LOVE Print

One of my absolute favorite photographers, Max Wanger, launched his print shop filled with his lovely work. You can order different sizes depending on whether you're looking for a big piece to hang over your bed like Joanna did or need a pretty print for your living room. If it were up to me I'd order one of each on the spot, because I love his work so much. To start my collection, I ordered this "LOVE" print, which I've always had a crush on since I first saw it posted on his blog. 

Max Wanger is currently offering 15% off all items in his print shop with the code PINECONE. Such a great gift for an art lover! 

Image via Max Wanger's Print Shop

Cavallini on the Wall

1, 2, 3

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I am a giant "mental block" when it comes to art for our home. When I see images of rooms with amazing art I think to myself, "Yes! Brilliant!", but when it's time for me to find art it's more like a blank stare. To break this little habit, I've been trying to pay more attention as to what it is about the art in those images that makes me all giddy and then keeping an eye out for similar looks.

I've always loved those vintage-esque, science book style prints of animals, plants, and insects that are all over the blogosphere. Mainly because they're graphic and colorful, but still simple. Last weekend I was taking a stroll with my mom in Coconut Grove and stumbled upon a little shop that sold Cavallini paper. Right in front of me were these three lovelies:

These beauties are 20x28 and only $3.95 each! There were so many great ones to choose from, but these three were my favorite. I'm thinking of using them in our master bedroom on a giant blank wall that I've been wanting to use for art. Today I'm going to stop by Ikea to pick up some of my trusty Ribba frames and hopefully have them on the wall tonight.

I'll post photos as soon as they are up! Yey, score 1 point in the art department!

Paper source has a great selection of Cavallini paper here: Paper Source

Colored Canvases

I can't get these three images out of my head lately of large canvases filled with bright and fun colors. The painting in the last photo was painted by Jen Ramos from Made By Girl, she wanted a large piece of art for her home and decided to make one herself. I think that is such a great idea! I haven't painted in years, but I think I'm going to dust off my brush set and give it a try. I've been on the hunt for a great piece of art for a large wall in our bedroom, perhaps I'll just paint it myself.

Images via MFAMB, Pink Wallpaper, and MBG

Pencil Me In

My husband sent me these photos today showing the work of an artist that makes art out of an everyday pencil. I thought it was so amazing that I just had to share it will you all. I have no idea how this man does it, mainly because I have trouble cutting things like an avocado (ask my husband, it drives him bananas)...

Source of photos unknown, acquired via e-mail

The Art of Mocafico

When photos of Tamara Mellon's home were published by Harper's Bazaar and released into the blogosphere they certainly did not disappoint. Her home had all of the sleekness and excitement that you would expect from a woman who owns Jimmy Choo...let's pause for a moment to just think of the shoes shall we?

All of the spaces were interesting and fun, however the space that I couldn't stop staring at was this one...

Let's ignore the fact for now that the woman has McDonald's anywhere near that white sofa and focus on those snake photos behind her. I know that some people were a little wigged out by the photos and I actually am not a fan of snakes either (I don't trust things that crawl), however I thought those photos were in a word...Cool.

And then I saw it again in Elle Decor...

Here's a room that would be pretty all by itself, but the snake photo makes it awesome.

The brain behind these photos is the famous photographer Guido Mocafico, who's shot for international magazines and several advertising campaigns for big fashion houses like Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. The man certainly has a eye for the unexpected and if your not into snakes, perhaps one of his other photo series would be right up your alley... Clocks SpidersThousand dollar bills ya'll!JellyfishRoses

If you can believe it, the series that gave me heeby jeebies were the spiders. I really don't like spiders. If there's anything that bothers me more than things that crawl, its thing with so many legs it needs to "coordinate" them. Eeek.

However, the clocks are my favorite. I have a thing for clocks to begin with, so that series would totally make me jump up with joy if it were displayed in my house.

What series would you choose?

Images via MBG, Elle Decor, and the Guido Mocafico website

Art Locals

I love these art prints by Ryan Fowler, it features all of the ski areas in popular ski locations like New Hampshire and Vermont. This Vermont print is my favorite because it brings back some great memories of tackling the slopes of Killington when I was a kid. I'd love to put this somewhere in our living room, so cool.

Check out his Etsy shop here.

Image of the Day: A Tale of a Scarf and a Room

I love the artwork that's above the sofa. By looking at them, they could be anything from silk screened prints, handwoven fabrics, to perhaps...a scarf? First thing I thought of is that those patterns would make a beautiful scarf or wrap. Then I figured, there are so many beautiful scarves out there, why couldn't they be hung up as art?

Scarf Art by Mangogal

There are so many beautiful patterns and colors! I could just imagine these (especially that amazing Pucci scarf in the middle) hung as art. Love it!

Image via A Life's Design

Owl Dude

How cute is this little owl dude? In case you didn't already know this about me, I love owls. In high school we had a family of 4 that lived on the grounds and everyday at lunch I would try my best to sneak up on them to get a closer look, but alas, that ability to see what's behind them would always foil my plan. Maybe with this little 5x7 print by Leah Duncan I can finally have an owl of my own.

found via Decor8

A Must See

If you get the chance, I highly suggest you check out Jak & Jil's photos of the Givenchy Haute Couture show, the photos are amazing. It was so theatrical and over the top, I absolutely love it! Moving art at its best.

Have a Seat

I am head over heels in love with this Vintage Chair Print from Bespoke Press. It's so adorable! I'm thinking it's perfect for one of the frames in the office bathroom.

Found via Made by Girl

Ole!

What do you get when you put a guitar in the same room as a woman with attitude and a gorgeous dress?

Well, you might get a couple things, but chances are it'll be a Flamenco dancer. I'm not sure if I've ever shared this before on Journeys of Mangonett, but I have loved Flamenco ever since I was a little girl. I love how beautiful it is and full of feeling, how these women can dance in these amazing dresses and make it look effortless. I love it so much that it even inspired my wedding gown. These are a couple of videos that I found tucked away in my favorites that I figured I would share with you and if you've never seen a live show, I demand you go see one! ;-)

I love this video because of all the ladies dancing at the same time with those amazing skirts. I love it even more when the teacher shows them how it's done.

For something a little bit more theatrical, you gotta love the famous dancer Sara Baras. Plus, you would think with the women looking so femine while they dance it would be a little odd to see a man dance Flamenco, not so.

Tis, My Art

Over the weekend, I finally finished a project that had been hounding me for months. I finally put some art on the walls of our bedroom! Why did this take me months? Well, mainly because I just couldn't find anything out there that I really liked, in the color I wanted, and in the price range I was looking for. So...when you can't find it, make it yourself!

Since red is the "pop color" throughout the house, and my bedroom is very neutral, I wanted art that had that red burst of color in it, but it not too wacky, your bedroom is your haven after all. So, I decided to paint something myself and went out in search for inspiration. Within the same day, I found these two images:

(1) botanical cyanoprints from Pottery Barn and (2) from TYH's shop.

I loved the pretty burst of color and the focus of one plant. So, off I went to Michael's and picked up some art supplies. I decided to paint the background red and chose plants that were pretty simple to draw and paint around (the more complicated, the longer you'll be painting).

I started by sketching the image on my sketch pad for practice. After much erasing and side-ways glances, I liked the final image and sketched it on my paper. Then came the fun part, a bit of red and white paint and I was done! Mango insisted that I sign the corner in honor of my first piece of art for the house and off it went to be hung up in it's frame!

We decided to hang them up on either side of our TV armoire. For the second painting I decided to just paint a vine, which oddly enough ended up taking me longer to do with all of those little leaves. There's my capiz lamp shade making an appearance...I found it at Pottery Barn at 50% off, gotta love a good deal!

We still need a little bit more wall decor here and there in the room, but so far, we're off to a good start! I'm thinking of putting something above the bed...just not sure what. Here we go again.

Happy Moment

Take a little visit over to Blah, Blah, Blahg to download this adorable print that she is currently offering to her blog readers for free! That's right! She's offering it in this pretty sky blue, sunshine yellow, or you can click here to download it in a bright Kelley green. Wouldn't it be fab in a little frame on your desk? Something to keep you smiling. Enjoy!

Kelley green download via Coco + Kelley

Portrait

Milla has always been one of my favorite "model/actress" ladies. I love this photo of her on The Sartorialist.

I'm in LOVE

I love the new color being offered by Made by Girl for her LOVE Candy posters, so adorable! It's called steel, isn't it cool? It's a limited edition with only 50 in stock, so run! Jennifer also announced that her LOVE and ABC posters are now hand silk-screened and printed on recycled paper, way to go girly!

I loved it so much that I've already ordered it for our home office. I adore all the other colors she offers, but I promised Mango that I wouldn't do anything too girly in the room :-) So I figured a LOVE poster in steel was a happy compromise. Can't wait until it arrives!

Beautiful Happy Things from ISAK

I am so loving this adorable line called ISAK. It's filled with quirky prints that have been put on everything from plates to wallpaper. The line was started in 2006 by it's creator Sandra Isakson in England. The website allows you to order products for your home, or if you are a retailer, it also allows you to buy items wholesale for your store. While you're there, check out her cute blog. Out of all her items, my favorites are the prints! I'd love to have those hanging on the walls of our home...adorable!

The Lover's Portrait by Fleur Northcote

While reading one of my favorite wedding blogs, Perfect Bound, I read about the artist Fleur Northcote who is famous for her Lover's Portraits. I thought they were so cool and original, a great way to incorporate a piece of art into your home that is personal to you. Her studio is called Phunk Lab, there you can send her a picture of your choice where she will create a stencil drawing. For the background, Fleur will ask you to choose from a variety of written texts ranging from poems to new paper articles. One couple's portrait featured e-mails that they had written to each other during their long distance relationship. The most important thing about the picture you send she said, was that it captured a moment between the couple...I love it! Here's an example of how she translated the piece above:

To place an order you can visit her lab here, or you can visit her Etsy shop. One of my favorite finds, was her blog, a great and fun look into the life of an artist.

It's a Dandelion!

Looks like my dandelion recreation was a success! With a some white acrylic paint and a couple of brushes that I found in the discount bin at Michael's Craft Store, I was able to replicate the Etsy dandelion wall decal for my sister's room. We opted for white since her walls are painted a taupe-grayish color and all of the furniture is a dark espresso brown

On the path to quirkiness!

This weekend's garage sale turned out exceptionally well. I have to admit, at first I was a little scared that it was going to be a bust, apparently our community is not made up of garage sale enthusiasts. The sale was scheduled to begin at 7am, I began setting up at 6:30am knowing that there would probably be those early birds, people who dedicated their entire life to "garage sale-ing" . Since it rained that night, I strategically tried to put our items on the dry sections of the drive way, and then all of my efforts were thwarted when the sprinklers came on...it seemed like a sign, mainly because I was the only one on the street selling. I decided to wait for the evil sprinklers to finish having their fun and walked around the block to see if I had any fellow sellers. There were a few here and there and all of them looked at me in surprise, with their hand on their hips asking, "Where is everyone?".

When the sprinklers finally stopped I was able to put out my items and wait, in hopes that someone would drive by. Next thing I know we had a steady flow of customers who favored our shady driveway since the sun had decided to come out in full force. We managed to not only sell practically all of our items, but score some free ice cream from the local ice cream truck thanks to our home owner's association president. So after a long day of selling, you were able to find Mango and I at the ice cream truck, shoulder to hip with the rest of the little kids in our neighborhood!

Afterwards, we walked into the house and sat on the sofa exhausted. As I looked around at our semi-empty house I realized something, our home needs some quirkiness! So far we have been concentrating on painting and installing things like shelves and curtains, however I realized that the house needed a little bit of "us" in it. Now that all of the basics are in, it's time to start punching everything up with those little things that make a house a home. I decided to start off with putting some fun art prints in our bedroom. While looking through the design blog Sfgirlbybay, I stumbled upon her mention of a wonderful artist named Cathy Nichols. Her art is wonderfully quirky and colorful, so I was so happy to see that she had a store on Etsy where she sells her prints at affordable prices. As I looked through her pieces I found hard to pick out exactly which ones I like more, I think it was her use of color and movement that made me a fan of her work. To be honest, even though I love looking at art and I appreciate it's importance, I have never bought art before, nor do I know how to start. However, I remember hearing an art aficionado on my beloved HG TV say, "Pick something that you like and speaks to you, who cares if it's dogs playing poker!". While I would hardly parallel the art work of Cathy Nichols to "dogs playing poker", I have to say that these pieces are some of my favorites and are definitely becoming part of our home!

The Sartorialist

This morning while checking one of my favorite blogs Sfgirlbybay, I came across her mention of photographer Scott Schuman who writes a blog called The Sartorialist, a compilation of photographs of everyday people walking the streets of Milan, France, and even our ever changing NYC. The fantastic aspect of his photography is that he focuses on the amazing outfits people are wearing and how they reflect their personalities. His photos make me want to dig through my closet and try a slew of different color and pattern combinations, and of course create an abnormally strong desire to hit the streets and strut my stuff!