Scrap Around The World July Challenge

I am joining in this month at Scrap Around The World, July challenge. The gorgeous moodboard, composed by Pamela Ellis, provided me with a much needed inspirational kick!! It is a rich and colorful board, filled with glorious summery feelings!

Here is this month's moodboard, and here is the link to the current challenge:

There were so many ways to be inspired by this board, I wasn't sure which way I wanted to go! But eventually I found myself so drawn to the summery field and glowing sky in the bottom left of the board, that this was my primary inspiration for my page!

Here is my layout:

My layout features a vintage photograph of my parents and uncle and aunt. The occasion was a July gathering, a housewarming celebration for another aunt and uncle who were recently married. My Father and Mother are in the center of the photo, and although my Mother turned her head at the wrong moment, I still love the way her hair is draped over her face! My Father's older brother is on the right and his wife is on the left. I am amazed at how dressed up everyone appears! Who would wear white bucks and pressed pants and a tie (as my uncle Joe is doing), at a picnic these days?! And look at aunt Rose, she was always a classy dresser! Of course I think my Mom and Dad look just so perfect, Dad handsome, Mom, beautiful. They were not married yet when this photo was taken. And they were sitting in a wonderful field of meadow grasses.....perfect for the challenge!

I began by doing background work with inks and sprays, which I slowly built up to the intensity I wanted. I was looking for something vibrant but soft, if that is possible! Then I applied molding pastes through various stencils. I layered under my photo with various postcards and frames. All of the clustered elements are real dried flowers and pressed weeds, grasses and pods. There are also some fussy cut elements and bits of old crochet work tucked in here and there. I hoped to create a lovely, summery feeling, such as this picture perfect day conveys!

Here is a bit of a close up of some of the clustered elements:

Thank you for looking!!!!