Glue Gun Review

How many glue guns do you possess?  If you have been using them for years like I have you will know that it is easy to go through a range of glue guns until you find the one you really like and need for your uses.  In the video below I share with you some of the ones that I have used.  

I do have my eye on another one I saw in the hardware store but I will have to save up and take another look just to make sure I wasn't enamored by the 'new store syndrome'

Check out the review below.

While you are there you can also check out some cool ways to create your own stencils using a glue gun.  

Glue Gun Stencils

You can make the glue guns to the size that you choose and custom them for a particular project that you may have.

Glue gun stencils - Amanda Trought

You can use them with spray paints that you may have, brushes and sponges will also work.  Let me know what your favorite stencil that you have made is.  

I have also used the glue gun to create outlines for art journals and paintings.

They are in the long run economical to use because you are create the stencil to suit your needs, and can be used in a variety of other projects.  They are also unique to you which is great especially if you are planning on selling your work further on down the line.

I would love to see what kind of designs you can come up with for your glue gun stencils.

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Art Supplies

Darice Glue Gun Mini Hot Temp
from: CreateForLess

Glue Guns on Amazon

Check out these additional supplies on Amazon

Creating in Faith - Word for the Week - Known

Welcome to Creating in Faith episode 215 for the Podcast, where I discuss a word and how it can be related to a creative practice.  The word for this week is Known.

Listen to the Podcast 

What do you want to be known for, by?  What do you know about yourself and your creativity?  Do you know why you create and what gets you going each and every day in your studio or creative space.  

Spend some time exploring the idea in your art journal and you never know where it will eventually lead to - maybe a new body of work, new art supply or tool, and a deeper understanding of your creative practice.

Thank you for listening, stay blessed and be a blessing!

Art Prints

The art in this piece is available as a framed print HERE and also as a variety of products.

Amanda Trought - Framed Pastel Painting

The framed prints come in a variety of sizes and styles.  The image is also available on cushion covers as seen below.  I would love you to check out some of the other designs available for purchase.

Amanda Trought Designs - Cushions covers -  40x40cm

Amanda Trought Cushion Cover detail - 40x40cm

Join me on Patreon

Click HERE

Inspirational Shorts - Poet - Gwendolyn Brooks, Product Review - Neocolors Pastels

Welcome to the post today.  You are in for a double TREAT!  Inspirational shorts will be changing slightly, I will be sharing on the podcast a poet.  This month the poet I have chosen is Gwendolyn Brooks.  Each and every month I will either feature one poet or more and on the blog give you a bit of information about them.  On the YouTube channel Inspirational Shorts will be a short product/art supply or book review.  I hope that you are staying blessed and inspired.  Let me know who your favorite poet is.

Gwendolyn Brooks

Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, for Annie Allen, making her the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize. Throughout her prolific writing career, Brooks received many more honors. A lifelong resident of Chicago, she was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968, a position she held until her death 32 years later. She was also named the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress for the 1985–86 term. In 1976, she became the first African-American woman inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. (Wikapedia page)  More Information HERE

The poem that I will read today is called a Song in the Front Yard and you can find the words HERE while you are there check out the Poetry Foundation, they have information about a wide range of poets.

Inspirational Shorts - Review

Weekly reviews on art supplies, tools and books to inspire and encourage.

Neocolor Water soluble Wax Pastels

In this video I share a review of the water soluble wax pastels known as Neocolor.  They are lovely to use and can work well on a variety of surfaces.

You can check out the variety of sizes that they come in HERE

Arts and Wellness Wednesday Art Journals and More - Episode 213

Welcome Arts and Wellness Wednesday, slightly later than planned.  I hope you get a chance to view the video below if not I have shared some of the images below that I spoke about.

listen to the podcast

This is where Cole plants himself, directly behind me so I have to step over him to get passed.  I built a barrier of boxes which he is not amused by and every now and then he jumps over and is practically sitting in my lap!

These are the hand made books that I made at my book binding course, it was really great, all in all we made 5 different books an I try and make sure that I make at least one every few weeks.

Art Journal Page Technique

Art Journals/books I made in Book binders course

 I love making my own books and quite often make them out of alternative materials - fabric, recycled, old prospectus and more.  There is always a wealth of materials available for you to work with.

Art Journals - Amanda Trought

This is a sneak peak at some of the other things that I have been creating - Sculptural Looms with embellishments and stitching projects.

I look forward to hear what you have been up to and seeing some of the images that you share.

Watch the Video

Check me out on Patreon

Check out the Network

Creative Gardener - New Posts

Check out the Patreon Blog

I would love you to come and join me on my gardening Patreon Blog where I share my new post about working in the garden.  I hope that it goes on to inspire you to decide what you want to do in your garden space and bring your creative flair into growing your plants

Also Check out some creative projects made from the

wood in my garden,

Come and check out my Patreon Blog and see see some more information and some of the tiers on offer.

Creative Gardener

You can also check out my arts network

Check it out here

Creative Reflections Podcast

Creative Reflections 

Listen to the podcast

Creating in Faith - Word for the Day - Serene - listen to the podcast

10 Essential Laws for Living Exhibition - Barbados

I was part of the Exhibition 10 Essential Laws for Living in Barbados recently and did a brief interview with Artist and Curator Margaret Herbert.  Take a look at the video to see some of the work that was on display.  

Art Exhibition in Barbados

Participating artists include: 

Adrian Richards, Amanda Trought, Cy Hutchinson, Doreen Edwards, Juliana Inniss, Lisa Smith Fields, Margaret Herbert, Mark Gajadah, Oneka Small, Roslyn Watson, and Walter Bailey.  You can find most of them on Facebook to see more

of their work.

Come and create with me!

Join me on Patreon

Come and Check it out

Stay Blessed and be a blessing

Focused Attention - Podcast Episode

Welcome to today' Creating in Faith podcast episode  210.  In today's episode I talk about being Focused.  What does it mean to you, how are you focusing on things that you would like to do, need to do in the midst of everything that is going on.

Are you creative, do you have a regular routine, are there things that you are working on at the moment.  I would love to hear from you, how you blend a creative activity into your day to day living.

Art Journal - Spirited

Also today you will find an art journal that I made, working spontaneously creating a mini journal to put additional thoughts within.

Art Journals can be made from a variety of supplies, in the video I make a small one from a variety of card and patterned papers.  Check what type of supplies that you may have around and utilize these 

You can also use a variety of hand painted papers as well that you may have in your stash

Let me how you get on with the art journal, join me on the YouTube Art Channel and subscribed to hear about more videos.  Stay blessed and be a blessing.  

Join me on Patreon

Check it out HERE

Arts and Wellness - Homemade Masks Selection

Welcome to Arts and Wellness post.  It is important to make sure that you are taking part in a creative activity on a daily basis, pretty much as you would exercise, get fresh air, eat your fruit and veg - creativity, is on that list (well at least it is for me).

When you spend additional time on a daily basis in an activity that can either take your mind off events, or help you express how you feel about the events or anything else that is going on in your life it will definitely have an impact on your health and well-being.  I have also been making time for reading, and other creative projects that allows me to come whole to my creative practice.

I have also spent quite a few weeks when the Covid 19 virus started to grow in the news looking at ways in which, if needed I could create my own protection, especially in light of the shortage of masks for those who were on front line services who are exposed to the virus more frequently than I would.

Making Masks

I decided to make a mask and you can see what things I considered that were more suited to how I wanted the mask to fit me.

 

After mark 4 I came up with one that felt comfortable and effective for me.  You don't need a sewing machine to sew them and they are really easy to put together.  

Let me know how you get on, do you have a favorite out of the ones that you have seen.  Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Agrofest - Yearly Agricultural Event in Barbados

Agrofest is an annual agricultural event held in Barbados

Join me in the video below and check out some of the other videos available if you would like to start 'Growing Your Own on a Budget.

I only got a snippet of Agrofest as my main focus was getting some plants which I did.  Namely - Breadnut, Pommerac, Red Ginger Lilly and Sea Grapes.  All apart the breadnut is doing well - (those pesky slugs)

Recycling initiative taking place

Lots of different animals and plants on display and it is definitely well worth visiting over the 3 days of events.

Come and check out some of the other videos that I have available HERE

Creative Gardening - New Posts - What are you Growing?

Come and check out what I get up to in the Garden - my Tropical Garden

The New Normal

Things are looking very different for many around the world, how is this impacting on you.

What Food are you growing

Now might be the time that you consider growing your own food regardless of the type of space that you have, from a garden to a plant pot.

Stay blessed and be a blessing

Arts and Wellness Wednesday - World Wide Disaster Movie! Podcast

What do you do when you feel like you are one of the characters in a Disaster Movie, and you are waiting for the director to call 'Cut' but there is no director and this is real life.  You have to find ways in which to manage the emotions that you may be feeling, and ways to work through the day to day.

Depending on where you are in the world your freedom of movement may differ and you may be experiencing a variety of emotions as you try and make sense of it all, the scale, magnitude and everything in between,

In last weeks Arts and Wellness Wednesday I shared some tips that you might want to think about moving forward.  It included setting a routine/schedule for yourself - the first week that you may have been off it might have seemed like an extended holiday or weekend, but the days seem to be rolling into one so having a routine that differentiates the days will help.

Thinking about learning a new skill or picking up an old one might help with your day to day.  Check out the video below to see some of the other ways in which you can put things in place to help you cope with the emotions that may arise.

In this weeks video we look at some additional tips that you might want to put into place, especially for those who are carers.  Using art and creativity is always a great way to help express what you are feeling and it is important to acknowledge as time goes on.

Listen on the Podcast

If you would like to join me on Creative Encourager you can schedule 2 free half hour sessions to look at where you might want to take your creativity, areas of growth - see the link below

Creative Encourager - If you want to talk about creativity and the direction your going and need an ear, sign up for a FREE 30 minute call http://bit.ly/Encoura

Stay blessed and be a blessing

Art Journal Page - Girl with Throw

I have resumed my regular art journal page each week on my YouTube channel, if I am able to do more to share some of my processes depending on the supplies used.  In this video I am using Inktense pencils which are one of my favorites.  

Girl with a Throw

Once complete I mount the page on board and then cover with bees wax.

Supplies are available on my Amazon Page

Inktense Pencils

Bees Wax

Pallet knife

Brush

Art Board

If you have any questions leave a comment here or on my YouTube channel, hope you find some time to be creative - stay blessed and be a blessing.

Nouvel Carre Review - Inspirational Shorts

In this post I am sharing the pastels by Nouvel Carre.  They are a hard pastel and I have a few of the colours that I used when I did the 100 day pastel challenge.

You can check out the video below

Or listen to the podcast

You will also find all the resources available on Amazon  Check out some of my favorite supplies HERE

Also take a look at some of my other Pastel Videos and Reviews below

100 Pastel Paintings

Stay Blessed and be a Blessing

Art Supplies Review - Inspirational Shorts

In this post I share with you a selection of product reviews as part of Inspirational Shorts, to share with you the way in which I use a range of supplies and also how I have found using them.

I would love to hear what your experience of these supplies are.  You can also check out my Amazon page to see other supplies and resources you will be able to see.

Conte Pastel Pencils

Bees Wax Review

Apple Barrel Review

You can also Listen to the Podcast to hear about the Inspirational Shorts reviews as well.  Click on the link or the image.

Thank you for joining me, stay blessed and be a blessing

Artists Talks - Nala, Malcontent - A Work in Progress

Recently spoke to artist Nala at his exhibition Malcontent.

Artists - Alan Springer, Heather Dawn Scott, Nala, & Oneka Small

He spoke about the way that his work can be viewed as social commentary of the things that he hears and experiences.

Artist Nala

The link between the art created and mental health and well-being, the things that inspires him as he works.

Artist Nala shares insights to his art

And where he sees his work moving to next, the combination of theater and expression is one of the ways in which he addresses topics and themes that arise out of his creativity both as the art on the canvas and in a theater setting.

Artist Nala