2023: Memorial to Spike – Title Page
In September 2023 we said goodbye to our faithful companion of over 15 years, our Golden Retriever, Spike. While it was a hard experience, it was also good, as Spike had been a good companion to my son and I, and later my parents, for a long time. But, in the previous several months he had had increasing difficulty getting up and moving, and on this last day he could not move at all and was having difficulty breathing. So, it was time.
The next ten days will share 10 scrapbook spreads from Spike’s Memorial Album – this first one being the Title Page. When Spike was a puppy, I started collecting pictures and ephemera so that when the end came, I could put this album together. As the average lifespan for a Golden Retriever is between 7 and 12 years, I did not expect that we would get to enjoy 15+ years with him.
When we received our new puppy, we knew we wanted to name him Spike, but quickly discovered that his lineage contained a whole bunch of ancestors with long fancy names – and so we registered him with the American Kennel Company as Spiketronus Blair of Demaray.
- Spiketronus – We were enjoying Harry Potter at the time and so this name comes from the Patronus spell and can easily be shortened to “Spike” 🙂
- Blair – my son’s middle name
- Demaray – my middle name
So, a very fancy sounding name, with a lot of meaning for us.
This Title Page was designed in Cricut Design Space and cut out using my Cricut Maker. The Golden Retriever image was purchased on Etsy and imported into Cricut Design Space. It is a 4-layer image, and I then created the words and the ovals around the image. If you look carefully at the background paper, you will notice that it is covered in dog bones. I created a double torn edge border, and then used my sewing machine to stitch the leaf/vine patter onto the left-hand side. This is probably my favorite Title Page that I have ever made.
To watch the process of putting this together click on the YouTube link below:
MASCrapping 