the haystack needle

fey handmade

If you're looking for a little pick-me-up for your walls, Fey Handmade has so many lovely options for affordable art, with prints from $15 to $28. I'm stuck on Mr. Bear.

wee gallery birdy banner

I've had a few requests for affordable art to give a nursery wall an instant makeover, so I thought I'd share one of my new favorites. These re-stickable wall graphics by Wee Gallery come as a set of 101 decals (79 letters) so you can customize the banner with your kiddos name or any message you like (what a special happy birthday banner this would be!). I love the handpainted style — and who doesn't love a sweet garland.

you are my sunshine plaque

I just stumbled upon this wall art. The plaque is handmade with watercolor, pencil, and ink on wood. It feels just right for a little girl's nursery, or maybe that's just because my mom used to always sing that lullaby to me. So sweet. How cool is this version of You Are My Sunshine? Johnny Cash + Dylan spells perfection in my book.

encaustic photographs

At the Gift Show, I was reminded of some old favorites. I'm so drawn to Dorothy Imagire's work every time I see her amazing encaustic photo prints, created by applying beeswax over a photographic image. You have to see an encaustic photograph in person to really appreciate its ethereal beauty. Dorothy mounts the encaustic prints on panels as ready-to-hang art and she also creates simple block magnets. You can see more of her work at Three Graces Gallery, Uncommon Goods, and my original post here.

framed in gift wrap

I had a lot of "must do this" mixed into my weekend, so I wasn't feeling that weekend recharge last night and decided to end my Sunday evening with something that I've wanted to do.

I took apart a couple oval West Elm frames that I'd bought a couple years ago. I'm on a glassless frame kick, which is not an archival way of displaying art, but I wanted a less fussy look for this idea. Then I took this pretty cherry blossom patterned gift wrap by Snow & Graham. On the back of the paper, I traced around the frame (adding a quarter inch extra around) and cut out the oval shape. I stuck pieces of double-sided tape around the inside edge of the wood frame. Then I carefully placed the gift wrap in the frame so the overhang tucked into the grooves and stuck to the tape. I added several Glue Dots to the back of each photo print and, for each frame, carefully set the photograph in the middle of the new matte made of gift wrap.

I love the pop of yellow against the deep blue wall of our closet. The black-and-white photographs in the frames are actually the shoes Dan and I wore at our wedding! I decided on a pair of blue heels from Coclico (my something blue), and Dan wore a handsome pair of Allen Edmonds that sadly have been discontinued since then (he'd love to buy a pair of replacements.) The sweet photos of our shoes are by our wedding photographer, Charlotte Jenks Lewis. And my little frame project was the best 30 minutes of me-time all weekend.

make art not war

This Shepard Fairy print was framed at the top of the staircase to our room at the Tabard Inn. I'm absolutely in love with the print — think it has won a spot on the growing gallery wall in my workspace. Maybe Make Art Not War will be the new Keep Calm Carry On for 2010.

paint by numbers plate

Oh, Anthropologie. Your site is such a danger zone when I'm trying not to spend money. This fantastic Paint-By-Number dessert plate is part of the print series, "111 Reasons to Love You" by Trey Speegle. I'd say this cheery plate is the 111th reason to love paint-by-numbers. Seeing this totally makes me want to create a plate wall out of these plates.