When Memories & Art Collide

A couple months ago I showed you a new piece of custom art we got for our bedroom from my friend Rachel Wadlow Art. It's an abstract painting of one of our wedding pictures and I adore it. Rachel's an incredible painter and I just love how she can take real-life moments or photographs and preserve them in abstract paintings! She is truly talented! Rachel just came up with a new product she offers in her etsy shop. Basically, you send her a photo and she will paint you a custom piece inspired by that photo, then frame the two pieces in this new frame she designed where the small framed photograph actually sits on top of the abstract art. You can see what I mean below! This is a totally new kind of framing style.  Isn't it cool?!

I sent her my favorite sunset of all time-- the first sunset we saw on our honeymoon in Maui. It was a cotton candy sky, that's for sure (and in the colors of our wedding!!) My husband and I both love sunsets, so we wanted to preserve this memory in a painting. Rachel's painting arrived to me a couple weeks ago and I love it! It's so fun to see how she interprets the photo in her paintings.

She also incorporates some pencil lines in her work which I love. It just adds to the uniqueness of the piece!

I actually like mine unframed as well, sitting on my bookcase. So different and fun, right?!

Thanks for the gorgeous painting, Rachel! Check out her Etsy shop here (she has tons of custom options available and even paints stunning backdrops for a wedding or photoshoot!) Use code GALLERYWALL for 10% off any Instant Gallery Wall Print + Painting Duo.
Happy Wednesday! xoxo interior design website / services / portfolio (Note: I received this painting as a gift from the artist, but opinions are all 100% my own as always. Thank you for supporting shops and artists we love!)

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Our Finished Gallery Wall

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen me post about a new piece of art I had my friend, Chelsea, do to complete our gallery wall. She used watercolor to paint a picture of my bridal bouquet! I'm so in love with it, because it's one of my very favorite details of our wedding day, so I'm really thankful to have the memory of it preserved in the painted form. I thought I'd show you the final product today!

The gallery wall hangs at the top of our stairs, as you walk into our apartment, so this is our entry way.

 I absolutely love this piece! I'm so grateful to have such an amazingly talented painter as a friend!! Every time someone comes over, they ohhh and aww over this art. I just thought the other day about what a perfect gift this would be as a wedding planner, photographer or florist, to give to a bride. I know I would love it :)

 Painting: Chelsea Michal Garter

Now our gallery wall is finally complete! Do you have any unique pieces that are extra special in your gallery collections?

Happy Wednesday! xoxo
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How To: Our Wedding Gallery Wall

I hope you all had a great weekend! I decided to take the entire weekend off my computer, which meant I couldn't prep for a Monday blog post. It was much needed! But here I am today with a peek into our place. If you follow along on Instagram, then you may have seen the sneak peek of my new gallery wall in our apartment. I've had the frames for months and just got our wedding pictures in the mail about 2 weeks ago, about an HOUR before guests were arriving for a party at our house. I decided "why the heck not hang an entire gallery wall before everyone arrives?!" Ha ;) Thankfully I've done this a time or two, so it worked out. Here's what I did:

1. Before I ordered the wedding pictures, I put together this mock up to play around with which pictures I wanted printed, the gallery wall placement and which picture would go in each frame. I tried to choose one or two that showed the venue and the trees, one close up of our faces, and one showing the back of my dress. Another requirement was my beautiful flowers being the star of the show ;) That top right picture frame will actually have a watercolor painting of my bouquet in it by my super talented friend Chelsea. She is AMAZING and I can't wait to have my flowers, by Michelle Lywood, preserved in that way!

In thinking about the placement of the frames, I wanted to create balance, but not have it be symmetrical (which you couldn't do with 5 frames of different sizes anyways!) You can see I put both the heaviest frames on opposite sides from one another to spread out the visual weight.

2. I traced the gallery wall frames then cut them out of kraft paper so I could tape them to the wall. I made sure to draw an arrow and write "up" so I knew which way that particular frame would hang (due to what picture was going in which frame).

3. Next I started the hanging process.

To get the picture frames hung in the spot you want them, without putting multiple holes in the wall (ha!), you want to measure from the top of the frame to the bottom of the little picture hanging hook.

It's so hard to get non-glaring pictures of this wall because all of our windows are pouring light right onto the frames and the glass is apparently very reflective. Sorry!

gather sign 

frames  / wedding photography: danielle poff photography 

I can't wait to get that watercolor painting of my flowers to finish off the gallery wall. I should mention, I love these frames. They are great if you have both silver and gold decor, because they are more of a champagne finish, which goes with anything. I'm so happy with how it turned out! We don't have a ton of wall space in our apartment, so I'm happy this collection of special memories could fit. 

Have a great Tuesday!

xoxo

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Design Create Inspire Bloom: Evelyn Henson Giveaway

Can we talk about how cute these prints are?! As you know, the last few weeks, I've been showing you some of the pretty things that attendees will find in their Bloom Workshop swag bags. Today we're highlighting Evelyn Henson, the creative genius and amazing artist behind our custom, exclusive workshop prints.  Evelyn is my go-to artist because of her bold use of color and her impressionist style. I have an original painting of hers in my living room and I can't wait for you to see it! If you haven't yet done so, take a minute to look at Evelyn's adorable prints available online. She is quite the talent {and such a sweetheart!}

Each guest will get one of the prints, based on what they do-- design, blogging, or photography. I kind of want one of each though :)  One lucky winner will win the print of their choice, pictured above, also! You can enter below using the rafflecopter tool.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NOTE: Please enter a valid email, as winners will be contacted via email. If chosen winner doesn't respond in 2 days, a new winner will be chosen. Good luck and thanks for entering!

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Apartment Gallery Wall Progress

I love showing you progress in my apartment each week! This week I'm showing you the gallery wall in my living room. I decided, since my ceilings are vaulted, the wall with the TV needed something else on it to take up more visual space, also distracting from the black TV. Creating a gallery wall around a TV is one of my favorite ways to do just that. Now your eyes will go to the pretty art and pictures, not the boring black box. First, I'll show you my design inspiration for the gallery wall. I played around with some layouts in photoshop before I hung the frames, and I ended up changing it again before getting it up on the wall. 

The above inspiration helped guide me in the layout, but I actually found a few more frames I wanted to add into the mix. I laid out the collage on the floor before I put it up on the wall, just to be just I liked the layout. Then I started from the middle, hanging the peony print from Minted first. Have you seen their art prints?! There are so many lovely ones here! 

Next, I hung the Butterfly print from Minted and the Whatever is Lovely print by Lindsay Letters:

In order to balance the white frame on the right side, I hung another white frame on the bottom left but turned in the horizontal orientation for some variety (I've yet to fill that frame with a picture! I need to print a photo still!)

Because the TV is black, carrying a ton of visual weight, the gallery wall needed a few touches of black to help distribute the weight around the wall. Without a black frame, the gallery wall would have felt small and way too "light" for the space. Black helps ground the wall, bringing contrast and tying in the black from the TV. So, next I hung my beautiful Chair print by Jill Atogwe in the upper left:

I mirrored it on the other side with another black framed print of a settee, also by Jill. This one I turned the other way for some variation. Below it went a white frame with my All Gold print by SS Print Shop. 

TIP! Before I hung any of these frames, I taped a piece of paper to the wall, took a step back behind my couch and made sure it looked good in that spot. That way I don't have extra holes in my walls from little mess ups ;)

I can't show you the whole thing, but I can give you a sneak peek of the finished gallery wall:

DETAILS | World Market Media Stand / Blue Target Vase & Branches  

Do you have any gallery wall hanging tips?! Hopefully some of these visuals helped you with your next collage project.

Happy Wednesday!
xoxo

interior design website / services / portfolio

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Stop & Smell the Peonies

My sweet, talented and amazingly beautiful friend Stephanie just launched a new print today in her lovely shop, SS Print Shop. If you're like me {and many other bloggers, let's be honest!} your favorite flower is the peony.  Together with Anna, Stephanie has designed this print for the girly-girl, the lover of pink and gold details, and most importantly, the peony-obssessed.  I was so excited when the mailman arrived a few days ago, SS Print Shop package in hand.  I couldn't resist styling it in a gold frame to make the gold lettering really pop.   My best friend gifted me with the dainty tea cup candle, and I think it fits perfectly next to my new print. This little night stand represents a few of my favorite things: flowers, gold, tea, and candles.

Here's a short, fun movie Anna made about the essence of the print:



What are you waiting for?! Hop over to SS Print Shop for your very own Stop and Smell the Peonies print.  Every time I see it, I'm reminded to take a breath and thank God for where I am presently in life. He is good and His timing is perfect, so we are able to stop and smell {or take 1000 pictures of} pretty peonies along the way.

You can follow along on instagram for Stephanie & Anna's peony launch party!
 @stephsterjovski @annawithlove @michaelanoelle

Happy Monday!
xoxo

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Whatever is Lovely {Lindsay's Letter's Giveaway}

*all images by Michaela Noelle Designs

There could not be a more perfect print for me in the whole entire world. Whatever is lovely. This is the first part of my favorite verse, reminding myself to focus on the lovely things of life. The things that God has so richly blessed us with. It's also part of my blog header! Now, with the saying framed in this gorgeous gold frame in my bedroom gallery wall, I glance at it everyday when I'm home and it just makes me smile. 

Isn't the lettering the prettiest you ever did see?! I can honestly say I haven't seen prints more beautiful than the prints from Lindsay Letters. With a heart of gold and the most stunning lettering, I'm head over heels for every single piece in Lindsay's shop. She is graciously giving TWO lucky winners the print of their choice from her shop. With everything from nursery art and quotes to everyday sayings, wedding signage, stamps and notecards-- she literally has it all! I'm so excited for one of you to win a lovely piece and can't wait to see how you style it. 

To enter simply use the Rafflecopter tool below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Wednesday! 
xoxo

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{Wall Art} Third Floor Design Studio Giveaway

I often get emails from eager home owners, apartment dwellers and college students decorating their first place asking for advice on how to accessorize. There are so many ways to do this: wall decor, mirrors, vases, family photos, sculptures, pillows, curtains...the list goes on and on. Incase you couldn't tell, my favorite way to fancy up your empty wall space is a good ole gallery wall. A well-currated, thoughtful, funky or classic, perfectly balanced gallery wall has the potential to make the greatest impact in a room. If it tells a story, even better! I love gallery walls to be a mix of personal photographs, paintings, quotes, editorial pictures, and letters.

Today I've rounded up my favorite prints from one of my newest favorite etsy shops, Third Floor Design Studio. Kimberly is the talented graphic designer behind the shop. She's also an interior designer, so we just "get" each other. The above four prints are my absolute favorite from her cutie patootie shop. That Eames chair print?! DYING. Art, architecture and design majors will totally understand where I'm coming from :)

Okay, so here is the fun part. Kimberly is graciously giving away any 8x10 print of your choice to TWO winners! Hooray! Simply enter to win a print from Third Floor Design Studio below using the Rafflecopter tool.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Monday!
xoxo

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{DIY} Something Special Framed

Today's DIY is all thanks to my handsome boyfriend. Remember those pretty purple flowers he sent me? After I enjoyed them, I saved my favorite rose and pressed it in a thick book for about a month {I read some directions online about how to do that: I pressed it between wax paper and put a few books on top of the one the flower was in, just to ensure extra pressure}.  After the rose was nice and flat, I removed it and did this little craft:


Materials: Frame, patterned paper, pressed rose, scissors, tape.

I simply positioned the rose where I wanted it in the frame and put some yellow paper behind it. Easy peasy!

 

I couldn't resist adding it to my gallery wall in my bedroom! 

All photos taken and edited by Victoria Carlson Photography

Not only is yellow the accent color I chose for the gray and purple in my bedroom, but it's also purple's complimentary color on the color wheel. I love how the yellow makes the rose pop off the paper! I also love that I get to look at it everyday while I get ready. It reminds me how blessed I am to have such a thoughtful man in my life :)


Have you done anything crafty with something sentimental lately?
You can also catch me over at Schue Love today dishin' on my favorite places in Seattle!
Happy Thursday!
Love,

PS. Welcome to my sponsor Bailey from Anchored in Love

Bailey is a Texas girl who loves the Lord, writing, photography, fellowship and crafting. She has such a sweet soul- you're sure to become fast friends :)

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