Index-Card-A-Day 2013: Week 5

It's week 5 of Index-Card-A-Day 2013 (at least in my little world). No, it's really two days until the end of nine weeks of Index-Card-A-Day fun. Can it be over so soon? 

Well, not for me. I'm still catching myself up on cards and catching you up on my work. I want to keep all these posts and cards in order, but there may be a post later with cards I went back and made up for. Of course, for too lengthy blog posts, I'm not sharing every single index card. Some of mine came out awful (and that could be a post in itself). 

"Oh, My Deer!" ICAD : 6-30-13

Gelli™ printed tissue paper, acrylic paint, colored pencil, gel pen, text on 3" x 5" index card.

This scrap of Gelli™ printed tissue paper had the exact shape of a deer on it! I just added a few details like the eye, ear definition, shading, and the text.

"Layered Gelli™ Printed Petals" ICAD : 7-1-13

Molding paste, acrylic paint, Gelli™ printed paper collage, marker on 3" x 5" index card. 

My Gelli™ printing sprees produce a ton of yummy papers for collage. These are mainly junk mail scraps and book pages I printed. All the petals were hand-cut and are layered in this collage. I used the end of my finger to curl the ends of all the petals, but the scan I have here doesn't show the real dimension of the piece. 

"My Favorite Washi Tape" ICAD : 7-2-13

Washi tape and DYMO lettering on 3" x 5" index card. 

I needed a really quick make-up card for this day so I just grabbed my five favorite washi tapes and my DYMO. Is it possible to just have five favorite washi tapes?! NO! 

"Summer Fun" ICAD : 7-3-13

Gelli™ printed background, handmade stamps, gel pen, calligraphy pen, archival ink on 3" x 5" index card. 

There were parts of this Gelli™ printed background that I really didn't like. So I stamped my pie chart and asterisk hand-cut stamps over it. The pie charts looked like beach balls to me on the colorful background. I colored them in with opaque gel pens and added some white gel pen accents. My calligraphy could use some help. I tried to disguise my mistakes with a hot pink opaque gel pen, but the calligraphy ink bled right through.

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I did a card for the 4th of July and it can be seen in my post here. 

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"Heart Garland" ICAD : 7-5-13

Gelli™ printed background with hand-cut paper hearts stitched to 3" x 5" index card. 

The Gelli™ printed background for this one sat on my desk since the start of Index-Card-A-Day. It was too pretty to cover up with a lot of collage. Each heart is Gelli™ printed book page and was hand-cut by me. I lightly glued them to the card before sending the lot through the sewing machine. I really like how this one turned out and may turn the design into something bigger.

"Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge" ICAD : 7-6-13

Spray ink, acrylic paint, stamp, ink, gel pen, paper collage on 3" x 5" index card. 

I masked and sprayed the background with spray inks. Then I stamped with paint and ink and doodled on it. The quote is stamped on a scrap of painty phonebook page and was given dimension with foam tape behind it. The paper backing the quote is part of the mask I used with the spray ink - it matched the colors! How handy!

- Vickie

Index-Card-A-Day 2013 : Week 4

Humor me and pretend it's the end of June. Index-Card-A-Day 2013 is still going strong. It's week 4 (June 23-29) and I finally feel more like myself again after surgery. It's back to some serious art time. 

"Home Sweet Home" 6-23-13: This card began as a Gelli™ printed background. I glued down two pieces of printed tissue paper for the houses and painted over them. The scallops at the top are also Gelli™ printed and came from another project they just weren't working with well. I added a lot of detail with my gel pens. This is one of my favorite cards.

  

"What A Wonderful World" 6-24-13 : The background started with gesso etched with some texture. I added some grungy paint techniques and splattered paint on it. The torn paper roses are from old book pages, some in English, French, and Japanese. I lightly edged them with a pink pigment ink pad. The leaves are cut from my Gelli™ printed paper stash, which is ever growing. "Lyric" was one of the week's prompts so I went with one I could make with those Tim Holtz chit chat stickers. Each word has a Gelli™ printed background, which I distressed with my craft knife. The shiny rhinestone brads look funny in this scanned image of the card - but trust me - they shiiiiiiine. In order to tie the card together more I added stitching around the outside. 

"Owl" 6-25-13 : Guess what?! It's another Gelli™ printed background! The owl is on very vintage French text paper. It was fragile so I glued it to a bit of thicker cardstock in order to draw on it. The owl consists of paint, marker, colored pencil, and gel pen. I drew the tree branch and the little stem with leaves, cut them out, and collaged them to the card. Then I cut the owl out and glued it on. A bit of a doodle around the edge completed it.

"Roses" 6-26-13 : These roses are more of a complex paper layering design than can really be seen in this image. There are five paper layers: one for all seven flowers, one for the middle back rose, another for all four in front, one for the middle left front rose and one for the middle right front rose. Except for the last top layer, each layer was made to include the flowers that would be layered above it in order to avoid the lines that happen when overlapping this many layers. I got lazy with the last roses - the ones in the front middle - and you can see the line from where they overlap.

All the leaves and stems were cut separately and put back together creating a lot more layers. The image was painted only after all the paper layers were complete.  

"Love" 6-27-13 : Not being one who likes to waste paint, this card was painted with left overs from another piece. I dragged the paint across the card with an old credit card. The word is drawn with a big brush shaped Sharpie™ and outlined with a white gel pen.

"Time Flies" 6-28-13 : It's another Gelli™ printed background! I disliked the left side of the print so I collaged a piece of Gelli™ printed junk mail over it. The wings and clock are stamped on tissue paper and collaged to the card. I added white and shiny silver gel pen to the stamped image. The little doodles were added last. 

"Not All Who Wander Are Lost" 6-29-13 : The background is torn paper from old books and acrylic paint. I stamped the typewriter and bird on tan paper and cut them out. Then I had to engineer the paper banner coming from the typewriter. It's all one piece of folded paper. Stamping the lettering was nerve wracking as I had one chance to get it right or I had to make the banner all over again. Nailed it on my second try. A slit cut in the typewriter allowed me to tuck the end of the banner in it. I used foam tape under the parts of the banner that have words. Those shadows you see are real, not digitally added. Sweet! 

If you click on the images of my index cards, you will go to flickr where they can be seen much larger. Check out the Daisy Yellow Index-Card-A-Day flickr group while you're there! 

- Vickie

Happy 4th of July!

ICAD3 :: JULY 4, 2013
Marker, ink, gel pen on 3" x 5" index card
©2013 Victoria Porter/In My Head Studios
All Rights Reserved

My Index-Card-A-Day for today is all about celebrating our country's Independence Day! Stars, stripes, and good old red, white, and blue!

I have been diligently working away at my index cards and {be creative everyday}. They are not up here on my blog or at flickr yet because I had slightly-emergency surgery last month. I apparently rock so hard I can grow my own stones! Gallstones, that is. 

It was horribly painful. I am still recovering. My surgeon said the biggest of the stones was a whopping 1.8 cm. That's almost an inch wide! Yowza!

So today I am also celebrating independence from my gallbladder and the associated pain. Unfortunately, that means my picnicking food for the fair today won't be anything fried or fatty. Gee, what's left then? Snow cones. The beer tent. Grilled chicken. Cotton candy. Yay. 

I hope you have a SAFE and HAPPY 4th of July! Go enjoy your hamburgers and hot dogs, clam bakes, and gooey desserts while you still have a gallbladder (if you still happen to have one)!

- Vickie

ICAD 2013 First Week Catch-Up

Presenting a round-up of my first 6 days of Index-Card-A-Day (and my {be creative everyday} practice, too!)

ICAD3 : JUNE 2 : Queen
Prompt: crown.  Theme: rainbow colors.

Created with a background of painty phonebook pages from cleaning off my brayer when Gelli™ printing. The rest is acrylic paint, ink, gel pen, & colored pencil.

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ICAD3 : JUNE 3 : Fearless
Prompt: zebra

Woman cut from magazine. I added her stripes with a Sharpie™. The background is acrylic paint and my own handmade stamp designs.

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ICAD3 : JUNE 4 : Klimt

Gustav Klimt has been on my mind lately. Created with thick handmade paper collage,  watercolor crayons, a brown Sharpie™, white gel pen, gold gel pen, and graphite.

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ICAD3 : JUNE 5 : Love

This one doesn't fit any prompts. She has been hanging around in my head for some time and I had to let her out. I plan on doing something with her for a painting.

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ICAD3 : JUNE 6 : {Grow Beauty}

This started with a scrapbook paper background I chose because I liked the colors. I used acrylic paint to stamp the flower designs that are my own handmade stamps. I added detailing with my white gel pen. The letters are stickers I embellished a little. Black ink added to the edges makes the contrast pop. 

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For June 7th, I had an all day painting class and totally forgot to paint my index card there! So that one will be a "make-up" card related to my class. I might add a little photo of my painting!

I have TONS of ideas for cards this year. Running out of inspiration won't be a problem. Over the weekend I Gelli™ printed a bunch of cards to have handy backgrounds already started. I cannot recommend doing this enough for those days when you have little to no time to do a card. Just add a doodle or some text. Voilà!!

- Vickie

LOVE: Index-Card-A-Day 2012: 6/28/12

For so long I have been blown away by some scrapbook pages - the kind with the sort of minimalist use of space with a lot of design and embellishment in one area around the photo. Particularly the work of Finnabair makes my brain pop. It's amazing, and I would love to speak to this artist about her work. 

After several attempts at this type of collage, I had kind of given up on getting it how I wanted. But I am not one to give up that easily. So I studied her work and the work of her peers. I studied the composition, layers, and colors. I deconstructed the pieces in my head and put them back together.

Of course this made for a good Index-Card-A-Day 2012 challenge. I'm trying NEW things for #icad2 and using up supplies I haven't even touched or have been saving forever. Time to open the scrap box...

... and pull everything out but the kitchen sink! Here we have random book pages, tickets, a cardboard coffee sleeve, tags, baker's twine, staples, stars, old paper from books and ledgers, sheet music, a paper clip, envelopes, a money band, washi tape, canvas, embroidery trim, a star brad, hangtag packaging, and stitching. 

I literally spent hours and hours fiddling, and that turned into about three days of pushing bits and bobs around to get this done. I simply had to walk away from it several times to clear my head. At one point, all of it finally "clicked into place" - the layers, the arrangement, colors, and textures. 

A lot of this was experimentation. Not knowing where I'm going with something can be very freeing to me. I asked things of my paper punches that only a mad scientist would try. I added some collage. Then went to the sewing machine. Then to the paint, and on and on until basically I made a tour of my studio in supplies and paper ephemera. 

My goal was to use these things in an "as is" condition as much as possible. I love how the ledger paper holes look as a design element. The letters for "LOVE" are stamped on the edge of a vintage dictionary page; I wanted to preserve the red edges as well as take advantage of the natural patina of the old paper.  

I'm happy with the result. Even more though, I am happy that I TRIED this. Even if it had turned out to be a total FAIL, I still faced the edges of my comfort zone with courage and smashed those barriers to smithereens. I cannot recommend anything more highly than getting off your duff and doing that thing which scares you most in your art. 

Just. Do. It.

It's just paper, after all. Right? 

Right.  

- Vickie

"Home Sweet Home" ICAD2 for 6/21/12

Ok, I might be making the Index-Card-A-Day Challenge a little more challenging than I hoped and/or planned. I've just been so inspired! I didn't realize my brain needed a little discipline to work on something everyday, and now I am hungry, hungry, hungry for art all the time. I LOVE this!
This card is from June 21, 2012. It definitely took me more than one day to do this. I'm not getting a card a day done -  and I gave myself permission to do that at the start. However, I do believe I am still benefitting from this challenge like crazy. If I'm not getting one card a day done then I am at least working on one (or two or three at a time) each day. AND THAT COUNTS.


This house, bird, and nest image is something I've worked on before in different formats - for domino pendants and ATCs. Now I felt it needed an ICAD2 work-up. 
I started by making a house shaped template that fit the index card. I cut the house out of another index card, pasted scrapbook paper over it, and added the tissue tape. Then I stitched around the edges on my sewing machine.  
The sky is layered torn dictionary pages secured with matte medium. I added some watered down blue paint then splattered really watery gesso over it. I left the torn edges because they reminded me of deckled edges on handmade paper. The edge was then shaded with a darker blue Copic marker. 
The lettering is hand stamped in red pigment ink - which I had to stamp a billion times because I always mess up the last letter and ruin it. It's matted with dark red cardstock. The edges are inked to "age" and soften them. 


The bird and nest images are from flickr's collage images group. I love the detail and texture in these pieces. My printer went light on the ink for this printing - not sure why. I went back over the pictures with colored pencils to bring out the color more. The gleaming highlight in the bird's eye is a dot of white gel pen. I also highlighted the eggs with white gel pen. 


After I adhered the bird and nest to the background it all looked very flat. I used colored pencils to shade around the bird and nest for some dimension. It really perked the piece up. I also ran a thin line of dark brown pencil to the very edges of the paper of the collage images to bring them out more. 


Oh, how I love using foreign postage stamps in my collage! I have about 20 pounds of old stamps (anyone need any?). I chose this one for the color and the country of origin - France - so it would tie in with the tissue tape behind it that has French on it.  


The back of the index card has the stitching I did with my sewing machine. I love sewing on paper. I'm stamping the date the card is finished on the back. I should go back and add some more details to the information of the piece. 

"home sweet home" Index-Card-A-Day2
Mixed media & paper collage on index card
3"x 5"
© 2012 Victoria Porter/In My Head Studios

This ICAD2 looks adorable on a tiny easel I found at the craft store! 

I am a bit behind on posting more ICADs that I have finished. There's much more to come!

- Vickie

Butterfly: Index-Card-A-Day for June 10, 2012

“Experience is not what happens to you. It’s what you do with what happens to you.”

Rochester in the spring is lush lush lush. Flowers, trees, and everything else are blooming and verdant. It’s like the Garden of Eden around here lately complete with budding raspberry bushes right next to my driveway. 

The colors in the Spring 2012 Distress Ink palette were calling to me amidst the yellow, teal, and lavender of my neighbors’ gardens. 

I’ll admit I'm a newbie when it comes to working with Distress Inks. I’m an old-school stamper and still prefer my pigment inks for their brightness and colorfastness. As a mixed media artist I rarely plan which medium will be next in my work, and I often have to plan for something wet – like watery paint, matte medium or Mod Podge – to be spread across all or part of a piece. Using inks that are water-reactive like Distress Inks have only led to heartbreak learning this lesson the hard way. Bleeds. Smears. Oh, and tears.* 

So I’ve shied away from them. However, I must admit that I adore the color palette of the whole line and the amazingly inspiring Tim Holtz. I figure I better learn how to use them properly since I bought several pads. 

So I goofed around with them on my Index-Card-A-Day for June 10th! If I messed it up – it’s JUST an index card (plus hours of work – but, hey, that’s part of the artistic process, right?). 

I started out with the colors Squeezed Lemonade, Peacock Feathers, and Shaded Lilac. Using a foam blending tool I shaded the index card starting with the yellow, then on to the teal, and then the lilac. The yellow and teal blended to make a lovely greenish color. The teal and lilac made a shade of blue like the sky at twilight – an impossible ultramarine blue. The lilac ink wasn’t quite as dark as I wanted so I added some Dusty Concord. 

The butterflies were stamped with Peacock Feathers ink to keep the color scheme balanced. I inked the text stamp behind the sentiment with both Peacock Feathers and Shaded Lilac being careful to not get too much ink contamination between the pads. I wanted the text to blend in with the two colors I already laid down. That worked way better than I thought it would. These inks were beginning to score + points at this stage. I even splattered some water on the background to take advantage of the effect that creates. 

To make the 3D butterfly I inked part of an index card scrap with Squeezed Lemonade to match the background. Then I stamped the same butterfly in Peacock Feathers and cut it out. Using my extra sparkly gel pen I drew in lines and dots on the wings. Using the foam blending tool I inked the edges of the wings with teal and a bit of the Dusty Concord to give it dimension. I carefully folded the wings up and made the body curve a bit. The antennae are repurposed fake flower middles! 

The sentiment is stamped on an index card, as well. How lucky is it that the lines kind of matched up well?! The edges of this were inked with lilac. Next I added brads to anchor this piece. There’s a bit of tissue tape behind the sentiment and under the key embellishment. I tied a little purple ribbon to the key before gluing it down with Glossy Accents. That stuff is amazing as glue. 

The yellow flowers started as white flowers I bought in a giant glass milk bottle. Again with the foam blending tool I inked them with Squeezed Lemonade to match the card. They are adorned with a sparkly brads and adhered with Glossy Accents. Each flower is made of three flowers. 

For a little more texture I distressed the edges of the whole card. I love how much that adds in such a simple way. 

I am quite thrilled I took the time to learn more about Distress Inks this way. There’s no learning without some mad scientist experimentation, right? 

Did I know what I was doing? NOT REALLY! That’s why I went ahead and did it anyway! 

I encourage you to go try something new – something you have no idea how to use that has been in your crafty stash for a while. Grab an index card and JUST DO IT! Whether it works out or not I guarantee you will most certainly learn something. 

My mantra: “It’s just paper!” 

* If you happen to know what I could use to put over these Distress Inks so they don't smear or bleed into my next layers of work, I would be very happy to hear it!

- Vickie

Shopping Trip: Index-Card-A-Day 2012

My Index-Card-A-Day 2012 for June 11th, chronicles my shopping trip to the craft store with my beloved mom. 

I really just needed ONE white gel pen after mine went missing. So that was the plan when we went into the craft store. I employed the no cart or basket "if I can't carry it in my arms to the checkout then I don't need it" tactic. Otherwise I spend way too much on all the lovely goodies there. I was also hoping to find some embellishments for my travel journal - but not too many. 

I thought my index card for that day should be made with just the supplies I bought that day. I got some Tim Holtz tissue tape, alpha-cards and vial labels, Smash tape, K&Co borders (the tickets), and two white gel pens. The only things on here not purchased that day are the black paper, alpha stamps for the date, ink, and the adhesives used. 

The only white gel pen that's ever worked for me is the Sakura Gelly Roll. I know others swear by the Inkssentials and/or the Uni-ball Signo. Those just frustrate me by not laying down ink and have to be reworked more than I care for.  

The "M" card stands for my mom and the store name Michael's. I tried using most of the lime green part of the tape to tell the story that Mom wore a bright lime green shirt and - as always - matching bright lime green flip flops. That woman owns a pair of matching flip flops for every color shirt she owns, which is on the loooong list of things I love about my mom. 

Also, she actually said "I don't want to hear you lament the loss of your favorite white pen all week. Let's go get one."

She totally GETS me. <3

- Vickie

Challenge! Index-Card-A-Day 2012

I am jumping into the water over at DaisyYellow for the 2012 Index-Card-A-Day Challenge! What am I talking about? Here are the details!

The 2012 Index-Card-A-Day challenge runs June 1 to July 31, 2012. Make something on an index card every day for 61 days. If you start after June 1st you do not need to catch up, really, truly, seriously, just start. This is not a fancy schmancy challenge. You don't have to be on twitter or flickr or facebook or have a blog. Just index cards!

61 days, you say? That sounded like quite the commitment... until I realized...

It doesn't have to be the Mona Lisa every day for 61 days!  

Just do something!

Well, that sounds better. All I have to do is SOMETHING. Particularly a 3" x 5" something on an index card - because that's the size I have handy. And, since I am working on practicing more kindness towards myself, there will be no beating up of my self-esteem if I miss a day. (Got that, brain? I'm talking to you.)

I can always catch back up. After all, this is a CHALLENGE! So, yeah, it's sort of going to be a challenge for me to spit out something everyday - especially on days where I can't even lift my own head. 

Plus I am starting late due to my vacation and I absolutely do not feel the need to try to catch up on 7 cards unless the mood strikes me. And that's OK! 

The card pictured above is my card for yesterday - Saturday, June 9, 2012. It was created with watercolor, colored pencils, inks, stamps, stencils, and a bit of gel pen. I like the colors on this one. It had me craving mango smoothies later that night! 

   

My Index-Card-A-Day 2012 for June 8, 2012. Created with watercolor, Pitt pens, and Copic marker. I intended to keep this one simple to start with, but the juicy watercolors were calling me and I painted this with a small waterbrush. Now I am glad I took the extra time on it.  

An amazing number of folks are getting involved! Check out the flickr group! 

I hope you will join us! Get your friends and family involved - even if it's for just one card. You will most certainly have a fun time with them making art!

I am now off for a lazy Sunday with Mr. M and hopefully more mango smoothies!

- Vickie