Successful Completion of Creative Every Day in 2010!!

Phew!!! I made it! 

For 2010, I choose the word "CREATE" for my Word of the Year and then shortly thereafter I came across Leah's Creative Every Day Challenge. I thought - "what a great way to ensure I follow through on my desire to create" and I promptly joined. I have a tendency to take things a bit too literally and so I took a blank book I had and started to create something in it every day. The first few months I stuck closely to the themes and then when they no longer remained inspirational, I switched to just creating something. 

I filled four books and some of a fifth. I did an image for every single day of the year in 2010. There were days I did 2 and days I did none but those were relatively few. Travelling was the major challenge (and I do travel so I experienced that first hand) and so were holidays. Some nights I was up much later than I wanted trying to finish a creation! 

I experimented. I tried pens, zen doodles, coloured pencils, watercolour pencils and crayons, a few kind of pastels, several kinds of paint, pencil and charcoal.

I surprised myself with the ideas I came up with and with what I created!!

Here are the last few:

Monday:

Tuesday: Inspired by my Nutcracker collection "Herr Drosselmeyer"...

:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

I never thought I'd complete the full year. But the more I did, the more I felt I had to continue and finish 2010. Will I do the same in 2011? Not the same, no.

I joined CED2011 but I won't have books of daily creations and I might not do things daily. I discovered I wanted to work on bigger projects and these little ones left no time in my already busy schedule for that. And the big projects can't be completed in a day. But I also found that I like creating and I want to continue and expand on it.

Most of all I discovered wonderful artists in the blogosphere and made new friends. What an amazing community you are!! The news is filled with negativity but I am in awe of all the warmth and positive forces that exist in this creative group. Thank you all for your comments and encouragement.

I look forward to seeing what you will all create in 2011!!!

P.S. I will write about my new Word of the Year for 2011 soon but I am focusing on finishing up the remaining SBP pages for the Sketchbook Project - due soon!

P.P.S. Do you choose a Word of the Year?

P.P.P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!!! May it be a happy, healthy, prosperous and creative 2011 for you!!!

Love

EVA

Nutcrackers Galore!! (Scene Two)

Continuing from Scene One - the nutcracker filled living room, we move on to the front hall.... 

And then to the Dining Room. This room is split between Nutcrackers and Snowmen. Usually the Snowmen get to stay out until February even if they are also snowmen nutcrackers!

Nutcrackers at one end of the room...

Snowmen at the other!

 And to the side.

and 

There are even a few in the powder room! 

There are more scattered throughout the house but these are the highly crowded areas! So that is my house at Christmas! Fun to put out but soon it will be work to take it all down. Oh well, I do so enjoy seeing them every year! It's like a visit with old friends!!

(P.S. Yes, I also play the music!!)

Do you have a heavily themed Christmas decor?

Nutcrackers Galore!! (Scene One)

One of the things I love about Christmas is seeing my extensive nutcracker collection again. They start their exodus from basement storage on December 1st until they are full emerged with the decorating of the tree. I have loved seeing how some of you decorate your homes for Christmas (especially Heather's at Rose Hill Designs) and have been promising (threatening?) to show mine! I finally got around to taking the photos (too many photos)! 

I have a few new editions this year. First (and most exciting and important) is my new painting by Kristin Dudish as part of her 30 in 30 for 30 series. I am so thrilled to have him! 

(topped by my new "Chorus Line" nutcrackers that I received as a gift for Xmas) 

 ( from Bombay Company)

Here are a lot more! (Not quite all but many!) From my Living Room....

Painting from a Craft Fair

(Some of mine to match the painting)

Kings to the left

Santas to the right

Card holders and stocking hangers

New "Cats" Nutcracker (Christmas gift)

The Tree - not all nutcrackers but many!!

These two big guys stay out all the time and are wonderful servers as side tables. 

More rooms to follow in Scene Two!

SBP - I'm sorry I forgot you were wool!

Have you finished the Sketchbook Project? (Did you sign up?) I was hoping to finish by year end but there are still so many pages left to do! Well at least there is one more done and one less to do in my challenging "I'm sorry I forgot you" theme.

Here it is:

Hmm now what next?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas Day and managed to celebrate with those you love in the way you wanted!

Personally I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas. I love it. I love the decorations, the music, the stories, the sentiments. But there are things I hate: the commercialism, the shopping and it is sooooooooooooo much work. (Much of which I put on myself, of course.) I (unfortunately) tend to be a last minute person and am always crazy busy leading up to Christmas, then working all day to make a nice dinner and then spend Boxing Day on all the necessary but postponed things that should have been done but weren't (like laundry) and are now urgent (no clean underwear left for some members of the family). Then Boxing Week becomes more relaxed. Sigh. Do you ever feel like like this?

Blogging and art suffered. I did all my daily creations though I will admit some of them were a day or two late. But they did get done! And here they are:

Monday:

Tuesday:

 

Wednesday: A skunk? At Christmas? I have no idea why, he just called to be drawn...

Thursday: Carols and Christmas songs on my mind....

Friday/Christmas Eve:

Saturday/MERRY CHRISTMAS!!: Christmas Dinner. I tried this yummy pumpkin cornbread dressing/stuffing that Leah had mentioned. Delicious!!

Sunday: A new toy for Yuri for Christmas!! He is like a kitten again!

My goal for this week is to relax, work around the house, finish up my sketchbook project and CED2010, catch up on some of your blog posts I've missed, do a puzzle and think/write about 2010 and 2011. I hope to post my sketchbook pages as I finish them and take and post photos of my extensive nutcracker collection/ Christmas decorations, so please drop by later! 

I hope you have a relaxing and creative week!

Christmas and the Creating Becomes Challenging

A crazy busy week with another one to come! Are you going too crazy to be creative? Or are you creative in a different way? Shopping for the perfect gift is creative. Decorating your home for Christmas is creative. Juggling everything involves creativity. Or so I like to tell myself....but I do think it's true.

I did complete my pages for this week but it was a challenge. I had hoped to do more sketchbook pages and participate in some of the fun weekly challenges but time did not permit.

Monday: I have an extensive nutcracker collection (which I will post pictures of later this month as I have been loving the photos that some of you have been showing of your Xmas decorations). I tried drawing one for the first time...

Tuesday:

Wednesday: Another nutcracker done in oil pastels...

Thursday:

Friday: Trying to capture a beautiful sunset I saw over water... (Unfortunately my watercolour crayons look totally washed out.) 

Saturday: I finally put my tree up. Lights only. (The blue are actually supposed to be white but white wouldn't show up.)

Sunday: My tree top angel.

I'm getting closer to having the house decorated (though boxes and mess still abound) and have finally even start shopping! I have such a love/hate relationship with this time of year. What about you? All organized and relaxed? Or like me? Hope you have a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate it) and a Happy Holiday Season!!