What a year

I had been determined that I would enter every challenge that Merly Impressions offered and started to panic that time was running out.  It was easy to think about what was the most memorable event of 2013 but hard to choose a photo to reflect this.  2013 was a year I had dreaded for 5 years, ever since I realised that I was close to 50 than 40!  However I was determined to make my birthday an occasion to look forward to and a positive experience rather than a negative one.  So ... we arranged to take a cruise in Alaska.

And what an incredible experience.  The scenery itself was awesome and almost didn't look real.  I drew my curtains one morning and was met by a vision that could have been a canvas painting and almost didn't look real.  A striking scene needed to take centre stage which then led me on to decide that a plain background would make the photo more impressive.  This meant that I could tweak the colours to fit the palette for challenge 107 on CSI:

It was hard to narrow down the photos to use and I don't have access to fancy printing sizes and just use the basic service provided by my local store.  So I decided to create a collage in Picasa and use that.  I particularly love the photos of the dogs from our phenomenal experience dog sledding across a glacier.  A photo cannot possibly capture the delight, thrill and awe that such an experience brought but it can at least trigger the memory for me.  

The title becomes the journaling as it details that 2013 was the year I turned 50, a year I dreaded, a year I loved.  The rest of the journaling is scattered around the photo as brief descriptions of the activities and feelings: A helicopter ride,  Dog sledding across a glacier,  Exhilarating,  Awesome,  Emotional,  Hearing a glacier calve, like a gunshot,  Phenomenal.

I used hearts and wet medium as evidence and brads that were small, even if not 'mini'; and possibly a long title.  My testimony included the word Awesome and was scattered (albeit in an ordered way around the photo.  The colours are there and although I was uncertain about the pink it does provide a small contrast and makes the journaling more noticeable.

I know that additional colours should be a small portion but I'm hoping the colour in the photo doesn't count as I can't do much about that!  I'm making great progress at using wet medium and this time ventured into acrylic paint but I still struggle to get messy and am so afraid I shall 'spoil' it but I'm surprisingly pleased with the finished result.

Thanks for looking, and for sharing my great experience.