I Will Find My Way Back

I am in love with Artist Trading Cards!  I previously received adorable ATCs from Marcia Beckett, and then on Friday I received these beautiful cards from Michelle V. Alkerton, who does digital photo-painting with her original watercolors.  Aren't these cool?  Thank you Artists in Blogland for hosting this swap!

This weekend I had an ATC party with me, myself and I, and made these!  I'm ready and willing to do some trading so let me know!  These are all made with bits and pieces of original watercolor paintings and are one of a kind, never to be repeated!

The end of August is approaching, and I still had a design I wanted to create for Scrapping the Music's 5th Anniversary party.  There are 5 songs to choose from, and I've already done two.  (See here and here).  But the song "Summer Paradise" was also calling me.  That song perfectly evokes the longing to go back to a special time and place.  I had a very special summer in 1973, falling in love with my First True Love the summer I turned 15 at Westchester Music and Arts Camp.  For years, I pined for him and for that summer.  Thanks to Facebook, many of us who were at that camp found each other and had a reunion a few years ago.  In the Harlequin novel version of my life, my FTL and I would have walked through the old camp grounds, felt like we were teenagers again, and then run off together. Instead, we shared a lot of laughs, as well as photos of our spouses and kids.   

Here's the painting I made:  first, a collage of scraps and pieces of a background page I didn't really love, so I ripped it up and glued it down:

 Then I knocked it all back and blended it together with some gesso:

 Think I'll use these stamps....

 Until it looks like this:

Now for some stencils using acrylics in sea colors...

Add some warm colors.  

And a fish and a face!  

The text says:  someday i will find my way back.   I will be listing it in my Etsy shop after I resin it!  (LOL!)

The memory of the summer of 1973 prompted me to create this art journal page.  Thinking about the trajectory of my life, and how all of my experiences led me to this moment, with my wonderful husband and two amazing daughters, I am forever grateful.

The picture of us is from a few summers ago -- I asked Freddie to bleach his hair blond for the summer, which is how he wore it in his 20s when he was a lifeguard at Orchard Beach, and he did it!. (Awww)  The photo with my girls is from a trip we took to Florida in 2002.  Samy was such a chubby baby -- so cute.  Here we are now.

I'm linking up to Artists in Blogland, Paint Party Friday, Creative Every Day, Out of the Journal, and Art Journal Every Day at Balzer Designs.  Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.