Flowers and Faces

Jessica Mack (aka BrownPaperBunny) from Seattle, WA is drawing / painting a flower or a face every day, in any medium, on any surface available for her project Flowers and Faces...

Why did you decide to do this project? Drawing and painting flowers and faces is something I enjoy but also something I want to improve, so I’m setting out to draw a flower or face every day.

How has doing a yearlong / daily project affected your life? It has become a habit now, and I start to feel ‘the itch’ if I miss a day because I’m traveling or sick etc. It has also become a little piece of my day that is just for me, which has done wonders for my stress levels. I’d even go so far as to say I’m sleeping better at night because of my daily creative habit.

See all of Jessica's project on Instagram at @100daysofflowersandfaces.

52 Weeks of Urban Exploring

Samantha Hartman in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is doing 52 Weeks of Urban Exploring...

Why did you decide to do this project? I am doing this project because it has always been something I've wanted to try, and after constantly looking at other people's daily or weekly projects, I finally gave in and decided to take on the challenge. Recently getting a new camera was the perfect motivation I
needed; I am attached to the thing. I would like to improve my photography and by spanning it out over the course of a year, this is a great opportunity to do so. Exploring abandoned buildings and desolate spots has always been an odd interest of mine, and being able to bring them to life through my camera is such an awesome feeling.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Although I am only on the third week, I already feel so accomplished looking at the photos I have taken so far. Some of them turned out really well and it has brought a great feeling of self satisfaction, and also gets me excited to scout out a location and work on the next set of photos! I feel so inspired and am excited to show my photos off to others. This is definitely a project I would like to stick with throughout the year.

See all of Samantha's explorations HERE.

Inspired By Nature

Charmaine Whitmore in Guelph, Ontario, Canada is using my book 365: A Daily Creativity Journal to create a year of projects she calls Inspired By Nature...

Why did you decide to do this project?  I decided to embark on the project after picking up your book at a local craft store.  My youngest child has started school full time this year and I felt it would be a good way to get back in touch with my creative artistic side, something I have wanted to do but just seem to keep putting off.  I am hoping it will spur me on to do many more creative projects and perhaps even lead to bigger things.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? When I started I felt a little panic, especially about blogging about it.  Could I keep up with this every day, would it just be too much?  After the first week or 2 I settled into a real routine.  I also found that I will usually do the project
of the day first and get on with other things I must do later.  I also decided early on not to put pressure on myself to be "perfect"  I will do my best creatively and if I have to miss a post for whatever reason
(sometimes I am without any computer access) I will double up my posts later.  I am currently only on day 27 but I hope I can keep it up for the whole year.  One other very interesting thing that has happened is that my 11 year old daughter got quite excited and started as well. She has decided to do a project whenever she can (usually a few times a week) and has also blogged about it.  Then to top it off my 6 year old gets very excited about certain projects and wants to work along side me.  She was particularly excited about the dig into the recycling bin project.  While I worked on mine she made an entire town out of boxes etc. after first writing down a plan of all the building she would need in a town.  My three children's enthusiasm, amazement at my abilities and support has been one of the best things to come out of this.

See all of Charmaine's projects HERE.

My Daily Nature Photos

My friend and co-editor of the Skull-A-Day blog, Abby Davis, has committed to documenting the outdoors for a year in her My Daily Nature Photos project...

Why did you decide to do this project? One day, in a pile of craft supplies, I thought "What is my hobby?". I make things almost every day in great variety, but to me that's not my hobby. It's more my obsession or life's compulsion. I realized that the only other creative thing I did besides my crafts, was photography. I normally have my camera with me, but one day my dad asked me where it was. I hadn't been carrying it as much as I used to. Sporadically, for the last 2 years I have been taking nature photos. Many of them at my parents' house. I had really wanted to do something with the thousands of photos I had, but they were sporadic. I wanted something more organized. I was reading over your book on Amazon and realized that I should turn them into a daily project. I would start new and document nature every day for a year and more. I'm still in the beginning of the project, which I started on November 12th.
 

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I realize now that November, the end of Fall was probably not the smartest month to start in, but since the original reason I started taking nature photos was due to the Camellia bush I have that blooms in late Fall/early Winter. To me, it's an unusual plant. I wondered if there were any other plants that choose cold weather to bloom and thrive. There are many and that is something I am exploring in the project. I will probably end up with many beautiful photos and a continuous cold from staying out in the cold weather to photograph nature. To me it's worth it, because I'm actually doing something productive and beautiful with my hobby.

See what Abby has been photographing on her blog HERE. You can also follow her project on Facebook and buy prints of her photos!