The Index Card a Day Challenge is winding down. It makes me sad when it ends. I really enjoy getting into my art room and creating something every day.
I have a problem motivating myself to do it....it is nice to have someone else sending me daily prompts!
Here are my cards from the past week.
Day 53: Fortune
The first thing that popped into my head was 'fortune cookie'. I keep all my fortunes in a box in my ephemera drawer so I pulled that out and sifted through them until I found one I liked.
This one says "The coming month shall bring you much happiness"
I drew the scene with my Pilot Color Eno soft blue pencil and colored it with Inktense pencils.
Day 54: Aquarium
My initial thought was to draw one of those deep sea diver figurines you see in aquariums but most of the photos online had him with a treasure chest (and a knife....to fight off other treasure hunters? lol)
I decided I liked the treasure chest more than the diver. I always wanted one in my aquarium but my college roommate never let me add one.....too tacky lol I never had an aquarium after college...too much work I guess.
This was done with Sharpie pen, Inktense and watercolor pencils.
Day 55: Olympics
I was going for a vintage postcard feel.
This is Sharpie pen and Inktense pencils.
Day 56: Text or Texture
This was a tough one for me....not just figuring out what to do but actually physically doing it.
I had gone to the chiropractor earlier in the day. My shoulder was killing me. He adjusted my shoulder, then my elbow and then my wrist. Everything was so sore I could barely move my arm (for about 24 hours!!!) So drawing/painting was out of the question unless I just did finger painting lol
I ran my card through my Cuttlebug for the texture. This is a folder from a company called Life Style Crafts. No clue where I bought it....I have never seen them since. But it is very cool diamond pattern don't you think?
I then rubbed CTMH Crystal Blue ink over it and then CTMH Lagoon over the corners.
The text is also from CTMH. The "Always Grateful" set #C1559 stamped in black StazOn ink.
Day 57: Stickers
I used to be heavily into stickers. I had boxes and boxes of them. I would cover the envelopes of all my cards with them. But I misplaced them when I made the move out west and didn't find them for a couple years so I lost interest in them. As a matter of fact I bagged up most of them and sold them at my yard sale just a couple weeks ago (about 1000 stickers for 50 cents. Some little kid is now having a blast with them!
So when this prompt popped up I had very few stickers to chose from (and this is exactly the reason I never get rid of anything.....as soon as you do you find a use for it!!!) LOL
I painted a mountain lake and plopped a couple Hallmark goose stamps into the water enjoying a refreshing swim. :-)
Day 58: Graffiti
I was going to just add 'graffiti' to a wall but then decided I wanted to include the artist. :-)
I drew the girl with a Sharpie pen.
I dug around for a stencil of bricks but didn't like the one I had so I hand painted them instead.
I then painted the graffiti. (you can see the bricks peeking through on some of the lighter colors)
"Rule" was added with a fine tip Sharpie marker.
I still needed something... I had been playing with my Crazy stamps earlier in the day so I grabbed the girly looking mini bird and added her to the bottom right corner.
Day 59: Hopscotch or TicTacToe
When I was a kid we would save up colored chalk and draw our board out on the playground (and hope it lasted for a few days). You then searched for a nice flat rock (they didn't bounce as much). We would play during every recess. Do kids even play hopscotch any more or is that too old fashioned?
I painted the entire card black with acrylic paint. I then added the Hopscotch board with Prismacolor pencils. I have found that these pencils (especially the white) have a chalk like look when you write over black paint (yet they don't rub off like chalk)
I then drew and colored the girl on a separate card, cut her out and glued her down. She could have been a bit bigger. Oh well. :-)
Only 2 days left in the challenge. I am not crazy about either of the prompts so this might be a struggle lol
And of course I did do a couple other things this week.
The stuff I ordered from the HSN all day craft day on July 6 arrived last week. It is so difficult to NOT buy something. They introduce so many cool products! I only ordered 2 things (but had a couple things that arrived on AutoShip from a prior all day craft day lol)
This is a birthday card for my father in law. His birthday is not until October but my Seasonal Cutting Dies had just arrived and I had to try them out!
I used the 2 leaf dies from the new set. (my Seasonal Folders didn't arrive until after I finished the card so I guess I need to make something else) ;-)
The sentiment is from Anna Griffins Fantastic Flips card kit from clear back in January (I think). The scroll frame is from one of her Fancy Frame die sets (these sets are gorgeous!) If you ever get the chance to buy them don't hesitate....just do it! They cut and emboss beautifully.
I inked the leaves with Distress Inks and added a strip of brown, embossed satin ribbon.
It is a pretty simple card but when I gave it to hubby for his dad his first reaction was "Wow!" :-)
And lastly, I mentioned early in this post that I had been playing with my 'crazy stamps'.
That would be Tim Holtz Crazy Cats (and some birds....and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the dogs!)
I was feeling a bit down yesterday so I stopped into the local craft store (just a block from my house). They are a small mom&pop store that carries mostly high end craft supplies. It is so much fun to just browse.
Anyway, like I said, I was a bit blue so I just wandered....and found the die set for the Crazy Cats stamp set. I have the dies set for the Bird Crazy set - well I am missing the die for the round, short bird - we won't go into that as it causes arguments around here as to who's fault it is that it is gone.
So, anyway, the dies came home with me to make me feel better. And of course I needed to 'test' them.
I stamped one of the cats, colored him with Copic markers and then used the die to cut him out.
I could have lined up the die a bit better, especially at the bottom, but overall, not too bad. And much easier than hand cutting!
I think he turned out pretty cute....hmm I wonder why I think he is a HE when he is so pink?! LOL
I am going to spend some time today creating a card for him to live on.
Thank you for sticking around through all my rambling today!
I hope you are all staying cool and avoiding this heat as much as possible.
Have a fabulous weekend and Happy Crafting!!!
I am kind of sad about that.
The ICAD challenge ends on July 31. I really like the motivation to get into my art room and create something every day. I just can't seem to do it on my own.
I need to hire someone to send me a daily prompt! lol
Here are the cards from this past week.
Day 46: Lighthouse
This is Battery Point lighthouse in Crescent City, CA. We stop by every time we go over to Brookings, OR. It is just a few minutes across the border.
I used Inktense pencils and drew from a photo I had taken on a past trip.
Day 47: Monochromatic
I actually did not get this one done on the 47th day. Not that I didn't try. I started several cards and just could not come up with a good idea (so now I have a bunch of cards with random garbage on them lol)
I am not crazy about this either but at least it is done.
I used plain blue/gray cardstock. I ran it through the Cuttlebug with Darice's Fall Foliage Background folder. I rubbed white ink over the embossing then tore out the text from a sheet of scrapbook paper that had blue/gray text.
Again, nothing too great but it is done lol
Day 48: Aurora Borealis or Australis
I based the card with white acrylic and then used Gelatos for the sky and black acrylic paint for the trees. I then dotted the sky with white acrylic.
I love the creaminess of Gelatos and the gorgeous, rich colors.
Day 49: Superhero
Drawn with Sharpie pen and colored with Inktense pencils.
His hands are horrible. I think I need to practice drawing hands! But his shirt folds and tie came out nice. :-)
Day 50: Paisley
Have you never heard of the rare and exotic Paisley Fish? ;-)
I used the basic paisley shape for the body and then began doodling.
I then colored him (her?) in with Prismacolor pencils.
I wanted to wash watercolor over it for the water but wasn't sure that the pencil would resist enough so I dug around on my shelf. I found a bottle of Liquitex Glossy acrylic sealer (that says is permanent when it dries). I had picked it up at an estate sale a couple years ago (that and a matte one). Full 16 oz bottles. I think I paid a quarter a piece. I never actually read the labels, only that they were sealers. Well this stuff is awesome! It goes on like any other acrylic sealer but I was able to brush water color paints over it once it was dry and it did not become sticky or anything and retained it's glossy surface. So my fish and bubbles have a nice shine to them.
Day 51: Purple or Violet
Another one of those totally uninspiring prompts.
After several failed starts I grabbed a piece of acetate (I have lots of it from the Cricut cartridge packages lol) I cut it to the size of my index card and dribbled turquoise, cranberry red and 2 shades of purple on the back. I let them blend together and dry. I then glued it onto my card which I had rubbed Dusty Concord Distress Ink on the corners.
It still needed something and my Anna Griffin seasonal embossing die set had just arrived that afternoon so I cut out the feather in white card stock, rubbed the Dusty Concord on it and then some Aged Mahogany and glued it onto the card.
The colors are much prettier in person as it is next to impossible to get a decent picture of glossy plastic lol
Day 52: Staircase
The first thing I thought of was this picture of Tucker from many many Christmas's ago. He loved to chew on fake pine greenery (Heaven only knows why! lol) And he would sit on the steps and spy on me from behind the swags. I would glimpse him out of the corner of my eye and if I turned he would duck down. Silly baby lol
I am still not sure how I got this picture other than at that time he still like to pose for pictures (he became more camera shy in his old age)
This is my interpretation.
I used Inktense pencils (well of course I did! lol I absolutely love them. The colors are just wonderful)
So only 9 days left to the challenge. And then back to.....well I am not sure what I will go back to except maybe starting my Halloween cards lol
Until next week....Happy Crafting!
I can't really complain. The weather has been fairly mild here. We are normally in the 90s by now but not this year. Of course, I am having a yard sale tomorrow (I prefer shopping at them than running them lol) so we will probably have a record heat wave lol
The ICAD challenge is still going strong.
Some of these prompts are really testing my creativity haha
Day 39: Lens
I immediately thought....Camera
Here is my antique Baby Brownie camera. Isn't it cute?
Here is my drawing....drawn from a slightly different angle. The perspective is a bit off but everyone could tell exactly which camera it was so that works for me. :-)
Day 40: Surfboard
My first idea was a VW bus with a surfboard on top. But that seemed more like the focus was the vehicle not the surfboard. So I changed the focus.
Inktense pencils, watercolor pencils, white acrylic paint (for surf) and Sharpie pen
Day 41: Longitude and Latitude
I opted for Ohio Stadium. I don't draw buildings very often, especially not real ones or fancy ones and never a stadium. I love the front of this stadium with the beautiful arches. It is really pretty in person.
This was done with Derwent Graphitint pencils and a Sharpie pen.
Day 42: Yellow
If you know me you know how much I hated this prompt. I cannot stand the color yellow!
I painted the entire card with bright yellow acrylic paint. I then proceeded to try and cover most of it lol
I used a palette knife for the black paint, a brush for the blue (which took on a green color as it blended into the still wet yellow) and then let the red dribble down from the top. (hubby says it looks like blood lol)
I still hate yellow but I really like how this turned out.
Day 43: Mint
I didn't want to go with just the color mint as a lot of people were doing. I thought.....hmm.....Mint. Starlight mints popped into my head. I wanted to do a play on 'starlight' and remembered I had this wonderful moon. Unfortunately I have no idea where he came from. He is unmounted and I didn't write the company name on the back (which I normally do so this has me baffled)
The background is black acrylic paint which I then splattered white paint on with a tooth brush to create a starry field. I stamped the moon on a new card with black StazOn ink, colored him with Inktense pencils and cut him out. The mint was hand drawn on a separate card then painted with Inktense pencils and highlighted with white acrylic paint.
Day 44: Rainbow Making Machine
This one came to me as I was falling asleep the night before.
In case you didn't know, rainbows are made from Kitten Whiskers and Flower Petals which are lovingly hand-cranked through the machine by tiny fairies.
The machine is drawn with Sharpie pen and shaded with a #4B graphite drawing pencil, The fairy was painted with Twinkling H2Os (her skin was colored with Prismacolor pencil) and the rainbow is Inktense pencils.
Day 45: Play on Words
This one is a little hard to see. I drew it with my soft blue Pilot Color Eno pencil. I love how smooth the color glides onto the paper.
Anyway, I loved how it looked and decided I didn't want to go over it with anything else to darken the image.
And as for non-ICAD related projects...
My sister has a birthday coming up soon. I found this pop-up card at Lori Whitlock's site a few months ago and thought it would make a cute birthday card.
Every time I go there I find the most adorable files!
This is the front (not part of Lori's file) I would go into Design Space and tell you where I got the 'Happy Birthday" and the cake but DS is acting up and won't let me open the file. A quirk that happens sometimes. :-(
And this is the inside (the file from Lori Whitlock). I added the decoration to the utensil crock and the little rug on the floor.
I embossed the floor piece to look like a tile floor using Close To My Heart Quatrefoil folder.
The rug says "Let someone else bake the cake this year".
That about covers it for my week. Tomorrow is my yard sale. I am unloading a lot of stuff that was taking up valuable real estate in my craft room. Fingers crossed that I make some money (so I can go buy more crafting goodies lol)
Happy Crafting!
I can't believe that I have already completed 38 days of the ICAD challenge.
Then again I can't believe 2016 is more than half way over. My parents always said that time flies the older you get but this is just crazy. And why does it happen???
Well, here are my cards from the past week. And let me tell you, some of these prompts did absolutely NOTHING for me!!!
Like this one...
Day 32: Zodiac
It took me most of the day to force myself to sit down and do something. (and I didn't do much lol)
The goat is drawn with pencil and colored Inktense pencil.
Capricorn is stamped with black StazOn ink using the Close To My Heart Circus Alphabet set.
Day 33: Magic
The rabbit, hat, cards and wand were colored with Inktense pencils. The table and background were watercolor pencil.
I like this one. As soon as I saw the prompt I knew I wanted to draw a bunny. :-)
Day 34: Statue of Liberty
Since I am still trying to teach myself how to draw chibi characters Lady Liberty just came out that way lol
The outlines are Sharpie fine point pen (not the markers, these have a slim body and super fine point).
Color was added with Inktense pencils.
Day 35: Sunflower
Drawn with Sharpie black pen. Colored with Inktense pencils. Sunflower was written with a Cricut calligraphy pen.
Day 36: Prism (another boring prompt lol)
I had no idea what to do so went very literal (and boring). I have to say I do like the vibrant colors. I used Cray-Pas oil pastels and blended them with my fingers. Very messing, very pretty lol
Day 37: Meditation
I don't meditate and this card shows why.
I start out with good intentions everything as it should be and soon my mood goes to black as the cat is howling out in the kitchen, I am thinking I need to get dinner on the stove or I start thinking about work.... I am much better off locking myself in my art room and grabbing a pencil or some paint! lol
Day 38: Folk Art
Wow! I thought I would just whip out a folk art flower in a couple minutes and be done. They used to take me no time at all. BUT that was over 30 years ago!
It is hard to believe that this was the craft painting style of the 80s. I don't think I have seen it since. But I still have a couple painting books on my shelf so I hauled one down and gave it a go.
It isn't great (after 3 attempts! lol) but it will do.
Painted with acrylics (that I still have from the 80s lol)
So that covers all my cards for the week.
But I also did a vinyl project this week. :-)
I love yard sales, You can find the oddest things. Like a couple months ago I scored a box of at least 50 glass baby food jars with metal lids for $1.
I had no use in mind other than maybe sorting and storing beads or something but everyone on the Let's Learn Cricut Explore facebook group has been making fairy jars.
I am not into fairies, although I do like Tinkerbell, so I hadn't jumped on that bandwagon.
Not until someone posted a Mermaid jar. Now there is something I can get into :-)
I cut the vinyl pieces with my Explore. A mermaid lounging on the sea floor, a couple fish, a sea shell and a sea star. They were applied to the inside of the jar.
I did not have any colored tissue paper so I made my own. I spritzed some tissue paper with water and then with Dylusions Ink spray. Voila! Colored tissue paper. I then dried with it my heat gun and then sprayed it with Krylon Workable Fixatif so the color wouldn't bleed when I glued the tissue to the jar.
I used Mod Podge to glue the tissue.
I then sprayed the metal lid with Rustoleum white metal primer, let it dry then dabbed on alcohol inks.
Just a piece of jute tied around the top and some sand glued to the bottom with Tacky glue.
I have a tiny battery tea light inside. I think it turned out cute.
That about covers it for this week.
Stay cool and dry. Happy Crafting!!!
I can't believe it! We are already half way through the Index Card a Day challenge!
I am still on track and having fun. :-)
Here the my cards from this past week.
Day 26: Space Invaders
I have to admit, I played a lot of video games as a kid. Atari had just come out and my dad was just as hooked as us kids so we had ALL the games! Space Invaders was NOT one of my favorites. I always lost...and the sound was so annoying!!! lol I didn't even like it in the arcade!
I had to really think about what I would do for this card (since the prompt was a game I thoroughly disliked lol)
So I created a real space invasion. The landscape is the Table Rocks in southern Oregon. :-)
This was done with a mix of watercolor, Inktense and Prismacolor pencils.
Day 27: Motel
Sheesh! I told you last week we had some real duds coming up lol
Talk about zero motivation.....that is what this prompt was doing for me.
I normally work on my cards right after I get off work. Not this one, I was scrambling right before I went to bed trying to come up with something!
I have no idea where in my brain this crawled out of but here it is! lol
A mix of Inktense and watercolor pencils.
Day 28: Dog and/or Cat
Well duh! CAT!
I love when I have a reason to use Tucker as my model (not that I really need a reason) :-)
Inktense pencils.
I always say Tucker was incredibly intelligent. When the temperatures began creeping up we would always find him lounging on the hearth. One foot draped over the edge looking very nonchalant.
His face isn't exactly how I would like but the card was beginning to disintegrate so I had to stop lol
See, just lounging and keeping cool. Kitty never understood it. He would give Tucker the funniest looks like "what the heck dude, those bricks are hard" as he was panting and drooling lol
Day 29: Aqua or Pool
Ok, Aqua is one of my favorite colors....but to just create 'aqua'? Nothing was coming to mind so I went another direction.
Pool! lol
This was done with Prismacolor pencils.
Day 30: Trivial Pursuit
Ok, hubby did not 'get' this one at all. Now I have to say, somewhere out in storage, I have one of the first Trivial Pursuit games. We played it all the time. And I know it referenced the game pieces as 'pie'. But when you view the current rules online they refer to them as 'wedges'. How boring is that?
Anyway, I still call them pie....thus my card lol
This was done with Inktense and watercolor pencils.
Day 31: (July 1st) One Hundred
I have a feeling that the general idea was to have a hundred of something but that just isn't me.
I read the prompt and immediately thought Winnie the Pooh.
I went for the classic Pooh and Piglet using Inktense pencils. I laid down so many layers of color that the index card is pilling up and disintegrating in spots...too bad, I would have liked to add more to some areas.
Prompt 32? Zodiac....yuk! Thankfully I don't have to think about that until tomorrow. :-)
And believe it or I did something besides index cards this week! lol
I have gone back to trying to learn how to draw Chibis and Manga.
I found some awesome videos on YouTube by Mark Crilley.
I like his style and find his sense of humor hilarious.
Have a fabulous weekend and a safe and Happy 4th!
