Home is where the Chaos is - DIY 365

Luna Staple in Bristol, England has returned for a new 365 project dedicated to home-made, home inspired, D.I.Y creative projects called Home is where the Chaos is - DIY 365...

Why did you decide to do this project? After spending a year creating boats I have come to love the sense of daily achievement  I suddenly realized I could finish things if I was determined enough and making things didn't have to take hours, or be particularly stressful. I decided to do another project to keep my creativity going, but this time I'm making things for me. I've been running a failing business with more heart than sense, but now I am ready to step back, reclaim my craft as a hobby and improve the chaos in my life by reinvention, upcycling and organizing.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Already I am feeling the effects in my surroundings, from waking up in a room that no longer screams orange, to eating good, homemade food. I'm finally getting round to all those things I've thought of over the years, so my achievement is more than just making something today, it's making time to do that thing that could so easily be swept under work, chores and other important things. I have really proved my own determination after the boats and through that I have managed to find direction and honing my crafts towards useful, sustainable creations.

See all of Luna's projects HERE.
And see Luna's previous 365 project interview HERE.

Toy-A-Day

Joe Tanaka Chiang in Singapore is making 365 DIY paper toys at Toy-A-Day. Originally a daily project started in 2008, Joe now periodically makes a toy to add to the collection, all of which include a downloadable PDF so people can make their own!...

Why did you decide to do this project? At that time I had a lot of spare time at hand, so I was looking for ideas to do something to spend my time. At the same time, I did not want to start something too difficult so I thought making a paper toy using a simple template was the best solution. Also, I could share the templates easily with anyone as I did not want to do something too self-indulgent.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? The project certainly changed my life in unexpected ways. Toy-A-Day was featured by popular sites like Gizmodo, Technabob, Super Punch, and the official Star Wars blog. I certainly did not expect to have thousands of hits a day when I began this project.

One of the more unusual things that happened was getting an email from Disney asking me to remove all the characters belonging to them within two weeks or they would send in their lawyers! I had no choice but to comply. However, that was not the end of the story. A few months later, I got another email from Marvel (which is owned by Disney). This time round, they wanted to commission me to design several Marvel characters for a new magazine they were starting using the same templates! I have since gone on to have a good working partnership with them.

One of the things that made me feel worthwhile doing this project was when I received some photographs from a school teacher in South Korea of little children having fun making paper toys from my templates on Children's Days. That really made my day!

See all of Joe's toys (and make them yourself!) HERE.

Star Wars Remix

Just wanted to announce that a new project I've been helping out with has launched today!

Star Wars Remix is the brainchild of my friends Emma Beddows and Scott Walker, who asked if I would use my Skull-A-Day expertise to help them get the ball rolling.

Basically the idea is to get people making Star Wars characters, scenes, props, etc. out of everyday materials. I helped out with the banner for the site as well as several original creations, which they will be posting over the next month. I've had a lot of fun returning to materials and techniques I tried out in Skull-A-Day. In fact you may recognize today's post's concept from this piece and material from this piece.

I also got several 365 friends to participate as well including Everything Burger's Charlton Yu and Freehand Profit from MASK365, so expect to see some great new work over the next few weeks.

I hope you'll check it out AND consider making and sharing a Star Wars Remix of your own!