Creating an Art Journal Page - Use up your Supplies

 

Join me in the studio as we work on an art journal page, the aim is to use up supplies that you have been sitting on and allowing to dry up and feel neglected.

It is time for you to dig them out and give them a new lease of life, create an art journal page with me, or create something else with what you have.

I am looking forward to see what you create and you join the journey.

Join me on Patreon for some behind the scenes look at the work that I do, for as little as $3 you get monthly art videos, downloadables, printable backgrounds and much more!

CHECK IT OUT HERE

Arts and Wellness Café - Word for the Week - Profound. Art Journal Page, Slow Stitching and More!

Come and join me in the Arts and Wellness Café where the Word for the Week has been Profound.  Check out the video below to hear about some of the things that I am sharing:

Here are the time stamp sections - 

Welcome: Click Here

Slow Stitching: Click Here

Use Your supplies - Art Journal Page - Click Here

Explore and Express - Click here

One of the things that helped me through our first lock down as we dealt with the Global pandemic was to start stitching, and I completed many projects. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed slow stitching and creating projects.

Here are some projects that I am working my way through and I have been creating some smaller pieces as well.

This piece incorporates stitching with hand dyed wax resist fabrics

I like working on more than one piece at a time and here are some additional stitched pieces that are coming to a close. (I will share in another post.

Art Journal Page

You also get to see in this video how you can get rid of some of your neglected art supplies and create a lovely art journal page and here are some that I shared.

Applying the paint and using stencils to create a design enables you to make some really lovely background pages ready for when you next have time to work on them.

I had intended to use several stencils, but only used two for these pages.  It was lovely working in the journals, I had one main one and used two others to use up the extra paint I had on the pallet.  The paints are reasonably priced and over they years I have collected quite a few, so want to use some of them up before they dry out.  I have put the links to some of the supplies I used.

Supplies:

Folk Art - https://amzn.to/2Rw6MT9

Martha Stuart Paints - https://amzn.to/3yrKqTr

Apple Barrel - https://amzn.to/3vdYhL0

Stencils (one of the stencils is a recycled lid) - https://amzn.to/3hL5bmY

Come and join me on Patreon

For as little $3 each month you have access to patron only content and will receive the following

• 30 minutes of creativity monthly video Tutorial

 Reference Photos

• You will have access to two albums of high quality reference photos.  You can use them in your own art, art journals etc
• 2 Additional downloadable backgrounds

 Art Journal Bundle (after 2 months) Includes

• 5 Downloadable Art Journal Backgrounds
• 31 Art Journal Prompts Book
• 4 Handmade Art Journal Tutorials
• 4 videos - Creating Backgrounds

Monthly Art Videos 

• You will receive a short Monthly Art video sharing either a technique/Supply/Hints/Tips or prompt
• Weekly Inspirational shorts video
• Patron only content
• Arts and Health Network Free membership
• Early access to any discounts promotions 
• A copy of my free eBook "25 ways to fit Art and Creativity into your Life 

• My undying gratitude & genuine thanks! 

CHECK OUT PATREON HERE

Creating in Faith - Word for the Week - Profound

It is great to share this weeks episode of my Realityarts Podcast.  Every Monday we have a series called Creating in Faith - which looks at a weekly word and the need for us to create on a daily basis regardless to how we feel as being creative impacts on our health and wellbeing in a positive way.  You just have to find the way that suits you best.

Listen in to this weeks episode.  The Word for this week is Profound

 

 If you missed the previous week you can catch it below

Creating a Fabric Art Journal Page

When I am sewing I save all of the fabric scraps. No smaller than say an inch in size. There are so many things that you can do especially if you have amassed a large amount. Usually what I will do is stitch them into some small wall hangings or art pieces and they can often go to make quite larger pieces of art.

When I don't want to sew I will take them and add to an art journal - you create a fabric journal page that you can paint on in your art journal. I am sharing in this video one of the pages I sometimes create when I want to use up some of my scraps. - check out the video above.

 Art journal page

They are a mixture of jeans material and lighter Africa fabric material. They have been glued to the page using pva glue and then covered with gesso so that it will absorb the paint better.

Adding paint of choice becomes easier once you have added the gesso and you also create lovely texture as you can see from the different fabrics.

Sometimes you need to step away from the piece and as I am applying paint I can see a figure coming through but need to give it time to establish itself. Check out the video to see more. I will be doing some more work

 

I hope you enjoy playing around with a fabric art journal page and see where it takes you.

Arts and Wellness Cafe - Word for the Week - 'Eager'

 

Arts and Wellness Cafe - Amanda Trought

The word for this week is 'Eager' and we look at the way in which our eagerness translates to our creativity.  What is it that you are eager about in what you do. I love to create and so will find many different types of materials to make something.

I shared above a recycled art journal that I transformed and then used what I had to cover it, it will be a space where I can add to the pages when I want and just create.  Sometimes when I approach an art journal page all I want to do is just add an outline and in this case this is what I did on one of the pages so that I can come back another time and it would already be started

I shared some of the fabric art pieces that I have been working on and decided to work on this one over the next week or so, I am busy looking for fabric to be the backing.

Beading is also an important part of the piece for me and I will be spending time looking through some of the beads that might be just right.

Here is another one that I am looking forward to working on and I also have a wood burned wooden piece to add to it.

I also share details of the book by artist Shimoda and her book - The Art of Care Giving you can check her out HERE or http://www.shimoda-accessories.com

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Come and join me on Patreon and see Patron only videos and posts - Behind the scene footage and more! Check it out HERE

Creative Gardener - Harvesting Cassava

Come and join me in the Creative Garden this week as we look at harvesting Cassava from my garden.

You can see more images on my Patreon Blog

Creating in Faith - Eager (Word for the Week)

Welcome on the Podcast today we look at a new word each week.  The Word for this week is 'Eager'.  When we think of our creativity and the words we should think about how it relates to us and how we can use the encouraging aspects of the word to motivate and propel us forward into our creative pursuits.

You can listen to the podcast below.

Did you catch last weeks Art Journal Page video and the word 'Quiet'

Thank you for watching, Stay blessed and be a blessing

Looking Back - Art Journal Page Process

 

Glad you could join me today on the blog.  In this video I share with you how I transform a page that will eventually end up in my art journal.  You see it go through the various stages as the painting progresses.

The story is of a young girl and she is looking back over her life, all the things that got her to where she is and the relationships and choices that she made.

Don't be afraid to make changes in your creative work and over time you will begin to see how things will unfold.

Supplies used in this piece

Recycled Paper - free

Brushes - https://amzn.to/3xoqkcd

Folk Art paints - https://amzn.to/2R6NRgP

Gesso - https://amzn.to/3u381as

Realityarts Podcast - New Episode for Creating in Faith

 

Welcome to a new week of creativity.  The word that starts us off this week in Creating in Faith is 'Quiet'.  I started the Creating in Faith series as a reminder first to myself that each and every day I need to show up and do something creative.

When we show up in faith, we are met with ideas, strategies, revelations, answers and more!

When was the last time you actually had a moment of quiet to gather your thoughts?  Are you able to take time out of your day just to think or are you one of those people who say they think better when there is stuff going on around them?

Join me on Wednesday for the Arts and Wellness Café where we will look at the idea of quiet in the art studio and in our creative walk.

Turning a Composition Notebook into an Art Journal

I recently brought myself a Composition notebook to create an art journal with.  The are fairly cheap and you can pick them up at the Dollar or local store.  In this video I share with you how I transform the first pages.

I wanted to use supplies that I had been holding on for a while and got a selection of handmade papers, words, atc cards and Gelatos that I had sitting in a draw.

We can sometimes be really precious about our supplies, leaving them for what we call 'best' and not ending up using them at all and before you know it the supply has dried up and you have wasted your money.

What I plan to do with this art journal is to share some of the process pages - sharing techniques and ideas so that you can try them as well in your journals.

The more I played with the page the more supplies came out and I stencilled on the page and made marks and brought the page together.

I realised how many cards and papers that I had painted on and left in the bag that I was able to use. They now have a home in the composition art journal and it is also a great escape for me to be able to be a lot freer with my supplies.

If you would like to see the FULL version of this video in 'real time' you can do so HERE on my Patreon account.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Everlasting Art Journal - Art Journal for Beginners - Video included

Welcome to the post, I created this art journal from greeting cards that I had printed out and for some reason or another just didn't use them.  They are A6 cards of a variety of colors and some have shapes cut out of them for inserts.

 

It is a lovely size to work with as it fits quite neatly in your hands.  One of the things I like with this art journal is that it uses the scraps of paper and card that you may have especially those smaller pieces from other projects.

Check out the video below to see how I have worked on the pages, and get some hints and tips of how you could use your hand made art journal.

Let me know if you have any questions about the Art Journal and pages and if you decide to make one I would love to see your results!

Creativity and Healing - with Larissa Russel and Amanda Trought

I recently joined Larissa Russell of Creative U and we spoke about the healing power of creativity you can listen HERE or catch the video below

Watch the Video of the session

 

Arts and Wellness Café - Discernment and Creative Projects

 

Welcome to Arts and Wellness Café.  As the week comes to a close we look at the word Discernment and how it using it impacts not only on your life but your creative pursuits as well. 

Here are some of the projects that I shared in the video up close.  The first one is a stitched project, one of my first and I really enjoyed creating.

The other project that I am working on is trying to extract the pigments from flowers and using it to dye fabric. Here I have been using a mortar and pestle 

This is the extracted pigment and the pulp from the flower

Here is the flower - the Clitoria Ternatea and the way it dyes the fabric.  You can also use it as a herbal tea - tastes delicious!

For a herbal tea you place the flowers in the cup and pour hot water onto it.  The blue color is then released.  If you add a couple of drops of lemon juice it turns the water purple instead of blue.

I will be sharing more from the results that I have gotten from other fabrics that have been dyed.  If you want to see behind the scenes of some of the work I am doing you can join me on Patreon

Join me on Patreon

For supplies, if you are interested in creating using the same supplies you can check them out below:

Embroidery Thread - https://amzn.to/3mFeYLC

Hand Embroidery Stitches at a glance - https://amzn.to/2PSpxPy

Fabric squares - https://amzn.to/2PMxExn

Pestle and Mortar - https://amzn.to/3mBdi67

Coffee filter - https://amzn.to/3s8YVHa

Clitoria Ternatea Seeds - https://amzn.to/2QiJb77

Clitoria Ternatea Flowers - https://amzn.to/39ZlwzB

Creating in Faith - Discernment - Podcast Episode

 The new podcast episode for Creating in Faith and the word for the week is Discernment

How do you see your creativity, do you have time to reflect and look at your direction and think about where you want to go, what tools you want to use and how you want to use them?

Very often we can find reasons for not moving in the direction we want, and one of the biggest reasons is that we just didn't think it was possible or had not given it much thought.

You can also join me for Arts and Wellness Café where we will look at the word even more and ways it can benefit our creative journey.  Take a look at last weeks word which was about being mindful in your creative journey.

As always, stay blessed and be a blessing

Art Journal Flip Through - Recycled Tin

 

I recently decorated an art supply tin and you will be able to see it in the video attached, alternatively click HERE to be take to it on YouTube.

It is fairly straight forward to create if you want to create one for yourself.  This tin held 6 Water soluble crayons and measures approximately 5 x 6.   You get to see a flip through of the art journal at the end of the video.

After covering the tin with masking tape I created some texture by adding gesso through a stencil onto the surface.   I did this to both the front and back and once dried painted with acrylic paint.

 

To the inside of the I added masking tape and painted then cut collaged water color paper or you can use card to fit on the inside of the tin.  This is applied using a glue gun. 

 I added words using a white marker on the front and made additional markings with the glue gun.

You are then ready to go and use your journal.  You can check out some of the supplies below

Gesso - https://amzn.to/39MhBGn

Masking Tap - https://amzn.to/3dQVIqT

White Pen - https://amzn.to/2PzLm6k

Brads - https://amzn.to/3wuVUV1

Watercolor Paper - https://amzn.to/2Ra8VDp

Glue Gun - https://amzn.to/39KSsMm

Glue Sticks - https://amzn.to/3miLZgI

Craft Paint - https://amzn.to/3cSzlSt

 

 

Arts and Wellness Café - Joyous

Come and join me for the Arts and Wellness Episode with the theme Joyous.  Where does your joy come from and how does it flow into your creativity?

You can also hear the Creating in Faith perspective on the podcast 

Art Journal Page - Ideas

Here are a couple of Art Journal Pages that I did recently. The first one is called Triumphant and I start out with a blank page adding gesso and Neo Colors water soluble wax crayons, then the face developed and I allowed it to take shape.

In the second video I start out with two figures on the page and spent time playing with color until their features started to form.

The supplies used are Neo-Colors - https://amzn.to/39DL45d

Gesso - https://amzn.to/3rL98JU

If you have not yet subscribed to my YouTube channel why not consider doing so and click on the notification bell.

Make Art for the Earth with Us! - Check out this Amazing Deal!

 

Do you want to make art and help the earth at the same time? Tam from Willowing Arts has brought together 45 Mixed Media Artists to make a contribution to the 'fight against climate change'. This is how the Art for Earth Project  was born and you can be part of it! 

This is the second time she is running this project, last year she raised £25,000 for Treesisters, an organisation that plants trees all over the world! This year, she is running it again and I’m part of it! 

Each of the artists have all contributed one or more art resources (like an art course, e-book, printable PDF or other art item) to the Art for Earth Package! It contains over 85+ amazing art resources including some brand new courses that have not been published before! They were especially created for this package deal. My contribution to this package is: 

A brand NEW 5 Part Art Course - How Does Your Garden Grow, it comes with an instructional pdf. I have also included a selection of downloadable background Papers, colour pages and 2 of my Garden inspired prints and brings my two loves the studio and the garden together to create a nature inspired painting. Scroll down or click here to see a complete list of all the products in this package!

Click here to see a complete list of all the products in this package! The Art for Earth Package is valued at over £2900+ GBP, but will be sold for only £75 GBP! It will be on sale for 7 days only with 25% of all sales going to an amazing organisation that helps improve our climate. They are called Tree Sisters and they are a group of women spread out all over the world with a mission to plant trees and a focus on tropical reforestation. 

They say: “Vision & Mission of Tree Sisters: Tree Sisters exists to elicit collective responsibility for planetary restoration at the grass roots level with a focus on women and tropical reforestation. We are growing a global network of women who donate monthly to fund the acceleration of tropical reforestation as an expression of collective planetary care. We channel 80% of member donations to exemplary existing reforestation organisations in the tropics with whom we partner to restore ecosystems. The remaining 20% funds our behaviour change and consciousness shift work with women to reinstate feminine leadership, and normalise collective ownership of planetary restoration.” 

This package contains some fabulous art resources by some of the most popular mixed media teachers in our community! I hope you'll buy this wonderful package of awesome art goodies and help the earth while making art!  See the list of resources HERE

 Make Art for Earth! Buy Here