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.

Colorful wildflower art inspired by childhood memories

“Dancing with Bluebonnets” can best be described as tribute, a memorial if you will, to Charles Calvert (Linda’s father) and a simpler time. This painting gets to the core of Linda’s artistic expression with her series of contemporary wildflowers. One of Linda’s earliest memories of wildflowers are of a field of bluebonnets that were kept intact by her father on the family farm south of San Antonio back in the early 1960s. Times were lean and with a growing family it seems amazing that valuable farm land lay fallow of income producing crops but as her father explained to Linda simply that he liked the bluebonnets that emerge each spring despite the fact that all his surrounding neighbors lacked an appreciation for these “weeds” running wild on perfectly good farmland. Mr. Calvert savored the beauty of nature’s colorful wildflower art but he was also allowing nature to improve the land naturally at the same time. Whether he knew this at the time we will never know.

We do know now that Texas bluebonnets, as a part of the legume family, have the ability to capture nitrogen from the air and store it in its root nodules making it available in the soil for later use. In simple terms, bluebonnets increase over time the fertility of the land in grows upon and is one of nature's many tricks to replenishing nutrients to a poor soil. Beautification and soil conservation all in one plant the bluebonnet truly deserves it elevated status as the Texas state flower.

This early memory of Linda’s speaks of the aesthetic value her father placed on one of nature’s “beautiful weeds” long before Lady Bird Johnson focused her attention to our Texas highways in 1969. These soil conservation and beautification projects have been on going ever since and have taken on a life of their own. We owe a debt of gratitude to these two people. Lady Bird Johnson’s legacy grows all around us each year. The legacy of Charles Calvert lives on though his daughter’s wildflower art. Thank you Lady Bird and thank you Charles Calvert for each of you have and will continue to bring joy to people the world over for many years to come.

Note: This is another entry by David (Linda's husband).

"Dancing With Bluebonnets" a hit In the UK, too

"Dancing with Bluebonnets" wildflower artwork by Linda Calvert Jacobson heralds from a strong tradition and love of bluebonnets by Texans and those folks enamored with the mystique that is Texas!

Bluebonnets officially became the Texas state flower in 1901 and this beloved Texas symbol of nature has been painted literally by thousands of artists. Throughout the ensuing years prominence of the Texas state flower enjoyed a significant place in the realistic landscape paintings in the art world. The three best by many accounts are Porfirio Salinas, Robert W. Wood, and William A. Slaughter. These ground-breaking artist’s artwork continues to increase in value and are highly collectable. These artists set the style of almost all bluebonnet paintings of the 1900s and few have dared venture outside this mold. Consequently the style loss favor for without new creative vision even the best of art becomes stale and redundant. Maybe like the proverbial fruitcake that is everywhere and yet is not savored by many, the bluebonnets in present day art seem to have met this fate as well.

Linda, with her contemporary wildflower series, breaks new ground and breathes new life into wildflower art and with “Dancing with Bluebonnets” rekindles the lowly bluebonnet artwork back to the cutting edge of the 21st century. This painting is close up as if you were lying in a field of bluebonnets. The impressionistic and mildly abstract tangent that Linda Calvert Jacobson takes allows ample room for the imagination to go to work for all your senses to be involved with this vision before you. Feel the sun on your face, smell the sweet floral scents as the breeze wafts by enchanting you with its sweet caress. This tactile painting almost begs to be touched like the bluebonnets that surround you.

Unfortunately the original painting is sold and in a private collection here in Texas but at least in England some chances still exist to scoop up one of these art-inspired watches. Everyone else can visit the online store and check out all the cool mugs, coasters, t-shirts, and other goodies available and with over 15 wildflower paintings to choose from your bound to find something you just got to have to brighten your day!

For any of you into collecting beautiful original art that will stir your soul stop by www.Casa De Linda.com

LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER CENTER HOSTING ONE-WOMAN SHOW FOR LINDA'S ARTWORK THIS FALL

Linda’s wildflower art-inspired watches have proven to be very popular and are flying out the door fast on Bid TV over in the U.K. With these limited-edition watches dwindling down to a few remaining hundred we want to share some exciting news for the folks on this side of the pond.

Linda is honored to be invited back to the world-renowned Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin Texas to offer an exclusive one-woman show of her contemporary wildflower paintings . This exhibit will feature 20 to 30 of these original fine art paintings all under one roof at the McDermott Learning Center which offers a well lit gallery style setting for this display. The exhibit opens on October 18th and runs through December 15th.

The Wildflower Center is named in honor of its co-founder and former First Lady, Lady Bird (Mrs. Lyndon) Johnson. As quoted from the Wildflower Center's website:

"Decades ago, Mrs. Johnson recognized that our country was losing its natural landscapes and its natural beauty. As much as 30 percent of the world’s native flora is at risk of extinction. The Wildflower Center was intended to help preserve and restore that beauty and the biological richness of North America. Since then, the Center has become one of the country’s most credible research institutions and effective advocates for native plants."

If you are in the area or are planning a trip to Austin this fall, be sure to mark your calendar and plan a visit to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Linda will be greeting the public with a "Meet the Artist" reception on Saturday, Oct. 18, during the Center's annual Fall Festival Plant Sale. We'll have more details and news regarding this later but couldn't wait to start getting the word out. What a perfect fit: Linda's colorful wildflower paintings and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center !

Anytime you want to learn more about Linda and her artwork, visit her homepage by clicking here.

Update Texas Wildflower Artist Watch “Heart Felt Passion” Goes Live On Bid TV!

Some time on Sunday Bid TV made the decision to use the second of Linda’s Texas Wildflower paintings during their Pick of the Week time slot on their U.K. TV shopping channel. On Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. (Texas time) the British TV audience will have their first chance to scoop up one of the 70 watches available through this TV auction. The bids close at 11:17 a.m. (Texas time) so it should be the second item up for bid. (If I finally have Bid TV figured out) You can live stream this auction on your computer if you want by going to Bid.TV and scroll down to the bottom of the page and on the left side click on the live TV streaming hot link under TV listings.

It has always been one Linda’s desires to share her heart felt passion for Texas Wildflowers to an audience beyond Texas and this licensing deal is exposing folks half-way around the world to the sheer joy that this Texas artwork can bring to their everyday life. Most of us are aware that colors effect emotions and this stunning Texas Wildflower painting with its bold use of reds in the background will ignite the passionate and romantic side of any woman lucky enough to have one of these watches for her own. Unfortunately this watch is only available for U.K. residents so far.

However we do have available through Linda’s online store a companion to “Heart Felt Passion” called “Deep in the Heart”. From this painting we offer a line of product ranging from decorative throw pillows, a line of wearable art tee shirts, mugs, coasters and even a beautiful keepsake box. These products are available from Café Press and can be shipped the world over so you definitely want to check it out!

If you would like to see more of Linda Calvert Jacobson’s Texas Wildflower Artwork then just surf over to the Casa De Linda website.

Update On Linda's Watches and the Addition of Several Decorative Home Accents Using the "Field of Dreams" Wildflower Artwork! Now available Online!

David here again. I said I would give an update on how the Bid TV television auction for how Linda’s “Field of Dreams” limited edition watch went. Well both of us made it up in time (4:45 a.m. ugh!!) to get the live online streaming and the few minutes the watch was available went by very quickly. The 35 offered went fast and for a very reasonable price for a limited edition keepsake like this.
The other watches are starting to show up but only on the web so far. As much as I have tried to figure out when and what will show up on the English tele I am still somewhat at a loss. I am going to email a couple from England that were booth mates of ours at the Surtex show in New York this year and see if they can clarify how Bid TV works. If any of you folks from the U. K. are visiting here maybe you would be so kind as to leave a comment on how these auctions work. Even better if a watch buyer could chime in and share their experience with all of us that would be great!

Many of Linda’s wildflower art collectors and friends have been asking about how they can buy one of these watches and unfortunately Bid TV doesn’t ship internationally at this time according to their website.

The good news is that over the last week Linda and I have been working on adding the “Field of Dreams” artwork to our online store and as of this writing several items are ready for purchase for you folks in the U.S. as well as in the U.K. Café Press does ship across the pond so if you would like one of our keepsake gift boxes this would add a very nice touch indeed.

We’ve also added this one to our plush and decorative accent throw pillows . Can’t you see one or more of these dreamy pillows in your bedroom? A brand new item we are offering is our Texas Teddy Bear with the “Field of Dreams" design to commemorate and compliment Linda’s elegant watch. This teddy bear is so cuddly and would really be one of those unique gifts to send to someone special. So have a look at the online store and browse a little. Remember everything comes with a 100% satisfaction GUARANTEE!

Don't forget check out all of Linda's Colorful Abstract Wildflower Art by visiting her website at CasaDeLinda.com

More great gifts with Linda's Wildflower Art!

Looking for a special gift that's also unique? Want to decorate your home and your life with bright colors? Then you need to go to Linda's Store and check out all of the great treasures, from mugs to mousepads, featuring Linda's contemporary abstract wildflowers. Just click HERE to enter a world of wildflowers by Linda Calvert Jacobson. While you are there, check out the KEEPSAKE BOXES, each inset with a tile featuring a floral painting by Linda.

And don't forget to visit Linda's website to learn more about the artist. Thanks for visiting!