ICAD comes to an end.....

I pronounce my second participation in ICAD (third year Tammy has hosted) a rousing success!  I completed all 61 cards and on time.  I tried new techniques, finally got my sewing machine out of mothballs to try the stitched collage look I've seen everywhere, played with monochromatic looks, vivid looks, vacation limitations and more.

Here at the end, I can say I've learned a little more about my style, my color preferences, and have thoroughly enjoyed the whole ICAD community - fearlessly and creative led by Tammy at Daisy Yellow. So, here goes.....my last week or so of cards.

I also doubled up on most of these and made collages so I could use them for my 365 collage challenge.  Now moving forward, my daily collages will be for me.....

#55  - magazine and flyer images and a little scrap of orange scrapbook paper

#56 AND 365collage #205  - Bunches More - gifted papers from Don, magazine pages, found text

#57 AND 365collage #206 - The City  - gifted black mulberry paper & city image, scrapbook paper, handmade & hand stamped papers

#58 AND 365collage #207 -  Clean it Up! - stamped space needle, gifted purple paper, gum box, washi

#59 AND 365collage #208 -  Ice Cream Party  - no I didn't eat 5 ice cream bars this week!  Well, maybe I did but in my defense, they were Weight Watchers (yum!) and I reused the sticks!  on a stamped background with washi trim

#60 AND 365collage #209 -  No Marriage Today  - scrapbook paper, found text & image, washi

#61 AND 365collage #210 - Wrap up!  - as it has often been the last couple months, scraps from my table!

Now we have to wait a whole year til it's time for ICAD.4 - I'll be eagerly awaiting next June!  Thanks again Tammy for all your hard work and thanks to all the participants who shared their work.....you're an inspiration.
Here's my ICAD mosaic for July (created at Big Huge Labs)

blog lovin registration

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Guess I have to do this to "register" my blog with Bloglovin.  A friend said I have some freeze up issues and even though I'm using Feedly, I certainly want my blog to be easy to read no matter what reader you use. So if you're a Bloglovin user, I'm trying to fix the freeze problem......

ALAW done!

My first alphabet book of the year is finally done.  Hosted by Fiona, ALAW (a letter a week) is a fun way to play with lettering and create 2 alphabet books (or whatever display method you like) a year.  I'm a little behind in settling on the format for this alpha and I'm not 100% in love with it, but I like the idea and will play with it more.

Inspired by a project in the new issue of Pages magazine by Wen Redmond, I used an ultra simple book "binding".  I cut a narrow notch in the top and bottom of each page then used ribbon to tie it all up. You can see the notches as I show you the pages below.

I used a sheet of mulberry type paper I had on hand, tore the sheets so I got the deckle edge, used watercolor - every shade of blue I had - to do my mark making, added black circles here and there.  If I were to do it again I'd do the letters on the same paper as the book or on a more contrasting paper (I used bristol paper), but since I didn't know what I was going to do with the letters, I just picked a paper and started.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well the mulberry paper held up to the watercolors.

For the first time, I actually know exactly what I'm going to do for my next book.  The theme is "peace" and I'm going to use my photography, lettering and a flag book format to create an interactive book.  I'm excited to get started!  Please wander over to the ALAW blog when you have a few minutes and see the huge variety of projects and lettering mediums. As usual, the creativity is just amazing!

ICAD #49-54 and some 365 collages

A quick catch up, art filled post.

ICAD #49

ICAD #50

365 collages #201 - Wanderlust  -I started with an atlas street map and collaged using some of the main streets as shape guidelines....

ICAD #51 AND 365 collage #202 - Summer Flowers

ICAD #52, AND 365 collage #203 -  Anything Goes I

ICAD #53, AND 365 collage #204 -  Anything Goes II  - these were fun though time consuming...I wonder if there's a larger version in my future....

ICAD #54 - inspired by Lorinda's stitched stripe 365 collages; hers were more elegant and monochromatic, but I wanted to use up these strips without planning too much - thanks for the idea Lorinda.

Beautiful weather here in Seattle for the last couple weeks - I mean, really beautiful!  It's been sunny and hovering around 80....can't get any better than that! Consequently it's been a little tough to spend time inside in my art room....I want to be outside enjoying our short summer.

365 in 2013: #196 - #200 and a few ICAD

Today I'm sharing the most recent in my 365 project and a few ICADs.

#196 - Stained Glass  - black cardstock with gelli print pieces

 #197 - Zippy's  AND ICAD #48  - on an index card with bits and scraps and the Zip Cap is a gifted ephemera.  The blue pieces are practice for my ALAW book (more soon).

#198 - See the World  - the base is a page from a cruise brochure, map & mastadon (thanks Lorinda), handwritten note & envelope bits (thanks Karen), postage stamps, etc.

#199 - In the Pink -  I have so many cool black and white papers, I wanted to play with patterns.....the pink strip is from one of my flower photos.

#200 - Under the Bridge (and right on pace)  - the base is calendar art, scraps, some fluffy fiber under the bridge and a painted bit of veneer.  Something about this one appeals to me.....

ICAD # 46  - playing with pattern and colored pencils

ICAD #47  -  still exploring pattern shapes....I'm liking this - may have to explore it in a bigger format....

All caught up in both challenges and so grateful to both Hanna (365 somethings) and Tammy (ICAD) for setting me on the path.....

I'm also sharing this with Artists in Blogland - hop over and see what others are creating this week.

Terrie

icad 40-45

Time to catch you up on my ICAD work AND my gelli play.  I printed lots of bits on a stack of cards and picked some of the best as starts to ICAD but then embellished them a bit more with stamps and washi.

#40 - cardboard for stripes, my body shape stamp

#41  - some shapes masked then overprinted (unsuccessfully) w/ washi

#42  - love this new stencil of a moroccan tile pattern, stamping, washi

#43  - used the 'O' from a kids foam alphabet to make the smooshy basketweave circles, washi

#44  -  stencil then overstamped in teal with a flourish stencil that didn't show up very well

#45  -  shadow print from above, washi, stamping

Only a couple weeks of ICAD left - it's been rewarding and motivating again this year. I have to give Tammy huge props for hosting and inspiring us all to keep going.  I'm also linking this to Carolyn's gelli party!

365 in 2013: collages #192-

Today I completed a few collages for my 365 project.

#192 - Dahliance - all papers from my bits and pieces basket on my work table.

#193 - Iced Drinks -  this one is a postcard going out soon

#194 - Flight Lines - envelope & ephemera layer then pattern pieces & stamped tissue, butterfly on top

#195 - Pocket  - envelope pieces for background, pattern pieces layered then focal image.  After #194, I had the idea to manipulate the direction of the pattern lines and make a jumble of lines.....only partially successful here....

After my collages I worked on some upcoming MMSA swaps - there have been plenty of times where I mail my contributions on the very last day but not this time.  This time I'm working way ahead because I know I have a couple of busy weekends coming up.

Bookmark swap - mail deadline Jul 22

These are all on watercolor paper and have watercolor painting, gelli printing, doodling, etc.  I have quite a stash of gifted bookmarks so I'm looking forward to adding to that with this swap.

ZINE swap -  mail deadline Jul 29

This is the front and back cover of my little zine with a little digital magic.....if you want to see the pages, join the swap and maybe you'll get one.....

Fish postcard swap - mail deadline Jul 31
I found some postage stamps from Australia with great fish on them so created the digital mosaic background then added a bigger fish and a quote....

ATC with postal theme swap  - mail deadline Jul 29

You can read about all these and more open swaps at the Mail Me Some Art site - there's a Open Swaps tab at the top.

It's actually sunny and warm outside today so now that I've updated my progress think I'm headed outside for a bit of vitamin D. Hope you're all enjoying a delightful summer weekend.