Remember The Jane post here?

Well today, I glued, wax sealed and return-address stamped (custom calligraphy) 130 of these individual hand-folded envelope ‘letter’ save the dates, the old fashioned (well, almost) way! It makes me want to gather my hair up in curls, don a long lace dress and put my feet in dainty satin slippers!

Happy Almost-Thanksgiving folks! I hope you have many reasons to be thankful this week. I certainly do!

A little update: Recently, Janine from Green Wave introduced me to a sustainable shop she thought my cards would fit in at and I dropped by with my cards to see if they would like it. It went well and I am thrilled to bits to announce that you can now purchase  ‘dream BIG’ holiday and occasion cards at Green and Greener, the cool eco-goods general store in Valley Village! Here are some photos I took preparing for the delivery:

For my birthday this year, my wonderful husband surprised me with a lovely trip to Morro Bay in Central California, a little seaside town with a tiny harbor and a giant rock in the middle of the bay.

We went kayaking among seals and birds and had fresh seafood!

The bay was, as most of California is, a treasure trove of nature’s gems and I couldn’t help picking out some of the most inspiring ones to share! And as usual, I delighted in the abundance of raw material for future paintings.

(Click on image to see it bigger) Memorable moments: Dried seed pods fluttering in the Elfin Forest; little ecosystems carved into the boulders by the beach; otherworldly hanging moss from miniature oaks in the Elfin Forest; bright pink seaweed; multi-colored beach pebbles worn smooth; wine and cheese pairing at sunset; a twilight magical mini maze; slippery rock threading; and gorgeous gorgeous sunsets.

My last ‘dream BIG’ release was here. They are now available in cheerful Holiday Splendor!

dream BIG holidays!

Upon close inspection, these are upgrades from the original collection. Still cute, but a lot more detailed (they were painted at a larger scale) and thus even more befitting their holiday card status. They will definitely make lovely keepsake cards for your loved ones long after the season has passed.

dream BIG Thanksgiving! Inspired by fall Aspens in the Sierra Nevada.

Hand-painted, archival printed on gorgeous, locally-handmade artisan papers!

I try to be a discerning consumer, especially these days- trying not to spend excessively and being smart about where from and what I buy. If you are like me, then you would appreciate a few things about the ‘dream BIG’ collection:

They are available only in 100% handmade artisan papers, made right here in the USA by small businesses. You have a choice of creamy white with natural deckled edges or creamy seeded papers. Envelopes are 100% post-consumer-waste recycled. The print is archival quality so you can frame them up and the colors will stay vivid for a long time. Each card is $6. I will ship them by standard first class so shipping is give or take a few cents to a dollar depending on how many you order.

dream BIG Christmas! Inspired by evergreens in the Sequioa National Forest, Califonia.

all artwork inspired by our travels and adventures in California

Send me an email if you are interested in pre-orders, there is a 10% discount and free shipping up to $5 for earlybirds!

dream BIG holiday duo

This past weekend, we had the most amazing camping/hiking trip ever. Specifically 6 hours north to the jaw-droppingly beautiful region of California’s Sierra Nevada, a stone’s throw away from the legendary Yosemite.

The Ancient Bristle-cone Pine

In spite of being rained and hailed on during our hike, what we encountered there was to me the epitome of tree heaven. And heaven perhaps it was, a living cemetery of strange and ancient pines- simultaneously dead and alive, its departed limbs twisted into grotesque and other-wordly forms seen nowhere else.

The trip was so extensive I couldn’t possibly show all of the breath-taking wonders we saw, so this will only be Part 1. Sit back, grab a hot cup of tea and be prepared to enter an enchanted land.

many shapes, click to zoom in

playground

These are the world’s oldest known living beings, almost 5000 years old. Just pause and ponder on that.

And can you see a painted triptych? I have so many painting ideas just from this one weekend trip!

textures

Can you see the owl?

The severely twisted tree trunks and limbs were worn and smooth and textured, like a beautifully carved table or wooden sculpture. They are no longer alive.  Only a few inches of bark and leaves reveal the tree’s seemingly fragile thread to the living.

otherwordly

unimaginable tree spaces. click to zoom in.

Trees always fascinated me, as a child they were places where fairies and magical creatures hid and where you could climb up to strange worlds upon their treetops. To walk amongst these ancients recall those youthful imaginings and made me realize that literary fantasies do not hold  a candle to what the natural world can reveal!

a closer look- an ancient bristlecone tree, the miniature moss world, reeds

sunset over the campsite

Can you imagine what it was like being there?? Next up in Part 2, strange rocks, glorious lakes and the seeping in of a vivid fall…

A spontaneous midweek inspiring post. Our new garden has been very bountiful this year and we have been practically buried under giant zucchinis and the heavy tomato plants have long since abandoned their fragile cages for the ground.

Those shy things

In the twilight of the evening yesterday I harvested a few tomatoes, some with skin wrinkled from the unrelenting sun the past week or so, and thought to myself, there should not be too many more.

Lo and behold I head out today in the blazing afternoon sun and look what I found!

A Tomato Triptych. Click for more for juicy details.

The garden angels have been smiling and these are the most beautiful of our harvest so far this summer. Gorgeous unblemished perfectly round blushing beauties, with plump skins and bright green starry tops. I was so overjoyed I had to write/draw/photograph it! I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did gazing at them.

Umami slow-roasted tomatoes it will be tonight!

Sometimes...

Altered photograph, original provided by Andrea

Its been an exceedingly wonderful but busy few weeks, and I haven’t really had time to venture outside my studio. But here’s a little secret: we are planning a trip back East for a mini vacation and I am going to be working on a piece of wedding artwork for a betrothed couple’s invitations, RIGHT on location!

The wedding would be under this beautiful ancient oak tree (you know me and trees, so I am thrilled to bits!) by the ocean bay. I am hoping for many glorious outdoor inspirations, seabirds, seashells, fresh crisp air, historical buildings, and abundant native vegetation to inspire the artwork.

Will need to tote my pens, inks and the like but who could turn down this opportunity for a little plein air studio time? Do stay tuned for more from this upcoming adventure….

I save all the packing papers and wraps that comes with the supplies I order and have quite a surplus of these brown paper lying around.  For today’s atelier feature, I would like to show you a package I just dropped off for an excited bride-to-be, and how thoughtful little gestures can still be sustainable.

For inner protection, I wrapped the items in an upcycled piece of clear plastic salvaged from a magazine delivery stiffened with a piece of corrugated cardboard cut out from a used shipping box.

A Package for You

I used the blank side of my one-sided hand-made seeded paper business card to include a personal hand-written note to the happy couple. That way they can keep my contact details with the note, or plant it in their garden.

There is nothing more wonderful to me than receiving in the mail a plain (upcycled) brown paper package, tied up with hemp string, with a pretty card slipped in. It is all the things that resonate to me-a mixture of rustic utilitarianism and nostalgia contrasted by refined stationery.

The Scene: Creamy laces, decadent silks, gorgeous dyed feathers, pin-curls and bobbed hair, lanterns, pearls, big band jazz, the virgin flush of big screen entertainment, rustic country-side, beautiful east coast bay location….

click to zoom in

click to zoom in

A little sneak preview today, some test print outs for an invitation set I’m making for a 1930′s Jazz-Meets-Country garden wedding by the bay. This is the first part of the set, the ‘tickets’ to what will be a fabulous event.Tune in for Part Two, which would be inspired by 1930′s french-style movie posters from that fabulous decade!

All text from the save the date tickets above are hand-drawn and colored and are printed and cut out from 100% cotton papers in two gorgeous shades- a light classy blue, and a lovely cream!

Check out the Etsy listing here or email me for a unique custom set of your very own!