Act My Age

My daughter tried to instruct me how to 

add a watermark to my images, so

I'll just leave this here...

but I'm still learning, and I'm not sure I

can remember all the steps, and boy there

are a lot of steps to remember...

why doesn't my brain remember stuff

like it used to?!  And I sure wish

I looked this young in actual fact.

I think my daughter may have figured out

my scanner problem. So I hope I can 

remember how to do that too...

scan as a photo, not on auto scan...

and why didn't the watermark version

of the larger piece

show up in the file I exported?

Yes, well, I'll keep practicing...

I understand layers in physical art work,

but not so much in digital transparent layers.

sigh.

so many tool bars, so many buttons.

so many functions...

I'll just be here with my pen and

paint brush...

Index Card a Day 2020

The Index-Card-a-Day Challenge is for

developing a creative habit, making art on an

Index Card every day, for 61 days...

(ICAD-June through July).

One of my art buddies said we all need a 

name tag like the one above.  Fair warning, I

guess, to folks who don't know about or understand

how all-encompassing our art habit can be!

(No offense intended toward anyone actually dealing with

a serious addiction, please take this in the light-hearted

manner in which it's intended)

You can jump in any time for the ICAD challenge,

 no need to "catch up."

Visit the DaisyYellow blog to find out more.

 I'm sharing a few of my cards so far...

The first week I went with a very loose

interpretation of the theme: typography, symbols,

found text and lists.  There are prompts each day

 for those who would like to use them, 

but they're not required.

I used watercolor backgrounds and collage.  On an

index card, you have to be careful not to get too 

much water involved.  I painted up several to start, and

after they dried, I put them under a stack of books

to flatten them out again.  Many art journalers 

prep their pages by painting background first, so

this is a similar idea.  Special thanks to 

Maia, an Instagram penpal who

sent some of the ephemera I used in collages.

Found text from a book, above. You'd be surprised what 

interesting combinations can result from cutting

phrases from an old book.  Most of my collages

include line drawings and details added with

a felt tip pen as the last step.

Above, cards 8-11.  The second week theme

suggested was: mark-making and organic

shapes.  Can you tell which card was inspired

by my spoon jade plant?  Cards 7-10 are

collaged. Card 11 didn't seem (to me) to need

any collage...I managed to stop before I 

went 'too far.' if that makes any sense.

I was delighted to receive some gorgeous

mail art recently from Kate Y.  She even

decorated the envelope with a mermaid's

tail! Just look at all the scrumptious layers

 and sparkly goodness! The postcard features 

dangling golden tags which can be

tucked into areas of the collage. I love it!

I sent a swap/return postcard to Kate decorated

 in Egyptian themed designs, 'cause I heard

she enjoyed them. Hope it arrives safely.

Throwing this in just for fun, 'cause it makes me 

SMILE!

and...

in order to participate in Elizabeth's T Party,

 I need to show something drink related.

So here's a hamster in a tea cup!

Visit Altered Book Lover blog to join us for

a beverage and a chat.

Mad Tea Party 2020

Revisiting a drawing from 2018,

Johnny Depp's portrayal of the

Mad Hatter...

I've always wanted to have a Mad Tea Party!

With mismatched cups, tea, cakes and cookies.

And maybe some art projects too.

My drawing after Sir John Tenniel's

original illustration of the Mad Hatter.

Perhaps we should just not invite the

Queen of Hearts. She seems a bit

temperamental...

Hopefully we can avoid any swimming 

incidents,

and the wild  mushrooms will be tasty,

but not hallucinogenic in any way.

We can finish off with some tarts!

Would you like strawberry or cherry?

And of course, there must be tea!

Linking up with 'Tea for Tuesday'

blog party over at Altered Book Lover.

Stop by for a chat.

Pandemic Pages and Projects

The Hobonichi Challenge for April is

an Alice in Wonderland theme. Above,

white roses painted red, and the White Rabbit.

Some mail art postcards

and a bunny for Easter on an envelope.

A very three dimensional Easter card, hand

delivered to the In-Laws.  Haven't been to visit 

my own parents yet as they are isolating.  Hoping

the weather will warm up soon so we can go

over and sit in lawn chairs in the yard to

visit with them!

There are so many cute memes on the 

internet, and I just have to steal one

sometimes. 'Steal like an artist' as they say.

Sketched daffodils from my yard for a

card to send.

I really adore the original illustrations for Alice 

in Wonderland done by Sir John Tenniel.  But 

of course Disney's versions are pretty amazing too!

Did you spot the coffee cups that I include on my

pages?  They are my contribution to 'T for Tuesday'

over at Altered Book Lover's blog. It's always 

nice to share tea, coffee, and some conversation

with good friends!

Above, a few text pages that I've watercolored and

drawn on.  I will probably tear them up and

use for collage.  What creative projects 

have you been working on?

Follow me on IG:

dbcarey_2000

Mini Happy Planner Tutorial

I decided to do a quick little tutorial about 

decorating a Mini Happy Planner.  Figured we

could all use a little something to take our minds

off recent serious events. Arts and crafts to 

reduce anxiety and have some fun!  A special

welcome to anyone visiting from the 

"Harry Potter And The Order of the Planners"

Facebook group. Yes, that's a thing!  We love

the Harry Potter books and it's a friendly,

welcoming group. Click on any image

to enlarge for a closer look.

The planner that I'm using has pink accents in the

gutter and for dividing the days of the week.

We will change the color combinations as

we decorate.  The pages are about 7 inches

high by 4 5/8 inches wide.

Collect your supplies. I'll be using Washi tape in

both 3/16 inch width, and 1/2 inch width, Mildliner

markers, and Harry Potter themed stickers.

For the month of March, the Harry Potter group

has been celebrating each Hogwarts House. This 

week I decided to go with a Ravenclaw theme. 

(Even though I'm in Gryffindor, I like to change

things up) Ravenclaw's House colors are blue and

bronze.  The first thing I did was use the wide tip of

my blue Mildliner marker to color in the outside

edges of the pages. 

 I also wanted to cover the pink center of the

 page with Washi.  The tape was a bit wider 

than I would like, so I lined up the edge

of the tape with the end of the daily box, and the 

other edge of the tape ran off the edge of the page.

Then I just trimmed it with scissors.  Do this for both

pages. 

Since the page holes are now covered, I used a hole

punch to punch holes in the tape. (If you have a Happy

Planner punch, that's even easier!) Punch the holes from

the back side so you can see the spacing. Then also 

trim the tiny strip from the hole to the edge of the 

page with your scissors.

Next, I used the narrow (brownish colored) tape to 

cover the pink lines between the days of the week.

I numbered the days of the week with the blue Mildliner.

Then I outlined the numbers with an extra fine point

pen. ( .01 Pigma Micron)  You wouldn't need to 

outline them, I just like the look better.

Probably my favorite part is adding the stickers!

I used symbols and objects that suggest the 

Ravenclaw House.  In the upper right corner 

is the raven (or eagle depending on which you

 prefer) that is my own hand-drawn

illustration. I try to vary the placement of the 

stickers for interest, keeping in mind I need to 

leave space to add my "to do" lists.  I also covered

the 'weekly  highlights' and 'notes' with 

stickers and Washi tape.

Here I've used the wide tip of the Mildliner to 

make small check-boxes for each day.  You could

certainly use sticker check-boxes if you

have them on hand.  In the

Facebook group we have daily challenges

that we can choose to participate in, so these

are the events that I want to make sure 

I complete!

You may have noticed that I added another strip

of narrow tape at the bottom of the page.  I thought 

the page needed it to look complete. Since I had 

already put down stickers, I used the tip of an x-acto

knife to lift the tiny legs of the telescope so I 

could apply tape underneath. You may even have

the specific tool that is used for that. 

Write in your lists for each day, and you're done!

Well, ok. I thought it still needed something more,

so I added diagonal stripes at the top of the 

pages in a different color of blue Mildliner.  Blue

and Bronze Ravenclaw pages...did you spot 

Luna Lovegood  and the radish earrings?!

There are many ways to decorate a planner, and

this is just one. You can obviously get a totally

different look with the use of different colors,

designs, and themes. 

Happy Planning!

Creating Randomly

Do you consider baking a form of art?

I've decided that trying to mix purple from

red and blue food coloring is futile.  Turned

out ugly in my opinion, but the best I could do.

On my second try of mixing up this King Cake,

it turned out pretty well, and the family seemed

to enjoy it!

Here are a few random creations that I've

been making during my long absence from

the blog...  Happy Year of the Rat!

Unicorn photo props for my daughter the Music

Teacher. They do a Daddy/Daughter dance as a

fundraiser for the Drama Club, and this year the

theme was Unicorns. The "I Poop Rainbows"

was my favorite... Oh my glittering 

rainbow-unicorn-cupcake-stars!

Just a joyful celebration of seeing the rare

experience of sunshine during a gray

 Ohio winter.

Yes, I'm still doodling tiny things and cutting

them out for my Planner/Art Journal.

The Hobonichi Challenge in my 4 x 6 inch Techo

for the month of February is 

Love for Australia.  I did not know that the 

Pavlova dessert had been invented in Australia!

My (more frequent) posts are on Instagram:

dbcarey_2000

Linking up with Tea Tuesday over at the

Altered Book Lover blog.  My 'qualifying' T Tuesday

images are the red coffee mug and the Pavlova 

illustration. Sounds like a winning 

combination to me!