Wrapping It Up

Yes, the end of December. I am astounded how fast it went.

• Longarmed 8 quilts
• One commissioned quilt done
• One Sashiko piece done
• One preemie quilt top done
• 2 Books read
• Wrote 9 times - journal or stories
• Day excursion to Krankies Craft Fair
• 8 World of Wendy Lu blog posts
• 6 Wendy B Quilt blog posts
• Watched Netflix 6 different times
• Stuffed a doll's head and body that has been sitting around for a year

I do hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve. See ya next year.

Made It

Yep, I made it; survived Christmas. It didn't work out like I'd thought. I was very excited to be in the holiday spirit this year. I was really looking forward to it and then bam! I got sort of blind sided. By what, you ask? The crazy weather. I enjoyed driving the streets at night, looking at the decorations. I got ingredients for a nice dinner. I had pot roast, red potatoes, and carrots. Fixed that on Christmas Eve in my crock pot. The best thing was the crock pot liner. Those things are amazing for people who like one dish meals and don't like to clean up afterwards. I was all set. But the weather did something to me. I was out of sorts. Not necessarily depressed but kind of confused. All of a sudden I wanted Christmas to be over. Then I heard from several others and the news that people were feeling the same thing, out of sorts. Because of the unusually warm temperatures. Yep, that would do it. So I rallied and bounced back a bit so I could enjoy Christmas Eve and Day.

It's still warm. About 20 degrees above normal for this time of year. But yesterday I continued straightening and rearranging things to get going on creating new work. I now have different stations set up for different projects. I want to jump out of the 2016 gate. Last year I had dubbed 2015 the Year of the Creative Juggernaut. That didn't happen, as the fates, faeries, and numerous goddesses were in on a joke. Me being the butt of it. I was taken in a new direction and it has been a ride. Not the worse one I've had but a weird one. I now have a growing business and it's time to get back to creating. I really want to and feel that I'm ready. I had to go through horse poo in order to get to this point. I will not say that I'm not terrified, again. Story of my life. It is my life and I'm owning it. I will work through the fear and press on. I've started my lists, written down plans and goals. I'm accumulating all my creative, intellectual, emotional ammunition and mixing it with a lot of bravery. My ancestors are watching.

2016 will be the Year of the Phoenix. There were a lot of ashes this year and I shall arise and bring along the Juggernaut.

No Pic Post

I forgot to take pics at the Krankie's Craft Fair yesterday. I used to do this fair religiously but the past couple of years, I haven't been able to make it. One, I didn't have any new work to show, and two, I'd recently started a new business. The Fair was in a new location, with lots of natural light coming in, lots more space for a variety of artists and crafters, and lots more parking. It was wonderful, people were buying from local artists the weekend before Christmas.

It was nice to see many of the artists I did the show with. It was nice to see new people there too. What was really interesting were the comments from friends and artists who were disappointed that I didn't have a table there. That really made my day. That I had work that they admired and missed. I told them that I would most definitely be there next year. I am ready to start creating again. It's been awhile, like two years of creative drought.

Stay tuned.

Wow!

Yes, wow! When I talk to friends these days and we discuss what we want to do next year, next year is in like, less than three weeks. Three weeks! And we'll have another year to deal with. I still have this month to deal with and right now, today, I'm feeling pretty good. I will be back in the studio today to longarm a small quilt, someone will pick up their quilt and then I have my quilt guild holiday meeting tonight.

I won something in an online giveaway. I rarely win anything and I love this artist's work. Her name is Diana Rader Shrome. I got a wonderful little doll in a peppermint dress and bow and she through in some Halloween guys because she knows I love Halloween.

And another friend sends me ornaments she paints every year. I'm going to need a bigger tree. The table top one is filling up. She also send me a fountain pen (which I've wanted for a long time), and miniature items. A truck and pen set for my miniature roombox that I'm working on.

Nice, early gifts. I'm still debating if I will get myself something for Christmas. I don't know if I want to be in the crowds. Maybe if I go when the store opens, I'll be okay.

A little Bit...

I promised some friends snail mail art. I've got tons of tiny sketches, I now have to put them on nice paper and paint or use color pencils to finish. Here are the first two.