Loved and Missed

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I started back to work after a week long spring break and man is it tough to get back into the swing of things!  I spent much of this past weekend trying to come up with a layout for this week's CSI case file  but ultimately I threw away each attempt.  Something didn't sit right and I could not make any of my ideas work.

This case file was by far the HARDEST challenge I've been given yet by the CSI team.  It is National Humor month so the theme and embellishments were meant to conjure up a humorous page about something...likely the funny things our pets do, etc.  And believe me, with a 6 year old lab, I know funny!  However the color scheme didn't feel funny to me...it felt dramatic and I had a hard time building a funny layout around it.  Ultimately, I decided to scrap the one thing I have avoided scrapping for 4 years...the loss of a pet.  Because I had so much to say, the journaling is contained on the back of the layout, rather than the front.  Here's the layout.  I used gesso to build a textured white background and used a vintage clock mask to let a bit of color come through.  Then I used a template mask to add some script to the background, a dishcloth and another mask to add some shading and pattern, and a bit of acrylic paint here and there.  But for the most part I kept it simple, so the focus would stay on my much missed furry friend because she is really all this layout is about.