The March Experiments at Daisy Yellow

As I've done in the last few months, I've been using Tammy's fabulous prompts at Daisy Yellow.  Some of this dovetailed a bit with Stories,  the March theme for  Leah's Creative Every Day Challenge.

Tammy's full list for March is here, and the ones I chose for myself are below:

♥ Create art focused on a square (the concept of a square, something square, the shape)
♥ Skim 2 non-fiction books and jot down ideas
♥ Finish an unfinished art journal page
♥ Write a page of thoughts on 2 days
♥ Use colors you don't typically use in an art or craft
♥ Explore a new-to-you aisle at an art supply store or a non-fiction aisle at a book store
♥ Listen to a creative podcast (I like The Creative Mom Podcast, CraftyPod, CraftSanity)
♥ Send a handwritten note to thank someone for doing something
♥ Sketch, write, play a musical instrument in a public place
♥ In line at the grocery store, take note of a person in line; write a character description for this person.
♥ Draw a rough map of a place in your life - a favorite vacation spot, your house, school, the grocery store

Not too bad - though I squeaked in under the wire with the "square" and "map" prompts - both sketched within the last two days of March. I really need to do some scanning. In the meantime, here's some squares:



I've given myself quite a bit of liberty in defining "art journal page". Although I had some fun playing with acrylics and photo transfers earlier in the year, this is very much something I need quite a bit of time, and a clean countertop to work on. Those are few and far between in my life these days, which is probably the main reason that I keep coming back to quick sketches in my notebook, and photography. Both, for me, take up less room in the house, and less room on a physical desktop. I really enjoyed playing with those other mediums though, especially acrylic, and will probably do it again - not this month, though. So my definition of "finish an art journal page" is to complete or add color/commentary to a sketch I started on the spot - usually in church or while waiting for the kids.

Most items on the list came fairly naturally - for instance, I had long been planning to make some notes on Kelly McGonigal's excellent Yoga for Pain Relief while prepping to teach a stress management workshop, and as for a page of thoughts on two days I probably shouldn't really even have included this one as a challenge, since I do it regularly (perhaps even obsessively).  I used the character sketch to frame a story - however, this is the sort of thing I find utterly unpost-able. Maybe another time.

And I also caught up with one of the January items: play a board game with your kids - sequence and Clue.  My daughter kept reminding  me till I did.

I have no reason for not writing a handwritten note! I am AGAIN carrying that one forward. And despite having many art-y podcasts saved on my iPod, I totally forgot about them, even while stuck on a 6 hour bus trip with my kids and their judo teammates. This month.

Thanks again Tammy! and now, onto the prompts for April - looking forward to them.