New Beginnings

Welcome, 2015! May the new year bring us continued blessings and joy. In the past six months of my papercrafting journey, I have connected with the kindest souls and learned so much about crafting. The goals I've set for the months ahead of me are huge but I can only achieve them one step at a time. In less than five months, I will be graduating with my second master's degree and hoping to become a licensed social worker. The work is challenging but rewarding. At the same time, I will continue to craft.

To all my friends and followers who support me and help me, thank you for your love. My work does not define me. If I were to set one goal for the year, it would be to continue to do what I love and to accept myself no matter what. It does not matter how many challenges you win, followers you have, or comments you receive. Stay true to who you are and keep good intentions. I believe that who you are develops over time as a result of your experiences and lessons. I am a writer, but when's the last time I wrote anything? Writer's block is a deep issue for some. As an introvert who enjoys the richness of the inner world, sharing more about myself on a public platform is no easy task. I have shared my work on here, with some hesitation, and I appreciate that others enjoy stopping by to see what I do and to read what I have to say.

How did I get into cardmaking? My obsession with shopping for books on Amazon led me to discover K&Company Smash Folio back in early July 2014. After ordering and receiving it, I realized I needed things called embellishments, which led me to discovering the world of scrapbooking. My intentions were to scrapbook since I have saved a lot of memorabilia from my past. I think only a few pages were completed in the book because once I discovered cardstock and inks, my life changed. I created my first card on July 21, 2014, which I didn't post on here because...well, I didn't think of blogging my cards at the time. I just wanted to have fun. How fascinated I was with perforations, lol. Here it goes:

I clearly didn't care for how my photos came out back then. I didn't even have stamps at the time. Since then, I've signed up for multiple Online Card Classes to learn tips and techniques. I follow many great crafters on Facebook, Instagram, and via e-mail and enjoy seeing how creative everyone is. The talent continues to amaze me. Sometimes, I feel like it's information overload and so I need to take a break from crafting. It has been such a relief to discover that other crafters, experts or not, go through the same phases I do when it came to experiencing creativity block, craft space issues, and even just having too many products! 

Since then, I have entered multiple challenges to inspire myself to create different kinds of cards and took part in two coffee-themed blog hops. I befriended a few really great crafters. I attended the Mama Elephant 2nd Birthday Party in NYC in October and introduced two friends to the world of papercrafting. I learned so fast that I ended up making and giving away 200 to friends all over the world and submitting 300 cards to the 5th Annual Caring Hearts Card Drive (and won a major prize from none other than Jennifer McGuire). 

So far I have been posting images of my cards and keeping my entries brief. I have followed enough blogs to know that that isn't enough, but I am not trying to do everything all at once. :) Family and school are priorities for me. Somehow, I've squeezed in the time to create and I'm glad I did. Goals for the new year include changing how I post on here by focusing on quality rather than quantity. I still plan on making a lot of cards because I love giving them to people. However, I want to get more involved in the wonderful ways that other crafters give back through their joy of creating and to find my own style. I hope to pick up on writing again, whether it's on an online platform or through a paper journal or both. A good friend gifted me an Erin Condren planner so that's another way for me to organize myself and refocus on important goals. I am truly grateful because of how generous the industry really is - I've won so many giveaways so I know it's only fair to give back to others, too. I had one giveaway for the last blog hop and picked two winners, and I currently have one giveaway on my Instagram. 

There is a lot to look forward to in 2015, and I hope to share my adventure along the way with you all. Thank you for being loyal readers. Look out for a giveaway post when I reach my six-month mark in late January :)

Here were some of my favorites from 2014:

This is the first card I entered in a challenge and the first challenge I ever won!

Thank you for reading this long post. I hope to bring more to you in the coming year. Feel free to share suggestions or ask questions! I love sharing ideas and helping others out. This month is another busy one full of celebrations - Winnie & Walter are celebrating their first birthday with month-long challenges, and you know I'll enter them all! Take care and have a great rest of the week.