Two Books to Inspire

First, I just finished "Life List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds", which I wrote about in an earlier post. I picked this book up because I wanted to read about birding but instead found myself much more interested in the life of Phoebe Snetsinger and her never ending energy, power and zest for life. Upon finishing, I was reminded of Lynne Cox and her book "Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long Distance Swimmer". This is another almost unbelievable tale in which Lynne Cox archives what seems impossible. Both risked their life and much more for the passion of doing what they love and doing it well.

We can think of Lynne and Phoebe almost as superhuman but we all have a piece of them in us some where. Lynne and Phoebe both had goals that no one had ever achieved but they didn't archive them overnight. They reached their huge goals by taking small steps. 

Two New Original Paintings

I haven't had too many new original artworks for sale recently. These two are a pair but sold separately. I love the colors the best which was hard to capture in the photo. The frame is a dark brown wood-like color. The archival matte is a cream and the paper behind the oval is a nice sightly warm gray. The artwork is a gradient from cream to light green (with very slight iridescence) to light brown. I am almost tempted to keep these! Well, before I do here they are. They are drawn from geraniums planted for Mother's Day. Available on Etsy.

New Linocut Block Prints

The new linocut edition is titled Clear Existence: Sunshine. Clear Existence is a series of artwork inspired by silhouettes of trees. This series is about calmness and beauty in simplicity. As humans we consume ourselves with finding purpose in life. Trees, plants and most other life forms have that big question pretty well worked out and keep it simple.

The leaves on the silhouette on this print where those high above an open area. The tree stretched out its branches to reach the sunshine. Simply working calmly towards its goal.

Each print is made from a hand carved linoleum block and printed by hand, one at a time, using two colors, warm yellow and gold, mixed on the block. The result is a unique print that looks hand painted.

 The prints are currently available on Etsy as cards printed on three different colored papers, grass green, sunshine yellow and papaya red. They are also available on Etsy framed.

Life List

Does anyone keep lists? And of what?

I am reading Life List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds by Olivia Gentile and that's what got me started on the subject of lists. I've been interested in birds for awhile but this book has brought me into the whole world of birding and list keeping and now I am making a life list of birds I have seen.

I am including with each bird, the situation, day, thoughts, etc. Whatever it takes to remember that moment. It's not easy to catch a photograph of a bird and often while trying you while miss seeing the action all together. I've decided to stop trying to catch photos of anything in action and take in the moment the best I can by paying attention and as soon as I can writing it down. Most of our memories are made through telling a story.

So what is the purpose of the list? It's not so much about the end result, but rather to remind myself to keep looking. It's about all the things I will notice that I may have missed; things that might not even be on the list.

If you want to start a list, I recommend starting with a good notebook. My first bird list is in The Paper Apartment's Feathers Notebook. Then find a list for your area to follow. In Chicago visit the Chicago Ornithological Society and download their Chicago Area Birds Checklist on the homepage.  

Happy Birding!

Handmade One-of-a-Kind Wedding Invitations

Rhonda and Nick pretty much (re)built their home from scratch, with help from family and friends. They are truly the do-it-yourself types. They live and will be married by the a river, trees and lots of nature. The inspiration for this card came directly from them.

Using block printing, I handmade each individual invitation to ensure a unique quality in each one. Mixing two colors of ink directly on the block, no two prints are exactly the same.

There is so much to do when preparing for a wedding, so I put together the entire wedding invitation suite including addressing and stamping the RSVP cards. This this the final result in a vellum petal envelope. The outside envelope is the same textured cream as the scallop card and all the other enclosed cards.

Each invitation is marked with "made by kim" just as my handmade cards are.

Most of the paper I used came from the Paper Source. Although there are cheaper places to find paper, the quality and convenience is well worth it. I bought the velvet ribbon online at Paper Mart. The ribbon is a good price but the shipping is overpriced. The vellum petal cards came from Paper and More online. This is also a good source for paper and card stock. You can order samples on most items. All of my block printing supplies came from the Blick Store and/or JoAnn Fabric, just because of convenience. I am sure there are better resources for these materials so I am not linking to these widely known shops.

Thanks for visiting. Please let me know what you think.

Dreamy Skies after the Storm

We just had a big storm. I should say another big storm. Very high winds, tornadoes, hail, flooding, all of it. But after the storm moved on, there were rainbows and strange greenish-yellow skies. Not just the sky was green though, everything was green. As the sun set, everything began to turn orange and pink. Although it was close to dark, my flowers were the most vibrant colors I had ever seen them. I took a few shoots as the sky changed.

 It's still raining a little in these above shots. The greenish-yellow light was so unique.

That's our backyard and our favorite place! The light was so soft and warm tonight. Perfect for taking pictures.

Hope everyone made it through the storm okay!

New Glarus: writing reviews

Does anyone else write reviews of shops and restaurants? I've been using Yelp just as a way to bookmark places I like. My boyfriend, Matt, writes amazing reviews of pubs, restaurants and beer. You can read his reviews on Beer Mapping.
 

Last Review by emerge077

Forums | Brewery Maps | City Maps

One of our favorite places to visit is New Glarus in Wisconsin. It is a small Swiss town with a brewery.

This is a photo from our Christmas break visit. We always stay at the Chalet Landhaus Inn.

Puempel's Olde Tarven is always a good place to get a pint of New Glarus beer and throw a dollar on the ceiling. Puempel's walls are covered in hand painted murals from 1913. This place has a lot of history and even more character.

In addition to pubs, the pizza at the New Glarus Hotel Restaurant is some of the best pizza I have ever had, but I like simple things. You can stock up on Wisconsin cheese at Maple Leaf and get awesome baked goods for your coworkers at the New Glarus Bakery. Everything is within a two block radius and you can leave the car at the hotel. There are many gift and antique type boutiques, but my favorite is the antique store Glarnerladen Antiques on 6th Avenue and 1st Street/Main Street (the main intersection downtown).

Just as great as New Glarus is the drive to New Glarus, even in the winter! You can camp in New Glarus Woods in the warmer months. We have always visited in the winter and might swing by this summer to see the leaves on the trees!

Fresh for Picking

I made a treasury on Etsy. Items inspired by natural shapes and colors.

Rhonda and Nick's Wedding Invitations - A Proof

I am designing a wedding invite suite which incorporates some of my artwork. The couple is getting married in September and has a palette of chocolate brown, pumpkin orange and maybe a little splash of the other fall colors. Their wedding is in a state park and casual. The bride and I are communicating mostly through email and I am making this post mostly for her to easily view the first proof and answer some questions.

The artwork on the invitations is made from a two-color block print. I carved the positive from linoleum.

When printing I mixed the two colors, red and yellow-orange right on the linoleum. Each print will be slightly different.

The text a warm brown printed on cream scalloped paper. I simplified the monogram for the ceremony/reception invitation because of space. Below is the monogram in original form and how it will look on the invite.

This is how the final ceremony/reception invite will look (please disregard the monogram-unless you like that one better)

Below is an alternate option that is not so traditional.

On the information card I have included a map. I can make this hand drawn if you would like. This card is 5x7 with straight edges, same cream color and brown text. We need to edit the information for this card.

The response card is 4Bar size (approx 3.5x5) with envelope, both are the same cream color.

Below I posted the text as I have it now on the ceremony/reception invite (click on the image to make it bigger in a new window).

And the finished package. I did the monogram in a scallop circle which I will punch from the same cream textured paper. We just need to decide on ribbon. I thought a nice velvet ribbon would look great. Maybe one of these http://www.papermart.com

We are still in the proof stages of this project but let me know what you think.

A long weekend in the yard

In the Midwest our colder seasons leave me longing for warm breezes, beautiful blooms and buzzing bugs. Well, not so much that last one but the bumble bees are sweet. Now that the weather is wonderful again, I am busy planting flowers and tending to those that have returned from last year. 

The lilies are just about to bust through and they are double the height they were last year.

 Hope everyone has a fun Memorial Day Weekend!

Favorite Blogs

In an attempt to get this blog thing moving, I am rounding up some inspiration. I love blogs because unlike normals web pages, they are ever changing and filled with sometimes endless links, stories and photos. My blog is lacking all of that right now and that is what is slowing me down. It's a catch-22 I guess. I don't think anyone is reading this but if you are what are your favorite blogs?

this blog...

If you have somehow stumbled on this blog, thank you for stopping and please return, it will get better! I promise. I am gathering content and will have many stories, links and art to share beyond that of my own.

My content will be based on weekend travels around the Midwest, natural history and nature conservation related, as well as a little design.

Thanks!