Makin Walls Pretty

For those who are ravenously interested in the how, I'd love to go through my process for you!
For those who just want to see what it looks like in the end, just scroll down!

I have many walls that could use some art. (I don't believe in bare walls.)  But these are the best candidates for the frames and pis I've gathered.

Kitchen

Entryway

First I have to figure out where the frame pairs go. One set of frames is fairly ornate with lots of curves and stands out from the wall two or so inches, the other is simple and smooth and is fairly flat.
I like seeing the curves of any frame I so painstakingly painted. So the kitchen spot is a no go for the curvy frame - too high, it will stick out too far and look horsey instead of sleek. Answer... the flat smooth frames! And the cute curvy frames can go by the door so I can see them alll the time.

Now what to put in those frames? Okay okay, the flat smooth ones already had kitcheny art in them, soo maybe I got the idea to put them in the kitchen and put cute kitchen imagery in there. But I still went through the other process for good measure.
 

I went to my fave vintage image site, The Graphics Fairy,  and found these:

While I don't love the colors, I do love the imagery and typography. I have high expectations for kitchen art. It can't be about alcohol or coffee - which takes most kitchen art out. And it needs to be modern art or vintage art, or art deco. I think these are a good vintage/deco combo- even if the colors don't match my kitchen.

That is where photoshop comes in! wala!

The next set of frames was much harder to find images for. I searched on Etsy for good prints (which I found, check back on Tuesday to see all the fun art prints I found)  but they have to be shipped. And I am impatient.

So I looked in our family photo archives and found these. I like displaying art that means something, so I picked pics from our trip to Paris. I was studying photography at the time, so they are even a bit artistic.

But again... they didn't really match. So through the wonder of photoshop I toned things down and and then toned everything with brown to make it look cohesive.

I printed some copies off at Staples on card stock weight paper for around $2. Wala! Art!
Well, let's not get too far ahead, before you print you have to decide the size of the pictures. I cheated. I fit two prints on a normal 8.5 x 11 page and called it good. ha.

I glued the pics on piece of card stock/chipboard/ cut up cereal box so they would stand off the white background. Looks professional without buying a mat.

For the scrollers.... start here:

Finished frames:

Now all I had to do was find some hammer and little nails!
again, wala!