Karla's Cottage

I'm stuck

This is a painting I started and am struggling with.  For now I've hung it on the wall to watch it and plan what changes need to be made.  Sometimes a break is what is called for when I'm stuck.  

 

I like this flower, just not the other one (not shown here, because it is annoying).

 

The final details are done

I am FINISHED!!!!!!!!!

The builder was done with our new space a while ago, but I still had landscaping, my sons and husband built a fence, and the mosaics on the floor needed to be completed.  I'd gotten behind on my end, but just yesterday, all of the last items were checked off the list.  I'd still had all of the supplies for the floor piled up and laid out on tables, plus a couple of boxes of odds and ends that needed to be returned were by the door, so even though the room was mostly done, it had been messy.  All of that clutter was carried out to the garage.

The room is tidied up and feels homey.

This is what took so long.  I purchased river rock floor tiles, and pulled all of the stones apart to rearrange into a floral motif mosaic.

Once laid out on the floor, I started gluing them down with mastic, but soon switched to silicone, it was easier to use.

 

By each door, I just used rocks in a random pattern. I wanted the fireplace to be the main event.

Honey kept me company while I worked.

The fairy is made of rocks I'd found in the river at the camp ground where my son's family was hosting their event.  She'd pretty sentimental to me.

The flowers were quick and easy, but it took me two weeks and shopping in about 10 stores as well as searxhing online to find the right background stones for contrast with the river rock.  

Those jelly beans aren't exactly what I was looking for, but the style was okay. I'd hoped for larger rocks to make the process of adding them one at a time go faster.  Instead, I had about 2-1/2 days of adhering these little beans by hand as my back cramped up and I began to wonder what on earth I'd been thinking of to start a project like this. It was harder than I thought it would be, and I am not a mosaic artist.

Then, my son came to visit and brought me a bagful of labradorites, and some other crystals.  That cheered me up and revved up my resolve to finish the monotonous bean job.

My good friend, and professional mosaic artist, Shanna, offered to help with the grouting. I hate grouting.but she made it look easy.

We chose charcoal for the grout color and it was exactly right to blend in with the itsy bitsy, back achingly applied, little beans.  

The dark color sure made the gems stand out too.

The grout also caught in the imperfections of the stones and darkened them, but in a good way.  

When I first came up with the idea of a mosaic in front of the fireplace, I wanted it to look like an antique rug, but have a rustic feel.  Then, I thought it could use a bit of sparkle, and when my boy showed up with the glittering gems, I was thrilled.  The look is even better than what I'd planned.

Now, I'm ready to kick back and enjoy the room, with some good friends who are coming to visit for a long weekend.  All of the loose ends got tied up just in time.

Tri-Unity

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

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

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

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

And it was even prettier at night.

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

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

There was non-stop entertainment, too.

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

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

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

And then join them in a parade.

 

And relax with yoga.

I liked watching the many painters, and petting dogs.

There were some interesting painters there.

But the best part?  Time with family.  

And friends.  

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