A Dragon and A Castle - 20 Years

Hello!

My son Troy's birthday is soon and I wanted to make him a special birthday card.

Troy had made this wonderful cross-stitch for me some years ago, which I love, and it has always hung on my bedroom wall. The actual stitching itself is quite large - measuring 12 x 15 - and he worked on this project for many months. The workmanship is excellent - it is beautifully done. I know that to part with this and give it to me was an act of love, as was the making of it. It is very special to me.

When I saw this great dragon stamp - AND a castle stamp - both on the same day and in the same store - I knew this was to be the card!

I purchased the stamps without a glance at the price and hurried home to begin working on the card. Before I began, I wanted to take a photo of Troy's original artwork to have at my work table to use as my guide. After taking the photo I saw that Troy had stitched the date by his initials. I have poor eyesight now in my old age, so I could not tell by just looking at it what it said. So I put on my glasses, took it off the wall and under a bright light and - 1989! Troy had made this 20 years ago! I was in shock! But here is the proof!

After recovering from my shock and accepting that time does indeed march on - needless of what we would like - I started to work on the card. Here is the result. I was pleased with the results and hope that he likes it.

When attaching the dragon and the castle to the card, I did not use dimensionals as it would have raised them too high and I was afraid they would be damaged. I did not want to glue it flat either, as the detail would be lost. I used Snail on the main body of the dragon and the castle and let the edges free. The tail is completely unattached as I wanted it to curl around the castle.

This little guy is a monk that I made around the same time period and he has a special meaning in my connection to my son Troy during that time period, as we shared the love of cross-stitch and working with the polymer clay, as well as our love of the fantasy world.

Troy lives in NH - a very long way from WI - so I will be mailing the card to him today. I hope that he likes it.

Happy Birthday Troy!

Thank you for stopping by today!

Barbara Diane