The 100 Things Challenge

      Hey! How's it going?

     I apologize for possibly breaking my promise of writing shorter posts, but today's topic might be longer. Yikes! I'll try to keep this post short (but don't hold me to it).

      On May 14th of last year (2018, in case you happen to be reading this post in 2020 or later), I started the 100 Things Challenge. I completed the Challenge on April 7th, 2019. This is a challenge that Crazy Rebecca of danceswithpitbulls proposes to her viewers from time to time. The rules are simple:

1) Do 100 things – The things can be anything; they don't have to be of the arts and crafts variety.

2) There is no time limit; however, there is a lot of motivation to get it done quickly because of Rule # 3 . . .

3) You can't buy any supplies during the challenge, except for glue and regular (not designer, like washi) tape (I'm guessing you could buy other necessary items if you are not doing crafty things, like soil and fertilizer if your things are of the gardening variety, for example).

* We do not have to video-record our things; that was my choice because, hey, I have a YouTube channel, so why not?

      I chose to do mostly crafting things, except for two things that were related to my computer (stay tuned for that video as it's in the #70's range). The crafting things were mostly hacks. My favorite category of hacks is my I Have an Idea! (IHAI) because those ideas are usually modifications of tasks to make my crafting life just a little easier. I hope those ideas are beneficial to others, as well.

      I did bend the rules a bit when I had an idea about the Tim Holtz Ink Blending Tools and the Mini Distress Ink Pads. I had the blending tools, but I didn't have any of the mini ink pads.

      When I get an idea, it's like a craving. I read somewhere that cravings should be satisfied as soon as possible; otherwise, they will increase in intensity. When the idea popped into my head, I knew I couldn't wait until the end of the challenge to buy the mini distress inks. I bought a set of the TH Mini Distress Ink Pads so that I could try out my idea. That was Thing #22 (paired with an FiY, also related to the mini ink pads: Thing #23). I used the mini ink pads only for that IHAI & Thing. I did not use the mini ink pads until after the Challenge ended because I felt like I had cheated by buying the ink pads, a crafting item that was not a necessary one (not a glue nor tape item), and I thought if I used the mini ink pads for other than the idea, then I would've been continuing to cheat.

      If I ever take on the 100 Things Challenge again, I will have to make a few changes to the way I video-record them because, at this point, I'm still editing and uploading the Thing videos (less than 30 to go!). I want to be able to record the process, but I also want to edit and upload the Thing videos during the same week I do them. Right now, I feel like I'm playing catch-up with the Thing videos. A primary reason for the delay in getting these videos out around the time that I did them is that I was very busy teaching during the fall and spring semesters (fall 2018 was especially busy & stressful as you may be hearing from me in the Things videos I did during that semester). That takes a lot of my time; I have very little free time during those school terms.

       Thanks for reading! Have a radiant day!