Karla's Cottage

The No Fretting Rule

Being sick for most of last week has set me behind a bit in my quest to fill both shops up for the looming holidays! 

Earlier, I got so embarrassed by my inability to keep my Etsy shop stocked that I shut it down for a while. 

Now, I am happy to say, that while it  might not be filled to the brim with goodies, I have it semi stocked and reopened, at least.

And I am making a dent in the giant pile of vintage jewelry that I have been meaning to photograph for the Boutique too.

There is no use beating myself up about not getting it all done immediately.  Old stuff just gets older, it doesn't rot or start to stink.

The piles will all still be there waiting for me when I get time to get the pictures.

I tell myself, there is only so much time in a day. There is no stretching it out, that is all there is.  I can make the best of it, or I can just fret.

Between the kitchen remodelling project and my travel across country to play fairy tales with my friends and visit my sisses, then all the cuddly grand kid time and Halloween fun, I simply had no time left to get sick and be off my game for a week.

But I did, its over, time to move on. If I start out the beginning of November fretting and fussing and feeling behind, just how much fun will I be having this season?  Its barely begun and I am already stressed!

So, I'm putting implementing a NO Fretting Rule, and just telling myself that there is only so much one little old lady can do, right?  I should relax, bake cookies with the girls, be social, and enjoy spreading Christmas decorations all over my new kitchen! 

So, I made a plan.  I'll take a few pictures and list a few things every single day, and what I get done, gets done.

Plus, you'd rather have new things to look at on a regular basis than a jam packed shop all at once, wouldn't you?

Christmas is already in the air here.  Last night, Sugarwings and I started our annual tree dying tradition.  A few are already listed on Etsy, the rest still need to dry, then be glittered.

On another note, do you remember those "10 things about me" lists that were going around on blogs years ago?  I think they are back. I used to love them and was so addicted to reading them, I would go from link to link to link and just get lost in all the lists and not even remember who I was reading about.

I was just picked to do one again, but, I'm afraid I lost the link and name of who asked me. If it was you, would you please let me know? Sorry.

Anyway, I thought that I would take the time away from doing something else that really needed to be done (kits for a class, a story for Somerset, a project example- or two- or three, gifts to make, listing, listing, listing, and not to mention cleaning house, just to mention a few) and with my new found, No Fretting Rule, I would goof off and write out my list of:

Ten Things About Me

1- I'm always behind, so it wouldn't matter how much I get done, there is always more I want to do, my mind is a swirling, twirling, blur of ideas and colors. Which I why I am always doing different things, and not trying to capture the market on one type of art.  I think I could do well if I stuck with something, but I keep moving on and trying something else. 

2- On the other hand, I love Holiday tradition projects, like dying the bottle brush trees with Sugarwings (she is my little helper elf and loves being put to work). She has helped me since she was tiny. I hope that the trees stay in fashion and I can still sell some.  Or we will end up waist deep in pastel trees, because we are dying another couple hundred or so.

3- I watch way too much TV. If I'd be willing to give it up, or at least do away with a fraction of the time i spend in front of it, I probably would not be so far behind with everything else in my life.  But I can't quit you, DVR.  And I don't want to.

4-  In the studio, I listen to NPR all day, and only allow myself to watch TV out here if I work late at night or on weekends. But I rarely listen to music and don't care much for silence. I do sing a lot, but not to the radio.  I sing all day long, and am most likely the worst singer ever.  Maybe its because I am singing to NPR?

5- I talk to the dogs all day while I work and sometimes forget they might not be in the studio after all, and carry on a whole conversation with no one.

6- This NO Fretting Rule will not be easy for me.  I do tend to fixate on what I need to do. My husband doesn't care much for that trait. 

7- I'm usually pretty quick in everything I do.  I'm not a deep thinker or planner, and work off the cuff.  I rarely sketch or plan ahead.  When I worked as a muralist, I would walk up to a 60' wall and just start painting with no drawing to go from.  I don't like to do the exact same thing twice, so if I had a sketch, chances are that the wall would come out different than it anyway.

8- Once I fell off a horse and broke my back, and thought I was going to have chronic pain forever.  But I don't because I try to stay limber. Exercise and I don't get along well, but I have to make the effort, or I start to drag my left leg.

9- I travel a lot even though I hate to be away from home (and my TV, my dogs, my studio, my Sugarwings, my family, my garden, did I mention my TV?).

10- I will fall for any excuse to waste time, even when time is short.  As you can see by this list.  And by how often I post. And by how often I am on Facebook. Its a good thing I can't quite get the swing of Pinterest. I can feel a huge pit of time seeping away there if I did. And I do appreciate all the pins people have made from my blog, thanks!

 

 

Well, my halls are all decked and our cottage is festively foofed. My husband says it looks like Christmas threw up all over the place.  We've had Sugarwings quite a bit over the weekend, so not much else has gotten done but play with her. All the Christmassing happened while she was asleep (I decorated trees till almost 4am). No photos yet, I'll be getting some soon.  When I recover.

So, while she is in school today, I'm busily getting caught up on cleaning up my Boutique (deleting sold goods and adding a few new things, marking some other stuff down) and adding more goods to Etsy, as well as fine tuning the Romantic White Christmas Ezine.

Beth and I had a new post every single day while the classes were ongoing. Now that they have been completed, I had to go back and rearrange it all so that it started with the first posts, not with the newest posts.  You know how a blog runs from newest first to oldest last? That is how the classes were set up. Which was great while we were adding daily.

Now that they are all up and running, I needed to put them into an easier format to read as a class.  We learned some lessons while doing our first class, the Romantic Gothic Ghosts, and made this Ezine a little easier to tweak at the end than that one was. 

(all of these pictures are of the little "extra" projects we included in the classes that aren't listed on the sign up page)

We also added catagories for each posting, so that you can click on the lesson you want to look at and go directly to it.

It looks to me like it is pretty easy to follow and find your way around. I'd love some feed back from anyone who has signed up.

If you are in the class, and have posted any of your projects on a blog or flickr, I've got a place to add a link on my blog roll to your pictures. Please send me an email with your info if I can link to you.

On Friday, I avoided the huge crowds of early shoppers and headed to a flea market with Beth instead.  There was a lot of millinery available, but most a higher price than I like.  I got a couple of hats, then found a few more at one of my favorite antique shops, plus I'd picked up a few on my trip to Omaha for Silver Bella.

Agnes Rosebud seems to like old flowers as much as I do... I've listed some flowers in the shops, and have big plans for making this with others.  There is a banner I am working on that will need a few, and I'm hoping to make a purse tomorrow.

And there will be plenty of sparkle to chose from for the purse! Got this bagful at the flea too.

 

I like to save the tiniest flowers for projects like these.

Itty Bitty flowers are so sweet on these Christmas trees I decorated (they are in my shops now).

My favorite bloom of the bunch has to be this rose, pure velvet!

Well, I'd better get back to listing things. There will be some new items added this evening too, I'm getting more photos done now while the light is good and will post some trinkets in the shop later.

The chocolate and sepia trees are already listed.  How nice that the first ones I made were such a hit, I had to whip up a few more.

This set is Neopolitan: milk chocolate, creamy strawberry, and French vanilla.

I'll leave you with a few more pics of new goods. And if you want something from both shops, I do combine shipping and always refund any excess that is more than a couple dollars over actual postage.

 

 

Little Indulgences

Today is kind of blah. Yucky weather, I woke up with a bit of a stiff neck, and I am still facing a pile of wall paper to finish chopping, ironing, photographing, and listing.  But our days are what we make them, right?

So, I took a little break from the drudgery of making packets of paper to sell, and treated myself to a tasty treat instead of grabbing a power bar and eating while working.  Sometimes, its the little things that cheer me, like serving myself on a pretty plate.  It wasn't a fancy meal, but peanut butter and sunflower seeds on a toasted whole wheat bagel tastes pretty good with Italian soda, while reading  a magazine.  (and getting away for work for a few minutes!)

This issue of Somerset Life is available now, when I showed the advance copy, it hadn't been out on the stands yet and some of you had asked where to get it.  I usually find them at Borders, or other book stores like that, or at Michaels. 

Over the years, I've done lots of magazine articles. (Here or here is a list of a few of them) But I've never gotten so many nice congratulatory notes as I have for this one!  Thanks, to those of you who noticed it and came by to say "hi".

I guess we all love Somerset, huh?  I'm sure thrilled to be in it. 

The magazine was a good one to indulge myself in while getting away from work for a while. The issue is full of inspiration to keep me going on a yucky day!  And now, after treating myself kindly with a pampered little break, I'm ready to face the piles of papers waiting for me in the studio.

After rolling out the papers, cutting, and ironing them, I stack them up and press them flat.
These trophies have enough heft to help flatten the pieces.  I feel like I deserve a trophy myself after all this work!

That doesn't look like much does it? But it represents a few days of grueling labor... The paper can be very delicate and difficult to cut into squares. Once they are cut up, it is much easier to work with, but the long pieces tend to split and tear if I'm not extra gentle and take my time. So, just as I relax and get on a roll, I'll forget to take it easy and have a big piece rip up on me!

That's heartbreaking, since each bit is beautiful and valuable to me.  They don't make this stuff anymore! I save all the scraps and make sure they get used.

I'll have some scrap packs to list in the shop too.  Scraps are good to have for small projects, like tags or ATCs, you don't want to cut into a 10" piece for just a 2" bit!

Okay, my break is over.  Thanks for keeping me company while I rested up enough to go and face the exacto knife and ironing board  again.  I'll leave you with some photos of what I listed yesterday in the Boutique and on Etsy.  

And don't forget, all comments, all month go into the drawing for a vintage bird that I've foofed a bit.

(this just sold)

These are flocked as well as glittered.

 

Janice has a new home and you get a Big Bargain Bonanza of Baubles!

Little Janice is safe in her new home.  A family from Junction City tried to come and pick her up for Christmas, because they had just lost their elderly poodle and the kids were heartbroken. Janice had just lost her owner and was heartbroken too.   It was the perfect match! But the family got into trouble with the beginnings of the blizzard and totaled their truck while coming to get her on Christmas Eve!!

No one was hurt, but the truck was done for.

So, on the day after Christmas, my husband and I made a 3 hour trip (still snowing, and slippery, but not as bad that day) to deliver sad and scared Janice to her new home.

Even though our truck's wiper motor blew out and we had to stop and clean the windshield a lot, I have to tell you, that trip was worth every minute of the time and trouble we took to make it.

The family had a tiny, tiny house, about 2 feet of yard in the front, right off the highway.  It was not a good neighborhood, but the house was spotlessly clean and the kids were polite, sweet and so happy to see their new dog.  The mom said she didn't have much but offered me $6 for gas money for bringing the dog all the way out to them.  

I was so moved, that I had wished that I'd brought a bagful of gifts too. 

What a perfect home for that little pup. Sugarwing's Nanny would be happy to know that the little dog she rescued a few years ago is now, once again, safe and loved.

These photos are some that I edited for a slide show as a farewell for Nanny's service today.  

Losing someone that suddenly, out of the blue really makes me think. Especially after delivering that little dog to a family who apparently had so little, had just lost their transportation but seemed so happy together.  I wish I'd had my camera with me so you could see the way that kid's face lit up when I handed her the dog! 

There is nothing more beautiful than bringing a smile to a little girl!

So, I thought I'd try to bring some smiles to all of you "little girls" out there who read my blog!  Of course, there is the regular monthly giveaway that you still have till New Year's Eve to enter for.  And this month it is an extra special gift, of Amy Barrickman's new book.

 But for even more smiles, I'd also like to offer everything in my Boutique and Etsy for half price till the end of the year.  (except the Grumpy Fairy Book, sorry, the production costs won't allow me to offer that big of a discount for that.)  The sale includes items already marked down, too!

Make your purchases as usual, through Pay Pal and I will send you a Pay Pal refund for the discount.

Also, please note, that sometimes, with multiple items, the shipping can grow a bit high. If it is too high, I refund a portion of it. Also, I will combine the shipping if you order something from each shop.  So feel free to shop away! 

If you are paying by check, email me for a total.  But remember, with Pay Pal, that I will give your discount AFTERWARD as a REFUND.

Thanks so much, all of you who listen to my ramblings and keep me company when the bad things happen and share the good things with smiles.

Lets all have the happiest of New Years!

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.