Binth not only sent me their darling baby book (see my past review) but they also sent me two of their “FRIENDS” prints, which are absolutely charming. Each print is screen printed with hand-mixed inks. They come framed and ready to hang (or stand), which I love since all too often I purchase prints I love, but never complete the hanging process because I forget or procrastinate buying a frame! I loved hanging my “Doe Girl” and “Dancing Bears” on my daughters’ nursery wall shortly after they arrived (see photo below). Somehow Binth has an amazing ability to tie modern with vintage and make it perfectly balanced. I love the colors that are used – “licorice black and lavender with just a touch of cream.” The prints are high quality and will surely last through the ages and become heirloom items – they’re that adorable. – Katie

***Giveaway! Binth is giving away 3 prints (winner’s choice) to once lucky BC reader! To enter, visit Binth and leave a comment telling me what your three faves are.

Additional Entries by:

Tweet about this Review and GIVEAWAY on Twitter (include @BoutiqueCafe and @Binth in your Tweet). Please come back here and post a link to your tweet as well for an extra entry.

We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline April 15, 2011 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

Congratulations to Wendy R!

I love it when an artist (or in the case of Photofiddle, a company) finds a way to take a new spin on the old photograph and turn it into a true work of art. Modern Bird Studios does just that; I’ve never seen anything like it and I absolutely LOVE it!

First, a little bit about the artwork and Gregg, the artist behind these awesome pieces:

The concept behind Modern Bird Studios was born about three years ago as an experiment [Gregg] had bouncing around in his head. Gregg has always liked to push the boundaries within his art, whether playing with space or combining traditional and non-traditional mediums. He decided to create a piece that utilized technology and painting. Gregg combines his original urban-style with photography, graphic design and traditional painting to create handmade, original art pieces.

The process to create the finished product isn’t an easy one (you can read more about it here). Basically (though the process is far from basic) Modern Bird Studios turns your photograph into a two-tone image and then paints that image in two contrasting colors on extra thick oak composite. The end result is a fresh, modern, unique work of art.

For Modern Bird Studios’ review on the Daily Dish, Gregg and his wife Megan, who is quite possibly the nicest person on earth, took one of our favorite pictures of George and after numerous emails back and forth (I am artistically challenged and could NOT decide on a color combo), turned this:

into this:

The problem is, I can’t decide where to put it. Here are the two places I’ve tried so far:

Next is the home theater and family room. Hmmm…I may need a few more of Gregg’s pieces around the house. Good thing we’re taking more family photos this summer!

You can view Modern Bird Studios’ online gallery for some beautiful examples of their work. I also seriously love their Pre-Designed Series. Those flowers are gorgeous! I know Mother’s Day is Sunday, but it’s never too late to show Mom how much you appreciate her. Do like I do when I don’t order gifts in time (something I do A LOT): create a fun coupon announcing the gift and put it inside a cute little gift box. It will still be a surprise when she receives her beautiful work of art from Modern Bird Studios no matter when it arrives!—Emily

* Promotion! Modern Bird Studios is offering Daily Dish readers 15% off their custom piece or a piece from their Bloom series. Simply use code BOUTIQUECAFE when checking out. Offer expires May 11, 2010.

*** Giveaway Modern Bird Studios is giving away one (1) 12”x12” custom piece valued at over $200!***

Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway:

•  Visit Modern Bird Studios and leave a comment telling us which Bloom Series print is your favorite.
•  “LIKE” Modern Bird Studios on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you “like” them.
•  Follow Modern Bird Studios on Twitter and leave a comment telling is you’re their newest follower.
•  Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.
•  Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL to your blog post.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: May 13, 2010 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

• Congratulations to Jessica N., the winner of the Modern Bird Studios giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

Or better yet Photofiddle the kids, you, the family pet or his game-winning touchdown. No matter what you Photofiddle, Dad’s going to love it! How do I know? Because my hsuband and I were Photofiddled and thoroughly enjoyed it; we’ll definitely be back for more!

Before your imagination runs wild let me clarify: Photofiddle is not some new-age massage therapy or an update on the bronzed baby shoe. It is a super cool, totally unique way to turn photos into works of art. And did I mention it’s quick and easy? Photofiddle allows users to create their own artistic creations using free online photo effects software. The software takes a picture and transforms it using over 50 photo art styles. You’ll find everything from oil painting (my favorite) and Warhol pop art to watercolor to abstract art and film-strip photo collages. You can also add a photographic tint like sepia, blue, red or green. Once you’ve turned your photo into the perfect painting or chalk art drawing or abstract work, you can take your design and have Photofiddle put it on stretched or rolled canvas or turn it into a framed art print or even art poster.

Photofiddle gave me the opportunity to try out their site. It took me a while to decide on a test photo but when I saw this one (my favorite one from our trip to Kauai last year) I knew I had a winner:

It took no time for Photofiddle to apply a gallery of effects (remember, there are over 50!) to the photo. What took a lot of time was deciding which effect we liked best! Though my husband had a favorite or two of his own (I forget which ones…we obviously chose my favorite) I loved the oil painting effect the most. We selected that effect and our canvas was shipped just a couple days later. It arrived in very little time and I tore carefully opened the box, anxious to see our newest work of art. I was impressed to see how well the canvas was packaged, always a good sign:

When I flipped it over I immediately fell in love. Photofiddle officially took its place in my top 10 list of favorite reviews. I really wanted to show you all the canvas hanging on one of my walls but we have yet to decide the best place for it. It’s so awesome it makes all my other wall hangings look inartistic and uncool. But I do have the image Photofiddle created taking our original photo and applying the oil painting effect. It’s not as nifty as the real thing but it still makes me smile:

You totally need to Photofiddle the whole family! Just think what a wonderful Father’s Day gift a Photofiddled photo would be—he might even thinks its cooler than the Old Spice soap-on-a-rope and matching cologne gift set you originally planned to give him!—Emily

*** Giveaway Photofiddle is giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky Daily Dish reader! Please visit Photofiddle.com and leave a comment telling us your favorite Photofiddle effect. Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: June 23, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

For an extra entry, tweet about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with the URL to your tweet!

* Promotion! Photofiddle is offering Daily Dish readers 15% off their purchase! Simply enter code “cafe15” (without the quotes) in the Promotion Code box when checking out.

My awe-inspiring friend Nena is doing a festive, holly, jolly, Giveaway in time for the holidays. She created this stunning glittering Santa on Canvas valued at approx. $175.00 – and now Santa is looking for a new home. I’m publicly offering him a warm and cozy home with our family, but sadly all of the begging in the world won’t work because she’s drawing a “random” winner. I will still try to butter Nena up though, can’t blame a girl for trying.