Karla's Cottage

A Woodland Scavenger Hunt for a Birthday Party

My son and his family now have a 13 acre home in the woods, and I think Sugarwings loves it out there more than anyone. So, when it was time to plan a party for her 12th birthday, this is where she wanted to have it. She suggested a nature walk as part of the activities and I made up a scavenger hunt list (spelling her name) for the kids to take on the walk.

Her dad mowed the trails ahead of time, and we walked along them to explore the woods.

It is a pretty time of year and there was a lot to see along the way.

Sugarwings stapled the list to sandwich bags for the participants to fill with their finds.

I was struck by how beautiful the trails were, and what a wonderful piece of property he'd found. He has been working on cleaning it up and making it a retreat for yoga, permaculture, and other workshops in the future and I'm looking forward to seeing this land become a growing business as well as a home. 

And to watch the grand fairies grow up in the woods.   

Even more so, after seeing how some of the "city kids" who came to the party reacted to being there.  Many seemed unsure of how to handle themselves walking along a trail and few were able to find the items on the list. 

All of my family spends so much time connecting to nature that it didn't occur to me that some kids were uncomfortable in it and happier on their iPhones than running through the trees.

One thing I noticed that made me happy, was that every kid did find a "TREASURE" from the list on the bags.  They might not be used to woodland walks and seeing the details in nature, but they could still connect enough to know that an acorn, a rock with sparkles on it, or an empty snail shell was truly a treasure to find and keep.

And it made me so happy to know that our grand fairies, while they love screens and devices, like most of us in this world, still love being in the woods and the magic of finding a leaf with a hole in it and peeking through that peephole.

Pretty Poured Paint Pendants for a Party

Sugarwings wanted some gifts to give to her birthday party attendees, and I wanted to make something special for a gathering I am attending this week, so we saved the drippings from our last day of painting to make some necklaces.

This is how it starts.

Ugly, huh?

She laid a piece of parchment paper under her work area to catch drips, then spread the paint with a spatula so it would be thin enough to use in a pendant tray.

The name for this is ugly too. These are called "skins".  

Bleck!

But once you start looking up close, you find some lovely, little areas that are ideal for jewels.

A generous dusting of glitter went over the wet paint, then we let it dry a week.

The next step is isolate the pretty areas and place 1" glass nuggets over them.

They are glued to the paint covered parchment, cut out after the glue dries, then the parchment paper is peeled off the back and the domes are glued into pendant trays.

I use a decent sized dollop of glue, press the dome into the tray tightly, then clean off the excess glue that oozes out.

This one had a surprise heart show up.

After drying, I slide them onto a leather cord and tie slip knots onto it to make the length adjustable.

I've also tried just dipping the bottom of the glass into the paint, but I don't think it is as solid of a hold as gluing the paint skin to the nugget then gluing that to the tray. Plus you get more control over the paint this way, you can pick and chose where you want to glue the glass down.

Sugarwings also made this painting  to give as a grand prize to the scavenger hunt winner. I was proud of her work, she knew exactly what she wanted to pour and how to do it.  This is done with the end of a water bottle! We cut off the curved bottom of the bottle and placed it in the center of the canvas. Then, she slowly and carefully poured one color after another onto the bottle piece, and let the paint flow across the canvas to create petals of a flower.

This kiddo is growing up.  She is attending Jr High, taking martial arts, and has a whole new sense of self confidence to go along with her joyful, zest for life.  I'm impressed with her as well as her paintings.

 

If you can't choose between a Unicorn or a Mermaid, have both

Sugarwings has been busy making pour paintings with me, and wanted to decorate her room with them. She was turning TWELVE and I figured she was old enough to make her own choices for her bedroom.  She loves magical creatures, so decided that would be the theme.  I found some inexpensive decor at TJMax, Target, Hobby Lobby, and Homegoods, not wanting to spend too much, knowing that the phase might not last too long. She will soon be a teen. 

Oh my god, did I just say that??? 

She will soon be a teen?? 

Yep. The time is coming.  So, I thought I'd indulge her in this magical theme while she still wants it.  But knowing her, she will always be a mermaid/unicorn fan.  It is in her genetics.

She comes from a long line of true believers on both sides of the family.

Her twin bed is rainbows and unicorns, the double bed in the space has mermaids, the comforters don't exactly match, but the colors are similar and the beds look fine together. 

Oops, looks like I didn't get a photo of both together...

We painted a table for the space, and it has shelves for her special things, as well as magazine racks on each side for reading materials.

The table is a pour paint style too.

She has been busy hanging her artwork, all by herself.  It probably isn't how I'd have hung it, but I left it up to her, she did the paintings, and she chose where to put them.

She has some pretty ones, doesn't she?

This one is my favorite.

The room is colorful and fun, and suits her ideally. 

And she has a few more pictures to hang yet, so I see even more joyful color ahead.

Lake time with Mr. Ray

This summer has been HOT. 

And DRY. 

And things were looking brown.

It has almost been too hot to do much boating. But here it is, mid August, and we get unexpectedly, lovely weather, with some more mild temps, then much needed rain.  I've had my windows open for fresh air, and have loved every minute of the breezes.

Before the rain began, we took advantage of the pretty day by spending an entire Saturday out on the water, staying out till darkness came, with just a small break to leave the boat and go downtown for lunch. 

No picnic to pack, no mess to clean up, I was thrilled with just how perfect that can make a boating adventure.  Normally, a lot of time goes into chopping, packing coolers, and serving a meal on the lake. This was so much easier, and more pleasant. 

We had a new tube, that fits five people, or as here, 3 plus a dog.  Twinkle loves tubing, "Grammie Style" which is barely fast enough to break a wake.   She was a happy dog that day, enjoying every minute of her time out there.  Her doggie grin was almost as  big as mine.

But not as big as Ray's.

Ray is what we named him because he reminded us of Mr. Ray from Finding Nemo.

 

 

And then it was over....

Somehow, summer is gone.  Well, not the heat, and August is still here, but Sugarwings has started JR HIGH and Dewdrop has headed to NC to attend school there and be with her mom.

We tried to jam as much fun into the season as we can, so why am I so down? Except for an illness or two that slowed me, it was a lovely summer break with my grand fairies.

Somehow, I feel like it whooshed by me and I missed out on lots of things we wanted to do.  I had travel plans and outings that never happened. But we did go to Topeka a few times to the Discovery Center, Zoo, and park.  

And any place I go is fun with these two.

We went to Michaels Kid's Craft days so many times we were practically regulars.

And had plenty of craft days at home.  Sometimes I think I have waaaayyyy too many craft supplies, until I look at the grand fairys' stash... They don't really need to go to Michaels for  Kid's Craft days, but there is always a special feeling when you use new tools or learn a trick or two, especially in a setting with other creative people.

Although, they are perfectly happy hanging out in the garage and pour painting with me.  Sugarwings is redoing her bedroom with the paintings she has made this summer.

One of my plans that didn't materialize was to go to the Omaha Zoo. I've been trying to get there for years now.  I shouldn't feel bad about not getting to take them there, because every day with these sprites is like a day at the zoo.  They are a fun couple of monkeys.

We've seen every kid movie that came out, we've gone to plays, and boating. We've gone through buckets and buckets of water balloons.  Hours and hours and hours were spent in the studio watching the Disney channel and creating art.

It has been a very good summer.

But it simply was not long enough.  I just want to hang onto these seasons with them as tightly as I can, but reality gets in the way, doesn't it? 

Being a grandmother means knowing exactly how fast childhood spins away into adulthood, since we have lived through it once before.

Mini Art Journal and kits

This summer, I have been utterly hooked on "fluid painting."

Some, I have turned into doodles, some became oceans, or roses, and some I made with a more traditional pouring style. 

Recently, I've also used the technique on book covers.

Which led me to making my own mini book covers too.

I couldn't resist melding my new obsession with some of my old and coordinating lovely, old, ephemera with the itsy bitsy books and teaming it all up into kits.  

Each 3-1/4 x 4-1/2" hand made mini journal with painted cover comes with a matching tag, attached with ribbon, along with 3 small charms and a glass nugget done with a pour paint dip.  There is an assortment of vintage wallpaper scraps, old text, illustrations, buttons, and millinery.  

No two are alike, since they are made up of vintage bits and pieces, but each is of equal value. I've spread out and photographed each luscious pile of goodies separate, so you will know what your own kit will contain.  The packages will be as shown in the pictures.

Here is a journal that I made myself with some of the materials.

The book that I have made is also available in the Boutique, as well as the kits.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the interior.

This book can be considered finished, or used as a head start to add more creations of your own.

It differs from the kits in that, I have used decorative card stock to build the book, the kits are made up of plain papers.

 

Art Journals from Altered books

I've been on a book kick lately and have a towering stack of them on my desk now.

Many have fluid paint covers

This one has velvet and lace

This mini book is covered in flocked wallpaper.

This started as a 19402 reader.

And has rose wallpaper lining.

Each has special details.

And pages ready for you to fill

If you are interested, you can find them in my Boutique.

And please check back, I have some mini book kits ready to photograph and add to the shop too.

A trip to grammie’s house

Yesterday, we had a visit from a couple of Honey’s pups.  This gentle giant is Pup, and yes, he is twice the size of his sis, Sugar!

The other guest, Wolfie, isn’t exactly a petite flower, himself, but still isn’t as large as big, ol, Pip.  Both boys are every bit as curly, cute, and lovable as Sugar, and I loved seeing my grand dogs again.  

We need to arrange more play dates, it looked like all the dogs had a good time together.   I know I enjoyed it.

They are a beautiful family, aren’t they?

Favorites

Today is our 33rd wedding anniversary! 

Part two of my business trip to Florida and a Cocoa Beach Sea Shell Fairy

I know, not my best fairy so far, but I had every bit as much fun making it as any of the others!  

(Although I am a little sad about the dark, heavy wing that the poor thing has.  I don't know how high a guy can fly with a wing like that)

My trip to Cocoa Beach was more of a pit stop than a visit.  After leaving our luggage in Ft Lauderdale and having to drive from Orlando to fetch it, and right back again, I thought I needed to treat myself to a view of the ocean, no matter how quick the stop was.

These are shells that I gathered up in a few minutes while taking a break from the drive. It was only a slight detour, and worth the added time in the car.  Anytime I can wriggle my toes in the salt water, I'm pretty dang happy.

I parked at Beach Place resort, to check it out.  My sisters and I are going to stay there in October and I wanted to see it in person to make sure it was where we wanted to be.  

Great choice!! It is lovely.  The manager was kind enough to let me hang out for a while and walk around to explore, then traipse along their beach.  I wasn't there long, we had dinner reservations in Orlando and now that I had the lost luggage, I was determined to put on some clean clothes and some makeup before going out.

We were dining at the Citrus Club, downtown Orlando and there was no way I was going to be late for a fancy night on the town!  

The next morning, my husband had to be in Tampa, so we headed out nice and early. I was trying to plan what to do with my day while he worked, when it occurred to me that Weeki Wachee Springs was not that far away from where he would be. 

And I'd been in the car so much already that I was in road trip mode anyway, what's another two hours?

So, I dropped him off and drove myself up north and went to watch the sirens of the seas.

When I was about six years old, we visited here and I've tried to get back to see it again since then, but it has never worked out. 

I had time to watch one performance, and it just so happened to be "The Little Mermaid" which is a favorite story of mine, and of Sugarwings. I really missed her that day. I was having a great time being a tourist on my own, but she sure would have been a wonderful traveling companion that day.

This is a state park, it is $13 to get in, and once you are in, the boat rides, water park, and show are free.  The water park is spring fed, crystal clear water and I was wishing I had time to dive in and play mermaid myself.

Before the performance started, they showed old movies of early shows from the 40s and 50s. The place has not changed much at all.  The mermaids might dress a little different, but it is basically what I remember.  Not that I was there in the 40s or 50s! My trip was probably about 1964.  

I have to admit, I got a little teary watching it.  Thinking about going there with my mom and dad,  and how magical I thought it was as a child.  I didn't realize just how much this show had influenced my life, until being there brought it all back.  I'm a big believer in magic and mermaids, because as kiddo, I was shown that they are REAL.  I spent a life time pretending to be a mermaid under water, every time I'd go for a swim, I'd try a few fancy moves. 

And that hasn't changed. I still love swimming like a mermaid in swimming pools with my grand kids.