I am Starting a 100-Day Project - This is Week 1

I am beginning another 100 Day Project - This year I will be sharing 100 Days of Leaf Art!

Starting a 100-day project is both exhilarating and a little daunting. But imagine the joy of seeing your creativity unfold daily, step by step, through a project that connects you with nature and mixed media techniques. I just love it.  You can check out some of the other 100 day projects that I did on the blog!

I have been creating art on leaves for a while now and have found some of the styles and techniques that I prefer. 

In this journey, I’ll be continuing to work with dried leaves, using a wood-burning tool, stitching patterns, adding fabric clusters, and layering mixed media elements to explore the beauty of leaf art and you will also see some of my favorite ones that I created previously as well as new ones.

Are you ready to make the commitment?

There is something special about committing to a long-term creative challenge. It pushes you to develop discipline, embrace new ideas, and uncover inspiration in unexpected places. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the beginning, but by focusing on one small creative step each day, progress naturally builds.

The 100 Day Project started officially on 22nd February.  I am sharing my completed leaves at the end of each week on a Friday, over the 100 days so today you get to see the first set of 7 leaves.  

Creative Tip: Experiment with different types of leaves or styles to see which ones work best for your style.

Encouragement: The hardest part is starting! Show up with an open heart and allow your creativity to flow. Give yourself grace to experiment without expectations. and don't feel pressured to post every day, decide on a posting schedule to suit you.

Want to go deeper? Join me in my Leaf Arts - Transforming Nature into Art course for guided lessons on leaf art techniques!  Yes, I have created a course to share my love for working on leaves, and I hope to work with more natural fibers over time.  Come and join us on the course and learn to create your own beautifully designed leaves!

100 Days of Art - with Amanda Trought (Day 1-7) - #100dayproject

What would happen if you shared what you do for the next 100 days?

I'm excited to announce that I'm joining the 100 Day Project! For the next 100 days, I'll be sharing 100 pieces of my art, from mixed media and sculptures to fabric creations and jewelry.

I plan to share a diverse mix of styles and inspirations! Each piece comes with a little story, and I hope it sparks your own creativity, whether you're a seasoned artist or just starting out.

Catch all the daily updates on my Instagram account, where some of the art will even be available for purchase! For a weekly recap come back here to my blog every Saturday.

Join me on Instagram

If you are still on the fence about joining the 100 Day Project, there's still time! Jump in for any number of days, leave encouraging comments on others' posts, and most importantly, enjoy the creative journey! Remember, progress over perfection – you'll be surprised where you end up.

Staying Stress-Free During a 100 Day Project - 

1. Be Flexible: Don't pressure yourself to create, you can share tips, your work, process, behind the scenes - it is totally up to you. Some days will be easier than others, so allow for flexibility in your approach and output. 
2. Focus on Progress, Not Perfection: This project is about exploring your creativity, not achieving instant perfection. Embrace the journey, celebrate small wins, and learn from every step along the way.
3. Supportive Community: Connect with other participants online or in person. Share your work, offer encouragement, and draw inspiration from each other's experiences. Remember, you're not alone in this!

I hope this helps! Remember, the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the creative process. 

Here are the first 7 days of the artwork that I have shared:

Day 1 of 100 Days of Art

Day 2 of 100 Days of Art

Day 3 of 100 Days of Art

Day 4 of 100 Days of Art

Day 5 of 100 Days of Art

Day 6 of 100 Days of Art

Day 7 of 100 Days of Art

Before you go - Come and join us in the Art Resource Hub

The 100 Day Project - Collage Art - Reflections

 100 Days of Collage

The 100-day project has come to an end, and it's an exhilarating feeling to look back and admire the collection of 100 unique collage art pieces I have created.

Each artwork, crafted on a book page or card, incorporates a selection of collage ephemera and uplifting words or phrases. Throughout this creative journey, I have not only discovered the joy of creating collages but also explored various other ways in which collage can be used in my creative practice.

It was a real joy creating the pieces, I selected all the ephemera that I had, all the handmade paper, painted paper, paint, stencils, doodling and much more and had fun putting them together.

Collage is fun and spoke to the multipotentialite in me that loves working in on different pieces of art, 100 to be exact. I was able to explore all the different combinations of materials such as paper, photographs, fabrics, and found objects. The tactile experience of gathering and arranging these elements added an extra layer of excitement and creativity to the artistic process.

Creative Expression

Collage art provides an opportunity to express one's personal narrative.  I love providing encouragement in my work and telling a story. By incorporating meaningful imagery, symbols, and words, each piece can tell a story or evoke specific emotions, allowing for a deeper connection between the artwork and the viewer.

Experimenting and Play

Collage art encourages experimenting with your supplies and spending time playing.  By staying flexible and not limiting yourself it enables you to explore different compositions, textures, and color combinations. This can lead to some powerful pieces.

Therapeutic Collage

Engaging in the process of creating collages can be meditative and therapeutic. The act of cutting, arranging, and gluing materials can be a form of mindfulness, providing a sense of relaxation and focus.

I hope seeing some of my collage art from my 100 day challenge has inspired you to maybe try a challenge yourself, it is so much fun, and great to see what you have produced when you look back.

My art pieces will be made available on my Red Bubble site should you want to buy a print or have an image on a journal.

Enjoy a 7 Day FREE Trial on Patreon 

Check out my Patreon, you will find over 90 different projects, videos, digital downloads and more for your to have fun with.  Let me know how you get on.

100 Handmade Foam Stamps - WE DID IT!!!

I achieved the goal of creating 100 Handmade Foam Stamps as part of the #dothe100dayproject!!  This is my 100th Stamp...

What always amazes me is the different emotions that you feel along the way for any challenge.  At the start you have doubts and wonder if you can finish, midway you can sometimes feel fed up and not sure if you can go on.  At the finish line you can feel as if you could quite easily do another 100 days!

Looking back from this vantage point it feels as if the time has gone really quickly.  I look back to when I started a little over 3 months ago and start to wonder about all the other challenges I could get myself to do and all the things that I could achieve in that time.

I think one of the good things was knowing that others were doing the challenge too, all be it different projects, but you had others who knew what it was like to make that 100 day commitment and share their ups and downs as well.

Here are all the stamps that I shared over the 100 days

The stamps were all made from recycled foam or thin sheet of craft foam that had been layered.  I will be making some of the designs available on my Etsy store and Course Platform 

Let me know if you took the challenge and how you found it, are you going to do another, take a break, how do you feel now you have completed it?

Check out the new FREE Course below

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Mixed Media Art Courses to Check out

FREE Course

Have you wanted to create your own stamps and stencils, I share with you a variety of supplies you can use and create two mixed media art paintings.

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Paid Courses

Stamps, Challenges and Hops

 Handmade Foam Stamps

This Week was Week 8 of my Handmade Foam Stamps and each week I end it with a painting of all the stamps for that week.

Going through the stamps means that I get to organize what I have an make new ones.  I have been enjoying the process especially as I now have a heat tool which makes creating the designs even easier and you get some great details on the foam.

You can check out this week video below

Artsy Second Sunday

Every second Sunday of the month I take part in a video hop with a group of other artists on YouTube and we work by a monthly theme.  This week was 'Ladybugs and Rainbows'  I went for Ladybug and played with my supplies on the page.  

It was funny as part way though I forgot exactly how a ladybug looks, so the video is just an interpretation of one.

They actually look quite different and I have been privy to some unusual ones in the garden.  There are over 6000 species world wide and I think that we have about 4 different varieties in the garden, helping to keep down pests such as aphids that can attack some plants. 

Here 3 of the 4 that we have the forth one is brown with pink spots or the other way round, I couldn't find the photo that I took of that one.

Anyway, you can check out the video of the Ladybug that I painting for this blog hop below.  I will have to paint it again to do it justice in the style that I would normally paint in.

I hope you enjoy and would love you to join us on the challenges, you will be inspired by the work of the artists who share.

If you would like to see the stamps daily you can check out my Instagram HERE

You can check out the supplies used to create the paintings and foam stamps HERE

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I am also taking part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge and you can check out the posts HERE

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Mixed Media Art Courses to Check out

SALE - Enjoy $10 OFF all courses until 30th April Click on the image to see the course.

Use the Code at the checkout - create2

DIY Foam Stamps - Week 3 Art Journal Page #the100dayproject

 

So another week has passed and here is the page for week 3, showing the stamps for the week and creating a page which I will put in my art journal when complete.  

If you haven't managed to see the stamps created and shared this week here they are as follows:

You can click on the image to take you to the Instagram post with details.

When I finished stamping, I added a foam board backing and then completed the painting.

You can see the 1 minute version by clicking on the image 

Here are a list of the supplies used to create the painting, that you can access on Amazon, substitute where necessary:

• Water color paper - https://amzn.to/35VbznX
• Handmade foam stamps by me
• Ink pad - https://amzn.to/3CePxsm
• Distress stains - the dabbers have been discontinued, but you can used the spray -https://amzn.to/3pAHcdp
• Neocolors water soluble crayons - https://amzn.to/3vHWdhs
• Black drawing ink - https://amzn.to/3tAibQC
• White drawing ink - https://amzn.to/375GbUi

You can also check out my Amazon Foam Stamps list for alternative supplies  HERE