It's a Wrap for #ICAD2016

This was my very first #ICAD2016, but it will not be my last. A big thank you to Tammy Garcia who started the Index Card Challenge 6 years ago. Here's her FB ICAD2016 link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ICAD2016/

I started a Mixed Media Artists Group here on Cape Cod (MA). And that's how I found out about the Challenge!! It's just what I needed to stretch and push my Creative muscles. :) I also posted on Instagram every day and met a lot of amazing artists and photographers. It was a really great experience to share my Art, get feedback and give feedback to others.

An Art teacher once told me that one way to grow as an artist is to work in a series. Now I know why. Thanks to the ICAD Challenge I have grown and am really looking forward to next year's challenge!

After creating 61 Index Cards, I wanted to display them all, which is pretty much impossible. But, I had recently put up a kind of clothesline to dry some artwork and thought I would put up all the cards with clothespins and then take photos and a video. Of course, as I was putting the last few up....the wind picked up!

I can't get the Video to load here on Blogger .... will figure it out eventually, but if you haven't seen it, I posted it on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BIlGqPYB-O4/?taken-by=kittiscibellidesigns

Prisma App - I love you!

The 100 Day Challenge

I also participated in the #the100daychallenge - which challenged people to create every single day for 100 days. It sounds daunting, but really can be accomplished in no more than 15 minutes per day, depending on your medium.

Arting for 100 Days

I tried to make it easier on myself by calling my challenge #artingfor100days - which left the kind of creating I did open ended. I am a mixed-media artist after all... so I have quite an eclectic 100 creations!

Prisma, the Wonder App

I did all of my posting on Instagram and really enjoyed viewing and chatting with the other artists and creatives! I learned many things over the 100 days including discovery of a newer APP called Prisma!  Be forewarned, it is highly addictive! (isn't all Art?) I really love the painterly and abstraction filters...

Collaging on Index Cards

I cannot stop collaging!

Why? Because I'm participating in the Index Card A Day project (#ICAD2016) for 61 days. I had no idea how much fun it would be and how much I would enjoy working with this smaller size. This is exactly why trying new things and challenging ourselves is such a good thing. :)

Here's a few of my Index Card Collages, before some of them were Gel Printed. :) I adhered to a neutral palette of a variety of pages and just let my intuition take over....it's so much fun! All 61 of my Index Cards are on Instagram - feel free to check them out and follow me if you'd like.
https://www.instagram.com/kittiscibellidesigns/

Gel Press and ETI Resin Blog Hop

There's still time to win some prizes at the Gel Press and ETI Resin Blog Hop! 

If you're into Gelatin printing and/or ETI Resin, check out these very creative blogs loaded with amazing project ideas! Hop onto these blogs, and leave a comment to enter to win until 10pm Sunday night. (July 31, 2016)

http://www.gelpressblog.com/gel-press-eti-blog-hop/

It's Official ... I'm a Gel Press® Designer!

I'm very excited to be part of the Gel Press® Creative Team with all of their amazing talent and monoprinting ideas.

Today, my first blog post went up on the Gel Press® blog... learn how to make the wooden plaque above and check out all the other posts for fabulously creative gel printing ideas!!

Check it out:  http://www.gelpressblog.com/love-laugh-friends-plaque-with-gel-press/

The First Week of #the100dayproject

The 100 Day Project ...

started April 19th and runs through July 27th. Each day you post a new piece of some kind of art or creation on Instagram with both the "project hashtag" and one that defines your uploads. Mine is #ARTINGfor100days...

Being a Mixed-Media artist, I couldn't decide on ONE thing that I wanted to do for 100 days....so, I decided to post something DIFFERENT every day. To me, that is a challenge.

DAY 1 -
I'm away from home most of the day and all I have is my iphone. Took a few photos in black and white and then used a filter in Instagram:

DAY 2 - 

Another busy day away from home - very unusual for me. I went down to my Studio for inspiration and found a pile of deli papers I had experimented with a new Alcohol Ink technique. I picked my favorite one and decided to doodle on it with a blue and a white gel pen:

DAY 3 -
I spent part of the day preparing for an Alcohol Ink demo for my Cape Cod Mixed Media group on Saturday. I had recently purchased a set of adorable white ceramic glazed pears. I decided to use Alcohol Ink on one of them to show the group some of the possibilities with these amazing inks!

DAY 4 -
Took a cell phone pic while walking my dog. Later on I decided to work on it with my I-Pad art apps. Something I don't do often enough. Then I decided since it was day 4 of the project, I'd focus in on that number. The first photo is the original from my cell phone.

DAY 5 -
My Art Journaling group decided to experiment with some transfer techniques. This was my favorite. I took one of my photos from our trip to Monet's Gardens. This was his house which is now a museum. I made a toner copy and then transferred it onto watercolor paper with Citrasolv.

DAY 6 -
I created this during an Alcohol Ink demo with my Mixed Media group. I was trying to show them the ink and deli paper technique mentioned above. I put too much ink down and decided to stick one of the white ceramic glazed tiles onto it....basically transferring the extra ink to the tile. I loved the effect!

DAY 7 -
My girlfriend, Karen came back from Puerto Rico with a huge bag of gorgeous Sea Glass...some really big pieces, too! So, I took a photo with my iphone and will use the glass in a mixed media piece........some day. :)

Because of #the100dayproject I'm learning that I'm either going to come up with something wildly new for me each day OR I'll actually finish some projects.....WIN-WIN!

Paper Folding with Old Books

Back in the 6th grade 

    ...many, many years ago, I was seriously into paper folding. One of my girlfriends gave me a ginormous book on Origami. I made all kinds of little origami animals and gave them to friends. My most favorite project, and one I never photographed :( was a hanging door curtain for my bedroom made out of GUM WRAPPERS. I don't remember how long it took me to make, but it involved hundreds of gum wrappers. I had it up for a very long time and I was very proud of it.

I've been playing with paper ever since...

My most recent projects involve old books...upcycling them into pieces of art with paper folding techniques. Now, this isn't anything new, just new to me. See lots of cool art and ideas on my Pinterest board here: https://www.pinterest.com/scibellidesigns/altered-books/

My first attempt was a technique that I saw on Carolyn Dube's website (https://acolorfuljourney.com/how-to-store-stencil-masks/) for holding/storing small stencils and masks. She took an old book and with a very simple fold, made a sort of filing system for masks. I have a lot of small masks and stencils so I made one (in less than an hour) and I use it for storing masks and stencils I'm working on at the moment. And I like the way it looks, too!

As soon as I finished this, I had to do MORE! So, I checked out YouTube and Pinterest and have started a few more...

Birdhouse?

This one isn't finished yet and not sure how I'm going to "decorate" it, but I'm pretty sure it's a birdhouse.

 

Birdhouse or Fairy House?

This one is 95% done as far as the folding goes. I love the shape! It was done with 2 folds on every other page.  Although, people on YouTube call this a "Fairy House" I think it could be another birdhouse.....we'll see. 

I think my next book paper folding project will be an abstract!