Karla's Cottage

Christmas in July?

Things are moving along with preparations for A Snowbird’s Song in November.  I am working on kits (two are complete!), swap hostesses have come up with delectable ideas for exchanging lovelies, and menus are swirling about in my head.

Mostly of cookies and treats.

Probably because my head is often filled up with daydreams about cookies and treats.

I am so pumped for the party that I just had to get in on a swap.  Terry, my dear sis, is hosting a card one, and I was happy to hear it because that is right up my alley.  I propped myself down at my work table and whipped up a few while I was feeling the Christmas spirit.

(in this pic, one of the stars had slipped off because the glue was still wet, it has since been returned to her waist band)

This one featured the front of a vintage card with a circle opening, so I glued it to another card and cut a coordinating circle from that.

I lined that with printed vellum and put a colorful bird image behind the transparent vellum.  

Backing the vellum, is a Christmas card envelope from the 50’s that I glued to the inside of the card.  I saved the stamp from it and added that, along with a little girl, velvet ribbon, and a flower to the front.

Another sparkly, gold card was used for this as a backdrop, then was layered with neutral wallpaper (old), and a Victorian post card.  I trimmed the postcard around the roses and glued it down to form a pocket.  

The girl was glued down behind the roses with her arm outside the roses and she is holding a bouquet.

A note from a vintage card was cut out and slipped into the pocket.

Often I work with whatever was last left on my desk.  All of the stars and sequins on some of these cards were from kit building.  So are the pink ruffles on the first card, making the sugarplum fairy’s skirt, and on the edges of this vintage wallpaper.

The girl’s Santa hat is the same (it might need more fluff), all are trimmings from the hand dyed coffee filters I was using for some other kits.

We don’t have the number of cards needed until the swap is full, but I wanted to get a head start  and figured that if I made too many, they wouldn’t go to waste.  

 

 

 

Filling my Suitcase with Eastery Foof

The art event I will be going to next week is Easter themed. 

So, along with the tiny baskets and fluffy critters decked in pastel posies, I have made some seasonal banners too. 

This one is for springtime.

But most are made special just for the holiday.

I don’t know what it is about banners that draws me in like it does.

I could get lost in making one after another, after another!

Kind of like crafting art journals, I am every bit as wrapped up in those.

Did I mention that I made so many books to sell that I couldn’t possibly take them all with me?  

Yes, I get a bit obsessive when I am left alone in the studio with some time to create... I tend to prolifically keep going until I run out of those specific supplies or the world interferes and I need to move on.

Which means that when I return, I should have plenty of books to add to my Boutique.  I’ll show you some pictures soon.  

I am slightly in love with them. 

 

Christmas tag books in the Boutique and a sweet wedding, at the BEST weekend

I'm still enjoying the bounty of paint pours from my creative binge this summer and am now using the pieces to make holiday tag books.

You can purchase them HERE, in the Boutique.

I seriously adore the technique and the look of the swirled paints.  Acrylic flow painting is the BEST!

I'd gone with Beth to attend the wedding of The Other Karla's son in St Paul and brought crafty goods (including these painted tags) with me to play with in the hotel room, then found a bounty of beauties at a flea market on the way there. 

Once I got started on making these, I couldn't stop. I was a bad friend and sent Beth out on her own to have lunch with her Minnesota nieces while I stayed in my jammies and made book after book after book that day, till it was time to get ready for the wedding.

Because- WOW- look at this paper I'd found!!!!!  How could I leave it uncut, when I had all of these pretty, painted tags to make things with????

I'd also bought 1928-29 women's magazines from December with lots of helpful Christmas tips, along with an old book of hymms that included Christmas carols.

And stacks of holiday ephemera.

And did I mention that it was 13 degrees outside? And I'd driven through mini blizzards to get there.  Yes, I was content to do hotel crafting in my jim jams and had a beautiful, wonderful, magical day.

It was the BEST.

Not only did I have a fab night with friends, then a day at a flea market on the way to the wedding, I had an entire day with the most magical of vintage supplies, topped off with a night of dancing and laughing til my sides hurt at the wedding.

Or did my sides hurt because I was way to old to dance that hard and that long?

Either way, it was a perfect weekend.  Laughter, road trips, making things, attending a lovely wedding.  Yep, the BEST.

I had never met Karla's son, but soon realized he was a catch.  His wife won my heart quickly too, when she told us about the family tradition of using this vintage cake topper.

Karla made ribbon wands that were waved in the air when the couple entered the reception, and soon we were all dancing and waving them around out on the floor.  Not only were they pretty to see flying about, but they had magical properties.

When we twirled them about, we were FANTASTIC  dancers. We were the BEST.

And personally, I can't dance and have less rhythm than, well, I can't actually think of anything or anyone with less skill on the dance floor than I have.

Between the laughing and the ribbon wands, my dancing skills suddenly became amazing.  Everyone's did. 

Yep, it was the BEST.

 

 

Guncle Randy's Paint Pour Book

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When Guncle Randy was here in August,  We had a paint pour day and he did a "swipe" technique on this cover.   I finished assembling the book to mail to him later.

And of course, I couldn't help myself.... I had to add some vintage papers to the book for him to use as a background for his own work.  He plans on using it for a Halloween/Autumn journal, so I kept with a darker or fall theme.  Including this great horoscope book cover from the 1800s!!!

(I'd been saving it for something really special.)

Grey flowers seemed to be ideal for Halloween.

As were these black and white pages.

The red might be a little bright for the season, but I guess he could consider it gorey... I made a pocket from some paint poured paper, and filled it with tidbits to use in his own work.

The Dream Book page is a scan and copy, but suits the mood.

As well as the Gispy Fortune Teller page.

This lovely lady was cut from an old fairy tale book, and I added green marker to her face to make her witchy.

This boy is scanned from an old photo and printed onto a transparency for a ghostly look.  

Typically, I chose text for shape and style, but sometimes I find some that fits the mood of the page too. While this is simply about Tom Thumb and is a cute fairy tale, I thought the first sentence seemed a little creepy and went well with a Halloween book.

The inside of the back cover gets a paint poured note card to open and fill up, and a cute (but slightly vampire-ish) boy and his dog.  I added a sparkly, rhinestone poodle too, since the guncles have two cute poods of their own.

Have fun filling your book up, Randy! I love you and loved getting this ready for you!!

 I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd.  All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks! 

Karen's (Daisy) Book

Back in August, Karen gathered a group of us together for a getaway and shopping, then the group came to my house to try their hands at pour painting. This book cover is Karen's creation from the day.

My painting friends were visiting from Florida, and the paint takes 3 weeks to cure completely, since it is so heavily applied and has conditioners in it.  So, I kept the pieces here to dry, and mailed them later. 

But before I did, I put this book together for her, and another for Guncle Randy. Both were empty covers that they'd painted.

And since I LOOOOOOVE making books, I couldn't help giving her a head start on her pages.

About half are blank, and I added some vintage wallpaper, lace and embellishments to the rest.  Now, she has some backgrounds ready to add her own art, or poetry to.

My Special K, as I call her, loves Gatsby.  And identifies with Daisy.  So, I made sure there were plenty of daisies in the book for her.

She has a lovely poodle, Queen Satine, so when I saw these rhinestone poodles, I knew they had to be a part of the book too.

It is a joy to use these papers, I hope Karen loves working with them too.

Her cover turned out so sweetly, I wanted to honor it with an equally sweet interior.

Thank you for hosting our group for the flea market getaway and for coming to play with paint with me, Karen!!

And if any of you want to make a book with the two of us, I'll be teaching a class at her studio in Deland, Florida in February.  Details to come...

I will be away from my desk, enjoying Sister Time in Florida til the 22nd.  All orders from the Boutique will ship on the 24th. Thanks! 

Autumn inspired art journals and Bewitching Books

I'm still enjoying turning acrylic paint pour canvases into books.  (And have kept busy adding them to the Bootique)

While most have been witch themed, this one is a sweet, autumn concoction.

I delved into the Good Stuff to embellish the cover...

And to fill the pages.

I'll leave you with a few more photos of my Bewitching Books.

A small break from puppy pictures, redoing the wallpaper cabinet

Recently, I cleaned out my wallpaper storage. It had gotten away from me, and honestly I couldn't even remember what I had or even find it if I did know what I was looking for. Plus, the rolls had been put away haphazardly and were tearing and shredded in places.

First, I took every roll down, and cleaned inside the shelf.  Then, I took everything off the top of the cabinet while I was at it, and got that area straightened up.  The stained glass window had been buried behind piles of books, so I moved the books and added a string of lights behind the colored glass. It is so pretty, I'm vowing to myself to keep the top clear so I can enjoy the twinkly colors.

When rolls get near their end, they become brittle.  So, the tiniest rolls aren't very useful. I decided to gently unroll them, iron them flat and cut the paper up to store flat in a cabinet, ready to use.  A lot of it tore, so I stacked the smaller bits into a scrap drawer by my desk to pull out and use for cards, tags, and other projects where a tidbit goes a long way toward adding some interest to the final result.

 None of the treasured, old paper was wasted or thrown away!  And now, it is much easier to get to and use.  

The larger rolls got trimmed up, with torn parts removed (and saved with the other scraps).  Then, I re-rolled the first few feet inside out, so that when I glanced at the cabinet, I could see which were which without taking the rolls down to open and look inside.

It is hard to tell from this photo, but they are also placed onto the shelf in a sort of color combo.  I have neutrals on the left, followed by blues, next pinks, greens, and finally, brights on the right. (flocked wallpapers are stored elsewhere)

Redoing the cabinet makes the room feel cleaner, and inspires me to get in there and play with those pretty papers.  I can't wait to make something with one of those beloved rosy patterns.  I came across many I"d totally forgotten about and some that will be ideal for the Snowbird Song projects we will be making.

Yep, more banners! And kits for springtime banners too

I do tend to obsess.

When I start making something, I GO FOR IT!

Ah, but do you blame me?  Lovely old wallpapers, soft faded ribbons, aged millinery, luscious laces, darling images, THE GOOD STUFF, is all soooooooo wonderful to work with.

And I'd say many of you agree with me, I appreciate all of the orders for kits!

So, I made up a couple more.

All in sweet, spring colors.

But this is it for now, at least.  I will be shipping till Wednesday, then I am packing up some other delightfully wonderful beauties and flying off to Florida. I'll be taking the two grand fairies to Disneyworld, all by ourselves!

After that, we get a week at the beach with my husband who will meet us there.

So, all orders after Tuesday night, the 14th, will be mailed on Tuesday the 28th after I get home and my bags are unpacked, I'll pack up orders that come in while I am away.  Which still gives you time to create your artwork before Easter.  

( I started to delete sold items, but thought maybe the guests who purchased the kits would appreciate seeing the photos again when they start to assemble, so please excuse all of the "sold" items in the store right now)

Plus some are Spring, not all are Easter, you have plenty of time for those, right?

I've also added a few trims to the Boutique.

Lotsa rick racks...

And some hem facing lace...

As well as a big ole pile of cotton bias tape. This bag of cotton ribbon stuff is free if you pay the postage. I don't use it, but couldn't bring myself to toss it away, I knew someone would like it. Normally, my Boutique is only filled with things I personally would like to use myself. I have a rule in buying things, that if I don't want to accidentally get stuck with it if no one else wants it, I shouldn't buy it for resale. It is like an endorsement of something to me. To sell something to you is the same thing as saying, hey, I like this and you might too. 

But every once in a while I get supplies that aren't some thing that I would use, sometimes they come in a package of something else, or a box at an auction. Anyway, I ended up with a stock pile of these and I have never used them, but they are old, I treasure old things and hate to throw them away.  If you have a use for them, they are yours for the price of postage (they weigh over a pound so i t will be priority mail.) 

PS- Please note that I do refund excess shipping on all orders after I have packed up boxes and made labels. Someone was freaking out over shipping prices being so high when ordering a bunch of items that were on clearance. Shipping is hard to calculate on my website, so I have just guessed at it, then refund when it goes too high.  

I'll leave you with some pics of what I've added to my shop.
 

Spring Time Banner Kits

Recently, I mentioned that I went through all of my Easter ephemera and wouldn't be able to make any more bunny themed banner kits.  So, I worked on a few Spring themed ones instead.

Then, Ta- Dah!  I came across a big, ole pile of bunnies, eggs, and other pretties for Easter! 

Yay!

And I came up with an idea to turn some little, vintage coin purses into nests.

These are kits, but I also made a couple of banners to sell.  They are limited, I didn't have many tiny purses.

Hmmm, maybe I'll get lucky and come across a few more??? (otherwise known as "cleaning the studio")

The kits do not come with instructions, but they are filled with all you need to make the banner yourself with your own creativity and style.  If you do not want to do an Easter themed one, you can always save the bunny ephemera for another project and just use the flowers and gems over the precious wallpaper and enjoy the spring time tones.

My supplies are mere suggestions.  

I provide the goodies, you delve in and supply the creativity!

I do love building the kits, and curating the colors, wondering how they will be used by the artist who buys them.  

On each bag I pack up, I made these nests with faded Easter grass from decades ago. Wouldn't it be cute to glue one onto a banner segment?  (these are itsy bitsy, that egg is much smaller than a jelly bean)

Just a little "Thank You" bonus.

Here is one that I made myself. It is available in the Boutique along with the kits, which have been going fast.

 

 

Vintage cabinet card photos turned into art journals

Wow, it has been exciting for me to see how many of you love to make journals as much as I do! Thanks for the purchases of the tutorial!

On Saturday, I added another book to the class, it is the small cabinet card one in the front, covered in barkcloth. (I also added scans of the cabinet card folders to use as a pattern if you do not have a vintage photo of your own to make one)

You can never go wrong with barkcloth, can you? Especially, a yummy, rosey pattern.  

Yep, yum. Double yum,  I love that stuff. Almost as much as old Rosy wallpaper, but not quite, because I'm just not as mechanically inclined to work with fabric as I am to handle wallpaper. 

Which is why Beth posted this hilarious sewing machine illustration for me, knowing that any monstrosity of a sewing machine is a mystery to me.  

And why the tutorial I wrote for the journals is about making them with GLUE.  Although I an proud to say that I did brave a couple of sewing ideas to show too.

All three of these cabinet card books are done with glue only. 

My world is a happy place when I don't have to go near that scary monster of a sewing machine.

Of course, a page like this would be just as nice stitched as it is glued. But I've done something nasty to my machine and the cry hole is all wonky.

(Isn't the title of this article great!? I thought it was appropriate for the tutorial, it is nice to help someone become more arty)

Sometimes all we need is a few tips and some cheering on.