I think we are on a bit of an art kick…At least a sentimental, reminds-me-of-John art kick. Remember when I recently framed the Valentine’s Day card I bought for him? Well today I wanted to share another new framed piece that makes me smile and think of my goofy fiance.
This story begins with pugs – Such a silly breed of dog, but also an endearing one. My best friend had a pug when we were growing up and I will never ever forget her snorty entrance to any room. These cuddly little dogs are sweet as can be (at least the ones I’ve come in contact with) and I can see why someone would want to add one to their home.
But John takes his love for the breed to a whole new level, with gleeful little squeals of joy whenever he sees one (in person, on TV, in a magazine advertisement) – His reaction is almost as funny as these little doggies he so loves.
Since I don’t have any plans of adding a pug into our brood of furry kiddos in the near future, I decided to pick up this little guy instead:
Source: Yellow Brick Home (Etsy)
Mr. Pug Man, as he has now affectionately been dubbed (my apologies to the artist if this is actually a Mrs. Pug Lady), has now happily graced our lives – John gets a kick out of having a pug hung proudly on his side of the bed, and I get a kick out of his reaction.
This print is actually pretty special to me because of who created it – It comes from one of my favorite blogs, Yellow Brick Home. Based out of Chicago, this couple (with their own set of two cats and a dog, like us!) are turning their relatively small abode into a work of magazine-worthy art. Their style is pretty on-point with ours, so I love feeding off of their creativity and hope to recreate some of their projects in our home someday soon. Kim Vargo, the lady half of this duo, is also an artist in addition to her blogger role. She paints custom portraits of people’s beloved pets. John and I were actually chatting just last night about the idea of getting three custom portraits of our puppy and kitties, one every anniversary, as a gift to each other. We can’t wait to get that little collection started!
In the meantime, Kim also sells inexpensive art prints on her Etsy page. When I saw Mr. Pug Man, I knew I had finally found the perfect way to not only celebrate my soon-to-be hubby and his love of pugs, but also to own a little piece of art from a blogger I respect and admire.
Gotta love getting fun little packages in the mail:
After opening it up and slipping this little guy out of the envelope, I couldn’t help but fall a little bit in love with the squished face and hint of a doggie smile.
Now we needed a frame…The print is 5×5, so I needed to find a square frame/mat to go with it. Off to Michael’s craft store we went, where I picked up this already-matted crisp white frame. Why white? I wanted the pink background of the print to do all the schnazzy talking this time, and the white seemed like the perfect way to let it do just that. We lucked out with a 40% off sale on the $14.99 frame, so it came home with us for under $10.
After getting rid of all the wrappings and setting John’s new print just behind the mat, I noticed the artist’s signature – I love that!
Check out this happy little dog in his new frame – I love the pop of color and that white frame and mat really does let the art shine.
As I mentioned before, I decided to hang it up on John’s side of the bed over our bookshelf. You can see it towards the center of the photo below. I think I am going to paint that bookshelf one weekend soon – The black worked in my old apartments, but now I’m thinking of it in a crisp white instead. What do you guys think? Maybe something bolder? Yellow?
Needless to say John loves the new piece of art even admitting to me that, when he saw it hanging by the bed, he smiled to himself. I take that as a gift well given…
Are you a dog person? What breeds do you favor?
