#The100DayProject Strikes Again

Visit my BookishAmbition Instagram feed for
#100DaysofBookplates

Haven't heard of #The100DayProject?

It's a daily dose of creativity—5 minutes a day for 100 days.

Want to participate?

• Choose an action.
• Announce your project.
• Get moving.

How do you begin?

• CHOOSE AN ACTION

This should be some creative action  you are purposefully choosing to add to your life for the next 100 days. (It can also be a creativity-blocking action you'd like to DELETE from your life for the next 100 days.

• ANNOUNCE YOUR PROJECT

Post to Instagram every day for the next one hundred days, tagging your post with #The100DayProject and a unique hashtag so followers can instantly see your progress. Mine is #100DaysofBookplates.

• GET STARTED 

Technically, the challenge starts April 3rd, but you can jump in anytime. Don't stress about catching up. Remember, the goal is not to have a hundred end products, the goal is to build a creative habit.

What project should I choose?

Ask yourself
• What five-minute act of creation would have a lasting impact on my creative practice?
• What creative action is sustainable for the next one hundred days?
• What habit should I be adding to my daily creative routine?

Need more inspiration?  

Here are a few of the creators I'm following:

#100daysofvintageofficesupplies
#100daysofcolourstudy
#100dayspaintedpapercollage
#100daysofskyart
#The100DayProject_Jenmanship

InkTober 2017

Are you ready for the InkTober 2017 Challenge?

1. Grab pen and ink
2. Draw Stuff (Use or don't use the official prompt list)
3. Post it somewhere
4. Hashtag your art #InkTober and #InkTober2017
5. Love every minute

And Jake Parker will never tell you not to do digital ink. And no, I'm not a traditional media snob.
But this is an ink "challenge" so it's about drawing in "ink."

I don't get mad when people challenge themselves to use digital ink. But I don't understand them or their self-righteous ire.

I don't post centaurs during #mermay. I don't post black and white work for #colourcollective, and I don't post klingons during the #HobbitADay Challenge (Okay, I made that one up, but I'm considering it for my InkTober theme.)

So, yes! Let's celebrate your drawing successes during the month of October...but if you want to be a participant, then step away from the ipad, baby.

If you're still being your defiant, digital-ink little self, you can get free stuff from Autodesk Sketchbook in conjunction with this year's InkTober challenge.

ChaBooChaLite 2017

Just a reminder to write along with me during the Chapter Book Challenge Lite.

Grab a notebook and start writing!

Find details on the blog. Join us all this month, and cross that first draft off your 2017 to-do list.

Remember:
"The purpose of the first draft is not to get it right, but to get it written."
—John Dufresne

John has also written Is Life Like This? Buy it now, finish ChaBooChaLite, work through John's book from October to February, and you'll be ready for ChaBooCha, regularly scheduled in March...that's three drafts in eight months. Are you up for the challenge?

PiBoIdMo is now Storystorm

Followers of this blog will have noticed the absence of Picture Book Idea Month back in November. Founder Tara Lazar announced big changes, and those changes are here.

Storystorm is the new incarnation of PiBoIdMo. Instead of focusing on picture book ideas, Storystorm aims to inspire writers of all genres. Daily posts and oodles of prizes are the motivators for aspiring and published writers to spend the next thirty days brainstorming story ideas.



Storystorm, still striving for 30 ideas in 30 days
Logo courtesy S. Britt

There's still time to chase the idea storm.

• Grab a notebook.
• Register on Tara's blog before January 7.
• Read this month's posts from Deb Lund and Tara herself.
• Comment on each post to be entered in the drawings.

That's it! Remember to register and comment JUST ONCE per day to be eligible for the prizes. Honestly, I can't remember ever winning anything, but as a participant since 2012, I've collected hundreds of ideas and now I don't need a challenge to generate ideas. My brain is constantly on the lookout for story tidbits and I habitually fill my notebooks with story seeds.

Now I just need February to be Writingstorm so I can turn each of these shiny ideas into a manuscript.

Are you participating? Which challenges are you using to move your writing forward?

PiBoIdMo...Not

Normally I would announce it's almost time for Tara Lazar's Picture Book Idea Month. I would give advice on meeting your goal, how to get out of your comfort zone, or even how not to starve during the thirty days of idea-generating mania. But . . .

Subscribe here to keep up to date on the latest.

So we'll have to find something else to do with our writing time.

Let me know how you'll be spending your November in the comments below.

Inktober 2016

Happy InkTober!

 

Today is October first and the first day of the 2016 Inktober challenge founded by Mr. Jake Parker.

Find the challenge "rules" here

That's 31 drawings in ink (not digital!) Draw, share and done. Easy peasy.

This year you'll find my Inktober drawings on my Instagram account, "BookishAmbition"

 

Are you doing a theme this year?

I find using a theme for these challenges is too ...well...challenging. I prefer to pants it and see what happens.

Please leave links to your Instagram, Tumblr, blog, or Twitter feed: wherever you plan to post so I don't miss a single one.

Gearing Up For Inktober

Hit your local art supply store to stock up for this year's Inktober challenge.

I try to buy a new pen or colored ink or an unfamiliar paper to start the challenge. It loosens me up and lets me play.

I'd have loved to grab the exclusive collector box available from ArtSnacks. Have you seen it? Along with premium supplies, the kit includes an inky octopus print by Jake Parker. Just the inspiration one needs, don't you think?

Shop ArtSnacks for the Inktober box or monthly subscriptions.

Exclusive Inktober print by Jake Parker, Courtesy ArtSnacks

What are your great ideas to prep for Inktober?

2016 Reading Frenzy

50 Book Pledge sponsored by The Savvy Reader

I keep forgetting to post this. 

Each year I plan to read at least 50 new books during the year plus an additional 150 picture books. I exceeded both of those goals in 2015, and enjoyed some pretty amazing stories. (I finally read Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan and Sparky! was a favorite picture book discovery.) 

 

This year I've joined the 50 Book Pledge to help me keep track. I've also signed up on Goodreads, and have pledged to use that site this year. 
 

In addition, I plan to win one of  K. M. Weiland's books by finishing her 100 book challenge. (Picture books don't count.) I received her Structuring Your Novel for my birthday and can't wait to dive into it. If you're up for it, why not join us? What have you got to lose?

Have you set your reading goals for 2016?

Do you have a stack by your bed, or a list on Pinterest, or do you simply harvest from your local library?

Share your tips and goals in the comments and join me on Goodreads or 50BookPledge.

2016 Reading Challenge,
 sponsored by GoodReads

100 Book Challenge,
sponsored by K. M. Weiland

HoHoDooDa 4 & 5

Woefully behind for #illo_advent and HoHoDooDa. So I cheated. I drew the little giggly elf on Wednesday to practice his expression. But I like him so much more than the one in the final drawing I posted on Thursday night, that I decided to give him his own spot at no. 5.

Bring Out the Christmas Decorations
Graphite on paper, by Joanne Roberts

Thanks for looking.

Elf with the giggles, by Joanne Roberts

Don't forget to visit the other sketchers making merry for HoHoDooDa.

Special thanks to Linda Silvestri for designing this challenge.

Kittens Beneath The Tree

Napped all day instead of drawing. These kittens ought to be napping. I have a feeling this is what will happen to our gifts this year.

HoHoDooDa 3
Graphite on paper, by Joanne Roberts

I am keeping up on HoHoDooDa, but when will I catch up on the missed days? How are you faring?