Peek at My Week (Jan. 10-16)

 How was your week? Hopefully, it was better than the last. I know mine was. 

I spent some of Sunday working on an art journal spread that used a variety of techniques from artists I've been watching on YouTube lately. You can see the full piece on Instagram, but I'll also be publishing a video of my process for it in the next week or two. 

I snapped a few quick pictures of our old blue tractor as Pat had listed it for sale and I wanted to make sure I had some record of it before it left us. It was a few days before it was gone, but wasn't she pretty? I hate that we're just not mechanical enough to have given her the care she needed. It sounds like the gentleman who bought her is more mechanically inclined.

I had Brussels Sprouts planned for dinner (as per my weekly menu), but was just going to roast them. It hit me that I could try air frying them!

They were really good - slightly more crisp than roasting would have been.

Monday was spent just getting things done and keeping busy before the College Football National Championship game. Bama won. ROLL TIDE!

After a late-night watching football, I'm surprised how well I stayed on-task on Tuesday. I spent the bulk of the day in the craft room and forced myself to tackle the chaos.

I'll admit that there's still loads of that mess to conquer, but the portions that were worrying me have been handled. My main concern was making sure there wasn't anything too bad that this little Miss could get into as she explores.

It felt so much better to have my desk cleaned off and some of that closet organized. I was even able to work on a little more art.

As I let the chickens out on Wednesday morning, I discovered a couple of eggs! It's the first time in MONTHS that we've found an egg in the nesting boxes.

I'm fairly sure these are from our older hen, Bertha, and not the "chicks" yet. 

I even decided to crack one open for part of my breakfast.

It was really delicious.

I decided to introduce Artemis to the spot of sunshine that is in our bedroom for a few hours each day (most of the rest of the house doesn't get sunny spots.)

That's where I left her when I headed out to take my niece to a dental appointment and spend the afternoon with her in Mobile.

After the drive across the bay, I realized just how bad my brakes were sounding and took my car to the mechanic on Thursday. Back at home, I decided to make a point of showing that the eggs I had found the day before weren't as monstrous as they seemed in the photo above. I seriously just have tiny hands.

The eggs on the left are the ones I buy from the farm market, the ones on the right are Bertha's, and there's my tiny hand. Ha.

After picking up my car from the mechanic, I noticed how amazing the sunset was and had to pull over to capture it.

I busted my butt Friday morning getting the house clean as I've been avoiding some chores (like mopping) for too long. With that done, I let myself just watch videos and create for the rest of the afternoon.

When I went to take Zoe out later in the day, I was struck by the long shadows and the beams of sunshine in the front yard.

Pat and I committed ourselves to tearing down the smaller chicken coop on Saturday (the younger chickens have had a separate coop from Bertha until they could get used to each other. However, the older coop is the one with the nesting boxes that they need to use soon.) So, we knocked that out as fast as we could and freshened up everything. 

I spent the majority of the rest of the day working on a specific project that I'll reveal at the end of the month. But, here's a small peek.

As Pat and I watched TV in the evening, I was itching to do something other than scroll through Instagram, so I grabbed a scrap of fabric and some embroidery floss and experimented. 

It's a little messy, but I kinda love it!

Here's a little more inspiration from my week.

• How 24 Artist Break Free of Creative Limitations from ArtistsNetwork. 
• At The Beading Gem, you can find all the links to watch an artist create an amazing Polymer Clay Portrait Cane. 
• Lifehacker suggests Asking Yourself These Questions to Find Meaning and Purpose. 
• Did you know that #The100DayProject begins early this year!? The project starts at the end of this month, so get to thinking and join the party. 
• You can find the A to Z of Denim Crafts at Pillar Blox Blue. 

I feel like I'm brimming with ideas for loads of projects but can't seem to focus on just one long enough to get anything done. So, this week, I hope to work on centering in on what I need to do and knocking it out. Wishing you a productive week as well! What do you hope to accomplish?