Sea Shell Thank You Card and African Daisy Invitation Template

Happy Friday!
 
I am expanding my horizons and have been starting create some card designs with text and templates that can be personalized. The first two I have created are below. What do you think?

Since most of you have been around my blog for awhile, I would love to hear what other illustrations of mine do you think would work well on invitations, thank you cards, or other specific cards? I'm open to suggestions, so feel free to comment and let me know!

Sea Shell Thank You Card


African Daisy Invitation

Big Sale at Zazzle until Dec. 20th - iPhone cases, necklaces and premium ornaments

If you still have some shopping to do, check out Zazzle's deal through December 20th:

• $10 off of premium ornaments
• $20 off necklaces
• $30 off iPhone cases

To get the discounts, use the code NEWPRODSZAZZ at checkout. Plus there is Free Shipping on orders over $50 (use the code FREESHIPFORU).

Kinderdijk Windmill iPhone 3G Case

Rose Necklace

Lone Cypress Premium Holiday Ornament

Happy shopping!

Gifts for the gardener?

Need some gift ideas for the gardener? Or just need a touch of spring as we head into winter?

Come by and see some of the new items I recently added in my store featuring my red and yellow tulip illustration:

NEW: Sterling silver pendant necklaces


Tulip Apron:


Or, maybe some unique sandstone coasters?


Thanks for stopping by and stay warm!

House portrait in pen and ink - finished for Christmas

I have completed the first of two house portrait commissions that I am doing for Christmas this year. This is done in pen and ink on Fabriano Artistico Bright White 140 lb hot press paper. It's approximately 14 inches wide and 11 inches tall, and will be put into a 20 x 16 double black conservation mat.

One of the challenges of this portrait was the fact that the home is on a larger piece of land with a long, tree-lined driveway. If you took the long view to include the surrounding driveway and barns, the house would end up being rather tiny. So as the client and I discussed different options, we ultimately agreed that this cropped view would be best. It includes part of the long drive, but gives a closer view of the house. I also did something a little different and included the homeowner's three dogs in the driveway, as they are an integral part of the landscape and family.

Botanical Ornament - American Holly

This is one of the ceramic ornaments that I have recently put into my online Zazzle store. It features a small botanical painting that I did of an American Holly.

The ornament can be personalized on both sides, and I am actually going to add the date and order one for our tree :) They make great gifts for the holidays. 

Keep in mind that you don't have to just choose holiday themes. I have a number of ornaments available, including:

Traditional:

Poinsettia (pen and ink)

Rose (colored pencil)

Noel (calligraphy)

Botanical and Wildlife:

African Daisy (colored pencil)

Camel (graphite pencil)

American Red Raspberry (ink and colored pencil)

Lone Cypress (pen and ink) -- this one is metal, not ceramic.

Come on by and take a look!

Old Christmas Cards...what do you think?

I have sent out a lot of homemade Christmas cards over the years, as I am sure many of you have. I thought it would be fun to show you some of them. Some differ quite a bit from my current artwork, but they are a fun bunch.

Let me know what you think and if you have a favorite among them!

Need shopping ideas? Unique stocking stuffers? Stop by my updated Zazzle store today!

Happy almost Thanksgiving! I hope you are having a wonderful start to the holiday season.

I have been hard at work updating my Zazzle Store in anticipation of the upcoming holidays and have added a number of new products in the last week. You may have noticed the Zazzle panel to the right here on my blog that shows some of the products available.  Much more is listed on the site itself, so please stop by to take a look!

All products feature my original artwork and include:

• Note cards and greeting cards
• Stamps
• Labels (return address--great for holiday cards!) 
• Ornaments
• iPhone Cases 
• Mousepads
• Mugs 
• Stickers
• Tote Bags 

Many of these items make great gifts for corporate groups, school groups, garden clubs, etc.

Keep in mind that all of the products are customizable. For example, you can add your own  text to create a custom return address labels for your holiday cards, or add your name to a custom iPhone case, etc.

If you are interested in getting email updates in the future as I continue to refine the store, add new products, etc., you can click the Fan Club link, and choose Join a Fan Club to be added. Or, feel free to just leave a comment (with email info or where I can find your contact details) for me on this post and I will add you to my mailing list.

Good luck with all of your shopping adventures, wherever they may be!

Windmills in the Netherlands - pen and ink illustrations

These are two pen and ink drawings I did from a trip to the Netherlands. We visited friends there and did a good bit of driving around. The first is from the windmills at Kinderdijk, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

The second was a windmill and canal boat that we saw along the way in our drive through the countryside. Such beautiful landscapes in the Netherlands. I would love to go back for another visit and take my colored pencils to capture the gorgeous tulip fields in the spring!

Botanical Note Card Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Helen Setter who has won my first blog giveaway! Helen will receive a set of 10 botanical note cards featuring my original artwork.

Thanks to everyone who participated and who joined the blog as a follower. I appreciate your support!

If you are interested in ordering any note cards for yourself or as gifts for the upcoming holiday season, please take a look at my Zazzle site for my current offerings. I recently added two ceramic ornaments featuring my American Holly and my Poinsettia illustrations. I also have return address labels and stamps. 


TODAY ONLY: Zazzle is offering 50% off all card orders. Use code: ZAZZLECARD50

Poinsettia in pen and ink

Happy Friday, all! 

This is a pen and ink drawing of a poinsettia that I did some years ago. It was done using a pointillism technique (applying many, small dots of ink to do the shading) and a thicker pen width. It's a little different from my usual style, but I like the overall effect.

UPDATE 2010: I have also created matching return address labels that can be customized with your information as well as a beautiful ceramic ornament, stickers, and stamps - all featuring my Poinsettia drawing. 

Have you entered my botanical note card giveaway yet? There are just a few more days to enter! 

The note cards would make a great little gift for yourself or someone else for the upcoming holidays.

Check out the details on how to enter and good luck!