Remember some of these images? They were my personal challenge for 2012 – I created an “Artlet a day” for 366 days. You can read about my personal journey and final reflections here.
In 2013 I decided to take a little break, and carve out time and opportunities to “fill the well.” Soon I recognized one fact: To stay focused I needed a daily creative outlet. My friend Elinor and I put our heads together on Boxing Day and came up with a great idea. At first we just wanted to issue the challenge between us. We quickly realized that opening up this challenge to readers of our blogs would present an opportunity to develop community and inspire creativity.
Please join us in the Creative Daily Act Challenge (CDA) for 2014!
Here are the details for anyone interested in participating:
Create one 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ miniature art piece a day. You may draw, embroider, piece, quilt or collage a Creative Daily Act (CDA). Choose one discipline, all or combine several techniques – the choice is yours’ and the sky is the limit!
Start with a base such as paper, fabric, card stock, paper towel, tea bags, coffee liners, vellum, acetate, metal, a small quilt sandwich or painted Timtex…
The overall objective is to mark the surface. Choose your tool(s) next: Pencils, crayons, marker or brushes. How about stamps? Textile artists will select needles, threads and beads – you decide!
Add a personal challenge to ensure you use what you have on hand. Do not rush out and spend money on more art supplies. Try to incorporate at least 90 % of existing supplies in your studio or workspace. If you absolutely feel the need to add to your stash, consider the local $ store for scrap booking supplies. Each month a specific theme will be announced. Don’t worry, themes were chosen thoughtfully to provide a variety of ways to express yourselves.
Ready? January’s theme is “In the Bleak Mid-Winter”… Inspired? Excited? Get ready to participate. Make a commitment to yourself and the creative community, sign up in the comment section below. You can join anytime – the more, the merrier. Interpret the theme as you wish.There are no set expectations – open your mind.
Why create a CDA a day? Explore and express yourself the way you always wanted to. You have permission to transform ideas into reality. 2 /2″ x 3 1/2” is small, and we stand firm on these measurements. The space is small enough to fill in a short time, it is small enough to commit to one CDA each day, and it is large enough to have impact once presented as a cohesive monthly unit.
Elinorand I plan on sharing our CDAs on our blogs at the beginning of each month, much like I did with my Artlets throughout 2012. (You can find Elinor’s blog here.)If you have a blog or website, please consider publishing your results as well. (No worries if you don’t have a blog yourself, we have other options for sharing. Stay tuned for more info.)
Elinor and I will ask you to leave your link in the comment sections below the specific blog entry. How is that for generating excitement, spreading creativity and networking? Be a part of the 2014 Creative Challenge.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to post these below. I can’t wait to see who will embrace the challenge!
Anna Hergert, Art & Design 
Pingback: November CDAs – Fire on High | Anna Hergert, Art & Design
I wonder if there is a reason so many missed the posting about the CDA. I was in Alberta at the time and when that posting came it said “this message has no content”. Wonder if that happened to others. Pleased to say I am almost caught up. Just the last two days to do. Fun, fun but the planning sometimes takes longer than the actual work.
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Katina, the original posting was prepared (and refined on Dec. 26th) – and then it was accidentally published before the same day… On New Year’s Day I had a definite spike in visitors to the blog according to my statistics. Many people signed on late as they had to get their mind around creating a small creative act a day…
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Doing a creative daily act is one of my goals for 2014. These ‘artlets’ are so much fun! Thanks for providing the focus ideas, Anna. Please count me in despite my late posting.
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Great Kathleen! I am so glad you decided to sign on officially on the blog. It’s so much easier to keep track of who is participating.
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I too missed this blog post due to the holidays, but will join now….May try to catch up, or consider today my starting date. This project should do wonders to get me back into my sewing room!
Thanks for the inspiration and necessary ‘kick’…..!
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Welcome to the project, Vivian!
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Anna I somehow missed reading your January 1st 2014 Blog, and therefore did not know about the CDA challenge. Happily, Kathleen asked me about it at the RWSG meeting tonight so I am now enlightened. You can count me in too. I need the stimulus.
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Welcome to the challenge, Judith!
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I’m IN!! Hi Anna, I just got back from Christmas holidays and have been wishing there was a creative class or ? to kick start my 2014 creative juices. This will be perfect!! I’ve just cut some 2.5 x 3.5 cards and am going to start my first one. Thanks for this great idea! Keep me posted as to how I can see how the group is going. Alison
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Great Alison – there are now 14 of us embarking on the challenge! I will be blogging about it more shortly.
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Just arrived home from snowy, chilly Alberta. Catching up on emails. So…I am in. Need to catch up, but this sounds like a perfect challenge. Besides, I have seen both sides of winter just in the last ten days. I like my maritime winter, warmer, and less snow and bare roads. Someday would like to learn how to do my own blog. For now I will catch up from today’s jet lag and head for my quilt room tomorrow to begin some little art.
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Glad you are home, Katina! Welcome to the creativity project for 2014.
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Better late than never? Don’t know if I will catch up, but will enter the race anyhow.
Thanks for the challenge.
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Welcome, Susan!
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I am in – already a couple of days behind, but it will help me get focused after just finishing an online course with the Kemshalls. I want this year to be one of great experimentation, so this challenge should help me stay focused. We are doing a lot of traveling, though, so I guess I will have to think soon about how I want to deal with the days I am away from my ‘studio’.
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Yeah, Nan! Welcome to the creative challenge.
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Hello Anna. Just getting to reading the blog posts and this challenge sound like just the ticket for keeping my muse “well oiled”. I am in….and will play catch-up tomorrow. Love the January theme.
Kristin
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Welcome to the challenge, Kristin!
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Hi Anna, don’t see my post so here I am again. definitely inbut will have to catch uo. But it will be a tad difficult to think winter in southern climes, cheers, Marilyn
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Hi Marilyn, Just think what winter means to you… or why you escape the northern winter… I am sure you won’t have any problems – you are one of the most imaginative and creative people I know.
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very tempting – and perhaps small enough to do! I love to doodle, so maybe if i made up a set of 2X3 little “cards” and take them everywhere i go, i could doodle on them!
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That is the idea! We wanted to keep the daily project small and manageable. When I produced Artlets in 2012 I made sure I took the luggage tags with me on my travels – the result: 366 individual small art pieces.
Give it a try and let us know how you do along the way!
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Hi Smoky Bear, I am so glad that you decided to join in. Anna and I settled on 2 ½”
X 3 ½” as that is a standard size. I realize that the blog contains two different sizes but the larger one is the correct one, If we all work to the same size then we may be able to do something collectively at the end. I don’t know what yet but I know that the folk who have signed up so far are very creative so I know that an idea will come Elinor
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Thanks so much for pointing our my oversight… I have corrected the measurements – they now read 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ throughout the post. Sorry for the confusion!
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good thing i checked back tonight before cutting my pieces!!!
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Reblogged this on Mirth365 and commented:
Check out this great creativity challenge…I’m on board.
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I’m in Anna!
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Welcome to the challenge!!
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Hi Anna I’m in of course and am just starting, I’ve sent this to many friends and hope that lots of artists will join us in our CDA challenge
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Hi Elinor, Welcome (officially) to our challenge. I am so excited to get started and can’t wait to see everyone’s results… I know, I am rushing the month ahead and should just enjoy one CDA at a time. I will make this my mantra for January and the rest of the year.
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Sign me up!!
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Great, Kathy! Welcome to the challenge! Can’t see what transpires…
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While i had promised myself not to take on any commitments for the next year, this might just be enough to keep my mind in thee studio. count me in.
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Welcome to the creative challenge, Pat.
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Sounds great!
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Welcome to the challenge! Looking forward to seeing your challenge results.
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I am in!!! Getting started right now.
Shirley
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Welcome to the challenge – Shirley! Can’t wait what you will contribute!
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