family – Page 33 – Karla's Cottage

My Hippie getaway

By Karla Nathan / April 27, 2016

Our weekend at the southern Missouri campgrounds for our boy's wedding was a lot more than just attending the ceremony. We had a whole experience of outdoor festival time, and my very first camping adventure.

Honey came along with us and I think she loved the trip more than anyone else. And that is a LOT because it was a pretty cool trip.

I'm not much of a roughing it type. I love being outside, yet I also need my comforts, so we rented a camper to sleep in. We did plenty of cooking out doors, but it was also nice to have a kitchen to use.

And a camper to keep warm in. The days were lovely, but the first night got pretty dang cold. I ended up sleeping with a pair of Toasty Toes on my feet and one stuck to my nose, even though I had a camper with a heater in it.

I'm a wimp.

There were lots of nice people, shows, music, and classes on many subjects like sustainable gardening, yoga, and meditation.

My new daughter-in-law was the yoga instructor.

I'm afraid I didn't take advantage of any of the classes. I kept busy playing with Sugarwings, enjoying the trails, and making a stone fairy on the creek's beach. But my husband did try the acupuncture and he loved it. Although, it was odd to see him sitting by the bonfire with needles sticking out of his ears and eyebrows. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept thinking he had a dragonfly land on his face and wanted to shoo it away.

During the day the girls practiced for their show, and also gave mini lessons to attendees who wanted to try the trapeze or lira. I tried the slack line. It is kind of a cross between a tight rope and a trampoline. I got so that I could balance while sitting on it, but had to watch out because if my attention wandered for just a second, it flung me off. And I didn't just fall of, it really has a lot of tension and bounces a person off powerfully.

I landed upside down in the dirt a couple of times before deciding that maybe it wasn't my thing. I tried the trapeze too, but not in a way that really counted. Kind of like something a 5 year old could do on a playground swingset.

There was a guy camped near us who could stack rocks in a way that defied gravity.

Hammers too! He was showing us how he did it, and both Avahni and my son caught on pretty fast. Again, not something I was good at.

The location was beautiful. Sugarwings loved every second of it, not even noticing the chill. Dewdrop was with her mommy and couldn't come, but I have a feeling she is a bit of a wimp like I am and might have been a tad cold also.

Although, I'm sure that she'd have had plenty of cuddlers to hold her and keep her warm if she could've come.

She was missed.

A custom circus theme wedding cake topper

family, Food and Drink, Hand painted

By Karla Nathan / April 24, 2016

My son's wedding was to be very low key and simple. But I knew that he and his bride both loved flourless chocolate cake made with cacao, so I made a heart shaped one, along with a couple other tasty treats for after the luncheon. My cakes aren't very pretty, the cacao cake was covered in ganache and looked yummy, but sloppy, so I thought I should do something to jazz it up.

So, I took some foil and wire to build armatures, and covered them in Sculpy to resemble the happy couple being all circussy.

After baking them, I painted them black and white.

A styrofoam ball was covered in modelling paste and stuck in a cupcake wrapper, then stuck with two dowels to make a support for the lira. I hung the pink, wire lira from a beaded (garnet and labradorite) wire strung between the dowels.

For Miss Tree's hair, I used some of the same supplies we created her wedding headpiece out of. And then I painted her clothes to match her performance costume.

Purple is a fave of hers, so I added some violet glitter "sprinkles" to the cupcake.

My son is wearing his bowler hat, suspenders, and an onyx necklace

This was a quickie project because I thought of it at the last minute before packing up to go to the campground. I had some polka dot cupcake papers, but wish I'd had black and white. For the wedding, I slipped it into a second, clean cupcake paper and plopped the piece onto the cake.

I think now, I'll add a black and white wrapper over this, and glue it to a decorated box for them to have as a keepsake.

The Sacred Circus

celebrations, family, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / April 21, 2016

My son and his family have an aerial troupe, called the Sacred Circus, that performs at festivals.

And my two new grand fairies are amazing to watch.

Well, that is when I can watch… sometimes I have to cover my eyes. They are too daring for me!

While in Missouri for the wedding, we also attended "Shamonic Boom" a festival where they were putting on their show.

Miss Tree (or should I start calling her Mrs. Tree?) had dislocated her wrist the week before, so couldn't do her act.

She did a substitution, of this sling performance, although, I think she might have over used her hand anyway.

Her daughters stepped up and filled in for her, it was so impresive to see these young girls be so professional and take over.

Of course, with their skills, it worked out well.

It was pretty cool that on my first official day as their grandmother, I had so much to beam and boast and be proud of.

Sugarwings' momma brought the heat with her fire hooping too. I always have a lot of reasons to be proud of this girl. Did I mention that she works full time as an RN while getting a further degree?

Sugarwings was impressive too. It was moving to hear her get up on stage and speak so confidently to the audience and tell us that "circus comes from the heart".

She even had a small part in the show.

My son is the DJ and announcer, he knows how to get a crowd going, too, with building the beats. Well, I think that is how it is done, I know that it is more than just playing a song and that he is pretty good at it.

It was quite a show. I'll leave you with a few more pictures of the event.

A naturally beautiful wedding

celebrations, family, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / April 18, 2016

Did I mention that the wedding was non traditional?

It was not only unique, it was lovely and moving, completely natural and fun.

No fuss, nothing fancy, just a lot of love.

Set in a cavern down in S. Missouri. The cave was so spectacular, no decorations were needed.

It was an adventure to reach the cave from our campgrounds.

With a long, winding, narrow road and a hike to get to the hidden cave under the cliff we had driven over.

Our Hippy Chick, my son's ex, who is now my daughter, performed the ceremony.

We had sage and blessings and lots of hugs passed around.

I'd helped Miss Tree create her bridal headpiece and she is also using it for her areal performances too.

And she looked beautiful in it.

This wedding was done on a budget of, well, almost nothing. You don't need to break the bank to have a perfect ceremony. These two were interested in simply sharing their moment with people they cared about.

Sugarwings and I decided to make ribbon wands for the attendees to wave as the couple exited the cave, and I brought some dried lavender to throw also.

Katie and Adam didn't want any wasteful items, and I wanted to honor their wishes, so some of the wands will be recycled for Sugarwing's birthday party favors in August.

Sugarwings enjoyed having something to plan for her daddy, and if you know me, you know that I just had to do something festive or I'd burst.

The bride's mother also provided a picnic lunch afterwards, back at the campground. Which was sweet and we all enjoyed.

The weather was perfect, and the sun was shining into the black cavern.

While waiting for it all to begin, we had a chance to explore our surroundings.

These are my two newest grand fairies. Both are ideal role models for their newly acquired little sisters. These teenagers are smart, funny, strong, and loveable. Not to mention talented, both are arealists like their mom.

This was a wedding with zero drama, just happiness.

No one had to fret, fuss, or worry, all happened as it happened. No practices, rehearsal dinners, gift registries, showers. Just a circle of people who cared, listening to promises of love.

I don't know why I didn't cry. I'm teary thinking about it now. But at the time, I was just beaming with joy.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a person who loves planning parties and going all out, but it was very pleasant and peaceful just to watch the day flow.

Of course, with Katie and Adam, that is a regular thing. There are no pretensions in their lives.

I'm quite lucky to have them in my life.

Thank you, son, for bringing me these 3 sparkling and delightful women as family members!

Wild Phlox

cottage, family, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 16, 2016

The wild phlox is blooming out in our woods! And was blooming down in Southern Missouri where we went for the wedding too.

Sugarwings picked some for Miss Tree's bouquet.

It was a non traditional wedding and this was a last minute idea by my grand fairy. Quite a good one, too. Pretty, huh?

A new look for the little dorks and my teeth

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family

By Karla Nathan / April 14, 2016

Twinkle and Albie have their new spring hairdos.

Albie seemed a little chilly at first, but is getting used to it.

The poor dogs had been a mess. Their hair had gotten pretty shaggy, and I'd been chopping tangles out here and there, instead of brushing it.

I always wait too long to take them in, but am always so happy to see them all tidied up and pretty again when I finally get around to doing it.

Is there anything softer than a freshly trimmed dog? Maybe a horse's nose. Those are purely velvet too.

The pups aren't the only ones with a new look. For the last year, I've been dealing with the after effects of having my tooth knocked out and the root broken when I carelessly slammed my face into a cabinet door that was left open.

Here is how I looked after it happened. My dentist then made a temp flipper thing that helped, but after gum surgery to build up a post to reset a fake tooth, that never fit well and was uncomfortable and funny looking.

And all of this was after I'd gone through having all new crowns just a matter of months earlier, as well as reconstructive gum surgery to fix a receding area above my front teeth. I'd been thrilled with the results that first time, so was doubly upset that all of that expense was wasted by this accident.

There was a lot of healing time after breaking my tooth before I could get it replaced. This caused a few comfort issues and plenty of migraines. Even a bit of vertigo here and there. Really? Odd fitting teeth can make me dizzy? Who knew that would happen.

Also, I had to get the tooth next to it recapped and the two were braced together. Because of the type of injury to the root, I had to have the two made of extra strong materials, not porcelaine. I thought they weren't all that great looking, and I had to train myself to not talk with whistling esses and funny effs. Plus, they still hurt, and were always sensitive.

My dentist didn't like them either and offered to redo them with zirconium, (although I call it adamantium, like what Wolverine is reinforced with) and even redid the teeth on either side of the two front ones, bracing those for even more strength.

Now, nothing hurts at all. And I think it looks much more natural. I'm pretty happy and feel lucky that I had a dentist who went above and beyond to give my smile back to me.

Of course, I have a LOT to smile about! My son married the lovely Miss Tree last week.

I'll have photos to show you soon.

I'm Spring Cleaning in the Boutique, if you'd like to take advantage of my urge to purge the inventory, please use THIS link to access the shop. All items will be 50% off including the tutorials and existing sale prices.

It was meant to be

antiques/junking, celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / April 3, 2016

When I started beading wrap bracelets, out of the blue and obsessively, I had no plan for them, other than I simply wanted to learn how to make them, then couldn't stop.

My dining table (for some odd reason, I wasn't working in the studio, maybe because I kept saying, "just one more, then I'll put this mess away") was filled with beads and supplies. Even all day on Easter, before we set the piles aside to sit down and enjoy our family dinner.

(It was all swept aside and we had dinner with no beads on the table for the first time in two weeks)

I was really into the beading process. It was nothing I'd done before, and I was happy to learn a new skill. But like I said, I had no plans, no rhyme or reason for the new obsession.

Then, my soon to be daughter-in-law asked for help with her bridal headpiece. And from her description of what she wanted, I thought my new beading talents would be ideal. Having the boxes of trinkets and beads on the table in front of us inspired the design of the creation too.

I wonder if any of this would have occurred to me if I hadn't had beading on my mind and in front of me while we talked about it?

Heck, I didn't even own super glue or beading glue until I started doing those bracelets, and then it was right there at my fingertips when I was ready to start on this piece for her.

I had happened to buy some bridal floral picks while in California, because I was in the middle of doing journal pages and hadn't brought enough flowers with me. (is there such a thing as enough flowers????)

While I was able to find a couple of vintage floral hats, I didn't think it was enough (see what I mean, there are never enough flowers!) and I bought some of those white picks with the pearls too, even though they are not my typical style. I coffee dyed them to lose that bright, bright white sheen, and to vintage them up a bit.

Funny, I didn't end up using the bridal picks in CA after all. And they were exactly what I needed to build a base for this. I tied them together with silk ribbons, and used some of that super glue that I had in front of me to secure them.

After that, I snipped many of the existing pearl strands that were on loops of fishing line stuff, and changed them out for my own sparkling beads instead then glued those in place. We placed more flowers, snips of sik, a few rhinestones, and lots of feathers throughout.

Now, the hard part comes. Miss Tree is an aerialist and will be doing her act right after the ceremony, so will be wearing this hat while being upside down. We have to make it stay on her head, plus she is wanting her hair styled into two buns with trailing tails and tidbits of wildness. We made a few from wool roving and she is working on more.

Since everything for her headpiece just kind of came together for me with stuff on hand, that I just happened to have, but normally would not, I have a feeling that the rest of the piece will work out beautifully too.

It was just meant to be.

Like having Miss Tree and her two girls as family.

Until next time, Dewdrop!

Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 23, 2016

Dewdrop, AKA Arabella Cinderella, had a slew of farewell parties before hitting the road and heading back to North Carolina for some much desired momma time.

One of our goodbye parties was a trip to the Topeka Zoo.

And to the park next door where all the concrete animals to climb on had fresh coats of paint.

Over the years, that zoo has just gotten better and better. This time, we saw lots of improvements and remodelling that had occurred over the winter.

After going to that park for well, decades, I noticed for the first time that there was a children's theater in the parking lot. How did I miss that? I love to take the grand fairies to shows, but in Kansas City and Lawrence, they are often sold out and hard to get tickets. For this little playhouse, we called a day ahead and for ten bucks each, got to see a group of kids put on "Aristocats" and Sugarwings was thrilled with it.

The only bad thing about it was that Dewdrop had already left and we didn't get to take her with us. She'd have loved it too.

But I'll take her next time.

At the Hotel Del Coronado and some Sugarwings time at Disney

family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / March 15, 2016

Before I went to the arty girls weekend on the island, I spent some time with Sugarwings and my handsome husband. She had school conferences a couple of days that week, so we snuck her out a couple more, and flew her off to Cali with us for a little Disney getaway.

Yes, I'm becoming a Disney freak. Mouse addict? Princess stalker? I don't know what you call it, but I caught a serious case of it. And while my husband the rest of the adults in the family are over the place, the girls and I are not. My husband does say he has one more trip in him to take Dewdrop, since she couldn't come this time. Then he is free and never has to go back with me.

But he does have moments there that he loves, like dancing Downton Disney with his grand fairy.

She and I don't get tired of any of it, and we try to soak up as much as we can. We decided that we would never leave the hotel without walking under the wizard's hat, even if going another way was quicker. You just have to walk under a wizard's hat if it is available, don't you?

The highlight of our girl's day at Disney (my husband went to visit friends and the beach, he didn't come to the park) was seeing Ariel.

We rode her ride too. We actually spent our extra "magic hour" before the park opened, trying to break our record of how many times we could go around and around on that. We hit five times in a row without having to get off, since there were no lines.

Sugarwings had her art journal with her and drew a frame on pages for the princesses to sign.

At the lunch in Ariel's Grotto, all the princesses stop to chat and while I didn't hear all of the conversations, a few were pretty involved, and the ladies were very nice about spending time with her. Many of them told me what a great kid she was, and had some laughs.

Sugarwings was very animated while telling Tiana that she admired her because she was a princess who took care of herself and worked hard. Their conversation turned to Rapunzel and Merida after that.

It was all pretty cute.

Sugarwings is about 9-1/2 now. And looks so grown up. I'm hoping this isn't our last visit to the grotto for lunch, I'll be sad if she is ever too cool to hang out with her grammie there. I know I don't outgrow it.

Neither of us got tired of hunting for Hidden Mickeys and we even found a few.

We certainly picked the right day to be there, a Monday in late February. We never even needed a fast pass, there were hardly any lines.

When there was a little wait, we had a system. I'd read a book on my phone, and she would listen to a book on Audible with headphones hooked to my phone. We were a pretty good team, and it was an ideal day. Great weather, no crowds, no rush, we did what we wanted, when we wanted to.

That is pretty much how the whole trip went, we stayed at Disney a couple days, then at the Hotel Del Coronado a few more. Our poor girl came down with a fever and we missed the San Diego Zoo, and even with that, we had a wonderful trip.

She and I had lazy mornings on the balcony watching the water, wrapped up in hotel robes and reading our books.

The Del gives each kid a backpack with scavenger hunt tools and hints, so we played that game for a while.

We explored the hotel, ate fancy dinners, and watched the Sandcastle Man with his masterpiece. Yes, quite a trip, and all building up to my artful girls getaway. I really felt lucky and blessed.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures of the week. And here is a favorite song from my youth, so dreamy and sweet. And about Disney, too.

Keep Shining

family

By Karla Nathan / February 4, 2016

While walking from Disney Springs to our hotel last week, I spotted what looked like my name in the sidewalk. It was dark out, so I turned on my phone flashlight.

Yep, Karla, and spelled correctly.

The next day, in the daylight, I went back out and saw "Caitlin" next to my name. That is Sugarwings' Hippy Chick momma's name.

What are the odds of randomly finding your own name and a family member's name next to each other in cement while on vacation?

(There were NO other sidewalks written in along there, just this area. So, it is not like there are hundreds of names spread out and I picked through and found ours. The only other word was "Poppa" which is very close to title of "Pop Pop" the grand fairies use for my husband, but not quite close enough.)

After taking photos of the two names, I noticed the word, "Shine" next to them. I don't know how I'd missed it before.

"Shine" is one of the two words that my girls chose for 2016. Here is what Caitlin had to say about it on FB around New Year's day:

"Let your light SHINE with JOY this year.
Leandra and I chose these words for the year (shine and joy) and are looking forward to active creations to achieve them throughout 2016 and beyond 💜"