OPAM: may ’08 (photo wall in living room) AFTER

Posted byTara 244 Comments on OPAM: may ’08 (photo wall in living room) AFTER

Update : 06.02.13

The last photo taken of our photo wall before a pipe burst in our kitchen and everything came down. When it gets hung up again, the photos will be different and it will be in another room entirely. Thanks for five years of internet love!

-Tara

 

This was such a good experience for me. because while i did put my project off to the last minute (figuring out what prints i wanted and ordering them last week) (and putting the prints in the frames this weekend),

AT LEAST I FINISHED SOMETHING I STARTED!

and that my friends, is KEY for me. i am the queen of good intentions. starting something in my house…and then getting sidetracked and starting something else in my house….until there are five or six unfinished projects going on, and im sitting around feeling overwhelmed and crappy.

but this OPAM thing is keeping me accountable. so thank you blogland!

for those of you following along, today is the day to post your after picture on your blog and link here in comments. i also think it would be cool for you to post your before picture along with your after picture, or at least link to the post with the before pictures, like i just did. its also the day to choose your june OPAM, and post the before pictures for that. i am going to do that in a separate post, so each month is easily found when searched for.

so-i hemmed and hawed over how to choose photos. initially i thought i wanted all black and white. until a friend begged me to mix in some tara color, and make it more eclectic, because really, isnt that what is more my style? and i totally agreed with her. also-i was having a really hard time finding photos i wanted to turn black and white to use for this. so i easily gave in and decided to mix it up.

i was also so so so so so in love with the TTV effect that jefra created for my photos, that i decided i wanted all of my frames to be filled with that effect. but i didnt have any photos actually taken in that way except for jefras. so i googled “ttv frame download” and found several sites that offered free downloads. i grabbed a couple that i thought would work. this is a great group on flickr too. also, here is a tutorial for doing it yourself. of course, adding the frame in PS is not as fun as doing it the real way, but i didnt have time on my side, so i cheated.

then came the undertaking of deciding what photos to choose! i knew what i wanted to “say” with this project. its the first thing people will see when they come into my house. so i wanted a BAM kind of statement and a happy portrayal of our life. and i knew i wanted one of each kid, one of jeff and i, and then some fun, funky shots to really make it interesting.

i created a folder on my desktop and copied any photo that i deemed a “maybe” into it. then in photoshop, i created a huge blank canvas, resized and cropped all of those “maybe” images and started dragging and moving them around until i found the perfect arrangement. i added the TTV borders to the nine shots i was using, fiddling with the effect and color until they were what i wanted…and ta da! my photo wall is complete, and completely AWESOME if i may say so myself.

opam0508v2.jpg

opam0508v1.jpg

now, even jeff is gung ho to complete our front room. we have been waiting to do it because we have had to focus our funds on other more important things. we have a list of big ticket “to buy” items and this room was just not at the top of the list. but now that this wall makes such a statement, its a shame to have the rest of the room flop.

see? productivity spreads like a weed!

**

Supplies and other info:

Frames: the frames used here were 20×20 glass clip frames, purchased from IKEA. However they are no longer available. IKEA does have other 20×20 frames.
An online source for glass clip frames is here.

TTV tutorial: This was an effect added digitally. Tutorial found here.

TTV border: I found mine here.

 

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244 Comments

  2. Well like everyone else.. I love it too.. brilliant!!! I particularly like the ferris wheel.. and the photos rock.. of course! perfection…. see you had to wait that long.. just to nail it..
    If your not already familiar with her work.. you might enjoy checking out http://www.jackiecooper.com (she is australian too so there could be a .au in there)….. awesome stuff Tara!

  3. Uggh. I made very little progress. BUT DH promised that if I kept the kitchen clean he would paint the cabinets and he said this past weekend that since I had kept my end of the deal he’s going to have to keep his end. LOL so maybe I’ll get my charcoal cabinets after all….maybe the clean kitchen was the project.

  4. Uggh. I made very little progress. BUT DH promised that if I kept the kitchen clean he would paint the cabinets and he said this past weekend that since I had kept my end of the deal he’s going to have to keep his end. LOL so maybe I’ll get my charcoal cabinets after all….maybe the clean kitchen was the project.

    Forgot to say I LOVE IT! After the kitchen…the studio is next.

  7. I am in LOVE with your blog and totally totally in love with this idea of
    having a family box of photos. LOVED IT! :)
    I hope you know that you are so crazy inspiring,
    and youre the kinda lady that everyone wants to have as a friend.

    keep on doing-
    because you’re doing it with grace and creativity.

    Sincerly

    a blog fan-

    Samantha White
    Canada.

  8. Wow! It came out awesome!! We are going to do this project in our fam room but not in time to link…but thanks for the inspiration! I am so glad you got to get one of those cool photos of you in there too! I am dying to go to Thailand with you guys…..what a neat idea….maybe when I turn 40 (in 2 years) if you guys are still doing it :)

  10. WOW! How cool! I’m loving your OPAM and will hopefully jump on board soon. Congrats to you for finishing your project. As always, your photos amaze me. Love the way these are all “finished” the same with the border-guess that was done in a photo editing program? I’m SO not techno savvy when it comes to stuff like that, but it looks great!

  12. So here’s my plan: whatever you do one month, is my project the next month (yeah, i know, plagiarize much??)

    It looks amazing! I am also a great and enthusiastic starter and less stellar finisher. Project a month will be long enough to let it percolate, short enough to have a sense of urgency and momentum. Brilliant. Will return to post the link for my project this month. Procrastinators unite (or untie, as I first typed)!

  17. I was so stoked to visit the blog today and see these pictures. The wall is amazing – you have such a creative eye. This wall screams happiness to me. Can’t wait to see next months finished project.

  19. hey guys-THANKS! im so glad you love as much as i do.
    for those of you that werent able to complete your project this month-dont get down on yourself man. just start from scratch. hopefully once weve done a few months we will all get on track.

    all of the questions about this project can be answered by reading this post AND/OR linking to the BEFORE opam link.

  21. LOVE THESE! Makes me re-think my potm – I re-purposed a door with family photos – [www.bepresentbereal.blogspot.com ] it may be on it’s way to the playroom wall so that I can do THIS in the dining room. Really beautiful Tara! THanks for sharing! ~ J

  26. seriously awesome!!! I love the treatment. Now you have me hankering to learn how to do it too.
    I love each shot more than the next!

  31. The project is fantastic and the POTM is a great idea. I have question about the photos. Where did you print them 12 x 12 or another square size? As a photographer you must have a printer that does that. Where can the average gal get prints that size? I don’t see that size on the Target order form!! Can’t wait to see what is next!!

  34. I really love it !!!
    Beautiful nine photographs, each of them telling a history about who you are,
    about your kids, your family….

    Your blog is truly inspiring for me.

    I started visiting it because of your photographs, but now I am more into your human being side.

    awesome.

  46. How gorgeous! I absolutely love it! It’s funky and fun and shows off your family as well as your personality. I have been in our house for 2 years with blank walls because I couldn’t find anything I liked but this gives me so many ideas. What a cool idea!

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