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Thursday, 18 June 2026

Dream


 Hello everyone, I wasn't going to share this page when I originally created it. The reason being is that I was having a particularly difficult day, we recently had to say a final goodbye to our little dog Dolly. She had been suffering from quite a while with Dementia. As any of you who have been lucky enough to own a pet will know it is always hard to say goodbye. So yesterday I began to sort through her things which was hard. I kept taking breaks and found myself creating this page in my Tracy Evans journal. I think it helped to keep me sane and balance out the grief. So thank you Tracy. 🙏

The page had in fact already begun, I had some aging texture paste that needed to be used, so I had put it on tags, paper and in this journal so the lovely aged wall in Ranger crackle paste was already here as a starting point. 



Above you can see the two stencils that I used on the background and the effects after using Tim Holtz oxide inks in Antique linen, Pumice stone, speckled egg, salvaged patina, vintage photo and walnut stain. I used the blue shades in the centre and then the antique linen with the brown shades around the edges. Spritz and flicked on some water dried then used the stencil with the leaves which is an older design over the top. Later I go back to the brick design and add extra with the oxide inks.




Then I relaxed by stamping my images, great mindfulness! (I will share a list of stamps used a little later on) 




I used coloured pencils to colour the images and fussy cut them out. I was very lucky to win the co-ordinating die set for the heart branches, Thank you once again Anne.( Sorry about the glare from the light on the packaging.)


After playing for a short while with the layout , I added the extra stencilling and stamped some text onto the background for a little additional interest. Then I began to glue everything into place. I used a mixture of dries clear adhesive and foam double sided sticky pads for dimension. 



All that was left was to choose a sentiment so in honour of Dolly I chose "Dream" as I had been dreaming quite a lot of the happier times that we had shared together. She was a big character in a little body.


Anyway I thought I should include a photo of Dolly on a walk in the countryside, she was a total home body but could keep up with the best of them. She drove me mad barking some days but she really is missed. 








Stamp sets used in this project. I hope you enjoy this blog. All stamps are designed by Tracy Evans

https://tracyevansboutiquedesigns.com/





5 comments:

  1. Gorgeous piece and Dolly is adorable 😘😘😘

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  2. Happy memories 😘😘😘

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  3. This is beautiful Helen. I love your work. I'm so sorry for your loss of Dolly. I hope she is having some nice Dreams x

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  4. Victoria Wilding19 June 2026 at 03:04

    A beautiful page! Dogs are such a huge part of the family. It’s so good that you can find escape in your making ❤️

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  5. Thank you for the link to this Helen. Loved reading how you made this even though I am saddened by the reason. Something we almost inevitably face when we have much lived pets. I know the grief we feel is a reflection of the love and joy they brought and the happiness we shared. As well as the annoyances, which we often miss when they're gone. I try to hang on to that. There's no grief or loss, without love being there first.

    I don't know how to link to my Google account. I think I used all my allotted brainpower for today.... best wishes, Helen Shipley. ♥️

    ReplyDelete

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