Karla's Cottage

Books with Beth and poor Dorothy

Beth and I had a fun craft day together recently.  So much fun that I forgot to get out my camera. We redid her booth at the antique mall, made a run to Costco (where I kept mumbling to myself, "we're gonna need a bigger boat car"), then made a couple of books from some great old albums she'd found at an estate sale.

She gave me a  lesson in stitching the signatures into the book. But, I had a hard time with trying to be precise with templates, and poked my own holes with a needle.  Her book is going to be lined up much better than mine.  I always go with the idea of throwing something together "good enough" then hiding any crookedy spots with plenty of lace.

We spent most of the afternoon cutting paper, and sewing it in.  She had to help me so much, she didn't get hers put together that day.

It was also a play date for our dogs.  Dorothy Rosebud has been in hell since the kittens were born. She never liked the cats at all, but when Pumpkin became a Protective  Mama Cat with a Temper, Dorothy's life fell apart.  Then, along comes Honey, the big galoot of a puppy who thinks Dorothy makes the most interesting squeaky noises when squeezed.

I've been keeping Dorothy away from Honey, but honestly, I don't even have to try. She keeps herself tucked into hidey holes and darts furtively from one secret spot to another, always on the lookout for attack by kittens, their mom, or the giant dog who adores playing with her.  

I thought I'd get her out of the house for the day, and it wasn't until I saw how happy she was at Beth's that I fully realized how terrible she felt at home.  All day at Beth's, she was full of energy, happiness, and wiggles.  Typical Yorkie behaviour.  I'd forgotten just how happy she used to be, because her mood changes were so gradual, I didn't realize how drastic they were.

Now, I'm determined to do something to make her life better. I've seen how she can  thrive and have fun again.  

It kills me to think of giving her away.  Because she is my baby. She is such a snuggler.  But with all of the dogs, chickens, cats, and kids, life is too overwhelming for her here.  I have to think of what is best for her, and not be selfish about wanting to keep her myself so she can be my teddy bear at night (she likes to be held under my chin when I sleep).

But I think I'd sleep even better knowing that she wasn't living her life in terror when I wasn't holding her. I don't know that I am ready to give up yet, I started to write an ad to find the perfect home for her, but I couldn't go through with it.  

Still, I have to think about her, not me.  She was injured as a baby, and has a bad leg. Honey grabs it and has re-injured her. Luckily, my son is a massage therapist and can repair the damage (he is MAGIC).  That doesn't mean it isn't going to keep happening, though.  Being in fear is bad enough, but getting hurt is even worse.  Plus, that makes the terror even greater.  

It is breaking my heart to see her fade away to a shadow of herself. Seeing her jump with joy and play at Beth's house with her brother, Button, gave me hope that she can have a good life again. 

Yes, I know it is all my own fault. I do LOVE animals and wish I could have dozens of them. But it is irresponsible to take on more than I can properly care for.  This is a problem I caused myself by filling my house up too much.  Dorothy is suffering from my mistakes.  

I've let her down, and I have to fix it.

Honey is going to be a great dog, I can see the intelligence and the calm in her eyes. But for now she is a big oaf of a bouncy pup. It will be a while (years???) before that stage has passed.

But in the meantime, Beth and her sweet husband, have offered to let Dorothy stay with them for the month of October.   That will give the giant Golden some time to mature, at least a little.  Then, I've made an appointment with a dog trainer for private sessions for the two combatants.  I'm also keeping Dorothy on a leash or carrying her around, to keep her near me.

 This little dog is not going to be allowed to spend her life hiding away.  Things have got to change for the better for her!  Spending some time with her foster family and her bro is a start.

 

 

Witchy Girl Kits

The kits for the little witchy girls are available now. It has taken me a while to pull them together.  When I build kits, I trouble shoot by making multiples of the original design, and fine tuning it before writing up the instructions.

Once the instructions are written, I hand illustrate them.

For these gals, I wrote the basics for making a witch and her stand, then wrote out the info for how I embellished each one. All of the girls are included in the instructions, so that the person making one can gather up ideas to make the sorceress just the way she wants her to be.

Because each one is a bit different than the others.

Every kit includes an option to do a broom or a wand, and the wand can be made like the illustration, or simply topped with a vintage pearl bead.

I delved into the stash of FAB flowers from the old stash Carol Spinski had hidden away for decades from a Kansas City icon, Emily Bird Thayer.

Aren't they wonderful????

All of the silk and netting is ripped from this ancient and tatter-y wedding dress.

Doesn't it look perfectly tattered up?  Some of it, I dip dyed.  

I used as much in the way of old and wonderful goods as I could.  Vintage stars, shredded silk, old pearls, antique blooms, crystals from the 1930s, florals from my millinery collection.  The broom handles are even cut from a lilac bush that was planted over 50 years ago!  I do like old stuff.  

The photos of the young ladies are vintage pictures that I've re-edited, cleaned up, and sized to under 5", then printed on premium photo paper.

This is Fern, with her kitty, Luna.   She never goes anywhere without her little furry friend, and loves to share lots of hugs with her pet. She reminds me a little bit of Dewdrop, who is also a kitty squeezer.

Rowena is a sweetheart.  But she will get into the candy corn if you don't keep it out of her reach.

But Agatha can be a bit pouty if you won't let her hold the knife when it is pumpkin carving time.  I really think that she is too young to handle a knife on her own, but she doesn't agree with me.

And while Hazle looks like the most innocent and darling of them all, she is a bit of a trouble maker. I had to ground her and put her in this crystal ball to stop her shenanigans.

Leitha is very handy to have around.  She is always helpful in the kitchen and is there for me when I need the pumpkin bread batter stirred. Although I do have to remind her not to lick her wand after stirring with it, because the batter has raw eggs in it. 

I'm so happy to have these girls with me for the Halloween season.  I hope you'll invite one or more to your home too. 

Kansas City Renfest 2015

Last week, we headed to the Renfest to visit our fairy and princess friends.  

Sugarwings was sporting her latest gown from TJMax's great selection of royal fashions.  Every fall, they have the BEST, highest quality, dresses at the most reasonable prices (about $30).  I started to dress up, but since my husband was going along, I tamed my look down for him.  A garland for my hair and a semi-witchy ensemble was plenty for him.

As much as I have fun watching the kids explore the festival, I personally love the overall style of the place, all of the attention to detail in the architecture, and the shady, hilly park it is all built in.  The best building though?  

This castle!

Wow!

My son's friend, Jessie is the stone mason. It is a labor of love for him, each year a few more rocks are added to this hand built palace.

It is a beautiful spot for photos, the artistry of the structure makes all pictures interesting. (not like my cute little models needed that)

Jessie does custom stone work for clients the rest of the year, and uses the in process castle as a storefront to sell his geodes.

There is a big selection of round rocks to chose from and take to the geo-tine (like guillotine but for rocks). Jessie spins a tale while the rock gets cracked in two.  That guy can draw a big crowd to gather around just to wait while a rock gets broken. He is a born entertainer.

When the CRACK happens, the crowd cheers and everyone is excited to see what the geode holds as the owner walks through the throng to show off her treasure.   No two look just the same and he has a wide variety of different crystals.  Mine was smoky quartz with marcasite. Really pretty. This one is Sugarwings' stone and I'm not sure what it is.

She enjoyed working the crank to break hers apart.

She's also always happy to visit the mermaid lagoon.

While waiting in line to visit the merpeople, we found this heart seed pod.

Sugarwings gave the heart to Aurilliea Gyldenscale, one of our local, Kansas City area mermaids.  (Being in the midwest, we don't have as many merpeople as you might find on the coast, so ours are very special and rare).

The lagoon area is a welcome addition to the renfest, it was added not that long ago and while simple, is very cute.  One year there was a large tank/aquarium that a poor, chilly mermaid floated around in, this seems like a much more humane way to display the fishy girls.  And it is more user friendly for the kiddos too, the little girls are thrilled to get hugs from their heroines.

We never fail to make a magic wand at the Children's Realm.  Afterwards, you can test drive the wand with a real wizard.  This was the point when I realized that Sugarwings is lacking in her magical knowledge. When I told her to call her patronus, she had no idea what I was talking about.

Time to start reading Harry Potter to her, right?

She definitely is well phrased in fairy lore and was able to chat with the faye like a pro.

And of course, is a champ at the maypole after years of dancing with the fairies.

Hmm, maybe this is my favorite part of the day there. Look at the smiles on all of those faces!

My not-so-fave part?

Visiting the animal rescue center. Which sounds very nice til you find out that it is a dragon, a hawk, and a billion snakes. 

Yep, that is a snake wrapped around our little friend.

And  around Sugarwings who got teary eyed about having to give the snake back. She wanted to stay and hold it longer.

ugh-shiver-bleck

Luckily, there was a fairy godmother handy to zap her out of her mood with a sprinkling of magic and fairy dust. 



It is hard to stay sad at the festival, with all of that magic and revelry around you.  

 

Book of Mystery and Spells KIT

I've made up a few kits for the book class I am doing.  I know Halloween is not quite here, but it isn't too early to be getting your punkins in a row and being ready to create for the holiday!

Available on Etsy or in the Boutique

This kit comes with full, hand illustrated instructions, lots of vintagey goodness, and pretties to make your own Book of Mysteries and Spells.  I always believe in using the "Good Stuff" and with this book you get some of the "Best Stuff"! Velvet, silk, old millinery, vintage rhinestones. And the tiny crystal gems on the witch's shoes and dress are not the type of crystal you get at a craft store, these are vintage new stock from the 1930s The Kit Includes: Complete, illustrated instructions A hand drawn coloring page over a collage of vintage text A book cover, painted, reinforced and ready to use Vintage wallpaper to line the interior covers Textured, paintable wallpaper for the back of the book Vintage lace, paper clay, and a spooky eye with clay to make the eye socket, for you to create the front cover (with your own modelling paste) Photo of two witchy sisters and all of the embellishments you need to foof them up to add to the front of the book, including the elements to make a magic wand and broom Hand dyed silk ribbon for the closure, and a vintage rhinestone button to add to it Vintage velvet ribbon and hand dyed velvet ribbon trim for the cover Hand dyed silk ribbon to tie in the pages A beautiful, old, millinery rose in white to tie onto the silk along with  key and fleur de lis charms, and lace 1 piece of parchment cardstock, 1 black and white, 1 plain, and 7 pages of cardstock printed with scanned pages of an early 1900s fortune telling book   A scrap pack of vintage papers, images, lace, and old millinery to get started on finishing your interior pages  Supplies needed: Hole punch or cropodile Modelling paste and something to spread it Scissors- regular and small for details Glue (I prefer Crafter’s Pick, the Ultimate, stored upside down in a cup on my desk. Always leave this glue upside down) Ink pads, brown or black Brown marker White opaque ink pen and a metallic pen Sanding block Acrylic craft paint (I used white and cream for the book and green for the eye) Glaze (or you can water down the paint, if you don’t have glaze) Clear glitter (I like clear, crystal, fine glitter) Paint brush Water based clear coat There are two little witchy sisters on the front, the way I have made the book.  You can of course, play around with the kit and change things up, there are plenty of "Good Stuff" supplies to work with. I am working on kits for standing witchy girls now. I do have the names picked out for them, that is a great start, right?  Rowena, Agatha, Elmira, Leitha, Hazle, and Luna will soon be available as kits for you to make for your own home. If you think you might want a little witch as well as a book, please go ahead and purchase the book kit, and let me know that you might be interested in the girls too. I'll hold your kit and combine postage after you decide. Each kit comes with some images to use on the inside pages. Which means, that you can also switch up the witch on the front. Here is an example of the book with Rowena on the front instead. She is holding her magic wand, but I still wanted to add a broom, so I put it across the bottom of the cover. I also left off the eye this time for a different look. The supplies in the kits can be used in many ways, but I loved the ties and charms on the first book that I did, and repeated them the same way on this 2nd book. Although, with vintage items, usually the end results never look exactly the same Here are a few of the pages I've added in my own book.  Your kit will include scrap packs of goodies for you to work with so that you can start working on the inside of the book too. As well as softly faded old flowers and plenty of lace to dangle from the pages.

I have one kit available with green eyes, all the rest have clear eyes that you can leave as is, or add paint of any color to the back of.

 

Fall Home Tour- uhm...I have four pumpkins to see...Oh, and some mums! look at the mums!!

Dear Brenda invited me to be one of her guests on the Fall Home Tour that she curated.

I'm afraid I don't have a lot to see as far as fall goes- I think I might have let her down. It is just a bit early for autumn decor for me, I tend to hang onto summer till the last blast of heat has faded, then go straight into Halloween junk strewn about my house.

 

But it was good to have a reason to do a seasonal transition.  I was happy with the results, minimal as they are.  Usually, I buy a few white and gray pumpkins in October at the Pumpkin Patch, and since the little grand fairies love going there so much, and the events are free, I like to save up all my punkin buying for that venue. It isn't open yet,  I don't want to purchase the gourds from the grocery store, and our home grown ones aren't ready to pick, but luckily, I had a few artificial ones to pull out and get the mood set for fall.  

Brenda is doing this tour in order of the homes, so previous to my house is  House Honeys, So Much Better with Age,  then Chasing Quaintness and the next home ready for a tour is Northern Nesting.  After that is White Tulip Designs and My Thrift Store Addiction.

There is also a hand made pumpkin from my friend, Tami.  (on the left)  

While I love bringing natural elements into my home, and am looking forward to picking pumpkins straight from the patch, the artificial gourds can be a lot more versatile, I doubt if I could balance a real life, heavy pumpkin on a stack of teacups. And if you put a fresh one under glass, that can cause it to get moldy faster.  

Even though Halloween is still a bit away, I had to pull out my white witch picture.  I found it at a garage sale for a quarter, and it is one of my all time favorite pictures. She isn't necessarily a witch, but I think she makes a good one. She is a traditional part of my fall decor.

Sometimes the things I spend a quarter on can turn out to be quite nice. Not just the white witch picture, but this floral/pumpkin ring that the larger pumpkin rests on. I got it at a garage sale, and spray painted it white, then dusted it with glitter.  I purposely did a haphazard spray job on it, so that the colors underneath still show in a muted way.

The new clock is from Michaels.  I rarely buy things that aren't old or second hand, but this clock spoke to me when I passed it in the aisle and I knew I had just the right spot for it. (plus, while it might not BE second hand, it does HAVE a second hand..... oh, I crack myself up sometimes)

Few things say fall to me more than mums do. I can't resist buying a few more plants every year to set out in the beds once they have finished blooming.

Under the pots of mums, I've used my favorite scarf from a Victoria Trading Co. giveaway as a runner.  I'm not big on traditional fall tones, but the soft faded colors in this scarf are an exception to my ban on orange.

 
This time of September, the summer flowers are starting to perk back up again after the heat of August fades, and the herbs are bolting with blooms. I love picking fresh herbs to bring in to fill the kitchen with their scent.

Speaking of scents, it is time to switch from lighter candle fragrances to cidery/appley/cinnamony yumminess.   One of the very first things I do every morning is light a candle that sits on my wood stove.  Unless it is winter and we are burning wood, of course, that is a whole other olfactory sensation of its own.

 I keep a tablecloth on on the stove when it is not in use, and once again, these are not my typical colors, but I do indulge a little bit in fall tones, if there is a good deal of white still involved.

After saying a couple of times that I don't do orange or the traditional shades of fall, here yet again, I make myself out to be a liar.   In the grand fairies' play area, they get a bright colored vintage table cloth with turning leaves on it.

I probably shouldn't do orange because this really doesn't fit in with that corner of the room. But, if I think about it, neither does the stack of coloring books or the box of art supplies.  When there are kids around, you just kind of have to live with the things they love and use, don't you? And a bright colored table cloth to mark the turning of the leaves makes the little ones happy.  

Recently, when I painted and stained the cabinets, and used Venetian plaster on the walls, I hung this drawing by my great grandma, Nelly, in the kitchen. 

And it crashed to the floor in a pile of glass and crunched framing, due to a careless job of hanging it.  

The drawing wasn't harmed one bit!  I'd never really cared for the way it had been framed, and while it was a pinch in the ole wallet, I was glad to have an excuse to reframe it in a way that I preferred.   I chose a more antiquey looking frame, and one much smaller than the previous one.

I'm very happy with the results. And I think Great Grandma Nelly would be too.  She did a total of 6 pictures in her time at Southern Indiana art school at the turn of the century (not this one, the one BEFORE). Then, she retired to farm life to raise kids. I feel so blessed to own one of her works.  And soooo glad it wasn't torn up in the crash landing.

For summer, I'd covered my chairs in white ruffled slipcovers.  To warm up the room for fall (not to mention that they needed a good bleaching due to messy fingered fairies), I slipped them off.  

I'll probably leave them off til Christmas. And maybe tie them on with golden bows? By the way, They washed up perfectly.  

Last week, I also replaced the two chandeliers.  One that had hung here had a wiring issue, and one in the studio got hit with a heavy picnic basket that spun around so hard the fuse blew. But that is a whole different story, isn't it?

Anyway, a light in the kitchen and one in my studio both needed replaced. I decided to buy two matching ones for the kitchen and move the one that still worked into the studio.

After painting the kitchen white, I almost thought that white chandeliers were too much, that I needed some contrast.  So, I bought a pair of dark, rust colored lights.  

They seemed too dark.

Seems like I had a slight case of Goldilocks syndrome going on, and needed to find the solution to make them Just Right.

I'd gone to all of that effort to have an all white room, and that was just too much darkness to add.  So, I did some painting and brightened up the new, dark chandies, while still leaving some contrast.

This might show what I mean better.  

I also added 3, large peachy-amber crystals (for fall) and a few vintage ones here and there to customize it a bit.

On the tube thingies that fit over the socket areas, I glued some vintage flocked and glittered wallpaper from France.  Oooh La La !!

In the spring, I think I'll pull it off and change it to something rosy.

Another thing I'd been wanting to do since repainting the cabinets, was to change the skirt under the sink. I'm not much of a sewer, but I can do a hem to fit over a curtain rod without too much cussing.

I used the vintage fabric I had left over from another project, but it was there wasn't quite enough, so I added some vintage eyelet trim to lengthen it.

Sorry I didn't wipe down the front of the dishwasher or put away my watermelon before taking pictures.

If you are wondering why all of my fall decorating pictures have been of my kitchen only, it is because that is mostly where we live.

This room is where we gather, and spend the majority of our time.

The living room did get a little bit of a nod to fall.  I sat out a crazy quilt that my mom made, in case anyone needed a snuggle when the temps drop enough to open the windows and we get a cool breeze at night.  Mostly, Dorothy Rosebud thinks it is for her to cuddle up on.

Normally, this time of year, I take down my spring floral curtains and replace them with the white velvet ones. Not this year.

I might have discovered a wonderful trick- I didn't have time to switch them out last spring, and no one even cared or noticed but me.  And look how much time it saves me this season!! Although, living in an old house with a wood stove, I do feel like curtains could use a good washing every six months.

I'm past due for changing the slipcovers on the sofa.  Some how I've ended up with a few pillows that don't match. 

But hey, look- I set out a festive, fall mum on the table.  That is the sum of my decor for the season for this room.  

 Autumn is also when I have an excuse to pull out the carnival glass plates and serve something baked fresh with apples.  The scent of cinnamon and apples for me is right up there with the smell of pumpkin and nutmeg to bring the feel of fall into my home. 

Brenda, thanks for inviting me to be a part of your tour. I don't know that I had enough fall decor to qualify for it after all, but if you want to see a major transformation, try me at Christmas! That is when I go all out. 

To everyone else, have fun looking at the other homes. I know I'm looking forward to seeing the creativity Brenda has rounded up for us to enjoy.  If you are new to my blog, nice to meet you.  And thank you all for coming by.

Here are the addresses of all the blogs on the tour:

September 15th…

Thoughts From Alice

Exquisitely Unremarkable

D.D.’s Cottage

Chatfield Court

Itsy Bits & Pieces

Cozy Little House

 

September 16th…

Town & Country Living

The Sweetest Digs
House Of Hipsters

Kate’s Place

Little Farmstead

Sunny Simple Life

Dwellings

 

September 17th…

Faded Charm

Shabby Fu Fu

At Home With Jemma

Love Of Home

Common Ground

House Of Hawthornes

Priscillas

 

September 18th…

House Honeys

So Much Better With Age

Chasing Quaintness

Karla’s Cottage

Northern Nesting

White Tulip Designs

My Thrift Store Addiction

 

ps- The kits for "Book of Mysteries" are now available!!   The little witchy girls will be coming soon.

(here is the book with a different witch on the cover, and without the Hocus Pocus eye.)

And another ps- Since my house is all cleaned up and I've already linked to a gathering, I thought I'd link to Feathered Nest Friday too. I rarely am prepared for linky parties, might as well take advantage while I am, huh?

 

A mini junking getaway

Sparks and White Cloud's flea markets used to be one of the highlights of my year.  Between my needs changing by no longer selling antiques at the mall or at pop up events, and less dealers setting up at the fleas, the shopping isn't as big of a draw as it once was.

In the past, Beth and I would NEVER miss it.  The weather bothers us more now, it is either blasting with heat and humidity, muddy and wet with thunder, or freezing.  I'm trying to recall if I was ever there on a perfect day... nope, I think it is typically Kansas-ish weather, and unpredictable. 

This year, it chose HOT. I brought my own portable shade, my collapsible umbrella which also kept me from frying at the Happiest Hottest Place on Earth, Disneyworld in the summertime.

Sadly, I didn't bring Beth. It used to be our thing, to get up before dawn was even creeping in, pack for chilly, dewy mornings and hot afternoons, bring enough treats to sustain us for a rough day of trudging the fields from opening til close, and getting home late that night.

She is swamped at work right now, and as I said before, the shopping up at Sparks just isn't what it used to be and White Cloud is a mere remnant of its past glory.

So, I popped up there for a quick walk through.  No planning out a whole day and making it a big event, just grabbed a water bottle, my flea mkt cart, umbrella, some ones and I was off.  

I kinda know where my favorite vendors will be, and can whip through the whole shebang in about an hour.  

See those bright pink dollar table signs? Yep, that is where I go.

Oh, I'm still attracted to large furniture pieces like I used to buy to fix up.  Somehow, whether I need them or not, I'm drawn to seek them out.  Now, I'm satisfied with just looking and feel a sense of relief that I don't have to figure out how I'm going to lift something like this into my van to get it home.

In my 40s used to be really good at flirting with older guys.  (men my age or younger would never take a glance at a woman in her 40s, but if a lady that age would bat her eyes at a man over 60, he'd carry anything for her.)  Although, sometimes if it was something heavy, I'd have to flirt with 3 or 4 of them to get the piece hefted out of the booth and into my car.

The old van I drove is long gone now, and I have a feeling that I'm past the age of getting old guys to help me any more. I'm an ancient broad  myself.  

So it is a good thing I didn't buy this wonderful wardrobe, isn't it?  I still daydreamed about what I'd do with it if I had it.  It is overflowing with potential.

The booths that really caught my eye were the food vendors. How cute is this set up. And seriously, red velvet funnel cakes????????? Those exist????  I was a bit too over heated and didn't order one to try it out (I'm an ancient broad, remember?).

Toward the end of my hour or so there, I was too hot to even shop. I stopped at this dollar table and was too fried to even sift through it.

Over all, even with the heat, on my own with no trusty BFF by my side, and no real needs to fulfil while there, I was still glad to have gone.  It's a funky place, like nowhere else I have been to.  Someday, I'd like to see the towns when they are not set up as a flea market.  They must be very ghostly. Both towns look abandoned, but I have a feeling that they are not.

Even though I complain that it just isn't what it used to be, the flea still doesn't exactly suck.  At the dollar tables, I found 3 floral hats, a domed glass frame (to turn into a Christmas ornie later on) and a Valentine box with a velvet rose.

And at the jewelery $1 tables,  you can do 12 for $10.  I slightly scored there too.

I was glad I went, but I missed Beth and the heyday of our shopping adventures there.

In other news- I will be participating in Brenda's  Fall Home Tour.  My next post, on the 18th will have some pumpkins in it.  I'm not quite as decked out for fall as I thought I'd be... but I have 3 pumpkins and some mums.   The party has already begun if you'd like to visit some of the other bloggers on her list, I'll bet you'll find some beautiful displays of autumnal delights, unlike my 3 pumpkins and some mums. 

Oh, Brenda, are you going to be sorry you invited me to join in??? 

I do have some new chandeliers that I repainted, I'll be showing those too. With step by steps on how I did them in an upcoming post also.

PS- The kits for the Book of Mysteries are now available!

Behind the scenes at the Kansas City Renfest

My son works at the Kansas City Renfest running a booth for a friend and also selling his own wares. The first weekend of the season, the booth's owner (and his inventory) were away at another festival and my boy had some extra work on his hands to get the space open and to fill the spot up.

Here is one of his displays to foof up the "Druid's Grove".  

I came in for an afternoon to help him and did a little druid-ing up myself.  Bone decor isn't typically what I do, but I kinda like the result.  I told myself that the bones were at least in my color pallet, I've always been a fan of whites.

At least they weren't as heavy to work with as all the stone my boy moved around.  Here is the jewelry display in the glass cabinet. Not all of the inventory has been set out yet., and it isn't quite done, but aren't the pillars and slabs of stone very striking?

I've been hand dying silk ribbon to use for his pendants, and he also has black cord to hang the jewelry from.  The buyers will get a choice and the silk or cord will be cut to order.

The day before the event began, he was still sanding, oiling and creating wands and spikes. This area is was still in progress, it is the weaponry corner.  Yes, those are vampire stakes he has hanging up, and there are some wands and stakes in a pile that still need to be finished.

I offered to make a sign for him. Not everyone knows where to go when they are in dire need a cudgel, and usually if you looking for a cudgel or a vampire stake, then you are probably in a hurry to get it, and a little direction would be appreciated.

Cool, aren't they?  

I also helped him embellish the woven willow laurels that he had created.

And Sugarwings helped me out by modelling them so I could see how they fit.

The booth is all about magic, which is why he used the willow limbs to make the crowns.  I wrote up these tags for the finished laurels.

Usually, I work with vintage flowers, but you gotta know your crowd. Old millinery would not be as appreciated as the newer blooms.  (Although, I did sneak in some vintage lace...)

All of the flowers are wired into place and there are crystal beads woven onto the wires.

I have loved the festival since the first time I attended, way back when my boys were in Jr High school.  Over the years, I've become even fonder of it, and I was thrilled to get a behind the scenes peek at the park before it was open for the season.  The buildings are so quaint and charming, and with no one there I had a chance to get some pictures without families in blue jeans or pushing strollers and spoiling the atmosphere.  

For being the day before opening, I was surprised to see how quiet the venue was.   Here and there, were cars pulled up in front of a booth as vendors unloaded, with a few folks were busy unpacking and setting up.

And people were planting some blooming flowers in front of their shops. But for the most part, it was dreamily serene.

The park itself is a pretty place, it was a joy to walk through in the peace, enjoying aspects of it I hadn't noticed before.

Still, I'm looking forward to a visit there while there is a bustling crowd of happy shoppers, watching shows, and munching on giant turkey legs.  And the best part?  Grand fairies all dressed up as fairies or princesses, eyes lit up, and believing that the magic is real.

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ps- I will be participating in Brenda's  Fall Home Tour.   It begins on the 15th, and my home will be on the list for the 18th.  There will be lots of pretty things to see. I've been checking out some of these blogs from the URLs Brenda sent to me, and she has corralled an inviting selection of homes to peek into.

 

Corpse Bride and Groom

Yes, yes, I know... I'm supposed to be building kits for the witchy class and the spooky journal.  I promised I'd have some to sell online too. And I will! I'll let you know as soon as they are ready.

But there was a broken, vintage wedding topper sitting on my desk.  How could I ignore it? After being inspired by the new Walking Dead spin off, I thought maybe I'd spooky up the piece.

I've been quite swamped lately between helping Ryan search for a better job, throwing birthday and farewell parties for grandfairies, repainting the kitchen, redoing some flower beds, babysitting, boat shopping, and puppy training.  

Beyond swamped.

It felt like weeks since I'd had free time in the studio.  And even though I had things that need to get done, I just wanted to PLAY.

And you know what?

It was FUN.

 

Backyard water cooler

The local nursery had these fountains on a 75% clearance, and the grand fairies are fascinated with fountains, so I picked it up for them to play with, for only $10.

The girlies aren't the only ones who were interested in it.  All of the kittens have taken a liking to the dancing water.

But Honey is the reason why I can't leave it running. She thinks it is her personal water fountain and drains it dry in a few giant, big dog, gulps.  

Yet one more adjustment that comes from owning a dog tall enough to reach anything it wants to.  

 

 

Although, she doesn't realize yet that she is a big dog.  Her favorite spot to be when outside, is under Sugarwings' golf clubs out in the breezeway.  Those are some pretty short, little clubs, and Honey won't be fitting under there much longer!

 

 

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day! Do you have big plans for the weekend?  I have a feeling we will be out on the boat. We recently traded our old one in and the new one has rekindled my interest in being out on the lake.

Our old barge had started out as a pretty nice pontoon, but the years hadn't been kind to the poor old thing. After 15 years, it was time to say good bye.   

The dang thing wasn't leaving us voluntarily though.  As soon as we got it up and out of the water, the trailer had a flat. Right in the way of other boat traffic.

We were kind of stranded there til my son arrived to give me and the tire a ride to the tire repair shop, where for a quick $9, the valve stem was replaced.

This had taken a bit longer than we'd planned and we were worried that we wouldn't have it fixed before the new boat arrived.... Then we started to wait for the new boat.  

And we waited

And we waited.

Til we got a call saying that the guy bringing it also had a flat tire.

 

A few hours late, but all ended up working out. We now have a new pontoon, with a much bigger motor.  This one will pull a skier, and we foresee another 15 years or so of family fun on the lake with it.