Show it off sister.

I love walking around our home and being surrounded by my favorite photos. Images of people, places and moments that I cherish. Constant reminders of how beautiful life is. How do I choose what to enlarge, where to put them and how to display them? To be honest... I'm a bit of a loose cannon when it comes to photo displays. Random canvas orders at midnight. Wild runs to print more photos. Photographers everywhere {you might want to cover your eyes and close your ears} I print photos online, I print them at London Drugs, I print them at our local lab "Maxima Photo Lab", Costco and yup... even occasionally Wal-Mart. Photos that are printed poorly make my eyes bleed as much as anyone else, but I display photos everywhere in shadow boxes, in clips, on the fridge, in polaroid frames, in albums... some times, I just want them printed asap and cheaply. If I am enlarging something substantially, I'll likely be turning it into a canvas. I have more canvases than I care to admit. However, I cherish each and every one of them. Another local source for Campbell River canvases is Epic Design Studios. I like to combine photos of water, doors, flowers etc, with people. Generally, I like to enlarge ones that are further away than close ups. I like to keep colors in mind. I have one image I want to enlarge SO BADLY, but it is all fall colors of rich reds and browns and oranges and doesn't really fit into any area of my house (yet).

Tips that work for me. I buy frames often. I buy them from Ikea, Wal-Mart, Dollar stores, Winners, antique stores, thrift stores. Everywhere and anywhere. A frame doesn't have to cost a lot of money to look awesome on the wall. I spray paint frames. Take any old frame and a can of spray paint and voila... awesome. I buy frames and store them. I just buy ones I love and worry about where they might be displayed and with what later. I photograph old family photos with my camera and edit them to black and white etc, and print and frame them. I print photos. I print a bunch of 5x7s, 8x10s etc and have an envelope full of photos, when I am inspired I pull out photos and frames and start putting them together. I lay out collages on the floor before I start poking holes all over the walls. I get ideas from pinterest {here} Most of my super thrifty and smart gal pals wait for canvas sales to go on Groupon and then they buy a whole bunch. Clever! What are you waiting for. Start printing! Start showing it off, sister. {i had grand plans of photographing clients homes to show off their printed and displayed photos. alas, that hasn't happened YET. so for now... here are some images from inside our home.}

(Canvases below from Simply Canvas, white frames all from Wal-Mart (with two more decorative ones on shelf from Winners) All white frames below from Wal-Mart. Most are spray painted, including the cheap plastic purple one (was brown and not cute looking) 8x8 canvases below from Costco and Simply Canvas. Black frames from all over. Bunny canvas from Simply Canvas, polaroid frames are Umbra purchased from "Uranus" in Courtenay. All white frames from Wal-mart and Ikea and all over really. Black frames from Ikea.