Index Card Round Up: Week 3

Still loving the freedom of making a completely random piece of art on an index card each day, with no pressure to end up with a perfect finished piece... just playing and trying different ideas!

Day 12: Glyph (sorta)

A somewhat tangential take on yesterday's "GLYPH" which has several meanings in various contexts, but "a hieroglyphic character or symbol; a pictograph" probably sums up the general idea best. I got an entire little booklet of safety icon stickers for less than a dollar on a mega-thrifting excursion with my friend Heather last year, and ever since I've been meaning to use them in a sticker mandala. And now I have! :)

Day 13: Superstition

Tuesday the 13th isn't (as far as I know) a source of superstition anywhere, but I still love that Tammy G elected to imbue this prompt with a bit of numerical significance. My handcut and paperpieced rendition of a black cat is placed against a full moon, thus also giving a tangential nod to the MOONLIGHT prompt from yesterday.

Day14: Typewriter

I am lucky enough to own a few vintage typewriters and I love using them to add text to cards and collages; also... they're pretty cool for staging. The typewriter on the index card is a Remington clipped from a slightly grainy 1940's magazine advertisement, it's surrounded by random lines from a typing textbook and the word "daisy" stamped in a typewriter font. I typed "daisy" repeatedly over an illustration of daisies, then fussycut and added them to the index card. The typewriter in the photo is my 1952(ish) Smith Corona portable, with beautiful two-toned green keys.

Day 15: Sea Glass

I wasn't entirely sure where I was going when I started painting random shapes in blues and greens. When I was done painting, I wondered if I should outline them? When they were outlined, I wondered if I should add doodles? I try not so succumb to, "What if I wreck it?" anxiety, but let's face it, we ALL feel that way sometimes, so here's my top secret strategy: Each time you get to a place where you fear you might "wreck it"... take a photo! Then fearlessly take the next step! 

(All of my favorite blue and green shades of Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks, painted using a waterbrush full of isopropyl alcohol. Outlined and doodled upon with Ranger Letter It Fineliner Pens.)

Day 16: Alphabet

Here's an example where I loved the idea... but not necessarily the finished card. My concept for #ALPHABET was to handletter a (repro) library card, then add found text to each letter. There's not particularly anything WRONG with the result, it's just somehow *not* quite what I was hoping for. If and when I figure out why not, you'll probably see another version. In the meantime, Day 16 was a triumph of process if not outcome, which is what ICAD is all about!

Day 17: Sunflower

About as literal as you can possibly get, just layers and layers of handcut patterned paper petals around a brown center, with a little machine stitching to hold it all together.

  

Day 18: Off Prompt

Every year of ICAD there are a couple of prompts I need to Google, and in 2015 or so, one of those was "OGEE" which turned out to be a style of pattern that I knew and liked, but never realized it had a specific name, lol. Since then, I've drawn or paper-pieced an index card version each summer, and here's the latest version, handcut from patterned paper scraps and machine-stitched for extra texture and durability!

ICAD week2

Wrapping up the first FULL week of Index Card a Day and if you're not on Instagram, you are missing out; there are soooooo many amazingly creative people making art on index cards in every style imaginable; and this year I'm especially excited that my craft bestie, Stephanie, is participating as well!

Day 5: Mandala Monday

It's hard to see the magical sparkle on this card, but trust me, it's there, thanks to golden star stickers and little hits of a clear glitter pen over some of the petals. I scribed the central circles for this mandala with my old-school compass; watercolored pink, orange and yellow Tombow Dual Brush Pens picked up with a waterbrush; then outlined the result (when dry!) with a Ranger Letter It Fineliner. Text added with my 1930's Olympic Elite typewriter.

Day 6: Wildflowers

A bunch of smaller scale collage elements including a Sewing Pattern Lady, glossy wildflowers, a reproduction vintage bus ticket, and part of an illustration (with caption) from a somewhat worse-for-wear collage fodder book, Georgian Architecture. On a pale pink, vertically oriented index card.

Day 7: Zebra or Stripes

Flashing back to a prompt I skipped last week, but then I suddenly wondered if it'd be cool to TEAR one index card (blue) into zebra-ish stripes and glue the pieces onto another (white) card... YEP, it's pretty cool! Remember that the prompts are there to inspire and assist you; use them whenever and however you'd like; or even not at all if you're having fun doing your own thing! 

Day 8: Butterfly

Being a "more is more" maximalist kind of gal, I am quite surprised to have made this collage which has only FOUR elements...?! But it feels balanced and complete, so who am I to argue with the serendipity of two German scrap butterflies and a photo of knitting instruction on top of a gorgeous gifted Swedish library card. 

Day 9: Magenta or Fuchsia

The infamous One Staple Collage* is a beloved ICAD tradition, and thus I am excited to display my first of the #dyicad2023 season; embracing today's optional prompt of "Magenta or Fuchsia" which I somewhat expanded to embrace a bunch of shades of my favorite color... PINK! 

*The One Staple Collage is, as the name implies, a collage in which all of the items are held together with ONE STAPLE. It's slightly harder than you might think, as it depends on clever and creative stacking of elements. I would gently suggest NOT choosing your most beloved and rare items for this exercise, but if you love traditional collage, you might want to try this!

Day 10: Off-Prompt (or Wildflowers, Part 2)

Wendy Vecchi has been drawing the coolest doodle flowers, which she then paints with her signature Archival Ink palette and a waterbrush filled with Isopropyl Alcohol. I did the same thing, but in reverse: I painted all the shapes first, then added doodley outlines on top after they were dry. Which... when painting with rubbing alcohol instead of water... is FAST! Also, it's hard to tell from a photo, but painting with Archivals and alcohol literally NEVER warps or wrinkles your paper, which is a considerable advantage when you're working on index cards!

 Day 11: Off-Prompt

Whenever I need to trim up a lot of edges, especially of mandalas or other watercolory things, I kinda hate to throw all the pretty scraps away, so sometimes I save them, glue them randomly to something and make a quilt-like pattern or a background. Like this one! 

(PS: Yet another reason I love keeping my ICADs together on a book ring is the ability to sprawl out the cards for a funky group shot of what I've made so far!)

♥♥♥

ICAD Roundup #1

The Index Card a Day project started Thursday, June 1st, so I don't have an entire week's worth of cards, but I'm sort of thinking that Sunday is a good off-peak blogging day for round-ups, so let's see how it goes!

Day 1: Sapling

Ok yeah... technically, this is a full-grown tree, but afterall the point of Tammy G's 100% optional prompt list is just to get us STARTED... so I try not to overthink too much. For technique, I've used one of my favorite collage exercises, "glue as you go"; which... as you may have surmised... is where you choose each collage element and glue it immediately, without selecting the next element or dry-fitting or indeed doing ANY of the typical collage techniques. This sounds (and is) simple... but... it's more challenging than you may think at first; and thus quite a valuable addition to one's ICAD arsenal. 

(Note to self: try not to put the tiny random text element directly where the hole gets punched!)

Day 2: Polka Dots or Graphic Dots

I love the idea of the two sizes of punched out "dots" being negative space and the color coming from a second card layered behind the first. There was A LOT of white space, so I added the handcut letters. This is one of those times when I found the process and the ideas more appealing than the finished artwork, which is basically the EXACT thing that I want to happen during ICAD! 

(This is also a case where you will, at some point this summer, see a much more polished version of the 

same idea turning up as a finished card... so act surprised, k?!)

Day 3: Map

I have A LOT of vintage maps and atlases that I use as wrapping paper, as backgrounds, and yes, they are amazing in collage. The flowers came from an old falling-apart children's story book, the car is from a garage-sale aquisition about vintage cars... pretty much everything I love (except chocolate) is right here, in a convenient 3x5" format! 

Day 4: Off-prompt

 One of Tammy G's warm up posts had a bunch of handlettering, which reminded me of yet another thing I have to thank ICAD for! When I'm not sure what to letter, I usually go with an alphabet... this is just colorful letters, consistent shadows and partial outlines; but the BIG SURPRISE was that I somehow fitted in all the letters despite not taking any time to plan out spacing etc!

♥♥♥

It's not too late to join the fun, ICAD2023 runs through July 31st. Worried about committing to sixty one days? Try it for a week. If you love it, keep going... if not, you'll have a week's worth of inspiration and ideas you might not have gotten any other way! 

Another New Year, Another New Journal

One of the most exciting things about the New Year for planners and journal-keepers is choosing and setting up our new book, supplies and system. Last year was my first time using a Traveler's Notebookfrom The Ink Pad (details from last January are HERE) and since my experience was 100% positive, I'll be going down that same path, using dated 2021 Traveler's Company Products.

Last year I purchased and decorated a Refill Binder, as opposed to a Leather Cover, since I knew most of my journal-keeping would take place at home. I added collage papers and stickers to the front and back covers. Since I had the intention of re-using the same cover in subsequent years, I confined my references to the year 2020 to a catalog card which slid into a library pocket. So this year, all I had to do was remove the 2020 card and my completed (and now rather fat, lol) weekly and monthly refills, archive them, and decorate a new card for 2021. I used some Pepin Vintage Fashion Stickers, MT Fab Letters Tapeand the stickers that came with my new TN. 

This year I'll be working with a 2021Weekly Vertical + Memo(which splits the year into two halves)and a 2021 Dated Monthly Diary. I treated myself to the 2021 Customizing Sticker Set(this year's theme is classic books) and a Brass Bookmark Template.

To kick off the year, I decorated the front cover of the January-June Weekly book, again with some of the stickers that came with my TN, more Pepin Vintage Fashion, beautiful White Lace Gem Tape, some letters cut from MT Fab Letters Tape, and various stickers and tapes from Pepin's Natural History, Art Forms in Natureand Classical European Tilesbooks. (There are quite a few other books in this Pepin seriesand with thirty-two 8x10" pages these are a good value as well as being both useful and beautiful!)

Since January first fell mid-week, my first layout spans the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. I did a little hand-lettering with my Karin Decobrush pensand made a little collage featuring some vintage bookpaper, sheet music, a fabulous quote (written out on my trusty Royal typewriter)and various Pepin Stickers, some of which I fussycut.

I use my Monthly Diary not to plan forward, but record my projects and assignments once they are completed. So my month of January isn't filled in yet, but I added a little more lettering, as well as more Pepin tapes and stickers.

There are so many different ways to use a Traveler's Notebook, many of which do not involve a calendar or dated pages at all! Did you know there are Gridded Refills, Kraft, Sketchbookpages, Watercolor Refillsand more. And most of these varieties also come in the handy Passport Size (which is, as the name implies, literally the size of your passport)as well as the larger Regular Size (4x 8"ish) that I have chosen! Visit the website or better yet, the Chelsea store to see the whole selection and be sure to check out the TN Master Blog Post for an overview of the basics!

Try ALL the Pens!

Lots of pens claim to show up beautifully on dark cardstock, but it's hard to beat how dramatic the fluourescent colors of Sakura's Moonlight Gelly Roll Pens look on black paper. Case in point is on The Ink Pad Blog today:

Brush Up Your Handlettering

One of the keys to improving your hand-lettering is, of course, practice; there's no getting around that fact. But... it's also extremely helpful to have good tools! And for brush lettering, that means high quality pens like these Karin Brushmaker Pros from The Ink Pad. By the way, they're also great for coloring. Lots more about colors and varieties, including these luscious new neon shades, on The Ink Pad Blog today! 

Don't Worry, Be CRAFTY!

There's a lot of worry about right now. Understandably so. Because let's face it, even the word "pandemic" is frightening. I (Lauren) think creative people might be particularly susceptible to anxiety, because our imagination didn't come with an off switch, did it? But... sometimes it's possible to change channels, and keeping busy helps with that. Keeping busy by playing with art supplies seems to especially help me, AND at the end of it I sometimes have something pretty or fun to share with my friends. Like this:

A couple of months ago, my friend, Anna Chiang, the owner of The Ink Pad, found some really cool word art that was done on top of vintage dictionary pages. And we've both been obsessed with it ever since. So of course when I had a lettering idea I had to get out my Karin Markers and Karin DecoBrush Metallic Pens and grab some dictionary paper! I decided to make the pivotal word, "Crafty" a bit stronger and more interesting by swapping out ordinary pen letters for mixed media.

The letters are as follows:

• C: handmade paper, vintage buttons and a sequin 
• R: an experiment blending Gansai Tambi Watercolors on Canson paper
• A: skinny washi tape and two sizes of Eyelet Outlet Bee Brads
• F: origami paper stitched with embroidery floss
• T: measuring tape washi
• Y: a scrap of pink burlap, a paper flower, Eyelet Outlet Flower Brad and sequins

The lettering was done with my Karin BrushMarkers and DecoBrush Metallic pens. The outlines are Pigma Micron pen in a nice fine tip. The shadows are grey brush pen. The little pink hearts (and a few other details) are Posca Paint Pen. There are Neat and Tangled Sequins scattered about, just because I will take any excuse to scatter some sequins!

I hope that you are having a happy, hopeful day already, but if not, why not spend some quality time with your art supplies? ♥

Lauren Bergold

finds rainbow shades of ANY

media immediately comforting!

BEE Mine!

It's February 13th, which seems like a good time for one last silly Valentine, don't you think? This one combines Michelle Ward's Hex Pattern Stencil, Eyelet Outlet Heart and Mini Bee Brads, plus a few of my favorite pens. All the details can be found on The Ink Pad Blog, of course!

The Write Stuff

Just in case you were wondering, I am still very much smitten with my Karin Brushmarkers from The Ink Pad! They have a beautiful brush, come in loads of colors and work wonderfully well on a variety of paper styles, including this page from an old dictionary! Hop over to The Ink Pad Blog to see this piece, finished:

Hexed (& Possibly Vexed)

This week I had a blast doodling all over a rainbow ombre background I made with Michelle Ward's Large Hex Pattern Stencil and VersaFine Clair Inks but... what do you do with a card panel that is 8x10"?! The answer is on The Ink Pad Blog today! ;)

January/February Classes at Paper Anthology

Time to show off the first new classes of the year at Paper Anthology in Kenvil, NJ. If you're in the Morris County area, I'd love for you to join me! All the details are on the Paper Anthology Class Page.

Shabby Chic Envelope Journal

We'll construct the easiest journal EVER (hint: it's made out of A2 envelopes but works with any size; you will LOVE this trick!) and then add just enough shabby chic detail to make a lovely gift for someone special, maybe YOU?! There will still be room to decorate and customize by adding photos, ephemera, text or... whatever! This would be perfect for celebrating a special birthday or anniversary; documenting a dream vacation; remembering baby's first year or recording favorite quotes, dreams or ideas. There will be a choice of Blue Fern Studio papers (mostly neutral colored, with botanical accents) to customize each book, so it will be possible to "lean" toward more masculine or more feminine in style.

Letter Better

(limit 6 per class, so each student will get some one-on-one time)

This workshop-style class is open to students of all levels, whether you've never lettered before OR just want to brush up your skills. You'll get to try several types of pen on various papers and leave with a better idea of what specific skills to practice in ways that are actually FUN!  In addition to demonstrating some popular lettering styles and sharing her favorite tips and tricks, Lauren will work individually with each student to address specific challenges or areas of interest. All supplies will be provided, however students who own lettering pens they'd like to practice with are welcome to bring them. 

Happy Hanukkah!

The Festival of Lights begins at sundown and I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who is celebrating a very Happy Hanukkah from everyone at The Ink Pad! This timely card is on The Ink Pad Blog today, if you'd like to stop by and read a bit more about it.

What's Green and Orange...

...and Purple and Blue and COVERED IN MONSTERS? Today's Halloween card, on The Ink Pad Blog, o'course! Oh and there's some handlettering tips and tricks. And free candy. Ok, technically, that last bit is a lie. There isn't actually any free candy, because it's a blog post. But it's Halloween so there's bound to be lots of treats around, right? And there really are lettering tips and adorable monsters, so you'll like it, I promise! ♥

It's Pumpkins and Spice...

...and Everything Nice on The Ink Pad Blog today! I'm dishing up a card that features Eyelet Outlet Pumpkin Brads, a little bit of lettering goodness and my own handpainted plaid patterned paper. Check it out! ♥

the last ICAD round-up

of 2019 that is. because as incredible as it seems to me, our 61 days of index cards are over already? i swear the summers fly by faster every year! meanwhile, here are the last few cards:

day fifty six: off prompt

a collage that has even more layers than you think. layers of map and index fragments, a stencilled layer, layers of rub-on transfers... all topped off with an aloha lady!

day fifty seven: off prompt

i had this idea -rainbow stripes on a blank library card, with doodles on top- at the very beginning of ICAD and sort of forgot all about it. until now.

day fifty eight: lime green

the most random collage i've ever made. sometimes the goofy ones turn out to be my favorites... but honestly, i'm not in love with this one. which is fine.

day fifty nine: mandala monday

the last mandala monday of icad called for my favorite shades of colorburst, loads of doodles and a nice smattering of white pen on top.

day sixty: accordion

ok, technically the closest this gets to accordion is POLKA dots, which actually isn't very close at all, lol. another cut up, reassembled and stitched colorburst leftover. this time with paint pen doodles on top. 

day sixty one: THANK YOU!

hand cut patterned paper letters, brush pen shadows and a few little collage elements. just to say THANK YOU to tammy garcia for devising and hosting another wonderful 61 day event, and THANK YOU to everyone who cheered us on!

♥♥♥

TA-DAAAAAA!

my finished book, stuffed with 61 days worth of ideas, essperiments and FUN!

♥♥♥

and this concludes our index card extravaganza... until june 1, 2020 that is!

July and August Classes

It's time for another new "semester" of classes at Paper Anthology in Kenvil, New Jersey. There are lots of excellent ones this time, so be sure to check out the Class Page on the website. Meanwhile, here's what I'll be teaching:

Hand Lettering: Fake It Til You Make It

When it comes to beautiful brush lettering there is (alas) no substitute for practice, practice, PRACTICE. But… I know one or two excellent “cheats” that will instantly make your own lettering (or even your stamps and diecuts!) look more polished. Part of it just comes down to having the right tools for the job and knowing how to use them; factors which we will explore while making two beginner-friendly 5×7 panels that students can make into cards, journal pages or decor after class. All supplies and pens to practice with will be provided, however students who own brush pens are welcome to bring their favorite colors to class!

Christmas in July and August: Let it Snow!

What’s more refreshing than the thought of cold crisp snow in the middle of a hot New Jersey summer? We’ll make three bold holiday cards featuring a variety of tiny dies with BIG style, including Tim Holtz’s “Mini Snowglobes” and Sizzix Sidekick “Winter” sets. Please note that some of the components really are small, so students will definitely want to bring their tweezers, fine-tipped adhesive and reading glasses!

If you're within driving distance of Morris County, NJ (take route 80 to State Highway 46 *or* consult this map!) we'd love to see you. All the details are on the Class Page of the Paper Anthology website! ♥

happy lettering (part 2)

here are a few more sketchbook pages from the happy lettering challenge, which i found on instagram, and have enjoyed participating in (admittedly quite sporadically) throughout the month of march.

happiness

tombow dualbrush pens with a sort of neatened up version of the "scribbly ballpoint outline" i used on kite; plus some sunshine doodles to offset the fact that my lettering starts out MUCH bigger than it ends up, lol!

hope

back to the divinely juicy ecoline pens, with an offset tombow shadow in N60 (my favorite grey for shadows!)

flowers

this might be my favorite entry for the entire month, and i think i'm the only person who even likes it, which is fine. this time, i handcut the letters from origami paper... stuck them down in my sketchbook... then outlined and shadowed them as if they were done in pen. i can imagine A LOT of ways to use this technique, so no doubt you'll be seeing it again in future!

glimmer

turquoise and a touch of prussian blue colorburst, with plenty of sheer pearl liquid sparkle mixed in. it's hard to tell from the photos, but irl this is VERRRRRY glimmery indeed!

lime

i wish i had used a slightly smaller brush for lettering the "lime" (in lime green obvs!) over the chartreuse colorburst lime doodle, but otherwise i quite like this one.

garden

more flower doodles, not to mention a fern that is taking over the world, lol! with an offset .1mm pitt artist pen outline in lieu of shadow.

♥

if you're interested in lettering, instagram is FULL 

of great examples, helpful vids and fun challenges, as well!