K Sarah Designs

Artwork i love // Gem & Stone Photographs by Jen Altman

I recently came across the work of Jen Altman, and thought it was a brilliant way to incorporate the natural beauty of gems and stones into a space. I've talked about my love for decorating with natural stones before (see this post), but I love this new take on it!

The Gem & Stone print shop includes close-up photographs of various gems and stones, and each one is truly a work of art. Any of them would look beautiful framed and added to an art wall, but here are a few of my favorites:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*All of the above prints are by Jen Altman. Find them here.

 

And for a similar affect, you can frame an actual agate slice like I did:

Simply affix an agate slice to thick white cardstock with clear epoxy glue, and place it in a box frame (mine is from IKEA). It's a super simple + inexpensive project, and I love the affect!

Happy Monday!

Artwork i love // Large Abstracts from Art.com

I recently came across the artwork of Nancy Ortenstone on Art.com, and thought I'd share. I had been searching for some arge-scale, affordable abstract art for a few projects I'm working on, and thought these were a really great find!

Here are a few of my favorites:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty, right?

And there are tons more where that came from, so if you're on the hunt for some abstract art, it's pretty likely you can find one in the color scheme you need.

I also love that most of the prints are available as both giclee prints or as a stretched canvases, and come in an array of different sizes. And even better, art.com makes it really easy to pick out a custom frame for your print (they have lots of frame & mat options to choose from!), which eliminates the hassle of getting the art professionally framed elsewhere.

And did I mention it's affordable? :)

Have you purchased through art.com before, or found any great art lately?

DIY // Large & Inexpensive Botanical Art

I've mentioned before how much I love botanical charts + prints as artwork. And in particular, how much I love botanical prints with black backgrounds.

Well a few weeks back, I was searching through the vintage printables site, and came across some of the black-background botanical prints that I love so much. I immediately knew that I wanted to make some art with them!

And in case you're unfamiliar with vintage printables, it's a site that curates old and out-of-copyright images, most of which are scientific and botanical illustrations from vintage textbooks. And since they aren't copyrighted, you can print them or use them in graphics to your heart's content. It's a great source if you want to print your own botanicals and frame them as a series for wall art, similar to this.

Please forgive the less than stellar photos, by the way. My photo-taking skills are decidedly lacking, and no matter what I tried, I couldn't get rid of the reflections on the glass. These were the clearest ones, I promise :)

So, for a few of the details. Here's what I did: 

I picked the 3 prints on the site that I liked the most (I found them on this page specifically), cropped off the uneven borders, enlarged them in photoshop to a 16x20 size, and had them printed at Costco for $6 each.

You could also print them one size larger, attach wooden dowels at the top + bottom, and hang with string, so that they look more like the real botanical charts, seen here. It still would only cost $9 to print a 20x30 size at Costco, rather than the $100-$200 for the real botanical charts.

So there you have it. Cheap + pretty wall art - my favorite!

DIY // Triangle Paper Art

I've been completely loving geometric-inspired artwork lately (see also here and here)- it always seems to add an interesting graphic + eye-catching element to gallery walls and displays. I think what I like most about geometric art is that it's often a mix of simple + complex. While the overall appearance can be a complicated & ornate, it's usually composed of very simple, repeating lines & shapes.

Anyway, I've been meaning to make some of my own for a while now, and was happy to finally get around to it this week! This project ended up being super quick & simple - In Illustrator, I just "sketched out" the shape and triangle pattern that I wanted, printed it out on thick cardstock, and cut out the triangles with an X-acto blade. The whole thing probably took less than half an hour - my favorite kind of project!

I'm happy with how it turned out - it sort of reminds me of a gemstone with lots of facets! Plus, I like the simplicity of the brown cardstock contrasting with the white paper behind it.

To make your own, you'll need:

- thick cardstock, in your desired color
- a pencil, pen, or a graphic computer program you can sketch your design on
- X-acto blade
- cutting mat
- white cardstock to mount it on
- 8x10 picture frame

1) Sketch out your design on the computer or by hand - if using your computer, print the design on the cardstock. Originally I had wanted to use chip board because it's thicker & would show more dimension against the white background. Unfortunately, my printer doesn't like the thickness of chip board very much (yay paper jams!), but if you're drawing yours by hand, feel free to use chip board.

2) Cut out your design with your X-acto blade. I just freehanded mine, but if cutting straight isn't your strongpoint, feel free to use a metal ruler :)

3) When you finish cutting out the design, cut your cardstock down to 8x10 so that it fits in a frame. Mount it to white paper or cardstock, stick it in a frame, and your done!

Happy Happy Friday, and three cheers for the weekend, friends! I hope you have a good one :)

Affordable art for gallery walls - part 2

I'm back with another round-up of some affordable art options for a gallery wall. And whereas the first post focused mainly on art in the blue & green color family, these options are primarily in the pink and yellow color family:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Similar to last time, most of them are from Society6, 20x200, Etsy, and now also Mammoth & Company (thanks to the suggestion of Lauren from Seventeenth & Irving! If you haven't checked out her blog yet, you should! Serious eye candy and some really great tips on there.)

And the good news is there are still tons more affordable art options that I'm loving, so I think this will be turning into a sort of mini-series :)

Happy Thursday!

Affordable art for gallery walls

I've been on the hunt for some affordable art for my workspace, and am almost overwhelmed by all of the great options out there. With new(ish) art sites like Society6, Minted, and 20x200, finding inexpensive & awesome art is easier than ever. Not only do these sites have a huge selection to choose from, but I love that you can buy their prints framed or unframed - it's so convenient!

I've put together a handful of prints that I'm really liking right now, and there are tons more where this came from! I stuck to mostly blues, greens, & naturals, since that's what I'm looking for right now. I'll probably put a few of these posts together though, mostly so that I can keep track of all of the options!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Artwork i love // Christine Soccio

I really love the artwork of Christine Soccio. Her abstracts are beautiful yet powerful, and I adore her brilliant use of color. You can find her amazing work here.

Artwork i love // So Very Happy Art

Happy Friday!

Today I thought I'd share some fun etsy art that I recently came across. The shop is full of colorful, bright, and happy watercolor abstracts, and is, quite fittingly, called So Very Happy Art.

Here are some of my favorite prints:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Aren't they pretty? I'm particularly a fan of #5, but all of them make me want to bust my brushes & watercolors out and paint :)

Hope you have a great weekend!

i love // Amy Sia Scarfs

Happy Monday! I hope everyone is having a great start of the week.

Today I have some serious eye candy to share. I've featured Amy Sia's art before, and have to say her work is among my favorites. Her vibrant use of color is fantastic, and I love that her art is graphic, yet flowing at the same time. Her designs are often created using a combination of painting, drawing, photography, and computer aided design, and the results are truly beautiful.

Anyway, Amy contacted me a few days ago letting me know about her new line of printed silk scarfs, and I was delighted to see that they were every bit as gorgeous as her art prints:

Aren't they beautiful? And really, who doesn't want to wear a scarf that doubles as a work of art? I'm having a really hard time deciding which one is my favorite!

All scarfs are available for purchase on her website, and are (at this point) being made to order. Hop on over there to check them out!

And, in the event you haven't seen her other work, her gorgeous (and affordable!) art prints can be found here (along with her iphone & ipad cases). Again, it's seriously hard to pick a favorite, because they're all so darn good.

New Michelle Armas art

I've mentioned how much I love Michelle Armas' work before, and was excited to see that she released some great new pieces today. Even though I'm not looking to purchase any new art right now, it never hurts to gaze on a bit of lovely, right?

These are a few of my faves:

All original art shown above is $200, and can be found in Michelle Armas' shop here... get them while you can, because they sell out fast. Additional larger (and beautiful!) pieces are also available there as well, though a little more pricey.

Seeing her art always makes me want to pick up a brush and paint. Of course, she makes it look wayyy easier than it actually is!