NEW! Spoonflower Dish Towels

Mike's Dish Towels #2

I like dishtowels a lot. And I like to design them. Especially when I can use illustrations from one of my fonts. These towels were inspired by my font Wilderness Doodles. I like to design doodle location fonts after I have been somewhere where so I can absorb the location. These were drawn after an amazing trip to Alaska. And are a Christmas gift for our friend who lives there. You can see them here.

These checks are 2" wide.

These dish towel are for sale on Spoonflower.com. When buying them use the recommended fabric. 54" wide, 36" deep and use the Linen Cotton Canvas fabric. If not, there is a good chance you will be disappointed. And we don't want that.

Just so you know. When you buy this item you are buying a yard of fabric. You need to cut the dish towels apart and then hem the edges. Or find someone who will do that for you.

These squares are also 2". Also when you buy this yard you get all 4 designs.

These make great gifts to all who live "up north".

3 Christmas Cards and 1 New Year's Card now on sale at Minted.com!

So very excited about my collection on Minted. And you can enjoy 15% off using the code JOY17 at checkout. Expires 11/6. Here is the link to shop https://www.minted.com/store/raekaiser

Art Therapy #13

If you don't know, this is where Rae & Nancy make postcards and send them to each other. We have been busy and are slacking off a little.

My postcard above is cacti illustrations I did for a Minted wrapping paper challenge. That arrangement is slightly different with more white space. But I like both the drawings and the colors a lot. I can't wait to be able to buy some!

I love to make soup. Especially in a snowstorm. Trust me this is the best tomato soup ever. Of course this is the basic recipe. Like my grandma, I add a little of this and a little of that. I know I add more honey. The basic recipe is from the From Asparagus to Zucchini cookbook. A Madison guide to cooking farm-fresh seasonal produce. It is always a bit of a garbage soup. I may toss in any appropriate veggies in the fridge that need to be eaten. I also use my immersion blender to create a nice smooth soup. Perfect with a baguette from Batch Bakehouse. Closest baguette I have found to the ones in Paris.

Nancy's postcards are all wonderfully thoughtful. She has gone through some well thought out changes in her life. She is really brave and honest with her actions, although she would probably say she is not. But I think she is wrong. She is a friend of many years that I am lucky to have.

"Courage transforms the emotional structure of our being. During the process of rising we sometimes find ourselves homesick for a place that no longer exists. We want to go back to that moment before we walked into the arena... straddling the tension that lies between wanting to go back to the moment before we risked + fell + being pulled forward to even greater courage is an inexhaustible part of the rising strong." - Rising Strong, Brene Brown

Among many other things Nancy is writer. This is an excerpt from her book, Get Lost: The Adventures of Ruby O'Hara.

Nancy and I are taking October off. She is off to writer's workshops and visiting her girls. I am ever so busy with Minted and will start illustrations for a well-known retail store. I think we will be back in November. Until then.....

Art Therapy #12

I wrote this post and then lost it. So here goes again. This is where Nancy and I make postcards and send them to each other.

This is a piece of art that I did for a Minted Challenge. I seem to do things 3 times before I get what I want. I did submit another one that I liked better. But still like this piece.

I took this picture and then altered it on my iPad. I wish I could remember the app. I like the creepy Halloween look.

I love Nancy's more complex cards. She said: "Just making up stories in my head and then thought I would try the blackout poetry that Austin Kleon does. Nice.

In closing plz send someone a piece of real mail. You have no idea how it can brighten their day. Just do it, it takes less time than you think.