catching up on creative challenge adventures

Cards 15 through 22 - still only one card ahead in my #365cards2018 for #365somethings2018, and only 4 are Christmas cards.  (I can't resist - that's 6% of the total cards and 4% of the Christmas cards.)  I think I need to be ahead, since we'll be doing some traveling next month and have visitors the week after we return, but it's hard to get ahead during Card Buffet week.  At least, I'm not behind yet!

I've also completed 3 of 3 weekly prompts for #QHphotochallenge.  This was my entry for "blue" - a snow couple I made for a craft exchange:

I'm also up-to-date on #llamaslovelettering, although it's not pretty:

And, of course, I found a few other projects to dabble in - the Facebook group My Creative Year challenged members to use what we already have to create a craft room (or studio) mascot.  I altered a leaf shaped fall-themed photo stand, and I kind of love this quirky little angel:

Eventually I expect to have little cards, probably ATCs, on display in the clips.  That was the week 2 challenge, I skipped week 3.  I see that the coming week is to dig in the dark recesses of our storage for forgotten supplies or half-finished projects - wonder where that will lead me?

I joined another challenge, too, which I found through YouTube and Facebook, to make #12PaperClipsof2018 - a decorative paper clip each month according to the posted theme.  At the 6-month and 12-month points, if we've made two of each clip, we can swap them with someone else.  What an irresistibly fun idea - it's that "make more things" part of my unmeasurable quasi-resolution for the year.  The first theme was a 2018 goal:

So, now I find myself involved with a daily challenge (lettering) for the month of January, as well as a weekly challenge (photos), a monthly challenge (paper clips), and an annual challenge (365 cards) for the year 2018.  So much fun!  And, I've learned that, even if I don't complete all (or any) of the challenges, I can still feel good about the bits I do complete

creative challenge adventures

You're sure to know, if you've been here before, that I love participating in challenges, as almost all of my posts are linked to card-making challenges.  I've tried a few other kinds of challenges, especially daily ones, with varying degrees of success; you can see some of them on my Instagram account @kathedmi.  I did pretty well with the 30 day planner prompts #ttbchallenge in November, and really well with #ohsocutedoodles #decemberdailychallenge last month (with the daily part, anyway, maybe not so much the artistic ability):

I may not have admitted this before, but I get bored easily (card making is pretty much the first hobby I've really stuck with for more than a few months, since I was a child), so changing challenges was probably a really good idea. Previously I tried 60-day ICAD challenges (2016 being the only time I completed 60) and #100days (I completed 60 last year).

I was not going to do a January daily challenge, until I saw the words on the #llleverydamnday list at Llamas Love Lettering - what great words!  Cindy suggested maybe just use your own handwriting; I can do that. So, I did that for three days, and found that too easy (boring). I started over, using one of the lettering styles Cindy teaches:

In this enlarged view, I can see that my lettering really needs some work, but that's kind of the point, I guess.  Or maybe I just need to put on reading glasses before I start lettering...

Last month and last week, I read that Tammy, at DaisyYellow (home of ICAD) and iHanna are collaborating on #365somethings2018.  Wow, that's a commitment!  On first reading, I was impressed and intrigued, but intimidated.  When I realized they didn't say daily, but rather, 365 before 12/31/2018, I decided I can probably make 365 cards.  Last year, I made 259 (yes, I counted - I have photos of every one of them). Forty of those were in sets of five the same, which I don't do unless I need a lot in a short time, such as when I don't have 100 Christmas cards ready before the middle of December.  So, 365 is a stretch, but I think it's achievable, and it should help with the 100 cards before mid-December thing, too! I'm going to give it a try.

Then, day before yesterday, I found this:

So, I may be seriously overestimating my ability to stay involved and motivated, but it's weekly, it seems do-able, and photography is one of the often neglected hobbies I've collected through the years.  I guess my Instagram account will be getting a workout this year! Most of my cards will still be here, but I'd sure like to see some of you and your projects on Facebook and Instagram.