Retro Coffee Illustration Poster Print with Erotic Ode To Coffee

Every morning I long to hold you. I need you, I want you, I have to have you. Your warmth, your aroma, your taste...oh coffee, I love you!

This poster is made to resemble a vintage screen print; the colors were taken from a 1940's photo of the glamorous Dorthy Lamour. The background has a field of coffee cups ready to fill or be washed. 

Minnesota Spring Blizzard

Yesterday Robins were splashing in the pond, today I had to use 4 wheel drive to get up the driveway. Five days from now the forecast high is 70 degrees. A Minnesota spring is never boring.

How To Carve A Rubber Stamp Using Speedball Speedy-Cut

 I bought some sheets of Speedball Speedy-Cut at Blick. It's perfect for printing with water soluable mediums and carves like butter.

I did a sketch on tracing paper of my daughter wearing a goofy dog hat I made for her earlier this winter. I placed the pencil drawing, graphite side down, on the rubber surface. I rubbed the back of the drawing with a bone folder (a spoon would work) to transfer the lines. You don't want to draw directly on the surface since you could dent it and might not want the lines to show on your print.

 The transferred print. It would have been helpful to stain the rubber with an ink pad so I could have seen the carved lines easier. Excess material can be cut off with a razor blade or X-Acto knife.

The carving was done with linoleum block carving tools. I used a fine gouge, a medium V and a wide gouge for removing larger sections. I carved until I thought it was almost done, inked the stamp, and made a print. This let me know where I needed to carve more. I didn't want to clean up all the lines since I like the rougher, wood block print look.

I had better results laying the stamp flat and pressing the ink pad down onto it rather than pressing the rubber block onto the ink pad. Speedy-Cut is 3/8 of an inch thick and is sturdy enough to not need a wood back. Remember, if you add text, the image has to be backwards or it will print backwards.

Don't undercut the raised areas since it will damage the integrity of the printing surface.

Lomo Style Effect in Photoshop Applied To Photos Of Iris Flowers

My husband set up a new home office and he needed a little artwork above his computer; he has a wonderful view of the wall. My first thought were some vacation photos but that seemed a little cruel when you need to shovel a path so the dogs can go outside.

His favorite flower are irises so I thought I'd bring a little spring into the room. The images were nice but uninspired. I used a techinique for faking Lomo photography in Photoshop and the flowers are significantly lusher

Angler Fish Holding a Paper Lantern With Fish Confetti

Angler fish know how to have a good time.

Available on Etsy.

Get Kraken Octopus Zentangle With Paper Boat Greeting Card

I saw a wonderful old vintage image of the Kraken attacking a ship and thought it would be funny if it were a paper boat. I'm not certain where the Zentangle came from; some days my sketch book is an odd place to be.

Available on Etsy.

The Monster at The Top Of The Stairs Halloween Greeting Card

My what big teeth you have.

Available on Etsy.

Monster Peering Through Window Blinds Halloween Greeting Card

Is the creepy monster peering out or in? What a nice way to let someone know you are thinking of them.

Available on Etsy

Monster Under The Bed Halloween Greeting Card

I used to have many elaborate rules about the monster under the bed. You were safe as long as nothing dangled over the edge since fingers were especially tasty and blankets could ward off any attack. OK, I still don't have dangling bits but I know better now...

Available on Etsy.

Happy Halloween Greeting Cards Made From Original Paintings

I was cleaning up the studio last night and rediscovered two Halloween paintings so I took the image and made them into greeting cards which are available on Etsy.

I opened a new shop awhile back where people can download digital copies so they can print them for their own use.

October Calendar To Do List List Illustration

This month's illustration has silhouettes of a mouse, grasshopper and dragonfly sneaking past a spooky gate while a startled moon looks on. The vintage image components came from the Graphics Fairy and then I layered them in Photoshop.

Drawing Mannequin Walking Like Leonardo DiCaprio

The mannequin on my desk looked vaguely familiar and then I realized why.

Stargate Inspired Paper Pyramid With Glyphs For Earth, Pisces, Aquarius and Gemini

I made a paper pyramid and had been stumped by what to put on it and this morning it struck me, Stargate symbols.

I used the Stargate symbols that correspond to our zodiac and Earth. Despite what my kids  occasionally think, Earth is my home planet. You're welcome to click on the template to make the image larger.

Watercolor Painting of a Frog Holding An Umbrella From My Art Journal

I adore frogs and when I saw this cute photograph by Penkdix Palme I was compelled to use it as a reference photo.

I only did a journal sketch since I never do serious paintings from another person's images. I had mixed feelings after I completed it since I tried to find out more about the photographer to give him credit for the shot.

There's a bit of controversy over the series of photographs. I prefer to take the photo in good faith and hope nothing bad happened to the frog. Photographers luck into amazing shots and he did appear in National Geographic. Animals are clever and capable of using tools.

The lesson I learned is stick with my original images and not be swayed by pretty pictures. Life is simpler that way.

September Calendar To Do Page

The illustration shows my day in a mandala format.

The center is a goat cheese pizza. Many of the shapes are from a painted tote bag. The tote bag has a Star Trek insignia from Star Trek Into Darkness. The blue coffee cup is the cappuccino cup my daughter made me that I use daily.

Zombie Night at the St Paul Saints Baseball Game - Small Adventures Week 6

Zombies and baseball, I love minor league baseball.

There was a zombie race and beauty pageant.

The Zombies must have scared away the crowds since the stadium was maybe 10% filled.

Drawing On Rocks with Ink - Small Adventures Week 5

We have a lot of rocks gathered from the shores of Lake Superior. My 2 daughters and I went to McDonalds last week, fortified ourselves with sausage biscuits and started drawing on the rocks with Sharpie markers.

Sharpies get a bit smelly so the picnic tables outside McDonalds was a pleasant place to work.

Paracord Survival Bracelet - Small Adventures Week 4

I've been at the cabin a lot lately and this seemed like a fun craft idea. We watched a video, made a loom, and printed the directions. We were ready to shop.

I had to go to WalMart anyway so we checked their craft department. WalMart is known for supporting the military so I thought there was a good chance they would have the materials. They did, but only in camo shades.

We then went to JoAnn Fabrics and found kits in the jewelry making area. We bought the kits and came home. The green one came with a mirror reflector dog tag.

We opened the package and discovered that the cords were cut in half so the 8 foot directions no longer worked. The package directions were different and the bracelets were no longer made on a loom. OK.

They were fun to make but if you want the functionality of a true survival bracelet I would not recommend the kits. We sealed the ends with a lighter but they popped away from the bracelet when we opened and closed the bracelet. I wanted it stay down so we glued they ends down with Tacky glue. It's not up to military specs; but in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I can find North, we can signal for help and my other daughter's job will be to yell "Run faster!"

August Calendar Illustration of Corn Popping in the Field

The ironic part is this is actually probably the coolest August I've ever experienced. I should probably have put scarves and ear muffs on the corn cobs.

Garden Stone Ideas from Caponi Art Park

The garden stonework at this fun park is inspiring and a lot it it is attainable. I think I'll incorporate some of the elements at the cabin.

The top edging is concrete blocks with stone obelisk behind them.

I would not have thought you could have had the paved paths in Minnesota with the frost pushing up the stones but they looked great. One is stone and the other is timbers placed on end.

The garden bench was built into a stone retaining wall.