A Little Over It

Hello Everyone!

Happy Summer!  It's been a little over a year since my last post. Once again I managed to fall off the blog-O-sphere after trying to re-establish the SketchyGirlz blog with my best friend last year. It just was a bit overwhelming (to both of us) trying to keep up with two blogs, working full time and creating art. That's how it happened....Now, it is time for a fresh start once again.

How is your summer going?  Are you working on anything new?  Living in south Florida, the average temperature each day is in the 90's so it may seem a bit strange to know that knitting is one of my hobbies.  Most people think of knitting as a winter activity but because of the warmer hot temperatures here, it becomes a summer activity for me.  I enjoy looking for knitting patterns and taking classes online during the summer months and have several knitting projects going.  In the knitting world, these are called WIPs or Works in Progress. My latest WIPs are a sweater knit-a-long (KAL), a few baby hats (charity donation) and finishing up a cabled pattern blanket (almost done with that project!). Any knitters out there that can identify with the WIPs?  I'd love to hear from you.

The Knit-A-Long (KAL) is where you join a group of knitters for a specific project during a period of time.  The KAL is new to me, my first one!  I'll talk more about it in an upcoming post.

On the ART palette are several works that have been completed and another ICAD project (Index Card A Day) which I'll be sharing with you soon.  Each year I challenge myself to do the ICAD for 30 days.  You can see my previous works by clicking on the side bar. Meanwhile here's a glimpse of the recent challenge and I'll be posting more in the coming weeks.

My daughter and family visited recently and we had a great night out at "Painting With A Twist". This was a totally new experience for me, painting in a group setting where everyone paints the same design and it was SO much fun!  We painted a beach scene and every single painting was different! Fun seeing what everyone was doing and how they interpreted the theme.  I'd definitely do it again and would encourage everyone to try it at least once!  Take a group of friends and enjoy the evening painting and having a blast.

Let me know what summer projects you've been working on!  I'd love to hear from you.

Bee Creative,
Suzy

Index Challenge Week 2

Hello there!

It's been very windy this week....in fact another week has just blown by! I'm working on 31 Day Index Card Challenge for the month of March.  Be sure to check it out!  If you haven't done a Index card challenge before, I would encourage you to try it.  A simple 3 x 5 index card will do, some pencils or pens or whatever media you'd like to explore and go for it!  Make one card per day, any subject is fine.  I'd love to hear from you if you are doing the challenge.  It's not too late to jump in and give it a go.

Please check out WEEK 2. Hot off the press....click on 31 Days In March (ICAD) link in sidebar.  Let me know what you think.

Have fun & Bee Creative.

Suzy

31 DAYS IN MARCH CHALLENGE (ICAD)

Hello Out There!

It's me and I'm BACK!  Are ready for some FUN in March? A little March Madness???  A few years ago I participated in a 60 day Index Card a Day Challenge with Daisy Yellow.  Look at the Link over on the right side of this page and check it out.  Sixty days was a LONG time to do a challenge and to do it everyday was REALLY challenging as well as inspirational and super fun too. I love to do art challenges because it makes me DO something creative every day!  Also it continues to inspire me to create more art, larger pieces and sometimes a series of ideas comes out of it.  I love when a little piece sparks a larger piece and that sparks the imagination in other ways.  

So, I've set up this little 31 Days of March Challenge for myself to get back into the art everyday routine.  The best part about doing this on index cards (3x5) is that the small format isn't intimidating, its not time consuming either.  I like that.

I'll be posting my index cards on the page "31 In March (ICAD)" so please check it out each week during March.  Oh, and there will be other March Madness coming too. Hope to see you around and please leave me a comment when you stop by, I'd love to hear from you. 

Bee Happy! Bee Creative! 

Suzy

INDEX CARD A DAY WEEK 5

Hi Everyone!

It has been another busy week around here, working and caring for a little one! Wow, I'm finding it difficult to find a little block of time to create each daily index card. Each night after everyone is asleep I am trying to catch up with email and blog posts. 

Well, other than the time crunch this month, I've also joined an online class with Mary Ann Moss called SEWN. There will be more details coming! Check out the little video over on the left side of this page, if you are interested in the class, please tell Mary Ann I sent you! 

Ok, the Index Card A Day Challenge (ICAD) from this week can been seen by clicking on ICAD tab on the right side bar.  

Hope you will enjoy this weeks collection and be inspired to make your own little mini art works!

Happy Painting and Doodling!
Suzy

ICAD WEEK 4

Hi Everyone!

It's Week 4 of the Index Card A Day (ICAD) challenge, we're into Day 29 and  I'm still pumped up about the remaining 32 days!  

It's been a pleasure spending time with my daughter and grandson, taking walks, caring for the baby and spending time with my granddaughters.  I love being with them and seeing my older grands loving on the newest one. It has been a great week.

My art time has been limited this week. The challenge has been to find a block of time to make some art, write blog posts, update Facebook and Flickr with the latest photos, etc.  Guess I didn't realize how much time it takes to do these things each day and the amount of time I spend on the computer. Not complaining, just sayin'.  You all know what I'm talkin' about don't you? 

Anyhow, I've put together the individual cards for your viewing pleasure, just click the tab (Index Card A Day) on the right side bar. 

Happy Doodling!
Suzy

ICAD WEEK 2

Hi Everyone!

Happy Weekend! Happy Saturday! 

Time for the ICAD (Index Card A Day) reveal for Week 2.  This week was even more fun than the second week because I've learned a few lessons:

• go with the flow
• don't over think it
• have fun

Check out the entire week's ICAD by clicking the tab on the right side bar to read more. 

Here's a peek.

Thank you for stopping by! 

Happy Doodles,
Suzy

Linking to : Daisy Yellow; Paint Party Friday; Art Journal Everyday

ICAD Challenge Week 1

Hi Everyone! 

Last Saturday was the beginning of the Daisy Yellow Index Card A Day challenge. I thought you might enjoy seeing the weeks work as a collection rather than individually, beginning next week I will be posting them under the ICAD tab on the right.  Just click on the tab and you'll get to see the entire collection each week with the "behind the card" commentary on how they were made. Today I have posted them below. 

DAY 1: Rainbows

My first index card I used an opaque watercolor (gouache) by dabbing a bit of each color on the edges. Just a little water to disperse the paint, making a wash and learning about the stability of index card. When the colors were completely dry, I doodled around the borders, drew the flowers and little angels. I added the black and white stripes in the flower stems and the text.  

Later I learned the prompt over on Daisy Yellow was Rainbow & Zebra. Hmmm. I had the rainbow part down and guess you could consider the black & white to represent zebra....the pattern in the number 1 was inspired by a coloring book design I spotted while coloring with my two little angels, Sunshine (Lyla) and Lollipop (Brianne)!

Day 2: Candy Land 
Continuing with Rainbow colors, black and white stripes and the prompt Candy Land. This is my version of Candy Land. I drew my favorite candy corn and lollipops, candy canes and gum drops with a black Micron pen, colored in with Inktense and Twinkling H2O's to add the sparkle effect and deepen the colors. 

Day 2 Candy Land

Day 3: Vintage Love 

Found our Wedding Guest Book crumbling and falling apart in a drawer and was able to rescue a few bits from the front cover. The paper was very brittle, breaking off into small pieces which made it easy to use for collage.  We had  traditional scalloped edge cocktail napkins with golden wedding bells and our names printed on them for our wedding in 1975. I used the scalloped border on the edges of the card and our names (the are barely visible) and the wedding bells which are painted yellow with a glitter pen. Spritzed (orange & teal) Dylusion ink over the card, added black stitching to edges. 

Vintage Love

 Day 4: Mama said there'd be days like this. It's a Hair on Fire Kinda Day! 

This piece started with orange acrylic paint applied with credit card and the  image of sunglasses and checkerboard I cut from an old piece of stationary. When I laid the sunglasses down, I saw the face.  Continuing the black & white theme along the edges.

Mama said there'd be day's like this! 

Day 5: A Daisy Day
I love cutting images from magazines to use for collage. Going with a Red theme today and only natural (to me!) to add black and white. I drew the background grid of lines and stamped daisies over them and added the black and white checkerboard to mimic the red squares. 

Daisy Day

DAY 6: Dreaming of Blue Skies

After a week of rain every day I am longing for blue skies! I used leftover circles punched from scrapbook paper for the flower designs, shadowing them with circle punches of orange, purple and lime. The background is another yellow floral paper design painted with raindrops using a bit of twinkling H2o's. Rhinestones in the center of each flower for sparkle. Again, I'm continuing to use the black and white stripe them to ground the piece.

Dreaming of Blue Skies

DAY 7: Lifetime Friends
 I received a lovely Stash Giveaway from Tabitha Lenox last week and with a package of pink tissues in it among other goodness you can check it out here.  The napkin design inspired me to use a black and white photo of my grandmother (middle) and great aunt (left) and a friend taken in 1927 to super impose and give the illusion they are dreaming of a lifetime journey. I used acrylic and gouache paints for the highlights on the side of the card, added cream colored floral tape (from TL giveaway) and black and white diamond washi tape. 

Lifetime Friends

It's been a great week making index cards! Here are a few of my observations and promises I made from the week:

• They don't make index cards like they used to, they are quite thin &   rather flimsy.
• It is challenging to work in a small format.
• It is hard not to compare your work with others.
• To be honest after Day 1, I almost quit the challenge when I saw the incredible work posted.
• I'm not a quitter.

After a good talking to (as we say in the South), I promised myself I wasn't going to look and compare my work to others.

• I will be happy creating whatever each day brings. 
•  As promised, I create my daily index card and post to Facebook & Flickr before I look at any posts! 
• So far, I'm pleased with what I have done.

It is what it is and that is a good thing. 

Thanks for stopping by! Look forward to sharing more Index Cards with you soon! 

Happy Doodles!
Suzy

Linking to: Daisy Yellow; Paint Party Friday; Art Journal Everyday

INDEX~CARD~A~DAY 2013 KICK OFF

Hi Everyone!

The Index-A-Day Challenge begins today! Go check it out at Daisy Yellow.  Tammy Garcia is hosting this Index-A-Day (ICAD) challenge during the months of June and July (61 days). Tammy will provide optional prompts and I might take her up on some if I get stuck or maybe like today, I will just incorporate a hint of the prompt. 

My intent is to do a Index Card A Day for 61 days. I'll post them on Daisy Yellow and Daisy Yellow Flickr Group and here. 

Ok, I saw Tammy's post and the prompt today was Zebra. I added black and white pattern to represent "zebra".

As for the entire challenge there really isn't a theme in mind, I’m taking my cues from Sunshine and Lollipops (aka my grand-daughters Brianne and Lyla). 

The plan is to post their cards weekly and that will most definitely depend on their “willingness” to co-operate (you never know!) on our days together. Yesterday, both wanted to paint and draw on the cards mainly because it was something new and different. Who knows what next week will bring!?! Lollipop (almost 4 yrs old) made two cards (she was excited):

Brianne (aka) Lollipop

I love her confidence in putting the colors together and after a minor mishap with her mom’s hairdryer catching on fire (really!) we let the paint dry on its own and then she drew her flowers.  

Zebra Tail?

 Little Miss Sunshine Lyla (almost 2) was having some difficulty with the size of the card, she prefers paper plate art.

Lyla (aka) Sunshine with help from Lollipop

 Big sister Brianne helped finish up the index card with a butterfly, sunshine and flowers while Sunshine napped.

Why not consider joining the ICAD group and join in the fun!

Happy index art!

Suzy 

Linking to: Daisy Yellow

NEW CHALLENGES ON HORIZON

Hello Everyone!

Lately I’ve been reading many blogs on art journaling, drawing and sketching and I got caught up in one that I love, Tammy Garcia’s Daisy Yellow blog. Tammy's hosting a challenge for all you art lovers out there called Index Card A Day (ICAD). The idea is to use an index card and doodle, paint, draw, collage or whatever your little artistic heart enjoys. One card a day for the month of June and July. I think I want to try this out! It sounds simple enough, Tammy will provide optional prompts and that might be fun too! You can read more about ICAD here!

Tammy is one of the most generous artist when it comes to sharing ideas, free tutorials and art classes. I love that about her blog, it is ALWAYS a fun and interesting place to go!

Looking forward to sharing my Index Card A Day art with you in future posts. Maybe you’d like to join the group? Just click on ICAD here or on the button over on the left! The more the merrier!

Another challenge I’ve been longing to join is EveryDayMatters because I’ve recently fallen in love with Danny Gregory’s work! Go check him out: http://dannygregory.com/category/journals/. After finding Danny’s blog I have really come to enjoy his style of journaling. He has inspired me to begin drawing, sketching and painting again. I want to take the challenge of drawing every day and yes, I will use the daily prompts. Please take a moment to go over and visit Danny and check out his incredible travel journals!

Start watching for my ICAD and EDM posts beginning next month. I hope you will be inspired to join one of these groups or just start sketching and working in your art journals! Don’t have an art journal?!? WHAT??? Go GET a sketch book and start today!! You can call it a sketch book, notebook or journal or nothing at all….just start today.

Happy Doodles!

Suzy

Link to: Daisy Yellow; Danny Gregory