Karla's Cottage

Birdsong Sponsor gifts

It feels a little like Christmas around here.  Boxes of sponsor goodies are arriving daily! 

Sandy Babb sent not one, but TWO of these spectacular canvases as gifts.  And these aren't teensy, they are good sized wall art.  The amount of detail that went into each is staggering for such large pieces, too.

See what I mean? This "egg" is a spoon!

It's all quite lovely, from the woven backgrounds to the hand stitching and painting and beyond. Look at all the precision and creativity that went into this.

Sponsor gifts can be many things. Some kind hearted souls share crafting supplies, and others send gifts of their own art work or crafts.  Michelle sent a beautifully coordinated bag of pretty supplies for each attendee.

And all are arranged so prettily that each looks like a little mini collage itself.  

Tami's packet of trinkets are a sweet selection too.

Karen made a lovely collage of pretty paper onto a shutter then wrapped it up with a treasure trove of trims to give away as a raffle prize. 

Linda fashioned Boho chic chicks for everyone complete with a cute label including her smiling face.

My Texas pal, Stacy of Whitworth Ranch Retreat, offered a free art retreat for some lucky Peep!!.  She emailed a letter and I foofed it up a bit since it is such a special prize.  This includes food (and Stacy is quite the talented cook), lodging and classes. If you want to join our lucky winning Peep, I think there are still spots available to attend the classes and stay at this charming B&B.

My peeps are going to be thrilled with their tweet bags and the door prizes, thanks to the kindness of the sponsors. Some are people who read about Birdsong and wish that they could be here. Others are attendees themselves, or past participants who couldn't make it this year. We also have a couple of businesses that are donating too.  It has been a nice variety and all are very generous in making my Peeps feel spoiled!

A home for the fairies in the garden

We've done a little yard work recently, and the yard is looking happy and bright. Roses are blooming, iris are straight, tall, and majestic, and the peonies put on a great show this spring.  It's wonderful to have established gardens and perennials to depend on for color, even if maintenance is still a lot of work, in keeping things slightly tidy... very slightly....  At least there are hard working favorites popping up out of the ground all on their own with no effort from me.

I clean up the beds a bit, and fill the pots with annuals (this year a lot reseeded itself!), and we are set for springtime.  This season, Sugarwings has wanted to help, so I gave her a tiny garden of her own to tend.

I had a low, wide, cement pot that was just the right size to turn into a fairy garden for my own little fairy to work in.  I placed 4 mini plants in it, made a garden arch from wrapped wire and let her figure out the rest.  We had this iron fairy, and she debated using it, because this garden was for REAL fairies not pretend ones.  She ended up putting it on display there as a "statue" for the young fairies to look up to.

After it was planted, she watered it with a little teacup.

After getting to this point, she decided it needed a bit more.  Like some signs, and a swing.  So, she dutifully ate up a popsicle, to get a stick she could paint to turn into a swing.  Her thoughts were that the youngest fairies would like a swing hung from the arbor more than just a plain old arch to look at.

So a pink, popsicle stick swing now hangs from the arch with blue ribbons. And the iron fairy statue has been removed to make space for a tea party area. I have a feeling that these are the first of many changes.  This garden will probably be the focus of quite a few redesigns.

For the tea table, Sugarwings painted a large spool pink, and we glued a playdough can lid to it.  The painted spool stools and table all have straws glued inside, so they can be poked into the ground to solve the problem of them toppling over and spilling the tea.

 Dewdrop offered to blow bubbles for the fairies.  

Kitties galore

I've had some help in the kitchen lately.  

Although, as much as she likes cookies, she likes kitties even more, and it is hard to drag her away from these guys.

I have to admit, I tend to spend a bit of time visiting them too.

We tried to keep them indoors, but the mama is not a house cat. See what she did to the screen when we kept her indoors? Not just one, two windows got torn up.  And there is no way she could pretend it wasn't her, there was orange and white fur all around the openings she'd torn in them.

So, back they went, out to the deck off my husband's office. It isn't a bad spot for them, up away from predators, and in an insulated dog house, under a table that is under an awning. No rain gets in, and they are pretty cozy up there.

My husband not only built a ramp for Pumpkin to get up to the deck easily, he added an 8" high wooden rail around the base so no babies could slip off the side of the deck.  They now have a play pen.

There are five kitties, we hope to find homes for a few, but if not, I think they'll be pretty happy staying here. If you want one, let me know.  They will be snugglers, they get lots of holding time, and that always makes for a good pet.

One was supposed to go to Sugarwings' home, but surprise! Her cat had a kitten. What are the odds that her orange kitty had a calico kitten the day after our orange kitty had calico babies? 

Now, please, no lectures about spaying and neutering. I'm not uninformed or uncaring.  I simply like babies and will either find a good home for the kittens, or keep them all. We will spay all that we keep, including the mama.  One litter was plenty and we are thrilled to have them. We are kind to our babies and treat them very special, they have good lives.  

We live in the country, we get rats and snakes. We need hard working cats outside to keep the critter population down, but they are also cuddled pets.

Apple rosette tarts

 

Stacy served pretty, apple rosettes at the Whitworth Ranch Retreat, and I was smitten. I'd been wanting to try some myself, but thought they looked too complicated. Seeing hers in person, and tasting how wonderful they were, gave me courage to try some on my own. I think they turned out nice, even though mine are more like full blown roses than rosettes.

I'm hoping to make these for Birdsong too, so I wanted to practice and see how it went.  It was fast, and easy. My only problem was being patient while the dough thawed, I didn't plan ahead and was in a rush.  I was also in too big of a rush to wait for them to cool, and popped one into my mouth too soon.  That was a mistake.

 I'm afraid I didn't follow the recipe, I'd looked at it weeks ago, and had an idea on how it was done, but didn't refer back to it.  Mine was close enough.

First, thaw puff pastry.

Next, cut apples in half, core, then slice paper thin. Microwave the slices in lemon water to soften them.  I used organic Gala apples for mine, they had a nice flavor.

Roll out the pastry, cut each piece down the center lengthwise, and line up apple slices along the pastry  so that they peek over the top edge and sprinkle with a cinnamon sugar mix. I used brown sugar.

I also added extra apple slices to the middle of the dough, not just along the top edge.  (I wanted mine to be more fruity)

Roll up, and pop into muffin tins.

Bake and wait til they cool to eat, because that cinnamon sugar will burn your mouth when it is hot. 

Believe me, I know.  I couldn't wait for them to cool! The whole house smelled great and the tarts were looking as tasty as can be.  And they really were just wonderful.  

You can follow a real recipe and do it right by looking these up on Pinterest, they are all over the place and the recipes there are certainly more precise than the way I wrote this up.  Or just wing it, like I did. It is pretty hard to mess these up, they are much easier to make than you'd think.

French Macarons were also attempted, not quite as successful as the tarts. But still delicious, so I went with the crookedness and will call them Kansas Macarons instead.

A week ago, I tried to make some, and those weren't as good as these, some of those turned into explosive pockets of air instead of cookies.  They aren't an easy thing to make, especially if you have an aversion to recipes like I do. 

I kind of skim a few, get the gist of the idea, then whip something up.  It has worked well with me for most things, including fresh baked breads. But I might need to actually follow directions to get these right.

Still, these are getting closer, see the little feet/ruffles on the bottom of some of them? (I was so happy to see those developing, I snapped a photo while they were still in the oven) Of course they look more like biscuits than cookies, but I promise,they taste pretty good.  Mine are made with vanilla beans scraped from the pods instead of liquid vanilla because I was worried about adding anything else to the batter. I also declined to add coloring.

The filling was the best part, though. I warmed up cream, melted white chocolate in it, whipped it with butter and some more vanilla beans. I could've just eaten that by the spoonful.

The macarons are frozen and ready to serve for Birdsong. I tried freezing some tarts, but they don't taste as good if not straight from the oven, so I'll be making those the night before our party. 

Countdown to Birdsong!

I'm not the only one getting ready for Birdsong, a couple of our past guests who couldn't come to the party this year were kind enough to send door prizes. This lovely pillow is from my friend, Suzanne.

And Terry sent craft packs.  She finds wonderful stuff, and has an etsy shop where you can snag some for yourself.

We also got some generous ephemera packs from Wendy, who has an etsy shop filled with goodies too.

Last year, I met Patty at Kim's Downton Affaire in LA, we were table mates.  She will be at Birdsong this year and has also sent gifties from her Etsy shop to her fellow Peeps. 

And she included a gift for me! I'm always enraptured by sparkly bird pins.

Our Peeps will be thrilled with all of the gifts, and I am too! Thanks for being a sponsor, Suzanne, Patty,Terry, and Wendy!  

And I guess I can say we have "corporate sponsors" now that Gundren Sjoden has sent us a package too!  All the way from Sweden, care of my dear friend, Betti.

They not only included two gifts for my friends, but also a $15 coupon for their store. 

My tweet bags are all done and ready to be filled. It is going to be fun to stuff them with all the goodies that have been sent.  I've got more coming, and will be sure to show you those too. 

Now, most hostesses like to keep the goodie bags secret. But not me.  I feel like the thoughtfulness needs to be shown off and public thank yous sent out to the givers. I don't think the Peeps mind seeing some of the treasures that will fill their bags. And I'm sure that they are happy to see the sponsors be thanked along with photos of the presents.

Around the kitchen

I've seriously been hoping to spiff up the kitchen before Birdsong.... I've wanted to go pure white.

Walls and cabinets both.

Now the cabinets are ivory and glazed with a creamy coffee color, and the walls are tan.  Not only do I want a new look, I kind of need one, to take care of some repairs.

Do you see the problem here?

This knob snapped in half (I will have to epoxy it, or find another before someone cuts a hand off), and the trim on the door fell off too.

I'm afraid that I'll have to repaint to repair this mess. I'll have to take the trim off both matching cabinets, sand down the area where it was glued on, and repaint.  I can't just patch this. I'll have to find some other trim or do without. There was a minimum of a $200 order where I got this trim the first time. I certainly don't need to buy that much again, since I am no longer in the furniture redoing biz like I was at the time.  It was good to have plenty to spruce up the new cabinets and a ton left over to use on odd bits of furniture I was refurbishing back then.

When there is no time for a big redecorating project (no matter how badly it is needed) sometimes a tiny change helps.  Like some new plates.  Beth asked me to help her with a mini redo at her antique booth, and I always say yes, because I get first pick of what she brought in to sell  she is a good friend and I enjoy doing it with her.

She had these great, old dishes for only $3 each, plus gave me a discount.  

White dishes are my fave, and these will go well with my other good dishes, now I have plenty for a big party. (I like a mix-match look for parties)

I got these every day dishes from her too.  I'd been admiring the polka dot trim, on white plates, that I'd been seeing everywhere.  I had just about decided to purchase a set from the dollar store, because they looked every bit as nice as the ones from Walmart or World Market, and were a fraction of the cost, even thought W.Mkt is not an expensive store, it is hard to beat $1 each.   And I won't even try to compare that to the price at Pottery Barn for the look!

Til Beth emailed me that she'd found a boxful of these vintagey ones at an estate sale at $8 for 6 full place settings.  I was thrilled to get them.

I do have a thing for dishes...

And since we entertain regularly, I get a chance to use them all.  There isn't a full set of any one thing, but like I said, mix-match is my favorite anyway.

Everything in this cabinet gets used at some time or another. That green tea pot? It reminds me of a fairy piece and is ideal for fairy tea parties.

Hat Whispering in Texas and scooping up jewels

At our Texas/British bash, I was lucky enough to win this pretty piece from Cassandra!  It was a door prize, and I won by having the closest birthday. Isn't it pretty?

All hand soldered.  I love the flecks of silver in some of the pieces.

 

But that isn't my only special gift!  There were treats galore, and our roomies had sweet things for each other too. Then, my sister and I saw two hand made from vintage pieces, matching necklaces. Like the artist had taken apart one necklace, added some bits, and redesigned it into two.

Well, we both liked them, but decided we didn't need them.  

So, we continued shopping and poking around.  But an hour or so later, I told Sissy that we'd remember those and regret not buying them, and I was going to get them as a gift for us both.

Til my credit card wouldn't work.  No cards were accepted.  And I didn't have a debit card for the ATM or a checkbook with me.  

And I'd been shopping a while, and was low on cash for the rest of the trip.  Here is a sampling of some of the hats I snagged in Texas.  Yep, about THIRTY floral concoctions! I hat whispered my way across Kansas and Texas, snapping up millinery every where I went. 

Which, wasn't cheap, even with the bargains that I was finding. My cash wouldn't support the necklaces. I felt bad because I'd wanted to give her a nice gift, she has always been extra generous with me.

Then, Sissy bought them both for us!

I did want to buy them, and hated that she had to do it, but wasn't it nice of her? I'll treasure my sister necklace and think of her wearing hers when I wear mine.

Kinda like those BFF heart necklaces cut in half.

But I did find something to get her the next day in Waxahachie!  She saw this moon full of pink crystals, and said it was like one she had pinned on Pinterest and had been searching for.  So, I felt a little better, about the necklace snafu. She was meant to have this moon pendant.

Canton was magnificent.  I was enthralled by the variety, prices, and scope of the shopping.  I could've used three days to see it all.  I hit the dollar tables hard, and found a trove of treasures there, little bits of jewels, boxes to adorn, cute knick knacks.  Plus, I was finding millinery in abundance everywhere I went on this trip.

One of my first purchases was this teeny, puppy creamer, for $1. I bought it for the grand fairies, so we could use it for our next tea party. Then, one of my last purchases was the matching sugar bowl, also a dollar, at the other end of the flea market.  

Meant to be found for me to reunite it with its mate!

All of the shopping was top notch, great company, great junk, and just as much fun as you could possibly jam into an outing. 

I miss Texas

And Whitworth Ranch Retreat.

Serendipi-TEA at The Whitmore Ranch Retreat classes

Classes at our Downton retreat in TX were just as fun as the rest of the weekend. Cassandra offered a velvet purse kit in pink or tan, I chose tan, and packed a lot of old lace to add to my creation.  (including the salvage I'd trimmed off my kitchen curtains when they got torn while blowing around on a very windy day)

I was slightly dreading the production, because of- ick!- sewing- but once I got going, it wasn't as hard as I thought  it would be.  Cassandra had the bag and liner pre-stitched, we embellished the bag, put them together, sewed on the clasp.  It was sewing optional in a lot of areas, we could use glue on some parts. But, I dove in with needle and thread, and conquered my fears. 

My skill level is not high, and I didn't change that.  But, when I dropped a camera and phone into the finished bag, they didn't fall through, so I guess I did okay.

She had great supplies for us to use, but I had an idea about how I wanted it to look.  

This is her example. Lovely as can be, isn't it?

And while I tried the embroidery and beading, I knew I'd never master it that fast, so I stuck with what I knew.

My first step was placing different lacy bits on the bag to see what I liked, and then it grew from there.

One trick I did pick up was making a ribbon rose.  I want to make more of these!

And I did just a little bit of embroidery, using some vintage metallic thread, and I added a few crystal beads from a necklace I'd bought at Canton Flea Market.

You can see I didn't do much of that.  I discovered that embroidery is hard enough, but throwing in old, metallic thread, was crazy. It kinks, twists, and it was trouble.  Still, I was pretty dang proud that I actually stitched something.  

 

We had 24 hour access to the craft room, so Guncle Randy and I took advantage of that. We hung out til late every night.  I made not only Cassandra's bag and our other pretty project from Molly, but TWO snippet rolls and a little make and take from Waxahachie.

This is a teensy, plastic trophy, and we were given paints to tarnish it up.

Guncle Randy had been wanting to make a steam punk bird like the one in this picture, for quite a while. I made the base of it for him one night after I finished my purse, and he found a cool, old bit of some sort of twisty metal to turn into a base next time we are together. 

And that isn't all I got done!  We had a second project for the Downton theme. Molly's necklace is a lace collar.  Here is her example. Lovely, huh?  It was also a glue/stitching optional project.

I chose glue.  

Both pieces were a nice challenge, not my typical style. I wanted to be able to make them look like I made them, but still be true to the theme, since the projects were so pretty and well thought out. 

For this one, I darkened the cameo with markers and paint to age it a bit.  And added some sequin trim from a shredding flapper dress, that Sissy shared with me.

Basically, the rest of the layout was the same as Molly's.  She had hand dyed the lace for us, and it is the prettiest pink.  I might foof mine up a bit more, like hers is, I liked the pink fluffy flowers she had added.

Here is a little bit of one of the snippet rolls I made. I'll have more pictures of it after our swap in June at Birdsong 5.  The rest of it is a surprise for its intended owner.

 

 

Kits for Birdsong and some sweet scented soaps

I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

For Birdsong this year, I'm doing two classes. One is making a journal cover and adding pages.  The second is filling it up. 

 

Beth and Hope are each chiming in on the second class and offering mini tutorials on journalling.  And I'm offering a doodling kit, a special kit for a single page, a packet of ephemera and wallpaper, plus a packet of embellishments.

Yep, count 'em- FIVE SEPARATE KITS for this journal.    (plus one from Hope, one from Beth)

What was I thinking???  But they are all done, packed up and ready to go, as of mid April, almost two full months before the class is taught.  (edit-I write my blog posts kind of far in advance sometimes, this is one of those that I wrote, put in the file, then had other things to talk about, so it got pushed back)

Now, onto making name tags, gift bags, and getting the house and studio ready.  It really does take me months to do.  But worth it, I am so looking forward to the party this year. (edit- May 13th- done, done, and done! Can you hear the swatting sound I'm making as I pat myself on the back so enthusiastically??)

And I have to admit, I do enjoy putting kits together and coordinating colors.

And do you know what else is fun?  Getting gifts from sponsors to give to our Peeps! This abundant basket of hand crafted soaps came from Beth's sister-in-law, Joey.

My car smelled wonderful after having this basket in it for the day. Now my studio is filling up with the soft scents.  Lucky me, I get to enjoy these before I draw a name to pass them on to their new owner!

Here is a cute story that Joey sent along with her soaps, I thought you might enjoy it too:

 

A few years ago I was selling my soap at a huge "convergence" of nuns in Minneapolis. (My husband and I have been Associates of the Fargo Presentation Sisters for 17 years. Don passed away in 2013 but my work with them continues.) 

One of the Sisters from somewhere in North America, Newfoundland, think, asked, "Is this soap any good?"  And I answered,"Have you seen how young the Fargo Presentations look?" She immediately bought 3 bars. I always clarify, when I say "Presentation", I mean IRISH Presentation Sisters, founded in Cork City in 1775 by a woman named Nano Nagle whose feast day is today, April 26. She was brave enough to defy British penal laws by educating poor Irish children in "hedge" schools, investing her own fortune, risking her own freedom and founding this congregation which now has Sisters on every continent but Antarctica! They believe in compassion, inclusion and justice. The Fargo Presentations have had their arms wrapped around me since first grade, and I love them dearly. They all use my soap and have lovely skin, they look half their age.

Now there are some French Presentation Sisters, they are probably very nice people, but I bet they are pretty wrinkled.

 

A ramp for the cat

We do love our animals around here.  And my husband is one to spoil them a little.  He is very fond of Pumpkin, and leaves his office door open for her to visit when he is upstairs working. But being the soft hearted guy that he is, he worried about her climbing the vines to get up on the deck.

So, he built her a ramp, complete with stair steps for good footing while climbing.

Then, he taught her to use it by treating her with some melted ice cream and running upstairs to call her up, then running back down to get her to walk down the ramp to get another lick of ice cream.

He even removed one of the slats on the railing for her to get through easier. (It is still too narrow for a small child to squeeze through).

She is pretty happy with the set up. I think we might get a pet door that fits into his sliding glass door so she can pop in as she pleases once summer comes and it gets too hot and buggy around here to leave the door open.

She loves her ramp and private patio so much, she had her kittens up there! 5 little furry balls of cuteness.