Icads # 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61

Have been lost the last few days without my desktop computer, sucks when the hard drive dies without warning and the future doesn't look good for retrieving info off the old computer,  new computer is all hooked up, but I'm missing ALL of my photos, ALL of my digital stamps I've bought over the last few years, as well as my Office documents & spreadsheets.  Argh!!! Saying a prayer that they can work a miracle and retrieve all that data.

Anyway, Index Card a Day is winding down ... I've had so much fun exploring new techniques I've seen other participants display, special thanks to Tracy Scott and Fran Traina for their tutorials (hope my pestering them didn't force them to do them so I'd shut up, lol).  I can't wait to try some of the things I've seen and learned in my art journal and even canvases.

I digress ... 

Here is my card for #55 - the prompt was Jewels - I found the crown online as free clip art & fussy cut it out.  The background is made by using the marbling technique & alcohol inks - only instead of using the glossy card stock, I used a regular index card - I like the way it looked.  After the crown was collaged on the card, I doodled a little scrollwork and wrote the quote.

This next one is #57 - the prompt was Carousel.  I feel a bit like a slacker on this one ... I used the same background technique as above with the alcohol inks and pounced them on the index card.  Over that I drew the carousel with the animals.  The carousel was colored with gel pens.  Black dots were an afterthought.  For the white-ish flowes in the background, I used my Copic colorless blender & dotted on the ink which pushed away color, leaving white.

 For #58, the prompt was to incorporate a zebra ... I failed miserably with the above animals, so I wasn't going there again.  Instead, I colored a zebra pattern with my Pitt black pen and added some acrylic green flicks to the edge to simulate the jungle.  I doodled the corners, but looking at them now, it puts me in mind of a cage - being at the zoo  ... oh well, it is what is it.

 For #59, the prompt was angels.  I had this beautiful angel that I got from the internet sitting in my clip art folder and loved the change to use her.  On the background I used purples (several shades) of acrylic paint and smooshed the index card over & over til I got the mottled look.  I used white oil pastel to make the clouds.  She was fussy cut and collaged over the clouds, which I tweaked a bit more with the oil pastels.

 This next one was #60 and the prompt was an astronaut.  So many clever icads, but this is the road I travelled on ... Background was painted with heavy body acrylic blue.  Then I used yellows, golds, white oil pastel to create the moon.  I then applied matte medium just to the moon & when it was ALMOST dry, I rubbed at it to give me some crater/texture to the moon.  The astronaut is clip art in my stash (what was I thinking collecting him in the first place?). 

This is #61 ... The last HURRAH for the Index Card a Day challenge ...

The prompt for this was thread.  I've used my sewing maching before, but one of the gals at the ICAD challenge, Simi Warah, did some beautiful work with embroidery on her cards/paint chips that I wanted to give it a go ...

I had a background that I used fluorescent acrylic paints for a smooshed effect.  Over this, I used my piercing tool to place holes along the left side and bottom at equal distances to embroider my card.

Hand wrote the sentiment - This was new to me (on index cards, I should say), and we all need to try new things - I think that's the whole spirit behind the Index Card challenge.

 

These last two were Fails ...

 
I used acrylic for the background & white oil pastels and painted the face with acrylics.
Was not impressed with my dangles, either, but I posted

This one I actually really like ... even though it might be a Fail for the challenge

This started off to be my #60 astronaut card - I was going for a space station thing ... But when I got this far, I liked it the way it was, so I left it ...

 

And last - (I'm putting this at the bottom in the hopes that you'll be too bored by the time you get this far and won't even notice it) ...

This is a single line blind selfie ...

 

 One of the ladies at Daisy Yellow's ICAD on Facebook started it all by posting a blind, one-line selfie.  You sit in front of a mirror and draw your head/face.  Once your pencil touches paper, you can't look down or lift up your pencil.  I was actually surprised the portions weren't too far off, but if you look close, I have a scar from the eyebrows to the nose and again under nose to lips and from lips to other side of the face (didn't lift my pencil).  Notice I didn't post a photo of the image when it was just the pencil, lol - I used acrylics to paint the selfie and then added some doodles to distract the eye from the actual image ...

Just so you know, both of my eyes are the same size and my hair length is uniform all the way around, lol.

So glad for the opportunity to do this 61 day challenge - I've been uncreative til this spring with all my classes.  I started Art Journaling and have been eating up different videos on techniques and what not ... This ICAD challenge gave the opportunity, and sometimes instructions/tutorials on how to do different things so rather than watching YouTube, I actually did them.

There's another couple of challenges starting August 1st over at Daisy Yellow:

Daily Paper Prompts = 61 days of challenges - similar to ICAD, but can be done on any size paper, and most any mediums

Art Journal Tangents & Tactics = Weekly challenges that also help explore different techniques for art journaling.

Thanks for popping in ...

Have a great day,

Collette

 

Icad #54 & #56

The prompt for this first card (#54) was to incorporate a fern, feather.

I first sponged some blues onto the card then painted some feathers with different shades of blue/aqua.  I then finger painted some circles and added different shades of blue to make them look like spheres; A little charcoal around the edges to smudge them up.  I have a journal I keep all my quotes I've collected, but I didn't write the authors down for all of them (if that info was even available), so I'm not sure who this quote is from.

This second card's prompt (#56) was Turquoise.  

I used Frances Traina's lettering tutorial for this one ... I wanted to try my hand and see if I could get as swirly as she does.  Not quite, but I'm not unhappy with the results.  I added a little doodling, and realized I wanted some color ... PERFECT!  Just add turquoise or aqua color with my Copics.

Thanks for stopping by - Have a great day!

Collette

Icads #52 & #53

For the first card, I went with the rainbow prompt for Day 52 at Index Card a Day.

I dotted the rainbows with Copics and then used a cloud mask to sponge some cobalt & black Archival around the edges.  The quote is from Maya Angelou, "Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud".

For the second card, I went with the rainbow prompt for Day 53 - mushrooms.

The background was made by dragging the card through several colors of green that had been "smooshed"  The mushrooms are painted acrylic with some doodling on and around them.  Forgive my rudimentary elf, but I just wanted him to be peeking up over the mushroom.

Thanks for looking, have a great day!

Collette

Icad #51

And the countdown begins ... 51/61 index cards a day ....

The prompt for Day 51 is to incorporated monsters or octopi ... I haven't seen this commercial in ages, but I kept humming it all morning long, so when I saw this challenge, I knew what I wanted.

This digital image is from Digi Shack.  I've always loved him because he's a bit of a goofball monster - Like he tries real hard to be scary, but he just can't pull it off.

I colored him with Copics (falling in love all over again, after a 2 year hiatus) and cut him out. 

The theme for this week is doodly stuff.  For my background, I squiggled all over the card with random Copics and let the shapes find me ... I enhanced them with some fine line doodling.  When I put (I'll call him) Bert on top, he got kind of lost, so I put a whitewash of gesso over the index card.  After I affixed him to the card & added the sentiment, I put some glossy accents on his eyes and teeth.

Hey, "Sometimes you feel like a NUT!"

 

Have a fabulous day!

Collette

Icad #50

So, counting down to the last days, this is #50 of the Index Card a Day challenge - only 11 more to go.

For today's prompt, if you wanted to use it, the challenge was to incorporate an elephant.

I printed this digital stamp from Doodle Garden (etsy shop) and colored it with copics, then cut it out.  For the background, I dotted several different colors of green and 'smooshed' them between wax paper and then placed my index card on top.  I saw some leaves so I doodled them, as well as that "bird" sidding on Ellie's back ... I wrote the sentiment ... An elephant always remembers ... and discovered an old friend, the dragonfly, landing on his nose.

Thanks for stopping by - hope you have a great day!

Collette

Lettering tutorial, courtesy of Fran Traina

Okay, I've seen Fran Traina's work in the icad forum on Facebook and have been a fan of her lettering, but this last card she did was so phenomenal, I had to pester her for details.  Don't the letters look like they're jumping off the page?

She was nice enough to walk me through her process of creating the lettering, and then went and put up a tutorial that you can find by clicking We Three 3 ...

Here's a sneak peek of how she started:

 

Fran also has some other lettering on her site that you'll love to see, so check it out

We Three 3

 

Thanks for stopping by ... Have a great day,

Collette

 

Icad #49

Day 49 over at Index Card a Day

Today's prompt was knots or pretzels.  I don't use my sewing machine on cards much because it's on the 2nd floor and my "studio" is down in the basement ... But when I saw knots, an image came to mind of exactly what I wanted to do.

The background was created using a circle template that I 'flicked' my Copics back and forth through before moving on to the next color.  Thank you, Michael Carnuccio from facebook for this inspiration.  I love the way the Copic lines got thicker at the edges, accentuating the sphere shape.

On top of that, again, I had some bakers twine that was sewn to the card at top and bottom, then knotted.  Initially I had a lighter color for the lettering, but because the background was so light, I wanted a bigger pop, so I went with black.  My dylusions letters were a tad too big for this, so I 'copied' the style.  Finished off with a bit of doodles in red and pink gel pens ...

Ever since I woke up this morning, the song "Carry On My Wayward Son" has been going through my head - is it a sign? 

Thanks for stopping in ...
Have a great day!
Collette

Icad #48

Today's prompt at Index Card a Day was to incorporate Matroyshka dolls into the mix.  I don't know if I was just plain lazy, but I used a digital stamp from My Grafico and colored it in digitally using PhotoShop Elements then resized it as they went down.

This card was a hard one for me to go ahead with, given the circumstances that occurred this morning.  I had already prepared the dolls last night and was in the middle of the card.  I did add a bit of political comment to the card, so it may not fit with the dolls, but I wanted to stand up and say something.

I have to admit, I struggled with making this one in light of the incident that occurred this morning with the Malaysian airliner, the case is still developing and we're not sure who might have been responsible, but it was a horrible occurrence.  My prayers go out to all of the families of the passengers and crew members on that flight.  May God bless them all with healing and understanding.

Take care,

Collette

 

ICAD #47

I'm a day early for this one, but was working with the same paints as yesterday, so finished this one off too.

Today's prompt for Index Card a Day was Purple - YAY!  One of my faves!

For this card, I printed out a digital bird image from A Day for Daisies and colored it in with Copics (V12,15,17, E97,99) and then 'fussy cut' it out.

The background is actually the same irridescent paper I used for the above image because the music notes are also digitals from A Day for Daisies, then I cut it down to 3x5.  The card was washed with a thin layer of purple acrylic before affixing the bird on the branch.  Black dots were added from my homemade foam stamp.

The sentiment is from Maya Angelou.  A few doodles with my Signo Uniball and archival to edge the card, and I was done. 

There's only 14 more days of ICAD ... don't know what I'll do with myself afterwards.  This has been such a wonderful way to get my creative juices flowing, and is so relaxing to sit and create a mini-masterpiece (well, admittedly, not all were great, lol).

Thanks for stopping in ... Love to hear what you think. 

Have a wonderful day!

Collette

ICAD #46

For today's prompt in the Index Card a Day 61 day challenge, we were encouraged to consider using a recipe or formula.  I've tried this recipe and while it may not be quite as good as a fresh batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies, at 11:30 pm, if you're having a craving, it does in a pinch.  Yum!

It's hard to tell, but the background looked really cool before I started layering.  I took purple & made 6 different blobs, adding pale pink in increased amounts to each blob so I had 6 different shades of purple.  I then layed down some wax paper & smoodged (I know, not a word) the colors then lifted & repositioned the card several times to get an all over mottled look ... It really did look gorgeous.

Next, I used a homemade stencil with geometric shapes in an overall heart pattern to apply dark purple acrylic.  The flower was made on watercolor paper, painted a circle w/3 different colors before doodling the flower & cutting it out.  The recipe was printed out, washed with a thin acrylic purple & affixed with matte medium.  After some white & black doodling, I edged it with Archival jet black.

Have I said lately that purple is one of my favorite colors?  I like the way this looked - I may forgoe the punch and take it straight up to the kitchen.

Thanks for stopping in ... Hope you have a great day!

Collette

icad #43, #44, #45

Home for a few hours before I'm off again ... played in my studio last night and early this morning ...

This first one is an extra for one of the Daisy Yellow Art ICAD members who just had a baby on Friday, same day my sister in law got married. 

First off, CONGRATULATIONS to Dawn and Bernie ... It was a beautiful ceremony, beautiful day and a beautiful time spent with you.  Thank you for allowing us to be a part of it.

also, CONGRATULATIONS to Simi on the birth of Melody ... She is such a beautiful little girl!
This one's for Melody ...

This is a Day for Daisies digital image that I printed on irridescent cardstock & colored with Copics before adding the acrylic pink & doodles.  I used Glossy Accents for the stars, heart and halo.

The prompt for this one was violin.  I printed out an image from the web & cut it out.

For the base, I painted an index card in purple, cross-hatching, then I layered some Tim Holtz melange tissue paper before adding the violin.

I finished with a bit of white printing.

The prompt for this was to use a kokeshi doll.

I layered a sheet of paper I made on my Gelli plate with stencils I made with my Silhouette - you can definitely see the daisy stencil, which I doodled a couple of the images using gel markers.

I painted the doll with acrylics and when I was done, my current nursing studies kicked in - "Respect Cultural Differences"

 

 

The prompt for this one was to use a dala horse (what the heck is that? Yes, I had to look it up on the internet ... I'm so worldy challenged, lol.  Anyway, I used a piece of map scrapbook paper & layered it onto an index card & then distressed with vintage photo from Ranger as well as some potting soil from Archival.  The horse was painted with acrylics.  I'm challenging myself to "Explore" more (even if I can't do it physically & financially).

 

Hope you have a great day, thanks for popping in.

Collette

ICAD #41, #42

Day #41 for Index Card a Day ... check it out at Daisy Yellow art for more information.

The prompt for day 41 was the moon.

I started off by watercoloring the background a deep blue/purple.

I used oil pastels for the moon, applied gel medium just to the moon & when it was ALMOST dry, I rubbed the moon for some texture (it IS made of cheese, isn't it?)

I found the quote on brainyquote.com & wrote with my Signo uniball.

Short, sweet & to the point.

 

Day 42's prompt was text. 

 

First, I painted the card with some blue and rose watercolors.

Then, I used gel medium to affix some Tim Holtz terminology tissue paper

and then randomly stamped some sketchy flowers in Archival potting soil.

I found the quote, again, at brainyquotes.com.

This was computer generated & affixed to the card with gel medium.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great day!

Collette

 

icad #39, #40

More fun at Index Card a Day found here at Daisy Yellow ... check it out - 61 days of making 3x5 or 4x6 pieces of art, using prompts provided, or go with your own ideas.

I'm posting these early since I have a wedding on Friday and may be busy with out of town family & whatnot ...

For day #39, the prompt was 'diagram' ...

I instantly thought of house diagrams since I used to love drawing floor plans of my dream homes, which would always change as I grew and things took more priority over others. Anyway, I drew my idea of a dream getaway - that's just for me, lol ... I drew with a Faber Castel liner and colored each room with a watercolor wash so you could still see the lines.

 

Day 40 - Kaleidoscope (I think this one is the one that gave me the monster headache I now have).

I drew a few circles & pencil lines as guides and then colored in sections with my Zig markers for a sort of Kaleidoscope pattern.

 

Thanks for stopping by ...

Hope you all have a great day!

Collette

 

icad # 36, 37, 38

Busy weekend, so catching up ...

Day 36 prompt was tags/labels ...

I first layered a shet of Stampin Up designer paper then strips of the backside.  Then, I distressed a tag by crinkling it and rubbing with Ranger distress ink, vintage photo before decoupaging it down.  Then I added some circles and dots in brown acrylic paint before adding the computer generated quote.  I used inktense pencil to smudge around the edges of the words and the tag.

 

 

Day 37 prompt was Lollipops ... 

 

I used Neocolors II & water to color the background before stamping with one of my homemade stamps in Archival potting soil.  I also added a few circles with same ink.

Then, I took some Stampin Up cardstock and painted a pinwheel design then cut out 3 circles & twisted them so they'd look like one of those giant suckers (lollipop, lolli).  I shaded each ring with intense pencil & water then drew a spiral in the center.  The stem is from a piece of designer paper that I cut out.  Words are computer generated on kraft cardstock & decoupaged.  I shaded these with one of my green Pitt big brush markers & smudged.

 

Day 38 prompt was GREEN ...

This one was interesting ...

First, I spotted 4 different colors of green acrylic onto wax paper & folded to smoosh the colors real good.  Then I dipped the index card into the paint & lifted & moved until it was colored all over.

After it dried, I used some Ranger rock candy crackle.  Once dried, I took some Ranger vintage photo distress ink & rubbed all over.

Next came the homemade stamps with black acrylic, as well as the sentiment.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Hope you have a great day!

Collette

 

icad #35

Today's prompt for the Index Card a Day challenge sponsored by Daisy Yellow Art was "postage stamp".  I came across this old, old set from Stampin Up and thought I'd use it on one of my leftover tea-dyed cards. 

I stamped in Archival Potting soil & then drew in a silouette of some obscure queen.  I couldn't remember how francks are symbolized, so I left that out.

No, I don't know French, but I googled a little phrase and translated it.  I'm hoping no one lives at 49 rue Poncelet in Paris, lol.  I originally was going to use hub's name, but it's so decidedly not French, and since this isn't even real, I used Michael (the French pronounce it Mee-shell, so ooh la la) ...

Hope you enjoy.  Have a save and fun weekend.

Thanks for stopping in,

Collette

 

icad #34 - Happy Fourth of July!

The prompt for today at Daisy Yellow Art for the Index Card a Day challenge is the flag or Independence Day.  Since it's my birthday today (Happy Birthday to me!), I had to chime in on this one.

I drew the flag on and used Inktense pencils to watercolor the flag.  After, I dotted some yellow Stickles for the stars & wrote the lyrics to the song in the white stripes.

After, I masked the flag & stamped random script in the background then used Vintage Photo to smudge it up before edging w/Archival potting soil.

 

Hope you all have a safe and fun 4th of July!

Thanks for stopping in,

Collette

icad #33

Today's prompt for Index Card a Day sponsored by Daisy Yellow Art is "Tomorrowland" ... I wanted the bright colors that you see at night when they turn all the funky lights on, so did a background in some neon colors.  There's all kinds of spheres on tubes there, so I was guided by Tracy Scott's youtube video on the rest.

I made the stamps for the arrow, chevron and 'be' ... lots of doodling & voila!

I was looking online to see if there were any predominant colors used, and found more stuff about Tomorrowland - a music festival in Belgium - so not sure if I was on the right track here, but it is what it is.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping in.

Collette 

 

icad# 32

Here's my 32nd card for the Index Card a Day challenge ... This prompt encouraged us to use coffee or tea ...

I crumpled up the index card & stuck it in my mug of cold tea for about 1/2 an hour.  Maybe because it was cold, but I thought it'd end up being darker ?  Oh well ...

I then layered some striped strips of designer paper & doodled some flowers on them before sewing some ribbon and lace trim.  I used my red inktense pencil to add some color to the ribbons & stamped "FUN" ... that's what I'm having doing this challenge - it's so nice to get back into the creative swing of things between the art journaling and this Index Card a Day challenge ... I'm having FUN!!!

Thanks for stopping by ... Have a great day!

Collette