Ventures into art journaling

I've been gathering courage to start with art journaling, and here's my first spread in the smaller Dylusions journal. I definitely needed help starting out, so I got some books on Kindle. This is based on Sue Bleiweiss' The Sketchbook Challenge.

I'll also enter with this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday-challenge for "Make your own background".

First I die cut some circle-shapes and glued them down with matte medium. The basecoat is teal acrylic paint, which I then coated with quinacridone nickel azo gold wash (yes yes, a total Donna Downey ripoff). I added some stenciling with light modeling paste, and then realized it should've been under all the paint, so I had to paint it again with teal (live and learn). After that I used Simon Says Stamp Lots of dots - stamp set to stamp both the open circles with Archival in Watering can (great grey!) and the filled in circles with Distress Paint in Seedless Preserves.

I used Unity's Layers of Life november 2013 kit in a couple of places too, in Archival sienna. The shading around the diecut circles was made with different Big Brush pens, and the doodling with various black and white pens. When you compare this photo to the full spread, you don't see any of the big shiny (white) splotches on the diecuts. That is because of it being pearlescent acrylic I spead on the circles and it only catches light in certain angles.

Stamped some gesso with bubble wrap and dripped some Dylusions in black marble on top.Shaded around the pages with some Big Brush too.

Had I gone for the traditional approach here I would've added some quotes, but I very seldom come across a quote I personally feel like fits me - unless you count Demotivational...

I'm really happy with the right page, not so much with the left one.