus we were given loads of treats to use in our swap bags.  But when I saw this vintage gift wrap paper that Jenn had out for us to use, I had to go for it.  Its actually two different papers, the little ladies were cut out and glued onto the floral paper.  All the glue is still wet in this photo, so it looks a bit murky. 

The day started out blistery, smelty hot. But then, the sprinkles came, not bad, just a little steamy. We were all having so much fun we didn't even notice, really. But, then the skies let loose! There was something about being under the tent, all together working away while the rain poured down around us that was kind of intimate and cozy.

 

But not so cozy, that I didn't want to get out and splash around in the "water slide" with Tiffany!

I think that if Tiffany and I were neighbors, we could get into some trouble.  That girl is a blast.

 

Our other project was a fairy ball.  Cheryl had the idea of adding the streamers, so Kim and I both used it.  Mine is the one in the middle, the left is Kim's and the right is Cheryl's.

 

Mine is a little different. Instead of a little girl's photo made into a fairy, I used a fairy ballerina perched on top of a faux cupcake.   Then, I drenched it in rhinestones and jewels and millinery.

Just like the photo of the planter, this one still has wet glue. The rain might have been fun, but it made the air so humid that my creations were still slightly damp when I packed them up the next day. 

 

Since this was the fairy's nest, I added some pastel eggs to the top of the cupcake too.

Although, what do fairy eggs really look like? These might be pretty pastel colors, but they are a bit blah to have been laid by a little sprite.  I should have tied little ribbons onto them and added millinery flowers. (Ouch-that might be a bit painful for the fairy to lay, huh?)

 

To the top, I added a vintage chenille bee, and one of my plant markers, this one says "Fleurs" in honor of the event.

 

The day in the tent was remarkable and the craft projects were really interesting. But, my favorite part of the trip was in our downtime, when we chatted for hours.  Evenings went on way into the morning hours, and the sharing never slowed.

Lots of the attendees have been posting photos, if you'd like to see more, Jenn has a really good sampling on her blog. She has complied photos from our Flickr site and used some from different photographers.  From her blog you can follow links to other people who have posted pictures, if you'd enjoy seeing more.  I gotta tell you, the details that went into the weekend were pure perfection!

 

And while talking about details, I have to tell you how much I am loving my new camera!!!!!!!! Tiffany and Carol both gave me priceless tips on how to use it better.

They convinced me to be brave enough to venture on from the point and shoot options, which I figured would be all I could handle and since I refuse to read how to manuals, thought I'd be stuck with just doing that.  I learn much better from Show and Tells, and these two always took time to show me. 

Look at the center of this partial roll of vintage crepe paper! yep, I LOVE that camera!!!!

I've been adding a few odds and ends to Etsy and to the Boutique.  I'm plugging away at it. I have a goal, to get 50 items back in Etsy, mostly craft supplies.  As far as the Boutique goes, I really don't know what works well for it. I'll experiment with inventory levels and see what works best.  I know I prefer fuller to emptier myself, but I'll see.

Look what I saw today, on the Vintage Workshop newsletter- a project I did for Amy last year:

 

NEW DOWNLOAD COLLECTION - Garden Collage The Vintage Workshop would like to introduce a new type of multi-image collection called Elements . These collections will contain a series of coordinating elements including single images along with background images.  The number of images in an elements collection will vary.  Elements collections will still come in two versions – the resizable Designer's Choice and the pre-sized Click-n-Cut (all backgrounds in click-n-cut version are sized 8.5” x 11”). The first collection in this series is Garden Collage - emt100. This collection contains four vintage seed packet images, two sheet music backgrounds, and four different vintage wallpaper backgrounds. The sample note cards shown here use images from our new Garden Collage collection.  Use these as inspiration to create your own projects. Click here to view more garden imagery.