Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I Found A Solution!

All of my problems have been solved!  OK not all of my problems but one very important problem! I am no longer at a design stand still!  Just moments (well days) after writing this post I was stuck by inspiration and it all started with a trip to a tropical island...OK not really, the trip was to Chicago but same idea...kinda.

My husband, friend who was in town from Cali and I went to Chicago for the night this past Friday. (The Bean had a cousin sleepover that apparently was a blast!). And that afternoon we walked around the famous Millennium Park. Even though it is very touristy, Millennium Park provides the perfect opportunity for picture taking especially if you love taking pictures as much as I do.  As I snapped away I secretly hoped I would catch something good I could use for some kind of project back at home.

After a great afternoon in the park and an evening spent laughing our a$@ off at Second City (the amazing improve company that spits out all the greats from SNL) we returned home and I got the chance to finally download my pics. And at first glance they weren't to shabby...





The very first thing I do after I download any shots is upload them to Picnik. Have you been to Picnik yet? If not...listen up...it is time to pay attention. PICNIK IS THE BOMB!  (Yes, I said "the bomb".)

The basic features of Picnik are free...cropping, color and exposure adjusting, sharpening and resizing.  Picnik also offers great effects for FREE...black & white, sepia, color boost, soften, cinema scope, texture and so many more.  And then for a small fee, $25 a year, you get access to all the premium features and they rock and are worth every penny!

OK, but back to my pics.  I started playing around with some editing and great Picnik features and I came up with this...








All super fun options but not exactly what I was looking for to solve my Family Room art dilemma.  As I have shared (whined) with you, I have been searching endlessly for art to fill the big blank wall in our Family Room.  You know, the one that looks like this...


I have been looking for something with bright, primary modern colors to bring punch and drama to this wall.  There is tons of amazing art out there but none of it fits my budget so it was time to get creative and that is what Picnik helped me do.  And this is what I came up with...


and this...


Pretty darn fabulous, RIGHT!?!  The prints arrive in a few days and then I will share the rest of this story with you...how I turn pictures into wall art!