New Linocut Branch Series

It only took 6 months of random print sessions and late night painting but I finally finished my 6 piece branch series! Each print is hand pulled and individually painted in watercolor.

                 

It seems like forever but I really wanted to list them in my Etsy shop at the same time.

                     

The are now ready to ship out with FREE shipping with an option to mat. 

You can also convo me to have yours framed in a variety of sizes. 

            

           

Custom Work- Sunriver Home

Through my my work outside of my little office here at home, I met a lovely couple who were building a home in Sunriver. This happens to be one of my very favorite places in Oregon and when they told me it would be built in the Arts & Crafts style I was thrilled to see the end result. 

One day, the wife came to me with a request for a custom lino cut to surprise her husband with. 

YAY!

So after a lot of revisions...

and hours of carving...

and a ton of brown tones...

Here it is!

The best part for me is seeing the recipients face when it is done. Most of my custom work is done over the internet so I never get to see the reactions of my clients.  

If you are interested in a custom piece of your home please feel free to contact me and I can send you the info/pricing for both linoleum block or just the watercolor options.I should soon have it listed in the shop as well. 

Room Names- Lino Block Cuts

Slowly but surely I am plugging away at my latest project.

Very slowly.

In January I began the drawings, February I carved and printed two, March I painted a bit and now it's April and my work out of the home has me completely consumed.

So they sit on the rack.

This is going to be a series of 6 lino block prints of varied leaves. Each represents a room in my home and will be hung outside with the rest for purchase in the shop This one is for El's room since it looks out over the copper beech tree.

I show here only a small test for the color but there will be a background added as I go.

So, 2 down, 4 to go. I'll keep you posted.

Follow all the progress on my artwork, the home and the other fun stuff we are up to on IG at lizhp1

I have heard of many people choosing a word to motivate, alter habits and encourage healthy change. This year I decided to try it out. You can go to sites like Pick Your Word or One Word 365  and a dozen others but for myself I chose something I knew I needed to work on.

Words are such a powerful thing. A word can be spoken into our lives and we allow it to change us or hurt us. We tend to meditate on the negative words when we need to focus on the positive ones.

S  I  M  P  L  I  F  Y

For me to simplify means more then just getting rid of clutter- though that is a weekly challenge of mine. It is also about what I bring into my home/life. Will it bring me peace? Will saying yes to this event or responsibility enrich mine and my families life or be a burden? Does this simplify things?

The other, larger part of this is exercising the power of this word in the words I speak. As a parent I feel the pressure. Daily. What words I speak into my child's life count. Now that our last is transitioning into adulthood the lines become blurry and responsibilities on her part are increasing. I have wisdom for her but that is just it; It's my wisdom from my experiences. She needs to gain her own in her own time. So lecturing is out. Keeping it simple is in. This is more then "Let my yes mean yes and my no mean no". It means making my responses simple and holding my tongue. Focusing on what I simply want my relationship to be and making it so with my words or absence of words.

So there it is. My first word.

I hope this encourages someone and if you don't have a word of your own yet you can always borrow mine!
click HERE for a downloadable version of my simplify artwork and HERE for a blank image to write in your own word.

Mine is currently on my desktop and phone home page as daily encouragement and a friendly reminder.

If you have a verse, word or phrase you currently use as encouragement I would love to hear it and perhaps another reader will be also encouraged by it!

GIVEAWAY!

No, we aren't giving away a lamb. I just thought this little guy was too cute not to show off!

But read on for the real deal. 

Things have been bustling around the place for months and now we are in the middle of our lambing season, as you can see. We are up to 13 with hopefully a few more sets of twins to come.

I'm not one for New Year resolutions and try to make changes as I go. Every year I try to get a bit more organized just as I did with my monthly to do/goal list you can see HERE and you can always download my files and instruction manuals HERE

Now to get my work day doing I have created the Work Week Check List that helps keep me focused on my personal business goals.

In the chaos of the holidays this has really helped. Though I work outside the home several days a week I am able to create a quick list of small things I can accomplish before I leave for the day.

**********************    So here is my first GIVEAWAY!    ************************

 I'm giving away 2 - 55 week pads to help you and a friend organize your week days as well as an 8 pack of my berry postcards, Hagrid's Lawn notecard, gift tags and a few more goodies for you both!

E N T E R      H E R E

November 2015 Desktop Calendar

I have been playing around with patterns lately in preparation for a few holiday sales going on this month. I loved these leaves and berries I created with gouache so much I made them into a desk calendar for myself and thought I would share!

Click  HERE to download

Mount Hood Block Print

This week I have listed my little print of Mount Hood. 

Click HERE to see it in the shop

Every spring I go through the chamber and travel oregon websites to see what events and festivals will be happening throughout the summer. This is a habit I started when the girls were very small and it keeps us quite busy until school starts.

One of these festivals is the annual lavender festival up Mount Hood. It was lovely and I got to drive for the first time through the fruit tree orchards around the mountain. At one point I had Mark pull over so I could snap a pic. The daisy field was immense and such an unexpected surprise. 

Hope you enjoy my new doodle. I'm thinking of making this image into a greeting card. What do you think?

King Protea Block Print

A few weeks ago our little family was finally able to visit the islands. We have never been but every single one of our family members have, which gets a bit depressing after a while. In fact my brother in law is from Oahu and so my sister and her children have been going every other year for years. My nieces talk about ice shave like it's as common as a 7-11 slurpie.

While we were there on Maui, we stopped off at the Kula Botanical Gardens and though it was off season for many of the plants we enjoyed it immensely. One of the flowers I have seen only in pictures is the Protea which I completely fell in love with. I wasn't home but a day and got to work on it!

I chose to use linoleum blocks for this design and I just love the results!

First I design the look I want, trace it onto the block and carve the negative out. Then, using block printing ink in black I roll on the ink, lay the paper over it and press with a barren made of bamboo. When they have all dried on my very advanced system of twine on my wood clothes drying rack, I hand paint each one with watercolor.

I do love the results that painting each one by hand gives they flowers. They are in the SHOP now but are limited to only 8 prints since I prefer to work in very small batches.

Alert! This is not an actual print. Just using up the rest of the ink on a scrap of paper to clean off the block.

Next in line is this little print featuring Mount Hood. They are drying on the rack as I type and I hope to complete them by the end of the week but this glorious spring sunshine keeps me wandering outside to garden! We Oregonians have to grab the opportunities when we can. 

2014 November Events

I'm in a strange season of my life right now, as I am sure most women are. I still have a child at home, a family business, a bit of working outside the home and then there is my artwork. A clean house comes last on this list. That is why I have limited myself to only a couple outside market opportunities  this year.
I have been deeply involved in all of the above but now I am printing and framing my butt off in preparation for the upcoming shows.

Want to come?
November 1st: The Lady Bug Bazaar  located in the high school at 300 W Main St.in Battleground WA Shop from 9-4
November 29th: The Brush Prairie Yuletide Bazaar located in Prairie High School
11311 NE 119th St Brush Prairie, WA 98662 Shop from 9-4 This will be my first year here and I am so excited. They even have free on site childcare so you can look through over 200 vendors!

Why the Vancouver area you ask? Well, my oldest sister Angie of Dear Spring Green lives there and together we go in on a booth. Her sewn items are exquisite. Her bags are always lined with adorable fabric and detailed with beaded pulls. She doesn't just sew, she quilts and embellishes everything. Just her experiments are amazing!

In addition to having all of my lovely prints, I am including my new line of postcards; many of which are not available in my shop yet.

And with every purchase you get a few little free gifties and an exclusive coupon to my shop!

So, back to work and I hope to see you there!

SALE!

Stop by the SHOP. In addition to the giveaway on Breaking New Ground I am now offering: 

This is good for 5x7 and 8x10 matted artwork and I hope to have these deals through Valentines day!

Featured Today in Breaking New Ground

Hey everyone! My artwork was just featured on Breaking New Ground today!

(visualize children cheering in the background)

Uhg! Wish I had a photo that would do it justice but I just nicked this one from her page.

Shandell has the most lovely blog AND lovely family. She is always doing such generous giveaways and I was so thrilled to be asked to be part of one.

So just click the link above to head on over to her place and enter to win $20 to spend in my shop. And if there are enough entries (or something like that) there will be ANOTHER giveaway!

So don't wait! Go check it out and get free stuff. Oh, how I love free stuff.


Happy weekend to you all!

Folk Birdies- Free Download

Click here for Folk Birdie Download

Among the lambing (we now have 12 little ones), cleaning, baking and wrapping we managed to spend a little time with family and celebrate Christmas twice! Yesterday Mark and I met up with friends at the coast and had a lovely brunch and walked the trails around Haceta Head Light House. It what I felt was a perfect place to spend the first day of the year. It was so invigorating!  On the way home we talked about our hopes for the new year. No resolutions for this girl!

Now I'm back into the studio to cook up a few more paintings and post a few more for sale in the shop that I sold out of at the last show.

Happy New Year Everyone!

New Year, New Calendar

So this morning I am getting a jump start on the new year, making plans for the blog and my shop. I always try my best to map things out but seeing Secret Agent Josephine's new calendar was the kick in the pants that I needed.

Click HERE for the download. It's not totally complete yet but it can get you going before it's available in her shop.  And check out her new book. Oh, the talent!

It's funny how long the list of to-do's gets once I've had my second cup of coffee!

I'm planning several new series but your ideas are ALWAYS welcome!
What do you think I should paint this year?

Holiday Coupon!

It's not too late to order the someone you love a little something pretty.
Stop by the SHOP and use this code for a great deal. Hurry though, it ends December 21st

Thanksgiving Place Cards- Free Printable

If you are like me  you are already planning on how your Thanksgiving table will be set.

Click HERE for the link to print this sheet of 8 place cards.

You can type your guests names right on the card or write them out like I have. Not the best I could do but it is just a run through. These may be a bit too whimsical for the adults table but great for the kids!

Bazaar Season

 Last weekend I was part of the Lady Bug Bazaar in Vancouver WA with my sister Angie of Dear Spring Green.  She has been super busy with the new baby and her 2 little raga muffins that it was amazing to see she filled her table to overflowing.

I have been working on several new pieces and one new series this year but what seems to take the most time is the frame making

Mark straight lined the boards and cut them to width ahead of time...oh ya, and salvaged the tree from the middle of a field, and from there it went slowly but smoothly.  Above are my piles of sized frames waiting to be pieced together.

Hollow Mortising Chisel

I thought this time I would count the hours spent but it was pretty sporadic with the time I have spending at the shop, traveling to see family and the normal household stuff.

All in a row ready for lacquer

This year I stuck to the custom stain I used last year but added some Ebony for a darker edge on some and one that calls itself cherry but was more of a dark oak. 

The finished product!

Only a few originals were available this year. The rest were all archival reproductions, which are actually a better deal because they last longer and will not fade in the sunlight like watercolor does.

 The day before the show Mark built me this fantastic wall for the back of the booth (I helped but did a lot of complaining because the stress was getting to me)
It is all 2x4 boards with only 6 screws to put it all together so I was able to do it all on my own once at the sale. The center is a cattle panel we bought at the local farm store for $22. The electrical panel had smaller squares but was $76. I couldn't rationalize spending that much.
I had a couple people ask about it, wanting to know if I was local and if he made them to order.

Here it is all set up. It could have held hundreds of pounds. When the long line of excited buyers were let in I was overwhelmed with the positive feedback from so many. A few lovely ladies from last year stopped by to see what was new and to add to their collection and I think I have a few more happy customers that will look for me next year. 

In the few spare moments we had I was able to snap a few photos of Angie's treasures. I have ordered a mermaid bag for El this Christmas and can not wait to put it in her stocking. Spring Green's Etsy shop isn't yet open but I'm sure if you sign up to follow her HERE then you will be the first to know when the shelves are stocked. 

What am I planning now you ask? Well, I came home to this......

I have no one to blame but myself.