2015, or, the Year I Was on Pause

Hello lovelies!

It's been a while. I'm sorry for that.

You see, I have a small human living in my house now, and that seriously complicates things, i.e., life. I wasn't doing that well at blogging before he came along and now, well. Let's just say nothing and pretend we're picking up where we left off, eh?

I also recently picked up a second (third?) job, and I'm still trying to find time to shower and hang out with my husband and horse and family and friends and be a human. It's hard. But people have been doing all that and more for, well, millenia now, so I think I'll manage.

But enough excuses. Really, I found plenty of extra time this year. I just didn't use it to blog.

I used it to write, and to create in other ways. I think I may have mentioned calligraphy in last year's post. Well, I kind of ran with that whole business and now I'm considering myself a calligrapher. I even SOLD two things I made with my calligraphy! So exciting!

I posted my Christmas card design on Reddit and someone asked to buy a few. Amazing!

As if that wasn't cool enough, I started an Instagram account to keep track of my progress and seek inspiration. So, I haven't been on Twitter much lately because I've been on Instagram instead.

Addressing Christmas card envelopes

A modern calligraphy inscription for one of my new bosses

Gift tags for this year's Christmas gifts

I also started experimenting with other visual arts. Stuff that I told myself I'd never be able to do, like paint. Well, I still mostly can't, but I'm extremely proud of some of the things that have come out of my hands these past few months.

A teeny watercolor I painted for a teeny room I made. More on that later.

Out of the frame and with a pen for scale. Teeny!

Shoehorned in here despite being completely out of nowhere: I like pretty inks.

I didn't feed my soul as much as I would have liked. I only took two short trips in 2015, which I know sounds like a lot, but Husband and I are used to a long vacation in the fall (about two weeks) that we both use to recharge and reconnect. This year we got three days. At least there were trees.

Pretty, pretty trees

This isn't a tree, but wood is the traditional gift for a 5th anniversary, and this was one of the things I made for him for ours. I gilded for the first time!

I hung out with this. A lot. I'm hanging out with it right now actually. 

In March, I took a three-day trip with my bestie to New Orleans.

The weather was awesome

This bar was so cool. What an appropriate use of a historically significant site. We met Jack Sparrow on our way out. No, seriously. It was so surreal he made my jaw drop and I couldn't stop staring at him or even speak or move. Apparently I still have a massive crush on (Captain) Jack Sparrow. 

This trip was research for a book and well worth the time and expense. It was great to catch up with my BFF and run around NOLA like two crazy people. I'd never been before and it left a lasting impression on me. I can't wait to go back.

In the spring, I watched one of my CPs (and friends) Amalia Dillin (AKA Amalia Carosella) rise to the top of the Amazon bestseller lists when her book, HELEN OF SPARTA, was picked as a Kindle First book. I was (and still am) so incredibly proud and happy of her and HELEN, an amazing book that you should all go buy right now!

And in the fall, my friend Cindy Pon released her much-awaited and much-fanfared SERPENTINE, set in the same kingdom as her SILVER PHOENIX series. It's a beautiful book, and very deserving of the accolades it's receiving. Go buy that one right now too!

But other than that, life has been ... well... pretty much the same. I've kind of felt like I was on pause all year, which is partly due to the newness of parenthood and the -- I can now admit-- post-partum depression I was likely experiencing, and partly due to being kind of a boring person, when it comes down to it.

I'm glad for the stability, though. Last year was enough excitement to last me a while.

Besides, this year I got to watch the wonder of a brand new person growing into the world. I can't believe I'm a mother, or that I created such a beautiful and adorable kid, or that he would snare hooks in my heart in ways I never believed possible for myself. Everyone always talks about how much you love your kids, but I had no idea it would be this much. I'm definitely that completely insane child-obsessed mom now. Sorry, everyone. Your bad for being friends with me.

Oh! And I almost made it all the way through 2015 without any major medical issues. The closest I came was a brain MRI in August, due to some migraines I'd been getting. Don't worry, nothing exciting came of that.

And then two weeks ago I sprained my ankle. Yup. I was so close!

Ah well. I have another goal for 2016 now.

Oh, what's that? Writing, you ask? How's writing going?

Writing is going well. Thanks for checking.

Miss you all. I promise I'll get back here someday, I just won't promise when.

In the meantime, follow me on Instagram for more of my art and feel free to prod me on Twitter to say hi! And you can always, always, always ask questions about animals here or at any of my other contact points.

Happy New Year, friends.