Karla's Cottage

A painting tutorial from Sugarwings

When Sugarwings and I go to Michaels or Hobby Lobby, we usually pick up a little kit for her to make. She has plenty of art supplies, but there is something about those little packages of goodies that intrigue us and always make us plop one or two in the cart as we go by them.

This one was a set of plaster Easter eggs and paint to decorate them with. But the eggs were just the starting point.  After all the eggs were colorful and bright, my fairy baby started in on a bag of shells that she had.

From, there, she moved on to the rocks in my flower bed border.  I don't blame her, who could resist turning this one into a Mr. Potato Head?

It didn't take long for her to start imagining that she was Alice and was helping the Queen's playing cards paint the flowers.

"Who dares to taint with vulgar paint, the royal flower beds?"

I think she has what it takes to be an artist, don't you?  She is definately orginal, and while she might start with a kit, the results look far from cookie cutter.  She's made the project her own.

Luckily, this one has quick little legs, or she might have been a rainbow pup.

 

Side tracks, swaps, and soaps

Gifts for the goodie bags are still coming in!  These treats are from Dawn.  She was originally set to be a teacher with us but had to change plans because she was starting up this soap business.  And now, she is kind enough to share some of her beautifully packaged, egg shaped soaps that her family is making.

Its wonderful that she has sent us these, but I'll miss her at our workshop.  Hopefully she can come to a future one?

Slowly but surely, I'm getting ready for Birdsong.  All of the swaps I needed to make are ready to go, and next is to make name tags for everyone.

I'm going to hang out with Beth tomorrow, we'll go to estate sales in the morning then have craft day at her house in the afternoon. I'm hoping to cross name tags off my todos by the end of the day.

My son and I cleared the garage that adjoins my studion of everything in it.  Then, we moved all the extra furniture from the studio into the empty garage.  I'm trying to turn it into a shop for a mini vendor night, while making room for extra tables and chairs in the studio itself.

My problem is, that I keep getting sidetracked. I thought the walls looked too empty, so was rummaging around for things to hang in the garage, and ended up wasting time making this sign.  Now, really, in the scheme of things, did this need to happen?

Well, maybe. If I had to just work nonstop on clearing and setting up, I'd go insane. Its the little side track projects that keep me going.  But on the other hand, they also make the job twice as long. I've been working on this garage for 3 days now and I probably could have done it in a half day if I'd kept on task.

Oh well, it all gets done somehow.

I've got 2 weeks to get finished with set up, and in that time, I also have two practice classes with friends to be all set to teach the banner class, an Easter Egg hunt to throw, an article to write for Romantic Homes (yay!- thanks Beth Livesay), a day at my favorite flea market, and a party to go to.  Hmmm, maybe I should not be letting myself get side tracked anymore....

I should get to work NOW.  Sorry I won't have a chance to repsond to comments, but I will love taking breaks to read them.

 

What's in the cabinet?

Thanks for your kind words about my redo that I showed last week.  I had some people asking for close ups of what was in the cabinets and asking about the cabinets themselves.

They are a set of old gun cabinets, that were really plain. When we remodelled the bathroom by stealing space from an unused bedroom (we used the rest of the bedroom to make our closet larger and add a laundry room to it), were- sized the bathroom to fit this piece (actually, its 4 pieces) and added trim to make it look built in.

Technically, I do think that it is built in, now, huh?

I dry brushed 3 shades of white over it, after adding the trim pieces and covered the back with sheet music.

The shelves are filled with things I like. Vintage fairy pictures (the oval one was $2 at my favorite flea mkt), dried hydrangeas, shells, bottles, and other tidbits from my life.

As I arranged my things, I thought of each window as a frame and the things I sat on the shelf as a composition in the frame.

But by using similar colors and themes throughout, I hope that all the displays look cohesive.

I also used lots of lidded glass pieces as storage for bathroom type items, Q-Tips, mini tissue packs, cotton, etc.

Then, some of it makes no sense at all. Just things that I liked all piled onto a plate.

Happy birthday Dorkie babies! (and Diane too!)

Today is Agnes Rosebud and Button's first birthday, so I invited Beth and some friends over for a craft day and birthday cake.

The four legged guests had a very special treat- left over grilled trout covered in homemade organic yogurt. I made up "cupcakes" of fish in festive papers, then iced them in the yogurt and added a colorful pick.

(I wish I could remember who gave me the cute vintage puppy image to use- its on the hats and the cupcake picks)

Spring is finally here!  I spent a giant, achy chunk of the weekend working in the yard, doing clean up and planting flowers.  So, since the patio was looking spiffy, all of us sat outside on the porch to have our pitch in lunch between craft projects. (and between working on taxes- its great to have two accountant friends come by and help out when tax time rolls around!)

While it looks like I might have had a totally frivolous day, making party hats and fish cakes for dogs, we got a lot accomplished too.  Taxes got filed for my son, Ryan, The Other Karla learned how to knit, Beth made book covers, Connie and Diane made cards, Shanna made an Easter Basket, and I finished a swap for Birdsong. 

Plus, it was a beautiful Spring day to spend with friends, so the work didn't even feel like work, it was just plain fun.

Plus, we had a second birthday to celebrate, it was Diane's special day too.  I whipped up a double duty gift for her, this tussie mussie is used as the wrap for the roses I gave to her and also works as a birthday hat.

To make it, I printed a pretty page of French text on card stock, curled it up into a cone, stapled it in place and trimmed the edges off straight.  Then, I inked the opening with black ink, and punched a hole in each side to pull a ribbon through to use as a chin strap or a hanger.

After that, I added rose that I cut out in a oval shape to the front center of the cone, and pulled some pretty lace through the cone, so that it dangled out the small hole at the point.  Then, I glued that into place, and wrapped the point in ribbons and lace.

Before the party went to the dogs, we had ice cream cake for the two legged guests.   I experimented with making an ice cream cake, and boy, was it fast, easy and delicious! 

Here's how:

In a round casserole dish, I simply layered thin slices of strawberry pound cake with Breyer's Vanilla Bean ice cream and fresh pureed strawberries.

Then, I smooshed it down into the pan, covered it, and froze it over night.

To get it out of the pan today, I sat it in a shallow bowl of hot water, till it loosened from the casserole dish, then plopped it over upside down onto a cake stand and sprayed canned whipped cream all over it and added sprinkles.

I think I might make this in lots of different ways. Think of all the goodies you could layer in ice cream and freeze. This summer, I'll keep my eyes open at garage sales to find a nice shaped mold to make these in too.

 

Aren't birthdays the best days? 

 

How to paint furniture with no sanding and lots of personality

This vanity started out dark, and is a new piece from Lowes. I bought it about 6 years ago for only $368 and it came with the marble top, sink, and the faucet already installed.

This is how it began.   But the time came to lighten up, and this is how I did it:

The first step was to prime.

I DO NOT SAND.   I never do, and I've painted my little heart out for years.

The key is the primer.  The label of the can must say "BONDING" or "WILL ADHERE TO GLOSSY SURFACES" Never, ever use dry wall primer. Its not the same thing at all, and your paint will just scratch off.

 The last few years, I've been very happy with Glidden's Gripper.  In this case, I bought the gray tinted Gripper primer.

You can see, I don't put it on perfectly.  Notice the little skips here and there in the gray where the dark wood peeks out?  Not big ones, just little misses.

The key to being a good faux finisher is to be a bad painter. Yep, you gotta be a little messy and non-perfectionistic.

And to use a crappy brush.  You can't get much worse than this.  I love these little cheapo, 99 cent brushes from Walmart. They give the paint job character with their uneven bristles.

After the primer dries, I pounce the paint (I used Behr glossy white) on with the old brush. 

Its a constant dab, dab, dabbing with the brush.  First you dip the brush in paint, then dab it off onto a rag, then pounce it onto the piece, over and over and over.

I tell ya, its a lot easier to do a small piece of furniture or a lamp this way than to do a whole wall. If you are doing something big, try a larger brush and take some advil.

This is the look you want.  With some of the gray primer peeking through, as well as a bit of the underlying wood.

The paint goes on heavier in some spots than others, but please make sure you don't have blobs and repetitive patterns of brush marks.

To avoid that, turn your brush as you pounce.  And go over the same areas more than once to blend as you dab.

After the white dried, I did the same thing, with the same brush, using a coffee with heavy cream colored paint, mixed half and half with glaze to thin it down and make it more translucent as it dries.

With this step, I pounced the creamy color over the white, layering it heavier in corners, and slightly wiping it off on the high points of the embellishments and trim.

If needed, you can add a bit more of the white over the cream to soften it. 

Since I used a good primer, and a high gloss paint, the finish is really durable and doesn't need a top coat.

Email me if you have any questions. I'm happy to help.

A big makeover on a little budget

Funny how one little bit of fabric can turn into the catalyst for a whole room makeover, huh?  I fell in love with a clearance shower curtain ($19) at the Victorian Trading Company's outlet store.  I figured that if I had no where to hang it, I could always use the fabric in projects.  ( I wish I'd bought two, so I had the other to cut up!!)

Plus, I've been wanting an ALL WHITE room. I figured the bathroom would be the place to do it, and was ready to give the white on white look a try.

But the curtain seemed a bit too white, almost blue, it was so white. I dipped it in a watered down bowl of tan Rit Dye, gambling on the outcome, I knew it wasn't all natural fiber and the colors could be all over the place from the different fabrics the curtain was made up of.

 And boy, was I right! But I love it!! There are shades of white, cream and tan and the white is a bit warmer than the glaring, pure white that it was before.  The gamble paid off.

The iron pieces hanging above the curtain were dark, and I dry brushed white and cream over those, then hung an antique French netting panel that was a gift from my BFF, Beth.  For no reason! She just saw it and knew I'd love it, and of course I do.

Here is a before shot of the room, I really liked it just fine and it had been photographed for Romantic Country by my pal, Diane Guthrie.  But the room had  looked this way for years and I wanted a change just for change's sake, not because I didn't like it.

Plus these two pieces were some of the only bits of unpainted wood in the house (besides old lawyer's book shelves in the library).  I don't care much for wood finishes.

Here are the old curtains.  I really did like them and still do. I've moved them into the studio for now.

But try as I might, I just couldn't do pure white.  I love it as an accent, but when I got the walls painted, it felt too...blah? cold? apartmenty? wrong? 

Honestly, I drool buckets over photos of all white rooms.  I want one really bad. But it just isn't in me to do it. I start warming up the colors and going cream/ beige/tan.

So, I faux finished over the white walls, starting at the floor with a bluish gray/green that is on the walls of the connecting bedroom.

I graduated the colors up from blue, to metallic gold, then tan and cream to the white at the very top. (I chose these colors because the cans were what happened to be in my closet at the time).

The faux finish is subtle. I blended it all together with the cream color.  Then I painted the cabinet, but I might leave the little table dark. What do you think?  A bit of contrast here and there is nice.

Like the iron candle holder and the chippy green mirror.

My plan was to paint the furniture and walls all white.  But you can see,  the vanity is lighter, but not white.  In the photo it looks similar the jewelry armoire I painted years ago, but when you are in the room, they look very different and unique. 

If you want, I can do a "how to" on the technique for the vanity.

I think I need to re-paper the roses on my Grandma Downey's floor lamp/towel hanger to a lighter color too. The bright roses stand out a bit too much now. 

 I might cover the center panel of the vanity door with a pretty paper too.

The poor dogs were just glad when I was done.  They had to be locked up to keep their little paws out of the paint.   I don't want little painty footprints all over my house. When I used to paint furniture, I'd work outside and would zip through a lot of pieces a day, not being all that careful while doing it, since I was in the garage. But one day, the barn cat walked through some spilled primer and jumped up into the open door of the van that I'd just unloaded.  We had kitty cat foot prints all over the van seats forever, because I use a good primer!

Inside, I'm more careful and I paint without a drop cloth, since I've been painting forever, I know how to be tidy when I want to be. But I paint barefoot just in case. That way if some paint does drop, you know when you step in it, and it doesn't get tracked around the room on the bottom of a shoe.

I'm still not sure if the room is done. While trying to be light as I could, I might have gone too sublte on the faux finish... I might need some warmer tan rubbed over it to tie in the color of the tiles.  But for now, I'm done. 

$19 for the curtain,  20 something for the white paint ( I use Behr, its always the BEST for the price), and about 8 hours of work, and I have a whole new look.  Its a drastic change, even if it wasn't what I'd planned on it being.

A  can of paint can make a big impact.

I think I like it.

 

Some prettiness in the mail

Sponsor gifts for Bird Song are still coming in, and ooooohhhh myyyyyy!  This envelope of rosy goodness just made me sigh when I opened it. 

These little trims came from Lisa Super and are packaged so sweetly. My guests will love them! Thanks, Lisa!!

And how excited will the classmates be to see these kits?  Look at the quality supplies included! 

Each kit is unique and are extravagantly packed with everything you need to make a decorated baby shoe. And the shoe itself is already assembled, so all that needs to be done is the fun stuff.

These are from Lynn and she has the kits on sale right now in her shop if you aren't going to be here to get a kit from the goodie bags at Bird Song.

Lynn's sister, Karla, sent goodies too, and look at how cute these packs are.  She has included lots of  vintage bits and trims for the students to play with. Thanks, ladies!

I'm so impressed with the generosity of the sponsors.  And there is more to come.  A little bird told me that Dawn will be sending some of her lovely soaps...

A full list of sponsors can be found on the side bar of this blog and of the Bird Song blog.

Since re-shuffling the class and seating, I have an open spot now.

Please contact me if you are interested.

After having a houseful of arty friends last weekend, my house feels empty, and I can't wait to see all my guests at the end of the month for Bird Song.  I'll have a few staying at the house, but of course, there isn't room for all of them. But wouldn't that be fun if there was?

This cute Elephant is from Jenn, she gave me a whole set of these tags and I just had to tuck them into my Easter display. By the way, she has spots available for her magical event this fall.  After hearing her plans for decor, I have to say, you shouldn't miss it.

While the theme features fairies, they are not the cutey pie colorful fairies that you might think. She is going for a woodland, GORGEOUS dreamy paradise filled with grown up, glam fairies.  More like you'd see in Vogue than in a story book. As a matter of fact, Victoria magazine's latest issue has a spread about a woodland dinner party that looks a lot like what Jenn has been planning.

Did I say GORGEOUS yet?   Wow, I can't wait!

Hello Dollies!

On Saturday, we had a create-a-thon in the studio. 

They helped me work out kinks in my upcoming class for Paper Cowgirls. 

Pictured are the creations of:

Me * Suzanne *  Andrea * Jenn * Heather * Lori

For my dressform, I wanted to experiment with wallpaper instead of text.  It was a little harder to do (stiffer paper) but I like how it turned out.  I also kept mine simple, using only things that will be given to the students in the kits.

  Its very frustrating to take a class and find that the teacher's example can't be made with what she gives you, isn't it?

While I was in the grips of decopauge fever, I covered this little bird too. It was just a white bird from the craft store, and Agnes Rosebud had eaten its head half off, so I did a bit of a redo on the poor little guy.

     



A room full of pros is a wonderful thing when you are figuring out ideas.  And with this bunch, I wasn't exactly "teaching" them, it was more like all of us working on the same thing at the same time. I just gave them a few directions and they took off.

Those ladies gave me as many ideas as I gave them.  I find that is true of any artful gathering. You get as much info from your tablemates as from any instructor.

Lori showed us how to make some wax paper flowers that were recently featured in Somerset Life.  See how different they all turned out too?

The flowers are in a "vase" that I bought at Bottom's Up for $10. Its just some salvage bit of part of something else, but that is one of my favorite kinds of purchases. I'll use it a lot.

Beth spent the day working on the covers for her journal swap for Bird Song, but did get to make a flower too.

She got quite a few covers done, and no two were alike.

The group not only gave me good tips for my Paper Cowgirls class, they had lots of good ideas for the seating and studio arrangement for Bird Song. 

I'd kind of oversold the event and was trying to figure out how to seat everyone.  Suzanne had a wonderful idea and I've already rearanged the furniture as she suggested. I did that as soon as I got back from taking them to the airport.

Since I had more requests even after the class was overstuffed, I talked to the teachers, Carol, Lisa, and Debbie, and all of them agreed to give up their seats to students. So, now, I've gone from too full, to having a couple extra spaces. 

Interested? Please let me know.

Now my studio seems lonely after having such a fun bunch here.  I've packed up and mailed the last batch of purchases too big to fit in my guest's suitcases, and got those in the mail.  Can you guess whose box this is?  Yep, Jenn Hayslip, bunny queen. She scored big time on the bunny front while here. (by the way, she has spaces available for her romantic, prairie fairy tale if you'd like to get  away on an arty adventure. We'll all be there too!)

And I was thrilled that everyone shopped my studio too. It was nice of them, and I know it is never easy to randomly shop around with stuff not priced. It was sweet that they made the effort. 

Treats and sweets

Before everyone arrived last weekend, I stocked the Treat Cabinet up.  And then, Lori and Andrea both brought goodies, so we were set for sweets. Aren't these petite fours from Lori so pretty?  I saved one for Sugarwings and she was properly impressed.

I love having the Treat Cabinet in my studio.  It makes everything look even tastier, plus its great storage.  Its just a big wardrobe that I put two small tables inside, and covered with table cloths. Under the tables, I can keep extra cups, plates, refills, etc.

And above, I keep wallpaper. Delicious, delightful, wallpaper!

I plan on decorating the cabinet in a birdie theme at the end of the month for Bird Song.  The room will be full to the brim, so I'm not doing centerpieces. I've got lots of birdie type things, tho, so they will go into the cabinet and on our buffet in the kitchen.

The glittered fairies should probably come down, to be replaced with birds, but I sure like them hanging there, so I don't know.  My problem is always editing.  I tend to have everything out at once, and show no restraint.  And I know its cluttery and tacky and over the top, but man, it sure is ME. The tacky, cluttery, gaudy, glittery, fairy decorator. 

What a mess.

After reading "Romantic Prairie Style" and also visiting Carol's serene home, I'm feeling even gaudier.  The book inspired me to redo my bathroom, and I started painting it last night. My goal was to go all white on white.

Well, it didn't happen.  I'll show you photos later this week.  The project kinda morphed into gaudiness.

  And I'll have project photos tomorrow.  

For now I need to announce the winner of my Moulin Rouge Souvenir from my trip to LA.  I forgot to tell you before, because I was having too much fun with my buddies visiting.

Ruth Flowers (what a pretty name!)

 

 today, I'm linking to Amy Carver's "Whatever Wednesday"

 

 

Friends from far away coming to stay

A quick note- due to some shuffling, I have extra spaces available for Bird Song. If you'd like to sign up, please contact me.

We had the best time over the weekend! What a great group of friends, I was honored that they would travel so far just to come and hang out in Kansas.

Pictured is:

 * Heather * Suzanne * Lori * me * Jenn * Andrea *

On Thursday, we just hung out, chatted and got caught up on each others happenings. Then on Friday, we took off to KC to go to Bottom's Up and some other sales, then over to visit Carol.  I foofed up bags for each of us, and filled them with bottled water, treats, gum, and lip gloss so we'd be set for the day's adventures.

We all piled in the borrowed van (from Sugarwing's Daddy) and then just sat there.  Apparently, the key comes out of the ignition when the car is still set on "auxiliary" and I left it on all night draining the battery.

So, after unsuccessfully hunting in every nook and cranny for our jumper cables, my son, Ryan, volunteered to run to the store to pick up another set.  He soon had the van jumped and running so we could hit the road.

Bottoms Up is once a month and located is the West Bottoms district in KC, MO. (someone walking by us said we looked glamorous!!  Now that is something I don't hear very often about myself.  And from my pigeon toed stance in this photo, I don't think I'll be hearing much in the future either)

There are several shops with monthly sales in this old warehouse area, and its pretty cool to see.

And to shop at!

 
 

Gwen of French By Design has some very drool worthy goods.  The vendors range from ultra classy and elegant to fun junk.  So there is something for everyone.  I know we found plenty.

Did you know that Victorian Trading Co. is based in KC?  After hitting Beth's booth at Mission Road Antique mall, we went next door to shop at the outlet store for this catalog shop. There are only two brick and mortar stores for this company and both are right here in Kansas City.

The clothes there are so durn gorgeous.  The girls were buying some perfect outfits for Jenn's romantic event in NC this fall.  I tried on quite a few, then decided that I was 10 years and 10 lbs off to fit into the dresses right. Not to mention that I am too short.  But I loved looking at them and seeing what everyone else picked out.

Then, I bought a shower curtain.  (photos later, I'm dying it, and repainting my bathroom to match it)

Carol had us over for dinner, and if you think her home looks like it was right out of a book, you are right.  She's in Romantic Prairie Style (and oooooooohhhhh, what a pretty book!)

Carol is not only a talented photographer and decorator, she is a hostess with a huge heart.

And a good cook!

Every single detail, every where you looked, her house is perfect.  Just perfect.  I feel like I am in the pages of a decorating book when I am there.

So, I was really touched to see something I made for her out on display. 

She served some local made honey flavored wine over dinner, and it was a good thing I was driving, or I'd have drank way too much of it.   I could go  Winnie the Pooh all over this honey nectar!  Man, it was good.

Carol just had this fire place built in her backyard. It was a lovely evening to curl up by the fire and tell ghost stories. Even though the others didn't like ghost stories much.  We quickly moved on to more fun stories and had a lot of laughs.  If you've ever spent an evening with Carol, you know there will be lots of laughter.

Here is the back of her home, near the fireplace.

This is the tree that Carol is teaching for Bird Song.  Pretty, huh? 

I'll have more photos later of our studio day.  After that day with all the creative types in my studio, I am even more pumped about Bird Song.  I can't wait to fill the room back up with arty friends and see them in action!