Karla's Cottage

Well, I'm glad that is over

The dreaded demise of Picnik occured and it was no big deal for me. I won't miss it at all since I found  Picmonkey,. They are adding gadgets and tricks and making improvements weekly and its already just as good as Picnik ever was. Easier to use, even. 

What I do miss, is my Sugarwings. I haven't seen her ALL WEEK, which is unusual for us. Its not easy being without her for that long.  So, I have to post a photo of her to make myself feel better. 

Its been a long, long, rough week, with many bad things and heartbreaks, but I am not going into the depressing details.  I'm not trying to whore out my sadness for comments, so please don't think I'm one of those people.  I'm just being honest about life, its an up and down process and some weeks are hardly bearable, some are joyful.  That's how it goes.

  But this week is ending, a new one is beginning and it will bring Birdsong buddies for me to play with.  Things are looking up!

 

Somebody That I Used to Know - Walk off the... by PayeTaChatte

I've kept busy all week, getting the studio and yard cleaned up, played Drawsomething, and baked, baked, baked.  My freezer will be filled with more cookies than a ton of ladies could devour by the time they all arrive for our little arty party weekend. Heck, I might send them all home weighing a ton each.

While I've waited for this week of hell to end, I've kept this song going in the background.  I've played the original version, the one from American Idol (with darling Phillip Phillips), and the one from Glee.  The only one I don't care for is the one from the Voice.  (Yes, I've been watching a lot of TV  too....)

You can find all of those versions of this song here.  

 Things are coming together for Birdsong.  Well, it might not look like it, but this is in the process of sorting and organizing.

This side of the room is not quite as far along. But its getting there. 

Born to be loved

Last  weekend, we went to see Lucinda Williams, right here in Lawrence. My Handsome Husband and I are big fans and had hoped to get to Dallas to see her but couldn't make it. Last year we caught her show in Chicago, she is worth a trip to go see.  We were thrilled to see she was going to be playing in our own town, at Liberty Hall.

Its an old opera house and I always love to go there to see movies.  I never tire of the cool paintings on the walls, its a wonderful old building with lots of history.

We went early enough to get some super good seats too.  Center front row of the first balcony. Practically looking right into her sad eyes all night.

Here is a little snippet of one of her songs.  It wasn't  typical lyrics for her, these were rather upbeat. She usually sings about heartbreak, so "You Were Born to be Loved" was a pleasant surprise for me.

 

 

That is such a great sentiment.  Sometimes it suits junk too, not just lonely people.

I was at Beth's house the other day, after she had been doing some cleaning and downsizing. As we pulled out of her driveway, this little bride's head was peaking out of the trash and I yelled, "Stop the car!" because it looked so funny, I had to take a picture. But when I got closer, I saw that this baby was not trash-worthy and just needed some love. And I was too taken with the doll to get the photo at the right angle that looked so funny from the car, with her head just peeping over the edge of the can.

Sugarwings was thrilled with my save. In her imaginary world, everyone is about to have love's first kiss and become a bride with a long white dress. She is fascinated by weddings and brides, and keeps a photo of my husband and I on our wedding day by her bedside.

There are so many things that I feel like its my job to save and love.  Its  an obsession. I'd rather alter, restore, or refurbish something that is ruined or just out of date than do practically anything else.

Like this little birdie. It had seen better days, poor guy had ripped wings, missing feathers and a torn up body.

To me, she was just waiting to be saved.

I glued her and her equally tattered sis back together, gave their tummies and cheeks a blush of pink ink, added fresh white feathers, glued mica to their wings and clear glass glitter to the rest of them. The bright orange beek got camouflaged with silver glitter, for a look that will coordinate better with my Christmas tree where they are going to be nesting.

After that, I replaced thier orange plastic eyes with pearl beads on one and black rhinestones on the other.

After that, some jewels and a crown.

There are a few of these crowns for sale in my boutique. They are actually rings and really pretty to wear. I've sold dozens and dozens of them over the years to adorn the fingers of my shoppers.

But, now, I am marking them down to make them a reasonable price to use in projects.   I only have a few left, you can find them here if you have a doll or bird or someone else that needs to be shown a little love. 

Or if you want one to wear. I wear mine all the time.

ps- there are lots of new things in both shops, and they will be pictured in upcoming posts.

Speaking of sweet things born to be loved, this little fairy is perfect as is. 

She had her first birthday last week! At first she was a bit leery of the flames on the cupcakes.

But once she had some help getting them blown out, she was very much into her treat.  She got to help a little bit in making the icing for the cupcakes, I had her hold onto the mixer with me. 

Before I know it, she'll be big enough to join Sugarwings and me at one of our favorite past time, baking. For now, she's pretty happy with being our taste tester.