New Year Crafty Resolution ~ Calligraphy....

I launched a new #CraftBlogClub challenge back in January and the topic was simple, to learn a new craft or technique.  A perfect excuse to get out the beautiful calligraphy starter kit that my lovely friend Sarah gave me for my birthday and make a start on my crafty resolution.

I also have this book that I bought a while ago to help me get started.

So here are my first attempts at calligraphy....

Using the book I followed the advice of making different pen strokes first.

I kept smudging the ink.  It can take a while to dry especially if you make thick lines.

Using the guide that came with the kit, I traced the letters to practice writing them individually and then I traced my name.

Here it is freehand underneath.

Once I had finished the paper that came with the kit I bought a calligraphy pad.  I did try using a layout pad but the ink bled.  The calligraphy paper is beautiful, it's like the old fashioned parchment paper, I feel like I should be writing important letters or thoughtful poetry with it!

I started to practice more freehand using the book for guidance.

I started to feel comfortable and started to write words, without drawing guide lines first, I know I'm a maverick!

I haven't got a finished piece, but that's not what the challenge is about, I'll keep practising and keep posting updates on my progress.

Have you started a new craft this year? I can't wait to see what everyone has created and how you have got on with this challenge.  If you have written a blog post please add the link to the linky below so everyone can have a look, this is the fun bit of the challenge, seeing what you have all made. Don't worry if you haven't posted it yet, the linky will be open for the next 3 weeks.

In tomorrow night's #CraftBlogClub chat we'll be talking about this challenge and sharing photos of what we have done. I hope you will join us at 7pm (GMT, 15th March) over on Twitter, it doesn't matter if you haven't joined us before, we are a friendly bunch and welcome new crafters every week.

fizzi~jayne x