2021: 100 days of #sketchsnipsticksew

2021: 100 days of #sketchsnipsticksew

So May 2021 has seen the completion a second round of the #100daysproject for AmnaJane and Peace&Craft. The full project and the 100 daily posts can be viewed on the @Peaceandcraft Instagram or Facebook pages if you'd like to wander through the journey again.

The project this year for me was wrapped around the tag #sketchstitchsnipsew - an undertaking to combine various crafting disciplines that were pulling on my attentions (Dressmaking, but also mending & sustainable crafting, watercolour painting, drawing, collage, mixing textiles & papers) with intention to satisfy nags, test ideas, seek out balance and motivation in my creating away from the pressure of making specific products.

That sounds jolly pretentious and a bit woolly doesn't it? It was mostly me seeking to give myself some structure after a very vague and pivot-full year. Having home-learning kick back in again unexpectedly in January took its toll on me creatively. Like so many others, adrenaline and crisis response carried me through the first half of 2020, and then moving goalposts, uncertainty and a feeling of just seeing what happens next without much pressure on oneself actually steered me through the rest. 2021 has been different. Flatter, heavier, like running in water - lethargy and almost a kind of ambiguity took hold.

So my plan was to try and refind the fun.

Kinda worked.

14 weeks of new/upcycled/revisited homemade garments, each inspiring new sketches, painting explorations, mixed media collages, textile play and scrapcrafting. Mostly a joy, occasionally a discipline, undeniably informative, inspiring and reaffirming.

What has it left me with?
* some notes/logs/recording & reflecting work to do.

* a work in progress wardrobe: a textile collage patched apron, a basket of garments for textile & stitch mending or refashioning, several pattern/fabric combinations queued for sewing, lots of ideas for making more of my wardrobe more wearable.

* a boxful of mini artworks, doodles, swatches, scribbles, collage fodder, tags & toppers, textile collages... I'd like as much of it as possible to be useful. Pondering options here.

* Some new challenges and conversations to continue; the rest of the glorious #52tagshannemade stitched scraps tag challenge (deserves another blog post another day),  dipping into #memademay, ongoing #ourcolorjourney chat & experiments. Lots of new inspirers to follow, friends to make and ideas to spark.

* A fresh look at how my creative explorations and experiments with #PeaceandCraft can tie in better with my ongoing work & webshop with #AnnaJaneDesigns. Lots of project ideas - possible workshops, kits or blog posts - brewing away.

* More than anything else, a strong reminder of how much I love crafting and creating with scraps. I needed the affirmation that this is where I needed to put more of my focus this year.

* Thoughts becoming clearer about how AnnaJane represents my Shopfront while Peace&Craft feels like the working development/creative Studio behind it. Not sure yet what this means or where it'll take me.

Now, if you were following along or even just dipping in and out on Instagram over the last few months, I'd LOVE to know what you've enjoyed most - what elements have interested you, what's been lovely to look at, what you'd like to see more of.

Now, shall I try to post here a bit more often than once a year?!

#peaceandcraft100daysofmaking #makesomethingeveryday #createdaily #scrapcraft #somethingfromnothing

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