I've already got a few ideas for some of these beauties and should hopefully be sharing those soon. For now, you can watch me unbox and take a good look at all of what I was sent.
Unboxing Beads from Jesse James Beads
I've already got a few ideas for some of these beauties and should hopefully be sharing those soon. For now, you can watch me unbox and take a good look at all of what I was sent.

Art Journal and Mixed Media Videos from Feb. 2023
This post is just a quick roundup of some of the mixed media videos I shared on the CraftyHope YouTube Channel over the last month. If you're interested in learning more about these projects, clicking on the pictures should take you to their video.
Let's start with the #CraftyHopePrompts videos. This is a challenge I created for myself. Each Monday, I draw three prompts and alter a playing card using those prompts. Then, each Saturday, I do another project that also uses the same three prompts. You can learn more about this challenge in almost any of the videos. But, I welcome any questions you have either here or in any of the videos' comments.
Card 18 - Alcohol spray, Hand-carved stamp, Pattern |
Project 18 - Bookmarks |
Card 19 - Asemic writing, Ticket, Stitch |
Project 19 - Junk Journal Spread |
Card 20 - Paperdoll, Black marker, Words |
Project 20 - Art Journal Page |
Card 21 - Non-dominant hand, Grungeboard/chipboard, Marker |
Project 21 - Altered Tag |
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 (Just went up today!) |
Clean Slate Journal Spread |

Thrifty Thursday Haul
This past week, I did some serious shopping. But, for the most part, it was all "thrifty" - reduced prices, inexpensive items, or actual thrift pieces. It's always fun to share these somewhat unique finds and deals. You'll find a whole video of what I got at the bottom of this post, but here are some peeks.
I found that the local Hobby Lobby stores have been marking down some of the jewelry and paper crafting items that I like, so I hit up a couple of them to take advantage of those great clearance deals.
The hubs and I went to an estate sale at the home of some creative individuals.
In addition, I picked up several items at Dollar Tree that will aid in my creative endeavors. You'll have to watch the video to see what those were, though.

Reveal for the Honey Do List - February 2023
Each month at SJ Designs Jewelry, Sarajo shares a photo that her husband, Eric, has given her as inspiration for jewelry designs. They call it the Honey Do List, and it's a lot of fun to play along. This month, the photo is a trio of textural images.
So, I painted a piece of paper with a couple shades of green paint before pushing the color back a little with some walnut ink. Then, I spread a crackle paste over the green and gave it time to work its magic. I accented the cracks with a little more ink before cutting a circle out that would fit in a bezel.
And, while I worked on the pendant, I remembered a couple pairs I had altered with crackle pastes a few weeks ago. They were quickly turned into earrings.
I want to thank Sarajo and Eric for another fun challenge. And, I encourage you to join the Honey Do List and create something beautiful. Sarajo will have the linky tool on her blog open for several weeks so you can add your contribution(s) to the challenge for a while yet. Don't forget to check out the other artists who participate too.

Pirate Pretties Jewelry Challenge - Feb 2023
The Pirate Pretties Jewelry Challenge this year is a monthly "double-color" collaborative challenge from Angela of Pirate Pretties Jewelry. Each month, Angela assigns two colors for you to use to make a jewelry piece with a reveal date of the 15th. In addition, there is a choice of two metal types, a project type, and optional fun elements each month. This month, Angela asked us to use Kelly/true green AND Clear/white to make a pair of earrings using either silver or gold. We could also include clovers or another lucky charm. Here's what I created.
These are so simple but were a tad fiddly to put together the way I wanted. You see, I wanted to make sure they would hang nicely and not slide all over the place. I chose to go with the silver since it matched the charms. For the green, I found some pretty seed beads. And, I just used clear crystal rondelles on an eye pin to attach the hoops to the ear wires.
If you're interested in watching how these came together, I do have a video.

The 100 Day Project 2023
This year marks 10 years since the inception of The 100-Day Project.
And, it will be my Seventh year participating.
Let's start with reasons I'm participating and why you might consider it too.
-Doing something repetitively, day after day will help you learn more about it and search for other ways to expand and grow with it. A hundred days lets you explore all the intricacies of a medium or practice. This is my MAIN reason for participating. It's what drives me to do the project each year - to get better at what I'm doing.
-Building community - you can find others online who are also participating in the project and/or doing similar challenges as you.
-After 100 days you learn if you really enjoy doing something and if you want to pursue it.
-It really does increase your creativity.
-Gives you daily content for your social channels (great for those days when you're grasping at straws)
And, there are so many more reasons, these are just my main ones.
First, I encourage you to read over this post from @DoThe100DayProject on Instagram. She makes some really great points on ways to narrow down the focus of your project.
I also want you to remember that
-Your project doesn’t have to be something huge that has to be finished every day. You only need to do one little thing to work toward your goal each day.
-It doesn’t have to be physical art - maybe work on your yoga poses or clear out some of the physical clutter in your creative space or meditate each day.
-Think of something you know will be easy to fit into your days or will make your days easier. You can always make it last longer on the days you have more time.
-Don’t choose something that will add stress to your life. Will 100 completed pieces of art piled up in your space inspire you or weigh you down?
Here are the projects I've done for each of the last six years.
2017 - #Make100Earrings on Instagram and Make100Earrings here on the blog
2018 - #Altering100 on Instagram in which I altered a variety of materials for use in either jewelry or mixed media
2019 - #SilverloxFinds on Instagram. This is a tag I use to this day to reveal the wild and wonderful things I find here on our property.
2020 - #MakeArtDontFakeArt on Instagram. This was a project in which I worked on using many of my supplies. It's actually something similar to my #CraftyHopePrompts.
2021 - #100DaysOfMakingJewelry on Instagram.
2022 - #Assemblage100 on Instagram.
And for year seven....I'm going to attempt TWO PROJECTS!!
(Yes, I might be a little crazy.)
First, #Making100Faces
I decided on this project over a month ago when the subject of the 100-day project came up. It was my first idea and one I can’t shake. Drawing faces as a project has been done by MANY people, MANY times. But, I know it’s something I enjoy, want to work on, can do with limited materials, and can pick up and do quickly just about anywhere or take my time with it. However, this isn’t something I expect to see showing up in my art or becoming something more than a way to keep my hands busy.
Second, #MiniAssemblage100
Reading that post from @DoThe100DayProject and seeing a few other people reveal their projects made me realize that while face drawing would be kinda fun and so very, very easy, it doesn’t really help me grow much toward my vision as an artist. It doesn't make my heart beat a little faster (the way the assemblage project did last year.) What does make me excited (right now) is the idea of building small assemblages for both framing and for jewelry. But, I want to keep it small. So, by mini, I mean assemblages or collages that are smaller than a dollar bill (this size idea comes from @Ricki_Ticki_Tavy as she sorts her scraps in a similar fashion) I hope that by keeping these small, it can also make them quick and easy. But, we’ll see.
So, are you in?
What are you going to do for 100 days?

February Challenges and Inspirations
I hope your January was as productive as mine was. February is shaping up to be a good one too. I pushed myself to put in a request for space in a local cooperative gallery when I saw that they were looking for new artists there. I almost didn't. But, a reminder about working on my Word of the Year came into my feed at the same time. My word is BRAVE. As I was considering approaching this gallery later in the year, I decided to step up to the plate and go for it. I've met with the owner, and she is interested in my jewelry and art. So, it sounds like my bravery is paying off already. While I wait to finalize all of that, I'm keeping busy with creating.
One of the greatest motivators and inspirations for me is participating in a variety of challenges. Each month, I like to share a list of the ones I'm planning on working on as well as any others I've found. This is that list!
- First, I have to mention my own #CraftyHopePrompts mixed media prompt challenge. This is something I created for myself to build up a prompt deck. Each Monday, I pull three prompts and alter a playing card with those prompts, adding them to the card to be used later. On Saturday, I create another project that uses those same prompts. If this sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to watch any of my CraftyHopePrompts videos. Or, just pick up with the most recent (Week 19) Mixed Media Prompt.
- Another prompted mixed media challenge is Seek Gather Create. The hostesses call it a Mixed Media Scavenger Hunt Challenge because you need to seek out the materials to use. This challenge is also weekly, but only for a month. The list of four prompts will be released each Sunday. The first ones were just announced this past Sunday and they are Tissue Paper, Denim, Something folded, and Something rusty or rust-colored. I've already got a video of what I created with these prompts. I encourage you to follow the four hostesses on Instagram where they will be announcing the prompts each week. They are Lisa Goddard, Tina Hois, Laura Denison, and Melanie Theriault.
- If you're more interested in Jewelry challenges, there's the Pirate Pretties Jewelry Challenge from Angela of Pirate Pretties Jewelry. This is a monthly challenge with some different parameters each month. First, know that each month, there are two colors for you to combine into your piece(s). This month, the colors are Kelly/True Green and White/Clear. In addition, you are to use silver or gold to create earrings and optionally include clovers or some other good luck charm. You can find more about this challenge in Angela's video. The reveal is set for the 15th and you can either share your creation(s) in a YouTube video using the hashtag #PiratePrettiesJewelryChallenge and/or a picture in the Pirate Pretties Facebook group.
- Sarajo of SJ Designs Jewelry has shared the February inspiration photo for her Honey Do List Challenge. This month, it's actually two textural photos from her husband, Eric. Sarajo will have a linky tool up on the 27th for you to share your creation. She leaves this open for several weeks in case you're running a bit behind (like I usually am!)
- The 100-Day Project will begin on February 22nd. I've participated in this project for the last several years and really love how versatile, easy, and inspiring it can be. Really, just pick something creative you want to do for 100 days. You don't have to share it or end up with a completed project or anything like that. You can work on one thing for one minute or really however you want to roll with it. The point is really just to be creative for 100 days. I'm pretty sure I've got my project picked for this year, but need to settle on a hashtag. Also, since I've done it several times before, I thought I might even do a whole other post next week on benefits and ideas and other information about it. For now, please go check out the site and consider joining in the creative fun!

Thrifty Thursday Haul
There's a new Thrifty Thursday haul video up on the YouTube now (I'll share it below.) Here are a few peeks at what I've hauled home over the last several weeks.
First, Pat and I had a bit of a staycation day one Saturday and went down to the beach for lunch before driving over to Pensacola to do some thrifting and antiquing before enjoying another nice meal. I didn't find much, but there were a few scores.
I'm always running into Dollar Tree for one thing or another. And, I can't help but poke around to see if there's anything new and interesting. On my latest trip, I came home with this little stash.
So, have you found any thrifty treasures lately? I'd love to hear all about it.

Tin and Bead Bracelet DIY

Mixed Media Art Videos from January
It's time for my monthly round-up of mixed media and art journaling videos that you may have missed.
The bulk of these are my #CraftyHopePrompts contributions. So, let's get to those first.
Card 14: Circles, Doily, Texture |
Project 14: Wall Hanging |
Card 15: Red, Handwritten letter, Cheesecloth |
Project 15: Junk Journal Spread |
Card 16: Photo, Art crayon, Drywall tape |
Project 16: Printed Drywall Tape and Art Tag |
Card 17: Metallic paint, Border stamp, Botanical |
Project 17: Art Journal Page |
Junk Journal Page for #CleanSlateJournal January 2023 |

January Honey Do List Reveal
Almost every month, Sarajo of SJ Designs Jewelry shares a photo that her husband, Eric, has offered up as inspiration for her to design jewelry. She shares this with us and calls it the Honey Do List. I've made more jewelry than I even know using this inspiration from the two of them. Some months I struggle more than others, but this month, I kinda knew what I wanted to make as soon as I saw Eric's photo.
As usual, it took me almost all month to get around to it, but these earrings were made pretty quickly.
While you don't quite get the optical-illusion-like sensation of looking up into the treetops, I think these earrings still come across quite well as tress.
Big thanks go out to Eric and Sarajo for the inspiration this month. Make sure you head over to Sarajo's reveal so you can see what she made, click on the links to the other artists, and/or add your own creation from the inspiration. The linky tool will likely be open most of February so you have plenty of time!

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