Hearts – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

Hidden Hearts

By Karla Nathan / September 19, 2022

I have always enjoyed finding shapes in nature. Especially hearts. Or fairy wings.
Typically, I take a photo of the heart and leave it, but some I pocket, like this one from the dog park.

They have taken on even more meaning since we lost Ry. He used to be enthusiastic about the ones I’d see when out on our walks together. I can hear his voice every time I find one now.

“That’s so cool, Mom!”

So this broken heart really stood out and caught my eye. It shows how I’ve felt since Ryan left. Still holding it together, but forever broken.

And lookee here at this one! On Molly’s hip. She’d had an ouchie and as it healed, the hair grew back as more golden retriever hair than poodle/doodle hair. And a darker color too.

“That’s so cool!”

The rest of the ice resin

cottage, Hearts, Ryan, sea shell fairies

By Karla Nathan / April 26, 2022

While in Florida, I found a never ending treasure trove of hearts on Walton Rocks beach near Ft Pierce. Some rocks, some shells, all eliciting squeals of joy from me. These were found in three trips.

I had big plans for a beachy toned display, but then decided I wanted to fill this black tray and use it in Ryan’s apartment. I pressed the hearts into tile adhesive which was a sandy gray tone.

Sorry, no pics of that stage. But- the hearts all sorta disappeared into the background and the adhesive was blah. So, I tried some gemstone flakes in aqua shades, still not enough contrast.

I decided to use fluorite chips for more distinction. I’m not a person who has much purple in their life, but I have nothing against the color. And Ry’s room has pops of bright colors in it to brighten up the grays, so in theory it should work.

But overall, it was just kinda messy. I should’ve done something else with my treasures. Plus, the hearts were all different thicknesses and it wasn’t functional as a tray, and too heavy to be a wall hanging.

That is when I decided to use ice resin. Which was a good idea, but maybe I should’ve used more? There are still some high points. But, overall, it did make the tray more functional.

Many of the rocks had holes, and I tucked heart shaped garnets (Ryan’s birthstone) into them before pouring on the resin.

Ryan would’ve liked it, and I am enjoying using some colors in his room that I don’t typically use in my cottage. And I think I will probably try out more resin projects in the future.

A framed stained glass mosaic by Shanna- Thanks, Shan!

cottage, friends, Hearts, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / August 28, 2021

This lovely surprise was created by my good friend and Artist, Shanna Wagner. I love everything she makes, but this one is even more wonderful because it is jam packed with meaning.

I can just picture his reaction, if he’d seen this. He had an appreciation for artwork. And for kind people.

The heart in the center is a fused piece she made in her kiln.

It is surrounded by roses, iris, hydrangeas,

and two bluebirds of happiness!

It was made to fit this antique frame, that is just perfectly wonderful itself.

And it is created to hang either in a window to let the sunlight through, or on a wall, with lights behind it.

Ryan loved red roses and purple iris. Funny, I’d known him forty years before I knew how much he enjoyed flowers. We’d stop to look at them along our walks. There were iris growing by the pond we liked to circle, over and over, and he commented every time when the purple iris were in bloom.

There was so much I learned about my boy in his last few years, I wonder what else I’d have discovered if I had more time with him?

Shan isn’t just generous with her art, she is with her time, home, and materials too. She invites friends into her studio weekly to have a mosaic day. Here is my piece in progress.

I saved the vases that flowers were delivered to us in after Ry Guy died. I hope to cover them all in mosaic glass to use throughout our home and his apartment. And I know that he would have said, “Wow, Mom, that is cool!”

While there is much I will never get to discover about him, I love it that I know enough to hear his voice in my head, picturing what I know he would say to me about something like these mosaics.

The prettiest rock, ever

celebrations, cottage, family, Hearts

By Karla Nathan / August 19, 2021

My last post was about this lazy Susan crafted from sliced geodes, that I felt was an extravagant, but happy purchase. Well, my husband topped that gift that I gave to myself, with a beautiful surprise for our anniversary.

It is the ultimate in heart shaped rocks! A blue crystal geode that seems to have a natural shape that has been enhanced with polishing.

That makes my own heart pitter.

I promptly displayed it with some other special rocks and think it is an ideal addition to my lazy Susan.

This is a quartz crystal heart that I have had for years, but had never noticed the shape until the puppies flipped it over in a flower pot. When they showed me that it was a heart, I brought it in the house where it belongs.

One edge is a little sharp, not softly rounded as it should be, but since it was pointed out to me by dogs, you have to give it some leeway, right? It might not be perfect, but I thanked them for it and forgave them for decimating my flower pot.

And do you see the broken heart outlined with a dark vein in the tall geode? Top right. That one is from an estate sale earlier this summer.

I only gave Rich an Apple Watch for our anniversary and he gave me the prettiest rock I have ever seen. Poor guy, he didn’t get nearly the personal gift that I did.

Catabwa Falls, Asheville

Corona virus, dogs, family, Hearts, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / August 13, 2021

We took both dogs up the trail to Catawba Falls to see the waterfall.

Along the way, my son watched for edible treats the woods had to offer.

While my eyes scan for heart shaped rocks or stones to craft a riverbank fairy, he is on the lookout for mushrooms and berries.

While he found very few on this walk, he marks the spots where they were to check back later.

Molly was a perfect trail dog. Dorothy needed a lift for a great deal of the way.

Although she did enjoy the trip, even if her tiny legs needed a break. I am going to get a sling/carrier for her for future trips. Since her littermate and mama died, she can’t be left behind, the poor girl needs to have us around.

I see more hiking in her future.

While we found the scenery scrumptious, we were far from the only viewers. This place was packed as you got up toward the higher spots. The trails that led upward weren’t bad, but once you hit the start of the falls, it gets crowded as everyone stops to enjoy them.

Because of the Covid upticks, we wanted to avoid being in a mass of humanity, so we settled into a little rocky pool, not too high up where we had a private place to enjoy the river and still see the falls up in the distance.

I applaud people for wanting to be in outdoor locations now, but man. That was a lot of them! Still, we had many peaceful moments. You can skirt crowds if you make an effort.

And if there are going to be multitudes of hikers passing by, I probably should consider wearing makeup. Oh well.

Downtown Asheville is equally busy, but we managed a scenic hike through it while keeping mostly distant, and masking.

It’s been years since I had time to check out the area, and it’s not just vibrant and bust, it’s funky and fun too.

My favorite building?

My son did the carpentry trim on this one, of course it gets my vote!

He also made rock fairies with me while we relaxed at the falls. What a sweet son.

I 💚 North Carolina

fairies, family, Hearts, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / August 10, 2021

It was hard to say good bye to NC (and to my kids there).

Especially when we returned to a sweltering, soggy, heat wave in Kansas.

The mild, mountain weather almost made me forget what humidity felt like.

Oh, but I had a very quick reminder on our return!

As much as I hate having Dewdrop and Adam living so far away, I certainly understand why they do.

I fell in love with the region too.

He cared so much about things that made me happy

celebrations, family, Hearts, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / May 26, 2021

We had lovely remembrance moments for Ryan. On Sunday, some exceptionally wonderful friends brought over dinner and wine.

We sat on the patio, and we all cuddled pups before I spread some ashes on the Uncle Tree and gave an egoogley (Zoolander for eulogy).

The Sugarbabies thought the get together was all about them.

Well, typically, everything is. But my pals were very kind and considerate about honoring Ryan.

It was a small, but meaningful group.

Ryan’s legal time of death is the 24th, but we feel like he died the night of the 23rd, so we did something both days for him.

On Monday, we tried to get as many of the family as we could together for a walk on Ryan’s favorite trail, dinner at a place he loved, and squeezed in between all of that, an 8th grade concert.

The day we found him, we had planned a big, family walk on the trails he loved.

But that didn’t happen.

We took a walk there a year later in his honor, and I brought some ashes to sprinkle. I wasn’t sure where I would do it, until I saw this perfectly mossy heart!

I can almost hear the excitement in his voice, if he’d been with me when I found it. He cared so much about things that made me happy. We often took time to stop and exclaim over tidbits that I found, or just to watch the red wing black birds in the pond.

“He cared so much about things that made me happy.”

That sums up a lot about Ry Guy. I was beyond blessed to have a person in my world who wanted me to smile.