Create Your Own Canvas Art

So...are you ready for a fun Give-Away?

I need to share a little "backstory" on this. About 6 weeks ago I received an email from a rep at CanvasPop. I know you all have heard of them; their company makes wonderful photographic prints transferred to canvas. I've seen them on other blogs, and have been impressed with their amazing quality of work. They were generously asking if I'd like to send in one of my photos to be turned into a canvas print/image.

WOW, how super!!

Except as you all know and hear me complain about mention, I have very limited wall space in our new home, and I've been taking my time making decisions about wall decor and art. I pretty much dragged my feet on this opportunity and went through all my photographs of the last several years, but could not come up with anything that really grabbed me.

CanvasPop Website.

If you have a minute watch their very cool video!

Then I had a thought...(this can be so dangerous) what I really would love to have would be some sort of vintage image on the canvas. I wasn't sure what that would be or how to get that to work, but I got back with them and asked if it might be possible. The only stipulation would be that the image would have to be something in "the public domain", meaning that the artist must be deceased at least 100 years so it will not still be copyrighted.

Where do you find a vintage image that is no longer under copyright?

I thought I'd give Etsy a go, and sure enough there are endless images available in the format that it takes to have the image copied on canvas. I think I paid $4 for this image to be downloaded to my computer. If you do a Google search for downloadable images you'll find them tons of places. I happen to love vintage images of sheep. What's your obsession? I guarantee that you'll locate many options. 

This is what I chose, but if you want a photo canvas of your kiddos, or your pets, or a perfect sunset from your own photograph, then that's available too.

CanvasPop has lot's of options to choose from and they will customize your canvas to best accommodate the size of your image. This Give Away is for a free 16x20 image on a .75 wrapped canvas. And if you don't want to wait on the Give Away, then there's a 35% off coupon discount available to my readers, you'll just need to use the code COMMON35 at checkout.

Here's the .75 wrap. I chose to have the print extended over the edges, but you can also choose white or black, so that you won't lose any of your original image.

It comes ready to hang, with a professional wire and hardware.

I'm enjoying my little gal here on the Entry Console for now.

Here's How to Enter:

1. LIKE CanvasPop on Facebook
2. LIKE Common Ground on Facebook or become a follower of this blog, Common Ground.
3. SHARE this Give Away image on your blog, Facebook, or some kind of social media.

Then please let me know back here on this blog, Common Ground with a separate entry comment.

Is your brain doing backflips thinking of all the possibilities?

Hope you'll enter, since the you can get so creative!

The Give Away closes Friday at midnight.

I'm joining here:

The Scoop at Stone Gable

Show and Share at Coastal Charm
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life
Wow Us Wednesday Savvy Southern Style
From My Front Porch to Yours
The Charm of Home
Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush

{ The Canvas Art was gifted me by CanvasPop in exchange for an honest review, and I can say they were so nice to work with and exceeded ALL my expectations for a quality product. And they're fast too!}

Adding some Valentine's Day fun and a Give Away

One of the easiest and fastest ways to decorate for any Season or Holiday is with throw pillows. Their seasonal colors and design bring instant "decor" into a room. See the little pillow below? I fell in love immediately. Those little love birds kissing, aaahhh...they're just the perfect Valentine's Day fun.

Decorating with Kilim and Turkish Rugs

I've been on a bit of a rug kick lately. Actually, ever since last Fall when I needed to decide on rugs for the new house, I've been pinning and perusing "rugs" in all sizes and designs. I had been on all the rug websites and then some. I've saved pics and ideas and sizes and colors and designs for all types of decor.

I even went through some of my old and vintage rugs to see what might be usable here. I found this one in the garage, and honestly, I'd almost forgotten I had it. It's worn and threadbare in places, but it's a genuine one of a kind antique. But more on this rug, some ideas, and where I'm using it later...I don't want to get ahead of myself.

New Lighting for the Entry

One of the first things I noticed about our new house when it was on the market, was the lighting. How about you, do you look twice at the light fixtures?  Beautiful and functional lighting fixtures are like "house jewelry"; they add pizazz and set the mood for the spaces they're in. You can take a plain box of a room, and give it character and direction for decor with a chandelier, sconces, a pendant, and even table lamps. They can literally "light up" your rooms!

This was the Entry (below) when we first bought the house. The light fixtures, especially the one here in the Entry, were pretty much "Plain Jane". Nothing wrong with it, but it just wasn't memorable. The Entry is our chance to make a statement, and this one really didn't have much to say.

I had packed up my chandelier from our previous Dining Room, and had found a small Frenchy chandy for the kitchen, but what I really needed for this house, was Entry Lighting. I had my heart set on a lantern, but it needed to be in a dark bronze finish to match the rest of the metal accents. So I started searching the Internet to see what was available. About that time, Lamps.Com contacted me about checking out their lighting. I was thrilled because they graciously sent me this wonderful lantern, the Larkin Three Light Pendant Lantern by Kichler that made my Entry go from blah to beautiful!

(I love the illumintation shadow on the ceiling!)

Just take a look at some of the wonderful Entry Pendants and Chandeliers that are available from Lamps.Com. On trend and beautiful... and they won't break your budget! This first one is my Entry Lantern, only in brushed nickel.

Here are more great Entry Pendants and Chandeliers from Lamps.Com that are available. These are some of my favorites and most are under $300.00.

As you can see, they have so many wonderful pieces;

 something for every decor style and budget.
Here's a direct link to the Kichler Lighting page.

If you've been thinking of updating your lighting, or just want something more functional or eye catching, check out Lamps.Com. Be sure and check out the new links for Furniture and Home Decor that Lamps.Com also has for you. I have a link on my sidebar to get you there.

Stay tuned for more on my new lantern when I decorate the Entry!

Joining in at these parties:

The Scoop at Worthing Court
Show and Share at Coastal Charm
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Inspire Me at A Stroll Thru Life
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

( I was compensated for this blog post, but all the opinions are my own.)

Have you entered yet?
Then CLICK HERE

Finally...September

The weather might not have realized that it's the start of all things Fall,

but the calender says it's September, so it's good enough for me!

Last January and February when I was packing up all my boxes of faux flowers and Holiday decor to take to the storage units, I tried to grab a few Fall things and keep them separated to bring to the lease house. Back then I had no idea where we would be this Fall. Fall was about as far from my mind as it could get, but I'm so glad I had a little forethought to do it.

I have tons of Fall stuff over at the storage units that I might not find or unpack till months down the road, so these few little things will have to do for now. Decorating here at the lease house is slim pickins, as we will probably be moving by the end of the month. This little house is filled with boxes and odds and ends from the "clean out" of our old house, so just a taste of Fall will have to do.

This little paper mache squirrel was a gift from my younger daughter several years ago, and he always has a place of importance. This year he took up residence in one of my Pottery Barn lanterns here on the old trunk, that we've been using as a coffee table.

The base "tree trunk" is really a little box and the squirrel is the lid.

This is one of my wonderful Pumpkins that I bought from Becky at Timewashed, last year. She's in full Fall mode, so check out all her creations HERE. If you want something special, just let her know. She sells out before she can get them listed.

I made these late summer sunflower bouquets a few years ago for my antique mall space, and saved a few for myself. The urn is from Pottery Barn a few years ago, and it's one of my favorite decor pieces. This was last year...

Here it is from a few years ago...

...and my favorite version from 2012.

No dried hydrangeas or pumpkins yet,

 just a scraggly ivy that's managed to hang on.

I'll check back with you on a house update. I've been tearing my hair out over the right paint color. Seems that Ben Moore Smokey Taupe changes throughout the day due to lighting. The old paint that was pinky/sandy/fleshy/salmon has been driving me crazy cause it reflects on my new paint. I cannot get that suff covered up fast enough! It's taken a few sessions of my husband talking me down from the ledge to finally get it settled. See that sofa in the background? Somehow it wants to read as dark khaki/green at the new place...just a few of the issues with paint.

more to come, soon.

the new house saga continues...

joining in at these parties:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage 

Shabbilicious Friday at Shabby Art Boutique

xoxo,

No, it's not a Christmas tree...yet

I won't deny it, I'm antsy for Christmas decorating, but I still want to honor "Thanksgiving". So I'm trying to do a little of both. I like to bring in my two smaller lighted Christmas trees and get them set up for a quick turnaround after Thanksgiving. I have a few "nature themed" ornaments that I used to decorate a tree downstairs, but they have migrated to the Dining Room this year and I've put together a little Autumn Nature tree. I'm going woodsy and natural this year. There will be some glitter thrown in, but I'm craving a more simple theme this year, with hopefully, less stress.

It's always bothered me that there is really only one month to decorate and celebrate Christmas. With all the work that it goes into preparing and decorating, I want to get rolling with it so it's not such a difficult task to accomplish. Some people leave up their Christmas decor until the middle of January, but for me come January 1, I want a clean slate and a fresh start. The greenery and poinsettias are still here, but everything else is put away, (hopefully)

I found these adorable white floofy "baby" snow owls at one of the shops in Ozark this week, and they are perfect for this tree.

These little glass owl ornaments were picked up at The White Rabbit in St. Louis last month. I had a feeling my owl obsession would carry over into Christmas.

Right now I have some faux bittersweet vine in here along with the burlap ribbon, but I think I can change it out for Holly and some red berried vine after Thanksgiving.

A favorite little deer...

and rabbit

Little birds in nests and some old clay flower pots, 

that I'm going to fill with moss and potpourri.

This tree sets in a pretty white urn,

but for this year's nature feel, 

I'm using an old fruit basket and a burlap coffee sack.

Do you have a "theme" for your Christmas decorating each year?

My favorite has always been "nature".

I also wanted to remind you that I host a link gathering 

for all of you that have Etsy Shops and Online Boutiques.

It's a place to come share some of your shop items 

each Monday Morning 

and then the shop is open all week.

Hope you'll come by and join in,

or just come to shop.

We'll be showcasing wonderful Christmas handmade

 and one-of-a-kind items

for your Christmas Shopping List!

So nice to have an extra hour today, and some sunshine.

I have some garden clean up to do so this will help.

joining these parties this week;

Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Met Monday at Between Naps On the Porch

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Cowgirl Up at Cedar Hill Ranch

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Blissful Whites at Timewashed

xoxo,