In Love With Aqua

Aqua has been speaking to me lately. When people ask what my favorite color is I usually say yellow. Then I say pink, then lime, then turquoise. But aqua...the color of the sea, the color of calm...that color is calling to me. It was the color prompt to go with the Paper Traders Altered Rolodex card trade this month, along with the theme of Beach.

I used some painted deli paper and gelli prints for the background, a leftover scrap of layered painted deli paper, a small printed beach photo with the words "we are here" on it, and a strip of commercial scrapbook paper. In the corner I added a bit of an Artistcellar chakra stencil with crackle paint, and smudged a little sepia ink around the edges and over the crackle.

I liked it too much to give it away, so I made another for my trade partner. I was out of the beach paper and painted scrap, but had another printed paper quote: sandy toes, salty kisses. It needed something more, so a scrap of a cutout heart felt just right.

Still on the aqua theme, I made a bunch of ATCs, and one will go to the Paper Traders "winner take all" monthly ATC lottery. The ATC incorporates painted deli paper, gelli prints, stencils, washi tape, part of an old dictionary page, ink and words printed on clear Avery mailing labels.

So the question remains, why is aqua calling to me? Pale blue-green. Why aqua, why now? It is a combination of two chakra colors: blue for the throat and green for the heart. The throat chakra is something I have been working on for years, learning to speak what I am thinking, and suffering through throat constriction and sore throats if I don't voice my thoughts. But green, the heart chakra? Maybe it is that I am at a time of change in my career, shifting to a new location and new responsibilities in my job...and it is a job I love, but there are new responsibilities and expectations. And why the pastel shade, the soft aqua? Could it be telling me to be gentle with myself, not to be such a critical Virgo, not to listen to my inner critic?