365 Days of Creativedeeds Comes to a Close

...and just like that 365 days of creative deeds later the year-long project comes to a restful & reflective close. It all began with Gretchen Miller's Creativity in Motion project for 2015. Here's a run-down:

Create small pieces of art (about 3x2.5) daily
Randomly gift the art pieces "as acts of kindness" + "to spread creative goodness"
Date stamp and the # of the card were identified for each
In addition, small "tags" were added that went on the back of each deed with basic information on the project and asking to share with #found + #creativedeed365 on social media cites. I did not include my name, but I did include the name of my town (or wherever I made them, if I was travelling).

In order for this project to be feasible I decided to recycle old pieces of art whenever possible as the base (some of the months with recycled art: January, April). Each month's creative deeds were prepped as a batch. The paper cut into the right size, the information sheet and date attached to each one. Creating mini collages were amazingly time consuming but turned-out to be mini-treasures onto themselves (some of the months using collage: February, May, September, October). Naturally dyed cards became my favorite process with a serendipitous outcome every time (some of the months with natural dye: March, June, July, August, November, December). On a daily basis I could then focus on the inspiring message and documentation (via. Instagram).

I loved using bits and pieces from collage bins or discarded art piles. When traveling, napkins or coasters would be my muse. Quotes came from everywhere and everyone (almost). Search engines, social media cites, friends and family from close and far contributed throughout the year with positive thoughts.

Throughout the year many asked how much I was charging for the cards, and they wouldn't believe me when the answer was nothing. Often the cards were simply left in public spaces or mailed off to friends to distribute as they saw fit. In many ways the cards fired-up the snail-mail connection with many social media contacts who would in turn send me inspirational quotes for the project. A loop of creativity, inspiration, and sharing.

I now plan to use this inspiring year of creative making towards a year of visual journaling in 2016. Stay creative!

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