This Was the Week That Was (aka ICAD Round-Up)

We've passed the halfway point of @indexcardaday and here are my ICADs from the first full week of July:

Day 36: Biomorphic Shapes

(also Mandala Monday)

My first attempt at a mandala using only biomorphic shapes is... semi-successful? It's not what I envisioned, but it is an interesting mash-up of mandala... microscope slide... and Keith Haring mural. So I'm gonna call it a win and move on to the next thing.

Day 35: Seaweed

I'm definitely into handcutting again this year; and also I keep seeing really cute ceramics projects with funky, adorable fish. When I made this last week, it just had fish on a wavy-water background and I felt like it needed "one more thing" but I didn't know what. When I saw the #seaweed prompt it all fell into place!

Day 34: Picnic

It’s a very silly take on picnic for featuring handcut letters (from my first attempt at stenciling "gingham" via my last Ranger Tutorial) and Eyelet Outlet Ant Brads.

Day 33: Off-Prompt

When I started this, I thought it was going to be a mandala... and then it sort of morphed into a modified 1960's-inspired paisley(ish) Pucci(ish) extravaganza of handcutting. 

Potato, Po-TAH-to.

Day 32: Tetris

I went at the "Tetris" theme a bit tangentially by making a colorful mosaic effect with rainbow scraps of patterned paper. It was surprisingly fun to make and thus I wouldn't rule out another version coming along later!

 

Day 31: Change

I had the idea of coinage, expressed as circles stenciled in neutral tones of Archival Inks. I added hand-stitching with silver embroidery floss. I feel like it needs more? or less? or… something… but I have no idea what. So I decided to leave it here and move on to the next idea. That’s the great thing about #ICAD there’s always tomorrow!

Day 30: Pistachio or Green

Technically, this was yesterday's prompt, but since yesterday was Mandala Monday, I slid it over for a day. I had so much fun with the #scarlet prompt a few weeks ago, that I decided to do a similar version of a grid collage; this time with all things green. As you can see, I had a few leftovers!

JB2614: Stars and/or Stripes, Forever

It's July third, which sets the stage for the new challenge at Jingle Belles, Stars and/or Stripes, Forever. So I'm pretty sure you've already guessed that we'd like to see holiday cards which feature stars and/or stipes, lol; but in case there was any doubt, now you know. They don't have to be red, white and blue of course; any color you love will do just fine. The first time we did this theme, I confess I was nervous, but as a matter of fact there are LOTS of holiday papers, stamps and stencils with stripes; and stars are quite prominent for Christmas, too. There's actually quite a lot of choice. And now, without further ado, here's my starry, stripey card:

My stars and my stripes are in the form of two different (ancient!) patterned papers, the red is DCWV and the green is Carta Bella. I found half a pack of Pebbles' diecuts and made them into a cluster that connects the four background panels. There are a few elderly chipboard stars courtesy of Echo Park and the sentiment sticker is from Doodlebug.

Be sure to hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card and start planning what you'll link up with us this fortnight. JB2614: Stars and/or Stripes, Forever runs until 6pm (Eastern) on July, 15th.

NEW Holiday Jumpstart Kit

There's a brand new Holiday Jumpstart Kit in the Paper Anthology Etsy Shop! It's called Holiday Jumpstart: A Sequence of Deer and Doilies and it looks a bit like this:

Hop over to the PA Blog to read all about it, or visit Paper Anthology Design to get your own copy of Holiday Jumpstart: A Sequence of Deer and Doilies today! 

Good Advice

Good advice is always welcome, and these sweet mini cards definitely deliver. There are eighteen garden-themed Eyelet Outlet Brads used here, from ten different sets; all of which are listed and linked below.

Garden Goodness Shopping List:

Ladybug Brads

Mini Ladybug Brads

Leaf Brads

Mini Leaf Brads

Stitched Flower Brads

White Daisy Brads

Colored Daisy Brads

Gnome 2 Brads

Girl Gnome Brads

Garden Tools Brads

Remember that, with retirement approaching at the end of 2026, items that sell out in the Eyelet Outlet Store are NOT being restocked; so be sure to stock up on your favorite brads today!

SOS577: You're So Sweet

It's time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this fortnight we're embracing all the SWEET things in life. Thus, we'd like to see something sweet on your project: it could be a sweet treat, a cute baby card, however you interpret it. As you can see, I went with "sweet treats". Of course.

Ninety percent of this card is composed of stickers; and ninety percent of the stickers are ancient, making this especially stashy, woohoo! The cake, balloons and cupcakes are Susan Branch; I couldn't tell you exactly what age they are, but they had a price tag from a craft store that closed like fifteen years ago so... old, lol. The calendar is Echo Park's Victoria Garden... not quite as old, but still quite classic. There are three styles of washi tape (kind of old); and all of the flower stickers came from a Mambi planner sticker book, circa 2022. The ledger paper background is from Crate Paper and not very old.  

SOS577: You're So Sweet runs until the evening of Monday, July 13th. Check out the other awesome Crew cards at Shopping Our Stash, and start planning what you'll link up with us this fortnight!

Make-It Stamps: Fun with Fruit Card

What's fun, fresh and full of summer flavor? Make-It's Fun with Fruit Stamp Set! I'd love for you to visit the Ranger Project Tutorials Page and follow along as I pair the fabulous fruit with seven (7!) shades of Ranger's colorful Embossing Powder (there are over 50 in total); then create a dynamic gingham background using the Make-It Slanted Stencil with bold Archival Inks on this super summery card. ♥

ICAD

Another week has passed, June is just about over, so here are the seven Index Cards I've made since the last ICAD round-up:

Day 29: Shibori/ Mandala Monday

Shibori was a prompt I originally skipped over, but this week I had an idea for a shibori-inspired Mandala Monday, so I've circled back. I used Archival Inks to make a rich blue background, then added all my petals and lines with a white Posca Pen. 

Day 28: Coastline

This is what I love about prompts, you can follow them wherever they lead, however tangential. Case in point: Today's #dyicad2026 prompt is #COASTLINE from which my mind drifted to BEACH... and then BOARDWALK... and then (obviously!) CONEY ISLAND! (Best not to think about it too hard, lol!)  I had a lot of fun using ALL my colors of Posca Pens and I love how this turned out. The only problem is, now that I have Coney Island inside my head I *really* want a Clam Roll from Nathan's!

Day 27: Crane

Cranes cut from an old, falling apart bird book. "Habitat" made of hexagons punched from various scraps of book paper, sheet music, etc. and edged with green ink. Even I don't really think these two concepts "go" together... and yet... I really love how this came out. So there.

Day 26: Parterre

A very very funky take on #parterre; really just an excuse to cut somewhat shrub-shaped pieces out of green patterned paper scraps. Non, je ne regrette rien.

Day 25: Penguin

Penguins cannot fly.

I cannot fly.

Therefore... I am a penguin.

Additional evidence: I wear A LOT of black, have a tendency towards embonpoint, love fish and have a rock collection. Yep. Penguin!

Penguin illustration, Archival Ink background, manual typewriting and machine stitching on the unlined back of an index card from the dollar store. Bonus points: This is a KING penguin on a ROYAL typewriter, wahey!!!

Day 24: Atrium

Flashing back to the #atrium prompt, which I skipped the week before last. Admittedly a tangential take but... you know... it's ICAD; and there's no better time in the whole creative year to be tangential, imo!

Day 23: Pomegranate

I skipped over #pomegranate yesterday in #dyicad2026 in favor of Mandala Monday, but then I did think of a fun take, and decided to circle back. One of my favorite things about @indexcardaday is that each year, there's at least one prompt I have to Google to find out what it is. A few years ago, @gypsy999 came up with #ogee and I became obsessed with elongated, repeating S-curve patterns. I confess that it never occurred to me to add stylized pomegranates to the mix... until now, lol!