Goldens

It is time for the new challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  Maggi is our hostess this time and she calls it All Creatures Great and Small.

Animals delight us in so many ways; perhaps a trip to the zoo with the kids has made you smile. Maybe you have fur-babies that are a big part of your life. My fur-babies are my children and hold the top spot in the hierarchy of my home! For this challenge, create a vintage or shabby chic project that is centered around animals. It could be your pets or a vintage photo. Could be an animal you fear, spiders anyone??? Eeeek!!!! No humans please, just animals on your project, otherwise anything goes.

I have made a small layout on a canvas featuring a photo of two Golden Retrievers but before I tell you how I made it, I need to give you a bit of information about how this came about.

I am not an animal person so when I saw this challenge I went into panic mode because I don't have any pets and have never wanted any, especially after I was bitten by a dog when I was five.  And then as bad luck would have it, I was bitten by a neighbour's dog a few years ago.  So I made a card with birds on it and the more I looked at it, the more I realized I did not like it.  Then something came across my Facebook feed that provided an ah-ha moment.

A couple years ago I started following a Facebook page called Prayers for Finn, which chronicles the challenges and successes of a little boy from Virginia who was born with heart problems.  Finn still has some challenges but after a number of major surgeries, he is fantastic, improving constantly and has just started pre-school.  Finn's family recently got a new Golden Retriever puppy to fill the void left when they lost a couple of older dogs and I asked the Mom if I could use this photo of the puppy and her sister from another litter (same parents but born a year and a half apart) to make a layout.  She gave her permission so I am sharing it with you.  If you can, check out the story of Finn and his lovely family - it is so heartwarming.

Here is how to put this layout together:

1.  Use texture paste (Ranger) and the Checkmate stencil (Wendy Vecchi) to add some stenciling down one side of a 10"x10" canvas.
2.  Coat canvas with White Gesso (Dina Wakely).
3.  Add a bit of Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint (Tim Holtz) to White Gesso (Dina Wakely) and give the canvas another coat.

4.  Using a sponge add full strength Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint (Tim Holtz) over the textured stenciling and horizontally across the middle.
5.  Use Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw and Broken China Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) through the Checkmate stencil to make random marks.
6.  Use Watering Can Archival Ink (Wendy Vecchi) with honeycomb and crisscross stamps (Tim Holtz) to make more random markings.
7.  Thin some White Gesso and apply with a cheap brush to knock back colour in some areas.
8.  Use Garden Patina Archival Ink (Wendy Vecchi) and a Harlequin stencil (Tim Holtz) to add more marks.
9.  Spritz the canvas with some Tumbled Glass Distress Spray Stain (Tim Holtz).

10.  Ink a piece of card stock with Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Faded Jeans and Cracked Pistachio DI and cut into strips.
11.  Punch the edges of the strips with some edge punches (Martha Stewart), distress the edges and ink with Tumbled Glass DI.

12.  Use Watering Can Archival Ink with the script stamp from the Entomology set (Tim Holtz) to stamp onto a scrap of white card stock.  Cut to size, distress the edges and ink with Tumbled Glass DI.
13.  Turn image to greyscale on the computer, print it, distress the edges and ink with Tumbled Glass DI.

14.  Alter half of a wooden flourish (Kaisercraft) with White Gesso and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Paint.
15.  Use Alphamumeric die (Tim Holtz) to cut FAMILY from a scrap of card stock.

To Assemble:

1.  Adhere punched strips, some strips of venise lace, a little ruler (my stash) and the FAMILY strip.  Glue the flourish on next.
2.  Add the script panel followed by the image using dimensional foam strips.
3.  Glue a selection of flowers and leaves next along with some buttons (all from my stash).
4.  Add some striped braid (my stash) to one strip of lace and then glue the Together Chitchat strip (Tim Holtz) on top of a punched strip.
5.  Add a punched butterfly and a coloured butterfly that I recycled from an old project.

The following products used to create this layout came from The Funkie Junie Boutique:

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Cracked Pistachio	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Squeezed Lemonade	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Cracked Pistachio	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Faded Jeans	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tumbled Glass	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Broken China
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Scattered Straw	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Tumbled Glass	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink - Watering Can	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink Pad - Garden Patina AID48992 (February Pre-Order)	PRE-ORDER Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Harlequin	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Stencil - Checkmate
(EARLY FEBRUARY PRE-ORDER) Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Entomology	KAISERCRAFT Flourishes - Ornate Plates	Sizzix Alternations Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Alphanumeric	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Chitchat Stickers	Venise Lace	Venise Lace Trim - 1/2 inch wide
Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet	Ranger Inkssentials Mini Ink Blending Tool - With 4 Blending Foams	Ranger Inkssentials Cut n Dry Foam	(FEBRUARY PRE-ORDER) Ranger Dina Wakley Media Ultra Thick Gel Medium 4oz	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 1/4" x 27 Yards	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 1/8" x 27 Yards
(APRIL PRE-ORDER) Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Black Thread Cutter/Paper Distresser 370E	(APRIL PRE-ORDE) Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Black Kushgrip Snip w/Non-Stick Blade & Cap 7"-Small T817