Travel – Page 11 – Karla's Cottage

On the way to the wedding, a wonderful side trip!

By Karla Nathan / November 26, 2018

When we went to The Other Karla's son's wedding, Beth and I made a stop in Des Moines to visit some of our Birdsong Peeps and have a crafting sleepover at a rustic, charming, and cozy, Airbnb barn. Our Peep, Nora, generously made up kits of felted wool for us to create these fab trees.

Beth and I sorta crashed their party, they'd made plans to go up to the flea market and stay at this charmer, and we asked to be included. They graciously let us stay with them. This was our room.

It had a uniquely curved, metal ceiling.

Okay, I'm going to have to use "charming" again, because that is what the whole place was.

We missed the dinner they shared, but were there for the tasty, overnight oatmeal breakfast.

Our dinner was at an Iowan diner where we had the local special, loosemeats.

After a night of laughing and crafting, we headed out for the Junk Jubilee.

And it was so festive!!! I loved the holiday decor everywhere. I thought this would be an ideal spot to get a selfie to show the room and the cute display at the entrance, but as you can see, our heads block most of it.

I think I could use a selfie lesson.

Overall, I sincerely think this is one of the best fleas I've been to, pricewise. It was also set up with gorgeous displays, the dealers made major efforts to have enticing booths.

Plus we ran into Peeps everywhere! (don't ask me why I don't have photos of them, pure carelessness, I guess- too busy hugging and being happy to see old friends to remember my camera!)

Thank you Tami, Gail, and Nora for your hospitality, and thanks Beth, for hauling me along on your trip. It was a raucous roadtrip. At our age, we don't get enough of those.

From inside my travel journal

Books, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 16, 2018

Our sister trip to Florida included lots of craft time. I pack my portable printer and we slap photos into the books I made for us along with doodles, scraps, and other memorabilia of the day.

This is a drawing I did for Bobbie's pages, with highlights of her Disney time. She is a big fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, so I drew a Capt. Jack for her, and he is holding her cell phone with its Hocus Pocus cover to take a selfie with a giraffe (in honor of taking animal pictures from our balcony at Animal Kingdom), Timon (who has heart pupils because I teased her about flirting with the character at the park), and a flamingo wearing MIckey ears, because she loves those birds.

And here are the three of us as Sandersons stating, "We will put a spell on you if we remember what we were planning to do"

It references lots of fun moments from the week, including our names for the week, Bibbity (Sis) Bobbity (Bobbie, of course), and Boo, (me). My face is painted witchy pink, from our night at the guncles'.

Sis is wearing her Gundren clothes, Bobbie's hair is meant to be both from Hocus Pocus and an ice cream cone shape.

We posed for mermaid shadow selfies on the beach, and I found a shell that I thought was a heart at first, then realized that it was really a tail fin. So, I glued it to my shadow.

Here is Sissy at the Beast's restaurant.

I used paper from Michaels and words cut from the Disney Springs map on this page.

And made a broom for this picture of us in front of the castle after watching the Hocus Pocus show.

This rug was part of the carpet in our room, I cut out Bobbie on it, and glued it over a napkin that looked like a starry sky.

(Her name is Valentine, so I thought the cut out phrase was appropriate.)

At the Bippity Boppity Boo salon, we were frosted with fairy dust. For my book, I added glitter over the sprinkles.

I used a trading pin, and pictures from the map for this picture of Sissy dancing at Animal Kingdom. Then, I cut out names of the places we visited there and glued them onto the page.

For our photo in front of the stain glass window at the Beast's castle, I layered rose papers and added a charm that looks like the enchanted mirror from the story.

This animal paper from Michaels was ideal for Animal Kingdom!! It is two layers, one as a background, then I cut out the animals that got covered up and glued them over the photo too.

As much as I love vintage papers, for scrap books, it is nice to use some actual scrap book paper, because you can always find something to fit the them. I also like using maps and brochures from places I visit.

On this Halloween crafting page, I cut out a label from a pack of supplies that says, "Halloween Crafts". So, sometimes, it is worth it to use the trash too.

Sparkle papers and textures are great too. I've glued shells and a vintage stir stick (found on one of our shopping days) to this one.

This one is a fave, it is a photo of our grandma, her mom and sister that I doctored up.

Oh, and here are a couple pics of the cover too!

Seashell Fairies in St Augustine, and a Beach Blessings Angel in Cocoa Beach

family, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 10, 2018

The beach house I rented with my life long buddies for our birthday get together was so nice, I rented it again with my sisses!

And like I did in April, I also made a seashell fairy for each of us as a thank you to the beach.

Each expresses the joy that I found while strolling along the sand.

Aren't they happy little sprites?

And of course, I had to make a boy fairy for Guncle Randy, who joined us for some crafting.

The shells were plentiful, the weather was beautiful, the company was ideal,

I had much to be thankful for.

There was even sea glass! And this shell/tooth thing…

Which was perfect for a Winnifred Sanderson bit of fun.

Staying on the Atlantic side, meant no sunsets over the water, but one morning, I was up in time to catch the tail end of a sunrise. I was pretty impressed with myself for that.

This was the balcony view, at our Cocoa beach place. We hopped around and stayed at 4 different places in our ten day trip.

Beach Place Guest House had some fantastic landscaping, it was just too bad that the red tide made it too hard to breathe for us to spend much time outside to enjoy the well sculpted views.

The shells at Cocoa Beach were harder to come across. This was the total of what I found, but it was just enough for this one little girl.

I crafted a blessings angel for that beach, in hopes of healing the red tide.

As well as a witch, just because I'd found these broken bits of shell and one looked like a jaw, so really wanted to make something with it.

Hidden Mickeys everywhere- And thank you, Disney for the upgrades!

family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 4, 2018

One thing (among many) that I love to do at Disney is hunt for Hidden Mickeys. This flamingo island, seen on the safari is a great example of how these little tricksters hide in plain sight.

The island itself is a Mickey!

Here is another example, I didn't even notice them until I glued this photo of Orleans Riverside hotel into my journal. See them lurking on the fence railing? About knee cap height.

Sometimes they are right there in in your face, like the citrus in the water jar at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Or under your feet, like the carpet in the halls of Jambo House.

Sometimes they are subtle like the grates outside Animal Kingdom.

Or very prominent, like this pumpkin.

Our room at Orleans was full of them! On the lamp…

The shower curtain…

The tile in the shower…

I'm sure there were more that I missed. It was a great room. And an upgrade. When I saw where our reserved room was on the map and realized that it was very, very far from the parking lot, plus upstairs. I knew it might be hard on my sisses to get to it after a long day at Disney Springs.

I asked if there was anywhere that we could change to, hoping we might have easier access from our car and was offered a free upgrade to this Princess suite. And it was really cool. The headboard scene has embedded lights that mimic the swamp scene with the fireflies in Tiana's movie. The portrait is 3-D.

This wasn't our only upgrade. Back in April when I was planning the trip, the room we wanted at Jambo House wasn't available for two nights, so we were given a suite instead of a double queen room for the same price.

It was wonderful to be overlooking the animals beneath our balcony, plus having a nice, big room to spread out in.

Every room I've stayed in on Disney World grounds has been comfy, clean, and well kept. The themed rooms are extra wonderful, and not really that much more expensive, but I rarely splurge on them, since not that much time is usually spent in the room itself. But after staying in these two, beautifully themed, specialty spaces, as free upgrades from the lower priced rooms I'd booked, I'm thinking that next time, I will certainly spring for the nicer rooms, they were so fun.

Where else can you ride a magic carpet in your hotel room? This one was printed into the flooring.

And the whirlpool bubble bath was much appreciated for tired feet after tramping through the parks.

We were very lucky to be given not one, but two upgrades on our trip. There were other moments of Disney Magic, including being directed to the front of a line at one point, and many other kindnesses. I've heard that each "castmember" (employee) at Disney is supposed to gift someone with an extra each day. It seems to me like there are more than that, because I've seen so many instances of these extras over the years.

Lucky me!

Thank you, Disney World!!

Speaking of luck, how unusual is it to run into family members at Animal Kingdom Park??? Yes, we were all at Gorilla Falls Trails taking some quiet time to birdwatch, and surprise! There was Carol and Jim with Carrie and her kids.

Wow!

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)

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!

Crown Crafting with the Crew

friends, guncles, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 13, 2018

Besides junking, sipping wine, sitting by a bonfire, playing with piglets, and eating too much like I was a piglet myself (thanks for the great food, Tracy!!), we did some crafting on Labor Day weekend when i was with my buddies at the hunting cabin.

Royal Style!

Tami brought enough supplies to top off the entire British monarchy.

And we loved every bit and bauble she brought.

Here is a Gatsby-esque one that she gifted to Karen.

And here is a heart shaped, nature inspired, Fairy Crown that I made for Sugarwings.

She placed it on our lamp when she took it off, I kind of like it there.

This is the woodland example that Tami brought.

Angie is modelling the Ice Queen crown.

I made one similar to it.

I'm also creating a Raven crown, from a beaded flapper dress I found at a flea market. It is still in progress, I'm thinking it will require some black feathers and maybe even a feathery bird. I'll be wearing it with my raven dress to a fairyland ball that my sis, Terry, is throwing next summer. It is never too early to plan ahead, is it? This will be a big occasion, so Guncle Randy and I both worked on our headpieces.

Here is the beginning of the base of his. He ringed it with more stones, and we aged it with two colors of Rub-n-buff when we got home.

He will also add vines and sprigs to fairy it up.

They all looked great together.

Thanks for the beautiful project, Tami!

(I only wish we'd thought of posing some of these onto the mounted deer and turkeys around the house!)

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.

The Kansas City Renfest- I’ve missed you!!

fairies, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 6, 2018

In 2017, we did not make it to the Renfest for the first time in forever.

We were very happy to get back to it this season!

Ki Ki is putting her artistic skills to good use by doing Henna tattoos there. I see a big future for that girl, she has done well for a kid with paying jobs that use her creativity.

Heck, she has done better than most adults working as artists. Good for her!

And Sugarwings was glad to be rejoining her fairy tribe.

Since she was a tiny little sprite, she has always walked right up to the Fay at the Renfest and joined in, just like she knew she belonged there with them.

She always fits right in.

Here she is years ago, making friends.

And now, look how grown up she is.

Oh my.

No matter how big she gets, she never loses her adventurous spirit.

Or stops throwing herself full force into an activity, no matter what others are doing.

I love it that she sees the magic around her.

And believes in the magic within herself.

She's a fun fairy to hang out with, and I had a great day.

Yep, we both enjoyed being there and being together.

I doubt we will let this much time go between visits. I'll be back next season for sure.

ps- I just wanted to comment, that after complaining about a few details that weren't as sharp as they used to be at the Renfest, I found out that they are under new management. I still loved going there, but have to admit that it is not ran quite as good as it used to be. It has lost some of the individuality and creativity that used to be there. I still recommend going, but I certainly preferred the way it used to be.