MIRTH AND MISCHIEF AT UHUBURG CASTLE

During my elementary school years, you'd often find me with my nose in a book engrossed in reading tales about King Arthur, Prince Valient and the merry adventures of Robin Hood. Our local library had this wonderful reading room that was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation that made you feel like you were hanging out in a castle with its woodworking and a fireplace they kept lit from Fall through Spring which was the perfect spot for a kid to immerse himself in tales of chivalry and swordsmanship. Since those days, I've dreamed of one day traveling to Europe to explore the castles and locations where those stories were set. 

Alas, I've yet to make that dream a reality. If you are like me and taking a trip to Europe to trek around castles isn't really that practical on your family budget, there is another option that is closer to home where you don't have to use a passport to travel outside the USA. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounding the alpine town of Helen, Georgia is Uhuburg Castle, a legitimate reproduction of a European fortresses from days gone by. 

This Renaissance-style castle has twelve towers, one turret, three gatehouses, an eight story lookout tower, Great Hall, cloistered walls with rampart and lower walkways and two acres of courtyard gardens. The castle has spectacular views from each of the walls and towers of the breathtaking scenery of the Blue Ridge Mountains around it. Based upon the Bavarian heritage of Helen, the structure takes its name from Uhu and Burg, the German words for Owl and Castle. Visitors can choose to spend a day touring the grounds or can spend the night at the castle's boutique hotel. Uhuburg Castle also hosts special events like Renaissance festivals throughout the year.

During the month of May this year, Uhuburg Castle will be featuring an immersive theatrical event on Friday and Saturday nights called Mirth & Mischief which features cirque-style acrobatics and cutting-edge video projections. Utilizing the ambiance of Uhuburg Castle, Mirth & Mischief will create a fantasy setting meant to fascinate and delight people. This is a ticketed event meant for ages 18+.

Head over to uhuburg.com to check out other events taking place at the castle throughout the year ranging from its CastleFaire Renaissance Festival to visits with Father Christmas at the castle. Would you be geeked to visit Uhuburg Castle? I know I would be! 

Wouldn't it be cool to be a professional Etch-A-Sketchist? Woman turns passion for Etch-A-Sketch into a career

One of the best ways to develop a successful career is to find a niche for yourself that you have a passion for.  I recently met Jane Labowitch, at Disney's "On the Road" Bloggers Conference in Chicago, who has taken that advice to heart turning her love of the classic Etch-A-Sketch into a professional career. Jane travels the country under the moniker Princess Etch-A-Sketch attending corporate events, private parties, and other happenings where she is booked to create one of a kind portraits of guests or to provide interesting creations for people to enjoy.  At the Disney "On the Road" event I attended, Princess-Etch-A-Sketch was re-creating popular scenes from Disney movies and provided one lucky winner whose name was pulled out of a hat (well Mickey Ears to be specific) with a personalize portrait.

While it would probably take me a few hours to draw a crude stick figure recreation of the Shootout at the OK Corral on an Etch-a-Sketch, Labowitch can create highly detailed caricatures of people within 5-7 minutes and can normally handle doing 10-12 per hour at an event.  She has a process in place so that once the drawing is completed it can't be erased and people can take home an Etch-a-Sketch she provides them with their portrait on it as a nice fun momento.  In addition to creating people's portraits, Labowitch can be commissioned to create art exhibits featuring unique images displayed on Etch-a-Sketch boards that will amaze and wow people.

Labowitch has been tinkering with etch-a-sketch's since she was 4 years old.  All the time she spent playing with the toy helped inspired an interest in art which led to her graduating from the American Academy of Art in Chicago with a BFA in illustration.  Once she had her degree, Labowitch turned to her passion with Etch-a-Sketch that led her down an artistic path in life to create a career.   Since launching Princess Etch-A-Sketch, Jane has been booked for events across the country ranging from Los Angeles to New York.  So what does Ohio Art, the maker of Etch-A-Sketch think of what Labowitch is doing?  They commissioned her to go to Paris and sketch out recreations of some of the world's greatest works of art on their product.  Labowitch has even caught Disney's eye, which commissioned her to do Etch-a-Sketch portraits of their theme park castles (check them out here on the Disney blog) and invited her to participate in their Disney "On the Road" tour which had stops in Chicago, Philadelphia and Phoenix this year which provided the opportunity for me to meet her.

I have to say that Princess Etch-a-Sketch's talent to create detailed portraits on a child's toy by spinning around some round plastic knobs that shift around aluminum powder and beads across a small display screen is truly impressive.  Jane Labowitch being able to transform a dream into a career is an inspirational example to all of us that if you put in hard work and effort it is possible to turn a passion into a profitable and fulfilling career.  If you would like to see more of Labowitch's work or contact her about booking an event, visit www.princessetchasketch.com.