Today I want to talk about free artwork. Lately I’ve been all about art. Real art – either I’m motivated to paint or I’m purchasing  prints made by artists. However, art can be expensive.

When we had new countertops put in our kitchen recently, we also decided to go ahead and have both the powder room and the guest bath countertops replaced. Which led to new mirrors, faucets, towels… well you get the picture.

In the powder room I had this paint by number painting that I did awhile back.

It was fine, but I never LOVED it.

Janet Hill is one of my very favorite artists.

Her art has the best sense of humor that just reaches out and grabs me!

A few years ago I purchased “The Disappearance of Lonnie Lightfoot” print from her.

My Granny had a closet filled with her formals, jewelry and scarves when I was small.

If I was very good I was allowed to play in that closet, so this print reminds me of pulling up a chair and getting lost in all of my Granny’s finery.

I had it framed with “gaudy joo-ry” all around it and hung it in the powder room.

This print was my inspiration for making a small gallery wall where my paint by number used to hang.

I recently ordered this print “Selfie at the Mermaid Public Fountain” to go with it.

Someday, if I’m lucky, I will have all of the photos from her collection on my powder room wall.

But not today.

So I set out to find free artwork to go with my prints.

Frames:

The first thing I did was dig around in my decor closet for unused frames.

My JH print was in a white frame, so that’s the color scheme I was looking to go with.

I found several different shapes and sizes that I knew would give my gallery wall visual interest.

After a good cleaning and even a couple of coats of paint on a few, I was ready to look for artwork.

Artwork:

I googled free art work and came up with a ton of sites that you can download just about any style of art you can imagine.

I found several that I felt like would be perfect.

Some of my favorite sites are:

The Graphics Fairy

Pixaby.com

Unsplash.com

Using card stock, I simply printed out the artwork that I found in the sizes I needed.

Framing:

Now it was simply a matter of framing my prints.

And deciding what order I want to hang them in on my gallery wall.

Create  Your Own Prints:

One other thing that I used  for one of the smaller prints was the app Waterlogue.

I’ve used it several times before and love it.

Using your own photos, you can create watercolor prints in your phone.

Again, it’s simply a matter of printing them off and framing.

It really couldn’t be simpler!

The hardest part of this whole process was deciding what artwork to use.

The best part?

It’s free!

Until next time….

I don’t know about where you are, but here in Texas it’s hot! I’m talking hotter than the devil’s basement hot. I’ve been inside a lot more trying out a few new artistic projects. Today, I’m sharing hand painted oyster shells.

Before I could start my project, I had to first find some clean, sanitized oyster shells.

Who knew that you could find them on Amazon?

I found some great tutorials on how to use a napkin to decoupage oyster shells.

However, I found that it was hard to find patterned tissue, or napkins, with a small enough pattern to fit the shells.

You can even purchase downloadable chinoiserie patterns here.

Simply, purchase, download and print them off.

Which was fantastic.

However, my printer did not print them in the vibrant blue tones that I wanted.

So, I decided to hand paint them instead of decoupaging them.

After removing any dust from the shells, I painted the insides of each shell white.

Painting the inside of the shell white covers up any dark spots or irregularities.

This may require a couple of coats.

Once the white paint was dried, I painted all sorts of fun designs!

Since I was putting these in my living room, I decided to paint a few chinoiserie designs.

I also decided to paint a few free form designs.

Really, design wise, you are only limited by your imagination.

Since my living room colors are blues and whites I used those colors to paint my shells.

When the designs were dry, I gave them a couple of coats of glossy Mod Podge to protect them.

The finishing touch was painting the edges of my shells with a metallic gold paint to give the them a finished, upscale look.

These shells vary in size from 3 to 4 inches each.

Which would also make them perfect to place them in a bathroom or on a dresser to hold jewelry.

I’ve also seen them used as three dimensional art.

Simply glue your shell to the inside of a deep frame.

Ta-daaaa! Instant art.

I chose to put my hand painted oyster shells in a pretty bowl in my living room on a shelf.

I love all of the color and texture that they add visually.

Even though I hand painted most of mine, I still plan on keeping my eye out for some pretty napkins and tissue paper to decoupage a few more shells.

Maybe even making a few of these for fun gifties!

Until next time…

A few days ago, my friend Donna called and asked if I would like to go to a painting class at Painting with a Twist. Donna’s poor sister was set to go with her, but came down with Strep. Bad for sis, good for me. Of course, I said yes!

I’m fairly sure that almost everyone on the planet has been to a similar place.

In fact, this was my second time to attend such a workshop.

However, just in case you haven’t been to one or just want the skinny on how these work I’ll give you the low down!

Upon arrival, we checked in and found our assigned easel.

This cute truck was our chosen painting for the night.

So cute!

Since green is not my color, I kindly asked if I could paint my truck blue?

Thankfully, they were more than happy to accommodate.

Normally the entire class would be painting the same thing, however this time was a little different.

The painting class was split.

Part of the class painted a truck with flowers, while the other part of the class painted “Love Texas”.

Since the Love Texas painters were greater in number, the instructor focused on that part of the class for the most part.

However, they did provide us with an instruction sheet for our painting.

The instructor was cute, fun and played all of my favorite music from the past.

She was great at bringing out the artist in everyone.

I also liked that the instructor was on camera and they streamed her live on a TV across the room

This made for great viewing for everyone.

This is my friend Donna’s painting. Didn’t she do a great job?

Painting with a Twist provided the easel, paints, brushes and paper towels.

Everything that you need to complete your painting.

Here’s mine before it was finished.

So, how did we do?

Not too shabby, I think.

But, more importantly, we had a great time!

While we were there, I found my next project.

Painting with Artists Mud on a screen.

That bicycle is calling my name!

Or maybe these peonies in a mason jar?

This girl is definitely in love!

Donna is going to kill me for posting this pic, it’s definitely not one of our better ones!

But, I couldn’t resist sharing the memory!

Thanks Miss Donna for a fun night.

Until next time…

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I have been obsessed with pumpkins of late. I don’t want to put them out yet, I just want to buy them. You know, so I’ll be ready when I do want to put them out. Then, I had a thought. What if I shared  pumpkins with you? Specifically, how to get the great pumpkin?

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing how to make some fun and interesting pumpkins with you. Today, I’m sharing how to paint a pumpkin. I’ve got a lot of pictures, so grab a drink, sit back and enjoy!

I have had love affair with art my entire life. I love making art, looking at art and I love finding new artists that inspire me. This past week I found my new favorite artist at the grocery store! I know it sounds crazy but it’s the truth.

My new favorite artist is Roxanne Spradlin. Many of you may know and love her work, however she’s new to me.

There is nothing that will light a fire under me to get things done than having company. It’s time for The Hubs annual family BBQ, which means we will be sleeping around 16 of the 35 invited. So I’ve been working overtime to get things put together here at the castle. I recently shared with you my failed attempt at art in the guest bathroom, so I only felt it fair to redeem myself and share the art in the guest bathroom part 2!

This was my first attempt. Ever have one of those “what was I thinking moments”? Well, this was mine! Thankfully I found something I like much better!

Finishing my guest room restyle has been a challenge y’all.  I have been working, with a few stops along the way, trying to mark off the projects one by one. One of the biggest challenges on my list was to find guest room art that I loved. Art that screamed “look at me, I totally rock!”.

I have had this piece of art for some time now and I could never seem to find the right spot for it. I was hoping that the guest room was the perfect place. However, it just wasn’t giving me the wow factor I was looking for.

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope that each of you had a wonderful Mother’s Day!  Here at the castle I have been working on a ton of projects. I can’t wait to get a few of them finish to show you!

One of the projects is getting new art together for my new eating area in the kitchen.  Being the super frugal gal that I am, I went to The Graphics Fairy.com for some really cool, free art.  If you haven’t been here, you need to go have a look at all of the wonderful free printable art that they have. WARNING – be prepared to spend hours there just looking!  My only problem with the free printable’s is that sometimes I can’t get the orientation of the art to fit my frame.  Yeah, I KNOW that there are ways to fix this on my computer, but sometimes I just don’t have the time! It also doesn’t help that  I am technologically challenged either. So I finally came up with a way to fit my art to my picture frame! 

Here is the frame I already had on hand.  I got it at Wal Mart for around $10.oo.  It was the right color and fit my space so it was perfect!

After  many hours on The Graphics Fairy, I found this bee botanical.  If you look really close at the top edge you can see that the print didn’t quite fit the matt opening.  This is where my OCD  goes into overdrive.  I could have left it alone and probably no one but me would notice.  But I would KNOW it was there and it would drive me crazy!!!!  I  decided to just add black 1/4 ” ribbon to the inner edge of the matt.  I cut it to the exact length of the matt edge and glued it down with stick glue. Problem solved!

 Here is my finished art work!  Sorry about the picture quality but it has been raining here – 4″ inches of rain – makes it hard to get a good pic in a dark house!  But I love it.  Such a quick and easy fix.  And best of all, I had all of the things to put it together on hand.  Gotta love that!

Would I do this with every piece of artwork?  Probably not.  But I do love it enough to consider it with other pieces of art!

Until next time….

I recently vacationed with my sister and niece in Las Vegas.  Wow. First time to visit there and let me tell you I am still in sensory overload!  On my drive to meet up with my girls, I listened to a humorist Jeanne Robertson on finding the humor in every day.  Good thought right?  So, I decided to see if I could not only find the humor in everyday but also how good design ties in with every day!  I gotta say that I didn’t think that I  would find much design wisdom in Vegas but,  I was wrong!  Not only did I find a lot to of humorous things in Vegas, I found a ton of design wisdom too!  So instead of writing about “What I did on Vacation” here is “What I learned in Vegas!”

1. Elton John Was Right!

Elton Paid a cool million for his piano at Caesar’s Palace that you see him playing above- well it is a bit blurry but it’s hard to take a picture when your dancing too!  Elton knew that you should put your money in your statement pieces.  His statement piece is a piano that has pictures scrolling across it and also sounds pretty darn good too!  Our statement piece would be a really great sofa with killer lines in a neutral color.                                                              LESSON LEARNED: Go traditional, classic, clean lines, neutral color and add some pop with your scenery – Elton did and the result was fantastic!

2. Invest in great art – THAT YOU LOVE!

I gotta tell you that the art there was fantastic!   I found this outside of the Blues Cafe.  I LOVE it.  Would I have it in my home – no, probably not.  But I am drawn to the all of the color and texture!

I have a weakness for true hand blown glass. When I walked into my hotel and saw that Dale Chihuly had done the ceiling lighting and wall art I let out the girliest scream ever!  My niece and I share a love of his work and we immediately began taken pictures and drooling.  My sister kindly asked us to please start speaking in english! Would I have Dale Chihuly in my home?  OH, Yeah!  Maybe not on this scale but you bet ya!

More Chihuly…

and one more…. last one I promise!  Sorry they aren’t the best quality… did I mention that I was drooling????

LESSON LEARNED:  Use great art that you love.  It doesn’t have to be expensive – but you should love it!  ALOT!

3. Lighting is everything!

You didn’t think I would go to Vegas and not find a crown theme somewhere did you?  My point here is they put up the brightest, biggest neon lights not only so you could see but ,to get your attention.  And it did.  Just like this replica of the Eiffel Tower, your lighting should look great when it is not lit….

But  your lighting should really make your room look AWESOME  when you turn the lights on!

LESSON LEARNED: Not only should you have good overhead lighting for tasks, but also think about lighting at night.  Ambient lighting can really set the mood of your room.

4. Less is More.

This is the only show girl you will find me taking a picture of!  But the point is those girls don’t wear much in the clothing department and they get a ton of attention!  Sometimes – Less IS More!  I think when it comes to decorating there are times when we are tempted to over decorate a room, vignette, coffee table, etc.  If you are having trouble with making a look come together, stop and take some pieces out.  You just might find you like a little less!

LESSON LEARNED:  Less decorating can actually be “more”.  Don’t over decorate a room!

5. Presentation is Everything!

Let’s face it, we all look better when we put on a pretty outfit! In the photo above you can see that the business below is just an average building.  You probably would just drive on buy without even noticing the building.  Except for one thing.  The signs.  Those signs guarantee that you take a second look!  That’s why we add great throw pillows, throws, plants and fun art to our houses.  It’s why we wear fine jewelry when we dress up!

LESSON LEARNED: How we present our home matters.  Not just to outsiders but to those of us who live in our homes too.  Stylize your home.  Make it special.  Make it your haven.  Presentation REALLy does matter!

And my last tip for the day…..

6. There is No Place Like Home!

After all of the shows, museums, shopping , walking, people watching, girl bonding, eating, and relaxing I could’t wait to get home.  I loved every minute of it,but it gave me a new appreciation of where I live.  Vacation recharged me and made me eager to come home and tackle my next home improvement room challenge.  And well, let’s admit it – it was nice to sleep in my own bed!

Good Monday morning to you!  It is freezing here in Texas… no really it is below freezing here.  After a wonderful Friday and Saturday, Sunday quickly turned cold with a little bit of sleet, rain, snow and sun.  I am sooooooo ready for Spring!

Since I’ve had to move my projects indoors, I decided to do a project that I can honestly say  I had no idea what I was going to do with it!  NO. PLAN. AT. ALL.  I am the professional planner.  I rarely, if ever fly by the seat of my pants on anything!  Ever. I may not have all of the details nailed down, but I usually have a general direction to start.  Call it cabin fever, delirium, or whatever – yesterday I just grabbed some paint and started painting!

I put so many different coats of paint on this piece that I can honestly say I couldn’t begin to tell you how to reproduce it.  I worked for an hour or two then would walk away for awhile.  Come back and paint for awhile…sit and look at it, paint, walk away… I think that I am finally done!  Maybe. Tomorrow I may take one look at it and paint it a solid color and be done with it!  I will be the first to say that this piece is going to have to find a special home.  It won’t fit just any decor.  It certainly isn’t trendy, but rather more like a piece of art.  It is going to have to find someone who will love it!

I looked everywhere for the before picture but for the life of me I can’t find it.  Anywhere…  Wonder Woman stokes again!  You know- I wonder if I really took the picture?  I Wonder if I put the picture in the wrong folder?  I Wonder if erased the picture….  This could go on all day.  Just give me the dang t-shirt to wear!

So after much fuss here is my finished piece:

This picture really shows up the contrast… in real life it doesn’t have that much going on!  Please excuse my mess in the background. Remember that I have moved all of my current projects inside and they take up all of the house right now!

Here is the door before my hubs put it back on for me.

Funky right?  But there is something about it that speaks to me…today.  Tomorrow??? Who knows.

Not something that you could live with?  Well, you wouldn’t be alone.  I have to say that there is something liberating in just picking up a brush and start painting, not knowing where I was going to end up.  Reminds me that the artist inside of me needs to be let loose every once in awhile!

Do you fly by the seat of your pants or are you like me most of the time and plan the trip? Maybe we both need to learn to just let our inner artist out.  Well…every now and then!

Every once in awhile I come across something I absolutely LOVE!  I have decided that some things are just too awesome to keep to myself , so being the wonderful person that I am I am going to share them with you…

I recently came across a new App called Waterlogue and it is GREATNESS!  It costs $2.99, you can use it with Instagram or to create your own “water color” art prints! It works like this – you take a photo off of your photo stream, put it into Waterlogue and start creating!  So simple, so fun that you won’t want to stop playing with it!

Here is an example:

I am sure you’ve seen this photo on my website… Now here it is once I have put it into Waterlogue.

Cool!  Right???  I have had so much fun with this, I can’t seem to stop playing around with it.  I will say that if it has one fault it would be that it doesn’t seem to do as well with faces… sadly.

So there you have it! If you have ever wanted to create your own artwork but just wasn’t sure that you had the talent or the time?  Well…now you do!