Papercraftpanda

Yesterday, the most beautiful light went out much earlier than I could have ever imagined. Please let me tell you about Freya. It would mean so much to me.

Freya was our baby. We brought her home before lockdown in 2020 and she made us laugh when we were scared, stressed and anxious. She was absolutely adored and brought so much sunshine to our lives in the 4 short years we were blessed to love her.

She was a terrible “retriever” (keep away was her game), but the best snuggler. She loved car rides and didn’t walk well on a leash, but she could sit up so pretty you’d think she was doing palates. Her favorite toy in the whole world was a stuffed Lamby we purchased many times over so she wouldn’t know it was gone after the squeaker was chewed out. She had a big squeaky ball and loved to get our attention by interrupting a conversation with well-timed squeaks.

She wasn’t scared of anything… except very tall men and the occasional firework finale. Whenever I got stressed out or upset, she would “emotion police” me by jumping on my chest and giving kisses. I miss that.

Freya loved food. You could say she was “food obsessed,” but that’d be an understatement. We always fed her exactly what she was supposed to have, but hey I’m not gonna lie… every one of us snuck her little bits now and then.

That’s why we knew, when she stopped eating, something was terribly wrong. She had a rare issue called canine septic peritonitis where a perforation somewhere in her system caused fluid to leak into her abdominal cavity. There is no underlying cause. Our incredible vet, who cried alongside us, told us we didn’t do anything wrong. We did everything right. Sometimes, things happen, she said. There is no reason. There is no sense.

I’ve played the footage of the last two days over in my head looking for clues- there is nothing. Why couldn’t this kind soul live to see another snowfall, or go for another ride in the car? I can’t pretend to understand and I don’t know when I will feel normal again. I miss her every moment. I hope I’ll see her again someday when it’s my turn to cross over. I’ll shake her sweet paw and sniff that spot between her eyes.

Thank you for listening.

Letterpress printing complete! What I love about is they don’t require very much paper. These two sheets are the entire little book! How cute 🥰

The ink we chose is a lovely blue and the paper is a Reeves heavyweight that took the ink really well. Next up, we will cut the tiny folios from the larger sheets and fold, press and collate them into little signatures.

We are learning all about like this little tiny gem about Herbs! Look how tiny!! 🥹 Inwint be making one this small (thank goodness, my hands and patience aren’t ready for that yet) but we will make one measuring just under 3” (7.6 cm) in height.

So far, it’s clear that matetial choices really matter with these little babies! Thin and flexible is where it’s at. Right now, the class is trying to understand what qualifies as a “miniature” vs a “micro miniature” - if you know, tell me below! Would love to pass it on!