JFP photo blog

The Bedrest Challenge

Well, one of my very favorite people in the world is officially on bed rest.  Ick!  Though whatever it takes to keep that little man in there, cooking, for a little longer will just have to do.  Her doctor told her that if she wasn't bored, she was doing too much.  Well, no matter how restful she is, we can't have boredom, now, can we?  Therefore, I have decided to challenge myself (and any of you other bloggers out there) to post once a day for the next two weeks, not counting the weekend when I fully expect her husband to be doing a lot of singing and dancing to entertain her.  Now, I can't promise that these will all be the most enlightening posts, but I figure since I am guaranteed a captive audience of at least one, I might as well go for it.  The rest of you bloggers, leave the poor girl a comment with a link to your site so she can spend the day wandering from site to site....and if you don't have a blog, feel free to leave a comment with a handy tip for entertaining someone on bed rest or a link to your favorite site to read/shop/or spend hours on, your favorite book or movie, etc, etc....

My contribution for today = my new wall display.  I am so excited about this I can't stand it!  You see, most of my current wall art involved some serious effort in the "getting it just right" category and I am loathe to change them because I LOVE them just the way they are.  HOWEVER, I was also pining for somewhere to put current photos in a more relaxed (read: inexpensive) way that I wouldn't feel bad about changing out with the seasons.  Here's what I came up with....

My original plan was the magnetic knife holder strips from IKEA.  Sadly, I was too lazy to actually get to an IKEA.  Luckily, I am married to the handiest man alive.  See, there are 2 main differences between my Home Depot modification and the IKEA idea.  The IKEA ones come in 20 inch strips so I would have had to have 2 for each row BUT (and I'm only pretty sure about this part) I think the IKEA ones come pre-drilled.  SuperJohn had to drill holes in these with his fancy drill press.  (Just so you know, "it's all about having the right tools" is commonly heard around here.)

And here's what it looks like now....

 

I LOVE this!  It is easy, casual, kind of loosey goosey and pretty darn inexpensive.  I am so excited to get to see these photos every day and to be able to change them out every so often...though I have to say, the sunny pool photos may make a reappearance during the dead of next winter when I am longing for some sun. 

The beauty of this idea is that you can make it fit whatever wall you've got.  Someone I know has a nice long wall in her kitchen and we talked about doing just one long strip across the top of it.  I think she could put up a variety of print sizes for a little more interest and she will be able to keep her's high enough that the little sticky fingers at her house won't be able to reach them.

I would love to see/hear all your fabulous photo wall art display ideas....send them my way and I will share here for everyone to enjoy!

  

Your Vote is Needed

(and I don't mean for the super important Issaquah School District Levies...though I'm encouraging you to vote yes on those too!!)

I mentioned in the last post that I am wanting to put a GIGANTIC canvas above our mantle and I finally have the family shot I want to put up there.  There's a whole story behind it too.  Feel free to skip ahead to the photos at this time....otherwise, see story below... 

The Story

This past summer, I got a bee in my bonnet that Henry should have the grass green converse.  I thought that would be super cool and work really well with what I had planned for their holiday card photo shoot outfits (face it, I only buy them stuff that I think will photograph well.)  Well, he didn't think they were all that cool and I do try not to buy things I can only force him to wear once.  Move ahead about a month or so and we are all at the store together, Converse happen to be on sale, one of Madelyn's BFFs happen to have a new pair.  Well, Madelyn is all about trying on the cute girly, pink, polka dot ones.  She won't even fakely entertain the thought of the grass green ones, not even just to humor me.  Hmpf.  However, Annie (and I'm still not sure why I didn't think of her first...duh!) was all over the green ones!  Victory was mine!  Amusingly enough,  Henry decided he wanted some too, though the more traditional and manly navy ones.  This of course immediately inspired the idea for these photos...I mean when will we all have the same kind of shoes ever again??  So with some gentle encouraging, I convinced John he needed some.  Luckily, I already have some and they were on sale or I might not have gone for it...but I'm glad I did.  You'll note that these shoes were purchased months ago and the photo has only just been taken.  Getting the photo is always a whole other story....luckily for me all the snarly, grumpy faces aren't in these photos!

The End of The Story

Anyway, after all that, I am looking for input on which version of this photo you all think should be printed on a GIGANTIC canvas and go over my mantle (see previous post for the before and hypothetical photos).  Please leave a vote in the comments....

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

This one is actually a different photo (so technically I could process it like any of the previous ones...)

 

Let the voting commence!

Go Big or Go Home

Actually, go big and then stay home and enjoy it!!

So one of my goals for this year is to help everyone get their art on their walls so they can see it and enjoy it everyday.  I know it's nice to have those digital files, but it's also super nice if you use those images to make your house a comfy, home-y place.  I am also a firm believer in the bigger is better school of thought.  That being said, throw out the idea that an 8x10 is big.  It's not.  It belongs on a desk or on top of your nightstand or in a big wall collection....here, I'll show you my new favorite wall display....

Hee hee! I love this!  Any guesses what size these are?  (I know, I only gave you the light switches for reference, sorry!)  Well, they are all 16x20...I'm pretty sure the shot of the girls is almost life size...

Here are a few more walls in my house....

going up the stairs....

those are 20x20 frames (thank you IKEA) with 12x12 prints

in the living room....we have a smallish wall partly over the couch

a little perspective with the couch arm....

1 -11x14, 3 - 8x10, 3 - 5x7....most matted to the next size bigger frame

(can you tell yet that I am completely enamored with my children??  well, they're gorgeous and I'm not biased at all!)

 

and now, my dream....I've photoshopped this together so you can see what I want to do next....

current art above our mantle...beautiful painting by John's grandfather in a 26x22 frame

I love the painting but it's a little small for what I've been dreaming about....

My new favorite family shot (more about that in the next post) on a giant canvas....that's about 24x36...I almost want to go one size bigger....still debating.

Anyway, I have also been working on a Wall Display Design Guide to help inspire you along while you figure out what you want to do with all your fabulous images.  You can find it over at the website in the Client Galleries section.  The password is walls...I know, I know, I'm pretty tricky! 

I know some of you have great wall displays...I've seen some of them!  Would love it if you wanted to send me a photo and let me post them here for everyone to see....