Monday, November 19, 2012

Day 308 :: Saturday November 3 :: Ottawa

Make something that you can only see properly from far away or at a great height.

This is a little weak really, but made this star off the side of the path where I went for a run earlier. I'm hoping it was visible from the other side of the canal!



Day 307 :: Friday November 2 :: Ottawa

Create something based on the shapes found in a plant in your immediate vicinity.

This is a rare time where I actually have a bouquet of flowers on my desk – yay reference! The centerpiece of the bouquet is a gorgeous sunflower. Have you ever stopped to take a good look at the centre of a sunflower? It's all perfect spirals from the centre outwards... very, very cool. This is my feeble attempt at the same type of spirals, using a variety of pop/juice cans and beer bottles. Not so bad really!



Day 306 :: Thursday November 1 :: Ottawa

What can you do with a pad of sticky notes?

The idea here was to cover a large area of wall with post-its then draw on them. However, the ones I got had weren't very sticky, and thus would fall randomly off the wall. This was about as large an area as I was able to cover (and I did pick up about half of these off the floor to re-stick them on the wall)... but as an aside, I do like how the random patterning of the notes looks a bit like fish scales.



Day 305 :: Wednesday October 31 :: Ottawa

Transform a piece of advertising so that is has a new message.

Happy Halloween! Years ago, my sister and I used erasers to 'deface' newspaper ads (it works soooo well!), so today was another little trip down memory lane as I turned this ad for Memorial University into one better suited to today. Fun!



Day 304 :: Tuesday October 30 :: Ottawa

Make chimes out of whatever material you like. They don't have to actually work.

I spent a big part of today's workday doing backups and archiving, and while doing this always end up with a few bad CDs. Fortunately, they were perfect to use as part of today's assignment!



Day 303 :: Monday October 29 :: Ottawa

Use the world of reptiles as your inspiration today.

Ugh... I didn't feel like carving my pumpkin, so instead I spent roughly an hour trying over and over to draw a realistic lizard eye on it before giving up – and adding this little snake to the  only side not already covered in Sharpie. Oh well. At least it's cute :P



Day 302 :: Sunday October 28 :: Ottawa

Work only with, or inspired by, boxes or bags from packaged food products today. If you don't have any on hand, get some from a friend.

A friend visited me this weekend, and we went out for pizza last night. The leftovers came back home with us in a box – which was gutted today to make a smaller, star-shaped box. Perfect!



Day 301 :: Saturday October 27 :: Ottawa

Pick a random date in history (day, month, year), research what happened that day, and make something inspired by the events.

What better date to research than today? I've just learned that October 27, 1275 is the traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam – which inspired this little doodle. For some reason, I was thinking of those drawings made with a single line earlier, so decided to attempt  today's assignment in that style. Yes, there was a planning stage on a piece of scrap paper first!



Day 300 :: Friday October 26 :: Ottawa

Make something in which the sense of touch is the essential component.

Day 300... DAY THREE HUNDRED! Wow... I can't believe I've made it this far, and am a little bit bummed that the end is so close. So of course, I had to work the number '300' in this assignment, here cut out in sheets of hot pink paper with soft, furry, stuffed animals showing through.



Day 299 :: Thursday October 25 :: Ottawa

Silversmith. Work only with silver materials today. Try working on a silver surface for a real challenge.

I knew right away that I wanted to use this shimmery silver card stock we have at work, but it took a lot longer to figure out what I would use on it. After toying with the idea of silver sharpie or silver press ink (mmm PMS 877!), I opted instead for coins. Honestly, I didn't set out to make a star – it's just that every other shape I attempted didn't really work out :P



Day 298 :: Wednesday October 24 :: Ottawa

Put it in reverse. Try doing a normal activity in reverse order and see what can be made from the results.

I had a hard time figuring out what to do for this assignment... It felt like most mundane activities just wouldn't work in reverse. Then I got home after a long day (made longer by an appointment on the other side of town after work) and while in the kitchen looking for something to eat it dawned on me – why not add cream cheese and jam to a bagel before toasting it? The result was warm, gooey and delicious :)


Day 297 :: Tuesday October 23 :: Ottawa

Make something out of or on glass. Any kind will do: lightbulb, window pane, television screen, etc.

I never thought I'd ever doodle on a lightbulb with a sharpie, but voilà!



Day 296 :: Monday October 22 :: Ottawa

Go someplace where you normally would never do something creative and work there today.

I usually start work at 8am, but on those rare days where I have a later start (like today!), I like to stop by the grocery store (which incidentally opens at 8) on my morning walk to work and pick up an apple or something to complement my lunch. So what better place to attempt a creative assignment? The store was very quiet, and I walked around a bit first, looking at products on shelves and hoping for ideas. I settled on making a pattern of sorts by rotating tuna cans... It's a bit subtle, but I was also working quickly in hopes of avoiding being 'caught' by an employee or other customer. I left the pattern behind, paid for my apple and went on my way.


Day 295 :: Sunday October 28 :: Ottawa

Write a letter to a fictional character. Bonus: If it is a character from a book, leave the letter in a copy of the book in a library or bookstore.

So... tired... Slept almost the whole way back from Hamilton, but still exhausted :/ I admit to feeling a bit silly doing this – but I wrote my letter to Karou, the main character in Daughter of smoke and bone, the novel I'm currently reading. I feel a kinship with her – she has blue hair, tattoos and likes to draw; and some situations in the book remind me of current events in my life. But because when I'm this tired emotions tend to run a bit closer to the surface, I've decided to keep the contents of the letter off the blog. I'll decide within the next few days if a copy of it will be included in the book when I return it to the library... but don't hold your breath :P



Day 294 :: Saturday October 20 :: Hamilton, ON

Make something that is normally portable into something that isn't anymore (or at least seems that way).
Make your cleats fly.

On, that's easy! You just add cute little silver wings to the sides, and voilà – instant speed +1, hang time +2. Love it!!



Day 293 :: Friday October 19 :: Ottawa

Get salty! Use salt as your medium or inspiration today. One idea is to make an image on a dark surface by pouring it out and arranging it with your hands or other tools.

Since I'm hopping on the bus to Toronto later, I thought it fitting to do a little Greyhound logo out of salt :)



Day 292 :: Thursday October 18 :: Ottawa

Be square. Work only with squares today (or make a giant square with a bunch of objects).

I realize that I may start to sound like a broken record, but tonight I'm packing for yet another ultimate weekend away – this time in Hamilton. The bunch of objects in the shape of a square that you are below is this weekend warrior's gear!



Day 291 :: Wednesday October 17 :: Ottawa

Make somewhere outdoors seem like it is indoor.

Here's a tiny, white, minimalistic living room setting – photographed in the alley behind my work. This was really easy/fun to make!



Day 290 :: Tuesday October 16 :: Ottawa

Write a short love song about a pet (yours or someone else's). Bonus: Perform it for friends or in public!

The easy part was finding a suitable pet (my friends' Brent and Julie's dog, Chelsea, makes another appearance!); then it took longer figuring out which song to use than re-writing the lyrics!

To the tune of 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars'
It's a beautiful day

I'm looking for something fun to do
Hey Chelsea
I think I wanna play with you

Is it the look in your eyes
Or is it your nice soft fur
Who cares Chelsea
I think I wanna play with you

Well I know this little park down the street we can go oh oh oh
Bring a frisbee oh oh oh
Oh, run along, girl
I will throw it long all day 
You will fetch, panting away
It'll be great, yeah

Back home I'll give you a treat
You'll couch cuddle with me
And we'll stay all night like this
Warm and cozy
With you Chelsea, 'cause

It's a beautiful day
I'm looking for something fun to do
Hey Chelsea
I think I wanna play with you





Friday, November 16, 2012

Day 289 :: Monday October 15 :: Ottawa

Role reversal. Do someone else's job for part of the day and create something at their workplace or based on the experience.

I partly failed at this, but only due to work circumstances... I wanted to do some ink mixes for our small press, but wouldn't you know – only our large 4-colour press was in operation today, and its four colours come ready to apply. Boo. On the bright side, this was created in the workplace so all is not lost. It's a little recipe card for mixing Pantone 289 (since it's today's day!) should you happen to have some base inks lying around.




Monday, November 12, 2012

Day 288 :: Sunday October 14 :: Kitchener-Waterloo, ON

Make something inspired by your favorite television show.

Hmm, I'm not too sure which show I'd call my favorite, but I sure do watch a bit of embarrassing tv :P Since the Red Bull Stratos was in progress when we got to the restaurant for lunch, I opted instead to commemorate the event using some of my delicious steak salad. This shows a steak helium balloon, carrot ties and strawberry capsule :)



Day 287 :: Saturday October 13 :: Kichener-Waterloo, ON

Create an anagram (a word or phrase made by rearranging all of the letters in an existing word or phrase) of your name and illustrate it in some way.

I first gave this a go with my first am last name, then added my middle name to the mix. Eventually, I settled on using my first and middle name, and wouldn't you know, it can be anagramed to 'I've seen Ravage'! I should mention that i was a huge fan of the original Transformers cartoon as a kid, and Decepticon panther/tape Ravage was one of my favorites – so this anagram is particularly cool.



Day 286 :: Friday October 12 :: Highway 401

Do something in which silence is an essential component.

On the road again, this time to Kitchener-Waterloo for Oktoberfest! An essential part of any road trip is the nap, perfected here by Tim. Note the creative use of the hoodie to block out the sun! Sandra and I felt like waking him up in an unusual way (loud music? Smelling salts? Cymbals?) would be fun, but in the end we just let him sleep. Tim, you can thank us later ;)



Day 285 :: Thursday October 11 :: Ottawa

Work with disposable plastic utensils you (or someone you know) have been given recently.

I cheated... I picked up some plastic cutlery along with my morning bagel at Kettleman's this morning :/ This isn't very inspired, mostly due to lack of time – have to pack tonight as I'm back on the road tomorrow.



Day 284 :: Wednesday October 10 :: Ottawa

Make something that looks like it has been turned inside out.

I present: a three-step process to turning 'something' inside out.



Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Day 283 :: Tuesday October 9 :: Ottawa

Make something that makes a sound on its own. Bonus: Record it and make something with the recording!

I came back to town on the red-eye bus last night – thankfully getting in a bit early, meaning I was able to take a short nap before going to work. However, I did sleep only about four hours last night (yet still made it to the gym after work, yay) and couldn't wait to go back to bed tonight... meaning today's 'something that makes a sound on its own' is me. Snoring loudly. And there's no way that I'm recording that :)



Monday, November 5, 2012

Day 282 :: Monday October 8 :: Mississauga, ON

Use a toothbrush and/or toothpaste as the central component of, or inspiration for, what you do today.

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm celebrating with friends today as my family is a little too far :( Toothbrushes and toothpaste were definitely used post-massive turkey dinner, but I thought it would be more fun to add one to my second serving of pumpkin pie.



Day 281 :: Sunday October 9 :: Mississauga, ON

Imagine you are an animal and work as that animal would today (using four legs and a tail, with flippers, underwater, etc.). 

Take a cute picture of two bearded dragons sleeping.

Hmm, okay!


And a related funny story – I'm spending Thanksgiving with a friend's family, and my basement futon is set up between the bearded dragon enclosure and an aquarium. At night, the crickets (future bearded dragon dinner!) and the noise from the aquarium's water pump make it sound like i'm sleeping beside a river. Fun! :)   


Day 280 :: Saturday October 6 :: Ottawa

Work with balloons, inflated or deflated. You could even use one as the base for papier-mâché, cover it in glue-coated string (let dry, then pop the balloon), or...?

Okay, I admit these are not balloons. They just look like them! They are the table favours from a good friend's wedding, and as much as I would have loved to try the glue-coated string idea, it will have to wait for another day. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness, Gord and Jess! :)



Day 279 :: Friday October 5 :: Ottawa

Be monumental. Make a monument to a mundane event, place, or person. Create a design for it or actually build it.

Ode to Friday : a pint glass monument made out of a beer pack box.



Day 278 :: Thursday October 4 :: Ottawa

Create something inspired by a piece of spam e-email you (or something you know) has recently received.

Time to put those 'claim your Nigerian inheritance!' spam emails to good use! This giant novelty cheque (size: 36x16.5 inches!) was so much fun to make, and maybe I'll take it to the bank and see what happens... Haha!


Day 277 :: Wednesday October 3 :: Ottawa

If you could do or be anything in the world, what would it be? Make something as if you were actually doing or being it.

I can't wait for winter to be here... I miss snowboarding! And yes, that's a snowboard-shaped USB drive :)


Day 276 :: Tuesday October 2 :: Ottawa

Flip through an almanac or spin a globe and put your finger on a random location. Then research the place and make something based on it.

I don't have either an almanac or a globe... but was thinking back to my trip to Italy last year... so I made myself some leftover italy-inspired pasta for a late night snack. It was perfect with a San Pellegrino, and only missing some gelato for dessert.