An Artful Look Back at 2023

 Hi everyone. Happy last day of 2023 to you.

Do you like to look back on the past year and take stock of the year that has or is about to wrap up? I like to see what I accomplished, where I fell short, and what I could have or should have changed. It helps me look and maybe see where I want to go forward in the new year. One look back  that I don't mind sharing is my artful look back. Sometimes I don't feel like I've accomplished much variety of art, but after looking back through my blog all year, I can say it was a pretty good artful year. ❤

Warning-this is a bit of a long post today. 

1-A Florida Travel journal

You might remember the hubby and I tried to escape the cold for a week in late January, and we headed down to Florida. When I came home I made a great little travel journal using an old book cover and some sewn in pages.

2- Charleston Travel Journal

I did the same thing after I spent a long weekend away with a friend in May. This time I made my journal in a small (bought) ringed notebook.

3- Iceland Travel Journal

And my last travel journal for 2023 was from my early June trip to Iceland. Sadly I haven't yet finished it. 😕 But since it hasn't gone anywhere, I have plans to get it done soon before I head off someplace else. This journal has pages that are sewn in to an old recycled book cover.

4- My Bee Journal

In the spring I made another journal to keep track of my 2023 bee adventures and also to put in some random artsy pages. I put too many pages in this journal, so I will continue to use it to record my 2024 bee adventures also.

5- I was a guest designer over at More Than Words back in January. Thank you ladies for having me.

6-In the spring  I made a junk journal to do a bit of work table and paper pile cleaning

for this journal I just folded some 81/2 x11 inch paper in half and then stitched it together. It has not hardbound cover.

7- I joined many Tag Tuesday challenges

8- In November I won the challenge over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media with this piece. 

Thank you ladies for your support. 

9- I hosted AJJ in February with my RED challenge. 

I learned a lot about using the color red, which was my goal with this topic.

10- I made a few cards 

 I feel like I have to be so neat making cards (mainly I have to keep my dirty fingers from getting prints all over the card front-😏). I used to make a lot of cards, and I've since gotten away from doing that. To change that, I made a few in 2023 that I was really happy with.

11- I also made some postcard collages

I was still using up those never ending accumulating scraps.

12- I did a few paintings; here's one I shared online

I definitely need more practice painting. 😏

13-  I started (and now just need to sew together) an autumn themed cloth journal

And I definitely need to do more sewing in 2024.

14- I made a fun bingo card Halloween book:

15- I almost finished an old phone directory Christmas journal:

I have 5 letters left. Anyone have any ideas for the letter K that goes with Christmas?

16- And I made A LOT of art journal pages.

For the sake of brevity, I'll share more about those journal pages some other time.

Yes, it was a good art year. In 2024, I hope to expand what I do. I want to get back to some jewelry making (which I haven't done in years) and fabric dyeing (which has also been on hiatus for a few years). I'd like to do more fabric art, and finish up the journals and projects I need to complete. I have a new trip journal in mind, and of course, lots of  journal pages. As the cliche goes, variety is the spice of life.

I also want to thank everyone for the inspiration you shared  in 2023. My art gets better because of you sharing your art.

 

Have a great last few hours of 2023 or start to 2024, depending on when you read this post. I'll back tomorrow with some New Years wishes.