Index Cards :Love Em or Hate Em

I am halfway into week 2 of the Index Card a Day challenge (ICAD). 
I never had an issue with the actual index cards before but this year they are driving me nuts. (and it is still the same batch of card from last year so ...)

The fact that I can't get color to lay down smoothly is bothering me (it never laid down smooth before so why that bothers me now I have no idea lol)

And my alcohol markers are bleeding uncontrollably....which is also bugging me.

Maybe I am just in a grumbling mood this year lol

So let me share a few cards from this week.

Day 5: Kawaii/Cute

I know this isn't Kawaii but she is cute. :-)
She is colored with alcohol markers. Gotta love those pink toe nails and spikes!


Day 7: Alliteration

She Sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore
Again, colored with alcohol markers.


Day 9: Ombre

The girl was colored with alcohol markers.
The mod wallpaper and checked flooring were colored with Prismacolor pencils.


Day 10: Sunshine Yellow

We have a routine at our house. Each morning, after we are up and dressed, we open the blinds so that when the sun comes up it will slowly spread it's beams across the bed.
Minnie loves to snuggle in and follow the beams until they disappear.

If we forget to open the blinds she comes and lets me know lol

She isn't on the bed in the picture but I gave her a pillow to lounge on.

The cat is stamped. I have no idea who makes this stamp. It is part of a set of 16 clear cat stamps that I found on ebay for $2 from China. I took a chance that they were decent quality and they are but there are no markings and no label.

The window, baseboard and pillow were drawn with a Sharpie fine line and colored with Prismacolor pencils.

The sunbeam is Inktense pencil.

I hope you all have sunbeams you can follow this weekend.

Happy Crafting!

Holy Cow! It's June!!!

How did an entire month slip by since my last post? Ugh!!!

Maybe because I didn't do much in May? lol
I have a hard time getting motivated in May. I really only have a couple projects I need to do....my Dad's birthday card (for the end of the month) and Father's Day cards for mid June. That leaves a lot of time where I have no ideas of what to create. (because I procrastinate and don't make those cards until the last minute lol)

Here is my Dad's birthday card.

It is the Hamburger Box card from SVG Cuts, the Sunday with Dad set. I think it is such a cute card and really easy to make.
Dad liked it too.

And I have his Father's Day card ready to mail (but not the cards for hubby or my father in law lol)

This is the Tackle Box box card. Isn't this just the coolest card! It is also from the Sunday with Dad set from SVG Cuts. 

I have to say, although it is easy to assemble, it took me all afternoon! (all those tiny pieces for all that tackle) I hope he likes it.



In case you missed it, there was an all day craft day on HSN in May.
I really need to stop recording those to watch after work. I know the couple things I want and order them at the beginning of craft day but then I watch all the recordings and see other things.....very bad (and expensive lol)

This is from a Crafter's Companion die cutting set. It is a flip card. Yeah, I have flip card dies already from Anna Griffin and I have a flip card cartridge. But they all have differences. And when you make as many cards as I do you enjoy having lots of options.

This is the front of my card. The hello in a circle was created in Cricut Design Space (see, my toys play nicely together)  The decorative panels are cutting dies from the Crafter's Companion set. I ran them through the Cuttlebug using a wood grain folder.

This set actually comes with lots of extras to make really intricate cuts in your cards. Sarah calls them 'kinetic' cards because they have movement.

You can see the entire set here.

The center circle 'flips' to reveal this little guy. I picked him up at Treasure box designs a couple weeks ago. He is part of their Stuffy Pals line and currently on sale. I changed up the colors a bit from what they show but he is the raccoon file.

Here is close up. Isn't he a cutie? His circle background was embossed with Darice's Flower Frenzy embossing folder.

And lastly...



It's ICAD season!!!!!

Yep the Index Card a Day challenge began on June 1st! This is my third year participating.
I will be showing some of my cards throughout the next couple months but not all of them.
If you want to see them all they will be posted on my Pinterest board.

Each year I make a matchbox style box to hold my cards. Here is my 2017 box. I cut the box pieces and the letters ICAD with my Cricut Explore. The numbers are from Anna Griffin's  Wishful Thinking die set. The page frame and pointing hand are from her Perfect Planner die set. 

Prompt #1: Sunrise

I used Gellatos to create my sunrise. 

Prompt #3: Vintage

The frame was cut using a cut & emboss die from Darice. I then rubbed Tea Dye and Walnut Distress Inks around the edges. The happy couple is from Tim Holtz new Paper Dolls set of die cuts. There are so many great images in that set. I had a hard time deciding who to use. The background was embossed using Anna Griffin's Cuttlebug folder Empire Arches. I then rubbed Distress Oxide Worn Lipstick all over to bring out the texture.


It looks like summer has finally arrived. I hope you all find lots of time to enjoy the sun and find lots of inspiration.

Happy Crafting!!!

Twice in One Week?

Yep, I am back already!  :-)

I thought I would share a couple more projects I found on my camera and also a work in progress. 

The Bad Babies had a tag swap in July. We could submit either 3 or 6. I struggled to find ideas for 3. No way was I going to make to six!

Above are my 3 tags.
As you can see I included one of my chibis. What can I say, that is what I am focusing on right now lol

I used alcohol inks for the background then did a gel medium transfer for the eyes.

Tag #2 was Gelli printed I then added images of day lilies and a Victorian woman.

And lastly, I spritzed a tag with Dylusions sprays, I then painted a peacock feather with acrylics. Next came a gel transferred peacock then a definition of peacock from an antique dictionary. Finally another spritz of Dylusions.

I really struggled with these but I am pleased with the final products.

I told you I am obsessed with Chibis...well maybe I didn't say 'obsessed' but I think I am!

Here is one of my cards from the ICAD challenge. The prompt was Disco.

I think he was the first boy I drew. (I have only drawn maybe 2 or 3 since....boys are yukky lol)

And my sister, seeing all the projects I post on Facebook, asked me to draw her dog and my other sister's cat together (even though they live hundreds of miles apart).

My sister's dog loves to play with socks (or so they tell me lol) My sister's cat does not seem to be amused haha  I seem to be much better at drawing cats than dogs!

And now, here is my current work in progress.

I did the pencil sketches on tracing paper so that I could easily transfer the lines onto card stock with a light box. 

Here is my initial transferred lines just begging for color.

It took me several days (and a trip to the local craft store for a couple more pens) to color in all 4 characters.

I am currently working on their environment. I used watercolor for the road but am not please with how the cardstock is buckling so I am now trying to figure out what I want to use for the ground and sky.

So that is where I am at right now....stuck lol

Maybe something will come to me while I am working this week. :-)

Happy Crafting and have a wonderful week!

Can you believe it is already August???

I know, I have not posted in a while. My excuse....um, sorry, don't have one. lol

So, I thought I would pop in and share a little of what I have been doing lately.

In my last post I shared some of my favorite cards from the first 30 days of the Index Card a Day challenge over at Daisy Yellow.

I am proud to say that I completed the 61 day challenge. I did not skip a day and I ended on time.  Now, I won't say that every card I created was a work of art. Some of them are pretty bad lol  But I created a card EVERY day and that is the challenge.  I also stayed on prompt for every card.  Yep, I am very proud of myself....and feeling a bit lost without the daily challenge.

So here are some of my favorites from July.

The prompts from left to right:
Top Row: Queen of Hearts, Chess, Face, Flag
Middle Row: Definition, Parachute
Bottom Row: Bridge or Gin Rummy, Raindrops, Weather

I found myself drawing more in those 2 months then I had in years....and loving it!  I also had strange and unexpected side effect. I became hooked on Chibis. Yes, those cute little childlike Japanese anime characters. 

Someone in the group posted a card one day stating she had bought her daughter a learn to draw chibis book and decided to try it herself. Her little people were adorable and made me want to try it too.

I ordered a couple books from Amazon (How To Draw Manga Chibis & Cute Critters by Samantha Whitten and Jeannie Lee and Manga For the Beginner, Chibis by Christopher Hart)

I am having so much fun! My kitten from the Raindrops card was my first attempt at an animal chibi. I love how he turned out.

I am finding that I am better at drawing the faces than I am at bodies and clothing....but I am loving the learning process so I draw at bit a few days a week. I think I am getting better....not sure how hubby feels since I keep bugging him with 'how does this look?' haha

So, here she is, my very first chibi. Her face is cute and done fairly well. Her body and clothes...well there are issues lol I drew her on July 17.

Red Riding Hood. Again, I really like the face but the hands, legs and feet are too teeny/scrawny. Drawn on July 19.

Now we jump ahead a couple weeks. I was stuck in bed with severe back spasms so I had hubby bring me my sketch pad, pencils and markers. I decided to concentrate on faces and hair for the day. I wanted to create expressive faces and cute hair. July 31

Moving forward to today, August 7. I have been wanting, since day 1, to create the cast of the Wizard of Oz. I may have jumped the gun but I am having a good time and learning as I go.

Here is the pen drawing. 

I have started adding color. I am using Copic markers. Now if you have read my blog over the past few years then you are probably shocked. I swore I would never jump on the Copic bandwagon! Who in their right mind spends $6+ on a single marker? Well, obviously, now I do. I found that for the first time in my life I could not get the look I wanted with pencils (and I am really good with pencils - if I do say so myself lol)  

So each payday I head to the local craft store and pick up a couple. Not a huge hit to my budget and I slowly increase my stash. Tomorrow I need to pick up a couple for this piece as all I currently have are flesh and hair colors. Dorothy said she does NOT want a peach or brown colored dress!

But fear not, I have not totally abandoned my Explore lol

My nephew's birthday is next week so I created this fun box card for him from the Summer Box Cards set at SVGCuts.com

I used my Minc to create the gold foil stars. I love how the Minc can give any project a little extra 'pop'.

Well that's all for now.
Stay cool in this summer heat and if you are on the west coast of the USA, try to stay smoke free. The fires are really bad this year and the air quality is becoming very hazardous. 

Until next time. Happy Crafting!

One Day At a Time

The month of June has just flown by! It seems like I just posted last week but no, it was a month ago! How can that be???

I feel like I haven't been busy creating anything lately and yet I have been. I joined the Index Card a Day challenge over at Daisy Yellow. And I can proudly say that I have not missed a day yet!

Now do not worry, I am not going to bombard you with 27 index cards lol
I will just show you a few of my favorites. You can see all my cards on my ICAD Pinterest board. 

I found that for the most part the cards I like the most are the ones that pushed me out of my comfort zone or ones that I did things I never did before or not in a very long time.

I am using 3 x 5 unlined index cards.

Ok, so this one doesn't fall into any of those above mentioned categories lol  It is just me being my quirky/goofy self. The prompt was Carnival. I used watercolor pencils to create the tent and then added the stamped images. The Chicken is from Art Gone Wild, Dog from Rubber Stamps of America, Elephant from ImaginAir, Ticket and Clock from Tim Holtz.

 The prompt was Draw a Map. I immediately thought pirate treasure map. I wanted it to look like old parchment that was rolled and crumbling on the edges. It has been many many years since I tried to create dimension and 3D effects. I think I succeeded in the rolled edge on the right.
This piece was done entirely with Prismacolor pencils. 

 I have never drawn a car in my life. All the boys in school would sit and draw/doodle cars all day long. I'm a girl, I doodled flowers and horses lol

The prompt was Taxi. I wanted a vintage looking taxi. I found a photo of an old 50's Chevy taxi and went from there. This was all hand drawn with graphite pencil then colored with Derwent Graphitint pencils and Prismacolor pencils.

The license plate is a salute to one of my favorite TV shows. (how come it isn't in reruns like all the other shows from that time???)

 The prompt was Carrot and Lemon. I used Distress inks to created the carrot colored background and then painted the lemon with acrylics. I haven't done any still life paintings/drawing since high school and I don't think we ever drew fruit. lol

Ok, back to goofy! The prompt was Blueberry and Plum. I was googling blueberry just so I would have a real subject to draw/paint when I found a photo of this single blueberry. For some reason it said 'baby bird' and here we are. lol
The background is Distress Inks, the nest is acrylics, the tree is drawn with Sharpie pen. 

The prompt was Salt and Pepper.  Here we are way outside the comfort zone. I initially was going to find a photo of an 'Old Salt' and create a collage but instead, I did a portrait. I have never done a portrait like this before. I drew the man and then colored him with Prismacolor pencils. I then added the dog. (my aunt had a miniature schnauzer name Pepper so now this sailor does too) The clouds were created with chalks. 

Prompt of the day....Wabi Sabi. I had to google that one and I am still not 100% sure what it is but from what I understand it is seeing beauty in everything good or bad or falling apart. 
Our fence is old, cracked, weathered. The neighbors grapevines are growing through some of the spaces between the boards (don't get me started on how much that annoys me!!!)

I wanted to try and draw this old, cracking knot hole. I used primarily graphite pencil with a little Prismacolor and Graphitints thrown in for color.

I included a photo of the fence so you can see what I was actually trying to draw. :-)

Psychedelic. I didn't like it when it was originally popular so I was not too keen on using it as a prompt but the idea came to me and I ran with it and I am thrilled with the results. 
The hair was colored with Sharpies and Bic permanent markers. The moon was colored with Prismacolor pencils. The background is black Sharpie.

Oh but look! I did things other than a card a day lol

The latest building from SVG Cuts is the Country Market set. 

It took me about a week, working a couple hours a day, to complete. I used my Cricut Explore to really personalize all the signs.

I love how this turned out! It is so cute and vintage American small town.

And lastly....you thought we would never get to the end didn't you?

I am in a tag swap with the BadBabies. We are using the big shipping tags.

I used Distress Inks for the background.
I then painted the peacock feather.
The definition is from a really old dictionary and I printed "Beauty" on my computer.

It needed something more so I did a gel medium transfer and added the peacock, glued down the definition and word. Added some distress inks to Beauty and spritzed the definition with Dylusions to settle them into the piece. The colors are not so muted in person and I am very happy with the results.

Well that about covers this past month. I hope every one is staying cool in these record breaking high temperatures and getting lots of projects created.

I have another month of index cards to create...and very excited to do so! :-)

Happy Summer!