The Princess & The Frog Storybook Card

I cannot think of The Princess & The Frog without smiling. It was my daughter's favorite Disney cartoon and it still holds a special place in her heart. For her college commencement ceremony, her cap even referenced the song, Almost There.

If you are not familiar with the song, here is a short excerpt:

...Trials and tribulations

I've had my share

There ain't nothin' gonna stop me now

'Cause I'm almost there

I remember Daddy told me

Fairy tales can come true

You gotta make 'em happen

It all depends on you

So I work real hard each and every day

Now things for sure are going my way...

As I put together this series of cards, I knew that I had to make The Princess & The Frog. My collection would not be complete without it. I know when my daughter sees this blog post, it will bring a smile to her face and joy to her heart. This one is for you, Danielle.  

The Front Panel

This scene depicts young Tiana holding a frog. I love the raised eyebrow at the thought of kissing this puckered, slimy creature. Albeit, he was a cute, puckered little guy. 

I purchased two sets of clip art images from Etsy to use throughout the card because neither included all the pictures I wanted. The background paper is from DCWV's Once Upon a Time Stack. To keep the scale of the design, I had to scan the cardstock in and resize it for my project. 

The Back Front Panel

Dr. Facilier is on the flip side of the front panel. Check out the 3D effect of his hand reaching out. Creepy, right? To apply both young Tiana and Dr. Facilier, I used foam dots to give them dimension. I always leave their backgrounds plain because I want the focus to be on the characters that are in the foreground. 

The Second Panel

Here we see an older version of Tiana. She has grown up to be a hardworking, young woman who is determined to pursue her dream of owning her own restaurant. Life isn't always easy, but as the song states, she's Almost There. 

For both the base card and the patterned paper, I used Distress Oxide in Ground Espresso. In my opinion, it is the perfect color for that aged look. 

The restaurant in the background represents Tiana's dream, which later becomes Tiana's Palace. 

The Third Panel

This scene makes me smile. It once again shows Tiana working hard to solve a problem, while the lazy Prince Naveen takes life for granted. 

I wanted to try and bring the feeling of the bayou into this panel. I was limited by my choices of cut files I had available in Design Studio, but I love the tule weed and lily pads. I also thought that the larger than life Mama Odie, the bayou's 200-year old fairy godmother, was the perfect pairing for this scene, along with her companion, Juju. 

The Final Panel

It is a predictable conclusion, but of course, Tiana and Prince Naveen fall in love. However, things did not happen as they planned--in the beginning. When they thought all was lost, ultimately, they wanted a life together even though that meant they would remain frogs. Little did they know it was love that would transform them back to their true selves. This final scene represents that transition. 

The only thing this panel is missing is Ray--or is he? It almost broke my heart that he was not included in the panel. When I could not scale him to the proper size and get my Cricut to cut him without mangling his little legs and antennas, I opted for a different approach. Ray loved his darling, Evangeline. After Ray heroically perishes while trying to save our young couple--err frogs, he joins his Evangeline up in the stars. So, I managed to include Ray after all. 

As we head toward the close of another month, I wonder who I will feature for my next card? I thinking of something a little different. I hope you will join me next Monday!