Day 249 :: Wednesday September 5 :: Ottawa

Make something out of or inspired by popcorn – popped, unpopped or both.

Mmm popcorn! This popcorn star didn't last long after this picture was taken!

Day 248 :: Tuesday September 4 :: Ottawa

Open a random drawer where you live or work and create something with just the contents.

Since I only have three drawers at home, which all contain clothes, this one was perfect for work. I chose a drawer from our front reception area. It contained a bunch of electronic response cards (we sell them to university students), which I tried to make into a 'card castle' of sorts, but unfortunately their individual weight meant that a second story wasn't possible!

Day 247 :: Monday September 3 :: Ottawa/Brockville

Hide and seek. Make something that someone else has to find. Provide a map or clues to lead seekers to the location where it's hidden.

The tables were turned on me with this assignment today! Boyfriend needed a particular item from Home Depot for the continuing home renos. Unfortunately, today is Labour Day... which means that the closest open location is an hour's drive away in Brockville. So armed with a map and photos, I set off on my own on this treasure hunt of sorts. It was a fun drive, and hunting down the various items in the warehouse-sized store wasn't for the faint of heart!

The map:

The loot (yay stock image... i forgot to take a photo of it before the box got destroyed later in the day. Oops!)

Day 246 :: Sunday September 2 :: Ottawa

Use a sewing machine or a needle and thread. If you've sewn before, try a new technique. If you've never sewn before, don't be daunted – it's not hard to do a basic running stitch.

My little sister came up with the idea to use the needle as a spider – super crafty! This web was made on the back of a white tank top, meaning that its days are sadly numbered.

Day 245 :: Saturday September 1 :: Ottawa

Defy gravity. Create the illusion that the world has been turned sideways or upside down, or that something is floating.

It's my little sister's birthday today! To celebrate (and since she lives two provinces that way), we had a nice, fun, loooong phone chat this morning. Among other things discussed was today's creative assignment! Sis's suggestion was to use a helium balloon and weight it in such a way that it would be perfectly balanced in mid-air. Sounds like fun – so that's what i did. As a little bonus, after taking the balanced-in-mid-air picture, i removed the extra weight from the ziplock bag (now containing only a little note saying "found me? email me!") before releasing the balloon into the sky. I watched it as it rose higher and higher... before finally disappearing.

Day 244 :: Friday August 31 :: Ottawa

Get framed. Make or buy a frame and use it to showcase something that already exists so people can see it in a new way.

As a graphic designer, I love my Pantone swatches and can sometimes be a bit of a colour snob... I *heart* bright saturated colours! So for this assignment, I made a little frame à la Pantone swatch then photographed it framing various colours. Fun!

Day 243 :: Thursday August 30 :: Ottawa

Make a postage stamp or make something out of stamps. Bonus: Mail it! (Be sure to put real postage on there too, so as not to annoy the post office!)

Remember yesterday's envelope? Today, I mailed it! And what better what to do so than by using a few dozen 25 cent stamps? ;)

Day 242 :: Wednesday August 29 :: Ottawa

Use only markers as your material or inspiration today. You can draw with them, or they can be used as construction material, or...?

My little sister's birthday is coming up soon, which means I get to mail her a present! I love mailing things, and part of the fun is taking a plain boring white padded envelope and transforming it into a mini work of art – so today's assignment was perfect! My sister loves all things piratey, and doodling this pirate ship with a black Sharpie was the most fun thing I did today :)

 (PS. Yes, Ontario ultimate fans, that was heavily inspired by/an ode to YARRR'S jersey!)

Day 241 :: Tuesday August 28 :: Ottawa

Make up a new sport and convince others to play it with you.

This one really had me stumped, and I spent the major part of the day wondering what on earth I would come up with... until it hit me. Why not take my favorite summer sport, ultimate, and combine it with my favorite winter sport, snowboarding? The resulting sport is called 'snoltimate'! It consists of teams of two snowboarders, passing a frisbee back and forth while riding downhill. The winning team is the one who completes the most passes while making it down to the finish line first. As for trying it out... many of my ultimate friends snowboard, so I'm sure it'll be done as soon as we have snow on the ground!

Day 240 :: Monday August 27 :: Ottawa

Make something with disposable chopsticks. Or make unique chopsticks our of something else and try them out!

Ironically enough, boyfriend surprised me at lunchtime and we ate at the Vietnamese restaurant across the street from my work – but they only had those reusable plastic chopsticks! So I had to wait until I got home late tonight... and with my last shreds of energy I used chopsticks to put my hair up. Bedtime!

Day 239 :: Sunday August 26 :: Ottawa

Desaturate. Create the illusion that the color has been removed from something so that it looks like a black-and-white photograph.

League finals today! After winning both our games (yay us!), I requested a volunteer and Christiane stepped up! As you can see, below are two photos. Both were shot in colour – but for the second one, her clothing was swapped and the shot overexposed. Not perfect, but close!

Day 238 :: Saturday August 25 :: Ottawa

Make a mural, big or small, with any medium you like. Make it on fabric or paper if you don't have a wall to use or can't get permission to make a permanent one somewhere.

As tempting as it was to get some spray paint and 'decorate' the brick walls in the alley behind my work (would probably have blended in with the graffiti that pops up now and then), I opted to go the easier route and use markers on a printed image of a brick wall. As fun, less messy :P

Day 237 :: Friday August 24 :: Ottawa

Make a unique bookmark. Bonus: Leave it in a book at a library or bookstore for someone to find.

As a rule, I tend to use non-traditional bookmarks, often reusing the same object for months. My current bookmark is the price tag from a Burton tuque bought two winters ago – the tag has a little doodle of a snowboarder on it that I absolutely love!

This said, today's bookmarks (yup, i made two identical ones!) are a shameless promo for my one-a-day project. I currently have two library books at home, and will be sure to slide one between the pages of each book before returning them.

Day 236 :: Thursday August 23 :: Victoria/Toronto/Ottawa

Carry something with you all day – preferably something you've made – and document it in a variety of locations.

I was originally supposed to fly out from Victoria last night, but due to the flight being oversold I'm only returning to Ottawa today. This short delay was perfect for today's assignment, and I had a blast with this little stuffed orca whale bought at the airport gift shop (it was much better than anything I could have made in my sleepy state)! Let's see its adventures:

12:20 am (PST) – We start by getting ready for bed at the Best Western Emerald Isles. It will be a short (but comfortable) night!

5:35 am – Oh, look! Our flight to Toronto is on time. 

6:22 am – "Is this one ours?"

6:39 am – All set and ready to fly!

6:42 am – Let's look out the window again. It's more fun!

2:20 pm (EST) – We made it to Pearson!

2:38 pm – "Do you think i can drive this cart? Will i get into trouble?"

4:26pm – Home sweet Ottawa!

6:53 pm – Finally... food that isn't from an airport or airplane!!!! 

Day 235 :: Wednesday August 22 :: Ucluelet, BC

Use only the human body (your own and/or your friends') to make something today.

Sadly, today is my last day of holidays... We left Tofino this morning, and decided to stop in Ucluelet for a nice ocean-side hike before returning to Victoria for my evening flight. The views were truly spectacular – I'm always surprised how the nature on the west coast and east coast are so different – and we stopped every few steps to take pictures. There are a lot of totem poles around this area, and what could be more fun than creating our own versions? Thanks to Ryan 'Corners' and Loughlin for their help!

Day 234 :: Tuesday August 21 :: Tofino, BC

Make alternative labels (name tags, can labels, descriptive stickers, museum tags) for things in your home and use them. Bonus: Get permission to do this in a public space, such as a store as well.

You can't be in Tofino without going surfing – which is exactly what we did today! To celebrate today's lesson that 'pro surfer' is not a viable career choice, here's my rental surfboard, 'Sea Urchin', along with a fun beachy label!

Day 233 :: Monday August 20 :: Tofino, BC

Create a portmanteau (a new word created by sticking together parts of two preexisting words, whose meaning is basically a blend of the two original words. Ex: spoon + fork = spork) and use it.

We left Victoria today, destination Tofino! On the way, we stopped at a grocery store. Teammate Julie suggested that we pick up some celebrity magazines to 'brush up on gossip while on the beach', and by the time we were at our rental beach house, they were officially dubbed 'ragazines'. This didn't take very long to catch, to the general amusement of everyone in the house!

Day 232 :: Sunday August 19 :: Victoria, BC

Make a cloud, or make something inspired by clouds. 

Slept in this morning, then rushed off to watch CUC's mixed and women's division finals. It was really fun, but a bit bittersweet as this is the official end of the tournament, and time to say goodbye to friends from other teams that i don't get to see that often :( Dinner was delicious fish and chips at Fisherman's Wharf... and next thing you know, it was time to pack as i'm leaving Victoria tomorrow. There was a lot of reminiscing/daydreaming happening during packing, so with my head in the clouds, i quickly made this cloud using our white bedspread.

Day 231 :: Saturday August 18 :: Victoria, BC

Create a new superhero. What are his/her/its powers? What does the costume look like? Bonus: Dress up as that character!

My teammate Josh Tai has earned the funny yet unfortunate nickname 'Angry Asian' at some point over the course of the season, and we were musing earlier that it would make a good superhero name. He then gave me permission to use/amend this 'i'm rolling my calves so they don't hurt so much anymore' photo to turn him into today's superhero! Thanks Josh!

For the curious: BFC lost by 2 points in the placement bracket final, meaning we take home the coveted 10th place. With Nationals in the books for us, we hit the party and had a blast dancing up a storm while mingling with friends from other teams. A great ending to a fun tournament.

Day 230 :: Friday August 17 :: Victoria, BC

Make a container, such as a bowl, bottle, cup or box. What would It be used for? It doesn't have to be functional. Bonus: Document it in use, functional or not.

Yup, i'm still at Nationals... cheering for my team is taking all my free time, so this isn't very creative – a frisbee is always the container of choice during a tourney. Of course, it is what I'm using today as a field food container!

For the curious: BFC went 1-2 today, meaning we play in the 9-16 placement bracket tomorrow. Not the result we wanted, but we're still going to give it our all!

Day 229 :: Thursday August 16 :: Victoria, BC

Work with or be inspired by a bicycle or parts from one.

Two major things happen during an ultimate tournament: playing and eating. Since it's hard to execute something non-ultimate related while playing, I made this little bicycle out of traditional field food: bagels and bananas. Delicious!

For the curious: BFC went 1-2 today, winning our first game easily; losing a hotly contested second game by one point; and a second loss in our last game of the day. We will lick our wounds tonight and bring it tomorrow! 

Day 228 :: Wednesday August 15 :: AC163 – somewhere over Canada!

Transform a room into a new environment – temporarily or permanently!

And we're off to Victoria, BC for the Canadian Ultimate Championships! This said, what better room to transform/make myself at home in than the airplane bathroom? :) A big thanks to Brent for providing the toiletries, as mine were in my checked luggage.

Day 227 :: Tuesday August 14 :: Ottawa

Be balanced. Work with the weights of things to create something that's perfectly balanced on a small point. Extra credit: Document it falling apart when it is pushed or otherwise made to be off-balance.

Leaving for Nationals bright and early tomorrow, meaning tonight i have to pack! It was a fun break to balance some ultimate essentials on a field marker cone – a cleat on the left, field food/energy chews/gels on the right, all contained within a frisbee of course :)