Thursday, May 31, 2012

Product Review: Lydia & Pugs Customized Stationery


Customizing in specialized paper goods, blog design, business goods...etc... Lydia & Pugs offers clients a  unique way of sharing the love of their pet with others.  Designer Dawn Wood does an excellent job of working one-on-one with her clients, providing a personal consultation and a "one-of-a-kind" hand-painted, watercolor illustration of their pet.

Filly is my Shih Tzu Terrier.  When I grew up I had a Chocolate Labrador named Koko.  He passed at 13 1/2, but is the one who really started my "dog obsession."  Ever since I found out about Lydia & Pugs years ago, I have wanted to get a custom illustration of my dog.  In the past I purchased the pre-made Chocolate Lab stationery.  One year wearing a santa hat (for Christmas) and last year wearing a graduation cap (for College graduation).



Next year I'm getting married and I knew that I wanted Lydia & Pugs to design my bridal shower thank you stationery.  I even decided to use the design in my blog header!  I emailed Dawn and sent her a few photos (actually many photos) of my dog, Filly so that she could see him from different angles and how his fur changes color.

What is great about Lydia & Pugs is that your illustration is kept on file FOREVER!  That means that you can re-order in the future or you can use/add-on any of the illustrations in Dawn's library to your current illustration.  Meaning, for Valentine's Day I can order stationery of Filly wearing a sweater with hearts, or for Halloween, he could be next to a pumpkin. The possibilities are endless!

The Design Process:



There are 4 stages to the design process.  First you send in your inspiration photos.  For me that was photos of Filly and a picture of my all-time favorite Lilly Pulitzer bag in the Dark 'n Stormy print.  Next Dawn drew a rough sketch (a simple outline).  Following, she finished the illustration in watercolor.  With your custom order, you get three proofs.  I made a little tweak to the final design to make Filly stand out more on the paper and decided on whether the cards should have my name or both mine and my fiance's name.  The end product was better than I could have imagined when I got it in the mail!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Woof Woof Welcome

Sitting at my desk drinking a Wawa (coffee over ice--not iced coffee) this morning, I began to day dream about someday opening a Doggie Boutique, after of course pursuing my teaching career and passion for a number of years.  Then it dawned on me, "Teacher by day, Blogger by night!"  Today I start my newest adventure and I am soo glad that I have the opportunity to share it with all of you.  For those of you who may or may not know me, my name is Sarah, and I am the Preppy Pink Puppy (or well, my Shih Tzu Terrier) is the Preppy Pink Puppy --even though he's a boy.

"Live. Laugh. Bark" is my motto, and right now I'm all about it!  In exactly 361 days I will be marrying the love of my life and best friend, Scott @ The Appleford Estate in Villanova, PA.  Nine years we've been together -- high school & college, and now together still, in an apartment in New Jersey.  Scott got his BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering & I got my BS in Elementary Education, and MS in Educational Learning Technologies.  While my passion is teaching, if you asked anyone, they'd refer to me as obsessed with All Things Dogs.

The Poochie World is always something to "bark" about!   In addition to keeping you all posted on my wedding plans, I will be blogging about how to Shop, Primp and Spoil your Pup!  Giving product reviews, an insight into some tail-wagging trends, offering some drooling giveaways, and most importantly how to live the life of luxury one paw at a time.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a muddy print on my blog.  I hope you'll stop by and visit again soon!

Photo Courtesy of the Bark Avenue Boutique

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