Travel – Page 23 – Karla's Cottage

Maui dreams

By Karla Nathan / January 28, 2013

We had a welcoming committee waiting when we got back from Hawaii. Sweet Sweet Sweety was happy to see us and was perched by the door asking for attention as we pulled up. (my porch needs some attention too, huh? Christmas branches? Let's just pretend they are "winter decorations" not holiday ones, okay?)

The grand fairies liked the souvenir tees they got, but I think what they really liked was the boxes and bags of macadamia nut and chocolate candies we filled a carry on up with.

Our trip was the best ever. Terry and Dale, my in-laws, were there for 3 weeks (lucky ducks) and greeted us at the airport with leis. I wore mine till it was brown and limp, and still the scent lingered on, so I kept it draped across the lamp shade in our room.

I hope we get to go back again some day. It could very well be the prettiest place in the world. Even the overly populated and tourist areas are lovely.

Its definitely varied, from dessert, to bamboo, to ocean, to rain forest. All of that on a single polka dot in the middle of the Pacific.

We participated in lots of tourist activities. Our travel buddies had been there a week before us and knew all the best places to go ahead of time, not just from that week, but from years of experience. It was nice to let go and let them plan. They were kind enough to haul us from one fantastic place to another.

Terry even took me to a swap meet for some cute little ticky tackys to take home as remembrances. And she isn't a swap meet type shopper. I think she enjoyed it too, we both made a good haul there.

The swap meet had lots of $4 tee shirts, plenty of junk, but also some nice things made by local artists, farmer's market goods, and a few vintage things. Terry surprised me with this necklace from a jewelry vendor whose work I admired. I don't know how she managed to sneak buying it with me standing right next to her! It was a sweet surprise. The stone is larimar, and it will always remind me of the ocean in Maui.

My favorite part of the whole trip was just simply being there, soaking it all in, listening to the ocean outside the balcony of our hotel.

I almost admitted to you that my most favorite part was sleeping, but I don't want everyone to know just how boring I really am.

But, dang! That was the BEST sleep of my life! Not only was the weather perfect, and the air bug free so that we could leave the sliding doors open all week, but we could listen to this fountain as well as the ocean in our dreams.

I slept 8-10 hours, and while it felt like a deep, deep, restful snoozefest, I still was aware of the sounds of the water. So soothing.

My body stayed on Kansas time, and I was up before the sun every day about 5 or 6 am. For those of you who did the math, yes, I was in bed by 8 some nights. I never see the sunrise around here, I'm never up that early on Central Time, so it was quite a treat. My mornings over looking the ocean and drinking Kona coffee were highlights of my trip. Waking up was as much fun as going to sleep.

Oh my, I am a little old lady, aren't I???? Who goes to Hawaii then talks about how good the sleepin weather is there???

The food wasn't bad either. I loaded up at a local fruit stand a couple of times.

The same fruit I buy in Kansas, was sooooo different there. The pineapples were beyond juicy and ripe, so much so that there was no core at all, we ate the whole thing. No fibery center like we have in the ones at home.

Funny, though. Roadside, the pineapples were $10, and at the Safeway they were $7. Today at Walmart in KS they were only $2. Now I have to say, the fresh in Maui ones were so good, they were worth ten bucks, but it confuses me that its cheaper to ship them across the world than to buy them straight off the bushes.

Everything there was pricey. Beyond pricey.

But the beauty was free. I loved the little touches I found, like this painted weed outside a store.

And the floral message left in the banyan tree courtyard.

Little details kept catching my eye, like this recycled glass used in planters of a parking lot. It sparkled so bright, I was drawn right to it. We were hunting back and forth, up and down for a parking spot, but instead of watching out for one and being a helpful passenger, I kept saying, "Is that GLASS?" "That is so sparkly, what on earth do you think it is?" "Maybe that is glass!"

Parking is not easy on Maui. Lot of cars and not enough spaces to put them. Plus the spots are tiny. Who drew the parking lot lines anyway? Some one who only drives a moped?

I have more photos and more to say, but I have a grand fairy visiting now and need to go scoop up my hugs. I have ten days of lost huggin time to make up for.

To be continued…..

ps- last day to enter the drawing for one of Amy's books!

A Hawaii Travel Journal

By Karla Nathan / January 25, 2013

For my trip to Hawaii, I made up a couple of travel journals, one for me, and one for my sister-in-law, Terry, who we are meeting up with in Maui.

This one is for her. The cover is layered in papers, images, paint, and modelling paste.

This one is mine, done in the same way. Its not quite complete, but I can finish my own any time. I wanted to make sure the gift for Terry was ready for the trip.

My plan is to sit on the balcony and watch the ocean, relaxing while I snip and glue as our husbands play golf.

I'm packing old papers, ribbons, lace, and all the essentials to work on these while we are there.

Usually, I'm not a big fan of scrap book paper, it does have its time and place, and this book was right for it. I bought a big, tropical themed stack pack for the main pages.

Then, I created some home made papers for accents.

Using bubble wrap and a wide brush, I blobbed and blotted colors till I got something I thought would look good in the books.

Some of it I tore before gluing in.

And I made lots of pockets to fill up with mementos, while leaving plenty of space for journalling too.

I had a great day working on these, I spent an entire afternoon and evening in the studio watching a whole season of Parenthood that I'd recorded and saved. That show had me laughing and crying as I worked, this was a rough season for those Bravermens. After suffering through all of that with them, I was sooo ready for a vacation!

Hopefully, I'll have a full book to show you when I return.

Away

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), puppies!, Travel, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / November 17, 2012

Its hard for me to travel this time of year. I know, I know, its barely November, not even Thanksgiving yet! But I am such a home body and for the last few years we have been on the go so much, that this holiday season, I want to plant myself firmly by the hearth and just soak up all the festiveness that I can.

With the pups around, its even harder to leave.

But I know they are happy with Beth and Jeff.

Those two met the pups before I even got to see them, they came by to help bottle feed when Twinkle gave birth and I was at my family reunion.

As this is posted, I'm in NC at a nephew's wedding. I'm happy to be seeing family and will have a great time with them, but its nice to know that we have not made any more travel plans for November or December. I might put my tree up and just park myself under it to stare at the lights for a while when we get home.

While snuggling these fuzzballs of course.

Geez, I'm homesick and I haven't even left yet. I need to get a grip on myself and go have some fun. If I'm not careful, I'll turn myself into a boring, old, shut in with a houseful of hoarded animals and too many vintage pieces of junk that I tell myself are "supplies" that I will need in the future, not trash!

Oh, but I just love being at home.

Big Cedar and a BIG error in Swap Ettiquette

swaps, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 13, 2012

Last week, we were invited to share the Governor's Suite at Big Cedar Lodge.

That resort is beyond wonderful anyway, but man- that suite is really something! This is the master bath, look at the mosaic surrounding the tub area.

The room has a TV behind the mirror in the bathroom too.

And the resort is located near Branson, smack dab in the center of some beautiful scenery. Its very relaxing and was a much needed getaway. Although, I'm even more behind after being gone for a couple of days.

It was certainly worth being behind, though. Our friends have a time share there and we have joined them in the past when they've rented cabins, but wowzers, this suite was something! I'm glad I didn't turn down the invitation because I was swamped in the studio.

Plus, it was such a fun group! When I wasn't napping by the pool, we were laughing nonstop. All of us had aching jaws from too much smiling.

Since I've been back, I'm still working on the Faery Book Swap. Its a big job, but a fun one. I love assembling the books.

Here are some of the pages I put together for the books on Craft Day last Tuesday.

I am SO PROUD of the swappers. What a great swap! There has been one issue, that really upset me, though.

One lady contacted me to say that there was a page in her book that she threw away at the curb. I was shocked.

Honestly, there is not a page sent in that I wouldn't be proud to have in my own book, this swap was amazing. But everyone does have their own ideas about what art is.

My swaps are not juried, they are open to everyone. And there is a wide range of styles and skills, but you can tell that lots of love and time went into each page. I love the effort and the care that everyone puts forth.

And no, I can't guarantee that each recipient will adore each page in her book, but I do think that politeness would ensure not being mean spirited about it and saying the pages should have been sent back to the artist, not to other swappers!

Simply set that one aside if you really are not happy with it. Don't be hurtful.

Doing a collaborative swap means that you get a variety of pages back. Its much better than a one on one swap, where you could get totally burned if your partner sends something completely not your style. That has happened to me, so I never do one on ones, unless I know the person.

I like to do these big swaps, knowing that no one gets burned. Lots of people drop out at the last minute, some with no notice, others with heartfelt apologies. But in a big swap, that doesn't hurt any of the participants, you send in your amount, get the same amount back, no matter if there are 10 or 100 other swappers.

Hopefully, you will like most of your book. I made an effort to match up the pages so that they flow nicely together.

But if you don't like one of your pages, please be a lady about it. So what if one person's work isn't up to your high standards? Who are you to judge? Lots of time went into these and it hurts me to think that someone could be that angry about a page that they received that they would send me a rant about it.

I begged the irate swapper to not go public and mention this on her blog or facebook. No one needs to know the details. No one deserves to be singled out by someone who doesn't like their work. It would break my heart if one of our swappers was hurtful to another one of the ladies about her pages.

Especially since, it was a nicely done work with quality materials. Done by a person who knows what she is doing, not a newbie, and it was done well. I of course, will not point it out. But I have posted photos of it (not saying which one) in one of my posts about book assembling. And no, I would never embarrass the person who complained by naming her either.

My point, I guess is this. Please be nice. Just because something is not to your taste, doesn't mean others don't like it, or that it is bad art. Quietly remove a page from your book if you really don't care for it, but please be considerate of the work and care that someone else put into it. You would appreciate that consideration from others about your own work, wouldn't you? If you are that easily angered by the standard of work in a swap, maybe you should rethink swapping.

And thank you SO MUCH to the 99% of the swappers in this group, it was a fabulous feast of fairies and I'll miss them all in my studio. And thanks for your patience in me getting them mailed to you, its not a quick process. There are quicker ways I could do it, but I really do my best to make sure that each book is well coordinated.

Strohm Vineyards, An Omaha Oasis

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Food and Drink, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 3, 2012

Over the weekend, we visited some of my husband's college friends for a mini reunion. And I can't imagine a better place to stay than Strohm Vineyards.

My buddy, Lori, has always had a good eye for design, and has a beautiful home, a log cabin in the hills a few minutes North of Omaha in Fort Calhoun.

I've always loved staying with them, John and Lori are excellent hosts, and lots of fun. They are do-it-yourselfers who are always adding on, remodelling, and basically working their butts off to make their place better and better all the time.

Lori is a talented junker. She finds the coolest pieces at garage sales and knows how to display them. (the blue chest in the first photo was only $10!!)

And now their homestead, the "Strohmarosa" is even better than ever, with the addition of a vineyard and a new winery building.

The winery has a fledgling B&B too! Upstairs, over the grape room is a cozy space that we hung out in.

If you are looking for a place to stay while in Omaha, and want to feel like you are NOT in Omaha, this is the perfect getaway. It felt more like visiting a resort in California than a farm in Nebraska!!

This is the view from the bedroom window. We spent a lot of time sitting out in the courtyard, listening to the fountain and enjoying the breeze in the evening.

The Strohms rent out rows of grapes to individuals who want to tend them and then make their own wine.

If I lived closer, I'd want to get a row for myself, just so I could sit up here on the hill and soak up the view after working on the vines.

There are cute little seating areas all around the property, this one features a bonfire pit.

I met the Bluebird of Happiness there! Lori has bluebird houses all around the property and everywhere I went, there were happy bluebirds flying by.

Plus Yorkies too!

That is my fault. I gave them this guy, Walker, 14 years ago and he started a dynasty of pups. I got to visit my grand-dog and great-grand dog.

This winery building is new, and they will still be fine tuning and adding on. I think there are plans for renting the space out for events, and they are planting and landscaping around it with out door dining and weddings in mind.

Don't you love the labels on the wine? Their son is a photographer and created the design.

The wine is not for sale yet, they don't have a liquor liscence. I will be first in line to buy a case when they do. There was a sweet, white one that I really liked.

They have set aside a room in their home for wine storage, and that is where we sat down for meals, its also the dining room.

LIke every room in the home and winery, its warm and welcoming.

With wine themed details everywhere, like this old book.

The weekend went by way too quickly. Omaha is only 3 hours away, my husband and I need to make more of an effort to get up there. I love Old Town for shopping, the zoo is one of my favorite places to go, and we have these wonderful friends there too.

Heck, why did I say you might want to visit Omaha and not feel like you are there? I love Omaha, its got a LOT to offer. Anyone would love a getaway to that city!

I found Hat Heaven (and the giveaway winner)

antiques/junking, flowers, give away, junk, Travel, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / June 21, 2012

Our trip to NC was just perfect.

A highlight was a shopping day with my sis-in-law.

Actually, we had TWO fun afternoons of junking. Our first was at the Vintage Village, and I was captivated the minute we got out of the car.

And the best part of it all was Susanna's Antiques, where I went to meet my blog friend, Jenny.

She and her mom have a cute as a bug shop together- filled with too much to fit in my suitcase…

(yep, my eyes are closed in this photo, of course)

Another friend, Becca, took a break from work, and came by to visit too.

The mall was just wonderful. If I needed a light fixture, I'd be looking there for it. They had the best selection of old chandies at good prices that I have seen in a long, long time.

And the atmosphere of the whole area was just plain fun. I loved all the little cottages and piles of junk out doors amid the plants and flowers. The best part was a fresh fruit stand where we bought ripe Carolina peaches and washed them in a garden hose to eat while we walked around.

I had some great food while on our trip, but those peaches were hard to beat.

Then, I saw the hats. Hats, hats, hats everywhere!!!!!!!!!

Hat Heaven.

If you need floral hats, head to see Jenny. But wait a bit, I cleaned her out for now.

Don't worry, she has plenty of other pretty things to buy.

I don't know why I didn't buy this print.

But I did snag this story book for my grand fairies.

Jenny had some of her work there for sale too, she makes these vintage brooch bouquets for brides.

And how sweet is this? This bracelet was a gift from her.

The next day, my sis-in-law, Sandy, and I went to the flea. There is one every weekend at the fair grounds, and it was a good one. I bought a ton more flowers and hats, as well as bags full of broken rhinestoney jewelry.

I bought so many hats, that I had to pull all the flowers off to make them fit into my suitcase. Sandy was horrified, she collects old hats and thought I was too ruthless. But she ended up helping, and we sat on the balcony of her son's home drinking wine, plucking hats and playing with her little Yorkies.

Now that we are home, Sandy, Dixie, and Daisy have come to stay with us for a while. They'll be good for Twinkle, she misses her Agnes Rosebud.

That is, if she doesn't try to rip their cute, fuzzy heads off. She doesn't like many dogs.

After a few days with family in Raleigh, we drove to the Outer Banks. This was a work trip for my husband, I was just tagging along, which is a nice way to travel. For me at least, my poor husband had to work all day while I goofed off on the beach.

He was able to be done working in time for romantic walks on the beach, and watching the sunset on the sound. Then, stuffing ourselves with locally caught seafood.

We stayed in Duck, NC and it was a very peaceful, quiet beach. I wonder why there weren't more people there? It was beautiful.

Oh, I forgot to announce the winner of my giveaway!! This collage goes to:

Linda Owen Postma

Thoughts on blogging

family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 23, 2012

Lately, its been really hard for me to get back in the swing of things. I'm so out of my normal routine that I can't seem to find my way back into it.

Its been a LONG time since I've taken care of my Boutique, and that poor little neglected Etsy shop… the poor thing, it is just going to whither up and die if I don't add something soon.

For the whole month of April, I was working on getting things set up for Birdsong, then had the event itself and my double the fun vacation at Tiffany's then onto Disney with the grand fairy.

Since that, I've limped back into production slowly, and not so surely. My days have been more catch up than getting ahead. I'm happy to say that I finally made something new, at a fun craft day with Beth a few days ago, and I actually listed some supplies in the Boutique.

These are new buckles that I oxidized to create a vintage looking patina on.

I've done the same with some pink rhinestone chain.

And some aurora borealis chain too. Its not much, I really need to get photos of the piles of stuff waiting to be sold posted onto the site.

But honestly, I've been just puttering my way through the weeks, not getting a lot done. Mostly goofing off stuff, like I think I'm still on vacation. We've gone to the zoo, had tea parties, I've done yard work, edited trip pictures, messed around with rearranging the studio, wrote in my blog, visited friends, sat in the yard and watched the new chickens, just fun little things.

My blog is supposedly "work" for me. Its how I sell things. But, if I don't have things to sell, its not really working, its just hanging out!

Which brings me to this- my buddy, Carol, gave a talk at Tiffanys. She spoke about blogging, business, and related topics.

Here are some things that came up in the interesting discussion with the crowd. Is blogging dead? Do people even read them any more?

If you blog, should it be all business? Some thought posts should be direct and short, and stick to a subject. That people only cared about photos, or only about Pinterest, not blogs. But where do you get the photos for Pinterest if there are no blogs, I wonder?

Others said they hate blogs that try to push shopping on you. That they feel used if a blog is just used for self promotion.

The way I see it, if I don't use my blog to sell some stuff here and there, I have no excuse to keep one and will have to get a (god forbid) REAL job (gasp!).

Even though I show photos of whats new in the shop (when I get off my behind and add something to the shop, that is), I try not to cram it down the reader's throat. And its hard for me to stick to just business, although I think my family would prefer that I did. Or to keep it short and simple.

What do you look for in a blog?

Do you think blogs are on their way out?

How do you read them, if you do- Facebook, Googlereader?

Tiffany Blue

hand painted signs, Travel, We're having a party, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / May 17, 2012

The best part of going to these art events, like Tiffanys, is the people.

Great people, great friends. I might only see them randomly at various arty weekends, but we pick right up where we left off and continue the fun that started at the last party.

I've met some people who I consider very close friends, not just acquaintances or work friends at these places.

I have great memories of this latest trip, and many pretty pictures to show you. But since the people I meet there mean so much to me, this post has not come easy.

I share more than laughs with these ladies. I care about them. And I cherish our times together.

So I don't want to be flip and go on and on about how wonderful it all was.

Believe me, it was WONDERFUL, Kim is an over the top, talented hostess who attends to every detail. The teachers and classes were lovely. The decor amazing. The women were the best.

But there was also heart break this time.

My long time, Bella buddy lost her husband in an accident while we were there.

I'm glad she was surrounded by some of her closest friends when she got the news. The ladies she was with that day were good people who had sturdy shoulders to cry on, and strong hearts to offer support.

I do have more pictures to show you, and it was a lovely weekend. But my heart aches for her now.

She should be proud and thankful that the night before her husband's accident, she was saying very nice things about him and not complaining as many of us tend to do when we are idly talking about our husbands. Not a negative word left her mouth when she talked about the two of them restoring a cabin together and about his job as a fireman.

Lots of us might (me included) might throw in a snide or complaining comment about a husband's design choices, forgetfulness, or who knows what when talking about doing a project like that together or be crabby about the long hours he works at his job.

She spoke with pride about his work and with happiness talking about their project.

The minute I heard the news about her loss, I had to call my own loved one right away and tell him how much I appreciated him. You never know when it could be too late. Or when your last conversation about someone was not a flattering one.

Delightful Disneyland

Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 11, 2012

This little angel doesn't look exhausting, does she? Oh, but she kept us running!

She was worth the chase, and I loved our trip to Disneyland.

Especially since we went off season, and on a Monday. NO LINES. And I mean NONE.

We loved Ariel's ride so much that we just stayed on it and kept going round and round, we didn't even have to get off and get back in line. Because there were NO LINES! wow, I was happily surprised by that.

All of the characters we met were happy to see us and spent some time conversing. Alice really liked the white rabbits on Sugarwing's dress.

Before our trip, I bought a few cutey pie dresses on sale at TJMax for about $10 each, with some leggings and light sweaters for layering to keep up with weather changes. That was the right choice, and I thought she looked adorable. Even with the dresses pulled up over her head most of the time. At least they all had underskirts.

But the highlight of the park for our kiddo? Ariel, her hero. We made reservations at Ariel's Grotto for lunch, and the morning leading up to meeting the world's most wonderful princess was filled with anticipation.

Finally, lunch time came, after hours of Sugarwings telling us she was soooo hungry, trying to convince us that we should go straight to the restaurant at about 9am. And 9:15, 9:16, and so on.

Meeting her idol was everything she had hoped it would be.

And was followed by meeting a few of the "lesser" princesses, who while weren't as dreamily ideal as Ariel, were all beautiful and she was happy to meet them.

Our own princess was so exicted by Belle, that she did a twirl for her and whacked her elbow on the wall. Belle was kind enought to kiss her arm and make it feel better.

Cinderella sat down to chat.

Sugarwings didn't see any reason to let her lunch get cold just because royalty was visiting. She got a laugh from each princess who came by, just by being her own sweet, silly self.

She sure kept us entertained.

From her insistance that her Lego race car had to be the tallest one ever.

(even tho it would only roll a couple inches)

To her zest in chasing down every character that she saw. (Even though it was a bit like being outside with Twinkle when she sees a bunny and takes off. Zoom, she was GONE. )

Good thing the park wasn't crowded, and we could easily follow her.

And her joy in the small things, spot lights, statues, flowers, etc. This kid would have been fine not going on a single ride, she was happy with just poking around and looking at all the details. She played with this spot light on the carpet for about 30 minutes while her tired, old grandparents enjoyed the break and sat on a sofa in the air conditioning while clips from our favorite movies played on the giant screens.

I'd never been to Disneyland in CA before, and it won't be my last time. I enjoyed the small, compact size of it, and the fact that everything was in walking distance. No boat to the tram to get to the parking lot to drive to the hotel like you have to endure at the Florida park.

We could easily walk to the hotel mid-day to take a break and rest, then walk back later on for more fun.

We stayed at the original, recently remodelled, Disney hotel and it felt upscale and pampering.

I was also thrilled with the quality of the food. We had great meals Downtown Disney and in the parks too. We'd packed lots of organic, healthy snacks to carry with us, so bought very little in the way of junk. A couple little treats here and there, just because it was a vacation. But mostly, we sat down at good restaurants and ate grilled fish, or chicken, and lots of veggies.

By bringing our own snacks, we saved a lot of cash and could spend more at restaurants and eat much healthier. And it was nice to take the time to have a sit down dinner with a glass of wine after traipsing through the park all day.

Yep, it was all the best.

The only thing that could have made it better, would have been to have the rest of the family with us. I hope we can take them sometime, fun is best when shared.

Home again

Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 10, 2012

We are home from Cali and it was a great trip, but man, am I exhausted! After all the work and excitement of Birdsong, then the Tiffany art retreat right after, and segueing right into chasing a 5 year old fairy as she flitted across Disneyland, I'm beat.

But in a good way.

Pictures later when I recover. (Or should I say, IF I recover?) Whoo, I need a 3 week nap.