"When I was a kid, I said to myself
I'll be rich, I'll be great, be happy, shoot straight
When I was a kid, I said to myself
I want it all or nothing
For me it would rain red roses"
This song is the current creativity prompt over on the blog Scrapping the Music.
"Rain Red Roses" was written by actress, singer, and writer Hildegard Knef, and originally recorded in 1968, my birth year. The video above features clips from a 1946 film she starred in, though the music is a recent translation and re-recording by Rene Caron, a Canadian embodiment of Louis Armstrong.
As I listened to the lyrics, looking for inspiration from this song, I was kind of surprised at the realizations it brought up about my childhood. Rather than conjuring up nostalgic feelings like "the world is my oyster," or that kind of enduring expectation of promise or possibility, of bright-eyed self-assuredness or invincible confidence, I just felt...kind of...blank. Like, I didn't identify with those feelings, they were not part of my childhood experience.
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Papers from Echo Park, Webster's Pages; stickers from Crate Paper; tiny alphas from Prima, and foam Thickers by American Crafts; StazOn and Distress inks; Glimmer Glam; This-to-That foam tabs
I wasn't an angry kid--really, I wasn't! But I was quite shy, apprehensive about participating in life except under the "safest" of circumstances, meaning my confidence only came in the company of close friends who would be there no matter what. I felt it must be easier for them, and I let them lead while I stayed close behind in the safe void of their wake. It wasn't until I was in college that I felt genuinely comfortable in pursuing my own path, stepping out from under the umbrella and letting the red roses that had been falling along finally rain down on me.
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Ok, enough with the tears for poor wittle me. That was a long time ago. Dry your eyes knowing that as an adult I have been dancing in that rain, doing the work and carving the trenches that allow an abundance of goodness to run off and pool at my feet. Let's get on to some fun!
Don't you love that rose stamp??? Well, you can have your very own, plus lunch! It's the core of a romaine lettuce heart! Observe:
My original thought was to print the image, then carve it into a stamp to have for all time. But the intricate details were daunting, I really wanted to get started on this layout, and it seemed simple enough to just cut up the real deal any time the need for such a stamp should arise.
One of my lovely childhood friends just happened to post a quote on Facebook yesterday. I think it sums up the life lessons I've learned and am ever having to practice--the ones that taught me to close up my umbrella and live:
"Everything you want is on the other side of fear"
~George Addair
Wishing you a downpour of red roses!
Thank you for visiting!
