Love is a Four-Legged Word

March 24th was a sad day for fans of the Jenny L. Cote book series, The Epic Order of the Seven, which happens to be my daughter's all-time-favorite books. The main character of the books is Maximillian Braveheart the Bruce, a Scottish Terrier, who is based on Mrs. Cote's own beloved pet, Max. Well, sweet little Max passed away last week after battling cancer. Besides loving Max as the character in the books, my daughter is also a dog-lover in general. (March 24 was also our own terrier's 15th birthday, too.) So, when I told her about Max's passing, my daughter was devastated, and fell asleep on a tear-dampened pillow, while holding tight to a plush Scotty that looks just like Max. 

Mrs. Cote does a lot of creative writing workshops for kids, and she just happens to be coming to our town for a workshop for our homeschool group next week, so I made this sympathy card for my daughter to give to Mrs. Cote while she is here. I love this Tiddly Inks image, which I colored with Copics, and I've used it before, for a card that I intend to eventually give to my daughter because it looks so much like her and our dog, Ozzy, but it is also perfect for this occasion, since it resembles Mrs. Cote and Max, too! See...

Jenny Cote, Max, and Liz

I used the Viva la Verve March 2015 Week 4 Sketch for the card design, and all the patterned paper, including the sentiment on the die cut faux leather belt, is from the Raining Cats & Dogs paper pad by Graphic 45. I added the detailed eye to the image, and worked quite a while on the girl's cheek to make it look more dimensional. I still need practice, but I was pleased with how it finally turned out. 

The sentiment inside the card was typed in Word and printed onto cardstock. I added little paw print stamps and a red flourish in the corner. The monogram letters (M-A-X) are from the Paper Sweeties Fancy Monograms stamp set. I stamped them with Versamark onto black chipboard, then heat embossed them in white. I can't get over how much detail is in the monograms, even when embossed! After cutting the letters with a die from the Beautiful Little Wishes Sweet Cuts die set, I mounted each letter onto a square of craft foam, then onto a square of gold mirror foil. It's pretty in real life, but since it truly is mirrored, the gold doesn't show up well in a photo. The sentiment at the bottom is written in Gaelic (I just love Google sometimes!), to go along with Max's Scottish heritage. Again, it doesn't show well in this photo, but the sentiment strip is wavy, rather than glued flat to the card. I used Pearl Pen dots under the center of the strip to keep it from getting smushed.

My daughter loves the card and can't wait to give it to Mrs. Cote, along with a little gift she made just for her. ;)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve March 2015 Week 4 Challenge
Tiddly Inks Challenge #154: Anything Goes With a Tiddly Inks Image/Stamp
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #117: True Anything Goes...No Twist!

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.