Missing my giraffes

 Congratulations April on the birth of your beautiful baby boy. 4/15/2017

For those of you that might have spent the last 2 months in a cave, April the giraffe became an international super star as the world watched and waited for her, via live YouTube, to give birth to her 4th calf. Last Saturday we were rewarded with the opportunity to witness the birth and the first wobbly steps of her sweet baby.

I have enjoyed every minute of the live cam. April is such a sweet lady and had such a calming effect on not just me but millions of people around the world.

 Who could resist this adorable face???

Thank you Animal Adventure Park for sharing this wonderful journey with the world.

But, as they told us from the beginning, once the baby was born the camera would be taken down. Now you wouldn't think that would be a big deal. But it was. After spending every waking minute for 2 months watching the live feed. Yes, my computer and ipad were always tuned into April. When the camera was turned off yesterday there was suddenly a great void in my heart. And I was not alone. Thousands of people have been expressing their sadness on the AAP Facebook page. We all fell in love with this beautiful giraffe. She became a part of our lives, our families.

How do I process my sadness?  Through art of course.  :-)

I am in a small canvas swap with the BadBabies and while picking up my 3x3 canvas I saw a 4x6 and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

My original thought was just April and baby (who at this time still does not have a name). I googled "giraffe mom and baby silhouette" and didn't really find what I wanted so I changed the search to "baby giraffe silhouette" and this popped up.

After watching baby gallop and frolick around the stall for a week I knew this was exactly what I wanted.

But then I thought Oliver should be included since he is the proud papa.

I found this image of 2 giraffes and in Cricut Design Space I removed the giraffe on the right.

Cricut Design Space is so awesome. You can upload images of many types and then manipulate them and cut them with your Cricut Explore.

I welded the 2 above images to create this single cut file.

Now I have my giraffe family.

I used a technique called Paint Vinyl Paint Peel (PVPP).
I base coated the entire canvas in black acrylic paint.

I then cut out the giraffes in vinyl and applied that over the black paint.

Now the magic begins.

I painted my sunset sky OVER the vinyl. If you look closely you can see the vinyl under the paint.
I ended up painting 2 coats to cover the black (I probably should have done 3 but...)

For some reason, the vinyl popped up at the base of the baby's leg so I knew I was going to need to repair that spot but the rest held down beautifully.

I painted a sun and then waited for all the paint to dry.

Then I simply peeled off the vinyl and Voila!

Isn't it cool how you can paint the sun on top, and yet by peeling off the vinyl, it now appears behind the giraffe's head?

I have used this technique several times now and love it more and more each time!
I could have painted the giraffes by hand but probably would not have gotten such crisp edges. 
This technique gave me exactly the image I had in my head.

And now I have a permanent reminder of my giraffe family and those wonderful 2 months.

Happy Crafting!