Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names

Um, totally love this. How fun would it be to have this on your wall and debate with friends who's missing and/or should be classified in other categories?

Found at Pop Chart Lab, $20

P.S. Notice a trend here?

A flowchart of typefaces

A flowchart of getting shot by the Sartorialist

P.P.S. What would your rap name be? One of my sorority sisters used to call me "Big L". (She swore it wasn't because I always ate my weight in queso on Mexican Lunch day, but I have my doubts.) This rap star name generator says I should go by "Dutchess McDougal". (But am I allowed to spell Duchess properly, oh Rap Star Name Generator?)

P.P.P.S. I so want to create my own chart like this! What subject would you want to classify?

Cute Little Illustrations

I just can't get over these cute illustrations from Rosy Designs found via Contented Me. It looks like you can even customize the people and add text to the prints.

Frame this poster and display it at your wedding reception for guests to sign the mat. (This Just Married one would work, too.)

Add your baby's birth stats and display in the nursery.

I don't have a specific idea for this one but I loooove it.

I like the idea of framing the boy and the girl side by side...

(Even though they're youthful, I'd love these blown up and placed over each person's side of the bed.)

...But I'd also happily take them together as one print.

I had to stop myself from posting the entire collection!  See them all here.

Fontariffic

So You Need a Typeface poster, found via {BLACK. WHITE. YELLOW.}

Only $22! Get yours here.

I'm wondering what decision leads to Comic Sans in the process flow...because, you know:

Found via feel so fancy

Indeed

God Bless Sunday Morning print from Dear Colleen

Check out her shop for other lovely prints. (Tea towels are coming soon! I love a good tea towel.)

How Do You Display Your Photos?

One Kings Lane* is offering gift certificates for gallery wrap canvas prints from Chic Canvas for quite the discount right now.  I shopped around some other websites and found it to be a really good price.  (I did find one site where the 20x24 wasn't that much more expensive.)

One of the problems is that I don't know which photo I'd pick, so I'm having trouble deciding the dimensions for the one I'd buy! We have our high-res digital negatives of our beautiful wedding photos, and I haven't yet had any portraits printed, partly because I don't know if we really need to have something so large of us on display.  (I already feel like a 16x20 of one of our awesome engagement photos is a bit much, even though we're a smaller part of the photo, standing inside this sculpture.  I ended up putting it in our bedroom.) 

Now if it was just of some cute kiddos like this, or a great landscape shot from a vacation, I think it would look great as a big statement piece. But I'm just not so sure I want to see myself so large, or if our houseguests want to see us in a canoodling wedding photo. Also, I recently picked up a ton of silve frames matted to 11x14 that were on clearance at Target, and I've started to collect the ever-popular IKEA Ribba frame as well, with the idea to eventually have a gallery wall of favorite photographs, but without it being wedding or couple overload.

  

So I turn to you, my helpful readers. Should I buy it? (I can always save it for later, there's just that question of which size.) Are you going to buy it?  What would should I have made with it, or what would you make?

Do you think once you start decorating with gallery wraps, that future portrait-worthy prints should get the same treatment as well for consistency in your home?

* Let me know if you want an invite and I'll email you the link!

Nashville Love

I was looking through the latest issue of Southern Living last night and came across an article on Austin vs. Nashville. As a proud graduate of The University of Texas, I was a little dismayed that I hadn't enjoyed most of the places mentioned in the Austin article. (We have several friends that have recently moved there or are planning to, so I can get right on that.)


I was duly impressed by all Nashville has to offer, and I'm so wanting to visit someday and purchase a souvenir poster from Hatch Show Print, my faves of which are at the end of this post.

I'm saddened by the devastating flooding that has happened there. I was happy to read today about Lift Up Nashville, found via two ellie, which is selling these $10 posters that go toward a flood relief fund. I love these designs, and what a great way to show support.

Hmm, can't decide which is my favorite...

This measurement poster matted and framed in my future all-white kitchen? Perfection.
(Also practical, because I don't have all of my conversions down.)

Other articles in this issue I enjoyed...
Gardening 101: Basil - I just purchased my first basil plant and I am in love. I hope J doesn't get tired of my caprese salads!

The South's Best Dog Parks - I love that there's one in VA called the Bea Arthur. (Fact: We like the Golden Girls, and Bea Arthur was a factor in naming Trixie Beatrix. I wanted to call her "Bea" or "Bebe" as her primary nn, but my MIL insisted on Trixie and it stuck.) We need to try the Fort Woof in Fort Worth sometime. I'm really excited that a dog park not too far from my house is opening soon. I can't wait to go, since our pup doesn't get much off-leash time. Should I be worried about male dogs coming up to her and trying to take advantage? My poor baby.

$15 Mirror, Priceless Look - I really want to try etching glass. I think this would be fun to attempt. Surprise surprise, I think I'd try out a chevron pattern.

Paint by Numbers

Some girlfriends and I have been talking about doing a girls' night at Painting with a Twist*, a BYOB (!) painting class. Lo and behold, it was today's Dallas Groupon! ($20 instead of the normal $45) I think it will be a lot of fun to see how same-but-different everyone's canvas turns out!

Here are some of my favorites that have been offered recently:

Dallas Arboretum
I love that they offer some that reflect your location!

Texas Bluebonnets

Austin Motel

Colosseum

Bike

Naked Lady

Sailboat

Beach Chair

Have you done anything creative like this with a group of friends? What did you do and how did it turn out?

* Locations in TX, LA, AL, and FL

My Love Resolution

2010 so far has been crazy work hours-wise for The Hubs (usual) and me (unusual), so we haven't been able to see much of each other lately. When we do, we're often stressed and snippy.

Case in point: I ate the last burrito when I came home late the other night, and unbeknownst* to me, he had his sites set on it for breakfast the next morning. He was not. happy. with. me. (In my defense, it was mine to begin with. His reasoning is that I have 24 hours to eat something that was originally mine and then it becomes community property. Apparently I need to make sure I'm updated on the latest house rules. The committee must have voted on that one without me.)


We did get the chance to snuggle on the couch a little last night after I got home from volunteering and before he had to go to bed, and it was nice to reconnect. February won't be any better for him, but I'm hoping to take a breather and concentrate more on love instead of fighting about burritos in the coming month. A worthy goal, I think.

Just in time for Love Month, AT did a post on love prints, and I fell in love (ha!) with these city prints by artsharkdesigns. I think it would be so neat to have a collection of your most favorite places. Unfortunately, none of them are for cities that have special meaning to J & me (although we've visited quite a few together), so I'm eagerly awaiting new cities. Check out these lovelies!

We did go to Venice and had a grand ol' time, but we didn't do a gondola ride, so I don't particularly feel like this umbrella couple. More fitting would be us walking along the canals with me eating a huge cup o' gelato. I may have to get this one anyway!

I'm saving our pennies for an awesome trip this summer. Maybe London?

Love this one of the UVA campus. I'm crossing my fingers for a UT one! That would be so perfect. Maybe I should commission one?

Brooklyn Bridge

San Franciso...I'm dying to take a romantic trip here!

What's your favorite? Know any other good lovey-dovey artwork I should look at?

* Okay, so not totally unbeknownst to me. I knew we were out of breakfast food other than yogurt and dry cereal and I ate it anyway. It was sooo worth it.

I Need a Visual

Check out all of these cool posters available from the Visual Aid Shop. I love that you can order in any size - from 8x10 ($8) up to 60x40[!] ($68).

Sorry for the long post; I couldn't pick just a few favorites. As I looked through all of them, I kept thinking things like "ooh, these anatomy prints are perfect for a doctor's office", "this diagram of ____ would be great in a classroom", or "I should totally get this for ____ whose hobby is ____."

These would be so cute in a kiddo's room...

More how to's...

For the musically inclined...

Perfect to hang in the bar area...

What's your fave? I can't decide!