I’ve mentioned a few times that last month I took Braid Creative’s ecourse on personal branding (and it was awesome! Seriously, do it.) One of the things that they cover in there is ways to share with your audience, and one of the ideas is sharing through the lens of a passion project or an experiment. It got me thinking about the experiments and passion projects that I’ve done on the blog.
Some of the ones that I can remember are In This Place, Channeling, and even my month of salad experiment. Most recently I did the Creative Cleanse in February, which I really enjoyed but haven’t really kept up with.
Thinking about how much fun I had with those past projects, I knew I wanted to do something like that again, but this time I wanted to do it on a longer-term scale. Most of those projects have 5 or less posts each. I wanted something that could be bigger than that.
I got to thinking about having a creative exercise built into my weekly routine. Something that I could spend 15 to 30 minutes on and be creative. Work with my hands. Oh yeah- and I wanted it to be something that makes other people happy. Not just another piece of paper that I was reluctant to throw away because I might repurpose it later (when we moved it became very apparent how big of an issue that is for me.)
So that’s how I came up with Lettered Letters.
You see, I love lettering. But it’s not something that I do very much. It’s something I want to get better at, and we all know that only happens through practice.
I’m also not the best at staying in touch. At reaching out to people I care about or appreciate just because.
So here are my rules:
1. I’m sending 100 letters in a year. That’s about 1 every 3.5 days. I think I can do that. My deadline is September 1, 2014, so it’s time to get busy!
2. I will not overthink this. Analysis paralysis is something I suffer from a lot. These are quick, fun little notes that I will send to people, just for fun. So no second guessing whether it’s “good enough” or whether someone will think it’s weird or dumb. Just popping it in the mail, and knowing that they’ll be happy I thought of them. End of story.
Those are the only rules. I’m sticking to KISS for this project (keep it simple, stupid) in hopes that the simplicity of it will help me keep it up.
Want to join in? I’m using the hashtag #letteredletters on Twitter and Instagram to share my progress with you guys. I’ll also be sharing these on the blog in groups of 4. I’d love for you guys to send some of your own letters!
How about you? Have you ever shared an experiment or a passion project on your blog? Or do you think you’ll join me in this one?!
I LOVE this idea! I recently bought some cute greeting cards that were on clearance at Target, and I keep thinking about how I want to send some to my friends–sending letters through the mail is such a lost art! I would love to join you on this project, and talk about it on my blog as well, if that’s okay!
Definitely! I didn’t really think the whole “others participating” thing through- I might have to come up with a way to showcase everyone who participates! Either way, GO FOR IT! :)
Whoo! What an awesome project! Can’t wait to see how you grow after a year of lettering. Coming from experience with that whole ‘just start practicing,’ it’s really exciting to dive in and keep on learning as you go. Excited to follow along! Annnnnd, if you’re looking for someone to send a letter to….wink wink ;)
Haha oh it’s on ;)
Such a fun idea for a project! It’ll be interesting to look back on it when a year’s up!
I love this idea! No such thing as sending too much love to loved ones, right? I also read a fun idea recently that I might steal: every time you make something paper-crafty, use the scraps (which are already coordinated anyway!) and make a quick greeting card. I may need to combine these two ideas and get my creative-self to wake up and get busy! :)
I love hand lettering. Your blog was one of the first ones that informed me that it is an actual art form. I didn’t know what to call it before… I just would tell people that I loved writing by hand. My university friends are all over the country and so I try to send out cards for special occasions. And actually I think I have more fun making & sending! :)
One of my 24 before 24 goals (a list I just posted today!) is to send mail to 10 different people for no specific reason or occasion, so I will definitely be sending some letters of my own! :) I love snail mail.
Lovely! I’m patiently waiting for 50 kraft cards + envelopes + a calligraphy pen set to show up in the mail. Really excited about your passion project and I might join in and # right along with you. Thanks for inspiring us.
Love this idea! Great inspiration. Can’t wait to see this through the year!
LOVE this idea! Looking forward to following along both here and on instagram!