Tag: creativity

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ICAD Week 8

I just realized that I did not finish posting here about my participation in the 2019 index-card-a-day challenge.  The good news is, yes, I made an index card for all 61 prompts!  I’ll admit, I did not finish everything by July 31, the official end of the challenge, and of course I am even later in posting about it!  Here are the cards from week 8:

The prompts were: escape, number, friendship, note to self, shadow, pendulum and spin.  I will post the final five cards from the challenge on Thursday, and I want to take an in-depth look at a few individual cards in the next few weeks.  My next goal is to make the cards that I did not complete from the last two years of the challenge, at a leisurely pace.  I need to make my art quilts a priority now, along with another long neglected daily creative project.

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ICAD Week Seven

Tomorrow is the last official day of the index-card-a-day challenge, I am indeed going to fall short on finishing 61 cards in 61 days.  I’m still going to finish the last few, just a few days late!  After I get the last few cards made, I will pick up were I left off on my attempts at the challenge in 2017 and 2018.  My goal is to get five cards done a week until the gaps are all filled in.

I have learned a lot by doing the ICAD challenge, and I have gotten some new ideas for art quilts.  Some of the prompts were really tough for me to complete, as I had great difficulty in coming up with an idea.  Along the way , I learned a couple of new words, tried new art supplies and learned how to (or not to) combine various art media.  In the next couple of weeks, I will feature a few individual cards and discuss the process in creating them, and show a few that have inspired me.

Here are week seven’s efforts:

The prompts were direction, pool, wabi-sabi, amethyst, turnpike, topographic and billboard.

Check back on Thursday for a quilt show announcement.

 

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ICAD Weeks Five and Six

I continue to lag behind on the index-card-a-day challenge, but I am determined to finish all the prompts by July 31.  I know the point is to schedule time to make something every day, and I usually have no problem doing that.  Sometimes, it is a problem.  For those of you that are struggling to get into a creative habit, I’m with you, it is not always easy.  Starting a new, positive habit can be just as challenging as quitting a negative habit.  If you want to do it, keep at it.

Since I have lots of lost time to make up, here are the cards I made for week five:

Prompts were: terracotta, lemon or lemonade, mis-matched, caramel, ogee, constellation, pine tree.  Week six looks like this:

Prompts were: thesaurus, botanical, clue, color chart, blueprint, card catalog, keychain or charm.  Check back on Tuesday for my take on week seven and eight, I promise!

 

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Summer Meadows

I have really derailed over the last week and a half – with this blog, the index-card-a-day challenge, and more.  However, I was having a fabulous time indulging in a hobby that has consumed me for most of my life at BreyerFest– the collectors’ convention for model horses.

I’m still trying to ease back into my usual routine, so here’s a couple of images of the meadows that surround my home.

I look forward to seeing the vibrant orange butterfly weed flowers each July, and I have captured them in an ongoing series of fiber art pieces:

Take some time this week to study a landscape that you see frequently, make note of what you notice most in it, then find something that you haven’t noticed.  Does it inspire you creatively?

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ICAD Week One

Seven days, seven little index cards, so far so good in my index-card-a-day challenge attempt!  I’ve already slipped a bit behind for this week, but I know what I want to do for the two not-yet-started cards, I will catch up.

ICAD Week One

 

On Day Seven, the prompt was “stencil,” so I played with my stencils from TSC Designs and Mayco Ceramics.

The yellow stencil is from one of the big box craft supply stores, and while the design is lovely, it has a sticky back that has been causing problems,  It sticks to everything, and the bond is stronger than a lot of the tapes I use.  It is starting to pull itself apart.  The sticky back is a great concept, makes sense to have a stencil that doesn’t slip while you are using it, but I’m concerned about the self-destruction of the stencil , and the potential damage to the artwork that I use it on.

The colors are the Tsukineko inks from TSC, applied with Fantastix fillable markers.  I like the look achieved by overlapping layers of color and shapes or lines.  I will be exploring this technique in fabric, and I already want to try quilting the resulting fabric with a different design, not trying to follow the stencil patterns.

Over the past weekend, I took an inspiring class on making felted wool flowers.  Check back on Thursday for the more on that.