Canvas Photo Art & Gifts


Recently, Staples Canada approached me to collaborate on a project using their new canvas art and photo gift services. So I thought I would give it a try. I've used other online photo gift retailers before and I was curious about what kind of quality Staples would provide. I immediately thought of at least one particular art project I wanted to tackle right away. I figured these could be fun Father's Day gifts.

The first project I tackled was going through some old photographs of our trips to Prince Edward Island. I chose this snapshot of the kids from about four years ago. I love this photo and the moment that was captured. It was a fun day exploring hidden beaches on the island. Something we love to do. There was a field of grass, a lighthouse and an endless beach. The kids were running, playing and just loving life. It's one of those moments that sticks with you

I played with the photo in Photoshop a little bit to turn it into a black and white with a faded background.Make sure your photos are a higher resolution so the print quality is good.


This is how it turned out. It's an 8"x 8" canvas print. I'm really happy with it. The uploading and ordering process was simple and straightforward with Staples.

Next project... Original Art printed on canvas

my daughter Isabella's original water colour painting printed on canvas from Staples Canada


The bigger project I wanted to do was my daughter's watercolour art that she painted awhile ago. I wanted to have it printed on canvas. This was the perfect opportunity.

When she painted it, it was a spur of the moment "art moment" and she used some random paper that was lying around. It wasn't water colour paper so it rippled and as a result didn't lay as nicely in a frame.

I was inspired by a project that my friend Lindsay did on her blog recently using her young son's art. So this is what I did...




I took a photo of the art above, unframed. Then I uploaded it into Photoshop and played with the colours a little bit more, until it was a good match to the original painting. I also smoothed out those ripples and cropped it tight to the edges.

Then I uploaded it onto the Staples website and ordered a wrapped canvas of the photo. They come in various sizes and you can choose for it to be vertical or horizontal. It was so easy. The trickiest part was getting a good photo of the art. The easiest way to get a good photo is to lay it flat near a natural light source.

The canvases also come with hardware for easy hanging.



I also ordered some cards, including this one for Father's Day. You can choose from a huge selection of templates and card designs or if you prefer, you can upload your own.  Oops I guess this post will spoil the surprise!



Next on my list was a custom photo mug of my nephews and brother-in-law last summer on the island. My Dad actually took this photo. I chose one of Staples full wrap mugs. I love how you don't lose any of your image with this design. It wraps around the mug!





Note: I wasn't compensated by Staples Canada to write this post. However, they did give me a voucher I could use to try their products. I was happy to try their service and to report back to you that it was a good experience.

Ordering was easy. Shipping time was just over a week, not bad. I chose to pick up the order in the store near me. The service there was great. The clerk pointed out that if I was unhappy with any product they would re-order it for me. No hassle. All in all, I would definitely order from their website again. If you have any questions, ask away in the comment section :)


DIY Strawberry rhubarb soda




Have you bought any local strawberries yet? I picked some up last week at my local farmer's market along with a bunch of fresh rhubarb and I made Strawberry rhubarb soda. It's so refreshing. Just the right balance of sweet and tart. I had never used rhubarb in a recipe but really wanted to give it a try.





I came across a rhubarb soda recipe on Chatelaine here but adapted it to include fresh strawberries. You can also do this with raspberries and it's equally delicious. A facebook friend suggested this would be good in Prosecco. I love that idea. I think Monday night is a perfect time for that, right?

Here is my adapted version of the syrup recipe. I added it to bubbly water made with my Sodastream. I think this could be good if you add a drop or two of vanilla to the recipe. I'll try that next time.

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup roughly chopped rhubarb
  • 1 cup chopped strawberries or raspberries

Method:

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a medium pot.  Add the fruit. Stir.
Cover the pot. Turn off the heat. Let sit for an hour. Strain the mixture, separating the fruit from the syrup. Let the syrup cool and pour into glass bottle. Refrigerate.
 PS. Keep the fruit because it's great on vanilla ice cream :)