Cardinals and Holly Gifts and Decorations

The Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons are fast approaching! It seems like we were just having Fourth of July barbeques a few weeks ago. Where did the summer go!?

Well, here it comes, ready or not. So I've been trying to get ready. I've been adding a lot of Christmas themed products to my Zazzle store recently using artwork from my Cardinals and Holly painting. There are all kinds of products, from Christmas stockings and ornaments to everyday items like coffee mugs and accent pillows, that you can use to decorate your home with a holiday theme.

To give you more choices, I've added my cardinals image to products with different backgrounds so you have a variety of colors to choose from to best go with your existing home decor. There's a red theme, and a green theme, and a yellow theme.

There are literally hundreds of products so I can only show a few examples here. We'll start with a few red theme items.

Here's a Christmas stocking that you can customize. Just change the text in the text box on the right to replace the current name with your own child's name. You can change it even more with the blue "Customize It" that will allow you to also change the font color, style, and size to your liking.

Cardinals and Holly Small Christmas Stocking by ForestWildlifeArt

I have a new Christmas greeting card available this year. This image was available as a holiday greeting card last year but only in its original form. This year I've added a fancy red border to give it even more of a Christmas holiday feel. This card is also fully customizable. Change the greeting in the text boxes at the right, or click the Customize It button to also change the font color, size, and style.

Cardinals and Holly Greeting Card by ForestWildlifeArt

Need an "ugly" sweater for that Ugly Christmas Sweater Party but don't really want to look ugly? Again, the text is fully customizable. Change it to say and look however you want.

Cardinals Ugly Christmas Sweater Tshirt by ForestWildlifeArt

Now for a few green theme items. Here's some cardinals and holly gift wrapping paper. Again you can change the greeting to whatever you'd like. You can even change the background color with the Customize It button if this particular shade of green doesn't suit your tastes.

Cardinals and Holly Wrapping Paper by ForestWildlifeArt

Some holiday paper plates to use for the family get-together. There are matching napkins and placemats to go with them.

Cardinal and Holly by ForestWildlifeArt

And how about a holiday scarf for staying warm?

Cardinals and Holly Red Border Scarf Wrap by ForestWildlifeArt 

And if the traditional greens and reds of Christmas are not really to your liking, I add some products with a softer, pale yellow background, such as this wrapping paper.

Cardinals and Holly Wrapping Paper by ForestWildlifeArt

But there are lots and lots more products in each of these color schemes. Here are the links to browse all the products within each color category:

Red theme

Green theme

Yellow theme
Original theme

New Fall Theme Puppy Painting

Since it's autumn I figured this was a good time to do a fall theme painting. I didn't want to paint the usual Thanksgiving turkey, though. A wonderful bird and certainly part of the American Thanksgiving tradition. But, the truth is, puppies are cuter. Haha!

I've had this adorable photo of my own yellow Labrador retriever puppy, Hannah, that I've wanted to paint for years. She was just 7 weeks old when the photo was taken. She'll be 11 years old this month. My, how time flies! But, that brings me to the point of why she is the subject of this fall theme painting. She was born on November 27, 2003 which was Thanksgiving Day that year. Although Thanksgiving does not fall on the 27th every year, it just happens to fall on the 27th once again this year. She is my Thanksgiving puppy and I have been so grateful to have her for all these years. She has been a truly wonderful dog! So, to celebrate her birthday, as well as Thanksgiving, I have immortalized her in this painting. And even if she hadn't been born on Thanksgiving, I think she's a darn cute subject for any painting! :)

Buy Fine Art Prints of this puppy here.
Buy Thanksgiving products featuring this image here.

To go along with the fall harvest, Thanksgiving theme, I have included a lot of objects we associate with the autumn bounty. Pumpkins, gourds, and other squash, as well as Indian corn. Turkey feathers for the autumn feast. A hay bale and a horseshoe to the remind us of the horse, that wonderful beast of burden mankind could not survive without, that plowed the fields to grow the pumpkin and corn.

So let's take some time to think about all the things we are blessed with this fall. Not just the bountiful harvests, but the wonderful animals in our lives. Throughout history horses and dogs have been vitally important to the lives of humans in so many ways, from horses plowing fields and pulling carriages, to dogs flushing quail and herding sheep. Could you imagine a world where mankind never had working horses and hunting dogs?

So if you have a horse or dog in your life, try to imagine a world where they'd never existed. After those tears start to fall, go out and give your horse or dog a big hug and a treat on Thanksgiving Day.

Btw, since my dog's birthday is on Thanksgiving, guess what she gets as her birthday "cake"! Turkey! Yes, she'll be a very happy dog eating lots of turkey this Thanksgiving. :)

Southwestern Theme Horse Gift Ideas

With Christmas just around the corner it's time to start thinking about what you're going to get your friends and loved ones this year. Do you know anyone who loves horses? Do you know anyone who decorates their home in the southwestern style? If so, I have some new items that would make great gifts for them.

I have been using some of my oil paintings of horses to create a line of matching products for the home with a southwest theme. The first painting I started with is my painting of a sorrel western pleasure quarter horse portrait. Kitchen and dining products range from plates and placemats to kitchen towels and cutting boards. Home decor items include pillows, poufs, lamps, and throws.

But you aren't limited to home decor. Other gift ideas include phone cases, jewelry, wallets, purses, and more. Lots of choices so there's something for everyone!

Here are just a few examples of items featuring the western horse with a southwest pattern theme.

Western Pleasure Horse Porcelain Plates by ForestWildlifeArt

Western Pleasure Horse Rectangular Cheese Board by ForestWildlifeArt

Western Pleasure Horse Throw Pillow by ForestWildlifeArt

Western Pleasure Horse phone cases by ForestWildlifeArt

Western Pleasure Horse Wallets by ForestWildlifeArt

Lots more items here so browse around.

Columbus Day

Brief post today about Columbus day. This pretty much says it all:

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Columbus Day - How Is That Still A Thing (HBO)

Horses on Phone Cases

With the release of the new iPhone 6 I thought it would be nice to make some of my artwork available on phone cases. Well, on Pixels.com (a Fine Art America website) most of my images are available on phone cases by default. But they were not created with that use in mind so most of them don't really fit the cases very well as is. So I decided to take some of my images and edit them in Photoshop so they fit nicely on the case. Today I worked on some horse portrait images shown here.

These images show up on both sites because the two sites are linked. So if I upload them to Pixels.com they will show up on FAA, even though the phone cases are not shown on FAA. So if you're used to browsing my prints on FAA and see an image you'd like on a phone case, you'll need to go to Pixels.com to get the case. Confusing, I know. Not sure why they decided to set things up this way. I wish they'd just put the phone cases on both sites and simplify things. But, for now, this is what we have to work with.

Western Pleasure Horse Phone Case

 Dark Bay Dressage Horse Phone Case

Chestnut Dressage Horse Phone Case

Friesian Horse Phone Case

Chestnut Morgan Horse Phone Case

Seal Brown Dressage Horse Phone Case

Native American War Horse Phone Case

Images shown here are the iPhone 6 case but the iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5, and other models are also available from the drop-down menu on the site, as well as Samsung Galaxy cases. Lots to choose from!

Limited Time Sale on Hummingbird Canvas Prints

I've set up another limited time, limited quantity sale on one of my bird images. For a few days only you can get a huge discount off 20"x16" canvas prints of my Hummingbird Heaven painting. Normally $167 now only $85 for a savings of $82 off each print.

That's nearly half off!

But the discount is only good for a few days, or until 10 prints are sold, whichever comes first.

Click here purchase this print. Offer expires 10/13/14 or when 10 prints are sold.

Limited Time Sale on Chickadee and Bluebird Canvas Prints

I've set up a limited time, limited quantity sale on two of my bird images. For a few days only you can get a huge discount off 20"x16" canvas prints of my Apple Harvest Chickedees painting and my Bluebirds and Peaches painting. Normally $167 now only $85 for a savings of $82 off each print. That's nearly half off!

But the discount is only good for a few days, or until 10 prints are sold, whichever comes first. So don't wait! 

Click here purchase the chickadees print. Offer expires 10/8/14 or when 10 prints are sold.

Click here purchase the bluebirds print. Offer expires 10/9/14 or when 10 prints are sold.