Photowall Product Review & Discount Code + Mini Crash Course


I think we all have a bit of 'I want to travel the world' in us - there's so much to see and so much to learn about other cultures. About a week ago, I was approached by Photowall to collaborate.

Photowall is a Swedish brand that specializes in Canvas Prints & Wall Murals to beautify your home and sprinkle some nice aesthetics around. And do you want to know the best thing? They are environmentally friendly AND their Canvases and Wall Murals don't fade in the sunlight! Yes, yes, I know it is winter, but it's nice knowing that if the sun felt like living its best life and started shinning as if I were out in the Sahara Desert, my canvas is going to stay its perfect self.

On their website, there a lot of different categories: animals, cities, music and of course there's architecture (and a lot more other categories to add a special touch to your house)! The architecture category details the most aesthetically pleasing places, and of course this was the first category I found myself diving into. One print that I really loved was the Reflection of Amsterdam, I had a tab of it open for a couple days while continuing to browse- it has such nice bright colors and interesting colored buildings all lined up, it was practically saying PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME.

I then ventured into the Map's category, and instantly knew the Map's section was the one for me (SORRY AMSTERDAM REFLECTION PRINT). The map that really captured my attention was the Paint Splashes Map 2 by British Artist Michael Tompsett. It was a map of the world but with multiple paint splashes filling out the world map (clearly Michael knew what he was doing when he named the painting Paint Splashes.)



On the Photowall website, underneath the information tab of each print, it let's you know the estimated delivery time and when I tell you it's accurate. IT'S ACCURATE. On the website it said 2-3 days - I ordered my Canvas on January 8 and on January 10 my Canvas was ready at my doorstep.

When I unrolled the canvas, I was so happy to see that the image depiction online was exactly what was in my hands - the map had each continent with a light black outline and then splashes of color filled it in.

Photowall gives you the option to either purchase the canvas with a DIY frame or just the canvas itself - realistically speaking if you were to get the canvas itself, chances are you're going to take a trip to IKEA for a frame which is y'know Sweden based like Photowall so to save yourself the drive, click that DIY frame option!

The frame comes with: Frame sections, Corner Plates, Screws & Hanging Solution with Screws

It also comes with a how-to assemble instruction paper, but if you're more of a visual youtube type of person Photowall has your back!













I decided to place it in my room and it's such a nice reminder that the world is a lot bigger than the little bubble we live in. There were other Map options but the one reason why I choose this specific one was because of how brightly and nicely colored it is - it's essentially happiness in canvas form!

Want to also beautify your house with a nice aesthetic Canvas or Wall Mural? I HAVE SOME GOOD NEWS! The kind people over at Photowall gave me a 20% Discount off anything from their collection for you to use -

SaharasDreamsCampaign2018

*It's available for 30 DAYS! You can use it up until the 28th of February*

There are so many categories to choose from, so before you head over to look through, I'm going to advise having a snack and a drink next to you as you'll be sitting there a while loving everything you see! To get to Photowall for your country, on the top right corner there's a little globe with a down-bar - click that down-bar. Also! If you have a photo in your house that you would like as a Canvas Print / Wall Mural they can make that dream of yours come true!

If you decide to purchase a Canvas/Wall Mural I would love to see which one you choose! As I always say, I pretty much live on Twitter so definitely @ me on there or tag me over on Instagram!



Mini Crash Course: Frames

Now, I wouldn't be me if I didn't wonder how frames became things we put our canvases in.

We're going to jump back into the Renaissance period (1400-1700) to the birth of Canvas painting. In Venice, artists traded in their wooden surfaces they've been painting on for cloth. The people who sold cloth must have been living their best life in the Renaissance period - this also meant it was easy for artists to just roll their up and show their friends their art to get opinions on it. Which is y'know like Instagram but in person instead.

The earliest record of a canvas frame (fun fact: they're actually called Stretcher Bars! I mean that is kind self explanatory now that I think of it) was by Italian painter Cennino Cennini in his notebook.

We're going to jump forward to the 19th Century - that's when frames for canvases really started to take off. And by that, I mean patents for canvas frames kept pilling up. The one that is similar to the canvas frames used today was patented by Frank P. Pfleger from Illinois on February 2, 1886. In this specific canvas frame, there is a U shaped wedge to stretch the canvas. [This is in Figure 5 of the patent.]

Now, I could end the crash course here

BUT THEN A WOODWORKER MADE A COMEBACK.

In 1904 Olaf Anderson from Sweden brought his woodworking skills to America and opened O.F. Anderson Company in Brooklyn, NY. His company created custom made moldings - basically any shape you wanted, you got! Now, he didn't just stop at Canvas Stretcher Bars - he made silk screen frames, custom screen doors, mirror panels, and drafting tables and sold them all worldwide.

In 1934, the company incorporated and was renamed Anco Wood Specialties and! it still remains under the same family management and ownership since 1934!

_____

Complete side note but the more I keep doing Crash Courses the more I realize history is just one massive plot twist inception.

^ as shown above I thought woodworkers were going to be near extinction when canvases became the norm BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED.

_____


This product was gifted to me by Photowall in exchange for a review - all opinions are my own.


12 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous map! and I love the idea of a DIY frame! Thanks for sharing! Xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so nice and brightly colored; I just love the way it looks - it puts me in a happy mood every time I look at it! And it was actually really fun to DIY - I felt pretty accomplished after I put it all together!

      Thank you so much for reading! :)

      Delete
  2. This canvas is BEAUTIFUL! I definitely need something like this in my life!
    And congrats on your first collab with a brand, so exciting!

    Chloe ❤ http://www.anomalouschloe.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really adds so much life to my room - the bright colors always put me in a good mood and it's so aesthetically pleasing to look at! If you decide to get something from Photowall, I'd love to know which print you choose! :) And thank you so so much! ❤

      Delete
  3. This photo wall is beautiful! loving all the colors! i have always wanted a beautiful map of the world on my wall! loving this! xx corinne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was the first thing that drew me towards the canvas - all the bright colors! Once I saw it, I knew it had to be mine; I would definitely recommend getting it with the DIY frame, it's fun to put it all together! If you decide to get it I'd love to see if you get the same map or one of the other amazing ones :)

      Delete
  4. Hi, I love the colours of the map of the world and the idea of a DIY frame. Congrats on your firsts collab.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's really an amazing canvas print - love how brightly colored it is! And the DIY frame was actually a lot of fun to put together! And thank you so so much! :)

      Delete
  5. I love that map! The colours are gorgeous and how it's set out and the DIY frame sounds so much fun although I think I'd likely mess it up if I tried haha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love how bright the colors are - it puts me in a happy mood every time I look at it in the morning! HAHAHA - I actually had my sister help me put the DIY frame together just in case and probably paused the video of the assembly of the frame a dozen times to triple check I had everything the way it was supposed to be! It's not too difficult and it's actually really fun putting it all together! :)

      Delete
  6. I absolutely love the meaning that you've attached to this map, namely that the world is a lot bigger than the little bubble we live in - I think that's such a powerful thing to remember! Thanks for the really interesting historical information about frames too, I had absolutely no idea about anything that you mentioned but I am really intrigued now! Well done Olaf Anderson for creating a business that's still going today!!

    Abbey x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so easy to forget that the world is a lot bigger than the little bubble we live in - now that I have the map in my room it's a constant reminder that there's so much more out there. OH YAY! I'm so happy you liked the Mini Crash Course; it was really fun to look into the history of canvas frames! Some of the most ordinary things happen to have the most interesting history- I have a Crash Course on Picture Frames going up soon and that one is best described as history on a rollercoaster ahaha - thank you so much for reading!

      Delete