Vintage Maps, Spelling Cards, Keys and a Target

Ever since building the sawhorse desk, and making a little creative space to work from, I've been gathering prints of maps to eventually hang a gallery wall right above the desk. 

So far, the prints I've been collecting up are mostly of maps. Maps of places we've lived, places that are our roots, and places that are our favorite to travel. I just love the idea of having a gallery wall that isn't just pretty prints inspiring me, but also a collection of places that have meaning in our lives.

When I ventured off to the Brooklyn Flea a few weeks ago, there was this vendor selling old maps salvaged from vintage school materials. She had this amazing selection of really old curriculum materials, like spelling cards and alphabet posters, too. I asked here how she got all of her prints, and she said that when schools are getting rid of old curriculum (we're taking materials from the 1950s and older), they call her. How neat, right?! I could only take with me what I could carry back on the subway, and I had no cash on me at the time, so I had to spend $20 in order to use my card. Lucky me, I bought $20 worth of vintage prints (seriously, a steal!?). The Poland map ties in my ancestry, and the South America print reflects my love seemed fitting since I studied Spanish all through college, and for a bit of nostalgia for our Peru and Argentina trip two years ago. You guys, it was so hard to only pick a few from her collection. I wanted so many prints!!!

I helped myself to her spelling cards too, and have plans to frame these "his" and "her" vintage word cards. Wouldn't it be neat to hang them on either side of our bed right above our nightstands?

The favorite find though, by far, was this old Winchester target. Its a clever nod towards vintage typography and design, yet a play on a very popular hobby in my household. I just love it. Matt was happy about this one, and I can't wait to hang it in his office or man cave one day, along with some photographs from our day out shooting clays and playing with the horses in Kansas.

Of course, to signify our whirlwind trip to NY, I bought this print by Rifle Paper Co. at the Chelsea Market. 

And the non paper find on my trip to the flea, these keys. I plan to hang them up too, but right now their functioning as a wonderful paperweight. I like to imagine what large doors they opened at one point in time, and what was hidden behind them. Oh my goodness, I just love finding treasures, don't you?!

Projects seen in desk view photograph:

Wire Chairs

Sawhorse Desk

Denver Map

La Catrina Framed Art

Printsagram Prints

Print-Like Denver Oil Painting

For our four year anniversary this past May, I painted Matt his gift, rather than buying it. The man loves maps, so I set out to make a print-style oil painting of the state of Colorado. With a heart placed over the very spot we now call home: Denver.  

This piece of art has been a long time coming. Two words: oil paint. If you've used oil on canvas, you know that oil takes patience and time. So much time. So much patience. And so much mess. (Oil based paints are my favorite thing to clean....said no one ever). The day I set out to paint this print-like map, I wanted to have the piece done and setting in our living room within 24 hours. Talk about setting way too high of expectations for myself. That, let alone trying to defy the properties of oil paint. I'm fairly certain this canvas sat on our kitchen counter for more than 24 days. Ha, 24 hours? Who was I kidding. Between the layers and the waiting for everything to dry between applications-- well, let's just say this canvas has been waiting to join the others for far too long now. 

Frames, maps, and a sewing machine {the beginnings of a functional guest bedroom and workspace}

The other day I wrote about glorious gallery walls and how my plans in the second bedroom were to piece together my very own frame covered wall. I have so many frames, with photographs, thrift store prints, my own art, etc. etc. After countless times stumbling around in that room and tripping over frames, I decided to get my picture hanging on. It was getting ridiculous and too messy for too long, so this morning I got to work and have some progress to show you on this long awaited guest room (which for the past month you could call a storage closet of sorts).

windmill sketch: thrifted
wooden shoes: bridal shower gift from Matt's mom
hand painted pot: from grandma's house
hard-cover books: thrifted
glass votive: anthropologie sale
wooden library box: thrifted
vintage desk: craigslist
green runner: Ikea

We have very little storage space in our Park Hill home. We do have a garage which is wonderful, but storing inside items (linens, coats, games, photographs, paperwork, wedding dress) that should steer clear of extreme garage weather are left for me to get creative with in the home storage dept.  The closets are filled to the brim, and even then, there is still more to store. With this second bedroom, I used a lot of trick storage. The wicker hamper next to the desk is filled with board games. The box setting on top of the hamper is actually a wine rack. We have a hutch now that houses all of our wine, so this wine storagebox is full of letter writing materials, sewings bits, maps, and travel books. The maps are not vintage, but merely trail maps we've gotten from various hikes. Instead of having them folded flat in a drawer, I rolled them up  add some visual interest. I like that this box has built in handles, making it easy to lift the box and access the board games in the wicker hamper below. (You will get to see more of this room soon, and the rest of my visually pleasing "store it" tricks).

Sewing Machine: from my grandma
{chair missing because it is being painted}

I merely created this space with things I already had. It was fun to put together because I had to make do with whatever was not being used in the rest of the house, and piece by piece hang each frame until it looked just right. Now I have a great corner of the room to learn to sew in, write letters, map adventures, sketch, read my Bible, and work on other small projects.