friends – Page 9 – Karla's Cottage

Good friends, good lodgings, and goofiness

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!!

And you thought I was done celebrating? Ha!

celebrations, friends, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 16, 2018

My husband is becoming overwhelmed by the length of my birthday celebrations. His birthday has come and gone, while I am still living mine up.

Seriously, I thought I was done too, then my Birdsong pal, Tami, included me in her own birthday party. She, Nora, and I are all turning 60 this year and at her recent craft day gathering, she toasted the three of us, plus others' special days too.

Not only that, she created these lovely crowns for our trio of 60 year olds. (Mine is too far back on my head to show in this, but you can see it in the close up, above. Gorgeousness, huh????)

Tami supplied projects for the day too. There was an assortment of lids to turn into note holders, and clip boards to foof up.

As it always is, her craft day was filled with laughter and creativity. Thanks, Tami!!

When your friends know you well

celebrations, friends, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 13, 2018

Back in May, I threw myself a birthday dinner party and invited some of my long time, good friends. We'd met through our love of art, and even though our art endeavors have gone different directions over the last 20 years or so, we still have a love of each other.

They collaborated on a charm bracelet for my 60th, with pieces charmingly filled with memories of our times together and of my favorite things.

There is sea glass (one of my obsessions), a heart signifying family, diacrylic glass from a group project we did, birthstones for my kids, and see the bakery stand? I love to serve cupcakes on a tiered stand, not just on a plate.

A vine for my garden, a bird for Birdsong, a mermaid for my love of the ocean, and even charms for my doggies.

My friends found yorkie, doodle, and golden retriever charms for the bracelet. And a Disney castle!!

It was a thoughtful gift from friends who know me well and who I am lucky to have.

Thank you, guys!!

I'll leave you with a few photos of the table before the group arrived.

Did I mention that I feel blessed?

celebrations, friends, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 3, 2018

While in Florida, I didn't expect to see my pal, Karen Hillman.

She was planning a trip to Kansas the next week and we had plans then.

But Guncle Randy took me out to a shopping center one morning while I was in Jax, and as I strolled into a pretty shop- there she was! What a surprise. She'd driven almost TWO HOURS, brought me a decadent cake, and a gift card, leaving me speechless when I saw her waiting for me.

She couldn't stay for the day, she had to turn around, drive that long trek right back and get to work for the afternoon (two photo shoots). During her quick trip, she helped me choose a pile of things to try on and we had an hour together while Randy waited patiently, and was asked to comment here and there on our Pretty Woman style spree.

He was much more patient than you'd expect. What a nice guy to hang out while we tried on mountains of clothes.

It seems like I rarely have time to shop, and when I do, it is for the grand fairies. Or I'm at TJ Maxx, finding a quick tee shirt or two. Shopping with buddies was a nice change, and both convinced me to buy things I probably wouldn't have on my own.

When a person with as much style as Karen does, tells you that you should wear more red, you buy something red. She also thought this dress wasn't too young for me… I'm going to wear it on my Big Birthday Boat Trip.

This was waiting in front of the dressing room door, how cute.

The cake was amazing too. And how sweet of her to take the time to do this for me. I feel so blessed.

A flock of seashell fairies

celebrations, friends, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / April 22, 2018

My visit to St. Augustine was better than I even hoped it would be.

The weather was pretty dang bad the first couple of days.

And chilly after about 48 hours of thunderstorms.

So we didn't get to do the things we planned.

Hmm, not sounding great, huh?

Oh, but it was!! I met up with friends from childhood and beyond, they are lifetime friends that I rarely get to see. We made the most of the weather, wrapped ourselves in warm quilts, drank some wine, and enjoyed the view of the storms across the ocean.

We also enjoyed our never ending conversations that started when we met at the airport and flowed non-stop til I rolled my bag out to the car to leave.

It wasn't what we were doing, it was who we were doing it with that counted.

Although, we did manage to get a lot of fun activities going despite the weather.

When the sun finally came back out, we had LONG walks on the beach and hunted seaglass.

I'll leave you with a few photos of the 180 Years of Celebration trip. (all three of us were having our 60th birthdays, one in February, two in May)

And more Galentines!

cottage, friends, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / February 16, 2018

Our Galentine's party was such fun, I threw a second one! Some friends came by to hang out and create with me. At Snowbird's Song, I didn't have time to work on my bird from Lesa's class, and pulled out the kit to get started with a Valentine's point of view.

I like her on the dining table as centerpieces with the gifts Randy sent to me. But I think I will add some feathers to her arms and turn them into wings. That is not Lesa's style to do that, but that is the fun of creating rom a kit, right? You get the knowledge and info from the artist, the supplies to put the piece together, and also the opportunity to make it your own with a spin or two.

For my first workshop in February, I'd bought fresh roses for the table. Then, though I planned to replace them, I'd had some issues (lots of issues, really) with back pain and never made it to the store to buy more. So, I let these dry as is and I think I'll just enjoy them this way for a while.

Valentine's Day has been almost like Christmas for me! The table runner is a cut velvet scarf from my SIL, the candy box and card are from Randy.

Here are more of the dried roses, next to a candle gifted to me by my pal, Nora.

And Beth created this rug, knitted from fabric!

It is a lovely touch for my pink and glitter walled bathroom. I've been thinking about adding some pink roses to the hand painted floor too. Right now the floor is neutral flowers, so the walls can be changed at any whim, but I sure am wanting some pink roses….. For now, those back problems I mentioned are stopping me. Painting a floor isn't easy even when your back is feeling wonderful.

This lil cupid was captured in this glass heart by Tami.

She also treated me to a vintage honey pot that I am storing our jar of home grown honey in upside down.

Aren't the bees on it super cute?

Thanks for the thoughtful gifts, everyone!!

And thank you to Lesa for the great kit to build!

Girlfriends’ Craft Day- the holiday edition, glitz and sparkle time!

friends, holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 9, 2018

Tami and I got to be friends through Birdsong, and a group of local-ish Peeps who met through our crafty weekends got to be close. Tami has coordinated many get togethers for us to gather together and have some girlfriend time.

She sets up space in her basement studio and offers up a generous and (eye popping) array of supplies as well as some ideas for projects.

This is a lid to a chewing gum tin I've spiffed up with one of the little angels she had out for us to use.

I used another one in this little mint box.

I'd brought supplies of my own to use too, and got quite a few ornies made. This one is sold, the others were for gifts. The glass dome on this is from an old clock, I had a few, but not as many as I'd like! It would be nice to find a big pile of those to play with.

One I used to make a gift for Guncle Kevin, the other I put together as a kit for Guncle Randy to make one for himself.

Since I had some specific gifts to get done, I didn't participate in a mini class Tami offered for the morning.

But I sure enjoyed watching the others make theirs.

Cute, huh?

Beth numbered hers in sections to use as a journal/calendar.

The day goes by way too fast, and I usually have to rush back to Lawrence for family something or others, and am jealous when some of the rest of the group turns it into a sleepover!

Some weekend, I'll just have to make that work somehow. Because there is never enough time to treasure with good friends!

Bad girls day out

friends

By Karla Nathan / January 6, 2018

For most of December, my pals and I tried to get together for a day out and movie. First one thing came up, then another. Sad things, sore throats, business concerns, and more.

Finally, we decided that we were going for it, no excuses. We'd seen Bad Moms and Bad Moms Christmas together in the past and planned a Bad Moms' Day OUT.

Beth had a rough week and told me to "bring the tooth", a basket to carry her in (she was feeling like a basket case) and a selfie stick for photos with Santa.

I took her serious and did just that.

Back when I knocked my front tooth out, I had a flipper with a fake one to cover up the gap. If she was sad, I could make her laugh by taking it out and letting it dangle a bit while wiggling the tooth around.

I brought the flipper on our day off, in a basket along with a selfie stick, and wore it so that the single tooth could stick out of my mouth. (I thought I looked a little bit like Nanny McFee)

We went out to lunch, redid Beth's antique mall booth, and crafted. Not such bad girl stuff, huh?

Time got away from us and we hadn't seen Santa yet, it was time to go to the movie we'd chosen for the night, so we decided to pass on trying to visit Mr. Claus.

But as we were driving away, we saw a blow up St Nick at the neighbor's house and yelled, "STOP THE CAR!" We jumped out, feeling that delicious, naughtiness that can cause laughing fits when you are being extra goofy as we ran up to the lawn and posed with the giant Claus.

We were selfie stick rookies and had some issues with getting it to work, which caused even more laughs, as well as that feeling of trying to hurry to escape from a situation, but being trapped by nervous fumbling while trying to rush.

There was a deflated one across the street we raced up to photo bomb also.

And we found a small Doggie Claus that we had to lay down on the ground with to get in our shot.

While we really weren't doing anything to break a law, just a tiny bit of trespassing, which I doubt if anyone would have minded, we felt like we'd made our Bad Moms' quota. There was running as fast as we could, pulling each other along, and laughing our butts off.

I was reminded of the silly pranks I did with my high school friends way back when, giggling and running, thinking we'd be caught and in trouble. But having such fun, no one cared.

Sometimes, a little bit of silliness is just what you need, huh?

There isn't much better than having friends to play with, huh? I think we got Beth out of her basket.

A trip to Sparks and White Cloud with friends

friends, Travel

By Karla Nathan / September 27, 2017

I didn't think going to visit my friend, Karen, meeting Becky, and staying at a hunting lodge near my favorite flea market could get any better.

Till I saw these! The lodge came complete with a batch of 6 week old puppies.

They got some cuddling while we were there.

And did you notice the view??????

We were up on a bluff, overlooking a bend in the Missouri River. In the mornings, it was covered in fog, for an extra dreamy effect.

We stayed in the Land of Antlers.

Actually, it was called, Rawhide Camp Outfitters.

But you have to see what I mean when I called it that.

What a collection!

The place was homey, comfy, and friendly. The owners hung out and we talked Homecoming courts and Tayiah's chances of being queen, with the teenage daughters.

Meals were provided and we even got a lesson in making pasta from scratch.

My new buddy, Becky, created this framed image for the family as a thank you. It fits in perfectly!

I loved the place, and the company too.

And the location can't be beat! Just around the corner from my favorite flea markets.

Sparks and White Cloud need to be seen to be understood and appreciated. This is one scene from our day of shopping.

You never know what you'll find, I loaded up on $4 millinery and $1 jewelry. After shopping and a good dinner, we had some craft and movie time, with wine of course.

And spent the next day at the Old West Bottoms district in KC.

These two got to continue the non stop laughing and fun for a couple of more days, but I had to head back to family time, which wasn't bad, since I had a couple of grand fairies waiting to hang out with me.

Thanks Becky and Karen for including me in one of the funnest getaways I've had in a long time. And to Dana for letting us use her home and introducing us to her family.

By the way, Tayiah win Homecoming Queen! Congrats!

A redo

friends

By Karla Nathan / August 25, 2017

Did I confuse you with this room?

Nope, not my house!

Not my style at all.

Never the less, or perhaps even more because of it, I loved being a part of the redoing of this space for a friend.

A few of us got together to repaint and rearrange this office.

While I don't get one bit tired of the romantic, cottage look that I have in my own home, it sure is fun to play with some brighter tones and a more modern look. Especially when we had such great art to plan the design around, and a room full of good friends to hang with while we worked on it.