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Captivated by Coffee: Introducing the Coffee Greeting Cards

Starting my day with a steaming cup of hot coffee is one habit I particularly enjoy, and one I’m sure many of you share. Coffee is especially comforting in the bleak midwinter, hence the arrival of my new coffee cards.

Coffee’s sweet aroma wafts throughout the house as I grind the beans, and then again as I pour the steaming water over the grounds. This decadent smell seems to float through the air, following me around as the house awakens. I usually take my first sip in the middle of my morning workout. One would think I’d prefer a cold drink of ice water, but hot coffee seems to hit the spot.

A Step Above the Ordinary Cup

On a particularly cold or blustery day, I fire up my La Pavoni espresso maker. This vintage machine has been serving me faithfully for nearly 25 years. It continues to deliver delicious coffee drinks to friends and family alike.

While I have several syrups and can create a wide array of specialty drinks, my personal favorite is a straight-up latte, made with locally sourced whole milk and locally roasted and freshly ground coffee beans. It’s no wonder that I’m quite attached to my coffee habit.

Why We Love Coffee

Why do we crave a hot drink on a cold day? Why do we choose to meet friends in coffee shops? Where does our coffee obsession come from? I believe it at least in part stems from our predilection toward the nostalgic.

A Source of Memories

For me, drinking coffee started as a social event with those who were special in my life, my family or friends. We enjoyed sweet treats and a cup of coffee, always resulting in lengthy conversations and thus cherished memories.

A Travel Companion

Coffee drinking also holds significance because of its role in my wanderings. When I travel, I regularly scout out the best coffee shops. Some of my fondest memories include sitting with family or friends in a funky coffee shop in some strange and far-off city.

A Place to Meet Locally

Then, of course, I must not forget the local coffee shops. I’ve spent more time and money in these wonderful places than I care to admit! However, good times and great conversations are the irreplaceable fruit of these meetings. Time with loved ones is hard to come by, so I cherish each of these visits…and the accompanying cup of coffee.

My Husband’s Moka Pot Tradition

A number of years ago, my husband started a tradition. He would make us a moka pot of coffee when we were in the depths of a big (and usually unruly) outdoor project—one typically involving the yard, garden, or garage. As you moka pot aficionados know, these pots don’t make much coffee, just two small cups of this very stout elixir. But it hits the spot every time.

Not to mention, my husband usually makes it when we’re working in cool, blustery conditions, thus a hot beverage is welcome. Over the years, this little moka pot tradition has blossomed into more than just a cup of coffee. It’s a shared memory between me and the man I love. It’s a pause that refreshes and unites.

The Coffee Art Collection

Because I often drink coffee while writing cards, I inevitably needed to paint a series of art designs that revolved around coffee. I chose to include my favorite methods of brewing along with some of my favorite cups.

La Pavoni

Truth be told, I am in love with my La Pavoni espresso maker, so I had to paint it. As I created this design, the lines and details of this beloved machine had to be just right. Now as I look at the card design, it epitomizes what I love so much about coffee: serving it steaming hot to those who enter my home.

French Press

The next brewing method I painted is one I use every day, the French press. My husband and I have brewed coffee using a French press for decades. After breaking many glass beakers, we opted for a stainless steel insulated pot a few years ago. The insulated quality is a particularly nice feature. I admit I have a quirk; I like my coffee really hot. This pot does the trick in fine form.

Moka Pot

The most common method of brewing coffee in Italy is a moka pot. These little pots were invented by Alfonso Bailetti in 1933. He named the pot after Mocha, a city in Yemen that was renowned for particularly good coffee. My fondness for this brewing method made this pot a shoo-in for this collection.

Coffee Plant

Coffee beans are actually the seeds inside the coffee fruit, which looks like a small cherry. The branches hold beautiful clusters of red coffee cherries. A coffee tree will take four to five years to produce its first fruit and then will only produce about a pound of coffee beans in a single year. Knowing that these beans take so much work makes me appreciate each cup of coffee even more.

Coffee Cups

I have many favorite coffee mugs and cups, but choosing which ones to paint was an easy decision. My first choice was an ancient blue and cream Spode espresso cup and saucer that I picked up years ago in a second-hand shop. The other cups are a set of multi-colored, striped espresso cups. Their bright colors bring me joy every time I drink from them.

The next time you sit down to write a thank you note or get-well card, I hope you’ll choose a card with a coffee pot or cup on the front. And inevitably, doing so will inspire you to make a cup for yourself. Because what better way to write a card than with a steaming cup of coffee at your side?

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Introducing the 2022 Holiday Greeting Cards

As the Christmas season nears, I wanted to share the stories that shaped this year’s collection of holiday greeting cards...

Pinecone

It was autumn on the shores of Lake Tahoe. As we walked along the path that bordered the lake, majestic pine trees rose grandly all around us. As we ventured through the trees, we stumbled upon some of the most beautiful pinecones I had ever seen. Upon investigation, I discovered these pinecones belonged to the Jeffrey’s pine, a close relative of the Ponderosa pine. Jeffrey’s pine trees are found in a long strip from Oregon to northern Baja California in Mexico, at higher elevations, and in my case, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

We gathered as many of these gorgeous, chunky pine cones as we could fit in our car. Draped in twinkle lights, along with sugar pine cones, they have since graced my fireplace mantle every Christmas. Interspersed with candle votives, wax-dipped pinecones, and Christmas tree balls, Jeffrey’s pinecones create the calming holiday ambiance I seek during a busy holiday season.

Pomegranate

As soon as the calendar flips to December, I get in the mood for all things pomegranate. Fresh pomegranates await in my fruit bowl, ready to garnish a variety of dishes. These ruby seeds find their way into my cocktails, salads, and hors d’oeuvres boards. I use reduced pomegranate juice in glazes for meats and in several sauces and braises I make over the holiday season.

Pomegranates are one of the quintessential Christmas fruits, bringing a crunchy zing to any dish. They were an obvious choice for including in my holiday greeting cards this year.

Holly

Holly, the shiny-leafed evergreen, is one of my favorite Christmas plants. On a stark winter day, their bright green leaves and red berries remind us that spring will come again. The plant’s thorny points that encircle the leaves and bright berries give a distinctive look that enhances any holiday bouquet. It’s my hope that this year’s holly wreath design will brighten your holiday and remind you of the life and love ever present in this season.

Nuthatch

Red-breasted nuthatches are a darling and quirky little bird. All winter they flit around our yard, moving between our bird feeder, where they eat upside down, and our massive pine tree, where they run up and down the trunk looking for bugs underneath the tree’s bark.

The nuthatch’s upside-down view of life helps find bugs that are missed by birds that only look at things from a right-side up perspective. Nuthatches may be small, but they fiercely defend themselves and their young against larger predators, such as hawks, woodpeckers, owls, and squirrels.

The spirited personalities of nuthatches mesmerizes me and keeps me returning to the window to watch them. Acrobatic, agile, and loud they surely are. They’re in and out, up and down, back and forth. This amusing and energetic northern bird is a pleasure to include in this year’s holiday collection

Red Pine

As a young girl, I spent my days building forts, playing hide and seek, and picking wild blueberries in the shadows of the great red pines. You see, for many years of my childhood, my playground was a vast forest of red pines in northern Minnesota, where they’re uniquely known as Norway pines. The ubiquitous Norway pine tree is Minnesota’s state tree. With its top-heavy nature, the Norway pine doesn’t resemble your stereotypical conifer.

There are a few distinctive things about northern Minnesota, pine forests and lakes being two of them. Oh, and those -20°F winters! Minnesota is called the land of 10,000 lakes, but it could as easily be called the land of 10,000 Norway pine trees, except it’s probably closer to a million.

These tall majestic trees can grow to heights of 150 feet with straight trunks that often grow to three feet in diameter. When young, they are a popular choice to use as a Christmas tree. This variety of pine is self pruning, which leads to a large percentage of the bottom of the trunk having no branches. In turn, they open up the forest floor, which leaves lots of space for fort building!

Conifer forests of one sort or another have played important roles in my life, whether it’s the lodgepole pines of the Absaroka Beartooth mountain range in southern Montana, the ponderosa pines that scattered across my property in Colorado, or the Norway pines of my youth. When thinking about which conifer to paint for this year’s holiday collection, the red pine quickly rose to the top of the list.

The Holiday Greeting Cards

It is with joy that I offer you this year’s holiday collection of greeting cards. It is my hope that they inspire you to slow down and savor the season. Take a moment to look out the window and watch the winter birds skitter about. Breathe in the pine scent of your Christmas tree. Sip on that pomegranate martini. Light the votives on your holly and pinecone-laden mantle. And through it all, remember what’s truly important in life, and hold them a little closer.