Happy New Year to you all! We had a festive holiday with friends & family. December has always been hectic (we have two December birthdays along with all of the Christmas chaos) and this year was no different. We spent New Year's with friend, like always, and had a festive D&D one-shot campaign. Not my normal jam, but it was fun!
Should I create some loose goals for 2026 even though I totally failed at hitting my goals for 2025? Maybe. First, let's look at last year...
At the end of 2024, we had two medical emergencies in my house. Both people are doing just fine. But while I was chatting with an older & wiser (and more fabulous!) friend, she told me that although I think I'm ok, it'll probably hit me later. And really, I think that's how 2025 started - overwhelmed. I wanted to do SO MANY things in 2025 but I felt paralyzed by creative block and overwhelmed with the state of the world and the impact of 2024's chaos. I was equal parts bored and stressed. Not a great combination.
It was a weird year.
And so I took on a job. Wait, what?! Yup. I happened to land a very part-time job in a commercial photography studio/frame shop. It's fun! I'm getting out of the house, learning new skills, and interacting with a lot of creative folks. I'm not giving up the blog or any of the things I do in the greater paper doll community. I just needed a small change. This is all a long way of saying that I'm trying to sort out what my posting schedule will look like but I WILL be posting!
Let's look at what I did in 2025.
Magazine
I'm lucky enough to work on loads of things for Paperdoll Review Magazine. It's an absolute dream-come-true working with Jenny and all of the folks involved in the magazine. Not only do I contribute art, but sometimes I get the chance to write articles, and I also am involved in the graphic design/editing aspect.
I only posted six paper dolls on the blog last year, but two were part of a small series: Bold Florals and Frightening Frocks with Rachel Cohen.
Books and More
That creative block I mentioned earlier hit HARD this year and I only released two books: a re-working of my Emma McKay calendar and an expansion of my Halloween flapper. I was also asked to create a souvenir for the Morgantown Think Pink party and a centerfold for Doll Castle News.
Other Projects
I really wanted to branch out into other projects this year but I just couldn't get the motivation. I tried out Bloomtober and completed 10 of the 11 prompts.
As for my goals, I didn't hit all of them.
1) Try Something New. Um, not quite. I did tinker with Krita, which I highly recommend. And I grabbed Affinity when it became free but I haven't opened it yet. I did some hand-lettering, which was fun and different.
2) Use It Up. I did a bit of this. I'm reading books I already own. I'm using art supplies I already have. I'm dipping into my stash of cross stitch supplies and scrapbooking supplies and whatever else I have on hand.
3) Spend Mindfully. This is the one I hit! I was much more aware of the art store dopamine hit this year and really, really avoided it. At one point my husband asked me if I was ok because our spending was significantly down. I just got cranky about the cycle of capitalism I guess!!
4) Pay It Forward. I mean, I guess? I wrote an article about tabs. I joined a Round Robin paper doll group. I had some lovely paper doll friends visit my home. And I posted several free paper dolls on the blog.
5) Create More. NOPE! I had a slow and small nervous breakdown instead. And that's ok.
I have several book ideas and the brain space to start tackling them. Ironically, I think getting a job has cleared my head a bit. It's fun, low commitment, active, and breaks up my week some while helping me feel like a contributing part of society.
I think for 2026 I'll keep my goals as-is and see what happens. I know this was a long one but it was nice to see everything from 2025 in one place!
Let me know if you made any goals for the new year and if you hit your goals for last year!
