Daisy Yellow № 129

déjà vü and the index-card-a-day start-up

Hi everyone, it’s Tammy, welcome to issue № 129. Thank you for being a subscriber. Daisy Yellow is a long-running project started 18 years ago at the beginning of my art journey as a place to share what I’m making & write about creativity.

Get set for a 🌈📇 reboot to refresh, renew, re-energize & spice up your life! 2026 marks the 16th iteration of the 61 day Daisy Yellow Index-Card-a-Day Challenge. And there’s a certain symmetry to that!

Index cards are infused with an indescribable magic. An adorable blank canvas, full of artistic potential, but truly weird. These are delightfully imperfect, sub-optimal, ridiculous, non-pretentious, and by default non-competitive surfaces.

Think inside the box

Our challenge has very few rules and they’re built into the name. 😉 And ironically, a few rules/constraints help generate ideas! That’s because without any structure you’re staring at a blank page with every option in the universe.

There are ups & downs in the creative journey. What happens when there’s friction, a micro creative block?¹ 🫯 These are temporary, like wanting to tackle a project but stymied regarding your approach. Or drawing a blank at 7 creative prompts in a row. Sometimes it is just a matter of showing up and doing ❝something.❞ Your habit is your scaffolding! 🚂 And if you keep showing up (even feeling blerghhhh about all of it; life is complicated) gradually it will resolve. You’ll discover a path thru. Like a few ideas or things on your art desk begin to 🌻🐝CROSS_POLLINATE and you’re off to the races.

Creative Gazette № 09: Connecting the Dots

But what do we do about those long creative blocks (ruts, divots, obstacles, plateaus) where you are fizzled out, can’t decide what to do, and little if anything is happening? So many possible reasons. Fear of wasting “good” materials. Thinking you should be better at this. Fear of wasting time. Worrying re: other people. Social media algorithms. Chronic pain. Boredom. Indecision. In some areas of life (oddly enough, not with art) I deal with anxiety and loops of indecision. So I get it, I get creative block, I get analysis paralysis.

That’s where index cards enter the equation. They’re 100% imperfect. And when something goes awry, pitch it. It’s zero risk. My theory is that art is 97.4% practice, and you can’t get better without doing the work. Index cards invite experimentation.

Looking for ideas? I’ve made a bunch of digital zines to give you a feel for the possibilities. The most popular? 52+ Ideas for Small Format Art: Sparking Creativity with Index Cards.

One fun idea is to translate something you do in another format… onto index cards. You can also think of ICAD as a playground for generating ideas, and after ICAD leverage those ideas to drive larger format work. At the end of my 100 Day Project 2024 I got very into leaves 🍃 and painted them on index cards and watercolor paper (under the index cards).

Before you jump in on June 1st, take some time to consider what you want to make. Decide in advance what you will do when you miss a day (hint: start again next day). The big picture goal is to do a small project each day on a simple base and try to do this as many days as you can. You will make between 1 and 61 cards.

1. The first day of our challenge is June 1

2. ICAD home base

3. Here are prompts 1-30 & themes for weeks 1-9 🆕

4. Here’s how ICAD 2026 works you’ve probably noticed one change already

For many years, readers have asked me how to make art when ideas are not flowing. I think about this kind of stuff 24/7. You might think the creative process is linear, but maybe it’s a tilt-a-whirl.

🗝️ Solutions for getting unstuck may seem counterintuitive

• If you are stuck, keep going anyhow

• Simplify what you make

• Shift the focus to the process

• Release expectations of perfection

• Take away risk

• Use materials that do not feel precious

• Change one variable (a tool, a material, music, time of day, etc.)

Here’s the plan. You’ll do something creative on an index card every day in June & July. Each card symbolizes a proactive decision to create art. It’s a small daily project, kind of like a sketchbook practice, basically a chance to play, try something different, build prototypes, and make discoveries.

---

What’s Ahead at Daisy Yellow

In the early years my deep dive kind of writing went into my zines. If this is your jam, the longer stuff, the new home for this work is in the series for paid subscribers. My intention is to build a series of series… a constellation of series. 💫 So I’m wrapping up the Creative Gazette and starting a new series called Curious Tangents where we continue our dive into the creative process with experiments, epiphanies, side projects, and curiosities.

For almost two decades I’ve intentionally kept Daisy Yellow an independent project free of ads or sponsorships. That means I rely on reader support to keep moving forward. If you find value in my year-round writings, the newsletters, the free resources, and our community ICAD challenge, please consider becoming an annual subscriber! 🥰

As a thank you for keeping this creative ecosystem 🪸 going, your support instantly unlocks 🔓 extra goodies like the 10-part Creative Gazette series, the upcoming Curious Tangents series, and whatever else I dream up (i.e. a brand new set of collage printables)! Plus you can interact with a small group of fellow Daisy Yellow supporters in the comment section of each post!

Clearly Index-Card-a-Day is not simply about the art

Small creative acts, repeated day after day, are how an art practice is built. It’s been 15 summers of index card art… and all of these seemingly trivial actions add up.

Please know that this year I have made an intentional decision to spend less time at instagram so that I have more energy and bandwidth to focus on art & writing. I will still be present at instagram for a quiet look each day to find out what you’re creating!!! I’m so grateful for your understanding as I shift my pace.

What are you planning?

What’s your approach this year? How many years have you participated? What surprised you? What are you planning? A series? What medium(s)? Revisiting something you’ve explored before? Trying something new? Going for calm & rejuvenation!? 🧘🏻‍♀️🍵🫖 Want help working out an idea? We’ve got many ICADians who can help!

Comments are open! 💬
Tammy

PS. At instagram find ICAD at indexcardaday and Tammy at gypsy999

1. We get VERY into working thru creative blocks & generating ideas in Mixed Media Amusements. 🌈🎡 Watch the SNEAK PEEK video! 🎥 This workshop is built around colorful, small-scale experiments that make art feel approachable and playful. Registration re-opens late July (likely for last iteration) so if this sounds fun add your name to the email notification list.