Saturday before last I met a wonderful man from Kuwait at The Market. The father of three girls. He was looking for something special for each of them. Something unique. He asked if I would paint one of my 4" canvases for each daughter. I was moved by his story. I said yes. But I couldn't paint just three... instead I painted nine! When they are finished they will look similar to the ones in the back. As I was painting, I thought about the father and his daughters and how he wanted something unique for each of his girls. I couldn't help but think about how God wants that for each of His girls too! Just like these nine canvases... we all have some things in common... and yet we're all different...uniquely one of a kind by God's divine design. God wanted something special for each of us and so He gave us each a unique personality, our own combination of talents, gifts and abilities, and He has arranged our lives so that we each have our own unique purpose... with which we are able to glorify Him and be a blessing to others! Don't you just love it?... Continue reading

I've had to set my paintbrushes aside for a little bit in order to get ready for the new season at Saturday Market which starts March 2! I can hardly believe it... wow! These past few weeks have flown by. I haven't created near as much new art as I had hoped for in the almost two months I've had off... but between being sickee and other such nonsense... it just hasn't happened and I know I must be okay with it. I One thing I can say for sure today is that I am SOOOOO THANKFUL that my entire booth space fits inside my studio... allowing me to reconfigure and redesign the space comfortably... and hopefully it will be even more delightful and more efficient than last year! The walls of my panels are almost bare and ready for new fabric slipcovers and a new layout. I just bought a new chair which puts me more at eye level with visitors in my booth... and a smaller table which will need a new cover. So much work... so stay tuned for updates! It seems to me that the last photos I shared with you of my studio were nice... Continue reading

Oh DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!! I cannot tell you how blessed I've been by each one of you... as I read through all these celebrations... I laughed and I cried... tears of joy of course! You all are so amazing and I truly wanted you ALL to WIN... but since that just wasn't possible... always remember we're all winners in God's book anyway! YAY! So here are the winnners... in fact, I had to add one more winner to the "random" selection... because my heart said so... so there are 4 WINNERS altogether! 1. Grand Winner... Sharla said... I'm celebrating a more positive attitude. After being in a dark place for awhile, I'm starting to have the prayer of a better outlook and attitude being answered. The days are a little brighter and I'm smiling more often. That is definitely worth celebrating! 2. Second Winner... Kathy said... I celebrate everyday the fact that i am blessed to have a job- at home- 3 wonderful grandchildren that are healthy and happy. I also celebrate the fact that i am able to help out with an animal rescue here in my town by fostering dogs until they get their "forever" homes. 3. Third... Continue reading

Who would have ever imagined that I would have more than 1500 FB Friends! Not me... that's for sure! But I'm feeling the love. and I know who gets the glory! So... because you have shown your love and blessed my heart by "liking" me on FB... I want to show you my love back by having a... CELEBRATION GIVEAWAY!! ~ with three lovely winners ~ I put together this little box of goodies full of encouraging words, Bible verses, and beautiful blessings... ...and the FIRST PLACE WINNER will receive everything in the box: 1) a "Prayer Changes Things" 8" Plaque 2) a 'Set Free" Magnet 3) a collection of 12 Blessing Cards 4) a 4" "Trust God" Word Art Block 5) a "New Creation" Butterfly Pocket Mirror and a 10" glittered "Be Joyful" Giclee Canvas Print... in all it's glittering shimmering splendor!! The SECOND PLACE WINNER will receive a print of their choice from my Etsy store! And the THIRD PLACE WINNER will receive a 4" WORD ART BLOCK of their choice from my Etsy Store! Entering is EASY PEASY... just pick one, two or all three ways! 1. Just leave a comment on this blog post below... and... Continue reading

In my last post I shared about a friend who was looking for the out-of-print Blessing Box cards and I sadly had to turn her away empty-handed. Well... no more. I spent a few days revamping some pages from some of your favorite out-of-print books and created four delightful sets of PRINTABLE BLESSING CARDS that are now available in my shop! Each one includes four unique designs on a single page as well as additional pages with six of each design. With each colleciton, you are be able to print a variety or only the design you need with ease and convenience! I could see the two "Garden" themed collections being perfect as favors for a spring retreat or tea party. All four collections include uplifting and encouraging Bible verses or words of blessing, making them great to tuck in lunch boxes, in with a card or letter, or even leaving with your tip after a meal! The "Friendship" collection is another favorite for women's groups including Bible Studies and other church events... or to encourage the women in your life who are going through struggles and just need to know someone cares. The great thing about being digital printables,... Continue reading

I must say, I love what I do... at least for the most part! Okay, there are those days when paperwork & bookkeeping come before art and it's in those moments I have to remind myself to give thanks for all things! But my greatest joy comes from creating art that stirs the heart and my greatest challenge these days comes from having several projects going all at the same time... but I'm loving each one of them and hope you do too! I'm almost finished with several new 4" Word Art designs and hope to have some of them on Etsy soon. Words have such power in our lives, don't they? And I just believe it's good to surround ourselves with Words that remind us to focus on what is good, true, noble and of the Lord! A friend came over the other day and was looking for something inexpensive that her church could give the women who will be attending their upcoming retreat. She remembered the Blessing Boxes from years ago and was so disappointed that they were not available anymore but... she got me thinking. What about a printable collection of Blessing Cards? Yes! I'm so excited... Continue reading

I am excited to see what God has in store for us in the days ahead. He has been reminding me of Jeremiah 29:11... that His plans for us are good... that His desire is to give us hope and a future... a future full of promise and blessing as we trust in Him and follow Him into this new year ahead! I want you to have this "New Year Blessing Art" as a FREE downloadable coloring page... my new year's blessing to you. I've formatted it in two sizes... 4"x5"... which is the size of the original and might be a fun addition to your art journal or scrapbook or even as a greeting card front! I don't think it's too late to send a New Year's Blessing to your friends or family! You can also download it as an 8"x10" and use it as a springboard with your kids to talk about not only the blessings God has in store for us, but also the blessing-givers He's called us to be to others in the coming year! And speaking of BLESSING... that is the ONE WORD the Lord has given me for 2013. I want it to be... Continue reading

You have no idea how often I've missed you and longed for our visits but... balancing everyday life with being a Portland Saturday Market vendor proved to be more challenging than I imagined... thus my disappearance from blogging for more than a month! I thank God for the opportunity He gave me to be there but I am oh so thankful that the Market is closed until March 1st... a truly welcome break! The Market closed on Christmas Eve at 3:30. We packed up our product, tore down the tent and headed home with just enough time to empty the truck and repack for our trip up to Mt. Hood where the kids have a cabin and the perfect setting for a seriously white Christmas... and the perfect back-drop my first-ever experience snow-shoeing! I was apprehensive at first, but as you can tell my photo... I loved it! It was a great family time... snowball fights and all! Every year the girls in the family do a handmade gift exchange which is always a highlight of our time together. This year proved to be a little more difficult for me because of being at the Market... so here I am... Continue reading

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet... but It sure is looking a lot like Christmas in my studio these days... and I LOVE it! In additon to trying to build up a little extra stock for the Market, I've been working on a few different Christmas projects that I'm excited to share with you... one at a time! For today... I'm pleased to let you know that I have six little snowmen who are looking to be adopted into loving homes. I will be adding them to my Etsy shop in the morning. I know some of you have asked about them... so I just wanted to give you a heads up... but don't fret if you don't get one of these because I'm sure there will be more to come! I'm also celebrating the 31 Days of Thanksgiving on FB so please feel free to join me there and leave a comment with your own thanks to the Lord! Today I am thankful for living in this great country... for having the right to vote... and, most importantly, for having the peace of mind to know that I can trust God with the outcome... whatever it may be!... Continue reading

I know it's been a while since I've visited with you and I sincerely miss you! I keep thinking I'm going to find more hours in my days but since starting at the Market, the days keep flying by faster than ever before! And speaking of time flying by... I celebrated yet another birthday last week! I got to party with my girls... daughter and grands... so much fun! We laughed... ate ice cream... ...and played bananagrams! Yay! I love games but don't get to play them often so it was a real treat! Alexis created the above and instagrammed it...still makes me smile! Oh yes... and speaking of instagram... I've been dabbling with it too! You can follow me on your phone (karladornacher) or by subscribing here! I was so surprised when this sweet flower "cake" arrived from my publisher! Isn't it amazing? So creative and fun! Thank you Marsha and Jack! I've not only been busy with the Market but I've been painting like crazy for some projects down the road. I really want to share them all with you today but I think it would be a bit much... so for now, in keeping with the season... Continue reading

So many folks who come to the Portland Saturday Market comment about how they've never seen anything like it before. They are referring to the beautiful bounty of handmade art and crafts, the fun entertainment, and/or to some of the more "interesting" people who call Portland home. Since it's now a big part of my world and my new place of ministry... I want to share a little of it with you each week. So welcome to my world... Because I'm still new at the Market I don't usually have the same spot for my booth every week... so every week I have new neighbors that I get to meet. Lois was one of my vendor neighbors last Saturday. She is beautiful... inside and out... and so is her delicate silver jewelry. I love love love her display... so creative with the weathered wood, picture frames and vintage windows. She has such a natural earthy look... gorgeous! Hard to imagine, but she does not own a computer, thus no website link. Instead, she lives a sweet and simple life on a small farm... and loves it! You probably wouldn't imagine finding a celloist at an outdoor market but this guy... Continue reading

I thought you might enjoy a peek at a few things I've been working on this past week... This is a journal page I started a while back and have been taking it to the Market to work on during slow times. I've been adding spots of color with my traveling watercolor set... love it! I also started a new painting this week... there's no place like home! Oh so true! And guess what season is right around the corner? That face just makes me smile even without his little hat on! Well... I'm off to the Market in just a few minutes... so better get moving! Hope you have a wonderful weekend... filled with love and God-hugs! Continue reading

Little miss Abigail loves flowers too... and she looks so innocent here... sitting pretty... smelling the posies... and then... even with me sitting right there... she couldn't resist! Yum! Oh my... she can be such a hoot! Hope you have a sweet weekend... and remember to laugh... it makes the heart happy! Continue reading

I was so excited to start the week with a clean studio! And I bought these flowers at the Market as a gift to myself! Aren't they just lovely? All my surfaces were clean and tidy when I awokeTuesday morning... but I could hear them crying out for a little creative chaos... what was I to do? So out came the paints and supplies... and this is just a touch of the mess I created. If you were a mouse in the corner of my studio, you would be able to see that every surface is now covered with some kind of wonderful project in the making!! I'm having just too much fun here. One of my goals for this week was to paint at least three new mini-canvases. And I'm tickled that I finished these three. They have already been scanned, printed, and turned into a few fun Art Blocks for the Market this weekend. I did change the "Shine Brightly" a bit. You'll see. I'm still not sure if I like it or not, but maybe it will grow on me... or maybe I'll change it again! I can easily imagine a devotional for each of these, can't... Continue reading

in·spire/inˈspī(ə)r/ Fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative: "his enthusiasm inspired them". Create (a feeling, esp. a positive one) in a person: "inspire confidence". Thank you my sweet friends... for all the love, kindness and blessings you shared with me last week through your comments, emails and even snail mail. You brought a smile to my heart and tears to my eyes... bless you! You are all so amazing! God used your words to INSPIRE and encourage me to keep blogging. You reminded of why I love sharing with you... we mutually bless and encourage one another... even if I can't write as often as I would like to! Words are so important, aren't they? Both the ones you give and the ones you receive. Did you know the Bible tells us that our words hold within them the power of life and death? We definitely want to be women who use our words to INSPIRE and encourage others, don't we? To build up and never tear down. You know I love words... so I had a fun time recently creating this series of small canvases and plaks (plaques) with... Continue reading