ICAD 2018 - Complete

It's the first day of August and I happy to say that I am officially done with ICAD for this year.  I did fall behind a couple of times, this last week being one of them, but I hunkered down and got them all finished.  As with any lengthy project, there were some days when I wasn't particularly inspired, but I did move forward with something to get to a total of 61 finished cards (62 if you count my title card).

Let me show you the last 5 days and then pictures of the cards from each month together.

57/61 - Twister

For no particular reason, I started twisting and saving the wrappers from straws I've gotten with various drinks these last two months.  I used some of them on this card.

Prima watercolors, twisted straw wrappers

58/61 - Favorite Color

Although it's my favoriet color, it's my least favorite card.  We were away for the weekend and although I had art supplies with me, I opted to try something simple by cutting strips of a paint chip and letters from the same chip.  I apologize BLUE.  It doesn't do you justice.  I will have to think about revisiting this one.

59/61 - Staple

My goal was a 1-Staple collage using some of the ephemera that I've accumulated this summer.  It was that coffee sleeve that put a monkey wrench into that - a little too thick for one staple.  I'm being honest here.  There are three staples holding this together.  Paint chip, coffee sleeve, lottery ticket (loser of course), candy wrapper, wristband, die cuts, and a snippet from the tag on some flowers we planted in our barrel at the condo (which unfortunately just recently were eaten by something).

60/61 - Wish

The words are from a song I think those of you from my generation will remember from the Wonderful World of Disney.  

Zig Brush Markers 

61/61 - Telescope

So as I said in my Facebook post on the ICAD page - 

It's time to leave Planet ICAD. The visit here has been eye-opening, encouraging, educational, and socially satisfying. My telescope points me in the direction of more artistic explorations. Until next year.................

Prima watercolors and gel pen

Here is the collection from the month of June.

And the month of July.

I keep my ICAD's in clear, zippered pencil pouches that I found at the $Tree (the polka dots are only on one side).  Every time I come across them in the store I always pick up one or two because they are perfect for holding these cards or supplies for other small projects and being that they're clear, I can see what's in them and they are protected from the elements.  Good to grab and go too.

ICAD 2018 - 50-56/61

Tomorrow it will be August and I am done with this challenge, hooray!  I will post the last of it tomorrow as I play catch up with my posting.

50/61 - Radio

Zig Brush markers and Micron

51/61 - Mint

What's your favorite?  Peppermint or Wintergreen?

Posca Pens, Stabilo Markers, and Prismacolor pencils.

52/61- Postage

All recycled materials.  Stamp, inside of security envelope as background, portion of address label (smaller butterfly), flowers cut from the envelope flap of a recent thank you note, and grass cut from an audition card.

53/61 - Cassette Tape

Despite what HWNSNBP thought it said (he has seen the light) it's supposed to say MUSIC.

Derwent Inktense pencils, Micron

54/61 - Tide Pool

I really had fun with this one and only regret that it's on an index card which won't take that much water, but I loved a picture of an anemone that I found while googling tide pool and just had to give it a try.

Derwent Inktense pencils, gel pen

55/61 - Network or in this case Net Work

My initial idea was to try a schematic of a sharks brain as it was shark week, but in looking for an example, I kept coming up with a meme that compared what a shark's brain looked like to the internal female anatomy and decided not to go that way.  Since I was a couple days behind at this point, I thought this would be the easy route.  Needless to say, I have a newfound appreciated for macrame illustrators.  

Posca Pens, Stabilo markers

56/61 - Typewriter

I love to type, but I really didn't want to pay homage to a typewriter as typing is a big part of my job.  The quote is mine.  Years ago I made a necklace with keyboard keys for a fellow employee.

Stabilo Pens

I'll have my last 5 cards and a round up for you very soon.

ICAD 2018 - 43-49/61

Hard to believe it's been 7 weeks already and a little more than a week to go.  Making time for these has suddenly become a challenge.  Some other things crept up on me including a little bit of a sideline for some dental surgery.  Still, I persist and will finish.

43/61 - Window

My rendition of part of a stained glass window.

Zig brush markers and Micron pen.

44/61 - Fringe

Using what I could find in the condo.  After a visit to AC Moore an idea struck me when I found this fabric for $1.  I knew at that point I was going to tear it to get fringe on the edges but I didn't quite know what I would use the strips for.  Looking around I found some cording and embroidery floss from a long ago project, and also some paint chips, and TA DA!

45/61 - Candyland

I kept thinking lollipops and they appeared.  Well, no they didn't just appear, but they were fun to do.  One is different than the others.  Can you tell which one?

Zig brush markers and Prismacolor pencils.

46/61 - Tie Dye

So I scribbled some brush marker on an index card, wet it with a paintbrush and then smashed that onto another index card.  I tried two different color palettes and in the end couldn't decide which one I liked best so I cut one up and added it over the other.

Zig brush markers.

47/61 - Love

I pondered this for a long time.   Whilst there are many things that I love, people are what I dearly love and I wasn't going that route.  Instead took a line from our wedding song and strung it with hearts.

Stabilo and Micron pens.

48/61 - Camera

I used the inside of a security envelope for the shutter.  The background was done previously as an experiment for another prompt that I didn't use. 

Zig brush markers, Micron pen, and pencil.

49/61 - Landscape

This was inspired by a photo I took back in May of a sunset looking down the street I live on.  Both the photo and the original of this are much more vibrant in real life.  And the trees had a lot more branches, but at this point I was playing catch up. Still, I think it came out well.

Derwent Inktense pencils, Micron Marker.

If you're wondering about my 365 day project, I haven't given up on it.  Goodness knows I have enough scraps for more than 365 days.  I've fallen behind on preparing the ovals what with summer activities and get togethers.  I will catch up with that too. Promise!

ICAD 2018 - 36-42/61

This week's prompts all begin with the letter P

36/61 - Pretzel

I wouldn't know about such things but it was fun to imagine little pretzel butterflies flitting about.

KOI watercolors, Zig brush markers, and Micron pen

37/61 - Poetry

This is only one verse, the last, from the e. e. cummings poem "i am" that I came across in high school and has always stuck in my head.  Don't ask me what it means because I think it has multiple meanings for me as I've grown older.

Stabilo and Pentel markers for colors, gel pen and Micron for writing

38/61 - Palette

My Cousin Janis posted a photo of this Lily in her garden the day of this prompt so I decided to do this card as a Nature Journal entry showing the palette

Zig brush markers, Posca paint pens, Micron marker

39/61 - Pixellated

The colored squares and rectangles were cut from an index card that I was using to audition my Magic pencils to which I added squares and rectangles with markers.  I glued a piece of origami paper to the index card as my background and then added the cut up "pixels" on top.

Origami paper and audition card

40/61 - Pinball ~ a variety of Globe Amaranth (straw flowers)

I went through a lot of "auditioning" to find an implement with the color of those flowers and finally remembered my Derwent Inktense pencils.  What was that old commercial that said "Shakes out white and turns blue"?  Well, the color change is not that drastic but there is an intensity that happens with these pencils when you activate them with water.  I am fairly thrilled with how this one came out and might try to duplicate it on a better grade of paper to frame for my desk at work. 

Derwent Inktense pencils

41/61 - Portrait

Kirby - our cockatiel.  Based on a picture that I took of him a few years back just before he tried to bite the cell phone camera as it came toward him.

Fantasia watercolor pencils with and without water

42/61 - Plate

I know I could have drawn a very elaborate china plate or home plate but you know I sometimes like to touch on the more obscure.  A turtle's shell is made up of plates that are called scutes.  And I've included a little video below of a little boy and a turtle.

Derwent Inktense pencils

ICAD 2018 - 29-35/61

29/61 - Patisserie

I used my KOH-I-NOOR Magic Colored pencils to make the swirled tops of, let's say, cupcakes.

30/61 - Playing Card or Tarot Card

So, Go Fish is a card game, right?

Watercolor and Prismacolor pencils, Micron pen

31/61 - Curtain

With my apologies to Carol Burnett.  Her hilarious sketch based on the scene in Gone With the Wind where Scarlet O'Hara has a new dress made from the green velvet drapes.  This dress/costume was designed by Bob Mackie (complete with the drapery rod).

Prismacolor pencils, Micron pen

32/61 - Compass

Not quite a snowflake, but closer to a dandelion seed cluster, with the cardinal points.

Zig Brush Pens, gel pen, Posca paint pen

33/61 - Blue

I have something similar to this in one of my art journals.  It was fun the first time and still fun the second.  The quote is from one of the books in the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery.  There are some very good quotes in her works.  

KOI watercolors, blue ballpoint pen

34/61 - Picnic

I don't know what possessed me.  Drinking ice tea too late at night perhaps.  The picnic basket is woven from the strips of one index card and it's attached to the background of another.  

Zig Brush Markers, tape, glue

35/61 - Mosaic

Fun but not so easy.  It's much easier to smash plates into pieces.  I used an audition card for the "tiles".  Flowers that I had practiced for a previous card became flowers of another kind here.  Once they were glued down I used an Exacto knife to cut away the spaces in between.  Then I glue the whole of it to the green cardstock.

ICAD 2018 - 22-28/61

This week seemed to be a little more abstract.

22/61 - Sky

HWNSNBP had come in at dusk and remarked about the number of lightning bugs, aka fireflies, that were out and so I stepped out and tried to take a picture of them but was unsuccessful.  This is sky through the trees with lightning bug trails.

Mermaid markers and gel pen

23/61 - Castle

Every castle has turrets and a sand castle should probably have turret shells.

Colored pencils and Micron pen

24/61 - Jetsons

So I decided to do a 3-D of Rosie the robot maid the Jetsons had.  I used scraps of card stock and a couple of daisy die cuts for her hat, collar, and apron.  She is stapled to the index card.

Mermaid marker background and cardstock scraps

25/61 - Tangerine

A very abstract interpretation of the segments of a tangerine.

Mermaid marker, Zig brush marker, ballpoint pen

26/61 - Meerkat (Not) 

So I thought I'd use that gem shape again (or the card that I had started with it) to make into meerkat faces and that was just not turning out.  So I opted to make them into colorful pods instead.

Zig brush markers, Micron pen

27/61 - Magic Carpet

This card is completely covered with woven washi tape.  I worked on a teflon mat which made it easy to set and lift the washi tape as I wove it.

28/61 - Garden

We don't have any lupines in our garden but we have had a comeback of the daylilies that the deer have decimated in the past.  

Watercolor pencils and Prima watercolors

ICAD 2018 - 15-21/61

15/61 - Sea Green

Prima watercolors, Micron marker, and gel pen.

I learned afterwards that the quote is from a member of NIN.  

16/61 - Superhero 

We  weren't home and I could not come up with a superhero other than my husband and did not want to  make a cartoon character out of him so I gathered scraps of what was in my travel bag and made a medal for a superhero.

Posca pens and collagey stuff.

17/61 - Path

I was thinking arteries and veins were the pathway to and from the heart but someone told me this looks like it could be a path in a Dr. Seuss book.

Koi watercolors and Micron pen

18/61 - Suitcase or in this case Suit Case

I made the mistake of looking at the ICAD Facebook page too early in the day and was blown away by the suitcases that were being shared so, not wanting to possibly have that influence me, I went a different route.  A case of playing cards with all four suits showing along.  And I named them Portmanteau Playing Cards as that's another name for suitcase.  (I know, pretty twisted.)

Colored Pencils and Microns

19/61 - Legend

All, or mostly all flowers have legends that go along with them and this is the legend of the tulips.

Zig Clear Color Brush Markers and gel pen

20/61 - Greeetings From

Well, if you follow along you'll know that this doubled as my entry in Scribble Picnic this week for the theme PLUMP.  

Colored pencils and Micron

21/61 - Treasure

Things that I treasure most are people and intangibles.  I am not one for jewels, but this was what I wanted to draw for this challenge.  I actually had the entire card full of those jewel shapes but it was taking so darn long to color them, layering the metallic colored pencil and adding the marker facets that I decided it would be okay to have them partially cover the cloth.  The cloth was another story unto itself.  The color I wanted to use was available in my Mermaid Markers, but that proved to be so fluid that it bled into the jewels (left side about 2/3 way down) so I had to scrap that.  Then I tried the Zig brush markers and there's an oopsy there too, but I spent way too much time on this already so I wasn't going to start over.

Metallic colored pencils, Zig Brush markers, Micron marker

This is a exercise in trying different things out and I like that, but sometimes I wish the quality of the paper were better so the materials that I want to use look better.  I do find that there is even a difference in the quality of index card depending where they've been purchased.  The cards I'm presently using came from a pack I bought at the $Tree and they are, at the same time, porous and waxy in places.  Some people choose to prep their cards with gesso before they start, but I haven't done that so I will continue with these or try to find some of better quality that I might have tucked away somewhere.

If you're following along with these posts, I'll just remind you that you can always start up at any point during ICAD.  There's no formal requirement for anything except that you use an index card for the base of your "creativity".  I won't say art because that puts some people off.  They say "I'm not an artist!"  And that may be true.  I don't consider myself an "artist", but I do know that I'm creative and that most people, if not all are also creative.  You create when you cook or bake.  When you organize things you are creating calm from chaos.  When you write lists - creating.  When you read you are creating images in your head.  When you build something, or plant something you are creating.  

And the things we can use to create are almost limitless.  Magazines, junk mail (you know we all get it), wrapping paper, tissue paper, receipts, hang tags, staples, crayons, ballpoint pens, simple lead pencils, string, twine, ribbon, glue, tape, things you have in your desk or junk drawer.  Brown paper bags.  Bubble wrap.  Don't have paint - tea and coffee will work.  So will Kool Aid or food coloring if you're careful.  Cancelled postage stamps, envelopes from cards and the insides of security envelopes your bills come in.  

Go ahead.  Give it a try.  It doesn't have to take up hours.  It can be a few minutes.  One of my favorite quotes is "Create something every day even if it sucks." If you make your goal to create something and you do that, you have achieved your goal even if it does suck or does not come out the way you wanted it to.  Not everything has to be complicated or perfect.  Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.