a frame solution

recently (ok, fine, in early january) marty and i stumbled into an amazing gallery in the quarter and acquired two lithographs: one of a dachshund i'd been admiring since marty moved to the quarter in 2008, and another of a 1938 promotional poster for zion national park in utah (some info about this series of posters, commissioned during the great depression to assist struggling artists, here). seeing as i'd visited zion last may, and almost climbed to the very top of angel's landing (only to be bested by the positively terrifying half-mile summit push consisting of sharp drop offs, narrow paths and one tiny little chain to grip), clearly i needed to own this vintage poster, if not for any other reason than to be reminded every day that i'd cheated death.

anyway, like any self-respecting thrifty diy couple, marty and i naturally declined the print shop's offer to professionally frame our rare print, knowing that we could do it ourselves. eventually a trip to michael's frame section followed, wherein i learned that our rare print was, naturally, not standard sized, which meant that framing it would cost roughly the same as one month's rent. so, as tends to happen around here when diy projects have come to an inevitably expensive standstill, i placed our rare print under the futon to gather dust while i mulled over a solution. and by mulled, i of course mean scoured the internet for other people's solutions. eventually an ork posters purchase led me to this brilliant idea. and so, like any self-respecting thrifty diy'er, i STOLE said idea. but, i'm giving credit where credit is due, so there's that. total cost: 4.69 (4-pack of hangers from target) + .39 (1 package of black embroidery thread for hanging).

oh. right. during my blog hiatus i acquired a new 50mm f/1.8D lens i have yet to thoroughly play with. therefore, forgive me these slightly narcissistic and terribly awkward shots.

ring: also newly acquired and not properly photographed.

mom and dad visit - part 2

 following our swamp tour my parents and i went to middendorf's to re-fuel and relax on the breezy dock. the weather was beautiful, the coronas were cold and the fish was deliciously fresh. later in the day we went to art for art's sake on magazine, which the annual new orleans event i look forward to most. every antique store, art gallery and boutique on magazine opens its doors after hours and provides drinks, hors d'oeuvres (ya, i had to google the correct spelling of that), entertainment and discounts (!!!). basically, it's all of my favorite things in one evening (wine, cheese, music and deals:). 

chicago art prints

marty and i were at a wedding this past weekend in chicago. initially i was at a loss about what to get the bride and groom* until i stumbled upon this adorable etsy shop. hopefully the couple is honeymooning and won't be reading this post, since we ended up choosing these heart-shaped prints of chicago's map and flag. aren't they adorable? 

*sidenote: when wedding gift shopping, instead of buying egg slicers and KitchenAid mixers, i usually prefer to get ideas of the couple's style from their registries and then choose a piece of artwork i think will suit their tastes - this usually ends up being more memorable for them and fun for me! wedding etiquette blasphemy, i know, but i am my father's daughter, after all. 

art nook

b's head nearly exploded from joy when i told her i had an easel at my disposal. it was the first thing standing in our apartment and continues to be one of the only things we own with legs (fyi - this is a poorly shielded cheap shot at the fact that we still do not own a table and i do not foresee us owning one in the immediate future). my old work bench (formally seen here) serves as a great base for the vintage trunk we use to store art supplies.

exit through the gift shop

my soon-to-be roommate, soon-to-no-longer-be-a-resident-of-jacksonville becky went to see exit through the gift shop: a banksy film, a documentary about street art. i don't know the exact premise of the film, but hearing about it got me thinking about my goal to stalk all the banksy installations throughout new orleans.

more to come, i hope! i know that becky is way better at banksy stalking than i am. she apparently is better at reading, as well, since i thought for two years banksy's name was actually bansky. i happen to prefer my pronunciation of this person's FAKE NAME but that's neither here nor there.

love letters

i stumbled across the love letter project (click here to learn more)

considering today's turn of events, this mural is my favorite

finals.

in case anyone noticed that i dropped off the face of the earth, i am going to take this time to use my all-time best excuse that has gotten me out of birthdays, family parties, grocery trips, boring errands, doing dishes, and being a normal human being altogether throughout the last 3 years: i am in LAW SCHOOL. finals have taken over my life, yet again. given that this is my sixth and final finals season, i am going to make use of it yet again and beg your forgiveness for the continuing lapse in updates and my boring life in general.

the last 537298089032 days of my life (or so it feels) have been spent at the library. this is infinitely boring and not worth discussing. since the best library ever is one mile from my parents house, i have reacquainted myself with my childhood twin bed and moved in for the time being. that said, i sadly have nothing new to share. i walked home from the library today and normally would have shared with you some pretty pics from that exciting experience, but instead i spent the walk on the phone with my long-lost friend tony (no, not her!) and didn't take any shakeitphotos. so of course one of many afternoon study breaks consisted of fun pictures of my parents' house. enjoy!

my mason's collection! see, i told ya

i love this lamp

look familiar?

i love this little snail!

the artist, josef lacki, has a series called "venentian carnival," and this one of the series. my parents bought a bunch of mardi gras masks in new orleans last year and adorned them like so!

okay, i'm off to continue my exciting life.

what is new orleans?*

last summer when i was living in new orleans i saw this interesting little display (for lack of a better term) on the mailbox down the street. the first time i saw it was speeding past on my bike and couldn't stop. later i went back to investigate and pay a past-due cable bill. ANYWAYS... attached to the mailbox were handmade postcards, stamped and addressed to some place in minnesota. the postcards featured scenes of new orleans, some jubilant (a parade, a jazz funeral) and some not so (katrina damage), and on the back were the words "what is new orleans?"

i have to admit that i took a postcard to work on at home and never mailed it in - i just didn't know how to put in so few words and in so little space what new orleans meant to me. i went back just a couple days later and the display/call to action/public art was gone - either all of the postcards had been sent by proud new orleanians with something to say, or they'd been taken down. i still don't know what happened. i thought this might be a type of postsecret to empower a city and unite its residents, and maybe it is... but when you google "what is new orleans," the first link that comes up is the city's wiki page.

to the anonymous postcard posters - i hope your project is going well! although you might want to think about creating a website, just sayin...

*small update: check out this npr article my sister found about a different social experiment along the same lines

a cluttered wall

the day my future roommate and i move in together is drawing near. i wish we knew what our apartment looked like so i could start furnishing and decorating it in my mind (and in my parents' basement). i've had to satisfy my decorating cravings by scouring the internet for ideas. the one thing i do know is that becky (an artist) and i (a collector of all things artsy) are going to have a lot of things to hang on our wall. i've come across a lot of images lately of cluttered or bunched wall hangings that look really cool and not at all too cluttered:

the colors make me want to puke but i like how the frames follow the silhouette of the workspace

i like the alternating shapes and sizes

love the dance-themed photographs above the piano

the problem is that both becky and i have been inspired by these mirror clusters - the problem being that we own all of one mirror between the two of us, so creating a mirror cluster would involve more collecting. i think it's a sacrifice we're both willing to make

this is ideal. and the beautiful cabinet beneath it. and the wall color. and the flowers and branches, adding texture. and the beautiful hardwood floor. can i move in?

images via apartment therapy and cupcakes and cashmere