it's ICAD o'clock!

yes, that's right, it's june first, which means the 9th annual index card a day festivities are underway, devised and hosted by tammy garcia of daisy yellow art! this marks my 8th year of participation, so i made a little book to hold my cards. you absolutely do not need one of these, or indeed any special type of supplies! except index cards. and yes, it's important that you use REAL index cards... the thin, flimsy kind, from staples or target! because part of the point is that you're using cheap, easy-to-find supplies and thus you have the freedom to "wreck" as many cards as you want, in pursuit of whatever crazy idea you might be inspired to try. i make myself a little book each year NOT to show off or have something fancy. i do it because i love making little books, and also, because i know myself well enough to realize that, having spent time to make the book, i will want the fun of watching it fill up with cards, and i'll be spurred on to finish! this is also why i make the book part of my travel journals BEFORE vacation; if i left it until after, it might not actually get done!

so yes, i made a collaged cover from vintage paper, a bit of washi tape, a gel print with poppies on it that i've been hoarding since "31 days of gel printing" last year, and some pink glitter over-sized chipboard letters that i think i bought when my niece maddie was a toddler? (she just turned 15, lol!!!)

i generally stock my book with a few blank cards from the different styles i've collected over the years. i learned early on that for me, it's actually NOT a timesaver to pre-punch 61 days worth of cards, or to make backgrounds in advance. because i never really know what kind of card i'll want to work on each day until i actually start working. on the other hand, it doesn't really look like an official/exciting book without any cards in, so i punch a few of my favorite types that i feel pretty sure i'll use.  

all but one year of ICAD i have used a handmade book, bound by a single ring. i find this the most flexible style for me, because it only takes a second to punch the hole and add each night's card to the collection. i've seen other people using little recipe boxes, or flip-files, or spiral-bound books of indexcards, or just tucking the cards into their journals. i think the most important thing for any on-going project is just to know how YOU like to work. and the way to learn that is to probably try a few different ways and see what feels right.

i did use a pre-made spiral-bound book of white lined index cards one year, because i wanted to focus specifically on drawing in 2015. and i knew that having the pre-bound book would force me to work FLAT. which it did. and i learned a lot that year. but by the end i was missing collage sooooooooooo much that i was kind of drooling over my collection of vintage paper. i've given myself a "focus" in other years (like collage, or lettering) but i've never made it as restrictive, and so far i haven't bought or made a different style of card holder again. in case you're wondering what i do with the little books afterwards, i will usually leave the current year's to sit out on a shelf for a bit after ICAD finishes. and so far all of the previous versions fit into this vintage train case, which lives in my office.

and whereas i arguably don't NEED to buy index cards every single year, i do like having a few different styles... lined and unlined, colorful and white, gridded, and especially, the divider cards with tabs, which are my favorite for using with colorburst, since they are a heavier! my other excuse for trying out a new kind each year is that my mom, sister, nieces and nephews have all participated at least a bit each year, and i love to give them all a few cards at some point in may. thus i always have a few new ones, without amassing stacks and stacks. this year i found alphabet tabs and a fun set of inkjoy pens in lots of pretty colors. so of course i had to treat us!

but truly, the most important part of ICAD is not the supplies, but the ideas, and the freedom to try literally ANYTHING and see where it takes you. tammy g kindly provides completely optional daily prompts as well as theme ideas for various weeks. all of these resources will be archived at daisy yellow, in the ICAD section. and they get posted a few days before each week begins, on the blog, and also on instagram and facebook. there are also fun communities on both of those social media sites, if you'd like to see what people are making, and maybe socialize or chat with others. the official hashtag for this year is #dyicad2019.

i know the thought of committing to 61 days can be daunting. so if you think you want to try ICAD, and the thing stopping you is the fear of not finishing, why not set out to complete one full week? if, at the end of it, you haven't "caught the bug" then fair enough, maybe this isn't for you. or maybe, just maybe... you'll be HOOKED! ♥♥♥