Travel – Page 21 – Karla's Cottage

True Eye Candy

dogs, parties, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / October 17, 2013

Yep, believe it or not, this is REAL. A real life home, filled with kids, dogs, and love. As well as some of the prettiest collections you'll ever find.

Jenn's house is pretty as pretty can be.

A sweet confection of frothiness and pastel beauties.

With a fair share of whimsy too.

And attention to detail throughout.

And a home with a Yorkshire Terrier in it, is a very special home to me.

Throw in a second one and I'm a happy house guest.

Jenn graciously invited us to stay with her in her Georgia mansion and it was our home base for a couple of nights on our trip.

There was something breathtaking to see, everywhere I looked. But the loveliest item off all, was this photo that Jenn took of her daughter, Vivian.

She is beginning a new photography business called Pink Ellie

From the examples she has posted, I can see that she will do well. Oh my! She has captured some beautiful moments.

Jenn opened up her equally frothilly sweet studio to us too. I brought charms and glaze, Lori and Hope provided old papers, so we could all have some creating time.

The room is Jenn from floor to ceiling.

Pictured: Jennifer Hayslip

Hope Wallace Kearny

We had decided not to do a whole craft day, or any big projects. This little one was just right, to satisfy the creative urge but still leave plenty of time for just relaxing.

Pictured:

Suzanne Duda and Lori Oles

And of course, was a great excuse to soak up Jenn's stellar studio. And pose. We did a lot of posing.

d And smiling. Tons of smiling.

Friends, fun, and a farmhouse

free images, Travel, wallpaper, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2013

Gorgeous old paper, isn't it?

Suzanne gave us a tour of the 1875 farm house she is redoing and I was wildly enamoured with this wallpaper in the front parlor.

We are a bunch who appreciates old paper, and there was a chorus of oohing and ahhing during the sneak peek into the home.

Each room had layer upon layer, and Suzanne is patiently peeling it away in her labor of love to redo this stately, old charmer.

She was able to pull some of it away in big sheets. And she shared them with us! I was surprised to see how nicely this gold paper came away from the birds and vines below it.

This is probably a more typical outcome. Harder for her, of course, but lovely to see in all of it's crackly, peely, wonderfulness.

As much as I hate to see the aged papers being taken off and disposed of, once she showed us a finished room, I was able to let go of my feelings of loss.

Suzanne had the workers indulge her and finish this room while still doing demo on the rest of the home, so that she would have a place to go and have faith in the project's completion.

Smart plan, huh? It is an elegant and beautiful spot, an oasis in all the demo mess. Although, I hope that chandy doesn't give her too much trouble in keeping the crystals clean.

pictured: Lori Oles, Hope Wallace Kearny, Suzanne Duda, Jennifer Hayslip, Andrea Singerella, and me

The home sits on 22 acres, and Suzanne has a golf cart for buzzing around in.

We took a ride down to the lake, and out into the woods on a curving trail cut through the trees.

There were lots of photo ops. I don't think we missed a single one.

Lots of out buildings are on the property too.

So much work has been done already, and Suzanne has big plans for the home and grounds. She has a lot of people who love her and believe in what she is doing, while backing her up and helping her with the project too.

Including her adorable son who took a break from tearing out walls to snap photos of the group of us. With all of our phones and cameras. He's a cutie, isn't he?

We happened to be in town for her birthday and Jenn picked up a cake, topped with pink roses, Suzanne's favorite. And when you make the roses out of icing, they are my fave too. YUM

Even though it was her birthday, Suzanne fixed us a feast, at a lavishly set table. We stayed at her home the first night, and it was the coziest, lushest B&B you could ever visit. Big, ole. soft sofas, a warm and happy kitchen, everything was infused with Suzanne's over the top, generous soul. She is a dream hostess.

And I plan on stealing her idea for a shutter centerpiece.

Our night was relaxing and full of laughter. Maybe a little wine too… There could have been a couple glasses sipped while she opened her gifts.

Which explains why I didn't get more photos of her beautiful, shabby chic home.

That first night, we were so busy catching up and giggling, that I didn't get my camera out much.

I made up for it the rest of the trip, and was glad to get some "before" pics of the fab farm. I have all my fingers and toes crossed that I'll be invited back someday to see the "afters" too.

Not just because I can't wait to see her vision of her farmhouse fulfilled, (I know it is going to be beyond beautious), but because she is a person that I wished I could spend more time with. What fun weekend, I can only hope to repeat it again someday when all the refurbishments are done on the home.

(you can click on the first image to open in a larger window, save to your computer and print it for use in your art) I'll have photos of the rest of the trip coming soon.

Happy Times and Whammy Times

Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / August 4, 2013

The Summer Of Whammy is going well. Although little Dewdrop has taken to calling me Gammy instead of Whammy now. And Twinkle has gone from Schminkle to Winkle. Just this little tidbit of change is enough to remind me that they won't be little for long and I need to cherish this time with them.

Taking most of the summer off to be a Fairy Grandmother was a good choice.

We had both girls for a weekend and decided to pack up and go to Omaha because Dewdrop had never been to that zoo.

And it is a world class, wonderful, place to go. The exhibits are more like adventures than cages and it has all been beautifully done. I can't get enough of the butterfly garden or the bayou swamp.

We had lunch in a cafeteria over looking the rain forest. (I can't say that the food was good, but the fairies didn't seem to mind as long as they could watch monkeys while they ate)

Six and 11/12ths is a bit old for a stroller, but for our sanity and hers, we spent the day pushing both kids in a double wide.

We also didn't try to cram in the whole park. We ambled, we took our time, we stopped to climb on statues or look at fountains.

When we stopped at the playground, I over heard a frustrated mom say to her kids, "I didn't spend all this money for you to hang out on a playground, let's go look at the lions." I know she had a valid point, but for us, it didn't matter what we saw or how many exhibits we made it to, it was about Happy Time.

And when someone (I'm not naming names, here) got cranky, we left early. When Happy Times ended, so did we, it was time to drive around in the car till a nap spontaneously occured.

Even with a good nap, after a couple of hours of hotel splash pad/swimming she was BEAT.

So, it was stories, Netflix on the iPad and hanging out in the room. We weren't trying to "get our money's worth" from the trip, we were all about Happy Time.

And boy, did we get plenty of that.

When I was younger, I would probably have pushed my sons to get through the whole zoo. Thinking I'd drove 3-1/2 hours and spent a fair bit of change on the trip, we needed to see it all.

It's nice to be a mellow, old lady and to enjoy what is right there, right now, and know when enough is enough.

A Sea Fairy, and a bad trip that was better than it should have been

fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 25, 2013

My husband travels a lot on business. I used to tag along sometimes, but he often travels with coworkers, or the timing is wrong, or I've got too much going on, so I just don't get to go as often as I used to. But I do pester him about when he will be headed to the Outer Banks again and hint that I'd like to be there when he goes.

An opportunity came up this week to go with him on part of his trip, and he flies so much that I get a free buddy pass to go anywhere he heads to on Southwest, so I packed my bag and headed out for a couple of days oceanside while he worked.

The day started off with a delayed flight.But not too bad, we knew we could still make our connecting flight.

Apparently it wasn't delayed long enough. As soon as the plane took off, the baby sitting behind us filled his diaper up. If the plane was a couple minutes later, the poor kiddo could have been changed before boarding. And the delays were due to storms, so a bumpy flight means everyone stays in a seat belt, which means mom and dad can't take the baby to the lavatory to change him. He was MAD and screamed to let us all know. But he smelled worse than he sounded.

The whole day was turning kinda smelly on us. I got lost at the airport (embarrassing and really, really dumb), but we made our connection. We landed safely before a big storm hit, but the storm caused a delay in unloading the luggage. A 3-1/2 hour delay. Could have been worse, at least we got to land.

There was no internet and I couldn't download a book to replace the one I'd just finished on my iPad, so I had to buy a real book to read while waiting for bags. Which ended up being a happy accident. This was a fun beach read.

And it was short, which was good, because our beach time got shortened too. My husband got a call cancelling our trip, he had to fly to a different city the next afternoon!

Due to the first flight being late and the second one holding our bags hostage for hours, we only had a partial evening after drivng from Norfolk to Kitty Hawk. But we found a restaurant with a covered patio serving frosty margaritas with fresh seafood and live music. Plus, the singer sounded a bit like Rob Thomas. Very nice.

Then I had a walk on the beach the next morning until check out time came along at the hotel. Having grown up spending lots of time in Sarasota, FL with my grandma, I developed a love as deep as the ocean for all things beachy, so a few hours on the sand is much better than none at all and was worth the trip.

My plans were to walk up the coast and gather a bag full of shells. But as I went along, I noticed that the shells were all broken. And looked like toenails.

When I saw this one, I thought it looked like a witch's toenail. And bent down to take a closer look. I started to notice that all the shells while broken, were still really nice.

They were like beach glass, buffed and shined, with smooth edges. As if they were ready to be placed into a jewelry setting. I even found some hearts here and there, not just toenails.

And I could be wrong, but I think some of this is beach glass. What do you think?

These were not the shells I'd gone seeking, but I was liking them. Just like this wasn't the vacation we'd planned, it was still nice to get away and see the sea.

Then, I came across this broken shell, which should have been sharp, but was buffed smooth by the waves. And I knew what I wanted to do with the shells I'd been picking up on my walk.

All of my collected bits and pieces were just waiting to become a sea fairy. I'd picked up all the right components for a flower petal skirt, and a perfectly shaped head. (I hope she doesn't mind that I gave her cankles and clown feet)

I was tempted to pack her back up and bring her with me to reassemble in Kansas, but she seemed to belong there, so I left her in a fairy ring, hoping some little girl would find her and be excited.

Most of the time, there are happy little surprises lurking for all of us, if we look hard enough and can get past only seeing our troubles. I sure had to remind myself a few a lot of times during that trip. I had some grumbles here and there, but in the end, it all worked out.

Royalty

celebrations, family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 3, 2013

Pure bliss. Sugarwings has loved Ariel since she was barely two.

While she is enamoured of all the Disney royalty, and can insert herself into any of their stories, she has always been loyal to her first and best favorite, Ariel.

During the princess luncheon at Cinderella's castle, she was pretty much in heaven and happy to meet these people whose stories she can't get enough of.

Each princess is announced as they walk into the room, and then they make their way around to each table for photo ops and chats. As Sugarwings spoke to Snow White, Ariel's visit was announced, and poor Snow was dissed mid-sentence for a view of the most wonderful princess of them all.

Snow White was set aside like a pile of dirty socks the minute Ariel walked into the room.

As she waited nervously for her special princess to come around to our table, she clutched her chest and told me, "I just don't know what I'm going to say to her when she comes here!!". Which is completely unlike our little chatterbox who is never at a loss for words.

This is a little girl who lives more in her imagination than in the real world around her, to her, this was all 100% real. So, after meeting Jasmine at lunch, she was not surprised to see a look alike of her, in a waitress uniform at a different restaurant that evening.

Our supper waitress was named Jasmine and Sugarwings was as happy to meet her that night as she had been earlier in the day. Jasmine told us that most little girls dismiss her when they don't see a fancy gown, but Sugarwings is a girl who knows that princesses don't always have to wear a dress to be royal through and through. (My husband preferred the lunchtime Jasmine's costume)
It was all quite special, but anytime we can watch our little grand fairy indulge her imagination is wonderful to us. And it was fun to be able to give her mommy a first time visit here and to watch her become a little girl again too.

PS- If you are going to Disneyworld, I highy reccommend the food and everything about the meal at the castle. And any food at all you get at the California park.

The Florida one, on the other hand, seems to have a lower standard for Food and Beverage, at least on the few trips I've been to it. And it is hard to get into a restaurant without reservations. Unless you want to eat hot dogs or other fast food, make a reservation or pack a picnic. Next time I go, I'm taking a cooler and a picnic lunch. We rented a double stroller to haul our stuff and to keep Sugarwings where we could find her, so it would have been easy to put a cooler in there too.

Disney Hollywood Studios

family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 30, 2013

When we planned the trip to Florida, we had some other ideas for the week than what we actually ended up doing. My husband had a chance to go on a bucket list, lifetime dream, golf trip to Scotland and it overlapped our existing family jaunt to Disney.

Luckily, we were using Southwest to get to Orlando and could shuffle his flights around. He was able to meet us in FL a day late, with no penalties.

And our hotel in Cocoa Beach wasn't too far from Orlando to return to fetch him at the airport the next evening. I was glad we'd settled on staying there, and not going to the Gulf coast like we'd thought about.That drive would've been too much out of the day.

The girls and I spent a fun day at the beach, but decided the next morning to head out to Orlando early and hang out at Disney Hollywood Studios before heading to the airport to pick him up. It wasn't in the budget, and it wasn't in the plans, but we decided Budget Smudget and went anyway.

Our Hippy Chick is a Star Wars fan and it was the theme of the weekend there. And I'd never been to that park, so was curious.

We saw that it had a Little Mermaid show, so that was the clincher. There was also a Disney Jr. show that included Sofia the First, which was really important to someone in our group.

I'm not sure if I'd recommend that park to everyone. It isn't any cheaper than the big parks there, and doesn't have as much to do. If you are buying a Park Hopper pass, it would be good to stop there and visit, but a ticket to just that one park is kind of pricey for what you get, at least compared to the other places to see at Disney.

Although, Sugarwings wouldn't say that. She loved it. It's smaller and less crowded, even with the Star Wars hullabaloo going on. She isn't into the rides as much anyway and is happy wandering around.

Trading character pins was something she got a real kick out of. Aunt Terry had sent her a dozen or so to get started and we found a princess lanyard to stick them on. She was ready to roll. And her eagle eye could spot a princess pin on a Disney employee from 20 feet. By the end of the weekend, her collection was pretty much all royalty.

It was a good activity for a little girl like her. She enjoyed the personal attention from the park employees she traded with and made a lot of friends by approaching them to offer her trades.

The one big ride there, at least that we found, was the movie tour. We got seats in the front of the train, and Sugarwings, of course, made instant best friends with the driver, Amber.

The ride started out lovely, with a greeting from Mary Poppins. But things went downhill fast when 1930s gangsters attacked the train and abducted Amber from the driver's seat. Then, a Bad Guy took over the steering wheel.

To make matters worse, he took us through outer space where an Alien popped down from the ceiling at our heads. Remember how ugly that guy Sigourney Weaver battled was? I don't think Sugarwings expected that after the trauma of losing Amber.

Soon, Amber was back and good as new and the Bad Guy was blown up by Indiana Jones or something like that. The rest of the ride included a visit to Oz, so our little Dorothy would have forgiven anything and rode it over and over.

As we started to leave, she ran back to hug Amber because she was so happy her friend was okay. I think it made Amber's day, she seemed genuinely touched. Sugarwings has that hugging skill that makes a lot of people feel special, and we got a lot of "awwwwws" that trip.

Cocoa Beach

family, Food and Drink, guncles, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2013

We had the best trip! I wish we had the whole family there, missing them was the only bad part of the week. The rest was just plain delightful.

The Guncles even drove down from Jacksonville to visit.

We were celebrating the Hippy Chick's graduation from nursing school, and the guys joined us for dinner on the pier in Cocoa Beach.

Guncle Randy surprised Sugarwings with a pink rose, which in her mind, instantly turned her into a fairy tale princess, and she had to go lay down on the floor with it on her chest, awaiting her prince to bring true love's kiss to wake her up. This reaction is pretty common with her, for many items. When biting into a carmel apple at Disney World, she collapsed in a dramatic swoon.

I'd never stayed at Cocoa Beach before. We chose to be there a few days before our Disney adventure since it was so nearby. And we were very happy with that choice, good restaurants, nice beaches, affordable hotel, and lots of big cruise ships to watch as they left Port Canaveral.

This little one grinned most of the trip.

And played nonstop.

Till one point where she just fell sound asleep right in the sand, and couldn't go on another moment. I don't think I'd ever seen her this worn out. She is quite the whirlwind of a kid.

But even the most energy packed person in the world can be done in by fun in the sun!

And boy, was there a LOT of fun.

Brier Rose

bird song art event, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 19, 2013

Elaine at Brier Rose has sent these beautiful, hand made half dolls for sponsor gifts to all of our Birdsong Peeps!!!!!!!!

I swear, the sponsors have been just Delightful (Sugarwing's and I call everything delightful, but these sponsors certainly deserve the term)

I've been blown away by the sweetness that has come in the mail. I'll have more goodie bag treats to show you after my trip.

Yep, I said trip. On the road again! Seems like I've been hopskipping from one place to another since 2013 started. Hawaii, Florida, California, and now Florida again. When I was in CA, what seems like a couple days ago, I went to Disney with Terry who is a Disney expert. She lives in Utah, but has season passes to both parks.

She gave me quite the grand tour of the park, and lots of tips for what to do with Sugarwings when I take her. We are headed to the beach and then to Disney World in FL to celebrate the Hippy Chick's graduation from nursing school (with honors and president of the senior class, if that doesn't deserve a trip to Disney, what does??)

While I'm away, please forgive me for not being so prompt with emails, but I will have my iPad with me and if you order one of my tutes, I'll get the codes to you by the next day. The newest one is this bird cage/cloche wire concoction.

When I get back, I'll be in full on zoom speed to finish up details and get Birdsong ready. I'd hoped to make food ahead of time to freeze, but my family had a flu bug and I'm such a germaphobe that I was afraid to bake anything, just in case I might have some flu clinging to me somehow.

At Home with the Guncles

dogs, family, guncles, Travel

By Karla Nathan / April 9, 2013

I swear, I could wear out a camera at Randy and Kevin's house. Cutest dogs, ever, a great collection of, well, too many things to count, and fun stuff going on all the time.

And it was very touching to me, that with all the cool collections and fabulous antiques they have, I saw bits and pieces of my own art work all around the house. This is a nest from my wire workshop

They've added some white birds for Spring to the cabinet of white pottery.

I'd love to find a top hat like this silk one they have. It's hosting some paper clay creations I sent to them. The little elf is supposed to look like Kevin.

Hmm, kind of hard to tell from this photo.

There is a string of crystals hanging in the window of their patio room, that sends prisms all around the space every afternoon. Here is Kevin, sprinkled in "light birdies", as my Sissy always calls them.

On Sunday, we spent the day in Randy's craft room with our pal, Regina. Over the years, he and I painted the entire room, floor and ceiling with murals, but there are so many treasures in there, not much shows!

Tad and Tillie ( Beloved Bishons of the Past) watch over us as we work there.

Regina worked on making a bird cage like the ones we had done at Karen's for the workshop at the Kozy Kottage. Randy made cards (his specialty) and I cranked out a couple dozen birds to decorate my studio for Birdsong.

Randy also prepped the background for this painting he asked me to do. A friend of his had a painting of a white peacock wearing pearls and he loved it, and asked me to copy it. I don't like to copy, but told him I'd do another version of it my own way.

So, he found a swan in his wild life books and asked me to paint her. The back ground is metallic, and the bird is regular paint. I think it really makes the swan stand out in a dramatic way.

The swan in the book had red eyes, but I went for pink. It was a quick job, and there were some things I'd have tweaked if I had time, but I was finishing it up Monday before I went to the airport, and had to rush. Of course, at that point, I didn't know my flight was cancelled and I'd have hours to sit at the airport.

Randy is so kind about my artwork, he is my #1 collector. Here is a watercolor of Zack that hangs in the craft room.

There is also a big screen TV in there, and he has a cabinet full of shows. I was able to get caught up on the few episodes of Downton Abby that I had missed and we watched Les Mis while working too. Funny, when I "watch" TV while working, I rarely look up. At one point, I finally looked at the screen and was wowed, it was really a good picture. I hadn't even noticed that it was such sharp high def.

I should ask what brand it is, I'm in the market for a new one myself.

Yep, it was a fun visit. Great food, great friends, great fun, great crafts, great TV picture (hey, that's important!) and great dogs.

Whimsy and fun at every corner. Accompanied by fresh shrimp.

And there are always big, brown eyes looking up into your face.

I'll leave you with some pictures around the house. There is a treat every place you look there!

In the Guncles’ Garden and some travel woes

family, flowers, guncles, Travel

By Karla Nathan / April 7, 2013

On my trip to Florida, I didn't even make it anywhere near a beach. As much as I love staring at the ocean, on a quick trip, I'm so happy at the Guncle's house I don't even remember that the Atlantic is nearby.

Their home and garden are so inviting, and they are so welcoming, it's a joy to be there and part of their little family.

After the cold Feb. and March we've had in KS, I was happy just to see some sunshine. While I was there, it was snowing up a blizzard back home. I thought my timing was great for the trip when I heard that. Originally, I had planned to go home on Sunday, but there was such a huge difference in ticket prices, that I changed it to Monday to help out Karen, who was gifting me with the ticket.

And it snowed at home on Sunday, so I thought I'd made the right choice, I had a craft day with Guncle Randy and some time to hug the doggies.

But the snow caused major airline delays on Monday too. I sat at the Jacksonville airport for hours before it was confirmed that I was not getting home that night. My cold had turned into a pounder of a sinus infection and I wanted my own bed more than anything else.

The guncles are the best hosts ever, but I needed to get home somehow and if I stayed overnight again in Jacksonville, I wouldn't be able to catch a flight till the next evening, plus the guys would have to work, so I wouldn't even see them till time to catch a ride to the airport.

Normally, I am pretty tough. But I think, being sick for a few days away from home and trying to pretend I wasn't sick through all the social activities that were too fun to miss, had worn me down. I am embarrassed to say that I called my husband crying when I found out I was stuck at the airport.

What a big baby.

And of course, tears do NOT make a sinus problem feel any better. The pounding became a steady wallopping.

So, my husband got online and found the quickest route home, through nashville, away from the snowy places, then early the next morning, back to KS and home by 8:30 am. He arranged a hotel and shuttle for me too, and I felt much better.

Now, all that is stuff I could do myself with no trouble, but it was sweet for him to take over and take care of me. It's sure nice to have someone who cares enough to take charge when you are down.

And it doesn't hurt to let someone take care of you sometimes. As moms or grammies we tend to always be the ones who take care of everyone else, don't we?