Karla's Cottage

Off to see the Wizard

When Sugarwings was just tiny, that kid was obsessed with the Land of Oz and all things Dorothy.  That theme lasted for many years, with a Dorothy costume in every size from baby to teen.  Ruby slippers were worn out and replaced over and over.  The beloved Dorothy doll was restitched and salvaged many times.  A yellowbrick road pathway was put into our flower bed.  Every Oz event, movie screening, or play that was available was attended and we wore our costumes each time.  

I perfected my witch’s cackle and my husband learned all the words to the scarecrow’s song.  I also got really good at pretending to be a flying monkey and sweeping in to run off with Toto (our Yorkie, Twinkle.)


That child’s love of the Wizard of Oz never waned.  So when I saw a collection of Oz books at an auction a decade ago, I snapped up the stack for Sugarwings to read someday.  But the Grandfairy ended up being an audio book fan instead, so I don’t have any sentimental reason to hold onto this collection of old books.

So now, they are going into the mall, along with some other Oz themed loot for the next First Friday weekend sale.

This special set deserved a display worthy of it, so I started with a vintage wallpaper rainbow backdrop and added some colorful items to amplify the rainbow effect.

Then I sorted my collection of books into colors to match the shelves and filled in with Totos, witches, lions, and more.

There is a heart for the woodsman, a picnic basket on top of the cabinet, and an antique black satin dress made for a wicked witch hanging on the door.

I used copies of a portrait I’d done of Dorothy as tags.

Isn’t this chalk ware Lion great?

After it was all set up, I liked the look so much, I almost packed it back up to take home and reset up in my studio.   Nope, time for these books to go to another Oz fan.
 

Celebrating a friend’s accomplishment

One of my book club buds, Dr. Margie Carr, has spent the last ten years researching a couple block stretch of a neighborhood in Kansas City that housed many successful and influential people over a 100 year period.  And now, the book is complete. A bunch of us from the group went to the KC library to hear her first (of many, I hope) talk about her story.

Local residents mentioned inside the covers attended, including this woman who is one of the girls featured on the outside of the cover.

I had not preordered my copy, but was able to pick one up that night.  Just in time for a signature from the author!

Not only was it impressive to hear a friend speak about the Kansas City  history she’d written about in her book, it was lovely to experience a part of the city I’d never been to.  Funny, I travel to other parts of the country to explore them, but rarely get out and look into what my own area has to offer.

This is a parking garage?!  Yep.

Where I live in Lawrence isn’t far from KC.  And heck, I’m in town all the time to shop, eat, see shows, or work at Good Juju.  What I need to is act like a tourist and see some of what I’ve missed.

There is a lot to be seen.

A book club party with bookish party favors

The annual holiday party for our book club was at my house, well, I have to admit that it always is at my house.  I tend to hog the date because I love parties so much.

And I love party favors!  I decorated the table with the book page/paper ornies that I’d made and sent one home with each person.  You can’t see it in this pic, but each ball has a tiny, book charm dangling from it.

Here is the table before my friends arrived.

I have been collecting 49 cent Christmas plates from Goodwill all year, there are a few different patterns, but I like the mix.  


It’s all a bit of a mix match.  The water glasses almost all are the same, but the silverware, wine glasses, napkins, and plates are all over the place.  The placemats are pages from the Grand fairies’ outgrown Christmas books.

Here is what I have learned about hosting a party:

NO ONE CARES IF IT MATCHES!

But they do appreciate an effort to make things pretty for them.  I doubt if they cared that the plates were only 49 cents each and were various patterns. Or that to have enough wine glasses, I had to use a very non traditional, purple one.

They might have cared that the pie was a little dry.

Durn it.  I used frozen blueberries, but made it the same as I usually do with fresh ones.  That just isn’t the same, I love the juiciness of the fresh ones.  Frozen requires more sugar, liquid and some lemon, I think.  

The peach pie was better.  I used pecan flour, eggs, some juice from the canned peaches, cinnamon and brown sugar in it.

This was my first time using Aldi’s crust (I never make my own crust).  It was so-so.  Not very flakey, and a little dry.  I’ll stick with Sprouts, their crust is always ideal.  Plus it is vegan, which is good when I am feeding my family.

Also, this might not be the prettiest place to set out desserts, but it worked.

I found some “Vintage Tinsel Sprinkles” at Homegoods and happily glittered all the treats.  I love them so much that I had some glittery, festive-ness on my peanut butter toast today.  Using my holiday plates.  

One very nice thing about my big stack of thrift store plates is that I don’t have to be gentle with them.  They are special, but they aren’t worth anything, so we have been using them daily since Thanksgiving.  

Dishes are breakable, so I never want to own any that I am afraid of using.  I like plates that I can enjoy.

 

 

 

Another handmade book

The paint pours I have been making over the summer are coming in handy for the book covers I’ve put together. This one is so pretty, I haven’t even added to it beyond the clasp.

The spine for this book is metal filigree and the pages are tied in with leather strings.

It is a bit different than my others, I needed something less girly for this one.

Actually, not girly at all, it is for a friend’s father.

I did not have photos to add, but have made it ready to pop some into.

There are envelopes for memorabilia.

And pockets too.

 

A memory book

When Ryan died, I cut up a canvas that hung on a wall of his apartment and turned it into a book cover.  Filling the pages of that book meant weeks of happy memories as I sorted through photos and wrote down stories.

There were also many slow tears dropped onto the paper.

And other times when the sobbing was so hard, I found myself needing to lay down on the cement floor of the studio, in the bits and pieces of fallen scraps and trimmings.

That photo album has become a treasured piece for me.

 Since crafting his book, two close friends lost family members too, and I made books for them.

And this week, I put together this album for another friend’s birthday.  

She lost her mom a couple years ago.  At that time, I wasn’t making these memorials, but after seeing their meaningfulness, I wanted her to have one.

Each book that I build is a mix of photos (usually taken from Facebook), blank pages to add more pictures later, note paper to write on, with pockets and envelopes to store tokens and trinkets.

I try to use colors and styles of paper that I know my friend will like.  



And each has some doodling type artwork inside.

Mostly simple flowers, vines, or other small sketches.

And each becomes, almost a meditation for me as I assemble it.

I take time to think about the people in the photos, and feel their happiness and their loss.

Constructing these books has been good for me, an exercise in caring and time to lose myself in being creative.

Sadly, I have one more to make, and wish that there wasn’t a reason to need another one.

But since there is, I hope that the art journal can bring some comfort.

 

 

 

A Handmade Book for Beth

A while ago, before my life was All Puppies, All The Time, Beth came over for a craft day.  We did some acrylic paint pours and I used one to later turn into a book cover for her birthday.

I left the cover blank so she could embellish it as she wished, or keep it as is.

The interior is neutral, ready for her to fill with her low color style art.

My garage has been set up for pouring paint since early May.  I have had quite a few parties with friends and family out there, and am accumulating a good stack of canvasses to cut up and make into book covers.  Now that I am puppy-less, it might be time to get some of those paintings turned into something useful. 

 

 

A memorial journal for Judy

A very close, supportive, and caring friend recently lost her mother. 

She had been there for me when my Ryan died, and had a suggestion that helped me tremendously to cope with not having him by my side.

Her suggestion was to write to him.  And I did, repeatedly.
 

Long, tear stained letters.

Quick funny notes about something that had happened and I knew that he’d enjoy laughing at with me.

A jotted down memory.

Stories of what I’d done that day, or how many steps I got, what we had for dinner.

A simple, “I miss you.”

Maybe writing to her mother could help my friend with her own grief.  So I made a book for that holds pockets and envelopes to place writings or mementos, little stacks of note paper, pages to write in or add photos to.

The book is a planner from Michaels that had mostly blank pages, but also some printed ones with prompts for journaling.  On this page, I wrote words about Judy that her daughter used when talking about her in a memorial she had written about her love of family.

I printed the paragraphs out and placed them in the book too.

Then I found Facebook photos to print and added a few to some pages.  Not too many, the book is mostly blank for her to use as she’d like.

My friend is a stained glass artist with a bright, bohemian style, so I tried to make the journal in cheerful colors she would like.

The front cover is one of my pour paintings, cut up and glued on.

After seeing how kind everyone was to me after my son died, I pledged to be a better friend.  Honestly, there is nothing anyone can do to make things better when you lose a loved one.  But showing that they care and reaching out does ease the pain.  So I wanted to do this for my pal, and I hope that writing to her mom helps her get through this.

A book for Ryan

When Ryan died, I looked on Facebook, my blog, old albums, anywhere I could to gather photos of him.

With a break to raise puppies, I have been working on a scrapbook for him since.

Some times, the pictures and memories would reduce me to a puddle of snot and tears so, I couldn’t work on it every day.

The goal was to have it done today, his birthday.  

He was a guy who loved his birthday!  He usually took a week off of work, just to relax.

Although, relaxing for Ryan meant going to the gym to work out and walking 20,000 steps a day.  

I will celebrate his birthday by going for a walk, and have been trying to get one in daily this week, like I would’ve if he’d been with me.  

On cold days, we’d go to the community rec center.  I was worried about using it now, but checked it out, and it is pretty empty.  The track is built as a loft over four basketball courts that are not open due to Covid.  It is a newer building and seems airy.  

On nice days, I walk on the sidewalks and trails we used to go on together.  But there has been a cold streak in Kansas, so I needed to use the track for his birthday week.  Which is tough, because it requires a mask.  That in itself is fine, but when I am thinking of how much I enjoyed running, walking and talking with my boy, I start to cry.

You can’t cry well in a mask.  

So, I listen to an audiobook and try not to sob and get my mask soggy, since I can’t take it off to blow my nose.

Ryan’s book is finished, I made it from the canvas of a pour painting that he hung in his apartment.

I wish he would’ve joined me in creating a painting of his own.  He did hang out with me as I swirled and played with paints, and he loved watching them come together.

The charm on this book was a pour paint necklace that he wore.

The book itself is a planner from Hobby Lobby.  I cut the painting off its frame and pieced a gold toned canvas together to cover the exterior.

The interior is covered in a red canvas he also had in his room.

Ryan’s life long friends gave me an entire folder filled with sketches and doodles he did over the decades while playing card games with them!

What a treasure!

Some I cut up to make a collage, others I used as backgrounds as is. And the rest I used as additions throughout the book.  I included some condolence cards too, this page is made of a card from his friends’ mom.

It’s too bad my hand writing isn’t nice, but it was still very important to me to add stories, so I didn’t let it bother me.

On this page, I listed some of his favorite tv shows, that we’d watch together.

And I added a few on my own doodles too.  

Now that it is done, I am wishing that I’d bought a bigger book to use.  This is stuffed tightly, and I would’ve liked to add printed pages from my blog about Ryan.  There is no space left in this book.  

I will keep this book by my favorite chair.

There is no recovery from a loss like this.

But there is comfort in reminiscing, and in memories.

Working on this album was healing for me.

 
And I’ll be glad to keep it nearby.

Packing up the pups

The time with my puppies is ending soon.  Four have already left, and over the next two weeks, they will trickle away from me.

To send them off, I’m making up bags of toys, blankets, and useful doggy items.

Honey helped me with the job, she wore all of the baby blankets and played with each toy so her scent would be on them.

The bags I found were a mix of designs, my faves are the “Honey” bee prints.

In each one is a baby book.

They hold weights, Med records, photos and other info.

A lot of pages are left empty so the new owners can add their own mementos.

I hope the families like the books, but I made them mostly for myself.  They were invaluable in keeping me organized.  Sometimes it was hard to tell those pups apart, and having descriptions and pictures in a book for each really helped.

I haven’t done this with past litters, but I sure will with future ones.

Baby Books for the Butterballs

I have almost finished the first litter’s baby books.  The finishing touches will be a photo on the front, and notes about the puppy on the inside.

As well as a 30 day free trial of insurance tucked into the back pocket of the book.

Now that the pups are older, I am telling them apart easier.  But that first week?  My head was spinning just trying to see who was who to get their weight charts started.

So, I had sketches and notes for each one.  Someone suggested that they would make good gifts for the new owners, and I agreed.  Since I needed to keep track of info about each pup, I decided to make the paintings into books.

I’ll have the weights and worming/shots schedule in there too.  

The paper features honey bees for the puppies’ mom, Honey.

I bought supplies to make them for The Sugarbabies too.  Hers has black and white hearts.

The books can be displayed with the painting showing like this.  And there is space for the new family to add photos too.