The 100 Day Project with Roben-Marie Smith

What is The 100 Day Project?

The 100 Day Project is a free, global art project. Every year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of exploring their creativity. Anyone can join. The idea is simple: choose a project, do it every day for 100 days, and share your process on Instagram with the hashtag #The100DayProject.

The 100 Day Project starts February 18, 2024. This will be my 8th year participating in The 100 Day Project.

What is my theme?

My inspiration comes from a trip last year where I attended an amazing retreat at the studio of Colleen Attara. She taught us how to use a water soluble fabric stabilizer with fabric, paper and stitching. I fell in love immediately and knew this was the perfect project for me. I plan to use them in a variety of ways, letting things unfold as I go.

I am calling my project #100daysofwishingthreads. I’ll add found words, fabric, paper, lace and other elements to my pieces. I’ll post a peek at my preparation soon.

I am so excited to get started on this year’s project and I hope you’ll consider jumping in.

Not sure how to get started?

I have created a free Workbook and Tracker* that I think you will find helpful in the planning, tracking and reflecting. Whether this is your first year or your 7th, being organized is the key to success. With The 100 Day Project Workbook and Tracker, you have all you need to get started and stay on track throughout the project.

Click HERE for The 100 Day Project Workbook and Tracker.

"Thank you again for the 100 day project workbook tracker. Your encouragement in the workbook helped me to reconsider and make my idea more doable and joyful. I appreciate how you make a challenge doable and fun by breaking it down into easy steps and presenting
it in a beautiful way." -Valerie Sjodin

Thinking about doing The 100 Day Project? Here are some ideas to help you have success and enjoy the process.

1. Write it out

Why do you want to commit to doing something creative for 100 days? Give this some thought and write it down like you would a mission or vision statement. Place it where you can see it so you are reminded about your goals. This will help you stay focused and on track. Here are some ideas:

1. Establishing a daily creative habit
2. Creating a body of work to sell or gift to others
3. Stretching your skills and gaining confidence
4. Gaining proficiency in a particular technique
5. Connecting with other creatives and building your community

2. Be realistic

It is best to keep your idea simple, especially during your first year. A challenge is exciting and the early days you feel motivated, but by day 30 or 40, that excitement may wain. By keeping things simple and easy to manage, you can push through and remember why you committed in the first place and be motivated to see the project through. In years past, I was always traveling during a few weeks of the project, so I just worked ahead if I had to so I would not get behind and then frustrated and give up.

3. Be whole-heartedly in while you create

I feel a connection to the art I create. It is hard to explain, but if you have experienced it, you are shaking your head. Making time to create fills me with joy and my brain with a seemingly never-ending array of ideas.

Take this time to create freely and without rules or boundaries. You can do this even while following your theme. Follow your heart and create for YOU! If you have a not so good day and don’t want to share what you created on Instagram? No problem, don’t! Or, maybe consider sharing the struggle in your caption while sharing a small zoomed in shot of what you created.

Also, if you sense that your mojo is taking you in a different direction, go with it and adjust. I did that last year because I felt I was being pulled in a different direction.

4. Expand your community

Participating in challenges of this kind helps you gain new friends or a new community. Use the project hashtag to search out others who are participating. Find a handful that really inspire you and reach out and encourage those artists. Comment on their posts and cheer them along. Make sure you use the challenge hashtag every time you are publishing a post and respond to comments on your own posts.

5. Have fun

These projects and challenges are supposed to be fun, not stressful. Find creative ways to take photographs of your work, share how you are feeling as you work through the project or jump on IG stories and give a shout out to others you are especially inspired by. If you miss a day here and there, don’t give up. This is YOUR project and no one is counting your posts to make sure you complete 100. Catch up when it works for you. If you are finding that you feel a bit overwhelmed by your theme, modify it and adapt.

Participating in an art challenge will help you grow as a creative, not to mention they are fun and inspiring. If you haven’t joined in on an art challenge yet, here are some benefits that will surely get you excited about jumping into one!

BENEFITS OF DOING AN ART CHALLENGE

It helps you develop a creative habit: Our lives are complicated, and before you know it, time goes by and you find that you haven’t been in your studio in weeks. By participating in an art challenge, you will find yourself working on something each day, which will help you develop a creative habit. Consistency is key!
It helps boost your inspiration: When you are participating in a challenge, and you search the hashtag that has been assigned by the creator of the challenge, and you see that grid of all that color and all those different responses to a single prompt… inspiration begin. You get wildly inspired, and you want to try different things that you have not tried before!
It helps you gain new friends or a new community: The most popular art challenges usually take place on Instagram, making them easy to participate in and easily searchable. You’ll quickly find yourself making new friends and building your community. You never know, your best friend might be just a like or a comment away.
It helps you stretch creatively depending on what the challenge is about: Committing to a challenge for a particular period helps you stretch your ability to commit and be disciplined. Art challenges vary in length from as many as 100 days to as few as seven days. When you join a challenge that is outside your comfort zone or focuses on a topic new to you, it will help you stretch your creative muscles.

HOW TO GAIN THE MOST FROM PARTICIPATING IN AN ART CHALLENGE

Just join in and have fun.
Make sure you use the challenge hashtag every time you are publishing a post.
To encourage engagement, leave comments on challenge posts from other participants.
Boost the confidence of those you can see are beginners by leaving thoughtful comments on their posts.
Share the challenge with your followers and be sure to express your thanks to the challenge host(s).

Resources:

The 100 Day Project - all the details & sign up for the newsletter

The 100 Day Project Workbook and Tracker - FREE

Creating Your 100 Day Project - Art Juice Podcast

—>> Go to @dothe100dayproject account on Instagram to share one of their recent posts to announce your commitment.

THE 100 DAY PROJECT: WRAPPING UP YEAR TWO + 5 TIPS TO STAY CREATIVE EVERY DAY

Feel Left Out of The 100 Project? Try This Instead

Contain Yourself

*I’m not affiliated with The 100 Day Project. I just love doing it and want to encourage others to as well. 😉

ready, set, go

I am so excited to get started on this year’s project and I hope you’ll consider jumping in. If you are reading this after the start, no worries! You can join in at anytime.

I hope you will be inspired by my journey! See you on Instagram!

Blessings,