24 Days of Making, Doing, and Being Starts Tomorrow!

Come for the promise of magic, stay for the permission to slow down.

Seasonal energy.

Hi everyone,

I am dropping in here with a quick reminder that the 7th annual edition of 24 Days of Making, Doing, and Being starts tomorrow.

This is a seasonal offering for paid subscribers, so if you’ve been debating on signing up, now is the time.

I know there are a lot of you here who are new to my work, and so you might have no idea what to expect. I’ll be sending the first day out to everyone tomorrow, so that you get a feel for what it’s like (since I know that “just trust me” isn’t really a great pitching strategy). As my friend

Jessie Kanelos Weiner

noted, her literary agent says, “assume no one knows who you are.”

With that in mind: if this is the first time you’re hearing about 24 Days of Making, Doing, and Being you can read a little more about it here, and here is a general FAQ page.

A papercut I made during last year’s Advent calendar.

For the next 3+ weeks this is going to be a little place of respite. I am hoping that it is going to feel calming, a little magical, and generative.

I decided to add a new thing this year. Part of me is very nervous to write this here, because it means that I am making the official commitment. But here we go… Every day is going to include an audio voiceover recorded by yours truly. I wanted to add this as an option because I know that sometimes reading a daily thing can feel a little overwhelming, so you’ll have the option to listen instead.

There, I wrote it down. So it means I’m committed.

What do you need to participate?

Yourself! There’s not really anything you “need” to have, but there will be some prompts and questions along the way, so a notebook might be nice.

The thing about seasonal traditions and rituals is that they are very personal, so I work at not being overly prescriptive in this calendar. However, if I have one ask it’s that you gift yourself a pocket of time every day to read or to listen, and then see where that gets you.

I’ll have these scheduled to go out very early my time (Pacific). There are so many of you here on different time zones, and while I can’t have this land perfectly for everyone, hopefully we all get into a nice rhythm wherever we are.

I always feel very nervous the day before kicking the calendar off. A bundle of nerves! It’s an act of pushing something unknown into the wind and seeing where it ends up. Which is all one can do when it comes to a creative endeavor. Or as Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, “we have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”

I’m so glad so many of you have already reached out to say that you are excited about it, and I’m so grateful to have you participating.

And with that… I’ll see you back here tomorrow!

-Anna

You can also gift a subscription!

HOLIDAY SHOP UPDATE

I did a holiday shop update this week, including the 2024 CSA (Community Supported Art) Shares which are live!

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

• I am teaching in-person on Saturday December 2nd for anyone who is local to the Puget Sound region.

• Virtual Papercutting for the Holidays workshops: Sunday December 3rd, 10 am to 12pm PT, and Tuesday December 12th, 6 to 8 pm PT, with Nordic Museum.

2024 RETREATS

• Creative Fuel bicycle edition in the San Juan Islands May 2024! Bikes, ferries, art, pastries! Registration now open.

• A creative retreat co-facilitated with artist Sarah Uhl June 2024 at Maple Grove Hot Springs. Registration opens December 4th.

• Squam Art Workshop next September at Squam Lake in New Hampshire. Registration just opened up.

Like what’s happening in this newsletter? You can support my work by becoming a paid subscriber, ordering something in my shop, attending one of my workshops or retreats, coming to a Creative Fuel Collective workshop, or buying one of my books. High fives and notes of inspiration are also accepted, or you can share this newsletter with a friend.