Susan Solo – VA/DC/MD Photographer

Pardon my urge to make small-talk about the weather, but I can hardly believe it’s in the 60s this week after all of that snow we had last month. Spring is almost here! Change is in the air, I can feel it. And speaking of change (corny segue?), you might notice I happened to sneak in a few changes to the blog this week. Let me know what you think! (As a side note for anyone who is interested in the technical details, I updated my version of WordPress, and then my old template didn’t work that well anymore, so it was time for a new template.) One of my favorite little features is the Facebook tab up there in the left-hand corner – it’s a quick way to get to our Facebook page!

But the real purpose of this post is to show you another mini-project. In keeping with the “changes” theme, I am currently working on a makeover for my home office. Just a new coat of paint in a different color, and some new furniture for added function. If it all turns out well, I’ll show you some before-and-after photos! Anyway, part of the makeover has included finding some artwork to hang on the walls. I’m in no way an art collector so I’m not talking about fancypants pieces, I’m just talking about fun framed art to add little bits of visual interest to the walls. I have a chocolate brown and orange-y colors theme in mind for the room, so when I found this print on etsy, I was thrilled. It’s even more adorable in person. And in searching for other fun prints in the perfect colors, I was inspired to make something on my own. I created this little modern heart print with the date of my wedding anniversary (please ignore the wall color – that’s going to change):

It’s sort of another framed date project, right? If you’re interested in making this or something similar, here’s what I did: I opened a new file in Photoshop in the size of my frame opening. (This is a RIBBA frame from IKEA, and the opening is 4.75 inches square.) Next I used a cute function of Photoshop that I rarely use called the Custom Shape Tool to create a heart shape in the punchy orange color. Then I added a text layer with our initials in white and centered it on top of the heart, and then added another text layer of the date in orange and positioned it in the corner. I printed the file, put it in the frame, and that’s that! Super easy, super cheap, and now Chris and I have no excuse for forgetting our anniversary. You could use other shapes to commemorate other occasions, or maybe you’ll be inspired to come up with another framed date idea. Let me know if you do!