My First Journal Pages

I am so excited - this new year is bringing all sorts of new arty adventures for me and this is one of them.   My first attempt at art journaling. I've always been interested in art journals but never had the confidence to give it a go. I'm a stamper - enjoying the safety of an already 'drawn' image that I just have to add colour too. I've always enjoyed messing about with inks and making my own background pages, but an art journal has always felt a bit daunting... BUT - inspired by The Craft Barn's new challenge and some great tutorials I've had a bash.

The Craft Barn's theme is 'Buildings' which we can interpret our own way. I dug out the one stamp of a house I have and because it also says welcome I came up with the idea of welcoming the New Year in with some resolutions for me at Home!  I don't normally do resolutions because I'm rubbish at sticking to them, but thought if I made them part of an ongoing project I might stand more chance.  

I kind of lost track of what I did to the page - I started with a layer of Gesso and added distress stains and then just spritzed, inked and used some background stamps til I was happy. I added the stamped houses, both directly to the page and on torn scraps which I inked. I used a couple of free Craft Stamper magazine stamps - I don't have chandeliers in my home but thought they added a bit of glamour - and I only look like this first thing in the morning ! I added a touch of sparkle round the edges and some shimmery stars just to give it that New Year celebration feel. I also used my 'new from santa' Dymo label machine - it's only one of the basic embossing ones but I love it and anything that stays still long enough gets stuck with a name tag!

I'd really appreciate your comments - please speak freely, tell me if you think something doesn't work, as a first attempt I'm quite pleased but I want to learn how to improve.

As well as the Craft Barn I'm sharing this at -

Allsorts - New Beginings
Gingersnaps Creaqtions (Random Redhead Challenge) - Candelabras. Chandeliers and Candles
Fashionable Stamping  - Anything Goes with your new stash (My Dymo Label maker)

Thanks for stopping by....Esther xx