Creating custom artwork with Fifi Flowers

When I was designing my dining room makeover (you can read about it here), I wanted a Hollywood glam look. But I also wanted some colourful & fun elements in the room so it wouldn’t be too stuffy or serious. And I knew just what I wanted to get the look I was going for – artwork by Fifi Flowers!

I e-mailed Fifi and asked her is she could create a set of three 12” x 12” custom painting with an old Hollywood theme for me. Fifi loves Hollywood and she loves painting, so she was quick to say OUI OUI! YAY! This is how Fifi and I worked together to bring the paintings that I had in my mind to life.

First, Fifi asked me to send her images that I liked and that had elements I wanted to incorporate into the paintings. Fifi sent me some images that she found too.

Once I narrowed the choices down to my very favourite images, Fifi created some mock-ups putting together the different elements.

 

Next, Fifi created small thumbnail sketches based on her mock-ups.

 

I gave Fifi feedback on the sketches, and she modified them till they were just right. For example, take a look at the Montmartre Cafe sketch above – as you can see in the sketch below, the couple on the right side was replaced with a sax player.

And then Fifi changed the perspective of the sax player from looking up at him from below to looking at him from the side.

Once the sketches were done, Fifi created a thumbnail of each one and added all the black.

I told Fifi what colours I wanted, inspired by paintings from her portfolio.

We started out with pink, green, purple, and blue.

   

Very nice! But I thought they needed a little more colour to add some pizzazz, so I asked Fifi to use ultramarine blue and orange as well.

   

     

And then we hit on the perfect colour combinations :-)

Fifi’s final step was creating the 12” x 12” paintings. Just a few more bubbles in the glass of champagne…

 

And the final result, framed in Ribba frames from Ikea.

I ♥ my custom Fifi paintings! They’re exactly what I wanted – they bring the colour and whimsy that I was looking for into my dining room, and nobody else has paintings like them :-)

Merci Fifi!

Custom artwork isn’t as expensive as you might think, and the final result is truly unique, one-of-a-kind art that you won’t see anywhere else. If there’s an artist whose style you love, why not contact him or her and ask about getting your own piece of custom artwork done.

I’m linking up to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch. The blog party gets rolling at about 9:00 tonight – don’t miss it!

Signatures Craft Show

Is it really just a little over a month till Christmas? Yikes, I haven’t even figured out what to buy for people, let alone started shopping! So this morning I set out for the Signatures Craft Show at the Ottawa Convention Centre to buy lots of gifts for friends and family (and me!)

The new Ottawa Convention Centre via Train of Thought

The two things that I like best about craft shows is finding all sorts of cool and unique items and supporting Canadian artisans. Oh, there’s actually three things – sampling yummy food! Hey, who am I to say no to a guy with a bowl of chocolates and a spoon? ;-) Here are some of my favourite artisans from the show, starting with Atleier Trema. Artist Marie-Joel makes clay tiles by hand, and then she creates beautiful tile “quilts”. I’ve seen and admired her artwork before, and today I decided to buy this piece:

The soft beachy colours and the different textures of the tiles and the frame really caught my eye. And the phrase on the second tile down on the ride side says “La famille a la mer” – “The family to the sea”. Perfect! This is going to go on the gallery wall with the painting and prints that I bought a couple of weeks ago.

I love NES jewelry. I guess you could call it “industrial pretty”. Each piece is a combination of rough-looking metal with colourful enamel. When I saw this necklace on their web site a couple of days ago, I had to have it – and now I do! :-)

Lobel Creations is a husband and wife team who specialize in jewelry made with ammolite. But it was the pieces made with New Zealand paua shell that really caught my eye. In particular, this ring:

I love the iridescent blue paua with the green peridot and the unusual style. And It just happened to fit perfectly, so how could I not buy it? ;-)

I already have four pieces by TinHouse Designs, but I stopped by their booth to admire their new pieces. Tyler Kilkenny salvages and frames tin sheets and includes the story behind the tin on the back of each piece. Here are three of my framed tin sheets on the ledge in my office:

I posted about The reCYCLER after seeing his cool creations at IDS 2011. He makes tables, chairs, mirrors, sculptures, and other funky stuff with recycled bike parts. Check out this “cow skull”:

And this spider made from chain and cogs can be yours – all you need to do is submit a name for him on The reCYLER’s web site:

There were some beautiful live edge tables at the Merganzer Furniture booth. If only I had a spare couple of thousand dollars and space for one of these coffee tables…

And of course, I had to buy hubby a few pieces of fudge from Bruce County Nut & Fudge Co. He can’t give me a hard time about buying stuff for me if I buy him fudge :-) And I bought him a really cool Christmas gift from The reCYCLER – but I can’t say what it is on the off-chance hubby reads my blog (but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t!)

If you’re in the Ottawa area and have some free time this weekend, head over to the Convention Centre and check out the show. You can get some Christmas shopping done (or some “you” shopping done ;-) ) while supporting Canadian artisans.

Happy Weekend!

The mother of all blog link parties

Last night while I was on Facebook, I came across a link to the mother of all blog link parties at Pepper Design Blog. Morgan has created a Project Gallery for all sorts of projects – room makeovers, furniture makeovers, crafts, recipes…. you name it, there’s a category for it! Anyone can link their projects up, so it’s a great way to share your creativity and to be inspired by the creativity of other talented bloggers. In fact, I’ve already found an uber-cool DIY project that I’m doing as soon as I can get all the supplies to make it. Jenna at Homeslice and her hubby created this amazing bubble “light” fixture:

Seriously, how cool is that?! As soon as I saw this bubble fixture, I knew I had to make one! But where to put it…. and then on my way to bed, the perfect spot hit me. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean ;-) I can’t tell you exactly where it’s going yet, but I’m working on a room makeover and this is going to be the piece de la résistance :-) I’m so excited about this project, and amazingly enough, hubby is on-board with it too. Which is a major coup, because he’s not usually into my craft projects.

Here are a few other DIY projects in the Project Gallery…

Sunburst mirror by Janell at Isabella & Max Rooms

 Log slice table by Jennifer and Greg at Seakettle

 
Upholstered headboard by Morgan at Pepper Design Blog

And I linked up my dining room makeover…

So if you’re looking for DIY project inspiration or have a great project you want to share, Pepper Design Blog is the place to be! If you post a project on the Project Gallery, let me know and I’ll head over and check it out.

Always remember and never forget

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

John McCrae, Canadian medical officer
May 3, 1915

 

 

 

 

Image via Flickr by Steel Steve

When I say seven, you say…

Thanks for all the lovely comments about my dining room makeover :-) To be honest, I was a bit nervous about blogging about it, because I wasn’t sure what the reaction would be. It’s a bit over the top and definitely not traditional! But it’s fun & colourful and it makes me happy, and that’s what it’s all about – everyone should create a home that represents who they are and what they love – and I LOVE purple! :-)

I ♥ purple! (image via Pinterest via We Heart It)

Now on to today’s topic… a big THANK YOU to Carol at The Design Pages for passing along this blog award along to me:

Much prettier than a naked gold man, don’t you think? ;-) So now part one of accepting the award is that I have to tell you seven things about myself. When you think of seven things, what first comes to mind? Why, these seven little dudes, of course!

1. Dopey

Sometimes I do really stupid things. Actually, a lot of the time! And usually after I do something stupid, I’m like, why didn’t I just spend two seconds thinking about that before I did it so I wouldn’t have done it. DOH! 99% of the time the stupid things I do involve breaking things, damaging things, or causing myself bodily harm. Like the time I dented the door on the fridge with a package of wonton wrappers. Oops.

Vicious killer wonton wrappers (image via Picnic Food Ideas)

2. Sneezy

I sneeze in threes. Does anyone else do that? And I sneeze big. But not as big as my hubby. I’ve never heard anyone sneeze as loud as he does.

3. Bashful

People don’t believe me when I tell them that I’m shy. I really am VERY shy, but I work hard to overcome it. I’m pretty comfortable when I’m around people I know, but I get shy and quiet when I’m around strangers. And I hate calling to order pizza. But I LOVE pizza, so I don’t let being shy stop me from doing that! Oh Place Tevere, how I miss your ooey, gooey, super-yummy pizza!

Mmmmmmm, pizza! The world’s most perfect food! (Image via Place Tevere)

4. Doc

I am so NOT cut out to be a doctor. I absolutely cannot handle anything medical-related. In fact, I used to be petrified of going to the doctor. So petrified, I didn’t go to one for years. I’m much better about that now, and I can almost handle the inevitable oozing of body fluids at the halfway mark of House each week.

Stick out your tongue and say “Aaaaahhhhh….” (image via Wildammo)

5. Happy

Things that make me happy… pizza (see #3), summertime, flowers, boat rides, purple, sparkly things, long weekends, swimming, walking on the beach, fresh snow, quiet evenings at home, Nova Scotia, my dogs, my hubby (except when he’s sneezing or snoring).

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

6. Grumpy

Things that make me grumpy… mean people, stupid drivers (especially the ones who drive slow in the fast lane and absolutely refuse to move over, and people who cut me off), bills, whistling, not enough free time, bad hair days, Holmes on Homes – enough with the reruns, HGTV! – doing stupid things (see #1), Squirt licking everything in existence.

My hair in the morning – and that’s on a good day. (image via Animal Space) 

7. Sleepy

Ever since the time change on the weekend, I can’t sleep much past 6:00. And this morning, I woke up at 5:00. Which would have been almost bearable if Vinney White hadn’t disappeared from the morning show on BOB FM. Vinney, where have you and your sexy British accent gone?!

Come back, Vinney – my dogs and I miss you! (image via Type A)

And now for part two, I need to pass the award along some of my favourite bloggers. This is always the hardest part of awards, because everyone who blogs deserves an award for all the time and hard work they put into writing their blogs. So I’m going to choose seven bloggers who’s regular visits give me the push I sometimes need to keep writing blog posts even when I’m too busy or lose the blogging mojo…

OR DESIGN glassworks – Pam & Oded create some of the most beautiful glass pieces you’ve ever seen.

ideezine – Bette covers all sorts of interesting topics that really give you pause for thought.

Vanilla Bean Baker – One of my favourite foodie reads, Paula designs the most awesome cookies.

manningroad – Kate and I originally “met” through Staci’s first Bake-N-Blog event. We were both in Budapest last December, but missed each other by just about a week. So I guess either she’ll have to come to Canada or I’ll have to go to Australia for an official real life meeting :-)

design elements – Every one of Maria’s blog post is a feast for the eyes, with beautiful interiors and interviews with amazingly talented designers.

Edin’s House – My old blog partner Victoria has her own blog now, and she’s sharing some pretty big home reno projects that she and her hubby are working on. And she has a really cute boxer pup named Kessie :-)

quintessentially b – Sarah is a designer in London, and she’s been working on some amazing design projects. She also writes a regular column for The Lady magazine.

Thanks again, Carol :-) Enjoy the pizza quest!