ICAD No. 59 "E" Bird

ICAD is winding down but since I missed quite a few days I will be making and posting more cards even after the official ending date this Friday.

For inspiration tonight I dug through my file folder of Stampington artist papers.  If you subscribe to Somerset Gallery magazine, you know that each issue includes several sheets of tear-out artist papers or clip-art images.  (Occasionally they include some in their other publications, such as Art Journaling and The Stamper's Sampler.)  The artist papers tend to have more modern designs, but the clip-art images almost always have a vintage vibe to them.  For this card I chose a bird, hand and the letter E.

For the background, I combined a piece of Basic Grey patterned paper, vintage book text and washi tape.  I added a little stamping using a low contrast ink color.  This close-up view shows some of the background detail.  Those pops of red are large polka dots on the Basic Grey paper showing through the washi tape, and the oval image on the left is part of a stamped image.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
4x6 index card; Basic Grey patterned paper; vintage book text; Tim Holtz washi tape; titanium white acrylic paint; pumice stone distress ink; clip-art images from Stampington and Company; French post stamped image by Hero Arts; splatter pattern stamp by All Night Media; Ranger (Wendy Vecchi) watering can Archival Ink; black Stabilo All Pencil.

ICAD No. 50 No One Can Stop Me

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Strathmore Bristol Vellum paper; Golden gesso; Golden fluid acrylics; black India ink; calligraphy pen; vintage book text.

ICAD No. 28 Dramatic Abstract

I'm a notorious night owl and that's when I do most of my art work.  But today I decided to start my day with some art, specifically an ICAD, so I can fill in some of the days I missed.  I also thought perhaps by creating in the morning, I wouldn't dilly-dally around.  And trust me, I didn't!  Maybe I'll have to become a lark.

This ICAD was inspired by the abstract artwork we saw at a local restaurant on Father's Day.  I took a picture of one of the larger prints to remind myself of the style and colors, which I particularly liked.  I created my version using Liquitex Basics acrylics.  I added a strip of book text that was laying on my craft table and the magic happened when I used my brayer to make sure the book text was adhered well.  Some of the paint was not fully dry and the brayer carried bits of it into the other quadrants.  Below is a close-up of one corner where you can see the color variation better.

I'm thrilled with how this turned out.  It has the feel of a monoprint without as much work (or mess).  I just wish the colors would have scanned better: in reality the green is a bit brighter and the orange a bit deeper.  I tried to edit them but they would not cooperate.

Have a fabulous Monday!

Supplies:
Strathmore smooth bristol vellum paper; Liquitex Basics: titanium white, brilliant yellow green, cad yellow deep hue, burnt sienna, mars black and cad red medium hue; book text; paint brush, palette knife; brayer.

ICAD No. 35 September Song

I don't know why I felt like creating an autumn-themed card on such a warm, summer day.  Perhaps the dry, brown leaves I noticed in the yard this week made me think of fall.  Perhaps I'm feeling a little melancholy, thinking too much about how short life really is and how much of it I've squandered.  For the umpteenth time I have had to tell myself to "turn over a new leaf" about certain things.

I was digging through my paper scraps and found a piece of watercolor paper that I had used to clean off a stencil.  I drew a leaf on a text tag using a black Stabilo All Pencil, went over the pencil with a water pen, then cut out the leaf.  I tinted it using distress inks before adhering it to the background.  I added a strip of old sheet music and some stenciling, then willed myself to stop before the card got too busy.  I didn't want to lose all that beautiful white space, which really sets off the other colors.

In case you're not familiar with September Song, I've included some of the lyrics below.  It was originally used in a 1938 movie but has been covered by many artists since then.  My favorite version happens to be by Willie Nelson.

Thanks for popping in!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
140 lb watercolor paper; TCW stencil Mini Time Travel; Dylusions spray ink (dirty martini I believe); text tag by American Crafts; mustard seed, wild honey, spiced marmalade and gathered twigs distress ink; vintage sheet music; Pigma Graphic 1 archival ink pen (sepia); Tim Holtz stencils; Stabilo All Pencil in black and white: Faber-Castell PITT black pen.

September Song

(Weill, Anderson)

Oh, it's a long long while
From May to December
But the days grow short
When you reach September

When the autumn weather
Turns leaves to flame
One hasn't got time
For the waiting game

Oh, the days dwindle down
To a precious few
September, November

And these few precious days
I'll spend with you
These precious days
I'll spend with you

ICAD No. 31 The Scholar

I kind of fell off the ICAD wagon for a couple of weeks.  I am so disappointed in myself (she wrote, somewhat tongue in cheek).  But we're starting a new month so I'm back on the wagon again.

Today's card was inspired by the academic theme that was posted for a couple of days ago.  I've worked in higher education my entire adult life, so the theme is right up my alley.  It reminded me of this old graduation photo I have in my stash.  I adhered a copy of the photo to a page from a 1934 spelling book and then gave it "the treatment" using acrylic paint, distress inks, rubber stamps, stenciling and a rub-on (the round clock-like image).

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
4x6 index card; page from an old spelling book; photocopy of old photo; Victorian velvet, vintage photo, walnut stain and black soot distress inks; Tim Holtz ruler stencil and stamp; Tim Holtz rub-on; white acrylic paint; punchinella; splatter pattern stamp by All Night Media.

ICAD No. 24 Psychedelic Circles

I haven't made any index cards for several days now due to other projects I had to get done and things like work and having a garage sale.  So I was happy to find time tonight to make a card using some Gelli Plate prints I made last year.

I used various sizes of circle punches to create a whole bunch of solid and "donut" circles to adhere to my index card.  I love how dynamic this card is, and I think it illustrates well the week's theme of psychedelic and today's prompt of geometric.

On top of everything else, my printer/scanner started acting up last night and I've spent several hours over the past two days trying to fix it.  I was in a panic, let me tell you!  I don't know if it's fixed, but I did manage to get this card scanned.

Thank you for reading my blog and as always, I so enjoy reading your comments.  Have a great day!

ICAD No. 15 The Stranger

Today's ICAD prompt was Route 66.  I actually have some rubber stamps that fit that theme, but I've used them numerous times over the years and frankly, I wasn't feeling it.  Besides, a 4x6 card using those stamps would have taken me more time than I was willing to spend.

However, I do love travel themes and road trips, so I used a French road map and this wonderful photo of a dapper gent with his car.  The license plate dates this photo to about 1927 and you probably can't tell, but he's holding a fat stogie in his right hand.  The library catalog card along the bottom is a reproduction from a set of 30 notecards with envelopes and faux wooden catalog drawer.  I bought mine at Dick Blick but they are also available on Amazon, which is where the link takes you.

Have a terrific day!

Supplies:
4x6 index card; French road map; copy of old photo; reproduction library catalog card; titanium white acrylic paint; pumice stone, vintage photo and fired brick distress inks; par avion stamp by Hampton Art Stamps; flourish stamp by Hero Arts; Tim Holtz alpha stencil; Derwent charcoal pencil.

ICAD No. 14 Scotch Grove Salt and Pepper

The card I'm showing you today was inspired by yesterday's prompt which was salt and pepper.  I knew that I wanted to do something black and white, but it wasn't until today that I settled on this.

I took a photograph of an abandoned house a weekend ago when my mom and I went to a flea market and antique sale out in the country.  You can read about that and see the original photograph in color here.  I used the saturation feature on Pic Monkey to turn the photo into black and white, printed it on matte photo paper, and cut it out closely.  To mimic the overcast sky that day, I swiped Payne's gray watercolors onto my background.  When it had dried, I stenciled on the ruler using pumice stone distress ink.  The stenciling doesn't show up well on the scan, but on the original it provides a subtle vertical contrast to the horizontal lines of the house.

Thanks for popping by!

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor paper; Payne's Gray watercolor; Tim Holtz ruler stencil; pumice stone distress ink.

ICAD No. 12 Gelli Print Make-over

If you think this card looks like a companion to yesterday's (ICAD No. 11 Silhouette), you would be right.  I actually started this card first, reached a certain point, and got stuck.  So I set it aside, made yesterday's card using the paints I still had on my palette, and came back to finish this card today.

The background is a Gelli Plate print I made on sheet music a while ago.  Unfortunately, the original color scheme (blue and yellow) was not inspiring me at all.  So I dry-brushed white acrylic paint over the entire piece to tone down the colors, and then used pink, green and additional white accents to transform the color scheme to one I liked.  Like yesterday, this card was also inspired by a couple of Dina Wakley techniques: drawing simple shapes and fixing overwrought layers.

Have a great day!

Supplies:
4x6 index card;  Gelli Plate print on sheet music; titanium white and pink acrylic paint; black and white Stabilo All Pencils; picked raspberry and mowed lawn distress inks; Signo Uniball white gel pen; Tim Holtz collage stamp; Faber-Castell black Pitt artist pen; Tim Holtz alpha stencil; punchinella.

ICAD No. 11 Silhouette

This card was inspired by a project in Dina Wakley’s book Art Journal Courage to use a silhouette.  My silhouette started as a photograph in a store flyer I received in the mail.  The flyer was printed on heavy, glossy cardstock, and I saved this particular figure because it was about the right size for any number of projects (journal page, index card, whatever).

After cutting out the figure closely, I laid it on my index card and painted right over it with the three colors of acrylic paint.  (Because of the type of paper the silhouette was printed on, it made a good mask.)  After the paints dried, I loosely outlined the figure with a pigment pen and wrote a message to myself in the white space.  I used black and silver Gelatos to add the shadow on the left, and a black Stabilo All Pencil to trace the “Viewmaster” stencil.  My final step was to test whether the white Stabilo All Pencil would write over the Gelatos: umm, not so much.  The Signo white gel pen didn’t do so well either.  Still, this card was a fun experiment and I like the color scheme a lot.

As always, thank you for reading my blog and for your thoughtful comments.  I always enjoying hearing from you. 

Supplies:

4x6 index card; white, pink, and green acrylic paint; Faber-Castell black and silver gel sticks; Stabilo black and white All Pencils; Balzer Designs stencil; vintage sheet music scrap; Staedtler pigment pen; Faber-Castell Pitt black artist pen; Signo Uniball white pen; Tim Holtz alpha stencil; Niji water pen.

ICAD No. 9 Children of Kildare

Tonight's ICAD features a mixture of vintage and modern papers, treated in my signature way to bring them together to form a cohesive, vintage collage.  Well, I don't know if it's accurate to call it my "signature" way, and I certainly didn't invent it, but it is a method I use often.

The focal image and wrapping paper are both new.  I adhered them to an old novel page with some sheet music, plaid patterned tape and a strip of Cookie Jar savings stamps.  I just received these in a give-away package from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  I assume they're comparable to S&H Green Stamps, but I've never heard of them and a quick search on the internet didn't turn up any information.

After dry-brushing on titanium white acrylic paint and sponging on pumice stone distress ink, I used a tinted charcoal pencil to add some shadows and depth.  The title of this card comes from a song in a 1936 school book of music for children.

Thanks for popping by!

Supplies:
4x6 index card; page from an old novel; little girls image from Red Lead Paperworks; wrapping paper from my friend Barb; vintage sheet music; text from old music book; Cookie Jar savings stamps; green plaid patterned tape; titanium white acrylic paint; pumice stone distress ink; Derwent natural tinted charcoal pencil; Tim Holtz alpha stencil.

ICAD No. 8 She Got the Way to Move Me, Cherry

Today's ICAD prompt is grapefruit and cherry.  It's a funny coincidence because just this weekend I watched a Youtube video in which the artist painted some cherries to demonstrate how Brusho watercolor crystals worked.  And week before last, for the first time in a long time (decades?), I splurged and bought a bag of sweet California cherries at the grocery store.

I lightly sketched a cherry on watercolor paper, then used regular watercolors to paint it.  I added the Neil Diamond lyric and spatters using black India ink.  Once I reached this point, I realized that this card is rather phallic in nature.  That makes me laugh because I certainly didn't intend it to be.  You Freudians can have some fun with that.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day.

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper; Schmincke Horadam watercolor paints; Higgins black India ink; calligraphy pen; Tim Holtz alphabet stencil.

ICAD No. 6 Under-Paper Abstract

I'm a day behind and the prompts aren't inspiring me, so I'm trying some other things I've had on my "to do" list.  For today, that means using "under-papers" to create an abstract collage. Under-papers consist of the cheap newsprint or wax paper that I use to protect my work surface, clean off brayers and stencils, or lay under final pieces when I spray them with acrylic sealant.  I've been holding onto one piece of wax paper that I especially liked, waiting for the right mood to strike.

The letters along the bottom and the filigree image on the right were left by stencils when I cleaned them off on a piece of newsprint.  I cut out certain sections and adhered them to my index card.  I then overlaid a piece of wax paper with the wonderful red, green and black spray ink remnants.  The shimmery lime green circles are from another piece of newsprint.  The black hand drawn circles, the asemic writing at the bottom right, and the splatters were made using a calligraphy pen and India ink.  I am thrilled with how this turned out, as abstracts do not come easily to me.

Asemic writing is defined by Wikipedia as a "wordless open semantic form of writing" and by its creators as "quasi-calligraphic writing gestures."   I just call it scribbling.

I hope you had a great weekend.  My mom and I spent most of today on an adventure in the country.  I'll tell you about that in a future post, once we get my mom's purchase back from the framers.

Thanks for reading my blog!

ICAD No. 5 Poppy Dreams

I broke out the watercolors for today's card, but I used 140 lb watercolor paper instead of an index card.  You're just asking for disaster by not using the correct paper for this medium.  And since I wasn't motivated by today's prompt (owl), I waited until late in the day to complete this.  I had plans to attend a reception and exhibit opening at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art this evening, and I knew I would be more inspired afterward.

I worked wet-on-wet for the initial layer, then after some drying time refined the petals and stems.  I couldn't resist adding a little outlining with a Staedtler pigment liner pen.  I'm happy with how loose I was able to keep my poppies and how vibrant I was able to keep my red.  I really need to watercolor more often, because I do see improvements every time I play with them.

Thanks for dropping in.  Have a great weekend!

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper; Schmincke Horadam watercolor paints; Staedtler black pigment line pen; Tim Holtz stencil.

ICAD No. 4 Looking Over Paris

Today's ICAD prompt was mailbox.  I had a lot of ideas for this theme, but in the end I decided to be a little less obvious and make something that I'd like to find in my mailbox: a postcard from Paris.  I'd even send it to myself, if I had to (wink).

For the background I collaged a variety of Paris-themed labels by Cavallini.  I dry-brushed white acrylic paint over the entire card to blend the various designs.  My stately gent was cut from a reproduction Sears Catalog, and the Eiffel Tower image was cut from a reproduction postcard.  The old French postage stamp is real, but I added the cancellations with rubber stamps.

Creating yesterday's and today's card takes me back to two online classes I took with Mary Green in 2010:  Your Vintage Gluebook and Collage Coterie.  I learned so much through those classes and they helped to solidify my love of vintage collage.  Here's a link to one of the first collages I made using the blended paper technique, something I learned from Mary Green.  If you scroll through August 2010 you'll see other collages I made for Collage Coterie.

Thanks for popping by!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
4x6 index card; Paris Labels by Cavallini and Co.; white acrylic paint; vintage photo, black soot and pumice stone distress inks; gentleman ephemera from reproduction Sears Catalog; Eiffel Tower image from reproduction postcard from Mary Green; vintage French postage stamp; postal cancellation stamps by Stamp Francisco and 7 Gypsies; Derwent peat and white charcoal pencils; white Stabilo all pencil.

ICAD No. 3 Cow Country

Today's index card not only fed my soul artistically, but also served as the means for me to get something off my chest.  I went to bed last night with another person's negativity weighing heavily on my mind, and I decided I wasn't going to carry it around with me today.

After adhering a vintage map, reproduction ephemera and an old photo to my background, I took a graphite pencil and wrote a rant around and around the photo until all the negativity had left my thoughts.  I further obscured it with a black Stabilo All Pencil.  I know it won't be long before I don't even remember what the negativity was because in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter.

I wish you a positive day!

ICAD No. 2 A Swinger of Birches

Ack!  It's only day 2 of ICAD and I'm already behind!  I barely finished my index card before midnight, and only then because I ditched today's prompt (carnival) and went in a totally different direction.

I spritzed Dylusions spray inks through a stencil and then added bits of a Robert Frost poem called Birches.  Did you ever climb a tree as a kid and feel at peace?  As if you were somehow, just a little, temporarily, escaping whatever troubles you had on the ground?  Even in your young, partly-formed mind, you knew that eventually you'd have to climb down and face reality.   But for a while, you felt safe and "above it all," literally and figuratively.

Here's a link to the poem and one analysis.   I don't know if I completely agree with all of the analysis, but this poem does speak to me in terms of the themes of transcendence and escape.

Thanks for popping by!

Supplies:

4x6 index card; 6x6 stencil by TCW; postbox red and black marble Dylusions ink spray; computer-generated text.

ICAD No. 1 Purple Coneflower

In my attempt to get my mojo back, I've decided to try the ICAD Challenge (Index Card a Day) this year.  The concept is simple enough: create something every day on a cheap index card.  As the hostess says, "The challenge is about the DOING and not the KEEPING or PRESERVING or ARCHIVING. It is the process of creating each day that matters."  This is exactly the kind of challenge I need right now.  So I bought some unlined 4x6 index cards at an office supply store and away we go!

The theme for week one is drawing and doodling with pens, markers and ink.  The prompt for day one is chevron.  All themes and prompts are optional, but in this case they did give me an idea.  I drew a simple coneflower and colored it using Derwent watercolor pencils and a water brush.  I then stippled on distress inks through a chevron stencil and a piece of punchinella.

More information on ICAD can be found here.  It just started today but you can join anytime.

Happy June 1!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
4x6 unlined index card; Golden white gesso; Derwent watercolor pencils; Niji water brush; Ranger wild honey and dusty concord distress ink; chevron stencil by Studio Calico (Huey's Masks); piece of punchinella Staedtler pigment liner pen; vintage sheet music; Tim Holtz number stencil; date stamper.