Celebrating one year anniversary for online store; new products added!

My how time flies, and looking back over the last year we are starting to get a real sense of all the new unique Texas themes that Linda’s wildflower paintings have come to life on. This year’s Christmas designs from Texas are from one of her new works called “Texas Bluebonnet Medley”. This latest edition is available on greeting and note cards, Christmas ornaments, and on ceramic mugs. The Christmas cards come with Happy Holiday’s, Season Greetings, or Merry Christmas and with or without From Texas.

Each year Linda promises to create a new Texas theme from her wildflower art and make them available for several of the CaféPress products. Of course we will continue to have the older artwork designs available along with the new so it will always be your choice as to which Texas related gifts you might want to share with your loved one each year.

For all those folks that are not fortunate enough to still live in Texas this is a great way to remember and share your Texas heritage. Linda’s computer graphic design skills meld so well with her painting skills that I have no doubt that this is the start of a wonderful Texas Christmas tradition. 20 years from now we will be looking back with the same sense of wonderment of a child waking up on Christmas morn all antsy to see what is under the tree. The gift of giving has always been one of Linda’s greatest joys and to share her talent in ways that bring such happiness to folks throughout the year is both a privilege and a pleasure.

We continue to be impressed with the quick turn around and shipping of the CaféPress products and on the rare occasion where something is not quite right about the order the Complete and NO questions asked FULL SATISFACTION GUARANTEE!

This blog written for you by David, Linda’s little Christmas elf!

SPECIAL OF THE WEEK: SAVE 25% ON WILDFLOWER NOTECARDS

Remember when folks would actually pick up a pen, put it to paper, write a short note and mail it to someone special? If you've been hankering to write to someone, why not use one of my beautiful wildflower notecards to set the tone? And guess what...starting today, I'll be offering a weekly special on my online store and this week's product is the 10-pack notecard! These are perfect to keep on hand for sending a hand-written message to friends and family. You can choose from several designs and salutations on the front (Happy Birthday, Greetings from Texas, Thank You ... or just the artwork). The insides are all blank so you can personalize with your own special message. Looking for a unique gift? Order some extra 10-packs to keep on hand when you need to wrap up something special. They are great for housewarmings, birthdays or just to say "I'm thinking of you." Plus, don't forget the holidays...stocking stuffers or thank you gifts for teachers, salon techs or the person who delivers your mail or newspaper. Showing you care doesn't have to cost alot of money!
To check out the selection of notecards, simply go to the Casa de Linda online store. Look at the drop-down menu to the left and click on "Cards/Calendars" then "Notecard-10pk." There are 5 pages of cards available so be sure to click through to each page so you don't miss any! The 10-pack Notecards are regularly priced at $14.99. This week only, I've reduced the price by 25% to $11.25. That's a savings of $3.74 on each pack! The sale ends on Sept. 30 so be sure to visit the online store soon to take advantage of the savings!

And don't forget to pop into my gallery blog to suggest titles for my newest paintings! Just click here!

Still taking title suggestions for new works

I had invited my friends and fans to help me title some new paintings in my contemporary wildflower series. Some great suggestions have come in and I'm about to make some final decisions. Then I'll do this all over again when I post several new paintings this coming week. So if you'd like to check out this new untitled work and suggest some names, please visit my wildflower gallery blog (click here) and just click on the reply tag at the end of each posting. Or you can e-mail me by going to the contact page on my website. Hope to hear from you soon!

Its Wildflower Seed Planting Time in Texas

Linda creates this wonderfully colorful wildflower art but without nature putting on a fantastic display of floral extravagance there would be no inspiration to draw from and share. As a Horticulturist this is my time of year to go to work and help Mother Nature in some small way to continue to carpet the Texas Hill Country in its own fabulous wildflower painting just begging to be captured on Linda’s canvas.

Watching your wildflower seed come up and then come into bloom the following season is one of those surreal experiences of nature that teaches us patience and to plan ahead for our future rewards. These are two traits often lacking in our education system. I have often found nature to be a stern teacher of many of the great truths that make any life truly meaningful.

The best time to plant wildflowers as a whole are between mid-September and mid- November. The farther north you are in Texas the earlier you would want to plant and the further south you are the later you can sow your seed. I would guess for many folks their first attempts in this process would be with Texas bluebonnets that most beloved of Texas symbols of nature. Many folks don’t realize that the bluebonnet as a legume fixes nitrogen from the air and so heals and enriches poor native soils over time. The next thing to be aware of is that nature to ensure survival of this beautiful blue beacon of spring splendor is that the seed coat is very hard and they won’t all sprout at once like many flower seed you might have grown in your garden. You can get them scarified already if you plan on giving them the water they need if nature doesn’t give us the needed fall and winter rains to make a good crop. If on the other hand you’re willing to let nature take its due course then scatter and lightly rake your bluebonnets in making sure you have good soil contact but don’t bury them more than a ¼ of an inch deep and wait. Remember this is a lesson on patience. Learn to identify the desired seedling and pull the undesired ones to slow the weed competition

If you would like to see more wildflower information then Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a great source. The wildflower seed company they choose to recommend is also my choice and that is Native American Seed out of Junction Texas. Here is to great Texas art and Mother Nature the Master Artist.

This is another entry by David, Linda’s husband and biggest fan.

With Hurricane Ike just passing both Linda and I send our prayers out to all in harms way to come through this safely and that we all will come together to rebuild what nature takes away.

New Wildflower paintings available for viewing...you are invited to help title the art!

If you have been reading this blog for the last few months, you know that my husband, David, has been kind enough to post for me so I could keep focused on painting my wildflowers. Well, it's worked and I now have 6 new paintings to share with the world...and more to come! Now I'm going to call on you, my dear readers, fans and friends, for a little help. I invite you to suggest titles for these newest works of art. I've posted one above, but all six are available for viewing on my gallery blog. Simply CLICK HERE and you'll go right to it. If you have a title to suggest simply leave a comment or go to my website's contact page and e-mail me from there.

FREE Shipping On All Original Wildflower Paintings

This is one of the many changes you’ll see when you come to the new Casa De Linda Website. When you come into the home page you see front and center the phrase, Texas Wildflower Art that brightens your home and your life. This is the bright and cheery look that we have strived to create to compliment the colorful wildflower paintings that Linda is becoming known for in more states and countries than we ever thought possible a few short years ago. Her growing global presence is part of what dictated all the changes.

We now have the wildflower art gallery updated with 24 paintings currently available with FREE SHIPPING in the U.S.A. for all original wildflower artwork. We will place sold signs on art that have found a new home as soon as possible but call or email us about any questions you may have. The wildflower paintings can be clicked on to make them bigger and easier to view. We’re now offering insights into each of Linda’s original wildflower paintings along side the artwork to stir your imagination a little and let you get inside the artist’s head about that particular work. We have strived to make the site easy to navigate and we want you to check out all the cool new wildflower art products that are coming available from the Casa De Linda Online Stores. I’ll talk more about some the various decorative home accents, wearable art ties and clothing another time. You don’t have to wait on me of course and we welcome you to visit us anytime it suits your fancy.

We have started working with a better e-mail program and invite you to sign up. We are even offering a FREE gift of four of Linda’s colorful wildflower paintings as a free download of really cool bookmarks. You can print out your favorite or, if you’re a reader like me, you will want all four! As always, we will never sell or share your information with anyone and we respect your privacy -- and you can unsubscribe at anytime. We often run into time issues where snail mail just won’t work. So if you want be in the know on anything to do with Linda’s continuing odyssey in the world of wildflower art, this is absolutely the best way. So sign up today and enjoy the free bookmarks tonight!

Until next time, this is David wishing you a bright and cheerful day.