Karla's Cottage

Playing with ceramic underglazes

I was lucky enough to have not one but THREE craft days in one week!  My friend, the stained glass artist has us over on Thursdays to do mosaics in her studio.

Then I had some Peeps over for Easter crafting.  And my ceramic artist buddy invited a group to her studio to make ceramic mosaic tiles and paint them in underglazes.  Can a week get any more crafty-riffic?!

Melissa had slabs rolled for each of us and provided all of the materials.  She will then fire them, and glaze the bisque to fire again.  She is being quite generous with her time, I can tell that all the little, tiny pieces will be a lot of work.

Not everyone finished, so I offered my place to use up the leftovers and then got the painted shapes to Melissa later.  I ended up doing my own, plus a few for a couple other friends, and one person came by to work on hers.

I found the process addicting and sat at my table painting for six solid hours, only quitting when there wasn’t any paint left.

At Melissa’s studio, we all had puddles of paint on takeout lids as pallets and the remnants couldn’t go back into the jars, so I thought I might as well pack up the ones everyone left behind and paint to the last drop.  I discovered that my friends really like orange.
 Almost every pallet had orange on it.  A lot had purple.  So as I got to the dregs, I ended up making pumpkins and fall leaves. 

There was an abundance of orange in the flowers and butterflies too.

I have no idea how they will turn out.  The clay is charcoal, but fires white, so everything that looks gray will not be later on.  I haven’t worked with this kind of paint, so who knows if I did it correctly.  The seasoned ceramic artist told us to use the paint more like royal icing on a cookie, but I kept going back to my own style of painting, even though I tried really hard to remember how opaque the paint was.  So, we will see after they are fired.

Whether they turn out as desired or not, I sure had a great time!  Thank you Melissa!  And thank you, Shanna for the mosaic days in your studio where we will be using these on future projects.

 

 

Peeps Day

We had a little get together for a Peeps craft day at the cottage.  Angie brought a cookie display that was so pretty, it had to immediately become the center piece for our luncheon.

Sadly, three people had other things come up and couldn’t make it.  Beth offered to bring a salad at the last minute so I wouldn’t have find a side dish for the quiche and homemade bread I’d prepared, which was very helpful of her.

She always makes the best salads, too.

I’d tried my hand at making brioche bread, and while it’s a lot of extra work compared to the kind I typically whip up, I think it is way worth it.  But- there is almost a whole stick of butter in it opposed to the tablespoon of heart healthy oil I usually use, so maybe I won’t make a habit of this decadent bread that feels more like a pastry than a slice of bread.

The remainder of the loaf home was sent with the gal pals, thinking I would save myself from all that butter.  But then, Nora left some of her cream pie tarts, Angie left cookies, and well, here I am having both for breakfast and feeling pretty happy to have them.

Lunch was only a little part of the day, the main event for me is always the projects.

We had vintage album mats and little girls images to make Easter wall hangings.  This one is mine, and since I’d previously made a yellow daffodil one, I wanted a different style, but this might be too dark to be springy.  I also don’t like the green pattern in the brown wallpaper and might peel up the girl to add another layer beneath her.  Maybe some blue ledger paper…

This one is Nora’s next to her cute picnic basket that came full of tarts and fruity, sparkly wine. 

(It did not leave full)

Everyone got a hand drawn placemat.  Well, since only half of the group could come, they each got two.

I might make a habit of these.  When I host real events, not just get togethers, I usually draw on tablecloths.  But lately, instead of plastic table cloths that tickle your legs, and are pretty flimsy anyway, I’ve been covering my work tables in poster board and using large scrap book paper as place markers.

While these quick cartoons aren’t exactly major pieces of art, they are a little different.  Plus, I really like drawing, so, yep, I think it might become something I’ll be doing more of.

Although the square size isn’t ideal for dining room placemats, a rectangle would be better.  

Once we finished our Easter pictures, everyone had something else they’d brought to do.  I made some little people to use on something else some day.  Just because I love making little people.  It reminds me of all the hours of playing I spent with paper dolls as a kid.

After the last couple of years that we have had, days like this mean more to me than ever.  It was the best!

 

 

 

Galentines Day

Since it is almost Easter, how about if I show you pictures from…Valentine’s Day?

Right before our never ending trip, I had friends over for a Galentine bruncheon and farewell for my pal, Karla who was moving away.

I made a photo album for her and painted a Kansas Sunflower on it.  Beth printed photos of our times together and we worked on book pages while we hung out.

When I saw these iridescent crystal beads at an antique store, I knew they’d be pretty on some copper chains that I had and that I wanted to make them up as Valentine necklaces for my friends.

And while they did end up ideal for that holiday, I think the pretty pastel color makes them nice for any springtime day.  I’ve been wearing mine.

I’ll leave you with some photos of our day and in my next post, I’ll show you my lazy, decor transformation from roses to bunnies.

A little dinner party

After all of the holiday entertaining, January was feeling a little flat without any.  Plus, while we had some gorgeous days here and there, I was busy repainting a couple of rooms and missed going for walks.  When it got cold again, I was done with the big jobs, and I really needed to get moving, the city’s activity center was closed due to the shortages of staff that everyone is suffering from now. I couldn’t go for an indoor walk when I was ready to.

So, I was feeling a tad down.


A party was just what I needed to beat the January doldrums!

To be extra festive, I made place cards .  Not that I cared where anyone sat, I just thought it would be fun to do.

Rich and Jim are both beekeepers, so theirs got honeybees.

I made a peach pie and marinated grouper fillets that Rich caught in Key West in some Caesar yogurt and breaded them with panko, flour, salt and pepper.  Then sautéed the fish in avocado oil and butter.  

As I was cooking them, I thought it looked like it needed something more, so I whipped up a lemon, white wine and caper sauce to go over it.  My first taste of it puckered my throat, it was so lemony, so I quickly added some chicken broth and milk.  

It turned out okay, but for a few minutes I thought my typical, making stuff up on the fly way of cooking might backfire on me, as my friends were eating their salads and waiting for the fish to be ready.

I did screw up the pie.  My glass pie pan broke, and I had to use a metal one.  I don’t typically time things, I cook til they look done.  But I was used to being able to peek through the glass to see if the crust was browned.

It was a bit doughy since I couldn’t visually check it.  I might need to become a cookbook/timer person if I keep making mistakes.  But I don’t take cooking very seriously, so maybe not.

The evening really was just what I needed, it is hard to feel gloomy with a roomful of best buds!

 

 

 

 

Another party!

It’s the season for celebration, right?

I have been making the most of it and doing every activity, party, gathering, fun thing I can think of.

And I was lucky to have some fun, local Peeps who could join me for a craft day.  My studio could use the laughter, it’s been a quiet place lately.

We had a luncheon, lots of snacks, and lots of fun.

I’d made up some little kits to work on.

And had a few other bits and pieces for projects.

And people brought their own things to make too.

Glue was flowing, scissors were snipping and it was so nice to have guests to share my space.

A Day at Good Juju was Good for my Soul

My friends have spaces at Good Juju, in the Old West Bottoms, and some times I get very jealous.

The years that I spent immersed in the junking world and selling painted furniture represent some of my favorite times.  

The estate sales!

Auctions!

Getting up early every weekend so I never missed a garage sale, and filling my van so full that I had to make a pit stop to unload in my garage and go back for more!

I loved the redos, the styling and arranging, the treasure hunts, even the sanding!

I loved every second of it all!

It has been ages since I moved onto selling smaller items online, or having a Birdsong shopping experience set up in my garage instead of renting booth space .  And honestly, I love doing those too.
But I haven’t had workshops or even managed my online Boutique since 2019.  So, when Beth and Angie invite me to hang out on Good Juju work days, I am happy to go in and soak up the atmosphere.

They know I miss the junker’s life and always encourage me to join in.

Beth even gives me a few areas in her booth that I can arrange however I like.

It’s always a wonderful day, with a picnic, lots of interesting things to unpack and set up, and laughs with friends.

Plus, I get to wander around the empty mall and explore some of the other luscious displays.

It’s even better at the holidays and puts me in a festive mood.

Why don’t I get a booth? Or update my shop? Or host another Birdsong?

I’m just kinda- eh, right now, I guess.

Between my husband retiring, losing my son, a knee surgery that was more stressful than expected and well, COVID, and quarentine, family issues, and travels, I just haven’t built up enough gumption to get back into working again.  

I would not say I am depressed, though of course I will be forever sad about Ryan.

I can’t imagine not falling apart inside when something strikes out of the blue to bring on that “oh my god, he is gone” feeling as if it is all just now happening.  The pain that sometimes dims but at others returns  and with a vengeance.

But I also don’t have an ongoing, overall depression.  I’m just sad and mourning.

I miss him.

So, I accept every invitation from friends, and invite people to get togethers myself.  I paint, I embroider, I do things for myself, for others, and for my home.  I write in my journal (blog) and putz around the studio, I bake, spend time with Sugarwings, walk with my husband and dogs, and travel.

I’m just not ready to go back to work yet.  Even if I miss the hustley, bustley fun and the treasures.

A day helping at Good Juju makes me feel like I am still part of that world, and not getting too rusty with my junker skills.  Will I go back to buying, collecting, selling, and then buying, buying, buying, and collecting with a bit more selling, again?

I’d like to think so.

In the meantime, I am lucky to have friends that include me.  And that I can take my time until I am ready to face working again.  I am still stockpiling goods for my Boutique, and will eventually have a clearance sale there to clean up before restocking.  I have kept it open and and also lucky that I sell enough past online tutorials to pay all of my blog and website fees, so that I don’t feel pressure to shut them down.  

And if a good day of good junkin is just what you need too?  There is a bonus day for Good Juju to be open for the holidays, this Saturday.  I highly recommend a shopping trip there (and to the other cool shops in the area on first Fridays each month).

Reuniting

Way back when, in Jr High, these two became my people for life.  They both moved to different coasts while I settled in the center of the country, but over the years, we have met up when we could and it always felt like it had been days not years in between.

They indulged my need to go to our high school reunion, even though they had many other suggestions for places we could have a mini reunion instead.  

It was a quick trip, but conversation never lagged, and it was fun to see our other classmates as well.

Sandy brought some old photos, here we are at a past reunion.  (I think I still have that dress, I should look for it.  In my opinion, if you love something, it doesn’t go out of style)

As a matter of fact, I’d wear this “vintage” dress from my senior picture again in a snap if I had it.  Looks like I have always had a thing for rose patterned fabrics, huh?

Thanks, Debbie and Sandy for such a perfect weekend and for being my lifelong friends!

And thanks to all the people who put the reunion together for the class of 76.  I sure enjoyed seeing everyone and loved having a reason to push me to come back home to Indiana.

 

 

A Lovely Day with Friends

Last week, I drove to Indiana for my 45th reunion and some sister time.  On the way, I stopped for a birthday party craft day for a dear friend.

Not only was it a fun day with buddies, great food (and pink cake!), plus making a sweet project, it was also a pleasant way to break up the trip.

The drive is about nine hours with stops, but I split it into two days starting with this gala get together.

Crafting pretty pumpkins, laughing with gal pals, and having a fancy luncheon was a perfect start for my day of travel.  I drove to two of my favorite antique malls after saying goodbye to friends, then a few hours further til it was time to take myself out for a crunchy, fried chicken dinner and grab some sleep at a Holiday Inn Express.

Too bad all days on the road aren’t that much fun.

These are the little gifts I wrapped up for the party goers.

Thanks again for the festive start to my vacation, Birthday Girl!

And thanks for sharing your big day with us.

A framed stained glass mosaic by Shanna- Thanks, Shan!

This lovely surprise was created by my good friend and Artist, Shanna Wagner.  I love everything she makes, but this one is even more wonderful because it is jam packed with meaning.

I can just picture his reaction, if he’d seen this.  He had an appreciation for artwork.  And for kind people.

The heart in the center is a fused piece she made in her kiln.

It is surrounded by roses, iris,  hydrangeas,

and two bluebirds of happiness!

It was made to fit this antique frame, that is just perfectly wonderful itself.

And it is created to hang either in a window to let the sunlight through, or on a wall, with lights behind it.

Ryan loved red roses and purple iris.  Funny, I’d known him forty years before I knew how much he enjoyed flowers.  We’d stop to look at them along our walks.  There were iris growing by the pond we liked to circle, over and over, and he commented every time when the purple iris were in bloom.

There was so much I learned about my boy in his last few years, I wonder what else I’d have discovered if I had more time with him?

Shan isn’t just generous with her art, she is with her time, home, and materials too.  She invites friends into her studio weekly to have a mosaic day.  Here is my piece in progress.

I saved the vases that flowers were delivered to us in after Ry Guy died.  I hope to cover them all in mosaic glass to use throughout our home and his apartment.  And I know that he would have said, “Wow, Mom, that is cool!”

While there is much I will never get to discover about him, I love it that I know enough to hear his voice in my head, picturing what I know he would say to me about something like these mosaics.

 

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.