Week Two: ICAD 2024

Wrapping up the first full week of Index Card a Day with a colorful round-up! To see the cards daily, visit my Instagram account @llaurenb where I post them as I make them! 

ICAD24-10: Mandala Monday

It's an Ink-Over-Collage Mandala Monday thanks to some of my favorite Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink shades from Ranger: Rosy Posy, Sunflower, Leaf Green, Sky Blue and Cactus Flower. I used sponge daubers to apply the inks in arcs of rainbow order atop some torn book paper glued to an index card divider; then drew the shapes in with a few sizes of Letter It Fineliners. I used Detail Blending tools to neaten up the colors, and finally added finishing touches with a white paint pen.

ICAD24-09: Potpourri

According to Merriam Webster, the secondary* definition of #POTPOURRI is, "a miscellaneous collection; a medley" and it would be hard to find anything miscellaneouser than this card, which features part of a fractal my friend EJ designed, surrounded by fractalesque doodled shapes, then randomly sewed upon. Behind the card you can see Kenneth Kenmore, my grandmother's sewing machine, which works perfectly, despite considerable fading of the avocado green facade that was de rigueur for all 1970's appliances.

*The primary definition of POTPOURRI is, of course, "A bowl of smelly stuff, used to drive away guests with allergies"

ICAD24-08: Wave

For several years I've hoarded/saved this beautiful handwritten library checkout card for Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (thank you Mary aka @millwoodstudioart ) and I am pleased as punch to have done so, because imo this is the PERFECT use for such a card. BTW, if the fact that the fish came from a book entitled, "Wondrous World of Fishes" does not delight you at least a tiny bit, I'm not sure we can be friends. Just sayin'...

ICAD24-07: Lavender

Expanding from leafy #lavender limits to a purposeful pan-purple-ous panoply of modish poddishness.

ICAD24-06: Owl

Gorgeous owl from a North American Nature book; hand-cut OWL letters from a cool photo of trees; strips of torn text paper and Big Dollar Trading Stamps for which I thank @smilynstef who is a thrifter of fantastic talent and generosity! ♥

ICAD24-05: Gradient

The other day's prompt was #gradient but it was Mandala Monday, so I pushed it back a bit. Just a reminder that the #dyicad prompts are not only optional, they are multifariously adaptable! You can pick and choose, do as many or as few as you like, do them on whatever days they appeal. Make 61 #gradient cards or skip #gradient in favor of something else, or leave out all the prompts all together. The definition of the noun "prompt" (according to Merriam-Webster) is, "an inciting cause; or a reminder". So it's 100% cool to start out drawing lines with blue brush pens that get darker and then lighter again (as I have)... but as you work... you might add patterns and details in other colors (as I have) so that it's not really a pure gradient anymore. You might even decided to glue something on top (as I have not) which completely obscures the gradient but IT STILL COUNTS! The prompts are there to get you started; where you go after that is up to you. And if you're already started on something interesting, maybe you don't need a prompt that day. Make this 61-day shindig YOURS, in any and every way that feels fun or inspiring to YOU!

PS: I am currently in love with the word "multifariously" and apologize in advance for what I fear will be a brief but intense period of substantial over-usage! ♥

ICAD24-04: Tree

I spent quite a long time typing the names of the trees onto the trees in this illustration... and it's hardly noticeable, but I don't care. How did I wind up with a fish flying through the clouds with a seriously large moon in the background? Who can say??! Collage logic is tangential at best: Here are some trees... the sky would be visible behind them... the sky is (generally) blue... I have blue index cards... you fly in the sky... there are flying fish (tho this isn't one of them lol)... whilst flying it's cool to see the clouds from a different angle... if you fly long enough you'll get to the moon... The End. :)

♥♥♥