2021 round-up

It’s been another odd year. More Covid-19 but fewer people seeming to take it seriously. We’re still taking it seriously in this house so I have been extremely grateful to have had my arts and crafts to keep me distracted.

Card making

I’ve just made the cards I needed to make this year. I even dipped into my stash to top up the Christmas cards. I do still really enjoy making cards but I have so many spares from the last eight years of card-making that it’s hard to get enthused about making cards just for the sake of making cards.

Wanderlust

I did surprisingly well at keeping going with Wanderlust this year, only giving up when I hit a block of lessons that really didn’t inspire me or teach me anything new. I did make a point of watching all the weekly videos though. In the end I completed 33 lessons (plus a couple of bonuses), skipped 14, and there are 3 that I will get around to when I’m in the right mood. A definite improvement from 2019 when I only finished 27, though I do want to go back and look at the ones in the second half of that year as there did seem to be more variety then.

Other art

There has been time to take part in a twinchie challenge and an abstract art class, and I made my own series of desk-clearing art cards. And quite a few other bits and pieces along the way.

Blogging

And I finally got around to making some galleries here on the website to gather together the various things I’ve made into easily browsable pages. I’ve been doing this blog since 2014 and I’d like to be able to get a better view of what’s on here — hopefully it might even be useful for others too. There’s a lot more to do, but I’ve made a start and divided this year’s creations into three galleries:

• 2021 artworks
• 2021 handmade cards
• 2021 Wanderlust

Personal

On a personal note, there have been quarterly scans and monthly clinic visits and, touch wood, so far the drugs are still keeping the cancer in check and I am feeling well apart from the fatigue. And there have been a couple of personal highlights: seeing my brother for the first time in two years was absolutely lovely, and getting civil-partnered to my other half of 29 years was long overdue.

Next year

Next year. Next year I shall be taking each week as it comes. I’m not going to be doing Wanderlust, or any other big challenges — they just take up too much of my focus. I might do a 30 day Colouring Challenge though as it’s a good motivator for getting my Copic markers out. I have a variety of classes I have signed up for in the past and there’s at least a few of those I’d like to have a go at. I also have lists of ideas and things to try that I keep adding to — maybe some of those will get done. And there are still a few bits that I want to make for other people.

I’m not setting any specific goals, I simply plan to keep on doing whatever interests me and writing it up for the blog.

I would say that I will be better at leaving and replying to comments but that would be wishful thinking. I go through phases of being able to do social things and phases where my brain rebels and refuses to come up with the simplest of responses. Please believe that I truly appreciate every like and comment that comes my way.

At the end of one year, here’s to hoping that the next is better than the last couple. Best wishes to all of you.