ICAD Round Up

Here are my latest index cards for Tammy's Index-Card-a-Day (ICAD) Challenge:

 

ICAD #35:  Fun.

I saw this picture of an eraser collection in a magazine, and suddenly wanted

a bunch of cute erasers for myself!  Aren't they fun?

ICAD #36:  Not All Who Wander Are Lost.

I love this Tolkien quotation:  "Not all who wander are lost."  It seemed perfectly

suited for a scrap of map showing the area of my latest Artist Date (yet to be blogged about!).

ICAD #37:  La fortaleza, or Strength. 

I used a favorite rubber stamp I haven't used in awhile, and one of my very favorite colors of pigment ink (Color Box in Cyan).  Other elements:  painter's tape, masking tape, Dymo tape, and graph paper.

ICAD #38:  The Useful Trouble of Rain.

Another favorite stamp, along with alphabet stamps to spell out a fragment of a Tennyson quotation.  Decorative tape around the edges.  The lined paper in the background came from a very vintage little notebook I got at an auction. 

ICAD #39:  Color grid with oil pastels.

Theme:  Draw lines with a ruler.

ICAD #40:  Hold On.

I used blue and green ink pads to smear color on the index card, then stamped the globe with black ink.  Then I wrote in song lyrics from K.T. Tunstall's "Hold On":

Hold on to what you've been given lately.

Hold on to what you know you've got.

Hold on to what you've been given lately.

Hold on 'cause the world will turn if you're ready or not.

I'm still really enjoying this challenge, taking my cards in a lot of different directions.  I know that some people have commented on losing steam or running out of ideas.  Here are some things that have worked for me to keep the ideas coming:

• Go through magazine images you've clipped and make a collage. 
• Pull out rubber stamps you haven't used in a while, then use pencils, pens, or paints to color them in.
• Use that decorative tape, even if you just stretch different colors and patterns across the card.
• Glue down ephemera from your life:  napkins from your lunch out, bags from your pastry, maps or brochures from your afternoon out, business cards from your shopping trip, etc.
• Draw shapes or lines or boxes, then use an art supply you haven't used in awhile to fill them in.  (That's what I did when I pulled out my oil pastels, above in #39).

I hope that gives you some ideas if the well is starting to run dry!