Into the New Year

I don't know how anyone else feels but I always look at the new year as an opportunity to get a fresh start.  It's sort of like moving into a new apartment or house.  You have all the same "stuff" but you get to look at it with new eyes and evaluate whether you want to keep it or not; you get to decide where you'll put your stuff ie on a different wall or maybe in a different room.  A new year gives you to opportunity to look at things differently and maybe make a few changes.

I've never been one for New Year's resolutions, mainly because I never keep them so what's the point?  I don't know anyone who ever does but then maybe that's just me.  Two years ago I did decide to stop purchasing supplies.  I posted a large note on the blinds in my art studio and it worked.  I have, for the most part used and / or purged what I have and it's helped.  I can actually go into a craft store now and not lose my mind when I see all the new supplies.  Have I closed the purchasing department completely?  No I have not, however, I have cut back by about 75%- 80%. I give myself permission to do some purchasing and when I do shop I'm more mindful of what I have and what I really need (rather than what I merely want) so purchase far less. 

We had a quiet New Year again this year.  Appies on New Years eve and we watch Anderson and Andy on CNN, not something I usually do, however, I enjoyed it this year.  Those two have good chemistry and they're entertaining.  I even stayed awake until after midnight which is unusual for me. 

I hosted my annual New Year's day dinner party for some friends.  We always did that when my husband was alive and I've kept the tradition alive.  I always make prime rib which is too die for, even if I do say so myself.  This year was wonderful and while it's a lot of work, I really do enjoy doing it. 

Happy New Year to you and yours.

Another Christmas gone

I had a lovely, quiet Christmas, as usual, and Santa was very good to us.  With just the two of us, it's always quiet but very enjoyable.  The days of running myself ragged and getting stressed are long over so I do enjoy this time of year very much.  I made about 60 christmas cards, both for myself and for donation, as well as a couple of dozen gift tags.  I really enjoy making cards and tags at this time of year. Every year I say I'm going to make cards/tags throughout the year and then the year gets away from me.  However it just seems to make sense to me to keep making these little treasures since I have all my scraps and christmas embellishments already out.

Craft room looks like a cyclone hit it  - so what else is new?  Now that the Christmas crafting rush is over, I will put in a concerted effort to restore some semblance of order to my little corner of paradise.

I went to Michaels today to pick up a couple of sketch pads for my daughter.  I had ordered them online for Christmas but turns out they were out of stock so I didn't get them.  While there I noticed they had their Christmas paper pads on sale.  The regular price here in Canada for hot buy is $12 and these were on for
$3.99 or something like that.  I do not need more paper, however, the paper packs had really nice paper so I bought 4 so I'm well fixed for next year.  In past years I didn't use a lot of the paper pads but this year I did and found them quite nice and they made card making so much faster.  I still did some really intricate cards but you certainly get a lot of bang for your buck with the paper pads, especially the really nice ones which these were.

Well gotta run.  Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and that your New Year is wonderful!

Looking back.....

I find that at this time of year I start to reflect on the past year.  I'm always surprised by what I've accomplished (or not) in the past year!

I had set a tag challenge for myself which I enjoyed immensely. The challenge was to make a tag each and every day of 2019. Had I completed it, it would have resulted in me making 365 tags.  It seemed feasible at the time.  I went great guns for 3 months and then got so far behind that it was impossible to catch up.

This year, sometime around September I think, I signed up for some on-line classes.  They're still a  work in progress.   I was focused on my tag art, just not very productive with my other art.  Summer came and well, some of you will know what it's like.  I had all the best intentions but then my motivation and my mojo take a stroll and don't come back.  I haven't worked in my journals for at least 4 months and that makes me sad. 

So... I'm trying a different self-challenge in 2020.  I'm calling it my "page a week" challenge.  I'm challenging myself to create one journal page each and every week of 2020.  By the end of the year I should have 52 pages completed....nothing to sneeze at!!  I'm also challenging myself to complete the courses that I'm committed to do.  This should dovetail well with my page a week challenge as one of the courses is called 30 Pages.  

I tend to over-commit and then lose interest.   I get overwhelmed and frustrated with myself.  Hopefully these projects are challenging enough to hold my interest but not so challenging that I can't keep up.   I may also make a few tags but they're not part of the 2020 challenge.

And so it goes.....

Caio

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The weather here on the coast is cold and they're talking about snow here in the Lower Mainland.  The storms I've seen on tv all across the US are brutal....snow in the Grande Canyon for goodness sake.  I don't ever remember that happening before.

I finished and delivered the cards for the hospital.....finally.  By now you would think I would know exactly how long it will take me to create them but it always seems to take far longer.  Not sure why.  Maybe I make it way more difficult/complicated than it needs to be?  Anyway, I was pleased with the finished product and I hope they will do well with them.  Currently in the process of finishing up some gift tags which I hope to deliver on Monday.  They use the tags as a thank you for sales of a specific limit.  Kind of a fun idea and they're easy and fun to make.  I can make a bunch of them in an afternoon without breaking a sweat.

I promised to post some pictures of some of my Christmas cards so far so here goes!

These came together fairly quickly and I'm pleased with all three.  I may mass produce the ornament card as I have 13 to make for a group I'm in and this one would be quick to make.

I picked up the ornament die at Tuesday Morning for $4.99  -  great deal!

Only 8 more Saturdays....

til Christmas.   Now that, is something I did not need to hear!  How is it that 

Christmas comes so fast every year?

I'm in the process of Christmas card making.  I'm doing them assembly line this year which is a way more efficient way to produce a large number of cards.  I'm not sure why I've never done this before  -  I guess it's a bit of a foreign concept for me - however it is a faster and more efficient way of producing.  I find myself drifting back to old habits so I guess it's a bit of a learning process.  So far so good though.

My daughter and I are going over the line for a couple of days next week.  In July the two of us took off to the Skagit Casino in Washington state for a few days.  We had never done anything like that before.  We both enjoyed it and it was nice to just do something different for a change.  She made out like a bandit - she won $1,000 US.  Me?  Not so much !

Well must get back to cardmaking.  Since I'm doing assembly line, my cards are not complete yet, still need some finishing touches and bling.  I'll  post some as soon as they're finished.

Caio!

Creative Pursuits

Fall has arrived on the coast - I really do love this time of year!  It's the time of year when you retreat indoors, for the most part, and enjoy sitting by the fireplace and watching the world go by.

It's also the time that you refocus your creative energy and get back to doing the things you let slide when the weather was hot.  I'm sure most of us have been guilty of slacking off during the summer.

I'm focusing on getting back into the swing of things for my tag challenge.  I know I'm too far behind to catch up and make my goal, however I will continue until the end of the year anyway. I've really enjoyed this challenge even though  I had no real appreciation as to how much time and effort I would need to invest in it.  On the flip side,  while I haven't worked in my journals very much, I do have lots of tags to send out as happy mail.  Looking forward to getting back to my journals though.

I'm also firing up my Christmas supplies in preparation for my Christmas card blitz for the store and the Christmas swaps I enjoy.  I always enjoy making tags and cards for the holiday season and this year is no exception.

Well must run.....Caio

Playing and organizing and organizing and playing

The journey continues.  I do feel that I'm making some headway....I think my organizing will be an ongoing project!

I've been busy making tags for my challenge and I'm playing in a summer art swap, as well which is always fun. I've already created the backgrounds for my summer art, which is a big part of the project, IMHO, so next step will be to decorate and embellish.

Here are a few more of my tags...these little guys are a lot of fun to make!