What Ana Does

My sister-in-law texted me recently about where I get the art on my walls. I have a LOT of art on my walls. And I replied with about 20 text bubbles of all the places I get framed art, or get art framed, and thought -- I should share this info here too. It's always interesting to hear where people shop for this stuff.  First you should know I will frame or hang ANYTHING. I have a special toy the girls loved hanging on my living room wall and look at it fondly all the time. And a plate with a dragonfly on it, too. We have collected concert posters from concerts we've gone to for decades. They're usually a unique and inexpensive souvenir from a great show or tour. And we'll frame them at Micheal's, when we get a good coupon. There are also a lot of travel posters we'll pick up shopping on our travels. I have a great print we got in Venice.  I recently tried out the Keepsake app to print and frame two photos from Greece and it was magical - quick and good quality....

I've had this illustration in our dining room for years, and I didn't realize it at first, but it's a square in Paris (here's the original post ). So, before we left Paris this winter, we hunted down the exact spot it was created. Here's the print ... Cuca Rowley  and here's the actual square called Place Furstenberg ( see it on the map ). The Square Near the End of the Day Obviously Cuca caught it in the fall and this is last winter in Paris. It's located near the lovely St. Germain neighborhood (close to the frozen yogurt shop we frequented) and in that left corner is the teeny Velasquez museum.  And here's Leah modeling in front of the light post from the other direction ... which, in our opinion, was a much prettier view.  Our Cuca View It is always fun for pictures to come to life by visiting the actual places they represent.   Related links: Our Cuca Romley Story

File this as another upcycle art project that I'm so fond of these days. With the Paris move , I'm looking for ways to get things OUT of my house. Some things I'm just tossing, but if it's usable material, I'm going to use it. So you know those paint chips AKA "color samples" you collect at the hardware store? Well, as I've painted every room of this house, I have about a million. Maybe billion. And they're all such pretty colors, of course. This summer, Leah brought home a little mosaic art project that used these paint chips and I thought, how genius! What a great way to put those little, colorful paper to use. Voila ... I created these ... I had these largish white frames that I picked up at IKEA. (I'm pretty sure it's impossible to go to IKEA without buying frames, there might be a way, but I haven't found it.) And I decided to use them to replace the two very old boxwood wreathes above my mantel in the family room. Obvio...

Most of my DIY projects are inspired by what I have laying around the house. I don't like to throw out perfectly good materials. I had this extra plywood from a project my husband finished and had a fun, FREE idea for a Halloween craft... Spooky Halloween Silhouettes! Here's the step by step ... 1. I found three pieces that were imperfect squares and spray-painted them with white primer that I had in the garage.

Here's a super simple project I did in the upstairs hallway that was inspired by Pinterest. And, best of all, it cost me NOTHING. Gratis! Problem: Way too many pieces of art came home from the kids after school got out and over the summer from day camps. Also a Problem: The wall in the upstairs hallway was a mess. I don't love the shelves -- they're too cluttered an undefined (and unstyled). And though I love the antique sofa (dubbed "The Reading Couch") that I got from my Grandmother-in-law, it's not all that well cared for, poor lady. After swiping through Pinterest I found a picture of an art gallery "board" that contained all the things I had around the house. Kinda. It would certainly have my own flair. Detail View! Materials: A pine board left over from the board and batten project in the entryway. Two eye hooks -- or more preciously " D-Ring Hangers " from a picture hanging kit. Two hooks I got to hang ferns from the fro...

I love browsing Etsy to find new and fun items (who doesn't!?) ... and adding them to my favorites list for future consideration. Then, when I'm feeling weak and in need of retail therapy, I have a little cache of goodies to look at. Here's from my latest browse ... 1. I love this  adorable fat quarter  with the bikes in the park. The colors are a little different and would make a delightful quilt! Future Bike Quilt?  2. I'm a big fan of music quotes in art. I have a few on my walls already, and I'm always on the look out for more. This Bruce Springsteen quote would memorialize Leah and Alice's first concert experience brilliantly. Bruce Springsteen Quote!   3. I love these bright and cheery hoop earrings ! They've been in my Cart forever -- just waiting for that day I have a good excuse to buy them. Beaded Hoops. This shop is Full of Cheerful Jewlery 4. This shop is full of cut-out paper art. What a medium! I really like the color com...

I love this time of year because of all the cyber sales. There's just nothing I like more than saving a large percentage off ... and FREE SHIPPING. And this time of year, my inbox is FULL of emails with all kinds of enticing offers. Yours too, right? This is a great opportunity to shop for holidays, obviously, but also for MYSELF! There's usually a few things that I've been drooling over on some shopping site and I'm just waiting for the right excuse to get it. Sometimes, if it's not terribly expensive, I just need a stressful day and a new paycheck to make the purchase. OR, a really get offer. So, on the art.com website, I've been in love with this print for months. And thanks to their robust advertising, every time I'd visit it, it would follow me around to different site as a leave-behind ad. I'd be haunted by it for the whole day.  (You've seen this type of marketing, especially if you use Zappos. You look a shoes. Leave the site. Search Goog...

I still love the paint color in my powder room, so that's a relief. This weekend, I got fancy and hung up some artwork I had hanging around the house. It's getting there... Gallery Wall

You guys, how cool is this?! One of the cutest decorators that I follow ( Emily Henderson) helped redesigned an apartment of one of the bloggers I follow ( Cup of Jo ) -- and that's not even the cool part. It's a teeny apartment in NYC -- with lots of windows and there are lots of cool ideas for small spaces, etc. Including ... TA-DA! An Art Wall Behind the TV... Art Wall! I'm not saying I invented the concept -- I probably gleaned it from a book or HGTV show (possibly even Emily's) but it's what I was going for, for sure. Sometimes I just don't know my own decorating genius until I see other people do it, too. Sigh. My Art Wall With TV Even her explanation is exactly what I was thinking: Pretend like the TV isn’t there and just have an awesome art wall. Place the TV in front of it (ideally in front of a piece of art that has a lot of simple information ) and take away the importance of the TV. It’s as if we were all,  fine, we can put the TV ...

I'm practically a professional sidewalk chalk artist. Can I put that on my resume?

When we were in Paris, we were blown away by all the padlocks attached to the bridges. We spent time reading them; they seemed so romantic. So when we discovered the nearby street vendors were selling the locks, we decided to buy one and add our own to the collection. I wrote all our names down on it and attached it to the Pont de Arts near the first lightpost on the south side. Our lock is near the art institute and has views of Notre Dame. Lucky lock. Instead of tossing the keys off the bridge, as is tradition (which is not environmentally sound, seriously) we kept the keys and made a promise to return to Paris with the girls someday to retrieve it. Our Padlock in Paris

I've been in love with the Louvre after seeing it the first time with our kids two years ago ( see old blog post here ). Well ... it likely started years ago in art history class. Anyway, I've been waiting to walk into this famous building for way too long. One of the best part of this Paris trip was we walked right in with a tour guide, got to the big "masterpieces" and heard some interesting facts about a few of the pieces along the way. A highlight for Dave was seeing the basement with the original structure of the medieval castle -- including the moat. After the tour, we were given the option to stay in the museum -- OBVIOUSLY we stayed. We headed up to the Dutch wing waaaaaay on the other side of the museum on the third floor. After enduring the crowds that were just there to see the Mona Lisa , we found the Dutch wing nearly empty. And the hall of Peter Paul Rubens was worth the walk up there. WOW! Heading into the Louvre

It's still a freezing March day and, after huge sandwiches at The Picnic Basket (yummy), we decided to walk off lunch in the shops nearby. We dropped by the kooky little thrift shop where I picked up  this framed print  last year and found it was going out of business -- the owners are moving to Texas -- so everything in the shop was 50% off. The place is usually hit or miss, so I was delighted to find this pretty treasure of a print. Cuca Romley From a Thrift Store Beautifully-framed with the artist's name embossed below, the price of the whole thing was $25! And the colors go perfectly in the dining room -- lots of grays, blues and greens. Some Googling of the artist, named Cuca Romley , uncovered the print's name "Place Furstenberg" -- a charming square in PARIS! The artist is Spanish and born in 1933. This print is from a series of etchings she did of sweet European squares. And I love it all the more. I proudly brought it home and wiped clean the ...

As someone who spend a lot of time reading books and about books and following authors and trends, etc. (I'm what they call bookish ) I get passionately annoyed when I see a bad cover design. GOLD This book has been getting some buzz lately and its cover makes me crazy because ... I LOVE it! It's gorgeous, no? Looking at it, you think modern-day fairy tale? A crown? A castle? Princess? I look at this yellow cover and my mind clicks: "I want to read that!" Gold by Chris Cleave But it's a trick! This book is about OLYMPIC CYCLING , people! And about fighting for a gold medal. And two friends who end up in the Olympic finals. Um, really? That's it? Shouldn't there be a BIKE on the cover -- at least? See the full description here. This alternative cover design version makes a bit more sense to me, but still, says nothing about the story. Some context here: The author, Chris Cleave's previous book Little Bee was a Times's best seller ab...

I've been saving glass salsa jars because they are just the right size and shape for markers and pens. One night I got creative with labels (thanks to Martha and Avery.com). They came out cute! Reuse = Less Art Supplies Everywhere

BEFORE: The Art Gallery I was painting again this weekend. My project was all about the hallway between the family room and the rest of the house. There are two major issue: 1) a lot of the walls have rounded corners, so where to start and stop always stumped me. 2) And I wanted green, so I've been trying to decide which shade to go with. My first choice was the bright green from the carpet squares. I'd love to do a bold apple-green wall. Sweet! But then I realized I like the color of the upstairs hallway and it compliments the navy wall. And since you can see that wall from downstairs, it made the most sense to keep a consistent green. (Valspar's "Grasslands" from Lowes.) The rounded corners is still an issue, if I think too much about it, there's a sort-of wall solipsism. But why over think it? I started and stopped when I wanted to and it doesn't look too bad. AFTER: A 2-Story View Actually, it looks awesome! Clean and freshly green....

Just thought I'd share a little art by Leah. Alice took the photo.

Love the Colors and Style Leah and I have tried to check out this funky little thrift shop called Treasures and Trash in Libertyville three times in the last few months and it's always been closed. Once we went and we were informed by a paper note on the door the owner's kid was sick. Friday was my last day home with Leah in the afternoon before starting work, so we went out to lunch in Libertyville and checked out the thrift place. And it was finally open! The store is like most thrift stores, brimming with old stuff and oddities. I was struck by this framed piece of abstract art at the front of the store. We wandered around a bit, I picked out some cool wooden candlesticks and Leah found a domino set. At checkout, I was charged $2 for the candlesticks, $1 for the domino set and $30 (splurge!) for this framed piece of signed art. Turns out it's an original Marko Spalatin signed serigraph called Trygon. And if you were buying it new , you'd be dropping $1,20...

Lovely Art! Still shopping for my new house tonight, so I wandered over to Etsy.com, which is just the best place pick up great things -- especially original art. I've found a lot of neat things on that site over the past few years. Here's an example of a print I'm looking at. Colorful, funky and cool. YAY! And only about $20 unframed! I also got the idea to use the photos we took in Europe last year. Snapfish will blow up any photo into poster size or even a large canvas. I could have them printed in black and white and they could be gorgeous decorating a wall. Fun to toss around ideas. I've got a fun Pinterest board started here .