Thursday, January 19, 2012

Thoughts for a New Year

Supplies: teal cardstock (Bazzill), raspberry cardstock (Echo Park), patterned paper (American Crafts), journaling cards & sentiment blocks (Echo Park), chipboard (DCWV), number stickers (Echo Park), epoxy stickers (EK Success), pens (Zig).

The challenge this time around at Once upon a ... Sketch is to reflect on either the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012.  When I took this challenge, I came up with the layout you see above.  My journaling reads: "This will be our first year without cats.  Tina and Maggie died in 2010, and Shadow died in 2011.  We don't feel ready for a new pet yet.  The pain of losing the girls is still too fresh.  But when ever I start feeling sad, I try to follow this advice: Remember the good times.  Remember how Maggie hid behind the blinds.  Remember how cuddly Tina was.  Remember how Shadow slept on our bed.  Good memories.  :)"

I enjoyed collaging the journaling cards.  I like to write a lot on my pages, and sometimes one bitty journaling card just does not give me enough room for all I want to say.  It was nice to have a bigger journaling space for this layout.


Once again, I combined OUAS with the current CSI challenge.  Combining the elements of the two challenges really helped me convey all the emotions behind this layout.  The bright colors, flowers, and spirals are all elements that come from CSI.  They help convey the happy memories that I've journaled about on this page.  The OUAS sketch called for a big circle in the background, which I achieved by fussy-cutting along the lines of the yellow paper (seen in the photo above).  I feel that the jagged lines of this "circle" symbolize the pain of loss that I mention in my journaling.

This is a rather bittersweet layout, but I don't want to end this blog post on a sad note.  Like I said in my journaling, I'm trying to focus on the happy memories, not the sad ones.  So, I'll leave you with a closeup of my cat Maggie's photo (below).  Maggie liked to sit in windows, mostly hidden behind the blinds or shades.  But she always left at least one leg sticking out, which was cute to see.  Peek a boo, Maggie!  :)


10 comments:

Luciana said...

Wonderful LO! What beautiful cats, I loved the tribute. Last year we lost a cat too, is difficult to overcome because we cling to these small, cute pets ... hugs!

phamil said...

OH, first of all, I'm so sorry about your furbabies, I know how you feel, we lost our precious English Bulldog Speckles last year, it's really hard, they are such a big part of our lives. But you've done a beautiful page, and such cute pictures!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to join our challenge at OUAS!

Jasmine S said...

Great page. Love all of the journaling, cute pics and the diamond is a great idea from the circle. Thanks for joining us at OUAS.

Bente Fagerberg said...

Sorry to hear about your pets.
You made a lovely page to remember them. I like your different take on the sketch. Thank you so much for playing along with us at OUAS!

Nadia Cannizzo said...

Oh Denise..I am sorry about your cats. How sad..Its so awesome that you made a layout to remember them though :) Thanks SO much for playing along with us at OUAS.

Georgia Heald said...

Sorry to hear about losing your 'girls'. As a fellow cat lover I can completely relate! Great take on the sketch. Thanks for playing along with us at OUAS =)

Maiko Kosugi (mai*) said...

Sorry to hear about your pets.
Great page.
Thanks for playing along with us at OUAS.

Ella Swan said...

Aaaw Denise I am so sorry you have lost all your kitties! I really think you should get a couple of kittens!! Thanks so much for playing along at Once Upon a Sketch with this great layout full of heartfelt journaling :)

Trudi Harrison said...

From a pet lover myself, I can totally relate to the pain and sadness of your loss. This is such a gorgeous tribute to your kitties - thanks so much for sharing it with us

Natalie Elphinstone said...

Just love how you've fussy cut all the edges. What a great detail. So sorry to hear about the story behind it though. Thanks for sharing with us at OUAS