Kraft+ April Challenge ~ Retro Recipe

The Ode

Well, this one is emotional...  My entire heart and soul is invested in this piece that I have created for the wonderful Kraft+ April Challenge ~ Retro Recipe.  Here is a look at our inspiration for this month:

There is a wonderful recipe of ingredients and colours, all to be applied to a base of Kraft.  I've gone outside the square with this and created a canvas that, I must confess, has me a bit humbled at how well it turned out and how well it came together once I had the idea...

As there are not many Kraft canvasses around (!), I used an old Kraft shopping bag and tore it to shreds and mod-podged it to the canvas - one Kraft base ~ check!

I printed out the Army shield on normal copy paper, fussy cut around it and mod-podged it to the canvas.  Next, I stamped "Lest We Forget" at the bottom, and six poppies around the top of the shield and coloured them in.  I created my own 'polka dots' using a piercing template and my Copic Multiliner.

I cut 'dogtags' from silver cardstock, twined cotton through them and mod-podged them into place.  I printed, cut out, inked and mod-podged the Ode across the canvas.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.  
Lest we forget.

The last piece was to use some washi tape.  I saw a wonderful tutorial on Gelatos on YouTube that turned the humble masking tape into designer 'washi tape'.  With this in mind, I laid out several strips of masking tape and applied Red Cherry Gelato.  Once it was dry, I mod-podged the masking tape and again allowed it to dry.

I cut it into small strips and folded them in half and rounded the tops to make them like poppy petals.  I pulled the pre-made flowers off some Kaisercraft paper blooms so that I could use the stem to build my poppies on.  Using hot glue, I folded in the ends of the masking washi tape petals in two layers to make them look like poppies.  I added Black Sprinkles to the centres of each poppy with hot glue.  Phew!

A lot of work, for something I am so immensely proud of.  I am grateful to our service men and women every day for the wonderful country we live in.

Have a wonderful ANZAC Day tomorrow.  I am off to the Dawn Service at Simpson Army Barracks, and then to the Watsonia RSL at 10:00am where my son will be reading the Ode in his capacity as School Captain.  A very proud mamma indeed, and one who will be drying tears from my eyes all morning I'm sure.

Deb.xx