13 Cutest French Bulldog Pieces on Etsy right now

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I love Etsy – I love everything about it, from the website design to the concept to the idea of supporting independent artists.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Etsy, it’s

a website which focuses primarily on providing the general public with a way to buy and sell handmade items. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee. It has been compared to “a crafty cross between Amazon and eBay” and “your grandma’s basement”.

As the description says, it’s a venue for artists to sell small numbers of hand crafted pieces – everything from fine art to low brow kitsch. I’ve found – and purchased – quite a few lovely French Bulldog pieces there, and many of the artists can make custom items, or items in a number of breeds.

Here are the thirteen cutest French Bulldog pieces I’ve recently found on Etsy (all images are linked directly from the seller’s page). Please note that since many pieces are either one of a kind or made in small numbers, something that’s available today might not still be there next week.

 

 

Kayann Works Spoiled French Bulldog Pendant

Kayann Works customs crafts these big, beautiful pendants onto Dominos. I own one, and wear it all the time, and plan to order a custom made pendant with Tessa on it. Side note: the leather she uses for a cord ‘sheds’ little bits of black guck, so request it on a satin ribbon, instead.

 

 

French Bulldog Cigar Label

There’s something about the face of the Frenchie on this faux Cigar box label from Rubenacker that just makes me happy – perhaps because I have a weakness for single hooded pieds, and their resemblance to Petey from Our Gang. Either way, this is one sweet art print.

 

 

Must Love Frenchies Pendant

Barrel of Monkeys does quite a few cute, funky, inexpensive Frenchie themed items. Their shrink plastic “Must Love Frenchies” pendants are fun, colorful and almost downright cheap, and would be great as a necklace or even as gift tags.

 

 

Iridescent Glass French Bulldog pendant

I love these gorgeous, iridescent glass pendants from Frums Glass Menagerie. They glisten in gorgeous shades of color, and people never fail to comment when I wear one of them. They do them in tons of colors and tons of breeds – and, again, this is an exquisite piece of hand made jewelery for a really great price.

 

 

BellaBella does mix n’ match Greeting Cards and envelopes that come in a lovely gift box with ribbon. Their cute pop art French Bulldog cards are great for an all purpose card, or for “New Puppy” announcements. People do still send things snail mail, right? I also think they’d look lovely framed as a cute little print – buy a pack of 8 cards, pop them into some frames from Ikea, and give them to Frenchie crazed friends as Christmas gifts or for fund raisers!

 

 

Vinatge French Bulldog Gig Poster

Again from BellaBella come these custom made, faux vintage gig posters, made with your dog’s image and tag line, and similar in feel to old indie band posters. Note that the dog on the poster is a Frenchie, and that their store is named after her. Is it any coincidence that so many artists also have Frenchies?

 

 

I am going to forgive the talented artists over at Penguin And Fish for creating a French Bulldog print that much more closely resembles a Boston Terrier, simply because I adore their work so much. I love the colors, the brush work, the funky retro feel and the illustration-esque look of their work. We’ll work on getting them to use a more Frenchie looking Frenchie in their future pieces.

 

 

This is a cute, colorful print from Lady Artista. She can work from your dog’s image, or has several Frenchie prints available. I love seeing animal portraits available in so many new, fresh styles. There’s something out there now for just about anyone’s taste.

 

 

French Bulldog Family in Cafe

I don’t know what it is, but something about this painting of French Bulldogs in a Parisian Cafe appeals to me. I love how the woman in the couple seems to be nursing a hangover. Looking after three Frenchies will do that to you, trust me. Stylistically, this is worlds away from most of the custom animal portraits out there – remember when just about all you could get were pen and ink sketches, or paint by number-esque acrylics? This is a print from a custom painting by Lou Marek.

 

 

Another piece from Rubenacker – the same artist who created the ‘vintage’ cigar box label above. This guy sure has a way with Frenchies, and his coloring is soft and beautiful. He paints many different breeds, all of which are lovely and true to breed type, even when he’s doing funky prints like his Boston Terrier Aviators and Astronauts.

 

 

Oh, this is one of my favorites. The flying, surrealistic Frenchie is a lovely memorial. Welcome to the Doghouse does great custom work, or their prints are wonderful for framing. Like Rubenacker, many of their prints have subjects which are great fun – check out their flying Bostons, and their Cheetos Sloth.

 

 

Dog Art Studio does some incredible Frenchie pieces in soft watercolors. He offers prints, or custom pieces. I’m not a huge fan of watercolors, but these are quite nice.

 

 

Here’s another beautiful glass pendant, this one using a French Bulldog cigarette card. Squidglass does pieces with soft, antique colors, and uses fused glass. Lovely worksmanship, for really reasonable prices.

 

 

Felted French Bulldog and Bichon

Bonus item! Amelia Makes Art doesn’t have a French Bulldog listed on Etsy right now, but she has one in her album of completed commissions, and she specifies she can make one from your own dog’s photos. Her works are tiny, beautiful pieces of art, hand felted out of wool and bits of other things. They’re lovely. Oh, and she donates $10 from every commission to the Family Dogs New Life Shelter in Portland.

 

 

 

 

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Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

 

 

Uh Oh…

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My almost brand new, 24″ iMac hard drive is about to die, as I can tell by the ominous clicking and whining it’s making on start up. I’m taking it into the shop now, and won’t have it back until some time late tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’ll be without email or any other on line capabilities.

Wish me luck…

Pink Poodles and Purple Frenchies

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I’m starting to get jealous. Everyone and their sister has a blog about dyed poodles, and here I sit, with my non fluffy, non dyeable French Bulldogs.

It just doesn’t seem fair.

I suppose I could get myself some blue French Bulldogs – they’re always controversy magnets, not to mention loads of fun (although the pale yellow eyes sort of freak me out).

Personally, I’m holding out for a purple French Bulldog. Purple seems to me to be the ideal color for a Frenchie, what with it being the color of royalty and all.

Here’s King Solo, deigning to consort with the plebeians.

Purple French Bulldog

French Bulldog Walking in Durham

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Sailor and Ellie in the Muddy ElementI spent part of the afternoon walking Sailor and her daughter Ellie in Durham. As always, I brought my camera along, and got some great pictures (in spite of the two feet of mud on the ground).

By the end of the afternoon, I was mud up to my knees, the dogs were mud up to their bellies, and my Element was mud up to the roof. I hate winter, but spring thaw isn’t too far behind on my list of things I loathe.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I cooked a big pot of kick ass pea soup. I made it in the crock pot, and left it cooking on low all day. Served with a loaf of fresh bread, it made the perfect ‘welcome home’ gift after an afternoon wandering ‘downtown’.

I love my crock pot – semi instant food, no waiting.

Here’s the recipe –

Ingredients

1 ham bone, 3/4 cup pieces of leftover ham
3 cups dried whole green peas, split
2 quarts water
2 quarts chicken broth
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped(with leaves)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Directions

1. Saute onions until translucent
2. Add garlic, saute until lightly golden
3. Put onions, garlic and remaining ingredients in crock pot on low
4. Cook for five to six hours – add more water as needed near end

Hastie Tobacco Shop, Durham Ontario CanadaI have some awesome photos of Solo to post, likely tomorrow. In the meantime, a the end of the post you’ll find some photos from our afternoon walk – or see them full sized here.

It’s worth visiting Flickr to see the photo of Hastie Tobacco Shop, the local Durham smoke shop. It’s been there forever, and is fitted with the most incredible built in cabinetry. Look closely in the photo, and you’ll see that each custom fitted cabinet has a sign on it, indicating what was originally showcased in it – toiletries, ‘sundries’, etc. It’s simply too perfect for words, right down to the fact that it was a combination Tobacco Store/Pool Hall. There are still three or four tables in the back.

I imagine that Hastie was a pretty rockin’ place to hang out, in its heyday. I look at it and picture leather jacketed hoodlums, lounging at the pool table, smokes tucked into the arms of their t-shirts.

The store and building are for sale – I wish I could figure out something awesome to put there that would let the interior remain intact. It’s just too perfectly preserved to see it all torn out and sold for salvage.

Tessa Earns a Nap, Dexter Fails at Geography and Solo Goes to the Darkside

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Tessa is the last remaining puppy from her litter – although I suppose I can’t even come close to referring to her as a ‘puppy’ any more. It doesn’t really matter that she’s thirteen and change – to me, she’ll always be that little red and white trouble maker I tucked inside my coat and brought with me every where I went.

 

It’s not that I don’t realize she’s getting older – that’s obvious. She moves slower, sleeps more, and occasionally wanders into a room and forgets why she’s there (I’ve compared it to those moments when I get to the kitchen and think “What the heck did I come in here for?”). In spite of that, she’s still pretty perky for her age. Playing with the Grandkids (Fanny is an honorary Grandpuppy) gives her something to do, and probably makes those fireplace naps that much sweeter.

 

Here’s a video of her wrestling with Dexter, Fanny, Paris and Bunny.

 

 

Dexter is living up to the Frenchie family tradition of getting stuck in stupid places. A few nights ago, we heard him bark-bark-BARKing outside, so Sean came down to investigate. Seems Dexter had gone out the dog door, and around the corner of the house into the fenced play yard (probably following his ‘girlfriend’, Tula, who he shadows almost everywhere). Once there, he got a bit confused, and stood outside the ground level windows of our downstairs bathroom, yelling for someone to let him in. That’s where Sean found him, after walking around the house in his slippers – through three feet snow drifts. Dexter seemed pretty happy to be back inside.

 

Here are a few new photos of Dexter snuggling with his mommy Bunny, along with some lovely profile photos of Paris, and two that show how incredibly similar Sailor’s markings are to Dexter’s. Barb calls it ‘the mark of the Devil’. I don’t think Dexter is ready for a career of evil just yet – he should probably stick to figuring out how to navigate the backyard before he takes on total world domination….

 

 

Lots of new photos of Solo to post this week, including some of his exercising his ever growing ESPP powers, and a few worrisome ones where he contemplates going over to the darkside. More on that this week…