Bobbie put out a call last week for DIY (do-it-yourself) projects involving upcycling – using materials that might otherwise be thrown out, and using them in new and interesting ways.
Here’s the email I sent her and her producers, which will also sum up the project for you:
Hi Bobbie and The Today Show,
A couple of months ago I started a project that’s a lovely compliment to upcycling old stuff into new stuff. It’s called Mighty Ugly, and the gist is that you take a couple of hours and some supplies that would otherwise end up in the trash, and you make a totally hideous creature. Why? Because we put so much pressure on ourselves to create beautiful (cute, pretty, attractive) things, and that pressure can be totally paralyzing.
By using scraps, we remove any inclination we may have to consider our materials precious. By making something ugly, we challenge our general crafty mindset but also set ourselves free – which is especially awesome for people who don’t consider themselves crafty in the first place.
There’s no pattern, and you can use any materials you want. Just make an ugly creature. It’s pretty amazing that almost everyone who’s taken one of my workshops ends up saying they’ll keep their ugly creature. The people who come in saying they’re intimidated by making stuff leave with a spring in their step, and the crafty people overcome feeling threatened and end up feeling inspired.
You can see some examples and hear some stories from crafty people at http://mightyugly.com. Attached is a photo of Shoshana, the mascot of the project.
Thanks for your consideration!
Cheers,
Kim
Take a look around the site, and set aside a couple of hours to make something ugly. Then take some photos and drop us a line and tell us about your experience. We bet a hundred ugly crocheted scarves you’ll enjoy yourself, or at the very least you’ll think about crafting from a new perspective.
Keep up with people’s stories and our musings by subscribing to this blog, or by following us on Twitter and/or Facebook.
If you live in the Vancouver, BC, area, we’ll be starting up with workshops again in September.
This is so what I’m talking about, people. The trailer gave me chills, after all I’ve been thinking about after the Summit of Awesome (more on that soon!), and about where I see this project going (to great heights, that’s for sure!). I’m going to see this as soon as I can. Have you seen it?
Beautiful Losers celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential cultural movements of a generation. In the early 1990′s a loose-knit group of like-minded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the “establishment” art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from, have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.
It’s hard to believe the Summit of Awesome has come and gone. I hadn’t been sure what to expect in the weeks leading up to it; I just knew I’d pack Shoshana and all the Mighty Ugly gear into the trunk of my car because it’s too much to take on the train with my own luggage, and then we’d see how it all played out. I knew I’d love seeing my crafty Portland friends, and I hoped I’d make some new ones. I wasn’t sure if people would enjoy an ugly workshop. I was excited to meet Jena Coray and to lead a session with her. I thought for weeks and weeks about how to structure my own session.
And dude, the Summit really was awesome. All of it. Every part of it. Y’all should go pay some love to the people at Hello Craft, who put on the conference. They’re amazing.
I have so much to write about my trip that I’ve decided just to keep it thematic. Mighty Ugly stuff here, the other stuff on my blog. Sorry to make you go to both places, but it was too daunting to do all in one piece!
Participants in the workshop session really seemed to enjoy themselves. I can’t wait to process the videos. When I do I’ll blog about them here, so for now, take a look at some pics from the session (clicking the link in the caption will take you to that full photo on Flickr).
On Friday, I gave a talk titled Taking the Pressure Off: When Ugly Is Mighty. Lemme tell ya, so many things fell into place for me during the session. So a huge thank-you to all the participants who journeyed with me through that. I loved talking with you all about how we hold ourselves back and how we might benefit from some ugly in pushing ourselves forward. I hope you’ll keep me posted on any adventures you embark upon! And stay tuned here for some fleshing-out of ideas. I have lots to write about.
The post I write on my blog is going to be longer and more rambly. Head on over there for more on the Summit of Awesome. And say hello if we met there! I miss you already.
Shoshana and I are in Portland, OR! The Summit of Awesome is, well, awesome. And since it’s a crafts conference, we get to hand-make pretty much everything. First up: our name badges. And since I’m leading two Mighty Ugly sessions, I figured I’d make my name badge ugly. It was way harder than I’d anticipated! And it took well over an hour.
I wish I had more time to write, but I have to get going – breakfast’s in half an hour. More photos and words to come!
His focus is on business – on how it’s good to create a business culture that celebrates the learning and innovation that can result from mistakes – but I think the attitude he’s promoting is just as important in the rest of life. We have to be easier on ourselves. When we are, we can accept that we screw up sometimes, and we can learn more easily from our screw-ups.
It wasn’t just on a whim that I made the tag-line of this project “where failure’s kinda pretty.” I’ve spent years talking to way too many crafters who say they’re afraid to mess up their projects. One of my many goals with Mighty Ugly is to turn failure on its head so we can all get more comfortable seeing the (sometimes bountiful) benefits in it.
My favourite part of Kjerulf’s post is the quote from James Dyson, inventor of the wildly expensive, life-changing vacuum we recently brought into our dog-fur-infested home:
We’re taught to do things the right way. But if you want to discover something that other people haven’t, you need to do things the wrong way. Initiate a failure by doing something that’s very silly, unthinkable, naughty, dangerous. Watching why that fails can take you on a completely different path. It’s exciting, actually.
[Hat tip to @the99percent, one of my new favourite Twitter feeds.]
At last night’s workshop at Plush, one of the participants made a fish – a pretty gnarly looking fish she named Mightia Uglianus. She was inspired by World Oceans Day, which is a UN-designated oceans conservation day held on June 8th every year. Her message is, well, grim:
She’s not the first participant to channel her anxiety about the state of our natural world into her creature. Here’s Pam’s video from the workshop last month:
Have you channeled your fears, feelings or anxieties into things you create?
Just a reminder, dear uglies, that the next workshop is Monday, June 7th, from 7-9PM at Plush on Main in Vancouver. It’s filling up, so if you’ve been holding off, now’s the time to register!
What: Create a hideous creature, thus using your brain and your creativity in shiny new ways, while chatting with others and getting your craft on (no crafts experience necessary!).
How much: $35 (includes all supplies, use of tools, and pointers if you want ‘em)
Who: You. And me. And bring a friend. And make some new ones.
Register: Please contact Barbara at 604-708-5199 or barbara@plushonmain.com to reserve your spot (only 12 spots available!).
Note: Because Plush’s workroom is used for serious work, no food or drinks are permitted. Please grab a bite to eat before you come. You’ll be so focused on creating your ugly you’d forget to munch, anyway.
Shoshana and I are going to hit the road in a couple of weeks, with a trunkful of Mighty Ugly. We’re chill and modest, so we’re thinking of it as our INTERNATIONAL DEBUT.
The Summit of Awesome is an annual conference that brings together crafters and makers from across the U.S. to learn, grow, and be prosperous in this ever-changing economy.
The sessions strike a good balance between business and crafts, and I’ll be leading three of them:
Mighty Ugly: Challenge Yourself to Make Some Ugly – Without even realizing it, since we were kids we’ve taken on some major pressure to create pretty, good-looking, cute, and dare I say even perfect things. When we have a tough time of it, sometimes we give up. We limit our crafting to the techniques and mediums we feel most confident with. We judge ourselves harshly enough that we even feel great stress. Well let’s turn all that upside-down, shall we? Come spend an hour making a creature that’s hideous. On purpose. Free your mind. Giggle nervously. Relax into the safety of failure, which in this case is kinda pretty. It’s the Mighty Ugly project, and it’s time you took the challenge.
How to Pitch a Magazine or Blog (with Jena Covey) – Every crafty entrepreneur loves press coverage, but you can’t wait for the press to find you – you have to knock right on the virtual door of media outlets and introduce yourself! We’ll discuss how to pitch your shop and products to blogs and magazines: which publications you should pitch to, the dos and don’ts to include in your intro email, what to expect, how to follow up, how to approach an editor or blogger about writing an article or a guest post, and much more. You’ll find the confidence you need to get out there and start showing the press how awesome you are!
Taking the Pressure Off: When Ugly is Mighty – Ever have crafts block? The ideas dry up, even when you feel huge pressure to be making things for business or just for fun. Ever have an idea for a new product, but you can’t quite seem to make it look or feel right? Of course you have. As crafters, we spend much of our time striving for beauty and even for perfection, and we avoid the squirmy uncomfortableness that comes with exploring beauty’s nasty underbelly: hideousness. So let’s talk about ugly stuff. If we allow ourselves to go there, we can end up inspired in ways we never imagined, fearless and fuelled up to create magnificently beautiful things. That’s what this talk is about. You should come.
If you’re going to the Summit, make sure to say hello to Shoshana – it’ll be her first time across the border, and she’ll be nervous. We’ll have loads of Mighty Ugly Moo mini-cards to hand out, and I’m going to make up buttons, too. So saying hello to Shoshana will be rewarded with prizes!
Last week, a dozen people filled the workroom at Plush on Main for our first workshop. How I fell in love with that space! And with each and every one of the participants and their creatures (ok, yes, I was already in love with the ones I’m related to – my partner and his mom were there, too).
Folks had some pretty interesting things to say about their motivations and their experience, and I’m pretty sure the level of laughter in the room indicated everyone had a good time. Imaginations were on overdrive, as you’ll see from the stories, below: there’s mention of nuclear disaster, a bender in Vegas, technology as the antithesis of art, anxiety about the health of our oceans, gender identity confusion, the gangster crafting underworld, a little bit of murder, fear of crafting, thoughts on colour…
Here’s the playlist of videos from the evening. To navigate between videos, simply move your mouse over the video, and thumbnails and arrows will appear; you can also click the rectangular button next to the “play” button to make the navigation appear. If you’d prefer to watch and comment on the videos individually, you can do so on our YouTube channel (and don’t be shy – we’d love to be your YouTube friend!). Photos from the evening are in the Flickr group.
(If you attended the workshop and you’d like to add to your story, let me know! Also let me know if I spelled your name wrong and I’ll correct it right away.)
Last weekend was the annual Northern Voice personal blogging conference here in Vancouver. I had a great time handing out the new Mighty Ugly Moo mini cards, but beyond that I was psyched that some ugly creatures got some sweet attention.
My friend Kimli Welsh led a session at the conference about overcoming social anxiety in part by using online social media. And she gave out some swag bags. And into ten of those swag bags went creatures people made at the very first Mighty Ugly crafts night I held at my house. I joked with Kimli that she might give out the first swag bags in the history of swag bags that recipients might want to return…
Since we're able to wield a crayon, we're praised for making pretty pictures. But as we grow up, we begin to judge our ability to create pretty things – and we judge harshly. So harshly that we ditch hobbies we used to enjoy, we put down our crayons, we insult our creativity. To all that, Mighty Ugly says, "HOGWASH." Sit yourself down and put your all into making something ugly. Hideous. Revolting. What happens if you fail?
Feel the freedom. Giggle. Send in photos and videos.
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Shoshana is simply beside herself after seeing her ugly mug on Today Show style editor Bobbie Thomas’s blog this morning!
