The 100 day project Week 4 (Day 22 to Day 28)

 Hey there creative friend!

A new week and it started with the making of a few bits of ephemera for a new junk journal I intend to make from a paper bag. Not my first, but it was fun since I love bookbinding.

We ended the week with a long weekend, which I used to move my vegetable garden (yes, literally moved it). On Saturday I planted the seeds for winter, as well as two pots with flowers just for some colour.

As always a lot of writing since I love telling the stories of the characters in the growing series, The Nations of Peace.

Until next time!

💜Linzé

Day 22

Top is an envelope from a scrapbook kit that I bought many years ago. I just folded and glued it together.

Middle is a pocket, and bottom are three journaling cards made from an Uno deck of cards I bought because of the size. I don't play Uno.

Time: 2 hours

Day 23

The story is evolving. 😃

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Day 24

Another gouache painting in my sketchbook. With only 5 pages left, I am getting excited to finish it.

Time: 3 hours

Day 25

I started making the junk journal from a paper bag. The blue image is a shell on the fabric that I stitched to the paper bag to form the base of the cover.

It will have three signatures.

Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Day 26

Another Thursday session to work on the raven project. I see a few areas that need some attention, but as a WIP, it is not going badly at all.

Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Total time: 10 hours

Day 27

The junk journal finished. Made with a paper bag, covered with fabric, and three signatures made from mostly magazine pages. It is empty, and ready to be filled with thoughts, quotes, or ephemera when I am ready to use it.

Time: 8 hours (over three days)

Day 28

I didn't write all these words today. In fact they were written in bits over the past week in a notebook that I carry with me everywhere. I spent today transcribing the words into the file on my computer.

Time: 3 hours

The 100 day project Week 3 (Day 15 to Day 21) + A-to-Z Challenge Theme Reveal

Hi there creative friend!

A really busy week and sometimes I had to remind myself of my creative todo list. The words were both a struggle and easy. The muse definitely had a field day with me during the third week.

But I didn't beat myself up about my struggles and did what I could during those times.

I am adding the A-to-Z blog challenge (happening in April) to my 100 day list of creative projects. Take a look at the blog challenge, link is here on the right.

And my theme this year? Cheating the Muse - why I don't struggle with creative block. It helped me in the past, and continues to do so during the 100 day project challenge.

Enjoy your week and remember to take it easy on yourself on those difficult days.

Until next time!

💜Linzé

Day 15

Our art group decided to do a phenology journal this year. Record our local environment on a weekly basis which included a drawing. But I didn't like the way it looked, so at the beginning of February I changed mine to one drawing instead of 4 or 5 small ones. 

I am using a Hahnemuhle nature study notebook, with a lined page and a blank page for every spread.

I record rainfall, maximum temperature, UV exposure, relative humidity, sunrise and sunset, and the time of day.

The drawing is a flowering plant in front of my office window (no idea what it's called) done in coloured pencils.

Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Day 16

The words didn't flow easy today. It happens, but still better than nothing, I say. 💜

Time: 2 hours

Day 17

Another ink flower drawing on a piece of the old dictionary page.

Time: 15 minutes

Day 18

An incredibly busy day with work and some personal stuff, and yet I found the time to write a lot of words. If only every writing day was this productive *sigh

Time: 3 hours

Day 19

And as usual I worked on the group project during our Thursday meeting. I focused on the first flowers this week. Not quite finished yet, but so far I am happy that it looks like a rose. 😂

Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Total time: 7 hours 30 minutes

Day 20

Another WIP - this is the Match challenge of the art group, Artkula, that I am a member of. Of course you can see that it is far from finished. Oil pastels used to be a medium that I didn't like, but currently I actually like using them. This project is on Canson Sand Grain paper.

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes (so far)

Day 21

Lots of writing this week. I did most by hand in a notebook, which makes it difficult to count until I transcribed it to my computer.

Time: 3 hours

The 100 day project Week 2 (Day 8 to Day 14)

Hello creative friend!

How is your week going this week? Are your creative juices still flowing strong, or do you need some inspiration?

I am having so much fun I didn't notice the spelling mistake in my post last Sunday. Oops! 😂 Good thing I have a fabulous editor for my books, so it won't happen for those.

Anyway, here are my next set of projects from the past week, which I hope will inspire you to keep going with your own projects.

Until next time!

💜 Linzé

Day 8

Collage tag made with old dictionary paper, stencil, stamp, and a bit of fabric that I found in my stash. The birdcage took a while since it is a piece of ephemera that I tweaked with a craft knife to fit over the bird image. 

The bird and peach images were cut from an Ideas magazine.

Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Day 9

It was a writing day, but I need to finish editing a novella for publication this year, so I had to do some work on it as well.

So it was a productive words day, I would say. 😁

Total time: 5 hours 30 minutes

Day 10

I recently updated my computer, but it has been a struggle to get it to connect to my printer. My printer is old, but it is small and a colour laser printer is not cheap to replace.

So a few days ago, I tried again. And voila! It worked. I printed a few images for my journal on sticker paper, but they didn't cover the whole sheet.

Instead of throwing the remainder away, I did my drawing for today on that leftover piece.

Time: 30 minutes

Day 11

It was a productive writing day for sure.

Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Day 12

This is my "long term" project. It is the group project of my art group that we started in March. What you see here is still a WIP, but so far I am quite happy with the result. It is done with graphite on A3 drawing paper.

Time: 2 hours

Total time spent so far: 5 hours

Day 13

I am so happy that my printer is working again, that of course I had to print a few more things. LOL!

And not wishing to waste a blank strip of unused paper at the bottom of the page, I used it for another drawing just for fun.

Time: 20 minutes

Day 14

I have been editing the novella, but was itching to paint or draw something. So I pulled out these tiny canvasses that I've had for years.

My acrylic markers were perfect for the tiny paintings instead of using brushes and acrylic paints.

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

The 100 day project: Week 1 (Day 1 to Day 7)

Hey there creative friend!

If the 100 day project is on your radar this year, then I wish you all the best and loads of fun creating things that make you happy. I decided to try again this year, and at the end of the first week I am much more relaxed with the challenge than I was last year. I am also having loads of fun.

I have made a list of the things I want to finish (yeah, even creative projects are sometimes not finished because of life stuff), things I have wanted to do for a while, and working on another book, or two.

My friend and editor told me tow days ago that she is halfway with editing my next novel, and wanted to know how I was doing with the novella that she has to do next. I went, oh dear! Yeah, I have a bit of homework to do. LOL! 

But here are the things I did for week 1, and I am looking forward to the next week's creative projects.

Until next time!

💜 Linzé

Day 1

Ink drawing on old paper torn out of a book (a stage play published in 1948)

Time: 10 minutes

Day 2

LEFT: Ink drawing on old paper torn out of a book (dictionary published in 1948)

RIGHT: Collage with paper, washi tape, stamps, and stencil work on a tag.

Time: 1 hour

Day 3

Ink doodle drawing. I started this drawing a while ago, and added it to my list of projects to finish during the challenge.

Time: 2hrs

Day 4

Working on the first draft of a new novel, possibly a story in two or three parts. The story does not have a title yet.

Time: 1 hr

Day 5

Part of my challenge this year is to fill up nearly full sketchbooks. This book now has only 7 more pages to go!

Sunflower painted with gouache.

Time: 1.5hrs

Day 6

A few more words for the book. Interspersing writing with art, is normal for me although this book's characters are hounding me to finish their story 😉

Time: 2 hrs

Day 7

Another page in the sketchbook mentioned above. Now there are only 6 pages to go.

Time: 4 hrs

The CreativeLife update, the 100 day project, and some shameless promo ;)

Hello there!

I don't know if this happens to you, but once a new year gets going, life seems to fall back into its usual routines. Routine is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong, but I don't like being bored. It is the primary reason I am self-employed - I can say no to work or negotiate a deadline if I am too busy to take on new work. Another reason I decided to go back into self-employment was to spend more time being creative. Enter the 100 day project.

I tried it in 2024 and could barely make it to day 10 without giving up. It took some soul searching to discover why since I was making tiny paintings. Creative, for sure, and I should have been able to continue doing that for the following 90 days. The plan had been to make 100 tiny paintings. I eventually realised that I got bored. Doing 100 of the same thing definitely did not work for me. But I really wanted to try again, so I had to come up with a new idea. Will it work? I have no idea, but it is a better plan than what I had in mind last year.

The plan (and how it fits into my 2025 goals)

I mentioned the group challenges I plan to participate in and the projects I design for my art group in my previous post. I have also mentioned the novel currently with my editor. Knowing how my workload is expanding, I can hardly find the time to add yet another challenge to my day. Unless I think outside the box.

The 100 day project is not just about art, or craft, or even a single project. It is about being creative on a daily basis. So here is the plan for my 100 day project: I am going to draw, paint, write, or make something every day. It won't be the same every day.

I might do a project that will take several days or even weeks, but I will also do small things in between. This way, I won't get bored but still manage to do something creative every day for a hundred days.

Practically, I need to plan time to create every day. I have mentioned that my art group meets once a week for two hours, so that will continue to be the schedule for Thursdays. The rest of the week is not as easy. But I am committing to spend at least 30 minutes every day to create something. If I don't have 30 minutes, then 10 minutes will have to do.

The commitment (and my accountability tracker)

Habit trackers abound on social media in various shapes and forms. I also have one in my Bullet Journal for tracking my daily goals.

I thought I would use that, but I am inclined to think that a separate tracker would be more useful. Instead of just ticking off that I have achieved the objective for the day, I will add the time I spent to it. This way, I can see which days I have more time, which will be helpful for planning future art competition paintings or doing commissions.

Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect plan, with life throwing curve balls just as you think everything is under control. But a daily practice and some useful data will not go to waste even if life interferes.

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Some of my books, will be promoted as part of a special sale on @Smashwords to celebrate Read an Ebook Week 2025 from March 2-8. Be sure to follow me for more updates and links to the promotion for my books and many more! #ebookweek25 #Smashwords

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The challenge details

The 100 day challenge starts today. You can still join and find all the details and the social media sharing here.

I doubt that I will share every day. I don't like social media that much, but look out for my posts on Instagram with the tags #dothe100dayproject and @dothe100dayproject.

This is only a partial CreativeLife update. I will share my progress on the rest of my goals in my next post. Don't forget to check out the Smashwords sale coming next week.

Stay creative - until next time!

💜Linzé

One month in...Goals and 2025 so far

To follow some kind of structure, and I have decided to use my first post of 2025 as a guide, then I can see how I am doing compared to the incredibly productive year I had last year.

Work: January was unexpectedly quiet. The work was there, but some clients weren't ready with the hardware or documentation I needed for the tests. I did manage to start some tests, so this coming week is a continuance of those jobs.

Business: As I write this post, I am slapping myself against the head because I forgot to send out an invoice at the end of January. Stupid newbie mistake! But first thing on Monday, that invoice will be going out, that's for sure.

Books read: Although I have the goal to read more non-fiction this year, I haven't finished the first book yet. I have read a few fiction stories while out and about and waiting somewhere. A Kindle is definitely convenient, but reading time at home is much more limited. I schedule art-making time on my planner, so I am now scheduling time to read the non-fiction books too. Two hours per week for a start.

Goal: read at least 12 books, 8 of which will be non-fiction. I am currently reading Black Holes by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw.

Books published: It is a bit early in the year, even for me, but my first book is already with my editor. Tiger Gold is scheduled for publication in April 2025. I don't have the exact date yet, so keep an eye out if you like my books.

Goal - Novels: Tiger Gold - The Strikemasters (April 2025) and The Guardian of Dreams - Lords of the High Council (Dec 2025). They will be books 9 and 10 in my Nations of Peace series.

Goal - Novella: Rowan, I Dare You (July 2025); it is the first story of a new series, The Silk Club stories.

Words written: Writing continues on a new novel. No title yet. So far, I have written 10,981 words this year, although the manuscript has over 100k words already. There is no goal for the number of words.

Goal - stories: The plan is to finish the current draft (by the end of March) and another novella by the end of the year, if possible.

Sketchbook for 2025 practice

Other projects: I don't plan for these except for the projects for my art group. We will do a project every other month with the in-between months planned for drawing and painting techniques practice in a sketchbook we made in December last year.

Goal - art: I will probably take part if the AGAC competition is on again this year,. Since it is a competition, there is a deadline, and planning to work on the painting works around that deadline.

Goal - art: I am a member of Artkula.com, and usually do at least one of the monthly challenges every month.

Many lofty goals for 2025, but I don't beat myself up if I don't make a goal, except for projects with a deadline. Those take priority when it comes to my time.

I haven't mentioned the apothecary cabinet because I haven't started working on it yet. But I will share my progress once I do start.

Stay creative, until next time!

💜Linzé

2024 - a crazy year in review

Can I do it again it 2025?

When I look back at this past year, I shake my head because what I have managed to do blows my mind. Did I plan all of this? But more importantly, can I do it again?

Honestly, I have no idea how I managed all of that. Of course, I plan things, like we all do, but to have actually done it—I have no words.

But let me show you what I am talking about. This is the list of stuff I managed to complete in 2024:

Work: I am self-employed but contracted as a safety certification engineer by a testing authority in Pretoria. And I managed to do 59 jobs for them in 2024. That is more than one per week! Practically, that means that I did several jobs in parallel because the average time for the work I do is about three weeks, with some jobs taking two to three months.

Business: I also do consulting work for South African companies who want to export their high-tech products. I assisted with 9 technical construction files for EU and UK exports.

Books read: I love the Goodreads reading challenge, and 2024 was a fiction year for me. I did read one or two non-fiction books, but I wanted to read more fiction, and cosy mystery is my genre of choice. I would read when I was eating breakfast alone or had to wait for people. My Kindle lives in my handbag, so it is always at hand for those unplanned minutes. And by doing this, I managed 145 books. I cannot tell you how that happened, but it did!

Books published: Thanks to my fantastic editor, Vanessa Wright, I got two novels in The Nations of Peace series published in 2024. You can check them out here: A Memory for Love (book 7), and Prime Pledge (book 8).

Words written: I've been keeping track of the number of words I write since 2014. I have been writing since 2000, so getting that first number of words for the spreadsheet took some effort. In 2024, I wrote 163,000 words. I have managed more in previous years, but in my defence, I have been busy with other things.

The good news is that the series' ninth book is on my priority list to finish formatting and send it to Vanessa next week for editing. It is scheduled for publication in April 2025.

Art projects: I did one commission (6 drawings) in 2024. I finished the Inktober challenge in October (I post my drawings to Instagram), about 10 pieces in a sketchbook, and completed 13 paintings. I didn't participate in any exhibitions last year but may do so again this year.

Other projects: I love building models and finished two in December. I bought a few items to make an apothecary cabinet, which I received this past week. There will be some construction work, and I am considering sharing my process in a few blog posts.

When I look at this list, I shake my head mainly because I cannot comprehend how I managed everything. Am I particularly motivated or productive? Definitely not. But once I get stuck in on a project, whether it is work or a painting, I get it done.

I put everything I have to do every week in my planner, mostly so I don't forget to do the laundry, but it helps a lot.

I don't plan the number of jobs; that is out of my control, nor do I plan the number of art projects. I lead an art group, so I have to plan projects for them, but I also belong to a group where there are two challenges every month. All these activities keep the artistic and creative juices flowing.

Writing has been in my blood for so long that I no longer think about it. Several ideas are on my list, so I am never short of ideas when the muse strikes me with the urge to pen a few words.

This post is getting long, so I will share my 2025 goals in another post.

Have you had a year like I had in 2024? What was your secret to getting everything (and more) done?

Do something creative. It's good for you. 😂 Until next time!

💜 Linzé