Karla's Cottage

Juju Preview

In my last post I mentioned that I got my booth set up at Good Juju before my trip to Indy.  I have more to add, and hopefully will get it there before the sale this Friday and Saturday. 

My Halloween theme is in full force, with pumpkins and witches everywhere.

I especially love these old sign letters that I found on a junking morning with the Guncles.  I’ve made BAT, EEK, BOO, and CROW with them.

And of course, more mushies in fall and Halloween colors.   Thank you to everyone who bought my tutorial to make their own.  Please send pics when you do!  

If you’d like to make one, you can find them here.

There are handmade witchy hats too.

Plus vintage things, of course.

With a spooky turn to them.

As you can tell, I have embraced fall colors.  Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate their beauty and have e corporates them into my style.

I hope you’ll be in to visit for the show!  Please drop by my booth to say hello if you do.

There are still all sorts of things I need to tag and bring in yet, so this isn’t all of it.

 

 

Good timing, a good trip, and some things never change

Well, I went for years and years with regular postings through just about everything.  Then I miss over a week due to our big, family reunion blowout. And here I have gone almost a full week without a new post, and guess why?

Another family reunion!

This time it was my dad’s turn to host the annual Downey Dinner. And since he is gone, my sissies and I took his place.  It wasn’t a week long bash with big events and houseguests like the Nathan party, it was more on the traditional, pitch in style meal type thing and we rented a venue for it.  So not the same, and I could’ve squeezed in a blog post at some point but I was having too much fun being back in Indiana.

I figured that I’d write something, get caught up on work I’d missed while away, and go into Good Juju to spiff up my booth when I returned after my short trip.  I was ready to hit the ground running since I had gone on this mini vacation during a very busy period.  During my drive I was even dictating notes into my phone and making lists about what I needed to get accomplished once I returned.

Nope.

I started to feel a bit ucky about mid Illinois and by the time evening hit in Kansas, I was pretty much under the weather and have been in bed since then.

I’m improving, had some IV antibiotics and am taking some others in pill form that make me wonder if it might be better to stay sick than have the taste of those awful tablets in my mouth all day.  Ugh.

Luckily, I am a planner.  The “what if” sort.  Before leaving, I made sure my booth at Juju looked picture ready just in case I was tied up in some way and couldn’t get back in time to have it set up before the photo day they do prior to the sales event. (There are some things I still need to add, but it looks cute as is)

If you are wondering, why yes, I am patting myself on the back now for being one of those people who looks out for bad things and bumps in the road ahead of time.  Why I have been known to be called a worrier or a downer.

Honestly, I don’t see it as being negative, I see it as being prepared.  Bad things, big or small do happen and I like being prepared.  I give myself extra time to get somewhere, I have a cushion for most events, a padded time schedule that protects me if obstacles arise.  

Usually, part of my planning includes a week or more of blog posts ready to pop up on schedule, so I guess I shouldn’t be too pleased with myself, I only posted enough to get me through the weekend, not the week.

I’m sort of out of bed now, but not out of the house.  I think I’ll take my own advice and prep a few posts ahead because it looks like I’ll have a full week ahead of me once I finally do emerge from this. 

Our Downey Dinner was wonderful, I loved the old photos to sift through,  and hanging with my sisters and nieces was the best.  Getting ill really sucked, but I am blessed that I made the 8-1/2 hour drive before I was hit full force with the worst of it.  And doubly blessed that I stopped at every antique mall on I70 on the way to Indiana instead of on the way home.  My arrival back in Kansas was good timing.  

This is me as a kid.  And yes, my eyes are closed as they are in about 75% of the photos of me.  

 

 

Treasures

Before school started, we tried to make up for missing out on some of our regular summer time activities and made trips to the Topeka zoo and spent some time on the lake. Along the way we met some friends.  

The larakeets loved Sugarwings’ hair  we decided it was because it looked a lot like one of their toys.

The zoo was pretty quiet, I think the heat kept others away.  But it’s a small park with lots of shade and many indoor exhibits, so the heat didn’t bother us.

The gemstone sluice wasn’t running, but we had a treasure hunt anyway.  Over the years we have discovered that you find just as many pretty rocks and fossils in the mulch under the structure.  Here is our precious haul.  

On the way home stopped at our neighbor’s farmer’s market for fresh sweet corn and tried to guess what animals would be on the porch to greet us.  Because you just never know there.  We got lucky and it was this very nice goat, who we nick named Oreo.

A sweet ending to a lovely day out.  Ki Ki, Avahni, and Dewdrop are all going to be living far away, Sugarwings is 16 now.  

A true treasure for me is any day with a grand fairy.  I am holding each one close to my heart because I know that as they grow up and fly away, there won’t be many of these days left.

 

 

 

Tutorials in the Boutique

It had been a while since I cleaned things up.  Both my Etsy shop and the Boutique were sadly neglected.  When I made my Velvet mushroom tutorial, I did a little rearranging.  I also marked some of my previous tutorials down. 

So if you’d like to learn how to assemble an art journal, craft a mini dress form, create a cuff bracelet (all no sew, by the way) plus a few more- all classes are available at their new, lower prices.  

And you can find them all here: http://www.karlascottage.com/category_15/All-items.htm

And thank you to those who have purchased my mushroom tutorial!  I love those little cuties and hope you do too.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Molly got a haircut

We had kinda let Molly’s do become undone.  That poor dog was a fuzzy, matted mess.  A no-no with doodles.  I made an appointment for her to be shaved, but was actually turned away because she was matted!

So, we bought a good pair of clippers and I did it myself.  This little dumpling was such a good girl, she stood very still, was calm and sweet.

And I think she looks beautiful.  I know she is more comfortable now.  This dog spends a lot of time in the woods, where she gets burrs, plus it has been HOT around here.

Now that she is sleek and trimmed, she is an excellent lake dog.  

 

 

How to get the tutorial to make velvet mushrooms

In the last month I have been swept away in a mushie love fest!

I sincerely ADORE making these!

At last count, I'd assembled... well, let's not go there. I might have gotten a tad carried away.

Luckily they were also popular at the last Good Juju sale, so I am not up to my neck in them like I could've been.

Maybe I am just to my waist now.

If you think you'd fall for crafting them as much as I did, I've whipped up a tutorial with directions.  It is available in my boutique, you can find it HERE.  

It is also on Etsy.

The class is in blog form, with written instructions that you could copy, print and keep on your desk plus the same instructions written out with step by step photos and tips.

 I offer ideas on materials to experiment with as well as pictures on how different items look when transformed into a mushroom stem. The photo above show how I have used four different items to get a collection of schroomie styles.

The tutorial is only $9 and will be available as long as I have a blog on this Typepad platform. I'm at 16 years or so at this point and don't see any reason to quit, so that tutorial will be around a while.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

There are tips and tricks for experimenting with various supplies in the class too.

You know me, I like changing things up and having variety!

Dewdrop came to see us

Dewdrop came to visit and stay for the big reunion.  Our time with her went too fast.

I wanted to do all of our typical summer time traditions- a craft project each day, and outings to zoos, lots of movies, and more, plus boating and pool time.

With 30 some visitors coming, we had to do an abbreviated version of our summers. I asked what things she wanted to squeeze in and was happy to hear that she wasn’t too old for the activities we used to do.  She chose the Children’s Discovery Zone in Topeka, eating at Culver’s, and seeing Minions at the theater.

And even wanted to ride the merry go round. 

It made my heart swell up when I saw that these two grand fairies still enjoyed the carousel, and even held hands while on it.

With an acknowledgment that these sibs weren’t quite my itty bitty fairies any more, we also threw in some shopping for new clothes and make up.  Even a few fireworks for the 4th.

The time zoomed by for me, and my moments were her were few and far between.  One of the reasons she was here was for the reunion, so she got to spend time with cousins, and other local family members too.  And since I was so busy with all the work that goes along with hosting that many people staying in my home, I was glad that she had so many other people around to keep her entertained.  

And I count myself lucky that she still wanted to be my little buddy and hang with her Grammy for some nostalgic fun.  

 

Painted pumpkins up close

In my previous post, I mentioned that I’d been painting pumpkins for the Good Juju sale  

As things tend to do with me, yep, this became another obsession.

I spent quite a few days painting one canvas after another.  I’d probably still be doing that if I hadn’t had to get ready for the big family reunion that we hosted.

I was on a roll, and loving every minute of it.  I was painting fat punkins, tall punkins, some on paint pour canvases, some on collage backgrounds.

Then I started stacking them.

And adding flowers.

Lots of flowers.

Sitting at my desk and doing one after another was pure joy for me.  Luckily, we had to harvest our honey and peaches, then be ready for guests, because I needed to get away from these, I think I had plenty.  They are all at Juju now, today is the last day of the August sale.  It would be nice if I sold a few, if not, I’ll be displaying them for fall shows too.

(All are under $50, if you happen to need a pumpkin and are visiting the Old West Bottoms)

 

My second wall at Good Juju is ready for it’s first run

This Friday and Saturday are the Good Juju sales date for August, and I am enjoying having a bit more space this go around.

Rich added the shelf up above for me.  It is higher than the one on my other wall. I’d say it’s more decorative than shoppable, although the things on it are priced.  Still, it’s more for atmosphere than selling.  

But isn’t atmosphere part of selling?  It is for me.   


Here is the upper shelf on my opposite wall.

I have painted some pumpkins to add this month.  It’s 100 degrees and humid here, a typical KS day in August, but not too soon to start daydreaming about cooler, autumn days, right?

Some of the pumpkins are done on pour painted canvasses. 

And some have flowers.

I’ve also packed in my mushroom colony and have lots of jewelry too.

 I hope it goes well, I love having a reason to make things!