by andreawalford | Jan 27, 2015 |
Happy Tuesday! I am absolutely thrilled to be bringing you my first video tutorial as a Donna Downey Studios Artist Gang 2015 member! You can see my post on Donna’s blog HERE along with all past Artist Gang posts.
I don’t know about you, but I find that firsts are always hard – especially with something like this. Although I have been art journaling and creating mixed media pieces for about 3 years now, Donna’s Artist Gang is the first “design team” I have ever applied for, and having been accepted -YAY! – is the first “design team” I’ve ever been a part of. By the way, in case you’re wondering, I use the words “design team” in quotes, because Donna absolutely HATES the words “design team” LOL. So – we are called her Artist Gang:
def: a group of hard core, fearless artists, working together and love getting their hands dirty!
Let me tell you it’s a darn cool Gang to be a part of! (more…)
by andreawalford | Dec 22, 2014 |
I wanted to take a minute and share some exciting news with you all! I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I have been chosen to be a part of Donna Downey’s first ever Artist Gang! I will have the privilege of working alongside 5 other talented artists to showcase Donna’s fabulous product line.
I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I am at having this opportunity. I have always considered Donna to be my art “mentor”. Hers was the first class I ever took that moved me beyond the world of paper crafting and introduced me to the world of art journaling and mixed media. Ever since then, over the last 5 or so years, her teaching through her Inspiration Wednesdays and through her Inspired Workshops has been one of the biggest influences in my growth as an artist.
Every Tuesday on the Donna Downey Blog will be dedicated to projects and videos from the Artist Gang. For more details and to meet the other artists, please click HERE. I look forward to seeing you there!
by andreawalford | Nov 28, 2014 |
Today I wanted to share with you a new project I recently started which I am calling “Scraps of My Life”.
It’s going to be my place where I will document my stories and the bits and pieces of my life. Things that I like, things that I don’t like, my routines, my everyday, my ordinary, my extraordinary, what I think about, what I struggle with, my successes, my failures.
I find that I get so busy living life, that days, weeks and months pass in a blur. When you’re always in fast forward it’s hard to appreciate life, it’s hard to appreciate your blessings, it’s hard to learn and to grow from your mistakes. That’s why I’m hoping that this project will really help me slow down, pay attention and bring what’s important back into focus.
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by andreawalford | Nov 19, 2014 |
I am so excited and honoured to have been invited to be a guest on Ronda Palazzari’s Art Journal Conversations blog feature.
I first met Ronda at the Maya Road booth at CHA in Anaheim – I believe it was in 2011 – around the time that I had launched Paper Crafter’s Library. It was my first CHA and of course I was having the time of my life. I vividly remember when I first stepped into the Maya Road booth – I had never seen anything like it. The artwork showcasing the Maya Road products was outstanding – but I remember there was one particular artist’s work that absolutely captivated me.
I spent hours in the Maya Road booth soaking it all in, taking tons of photographs. Imagine my delight when I got to meet the artist. Of course I peppered her with questions about what mediums she had used and how she had done it. At the time I was still in the “totally captivated by, but scared to death of mixed media phase”. She was so patient and so friendly and she didn’t mind my questions at all. I was in awe of her.
That was my first experience meeting Ronda. Over the years since then I’ve followed Ronda’s blog and we’ve featured her a number of times as part of the Paper Crafter’s Library Featured Artist/Designer Spotlight. I consider Ronda to be one of my “art mentors” – as I’ve learned a lot in following her blog and reading her book and trying out what she has shared in my own artwork.
I would like to extend a big thanks to Ronda for her invitation. I hope you pop on over and check out the feature.
by andreawalford | Nov 16, 2014 |
Hello 43! I’m happy to see you!
As that thought crosses my mind, the realization of it startles me. Am I really? Is happy really the right word?
I take a minute to sit in quiet reflection, examining my heart, examining my mind. There is only silence, a feeling of peace, contentment, and surprisingly… happiness.
I certainly didn’t approach 42 with such equanimity. Or many of my other birthdays before that, for that matter.
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by andreawalford | Nov 14, 2014 |
Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free video tutorial series where I show you how I created one of my art journal pages from start to finish. Each and every Art Journal Express video tutorial is in “fast forward” mode and then narrated so that you can see each and every step and hear my thoughts behind my process without having to sit through a loooong video.
Have you ever noticed that for many of us, it seems to be our natural tendency to focus on the negative aspects of life – the woulda, coulda, shoulda, if only, I wish, why….rather than the positives around us?
This is something that I drive myself crazy with sometimes. I don’t know if it’s a symptom of a Type A personality, a symptom of being a perfectionist, some profound flaw in my personality, human nature, or a combination of it all – but I seem to struggle endlessly with this. Every day, every week, every month I have to continually remind myself that I am blessed – I have so much to be grateful for. Or as my oldest son likes to say “It could be worse…” (more…)
by andreawalford | Nov 7, 2014 |
Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free video tutorial series where I show you how I created one of my art journal pages from start to finish. Each and every Art Journal Express video tutorial is in “fast forward” mode and then narrated so that you can see each and every step and hear my thoughts behind my process without having to sit through a loooong video.
Today’s art journal page is called Define Yourself – and it evolved out of an ongoing dialogue that I have been having within myself about life. I don’t know if it’s a factor of age (I’m turning 43 next weekend), the fact that I’m officially in my “mid-life” – but I’ve been finding myself thinking a lot about how I define who I am and how I am living my life.
When we are pulled in so many different directions and we shoulder so many different responsibilities I think that it’s easy to start letting our days become dictated by the expectations that are placed on us, and that we place on ourselves. Day after day our time gets filled up with the things that we need to do and that we feel like we should be doing. (more…)
by andreawalford | Oct 30, 2014 |
Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free video tutorial series where I show you how I created one of my art journal pages from start to finish. Each and every Art Journal Express video tutorial is in “fast forward” mode and then narrated so that you can see each and every step and hear my thoughts behind my process without having to sit through a loooong video.
The art journal page I am sharing with you today is a classic example of stepping out of your comfort zone and learning to live with the fact that not everything is always going to turn out.
When I sat down to create this page I already had a pretty good idea in my mind as to what I wanted to create. Every since I purchased my Liquitex Professional Spray Paints I’ve been wanting to play around with them and see what kinds of things I could do with them. My thoughts on this page was to create a colourful gradient effect on a chipboard title – which I did. (more…)
by andreawalford | Oct 24, 2014 |
Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free video tutorial series where I show you how I created one of my art journal pages from start to finish. Each and every Art Journal Express video tutorial is in “fast forward” mode and then narrated so that you can see each and every step and hear my thoughts behind my process without having to sit through a loooong video.
Whew! I can’t believe another week is over – time seems to be flying at a breakneck pace. So much creating I want to do, so little time!
I actually was actually feeling pretty happy this week because I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in my studio. Registration for the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Cards 2014 class yesterday over on Paper Crafter’s Library has been going strong so I decided to start working on another online class – this time one that focuses on some mixed media techniques for card makers. I’m pretty excited about the cards I’ve been coming up with and look forward to being able to share some sneaks with you maybe next week.
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by andreawalford | Oct 17, 2014 |
Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free video tutorial series where I show you how I created one of my art journal pages from start to finish. Each and every Art Journal Express video tutorial is in “fast forward” mode and then narrated so that you can see each and every step and hear my thoughts behind my process without having to sit through a loooong video.
When I got up this morning I was feeling so tired and drained and a little grumpy. My stomach felt like it was cleaved to my backbone because I had been fasting since 6:30 pm last night and I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat until I had gone for my blood work this morning at 8:10 am. (more…)
