Karla's Cottage

a little makeover, a little procrastinating, a lot of snow hating

Winter simply must go.

And I mean it.

We've been getting some very nice days, then it all goes wonky and snow comes again. And I just can't take any more cold.  I'm done, I quit.  Either Kansas warms up and stays that way, or I am leaving.

Before it snowed this week, while the weather was pretending to let Spring come,  I picked a handful of the daffodils blooming in my yard so I could have a bright bit of Spring time on my windowsill.

That helps, well a little bit.

I'm so glad that I have my blog friend weekend to cheer me up and make me feel spring-y since the weather isn't doing it for me!

Another thing that helps lighten my mood when I am feeling grey and gloomy,  is to lighten up something else. A friend gave me a pair of these lamps, and I liked the lines, but disliked the color. So, to cheer myself up, I made them a bit cheerier.

I followed the short cut steps that I like to use (on my side bar, in the tutorials, "How to paint a chandelier") and gave the lamps a spray coat of (bonding) primer. 

Then, I added silver glaze over the primer, using a stiff brush and a stippling technique.  That is where you dip the brush in the glaze, then dab the brush against a paper towel to take some off, and then pounce the brush onto the object you are painting.  I use a really cheap brush when I do this, since it beats the crap out of it.

This is a technique that you don't want to try to do perfectly. The only thing you really need to watch out for, is that the crevices and cracks and low parts get filled in good.  (its also pretty to use two colors, a slightly darker one over the first after it dries, but I was too impatient and didn't do a second color)

When it was dry, I sealed it with a clear coat.

Over the long, candle stick portion of the lamp base, I added a strip of paper taken from a really old sewing magazine.  It was simple and quick, I just ran a bead of glue all around the edge of the backside of the paper, and then stuck it on.  I didn't even measure just right, I wrapped it around, so that the excess just went halfway around the pole again.

The page I used was a little crumbly on the edge and I liked that, so I left a bit of a ragged edge.  You can't really tell from the photos tho, its more to the backside of this image, but you can see just a little bit of the torn edge to the right.

The lampshades got left as is.  I thought I wanted something lighter and lacier, but once the lamps were painted, I kind of liked the contrast.  Especially after pinning on an old, white velvet flower.

Did you notice that I blurred out the backgrounds?  I just about had to, my studio is the pits right now.

See what I mean?   But, it will be all spiffed and ready for my blog friend weekend soon.  (this post was written earlier in the week, and scheduled to post over the weekend while I'm off playing with my friends. Lets HOPE the room looks a little better for them!)

But,if I don't stop getting side tracked by little projects like redoing a lamp,  the chances of the room getting cleaned up could be slim to none.

 Or if I spend time digging through old magazines looking for pictures. Now, that is a real waste of time. But talking about pouncing glaze reminded me of this show house I painted in years ago.  It was a Victorian house, and had great textured wallpaper all up the grand staircase and through the hall.

I painted in all the colorful details of birds, flowers, and sunsets on the paper, then stippled over it in bronze and cream glaze.  This photo was in Better Homes and Garden Paint Decor. I'd forgotten all about this article, and just had to go and dig it up.  Instead of cleaning the studio. 

Okay, enough procrastinating. I'm really going to tackle the room now.

ps-  Today is Silver Bella sign up.  For various reasons, I won't be going this year,(one being sticker shock at the price!! Others I won't go into)  That event was always so special to me, but I haven't talked to a single person that I know who will be going this year. Of course, I made all those friends at that event, and would probably meet more wonderful people there if I did go.

Are you going?

To paint or not to paint, that is my decor dilemma

Pixie Pie came by this morning with her mom to borrow some teapots and cups for a party they are having. I couldn't resist playing with the teacups as I got them out... (don't worry, I washed it after!)

This little girl is spoken for, and I have been calling her Bella for now because she is going to a friend that I met up in Omaha at Silver Bella.  She is a sweety. Well, they all are. Now, they come running to me when I yell "Puppies!!!! Puppies!!!" in a high squealy voice. Yes, it is probably annoying to any humans who might be around, but the babies love it.

I'm wondering if we should do a Name the Puppy contest again?  So far, I call them all Puppy, except for Bella.  I'll get some photos of each and tell you a little about each one's personality and you can help me name them.  I'll find some prizes too!

This weekend, I am cleaning up my studio and listing things in the Boutique.  I want to get some space made and get the room ready for a party next weekend.  I'm hosting a Creative Cottage Getaway for some arty friends and figured it was a good time to clear some clutter before they come. 

Today is a Sugarwings day, but after she leaves, I'll be working away in the studio getting stuff organized and making space for FUN.

My guest room is getting re-vamped (photos soon) and I've kind of finished lightening up the dining room.

At first, I wondered if the creamy golds and grays would work together, then I realized that they were Dorkie colors!  No wonder I redid the room that way, I love Twinkle's pretty fur. They say that people and their dogs grow to look alike, has anyone ever mentioned that a home will start to look like the dog too?

This great, old picture was in here before, and I thought it was too heavy and dark, so I took it down and hung mirrors there instead. Then, when I redid the furniture and brought the buffet back in, I thought the space could use something more substantial, so I brought it back.

Plus, it sets the theme of "lovely ladies" that the basket is filled with.

This is where the Queen Fairy from my previous post has gone to live.  In the basket of lovely ladies.

This is my dilemma, right here.  The lamp.  Great lamp, and I have a ton of crystals to add to it, along with those big crystal pears.   I was shopping at a friend's store when someone came in trying to sell it to her, she didn't want it and I asked if I could buy it.  It was $40 which is a bit high for me, but its so ideal I had to get it!

Normally, I paint most everything. White or cream.  But you'll notice that I've never painted the frame of this old picture, and that is because the finish is so perfect as it is.  Every once in a while, I'll stand in front of it and day dream about grabbing a brush, but so far, I've refrained.

So, I think the lamp looks good with the other metals on the buffet, but yet, I am still thinking.. white... white.. white...

Is it just my natural desire to paint all things white, or is it an honest design instinct that this should be white?  Well, creamy white and distressed, not bright white.

I'm thinking I should ignore the call of the paint brush and leave it for now.  What do you think?

And don't forget to be thinking up some puppy names!

A Romantic Country Article and then a bug that I wished would just KILL me and get it over with

First of all I wanted to let you know that for some reason, my answers to comments are not all going through. About 1 out of 5 gets sent back to me with a failure notice. I really am answering them, I don't know what the deal with Typepad is. Anyone else having this problem???

Tuesday night after the fairy grand baby went home to her parents, I finished an article I am writing for Romantic Country.  Here is a teeny peek at one of the pictures. 

The story is about tips to create a romantic style bathroom.  I don't know when it is to be published, I'll let you know when I hear.  Sometimes, I just check the stands when the new magazines come out and am surprised to find photos of my house inside! Barbara Jacksier used to be the editor there and she was so helpful, she used to always send advanced copies.  Editors don't always have a chance to do that, but she always made time to. She would even send a reprint of a photo from one story into a different magazine, not even an article I had written.

She has a new cottage book coming out, check out her blog for lovely details!

I enjoyed making the paper doll wedding dress for Stephanie as part of her August Give Away prize so much, I made a few more. Eventually, I will list them on Etsy for $6 each, plus shipping, but if you want one now, please email or comment and you can buy it directly from me.

And thanks to the nice purchasers of my hand painted buckets. The two rosy ones have been sold.  The angel bucket is still available.

LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU WANT TO ENTER SEPTEMBER'S GIVEAWAY!

You all know I tend to be a tad bit productive,(which is why I can keep my prices so low for what I do- I do a LOT) but the article and dresses are all I managed all week. I was hit hard with a BUG of some kind and spent the last two days wishing I would just die.  I doubt if you  need anymore details than that.

I had my old mural and painted furniture photo album out the other day, so I thought I'd show some pictures from that.

The quality might not be as good as it should be, since I have simply taken photos of photos in an album.  Sorry.

I used to paint furniture on just about a daily basis.  I kind of miss it, and I just drool over cheap, beat up bargain pieces at garage sales that are calling out to be saved. But I restrain myself and no longer have a double car garage, an antique mall booth, a garden shed and a showroom full of this stuff.

This cabinet was in my kitchen for a while.  I used to constantly change out furniture, find something new, take the old piece out to sell.  It drove my family crazy.

Here is my garden shed before a sale.  The table cloth on the drop leaf is actually hand painted.

These palm trees were painted at the Tampa Country Club. That is the best job I ever had, I stayed at their private hotel for 2 weeks, with free room service (great food) and hung out by the pool or drove to a really cool movie theater nearby when I wasn't working on murals.

I did research on palm trees before I  went down there, to know what they looked like, but then, I realized once I got to Florida, all I had to do was look out a window for ideas!!

(Molding was added to the walls right under where the paintings stop)

This photo was in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine and was taken by Bill Mathews. 

It is of a ceiling I painted to camouflage a missing piece of curved molding that the designer didn't want to try to replace.

And this gloriously gaudy fruit picture is from my friend, Kari's, kitchen. She is a hair dresser and I get my hair done for free when I paint for her.

My client for this mural wanted her whole dining room - every inch of the walls- painted in a scene she found in a book.  She had me add the family pets to it too.

That sweet little white dog hung out next to me the entire week I painted at her house.

Looks like even when I don't  have anything new to say, I can still run on and on, can't I?

****EDIT****

  -ADD ON-

There is a Spring Party going on at this blog site on the other side of the globe.  After feeling so sick and run down all week,I have been gloomy, thinking about fall and winter coming in- being cooped up, having colds, BEING cold.  I think I will just pretend it is Springtime and go enjoy this party! Want to join me?

Procrastination, Power Tools, and Pictures from the Past

What did I say this morning when I posted the pictures of my loot from the trip to St Louis? "I should be working"  Well I should be now too instead of posting again.... But I did get some stuff done today-           

Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ and I did a little design redo job, then went to her house to use power tools! I brought my compressor and nail gun over to help her finish the base boards for her new craft room.  The floor they put in is like linoleum, it is a vinyl type product.  Looks like wood, doesn't it? Very practical for a work room and looks good, plus it went down in squares and they were able to do it themselves. 

I have to write an article for Romantic Country this weekend, but think I am too tired tonight to start.  I at least made an affort to go through the stack of past photos and found the ones needed for the story.

I came across some older ones that I liked and thought I'd post them.

Funny how much my home can change in a couple of years. I don't have any of those walls those colors any more, and the mantel is now my headboard.

The framed quilt square was done by my Grandma Nathan, there was a bag of them in her closet when she died, I framed them up and gave them to family members.  That is one item I will always have, I am sentimental about family things.
I no longer own a single piece  of the furniture in these three pictures!  I gave the hutch to my niece, it used to belong to my mother, so I wanted to keep it in the family. 

Lets see, a few years later,  out of these 3 photos, I still have:

the cement cherub

the quilt (mom made it)

some of the dishes 

Things do tend to change a lot around here.

Bill Mathews was the photographer for these pictures, he does lovely work. They were styled by Gloria Gale. I can't remember which magazines they were in, probably Romantic Country or Country Almanac.

Candelabra with Hand Painted Roses for Ebay

Still being inspired by Carlene's posting of her chandelier collection, http://carlenefederer.blogspot.com/, I thought I'd share another collection of mine- candelabras.  I love to find both old light fixtures and candle holders to spruce up and add glitz too. 

This one is from Sparks and White Cloud flea mkt (coming up soon, can't wait!!). I painted it a clean white, added crystals and made lamp shades.  I have two electric ones, both I bought to sell, but kept.  Bad, bad habit of mine.

This one is in my living room.  I have painted roses on it, glazed it with a bronze metallic finish, and added pearl beads, and glass leaves that I found on a Victorian bud vase.

Pearls are also added to the candelabra in my dining room.  The paint is a creamy tan color, no glaze over it.

This is the only one that didn't get a coat of paint.  I liked the drama of the gold, I have lots of hints of gold and silver  in the bedroom that this candelabra is sitting in.

Last, here are three that I have re-done, all differently. One, white and distressed with round crystal drops, one silver paint with umber glaze and red crystals, and the last one, is really duded up the most. 

It is ivory, with pink roses painted on it, then antiqued with an umber glaze.  Over that, I have added touches of metallic gold wax, then draped it in vintage pearl beads and 4 crystal drops salvaged from a chandelier.

This is a close up of the hand painted roses and the antiqued finish.   I have decided to list this one on Ebay, because, just how many do I need????  Well, I don't want to answer that, I probably don't need ANY, I just want tons and tons.  Which, actually, I think I might have tons.

Well, if I haven't run on too long already, I want to mention a giveaway on http://www.parteagoodiesgiveaway.blogspot.com/ that looks extra nice.  I am just intrigued by all these giveaways and swaps. I still consider myself new to all of the blogworld-ish goings on, and the generosity and sharing is just wonderful. I have been wondering how to participate.  I'd love to do a give away myself.

My birthday is in a few weeks. Maybe I will give away a gift for my birthday?  How do I let people know  about the present I want to give?  I do have an art show the weekend of my birthday, so I will be making a lot of new things. I can set aside my favorite for the gift.  Any advice from any of you who have done give aways?  I'd appreciate it.