2015 Wrap-up

I had such an amazingly stress-free Christmas season this year and it was wonderful!! Although I didn't follow through on my 12 Months of Christmas challenge as much as I would have liked, what I did accomplish sure made life easier. My cards were made, my menu was planned, and I had several gifts already ready to go. I even had enough time to make projects to sell at a Craft Fair. I think I'm also getting better at not being a perfectionist and to simply let things go if it was too much. For instance, I didn't get any photos in our annual Christmas letter this year. I didn't plan ahead for that, and by the time I did get some nice shots, my printer was out of ink. Since we live 40 minutes from the nearest store to buy ink, and it was already the Sunday before Christmas, it just didn't happen. I could have stressed over it, (and in the past, I would have), but I didn't. Having most of my Christmas to-do list planned ahead was super nice when we found out at the that my mom was coming to stay with us--the next day! All that to say that I plan on doing my 12 months of Christmas challenge again this year. Hopefully, I'll do even better at posting here so you can play along with me.

Speaking of photos, as I was clearing out my phone and camera and organizing the photos, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite projects from this last year.

I started the year out with this desk calendar. It was one of the projects for my January TNT class. You can't tell from the photo, but the back side holds a notepad and pen. I did find that by the end of the year, the cardstock was starting to bend a little, so I think the next time I do this project I will reinforce the "tent" with some chipboard.

This little bunny was definitely one of my absolute favorite projects. Aack! So cute!

Who doesn't love a cute bunny butt?!

I am loving the Perpetual Calendar. I gave several of these away as gifts because they are just awesome, and for those of you interested, I am doing a class for this project on January 18. You will only need to have the kit and some adhesive, as I will provide the stamp set and ink. Check out my Events page for details and to RSVP. 

These butterflies were one of the gifts I gave to those attending my New Catalog Open House in the summer.

Paper crafting is not my only hobby. I also love to sew, and while I don't have a lot of time for it, I had to make time for these two projects. I desperately needed a camera strap that would not rub my neck, so I decided to make a pretty one while I was at it. I have since sold several of these to friends and family and am thinking about opening an Etsy shop.

I love to use my clothesline in the summer, but my cheapo clothespin bag fell apart on me this year. I wanted one that stayed open at the top to make it easier to grab the pins, and since I couldn't find a pattern I liked, I made one up. It works great!

And, last-but-not-least, this little cutie. This was one of the projects we did at my Christmas Open House. I'm going to have to use him on a card next year.

I actually have several other Christmas ideas to share from the Craft Fair that I did, but I think I will share them on another post. I hope you enjoy the last couple of days of 2015 and set some awesome goals for 2016.

Till next time...

God's love and blessings!