Commonplace Box?

You gotta love Instagram. I enjoy scrolling through and looking at art and other inspiring ideas. Last week @kriscamealy posted an idea she got from @shapingtheriver (aka Christine Heister). The idea was to use a card catalog and write the kinds of quotes you put in a commonplace book on index cards and file them in the card catalog. Kris posted a photo of the card catalog/filing box she purchased and commented that she was going to file her cards by topic. I fell in love with this idea!

First, I love vintage filing boxes/card catalogs. I have a small collection of wood ones. I mainly collect vintage Weis boxes, which were made not far from where I live from the late 1800's through 1963. Plus I enjoy writing on index cards. In fact, when I go to estate sales I pick up packages of older index cards whenever I see them. Older index cards are made from a nice heavyweight paper. The index cards they sell in stores now are so flimsy. I like the weight of vintage ones.

Second, I love the practice of commonplacing. I have practiced it since long before I knew what it was called, always writing quotes or passages from books in my written journals. Here is a definition from a blog post I wrote about the practice way back in 2013 when I first learned about the term.

"Commonplacing is the act of selecting important phrases, lines, and/or passages from texts and writing them down; the commonplace book is the notebook in which a reader has collected quotations from works she or he has read. Commonplace books can also include comments and notes from the reader."  (From "Commonplaces: An Introduction" by John Hilgart and Van Hillard

Some other definitions:

• A book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use.
• A notebook in which you enter memorabilia.
• The recording of words and ideas in a commonplace.
  

So, combining the idea of a commonplace book in a filing box on index cards - what could be better! And I love Kris' idea of cataloging them by topic. It makes them easy to find when I'm looking for a quote for a blog post or to place in an art journal. PLUS, I'm decorating them just a bit with some collage or washi tape. It all makes this a perfect ongoing project! 

Thanks Kris and Christine for turning me on to a great idea, or maybe a new addiction!

The 2021 Advent Words Challenge is just around the corner! You can read about what this year's challenge will look like here.

It's ICAD Time Again!

ICAD 2018 began on June 1. This is my second year participating in this art challenge done on index cards. It fits right in with my love of using office supplies for art, especially vintage ones! 

Last year I did my ICAD challenge on 3x5" Rolodex cards and displayed them in a vintage metal Rolodex card holder.

This year I'm using a vintage wooden card box that I received for Christmas from my friend Jean. 

I'm not going to do the daily prompts that are provided, but rather make art based on the weekly theme. I'm using these vintage index card dividers, with their lovely yellow tabs, as my weekly dividers. They are alphabet dividers, but I'm using the reverse side. The challenge can be done on 3x5 or 4x6 cards. I chose to use 3x5 again this year as that is the size that fits in my box.

Here are my cards for days 1-4. This week's theme is to use typography or words or found text.

A little typography geometric collage using vintage magazines.

Made my own painted typography paper for the background.

Found text...with a bird, of course!

Because I love vintage office supplies and using them in art, I buy them whenever I see them at estate sales and flea markets. I made a section of my shop specifically for this years ICAD challenge. It's full of vintage items  that can be used to display your index card art or other supplies, such as dividers.

I also carry themed paper packs and other ephemera that can be used in collage and art journaling. Check out my Etsy shop here: www.etsy.com/shop/foundonbrighton.