Only 100 More To Go

Wow guys!!

It's hard to believe and it blows my mind to tell you this...

Today's #Kawaii365 project (pictured below) is already the 265th one!

Let's let that sink in for a moment. Today is March 31, 2017 and 265 days ago (already? wow!) on July 10 of 2016 - I decided to start a daily kawaii art blog. I was excited with my right brain, but had very little plan in my left brain. I was led by love and joy and instinct. Not knowing how this idea would be perceived, I started out with very simple ones and began leaving them in random places around Red Deer, Alberta where I live.


I didn't know if anyone would ever find them, or if they'd even care. I am still always pleasantly surprised when I hear from someone out of the blue who lets me know they found one and liked it. Here are some examples:

Gave these ornaments out at a restaurant before Christmas

Then I did a blog giveaway and met an amazing woman named Silvia, when she won!

Met an awesome sweet person named Alex, who is now a professional movie director.

The very author who inspired me, featured me on his blog after I let him know I love his book!

And if that exhilaration wasn't enough, since starting this daily art discipline (it is a form of discipline because my own integrity and accountability are on the line) I have done some amazingly awesome art events, via invite, in this awesome city Rob & I now call home. Well, that he calls home again. He adopted me from Calgary, lol.

This was done outside in downtown for Alberta Culture Days in October 2016

At Bo's Bar & Grill for Art Battle [International] Red Deer. March 2017

I've met a lot of amazing people along the way, from fellow artists such as Mike V. and hosts of awesome events, and even become good friends with some of the fans because without you awesome and sweet people, this blog would be moot. It's your love & support that keeps me motivated 💝

I've really changed as an artist and as a person.

Since starting this in July '16, I was unsure. Would I still feel motivated to continue right into 2017? Would I get bored, or would I run out of motivation? Well the answer is no. If anything, I still feel excited thinking about what I'm going to do for the next 100. And after tomorrow, it will be 99, and so on...

The days go by so fast, which means that I need to cherish each and every one, and really make sure that passion is evident in each piece of art I make, no matter how small or simple.

Another cool thing that happened to me (which I never thought would), is that suddenly my Etsy shop began leaning more toward Kawaii culture, and soon I began also selling online via Redbubble (that's a print-on-demand site where you can get some sweet tees and phone cases!)

You can see samples of my kawaii themed worked below:

www.darylartdigital.etsy.com

www.redbubble.com/people/kawaiinmore

It's kind of alarming to think back over the past 265 days, and then to look ahead to the next 100...

My husband asked a valid question recently:

"What are you going to do with the blog after the year is up?"

I hadn't given it much thought before, but I really love writing this blog each evening. I tend to be a very expressive person and love writing (I've been journaling for years). I also really enjoy Japanese and kawaii culture in general and get great joy from doing weekly reviews and features, so I will keep doing that as well. Not to mention our recent Japanese-inspired challenges which were fun (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

See the #KigurumiChallenge here

See the #KaraokeChallenge here

And there will be many more challenges to come to this blog soon. Fun is important, and there are now many studies on the role of playing and having fun, on the adult brain. So it's healthy ;D



And speaking of features - today is Friday so you know what that means!

Tonight we're featuring fellow BlogSpot Blogger who goes by TokyoBunnie - her name is Courtney Vickery and she hails from California (it's nice to see how popular kawaii culture has become in the USA). Sadly, her amazing, beautiful and organized blog seems to have come to an end on March 14 earlier this year. However it's for very good reason - after over a decade of being a collaborative part of the big kawaii community - Courtney runs two awesome shops and they're quite impressive!

One is called Bored Inc. and the other is called Dissent Club (with a more feminist bend to it). Primarily Courtney sells very attractive enamel pins and charms as seen below:



So as you can see, she has worked very hard to establish herself as a professional artist (it isn't easy, as there is lots of competition, rejection, sacrifice, and financial cost) - so please show Courtney some love and check her out! She's fabulous (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

Have a Kawaii Weekend!