day one hundred and one: 191

'be sweet! use sugar as your medium or inspiration today. it could be loose, in cubes, in packets, or even used as glue when a bit of water is added. bonus: eat what you've made.'

i found a recipe online to make your own sugar cubes so i thought i would try to make my own snail shaped sugar cube. i mixed a cup of sugar with a tablespoon of water. my snail shape kind of sucks but oh well. i wanted to post a picture of it dried up but it's getting late so i will tomorrow (if the ants don't find it first).

day one hundred: 91

'use dry coffee beans, dry or wet coffee grounds, or even liquid coffee (in a cup or not) to create something today.'

first i just want to say thanks to all those who follow my blog & comment (and my awesome husband). this was for sure a day where i could have stopped this project! even though this took me a minute or two and it's super grand, i'm glad i did it. i had other plans for this prompt, oh well! my favorite part of grocery shopping is walking passed the coffee isle...i absolutely love the smell of coffee so this was a pleasant experience. i have tomorrow's snail planned out and i'm looking forward to it. glad today is over!

day ninety nine: 181

'use bones, skulls, and/or skeletons as your inspiration today.'

i've had this empty snail shell for daaays, so i spray painted it white and used a black pen to draw on the skull. i wanted to save it to make a snail out of snails, but i figured i could find others when i decided to do that prompt. i've been coughing my lungs up for 4 days and only got 3.5 hours of sleep last night, so this is kind of how i'm feeling lately...like death!

day ninety eight: 243

'make a postage stamp or make something out of stamps. bonus: mail it! (be sure to put real postage on there too, so as not to annoy the post office!)'

i've always wanted to make my own stamp and i have them on stamps.com before. i uploaded the image i wanted and kept it simple - black and white. i might switch the picture but i am totally getting some of these to use!

day ninety seven: 50

'be a minimalist. work only with white materials today. try working white on white for a real challenge.'

sick for the millionth time this year it feels like so i chose an easy one today. unfortunately it was harder than i thought to find all white items but i gave in with some black parts. this reminded me of all the still life projects i did in school.

day ninety six: 351

'add wings, fur, and/or a tail to something that wouldn't normally have them.'

i got a new app on my droid phone the other day called picsay pro, and it has tons of little 'stickers' and things to add to your pictures. i remember seeing wings so i pulled up a snail picture i had for my background on my phone and threw on some wings, sent it to my email and onto my blog!

day ninety five: 123

'work with or be inspired by an eggshell. if you want to keep the shell intact, make a pinhole in the top and a larger hole in the bottom. then blow through the smaller hole and aim the bottom toward a bowl to collect the contents (be sure to wash the egg to keep it from getting stinky).'

happy easter! of course i had to color an egg. i used a white crayon to draw on it first. i had this all planned out and i totally forgot to do it earlier in the day. my husband and i left my parents and then i remembered so i drove all the way back to get the eggs and crayons, i hate being so forgetful!

day ninety four: 286

'do something in which silence is the essential component.'

i love sign language. i took ASL 1 when i went to school and since i'm a visual learner i caught on super fast. i've always thought about going back to school and getting my teaching credentials and teaching art to deaf students, i just fell in love with the language. i'm also posting a video below of the actual sign, not just SNAIL finger spelled.

day ninety three: 4

'take a five-minute walk, then make something using whatever materials are available where you've ended up. leave it there for someone else to discover, but be sure to document it first!'

my dad works for pyrospectacular - a fireworks company - and he has shows around the area every year. ever since i was 18 (i'm 24 now) i've been helping him with the shows and even light them off. tonight he had a show at a baseball game in modesto so my husband and i tagged along. we brought our dog and i took him for a walk around the park, i collected items as i went and created this trashy snail. don't worry, i had hand sanitizer! (also, really posting this on the 23rd @ 11pm...super busy day.)

day ninety two: 33

'use pens as your material/inspiration today. draw with them, use them as construction material, or...?'

so i wanted to just draw something tonight quickly so this prompt fit as best as i could find. i love cross-hatching so whipped this guy up super quick. gotta love these lazy days!

day ninety one: 300

'make something in which the sense of touch in the essential component.'

i couldn't think of anything else besides braille. the large dots represent which ones should be raised, the smaller dots are basically place holders. i've always wanted to learn how to read braille. can you guess what this says?

day ninety: 25

'work with nature. go to your yard or a nearby park and collect materials to work with.'

my husband and i went over to my parents for dinner and while we were waiting for my dad to arrive i figured i would make myself useful. i walked around the house and gathered some plants and a few flowers. my favorite snail is the one i did with flowers from my husband - day 33 - all the nature themed ones i love the most. i left this guy on my parents picnic table in the backyard.

day eighty nine: 323

'work with only music media: old CDs, records, cassettes, eight-track cartidges, or reel-to-reel tapes, and/or their cases.'

so i wanted to do something more involved with this prompt but i had the idea of scratching off the top layer of the CD so i went ahead and did it. i used my xacto knife again tonight. i love that thing. tonight was the first night i went "wow...EIGHT NINE snails?!" it's hard to believe i've been doing this for 3 months. 9 more to go!

day eighty eight: 16

'make a unique print by cutting up a potato or sponge, and use it to stamp on a material of your choice.'

i had to borrow potatoes from my mom and they were squishy & had roots growing on them...but they worked! i cut it with a knife and used my xacto knife to carve the snail into it. i absolutely LOVE color, but yellow and purple is probably my favorite combination. i used my favorite paper - paper bag brown. i'm thinking i want to make easter cards with this technique. the potato already has an egg shape, just need to carve some cute designs and add color!

day eighty seven: 182

'work with your hands...literally. you can decorate them using paint or henna, or even make a hand shadow. you might need a friend to lend you a hand.'

round two. last year i threw a henna party and i had a ton left over (if you freeze it, it lasts longer). so i thawed out a few of my small cones and tested it out to see if it still worked. you're supposed to leave it on as long as possible, but i only left it on for a few hours. looks like it's still good! i washed off my snail from yesterday and wanted to do something a little more permanent.

day eighty six: 314

'create a tattoo or something inspired by tattoos. extra credit: apply it temporarily to yourself, someone else, or even an inanimate object.'

well there was no way my husband would let me do it to him, but i wanted to do it on skin so i did it on myself. i could never ever get a tattoo because i change my mind way too much. i googled snail tattoos and found a cute one that i used for inspiration. i used some pens i bought a while ago and i'm pretty sure i ruined the yellow...oh well. if i ever do something like this again i will just use sharpies. someone needs to invent semi-permanent skin markers.

day eighty five: 72

'use all the shoes in your household to make something, or work on a single pair of shoes that were destined for the thrift store.'

interesting fact of the day - my husband wears a size 13 shoe...and i wear a size 12 (yes, in mens sizes). i always joke with my mom and ask her why she had to marry my dad, who is 6'4" and wears a size 13 shoe. she always replies by explaining if she didn't marry him, i wouldn't be here. ever since i was youngeri always ended up buying mens shoes because i could never find womenss shoes that fit me or weren't hideous. to this day i have yet to find womens shoes that fit me & aren't hideous. i've often thought about contacting drag queens to see if they could give me some tips, haha! i was going to cut up my TOMS shoes that my husband forbids me to wear anymore since i slipped in them & screwed up my knee but i couldn't bring myself to do it!

day eighty four: 249

'make something out of or inspired by popcorn - popped or unpopped, or boht.'

my mom works at a theater and i get free popcorn, so i've become to completely sick of it! they only way i will eat it anymore is if it's covered in caramel or if it's kettle corn. oh, and of course the zebra popcorn from popcornopolis! i tried really hard to get this to sit up on it's own but it just would not stay together so i had to lay it down. although it wasn't super sticker, it was super tasty!

day eighty three: 139

'make something that will decay over time and document it until it's gone (or too smelly to keep).'

what's better than cheese? i sliced off a piece of cheddar and carved this snail out. i wanted to leave him out on the counter but decided against it and put him in a gladware container to let him rot away in the fridge...when he starts to decay i will post some update pictures!

day eighty two: 125

'triangulate. only work with triangle shapes today - or make a giant triangle with a bunch of stuff.'

i really wanted to use illustrator but i just have photoshop on my laptop right now so i could only get the triangles to face one direction. i probably could have figured it out but i'm just too tired! in the end i think it turned out okay. i took my dog to the dog park today and saw the cutest 3 legged husky, so i thought the triangle theme would complete my day!

day eighty one: 155

'use fingerprints/thumbprints to create an image or portrait.'

i've been super tired lately, this it the best i could come up with after a long day. going to be babysitting for next 3 days straight so i hope i can come up with some energy to finish my snails. i have to be up in about 6 hours so i am rushing this post and heading to bed!

day eighty: 158

'work with homonyms today (bear/bare, night/knight, sail/sale).'

snail MAIL & snail MALE! i knew this was the homonym i wanted to work with for a long time but never knew how i wanted to do it. my brother is about to leave on an LDS mission next week for two years so i will be sending lots and lots of mail, so i thought i could make something to stamp on his letters. i didn't add the mustache to the stamp but i drew it on with a sharpie. i really wanted to be lazy tonight since i've had something going on all day or the past three days but i'm glad i sat down and carved this little guy out tonight.

day seventy nine: 346

'make a repeating image by folding paper and cutting out the shape of an object or abstract pattern. think of classic paper-doll chains and paper snowflakes as the inspiration for this one.'

every winter i cut out around 50 or more snowflakes and hang them up around my house. i LOVE snowflakes. if you google actual snowflake images you'll see that they really look like cut out paper snowflakes. you can even see if if you look closely when a snowflake lands on a darker surface. love love love them. i took mine down a while ago but i'm still in denial that summer is coming. i am definitely a winter person. i hope you can see the snail in this snowflake!

day seventy eight: 107

'have a ball. make something out of a ball or make a new ball out of something else and then play with it.'

my father-in-law brought my dog some tennis balls but all he seems to do with them is take them in and out of the house. so i decided he wouldn't mind if i cut some up. i used one dirty one and one new one. i had to prop the new one up with a stick because it just curled up so i used some sticks for the eyes too. after i cut them up though, my dog seemed to have some new found interest in them. who knew?

day seventy seven: 335

'make a structure to protect a delicate object (like an egg). drop it from a second-story window to see if it works!'

i remember having to do this when i was in 5th or 6th grade but i don't remember it being so easy. i tried to get a swirl going but it ended up more target shaped - i took a picture with the yellow bag to complete the snail but didn't drop it with it. my dog, toby, was waiting outside when i went to drop it so i aimed for the cement block the right. i was actually surprised to find my egg intact, i was kind of hoping for it to break! at least now i know if my future kids ever have this project, i will refer back to my snail design!

day seventy six: 39

'write a haiku about something that happens to you today or in in the news today. bonus: illustrate it!'

i figured since i make a snail every day, it counts as something that happened to me today, right? i did have to tell myself "one day at a time" today for many reasons. i think this little haiku will help me stay motivated if i just remember, one day at a time!

day seventy five: 289

'role reversal. do someone else's job for part of the day or create something at their workplace or based on the experience.'

okay so i really wanted to attempt to paint a snail onto my nails so i found this prompt and thought it could work. i'm sure most of you have seen melissa osburns blog - the daily nail (www.daily-nail.blogspot.com), which is amazing. turns out, i'm horrible at this! i paint my nails fairly often but never attempt to add any flare. when i was younger i would add a few dots but nothing more. i tried multiple times and had to repaint my thumb a few times. i ended up having to take it off when i was finished because it was just a fat glob and wouldn't dry. i just had toothpicks on hand to create this, so maybe the secret is fine paintbrushes?! i have no idea...all i know is i should probably stick to dots, yikes!

day seventy four: 99

'use the world of insects as your inspiration today.'

i hope nobody finds this too disgusting...but every now & then we have an ant problem, especially when it rains for days at a time. i get so irritated! i can keep this house as clean as i possibly can but they find the most miniscule piece of food and turn my kitchen into an art farm. my husband found this awesome ant killer that they take back to their colony and it's supposed to kill them all, but eventually they come back. it amazes me that i can leave the house and not see a single ant but when i come home there are trails everywhere. so i thought i would entertain myself this time. i poured the ant killer into the shape of a snail and i bet by tomorrow every edge will have an ant on it. this is the worst part...just letting it sit there and not vacuuming up the little buggers. so if i have to look at them, it might as well be in a snail shape.

day seventy three: 197

'make something inspired by and/or that goes over a mouth (yours or someone else's). '

so i had a hard time thinking out of the box on this. i am obsessed with lip stuff though so i figured this would work. i sold MARK. makeup and got a discount, but all i bought for myself was lip stuff! i usually have 2-3 different kinds in my purse, one in my car, one in my husbands car and plenty around the house. my favorite medicated lip balm is for sure burts bees original - i don't like color because my lips are already pretty dark, but if i want to add some i just use like a cherry balm or the pomegranate burts bees. i hate it when lip gloss is sticky too. i thought i had more laying around, but i didn't so it's a pretty simple snail tonight!

day seventy two: 329

'work with only tissue paper or toilet paper today.'

i'm ashamed. i had a super hectic day and even though i thought about my snail multiple times, i didn't get it finished until AFTER midnight. AAAH! you'd think if a person did something for 71 days in a row, they wouldn't forget that same thing on the 72nd day. and no, this is not an april fool's joke. i wish it was. i'm so bummed. oh well...i guess it just matters that i got it done. i changed the time to before midnight so it would show on the 1st. i have tomorrows prompt picked out already and i will make sure i get it done right away this time!