MM04: Pandala Punday

It's a PAN-tastic Panda Mandala Monday,

with warmest wishes for a Happy Lunar New Year!

Stuck on Stickers

I haven't made a sticker mandala in ages, but I had so much fun with this, I predict you'll be seeing additional ones fairly soon! I used my Helix Circle Tool to draw some concentric circles and a Letter It Fineliner from Ranger for the smaller shapes that hold the puffy animal stickers. Reinforcement circles (cut in halves) and tiny triangles give the design more structure and tiny flowers have a bit of sparkle irl. In the center the sweet kitty from Dina Wakley's Pocket Circles Stamp Set is the perfect mascot!

 

Multi-Week Mandala Mashup

After several months of remembering to post my Mandala Monday entries every week on the blog, I suddenly hit a little patch of forgetfulness and skipped two weeks in a row, so here are THREE mandalas to start your Thanksgiving week:

MM46: Distinctly Dotty

Lindy's Magicals background, Letter It and Posca Pens... with a little bit of Tombow detail

MM45: Super Sticker-centric

A little stash of ancient, rediscovered Mrs. Grossman's animal stickers

MM44: Predominantly Purple

Lindy's Magicals, Letter It Fineliners, Poscas and Tombow detail

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!

It's a Flamboyant Flamingo Mandala Monday

I used two sizes of circle craft punches, two sizes of heart punches and a bunch of little stickers to make this fun-in-the-sun mandala card for my niece Maddie's nineteenth (19th?!!) birthday.

 

Take Five!

This being the last Mandala Monday of 2022, it seems like a good time to look back on all the mandalas I made this year and pick some faves. It was considerably harder than I thought, but here are five, in random order:

1. I made this sticker mandala at the height of my obsession with season two of "Only Murders in the Building"; perhaps the New-York-iest television show EVER. It uses a lot of well-hoarded (tiny!) Pipsticks plus a few other bits and bobs.

2. Every favorites list I ever make will likely feature at least one collagey thing; this ICAD Ink-Over-Collage mandala features Wendy Vecchi's Summer 2022 release of Archival Inks in Rosey Posey, Morning Glory and Peachy Keen.

3. Thanks to Stephanie, I have several different types of Magic Pencil sets (which I don't use enough... note to self for next year!) but when I do, I think of an especially wonderful trip to NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art with my friend Paul, who bought me my first Magic Pencil in the gift shop.

5. By far the easiest type of mandala to make, with NO DRAWING required, is the kind that uses punched shapes--mostly circles and hearts. For this version, I used vintage and found papers for the layers with a nice big spray of gardening magazine peonies on top.

5. Watercolor is my go-to for coloring mandalas; whether it's using actual watercolor paints, Tombow Dual Brush Pens, or, as in this case, ink pads "smooshed" onto the Wendy Vecchi Craft Sheet that's attached to the back of my STAY-tion, where I picked up the color with a waterbrush. These beautifully luscious shades are all from Simon Hurley's create. Dye Inks collection.

♥♥♥♥♥

I'll be back next week with a brand new Mandala Monday design to welcome in the brand New Year! In the meantime, I hope you will be able to squeeze a little bit of art time into this last fun and hectic holiday week of 2022!

Last Mandala Monday of November

It's a Really Random Mandala Monday, in sticker form! Featuring a Pepin Vintage Fashion Lady (from The Ink Pad, NYC, which I miss terribly!) surrounded by lots of Pipsticks and a few older goodies like those Mary Engelbreit flowers. Hope your Cyber Monday is off to a good start! ♥

Mandala Monday Double Header

Apparently I forgot to post last week's take on Mandala Monday here on the blog, so today we get an extra helping! First up is today's very special Sticker Mandala; last week's funky zendoodle is below.

Lots (and lots!) of glittery dimensional pink ribbon stickers, courtesy of my friend Patrice, who generously shared her supply when I mentioned that I had a great idea for Mandala Monday!

A somewhat tangential take on a mandala, inspired by @evawuzentangle because there are 50+ Mandala Mondays in a year and you really have to branch out a bit, lol!

It's Mandala Monday Once Again

...and this sticker mandala is inspired by my favorite guilty pleasure tv show, I call this one, "Only Murders in the Mandala" and pay tribute to Mabel, Alice, Bunny (& Bunny's Mom... how great is Shirley MacLaine?!) Sazz, Lucy, Jan and my very favorite character, Detective Williams. Have an awesome week everyone! ♥

Sunshine & Stickers

I haven't made a sticker mandala in a while; long enough that I had somehow forgotten how much fun they are to assemble! Most of these stickers are from Pipsticks' So Many Stickers Book, which is fairly magical and one of the best birthday presents ever... from Stephanie, of course! If you've always wanted to make mandalas, but don't enjoy drawing, sticker mandalas are a fun (and easy!) way to start.

 

Mandala Monday

Here's a fun idea for anyone who'd like to start making mandalas, but doesn't want to draw: a mandala made with beautiful, tiny, round Lucille stickers, and a few circle stamps from Everyday Explorers Co; plus some other cool new goodies from The Ink Pad. All the info on TIP Blog today!