Monday, February 27, 2012

My Mojo Monthly - February 2012 - Heartstrings

February's theme on My Mojo Monthly is heartstrings. I am not a romantic, and until I was pregnant with my daughter, I really didn't care for heart shapes at all unless they were broken or anatomical. I still covet an anatomical heart stamp or two, but I am much more tolerant of hearts than I was before :D. While I was pregnant, I also became addicted to House Mouse and my feet grew a size and a half and I'll no-longer crawl over broken glass for Chinese take-out (I still like it a lot though). The baby books left me woefully unprepared for these side-effects of pregnancy lol.

While my page does have a heart on it, it was totally inspired by a picture of a dog named Boo who was not rescued despite some Herculean efforts by volunteers to find her a home. (BTW if you are looking for a pet, please consider rescues.)

I don't know if it's the worried look on her face or the fact she reminds me of my own rescue pup when she is doing her Stellaluna impression, but when I found out she had been killed, it just broke my heart. So I did what scrappy people do, I made a tribute page for her. I felt awareness is something. Working with all the gorgeous Graphic 45 paper made me want to audition for the Graphic 45 Design Team. My tribute to Boo was my first entry.
The winged heart is made with the Cricut Imagine and Love Struck 2010 cartridge covered with Glossy Accents). I spent a lot of time with my craft knife and steel-edged Tim Holtz ruler.

I started by cutting off the frame from Graphic 45 Fashionista "Fashionista". Then I cut off the outter row from Fashionista "Bon Marche". Then I made a large mat from the "Bon Marche" leftovers and made an "X" with a craft knife and painted the folded over bits with gold paint. Added another layer and painted those with a second shade of gold. The final mat is Graphic 45 Botanicabella "Summer Sonata". The background cardstock is an ochre color heavily inked with Wild Honey Distress Ink to add dimension. Finally Boo's picture is attached to heavy cardstock and attached to the mat with two layers of foam tape.