Beth and the Ballad of Billings Hill

getting into watercolors

I've been an acrylics/pencil/digital kind of girl for a long time now but have recently really wanted to get more into watercolor and gouache. After salivating over all my options at Blick, I finally picked up Grumbacher palette, raced home to my kitchen table and dove in.

I've been enjoying every moment so far.

I've made a goal to do one water color painting a day...so we'll see how that turns out.

Josh and Lauren wedding invites

How cute are these? I love how Josh Wangrud, designer, incorporated my portrait of the two of them in their wedding invitations. So darling! The Mandate Press in Salt Lake City Utah did the printing and everything just turned out beautifully.

jon liddiard

Christmas gift for the huz

Katie & Riley

I had a great time working on these commissioned portrait paintings of siblings, Katie and Riley. Their personalities mixed with their red hair made for some very fun subject matter.

Cyber Monday Sale!!

Today only I'm offering free shipping on all orders and all week I'll be offering the buy one print (or custom portrait) and get one print free!

Hop on over the shop and get your holiday shopping done! New prints available.

my little neice enjoying her princess peepers book!

so cute!

If you have any pics or your little one enjoying the book, send them along. I'd love to see them! I'm thinking of making a flickr group of sorts.

Shakespeare poster

For Jon's birthday I made him this poster chronicling his Shakespeare roles and highlighting a few famous lines. I still have a few roles to fill in at the bottom and can add more in the future (as well as more lines).

fun mini interview and Leisel print featured at...

Check it out here.

Thanks for the shout out guys!

josh + lauren

picnic

The lovely Valeria from picnic has spotlighted my work today. Head on over and check it out.'

Thanks Valeria for a beautiful article!

gemma + james

dan + leslie

custom drawings for Jorge

I had a lot of fun creating the sister drawing to Ellen for a custom etsy order. All the client had to do was say the words mask and ruffles and I was on board :).

Art Sale and new prints!!!

Today only I'm offering 20% off on all item in my shop! There is also a special sale going on tonight through Marichelle's (of Heart Handmade) Shop Live Event. See more information on this event here and here. Hope to see you all over in the shop!

in progress

sharing some little ladies that I'm working on for the shop. stay tuned!

Penny Peacock in Etsy treasury

So fun to see little Penny Peacock in Cool Ranch Studio's Etsy treasury today.

giving the gift

I was going through my files and found this photo. I had just given Jonathan (my best friend Angie Brown's husband-to be) a glimpse of the wedding portrait I made for them. Fun memories. Love you guys!

Spider Boy

My cover for Spider Boy, by Ralph Fletcher, is up on bn.com (will be on shelves Aug. 2009). Yeah, another book for a boy!

Junior Library Guild and Skater's Secret

It was so fun to receive a copy of the July 2009 jlg monthly (Junior Library Guild monthly) in the mail today. Skater's Secret, a Jake Maddox book, was chosen as the July Sports Elementary choice! I've scanned in the page that spotlights the book (a great story btw). So very fun. Thanks jlg!

(oh and here's fun article on how the Jake Maddox, Stone Arch sports series is doing in schools. Apparently the kids love them and are demanding librarians to get more! Storm Surfer seems to be the one of the most popular. Yeah!)