day forty: 104

'regress. work as if you were a young child or baby. use the materials they might have access to and/or with only the skills and abilities they have at that age.'

well...my 4 year old niece draws all the time at my house. so i decided to use the same crappy pens i let her use since i don't care if she destroys them and some plain computer paper. this was one of the hardest snails i've done. it is hard to forget things you know and not think about it too much. i kept referring to some of the drawings i have hanging up on my wall, but even still, it is hard to mimic her abilities. maybe next time she is over, i will show her this tell her to draw something like it and see what she does. i asked my husband if this looked like my niece drew it and he said it looked way better. oh well.

day thirty nine: 208

'create a rorschach test-style inkblot print. put a small amount of ink or paint on a piece of paper, fold it in half, and press the halves together, then open it to reveal the image. bonus: have your friends interpret it!'

luckily i had some ink since i have no paint at all! the first two i made i couldn't get the amount of ink right, too little and then too much. but these last 3 turned out okay. i think it's pretty obvious what i tried to make them look like...but feel free to comment with anything else you see in the images!

day thirty eight: 59

'mix and match. work with two materials that generally don't go together, like markers and bananas, or leaves and binder clips.'

i pretty much just picked items at random. my mom found these awesome mushrooms at a thrift store and i just brought them home from her house so i thought i'd use them. as for the necklaces, it was the first thing i saw that i thought could work and went from there!

day thirty seven: 344

'use stars, planets, and other things found in outer space as your inspiration today.'

i decided to make my own constellation today. i was hoping to find actual stars in the arrangement i wanted but it's too cloudy outside to see stars tonight. so instead i drew it.

this constellations name is snalyra (snuh-leer-uh), meaning snail. in astrology, the sun is in the sign of snalyra during only one day of the year, february 25th. and those born on this day take on the traits of snalyra...small but strong, meak but powerful, and full of love. in mythology, snalyra was first known as a slow and worthless creature who could never know love. but although snalyra was grossly underestimated by a group of other mythological beings who wrote her off as a weakling she proved herself when the enemies attacked. while a long and gruesome battle took place and nobody was paying attention, snalyra creeped into the enemies castle, adorning it with poisonous silver slime and conquered the enemy single-handedly. she was forever remembered as a hero and taught many generations to never underestimate those you see as weak.

day thirty six: 313

'work with just matches, flames or fire today (but be careful!).'

i come from a family of pyros...for some reason i like matches much more than lighters so this was a good one. i was hoping i could light the inside of it's shell and it would catch on fire like a domino effect, but it sadly didn't. i used almost three packs of matches for the snail and almost one pack to keep lighting all the matches. there were a few that lit themselves but hardly the effect i was going for. they got moved around while lighting but i think it adds to the end result.

day thirty five: 143

'make something in which the sense of taste is the essential component.'

i bought this gum a while ago but it's been sitting in my purse. it was a bubble-mint flavor and i couldn't stand it. i figured this would work since the taste of the gum made it a component for me to use without feeling like i wasted something yummy! it was starting to dry out so it was hard to mold. i used toothpicks to keep it together.

day thirty four: 345

'only work with the objects that are already on a table or desk near you today.'

my nightstand. can you tell i'm sick? i had some scissors in my pen jar so i cut out a (bad) shape for the body, lined it with mucinex pills, twisted up some tissue paper and put orange dayquil pills underneath some empty sucrete capsules. the gum for the snail comes from my niece. she LOVES bubble gum. yesterday i was out with my mom and her and she wanted some, so they stopped at a gas station to get some and she told my mom that i needed my own. being the only granddaughter, she gets what she wants!

day thirty three: 47

'work with flowers - artificial or real, live or dried, picked or bought.'

my valentine's day flowers from my husband (tulips & sunflower, my favorite) were started to wilt & the pink tulip petals were falling off, so i decided i better use them! i tried to shake the pollen off the stamens to make a snail trail but a lot fell off before i could get it to where i wanted it. i think this might just be my favorite snail so far.

tip: i also wanted to include a little secret i learned when i made my own bouquets for my wedding. if you take a piece of wire & stick it down the center of your flower, it will stop it from being droopy & you can bend it how you'd like it.

day thirty two: 215

'legal graffiti. create an image on a wall using water sprayed from a squirt gun or spray bottle. document it disappearing.'

another snail created at my parents house. i remember in the summer whenever the sprinklers are going or we played with water - the stucco on our house always changed to a darker color. i got a spray bottle and when i started, it disappeared really fast! so i called my husband out to take a picture and then the sun went behind a HUGE cloud...so this is probably a 25 minute lapse of time. it was taking forever to fade. i used photoshop to play with the contrast so you could see it better. i would have had to wait another half hour for the whole thing to disappear and i needed to head home so i called it good.

day thirty one: 293

'get salty! use salt as your medium or inspiration today. one idea is to make an image on a dark surface by pouring it out and arranging it with your hands and other tools.'

the salt poured out a lot quicker than i thought so i used a paintbrush to tidy up the edges. the eyes were thicker than the body so it took a little while before i got them right. i felt a little cruel using salt of all things to make a snail out of. at least i didn't use a live snail.

day thirty: 270

'work with ice cubes today. bonus: document the piece while it melts.'

i don't have an ice maker so i had to use a bag of ice...i think it looks almost like a mosaic with the pieces being different sizes. i had a really hard time getting good pictures of it. i was making dinner when my husband says, "are you done with this?" and i hear a clink in the sink...this explains the missing piece on the tail near the end. hahaha. oh well. i let it go a little longer but since i just couldn't get a good picture i wiped it up. i wish the background was darker.

day twenty nine: 248

'open a random drawer where you live or work and create something with just the contents.'

picking a drawer at random is kind of hard when you know everything in them, it kind of makes you want to open a specific drawer. so instead, i had my husband do it. when he went for his stack of drawers i knew i would be working with something computer/tech related. this drawer was all his random wires, modems, mice & fans. he is a total computer guy and builds them from scratch so he has tons of misc computer parts. to be completely honest, i wanted to skip a day. i wasn't feeling well but he insisted i do one so he looked through the book and picked this one for me. i made it about 15 minutes ago. i wasn't sure if i should use the game controller but i thought it gave my snail a little character...even though it makes the shell small. i'm going to try not to wait until the last hours of my day to do my snail tomorrow, i'm tired!

day twenty eight: 282

'use a toothbrush and/or toothpaste as the central component of, or inspiration for, what you do today.'

having a rough/slow week so i went with a simple snail today. another creation on my bathroom counter, this time only toothpaste. i used the toothbrush to paint with. i was trying to get a picture without the light and so my husband was trying to block it out, but he thought the hand looked cool. almost a month down!

day twenty seven: 140

'create a rebus. bonus: try using real objects instead of drawing them.'

unfortunately i didn't think i could do it with real objects. i planned i would do this today & kept thinking about it all day until i had an idea of what i was going to do for each word. i didn't want to put the answer up on my post in case some people really were trying to figure it out so i'm going to comment on this post with the answer. let me know if you get it right!

day twenty six: 223

'create a mad libs-style story (remove nouns, adjectives, adverbs and other parts of speech and replace them with blank lines), and have a friend fill it in. bonus: illustrate the end result.

well, i wanted to do something some what valentine's day themed. so i decided on the mad lib and wrote a cute little love story with of course, snails as the main characters. i had my husband fill in the blanks. after you read these, fill them in yourself! (adjective, boy name, adjective, girl name, number, adjective, adjective, adjective, place, body part, action, emotion, adjective, color, body part, verb, place, food, length in time, exclamation, place, vacation spot, number, length in time, boy or girl, name).

let me tell you a love story. once upon a time there was a HARD snail named DEAN and a SHINY snail named RUBY. SIXTY EIGHT years ago DEAN came across RUBY in a DIRTY yard full of ROUND flowers and FLAT grass. DEAN was on his way to PITTSBURGH when his TOE suddenly JUMPED. he was overcome with ENTHUSIASM and he was sure he found the woman he was destined to share his life with. she gazed at him with TRANSPARENT PINK eyes and his CALF began to RUMBLE. DEAN asked RUBY out on a date and they went to CANADA to eat TRIPE. after a few NANO SECONDS DEAN asked RUBY to marry him, she said HURRAY! they were married in LAWRENCE KANSAS, honey mooned in RIO DE JANEIRO and returned home. ONE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY SEVEN HOURS later they had a baby BOY snail named SAM and they lived happily ever after.

can you tell my husband is a 'supernatural' fan? sheesh. i called my mom and got her to join in too.

let me tell you a love story. once upon a time there was a BROWN snail named CONRAD and a SLIMY snail named LULUBELLE. EIGHT years ago, CONRAD came across LULUBELLE in a BONEY yard full of DUSTY flowers and COLD grass. CONRAD was on his way to HAWAII when his ELBOW suddenly RAN. he was overcome with FRIGHT and he was sure he found the woman he was destined to share his life with. she gazed at him with SPIKY PURPLE eyes and his EAR began to WALK. CONRAD asked LULUBELLE out on a date and they went to HAIRI to eat SPAGHETTI. after a few WEEKS, CONRAD asked LULUBELLE to marry him, she said HALLELUJAH! they were married in JAMAICA, honey mooned in LAS VEGAS and returned home. SEVENTY TWO DAYS later they had a baby BABY named SUSIE and they lived happily every after.

happy valentine's day!

day twenty five: 108

'create something in the steam on a bathroom mirror or other steamed-up surface.'

i picked a super simple one today since i was tired & on the verge on not doing a snail at all! i waited for the bathroom to steam up and quickly drew as many snails and swirls as i could. it was hard getting a good photo of them & the snails quickly disappeared. this is the best shot i got...i tried to enhance in it photoshop but this is the best i could come up with!

day twenty four: 106

'go to a thrift store and buy something to work with today. why not give it back to them after you document it?'

after i went to my nephews basketball game, my mom wanted to stop at a thrift store we went to a few weeks ago. i remembered this project & saw a bag of these foam peanuts that stick together after you get them wet. they were kind of janky & gross looking but i remember making things when i was a kid and i figured for a buck fifty, why not. oh, and as for giving it back? i have a box to give away so i'll probably sneak this guy in there. i'll try to post the picture when i do.

day twenty three: 69

'make a puzzle or make something using pieces from a puzzle.'

my husband and i bought this puzzle at a thrift store when we were in pittsburgh over the holidays. we are planning on finishing it & somehow gluing it together & putting it up on our wall. since it was out i figured i would use the pieces before we put more of it together. i didn't realize until i uploaded the picture that the shell was kind of messed up, oh well!

day twenty two: 339

'create something that's only visible from one specific angle or location.'

there is a structure in a city near me that is said to be a rose, but can only be seen from beneath (or above)...i think it's awesome. i really wanted to make something more elaborate but i couldn't come up with anything but wire. i might even just let this guy hang out on a shelf somewhere, maybe someone will ask and i can explain how it works!

day twenty one: 98

'work with time. try making something that is only visible in a long-exposure photograph. drawing with a laser pointer, flashlight, or a sparkler in the dark are a few options; you can even create an image by moving the camera itself. if you don't have a camera that can do the job, see if a friend can help.'

luckily i have a husband who is very knowledgeable & talented with his camera. i've been wanting to play around with this for such a long time so i asked he could help. it kind of looks like i drew these in paint with neon green but it really is a laser pointer! it was hard to keep my hand steady and the eyes were the hardest part. it was hard to get them in the right spot. if you have a chance to play around with this, i suggest you do!

day twenty: 87

'what can you do with a candle? try using the drips from a lit candle to make an image, or use an unlit one to draw on a porous surface, then make the image appear with watercolor or ink. Or, as always, feel free to experiment.'

my first attempt was horrible - small shell, big body and it wasn't as raised up as i wanted it to be. so i tried again and kept it smaller and got what i wanted. i left the eyes off because i was afraid i was going to screw it up. i'm hoping if i let it dry long enough i can peel the paper off and somehow display it in my house - any ideas?!

day nineteen: 15

'what can you do with just a dollar? use a dollar bill as your medium or inspiration today.'

i know i did origami already but i really wanted to try to more difficult snail. i had the hardest time puffing his shell up and the folding near the end got pretty hard to do. i really like him though so i'm going to make a few more with regular paper so i can leave it up around the house!

day eighteen: 81

'make something out of erasers. kneaded erasers are great to mold, standard pink erasers can be easily carved, and straight pins can be used to attach them to each other.'

i had some erasers out since i was working on a drawing last night so i figured i would work with them tonight. i had a long night and wanted to do something quick, this little guy ended up turning out pretty cute. i rubbed some white erasers to give the effect of a trail. the rest of it is kneaded eraser. used my wax carving tools again to texture the shell.

day seventeen: 2

'what's your favorite animal? use it as your inspiration today.'

i don't really have a favorite animal...i like a lot of them, like owls, cats, dogs, dolphins and more. BUT i do have a favorite specific animal, my cat york! she was bundled up on this blanket and i was looking through my book trying to find out which snail to do. i said it out loud and my brother said "there's a snail" pointing to my cat (they like to tease me and say she's a skunk, etc). lightbulb! i twisted the blanket up and added straws to make my snail for the day. why do i have random straws taped to a stick? because she loves straws. whenever i need to find her, i scrape a straw across the wall outside and she comes running. she plays with them like a dog plays with a squeekie toy, she even plays fetch with them!

day sixteen: 151

'work with crayons. you can mold them, melt them, grate them, color with them, or...?'

this suggestion instantly brought back memories of putting paper on a hot surface and drawing while crayons melt. i was at my moms and got out her pancake griddle, found my nieces crayon box and grabbed some white card stock. the polka-dots on the 3rd snail were added by my 19 year old brother, tanner. he said it looked better that way. he then decided to make his own...the 4th picture is a thunder/lightning cloud raining snails. he insisted i added it to the blog, so here it is. the first column of pictures is taken held up to a light, while the pictures in the second column are not. this brought back some fun childhood memories. and a tip for anyone who might try this...make sure you use crayon brand - the other 2 brands that were mixed in didn't work nearly as well. one was rose art and i don't remember the other. and low heat works fine!

day fifteen: 5

'what do you collect? work with a collection of objects you have in your home (or borrow a friend's if you like).'

is was going to come out sooner or later...i LOVE owls. i almost used owls as my theme for this project but i wanted to go outside my own little comfort box. i was actually surprised that i didn't have more little owl figurines to use. i wanted to make something more 3-d somehow but it would all just fall over so i stuck with a flat design on my coffee table. i think now i need to work on my snail collection (my mom found me the cutest little snail that hangs on the edge of planters at a thrift store the other day)!

day fourteen: 84

'keep it clean. use a bar of soap to make something new. you can carve it with a knife, use it to draw, break it into pieces, or even make bubbles - just have fun.'

i'm a body wash person but my husband recently decided he didn't want to be a body wash person so he bought a huge thing of soap. he bought irish spring which i thought would be green, but i was wrong. i had been experimenting with paper clay a couple months ago and bought a simple wax carving set to use so they came in handy for the snail i did tonight. he's not as big or detailed as i wanted him to be, but his head snapped off when i got to this point so i ran some water over him to conceal the break and decided i should stop before something else breaks. just like my tea snail, the soap left my hands smelling great!

bonus snails

since i felt like the chalk snail was boring i thought i'd add a few pictures of two other snails i created the past couple days.

i volunteered at a cannery for my church tonight and we canned tomatoes (which i absolutely HATE...just my luck that was what they were canning the night i went). i had to use my cellphone for the picture so it's quite horrible, sorry! it didn't look this gross in person.

also, last night i made pancakes for dinner so i couldn't resist making a little snail. he was yummy. the BEST pancakes in the world - my grandpa pownings buttermilk pancakes. to die for.

day thirteen: 75

'get some chalk and work on the sidewalk near your home.'

i was at my moms house playing with my niece so i decided i would try to get a snail done in the meantime. we found some chalk and headed outside. she was busy trying to make a hopscotch and then got mad when i wouldn't let her in the gate to the pool so she ran inside. i finished up my snail. this seemed so boring and simple to me...but my mom found it interesting so hopefully somebody else out there will.