…365, or part there of…

Sometimes, ideas come along so totally genius, that they go from an offhand comment on a Friday night, to a fully fledged plan by Saturday lunch time. This particular idea was so very genius that even the husbands involved were on board. By on board, of course, I mean they didn’t say a flat out no when the idea was floated, so we took that as a yes and plowed ahead full steam with planning.

The idea in question? A road trip. 3 crazy ladies. 3 indulgent and long-suffering husbands. 7 teenagers. 4 weeks. See? GENIUS. Around the beginning of July, the excitement started really building when we hit the “one year to launch” mark. We were still hopefully the plague would have burnt itself out, but those of us south of the border started making plans in case of another border closure close to take off dates.

Of course, any good count down needs a marker or a calendar, or something to mark the progression of days. I decided I would create a digital mixed media card every day for the 365 days left until our trip.

I was doing so well, and loved exploring procreate on my iPad and the ways I could create and replicate various effects. Then. Tragedy struck. I watched in horror as a child closed a text book on my 9 month old ipad, and, not noticing said ipad, picked up the book and the ipad promptly slid out and onto the floor. Our cabin is not a fancy one, and our flooring even less fancy. The floor my beloved ipad fell on is a concrete slab, covered by cheap Bunnings lino. No underlay, no softening, just one thin layer of vinyl between concrete and disaster.

I took the ipad in to get repaired locally, but man. Off brand screens aren’t brilliant, are they? My apple pencil no longer lettered smoothly, and was frustrating to us, and less than three weeks later, the screen snapped along one edge, where the opposite edge was trying to jump out of the frame (I discovered later than off brand replacement screens have fatter connections than apple brand, so they often don’t sit flush.

My previously-favourite toy was no longer a joy to use. To sit and create a card was frustrating. There was zero mojo to continue with working on and improving my digital art skills.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got jack of it. I had been using my iPad for digital bible journalling at church since our return, and I didn’t want the cracks to get worse. I jumped on the apple site, and booked it in. Under two weeks from posting my baby was back, and after waiting hours for all my projects to restore properly, I held my breath as I opened Procreate, and started lettering. Glory be, my pencil worked properly again!! I was so so excited.

Three months after I gave up on the project, it’s too late to start trying to catch up. I am pleased to have my ipad back to full strength though, and can’t wait to create more digital art and explore more tutorials and techniques.

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These cards are item 14 on my 202020 list and also form one of the 16 mini-challenges. Digital art is the perfect solution for tiny house life, where I can’t keep a full complement of art supplies, or leave projects out at various stages of drying and setting.