Creative Every Day Theme for January: Past, Present & Future
December 31st, 2013, Comments (20)
At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. For the month of January 2014, the theme will be Past, Present & Future.
I thought this might be a fun theme to explore as we reflect on 2013 and look forward to the months of creating and living in 2014!
As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it inspires you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between. You can sign up for the 2012 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime. More info can be found here and the sign-up page is here.
I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:
- *Photocopy images from your family history and use them in your artwork.
- *Do a stream of consciousness writing about what you'd like 2014 to look like.
- *Create in the present moment, just letting it flow with no plan in mind.
- *Do you have a word for the year? Make a piece of art to celebrate it and help remind you of it for the rest of the year.
- *Put together a photo album celebrating 2013.
- *Write down the things from the past year (or more) that you want to release and burn them or release them to the wind.
- *Move to music from your younger years.
- *Take a piece that has been sitting unfinished and bring new life to it.
How to use the CED themes:
If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.
Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.
And have fun with it!
Creative Every Day Check-In: December 30 – January 5
December 29th, 2013, Comments (3)
Sorry for the delay today folks! Holidays got away with me! This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities. I've been up to some holiday crafting in the last week and I'll be sharing pictures this week!
Join in the Challenge: You can sign-up for the 2014 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) or flickr image of your creative activities during the days of 12/30/13 - 1/5/13.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments. There is sometimes a slight delay in your link/image showing up in the Mr. Linky widget, so if you don't see it immediately, check back in a little bit.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter or Instagram you can use the hashtag #CED2013!
Theme: December's totally optional theme is Celebrate, which you read more about here.
Happy Creating!
Creative Every Day Check-In: December 23 – 29
December 23rd, 2013, Comments (7)
Sorry for the delay today folks! Holidays got away with me! This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities. I've been up to some holiday crafting in the last week and I'll be sharing pictures this week!
Join in the Challenge: You can sign-up for the 2014 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) or flickr image of your creative activities during the days of 12/23/13 - 12/29/13.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments. There is sometimes a slight delay in your link/image showing up in the Mr. Linky widget, so if you don't see it immediately, check back in a little bit.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter or Instagram you can use the hashtag #CED2013!
Theme: December's totally optional theme is Celebrate, which you read more about here.
Happy Creating!
Holiday Craftiness
December 16th, 2013, Comments (5)
I've been getting into the Holiday spirit this year! So much more fun with Annabelle. We did reindeer thumbprint ornaments, a handprint tree, and then I did a tinsel garland, and a ruffle tree skirt. So thankful for Pinterest and it's wealth of crafty ideas I can adapt to work for us!
Creative Every Day Check-In: December 16 – 22
December 15th, 2013, Comments (4)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities. I've been up to some holiday crafting in the last week and I'll be sharing pictures this week!
Join in the Challenge: You can sign-up for the 2014 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) or flickr image of your creative activities during the days of 12/16/13 - 12/22/13.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments. There is sometimes a slight delay in your link/image showing up in the Mr. Linky widget, so if you don't see it immediately, check back in a little bit.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter or Instagram you can use the hashtag #CED2013!
Theme: December's totally optional theme is Celebrate, which you read more about here.
Happy Creating!
Creative Every Day Challenge 2014!
December 10th, 2013, Comments (9)
The New Year is fast approaching and with it a new opportunity to commit to a year of creativity with the year long Creative Every Day Challenge! As always, my challenges are low pressure and inclusive of all forms of creativity from painting to cooking, crafting, photography, art journaling, jewelry making, knitting, fashion, dance, and games with your children. Really, anything goes. Creativity begets creativity. You can find it everywhere when you start looking, so let's make this year a great one filled with wonderfully creative moments.
You can sign up here and read more about the challenge here.
I'm also looking for more monthly theme ideas! Please give me some ideas in the comments. If I use your idea, I will give you credit and link to your blog if you have one! The themes are always optional, but a fun way to frame the month when you need a little extra inspiration.
Creative Every Day Check-In: December 9 – 15
December 9th, 2013, Comments (2)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities. I've been up to some holiday crafting in the last week and I'll be sharing pictures this week!
Join in the Challenge: You can sign-up for the 2013 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) or flickr image of your creative activities during the days of 12/9/13 - 12/15/13.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments. There is sometimes a slight delay in your link/image showing up in the Mr. Linky widget, so if you don't see it immediately, check back in a little bit.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter or Instagram you can use the hashtag #CED2013!
Theme: December's totally optional theme is Celebrate, which you read more about here.
Happy Creating!
Creative Every Day Check-In: December 1 – 8
December 2nd, 2013, Comments (3)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign-up for the 2013 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) or flickr image of your creative activities during the days of 12/1/13 - 12/8/13.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments. There is sometimes a slight delay in your link/image showing up in the Mr. Linky widget, so if you don't see it immediately, check back in a little bit.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter or Instagram you can use the hashtag #CED2013!
Theme: December's totally optional theme is Celebrate, which you read more about here.
Happy Creating!
Day 30 – Snow Bird
November 30th, 2013, Comments (13)
30 days have come and gone. Amazing! Although I wish I could have gotten around to see everyone else's work more and this month was crazy busy (and crazy messy), I think this was my favorite Art Every Day Month yet. I'm excited about a lot of the work I made and even better, I was able to share the experience this month with Annabelle. It was so unexpected and lovely to create alongside her, to talk about art, and to see her love of creating grow.
Here's Annabelle in one of the artsy activities she got up to today, now that we're back having a quiet day at home. This was moments before the cup of water tipped, water went everywhere and she was crying about wet pants. Haha. Real life. But after the dramatic clean up, she got back to it, this time choosing to draw with pencils. Much drier. 
Thank you all for joining me on this month of creating, whether you created one day, 10 days, 25, or all 30, I hope you enjoyed the added creativity in your life! Congratulations on all you've accomplished!!
We'll carry on with weekly check-ins (Mondays) for the Creative Every Day Challenge here, so feel free to continue on in that way if you're so inspired and definitely join me again next November for another Art Every Day Month!
Art Every Day Month, Day 30
November 30th, 2013, Comments (7)
Today is the 30th day of Art Every Day Month. You did it!! 30 days of creating. You rock. And I'm so proud of you, whether you created one day, 15 days, or all 30. You brought your creativity out into the world and that's a wonderful thing.
I usually post my art at the end of the day, but every morning there will be a check-in post like this one, where you can share your work whenever you're ready to do so.
The box below is a widget that I provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) to that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other participants are creating! Check out the links from today's post and the links on the participant page for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!
If you use the widget, please link to a specific blog post, not your main blog page or website (or you can link to a specific image if you're linking to a flickr page.) For example, in a past AEDM, for day one I linked to my first post: http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2010/11/the-owl-and-the-pussycat.html instead of my main blog page: http://www.creativeeveryday.com. This makes it easier for people to find your work. Mr. Linky automatically asks for a comment, leave one if you'd like (I love to hear from you!), but it's not required. It may take a little time for your image and/or link to appear. If you don't see it right away, check back in a few minutes. If you're having trouble with the sharing a thumbnail, try putting the url of your latest post in the url box. Then, when it gives you a few options for sharing an image, choose the "pick an image from your site" option. From there, you should be able to select an image of your latest work or some other image from your site. It may take a minute for your image to appear here on the blog.
If you want to share, but don't have a specific page to link to, feel free to use the comments section of this post to share what you're working on. If you're posting less than once a day, no problem! Simply use the latest one of these posts to share a link to your creation. For some, it's too much to keep up with posting every day, but don't let that get you down. Do it if you can and if you can't, just keep on creating, that's the most important part. If you get off track and miss a few days of creating, don't let that freeze you up either. Just pick up where you left off and keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. You are making your life a more creative one with each step.
How to participate in Art Every Day Month: Check out the AEDM info page for all the details, instructions on how to get involved, and then visit the participant sign up page before you use the link widget to share your creations. The Information page also has instructions about how to use the widget below, if you're having any trouble with it.
Survival Guide: If you feel like you could use some more support, prompts, and motivation to keep going throughout the month, check out the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide.
Twitter: If you're on Twitter (I'm on there as @leah_art), I'll be using the hashtag #aedm2013 to mark Art Every Day Month tweets. It helps to find others who are tweeting about AEDM!
Instagram: You can use the same #aedm2013 hashtag if you're playing along on Instagram.
Creative Every Day Challenge participants: If you're not doing Art Every Day Month, you can still use any of the daily Art Every Day Month check-in posts to leave your weekly link. Feel free to keep checking in on Mondays or post whenever you have something new to share!
