Creative Projects : Looking back and looking forward

I am always so inspired as we head into a new year. I like to do a review of my creative projects from the past year and where I'm headed next. 

Art Journaling was a major focus again last year. This was how my altered art journal looked at the end of December 2017

and these were my final Christmas pages with 11 spreads to go. 

In 2018 the pages mostly focused on the work I did in Effy's classes Book of Days and Moonshine. This journal was bulging at the seams and some pages were getting very loose so after some deliberation I tore out the remaining end pages (will use them in another project) and made this angel page my final journal page by gluing it to the back cover. I shared the finishing of this journal with the altered cover HERE.

I've decided on another old book for my next journal.  

It needs some preparation which I'll share in a later post. My new journal will contain the lessons from Effy's Book of Days 2019 which is turning into a collaborative this year. 

I've also signed up for A Year of Rumi 

I may do some interpretations of the lessons in this art journal, but mainly I'm going to be making mixed media art cards to fit in a collaged box which I made a couple of years ago. I'm really excited about this new project called "Klimt in the Garden with Rumi" - read the full story of how this original idea evolved and see my first mixed media card on this theme HERE.

I will continue my written journaling practice in my current Inner Work Journal -  I have continued to find it invaluable as a tool of self-development and writing things out brings clarity for me.

I have purchased the Southern Hemisphere PDF Planner for a Magical 2019 to print and use weekly. 

I want to continue my recycled doodle journals - love the process of my Magazine Faces 

And I'm looking forward to putting into practice all I'm learning from watching Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's Gelli Journals class

I also did a number of projects last year that were outside my art journals.
I began by setting myself a new challenge of #52stamps = to share at least one new stamp made by me weekly in 2018. I carved for the first 12 weeks and made 21 new stamps! 

Then I decided to have a break and felt no desire to add it to my to-do list after that! A challenge is only good if it's inspiring you isn't it, but it was fun while it lasted and I now have a few more skills if I want to do more.  
In February I had terrible heartbreak when my lovely Dad passed away. Arting helped

In April I felt I was lacking Stitch projects and began #100daysofstitch which resulted in this stitched piece

and this 5th Stitch*Bookery project

I also made a start on my poppy quilt in June and while it's not quite complete I am up to the quilting stage and will be able to share it finished by the end of January

Additionally I made a number of cards 

I took craft club for 3 terms at school, decorated an altered book as a kindle cover for a friend, 

and completed Tam's She Blooms course and turned that art into a book : 

I enjoyed making bookmarks again for my school librarians, 

and l managed to make another gift of lace for my Aunty.

In November I started #arteveryday and it's had a huge impact on my productivity. I believe that you can mostly manage to squeeze some art into your day even if it's only 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes add up to completed projects more quickly than you would believe. Although I'm no longer posting updates here on my blog, I'm continuing to take photos for my own motivation and keeping that record in my Inner Work Journal : 

This project completed in December has been a turning point for me in terms of where I want to spend a lot of creative time in 2019 : 

I want to go on and make many more mixed media art quilts based on my art journal faces. Excited to see where this takes me. Remember : 

You can do ANYTHING, but you can't do EVERYTHING!

I've put my creativity way up my priority list in 2018 and it shows. How can you celebrate how you've developed on your creative journey over the past year AND what choices are you willing to make so you can create more art in 2019? 

HAPPY NEW YEAR. Wishing you Creative Joy in 2019 ♥

I'm going to take a summer holiday break with my family and I'll see you back here in about 3 weeks.