A New Adventure

My Tell Your Story art journaling class with Elsie and Rachel has sadly come to an end. I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoyed this class. I have always been a journaler of sorts. In the past I've done several different types, ranging from simply making lists in my daily planner to creating very artsy and detailed layouts for my scrapbooks. But I had never committed to journaling on a daily basis.

And I want to.

One of my goals for this year is to do something creative every day. I find when I make the time to create I am more relaxed and productive in all the other areas of my life. But, I had been struggling to find a way to balance my need to create with the real life time demands. I love scrapbooking. And I firmly believe there is no one way to scrapbook. I am a "hybrid" in every sense of the word. I scrap with paper and glue. I scrap digitally with my laptop and Photoshop Elements. I scrapbook both 8.5x11 and 12x12 pages. I make mini-albums. But the stress of creating a layout - or even part of a layout - everyday was really overwhelming. My scrapbooking is very much a story driven process. And let's be honest, not every day has a story that I want to tell. But every day does bring new feelings and experiences that can be documented. I found keeping an art journal was really the perfect fit. I put much less pressure on myself regarding my journal pages than I do my scrapbook pages. Art journaling was easier and faster to conceptualize and complete for me. I am just in love with this direction in my creative journey.

So, I was particularly excited when of my Tell Your Story classmates Janel organized a 30-Day Journal Challenge through her blog. I love the ongoing commitment to keeping up with my art journal, and the added accountability of participating in a group helps keep me on target with my goals. The Challenge started yesterday - and I am loving what I am seeing in our Flickr Group!

Here are my first two pages.

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