In June and July, I am participating in Daisy Yellow’s Index-Card-a-Day challenge, in which we create on an index card every day–61 mini-masterpieces. I will be posting my projects every Tuesday.

Day 1’s prompt was sunrise, which I chose to interpret in watercolor. It came out more abstract than I intended. And I confess, I made it on a watercolor postcard, not an index card. Last year I was frustrated at how the cards curled when painted.

Tammy Garcia has a good reason for insisting on using index cards:

Simple materials push you to think in new ways. Index cards are without a doubt “not” the perfect substrate. But they are abundant, so we do not hesitate to pitch them when the work turns into a catastrophe! Get index cards. They can be lined, gridded, plain, neon or dividers or rolodex cards. …The maximum size for the challenge is 4×6″. And yes, gotta be index cards. Not nice paper cut to size. That misses the entire point. We are working with a basic index card, not with a perfect substrate.

I get it. However, my watercolors will be on watercolor postcards.

On Day 3 I thought I’d work with the theme of the week: Inspired by topography, words, hand-lettering, graffiti, found text, definitions, poetry & lists. I thought it would be an excellent excuse to practice my calligraphy. But my Sheaffer pens wouldn’t write well on my Staples index cards. The ink just wouldn’t flow evenly. Three cards pitched, Tammy.

So instead, here’s Found Words Free Verse:

On the other days, the prompts and the theme just didn’t inspire anything for me, so I practiced some of the zentangle designs I’ve saved on my Pinterest board:

Day #5, Frame Over:

You can participate, too, and you don’t even have to catch up if you start late. Check the FAQs for more details.

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