Triple Layer Cut Canvas

A short while back, I showed you my new found love project - cut canvas.  Well now I love them even more.  After that post, my sister and I were talking about them, and she mentioned she'd love some for a wall in her house. I started telling her about some variation ideas I had for them and she was all for it.  Her birthday was right around the corner so I thought, perfect! So, with the good feedback, I set off and tried a little experiment in layering.  Let me show you first before I ramble on about 'em.  Warning: I made a huge mistake in not taking progress pics (again!) - but luckily my mom is a photography queen and finding pics from the birthday party was a piece of cake.  (Ha! Get it? Cake?! So cheesy.)  First up, is the finished product in it's handmade frame on a dark grey wall:

 Next against a lighter wall:

 Here is my one good progress picture, I kind of like the all white on red thing going here:

 I love how this project came out and plan to do so many more! My thumbs on the other hand, are begging me not to! I'm not going to lie, the results are worth it, but using an exacto knife for this many cuts, three times... is really a workout on the digits.  You have to push a big harder too to get through the canvas. It was SO worth it though. Here's the canvas at the party, look at my beautiful gift wrapping behind it.  Yep - plastic trash bag, what choice did I have? It was raining!

 Now the hard part will be deciding which wall to put it on in their house.  Here it is on her beautiful blue wall ( I LOVE that color, don't you?)

 and on the darker green wall:

Which wall do you think is best? Cast your vote in the comments section!  I'm so happy she liked it, and that it turned out like it did in my head.  I'm glad I got to try out the idea! I have a few plans & changes for the next one, I learned a lot this round.

If you are planning on trying your hand at this, let me pass along a few tips and tricks that I figured out:

• Draw and plan out your design on the backside.  This will help keep things lined up in the finished product.  Since you won't have all 3 stacked as you work, it takes a lot of planning to make sure everything lines up.  
• Stack & hold up to the light.  I can't tell you how many times I stacked them up between cuts and held them up to a bright bulb.  This let me see where things were actually lining up.
• Paint the back of your canvas in mod podge to help keep it stiff during cutting and in the long run.
• Hairspray? I didn't use it, but I wondered if it might also help it stay stiff?
• No islands or peninsulas! When you're cutting, be sure your design doesn't leave any "islands" - because obviously there is nothing left to hold them up.  Peninsulas would be long hanging strands, or peninsulas, of canvas that aren't connected to another side.  These are risky because they will likely curl as it gets older.
• Book press after painting. 
• Stretch your thumbs!

I'll do a whole tutorial on these soon, because I just realized that the above list could go on and on! So I promise I'll do a tutorial!

So what do you think? Have a great week!

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Spotlight: Wild Wallpaper

I never imagined myself to be that person, peeling old wallpaper and applying new. The whole process seems so intimidating that I'd rather just grab a roller and a can of paint and just cover everything up.  Then everything changed one day, when a post came rolling into my inbox from the blog SFgirlbybay, featuring Catalina Estrada's new wallpaper designs. They are, to say the least, amazing. Check these bold and beautiful designs out:

I love these designs! What can I say really, they speak for themselves.  I love how playful and fun they are, and the colors are gorgeous. Plus flowers and birds get me every time. I could see myself sitting at a desk, staring at the details instead of working. Sounds like my kind of productivity! These prints are serious works of art, I can only imagine how much work went into this.  The scale alone is impressive, these are huge! You could also work this into a wide range of styles, since they are so wild I think that keeps it non specific.

I'm not entirely convinced that I can commit to wallpaper however, because I like to be able to change the design of a room on a whim.  Yet there must be a way I can still bring these into a room. I'm considering using the wall paper on extra large canvases or boards.  That way I could hang the design, and move it as desired.  That's just me though, I think I'm just scared of the process that is wallpapering, which is so not a word!  Check out more of Catalina's designs on her site, and check out the original post that I read on this wall paper here: on SFgirlbybay.  Have a great weekend!

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Spotlight: Kerri's Desk

Recently a new friend on Etsy, Kerri, had written me with some questions about refinishing furniture. I'm always willing to help, and she liked the Teal & Cozumel Table in my shop.  I gave her as much info as I could think helpful, and she took to her desk. Here's a before shot:

She stripped it down, made repairs, and did a really wonderful and thorough job.  Here's after picture:

 

 What beautiful and bold color! Way to go Kerri - you did a fantastic make over here.  Head over to her blog, Domestic Goddess to read more about the entire process.  Thanks for sharing Kerri!

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Spotlight: Hanging Glass Globe Display

I love the emergence of these glass globes I see everywhere! They are adorable, and can be used in SO many different ways.  Affordable too! One of my most favorite sites in the whole world, Design Sponge, featured a really great DIY project recently that uses a cluster of these glass bubbles.  Take a look at the end result:

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Beautiful! Click here to hop over to design sponge and read their detailed tutorial on how to create this beautiful display.  Wouldn't it look great if you added some recessed lighting in that board as well? Shiny tiny bubbles... now we're talkin'.

Or maybe a hanging display of... terrariums!  Hanging glass ball terrariums!  Wow - these things had me at hello. I LOVE terrariums - I've wanted to make one out of those huge wine jugs you see at the liquor store,  but I've never gotten around to needing several gallons of wine all at once. Plus, how would I manage to make a terrarium after that?  Maybe I should throw a party!  In the meantime, these glass ball terrariums are perfect.  They are big enough to hold a few cute plants, and small enough to not dominate the room. They make great  accents that would go nicely in any (or every) room. I've pulled up a few examples, in case you haven't seen them around.  Here's one from Butter Home:

 

Here's two I found on etsy stalker, from Still Lily:

If plants aren't your thing, here's another cute idea: sand and rocks. I also thought of candles, but then a friend of mine said he used candles in them, and they broke one by one, sadly crashing to the ground. Yikes! They're affordable but not that affordable.  So, I guess no candles...

 

These are from Mr. Sparrow, and have a less manicured look, which is also very nice.

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I can't wait to get my hands on some of these. I'd love to have a set hanging around the house - I LOVE plants. These seem to be readily available online, and in a lot of local stores.  Get creative and get our your green thumb.  If you don't have a green thumb, this is the perfect way to start! Terrariums are pretty easy, and if you get "air plants" they pretty much take care of themselves.  Worse case scenario, ditch the plants for a mini beach hanging in your house.  Have a great Monday - is that an oxymoron?  :) Send some pictures if you try this at home!

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Indio & Mid Centry Modern

Recently we took a trip down to Indio, California.  Every time I told someone where we were going they'd say "India?!?" in total shock.  While India sounds really fun, it's hardly a 4 day weekend kind of trip! Indio is just outside of Palm Springs, and most people will probably know it for it's crazy music festival in April, called Coachella.  We went to escape the cold weather of Northern California, get some sunshine, swimming and bbq in. We had a blast!

One of my favorite things about visiting the Indio/Palm Springs area is all the amazing architecture you can find. It's a mid century modern paradise, and totally reignited my love for the period.  I think we're pretty much set that in our next house (more on THAT later!) we will go with a mega mid century modern theme - and you know I'll document the whole thing for you to watch!

So I combined my refound love with my newfound love (pinterest) and came up with a lovely board of ideas, that I'm sure will be three times as big when I'm through.  If you're on pinterest already, click here to head to the board and check it out, and you can follow me there too!  For those not yet on pinterest, here's a snapshot:

And for a little extra eye candy from Palm Springs, take a look at this gorgeous hotel we passed by:

I'm in love! I think it's Holiday Inn owned (surprising!) and it's called The Saguro hotel in Palm Springs.  Here's a link if you want to check more amazing photos.  That first photo was our first view of the place, and they've done something I always wondered why other cinder block hotels didn't do. Paint those patios in different colors and shades! So much better than a massive grey building. What I love most about this hotel is the clean modern lines without having to go entirely minimalist and colorless. Very bright, very fun, and still very simple! Color will definitely be included in our MCM decor in the next house. If I lived in Palm Springs I'd probably take it to this level, no joke here people!  Hope everyone is having a great weekend, enjoy!

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