Tag Archives: art

DIY Art: Black Dress Painting

I’ve been wanting to try my own hand at painting lately, i.e. without the instruction and guidance of local paint-your-own establishments.

<gulp>

I finally got up the courage a couple of weeks ago.

My intent was to create a series (if two can really constitute a series) of paintings to hang in our first floor half-bath. I already had the first completed from a Cheers to Art trip earlier this year.

Here’s how my solo attempt turned out:

black dress painting

Not too bad! It looks like a dress, so I’d call it a win! The only thing I’m not super-pleased with is the background. It doesn’t match the background of the shoe painting:

dress and shoes paintings

But I have no idea how I could have gotten them to match, seeing as they were painted months apart with different brands and shades of paint. So, I guess I’ll just go with it, right? My Laziness overcomes my OCD-like desire to re-do it until a perfect match is met. Plus, how crazy would I look if I had a bunch of discarded dress paintings hanging around my house? Answer: pretty crazy.

Does your Lazy battle your OCD? Which one usually wins?

Cheers to Art, No. 3

I’ve done landmarks and footwear at Cheers to Art. Now it’s time for vases and flowers.

Cheers to Art Mod Vases

This was my third trip to Cheers to Art in Madeira, Ohio, and it continues to be a blast! Seriously, you must try this, or something like it, if you can. I also planned ahead for this one, and decided to go outside of the “advertised” color palette. I’m planning teals and limes for our bonus room (more on that later this week), so I figured I might as well create some art to hang in the space!

Cheers to Art  painting

My friend Kris painted with me (thanks Kris!) I love how hers turned out! I’m sort of wishing I’d thrown in some orange or maybe just a smidge of purpley red for the flowers.

My Favorite Finds

Today I’m linking up over at Victoria Elizabeth Barnes and sharing my favorite find(s). Old, new, trash, treasure, bought, found, salvaged, or stolen. Whatever you love.

It was impossible to choose one favorite find. I find lots of things that I love and I find things a lot. I love finding whimsy, quirky, and eccentricity. I love finding color. I love finding pattern. I love finding characters (especially of the winged variety). So, here’s a sampler of some of my most favoritest finds, broken into categories.

Books

I have vast and vivid dreams of having my own library. Floor-to-ceiling. Crisp white shelving and trim. Soft grey walls. Pops of magenta and tangerine. And of course, books. Tons of books. I love all of my books, but my most treasured books are the turn-of-the-century copies of Jane Austen’s works that I salvaged from my dad’s uncle’s house. I cannot show you an actual photo of said books because they are packed in a box in my parents’ basement (until those glorious floor-to-ceiling shelves are built), and I was too busy/lazy to drive to their house, unpack the boxes, and photograph the books. But, imagine small chapbooks, bound in worn black leather, stamped in gold, with tissue-thin pages printed with the beloved conversations between Lizzy and Mr. Darcy. Kind of like these:

old books

Art

In the meantime, I can’t forget the other library necessities, like a map of the world and a bust of a famous author or two. I am still hunting for the bust, but I’ve got the map-o-the-world covered:

RightGrain map

purchased from RightGrain on Etsy

This, also, is waiting on shelving to be built before being hung in my office. Oh, one of these days…

I consider this next piece a ridiculously fabulous find because it was $3. At Ikea. Kari Herer is an awesome artist, whose work I’ve had my eye on for a while (visit her Etsy shop here). Her prints are so unique. They’re the kinds of things I wish I’d thought to do. Because they are genius in their simplicity and creativity. Her prints are by no means outrageously priced, but when I spotted this one at Ikea (again, for $3), how could I say no?

kari herer print

Lastly, but not leastly, I’ll leave you with my latest winged find. Not only is this little guy adorable (his name is Chip, by the way), but I painted him myself at the bachelorette party of one of my best friends. I got to customize my color palette, and have a great memory attached to it. Whooo, whooo can resist those eyes?!?

ceramic owl

I hope you’re sharing your favorite find too!

Cheers to Art, No. 2

My friend, Katie, and I spend a lovely Saturday morning this past weekend sipping mimosas and painting up a pair of shoes at Cheers to Art.

painting

This was my second visit to Cheers to Art and it was just as fun as the first. Maybe more so, because I love mimosas!

painting

But drinking and painting can result in wonky looking shoes, even when you’ve traced a shoe stencil onto your canvas.

high heels painting - twopurplecouches.com

But everything turns out great in the end!

If you’re in the Cincinnati area, check out Cheers to Art in Madeira and Downtown/OTR!

Loving Lately

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that I was beyond excited yesterday when I received my first UmbaBox. I may have even been squealing and dancing a jig in our driveway when Tom got it out of the mailbox.

And I was not disappointed! Check out my swag:

March UmbaBox -- TwoPurpleCouches.com

4-leaf clover pin by Neogranny / pom-pom flower by Love and Marshmallows / ceramic vase by Material Good

On Saturday, Tom & I were at IKEA, where I totally made a scene in the art section over this print: a Keri Herer for IKEA for $3. Yes, that’s three dollars. Holy Affordable Awesomeness, Batman!

keri herrer for ikea -- TwoPurpleCouches.com

If you haven’t seen her stuff, check out her Etsy shop. It’s full of creativity and gorgeousness.

What are you in love with this week?