We are celebrating the arrival of Autumn, on the wings of cinnamon, sunflowers and apple harvests. I, for one, would just like to shout a big “woohoo!”. Granted, the frolicking has yet to begin, as there are only scatters of leaves on the ground, but that won’t stop us! Here, at TLC Inspirations, we only need the tiniest of excuses to have a party, so let’s get on with it!

In celebration of the changing season, we’re finally Featuring our first Artist(s) and we’re so excited to be introducing Rosemary to you, co-collaborator (run by two sisters and an aunt), in the creation of Rosebud. They are an online card company who create and sell, you guessed it, greeting cards. Not just ANY greeting cards, though….

“Imagine the background hum of Christmas music, as your feet twirl you from the baking cupboard over to the mixing bowls, where your eager children await further instruction. Buttery goodness permeates the room to signify the final moments of sugar cookie greatness, the golden edge. You prepare the rainbow of icings, pull out the sprinkles and let imagination do the rest.”

THIS is what Rosebud is about. Not quite getting the picture? Here, let’s get a visual…

How long have you been painting? Is it self-taught?

What inspired you to sell your paintings in greeting card format vs. fine art?

We couldn’t wait until Christmas every year to decorate cookies, so we began baking and painting on other holidays; hearts for Valentine’s Day, bunnies for Easter, pumpkins for Halloween. As a way to share these goodies with friends and family, we photographed our cookies and sent them as cards for holidays and special occasions, with words of encouragement. Our creations evolved into a collection of paper goods.

Because a handwritten card is one of the simplest ways to brighten someone’s day, it made sense for our paintings to be sent in this format. However, we do approach our creations as fine art, and we found that we can express ourselves creatively while reaching more people through this format.

Are these designs from cookies you’ve actually made at home?

Yes! Every card in our cookie collection starts from scratch: baked in our kitchen, painted by hand and photographed before being printed on our high quality card stock. You’re seeing photographs of actual icing and sprinkles on each card!

All small businesses desire success, but how do you define “success”?

Because we began sharing our cookies and cards with a small circle of friends and family, we’re just excited to keep the circle expanding! It has been an organic and gradual process, and as our business evolves, we define “success” by surprising others (and ourselves) with new designs and continuing to create and share handmade gifts of love.

Rosebud would like offer you a choice of THREE out of the FOUR Autumn/Halloween cards pictured above (orange pumpkin, row of pumpkins, squash vine, pumpkin vine) as the prize for our…

☙✩∿⋰⋱☂⋰⋱⧽{ OctoberFest Giveaway }⧼⋰⋱☂⋰⋱∿✩❧

What do you have to do, you ask? Easy. Visit Rosebud Cards and then come back and tell us which one is your favorite! You can earn additional entries (up to 5) by tweeting, digging, stumbling and/or otherwise, shouting from the rooftops and hillsides (and don’t forget to comment with the link to your promotion). Giveaway only runs through October 7th. Winner chosen at random.