Sacred Circus – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

A creekbed fairy in Missouri

By Karla Nathan / June 11, 2017

The Steve Miller concert and Sacred Circus acts were cancelled due to monsoons, but the weather didn't dampen our whole weekend. By Sunday morning the rain was gone, and we ventured out of the little trailer we'd tucked ourselves away in all night.

The rain was gone but left behind plenty of mud. Which the grand fairies found as soon as they left the camper.

There was a creek right by us, so we went down to rinse off.

And stayed most of the day!

Sun had come out, the humidity was shooting upwards, but the cool creek bed was shady and inviting.

There were about a dozen kids playing down there, and I offered $10 to anyone who could find a heart shaped rock.

The winner?

Sugarwings!

She found a few other ones too.

So did my son, who stacked them up in a gravity defying tower.

I found the right rocks to make a fairy on the mossy shore.

With some help from Dewdrop.

It was quite disappointing for the family to miss out on performing due to weather. And I hated not getting to see the Space Cowboy.

But the weekend was still magical. I'll take rockin it with the grandfairy babies over rock and roll any day!

But it was nice to get home to our other babes after the adventure was over.

Cyclone

family, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2017

Our girls were in a wonderful show recently, based on Oz, and titled Cyclone. Avahni was a Poppy.

Kia was a flying monkey.

They are part of an ariel troupe in KC, this is the first performance of it that I've seen, and I was impressed by the quality and professionalism.

And of course, I'm always smitten by any version of Dorothy's story.

And doubly smitten by my flying fairies.

Especially when I get to have the littlest fairies on my lap while watching the show.

Aerial Twister

family, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / March 8, 2017

The circus apparatus in our house gets a lot of use, more than I ever thought it would. I wondered when we added it, if it would be an eyesore. But it ties back tidily when not in use, and is not problem. It also has been rarely tied back, because we had the whole family living with us for a couple of months when they were home shopping.

So, there was always one grand daughter or another swinging from the ceiling. I even used the silks for some aerial yoga to strengthen my bad back. And it was helpful.

The family has since moved out into a home of their own, and my house seems pretty quiet. I miss days like this when the girls were making up their own version of Twister.

A girlfriends’ weekend

friends, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / October 11, 2016

Andrea Singarella, Jenn Hayslip, and Lori Oles came to visit over the weekend for some relaxation…

Craft time…

Shopping in the West Bottoms antique district…

Boating…

Girlfriend time…

And lots of laughs!

I'd asked my family to demonstrate the circus apparatus in our new room, and was happily surprised when they generously showed up with costumes, music, and an entire performance for my guests.

We even got lessons on doing some tricks ourselves.

Kia showed me how to do this move.

And Sugarwings taught me her favorite one, "Man in the Moon." More like, "Crazy Old Grammie Who Will Have a Stiff Neck the Next Day".

On our first evening, Beth joined us and Angie invited our group to her deluxe apartment in the sky on the Plaza "for a glass of wine" and this is the beautiful spread we found when we got there.

Afterwards, we had dinner at the museum across the street from Angie's apartment.

We squeezed a lot into the few days they were here, and most important for me, we had some studio time. I feel like I've been away from creating time too long because of the renovations we've been doing to the cottage. Now that those are behind me, I'm looking forward to being out there beading, painting, cutting, and gluing a LOT. It was great to be in the workroom with a few friends and a glass of wine. While I often have the grand fairies as company while making things, the wine was a rare treat. Hmm, I wonder if I should keep some stashed in the treat cabinet on a regular basis?

Our weather was ideal for boating on Saturday, but cool enough on Friday that a soak in the hot tub was refreshing. More wine –of course- and steam rising as the heat from the water met the chilled air was a relaxing way to end a day spent finding treasures at Good JuJu, Top Hat, and Bottoms Up. We had trudged from one end of the antique warehouse district to the other and the jacuzzi was appreciated afterward. Shopping there is practically an endurance sport and we needed the pt after it was over!

Here is what I bought. Now that I am a full fledged circus performer like my kids, I'll probably need it, huh?

Our time flew by too quickly, like fun times seem to do.

I'm lucky to have found such nice friends to get together with, even though it is not for as long as I'd like.

And to know that even if we aren't together often, when we are, we take off right where we left off, with lots to laugh about, family stories to share, and arty interests to talk about. We spent over an hour in Michaels discussing beads, favorite supplies, and resources for them on our way to the airport. It is good to have someone to share complaints with about too small holes in pearls. Who else would listen to me go on about that?

(We came across Jenn's cover story in Romantic Homes at Michaels too!)

And it was nice to have my family get to know some of my favorite people. And for my friends to hang out with my loved ones.

Tri-Unity

celebrations, family, Sacred Circus, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 2, 2016

Isn't this cute as a bug?? We got it so we could go to the performances that our kids do at festivals.

I even hippy-ed it up with some swirly lights for the weekend that we were at Tri-Unity.

It is small, only 16', but with a canopy and a pop up tent out front, we had plenty of space. Will I fix it up? I'm not sure. After the big remodel job we just went through, redoing something isn't feeling all that enticing right now. We'll see after I recover. For now, it's pretty cozy and nice inside.

And when we will camp, we won't spend much time inside. I know we didn't this time. The grounds were beautiful, and the event was child friendly, with a cute area set up just for the little ones.

And it was even prettier at night.

The Sacred Circus rig was under a lit tent and the silhouettes of the performers were mesmerizing.

Watching the aerialists through the tent was almost like watching mermaids swim in a colorful sea. Their movements were graceful and flowing.

There was non-stop entertainment, too.

A series of musicians filled the stage late into the night, and the day was started with a drum circle.

During the days, there were workshops. I took the nature walk and learned about edible plants. You could learn to belly dance, hula hoop, fly through the air on a trapeze, meditate, drum, among a few dozen other classes.

Or just hang out with the kids and get your face painted.

And then join them in a parade.

And relax with yoga.

I liked watching the many painters, and petting dogs.

There were some interesting painters there.

But the best part? Time with family.

And friends.

I'll leave you with some more pictures of the weekend, and will show you the circus performance in an upcoming post. Be prepared for lots of grammie style gushing over grand fairies!

A river rock fairy in Missouri

fairies, Sacred Circus, sea shell fairies

By Karla Nathan / September 28, 2016

Over the weekend, we visited Ava, MO again for a festival my son's family was co-hosting. While there, I spent some time down in the nearly dry creek bed gathering stones to make a fairy to leave on the beach. And just like last time I was there, I found one, single, tiny shell for the fairy to hold.

As I played with pebbles, I had a view of the circus rig and could watch the kids practicing up on the bank of the creek.

My grand fairies were giving lessons to the campers' children and at the big performance the next night, all the little ones got to come on stage and show what they'd learned.

I was serenaded by one of my favorite singers. Michael Lay, who was up on the nearby stage. His voice floated down to the shady spot along the bank where I was searching for the perfect set of wings for my fairy.

The stage itself was pretty cool, my son draped it in fabric, and did this string art installation on each end.

Dewdrop and a few friends joined me and created their own magical creatures.

They helped me put a ring of rocks around my own sprite. She is placed right by the foot bridge.

There was a larger river on the other side of the campground, where I spent hours walking through the crystal clear water, and parking a lawn chair in the shady shallows to watch kids and dogs splash around.

As I found the most perfect wing shaped rock, I got excited about making more sprites, and as I waded along, I quickly spied all of the bits that I needed to make another one. I figured I was on a roll and would have a whole flock of fairies!!! But all of a sudden, the river bed no longer had rocks that stood out as wings, faces, dresses, etc, all of them started to look like plain, old rocks and nothing stood out to me.

I decided to pocket the pieces I'd found to make the second faye, and brought her home to assemble in the mosaic I'll be doing in front of the fireplace. After all of the beach fairies that I've left behind on various shores, I figured it would be fun to have one in my own home. I think she'll be very happy living here with us, and I'll have pictures to show you when she is grouted down. Although, I do feel a little odd about locking her in place, all of my previous fairies have been thank yous to the beaches I've loved spending time on. I guess I'll think of her as a love token to my home instead, and a memento of the weekend with family in Ava.

Dew Drop, Sacred Circus, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 18, 2016

Sugarwings and Dewdrop are learning how to do aerial tricks.

Dewdrop has a natural grace and already has rhythm and good dance moves, so it is coming natural for her.

Sugarwings is more like my son, who we used to say looked like a muppet tossed in the air when he danced. But as he matured, he shocked us with his gracefulness and athleticism. That guy is as smooth as a cat now. Funny, how I never matured into any level of coordination, I still look like Jerry Lewis on a dance floor.

We call her act, freestyling. She has a flair, and is fun to watch, but makes it up as she goes. Still, she is paying attention and working on some moves. Both girls get a lot of tutoring from their big sisters and are learning a lot.

They have no fear of being on stage, and both know how to put on a show.

And are pretty brave up in the lira!

I'm very proud of them both. And so impressed that they are learning these skills!

Costume head dresses for the Circus girls

Dew Drop, family, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2016

One great thing about having a big studio is hosting craft days. I love seeing friends pour in with piles of supplies and watching the creations start developing.

My family was performing at a festival outside of St. Louis (where they got to be on stage with some of their favorite musicians, doing their act to the tunes) and they needed a little something to top off the costumes they'd chosen for the event's themes. Each day was a different color and theme, with outer space, ocean, and – Circus Sunday!

Kia made this one.

They are based on pieces of felt, adorned with fancy stuff, and then have a clip added to the back.

Here is one I made for Avahni. She wanted it slightly steam punkish.

Our friend, Amanda made this for Katie Tree.

Hers were the mermaid themed ones.

Kia also spent some time painting and glittering a Donation tin to set up for tips during their shows.

I adore my studio, and love it even more when it is filled with creative souls.

Here is one that I made for Sugarwings.

These aren't typically the type of things that I make, but it was sure fun to dabble with feathers and glitter for an afternoon. And to be inspired by some artists who specialize in this kind of glitzi-ness.

The Hearthroom is now the Circus Room.

family, Hearth Room, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2016

We are enjoying the new room!

15' high ceilings made the space perfect for hanging silks so the grand fairies could practice (and give us shows).

There is still some work to be done on the space yet. These silks need a pulley in the corner of the room, so Honey doesn't keep confusing the dangling tails with a tug of war toy. And I need to do the mosaics on the floor. I have a few little knicky knacky things to distribute around the house and frames to hang, but with the cozy new chairs in front of the fireplace to curl up in with a good book, and flying fairies to entertain us, we already love the area, finished or not.

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.