New Art

I have a huge pile of pictures and art that need to be framed. But the problem is, Brandon often comes home from his art shows and conventions with prints he has picked up that don't fit standard size frames. And custom framing gets expensive. So it just gets thrown into the pile - a "someday" project.

But as most people who are reading this blog will know, I am addicted to a good deal. These deals often come in the form of a clearance sale or a coupon or my favorite thing - Groupon. So when Groupon offered a discounted voucher to a local framing shop, Signed and Numbered, I jumped on the opportunity to get a good deal on something that I had been planning on doing anyway. But then I sat on my voucher for a while since I was so wrapped up in my home renovation (or lazy or flaky - your choice). And then I noticed that my voucher was about to expire! If there is one thing I hate, it is losing out on a good deal and wasting something. So I finally brought that pile of art and pictures with me to the frame shop so I could get it done.

I have to say, when I first went to the store, I was really impressed. Frame stores don't usually impress me but this one was just so cute and had really cool music playing and the people that were working there were so nice and hipster-y. The place might have had the potential to be really pretentious but it wasn't at all to me. I was initially a little afraid that I would be judged for my art or frame or mat choices but the girl who helped me was really good at not being pushy but making me feel confident in my decisions. When I left, I felt like I was cool and hipster for bringing my business to such a cool, local shop.

To illustrate how cool this place was, I actually spent more money than I needed to there. My idea for maximizing the deal with Groupon is to try as hard as possible not to spend more than the amount of the voucher I purchased. For example, this voucher was for $70 and I only paid $35. That is 50% savings. So I want to frame something for as close to $70 as I can so I am not decreasing my savings percentage. If I spend $100, my percent that I save decreases to 35% because I have only saved $35. Does that make sense? Anyway, just the way my brain works because I am really cheap but like nice things.

Here is what I ended up with:

This piece should actually be rotated clockwise but I couldn't figure out how to do that (although I did on facebook - iphoto, picassa, and all those photo things totally annoy me!). It was a gift from my husband's friend, Michael Kelly, mostly, because Brandon got him a free video game from his work (he works for EA Games but don't ask for a free game because he is out of credits right now).

I'm not usually a fan of abstract art and I have to admit, I was actually kinda "meh" about this piece. But after it got framed, it gave it such a finished look and I appreciated it so much more. And I was also pretty proud of my frame and mat choice because I really put a lot of thought into what color mat I should choose. Michael Kelly is pursuing a graduate degree in art at UCLA right now, and apparently, he is kinda a big deal. I don't really know, but that would be nice because who doesn't want to own a piece of art that you didn't have to pay for from someone who may be famous someday. And I totally pulled a fast one on my brother-in-law, Damian, who we are living with right now while we have been renovating, because he came home and saw this piece framed at his house and thought that his friend, Mike Kelly had stopped by (who lives in LA) and maybe given him a new piece and I was like, "Psyche! That piece belongs to me!!" Just kidding, I think he was just really confused.

As I was perusing the store, I also saw some lovely pre-made frames and although they were a little more expensive than the type of frames I would usually buy (from Target or Ikea or somewhere like that), they were just so charming and I totally had the perfect prints to go with them. And here are the finished products:

I fell in love with this frame even more after this print was in it. The green in the background matches perfectly with the distressed green in the frame and I've always been a sucker for cats, especially when they are having tea. These two prints are for Lucy's room and she loves them both (maybe only because she thinks that the cat in the above print is Swiper from Dora the Explorer). The above print was done by Greg Ham who Brandon met at one of his comic/art conventions. Fortunately, these prints were standard size so they could fit pre-made frames.

Obviously, this picture also needs to be rotated clockwise but you still get the idea of its cuteness. The print was done by Bill Robinson and although we have never read Where the Wild Things Are to Lucy, she likes it too. And the frame store girl was raving about the print when I picked it up so I felt pretty special to have it.

Love, love, love having some original art in my home (even though I totally LOVE the mass produced stuff at Target too). It's even cooler that we actually know these artists. And I wanted to give myself a little pat on the back for supporting a local store in Salt Lake City too.

The true test of whether a Groupon was effective is if the purchasers actually return to the store without a discounted voucher. I have to say, this is one of the few establishments that I would go back to and pay [gasp!] full price for.

(The only other place where I would pay full price from all the many Groupon vouchers I have purchased is The Farm restaurant in Park City - so good!).