Peek at My Week and April Challenges & Prompts

Pat was still out of town most of this week, which was a shame because it was not only Easter but also Spring Break (for the nieces). We were all disappointed that he wasn't home but tried to make the best of it. 

If you remember from last week, I had prepped for Easter by baking. I waited until I got to my mom's to decorate the mini cheesecakes with frosting, chocolate eggs, and toasted coconut. I think they're just too cute!

After our Easter meal, one of the nieces (TAG) went home with me. We dropped off her luggage and checked in on the puppy before heading to the Fairhope Pier for a stroll. 

While TAG slept in on Monday, I took Zoe (the dog) out for a walk. We stumbled on this beautiful butterfly wing.

Once we were all up and moving about, we headed down to the Gulf (of Mexico) for a walk on the beach. We would have stayed longer, but the coast was packed with people. At least this view made it worth the short drive. I'm looking forward to heading back down there when it's not Spring Break. Before heading home, we stopped for dinner at Lambert's Cafe (home of the throwed rolls - yes, they really throw them. TAG was hit in the head with one. She talked about it for days.)

Tuesday was full of activity as TAG's sister and her boyfriend drove over to get in the pool. Alas, the pool wasn't ready so I took them to lunch while waiting for the pool to be serviced. 

It took longer than expected for the pool lady to come by, so we amused ourselves. The kids got in the hammocks. Yes, Zoe too! She doesn't like to be left out. 

Meanwhile, I worked on getting my seedlings transferred to their new homes. 

After the pool was vacuumed, it was ready for swimming! It was still far too cold for me, but two brave-ish souls ventured in. You can see the hammock (on the right) was moved closer to the pool so it was enjoyed by the third youngun'. 

On Wednesday, we focused on an art project that began with some spray painting. Fun, right!?

By the end of the day, we each had an awesome piece of assemblage art. This is TAG's, mine is in the collage below.

Thursday was a mixed bag of activities. This was really one of the few pictures I took all day. And, it was from eary in the day. In the afternoon, TAG was returned home, her sister was taken shopping, and then I headed back to Silverlox.

On Friday, Pat was coming home! But, his flight wouldn't get in until midnight, so I kept myself uber  busy so I wouldn't go crazy. The day started with the Bead Peeps Swap-N-Hop Reveal. The majority of the rest of the day, I was a little manic about cleaning the house so it would be super nice for him. 

I did eke in a bit of creative playtime and altered the bottom of an old tin by running it through my embossing machine. I love the results!

In an effort to clean out the fridge, I made these amazing nachos for dinner and ate almost all of it too!

Saturday was a bit of a lazy day as it rained most of it. We went to Harbor Freight for a few supplies, had lunch out, and eventually went to the movies to see Ready Player One. We both really loved the book and had been waiting anxiously for the movie. I was seriously bummed out when I realized that Pat would be out of town for the release. So, we made sure to go see it. It was worth the wait!

Most of my projects this week have been for #The100DayProject (taking place on Instagram) which started on Tuesday (April 3rd). This year, I selected #altering100 as my personal hashtag as I hope to spend 100 days altering some of the materials I have stashed in the craft room. Most of these will not be completed projects but just supplies to use later in my work. As well, they won't all be jewelry-related either. It's still early in the project so there's time to catch up. And, if you miss a day or two, it's no biggie. Don't keep that from letting you finish out the 100 days. This project is great for encouraging and developing your creativity. I had a ton of fun and learned so much from last year's #make100earrings project. Please let me know if you play along. Here's what I've made so far.

1- From the start, I knew I wanted to alter these washers in my stash with dictionary paper. It was a quick and easy process to start the project. 

2 - This was much more involved. As I mentioned above, I got the niece in on it too as she made her own assemblage piece from some of the found objects I had collected. 

3 - I pulled out the Vintaj Big Kick to texture blanks. It was a Vintaj extravaganza as I used Vintaj blanks and patinas to complete the pieces. 

4 - As mentioned above, I embossed the bottom of an old tin in the Big Kick. I used a couple of sections to make small bezels and play with Vintaj Patinas in them.

5 - Working with more of the embossed tin, I punched it into circles, colored with alcohol inks, and sealed with resin.

This is just one of the challenges going on right now. I shared the Challenges and Prompts I found last month, so I thought I'd share those again this month too. 

• Of course, there's The100DayProject
• The Artisans Create Together Facebook Group has their own Inspirations Challenge. This month it is Showers and Flowers. You have until noon on April 30th to submit something to the album for a giveaway. 
• Art Elements has announced the April Theme as Horses. The reveal will be April 29th. 
• Our friend Sarajo at SJ Designs Jewelry has divulged the Honey Do List inspiration for April with the reveal date set for April 23rd. 
• The We're All Ears April Challenge at Earrings Everyday is "Paradise Calling". The deadline for this one is April 20th. 
• Art Bead Scene has revealed their prompt for April. You have until April 30th to submit your design. All the details about their April Monthly Challenge are available on their blog. 

I'm sure there are probably loads more inspirational challenges and prompts out there for the month that I'm missing. If you know of any, please leave me a comment and I'll add it to the list.

So, how was your week?