One of the items on my grand 30 in 30 list was to participate in Thing-A-Day this year.

Thing-A-Day is a big online project encouraging people to take a few minutes out of their busy lives each day in February, and create something. Break out of the winter blahs by giving your creative side a chance to play, for half an hour a day. It’s not supposed to be symphonies and grand canvases – although my hat’s off to you if you can pull that off in 30 minutes – but more like poetry and sketches and craft projects.

I heard about this project through one of the message boards I very frequently frequent, and I spent a lot of time last year looking through all the amazing things my online friends were creating and feeling jealous that I didn’t have that creative spark. I often want to be creative, but my inner critic tells me to shut up and sit down before I ever get a chance to start. This year I’ve duct taped my critic and I’m going to jump in and create stuff. I am under no illusions that I will win any accolades for my work, but maybe by letting go and messing around with pencils and glue and paper for a few minutes every day this month, I can start a habit of being more creative. You don’t get good at something by watching others do it and then sighing and wishing you had their skills, after all.

I signed up on their site and I hope to be able to upload one project a day to add to their collection. I will probably post my creations here as well, except for those that are destined to be gifts for people, because I don’t like to ruin surprises! I’m nervous about sharing, because I have a horrendous fear of judgement and failure and general mocking, but I need to get over that sometime.

Have a look at the creations from last year on the Thing-A-Day 2010 site and think about whether you want to come along for this year’s ride.