family – Page 23 – Karla's Cottage

Ghoulish Guncle Goofiness, and some bootiful Halloween decor

celebrations, family, guncles, holiday decor, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 29, 2018

During our Sister Trip to Florida, we took a jaunt up north to Jax and the Land of Guncles.

Where we were met with the typical Guncle charm and hospitality, and an added dose of creepiness.

We were greeted by this sign.

Their welcoming home was in its full, Fall glory.

With ghouls, goblins, witches, and more.

So, we decided we needed to fit in with our surroundings and got out the face paints.

I went Pink.

Sissy got some purple witchiness going on.

While Guncle Randy embraced his inner warlock and went full on, goblin green.

Lovely Lily didn't need to change colors, she has a pretty, autumn glow year round with her auburn hair.

The guys had the house foofed up to the hilt.

It is always an honor to see my artwork making it into some of their displays.

Randy's art was prominent too.

Here are pages from a Romantic Gothic Ghost art journal he did.

The house was creepy, cool, and very well done.

Our pal, Regina, made this banner.

No detail was neglected.

I'll leave you with a few more pics from our fun night there.

A Hocus Pocus Trip and a Sandy Winifred Sanderson with Seashell Teeth

celebrations, family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 26, 2018

Our sister trip to Florida was Sanderson Sister themed all the way.

So, when I found these "teeth" on the beach, I had to make myself into Winifred with the seashell in my mouth.

(And looky!! I found SEA GLASS too!! It was a treasure trove of unique goodies from the sea on Vilano Beach)

When I was done playing with the shell teeth, I used them to make a sandy Winifred Sanderson.

There were also a ton of black shells, which lent themselves well to making a sea witch. Her broom is a palm frond. I'm afraid black shells don't photograph well, it really did look cuter in person.

Our whole trip was Hocus Pocus themed, and we started off at Disney to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and watch the Sanderson Sister Villain Spectacular.

The lighting on the castle was pretty durn spectacular!

To save wear and tear on our backs, we rented a stroller to haul our extras around in (you never know when you'll need a jacket or an umbrella at Disneyworld) and for a name tag, I wrote in

"Sanderson"

Of course.

And I witchied up our magic bands with Sharpies and glitter nail polish. (Why wear a plain band when you can transform one easily with a waterproof sharpie?)

We needed a Spell book to carry. I painted canvas bags for each of us with the witches' book on one side.

The other side had our name and a witch hat.

All three were a bit different, but all had plenty of glitter. I think we left a trail everywhere we went.

I was thrilled with every second of the Halloween Party and hated to see it end at midnight. I'd love more than anything else to go back for the upcoming Christmas party and take my grand fairies.

But as my husband says, it is excessive to be flying to Disney every few weeks….

Even though there is a Christmas party that just happens to fall on a day she is out of school for a 3 day weekend, and I have free airline ticket points and enough Disney Credit Card points for the park tickets, and could take the free Disney transportation… we would just have to pay for hotel and food, and heck a person needs to eat wherever you happen to be, right????

Sooooooooo tempting, but- he is right. I think it is bordering on greedy, and spoiled to even contemplate a return so soon. Still, it is fun to think about.

(by the way, the Chase Disney credit cards give you a $200 gift card just for signing up. And a percentage back to spend on anything Disney, including movie tickets at AMC)

Guncle Randy’s Paint Pour Book

Books, family, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / October 24, 2018

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!

Omaha Zoo

family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 21, 2018

We took Sugarwings to the Omaha Zoo to gather info for a science project.

The subject was cats, and she took the day pretty seriously. Our mini photographer took photos of all of the large cats, as well as all of the information signs about them.

It is a VERY large and wonderful zoo, I've never seen the entire place in the one day we usually have to spend there.

In the past, I've gone with either a larger group, or two preschoolers who were happy to be watching bugs on the sidewalk instead of conquering the whole park.

This time, we were concentrating on the science project, and getting the photos she needed. But we did stop for rides and lunch. While she might be getting slightly too big for the carousel (but still loves it), we discovered that she is no longer frightened by the skyride. We floated above the park a couple of times, and could've done more trips if we'd had time.

We missed Dewdrop, but I will make myself feel better about that by using it as an excuse to go back again when she can tag along. She went with us to the Topeka Zoo a few times over the summer, but we never made it up to Nebraska to go to this zoo with her before she left to spend the year with her mom in North Carolina.

By the way, I've discovered that my Topeka Zoo membership, which is only $50 annually for a family of four, gets us into other zoos at a discount. In Omaha, it was 50% off, which helped a great deal. In Sarasota, the Mote aquarium was free with a Topeka membership.

Also, it is sure nice to have the card to drop by the Topeka zoo whenever we feel like it, even if we only have an hour. If we were paying full price to get in each time, I'd make sure I had enough hours to "get my money's worth" out of the trip. With a membership, that isn't an issue, and there were quite a few short trips that we enjoyed, but wouldn't have made if didn't have that card.

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!

Pretty girls

family

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2018

The girls were headed downtown for a performance, and had some pictures taken before going.

Cute, huh?

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!

Our Annual Sister Trip is Starting with Some Disney Magic!

celebrations, family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 11, 2018

This morning, I'll be meeting my sisses in Orlando for the beginning of our annual Sister Trip to Florida. This year, we are doing something different, instead of visiting Sarasota, (home of our late grandmother).

We are going to Disney World!

Bobbie and I are thrilled. Sissy is being open to the idea and I hope we win her over and she enjoys it as much as we do.

And yes, I do Love, Love, Love going to the amusement parks. If you are counting, this is my 3rd trip this year… And I am definitely an adult (sorta). This is the second sister trip this year, I went with Terry for my birthday, and then with the grandfairies after our Disney cruise, also, uhm, for my birthday.

60 is shaping up to be a good year for indulging in trips and visiting the Mouse.

ps- I'll be away for a good, long time, this is a ten day trip (only a couple to the parks) Anything ordered from my Bootique or Etsy shop will be mailed on the 24th. Thank you for your patience.

Honey Harvest

cottage, family, flowers, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / October 2, 2018

Last year, we hit the honey jackpot.

This year?

Not so much.

I'd prepared for another huge harvest, and bought not only our normal sized jars, but also these mini bears to give as gifts.

We only filled one of these, (to save for Dewdrop) and very few larger ones for the family this year.

The set up isn't any easier to get an abysmal number of bottles than it is to have a bountiful harvest. It took a day to get it all ready then cleaned up for this slow trickle. And this year, there were 3 hives instead of just one.

I guess the drought over the summer was hard on these poor little gals.

Kansas Sunflowers

family, flowers, guncles

By Karla Nathan / September 23, 2018

While Guncle Randy was here, I took him sightseeing, Kansas Style.

I am not a native Kansan, but have embraced it as my home. And I adore the endless vistas of fields of sunflowers in the late summer, or pumpkins when fall arrives.

This year, the drought slowed down the sunflowers, but there were enough in bloom to show my Floridian, baby bro the Kansas scenery that I love.

We almost didn't stop, it was a little bit out of the way on our trip home from the flea market.

But I am so glad we made the effort, it was a fun side trip, and well worth the short drive.

Florida Friends with Flowing Paint and eating from field to fork

Books, celebrations, dogs, family, Food and Drink, guncles, paintings

By Karla Nathan / September 20, 2018

While Karen, Regina, and Randy were here from Florida, we got together at the Cottage for some flow painting. I showed them how to make an ocean scene.

And we made some book covers.

They all got messy with me, and we poured paints in the garage.

This is a "swipe" technique. The colors go on over black paint, then more black paint is drizzled over it, and swiped across to make a pretty design. The paint needs to dry for a while, when it is done, I'll assemble the books, and show you how it turned out.

Here is Guncle Randy's other painting.

WOW.

I love it.

I wonder if he will notice if it isn't in the box I am mailing to him when the paint dries….

I'd planned a lunch for us and was happy to have a chance to use the fall tablecloth that I found at the flea market we all shopped at.

We had beef pot pie with puff pastry, salad, and rosemary garlic bread fresh from the oven.

With "paint pour" cupcakes for dessert.

But that wasn't it for the day…

Karen started her morning at 4am, dove hunting at the camp we had been visiting.

She brought them along to clean and gifted us with a whole flock.

It is not something I've ever done before, but intriguing. There is definitely a bonus to a meal that you have hand crafted, whether from garden to table or from field to fork.

And well worth it, those doves were tender and delicious! We soaked them in salt water for 24 hours, before marinating in Italian dressing.

While the dove breasts soaked up the flavors, we took a Labor Day spin out on the lake.

After boating, I wrapped the breasts in bacon, and my husband slow cooked them on the grill. We served it with a cauliflower mash, asparagus, fresh made bread, and a salad featuring tomatoes just picked from the garden.

Thanks, for being such a great shot, Karen! And for sharing your bounty!

Good friends, good lodgings, and goofiness

family, friends, games, guncles, Travel

By Karla Nathan / September 9, 2018

Foofy, gorgeous, girly, Karen, is also an avid hunter and outdoors woman. She turkey hunts at Rawhide Camp Outfitters

It is in a beautiful setting, on a bluff overlooking a bend in the Missouri River.

And it just so happens to be a hop, skip, and a mini jump, down the road from my favorite flea, at Sparks, KS.

Since flea market season and hunting season do not coincide, she stays at the camp in August to go shopping, and is kind to invite some friends along for the trip. This is my second year there with her and I hope, not the last.

Some Birdsong friends, local and from far away, gathered to enjoy the hospitality of the home. We were all spoiled by Tracy's cooking, did some crafting, some shopping, lots of laughing, and maybe drank a bit of wine…

Angie gifted us with a vintage craft pack, and Beth made up a Flea Market Survival Kit, with wet wipes, mints, and tissues.

The home is owned by a super nice family, some of whom came by to visit.

The rooms are filled with trophies, and has a distinct hunting theme.

There are "sheds" everywhere. I was going to say hundreds, but I'll bet it is more like thousands.

This guy was our crating, buddy and watched over the table we worked at.

You can tell by the surroundings that the place is probably more used to Turkey and Deer Hunters than Vintage Junk Hunters.

I thought it was pretty clever, to use one of their empties for a soap dispenser. And to top off the popcorn with a light bulb when there was no lid for the jar.

And yes, there were plenty of empties…. NO, these were NOT ours. Like I said, we were daintily sipping wine.

And honestly, not that much wine…. goofiness sometimes just occurs when the opportunity arises.

And then it escalates a little bit.

Well, maybe more than a little.

See?

This is the room that Guncle Randy and I shared. I am lucky enough to have been a guest in the Crown Royal Suite two years in a row. I felt like a princess.

The views were dreamy.

I had a feeling that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.

It was the best!! Thank you Karen, and thank you to the Whetstines for hosting this fun filled getaway!!