3 Art Therapy Projects

Ohio State Veterinary Hospital holds a Pet Remembrance Ceremony every year. Husband and I went and were immediately greeted by Blitzkrieg’s oncologist Dr. B. She hugged us and asked how we are doing before the ceremony.  She is such a good person and a caring doctor. I can’t express how lucky you and your pet will be if she is your veterinarian.

We heard words of comfort.

There were tears.

We went to a small corner near the hospital I passed a dozen times before but didn’t know until now it is the Remembrance Garden. We placed stones with loving messages under the tree.

More tears.

More hugs.

They called Husband and I Special People.

I’m not sure why.

   

The grief counselors had art therapy projects for us. They asked us to bring small photos of our pets. We used them to make magnets and mementos. Husband and I laughed when we saw it involved Mod Podge. Mod Podge always reminds me of Mod Podge Rocks! Amy Anderson.

Husband made fun of me for taking tutorial photos with my phone. I told him if he was going to do a craft project with me, he was going to experience the whole process, not just seeing the finished object.

I added a pin back to mine backed by the canine lymphoma ribbon (red ribbon with black paw prints) to wear to dog events to put a face to canine cancer.

We shared stories about our pets as we worked on the next project. As my hands worked, my brain moved forward for the first time in months. I purposefully choose happy and girly colors. I glued an impractical glittery butterfly to my tin too because I needed to create. It felt good to make something again.

We decorated repurposed Altoid tins with Cathie Filian’s Mod Podgable papers and followed a tutorial  Shannon from Madigan Made wrote for Mod Podge Rocks. Husband and I smiled to ourselves because it was as if our online friends were with us. Without you, we may not have had the three extra months with Blitzkrieg that we did. Thank you.

 They suggested we use the tin to keep our pet’s tags or a keepsake safe.

  

The final art therapy project I did on my own for Husband’s birthday. I had a ChromaLuxe  photo panel made of one of Husband’s favorite Blitzkrieg photos. ChromaLuxe is different from the traditional flat color photo canvas. I like that the ChromaLuxe process makes the colors pop and is glossy and rich like a paper photograph but the print itself is metal so you don’t need a frame.

After Husband opened his gift he hugged me hard with tears in his eyes. I knew it was the perfect gift.

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Disclosure: I was provided a sample from Chromolux for this review.