week something-or-other of whatchamacallit

Every year it takes me by surprise.  The start of summer camp knocks the stuffing out of me.  Is it the 50 exuberant children?  Is it the cacophony of their voices?  Perhaps it's the 8 hours a day of kids/parents/staff wanting/needing/asking something.

I'm a zombie.  And though it seems hard to believe right this very moment, history suggests I will NOT be this tired for the remaining seven weeks of camp.  Just for this one.

I'm making art every day, but I'm having a heck of a time keeping up with blogging and flickr and facebook and linking and visiting and commenting.

The most recent "summer of color" challenge was this ice cream:

It's called baseball nut (though I'm not sure what it's got to do with baseball)

"A smooth, vanilla flavored ice cream swirled with a black raspberry ribbon and loaded with cashews"

-Baskin Robbins

 

I liked this color combination a lot better than the last one

I cut flower petals out of book pages, mulberry paper and tissue paper.

 

After I finished it, I noticed the cut-up book page on my table and liked the look of it.  I glued it on top of some lovely cashew-colored paper, and collaged on some handmade paper, and doodled with gold gel pen and flicked on some gold paint.

 

and then, even though we've moved on to a new color/flavor for this week, I couldn't get baseball nut out of my head.  

This one has shiny gold circles stamped on top.

This one used washi tape, book pages, paint and a stamp, but surprisingly nothing gold and shiny.

 

Not linking up to summer of color, or index card a day or paint party Friday or anything else because I'm just too tired.

off to bed.

more fun tomorrow.

ICAD - Week 3

 

I spent all day moving furniture and supplies in the 95 degree heat.

I'm completely out of steam, but my camp program is ready to go.

Summer has truly begun.

I'm off to sleep like the dead in air conditioned splendor.

Minty ICAD

Last week's "summer of color" theme was mint chocolate chip.

At first I was excited because it's my all time favorite ice cream flavor.

But then I realized, I hate mint green as a color.  It makes me think of a bad bridesmaid's dress.

I made my first minty index card while visiting my sister in Virginia.  I didn't have any green paint with me, but noticed that the price tags from my thrift-store bargains were that yucky mint color, and I came up with this:

I couldn't get the challenge out of my head after I got home, in spite of (or perhaps because of) my distaste for it.  And so I made this one, using pan pastels and acrylic paint over a gessoed card.

And all the while I was making it, I could hear my son's voice when he was really little, complaining that the toothpaste was too mmmmmmiiiiiiinnnnntttttttyyyyyyy!!!!

so I drew this in his honor.

 

(I couldn't bring myself to make the toothbrush brown for the sake of the challenge, because who ever heard of a brown toothbrush.  I mean really?)

Some days are like that

It all started with Rainbow Sherbet...

....and ended with this little book.

But let me back up.

 I’ve decided to play along with Summer of color 2012 – six weeks of color prompts hosted by Kristin at Twinkle Twinkle. This year the colors are based on ice cream flavors and this week’s prompt is Rainbow Sherbet – bold oranges, pinks, yellows and a touch of white. 

 

Naturally, I started with an index card

But not just one index card.

Whenever my card idea involves a specific background technique, I will usually make multiple cards with the same background so I can have extras or in case I mess one up.

The first layer of this card is liquid watercolors sprayed through stencils.  Four cards fit nicely under an assortment of makeshift stencils

After spraying, I a grabbed a piece of copy paper to soak up the paint.

I rather liked the way it looked and set it aside.

Meanwhile, I’ve got handmade books on the brain.  I just gave away 10 little books as part of the All Together Now blog hop, and I’ve been itching to make more.  If luck would have it, the current theme at the Butterfly Effect is books!

 

I looked around my work table and saw the extra pink and orange index cards and thought they would make perfect little book covers, and that the cool blotter paper would make great pages.  Out come the stencils and spray again to make more pages.

Some trimming, some hole punching, some stitching, and I’ve got a sweet little Japanese Stab bound notebook in rainbow sherbet colors.

Since one book puts me in the mood for another, I decided to make a small accordion style book.  I went digging for one I’d made in the past to use as a reference and I stumbled upon some sheets of  plastic slides I recently bought at a salvage store.  Now THOSE would make interesting pages…

I painted the frames with alcohol inks, and bound the pages with washi tape.  

 I dug through the scrap basket for bits of my painted paper in complementary hues and collaged them into small covers. 

 

 I wrote a favorite quote on the film part of the slide using a white soufflé pen. 

 It reads, "Art is the only thing that can go on mattering once it has stopped hurting."

 I think I will add some kind of closure to it.

 

 Now, before I put some kind of closure on this blog post and head out for some ice cream, I'll show you one more sherbet inspired index card:

Happy Friday!

Linking up:

 

Look what I bought today

A huge package of index cards.

Why am I so excited about this?

Because Index-Card-A-Day 2012 starts FRIDAY!!!!!

 

I took this challenge last summer and it was one of the most fun things I've ever done.

 

Hosted by the fabulous Tammy at Daisy Yellow,

the idea is to draw, paint, doodle, write, collage (etc.)

on one little index card each day for June and July.

and then (if you feel like it) post your work on your blog, or flickr or somewhere and link up with other ICAD artists.

 

Here's why I loved this challenge:

• it forced me to create every day, even if it was just for a few minutes.  even if I didn't think I wanted to create, I was always glad I did.  and I often was so inspired by my 10 minute index card that I kept working on other ideas and projects.
• the materials are cheap and readily available.  don't like your card?  recycle it and grab another.
• the small size means it's finished quickly. I find 4"x6" far less intimidating than a blank journal page.
• it was really low-pressure.  the goals is creativity, not masterpieces.  if you miss a day, you don't get kicked out of the club.  there is no club.  arrive late to the party? no problem.  don't catch up, just start.
• Tammy provides optional prompts so if you're feeling stuck for ideas you've got a starting point

and the biggest reason I loved it:

• the flickr group was so friendly and supportive.  When I started ICAD last June I wasn't very comfortable sharing my art in public forums.  I pushed myself to participate and met some wonderful, funny, supportive artists who have now become blogging friends and mail-art buddies.  I gained a lot of confidence.  It made me a better artist, a better blogger, a better commenter on other people's work.

I keep my cards in this little open box, and a year later I still flip through them regularly and use the scanned images in other artwork.

They became a chronicle of my summer.  Many of them bring me right back to what I was doing and how I was feeling the day I made them.

and it all starts again in four days!

That leaves me with just one question: