The ICADs I made this week were all from a series of some of my favorite inspirational quotes that I printed out  one day with my new printer, playing with colors and fonts.  I was recently turned back on to Thich Nhat Hanh at a DBT training; a big part of that treatment modality is mindfulness and he’s pretty much the mindfulness guru.

The first two were made with crayons in a couple different techniques.  The first was just a basic rubbing over a scrap of wire fencing I had left over from a project and the second was from a technique I keep seeing people talking about.  I made a pattern with glue and then let it dry.  The dried glue became a relief for me to rub the crayon over.  I kind of like the technique and it’s so easy.  The last one was kind of a “peek-a-boo” card, using the weaving theme from Daisy Yellow’s ICAD Challenge with a paper bag from PJ Chang’s on top, the quote stapled on the bottom, and (under the quote) a reminder to myself.  I also used the colors from the  2013 Summer of Color 3: Artist’s Choice challenge on Facebook.  (The colors this week are candy apple red and yellow).

This quote from Ghandi is of my favorite of all time.  I actually just used blotting towels I’ve been accumulating on my craft table, ripped them up, and Mod Podged them on as the background.  I played with some “WordArt” in Microsoft Word to make the quote.

For this, I played with oil pastels (another new material for me).  It’s such a visceral approach to art: the feeling of the material on my fingers.  I love it and definitely need to keep playing with them.  And I continue to be inspired thinking of our recent trip to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in DC.  He was truly an amazing man.

This one was a combination of the dried-glue-relief and the crayon rubbing ideas from above.  I wrote the word “fruit” with the glue and then used crayon over it.  I tried using several colors in a rubbing over the wire mesh, moving the card just a hair for each new color.  It kind of made a muddy color, rather than the rainbow effect I was looking for, so I ended up covering most of the card with collage.  I raided one of my National Geographics for the images.

Here are the Facebook links to the ICAD and SOC Challenges:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/daisy.yellow.ICAD/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/116928415059733/

They continue to be so much fun, and are really encouraging me to do at least one creative thing a day.  It’s a habit I really think (hope) I can keep up.  I’m also learning so many new styles and techniques from the other participants who are posting their work.  It’s such an amazing variety and there are so many talented people out there!  They’re inspiring, too.