Bold and Splashy Mandala Monday

It is a fact, universally acknowledged, that a crafter in possession of new inks (in this case from the latest release of Stellar Inks from Simon Hurley and Ranger) must test them out, ASAP.  And thus I have done so, in mandala form, obviously:

I chose five of the newest shades: Roar!, Red Flag, Siren Song, Overzealous and Cold Shoulder. I used one of my favorite watercoloring methods to create the basic shapes; by smooshing each ink pad (sequentially) onto my craft sheet and using a waterbrush to pick up the ink and paint with it in my Dina Wakley MEdia Watercolor Journal. Then I flicked clear water over the design and blotted up some of the color, for a fun mottled effect. When the whole thing was dry, I added black and white outlines (with a Letter It Fineliner and a Posca Paint Pen, respectively) and at the very end I flicked some Dina Wakley White Gloss Spray onto the design.

I hope your week is off to a bold and colorful start! ♥

It's a Big, BIG, Mixed Media Mandala Monday

After two months of index cards, working in my fabulous BIG (7x12") Dina Wakley MEdia Ledger Journal is quite a leap. Luckily I had some of Dina's new colorful Chroma Transparencies (this set is called Painted Elements) and Flutters Rub-On Transfers, which I couldn't wait to break open... so I did!

I used some older Dina goodies too, including an older set of her Washi Tape, my new favorite color of Acrylic Paint (Mineral), and Gloss Sprays in Fuchsia and Marine.

I had so much fun making this! I'd write more about it, but I think I'd prefer to go back and play with more of these amazing, colorful, exuberant elements! Meanwhile, I hope your week is off to a beautiful start!

ICAD2026 Wrap-Up

Hard to believe the entire 61 days of the 2026 edition of the @IndexCardaDay Creative Challenge have already elapsed, but the calendar says August 2md, so I guess we have to believe it's true. I am so grateful to Tammy @gypsy999 for starting this inspiring shindig sixteen years ago; and I am proud to have completed the last fifteen years. But honestly, the numbers are really the least of it; the point is to co spend some time prioritizing process over outcome, experimenting, and just generally making art on a regular basis for oneself. So if you participated, whether you made 61 cards or 16 or 6... I salute you!

Many thanks to all who followed along, left comments, dropped hearts and generally acted as cheerleaders to your fellow ICADians and ICADettes. I didn't do as well at that part as I had hoped to, but I truly loved seeing all the cards that came up in my feed and interacting (however limitedly) with this fab community!

Here's my #icadeverything photo. Each year I like to make a small ring-bound mini-book, which I fill up with finished cards as the challenge progresses. I like this format because it allows me to keep my cards together and in order as I work; also, on days when my time or energy is limited, the thought of adding another card to the ring kind of keeps me going. Plus I confess I really love taking this "fan" photo of the finished book each year!

PS: I'm already looking forward to #dyicad2027 ♥♥♥

Here are the last few cards from the past not-quite-full week of ICAD2026!

Day 62: Bonus Card

I always like to finish the ICAD festivities with a big bold THANK YOU (on an index card, obvs) to Tammy @gypsy999 and all my fellow ICADians and ICADettes for making this June and July the best @indexcardaday event so far! ♥

Day 61: Off-Prompt

Could not resist making one more freestyle collage that combines ink, a little stamping, some ancient rub-on transfers and a few vintage goodies.

Day 60: Beatles' Song

Octopus' Garden is one of my favorite Beatles' songs, not just because it's one of a very few written by Ringo, although the older I get, the more I appreciate his sense of humor and whimsy. I made a "smooshed" background with Isopropyl Alcohol and some analogous shades of Stellar Ink, then added bubbles and ripples and coral and flowers. (The last is not technically correct, but if an Octopus had a garden, I think there'd be flowers in it. So there.)

Day 59: Cobblestones

There is something really soothing about filling an entire index card with a semi-realistic pattern, then adding depth and color and shadows, etc and these cobblestones were especially fun to draw!

Day 58: Off-Prompt

This card combines three different half-finished, temporarily abandoned pieces that serendipitously added up to more than the sum of their parts. The sewing pattern lady collage layer was part of a bigger piece that I didn't like much... so I tore away the "excess" and started over. The layer beneath that is a  flower(ish) illustration from a book of fabric designs that I had outlined but then got a bit stuck, and set aside. Oddly enough, the colors match the SPL's flower perfectly. The tabbed card has some Perfect Pearls doodles that (once again... almostly spookily!) match really really well. You can't see much of it, but both structurally and design-wise it makes a perfect base for the rest. 

ICAD. (Again)

We've just completed the last *FULL* week of @indexcardaday (though the official wrap-up is not until Friday) so here are seven more cards from my own personal ICAD-iverse:

Day 57: Off-Prompt

(Mandala Monday)

I've had so much fun with my Posca pens this summer. One of my goals was to use them more often (check!) and... more difficult for me... NOT to outline all of the colors (also check!). This design made me think of a tagline Tammy G (aka @gypsy999 on IG) wrote for one of her mandalas early on in my ICAD participation. She called it a, "100% free-range, cruelty-free, organic mandala" and I think this fits that description pretty well!

Day 56: Board Game

When I read "Board Game" I flashed back to playing Candyland with my brother when we were very young. Something I didn't really notice or appreciate until I was much older, is the brilliance of Candyland's logistics: there's no reading; and you really don't even need to be able to count reliably, as the spinner and board direct you to advance to the next square on the board that is the correct color.  Whoever thought that up was both a genius, and a person who understood that kids will enjoy playing a board game together without adults, it's the reading and strategy that makes many games "too old" to play without a grown-up. I'm guessing a MOM invented Candyland?! 

My card is inspired by both Candyland and another game we (or possibly our neighbors) had, which I can only remember very vaguely; but I know you drew a card and then advanced to a place on the board which had the matching symbol. I have no idea what it was called... it's even possible I am retrospectively making it up, lol (But I THINK it was a real game; does anyone else remember it?!)

Day 55: Mirror(ball)

I made a nice dark inky background with three of my favorite shades of Simon Hurley's Stellar Inks, using Isopropyl Alcohol instead of water, so my flimsy index card would not get warped or pilled. When it was dry, I added slightly darker ink around the edges; then went wild with ancient white rub-on transfers. I cut that cool rose sticker into three parts for maximum coverage, then added a vintage ballerina and what I think might be the best caption ever. I generally try not to pick "favorite" ICADs based on the finished product, rather than process, but... I have to admit... I *really* like this one!

Day 54: Diagonal

Last year during ICAD, I made a bunch of pretty random backgrounds; some of which did not get used. Including this one that has skinny blue and green washi tapes arranged in a diagonal plaid pattern. Tonight I added some funky fruit illustrations and a daffodil. I feel like it needs one more thing, but since I have absolutely no idea WHAT that thing might be; for now, at least, I'm calling this (provisionally) done.

Day 53: Unwind

I glued the car, the flower, and the foliage to a plain white index card and then got stuck and set it aside. Later I thought, "Maybe the background should be zen doodles?" I'm still not sure if that was the right idea or if these are the right doodles but they were quite relaxing and fun to do; thus I count this as "Unwinding".

Day 52: Season

I think I've used my Posca Pens more consistently in the last two months than at any time previously, and it feels really good. I had intended to add all four seasons to this... but I got carried away with Spring and Summer, and ran out of room for Fall and Winter, lol. Maybe later I'll make a Part Two?!

Day 51: Off-Prompt

Here's another collage where the three background elements (a large photo of malachite, yellow flowers with stripey leaves, and green butterflies) almost blend together too well. But whenever Alice in Wonderland joins the convo, serendipity tends to reign, right?!

ICAD is Nearly Over? Already?!

It seems like every year of the Index Card a Day Creative Challenge goes by a little bit faster, and this year is no exception. I'm planning to savor the remaining time... one 3x5 card at a time! Here are the most recent seven:

Day 50: Off-Prompt (Mandala Monday)

Layers cut from scraps of patterned paper, with minimal outlining, on my last red index card.

  Day49: Street

Possibly the most literal collage I've ever made! I love how this came out, but my one regret is that the four different street maps I pieced together very carefully, so that the big routes joined up with each other, can literally not be seen AT ALL after I layered the car, index, compass, etc, on top. Ah, well. 

Day 48: Margin

Admittedly a very tangential take on #dyicad2026 Day 48's prompt of #margin in that really only a thicker black line forms the margin between each of my layered, rainbow doodle circles.

Day 47: Backgammon

Circling back to the prompt I skipped on Mandala Monday, with a funky, hand-cut, rainbow version of a backgammon board.

Day 46: Farmer's Market

Technically speaking, I've never seen any PLAID flowers at any Farmer's Market I've ever attended but... a girl can dream, right? Brush markers and Letter It Fineliners on the unlined back of an index card.

Day 45: Thunderstorm

This card has all the ingredients I love: hand-cutting, hand-stitching, and a whimsical approach to the prompt. That said, I can't say I love the finished product very much; but it was fun to make and tomorrow is another #dyicad2026 day!

Day 44: Pewter or Steel

I started out with the pocket watch, the sundial and some of the cogs; thinking, basically "metal circles". Then I found other circles (blackwork lace, celtic knots, horoscope wheels, stylized flowers, geometric patterns, etc) at which time it kind of morphed into "circles of various origin" and I'm fine with that. Let's call this one, "Pewter OR Steel... and Friends"!

I Can, Therefore ICAD

Another week of July has FLOWN past like... a thing that flies past really quickly! Thus, it is time for another Index Card a Day update. And here it comes............ riiiiiiiiight NOW!

Day 43: Off-Prompt

It's a black and white Mandala Monday with lots of detailing and a largely symmetrical design. If you're wondering why I usually start in a corner or otherwise let most of my mandalas go "off the page" it's because I admire symmetry, but don't particularly enjoy drawing it. Also, I think that on anything except a square or round substrate, a complete 360 mandala just doesn't fill the page as interestingly. 

BTW, my very favorite mandala making accessory is the aqua-colored round thing in the background of this photo. It's official name is the Helix Circle and Angle Maker and @smilynstef found this one when we were in a cool stationery shop on the Upper East Side of NYC... but they sell them at other art supply and office supply stores and That Big Online Store, too.

The pens are Letter It Fineliners from @Ranger_Ink and they're my go-to pens. They come in a few different sets of colors, but the set of three black pens with different sized nibs are my most used. I believe they might be the only brand of fineliners I've used where I've never once killed a nib. (This is a Big Deal in my world!!!) 

Day 42: Casino

Some years ago visited the Neon Museum and Boneyard in Las Vegas and it was absolutely amazing. No disrespect to the functioning casinos on the Old Strip and the New Strip; but whenever anyone says "Las Vegas" or "Casino" I think of all the fabulous, colorful-but-rusty, de-commissioned neon signs on that property; and the wonderful storeies the guide told on the tour. Rather than try to reproduce a single sign, I've done a sort of macro mashup of the colors and shapes from the Stardust, the Dunes and the Golden Nugget... with some Laureny imagination added in for good measure.

Day 41: Favorite _______

Having utterly failed in an attempt to pick ONE favorite thing, I decided to do a bit of a mash-up of some current faves. So here's my favorite backyard animal, the fox; sitting on a background of my favorite art form, collage; there are some roses (my favorite flower); and a butterfly (my favorite insect) sticker (my favorite embellishment); the texty sky and cloud backdrop is from one of my favorite digital collages; I used it to fill up the sheet while printing graduation photos of some of my favorite people, my nieces and nephew. I photographed the card against a vintage needlepoint picture my aunt gave me, because interesting/ unusual staging is also my favorite.

Day 40: Frost

It's been very hot and humid here in NJ, which is absolutely the only time I ever think fondly about SNOW!!! I made an inky. blendy background with a few shades of Archival Ink and some rubbing alcohol; let it dry; then used several sizes of white Posca pens to draw stylized flakes. I tried very very hard NOT to outline everything with a black Letter It Fineliner, but at the last minute I caved, lol.

Day 39: Harmony

 Here's a collage card that I started with the "harmony" prompt at the forefront of my mind; but it doesn't show up very much in the finished collage. Which is fine... I like how it turned out... I suppose the design is fairly "harmonious"? ICAD is about exploration and having fun sooooo... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Day 38: Blue

Sometimes I just want to cut out shapes from patterned paper, stack them, and maybe outline some of the design elements. If loving that is wrong... I don't wanna be right.

Day 37: Origami

It's my first One Staple Collage of July... and already one of my favorites! I've stacked some torn metallic origami paper; the copyright page from a Japanese language book; the label from the metallic origami paper; a pagoda and crane fan from some fancy Japanese-themed origami paper; and the diagram of an origami crane from yet another set of origami paper; all on top of a yellow index card to which I applied some ancient and imperfect rub-on transfers. As usual, I've made the single staple which holds everything together nearly impossible to see (sorry!) but it's just about in the center of the crane diagram.

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!

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!

Happy ICAD Day

It's June first, which means it's the first day of the 2026 Index Card a Day project: 61 consecutive days of making art on index cards. Like this:

It's Monday, so of course I'm kicking off with a mandala. This one features a bunch of my favorite shades of Ranger's Archival Ink; details and lines via black Letter It Fineliners and white Posca pens.

Color + Pattern

It's a bold and bright Memorial Day Mandala Monday featuring lots of gorgeous Archival Inks, a few of my favorite Make-It Stencils, and plenty of Posca Pen and Letter It Fineliner details... all in my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal.

If you're having a cookout today... save me a burger, k? ♥

Carousel Mandala

This page in my Dina Wakley MEdia Watercolor Journal started out as a way to test my newest set of Posca Pens and also to try out some of the newer shades of Ranger's Liquid Pearls. Serendipitously, I discovered that if the mandala you started with literally NO plan in mind happens to have a lot of bright colors AND stacked sets of straight-ish, flaring petals, midway through, it is going to start looking like the top of an old-fashioned fair ground carousel. Who knew?!

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The Blues Are Still Blue

It's a bold, blue (and green!) Mandala Monday featuring precisely half of the newest Archival Ink release from Ranger; to wit: Best Dressed, Big Plans and Avocado Toast. In my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal, with some Make-It Sprinkle Hearts Stenciling on top. Letter It Fineliner and Posca Pen details. 

Archival Ink Mandala Monday

It's a bold and vibrant Mandala Monday, on which I have used all of the new Ranger Archival Inks with abandon. I took a Mini Ink Blending Tool and six Domed Foams to apply concentric circles of ink from the bottom right (Best Dressed) to the top left corner (Sweet Treat) of my A6 cardstock; with Avocado Toast, Sandcastle, Sweet Treat, Dark Roast and Big Plans in between. Then I placed the Make-It Sprinkle Hearts Stencil on top and spritzed it with Isopropyl Alcohol to lift off a bit of the ink.

After the panel was dry, I added the petals with a white Posca Pen; then I outlined and added more details with  Letter It Fineliner. At the very end, I gave the tiny dots a bit of extra texture with some Kiwi Liquid Pearls and finally I matted the whole thing on a panel of Avocado Toast.