Karla's Cottage

Pet Parade Party

Oh My Gosh! I'm late linking to Keylee Katillac's fund raiser for animal welfare.  And then, when I get started, I see that Twinkle has won first place!!

Since the scarf we were to design for the fund raiser was a Lance Armstrong, LIVE STRONG theme, Twinkle posed with a bike for her photo.  Plus, the scarf is so big on her, doesn't she look like  a super hero?  (I even cut it in half for her, she only weighs about 7 lbs).

For her Live Strong scarf, I simply cut it in half, and laid out some velvet flower petals on it, then sewed part of an old apron over that to make a see through pocket to hold the petals.  Its held on with a vintage ribbon tie, and vintage millinery is pinned to the bow. 

Since the apron is made of tulle, you can peek through it and see the Lance Armstrong motto printed on the yellow scarf.

Go and check out the other dogs at the party, and make sure you leave a comment, because each comment means a $1 donation to the shelter.  Also, you are entered to win a gift certificate for ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS to Hobby Lobby!

Please help Keylee help the dogs! She has already raised $2,000 through this campaign, lets get those pups some more money!

(Notice Twink's new tags, I feel safer for her now)

And while Sugarwings loves to play hide and seek, she was so heartbroken when she couldn't find her Toto.  If Twinkle hadn't lost her tags, we wouldn't have lost her!

Also, please remember, today is the last day to leave a comment here for a chance to win the September giveaway. Wow, that month sure flew by fast! 

40 ways to say happy birthday

This morning, we celebrated a friend's birthday with a brunch at my house.  It was a simple meal, organic vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit salad, and Rhodes cinnamon rolls hot out of the the oven, with a birthday candle stuck in them.

Since she was turning 40, a group of her friends came up with 40 charms for me to make into a bracelet for her.  We've done this for a couple of other pals in our circle on their 40th too.

Since 8 different people bought, or made the pieces, it really looked like a charm bracelet full of tidbits collected over a lifetime.  Some had special meaning, like her kid's photos, a coffee pot (to symbolize our regular coffee gatherings), a bowling pin (from bowling dates together), her initials, etc.  But some were just cute little things that were "filler". 

Since she owns two dorkie pups from one of my dog's litters, I really tried to find a Yorky charm for her.  But, one of her dogs is a giant, king sized terrier, that I swear is half golden retriever (we had goldens at the time too, so I really think that is possible...), so I figured that this over-sized blue dog looked enough
like him to work.

To make the charms with her kid's photos:

 I bought frame charms from the craft store, and cut out at plain bit of green paper to fit them (her favorite color).

Then, I found photos of her kids on my computer, edited them to black and white, and emailed them to the copy store with instructions to reduce them so that the faces were just under 3/4" inches.

Color photo copies seem to work better under paper glaze than the pictures I make with my own printer. The ink never runs with photo copies.

I cut out the faces and glued those to the green paper, and covered it all with a layer of paper glaze. Love that stuff! It is self leveling, so you don't have to be perfect with it. You do need to watch it as it dries, though and pop any bubbles that form. (use a pin)

After it was all assembled, I wrapped the bracelet in a green, vintage hankie and put it into a decorated cone.  The Dollar Tree store was selling packages of these gold or silver cones 6 for a dollar!

They were pretty as is, and make great favor wraps, or small gift packages.  I added a medallion with her initial, and then pinned some festive ribbons to the bottom with vintage brooch that she can take off and wear on her jacket.

This photo is a bit redundant, since I've already shown you the bracelet, but hey, look at my new lady!!  She is from Rusty Chandelier
one of the BEST antique malls, EVER.  She isn't named yet, or finished. I am thinking about covering her in old French ephemera like I did the hand that Robin gave to me.

Especially since this gift just came in the mail!  Zita sent these French Canadian books to me and the pages are just perfect for redoing the face of my new lady, huh?

 

She'll be wonderful for selling hats and necklaces, plus will class up my booth a bit!

Before I get to work on her, I need to go and tidy up after the brunch.  I never mind the after party mess, its usually a time to think about who said what and what funny things came up, and to enjoy the pretty dishes and bowls as I am washing them up. 

Just like picking up after Sugarwings.  Her leavings often give my heart a little tug, like this pile of her favorites set on the stairs waiting to be carried up to her room.

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.

Gone

  Twinkle went missing and it was all my fault. I had a door open during craft day to air out the room and enjoy the breeze while we worked. Twinks slept under my table or wandered out to check on the rabbit population every once in a while.  She is not a runner, she always stays close and comes when called.  But, bunnies can be tempting and I guess, she went too far.

And it seems like I have some bad habits that I need to break. I let my dogs wander around the yard when I am out, and since we have 10 acres, they have plenty of room to roam. But, we no longer live in the country. For 10 years, our house was in the middle of no where. Then neighborhoods came in around us. But for about a year a half, the road in front of the house was closed to traffic due to construction.

So, we got used to not worrying about the dogs getting out. They aren't the types to run off, they stick around.  But now, the road is open, there are a thousand houses around us, and there is constant traffic on the street and the side walks.  When someone sees a little dog out, they scoop her up to "save" her. They are trying to help, not knowing that the dog isn't lost. 

Plus, the dogs could get run over, if they ventured further.

Apparently, that is what happened on Tuesday after craft day. Someone saw Twinks in front of the house and took her home.  We searched everywhere, called the Humane Society 4 times, went in to there to look, twice. Hung flyers, made posters. 

After no luck for two days, I figured she was gone forever. 

Not only was I worried, I felt so guilty about letting her disappear right from under my eyes while I was having fun chatting with my friends.

Somehow messages got lost at the pound, but today we got it straightened out and were able to retrieve her.  She had been well taken care of by someone who thought she was neglected and lost, and picked her up from our sidewalk.

And honestly, they are probably right. A person should know where their dogs are and not let them wander. I don't live in the country anymore and she isn't a big, old, rough and tough farm dog. She's a sweet little bit of fluff and deserves to be treated like one!

Plus, look closely at this photo that I posted recently--- see the hook on her collar? No tag! It had fallen off, and I didn't even notice.  Poor baby, its not like she can tell people where she lives. 

So, on the way home from picking her up from the good Samaritans, we got her new a new tag, with 5 lines of info, so that there is no questions about who she is and where she belongs.

We are going to get one of those radio controlled collars for her too.

I can't begin to tell you how lucky I feel to have her back.  And how guilty I feel for letting this happen to her TWICE in recent times. 
I've been a careless doggie mom.

Do me a favor, please. Go and check your dog's tags, just in case.  You never know when they might come loose without you noticing!

My little Pretty

Guess where we went?

For the 70th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz, our local theater had a special screening of the restored movie.  I bought tickets a week ago, luckily, because it was completely sold out.  We must not be the only Oz fans around, huh?

We just happened to be the only two in the whole city who dressed up for the occasion.  My husband is such a good sport to go out with me dressed like this, isn't he?

(I didn't wear the hat to the theater, it was too big, and since the show was sold out, I knew I couldn't just sit the hat in the next chair)

Sugarwings couldn't wait for the show to start.  We went early to get good seats, and still had to sit way down front.  Then, there was a documentary about the making of the movie that I really enjoyed, but it wasn't really geared to a 3 year old.  Then, the movie screen went black for about 20 minutes till they could get it fixed.  But the crowd was in a good mood and there was even a crowd wide sing along in the dark while waiting. 

Our littlest Dorothy sat patiently waiting for the show.  Which was worth waiting for. I know I'd never seen the movie on the big screen before. Its really quite beautiful, even with the old fashioned special effects.   Movies weren't quite as smooth in those days.  We could see the strings on the flying monkeys, and the gaps in the lion's costume. (disturbingly near his crotch, which made me keep my eye in that area way too much, wondering if the gaps would show again.  Not that I wanted to see the lion's  loins, but it was kind of like when you try to not think about a pink elephant, your mind just stays right where you don't want it to. )

But the very best part of the movie?  Snuggling with Sugarwings, oops, I mean Dorothy.  That was officially her name for the night and she wouldn't answer to anything else.

It was also pretty cute at the end of the movie, when she stood clicking her heels together in the lobby saying "there's no place like home" as the crowd veered around her on their own way home.

Bungled baubles, an Alice Obsession, and parading pooches

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

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

Sorry.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope to see you there, Sept. 30!

Bubbling over with buttons

Yesterday, I met Beth at an auction to just hang out and visit. I couldn't stay long, and had no plans to buy anything.

But how could I pass up this marble lamp for $20?

Actually, I was pretty proud of myself for only buying a lamp. I love auctions as much as Sugarwings loves ice cream. Or as much as I love ice cream, too.

Just the thought of ice cream makes us both jump with joy. 

Usually at auctions, I go home with buyer's remorse, because I lose control and bid on things I
shouldn't, or even worse, had not inspected very well.  My advice on auctions, is to get there early enough to take a really good look at whats for sale.  If you don't see it up close, you might miss out on a flaw that could make it worth much less than you thought.

Yep, speaking from experience there.

Luckily, I kept my bidding under control, well except for the one time when I was telling a story to Beth and gesturing widely, almost bidding $35 on feed sacks that I didn't want.

I'm so glad I didn't over-buy. Because just the day before, I was struck with button maddness at an antique mall and bought 3 big jars of buttons (did I mention that I have a few buttons already?  Well, only a few buckets full, I guess).  So today, I am sorting, cleaning and bagging buttons.

I made up three cauldrons full of Halloween colored buttons for craft packs, and adding vintage flowers to the pots.  They are in the Boutique now if you need any.

These are the same as the cauldron I glittered and filled with brooches for the September Giveaway.

My only other new listing is this hand made, painted and glittered pumpkin topped bottle.

This is probably it for me and Halloween. I've got to move along to Christmas and getting ready for Silver Bella.  Right now, I have little Putz houses spread out on my table ready to create sparkling villages.  I'd better get to them. The halls don't just deck themselves you know.

A random rambling and a secret surprise giveaway

Do you have a favorite children's book author? Mine is Stephen Johnson.  He is a local, Lawrence, KS artist who has done a series of interactive kid's books.  Now he is working on one called "The Princess Purse" and came over to my studio to borrow sparkly things, vintagey boxes, and pretty wallpapers all to use as props. 

Stephen brought this taxi book for Sugarwings as a gift.  She's going to have a whole collection of his books, lucky kid!  His latest is about fire trucks and will be out very soon. You can find it and his others at many major book stores. And they are really cute!

Some of you were asking about the mudding I had to do for the dry wall. Well, we took out a closet and used the space to enlarge my husband's office.  The new dry wall was smooth and the old walls were textured. I had to fake a texture to blend it in.

After the dry wall guy (my sweet brother-in-law) got the walls done, I used a sponge roller (meant for faux finishes) to roll on joint compound. Then, took a trowel and knocked the points and highest spots off of the rolled on mud.


After painting, I think it looks pretty good.

What I don't like, is that Home Depot gave me the wrong box of floor covering!  I had picked out a grayer color that blended well with the existing carpet.  But instead I got this dark sienna, that the guys didn't realize was wrong and installed anyway.  I should have looked in the box myself.  It matches the walls ok, and isn't horrid, it just isn't what I wanted.

When we get the room all put back together, I'll show you some more shots. I'm also redoing Ryan's room, it was his walk in closet we stole to make the office bigger. So I owe him...


Just how hodgepodgy can I make this posting?? I'm flitting about from one thing to another even more than usual!

Sweet Zita  offered to mail an old French magazine to me after reading my last post about how I loved working with that kind of paper.  Did I call her sweet Zita? I meant Adorable, Darling, Generous, Magnanimous, Delightful, Kind, Gracious, and Wonderful Zita!!

So, I made her one of the prize ribbon medallions that I was using the French ephemera to make.


While I was at it, I made up 3 more for the Boutique.  Each is made of vintage ribbon, French paper, millinery flowers, and old crepe paper.  I added parchment cardstock to the back for stability, and also made a small diamond out of it to add your initial to.

The initials are hand drawn, no patterns or stencils.



No two are exactly alike, but all are the same, if that makes sense. When things are hand made from vintage goods, you get some variation.

I've also added a brooch pin to the back, so the ribbon is ready to pin where ever you'd like to use it. 



And maybe you can help me with this? I've listed these in the shop as sports medals, but I really am not sure if they are or not. I wondered if they were military medals? They kind of look like track and field prizes to me, especially since there is silver, gold and bronze. I doubt if the Army gives out 1st, 2nd, and 3rd when they award a medal.


The old ribbons with the pins on the back are great! I used a few to make these crown pins.


 I took the medals themselves off to save for another project. Maybe a charm bracelet?


One of the medals could be clipped to Twinkle's collar, she is missing the rhinestone piece that she used to wear.  I could award her a gold medal for being such a good dog. 


Well, the month of September is more than half over already! You still have plenty of time to enter the giveaway for this month.  The change of seasons has inspired me to fill this little sparkled witch's caldron with brooches.  When fall comes around, I am always looking for cute brooches to wear on my jackets. 

One is an enameled butterfly in fine fall colors. Another is a leaf in the same tones.  To that is a flower petal wreath and a rhinestone pin that reminds me of a snowflake.  I'm not exactly a fall person. I can't enjoy the season without dreading snow that comes soon after.

Leave a comment, any post, all month to enter.  I do enjoy hearing from you, but I know that leaving a comment can be a hassle. I had about 1500 hits yesterday, but only 20-some comments on the post!  I certainly don't leave a comment on every post I read either, especially since I started using Google Reader. It is so easy to zip through one blog after another, that I don't pause to go to the site and comment much. Sorry.


But- you never know when I'll have a double secret giveaway prize waiting for you!  Ta- da! Here is a little tag book ready to embellish that is going out to my 20,000th comment.

And guess who the 20,000th commenter was??  Remember when I had a prize for 12,000 and my husband was the commenter? Well this time, since Typepad was doing that wierd comment response thing and my replies were going into the comment log, the winner is:

ME

Yep, I win.  So, I went to number 20,001 and the real winner is my pal from Macon, Angela

This is a tag I made from a French game card to send out to a shopper in the boutique, Melissa. She bought this jewelry from me and I knew this little matching rose needed to go to her.

The thing is, why did I spend extra for FRENCH EPHEMERA, when it is a single letter?? Not a word, no one actually knows it is French, now do they?
Well, I need to go back upstairs to the torture chamber my husband's office and finish painting the walls.  Its a BIG room. 

French Ephemera is a handy thing to have around.

Craft day was not only fun, but productive, that is just the best.  We had a nice lunch (aren't pitch in meals the most fun?  I enjoy the variety of what everyone brings) then a walk on the Fairy Berry Trail before getting to work.

When I went to Savannah during Jenn's retreat
I found a French magazine from 1901 that I fell in love with, but felt like it was way to expensive to buy. My pal, Tiffany, got one and reminded me that the price averaged out to only $2.50 per page, so I splurged and bought one.  Now that I am doing a swap with these friends from our trip to Georgia, I am so glad I bought the magazine, the cafe au' lait cover was perfect for the center of these medallions I am making with all of their initials.

This side of the swap page is all vintagey goodness.  Old crepe paper, and ribbon, wallpaper, and millinery. And of course, the cool, French ephemera.  The only new thing on this, is the initial.  I cut diamond shapes (thanks for the shape idea, Marilyn!) out of parchment card stock and drew the initials in metallic inks and markers.

I was so enthralled by my new trick of making these, that I used one as a label on this package wrapped up for another Silver Bella swap. (the glue is still wet in this photo)

These medals, or medallions might be cute made into pins too...

Like I don't have anything else to do.  Today, I am mudding the new dry wall for a mini remodeling project and tonight I'll be painting the walls as they dry.   Tomorrow, I am having a group of friends over for breakfast and we are making a few charms.

And of course, it is the hey day of the garden season.  Last night, we picked a couple sinks full of tomatoes, so I made up a LOT of sauce to freeze. 

Its Sugarwing's job to pick the littlest tomatoes and put them in her bucket.  They seem to get dumped in and out a lot, but if a few get stepped on here and there, it doesn't really matter. I'm being over run with tomatoes anyway, I kind of feel like stepping on a few myself. It would be that many less to clean, cook, and freeze.

One of our plans was to make and can salsa.  Somehow, it just is not happening. We have the ingredients, just not the time to learn how to can.

Ah, aren't gardens wonderful? I might complain about how much work it is, but I am loving the results! 

But now, I have something to really complain about, I have to go and do dry wall mud. ugh.

I'll stick to glue

Today is craft day, some friends are coming over for a day of cutting and gluing.  I can't imagine a prettier day, the weather is ideal. But most of this summer has been that way.  I guess it isn't summer any more, but typically, September in Kansas is still muggy and hot, I guess that is called the "Dog Days" of summer.  But not today, it is a glorious fall day. So, we are lunching out doors and taking advantage of the sunshine.

My garden is bursting with tomatoes, and they are the heavy, meaty kind, the ones that are just right for slicing into a salad, so I chopped up 3 kinds of basil and layered them with an olive oil, garlic, sea salt and balsamic vinegar dressing.  Since all that was sounding so fresh and wonderful, I thought I'd go all out and make fresh mozzarella to go with it.

I read up about it online and it seemed pretty easy. The tips I gleaned were to use un-chlorinated water (and I have well water, so that was no problem) and to use local milk, as fresh as possible.

Sugarwing's Daddy and I spend a lot of time in the kitchen together, and he was excited about trying to make some cheese too.  He's one of those all organic, all the time type of hippy guys and won't even eat anything that goes into the microwave or gets stored in plastic.  So homemade cheese was right up his alley.  He's hard to cook for, but since he loves cooking so much and is so great at it, he can be as quirky as he wants. Because that means he does most of the cooking and it is always fantastic. 

The trouble is, he and I are both the type that cook without recipes.  We throw it all together and guesstimate amounts.  But for cheese, you have to pretend to care about temperatures and timing and measurements.

So I bought a digital thermometer (which brought my total for expenses up to almost 40 bucks).  After studying and printing off lots of recipes, we saw that 55 degrees and 105 degrees were both very important numbers in the art of cheese.

Well, we aren't chemists or scientists or even semi good at following recipes.   This is the mass that I salvaged from the batch.  It was supposed to be kneaded like bread dough, and I thought I did, but I guess, not so much.

Adam is a massage therapist, so he worked his healing magic on the lump I couldn't repair and actually turned it into a series of little cheese balls.

4 hours into making what was called a 30 minute recipe we had a very small series of very little, very rubbery, cheese balls.

 $40 worth?

Well, the olive oil with fresh herbs they are marinating in is tasty at least. I poured some over pasta last night.  But I've not been brave enough to eat the cheese yet.  They were so expensive to make I feel like keeping the little lumps of gold in a lock box. 

But I'd probably be better off using them as toys and bouncing them around with Sugarwings.

Somehow, I don't think that I'll be serving today with the tomatoes and basil....  

Well, my pot of cheese didn't do so well, but this little witch's cooking pot filled with pretties is much better. Its the giveaway for September and I added a fall colored enameled butterfly pin to go along with the leaf and rhinestone brooches.

Why am I feeling so fallish? I'm a warm weather person and hate the thought of winter approaching.  I also love soft, sweet colors, and am not usually so attracted to the fall tones. Maybe its that perfect weather that is winning me over. Any way, I whipped up this  Raven's Wreath and enjoyed working with the old millinery in the rich, Halloween colors.

Well, dur, it was still old millinery! I love that stuff in any color!

(the wreath is available in my Boutique)

I kept on using the deep, rich, colors on these book covers from Mary.  Each is filled with water color and other art or journal pages, cut to fit.  And they are tied up with hand dyed silk ribbons that I tinted to match each cover.

On some, I used inks and markers to embellish the existing pattern on the covers.  I'm always happy when I get to play with markers.

Now, I'd better go shove the crap off my craft tables and make room for guests to join me today. But first, I need to run to the grocery store for some fresh mozzarella...