ICAD 2019: Week 5

Wow, I'm actually doing this.  I've made it to Week 5 of ICAD 2019.  Sweet!  Here we go with the latest index card offerings...

Day 29: off-prompt: I was perusing YouTube looking for ideas for using the Kwik Stix I've had in my stash. I discovered an elementary school teacher who used them with her class to create art inspired by Reggie Laurent.  I'd never heard of him but was inspired to do the same. I love his use of bright colors and mix of organic and geometric shapes against a black background.  Media: acrylic paint

Day 30: Lemon/Lemonade:  What?  I did it!  Inspired by today's prompt, I drew these bad boys with lead pencil and colored them in using watercolor pencils.  The pre-gelli printed background was the inspiration for this.

Day 31: off prompt:  Wrapping up Pride Week I decided to finally pull out the Kwik Stix.  I love how creamy they are which made them great for blending colors.

Day 32: off prompt: I was watching some YouTube videos and found one where the artist made a really busy background and then covered most of it with paint.  Inspired by that I made this.  Media: acrylic paint, archival ink

Day 33: off prompt.  I started out by painting with pale yellow and grey acrylics, followed by stamping and then applied gel medium through a stencil.  I was at a loss after that because the vision I had wasn't panning out.  I ended up covering the whole thing with gesso, inking around edges with archival inks and slapping on some torn strips of paper.  Haven't decided yet if I like it or not.

Day 34: off prompt:  I watched a video of Dee Dee Catron creating a tag and totally ripped off her idea for today's card.  I layered index cards and painted them with acrylic ink and watercolors.  The cheesecloth was colored with Distress stains and the colorful circle in the middle is mop-up paper towel that's been floating around my desk for a while.

Day 35: Pine.  Hmmm...another one that just makes me scratch my head and wonder what happened (and that's okay).  Rubbed acrylics on the card with my fingers and then scratched into the paint with the pointy end of a wood skewer.  Things went really awry in the top right corner so I covered it up.  Ha ha!

I've got quite the stack of cards accumulating.  I like leafing back through them.  The last (and first) time I completed the annual ICAD challenge was 2016 and I love going back and looking through them as well.  Here's this year's stack so far...

Woot woot!

ICAD 2019: Week 4

Uh-oh...the ICAD grind is catching up to me.  My husband had knee surgery and that threw off my creative time.  I had to play catch-up for a few days, but I'm still hanging in there!  Here's what happened on Week 4...

Day 22: off-prompt.  Saw a mop-up paper sitting on my desk.  Cut it into strips and glued them on.  

Day 23: off-prompt. I was inspired by some of the collages I've seen in the FB ICAD group.  Rifled through my scrap box to find these bits.

Day 24: Off-prompt.  Realized just before bed that I hadn't arted.  Took out a ruler and Pitt pen and drew 4 straight lines from each side of the card.  Colored them in a few days later with watercolor pencils.  Went over a few colors with wet paintbrush.

Day 25: off-prompt.  I've been trying to grab supplies that I don't reach for often.  Today was another "oh, damn.  I haven't ICAD'ed yet!".  I randomly drew wiggly bits on the card with a Pitt pen before hitting the hay.  Came back a couple of days later and, inspired by a color combo chart I spied on Pinterest, pulled out my Neocolor IIs and got busy.

Day 26: off-prompt.  Somebody did this in an art journal using their whole hand.  I'll have to have another go at this some time.

Day 27: off-prompt.  I have lots of cards in my stash that have been gelli printed.  I ripped that blue scrap from another card and stuck it on and a beachy scene appeared to me.  Holding onto the very end of the pen I loosely drew the shapes (sad little dolphin - haha!) and then colored the in with Copics.

Day 28: off-prompt.  This gelli printed base has been in my stash for a couple of years.  I've never been able to bring myself to use it because I loved it.  I combined stamps from two of my fave  stamp companies - Stampotique and VLVS - to create this card (which makes me chuckle).

And it's a wrap for this week, folks!

ICAD 2019: Week 3

Well, The Muse continues to dawdle and generally be temperamental and unhelpful.  C'est la vie.  On I plod... 

Day 15: off prompt I realized just before bedtime that I hadn't arted up any cards yet for the day.  Enter a quick and easy grid with Copic markers.

Day 16: off prompt. I tried the layered gelli print technique today.  Added bits of acrylic paint to the plate and let each dry before the next.  Then covered the whole business with paint and lift a print.

Day 17: off prompt.  I don't know quite what to say about this...LOL.  Layers...like and onion and/or an ogre.

Day 18: off prompt. Channeling my inner Piet Mondrian

Day 19: Theme - Yellow.  Yummy layers today.

Day 20: off prompt. Trying to do something different.  I found some cardboard circles and then used gesso, absorbent ground, watercolors (Color Burst) and markers.

Day 21: off prompt.  Feeling uninspired a started shuffling things around on the desk and uncovered a baggie full of used postage stamps.  

That's it for Week 3, folks!

ICAD 2019: Week 2

The muse still isn't totally up and running.  I'm not that thrilled with some of the results from this week, but that's okay.  Sometimes it's just about the process of getting something down on the ol' index card.

Day 8/61. Off-prompt.  I grabbed a pile of junk mail and just started cutting out words that made me think of ICAD and the process. 

Day 9/61: Off-prompt.  Doodle-y bits with Sharpies

Day 10/61: Off-prompt.  Came to work on this morning to the news that we had to call CPS on one of my families.  Feeling very troubled and sad. 

Day 11/61: Off-prompt.  Not what I had envisioned but I liked the idea of it.  The thought was to do some spotlight coloring - color only inside the circles and black, white and gray on the outside.  I wish I had stuck with that idea.  (Also realized I need more light-colored Sharpies in my life.)

Day 12/61: Off-prompt.  Drew circles with a gray Sharpie (and circle die cut) then colored them in with Neocolors.

Day 13/61: Off-prompt.  Started with acrylic paints over gesso and then started throwing random media on it.  (Gesso, acrylic paint, Neocolor, Pitt pen, gel pen)

Day 14/61: Off-prompt.  Started with a red and a blue Neocolor crayon over gesso.  Swiped a wet paintbrush over it and stared at the red and blue for a while.  Decided to go with red and blue...(I told you The Muse is being uncooperative! 😜)

So, that's it.  14 days under my belt so far and I am fully expecting to see some stuff I really like in the next week...

Cheers!

ICAD 2019: Week 1

It's that time of year... Index Card A Day (ICAD) 2019!

It's been a couple of years since I've actually done the whole 61 days, but here's hoping this year I'll finish it.  Here's what I've got for Week 1...

Prompt: Mailbox.  When cleaning out my parents' house, I found a bunch of postage stamps that my dad collected.  I didn't know he did that!  I used some of them on this and some rubber stamp-y images from my collection.

Off-prompt.  I don't sketch very often but decided to try my hand at it today.  This was my breakfast.  😉

Prompt: Magenta.  Like many I tend to be a bit of a collector of art supplies.  I reached for things I *had* to have that have been collecting dust instead (washi tape, acrylic ink).

Prompt: Reflection.  I received this little critter graphic in a swap.  I cut it in half, glued one half onto the index card and then sketched the missing half.

Off-prompt.  The end of the school year is fast approaching and the littles have been driving me a wee bit nuts.  This day was particularly challenging.  Art therapy.

Off-prompt.  I needed some inspiration and went to the SDC blog.  The challenge this fortnight is to use a favorite Stampotique quote.  I've always liked this one.

Prompt: Stencil.  I went straight for the prompt today.  I used a variety of stencils on the background with acrylic paint.  The final layer I used embossing paste through a stencil.  I was really tempted to put a quote on it as well, but decided that sometimes it's okay to just leave it quote-less.

That's it for Week 1.  One of the things I love about the annual 2-month ICAD challenge is that it's a great opportunity to use media I've forgotten about and supplies that I don't usually reach for.  The Muse needs a little nudge now and then, wouldn't you agree?

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a wonderful weekend!

So Cute?...or Stampotique Designers Challenge #321

So...I don't know if the gurus at Stampotique will think this qualifies as "cute" but I do.  😁  I'm a big sucker for all things coffee and I love this cute coffee cup stamp and quote from Stampotique.  Easy breezy to put them together on this ATC.

May your cup runneth over...

I'm Still Here!

Life tends to get pretty busy for the Steed family during this time of year and Sunday mornings are typically the only chance I have to sneak into my artsy space and get my hands dirty.

My interests tend to be pretty cyclic.  I go from a card-making fiend to ATCs (I think that's about to wrap up) and this morning I watching a bunch of mini album tutorials.  It's been a while for the mini album phase...hmmm...

Anyway here's what's been on my desk over the last couple of weeks...

I affectionately called this one "Warning".  There is text along the side of the scissors that says, "Warning: She still plays with scissors, (something) and glue.  May your scissors always be sharp.".  Seems appropriate... 😁

Create Art ATC for blue-themed swap.

I hosted a swap "Inspired by Keith Haring".  The person I sent this ATC to is a hiker and outdoor enthusiast.

ATC with the theme "feathers".  (I fixed the crooked 'good life' after taking the pic. LOL)

ATC for orange-themed swap.

So yep, I'm still here and creating just not entering many challenge - mostly finishing up swaps I've committed to.

To those of you who celebrate, Happy Easter!