Karla Banner
HomeAbout KarlaLicensingBooksSpeakingShop EtsyInspiration BlogYou CreateContact blue border
Please come in. I love to visit, to meet new friends and to hear their stories.
I also enjoy the opportunity to share my own story, always desiring
that it will bring encouragement and hope to the hearer. And it fascinates me
how quickly we can find things in common... places we've been, similar experiences
we've had, or people we've known. As you allow me to share bits of my story
with you, it will be interesting to see what things you discover that we share in common.
Hopefully, you will discover that I really am just an ordinary sorta woman
but with an extraordinary sorta God and wherever there is good...
He gets all the glory!
Karla Photo
blue border
I'd like to share my personal story with you here...
but if you'd like to read more about my story of becoming an artist please visit here.

blue border
I was born in Hannibal, Missouri, (yes - the home of Mark Twain and the "show me" state!) but grew up just a few miles away
in Quincy, Illinois. I loved to draw as a little girl and more then once, was caught doodling when I should have been doing
something "more important!"
I always wanted to be an artist when I grew up and even had the opportunity to study graphic art
at Southern Illinois University fully paid. But just weeks before I was to leave for school, I fell in love
and, with little hesitation, changed my plans from being an artist, to being a wife and mom.


Michelle and Granddaughters

Michael and I were married in 1970 and one and a half years later I gave birth to my only child, Michelle. It blesses my heart to be able to say that these two are my very best friends and my greatest supporters! Today I'm also privileged and honored to have a wonderful son-in-law (and in-love), Gary, and to be Grandma to two precious girls, Alexis and Jessica.

In 1972 we moved from Illinois to the White Salmon, WA area and I got my first taste of country living. I loved it!! It was during the next ten years that I developed my passion for gardening, canning, sewing, and crafting - the creative avenues which helped me express my own personality and my love for my home, family, and friends.

It was also during this time, in 1980, when I first met and came to know Jesus Christ as my Savior, Lord
and Very Best Friend. Little did I know, that this city girl was being prepared physically, mentally, and spiritually
for the next big move . . . north to Alaska! Our four years in Sutton, AK filled our hearts with a treasury of great
memories and testimonies of God's amazing faithfulness. Today, Michael and I live in Battle Ground, WA surrounded
by the beauty and inspiration of the Great Northwest and just a few minutes drive from our daughter
and her family. Michael has his woodshop, I have my studio and we are content.


Friends BookGarden BookLove In Every Room BookGive Thanks Book
To date, I have written and illustrated sixteen books, but I have to tell you, being a writer was never part of my plan for my life. And even though I wanted to be an artist when I was a little girl, I would have never imagined illustrating so many books of my own and having a collection of products created from my art! And what is still most amazing to me (and to my family!), is that only a few years ago I could not have said more than a handful of words in a group of more than two and today, as a speaker for many events, I find myself standing in front of large groups of women, sharing the Good News of God's love and grace and encouraging other women like myself, to be all that God has designed them to be.
It's an incredible story . . . not about me . . . but about God...
and His faithfulness to seek and save the lost.

I've been asked about my style of art,what inspires me, how I got my start.
I have to confess, I love sharing the story because it really does give God the glory
FOOTER