Resources | Wildly Successful & Creative 365 Project

So, I announced the awesome and exciting project of 365 Somethings 2018, hashtagged #365sometings2018, before Christmas, and I have gotten so much awesome feedback. All of you who joined in, spread the word about it, and already started your own personal 365 creative project – you all rock my world! This adventure is going to be so cool to do now that we’re so many doing it together!

Yay, I’m so excited!

The first of January my friend Tammy of the blog DaisyYellow announced that she is doing this project too! Yay, right? She has a wild creative style that I adore, and she did 365 somethings back with me in 2013 too. We have been discussing this project together since the middle of 2017, so we already knew we wanted to do a year long project. To plan and ponder a project of this magnitude is very important, but also to jump in if you dare to…

Maybe you just found out about it, and maybe you are not sure yet how to get started, or even why it would matter what you do? Here’s help. This post is for you. Or if you’ve already decided to jump in and give it a try, then there are some links and resources for you here, as well as encouragement, support and inspiration.

Just wrote an epic blog post w/ details @ starting a project called 365 Somethings with @ihannas where you create 365 of something <but> no rule about one per day. I could not commit without some flexibility! You can work on other forms of art on some days plus you can work in batches toward the goal. I’m going to either collage on index cards or abstracts with ink. Today I’m doing both! #365somethings2018

Instagram post by tammy | daisy yellow (@gypsy999) 1 Jan 2018 kl. 7:06 PST

Let’s be insanely creative in 2018 and beyond!

Firstly, thanks for joining, thinking of joining – or just being here and cheering us on! You are awesome, and I hope that even though this is not for everyone you’ll see that creativity spreads the more you do it. This is not a daily challenge, in fact it is a springboard for your creativity – and you can batch the whole thing if you want to. That’s the magic to me.

Kimberly Kalil has done a successful 365 project in 2017, and is continuing on in 2018 – that is impressive to me! She writes:

Yes, I painted every day, but it was so much more than that. It was completely transformative. I couldn’t have told you a year ago, but this was by far one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself. I’m not the same person who started this 365 days ago. I’m braver. I’m stronger. I believe in myself in a way I didn’t a year ago. I’m bolder. I’m more open. And I’m a better artist.
Kimberly Kalil

When I announced the project I thought I could make a list of everyone, but it’s already too big for that. So to keep seeing what you all are doing, I’ve made us a Pinterest board! And on Instagram we’ve got a hashtag (more about that below).

1. Join the Creative 365 Project Pinterest Board

So to start with, I have created a Pinterest board for us to share our work to. If you’re joining or have started already, simply contact me and send over your Pinterest nickname or the e-mail you have registered there, and I’ll invite you to the board as a collaborator! Then you can add your own pins to that board daily!

Take a peek here:

• Pinterest Board – 365 Creative Somethings

If you’re not doing the 365-challenge, feel free to follow the board so that you will get to see some awesome art every week! I’ve already started adding in some stuff, but I won’t be able to keep up now that so many have joined (and still are joining). And I think it’s more fun if you’re sharing your work from your own blog there from now on.

Rules for the Pinterest board

Only add non-blurry, nice and inspiring photos of your art that is part of #365somethings2018, or blog posts where you write about your experience with this project, and resources that is general to being creative daily (no promotions of workshops or things for sale here, please).

You don’t have to add everything you make, but every once in a while when you feel like sharing go do it. Only add in one image at a time, to get a variety in the board. Feel free to share your images to this community’s 365 art board, as well as your own boards or other boards you’re part of.

Another moment of time – a piece of sky from December 30th. For some of those little paintings in this series (yes, attempting 365 little squares :)) I might record time, thoughts or something else on the back, I don’t know yet what might come up to be record- worthy… just thinking out loud. I caught this moment when I looked outside a south facing window on the second level of our house, late in the day. It looked peaceful and cold… . Go check @ihannas IG and/or blog for more info on the #365daysofsomething project. . . . #3/365 #365somethings2018

Instagram post by Jana of tangledpen (@tangledpen) 5 Jan 2018 kl. 7:13 PST

How to pin images from Instagram:
From your phone you copy the link to your image in the Instagram app (click the three dots above the image and chose “copy link”), then go to the Pinterest app and add in your image to the board. On my phone if I have a link copied it prompts me and asks if I want to add images from that link directly.

Pinning from your blog post: Install the Pinterest button to your browser, and you will be able to pin from any place on the internet! :-)

I know that my 365 will form the foundation and the underlying direction for my year. And that is scary. It will be the backdrop. The scaffolding. But also… it will ALWAYS be there, in the background, sort of taunting me to continue. It can get obsessive. I know that. But it is powerful. And it is worthwhile.
Tammy Garcia

Brought to you by… Today’s experiment is brought to you by mango tea and beet juice. I’m also going to commit to #365somethings2018 by @ihannas I will do 365 tags by the end of 2018 (not one per day necessarily).

Instagram post by Aynsley McKay (@bridgemckay) 1 Jan 2018 kl. 8:16 PST

2. Follow hashtag #365somethins2018 on Instagram

The social network called Instagram now lets you follow hashtags. This is very cool because hashtags are a great way to find new content that inspires you, and a way to connect with fellow 365-creators of course.

How to follow a hashtag: When you’ve clicked on the hasthtag, or searched for a hashtag for example #365somethings2018 , you see the top nine photos of that hashtag. Above those images there is a button that says “Follow” (mine is in Swedish, but you get the point):

• Follow the hashtag on Instagram #365somethings2018/
• Read how following hashtags works, for example: “There is a lot of variety, even within categories, but you can train the algorithm on what you do and don’t like. Engage with the post by leaving a heart or a comment, and Instagram will assume you want more.“

Other tags that are great to follow are #creativeeveryday, #365daysofart and #yearofcreativehabits, but of course only follow what inspires you or projects that you’re participating in – to support others that’s doing the same. I’d also suggest following #diypostcardswap of course, so that you don’t forget in March when we’re doing my DIY Postcard Swap again, as usual. Plus, OMG, the DIY postcards are so yummy!

You can use the hashtag on Facebook and Twitter as well of course, and anywhere else. If you’re more on FB than Instagram, a good place to share your artwork daily is Tammy’s art group – join the Daisy Yellow Group here.

this morning’s color story and my #365somethings2018 … // My “365-Something” project is evolving, so I decided tocompile a tracker-log as tangible progress. I have decided to create moon-themed art + compile notes from my own self-directed study about the moon.

From Teresa Robinson (@stargardener) 4 Jan 2018 kl. 5:10 PST

I am committing to making 365 “somethings” in 2018. Why? because I like personal challenges. They inspire me to get busy and actually do some work/play on something I want to practice. It helps me if have a goal, a flexible goal designed so I don’t beat myself up if I miss a day or two . . . this 365 challenge provides me with just that.
Lenna Young Andrews

3. Participate by blogging

You are more than welcome to download and share my intro image on your blog, if you’re a blogger that wants to join and share this project. Share it in your introduction post, and in your sidebar. And pin it to Pinterest too of course.

Along with Tammy and me, I’ve found a few bloggers who has already introduced this project and declared their intention to join. Visit them, and leave them encouragement for taking on this big, bold project. And then join us, by blogging along too. I miss old time blog style, where we were linking, sharing, commenting, and joining in more.

To me this is a great blog project too, or don’t you agree?

• Hanna Andersson (that’s me)
• Tammy Garcia
• Sophie Tousignant
• Frieda Oxenham
• Cindy McMath
• Kelly
• Lenna Young Andrews
• Kathe Deck
• Alison Hall
• Marcia
• Zannie
• Vicky Fisher
• Annie Peters
• Gabriele Langfeldt-Feldmann

If you want to be added to the list with your first blog post talking and linking to us, just let me know.

I appreciate the flexibility of #365somethings2018. There’s no requirement to do something every day, which takes a lot of the pressure off. I really like what I came up with for the green prompt from #drawriotdaily. 💚 Tomorrow I’ll do some batch work to “catch up.”

Instagram post by Teresa (@teresa_aseret25) 6 Jan 2018 kl. 5:43 PST

I think that this project is a perfect way to dig up your old blog and start posting to it, at least once a week. I will post my first artworks tomorrow Monday. Tammy wrote on her blog:

Hanna and I are planning to do our individual 365 Somethings throughout 2018. Our projects are completely different, but we have the same goal! I hope that some folks out in bloglandia will join us! That will be lovely!

Be kind to yourself in the year ahead. […]

Try to make your time matter: minutes and hours and days and weeks can blow away like dead leaves, with nothing to show but time you spent not quite ever doing things, or time you spent waiting to begin.

Meet new people and talk to them. Make new things and show them to people who might enjoy them.

Hug too much. Smile too much. And, when you can, love.
Neil Gaiman

4. Check out these Resources for a Wildly Successful 365

• iHanna’s 365 Creative Process
• How to plan for a successful 365 Project
• How to stay organized with a 365 Project
• 365 More Somethings in 2018 – a must-read, epic blog post about this project from Tammy of DaisyYellow
• Subscribe to Hanna’s Newsletter and to the Daisy Yellow Newsletter.

5. And these 365 Resources and Inspirations too

If I find inspiring articles and resources (elsewhere) I will add them in here later. Feel free to tweet me or leave a comment below, if you see something we need to read that is on the topic of daily creativity, 365 projects or this project. Thanks.

• Three simple steps to creating a daily creative habit
• Notes Re: Doing Art Every Day for 31 Days a list from Tammy
• Creating a Sustainable Daily Creative Habit – blog post by Anika Lacerte
• Creative Challenges by Month – why not chose one each month for a year?

Find the thing that makes you come alive inside and start doing that every day! What do you get lost doing? What brings you life? Go do it right now.
Wendy Brighthill [instagram tip no 1]

First week of 2018 is over, and I feel happier than I did the week before. That must be a good sign.

I did not mean for this to be so long, but I will refer back to it this year as a source of inspiration, and hope you will do the same.

Cheers.