Random Acts of Craftiness Challenge: Are you in?

What happens when you breed crafting with blogging and random household items and brain exercises? You get the Random Acts of Craftiness Challenge, obviously.

…whiiiiich might be as mutated and genetically deformed as one might expect a quatro-breeding experiment to be; however, sometimes the bizarre is the most fun. And while I am not usually a proponent of genetic super-mutations that cause things like four pinky toes and hairy tongues, I do like fun. And, friends, you can get in on the genetically-bizarre fun, too. (I’m sure you’ve always dreamed of being part of something like that, no?)

Here’s how it will work:

1. Receive the challenge. Beginning in September, you will receive an item challenge at the beginning of the month. Twelve months, twelve items. These items will not be the once-random-but-now-seen-everywhere blogland fodder, like paint chips. Rather, these items will not yet have been widely acknowledged as potential craft items, like chain, or dice, or toothbrushes, for example. (Are you scared yet?)

2. Share your project. On the last Friday of each month, you will share the project that you made using the item.  The only rule is that whatever you come up with can’t be a direct copy of something that has already been done, or at least as far as you are aware. There is obviously nothing wrong with amazing ideas that other people have had, but this challenge is about trying NEW things and stretching ourselves to look at everyday products more creatively. Don’t worry: I am choosing items accordingly so that there is less potential for your brain to be stifled by the “already done.” I know how that goes.

3. Celebrate with the other participants. I’ll have a preset list of participating links that you can copy into the end of your own post so that guests can hop from one creation to the next, and so can you.

4. Repeat! If you dare. ;)

You might be sitting there thinking:

1. But Erin, what if I fail or my project turns out less than stellar? No problem. You don’t need to worry about achieving perfection each month. Honestly, sometimes fails make the best stories. We can all laugh together! (Still scared? Please read this post about why you CAN and SHOULD do this.)

2. But Erin, I know there will be a couple months when I’ll be too busy to participate. Again, no problem. As long as you’re in for the majority, we’ll let you stick around. ;)

3. But Erin, I’m shy or new to your blog and you don’t know who I am. Say it with me: no problem! I’d love for this to be an opportunity to get to know some other bloggers a little better, so if you're thinking you’d like to join in, please don’t be bashful. (coughcraftylurkersahem) I promise I don’t bite, and, to my knowledge, neither do the other bloggers who have already said they’re in.

4. But Erin, that mention of hairy tongues totally grossed me out. My apologies.

To join in (hooray!) or if you have any questions like whether or not toothbrushes are actually going to be making an appearance in this challenge: Email me at emuff25@gmail.com OR use the contact tab above OR leave a comment below, as long as your email address is linked to your comment somehow so I can respond and keep you in the loop.

I can’t wait to get started! :)

UPDATE: Due to the unexpected level of interest, the whole “sign up” and “we’ll keep everyone in an email loop” is no longer manageable. That’s GOOD, though! From now on, information will just be disseminated via my blog. And you can still join in on the fun—just keep an eye out for more information! The post with the juicy details will go live on Monday, 8/6!