Introducing...

...Holly the Botanical Artist!

I have always admired old botanical prints and always felt that someday I would settle down and create some of my own. After making Evan's desert garden, I was pretty much hooked. And I wanted to do more.

So after moving to Montana and feeling a little bit lonely (Evan, please quit your job and hang out with me everyday again...we can live on love!) and having no big responsibilities, I started drawing. First a Lupine,

then a magenta Paintbrush,

and I rounded it off with some Toadflax. It is also sometimes called Butter and Eggs, which makes me smile.

And because I'm trying to do more things that scare me, I decided to try and sell some prints. So I started a little online shop and I hope people will like them. And if they don't, I know what everyone in my family is getting for Christmas this year.

And because I like you guys (seriously! I love that you guys visit this space and leave nice little comments, both written and verbal...it's pretty sweet!), I'm going to be giving one of these prints away to one of you.

Simply add a comment to this post by Thursday, May 6, and be sure to specify which print you would like.

For those of you without a google account, you can comment as 'anonymous', but be sure to leave your contact info (name, email, & social security number...joking).

Okay? Okay.

Jammin'

Yesterday, after the first day of work at my new job, I spent a sunny afternoon with the beginnings of some strawberry jam.

It was nice.

Be sure to pop back here sometime Thursday afternoon (after work!), for a big surprise announcement.

Show and tell

This morning I was going through an old portfolio and I discovered a stash of artwork from an illustration class I took. I used to want to be an illustrator of children's books, and I took this great class. We were given a topic or story and then sent home to interpret it however we wanted. It was great fun! But pretty hard. I realized then that I probably don't have the stamina to be an illustrator (they have to pump out ideas so fast!), but I still learned a lot. So I thought I'd share, if you don't mind.

This is princess bubbles. I think I had to interpret a story about a house full of butterflies...? Anyway, those are bubbles in the picture. And if you look really close there are butterflies in the bubbles. I don't know why.

This was our first assignment and the only guidelines were: a pig, some money, and a vacuum. See if you can figure out what is going on in this picture. By the way, that is one of those kids vacuum things full of popping balls. Do they still have those?

This is froggy circus. I don't really remember what the assignment was. But I think it's rather wiggly.

This was an assignment to interpret a story about a man who goes from town to town selling yellow paint that will make you live forever. I think the hills look like watermelons. Yum.

This was an assignment where we had to do a self-portrait of ourselves using an animal (those art teachers are so silly). This is Ostrich Holly. Those are my teeth and eyes on that fuzzy bird. I think this is so funny. And I remember that I giggled through the whole critique.

Alright, thanks for playing show and tell.

The Holly, the paint, and the wardrobe

We live in a house with approximately 1.5 closets. Total. So we knew we were going to need some additional space to store linens, extra supplies, and candy (what?). Before we made the big move, Evan's parents were kind enough to give us an old metal wardrobe. I was excited. I love hand-me-down furniture.

But it was brown. And since I will not sleep until everything I own is dipped in blue, I painted it.

Nice, no?

And of course I had to paint the handles. They remind me of designs that might be on little dutch clogs. I don't own any clogs. This is purely speculation.

And the best part of all? I hijacked it! It is living in my studio and is not full of towels or sheets at all. It is full of a sewing machine and all sorts of wonderful items. And there is definitely some candy in there somewhere.

Farewell to big Brooke

Back when I was a little art student, one of my final assignments consisted of building a large panel. The art teacher didn't really specify how large, he just said larger than what we had been painting on all semester. I had been doing these dainty square foot paintings, so I thought, "I'll go REALLY big!" And I had Evan build me a 4'x4' panel.

And then, as if having an enormous panel wasn't enough, I decided it would be a good time to try painting a portrait. I had never done a portrait before. And I had an urge.

So I had my little sister be my model. And I painted away. And the funny thing was, when I showed up for critique, my painting was by far the biggest. By far. It was awkward. Nobody had taken the 'large' part of the assignment seriously.

Let's just say I have decided portraits aren't my "thing".

Actually, if you cropped it down to just the eyes, it wasn't so bad

But it didn't look like my sister Brooke, at all. AT ALL! She is a babe, and this painting sort of made her look....I dunno. Not like a babe.

And so I did the right thing.

I wonder what this giant panel will be next...

Evan strikes again!

I like my brownies chewy. As in, I only like the edge pieces and corner pieces. I have been known to eat my way around the edge of a pan of brownies and leave the soft gooey center for the next guy.

On a regular basis.

And so Evan, master of baking gifts, got me this special little pan. And I love it. Love love. Love. It.

My ex-landlady (we had to break up, the distance was too hard) from our last house was over and spotted the pan in the sink. She was stumped. I explained to her what the pan was for and the necessity of it in my life. Her eyes got wide as she took this information in. When I got to the part about how every piece tastes like a chewy edge piece, she quickly interjected "why else would you eat a brownie?"

She understood completely.

And so this post is for Jackie. I dedicate it to her and all other brownie-edgers out there.

The pan was ordered from here. And it is the sturdiest baking pan I have every encountered. Sturdy stuff. And slippery, too! The brownies slide right out, and into my mouth.

It comes with its own spatula. Nice.

And the recipe is from my Mom. She taught me everything I know about brownies. Except that she likes the gooey middle pieces. Why? I don't know. But I do know that together we can perfectly polish off a pan of brownies.

Brownies from heaven

Ingredients

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 c. butter, melted

1 1/2 c. flour

2/3 c. dark cocoa

1/2 t. salt

2 t. vanilla

Directions

Beat eggs slightly. Blend with sugar and melted butter. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt. Add to butter mixture. Stir in vanilla. Pour in lightly greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Share with someone you love.

Sun room studio

We have a sun room at the back of our house.

It is sunny. And warm.

The walls are painted a color that can only be described as 'Barbie skin'.

I would know.

I played with Barbie.

It's alright though. Barbie was cool. And I am so excited to have a little space of my own again.

And Nicholas, I believe I stole this from you. Like 10 years ago. I am so very sorry.

Covering up

Our front door is the color of a raspberry scone. A very shiny raspberry scone. I like it. It has great personality. But I didn't like that it left three peepholes into my living room. I like my privacy, especially when it's dark out and the lamps are on, and people can see in, but we can't see out ....ya know? Privacy is good.

So in the process of deciding how to cover up, I remembered that this lovely artist has paper patterns for download on her blog. How nice is that? And the pattern for March had Hyacinths. I LOVE hyacinths.

And now all is right with the world and I have Hyacinths blooming on my front door. So nice.

Morning sunshine

This is the other half of our living area. The dinning and book nooks. This is maybe my favorite place in our new home. It gets great morning sunlight, as you can probably see.

I have wanted a window seat forever. I think they are so charming and functional. Hairy and Jade (the plants) think so too.

A room for living

I'm sorry, but isn't this the sexiest heat vent you've ever seen? I know. I can't stop looking at it.

Okay. Now that that's out of the way, would you like a small tour of the living area? (and I say area, because it's really just one big room for the dinning, living and reading areas. K?)

Here we go. This is where we will be doing our living. The walls are a dark tan. And at first, we were like, brown? Really? But it's starting to grow on me. It's making me feel very neutral.

More cranes. They seem to be all over our house. From this window you can see our enclosed front porch. All we have out there is an old rocking chair. Evan let me know that he plans on sitting out there and yelling nonsense to kids. Senior citizen style.

This will not happen. I promise.

Okay. Thanks for playing home tour 2010.

Hello Montana!

Goodness. Moving is a lot of work. But we made it.

I chased Evan around the house this weekend with a hammer and made him do things like assemble furniture and hang up paintings. He is a sweetie. We are getting so fast at this home-decorating business. This was not always the case. When we were first married and living in a little duplex, it took me three months to hang something on the wall. I was a little timid about hanging and arranging back then.

But after several moves, I have realized that you just have to get right to it. So now, I am entirely the opposite. We first walked into our new bungalow and I was already shouting orders. "This goes here!" and "Evan grab the hammer!". I'm not sure which is better. But our little house is feeling like a home. And I'm proud as a peacock.

So will you indulge me for a moment? I have pictures to share.

Here we have the master suite. On the bed you will see my first quilt which was pieced last summer at the farmhouse.

We live in another old house (that's the way we like them), and it is full of charming features such as this light switch cover. I think it's so sweet. And rather than a little dirty or grimy, I'm going to call it weathered.

And that concludes the master suite tour. Thank you for your participation.