Index-Card-A-Day (ICAD) challenge 2021 - Week 3

The ICAD challenge continues and is providing me with lots to think about.  Above, from top left are: Chartreuse, Trinket, bottom right is Parallel and bottom left is Colour wheel.  (The three primaries I chose gave rather sludgy colours when I mixed them, but I remedied this by using brighter shades around the outside.)

From the top is Sand or Sandcastle, Bridge and Inkwell. (I chose to ink well, using inks and a stencil for that last one).
I have found that I have turned more to using my inks for the challenge this year and am enjoying rediscovering them.  On to the next prompts!

Index-Card-A-Day Challenge (ICAD) 2021 week 2

Here are the ICAD cards for week 2.  Above, top left, Umbrella, Ampersand, bottom right, Library and Ribbon.

 From the top, Fairytale, Dice and Word cloud. As always, some of these are more of a challenge than others.  Some need a lot of thinking about.  What is really good about this challenge is that my huge stash of stamps, stencils, dies, inks, watercolour crayons, paints and other crafting stuff comes into its own.  I am often to be heard saying 'I knew that would come in useful!'

Roses (and others) everywhere

This post is very picture heavy - I love roses and this is their time, so I'm celebrating it.  Above is 'Mary Rose'.

Gladiolus Byzantinus, echoing the pink of the roses.

Rose 'Geoff Hamilton'.

Rose 'For Your Eyes only'.

Rose 'Eyes for You'.

One of the patio peonies 'Athens'.  Again, there is a bit of a pink theme!

Rose 'Cottage Rose'.

Rose 'Constance Spry'.

Rose 'Charles de Mills'.

A white peony 'Madrid' - just coming into flower.  This one is a patio peony but I have planted it in the border.  It has taken a while to get going.

Another patio peony 'Rome'.

Rose 'Bright as a button'...

Rose Ferdinand Pichard.

Lewisia Plum.

Lewisia Plum close up , showing the lovely striped flowers.

Rose New Dawn and Blush Noisette aren't quite in flower yet, but have lots of buds. More to look forward to.

Rose Winchester Cathedral started to develop rust as well as black spot, so I made the decision and it has gone.  However, a replacement white rose, Susan Williams-Ellis has just arrived, so I am looking forward to seeing what she will be like.

The roses are certainly centre stage at the moment and some have grown very tall this year.  I am really surrounded by them and I love it!

Wanderlust 2021- weeks twenty-one to twenty-four - Poems and Quotes

Wanderlust has been challenging me again over this four weeks, but I have really enjoyed the poems and quotes theme.  We had to go for a walk or sit in the garden and be aware of sounds, sights etc.  The object was to write a poem and make an envelope for it on the page. The poem is featured above.

This is the front of the poem card.  I made the envelope from a masterboard of scraps, which I scanned into the computer and printed out.

Week 22 was one I really enjoyed. I learned a new technique of brayering gesso over the background which gave a 'old wallpaper' vintage look and which toned down the colours.  The poem I chose was 'Aedh wishes for the cloths of heaven' by W. B. Yeats.

Week 23 was about creating a poem from found text.  I used a Hammond Innes novel (The Trojan Horse), which has (surprisingly) been incredibly useful throughout this course, along with some magazine cut outs. I wanted to have a page with both cool and warm colours, so made two poems.  The background for these was so enjoyable to make.

Week 24 was illustrating a quote.  I wanted to create a pretty pastel page for this.  However, initially, I used Distress Oxide sprays, which created a muddy background (my fault for the choice of colours).  Not what I wanted.  I used acrylic paints in the hope of retrieving the colour.  That looked even worse!  Then I remembered the gesso technique from week 22, so did that and success, the page was saved!  After that, it came together pretty quickly and I am pleased with the end result.

Boundaries is the next theme. 

Index-Card-a-Day (ICAD) Challenge 2021- week 1

I am joining in with Daisy Yellow's Index Card a Day challenge during June and July. I did this last year and really enjoyed it. The idea is to create a piece of art on an index card (or a 6x4 inch card), every day while the challenge runs.  There are prompts and ideas and you can follow them, or go your own way. There is a Facebook group, but I'm not a Facebook user, so don't get involved with that.  I like the small format and  am enjoying the creative challenges.  I will post a weekly round up.

Top left, Contraption, top right, Snapdragon, bottom right, Snowglobe and bottom left, lyrics (Mad about the Boy, Mona Lisa and What a difference a day makes, just in case you're curious).

Verdigris is on the left, Canoe or Kayak is top right (these lyrics were part of a song my Dad used to sing and play on his guitar) and Twist is bottom right.  Some of these words prompt ideas quite quickly, but others take more thinking about.   I have a very mixed media approach to these cards and I do like to be able to use what I have. So far, I have used inks, acrylic paint, watercolour, collage, stencils, stamps, an embossing folder and ribbon.

On to the second week...

The start of the roses (and a couple of other plants...)

June is the month for roses and mine are just starting to bloom.  (I have no doubt further rose-based posts will follow once they really get going).  Above is Olivia Rose Austin - grown in a pot, really healthy and beautiful.

This is Winchester Cathedral which is really pretty but has got blackspot, so I am debating whether to keep it or not. It is also in a pot and that may be the problem, or it may just not be that healthy.

My favourite (don't tell the others) Gertrude Jekyll, growing in the border, with a gorgeous scent.

Kew Gardens looking pretty too.  

Other plants are joining in  with the roses.  Here is one of the alliums in the border.

This is geranium St Ola which I bought bare root from Wilkos.  It has lovely delicate white flowers and bright pink stamen stems, which I hadn't expected!

Finally, here is my little patio apple tree (James Grieve) which had lovely blossom earlier in the year and now has apples forming.  What a treat to be able to pick and eat my own apples!