by andreawalford | Oct 2, 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.
Those of you that have followed me from my earliest days online (as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator when I shared my card creations with you on the Sunny Stampin’ Blog which used to be at www.andreawalford.com) may remember me saying many, many times that I had always perceived myself to be creatively challenged. I thought that some people were born creative, and others were not. Because I had been your typical right-brained academic all my life – I just assumed I fell into the latter category. The funny thing was, despite believing that I wasn’t creative, I desperately wanted to be. I was a total creative wannabe.
So I decided to approach it the same way that I had approached many other skills in life. I started by taking a class – tole painting (i.e. folk art painting). The interesting thing about tole painting is that you don’t have to be artistic to be able to create beautiful artistic-looking pieces. You have to have the right tools and supplies, and you have to learn the techniques (i.e. the various brushstrokes) and from there you can follow patterns. I frankly often astounded myself at what I was able to create by following that process. That was when I started to believe that creativity was a trait that was inherent in all of us – we are all creative beings – some of us are just blessed with it in greater measure than others. I also realized that creativity was something that could be developed. And that was the mindset that I applied when I started scrapbooking and making cards. (more…)
by andreawalford | Sep 11, 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 based on a quote and accompanying thought I posted on my “A Fierce Fabulous Life” Facebook Page in which I talked about the fact that we often let limiting beliefs about ourselves become the biggest obstacles to making our dreams a reality. If you’re interested in seeing that post and the photo I put together with the quote, you can do so HERE.
I had styled the quote and created that post because the underlying message was one that has been on my heart for awhile now. And whenever something is on my mind and I feel as though I need to process it more, I will pull out my art journal and create a page around that thought or emotion.
Even though the page does not have my usual bright pop of colour – I love it. Maybe because it is so antiqued and aged looking it has a retrospective and reflective feel to it.
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by andreawalford | Aug 21, 2014 |
Welcome back to another Art Journal Express! This is a free video tutorial series which I started almost a year ago on www.andreawalford.com. It was originally intended to be a weekly series, however if you’ve followed me for awhile or read any of my posts within the last 6 or so months then you’ll know that life happened – I pretty much crashed and burned. As a result I had to step back from a lot of what I was doing, focus on my health and take a long hard look at my priorities and what was realistic for me.
It’s been about 4 months since I posted my last Art Journal Express and in that time I’ve made a lot of changes. My www.andreawalford.com blog is now “A Well Nourished Life” – a food and lifestyle blog where I am planning on sharing my love of food and recipe creation along with my musings about life, marriage, parenting, fitness, being a business owner….and everything in between.
I then moved the Art of Simple blog to this new domain www.andreawalforddesigns.com. This blog will focus completely on my creative designs – hence the new name “Andrea Walford Designs – The Art of Simple.” This will be my place to share my card & paper craft creations, my digital designs, as well as my art journaling and mixed media creations.
Unfortunately during the most recent wordpress update, something seems to have gotten corrupted on www.andreawalford.com and I ended up having to basically start the site from scratch. I was able to salvage my most recent posts from A Well Nourished Life. I had also thankfully already moved all my Art Journal Express posts to this domain. As to the rest of my content from when I started the blog in 2007 up late 2013 – pretty much all my old Stampin’ Up! content from the days when I was a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and running my class planning service – it seems I may have lost most of it unless I can figure out a way to retrieve it. Ugh!
I’ve started a brand new email newsletter for this site which will share creative inspiration, exclusive video tutorials, project ideas and digital downloads – so if you haven’t already I encourage you to sign up using the sign up form in the right hand side bar. Just as an FYI, the email newsletter for this site will be different than my old Sunny Stampin’ email newsletter and different than the Paper Crafter’s Library newsletter – so even if you’re on those email newsletter lists you won’t get this email newsletter unless you sign up for it.
The art journal page that I’m sharing with you today is one that I’ve called “Free to be me” and it celebrates the freedom I am once again feeling to follow my heart and my intuition and to create for the sheer joy and fun of creating, rather than creating because I am feeling as though I have to.
I felt so strange when I sat down to create this art journal page. It had been four months since I’d touched my art journal, and years since I had really done any kind of creating just for fun and just for me.
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by andreawalford | Apr 22, 2014 |
“It will all be okay”
Have you ever had someone say that to you when you felt as though you were in the midst of challenging times? It sounds so trite – yet at the same time I’ve found that in my own life – from my own personal experiences – it’s been very true. And recently – well, for the last 6-8 months – it’s a reminder I’ve needed over and over again. (more…)
by andreawalford | Apr 14, 2014 |
Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free weekly video tutorial series posted each week (typically) Monday 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.
With today’s art journal page I ended up going a little grungier than usual. Although I typically love the grunge and graffiti look I very rarely incorporate it into my own artwork. This page just seemed to have a mind of it’s own. As much as I had an idea in my head of how I wanted this page to look, as it started to come together – it didn’t “feel” right – so I just kept adding to it as I felt led.
Now when I say “felt led” I mean that I was trying very hard not to overthink things and simply listen to my intuition. For example – after I added the green, I felt as though the page was too bland – the first thing that popped to mind was to try adding some Cobalt Violet Hue through punchinella. Once that thought popped into my head – I didn’t think about it – I just did it. This has probably been one of the key “lessons” that has led to my growth as an artist – because as an artist, in order to create true to you and to your style – learning to listen to and follow you’re intuition is key.
The theme behind today’s page is very simple. If you’ve read my last few blog posts then you know that there has been a lot of chaos in my life – and that’s what the riot of colour and textures, splats and drips represents. The big black area represents stillness in the midst of the chaos and the reminder to myself that I need to take the time to slow down and just breathe. To be still – let go of the chaos, let go of my thoughts and focus on relaxing and breathing. (more…)
by andreawalford | Apr 7, 2014 |
Welcome back to Art Journal Express! It’s been awhile hasn’t it? A lot has happened in my life since I posted the last art journal express: Art Journal Express #13: “Life Is A Marathon Not A Sprint” . Nothing earth shattering per se – rather, it was as though the physical setbacks that I experienced in early February became the pebbles that started an avalanche.
It started with my leg muscle which I pulled when I slipped on the ice , a couple partial tears in my rotator cuff tendons of my right shoulder and the worsening of my prolapse (which I blogged about in my last post). I began going to shoulder physio twice a week and pelvic physio once a week. Two separate physiotherapists from two separate clinics – each told me that perhaps I was pushing myself too hard – not just in exercise. “Perhaps” was my response. While one part of me wanted to scoff, another part of me wondered whether they were right. Of course I ignored that little voice. (more…)
by andreawalford | Feb 13, 2014 |
Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free weekly video tutorial series posted each week (typically) Monday 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 story behind today’s art journal page is kind of long – but I’ve been feeling led to share this – and in order to really understand the depth of meaning this page has for me, you need to know the story behind it. I’m going to try to keep it as brief as I can, while still including relevant details. If you’re more interested in techniques than stories please feel free to skip through reading my story right to the supplies and video – I won’t be insulted – I promise 🙂
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by andreawalford | Jan 27, 2014 |
Happy Monday everyone. Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free weekly video tutorial series posted each Monday 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 began with a theme and an idea of how I wanted to artistically express that theme. My original thought going into this page was that I was going to create a page with the theme “Love Yourself”. When I was at the gym this past week as I was on the cardio equipment I started watching an interview with a Canadian Olympic athlete. The interview had already started so I don’t actually know who it was. At one point in the video she pointed out a tattoo she had on her arm which said Love Yourself. She referred to herself as quiet and kinda nerdy growing up and how over the years she had come to accept and even love herself as she was, rather than trying to be someone else.
That really resonated with me. At the time I had a vision of creating a colourful Kalaidascopic background using dye ink refills (the same refills you use to ink up your dye ink pads for stamping). I was then going to add a silhouette of a girl created out of a Dina Wakely stencil and black modelling paste and a red clear embossed heart embedded into the paste. I was then going to journal along the edge of the silhouette. As you can see – the actual outcome of today’s page is NOTHING like what I envisioned.
It all started to evolve when my background turned out nothing like I’d planned. The background that I wanted to create is one that needs to be done on a watercolor paper surface. Because my journal is not watercolor paper and I didn’t want to create in another journal, I pulled out my Golden Absorbent Grounds which I used last week and which is supposed to give your page more absorbency for working with water-based mediums. While it does do that, it’s still not the same effect as working on watercolor paper. I of course didn’t know that because this is only the second time I’ve worked with it. So, as my background evolved, it no longer fit my vision for the page.
To be honest I was going to ditch the page because it wasn’t what I wanted (i.e. in Type A personality speak it was “wrecked”). However, as I keep telling myself, you only grow as an artist by experimenting, by silencing your inner critic and allowing your intuition to take the driver’s seat. So I did. And I’m glad I did because not only do I love the result, but it really spoke to me.
The more I looked at the page as the artistic process progresses, the more I understood it’s meaning – it really came together when I “found” the quote card “Focus and Listen” – I say “found” because I don’t believe in happenstance – I believe it was meant to be found. The colour represented all that is good and beautiful in my life – the busy black pattern represented the distractions that can get in the way of fully appreciating our blessings. The blank space (now underneath the sentiment card) represented my heart (i.e. my spirit) – the quiet place at the centre of my body whose quiet whispers often get drowned out by the “noise” around it. So the end message of my page was to focus and listen to my heart – not the noise around me.
So that is the story behind today’s page. And I think for next week’s video I’m going to see if I can create the Love Yourself page I had originally been planning on creating.
I’m still working in is my Dylusions journal which you can see pictured below – and it’s the large Dylusions journal. This is the journal I’ve used in every one of my Art Journal Express Video tutorials – and this is my current go-to journal or what I call my “working” journal.
Below is a photo of the supplies I used for this page. This was another technique-intensive page.
Here are the exact supplies I used for this page: Gesso, Absorbent Ground White (Golden); Matte Gel Medium (Liquitex); Sunshine Yellow, Sunset Orange, Red Pepper, Stream and Citrus Adirondack Dye Re-Inkers; Jet Black Archival ink pad, Adirondack Gold Acrylic Paint Dabber (Ranger); Wendy Vecchi Black Embossing Paste (Studio 490/Dreamweaver); Bombay Black India Ink (Dr. Ph Martin); Damask stencil (Donna Downey/Prima); Resin heart (Melissa Frances); Affirmation Tag Kit (7 Gypsies); water bottle, paint brushes, plastic palette knife.
Here’s the video tutorial on how I made this page:
Here’s a close up of the page.
And here’s what the two page “spread” looks like in my art journal. My preference has become to use the right page for my art journaling because I know that the pages are flat underneath as they are still untouched so anything I stamp will stamp pretty clear. The other side of the 2 page “spread” – typically the left page – I use to list the supplies I used and for any directions/notes I want to remember about my page or the creative process or the supplies.
I hope you enjoyed today’s video tutorial. If you haven’t already, please be sure to subscribe to the new You Tube Channel I’ve created specifically for the Art of Simple blog. While I am going to continue to post videos to my existing channel – for Paper Crafter’s Library, this new channel is where I’m going to be posting the Art Journal Express videos as well as any other video tutorials I create as part of this blog. So please take a minute to subscribe to my new channel HERE.
by andreawalford | Jan 20, 2014 |
Happy Monday everyone. Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free weekly video tutorial series posted each Monday 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.
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by andreawalford | Jan 13, 2014 |
Happy Monday everyone. Welcome to another Art Journal Express – a free weekly video tutorial series posted each Monday 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 sat down to create the art journal page I’m sharing with you today, I was feeling absolutely zero inspiration (I created, filmed, edited and uploaded it this past Saturday). I hadn’t done any art journaling since around mid-December, and I hadn’t even touched many of my mixed media supplies. I was feeling tired and somewhat burned out after a stressful week – Paper Crafter’s Library had crashed on Sunday night so I had to pull some pretty long hours to get it back up and running and replace the content we lost at the beginning of the week. It had also been a busy week with lots of appointments and running around with the kids. And, along with starting with a new personal trainer and resuming my regular workout sessions, I started Karate last week. So by Friday night I was ready to hibernate for the weekend. Of course weekends are always busy in our household so hibernating was not an option LOL. And of course because I hadn’t had the time to do any art journaling during the week – in order to have today’s Art Journal Express I had to create and film on Saturday morning.
Now as I mentioned above, when I sat down to create I was not feeling even remotely creative. Usually when I sit down and create I either have a page theme in mind, a quote or sometimes I just know that there are certain products I want to try out. With today’s page? Nothing! So, since I was feeling kind of blah I decided I was going to apply some grey paint to my page. Now if you’ve been following me and if you know my preferred style, then you’ll know that bright colors are typically my “thing” – teal, magenta, orange, chartreuse, bright yellows – all of those colours make me happy. But I just wasn’t feeling it so I decided to pick a colour in keeping with my mood – grey. After applying quite a bit of grey I decided I needed to bring back some white so I added some white paint using a Tim Holtz Harlequin stencil. Once that was done, still not really sure where I was going with it, I decided to journal a bit about what I was feeling and thinking. By the time I had finished journaling I felt so much better so I decided it was time to add some bright pops of colour – so out came the orange and teal. At some point through that process the theme of my page revealed itself to be my one little word for the year, which is persevere (you can read about my one little word here) – so that ended up becoming my title. At that point I realized that my whole art journal page ended up being really symbolic of the process of persevering – the grey representing whatever challenge we may be facing, and the bright colours representing the rewards that come from persevering.
The journal that I’m working in is my Dylusions journal which you can see pictured below – and it’s the large Dylusions journal. This is the journal I’ve used in every one of my Art Journal Express Video tutorials – and this is my current go-to journal or what I call my “working” journal.
Below is a photo of the supplies I used for this page.
Here are the exact supplies I used for this page: Gesso, Carbon Black, Titanium White Fluid Acrylic, Teal Heavy Bodied Acrylic (Golden); Gloss Super Heavy Gel, Basics Cadmium Orange Hue Acrylic (Liquitex); Bombay Black India Ink (Dr. Ph. Martin); Blicrylic Fluorescent Orange-Yellow Acrylic paint (Dick Blick); Tim Holtz Harlequin Stencil THS016; 6″ x 6″ Mini Chevron Stencil (The Crafter’s Workshop); Canvas alphabet (Prima); Permaball Pen (Pilot – purchased through Scarlet Lime store); Cosmetic sponge, tweezers, old credit card.
Here’s the video tutorial on how I made this page:
Here’s a close up of the page.
And here’s what the two page “spread” looks like in my art journal. My preference has become to use the right page for my art journaling because I know that the pages are flat underneath as they are still untouched so anything I stamp will stamp pretty clear. The other side of the 2 page “spread” – typically the left page – I use to list the supplies I used and for any directions/notes I want to remember about my page or the creative process or the supplies.
I hope you enjoyed today’s video tutorial. If you haven’t already, please be sure to subscribe to the new You Tube Channel I’ve created specifically for the Art of Simple blog. While I am going to continue to post videos to my existing channel – for Paper Crafter’s Library, this new channel is where I’m going to be posting the Art Journal Express videos as well as any other video tutorials I create as part of this blog. So please take a minute to subscribe to my new channel HERE.
