Each year I use #The100DayProject to help me refocus on making space for regular creativity and this year I’m using my 100 days to intentionally notice the things around me that bring me joy, including every day sharing one thing that bring me the kind of joy that fuels my creativity. My #100DaysOfJoy project is very loose and open, I have no idea where it will lead! You can read my first post about #100DaysOfJoy over here
It’s now just over a week since this year’s
started and it’s interesting that as I see what others are creating for their 100 days I start having thoughts popping up that my #100DaysOfJoy isn’t a “proper” challenge and that this year I don’t belong within the wider #The100DayProject. This of course is untrue in many ways - when I focus on where I’m at right now and what I need, I know this is absolutely the right project for me this year, and as for feeling like I don’t fit in, I know that who coordinates the project each year has no expectations of what people will use it for and there are zero barriers to participating in whatever way you want. So the anxieties and doubts are all in my head. I think it’s important to acknowledge them, but so important for me to not let them take over and stop me from enjoying my 100 days… especially as this year it’s all about JOY!!!Read on for a run down of this past week (Tues-Sun) and a few extra reflections on what I’ve discovered along the way…
Day 3 - First signs of spring
Day 4 - Other Artists
Day 5 - Nature in Contrast
Day 6 - My favourite colours
Day 7 - Inspiring eating
Day 8 - Not cheating at all
Day 3 - First signs of spring
There’s lots of things about winter that bring me joy but, as I don’t have the best immune system, the regular bouts of viruses and bugs can make it feel a bit of a slog. So the first little signs that spring is approaching are definitely moments of joy for me. I spotted these mini daffodils on the walk back from dropping littleun at school and they made me smile! I really love all the colours of spring, and seeing these daffodils reminded me to look for other flowers that are already popping up and out on the rest of my way home! Made me excited that I’ll be revisiting my wildflowers collection soon… and perhaps thing about evolving it a little more, or doing another flower based design in the coming weeks!
Day 4 - Other Artists
I find so much joy in the work of fellow artists, and I find it so inspiring, so my moment of joy for Day 4 was appreciating the designs of other Spoonflower artists, especially the designs in the current Leap Year Frogs challenge. When I see so many different takes on one theme it really reminds me to spend more time playing with initial ideas, and to practice pushing myself to try different things.
When enjoying the art of others it’s so easy to fall in the comparison trap. I’m getting better at avoiding it these days by reminding myself there’s space for so many different kinds of art, and that my ethos around art is that it’s something for everyone regardless of skill-level or style. It’s okay for us all to take up space with our art. And also that if I do feel the comparison monster trying to sneak in and suck out the enjoyment, maybe it’s time to put down the art of others and head back into creating for myself!
Enjoying the art of others is also a good reassurance for myself that it’s okay to keep sharing my art, even at the times when it feels like I’m in tumbleweed city because barely anyone sees what I’m sharing, and I’m not sure if those who do see it actually like it! I am so grateful to other artists for having the bravery and generosity to put their art out there and spread the joy with it, and sometimes those artists have no idea that little old me is out here finding so much enjoyment in what they’ve created. Saying that, I try to remember to like & comment on things I appreciate, because I know how much the small handful of likes & comments I get helps me remember there are people out there who are grateful I create, and would really like me to keep creating and sharing!
Taking a moment to appreciate the art of others on Day 4 has given me a bit of a kick up the bum to stretch myself more with what I’m creating at the moment. I know due to my impatience that sometimes I get stuck in the rut of jumping on the first half-decent idea I have. Enjoying the art of others reminds me I really need to play with ideas more before I fully dive in to each of my creative adventures!
p.s. The Spoonflower Leap Year Frog challenge is open for voting until tomorrow - Tuesday 27th Feb at 8pm GMT and as always I really appreciate your vote if you have a few minutes to spare. You don’t need to log in to Spoonflower to vote, you just vote for 3+ designs and then submit at the bottom of any voting page. It randomises the order for every voter so I don’t know what page my design will be on, but there’s plenty of other wonderful entries to enjoy & vote for as you search for mine!
Day 5 - Nature in Contrast
My joyful moment on Day 5 was a Photinia (with thanks to the PlantNet app for helping me to identify it!) I realised it was the unexpected contrast of the odd red leaf mixed in with all the other green leaves that caught my eye, and that brings me joy. On reflection, something which was also true of Day 4, as a couple of my favourite entries for the Leap Frog challenge have a strong well designed contrasting element - another thing for me to consider playing around with more!
The Photinia also left me curious why and how a plant developed random red leaves among the green? (a little google has left me no wiser, so I’m just sticking with enjoying it’s mysterious beauty - but if you are reading this and know more about Photinia’s please do share!)
Along with my general “is my project a proper project” thoughts that have been popping up, having two of my moments of joy be plant related so close together added to the “am I doing this properly” moment. In part this stems from my experience last year, where eventually my project stopped being right for me and I felt like I was just going through the motions. I never want to do a project just for the sake of doing a project, although last year the period of keeping it going for a while in the simplest and easiest way was to give myself time to decide whether I wanted to pivot my project or put it down completely, so I need to remember this and trust myself more!
The other part of my concern about having two nature related moments of joy so close together, was feeling like my moments of joy can’t be too similar or I’ll bore anyone that is following along... which is also a line of thought I don’t want to be carrying through this project!
Thankfully I have been able to take a step back and remind myself of WHY I’m doing what I’m doing this year. Firstly, I've deliberately kept my project this year very loose and open because I'm interested in seeing what it is that does catch my eye and bring me joy. I'm really interested to see what I learn about myself and my art through doing this.
Secondly, I'm need to remember I'm not doing this to entertain others. If people enjoy following along that is wonderful, and I really enjoy the community aspect of the 100 Day Project, but I won't get nearly as much from my project if I filter it through the lens of forcing and staging variety to keep it "interesting". Even if 90% of my joy throughout these days ended up coming from nature there would be so much variety and so much to reflect on within that.
The 100 Day Project is already having the benefit of reminding me to look around and take in my environment more. I can live in my head a little too much - the past, future and imaginary - and I think it's so important for me to have something that brings me back to the present moment. Plus I’m already finding it super interesting to reflect on the things that do catch my eye and bring me joy.
I feel like the wobbles I’ve been having over my project being “right” this week show me just how right my project is. To stick with doing something that feels right for me, even though there’s discomfort in the anxieties I have around not fitting in, being misunderstood, and maybe even boring to others. I need to learn to be more okay with all of these things over the next 90+ days!
Day 6 - My favourite colours
Much as I love some reflection, Day 6 was thankfully a much simpler joy! My new hiking boots. We are very lucky to have Disneyland Paris booked towards the end of the year - there’s going to be a LOT of walking, and possibly rain, so I knew at some point this year I needed to invest in something waterproof and comfy for our trip.
When I spotted these in a sale I couldn't resist... they are my favourite two colours pink and aquamarine and I know I’m not going to be able to look at my feet without smiling!
As a sidenote, I am also so grateful that quite a brands now have their kids shoes go up to UK6.5… so many grown up shoes are SO boring while costing more too, so I am very happy that my feet just make it into the colourful and fun kids zone that feels much more me!
Day 7 - Inspiring eating
On Saturday the in-laws took us out for lunch to belatedly celebrate hubby’s birthday and we went to our favourite local place to eat - Porto Lounge. So my joy for Day 7 was the interior of the place. I really love the way the Lounges are decorated - interesting wallpaper, lots of random paintings and interesting lampshades (alongside yummy food) I find it a really creatively inspiring space to eat. Although they are now a fairly big chain, and their decor is along the same lines in every Lounge, I love that within that there's so much individuality in each location.
I didn’t get the best photo, as it was very busy and hard to photograph any part of it without getting someone random in the picture. I’ve popped another photo below that I took in the side room last year, and if you’d like to see more/better pictures there’s plenty of pics on the Lounge website and Google search!
Chatting about it with hubby he’s challenged me to make a wallpaper design that would work perfectly for the Lounge restaurant (although I think that’s so we can do a bit of Lounge style decorating in our own home at some point!)
Day 8 - Not cheating at all
Day 8 of my #100DaysOfJoy was getting back to stitching the quilt i’m currently making for my daughter
I’m making what is commonly known as a “cheater quilt”. This is where the quilt top is one single piece of fabric with a patchwork style layout printed on it. I find a lot of joy in the patterns and quilt top I’ve designed, as well as finding joy in the stitching itself (alongside a few moments of frustration along the way!)
As I'm working my way through this project - from designing the Twinkle Twinkle Rainbow Sky fabric patterns, putting the chevron layout together for the quilt top, and now stitching the three layers together (quilt top, wadding/batting and quilt back) - I'm recognising just how much creativity and crafting I've put into making it. It might be a different approach to quilting but it's definitely doesn't feel like i’m “cheating" at anything!
I feel like it belongs somewhere between wholecloth quilting (where the a quilt top is a single piece of fabric, and the stitches used to quilt it form the quilt design) and patchwork quilting (where different pieces of fabric are stitched together to make the quilt top design, before being quilted). I’ve been having lots of thoughts about “cheater” quilts lately and feel like there’ll be a few Substack posts on the topic coming from me at some point this year!
So that’s my first full week of #The100DayProject - Keep any eye on my Substack notes (and my instagram stories) for my daily moments of joy - and look out for my next roundup of #100DaysOfJoy early next week.
If you’re also doing #The100DayProject this year I’d love to hear about what you’re up to - and if you’re sharing on Substack and/or Insta leave your links in the comments too so I can follow along!