ICAD 2017 #1

It is June 1st and that means the Index Card A Day Challenge has started again.  This is a 61 day challenge to make art everyday on an index card.  It is a way to try and get your crafty or arty mojo pumping.  I tried my hand at this challenge last year and made it through 14 days.  I am going to try and make it the full 61 days this year!

If you would like to get more information about this challenge, please visit the Daisy Yellow Blog.

Last year I focused on stamping, but this year I am going to focus on die cuts.  I need to show my Cricut machine and my Big Shot machine a little love, so I am going use die cuts on many of my cards this year.  I am also going to try to practice my ink blending over the next two months as well. This is not a requirement of the challenge, but I found it helpful last year to have some ideas of what I wanted to practice on these cards.  This way I have a jumping of point instead of just staring at a blank card.

On my first card this year I used a die cut from Tim Holts Thinlets set Gearhead.  This die set comes with 21 individual dies that cut out a slew of different size and shaped gears, but it also comes with this one die that cuts a corner piece.  I cut this piece out several weeks ago not knowing what I was going to do with it.  In the background I blended the Stampin' Up inks So Saffron and Pool Party.  I then used a Fiskar stamp with Archival ink Coffee by Ranger to stamp out the flowers.  Lastly I added the two butterflies with my Martha Stewart three butterfly punch.  I really love the hard and soft feeling of this card.

I hope that you will feel inspired to try this challenge.  It is never to late to start.  Please come back tomorrow to see the next card in the challenge.

ICAD DAY #8

Sweetie Bird

I love this Unity Stamp Co Stamp of the Week Owl.  He is so serious in his quest for love.  I had the map paper in my scraps that I just thought was perfect.  I first colored the map with Distress Tea Dye Stain,  Then I added a little Distress Walnut ink to the corners. 

I colored the owl with Distress Markers: Vintage Photo, Worn Lipstick and Tea Dye stain that was left on my work map.  I popped him up with some foam tape.  I stamped the sentiment with Memento Luxe Rich Cocoa.  The sentiment is part of the stamp set.

Happy Crafting!

ICAD DAY #7

Bowl of Cherries

I just went with an simple card today.  I wanted the image to really be the focus.  I love those bowls teetering around.  I used Distress Markers with my homemade Perfect Pearls Spray to color the background and the image.  The bowl of cherries is the Stamp of the Week for Unity Stamp Co. called Out on a Limb stamped with Memento Luxe Rich Cocoa.  It did come with a sentiment but I really just wanted it to be all about the cherries.  I used a fan brush to make the rays coming away from the cherries.

There is so much shine and glitter I just love it.  I used Wink of Stella Clear on the cherries.


All the colors of Distress Markers I used:

• Broken China
• Chipped Sapphire
• Tumbled Glass
• Mermaid Lagoon
• Barn Door
• Faded Jeans
• Abandoned Coral
• Twisted Citron

Leave me a comment, I would love to hear what you think about my cards.

Happy Crafting!

ICAD DAY # 6

Butterfly Garden

I just wanted to do something with butterflies today.  I love butterflies, so you will see more.  I drew the flowers on the card.  Then colored the with Hardmuth Woodless Color Pencils. I used my Martha Stewart punch to create lots of little butterflies form craft paper.  Lastly I used my Gold Wink of Stella pen to create sparkly golden butterflies.  I just love how they sparkle. 

Oh my, I just realized I forgot to add a stamping element.  Oops!  I just love it to much to worry about not meeting that part of my personal challenge today.  Wouldn't this just brighten up your day if you received this on a greeting card?   

Happy Crafting!

ICAD DAY #5

I just had to make something with mason jars,  I made some blueberry jam yesterday, and here is a card inspired by that cooking.

Aren't these lighting bugs just two cute with their Wink of Stella lights?  I used water color paper with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I colored the jam and the lighting bugs with Stampin' Up Blackberry Bliss. Watermelon Wonder and Hello Honey.  The tops were stamped with Lost Lagoon and Cucumber Crush.

Happy Crafting!

ICAD DAY # 4

Today's stamp was a digi-stamp by the Greeting Farm: Mermaid Anya.  I have all types of stamps, including digital ones.  I love digital stamps, because you can re-size them to whatever size you need or flip them the other way.  I had colored her a while ago with Tombow Dual Tip Markers just to practice shading.  I love how vibrant the colors are on her tail.  Both her and the donuts from yesterday are the full strength of the marker, I didn't use any water.  You can really get a nice bold bright happy colors from them or you can make them a little more tame by water coloring with them.  

This week has been totally about those Tombow markers.  I am going to use Distress Markers next week.  I love the Distress markers as well, because they are not so neon and bright even at full strength.  One of the reasons I bought the Tombow markers was to have a set of markers that are very bold saturated colors. It just gives me so many options when I am coloring my stamps. 

I just love all the techniques and versatility you have with water based markers. 

I added some glitter water bubbles behind Anya with some Tulip Beads in the Bottle.  I just fussy cut flowers out of some designer paper that I thought also kind of look like sea shells.  I did pop Anya up with foam tape.

I just wanted to use her in a project for a long time and think was the perfect one.  

Happy Crafting!

ICAD DAY #3

Happy Donut Day!

Can you guess my inspiration today?  I wanted to celebrate National Donut Day, but I can't eat donuts.  I made some paper ones with a one inch stamp and quarter inch punch. I colored them with a bunch of bright colorful frosting.  

Here are a few more close ups.  

I stamped the polka dots in Stampin' Up Blushing Bride. The smile stamp is from Unity Stamp Co. Stamp of the Week Smile in Your Heart. 

Happy Crafting!

Index Cards -- Check

Stamps --- Check

Markers and Paint --- Check

Excitement --- Check Check

I have decided to take this challenge this year and it starts tomorrow!  I am super excited.  I have been thinking about this challenge for the last month. I decided that I want to focus on creating little pieces of art with stamps.  

If you are not familiar with this challenge, you can get all the answers from Daisy Yellow's blog.  Here is a link to the FAQ page for the ICAD challenge.

Here is the skinny: ICAD stands for Index Card A Day.  The idea is to create small pieces of art each day on a index card for 61 days.  It is about creating everyday on an easy medium that is quick to grab.  You are suppose to focus on the act of creating more than on the creation itself. It helps you learn to live a life of creativity .  I am also using this as a challenge to update my blog everyday as well for 61 days!

I think it is a great way to start the "habit" of creating.  It is also a wonderful way to play with your supplies, learn your supplies, and think about using your supplies in ways you may not have done before.  Personally I have a habit of starting and stopping my crafting.  This stops my brain from thinking in a creative way, and can make it feel harder to start up again.  I want to break that habit.  I am going to focus on making something instead of making a perfect work of art. Hopefully at the end of July I will see how easy it is to be creative each day, and will feel more confident using my supplies.

I am giving myself one more rule for this challenge.  I must use at least one stamp on each index card.  I want to practice my stamping.  I also want to try and force myself to think about using my stamps in different ways. After 61 days I should get lot of use out of my stamps. 

Daisy Yellow also has prompts for each day/week of the challenge, in case you need some inspiration.  You can create what every you want each day, but she gives these prompts in case you are not sure how to start or how to continue.  I am going to look at them, but I am not going to restrict myself to just these prompts.  I do sometimes need a moment of inspiration, so I will check them out.  Here is a link to the icad index that has the prompts schedule near the bottom of the post.  

The prompts for the first week were posted on May 29, 2016.  

I hope you come back and check out my creations throughout the challenge. 

Happy Crafting!