Lovely idea and lovely little painting.

Clever idea!

Such a sweet and thoughtful gift of friendship. Who wouldn’t want a KSWL original

You are very talented! I love your work. ❤️

Charming!

I love that little watecolor!

Kswl it's absolutely lovely! I would be thrilled to get that kind of hostess gift and would frame it without hesitation. You are very thoughtful and talented!

Kswl, you may already know this, but A*zon sells pre-cut mats that are perfect for small works like this. I bought some 8x10 mats for 5x7 art and they came with a perfectly cut front, solid back piece, and a clear fitted plastic sealable bag! They look very professional.

There are so many creative and talented people on this forum. If you all ever do a creative arts swap, count me in! :)

What a lovely idea for a gift. Your friends must be thrilled.

Suggestions from our friends at ChatGPT

1. “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”
— Maya Angelou, All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes
(As a guest, this quote speaks to the rare comfort and acceptance found in a friend's home.)

2. “Where we love is home—home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

3. “A house is no home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.”
— Margaret Fuller
(Ideal for someone who has felt intellectually or spiritually nourished while visiting.)

4. “It is not down in any map; true places never are.”
— Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
(Lovely to inscribe on a painting—suggesting the home’s importance can’t be charted, only felt.)

5. “Home is the nicest word there is.”
— Laura Ingalls Wilder
(Simple, warm, and timeless.)

P.S. I’d invite you to dinner just to get one of those paintings. What are you doing next Friday at 7?

What a wonderful gift! The quote and note on the back just makes it perfect!

Great gift idea - and you do lovely work!

Thanks guys, it was only about 45 min from start to finish so probsbly as much time as I would spend in a grocery store assembling a basket of goodies.

I love the LIW quote Bbstx! my other favorite is

”our most cherished moments are those we spend togerher”

I am also thinking of just writing this:

Thank you for your welcoming home and generous heart ❤️

and painting the heart

You could also use the heart next to your name or somewhere on the art. It could be your signature to how someone spots a picture created by you.

I once knew of an artist who had a closed umbrella somewhere in his artwork all the time.

KSWL that is so pretty. Cannot wait to see you frame and hang the QM watercolor, love that one.

I have a friend who is an artist who does this, too! She does hers on blank note cards from Michael's. That way, because it is "just" a card, people don't feel bad if they don't want to keep it or display it. I have gotten too many gifts that I feel obligated to display or keep out and that can be awkward.

Love this!

I forgot to add; my friend make all of her own Christmas cards. I think you would love that! I think she has some copied but for immediate family they are all originals.

That is exactly my motivation, Mtn, to give a card that is personal but not precious or anything they have a responsibility to find a home for, iykwim. I have a tiny sketchpad of these 4x6” cards and love doing these little things

I took the three pieces for DS1’s birthday and the QM painting in to be framed. Of course the frame I wantednto QM is out of stock but he promised it would be in within the week. I’m doing a small white mat reveal (1/4”) and an inch of the blue. the frame is black with a gold inner edge. It looks reslly sharp— or will. Now I have to get serious about the gallery wall down our stairs 🤔

Yes, I have been working in Christmas designs already!

** sometimes I think you could go into business as a mind reader!

Love this! Such a great idea!

That's beautiful. I would treasure an original watercolor from you.

I've been making cards from my monoprints and sending them to people I know. I've snuck my initials and the year onto the back of the card. My friend told me I should sign them on front but I'm a bit shy about this.

Those mats on A! I should have known. I just bought some mat board at great discount from Michael's and cut my own with a mat cutter that lives under the spare bed.

Can't wait to see your Christmas designs (btw you always bring up Christmas in July, cannot believe I beat you to it this year!)

Wonderful hostess gift! I would love to receive one of these cards, perfect.

Years ago, I had business dealings with an architect who was also a fabulous artist. Every year for Christmas, he sent me (and I’m sure lots of other people too) a linoleum print Christmas card. I think our project lasted 3-4 years, so I got 3-4 cards. That was 25-30 years ago, and I cannot bring myself to throw them out. Don’t assume people will toss your work.

That is just beautiful, K. You really are very talented.

I was wondering (maybe I missed it) how you will give it? In an envelope? framed?

I also liked the LW quote the best, but yours is also excellent.

I think that is such a perfect gift ( and the fact that you are so talented makes it more so).

Bunny can we see yours!? and what is a monoprint?

Kswl - I think that is a perfect hostess gift! I love watercolors - I've just started messing around with them. I would definitely keep it if I received one + put it in a little frame in order to display it.

Next dinner party I have, you're invited!!

I would love receiving that & would NOT toss it!! In fact, I would love to have it on display in our home. I used to make Christmas cards using rubber stamp & painting the illustration. Yours bring it to a new level!!

Yes Bunny, I would love to see your prints! And I use my initials partly bc my name is so long but also because initials are more….anonymous?

Salonva, I put the first one in an envelope. I am going to a paper store in Atlanta in a few weeks and will take one of the cards with me to select nicer envelopes with the right color and weight.

I never thought this would be a good way to scare up invites, but…… 😎

"A monoprint is a unique, one-of-a-kind print created by transferring an image from a matrix (like a plate or block) onto paper, but where each print is distinct and cannot be exactly replicated. Unlike traditional printmaking, where multiple identical impressions can be made from a single matrix, monoprinting emphasizes the creation of unique impressions."

I'm new to this. I use a gel plate (matrix). There are a lot of things one can do with these prints (e.g., making paper for collages, image transfers, etc.) but I'm more drawn to botanical prints. It doesn't take long to amass a large stack of these prints (of varying quality, I can assure you) and then the age-old question: What am I gonna do with all this paella?"

It's not good enough for anything but giving it away. So I decided to cut up most of the prints and make cards. My goal is to send a card a day to someone I know. As I made a list of people, I was shocked to discover I don't know anywhere close to 365 people. So maybe it won't be for a year, maybe I'll start over and send Round 2. Anyway, it gives me a chance to get rid of this stuff and tell people thank you, I appreciate you, I see you. That's really the bottom line.

Of course I've sent my favorites out already, but here's a handful of the first 60:

Shot with wide angle and poor lighting. Distortion. You can't discern the metallic backgrounds, which are my favorites.

Those are beautiful Bunny! And unique— which is really the wonder and value of original artwork. Your friends are very lucky to be the recipients of these lovely cards ❤️ If you have many left over I’m sure the pastoral care committee of your church would LOVE to get their hands on these to send to those on the prayer list. I’ve never been prolific enough to use my cards for our pcc so I usually send Jacqui Lawson email cards. Yours are SO much nicer— they would cheer anybody up!

Thanks, Kswl. And a very good idea for whatever saint is sending out those cards from the church. I think I may donate a batch for the Christmas bazaar, an alternative to crocheted pot holders.

Thats actually a great idea--I may try my hand at painting our church and donating a set of those to our ECW sale.

Bunny - those are really pretty! I am now interested in learning more about this type of art.

If you gather addresses from on here, you'd have a lot more recipients for your cards. Just a thought . . . 😉

@dani_m08, I must have stumbled upon gel printing because I'd never heard of it before and wasn't looking for it. Probably found it on Instagram. I bought a gel plate and already had a brayer and some VERY old acrylic paint (does that stuff last forever or what?!!). One of my favorite gel plate artists is Link. There are many others of course and it sort of depends what type of prints appeal to you. I like botanical prints, while others use stencils and masks or pull images from magazines. It seems many people use them mainly for collage. That's fine, but I don't do collage--not that there's anything wrong with it--and am not looking to add another step in the process. Some stuff I have done is godawful but now and then something turns out well. The nice thing about making cards (or collage for that matter) is you don't need everything to turn out, maybe just a little bit here or there.

KSWL — absolutely lovely painting and a meaningful gift.

I love sending crafted cards and artwork. I’ve painted a couple of cards, including a wedding card and one for my mom (haven’t checked to see if she displayed it on the fridge)

An artist friend of mine sent out mini paintings like this as postcard thank-you's for wedding gifts. He painted them while on his honeymoon and it really was one of the most wonderful thank you's I'd ever received.

@Bunny...The 2nd one with the yellow on top, blue bottom leaf...Just GORGEOUS! So professional!

@Kswl...I like everything you've shown so far that you've painted. You pick up on a style and it's spot on! Great idea to gift a Thank You with a painting!

@nicole, thank you!

Lisaam, that card is so lovely—-what a beautiful wedding gift! Anyone would be lucky to receive one of those ❤️

Nicole, thank you for saying that as I am really a copyist, not an artist. I do try to capture the essence of a style even if it isn’t a perfect rendition. And I 100% agree with you on Bunny’s blue and yellow print…gorgeously vivid!

I painted this yesterday for a neighbor who is turning 90

and am playing around with this as one of our Christmas cards

Or some iteration of this idea. I am also working on a design of a gift tied with a pretty red bow that says ”be present for Christmas” But by September I may be all holly and manger scenes, who knows! 🤷‍♀️

Obviously, we have some very talented people in this group!

Thanks for this idea. I have been making cyanoprints and wondering what the heck to do with all of them. Especially ones where a section of the page comes out great but not all of it…I could just use that section on a card. I even have a stack of blank cards from some long-ago idea that never worked out.

Another idea is to embellish plain gift boxes. I was into collage for a while and made several small gift boxes (when I get a plain, or almost plain, gift box, I save it, but you can also buy them — I like the kraft-paper boxes). PS it usually works best if you paint the surface with gesso first.

I am just blown away by all this beautiful work by you ladies! Please keep showing us more. I love it all.

The artistic gene skipped right over me, but my niece does some beautiful and interesting art work, from small to very large (as in painting murals on walls). DD is currently working on some cute little gifts for her pickleball-playing friends. I saw them i progress Sunday and will post a photo when she has a couple of them finished.

Everyone's artwork is so pretty. Who wouldn't want a piece gifted?!

I have several of my mother's paintings. Her mother was also an artist. I did not get that gene.

Especially ones where a section of the page comes out great but not all of it…I could just use that section on a card.

Sue, exactly. I made a mat board template with a cutout in the center for the size I needed through which I look for little snippets. Even some very meh pieces have a section that on its own looks good. Or try turning it 90 degrees and it's a whole other thing.

I actually like that part, the discerning, cutting, gluing. I'm more of a builder/assembler than an artist. Give me rulers and t-squares and I'm happy.

@Kswl Do I ever hear you about being a copyist. That's me to a T. I might have missed a calling as a counterfeiter.

I have a question for the collage makers among us but don't want to get too far OT.

Go as far afield as the spirit takes you Bunny— the best threads are those that evolve, imo. 😁

Counterfeiting….. an interesting third act for us 😎

The thoughtfulness of these gifts is so outstanding. I'm impressed by all of you!

For those less painterly, like me, I do have a gift card -- which I framed -- from a friend that was an arrangement of small pressed dried flowers, then covered with clear contact paper, and then matted.