"The Promise" (Scrapping to Help Heal)

Today I have a very personal layout and post to share. I went back and forth on whether or not to share this layout and the meaning with you, but in the end I chose to because the love of scrapbooking, the art of documenting our lives, memories, loved ones, is something we all share. 
The past several years have been very tough. There have been good times, but mostly it has been a low. Life knocked me down. I lost a lot of me and even my desire and passion to create. I am slowly healing. Time is the healer of all things. We all go through tough times, loss of loved ones, loss of jobs, loss of marriages or significant others. We all hurt and have hurt at some point in our lives and will hurt again. It is how we handle that hurt and pain that is what matters. Will we allow it to rule us or shape us? Sometimes it rules us until we wake up and realize we are not define by that suffering, but instead there is a lesson to be learned and we can become better for what we have gone through. 

This layout was inspired by one of my most favorite songs right now. I was hurt recently by someone. I was hurt because I had feelings for them and I was hurt by what they did. It also hurt because it ripped open a scar from the past few years and all those emotions came flooding back. Though this person was in my life for a very short time the hurt would not go away. I couldn't figure it out. I knew better but sometimes what you feel trumps what you know. No matter how logical knowing is and how illogical your feelings are. 


As I was listening to this song one evening, I was all the sudden so inspired and went into my studio and just started creating. Slowly, as I was picking out that perfect piece of paper, painting, writing, and creating... the pain slipped away. I was no longer hostage to these feelings. It is bittersweet. 

The song is "The Promise". It is a duet with Maria Brink, the lead singer of In This Moment and Adrian Patrick, the lead singer of Otherwise. This is how Maria describes this song: 
"This song is about when you are madly in love with somebody, but you know that you’re dangerous for that person and vice versa. They’re dangerous for you even though you crave them. You want it more than anything, even though you know it will end badly." – Maria Brink

Here is the song for your listening pleasure: 

If you would like to read the lyrics, you can find them HERE. 

Now, here is the layout that was inspired from the pain, the memories, and the music: 

(I blurred out part of the picture)

Creating this layout truly helped heal me. With every brush stroke I let go of what I was holding on to. I used lyrics from the song and two quotes that touched my soul when I read them and was going through all of this. 

Here are some of the details:

I stamped music notes throughout the layout and added this little gem of a quote. 

Around the picture I have arrangements of flowers. I did a little inking and painting on a tag and added another quote that describes so perfectly the relationship I had with this person. I added the gears because even they too have a special meaning. 

The base around the photo are white rose petals that I dried out and stamped on and then covered in Ultra Thick Embossing Powder.

I chose certain lyrics from the song that just speak volumes.

Using a Prima Stencil and Thick Gesso I added cracks to the heart. 

When I finished this layout I felt a little lighter. I am glad I captured these moments for my scrapbook. Though it ended bad, we had some really good times and I learned so much about life, myself, and what I want and what I deserve. I accepted that he was dangerous for me and could never be what I deserve. 

Have you ever recorded a painful time in your life? Have you ever considered it? Sometimes it is not something that you can do while you go through it, or right after, but within time you can. I would love to see what you have done to scrapbook these times. Please leave links in your comments. If you never have, I encourage you to try. Using our love of scrapbooking to help us get through tough times is such a healthy and therapeutic thing for our souls. 

Until next time, Happy Creating Loves!