Karla's Cottage

Thank yous

Not only did the Farewell to Downton swap artists spend time making lovely pages for our books, and entrust me to compile their works into journals, they sent along presents with the packages.  Which is beyond kind hearted. I do not do the swaps for free, there are fees to cover my supplies, postage and a smidgen of my time. So, a gift is above and beyond the role of the artists.

And that background?  I received some Downton themed fabric too.

Some created art for me, including this collage and the vintage paper book.  Others sent prettily wrapped bundle.

Including this clever surprise bundle.  It is a length of lace, wrapped around little goodies.

Here are some of the tidbits that were tucked away in the ball.

Lots of trims and embellishments came my way.  And after making all the books,I could use a replenishment of my stash!  Thank you for the kind gifts, swappers!

And a big thank you to all of the nice people who entered my swap. Even though we had a record amount of drop outs, the beautiful pages that came to us were made with care and were very nice.  I'm pleased with the results and so far have heard some lovely feedback.

When the drop outs began, I started scaling back on my production of the covers, and there were many people who ordered a second book. Also, a few thoughtful swappers who had to leave our group offered to buy the cover I had created for them, which I was thankful for.  

Instead of making the hundred that I had planned, I scaled back to 50 some books.  At this point, I have two books left to sell. 

To give the new owners a head start, I've added lots of lace trim to the pages of both.  Each comes with 2 Downton themed coloring pages and a mini scrap pack of vintage items to use on your pages.

If you are interested, please email me at: [email protected]

 

SOLD, THANKS!

The interiors are made up of card stock, scrapbook-type paper that you can use as is for a background to your work, or cover with your own papers instead.

These books are $46 plus postage.  Each is  a little different.  If you'd like to purchase one of these, please refer to them as #1 or #2, so I get your favorite to you.

SOLD, THANKS! 

Swap pages for the Farewell to Downton book, some are sideways, all are beautiful

Well, isn't this embarrassing???

It seems that I have NO IDEA how to turn the pictures around.

 

I have been plagued with a streak of problems and this is just the latest.

Everything around us seems to be falling apart, such as cars, air conditioners, computers, cameras, and more.

Notice I mentioned the computer and my camera?? So, I have a new Mac ( a big change from Windows, but a welcome one, even with the learning curve)

So, here is my dilema.  I have a new computer that I'm trying to figure out.  I had a billion pages to sort and assemble into books before leaving on a big trip.  

 

Then, my camera kicked the bucket.  

Did I mention the deadline and the huge pile of pages?

I ordered a new camera, but it wasn't going to be here till Wednesday, we were leaving on Saturday, and I had to get these pages  photographed before making them into books.  And I had to mail the books by Friday, and they take at least a week to put together, package, label, and mail.

No problem, my phone has a great camera!!

And it is an Apple too, I should just be able to have the photos on the phone show up on the Mac, right?  Well, for most people maybe.  

I think I mentioned that learning curve?

Well, lets call it a learning mountain.  Maybe a learning Mt. Everest.

I  have over 16,000 photos moved from my pc to my Mac, and there are NO FILES, just pictures floating around nameless and I'm still slightly stupefied by it all.  

Or just stupid?

And the pictures I took on my phone won't share with my Mac, no matter how many ways I try and how many trips to see the Geeks at Best Buy.  So, I simply emailed them to myself and saved them to my desktop to get them available to use for my blog.

Whew, I did it!!!

I solved an issue!! 

Yay, me!!

Oh, but wait....

This doesn't look right...

hmm....

AAARRRGGHH!!!!!!!!

Time is short, too.  I don't have a way to get more pictures in time to get the books made and mailed before the trip.  And I promised to show pages on my blog.

And as I tell the grand fairies, A Grammy Always Keeps Her Promises.

She might be a bit half assed about it, but she does her best and never lies.

So, please forgive my sideways pictures.  I'll figure this out when I get back from the trip.

hopefully

I apologize for the small and sideways pictures.

But oh my gosh, aren't they gorgeous?????????????

I am blown away by the beauty of the pages that are gracing my studio table right now.

Compared to my other swaps, this one is a small group, but it sure  is a good one.

Very, very well done.

I've been quite impressed with the quality and the loveliness of the creations.

Hey look, this one is straight!!!  All of the photos are straight on my desktop, I don't know why Typepad seems to think they should be flipped on their sides, or why it decided this one shouldn't be.  

Oh, well, that run of luck was short, back to flipped.

But I'm sure you can still appreciate the beauty.  

While I am disappointed in my ability to fix this problem, I'm still thrilled with the artwork pictured.

The sideways pictures are just one of many things going on with me right now. I think I have gremlins.  

I might be battling gremlins, but I'm doing my best. 

And with artwork like this, building the books has been a joy, even with all the glitchy issues surrounding me right now.  These pages have made me very happy, and I know the swappers will be as thrilled as I am with the books they receive. 

Thank you to everyone who joined the swap.  And thank you to those who ordered blank books too.  I will most likely have more extras to hawk when I get back from my grand daughter trip, we had an unprecedented amount of drop outs on this swap.  

Thanks to those of you who stayed committed and created such pretty things to share with each other!!!

Building the Farewell to Downton swap books

It has begun!

All of the pages are sorted, and the books are being built.

And I am once again, blown away by the beauty that came in the mail to my cottage.

See what I mean?

I'll show a few more close ups for now, but I have to scoot myself right back over to the work table and get busy getting the rest of the books put together. We are leaving on a grand daughter trip this week and I want all the packages sent before I go.

Enjoy!

Custom Downton Abbey Journal for Sissy

My sister and Randy both joined in the journal swap, but for work reasons, did not have a chance to make pages yet, so had to drop out of the main trading. We will be exchanging sets later on when they get caught up. 

I decided to give Sissy a head start on her journal by adding some trims and backgrounds, as well as making the cover in her favorite color, aqua blue.  Although, the vintage, flocked wallpaper I had to work with was more blue than aqua, it came close enough.

I used aqua in all of its shades, from more greenish to deeper bluish.

This is a background page for her, made of old, old, old netting with sequin trim over wallpaper then trimmed in hand dyed velvet ribbon topped with 4 MOP buttons. The buttons were then foofed up with ancient, ribbon roses.

All she has to do is glue down a picture or whatever she wants and this page is finished.

Here is a completed layout, with wallpaper background, and a photo of the three of us under a hole cut into a postcard from 1910.

There is another picture of us at the bottom of the post card.  

While we aren't exactly the Crawley sisters, we are wearing their hats. I cut the hats right off of Sybil, Mary, and Edith from this photo and glued them onto our own heads and embellished them.

Each book in the swap, got two coloring pages. I gave Sissy the two to do herself, but also colored the three sisters on one of them and cut it out from the rest of the page to glue onto decorative paper for her to use in the book.

Her cover is slightly different than the rest, I added the flowers to the front instead of tying them to the ribbons. I'm not sure which style I liked best, both turned out pretty.

And her book has a colorful rhinestone instead of clear ones on the "clasp".

A few more of my own Downton Abbey swap pages and a little swap ettiquette

This is what things have been looking like in my studio lately. Now, all the covers are done and ready for the pages that come in. A few boxes have already arrived, and I'm waiting to open them until I'm ready to start stacking and sorting.  It is safer to keep them packaged up until I can get organized and have a space to spread them out and my check lists ready to go.

I've been working on a few pages of my own to trade with swappin' buddies.  And I am DYING to see what the swappers have sent in to trade for their own books.  But, like I said, I'm biding my time til I can do it right.  If I started peeking into boxes, I could mix the pages up and have a real heckova nightmare set up when it is time to make the books.  

Proper swap etiquette means I have to treat those pieces of art like they are precious, and of course they are. So, I need to be patient till the end of the month when the  rest of the boxes have made their way to my doorstep before I begin opening them up.

Speaking of swap etiquette, I know that things come up, and people can't always meet the commitment they have made in the excitement of  the moment.  When the deadline to send in your art is months ahead , it is easy to think, "of course I'll have plenty of time to make those."

Then reality hits and life gets in the way, and sometimes you simply do not have the time you need to create, even if you have the desire.

Which is the beauty of a collaborative swap. If someone drops out,  others are not left partnerless.  This is a group thing, so there are plenty of pages to go around, you send in a number, you get that number back.

But, in the meantime- I have spent time making a book cover for each person, whether they had time to make the pages or not...

So, as one kind swapper has done when she was forced to drop out, please #1- let me know so that I can keep my count correct and so that I'm not waiting on your pages.

And #2, consider purchasing the book that I have made for you.   You can fill it with art at your leisure later on.  It would be much appreciated by me, and I'm sure you wouldn't have joined if you didn't have interest in the subject and a desire to have a book in this theme, right?

A few more tips in swapping-  please sign each set of pages, the new owners love to know who created something so special for them.

And remember, kindness matters.  We all have different skill sets and tastes, but we all put in a lot of time and care to send our work out in the world to share. 

So, please know that while every page that you get back might not be your very favorite thing in the whole world, a lot of love went into making it for you.   And since it is a collaborative swap, hopefully there will be some favorites in your book too?  

I try to put the pages together for each book with some flow in the colors and styles. I do my best, but please forgive me and understand that all were done by different individuals and that the pages will vary quite a bit.

Which is of course, exactly why we love doing swaps so much, right????

We want the variety of styles and to share our art with each other.

With that in mind, I hope everyone enjoys their books and appreciates the care that went into them.  

I have tons of appreciation for the artwork, thought, time, resources, money, and creativity that each person puts into the parcels of art they entrust to me to turn into books.

As well as for the trust that is given to me, to give each treasure sent in, the proper respect and treatment it deserves.

Thank you, to all who are in this swap, and to those who have been in past swaps (and perhaps in some future ones?)  




 

 

Farewell to Downton Abby art journal pages, using the good stuff

This week, I made some time to do a few pages for the art journal swap.  And of course, I used The Good Stuff!

The era and the show is sooooo lush and luxe, that I had to use only the best supplies to meet the quality of the subject.  Of course, I love using the Good Stuff on a regular basis, but this was a fantastic excuse to pull out things I'd been saving for something special, like this ancient, beaded trim.

The finished journals are supposed to be functional for their new owners, so some pages are meant to be finished or used by the person who receives them.  To fulfill that function, I've added some blank stationery, tied in with a pretty bow and accented with that beaded trim I'd been saving.

Other pages are supposed to be completed as art journal pages.  

This picture is from an old fairy tale book, and is meant to be a princess, but it reminded me of Lady Mary waiting for breakfast in bed.  I've  trimmed it out with velvety flowers and ribbon, along with a sheer lace. You can't tell in this photo, but the picture is accented with clear glitter ink, too.

Here is another page that can be used by the book's owner. I've lined a very old envelope with card stock to fortify it, then opened one side to make a folder before gluing it down.  It ties shut to hold in special items tucked away inside by whoever gets it in their book.

The show has so many themes that can be explored, from the era, the gowns, the people, the occupations, and on and on.  One of the storylines I loved was about Mary becoming a hog farmer.  

And she did it without losing her elegance.

I tried to show that in this, by using all the frills, flowers, and gems along with the pig pictures. Although, Lady Mary never looked as sweet as the girl I cut out of an old book, did she?  Still, it had a slight resemblance to her, so I thought it would work.

For this "Women in Business" page, I used an actual photo of Lady Edith that I'd got online and printed.

The text is covered in old, lace netting, then I've snipped ads from a magazine with work opportunities for women of that era, and glued them over the netting along with some gilt trim, and a bit of  beaded lace, in metallic gold.

Here is another pocket page, with the storage created from a very, very vintage wallpaper, and decorated with velvet, gold trim, and a sparkly top hat over a picture of ladies at the hunt.

The covers are about finished and ready to add the pages after the swap boxes fly in.  All are cut out, this stack is the last few that need trimmed up.  The other supplies to finish them are ready to go, all the pictures are printed, frames are painted, and the lace is sorted.  More "Good Stuff" for me to play with and enjoy working on!

 

Adult Coloring tips for the Downton Abbey art journal

The second coloring page promised for the Farewell to Downton art journal swap is finally ready. It was something I thought I'd do on a couple of different trips, and I'd travelled with my drawing tools, but never opened them.  Once I got back to the comfort of my studio, I was able to make time to get some drawing done.

Here is one version of it colored in.

And here is one more.  

There will be two different coloring pages included in the journal each participant will receive, and they will be loose pages. If you want to, feel free to scan them, make multiple copies and try different looks yourself.

I thought I'd show a few in progress pictures of the pages I did.  For the frame at the top of the picture, I used a gold glitter as a base.

Over that, I highlighted with a gold metallic pen. (not shown in this photo)

 On this frame, I used the gold pen only.

For me, a mix of metallic ink, glitter markers or ink, opaque white ink, markers, and a black liner pen to go over the drawing after it is colored all used together make the page more arty looking than just colored.  

And I think that colored pencils make the faces much prettier than markers do.  It is a softer look for skin tones.

For these sisters, I used a tan/brownish, a peach and a pink.

The darkest color went where you'd see a shadow.

You can find more tips for faces here.

For pretty hair, I like to use at least two colors.  The lighter the hair, the more important this is, like on Edith's head. But even Lady Mary got a dark brown with a black marker over it.

When I color in the eyes, I can lose some of the drawing, so it needs to be added back in.

First with a black detail pen to redo the pupils, then with a white opaque pen to add the highlights.

Much better after those details are added to the eyes.

The champagne glass was done with the world's best pen, Gelly Roll Stardust Glitter, in clear. That was used on just the wine and the bubbles, then I shadowed the glass with light blue and highlighted it and the bubbles with opaque white.

These larger roses got a teensy bit more detail than the roses at the top of the page. All were done as I described in this post, But for these, I was more careful with where the darker colors went.

 Instead of just blobbing the rose color onto the center of the flowers, I tried to find the shadows on the inside of the petals.  Still, it was a quick process, and not a lot of care went into it, blending over the dark color with a softer pink, then adding one more dark tone to the very center evens it out and makes it pretty, without trying to be too perfect.

For myself, the most complicated part of this page was the black on black of Carson's uniform.  You could get around this by using gray if you'd rather. Black marker tends to cover up the entire suit and you end up with a big, black blob if you aren't careful. 

To avoid this, either use gray marker, or black pencils, or do as I did, and only draw with your black marker up to the very edge of the lines, leaving a margin of white.

Leaving some white showing throughout the drawing is very important. If you saturate every tiny bit of the paper with color, it will look flat and dead. Going back and adding highlights with a white opaque pen is good to do, and sparkles of glitter help too. 

But, with this kind of coloring, leaving some white, really makes the page look better. You can be precise like I had to be with Carson's suit, or you can just have "skips" in your marker lines.  Or purposely leave areas the white of the paper as a color choice.

In the fox hunt scene, try to remember that colors in the distance fade and are softer than in the foreground. (at this point, the foreground is just background colors, I added deeper tones to the grass later on)

My distance colors were too dark, and tried to fix it with a white opaque marker.

 

That helped a little.  But it would have looked better if I'd just remembered that hills and trees far away would be pastel colors.

For the hunting dogs, I added random spots.

Oh, and don't forget that the animals' eyes will need a white highlight after coloring them.  

Also, the horse can be a danger zone for becoming a big blob, like Carson's suit.  To avoid this, don't try to do a black horse unless you go with brown boots and tackle.  I kind of like the horse I left white the best.

Trying different looks was addicting, I've colored about four of these now.  If you are in the swap, I hope you will scan your black and white drawing before adding color, so you will be able to print more to color and play with.

 

Goodbye, Downton Abbey- sob, sob, boo hoo, argh!

Tonight is the LAST night for Downton Abbey.  I find that painful to say. The show was in its 3rd season when I discovered it, so I was late to join, but fixed that quickly with a little Netflix bingeing and was soon enamoured of it all.  

The show touched many of us, not just for the glorious sets and costumes, but the stories too.  Last week, while I was in Coronado Island, I attended my THIRD Downton Abbey art retreat. It was a popular theme, wasn't it?

For this event, we stayed at a 1930s era mansion and I took advantage of the lovely interiors to get some photos of my Farewell to Downton art journal. Some of the pages I'd made there were for the swap, some for my personal book.  Beth and I spread supplies out on a dining room table, and I worked on the book for a big chunk of the weekend.

Most mornings, I was at my work area before anyone else even came down for breakfast.

The theme has so many opportunities to explore, I never got bored with it. And want to do more, too.  

Also, having a big space to spread out, and leave our things for 5 days was hard to resist.  There were other projects for the retreat classes (photos soon), but our time there was pretty laid back, we were free to work on our own projects, explore the house, beach, or the nearby town, and hang out with new friends.

But if you know anything about me, you'd guess that I was constantly drawn to my pile of goodies and bottle of glue.

So, here is a big stack of pages to show you, as examples for your own books if you are joining the swap.

I've mentioned that the book should be a "working journal".  Artists will be completing some pages, and leaving some for the new owner to work on.  Like this page lying on the desk, it is a piece of stationery with plenty of room for the person who gets the journal it goes into to use for photos, doodles, notes, anything she'd like.

And the page on the easel? It is an example of a decorated page with a pocket that can be filled with whatever momentos the artist would like.

My plan was to do half and half of completed artwork, like the collage on the left, and pretty pages that could be used by the next artist, like the one on the right. That one is old ledger paper with a pocket that has a tag tucked into it.

Hopefully the pages where we leave space for further work, will be lovely as is, while being an inspiration for the artist to fill and finish.  

These pages all leave workspace.  The one on the left is a decorated pocket page, the middle is a collage of pretty papers to use as a background, and the front section is stationary paper with a die cut rose and lace trim.

Notice that the pages I have done have trim or lace or flowers on different edges? It makes for a more interesting finished book if there are tidbits peeking out from all sides.

The one in front is for my own book, it is the finished version of the coloring page that comes with the journals.  And the buttons? That is a necklace! From one of our workshops.

This page is pretty simple, old rose wallpaper, a cut out lady from a vintage magazine who has been glitzed up with some rhinestones, lace, millinery, and velvet ribbon, then some tatting trim at the edges of the paper.  

A layout doesn't need to be elaborate to be eye catching.

And the Downton theme can mean so many things. I went with a lot of the fashion of the era.

Here are ladies from an old fashion magazine layered over netting and a map of the British Isles, then blinged up.

Here are two more pocket pages,both have two pockets to fill up.

You are welcome to be more direct in your own interpretation of the show.   I plan on having more examples of the themes to show later on.  

If you are going to miss this show as much as I will, maybe you'd like to join the swap? Creating pages will give us something to fill the hole left by this beautiful program.

And the book itself can be a treasured memento to look through and reminisce.

I have been getting some questions about the swap details, and hope that these pictures help answer them. If you have any, please feel free to contact me at:

[email protected]

And here is a communication I had with a swapper, with her statements answered in red:

1) We get 6- 81/2 x 11 pages of card stock. yes

2) We fold them in half which will make our pages in the book... yes

3) We are to decorate each side of the pages not leaving any blank.yes

4) We are to add laces, trim or ribbons to the edges of the pages. please do, it makes a pretty book with that peeking out the sides

5) Are all the pages to be the same, but are only getting one back as the others will go to other swapper's. you DO NOT have to do all the pages the same, decorate them as you'd like, they go to 5 different people plus yourself.

6) Can we tea dye the pages? Or do they have to stay white? the artistic touches and color palette are up to you

7) We can add envelopes, lined paper , and so one. Are we to glue them to the page or send them in separate? again, up to your own design choices

8) Are all five of my pages going to one person or will they be divided between five other people? you get five different artists work back and your work goes to five different artists

9) How do you want the $38.00. In cash , a check, paypal. What ever works for you, but please do not send it til you send your pages

10) When you say we can purchase a blank journal. It is the cover and the six blank pages along with your three. If you could give me info on that..  The blank journal will be a complete cover, same as the swap books, with 9 interior pages ready for you to embellish as you'd like.

Coloring tips for pretty roses

The Dowager's coloring page in our "Farewell to Downton" Art Journal Swap has swags of roses around the banner at the top.  There are also some on the pillow of her chair.  Here are some tips for tinting them. 

First rule:  

Do NOT feel like you have to color inside of the lines!

Be free and easy with your colors, don't try to be perfect.  

See what I mean?

I take a medium pink, and kind of messily add color to the centers of the flowers.

Then, fill them in with a light pink.  Notice how some white of the paper still shows through?  Those little "skips" add sparkle and life to the page.

Now, you can be really arty and make sure the skips are intentional and placed exactly where a highlight would hit the petals.  Or, you can just be scribbly and not color the full petal in, either way, you get a pretty feel.

Over the two lighter pinks, I like to dot a dollop of darker pink into the centers of the blooms.

For my leaves, I have only used two colors of green, my typical way of doing these things is to use three tones.  But this worked too.  Color all the leaves the lightest color of green that you are using, Then add a darker tone to some of the leaves. If you'd like, add a third darker shade to some other ones.

One thing all of my finished pages have is highlights done with a white opaque pen, like you see on the umbrella and on the feathers.  

I also like to use a white opaque marker to soften and blend, like over the brown of the hat. 

Metallic pens add dimension, and are even prettier if done over a previously colored area. The umbrella handle is grey marker with silver ink over it.

And one more thing that makes a picture look complete, I have re-outlined some of it in black ink again.  Not the whole thing, some lines are left soft.  Here, I drew around the outside of the umbrella, but not all the small details.  Also, around the top banner and words, not the flowers, around the outside of the chair, and her jacket, again not the small details.

If you'd like to do your own, these pictures are included in the Farewell to Downton swap.  Details here.

Speaking of Downton, I'm off to meet Beth and have yet another Downton adventure! This one is with Deb Hodge, who I have always admired and wanted to meet. We are attending her retreat on Coronado Island.  But first, I'm spending some Cali time with Sugarwings and my handsome husband. Please do sign up for the swap, and I'll catch up with the lists and record keeping when I return.  

Coloring page tips for a nice skin tone

Beth pointed out to me that the coloring page with the Dowager was a little harder to do than some of my other pages.  I had a feeling that the face would give people trouble and I was right.  If you are trying to get good skin tones with markers, you really have to know what you are doing.  I think it is much easier to use colored pencils for the skin.

Plus, I think the pictures have a lot more interesting look if they are done with a mixture of textures and style. I like to use markers, metallic inks, glitter pens, opaque pens, and colored pencils together.

First step- with a pale, brown pencil, lightly draw around the wrinkles, and in shadowed areas (under the chin, hat, and eye sockets).

Again, use a light touch, and fill in the face with a peachy tone pencil, including the lips.  

Using a soft pink, add blush  to the cheeks, much like you'd add makeup to your own face. Under the cheek bone and onto the apples of the cheek.  

Color in the lips too.

Darker pink, or red, can be used on the inside of the lips, where the two meet.

 

I did the rest of my page with markers and inks.  For the eyes, I used a lighter blue over the full irises, then a darker blue on the top half the irises, over the lighter blue.  (Like the blob example) The left one is two colors, the right one is only the lighter blue at this point.

To make the eyes stand out, go over the pupil with black ink, then add  dots of white opaque ink to the pupil and to the iris.

I also used the same pink pencil I'd done the blush with to make a single dot in the inside corner of each eye.

Simple, and easy.  You don't have to be a portrait painter to make this face look natural. 

I used a grey marker on her hair and eyebrow, then the white opaque ink pen over that, and then was ready to move on to her clothing and hat.  I like to color the main areas before the background, personally.  

In another post, I'll show you a tip on finishing the roses in the drawing.  

If you'd like to do your own, these pictures are included in the Farewell to Downton swap.  Details here.

Speaking of Downton, I'm off to meet Beth and have yet another Downton adventure! This one is with Deb Hodge, who I have always admired and wanted to meet. We are attending her retreat on Coronado Island.  But first, I'm spending some Cali time with Sugarwings and my handsome husband. Please do sign up for the swap, and I'll catch up with the lists and record keeping when I return.