More ICADs

I am still on track and all caught up on my ICADs. You can view the challenge here.

If you haven't been following me the last couple weeks you can see all my cards for 2016 on Pinterest in my Index Card a Day 2016 folder.

And if you are interested, I have a folder for 2015 as well. 

I have now completed 25 days of the 61 day challenge. Yay me!

Day 22: Neon Sign

I had no idea what to do with this prompt so I Googled 'neon', saw a bunch of "Open" signs and decided to try and recreate that glow that neon has.

I used acrylic paints for the actual neon and Inktense pencils to create the glow.


Day 23: Winter

Again, another prompt that didn't really speak to me (and we just had Snowflake as a prompt a couple days prior!)

I grabbed my Inktense pencils, did a quick sketch of some mittens, added water to soften the color and called it good.


Day 24: Magenta

I am really not crazy about most of the prompts this week! (and we have a couple more later in the week that really don't appeal to me!)

I have nothing that I would classify as the color Magenta (which made the challenge even harder) lol  
I painted everything with acrylic paints. The petals are Black Cherry Delta Ceramcoat.
I stenciled the white flowers (it was the closest stencil I had to clouds lol)

The stamp is actually cut from a Gelli print using a Cuttlebug cutting die from the new Lost and Found die set. The button is die cut (from the same set) from a scrap of blue/gray scrapbook paper.


Day 25: Song

This idea came to me as I was falling asleep last night. I am very happy that I remembered it this morning. :-)

I love Disney movies and Cinderella is my favorite. I think the song 'A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes' is beautiful.

This may not be exactly what the song was about but it works for me.  

The bed/sleep section is drawn and colored with Prismacolor pencils...black and cool gray.

The dream is drawn with black Prismacolor pencil and colored with Inktense pencils.

I think I like the gray section better....mostly because the dream girl's eyes are a bit wonky lol

I hope you all have an awesome weekend and I will be back with more ICADs sometime next week. :-)

Art is what keeps me going

Today is not a great day. I am feeling very achy. Thank goodness I work from home and can stop for a few hours and go create something. It is the best medicine in the world!


Today is the last day of week 3 of the Index Card a Day challenge. I can't believe how fast it is flying by. Then again I can't believe we are half way through 2016 either!  Geez, before you know it it will be Christmas....I better get started with my shopping!!!!!  ;-)


Day 18: Orange

I stamped the pumpkins. If you have been here before then you know this is one of my all time favorite stamps. It comes from Graphic Rubber Stamp in N. Hollywood CA. The number stamped on the side of the block (yes this is so old it is mounted on a wood block) 844-1 H.  I have no idea if this company is even around any more. I have had this stamp for at least 20 years, probably more.

Anyway, I colored the pumpkins, as well as the floor, with Prismacolor pencils. I then inked up one of my embossing folders (Henna by Darice) with Stormy Sky Distress Ink and pressed it onto my card. I then chalked over it with PanPastel Ultramarine Blue Tint.

But I got done and though.....Eh.

So I made another card for the Orange prompt.

The sun was painted with white acrylic paint. Everything else is Inktense pencils.

I am still thinking ...Eh. But it's time to move on.


Day 19: Snowflake

I inked up my Swirled Snowflakes embossing folder from Darice with Distress Ink Stormy Sky and embossed my 3x5 index card.

I then drew the girl on a separate card, colored her with Inktense pencils, cut her out and glued her onto the snowstorm.

I think it turned out pretty cute.  It might even make a cute Christmas card. :-)


Day 20: The 1960s

Again, if you have been on this journey with me over the years then you know how much I love this cat stamp! He comes from Mars Tokyo.
I thought he would enjoy becoming part of my ode to Warhol.  :-)

The background was colored with Sharpie markers.
The cats were stamped with black Staz-On ink and then colored with Inktense pencils.
I then cut them out and glued them onto the background.


Day 21: Invent a Prompt

I really did not have anything in mind. I asked hubby last night for some prompt ideas....he has horrible prompt ideas lol

So, I began looking through my Pinterest boards just to see if something would jump start my muse. I found a Halloween card with a fat toad. And then I started thinking that I want to work on drawing Chibis again and that lead to this....

Crazy how the mind works isn't it? lol

Everything was drawn with a Sharpie fine line pen and then colored with Inktense pencils.

We'll just say my prompt was 'green' LOL

Have a wonderful week!

Moving Right Along

I cannot believe that we are already into week 3 in the ICAD challenge. If you don't know what that is you can take a look here. 

I am right on track and just finished my card for today (Day 17!)

I don't think I mentioned before....all my cards are plain (unlined) 3x5 index cards. Not the greatest medium to use but that is the point....try new things, do whatever you want....it is a disposable medium with no pressure. (if you are like me you have supplies in your stash that you are afraid to use because you spent a lot or they are such nice quality that you are afraid of messing them up and 'wasting' them).

So let me get you caught up with all my new cards I created since my last post.  :-)

Day 12: TV

My brother, as a small child, was always glued to the TV. He had to be told all the time to move back or it would damage his eyes. Funny thing though, he was far more interested in the commercials than the programs lol

I drew everything with a Sharpie fine line pen. I colored the wall stripes with a Prismacolor pencil then washed Intense pencil over it. And colored everything else with Inktense pencils. (how on earth did I survive without these fabulous pencils???)

Day 13: Playground

I hated this thing! My friends would tease me until I relented and jumped on then endured the spinning until I thought I was going to lose my lunch. And then having to jump off!!! I was a year younger than my friends and thus smaller. I was scared to death to jump off when it was moving so of course they would spin it faster as I was trying to dismount. Kids are so mean! 

Again I drew it with a Sharpie and colored it with Inktense pencils.

Day 14: Venn Diagram

I admit it, I had to Google it to see what it was.  And then didn't really want to make one lol

I swirled acrylic paints in circular patterns. I then dipped a jar lid into black paint to create the circle on the right and then into white for the left circle....Voila! A crappy Venn Diagram! LOL

Even my camera didn't like it! It kept refusing to focus on the card and once it finally did the colors were WAY off. I tried to fix it in Photoshop....but I think it would take a miracle to fix this card haha

Day 15: Bouquet

A simple vase with tulips. Drawn with Sharpie, colored with Inktense pencils and then Pan Pastels sponged onto the background.

Day 16: Wallpaper

I Googled "Vintage Wallpaper" to find one I liked. 

I then attempted to recreate a small portion.

I used only Prismacolor pencils, and since I do not own every color, it gave me a very limited palette. But I am happy with the results.

And finally.....

Day 17: Landscape

This is Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport, OR.

The sky is watercolor pencil, the white lighthouse and sea foam are acrylic paint, the rest is Inktense pencil.

I am very please with this one. I try to spend less than an hour working on my cards and this one came in at about 45 minutes. Considering how easily an index card ripples and begins to disintegrate with water I am happy that it is still intact lol

So now you are all caught up with me! Tomorrow's prompt is Orange. I am not sure if I will go literal and dig an orange out of the fridge or if I will just focus on the color....I do love pumpkins! Maybe I need to pull out some pumpkin rubber stamps for this one. Stayed tuned and find out! ;-)

Almost caught up!

I spent a lot of time yesterday getting caught up on my Index Card a Day challenge. But I had skipped over Day 8.

Well, I got up bright and early this morning and got that done.

As I stated yesterday (or at least I think I did lol) I went to visit my parents this past week. We live on opposite sides of the country so that doesn't happen very often.

While I was there we spent many hours going through a box of old family photos that had been in the possession of my great uncle. We found photos of relatives from several generations and lots of pictures of people that no one knows who they are (am I the only one that finds that sad?)

But we also found my uncle's photo album from his army days. He was an army photographer stationed in Hawaii at the end of WWII.  These were his private photos and you can tell that he enjoyed Hawaii, his friends and the local culture.  He has several portraits of beautiful hula girls (that is how he labeled them "Hula girl".

With Day 8 having the prompt of Island I thought I would try to draw this lovely lady.

Now, let me say upfront.....I only draw portraits during ICAD (because I am horrible at it! lol) And I know this one is awful!!!  But at least I tried. 

So here she is. I think the shape of the face is close but the eyes and mouth are definitely off.

But I can say that Day 8 is officially done!  :-)

Now I need to get to work on the prompt for today (Day 12) which is TV......no clue what I am going to do yet but I am sure something will come to me.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Thanks, I needed that!

I just returned from a much needed vacation. It has been over a year since we have had a chance to get away.

I took a week and headed back east to celebrate my Mom's 75th birthday!

We spent some time sorting through old family photos dating back through several generations. We found this adorable pic of Mom celebrating her 4th birthday. :-)

But, remember, the Index Card a Day challenge is going on (and I didn't keep up lol)

I completed days 2 and 3 before I left.

Day 2 was Pyramid. I sponged on Distress Inks working from lightest to darkest and then splattered white acrylic paint to create the stars.  I then painted on the pyramids and sand.

Day 3 was Snoopy. He was the perfect expression of my emotions the day before I left on vacation. Snoopy was drawn in pencil then outlined with a fine line Sharpie and filled in with acrylic paint. Everything else was lined with Sharpie and painted with Inktense pencils.

And now we start heading downhill lol

Even on the smoothest of flights there is still a vibration....which made it very difficult for me to draw. I ended up going for a very quick sketch to capture my ideas.

Day 4: Typewriter

Not actually a typewriter but the suggestion of one. It was a bit better before I spilled my water on it....those darn teeny tray tables!!!  I smeared the pencil a bit trying to dab up some of the water. :-(

And since I already had out my supplies and an idea came to me, I went ahead and did day 5 (on day 4) I am such a radical lol

Day 5: Cloud

So, you have to realize I was on a plane at the time and looking out the window at the clouds. And you have to have an odd sense of humor like me lol

Once I was at my parents house I was not in the mood to work on my cards. I spent each morning chatting one on one with my mom.....working on an index card seemed like an interruption so I tried to just get them done as quickly as possible....and it shows.

Day 6: Top 10

This prompt didn't thrill me in the first place and to then have it take time away from being with my mom didn't make me happy so there you have it. lol  BTW it is my top 10 list of art supplies.

Day 7: Pinball or Bowling
As you can see I was not into this one at all.....which is sad because I really like playing pinball. Maybe I will revisit this later on.

As for Day 8, I have an idea, I just have to work my way up to making it....I will get to it eventually.

But I am home now so I spent today working on getting caught up and completed days 9, 10 and 11.

Day 9: Compass. 
I stamped the background with a map stamp, I 'very' roughly drew the states of Oregon (my home) and North Carolina (my parents home) and stamped the compass. Simple but I like it.

Day 10: Cobalt
I dribbled Alcohol Inks on a scrap piece of clear plastic (all the Cricut cartridge packages do not go to waste). I glued a snippet of newspaper onto my index card and then stamped and attached the woman to the top.

It is very hard to get a decent picture of shiny plastic!

And finally Day 11

Today's prompt is baseball.
I am not a sports fan although I have been to several major league baseball games and had a good time.
This is drawn with Sharpie and colored with Inktense pencils.

Hopefully I will now stay caught up (and finish day 8 too) and have not bored you too much.

Guess What?!

Today is the first day of the 2016 Index Card a Day challenge!!!

I have been waiting months for this to start (and then almost forgot to make my card today lol)

You can find all the info here if you want to play along.

When I saw the prompt I really had no idea what I wanted to do but when you forget until the last minute.....well I went literal. lol

The rest of the prompts for week 1 are:

Pyramid
Snoopy
Typewriter
Cloud
Top Ten list
Pinball or Bowling

Hmm, good thing I am on vacation soon. I will need all my brain cells to come up with something. :-)