Days 100 - 104

Day 100: "Create something with the napkin that you use at a meal today."

cloth napkin folding.

Day 101: "Create something in the steam on a bathroom mirror or other steamed-up surface."

steam drawing.

Day 102: "Make something out of toast or bread. You can even make your bread from scratch."

Thanksgiving dinner rolls

Day 103: "Make something out of a ball or make a new ball out of something else and then play with it."

too tired to play with a new toy.

Day 104: "Work with a few free paint swatch samples found at most hardware stores and use them to create something new."

paint samples

My favorite thing about paint samples is the names. This flower consists of, clockwise from top: caramel toffee, burnt brick, tiger orange, marigold, shop 'til you drop, and copper glow. The stem and leaves are "bay leaf."

Day 97 - 99

Day 97: "Walk through an alley or along a small road and pick up discarded materials to work with."

I walked around my neighborhood. I didn't find much in the way of discarded materials, but there were lots of fallen leaves. So, I did this:

leaf + paint = colorful leaf/tree print

I got this idea from a link that I found on Pinterest a while back. I like how they kind of look like little trees.


Day 98: "Work backward. Work in front of a mirror, looking at what you're crating only in the mirror until you're finished."

This was harder than it seems. I think working with my non-dominant hand was actually easier than this.

Day 99: "Make something new out of an old t-shirt."

I finally got my sewing machine figured out. I cut up an old t-shirt and made this infinity scarf:

Day 95 & 96 - paperclips and beehives

Day 95: "Make something only using stuff from your workplace or office."

paperclips

Day 96: "Use the world of insects as your inspiration today."

inspired by bees and their hives

Day 93 & 94 - book selection and a palindrome

Day 93: "Flip to a random page in a book at hand and make something inspired by the first sentence you read."

I picked up 1984, one of my favorites. The first sentence I read was, "'It's real tea. Not blackberry leaves.'" The sentence is said by the character Winston. So, I made a flower from real tea leaves.

Day 94: "Write a palindrome."

Dang, I used to love palindromes back in high school. I'm kind of stuck on this one, though. All I can think of is the word, "racecar." I wish I could think of some of the ones we used to come up with on newspaper staff in high school.

Day 92 - invitation

"Make an invitation to an everyday event you wouldn't normally invite people to."

Edit: 

I just realized that I should have chosen a different everyday event. I do a creative project every day (as evidenced through this blog...although "every day" has taken on a looser definition lately). That's an everyday event for me, which I don't usually invite people to. So, I would like to extend an actual invitation for others to join me in this endeavor. If you feel so inclined, I invite you to embark on your own creative journey. Check out the book I am following, or the blog of the book's author, which highlights projects that other people are doing. Just let me know so I can be sure to follow your project!

day 91 - letter

"Write a letter to yourself at another time in your life (past or future)."

Day 90 - orange

"Work only with orange materials today."

orange collage.

Don't read too much into this. It's just random orange images and words that I cut out of some magazines. However, the words are somewhat fitting, in a way. "Fusion." "Rewards." If you fuse things, you can be rewarded with the result. You fuse sounds together, and are rewarded with beautiful music. You infuse tea leaves (like the submarine tea infuser at the top right - so cute!) and are rewarded with a delicious beverage. That's all I've got. It's orange. The end.

Day 89 - story

"Make up a name and write a back story for a stranger you see today."

I didn't exactly make up a story about a stranger, per se. But, I did make up a story for someone who I know, but is unable to communicate her story to me. My cat went missing for almost a week recently. She is now back at home, safe and sound, but it made me wonder what she had gotten up to in the meantime. So, here is her story.

The Misadventures of Penelope Pepper Pennyworth*

My name is Penelope Pepper Pennyworth. I am an independent feline. I live in a house, which I also allow 3 humans to inhabit (they do give me food and cuddles every day, so I let them stay around), but I also like to run around the neighborhood during the days. I cannot be confined to human-made structures. I am a free spirit.

One day recently, I went outside in the morning to see what kind of shenanigans I could get into. I noticed it was a bit colder than it had been the day before, but my fur coat usually keeps me warm. I chased a squirrel for a little while. Then I got tired and wanted to take a nap. It also started raining really hard. I went to the porch at my house, but none of the humans were home to open the door for me. Useless humans – never there when you want them, and always trying to smother you when you don’t want them!

I tried to curl up on the porch chair, but I just couldn’t get warm enough to feel comfortable. I decided to see where else I could find protection from the elements, so I walked down the street a little way. I saw a building that some people were going into, and thought that looked like a good place to try. The building had big windows and the word “Starbucks” written on it. The people inside looked warm and cozy. The door shut before I got there, so I put on my sad face and cried while pawing at the door. Someone inside saw me and opened the door and I ran in. They thought I was really cute, and everyone wanted to cuddle with me. One of the humans working there poured some warm milk into a bowl for me. She must have thought I was a homeless cat who doesn’t have humans to feed me. What she doesn’t know doesn’t hurt. Except that later on, she took me to her house! I liked it there, with so many new things to explore and a small human to play with. But, I also missed my humans and my house.

I stayed at the new house for a few days. They didn’t let me go outside and run around at all, so I didn’t know how I would escape or if I would ever get to go home and see my humans again. Then, one day I was sitting at the front screen door, looking outside, and I saw my human walking up to the door! She had come to take me home! I said goodbye to the new human, and went inside my basket that I have to ride in when we go in the car. My human took me back to my house. I was happy to see my humans and my toys again. Everything seemed weird though; I felt like I had been away for a long time, and I had to get used to my house again. I sniffed everything to make sure all was ok, and then, as I do to celebrate any accomplishment, I took a really long nap.

*based on a true story

 

Day 83 - 88: a little of this, a little of that

Catch-up time! 

Day 83: "Make a visual pun."

butter. cup. buttercup.

Day 84: "Decorate a cake, pie, or cookie. ... Document it being eaten."

gingerbread cake.

ready to eat.

chomp.

Day 85: "What can you do with a candle?"

i drew a flower with a candle, then painted over it.

Day 86: "Work only with bubble wrap or any other packing materials you have on hand."

tiny tulip made from a packing peanut & a pipe-cleaner

Day 87: "Use dry coffee beans, dry or wet coffee grounds, or even liquid coffee to create something today."

used coffee grounds from my toddy maker.

Day 88: "Make something with any nuts, bolts, screws, or nails you have lying around."

nails.

Day 82 - word art

"Work with words. Make an image with just words or letters."

shoe polish words on canvas.

I saw this idea a month or so ago, through a link on Pinterest, and have been wanting to do something similar. I've seen other art with words or lyrics and am always drawn to it. Song lyrics have a way of speaking to me in a powerful way, and I have wanted to use some to decorate my house. How to choose, though? There are so many songs that are meaningful to me.

Every once in a while, they play this song, "Beautiful Things" by Gungor, at my church, and it always moves me to tears. Honestly, I don't usually like much Christian music or even praise/worship music, but this song is truly beautiful, both sonically and lyrically. It has meant a lot to me over the past few months. Obviously, I could not include the full song lyrics on the canvas, so I took the most meaningful parts and planned out what I thought would fit. I let some of the letters/words run off of the canvas, leaving the intent but saving room for other words.

could a garden com[e up]

from this ground at [all?]

you make beautiful

things out of the dust

[you make beautiful things] out of us. hope is spr[inging]

up [from this old ground]. you make us new [you are making me new]

planning out the words, aided by a soy latte.

blank white canvas, 30"x48". so scary to take the first plunge!

I'm excited to hang this up on one of my newly-painted walls. And if I ever want to change the lyrics, I can just paint over this and do it again. Thank goodness for some creative inspiration today! It's been a rough week...hence the lack of posts. I'll catch up one of these days.

 Edit: Here it is, propped up over the fireplace:

Day 81 - soap

"Use a bar of soap to make something new."

I've recently started making my own laundry detergent, using this recipe. So, I used a bar of soap to make a new batch today. I just couldn't justify wasting a bar of soap.

bar of ivory soap.

soap gratings. don't add that to your taco!

melted down with some water.

finished product, with a curious onlooker.

Side note: I also make my own fabric softener, which consists only of water, baking soda, and vinegar. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's super cheap, easy and fast to make, and works great! I have only had one mishap with it so far - where I realized half-way through my work day that an article of clothing smelled like vinegar. I think some had gotten left in the Downy ball and emptied out onto a couple of items after the wash cycle was done. Oops!

Days 79 and 80 - dye and utensil

Confession time. I didn't make any creations the past two days, i.e. Sunday and Monday. Just had a lot going on and didn't get a chance to make anything. So. I made a couple of things today to make up for those days, and have something else in the works for today's creation. That one will have to wait to be finalized tomorrow, though.

Day 79: "Try dyeing. Work with food or fabric dye."

white eyelet fabric dyed with tea and twisted into a flower shape.

Day 80: "Create a new kind of utensil. Functional or not, document it in use."
For this one, I didn't exactly make a new utensil. But, I made an already-created utensil a little more creative.

clothespin, with decorative paper glued onto it.

new decorative clothespin in use (the lower one).