Heart of the Day

Anette Bäck of Skövde, Sweden is creating one heart daily in 2019 for her project Heart of the Day...

Why did you decide to do this project? A few years ago I got the book 365: A Daily Creative Journal by Noah Scalin from a dear friend. A perfect opportunity for me to challenge my creativity. In my professional life I am the head of an IT department, which is a fulfilling and challenging job in many ways and I think I'm pretty good at it. But it isn't the most creative job.

I wanted to start the project on January 1st. But... for several years I had forgotten it, but not this year. This year I started my project. I am going to continue as long as it is challenging and fun. Hopefully I will reach the finish line at December 31st. But if the "want feeling" is replaced with a "must feeling" I have promised myself to change the plan. I don't need any more musts in my life!

I chose hearts as my project for two reasons:
1. It's quite a simple shape
2. I associate it with positive feeling and hope that it will help me carry on if (or rather when) the inspiration comes. 

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I have just started my project and so far I have learned that I can't bring myself to destroy books. This project is also teaching me to settle with "good enough". Normally, I am kind of a "good girl type" that always wants to do the best (preferably to perfection), but the time restraint when creating one heart every day while working and taking care of everyday stuff doesn’t leave room for perfection. It is a really valuable experience for me.See all of Anette's project on Instagram at @heartoftheday and on her site HERE

365 Days of Origami

Ruth Thompson in Columbia, Maryland is making 365 Days of Origami...

Why did you decide to do this project? I decided to do this project after reading an article in the Washington Post Magazine about people doing 356-day projects and finding the Make Something 356 blog soon after that. I’ve done other creative challenges like NaNoWriMo and knitting 14 pairs of mittens for 2014 (it’s harder than it sounds) before, so I thought it would be interesting to do a year long project that was different from my normal creative work as a graphic designer.

I picked origami because I don't have any prior experience folding paper. There are hundreds of models and crease patterns from the traditional to abstract available, so I knew I wouldn’t get bored folding origami either.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Folding origami every day has taught me to deal with frustration better. It takes patience and a steady hand to fold origami, so I have learned to stay calm and not tear the paper. Even simple models have to be folded precisely. I’m also learning how to take better photos.

See all of Ruth's origami HERE. 

366 Cranes

Ellen Fithian in Flower Mound, Texas is making 366 Cranes and leaving them for people to discover in various locations...

Why did you decide to do this project? My new project for 2012. Via instagram (@efithian #366cranes), I'll post and geotag a new crane everyday. Each will have a message tucked into a wing. I will also post the photos and quotes here as well.
I'm doing this for a couple of reasons:

1. Making cranes makes me happy
2. I need to read more quotes from people much smarter than me
3. Finding a new place to put a crane everyday will be a challenge
4. If someone happens to find one, that would be a great BONUS!

Along the lines of the ornament page from last year, Kiana and I have decided to donate $1 for every LIKE to Shiba Inu Rescue of Texas. Hope you LIKE, share, follow and maybe even find! 

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I'm only a week into this project and it's already been a challenge to find new places everyday since I work in one location. But, it forces me to seek out places and gets me out of my usual routine. I pick the quotes which resonate with me but they may equally touch another person if they read it on FB or actually find one of my cranes. I've also realized that at the end of the year, all the photos would make an awesome poster.

See all of Ellen's cranes HERE.