Karla's Cottage

Bird collage pendants

I did it! Not only did I finally figure out what my second class was going to be for Birdsong, I got lots of samples made and packed every single kit up and have them tucked away ready to go when my peeps arrive!

Beth, Mary, and Karla came over on Tuesday to participate in a practice class, here are a couple of their pieces.  The book they are lying on is filled with little bird images and was published in the 1800s.  I've used these old birdies in the kits, so of course, no two will be alike.  In case someone gets a bird they don't care for, there are plenty of extras to chose from so the artist can find just the right little creature to put on her collage.

This is the actual pendant we will be working on, it's a large one, so we have space to play with the collage.

Now, I just need to get the bird cage kits packed up for my other class.  All of the elements are prepped and ready, I just need to get them wrapped up.

If you would like to make a bird cage/wire cloche, I have spent weeks working out the best way to make them and have made a tutorial with step by step illustrated instructions, along with downloadable images to make fairies to keep in the cages once you get them made.

I've come up with a way to make the cages that I've not seen anywhere else. My son helped me come up with some great ideas that simplifies the process and keeps the wires from springing out every which way and driving you crazy.

He really deserves a lot of the credit, the boy is great with wire, and is a talented jewelry maker.  This bracelet that we collaborated on will be featured in Jewelry Affaire.  I'm thrilled to be doing an article with my son!

And greatly appreciate his input on the birdcage problems I was having. 

 

A surprise craft day for Judy

Our visit to Karen's doll house was such a magical time.

The weather cooperated and was ideal, lots of sparkling sunlight. While blizzards blew at home in Kansas!

Here I am with Sherry and Karen on the porch of the Kozy Kottage.  This is Karen's get away in Mt. Dora, and is as girlified as any retreat can be. Pinks, whites, roses, pretties, all twinkling and sparkling in a joyous petite doll house.

Guncle Randy and I had a bit of trouble finding it, because the GPS took us to another pink and white house a block or so away.  (who knew there would be so many pink houses with white picket fences on one street??)

No one answered the door there, so we got out, walked around, and called Karen to leave a message and say we'd be back soon.  Then, left my piles of craft supplies and kits on the porch to save bringing it back later.

As we drove off and around the corner, I spied another pink and white house.

hmmmm...

I told Randy that I thought just maybe, we should turn around and go get my stuff off of the other home's porch!

No one had opened my boxes and created bird cages while we were gone, so all was fine.

I'd brought tons of goodies for the ladies to go through and make as many fairies as they wanted and cloche/cage for the little sprites to live in when done.

We spent the afternoon at Karen's dining table twisting wire and gluing away as we chatted.

It was a fun group, we had the birthday girl, Judy, and her daughter-in-law who was part of the big surprise Karen had planned for Judy.

One of my best friends, Sherry had driven down from Georgia, and Casandra was there from a nearby Florida town. I've always wanted to meet her. And she is every bit as nice as you'd expect her to be.

Guncle Randy met up with me in Orlando, where I flew in. He was there to receive yet another, Top Sales Director of the Year award from Hilton. I was very proud of him!

Karen scooped me up at the airport for a day of junking, while Randy was busy accepting his trophy. She showed me some good places to shop in Orlando and was lucky enough to find a few florally hats to tear apart that night at the Hilton while I waited for Randy.

We all made these fairy cloche/bird cages, and I think they turned out sweet.

We will be doing a version of this again at Birdsong. Karen and Sherry will both be coming to visit me in June for that, so looks like they will be starting a collection, huh?

After we were done, we walked downtown to dinner.  And then, weren't quite ready for the party to end, so we kept working till after midnight on projects. 

My only regret (besides the fact that I probably passed my awful cold onto everyone) is that I didn't get to jump out of a giant cake for the surprise.  I was hoping for strawberry. 

 

 

 

Fairy Cup Cakes

My trip to Florida to see Guncle Randy and do a mini class is also a surprise birthday party.  I'm writing this ahead of time, so I'm not mentioning details about who will be at the party.

Since the class is about fairies, and it was a party, I decided to make fairy cupcakes.

A kind swapper, Wendy, who was in my Fairy Book Swap, had given me a cupcake she made as a hostess gift and I've always admired it.

I hope that she doesn't mind me making some myself.  These were done with Styrofoam balls in cupcake papers. Hers are a bit different.

I made a special, little boy sprite for Guncle Randy.

And an extra large serving of cup cake for the birthday girl.

When I get all unpacked and settled back in at home, I'll have some photos of the weekend for you.

Fluttery Florida Fairies

For the little class I am doing in Florida while hanging out with Guncle Randy, I'm packing plenty of pixie making materials.

Some will be free standing, others will perch in cages. 

Instead of making up kits for each person, I decided to bring piles of supplies for everyone to chose from.  They will make a cage/cloche thingy, then pick a fairy to add to it.

Everyone can make multilple fairies, which should be nice.  Fairies probably don't like to be all alone.

Sugarwings says that they won't stay in the cages any way, the holes are too big and the little guys can crawl right out.

I hope everyone enjoys all the goodies I'm bringing to play with!! I know I am looking forward to delving in and making some more myself.

Caged Fairies

While I am in Florida, I'll be doing a mini class with friends.  Details later, I don't want to ruin the surprise.

The wire cage/cloche thingy has been in development and I think I've mastered a simple way to build them, that will be fun to share. 

These little round frames were at Michaels in the Dollar Bins. But have you noticed that some of those bins are now $2 or $3, not just a dollar any more? Still, for $2 each, these were a good deal.

A couple were kept as is, in the bright color they were purchased. The rest were sprayed with Zinsser Bullseye Primer, then washed with color.

Which is much more my style than the bright plastic look.

But I kind of liked the original style too. All I did with this one was add text from an old school book.

Free vintage images

I thought maybe you could use a little leprechaun.

Here is another version. 

Just click on any of the images to open in a larger screen, then save to your computer before printing.

Here is a sepia look for him, if you aren't in a St. Patty's mood.

Or maybe you are feeling girly? 

Here is an image from an old French chocolate card, that was blue. I tinted it sepia and added some soft colors.  I'm going to use her as a fairy in one of the cages from the previous post.

And here is a little girl leprechaun made from a sepia photo, just for fun.

  Now, why do I let myself get side tracked on these kind of projects?? I only needed a couple of fairy pics and next thing you know, I've edited 20 instead. 

Back to work!

Those fairies are not going to just fly into the cages on their own. I need to glue them down and trap them!

There is only so much time in the day, so I try to make the most of it!

There is not much new around here, I'm still wading through piles of Snow White books and items to stuff into the kits.

See what I mean?  Every table in the studio is heaped up with carefully sorted (even though it doesn't look like it) goodies to do with the kits.  I even set up two extra tables, and also filled tubs. 

But hey, there is HOPE! Look at the stack of wrapped kits on the far table, in front of the window. Yep, the packaging is almost done.  The rest of the room is just littered with the detritis of making the kits.

Those stacks of cut wallpaper on the table?  Some of those are sorted into piles, ready to photograph and add to the shop.  My son and I got just a tad carried away on those chopping and ironing days we had.

But the truth about why nothing else is happening around here, is that I am soooo hooked on the books themselves.   I've made up four examples for the class, including one that I'm am keeping for myself and personalizing with family fairy tale photos.

On this page, I've taken a page from one of the children's story books, and cut Black Beauty from it, with another page behind the horse as I cut it out so that I ended up with a second animal shape.  (it was an accident, but one that I am glad that I did!)   I added a unicorn horn to each, flipped one over, layered them on the paper, and tinted them with glitter markers.

Dewdrop adores "honies" above all things.  She is a "My Little Pony" addict, and calls them honies.   So, this page is for her.

There are other things I could be doing, but this is more fun.  Plus, I thought the students  might appreciate having samples in different stages to look through.  This one will be almost complete, but I am saving space in it to add pictures from the event itself.

There has also been some Birdsong3 behind the scenes details to tend to.  It's funny how much time such things take up, even when the event in months away.  Oh, but how worth it! I'm really excited to know that I have both of these fun weekends to look forward to.

Hopefully, once I get all of these kits boxed and ready to mail, I can concentrate on making Birdsong projects and kits.  And selling that pile of wallpaper. And doing my taxes (Beth offered to help!! Yay, there is nothing better than having an accountant buddy at tax time. And all I have to do for her is redo her antique mall booth.  Heck, that is a pleasure to do, not a hair pulling, tear inducing, fork in the eye, task like tax prep).

There are also extra kits from last year's Birdsong that I forgot about. And need to add to the Boutique. I'd planned on listing them last year and haven't yet. I also found a stack of surplus Fairy Book covers that I'd planned to sell too. 

But there is only so much time in the day.  You know what I have noticed?  I can keep going full tilt and workiing my backside off (not really, it actually seems to grow, not diminish) and never really get ahead.  Because there is always more to do, and only so much time in a day.

I've noticed that my income seems to level out, no matter what I am working on, because nothing is "extra", it ends up taking the place of something else.  So, if I do shows, I am ignoring my shop.  If I concentrate on the shops, I am not having time to make things.  And on and on.

You just can't do it all. At least not at the same time. But that is what is such fun about my so called job.

I can switch it up, go from classes, events, creating, selling, shows, one to the next.  It certainly never gets boring!  When I focus on one area, it does very well, especially the Boutique. But my life would be very dull if all I did was photograph and list and ship every day.  So, I'm glad I can stretch out and try different venues and take breaks from the online shop.  It's still there, still selling, but not as much when I'm not adding to it reguarly.

Yes, changing my focus might not be getting me ahead financially, but it sure keeps me hopping and happy!

 

Free Fairy Tale images and some workshop prep

If you are wondering why there is nothing new in my shops, it's because my studio has become Kit Central.

I'm gathering up all the elements needed for my Book of Enchantments for Snow White, plus brain storming projects for Birdsong 3, as well as a super secret surprise gathering that I am doing with a dear friend.  (more about that later, but I can't give it away till after the surprise in March)

For my Book of Enchantments, the supply list is out of control!

• a book cover to embellish, and the goodies to do it, including ribbons, lace, a mirror, millinery and flocked wallpaper
• 9 pieces of card stock
• a stack of fairy tale book text
• 2 pictures from old story books
• 2 pages from vintage Snow White stories.   (some are Snow White and Rose Red, and older ones are called "Little Snowdrop", I have books ranging from 1890 to 1959, in the oldest, she is usually Snowdrop)
• a collage sheet of pretty, vintage pictures I scanned
• 1 journalling page to color or use for inspiration
• 4 spells of enchantment that I have written (for: Sweet Dreams, Joy, Hope, and finding a True Hearted Prince)
• 12 pre-cut pieces of vintage lace
• 10 pieces of old wallpaper
• 1 moonstone heart charm
• 1 apple charm
• red rhinestones
• a rhinestone cluster
• ribbons

Oh my! That is a lot of cutting, organizing, packing, and counting.

I found an easy way to count the card stock. I bought packages of 50 that contain 10 pages of 5 neutral colors.  Since I need 9 for each kit, I simply take away one from each color and boom, I have 9 ready to slip into the envelope. They get covered in other papers, so it doesn't matter what shades go in the kits.  That beats counting out 9 for each envelope!

Since my ingredients are so vintagey and unique, I can promise that it's impossible for any two students to make the same book. It will be exciting to see all the creations the class comes up with using the combinations that they get!

I've enlisted a studio full of helpers.

And a cutie to keep us company while we work.

I've put the tiny craft table in front of the TV, which was probably a bad idea, I might never be able to convince my girls that they don't need to watch shows while they work.   But with so much going on, it seemed to extend craft time a bit for the littlest fairy. 

Since I had to cut so much wallpaper, I decided to chop away till I had enough to sell too.  So, once I get my kits bundled up, I'll have paper left over and will actually have new stuff in the Boutique. 

While measuring, cutting, and ironing hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of paper, my mind has wandered around and wondered about Birdsong 3 projects.  I'm working out the kinks on a wire birdcage, and the other one might be a variation of this book, but a Journal of Blessings.   Not sure... But I have been loving the heck out of making books for the last few months and would love to continue making more.

I'm sure you guys will see all the prototypes as I fidget around with them. Thanks for being my sounding board!

If you love these old fairy tale illustrations as much as I do, just click on the images to open them to a larger window and save them to your computer to print.

Workshops, giveaways, and an angel of a dog

Dorothy Rosebud and I just might need to order more cupid wings for foofing.  She likes to play dress up as much as Sugarwings does, apparently.

Plus, I like making them.

I've also been hooked on making wire cages. As I work on them, I'm taking photos so I can do an online tutorial too.

But so far, the cage details aren't worth passing on.  I need to make a few more to get it perfected.  Each one I make teaches me a bit more on the best ways to build them from the ground up

Which is important in a tutorial.  The first few I make of something, I just wing it.  Then, if I like the idea and make more prototypes, I start narrowing down just what works, what doesn't, how long is this piece, how big is that one. 

Weeks of work go into making a tutorial, but they can sell for years, so they are worth the effort for me to get it right.

And if you enjoy my online classes, maybe you'd like an in person one?  Valentine Journal Workshop on Saturday, Feb 2nd, all supplies included, just bring tools!  $100, Details in the previous post.

I'll be giving away one of Amy's books then.  Or you can win one by leaving a comment  on my blog on any post.

I'll be away from my computer for a while, I'm in PARADISE as you read this.  Any Etsy or Boutique orders will be mailed on the 30th.

A few more fairies flying by

While making the books for our Faery Book Swap, I had a few glitches.  The couple of people who witnessed my screw ups were very sweet about it.

One of them was my good buddy, Kim.  She had sent an extra page for me and one for me to add to her own book.  I'm afraid I missed her note and just started making books up willy nilly with her 10, instead of 8 pages.

When I realized, I felt bad and made up an extra page to send to her.  She's been going through a rough time with her dad's health and I thought the last thing she needed was her friend shorting her on a swap.

As the basis of the page, I used a copy of the Snow White painting that I did for Kim's spring event, An Enchanted Affaire.

But I needed to fairy it up.  I glued down one complete print with the background and all to some coordinating wallpaper, then glued wings that were butterflies printed on parchment by my Sissy.I used three sets, so there would be lots of volume. I glittered those up and that made them curly, which I liked.

I then cut out another Snow White and glued her over the previous one, so the wings were between the two layers.

She got a teensy millinery flower garland, and her dress was embellished with metallic inks and lots of glitter.

For even more sparkle, I glued some of my 1940s crystals to her skirt, then gave her a bouquet to cover up the apple in the original.

Deliciously gaudy, and fairy-riffic.

Most of the books were mailed out way back, but the ones going to my family who are coming to Romantic Gothic Ghosts, were kept here, so we could open them all together. I can't wait for everyone to see their book!  This is a page that Aunt Sandy made for mine.

My book is amazing!! I received the gift of an extra page from so many generous souls.  This one is from Jay Hart.  Along with a sweet little book that she made too.

I miss the swap, and am considering another. But it will have to be smaller and faster if I want to get it done for Christmas.  I can't even think about it till after this big party this weekend though. We'll see if I survive that before I delve into the next thing. Which really, really should be beefing up my Boutique for the holidays, not more swaps!

There are a lot of basic supplies in the shop now, just no 'new' old things. I hope to recover from the Faery swap, the Ghost party and the puppies and get going on adding more soon.  Here is a picture of an order I mailed this week, to Tara.  Packing them up is the fun part!