No matter what time of year it is, Christmas is coming, and it's always good to have gift ideas in the back of one's mind, or wrapped and in the closet. At Steve Henderson Fine Art, we want to be part of your holidays, all year round, with original artwork, signed limited edition prints, open edition prints, books, artist teaching resources, and posters -- we do our best to span the price ranges so that art can be a part of your life.

Let's start out this week with the concept of spending money -- wisely -- and for that we recommend Carolyn's book, Live Happily on Less. This is not one of your standard, "Make a Million in Two Weeks" rags, nor will it scold you into living like a prince on $100 a week. Live Happily on Less is a friendly, engaging guide on how to customize your resources to your life.

We all work different jobs, make different amounts of money, and choose to spend that money in different ways, so a resource that demands we conform to living a certain way is not a resource that works for us -- and yet, that's what so many of those "Make a Million" books do. The limited information they actually offer -- beyond, "Reach out and GRAB Life!" and other feel-good platitudes that really offer nothing of actual pertinence -- frequently asks us to be someone we are not, to make decisions that do not seem right to us.

Live Happily on Less is a series of short, easy to read essays that explore life in our modern economy, and how we can fit our own lives into it. Steve and Carolyn raised a family of six on one modest income; they own their house, mortgage free, as well as their land; they paid cash for their car; and they have no creditors. You, too, can take the resources you have been given and use them to the best of your ability, in a way that fits the way you think and live.

So before we even start the Christmas shopping season, let's tackle the money issue, and with Live Happily on Less, maybe it won't be such a big issue after all. Available as a paperback, digital e-book, and for borrowing through Amazon Prime.

Steve's Digital Watercolor Workshop -- based upon the Purple Iris original watercolor painting -- nears completion and will be available for sale shortly on the Steve Henderson Fine Art website.

There are a lot of people out there who want to learn to paint, period, or who want to improve what they are already doing, and Steve's first Digital Watercolor Workshop covers the basics, and beyond, step by step in a friendly, easy-to-use format that you can follow along right on your computer or television screen.

After years of doing workshops for private and community organizations, Steve is pulling together people's main challenges and questions into a veritable workshop in a DVD case, and at the conclusion of the tutorial, students will have a Purple Iris of their own -- uniquely theirs -- and additional skill and ability with the watercolor process.

If you subscribe to our newsletter, Start Your Week with Steve, you will be one of the first to learn when the Digital Watercolor Workshop is available.

Financial health and saving money are on everyone's mind these days, and This Woman Writes, the lifestyle blog by the manager of Steve Henderson Fine Art, Carolyn Henderson, has a Financial Health page with a list of the latest articles on money, saving money, and living well with whatever resources you have been given.

Carolyn's financial articles appear Fridays at This Woman Writes, and she updates the Financial Health page every week.

If you are a homeschooler, or know someone who is, Carolyn also posts a Homeschooling page at This Woman Writes. Carolyn's homeschooling articles are a new feature at the site and appear on Thursdays, drawing upon her 20-plus years successfully schooling four children at home.