Art Therapy #20

Hey we are back! This is where Rae and Nancy send each other postcards. We were weekly, but we are a bit, ok a lot more random right now. Nancy, of the traveling shoes, has landed and I was delighted to get a card from her. Hopefully we will get back to weekly postcards. So satisfying to get art and the written word in the mail.

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An excerpt from the book that Nancy is writing.

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These 2 images are from Nancy’s Naked People 2019 calendar. These 2 are among my favorites.

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I have Christmas in my head. Christmas or Winter fabric. Also I need to do a series of NOLA (New Orleans) fabric because it is in my head begging to get out.

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This is a current entry in Minted’s sympathy card challenge. I like it because it is not the usual flowery sympathy card. Maybe it is too different.

I feel a need to change my style… or really expand my style. Over the Winter I am going to spend time with watercolors, colored pencils and Procreate on my seriously underused iPad. Plan to put a movie or music on and draw. I am also taking Jenna Kutcher’s Instagram Class with is packed with good info.

As Winter progress I hope you are all snuggled in. Christmas is almost here.

Christmas is coming....

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Yes, Christmas is coming, always faster than we want. I love it when I get a photo card in the mail. Here is a card that I designed for this very, new site called Pippa. This is a site that I am keeping my eye on. Good design for a very reasonable price. And this card is now 50% off. You can visit here.

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Another item hot off the press is Nancy Vala’s calendar for 2019. Interesting and tasteful naked people. You can check it out here. She has some nice Christmas cards too.

21 days until the BIG day…

6 ways to make December easier...

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Thanksgiving is gone. Time to dive into Christmas. I just put together the neighborhood Songs of the Season event flyer. I used the Yuletide Doodles and the Christmas Doodles font to add some easy artwork. Use some fun fonts and Bob’s your Uncle.

We need all the shortcuts we can get anytime, but especially during the holidays.

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And here is a big time saver for you. For a limited time these 6 fonts are only $9 each. Priced for your holiday budget. You can see them here http://www.outside-the-line.com/fonts If you want to use these fonts to print things you want to sell contact Rae (using the Ask Rae link above) she would be delighted to chat with you. Only 29 shopping days to Christmas.

Door County, a pictorial

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For those of you who do not know Door County, WI is the upper peninsula of Wisconsin. It is surrounded by Lake Michigan. I don’t know why we do not go more often. It was just 3.5 hrs. from Madison to Fish Creek. We have had flooding and water in our basement since the end of August and decided we needed to escape. The trees were a bit past prime for leaf viewing but still beautiful. It was crisp, cool and sunny with the smell of Fall in the air.

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Door County is all about the cherries. Door County Cherry Stuffed French Toast is America’s favorite according to Good Morning America. Find it at the White Gull Inn. This was actually 2+ breakfasts for me. The best pie is at Sweetie Pie’s. We could see Sweetie Pie’s from our room. Very close, very good and very bad.

The Hardy Gallery

We have tried to get to the Hardy Gallery more than once and never can get there when they are open. Anyone can add to the graffiti on the building. Fun.

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Endless galleries… endless art. More than you can possibly see.

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This is the first time either of us had been in a lighthouse. It is on Cana Island. We had to ride in a cart pulled by a small tractor to get there. John climbed the 96 stairs to the top.

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Sister Golden in Fish Creek is one of my favorites. I usually get jewelry there. And I like their logo.

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Another favorite is the Blacksmith Clothing Co. in Egg Harbor. I picked up a couple things for Fall.

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We visited the Cookery Wine Bar one afternoon to hear the No Name Ykulele Band play. I gave John a ykulele several years ago. Fun afternoon thing to do.

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This photo kind of says it all. This tree is in Ellison Bay Bluff County Park.

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And this curvy road on your way to Gills Rock.

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And all the amazing sunsets. If you are looking for an easy, relaxing trip, try Door County.

brownies, ribs and decorating...

Barbeque Ribs dish towel by Rae Kaiser https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/7884844-exceptional-barbecue-ribs-dish-towel-by-outside_the_line
Brownie dish towel by Rae Kaiser https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/7846256-really-good-brownies-dish-towel-by-outside_the_line

Thought I might start a weekly 'behind the scenes' post. So here goes..

Just got the proofs back on these towels! Two dish towels in a series of how many? Not sure yet. I did these as a birthday present for my friend Erica. It helps me to think of someone when I create something new. I do like these a lot. Both of the recipes are tried and true and are family favorites.

These would make adorable themed shower, house warming or birthday gifts. And it is never too early to start on your Christmas list. You could include the grill dish towel with grill tools for the hard to buy for grillmaster. The brownie towel could be part of a basket of nice sugars, baking chocolate, vanilla, measuring cups and spoons. You can find these towels on Spoonflower. Remember, Spoonflower is a print on demand fabric site. So you are buying the printed towels and will still need to hem them.

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After a recent fondue party and seeing this photo I was horrified at all that orange. I use color when designing but I think living with it exhausts me. And I don't even like orange.

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A start and already a big improvement. NO. MORE. ORANGE. Plus that black wall use to be green.

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It is time for the blue to go too. I have loved these Eames chairs. I bought them 9 years ago at Atomic and they are like new. I plan to use 4 black, mismatched mid-century chairs. I already have 2. It anyone is interested I will probably tackle selling them next week. Craigslist or Facebook Market. First come, first serve if you are in the Madison area and want first dibs.

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And if you sign up for my newsletter that comes out monthly ish you can pick a free font. How good is that? You must be on a computer to do this. See upper right on this page.

Rae & Louie

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I think a bag says who a woman is.

I have been on a life long quest for that perfect bag. And I have a laundry basket full of purses to prove that. Ones that I can't quite get rid of. Ones that are close but not quite. Strangely, the best of my purses were gifts. (Apparently others know me better than I know myself.)

This bag is a vintage Louis Vuitton Speedy Monogram handbag. I don't think you can call this a purse. This bag comes in sizes, no less. I have no idea what size this is. It has been dubbed 'Big Louie'. (Thanks Phil.)

For me who is a teeny, tiny, itty bitty purse kind of gal, it is huge. Basically right now I am a Kate Spade girl. The small ones.

There is a story behind this bag. Maybe 6 or 7 years ago my friends Nita and John came to Madison in an icy, freezing cold stretch of February weather. John, an engineer and in his late 80s came to take a class to keep his engineering license up to date. We met them and got them to their hotel and settled in. I must say I have never seen such a pile of Louis Vuitton luggage in my life. And I mean the big pieces. You know, the kind that my large 5 year old grandson could crawl into.

John would go to class and I would go and get Nita for an afternoon of lunching and shopping. We would meet back again after my John got off work and all go to dinner. Madison has lots of fun places to eat and all exceeded their expectations.

We were having 'the best burgers they had ever had' at the Blue Moon and Nita was bemoaning the fact that she wanted to get me something but didn't know what. I am all, 'no, no I don't need anything'. Then she says, 'I know, I will give you my purse'. I am 'NO, nonononononono no. Please no'. Those of you who know Nita know that Nita never takes no for an answer. At this point she asks the waitress if she has a brown grocery bag so she can dump the contents of her bag into it.

Panicked, I said I know what we should do. As of now this bag is mine but you should keep using it until someday when you do not need it anymore. Over the years I got to tease her about my bag and that I hoped she was taking good care of it.

Nita is now 94, and I went with 2 good friends to visit her in a retirement community in Iowa City. We had a lovely time and at the end of our visit she went to her closet and brought out Louie. We all got a little tearful.

Frankly, I am conflicted about this bag. I think a Louie bag says, 'I have money and I want you to know it'. And philosophically I have a bit of a problem owning a bag that is worth more than my monthly mortgage payment.

That aside, it did not occur to me that every time I use this bag that I would think about my dear friend who gave me her last treasure. And it will always be Nita's bag and never Rae's bag. So that makes it all OK. In fact, more than OK.

Thank you Nita.

 

 

Eat your Fruit & Veggies Dish Towels...

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This week's dish towels are the "Eat your Fruits & Veggies" dishtowels. These dishtowels are available on Spoonflower in my shop. You get all 4 towels on one yard of 54" x 36" cotton, linen, canvas fabric. You just cut them apart and hem the edges. These made great gifts. I just sent a set to a girlfriend and also knit her a scrubby dishcloth in these colors using scrubby yarn.

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Last week when I showed you my Wilderness Dish Towels in Brown I forgot to show you how darn cute those patterns are in wallpaper...

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Not to mention the wrapping paper. This is year round paper and for Christmas just add red or green ribbon. I am all about simplifying. You can find this all on Spoonflower in my shop.

dish towels + jack and ella + free font

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Wilderness dish towels in neutrals and browns. These are fabrics from the now completed Wilderness Collection. These were a birthday present for a girlfriend who vacationed in Alaska last Summer. They were a hit. These dishtowels are available on Spoonflower in my shop. You can also buy additional yardage for napkins too. If you are buying the dishtowels you get all 4 towels on one yard of 54" x 36" cotton, linen, canvas fabric. You just cut them apart and hem the edges.

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My friend, the talented Jessica, of Jack +  Ella Paper has a newly designed website and a wholesale catalog. Check her out here. Not that I am bragging or anything but I lettered her new logo and lots of my doodle illustrations show up on her cards. You can stock up here. I am my mother's daughter. Betty sent a lot of cards. She always had a box or two of all occasion cards to send on a moments notice. I sent 2 birthday cards this morning and have a get well card that needs to go out this week too. So much easier when you already have cards on hand.

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I am going to send more newsletters. If you would like to receive one sign up on the right. (You can only do this on the computer, sorry.) If you are new to the list and would like a free font go to the fonts page and pick one out. Email that to me using the ASK RAE link at the top. Have a great week everyone!