My Meadow Lark

This is a series that I have started to include all Montana State birds!

I sketched, hand carved and stamped on archival watercolor paper. Then painted watercolor over the top and used an ink dipped pen to sign Meadow Lark on it. I am thinking of doing this as a limited edition of 50 of each bird. To help make them much more valuable. 

Making an Impression

I have been following this amazing watercolor artist for about a year now named Geninne Zlatkis. She has an amazing blog and recently wrote this fantastic book that is worth every dime! She made a suggestion in her book to make tags out of hand carved stamps. I used a fragile stamp that I made a while ago for my etsy flat mailers. Which I was using block ink for. I decided to purchase some pigment ink instead and make these tags for gifts. A direct inspiration from Geninnes' book Making an Impression.  It's full of so many of her own designs and ideas for you to explore your own imagination. She even encourages you to go for a walk and get renewed by your own surroundings to be inspired for your designs. I love that about her book! Well she has certainly inspired me to make my own impression. 

I was limited to the stamps that I could make because I have only a few colors now and green was one of them. So, I thought why not make a kiwi! I also had black so I made the seeds too. They really turned out too big but I think that the affect is kinda cool though.

Thank you Geninne for writing this amazing book and being such a huge inspiration to me and so many others!

The Columbia Gorge

Check out the Columbia River Gorge on your next road trip.

This was a great pit stop on the way to Seattle for our Spring Break this week. The view was amazing and on the left hand side you'll find a massive sculpture of the wild horses in that reserve. 

April Desktop Calender

Here is your new desktop calender! Hope you enjoy!

Just click on image and save and you can add it to your desktop. 

This was from a photo that I took last year. I love not only how the honeysuckle grew around my sisters arbor, but how it attracted so many humming birds to it. It was something truly amazing to witness. 

Migratory Birds and Wildlife

The Red Winged Black Bird is always a sure sign of spring!

A pair of Canadian geese.

I don't know what this little fella is but he sure is cool looking. 

I had to photograph these white tailed deer.

My husband spotted this male pheasant!

Not sure what this guy was up to!

I had to look this up on the internet when we got home. Apparently this is the time of year that they establish their pecking order. This must be done before they can mate with the females. I think that the big guy which seemed to be hanging around these two in the process was the official referee!

My husband called to this one and he called back and in the process got himself puffed up for me to take this photo of him!

Some kind of hawk I think.

All this and more we saw at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. It is an amazing place located in Stevensville, Montana. If your near the area or think you may want to visit this is a must see opportunity!  

Cupcake Carrier

I made these peppermint chocolate cup cakes with cream cheese peppermint frosting for a party that I was going to. I searched all over the house for a box that I could transport them safely in. I came up with this which worked perfectly for transporting them as well as for decorating them. It's an egg carton that came from a five dozen box. I love eco friendly, reusable things! 

Have fun at your next party, and see the comments that come out of your cupcake carrier!

Have fun with it!

Abby

Pussy Willow Branches & Dried Poppies

Three Dried Poppies

Dried Poppy & Pussy Willow Branches

Here are some paintings that I finished last Saturday afternoon. The two dried poppy paintings are done on old fronts and back of a book. Paintings are layered with torn pages, painted with white acrylic and then painted with watercolors. I thought that it created a really unique style. Something new that I cam up with. Hope you like and feel inspired to make your own!

Abby