Travel – Page 28 – Karla's Cottage

Our Romantic Surprise Getaway

By Karla Nathan / December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

I have a new post, that for some reason, understood only by those people who "improved" Typepad…..any way, who knows why, but my NEW post from Tuesday popped up AFTER this post from Monday night. So, please scroll down if you'd like to see it. And Happy Holidays! May your Christmas be filled with joy and laughter and lots of happy memories to look back on.

We're back from our romantic, surprise getaway! And look at our rustic, cottagey accommodations!

Isn't it adorable??? Actually, this is called Jefferson Pools, it is a hot mineral spring bath house, named after Thomas Jefferson, who used to bathe there. It is part of the resort we stayed at, and I have to say, as lovely as the resort was, I just fell head over heals for this little part of it!

Of course, I didn't realize when the hotel shuttle dropped us off for our one hour dip in the hot springs, that it was going to be quite so… rustic. No heat. No frills. No ROOF. And the day was topping out at about 26 degrees. I'd do it again, it was a fun experience, but I'd do it on a warmer day! And I would bring something warm to wrap up in when I got out of the steamy water. There was actual ice on my sweat pants when I went to get dressed after my dip!!!!!!

This is the resort we stayed at. The Homestead, in Hot Springs, Virginia.

We were lucky enough to have a tower suite.

Of course, with that 26 degree weather, we didn't get to use the balcony, no matter how tempting that beautiful view from it was.

And look— the room was PINK!!!!!!

This little alcove was a cozy , warm, spot to relax and read while sipping wine. I didn't even miss the balcony.

There were lots of old fashioned details that I just loved about the place. I was glad that the bathroom had not been updated to something sleek and trendy. The building was over 200 years old and wasn't trying to pretend to be something it was not.

Everywhere I looked, there was something interesting to see.

With plenty of old photos of the hotel's past on all the walls.

Newspaper clippings and stories about all the presidents who had stayed there.

But the best part was High Tea served in the lobby every day at 3pm while we were serenaded with Christmas music on the piano. Those scones were served warm from the ovens, and the whole hotel smelled heavenly from all the fresh baked goodies.

Imagine my surprise to see so much pink everywhere. The combo of pink cushions, with celedon and aqua walls in this walk way to the spool, spa and gym area was one of my favorite places, too. I guess I had a lot of faves.

The walkway offered a view of the backside of the building, through its old, wavy glass windows.

The swimming pool was filled with natural mineral spring water too. In a slightly more luxurious form than at Jefferson Pools.

Yep, it was kind of schmancy there. Can you see why I was blown away?

She seems to like it there too.

Here is part of the grand lobby where the tea was served. This photo was taken before the party, but by about 2:30 each afternoon, the room would fill up with dozens and dozens of families and couples ready to relax and sip tea. Teams of waitresses and waiters with tray after tray of teapots and treats would file through the room going form table to table passing it all out. I'd go back just for afternoon tea. My husband wasn't as impressed as I was by this, but humored me and sat and sipped along.

He's pretty sweet.

But the poor guy never did get to make it out onto the golf courses. And this place has the oldest first tee still in constant use in the country.

Did I mention the food????? OMG

The BEST. Every bite I ate while there, and I did have more than my share of bites of food, was wonderful. It seemed kind of old fashioned and the menus reminded me of something you would have seen in the 50s or 60s, not in a typical restaurant today. I liked that, and the fact that the building wasn't afraid to show its age. That place had a history to be proud of and didn't feel like everything had to be brand new and shiny. As a person feeling my own age and history, I appreciated its imperfections brought on by age and its time worn loveliness.

In a time when local shopping centers and malls are constantly being abandoned for bigger, better, newer, shinier places, it is wonderful to see a business that has thrived since 1766 and is still going strong. As much as the luxury and beauty of the resort appealed to me, the historical aspect was even more interesting.

Oh, but I did enjoy the luxury!

I’m just a girl who can’t say no to sparkles!

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, paintings, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 29, 2008

More from Karlapalooza- here is a picture Heather took of me, buying- what else?? Gems! Sparkling gems. I was like a magpie that day, constantly stopping for every sparkle I saw out of the corner of my eye.

This guy had piles of boxes of jewels and I couldn’t leave his booth. No prices were on them, he said they ranged from $1 to $7. I told him I’d make a pile and if anything was over a dollar, he could pull it out.

At first, I was trying to be polite and not hog all the good stuff from my friends, but they made their choices and moved on, so I piled it high!

He actually charged me much less than $1 each, because I bought so much. I ended up spending $35 there, not all of this is from that booth. But I didn’t spend over a dollar on anything here but that crystal stoppered bottle, it was $6.

I bought a few baggies of jewels for $3 a bag, and picked out the ones I wouldn’t use. We went to a friend’s house for a cook out last night and I knew his little girls would love to have some jewelry to play dress up with. I promised to bring them more next time I come too.

Heather Karlawski made the most lovely tussie mussie for me, and I thought that was just another example of how much we had in common, since I brought a tussie to her too!

And Kitty Karla had rolled up and decorated pretty vintage papers for us. I haven’t been able to bring myself to unroll it yet, it is too pretty as it is!

And yes– I found some hats! I pulled the flowers off of them and kept the flowers, leaving a couple of the naked hats behind for Heather to work her magic on and foof up. Have you ever seen how pretty Heather makes her hats?? Wow, they are beautiful.

I also bought old calling cards- notice the "Bella" card? I foresee many Silver Bella projects with that image!! And the two dolly dresses are for Sugarwing’s babies. I think that all of her toys at her Grammie Karkie’s house should vintage.

My favorite find of the day was the cake plate all these pretty purchases are sitting on.

It is a metal cake plate music box. When you wind it up, the plate turns and it plays "Happy Birthday"- plus it has roses on it and was only $4!

Sugarwings calls every cake a "happy" since they are often served with a serenade of "Happy Birthday".

She has her 2nd birthday coming up and I can’t wait to bake a cake with her and set it on this cake plate so we can sing along.

I miss my little fairy grand baby!!

I decided that for her birthday on August 16th, I would make a book to give her.

Here is my first sketch and this is the text that will be on the page:

"Sugarwings has a best friend, named Twinkle. Twinks is actually a dog, and Sugarwings is a little fairy girl, but these two think they are sisters. Isn’t it nice when your sister is your best friend?

Of course the two do fuss and argue sometimes. Often they want the same cookie or toy, but they have learned to share."

I have plans for paintings of them at a tea party, with Twink’s head cocked at an angle because she doesn’t understand why the baby is eating pretend cookies and is wondering where the real cookie is. And another page of the the puppy getting Sugarwing’s toes. A total of 6 illustrations and 6 pages of text. Not a big book, but just right for a two year old.

I didn’t take as many photos at the flea market as I should have. We were enjoying the day too much and didn’t stop for photo ops often. Here is Heather and Lori admiring some cute dolls.

I did take LOTS of

pictures of Heather’s home- and by the way, it is even prettier in person. When you walk in, you just feel tranquil, with all the soft colors and pretty things around.

I’ll show more next time!

And remember my TWO giveaways end in a few days, and it is not too late to enter. I will add a piece of the jewelry I bought at Karlapalooza to the prize pack of summertime bright color jewels I have wrapped up for the August giveaway.

And if you are interested in any of the little watercolor sketches from the previous post, the two pink cupcakes and the dove are spoken for. Thanks, Amy, Ruby, and Bobbi!

How to become a fairy, and the Hat Whisperer strikes again!

antiques/junking, celebrations, fairies, family, how to's, Silver Bella, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 3, 2008

At a sweet shop in St Augustine, I picked up a bag of Key Lime Pie hard candies. I can’t belive I still have this many left, they are so good and they remind me of the beach every time I pop one into my mouth!

I miss the beach!

So while my mind is still lingering in vacation mode, I made some scrapbooks to send to Bobbie, Sissy, Randy and Kevin as a momento of our trip.

By the way, the bikini babe is my Sissy who is in her SIXTIES. She’s always been a teeny tiny thing.

One day while sitting on our balcony and watching a storm roll in across the ocean, we saw a rabbit hop across the sand.

That is why I turned these pages into "beach bunnies". I didn’t know there were rabbits on the beach. I thought that all those long eared hopping rodents lived in my yard and were busy at home eating my plants while I was on vacation.

I filled the books with lots of memories of the trip.

This cute, scallopey edged card stock comes in a package at Michaels. One $9.95 package made 4 scrap books, with some left to make at least one more.

I used my binding machine to put the pages together into a book after they were decorated.

Here is how I turned us into fairies:

I made 5×7 copies of a picture of Randy’s garden and wallet sized copies of a photo of the three of us, then cut us out.

Hosta leaves in the garden photo were cut away with an exacto knife. I cut around the plant, so that I could lift the foliage and slide our picture underneath.

Before gluing the photo down, I spritzed Glimmer Mist on watercolor paper, glued the cut out picture of us to it, then drew on wings and cut it all out.

Once the wings were done, I slid the sister picture under the hosta leaves in the garden picture and glued it all in place, then glittered and dood dadded it up.

On Bobbie Sue’s album, she is holding a magic wand, on Sissy’s she has one to hold. I used vintage stick pins for wands and just poked them through the photo at an angle and added a drop of glue.

I tried to add a lot of hand drawn elements, like lady bugs and vines on the pages that show us setting a bag of lady bugs free in the garden to control pests.

Randy raises butterflies, so can’t use any chemicals out there.

I used a lot of Glimmer Mist some pages before adding photos, and did all the writing and drawing with metallic or sparkling pens, so the books have some shimmer to them.

While in St. Augustine, I put my Hat Whispering skills to work.

Most vintage hats I saw in this touristy area were EXPENSIVE. $38-$200!!! My goodness. Lots of hats were in these antique shops, but few were in my price range.

While in one fancy antique mall, the hat search looked hopeless, but I told my sisses that I felt one upstairs, and walked up the stairs, around the corner and into a back room right to it. Loaded with pink and red velvet roses, it wasn’t cheap, but it was affordable and beautiful and some how it had called out to me.

I bought only 3 hats all week, for $4, $9, and $15. But, it does go to show that even in a high dollar shopping area, with the right hat hunting skills, millinery flowers can be affordable!

I kept my souvenir shopping to a minimum. 3 hats, lots of candy, these two shells, and a handful of old charms. Oh, and a pink St. Augustine hoody. I love trashy tee shirts and sweat shirts from tourist trap shops.

The shell necklace pictured IS NOT from a tacky shell shop!!

It is hand made over 80 years ago by my great aunt, Caroline. The lovely box was hers too. She gave me those years ago, along with the turquoise pendant that was her mother’s and the wonderful green glass bead necklace that her grandfather made. Yep, lucky, lucky me!!

Speaking of lucky- I got all the classes I signed up for at Sliver Bella! I was at the keyboard the minute sign ups began. Here is what I signed up for:

Secret Santa Diary/Pam Garrison, Saturday 1:00pm

Home for the Holidays/Pam Garrison, Friday 11:30 am

Christmas Pageant/Teresa McFayden, Saturday 8:30
am

Soldering For Virgins/Sally Jean, Friday 8:00am

Winter Faerie Shrine/Kim Kwan, Saturday 1:00 pm

Total 510.00

Yes, the price went up this year, but it is worth it!! If you haven’t booked your trip yet, do it now before it is full, I can promise you it will be FUN.

100 happy years

celebrations, family, give away, Travel, tributes

By Karla Nathan / July 1, 2008

I miss the beach already. But it is good to be home and have little Sugarwings back in my arms again. Her hippy chick mommy let my fairy grand baby come and have a sleep over tonight since I missed her so much.

But while I was away from Little Sugarwings, my sisses and brother were fun play mates.

Sissy, Bobbie Sue, and I did sand sculptures, picnicked on our balcony over looking the ocean, and shopped, shopped, shopped between family visits.

We danced on the beach in the dark wearing glow sticks too. No, I wasn’t drunk at the time, and even though you probably think I must be quite soused to do this, I am not drunk now when I am posting this photo of a 50 year old granny in a swim suit with a glow stick in her cleavage. Good thing the beach was deserted, I am not the graceful sort and dance a bit like a delirious cow. One decidedly ungraceful ballerina-esque jump had me landing flat on my back in the sand.

As wonderful as the trip was, the highlight of course, was Great Aunt Caroline. Now, that is one graceful, gorgeous, and gracious lady.

She is so sharp, entertaining, and full of stories, it was a delight to listen to her speak with such wit and charm. At 100, she can still tell a tale that has a whole room enthralled from beginning to end.

She was touched by all of the cards, and couldn’t get over the fact that so much time and work went into them.

She has been making beautiful things all of her life, and that cane next to her is a good example. She told us how she collected drift wood from the beach, cleaned and polished and decorated a piece to make this cane.

The painting that I am pointing to was done by Aunt Caroline’s mother, my great grandmother.

And we heard stories that day about how my great-great-grandfather was an artist too. He was a farmer who made beaded jewelry in his spare time. He also collected shells from the beach and hand wired them together into curtains for his parlor. Caroline remembers the tinkling of the shells as the breeze blew them together.

Our Sister Trip was priceless, and the visit to our aunt’s 100th birthday was just the best, and all of your cards helped make it even more special.

Caroline remembered the dress she was wearing in this photo that so many of us used in the cards and was pleased to see it. She told us about making it herself, that in the 30s, all of her clothes were hand made.

For the party, I wore the pearls that she had on in the photo and she also recognized those and told me she appreciated me taking such good care of them. Like I had done something nice for her??? She is really something sweet.

This darling lady is one of those people that looks you in the eyes and makes you think that you have to be the most special person on the planet. She has a sincere caring quality about her that just melts your heart when you meet her.

Since she was so touched by the cards everyone made, I wanted to show you my appreciation by adding a few more prizes to the drawing.

All the cards pictured today are by the people whose names were randomly drawn.

Jen, Alice, Robin, Lili, Melissa, Sherry, Irma, and Sandy, please send me your addresses and I will send you a thank you prize.

I just wish I could do something for all of you for doing this kind and thoughtful thing for my aunt!

As Caroline said when she blew out her candles, "I wish you all this many happy years!"

I prefer white furniture to the White House

antiques/junking, Moving to DC, Travel

By Karla Nathan / February 17, 2008

I’m having a lovely time in our apartment out East. Although it is hard for me to not have anything to do…. I am used to keeping busy. I need to set up an art studio next time I come out or I will go crazy. I’ve done some shopping, some sight seeing,and I filled the freezer with ready to go meals for my husband. I must be bored, if I want to spend the entire afternoon of Vaelntines Day baking and freezing food.

Luckily, Robin, a blogger friend, met me today to keep me company.

We met at Starbucks, and both got phone calls from our husbands to check on us, the guys were worried we were meeting up with internet predators instead of blog friends!

I made sure to get a photo of the guy behind Robin so I could show my husband and pretend that he was right.

Here he is, my new buddy, Thrifty Miss Priss. He does look a bit shifty. But he seemed so nice on the blog!

The REAL Robin was such fun, we ended up talking for 2 hours. She brought me the cutest nesting birdie in a trophy, I promise to get photos of it when I get home, what a perfect gift!! She made one for my buddy, Beth too. Beth and I are getting together on Thursday for some co-craftiness, so I’ll take it to her then. In the mean time, I’ll set them both on my computer where I can enjoy them and try to decide which one I can part with!!

I am in love with the antique shops around here!!! I wished I had a truck with me instead of a camera while shopping. This is the dining set I have been day dreaming about forever. But it would be a bit complicated to get it back to Kansas, and my luggage is already full.

I bought a set of these little plastic plates for Sugarwings and I to play tea party with. That is easy enough to pack.

And when I bought a few of these old blue bottles, I thought, that isn’t so bad either, they’ll be fine in my bags.

But then, I found more bottles. And some paper mache buckets. And some more bottles. Then I found even more bottles.

I’m sure I’ll figure a way to get them all home, and turn them into decorated button jars. Yes, I am just sure I can make them fit. Somehow.

Did I mention that I also found some old hats?

This seems to be the land of prom gowns and flowered hats. Everywhere I look, I see gorgeous, feminine, flowery things.

The hats I bought should be fine, if smashed, I bought them mostly for the flowers, I peel them off and glue them onto other things. And these hats I found are ENCRUSTED with flowers!

I’ve found so many curly-q, carved chairs too. All of this furniture is just my style.

I need a truck!

It causes me pain to go home without this $89 table that just screams my name! I just don’t find stuff this cool at these prices back home. And here I always brag about shopping in Kansas and the low prices. Well, yes we have great prices, but our stuff is more country looking, or primitive, or traditional.

Of course, there is stuff in this style back home too, but not in the abundance that I’ve seen it here, or at the prices I have seen here.

Also, I came across more than one store that was predominately pink and white!

Heck, I feel like canceling my flight home and renting a U-haul and buying a load of stuff to redecorat my house.

One thing I could take home with me, was an IDEA. Look at these stairs!!

I have a plan to pull up the ugly carpet from my stair way, and cover each riser in a different vintage wallpaper, then paint the steps white. Trouble is, my stairs were built to be carpeted, and are very unfinished looking. It will take lots of bondo (meant for car repairs, but great for painted furniture repair too) and sanding. I’ll have to router the edges too. The steps at my house are plain boards, builder grade, not cool, old stairs. I now, HAVE to make them LOOK like cool old stairs. I have a mission!

Here is another tempting piece from Lucketts. Just a bit big for my suitcase. Heck, I am wondering how I will make hats fit, what am I even doing thinking about buying salvage?

In the spring, Luckets has an outdoor flea market. Oh, I will be back for that! The outdoors is pretty cute and fun to poke through now, just picture this area filled with 60 different dealers.

What a pretty thought!

I also went to downtown Leesburg. It was quaint and wonderful, but I didn’t have much time. A lot of the decor there is more traditional or formal like I expected this area to sell.

And OLD. This is a gown that might have been worn by Dolly Madison, from the looks of it!

We ate dinner at Rivercreek Country Club over looking an extraordinary view of the Potomac while in Leesburg. My husband had to work there for the day, I had tagged along and gone on the shopping trip while waiting for him.

We also took a train into downtown DC and looked at dinosaurs and monuments and the White House.

But of course, to me, nothing downtown DC compared to the dining room table I saw at Lucketts! Am I shallow? I was defiantly feeling like Becky Bloomwood in the Shopaholic NY book, when she pretends to go on a museum tour and ducks out to shop. If I could’ve gotten away with it, I would have gone back to that antique mall and skipped all the dino bones. Yep, that is shallow, alright.

Maybe it was because it was such a chilly gray day, and I was bundled up like a cocoon to keep warm as we walked the city. If I go back in the spring with the cherry blossoms in bloom, maybe I will get into exploring the city more.

Some how, I think I’d still prefer the white, ornate furniture to the White House!

I’m spending a lot of time blog browsing too, since I haven’t got any work to do. And Ebay browsing, which can be dangerous when you are bored and killing time!

But here is a blog that will keep you from boredom- check out Angela’s pink round up for Valentines, so many pretty pink links to visit.

That is where I am going now.

I could get used to this……….

I do tend to run on, don't I?, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 28, 2008

Did I enjoy my trip?? Look at this goofy grin, it says it all! I had a blast, wallowing around in all that luxury.

We even had sunshine and warmish weather for most of the trip.

After a long, dark, and cold winter in Kansas, I had almost forgotten how a bed of blooming flowers can lighten up my heart.

I could have been perfectly happy just staring at the colors all weekend and soaking up some springtime.

Honestly, I enjoyed sitting in a rocker in the courtyard with Victoria magazine, listening to the fountain as much as all the time I spent in the spa!

And I wasn’t the only one enjoying the lovely weather.

This little guy seemed happy to pose for me.

I was missing Sugarwings when I saw the kid’s pool area. There was more than one pool, this one, as well as the adult pool near it, and a pool out side of the Ladies lounge area at the spa. I thought about peaking to see if there was a guy’s pool in their lounge, but thought it might not look good to the CEO of my husband’s company if I was thrown out of the club because I was checking out the men’s spa.

Brisk, spring time air was a bit too chilly for me to brave swimming any way. It didn’t seem to bother these guys, though.

Walking around the property and soaking up sunshine along with the perfectly manicured beauty of the surroundings was enough for me.

Everything about this hotel was PERFECT down to the last tiny detail, such as serving butter shaped like golf balls!!

Which brings me to the food. It was just almost too pretty to eat! (but I managed to try it all anyway)

For Thursday’s dinner at the country club, we meandered through the club sampling food from a dozen or more themed stations set up around the club house.

Orchids in each appetizer??? How decadent is that????? It about killed me to eat a scallop and then watch my empty cup with its pretty little blossom get carried away on the waiter’s tray. If I worked there, I’d be in the kitchen washing each one off as they came back in empty cups and putting them into water to make centerpieces.

I hope they were saved!

But then, I am the person who can’t throw away a poinsettia at the end of January because it is still valiantly trying to cling to life. Does anyone else suffer from January Poinsettia Guilt Syndrome?

Okay, back to the pictures of pretty stuff!

We were served a roof top buffet for lunch one afternoon.

And the awards banquet dinner was beautiful too (of course!)

Gourmet food does tend to be tiny, but they pack a lot of flavor into every bite!

I kept calling it all "Top Chef" food. I had ceviche as a snack one afternoon and closed my eyes to pretend Chef Tom was there next to me. (if you are not a Top Chef fan, you should at least watch the show just to see his eyes!! I have a crush on that man)

And then, of course there was the spa. I had a facial the first day, and was told to come early and enjoy the spa facilities. I wish I could have taken photos, but didn’t want to intrude on the privacy of the other women indulging themselves there.

Some people stayed all day, going from the whirlpool, swimming pool, multiple lounge areas, sauna (eucalyptically wonderful!), steam room and back again. Laying around eating fresh fruits, sipping teas, and having beauty treatments.

There was so much to offer. I loved the individual shower rooms, set up so nicely with all you could ever need in them. Then, the big mirrored dressing rooms were filled with any item you might wish to primp with. It was like Willy Wonka land for grown women instead of kids. Candy dishes set out with combs, brushes, creams, gels, anything you could desire before dressing and leaving.

I looked at the clock a lot to see how long I had been relaxing. Five minutes drag for me when I am just sitting in hot water.

Maybe it was because I just loved being outdoors so much. I went for long walks to explore the neighborhood and see the flowers.

"The River" is the name of the shopping center across the street from our resort.

Its too bad I wasn’t hungry, the restaurants were had wonderful views of the mountains and the fountains. On the other hand, the free food they were filling me up with at our hotel was too good and I just had no room to sample anything else!

I browsed mostly, admiring the cheerful, blingy California style.

But not so much the California price tags.

But, if you know me, you know I found the sale racks!

And not only were these Tees on sale- they had faeries and crystals on them!

The one on the right is my souvenir for the trip.

I fell in love with these too, but didn’t really need new sandals, since I had bought some for the trip.

And anyway- I was given a pair of Crocs as one of the many gifts they kept giving us!!!

This is just a bit of the loot they showered on us, along with books and treats. Oh and of course, the entire weekend, with flights, meals, spa treatments, golf, etc.

My husband also got a $100 gift card, but we were so overwhelmed with the generosity we had been treated to, that we donated it to the company charity. They have a fund for employees with financial difficulties. Such as one of the workers at a course my husband runs, she lost her father recently and had no money for a funeral. The company paid for all the costs for her! Now, doesn’t this sound like nice people to work for????

We were so well cared for and pampered while there.

Its too bad I am not a bigger drinker, the wines and cocktails were fabulous too. I decided this New Zealand white is my new fave.

I met so many friendly people, and should not have worried about snooty country club types. I have figured out, that at any gathering or group meeting, people can seem distant. But if you just go up and say hi and introduce yourself, they are usually just as happy to meet some one as you are.

Everyone that I talked to was as welcoming as can be and no one treated me like I didn’t fit in at all. Even if I was the only one goofy enough to be taking pictures of all of my food and acting like a dork of a tourist!!

But there is no place like home and it is wonderful to be back in Kansas with my own little "Dorothy".

Can a dumpster diving, midwestern artist with trailer trash roots survive a resort spa get away in Palm Springs????

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 23, 2008

I should be doing so many things.

1- packing

2- cleaning my house

3- mailing my packages

4- straightening out the crazy mess my quarterly sales taxes got into (by the way, never send the state of Kansas your own hand written forms, they really, really, really prefer that you use THEIR forms. I sent the money in and apparently, that doesn’t count if you send your own improvised forms with it.)

Instead of doing what is on my list, I got a little side tracked and worked on this old doll clothes collage I had done months ago. I thought it needed MORE.

So, I added a little hand painted border of posies, the little girl image from an old greeting card and a banner made of silk wallpaper with a word cut out of an old book, that says "Dolly".

Oh, and a ruffle at the bottom, from a vintage children’s book.

I am infatuated with ruffles and banners right now. And little hand painted embellishments.

I have listed this piece on Etsy if you are interested.

In the last month, I have successfully avoided my lingering Christmas decorations by hanging out in my studio or running around and being social.

But yesterday, I had the baby all day and we were in the living room, surrounded by all the dusty, over powering holiday things. My skin started to crawl and I got itchy and antsy and couldn’t take it any more, those decorations were driving me up the walls!

Maybe having a 15 month old help pack away Christmas decorations isn’t the best idea.

Not a lot got packed away and the room ended up worse than before we started. Only two ornaments broke and no one was cut, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

My husband has been gone almost three weeks now and will be coming back this weekend after our Palm Springs trip.

I really should do something about this room, it isn’t much of a welcome home, is it?

After Sugarwings went home.I skipped out and went to a movie instead of finishing the pack up.

I saw Juneau- it was really sweet and witty. I also saw Cloverfield this week, and was enthralled by it. Plus all my running around, with art openings and parties and coffees, and shopping, and of course, the start of American Idol, and the book club books I have to read, and making magic wands and book covers—-I have simply stayed out of the living room for a long time. But today, I face up to the empty boxes and fill them with holiday memories.

Or at least, that is the plan. I will make this room habitable while Project Runway is on tonight, then pack my bags and head off to sunny California!

This is me in my more natural environment. (the picture is from last summer)

Which might explain why I am living with my house looking like something out of a dumpster right now?

But tomorrow, I am off to Palm Springs, to be pampered at a spa!

I bought a dress to wear to the Country Club we will be dining at. I had hoped for something springlike and floral, but this is Kansas in January, that doesn’t exist here and now. I did find this dress on clearance, and don’t think it looks too wintry, at least I hope not.

I do worry that it might be a bit young for me??

So, I pulled out a couple of jackets to try with it.

Frumpy?

Too much?

I am not a polka dot person, but these dots are more random and I felt that suited me.

Plus I loved the vintage looking buckle! (it gives the illusion of a waist too)

My husband is a sweetheart, he said, take a few hundred dollars and buy a dress. Now, that is sweet, but silly—does he know who he is dealing with here?

I spent $22 on clearance, at Dillards (a classy department store, so don’t worry that I went to KMart, or found it in a dumpster)

Not only did I find dress up sandals, I got a pair of silver beaded thongs too. I am set for a resort get away. A trip to the clearance section of J Jill filled my suitcase with pastel long sleeve tees at bargain prices and the cutest blush colored light weight sweater I’ve ever seen.

So, I have the costumes ready to go. Think I can fool everyone into thinking I fit in?

ps- my Sissy says to stop calling myself trailer trash. And since it is her birthday this weekend, I will explain that SHE is NOT trailer trash!! Just me.

Actually, our family had a real solid foundation home (even with a pool in the backyard) till I was 11, then mom and I lived in trailers for a while, Sissy and Bobbie Sue didn’t, they were off and married by then.

And thanks to everyone who is warning me about the CA cold spell! I repacked and added socks and jackets to my suitcase. Close call, there. Thank goodness for blog friends all over the country!!

Part One of Silver Bella ( a mere taste of the gushing to come)

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Silver Bella, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 11, 2007

Silver Bella was the BEST!

I had been looking forward to it, but had no idea it would be that much fun.

Beth and I drove up from KC and antiqued in St Joe, MO where we ran into a fellow Bella who happened to stop there too!

No, not this gal, but she does look ready for the event.

Carol is also from the KC area and happened to be at Jesse James Antique Mall at the same time as us.

The spending spree was just beginning. I hate to admit it, but since my husband doesn’t read this, I guess I can– I shopped all the way up to Omaha, and went to all the local antique stores, as well as buying things all the way home. And there was Silver Bella Vendor night in between!

At Jess James, Beth and I found a pile of ephemera at dirt cheap prices. Well, dirt cheap for an antique mall, but not estate sale cheap. About 50 cents each isn’t bad, though.

There were so many, we spread them out on the floor, sat down and relaxed as we went through them.

When I got to classes, I was so glad that I had I bought some of the vintage cards. They were an excellent addition to projects there.

And of course, the doll’s head I found in St Joe was a perfect tiara stand for the hotel room.

As soon as we arrived, we "decorated" our room and set out some pretties to enjoy.

Everyone at the event was so nice. Jack and Jenny Heid were sweeties.

I could go on forever, gushing about the glitter and the fun. And I probably will in my next post. But its time to get back to reality, unpack my bags, shake out the sparkles from my suitcase (those poor hotel maids, there was glitter everywhere!! I wonder how many people were like Beth and spent time sitting on the bed cutting, gluing and making little tiny confetti sprinkles with their hole punches?).

And I need to go and play with my little Dorkies and find out what they’ve been up to all weekend.

It always feels good to be back home and to know I was missed.

Presents, packages, and procrastination- a look at my October giveaway prize

Etsy Goodies, give away, paintings, swaps, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / November 6, 2007

Am I making any progress on the studio before the fairy grand baby gets here and I have to stop? Well, kind of.

I packed up my swaps and am taking them to the PO today. This ornament goes to Shirley, as my part of the swap that my Pretty Romantic Homes group on Ebay is having.

And my package, all wrapped up in vintage wallpaper, is ready to go to Natasha in Australia for the Deck the Halls swap hosted by Monica at:

monicaanderson.blogspot.com/

I won’t show Natasha’s gifts yet, so she’ll be surprised, but here is something I am sending to her son, Leroy. I doubt if he reads my blog.

KU is undefeated so far this year (that is a very big deal to my husband). Natasha is a football fan, so I thought it would be nice to send Leroy a football. Now my husband tells my that "Australian Rules" football is a different ball. Oh well, little boys have a good time with throwing balls around, so I’m sure he’ll enjoy it anyway.

I have a side swap at Silver Bella with Julie. Its funny, I listed 3 mini wallpaper,ephemera packs with an ATC as side swaps and Julie took me up on it.

The trouble is, that she was already in my ATC swap and I was including that same pack as part of it!!

So I told her I would bundle up some big pieces of wallpaper as a swap so she wouldn’t get the same thing twice.

I am hoping someone else takes me up on these ATC/ephemera packs. It would be sad to offer to trade and get no takers!!

I also made a gift for the winner of my OCTOBER GIVEAWAY– Jessi

She happens to be a Bella too, so I am taking the gift to her there.

You know you can enter my November drawing for a custom Christmas gift by leaving a comment, right? Any comment, any time , all month.

Lets see, what else did I do yesterday while avoiding cleaning the studio?

Well, as I did attempt to clean my work table, I came across a few things I wanted to finish, like this piece.

And I made up 6 of these little vintage ballerinas, so they could be fairies.

They are sweet little things. I guess you have to be pretty sweet when you have a face like that.

(oops, that was catty- but really, look at that face!)

I also framed this watercolor, but I just don’t like the vintage frame gold, it will have to be painted white. Well, I tried to get by with not painting it.

So, I am packed up and ready for Silver Bella at least, and all my swaps are done and ready to go to the PO, as well as all my Etsy sales for this week.

I am lucky to have 2 boxes to Australia and 2 to Canada on the same day! One trip to the PO for all, instead of going back for each. Out of country boxes have to go through the main PO here, I can’t just drop them off at the grocery store like most parcels.

OK, enough procrastinating. I have to go and clean the studio. Or I could go pick Sugarwings up early today……

An Ozark weekend at Great Cedar Lodge

Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 28, 2007

We just got home from a beautiful weekend, fun friends, delicious food, and perfect weather in the Ozarks.

It was a great time of year to go, there hasn’t been a frost so all the flowers are still colorful, but the leaves were turning too.

Our cabin was cute as a button.

And the attention to detail there is really outstanding. Everywhere you look, there is something special to see.

I do think that the stuffed heads in our cabin could have used a tiara or some sort of glam. But the resort keeps pretty tight to their theme, it is all rustic and outdoorsy.

See our visitor? A little bird came in for the evening and perched on this deer. We called him Wally.

See what I mean about detail? Check out this decor-

The iron work on this headboard-

Soap dispensers shaped like lanterns-

The stripes painted on the roads are fish shaped instead of plain stripes-

Custom made iron trash and recycling cans by the lake-

Old photographs blown up and framed as artwork hanging in the cabin-

(but I think the grinning little girl and her sis could use fairy wings)

Plus original artwork on the walls too-

Most of the work had a wilderness theme, but I fell for this colorful cottage painting.

We also spent a few hours in Eureka Springs.

Where I bought a sparkly tiara.

And a pair of PINK camouflage pants!

But it is good to be back home in KS with my little dogs. Twinks insists on sitting in my lap here at the computer. I’d better go play with her and tell her I missed her.