2025 – END OF YEAR REVIEW

It’s been a relatively quiet year, all told. Not a great deal to report on our normal activities.

Most of my activity this year has been art-related.

Studio changes

I got some great new shelving units for the studio and reorganised things to make life a lot easier, freeing up a new working space for “cleaner” work, and keeping the old main work area for more messy mixed media stuff.

 

I had a major tidy-up but looking at it today you’d never believe it because the place is a tip…

Art courses

Having finished the DrawAwesome online course which lasted throughout 2024, I started with some short Domestika courses in the early part of this year. I purchased enough for the year but still have most of them to do.

Mandala drawing

Islamic art

I went on to complete my own version of a Shamsa after completing this course piece, and I was more pleased with the result. My hubby bought a second-hand frame at a village fete and reluctantly handed it over to me – for the first time I made an art piece to fit a frame, not the other way round!

Hebrew calligraphy

I did a couple of pieces as a result of this short course. I had already developed my own style when attending evening classes in Biblical Hebrew back in the mid-90s but learnt a bit more about spacing and composition from this course. As with all the courses, the teacher did an introductory session which included artists which had inspired her, and as always, this led to my discovering new artists and being inspired myself.

My name in Hebrew, with an associated Bible verse.

A favourite Bible verse in Hebrew calligraphy, with the English translation in blackletter calligraphy.

English calligraphy (copperplate)

This particular one, with its gilded background, underwent a total transformation under artificial light, to my amazement. The gilding appeared on fire.

Calligraphy in gold ink.

I also took another online course on copperplate calligraphy, concentrating on flourishes.

Drawing and painting

Various projects throughout the year.

Another Islamic drawing, this time based on a geometric design.

Some ink drawings, to use up left-over ink.

Some drawings associated with the online Islamic art course.

Sketches at the cat cafe.

Sketch at a friend’s mum’s funeral.

Mixed media abstract art inspired by Denise Love.

Edith Holden’s “Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady” pencil drawings.

Trying out some new pens.

Pearls – coloured pencil drawing.

Albums

Abstract mixed media mini-book. This was made from a single sheet of paper.

Another one-sheet wonder – based on the works of Gustav Klimt.

12 x 12-in large album containing all the course work from DrawAwesome, online drawing course I did during 2024.

Infusions mini-album. This was the long-awaited completion of a UFO (UnFinished Object) which had been sitting in my studio for literally years! Great to get it finished at last. It is a resource book containing three mini-books, showing many different ways you can use PaperArtsy infusions paints.

The mini-books are made from toilet roll cores, and each page contains a pull-out tag with instructions on the use of the paints.

Each mini-book is held in place with magnets and is removable.

“Make a Joyful Noise” album. This book contains many sound-makers, six of which are on the cover. The book is made mostly from recycled materials and has many interactive elements. It is mostly completed but I am still in the process of making some additional embellishments for it. Once this is done, I shall upload a flip-through video on YouTube.

A baked beans pack transformed into two pages – one featuring cats, and the other an interactive noise-making page.

Velcro, magnets, poppers… all make different sounds as you open up the page element.

Elements made from crinkly papers to make an interesting sound.

Pages made from many varied papers which make different sounds when handled.

Embellishments

Various embellishments to build up a stash to draw upon for decorating albums and other projects.

Page tab making.

Sparkly ribbon beads.

Luise Heinzl’s butterfly clusters.

Multi-layered mixed media clusters.

Miscellaneous embellishments made from recycled packaging, window envelopes, clothing tags etc. This is a work in progress which I shall continue to add to in the New Year. Some are interactive with removable tags and some are hidden paperclips. Pockets, tags, whatever inspiration the original packaging sparks!

New art materials and equipment

Making a lot of art from recycled materials and stuff already in my stash does free up funds to buy stuff I HAVE to have!

A new drawing compass. I adapted the box to fit the pencil holder.

Pilot parallel calligraphy pen. I bought a few of these with different width nibs.

Brushes with fine points. The thicker part acts as a reservoir to hold loads of paint or ink. Fabulous for fine line painting.

Angled calligraphy nib holder, for copperplate calligraphy.

Calligraphy fountain pen. A beautiful pen, but it doesn’t have the spread of a normal dip pen nib for good thicks and thins.

ArtGraf Tailor Shape soluble charcoal. Fabulous art material!

Metal storage tins for my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolours. I have put magnets on the bottom of each paint pan and they stick in the tins. I also made swatches to go inside the licds.

 

My baby brother! One of the best things I bought this year – it was really cheap, a small sewing machine which does several fancy stitches I wanted. Just great for my mixed media and album work!

Various craft materials from one of our shopping trips.

Charity shop clothing to be taken apart and repurposed.

Jewellery from charity shops – ditto.

I bought other similar stuff on other shopping trips too.

Some rolls of metallic mesh from Amazon – far more than I’ll ever use, but useful for various mixed media projects and embellishments etc. Fraying bits off, you can use them as tangled fibres as a layer in a cluster, for instance.

Coffee filters for mixed media art – coffee/tea stained, stained with rust water or ink. A fabulous material which is designed to be strong when wet, so ideal for art.

“Divide and Rule” drawing set. I have yet to do a blog post about this. Fabulous.

Sarah Renee Clarke’s Colour Cubes

I pushed the boat out and bought these, but I’m ashamed to say I have yet to use them! People have been raving about them as a useful tool for choosing colour schemes. I seem to be firmly fixed in my “Brown Period” at present but hope to venture into the Colour Cubes this coming year!

A snap fastener set

A very useful tool for setting coloured plastic snap fasteners. The first use of them was on a noisy page in my “Make a Joyful Noise” album. Fun to do, colourful and useful.

I also bought some more brads and eyelets for embellishing album pages.

Hole reinforcing dies

A really useful set of dies for making a variety of different hole reinforcements.

Other things I have aquired are various art books, stamps, dies, embossing folders, various inks, beads, decorative papers and napkins, glassine paper, and so on. All stuff to add to my stash!

Other things I have done in the studio

Paper dyeing

I have dyed paper using tea, coffee, beet juice, inks and rust.

Rust water

Following Dragana of Saacibo YT channel, I learnt how to make rust water by soaking iron objects in a mixture of water and vinegar. Rust water fast became one of my favourite art materials in the studio. It goes on quite light, but darkens on drying, and reacts with tea to go almost black.

Stencilling on rust-dyed wallpaper.

Rust spattering on stencilled paper.

Two different shades achieved with rust dyeing on coffee filters.

Rust water painted on leaf prints. The original prints were not that great but the rust water did bring out more detail. I need to experiment more with this technique.

Some tea (or it may have been coffee) dyed paper dyed with an overlay of lace, from my stash, which I embellished with some left-over gold paint.

Mask-and-spray technique. I think I invented this because I’ve never seen anyone else do it. I laid cut out flower pieces down on paper and sprayed ink. The flowers acted as a mask. I removed the flowers, turned them over and laid them down in different places, and sprayed again. This produced an interesting layered background of random flowers with some being more intensely dyed than others, and a collection of double-sided flower pieces to make up into 3-D flowers.

Mixed media paper dyeing

I took scrap printer paper which would otherwise have been shredded, and covered all the personal info with tea dye, paints, inks, stencilling etc. I ended up with a very useful pile of papers.

I digitised some of these.

Tea-dyed fabric

I tea-dyed a batch of fabrics from garments I bought in a charity shop. Before and after.

Frottage experiments

Using textures under paper and rubbing over the top with GrafArt Tailor Shapes to produce some interesting designs. I shall definitely be using this technique in future.

Card making

For various reasons I’m really not into card making any longer, but once in a while I’ll make an exception, such as this card which I made for a special friend’s 90th birthday.

A couple of  cards I made for my hubby this year, with some calligraphy on the insides. The card toppers were ATCs I made years ago and decided it was time to use them.

Fussy cutting

I bought a couple of second-hand nature books on Ebay for fussy cutting. These images will be great for embellishing album pages.

Fussy cutting is quite therapeutic, and very nice to do in front of the TV in the evening.

Repairs

I was horrified to discover how worn my favourite hand-knit jumper had become – I knitted this years ago from a dress I bought many decades ago and unravelled to remake as a jumper. I learnt how to do Swiss darning for an invisible mend where the stitches were very thin, and where they had worn into holes. Good for another few years!

Kintsugi mug repair

My first venture into kintsugi – the Japanese art of repairing pottery with gold. (Western version – with 2-part epoxy resin adhesive and gold mica powder). My favourite mug! I haven’t dared drink out of it but very pleased to have rescued it from the bin.

Shrink plastic

I’ve done a bit of this in the past but got going with it again, to make a title tag for my Infusions album. I did the art work on an unshrunk piece and then heated it to melt and shrink it, and make it thick and rigid. It makes a great charm.

Studio conclusion

You can see I’ve had a busy year in the studio. I don’t think I’ve left anything out but I probably have! It’s been a really fun and productive year.

Plans for the coming year

I still have a number of UFOs (UnFinished Objects) hanging around and I really should work on these and get them completed and out of the way. They take up a lot of space in the studio and prevent me from tidying up and getting properly organised.

I also want to finish making more embellishments so I can finally complete the “Make a Joyful Noise” album and get a video flip-through made.

Albums – I have started collecting ephemera, charms and information to make an album with a Sherlock Holmes theme. This should be really fun. My Dad introduced me to Sherlock Holmes when I was about 11 and I’ve always loved the stories since then. The famous detective has been an important part of my life! How lovely to be able to celebrate him by making a book about him.

I want to make more interactive albums, and experiment with different binding methods. I shall continue to use recycled and junk materials and stretch my imagination and creativity as I look at ordinary things around me.

Other activities during 2025

We haven’t had many outings this year but have made a few very fruitful shopping trips where I’ve been able to stock up on charity shop finds (clothing and jewellery) and papers and odd bits and pieces from other shops.

County Show

We made our annual pilgrimage to the Devon County Showground in May and had a wonderful day. The usual craft stands, stalls selling things, and of course the animals, all turned out in their best for judging at the show.

Cat Cafe

We made another visit to the Cat Cafe which is always fun, meeting up with other cat people and making a fuss of all the resident kitties.

I made some sketches in my sketchbook.

I sent them to the Cat Cafe later and they were very thrilled with them!

House of Marbles

Another local attraction that we’ve visited several times. I love looking at the displays of art glass.

Village fete

The village where we used to live. We always go back and catch up with the news and see old friends. I bought a gorgeous bowl from this potter who was selling her wares.

Thai restaurant

We discovered a new place to eat out this year and went twice. Gorgeous food and a lovely setting.

House bag

I got this multi-pocketed bag this year and keep all my bits and pieces in it. It goes with me from room to room so I’ve always got everything I need. I saw the idea on YouTube – apparently it’s all the rage in the USA (where they call it a “house purse”). It’s brilliant!

Health

I have now been waiting seven years for my major abdominal surgery. I saw the surgeon (No. 3 since my referral to the hospital in Exeter) a couple of months ago and he said he hoped to get me in before Christmas. Hmmm. Still waiting.

My hubby is suffering badly with an arthritic hip. Not sure when he will get that fixed either. He made a good recovery from his prostate cancer last year.

We both started red light therapy a few days ago. I’d seen a lot of material about this and did a deep dive into it – it sounds almost too good to be true but there are literally thousands of peer-reviewed studies on it and it really does work for promoting good health across the board. Worth looking into if you are not familiar with it.

 

That’s about it, folks! Be back next year, and looking forward to another productive and creative year. A happy new year to all my visitors.