Catching up with ICAD

The past week has been crazy busy, days fly by and before I know it, the week-end is here again. I do not know where the time goes, I wish I had more to show for it. As far as getting things accomplished.

I've been doing the Index card a day challenge, but no time to post every day. I think it is easier to do them, then post a few at a time. I finally got a tray of supplies put together so I can move it around to different places to work on them.

Here's the latest:

Week-end ICAD cards

Here are the two cards I did for Saturday and Sunday. I think I feel more comfortable with collage than anything else. I'm not totally pleased with my handwriting, and my sketching skills are really rusty. I also found a way to deal with these thin, flimsy index cards. Using the Zxyron machine, I glued two cards together. Makes a sturdier base. I have a pile of them ready now.

Too Hot to Handle

Here's my ICAD card for today. It's been miserably hot here all day. Windy too. Actually, because of the wind, the humidity is low, so it feels more like being in Vegas heat instead of Austin. But 104 is still too hot no matter where you are. IMHO!

Just Ranger paint dabbers and Pitt Pen. Quick and easy.


I went out early and did a few errands, got home at 1p.m. and have stayed in the rest of the day. I may have to go to World Market in the a.m. to stock up on more Italian Soda. For now, I will be sipping a cool beverage here in a little while.
Soda and Limoncello!



Have a Happy Week-end. I'm pretty sure it's cooler everywhere else.

ICAD challenge

The Index Card a Day Challenge started on June 1st, but I didn't read about it till about a week into in. You could start anytime but by at least the 16th. I bought cheap index cards. I haven't bought index cards of any kind for at least 10 years. I was really disappointed with the quality of these "cards". I don't know how they can even call them cards, as they are more like text weight paper. I thought, oh well, I will paint on them, gesso them, etc. they will be fine. NOT SO It was very irritating to me. I thought I'd just buy some more. Well, everywhere I checked seemed to have the same brand, or at least the same weight. Do you think I could find some "vintage" ones in this house that has more paper and cardstock than a paper factory??? Nope. So anyhow, I decided that I'd go ahead and accept not only the challenge to make one every day, but to deal with these crappy cards and make them work! HaHa..I'll see how it goes.

Trying to prepare some backgrounds in advance. Very absorbent and they curled.


My very first one.
This one I did in the car on the drive to Dallas. No, I wasn't the one driving, and it didn't take me the entire drive to do it.


Day 2, a little sketch in the hotel.


Day 3.



Day 4

Anthropologie In Oregon

Side window display, Tigard store.


Planter out front, the filler was Hazelnut shells. I really like this idea.


Inside, front desk

Closeup of chair. Entire wall was covered in pleated canvas, sealed with clear finish.

Another section of canvas wall


Repurposed basket with bees nest. There were 3 hanging over the front desk.



Seawall type of display

Loosely torn strips of fabric made up most of this wall, along with heavy net.

Sea urchins made of zippers


Mia watering all the live plants.


Bicycle with the paper flowers we've seen in most of the locations.


They were just beginning their cork installation. They told me they were going to be putting large circles on this wall.

Here's a few more from Boise, Idaho

All of the Anthro stores are doing a huge Cork project for Earth Day. They had just started installing the one here. There was a sign in the window explaining about the sustainability of cork forests. We were fortunate to meet the Visual co-ordinator as she was beginning to work on it. She was sweet and lovely, as was everyone we spoke to in that store. Lisa told us she had attended the grand opening of the Domain store in Austin. I really like the way their employees get to travel to diffferent locations to help out. They all seem to know one another no matter which location they work in.

Click on photo to see larger, hopefully it can be read.


Lovely Lisa in the window. See the threads? She was going to be attaching corks to all the threads. I wanted to go back in a few days to see it finished, but alas, we ran out of time.


Evidence of being there. Me and the Hubster in front of a giant mirror.


Art in Public Spaces. Downtown.

Tourist Site:Anthropologie

On a recent trip to the Pacific Northwest to see family, we managed to sneak away for a short while to feed my obsession with Anthropologie stores. Fortunately I had already done my research and had the addresses of three stores in the areas we were going to be. My photo skills were really challenged on this first one. Wish I had better ones to show, but I forgot to use the flash in most of them. Sometimes the flash causes glare, but without it...well, you'll see.

This set was all taken at the Boise, Idaho store.

Window display, paper flowers on real branches. Flowers were cut from book pages and assorted tissue papers.






Giant basket full of scarves.


This is Frank. He was patiently waiting for someone while they shopped. In talking to him, I found out he had just moved to Boise from Houston. He was happy to meet some other Texans. He was a really nice guy.


This wall behind where the registers were, was the most awesome thing. The photos do not do it justice. It really blew me away. It was made of the spines of old books, and squares cut from aluminum soda cans. I think some of the squares were other metals too, can't recall exactly all of it.


It had an undulating curve about it where they made it dimensional.


I hope if you click on the photo to make it larger, you can see where they stapled the squares together.



Some of the longer strips appeared woven, but a lot were just squares stapled together. If I remember correctly the background was either canvas cloth or maybe burlap. Wish I had written down what the girl was explaining to me. I really wanted to take this piece home with me. If I could have all the stuff I see at their stores, I would just be living in an Anthropologie warehouse! And my gal pals could all come live there with me.