How Cool is this Coffee Table?

I want to get a cute, fuzzy cat so I can buy this Coffee Table and have it featured in my living room. How great is this design and concept if you are a cat lover! :) This low table called "Hammock" was created by a Japanese designer, Koichi Futatsumata. Not sure if this table is for sale but we can certainly appreciate the beautifully designed concept.

{Images ©2009 Case-Real Co.}

More Affordable Frames & My Art is for Sale on Etsy!

Another place to find decent pre-made art frames is from Michaels. I got all these frames featured at 40% off this past week. Michaels has a good selection of frame styles, and they offer pre-cut mattes to fit any standard size photo. They were a bargain, and they look pretty custom to me.

If you're looking for good art for a bargain, Etsy.com has a whole lot of it. The art hung near my office desk are "Gesture" figure study drawings and are actual prints of my drawings from art school. If you are intrigued by this type of art, it's now available for sale on Etsy.com! I created my own Art Shop, and I will be adding to the inventory as the days progress.

In case any of you are wondering what a "Gesture" drawing is, it's "the practice of drawing a series of poses taken by a model in a short amount of time." And as an artist, I had to capture the gesture of the pose in a matter of seconds, or minutes, and it definitely had to embody the energy and movement of the pose. The two featured "Gesture" study prints are only a few of hundreds of drawings that I have done, but these are ultimately my favorite. This type of drawing was a challenge for me in art school since it was sooo loose and abstract compared to a well-developed 30-60 minute drawing. Of all the work I did in art school, these were the ones that I appreciated most in my studies since it was a true challenge for me. I am certainly no Picasso, but they remind me of Picasso's 3 Dancers since they give off a similar energy and movement in the human figure. Not surprisingly, I do have the Picasso print of the 3 Dancers hanging in my master bathroom.

Currently, I have a total of six prints on My Art Shop by Chon. I will be adding more and different art to my shop as the days go on. If you like what you see, buy it for your walls and have a little bit of "Design by Chon" in your home. :)

Do you like the art that you see in my Green Half-Bathroom? If so, check out Yellena on Etsy.com. I love her illustrations. These are not the originals, but are reproductions of the original, and they look spectacular! The detail and color in her art is wonderful. Her drawings remind me of a mystical, under the sea life world. My favorite of all her prints is called Season, and it's the top picture frame featured in my Green Half-bath.

Before I go, I have to leave you guys with one more good tip. All frames don't have to match in size and color. Look at the art at my office desk pic. Yes it's the same color, but different in size. If you want the space to be more unique and eclectic, mix it up! I will be showing examples on how to do this as I fill up more walls in my home. So stay tuned!

Do-It-Yourself Frames & How to Hang Art

My husband has been hassling me for months to fill our walls with art. I have been putting it on the back burner since custom framing art gets expensive so I have been on the hunt for good, quality frames that don't look cheap, but are cheap on the pocket. :) So over these next few days, I will post on how to fill up your walls and different ways of arranging art for the walls.

One of my favorite frame selections are from CB2 and seen in these pics are their Gallery Frames in the 5x7 and 4x6 sizes. Featured in all the frames are pictures from our wedding day and our honeymoon. I printed these all through Kodak Gallery on their Metallic Paper which gives the images a very cool sheen to black & white and color photos.

These square Gallery Frames are hung in our master bedroom in a series of 3 over our dressers. One key important rule that I cannot stress enough is when you hang any kind of art, is to hang it at the average "eye" level. Often people make the mistake of hanging art way too high, and it makes the wall and room feel totally off balanced. Don't get me wrong, there are times when you can break this rule, if you have high ceilings and have large pieces of art, or if you are doing a collage of frames along a wall. This rule usually applies to smaller, individual pieces of art.

Obviously when you stack two art pieces together, both cannot be at "eye" level. So what you do is treat them both as one piece of art, and pick the middle point and hang that at "eye" level.

When you hang frames, it doesn't always have to be in a perfect grid. Here, I did a zig zag pattern along the staircase wall since it fit the composition of the space. This hanging format can be a little trickier for some people. I didn't just do it randomly. Imagine one invisible line going down the middle of this composition; if you did, you will see that the left and right side are balanced in mass.

One last important tip on hanging art on the wall. Make sure the art fits the space. Don't put a small 4x6 frame all alone on a gigantic, bare wall. If you're still not sure what to do, walk into museums or art galleries to see how they hang art. They do an excellent job and take note at the height in which they were hung. They are extremely decisive and particular on height measurements for hanging.

I have a Secret Obession – Animal Print

Over the years, animal print-like rugs have certainly grown on me. I never thought this day would come, but it has. And I am going to buy one in the near future for our living room! :) I am very excited about this for some odd reason. Maybe because it's new and different for me. It's going to add that eclectic touch to my living room space.

The two that I am debating between are below. One is from West Elm and the other, Grounded. There is a very cool cowhide looking print from Flor.com that I have also admired for my entry hallway.

People don't think you will be seeing me anytime soon in animal print clothing. It's only for the interior decor of my home. Of all the prints, I tend to lean more towards the neutral colors of the zebra and cow-like patterns. However, the yellow-orange leopard print still feels cheap to me whether it is worn on or in someone's living space.

{Images from WestElm.com, Flor.com & ShopGrounded.com}

Love, Love these "Bib" Necklaces

Can I just say it one more time...I love these Bib Necklaces! These necklaces make that fun, grand statement in your wardrobe, and you only have to wear one. No other piece of jewelry is needed. Wear it with your wedding dress for your Black & White themed wedding reception, or against a simple black cocktail dress, or even with a simple white t-shirt with some dark blue jeans and silver pumps. There are several uses for any one of these designs.

I can't claim the credit for finding these however. I found them on one of my standard blogs that I follow – Junebug Weddings. If you are at all curious on where you can find one of these bib necklaces, visit the previous link. :)

I must admit, these designs aren't your everyday priced necklace. For some good priced alternatives, I would visit Anthropologie, J.Crew or Nordstrom.

{A re-Post from junebugweddings.com/blogs}

Design w/Chon: Save the Date Card for a Mexico Wedding

I have some fun Save the Date cards to show off today! I recently finished designing three concept directions that matches the previous inspiration board posting for my client's vintage, Mexico wedding. In all these designs, I made sure I pulled iconic elements that represent Mexican art and culture such as the sun rays, agave plant and very particular the bee graphic from the tequila brand – Patron. The client plans on incorporating little Patron bottles as wedding favors and doing a historical tour at a tequila distillery with their wedding guests in Jalisco, Mexico.

I showed these designs to the client last week, and they were totally in love with all the directions, but there was one clear winner as I saw the future bride's eyes light up when she saw it for the first time. The winner is design #3 with the country outline of Mexico. And that was my favorite and the recommended design, too! I love working with client's that appreciate the work. :)

{Save the Date Invite designed by Chon}

And the knitty gritty details to the printing of this Save the Date card. We are going to be printing on a Letterpress printer with 1 PMS color on an uncoated, creamy beige thick paper stock. And there will be A7 envelopes to match the paper stock.