Art Around The House

I'm not one to really make any serious New Year's Resolutions, especially since I don't see a whole lot of people pulling through to complete their resolutions by year's end. However, a couple of years ago I made it a resolution to purchase some "real art" at some point over the next 365 days.

My friend Natasha Lawyer is an artist in Seattle, we went to college together. She has a great blog called Pretty Sketchy. When I saw her awesome green typewriter print in this post, I knew that was what I wanted. It has travelled with me across the country to Manitoba and now makes it's home in the entryway to my home, to the right of the arched doorway outside of my kitchen in the little mini-hallway to the living room.

It's framed in a Ribba frame from Ikea. Beside it you can see a papercut I did for my Honeybun based on this awesome free Squirrel Valentine Template from the blog Little Acorn. I did modify it slightly to my taste by switching out the top cloud design for more acorns and branches, and I used scalloped scissors rather than the pinking shears-type design she has in the original. I found it easier to cut through just one sheet of paper so I cut out half and then reversed the template before cutting out the other half. I think it looks great! The frame for that is one I got at a thrift store 5 or 6 years ago. For the longest time it had a square photo taken by my great grandfather of a really neat tree, but the mat was beginning to fade and I needed something to frame the papercut in, so now the tree is taking a break and waiting for a new home.

Back to art and prints... I also found a cute owl alphabet print on Etsy that I looooved, in the shop Gingiber. I just found out recently that the artist, Stacie Bloomfield, has a blog as well, gingibersnap... lots of cute things to see. Here is her print in my old apartment in the dining room above our "work table":

The puffy tissue paper flower was a wedding trial run (it was spring... there was a lot of wedding stuff going on before July!). The awesome owl vase was a $12.49 find at Winners Homesense. The little shiny owl was from BouClair a couple of years ago. The frames are aluminum, also Ribba, from Ikea. The two squares have some scrapbook paper in them. In my new home it actually hangs in my living room above the TV and between two towering shelves of DVDs. Gingiber's site calls her artwork "nursery art," but I think it goes great in a dining room or living room too!

"Real art" doesn't have to be expensive. Especially when wonderful artists' showcases like Etsy exist nowadays. There are hundreds and thousands of artists who have wonderful blogs and shops online where you can procure your own art pieces (whether originals or prints). Do you have any prints or art up in your home?