2025 Wrap-Up and Goals

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. 

For the magazine, I created a ballet page, a quirky Martian, and re-worked Emma McKay. I also wrote an article all about tabs that you get get in Issue 94. 

Blog

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. 

I created two other Animal Crossing fanart paper dolls for friends of my kids, but didn't share them here. 

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.

These were all created in a small, grey-toned sketchbook with Crayola colored pencils. Why Crayola? Because I had them! 

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! 
 

 

Wrap-Up 2024: My Projects

My inspiration this year came in fits & spurts. I didn't have a plan for the blog or a long-term project. I tried to focus on doing things I loved instead of "feeding the blog" - a phrase I'm borrowing from Rachel! If you haven't seen it yet, Rachel has a terrific coloring book available. I grabbed a digital copy and it's full of fun themes. Check it out! 

2024 was a busy year for me but that's not obvious if you only follow the blog. I use my personal Instagram and Facebook to share my art, too, because for me, it's all the same thing. Especially now that the kiddos are teens, I always share my intentions with them and never post something they don't approve. Feel free to follow along on social media if you'd like but be warned, it's family stuff AND art! 

I spent a large part of 2023 attending a local art workshop and that continued in 2024. I just recently realized that I've shared very little of that here so that will be a separate post in the future.

On to the paper dolls! 

2024 started with a wrap-up of 2023 so nothing new there.

In February, I created a Leap Day paper doll.

I've been digging into vintage paper dolls for pose inspiration. This one is based on a Skipper doll from the late 60s. Frogs just seemed like a natural fit for Leap Day. It was mostly created in Procreate with layout, tabs, and text in Photoshop.

The next personal project I tackled was a solar eclipse paper doll.

The total solar eclipse in April covered a large swath of the US. We were outside of totality but it was such a rare & interesting topic that I wanted to commemorate it. This doll was also mostly Procreate with layout, tabs, and text in Photoshop. You can print this or order a print from Paperdoll Review.

Also in April, I came across a paper doll from the early 1900s. I loved the pose. Even though the image I had was very low resolution, it was enough for me to figure out a pose.

Here's an early sketch with the reference image. I love how the hands came together! Hands are tricky!

I don't think I ever actually shared this book on the blog! This was created completely in Procreate and Photoshop. It's one of the few projects where I didn't start with a sketch on paper. Initially, I started this as a fun little experiment one morning while everyone in my house was occupied. My goal was to demonstrate best practices when using references but I got carried away. By the end of the day, I had every page roughed out! It felt so good to be so focused. I threw myself into it, completed it, and sent it over to Jenny. She was thrilled with it! It was the only book of my own that I fully illustrated in 2024. And that's ok. Timeless Beauty of the Teens is available at Paperdoll Review.

If you follow art trends on social media, you might be familiar with MerMay. I'll admit, I've seen the hashtags and art over the years but I didn't know where it started. If you're in the same boat (lol!!), you can find out more on the origins here. I've always wanted to jump in but never found the time. For 2024, I made the time and created a one-page mermaid.

I sketched this one out on paper in a tiny sketchbook. Initially, I thought about rendering it with watercolors but life just got in the way so I worked on it in Procreate. If I can get myself organized, maybe I'll play along with the official MerMay prompts.  

Around the same time, I was working on the Paper Doll Convention souvenirs. 

The theme for the convention was the 1920s. I agreed to work on something with a circus theme. In my research I discovered Lillian Leitzel, a German acrobat who met a tragic end. I came across a circus poster that became the inspiration for the whole set. I've been trying to become a bit more painterly and imperfect in my renderings so that they have a little more life to them. I feel like I'm getting there, especially with this set. The background is one of my favorites and I'm really happy with the layout.

I really try to submit something to Paperdoll Review for every issue. Some themes speak to me more than others. Issue 91with its Colonial theme was one of them! 

For the colonial theme, I knew I wanted something based on New England. It's my home. My family has been here for centuries, since the Colonial era. So I decided on a Pilgrim inspired by Plimouth Patuxet (formerly known as Plimouth Plantation), a living history museum in Massachusetts. It's a great place to visit if you get the opportunity and they've been actively growing their programs to include all perspectives of colonization, not just the English perspective. 

Starting in August, my life got hectic! My plan August was to attend the convention, send my kids ahead on our family vacation, fly home and leave the next day on a roadtrip with my husband to join my kids & my parents in Tennessee. I managed it but it was ROUGH. My plane home from the convention was delayed for hours. I landed at midnight, drove home, slept two hours, and drove 16 hours straight to Gatlinburg. I do not recommend this sort of silliness but if you try it, I hope your companion is as great as my husband was during this whole adventure.

 

When we returned, I decided I wanted to make a Halloween paper doll series. I LOVE Halloween but I didn't have a lot of time to pull this off. I took a black & white flapper that I created for the convention, colored it, and jumped into a vintage style Halloween set. You can check out the whole series here. There are four pages and one of my goals for 2025 is to complete this set and turn it into a book.  

Finally, I have one more project that I wasn't sure I'd pull off but I did! A couple of years ago, I took old art and turned it into a calendar. It was just a whim but folks really loved it. I wanted to make one for 2024 but never got to it. In October of 2024, I drew a doll for a Round Robin project inspired by Betsy McCall and I COULD NOT stop thinking about it! It took on a life of its own. What would a modern-day Betsy McCall be named? What would she wear? What would she do? And that became Emma McKay!

 Emma McKay Everyday is my 2025 calendar project! More than 70 mix-and-match pieces spread over twelve months each with a timely theme and little story. This only came together because Jenny mobilized her team to help me pull this off. Editing, rewriting, tweaking, etc, and it was all worth it. It's available here and will be available for most of the year. Lulu delists calendars automatically as the year comes to an end, so if you want one (or two!), now is the time.

Next week I'll share some of the IRL art I've been working on. It isn't paper dolls but all drawing helps me make better paper dolls!

Wrap-Up 2024: Paperdoll Review Projects

Happy New Year! 2025 feels like some sci-fi year set in the far-flung flying car days of the future. It's not really real, I guess. I mean it is, obviously. My kids laugh at me when I get like this and talk about "the late 1900s" just to annoy me! 

Today I'm back into normal routine mode with the first of several wrap-up posts. I like sharing what I've done and what my (very loosely defined) goals are for the year. This post is a few of my favorite projects for Paperdoll Review. 

Every single year I am THRILLED that I get to work on all of these wonderful projects. 2024 marked five years of working with Jenny and publishing my books with her. She's a dear friend. The whole community is just a joyful part of my life. I am grateful every day to be a part of it.

Ok, enough sappiness. On to the projects.

These are all of the paperdoll books of 2024! If you get the Paperdoll Review newsletter, you'll see that I shamelessly swiped this image from that!! And if you aren't subscribed to the newsletter, you can subscribe here (scroll to the bottom of the page, in the left-hand column). For more fun, check out the reel on Facebook here. I want to share a few of my favorites - even though I love them all!!

This year, I colored two books drawn by Brenda Sneathen Mattox. The Princesses of Wales and Bridal Fashions of the 1920s and 1930s.

I'm a little nervous every time I color line art from another artist. I want the line art to shine! David Wolfe really gave me the confidence to take on these kinds of projects. Collaborating on his books, his advice, and his belief that I could do this sits at the forefront of my thoughts every time I color a book. 

Both of these books were edited in Photoshop and colored in Procreate, with additional elements edited in Illustrator.  

One project that just grabbed my attention instantly was Kwei-lin Lum's Jazz Baby. Her art is so inventive and vibrant! She had a very clear vision for the covers and I used that as inspiration for the interior layouts. We collaborated on the stereo on the cover - she had an idea of what she wanted and I worked it up in Illustrator, then added the textures in Photoshop. The fashions in this book are just totally stunning. I LOVE this book so much! 

Dan DeSantis's first book from Paperdoll Review, Cairo Pemberton, is another one of those projects I was in love with instantly. His art is so beautiful! He also had a clear vision for this book, with fully designed covers and colors ready to go for the borders. This project was mostly image extraction and clean-up on my end, with title treatments. Every page is lovely and I'm looking forward to working on more of Dan's books. 

Finally, I want to highlight two books that were very special to me this year, Ralph Hodgden's Ann Blyth and Rapunzel. 

 

Ralph is a legend in the paper doll world. His knowledge of the glamorous era of Hollywood is unparalleled. And his art is breathtaking in its detail. These are the first two books he's published with Paperdoll Review despite a long career as a self-published artist. He's been kind and encouraging in my growth as an artist and it's a privilege for me to edit his art into book form. Expect more books and prints from Ralph in the future. Jenny invited me to join her on a trip to Boston to see Ralph and gather up some of his art for publication. It's high on my 2025 goals list!      

I could write endlessly about each and every book from 2024. Every book that I work on feels like the best book ever, every time! I love editing art for other paper doll artists. If I've done it well, you don't know I've done anything at all. 

In my next post, I'll share my projects from 2024 and what my goals are for 2025. 

Wrap-up 2023: Editing Books for Paperdoll Review

I am so incredibly lucky to do what I do. It is a labor of love every single day. Not just the drawing and painting part. I mean, that's excellent. But my favorite part, really, is bringing other artist's work out into the world. Sometimes that's some light editing with cover designs. Sometimes it's a bit more involved, like completing work for an artist who has passed. It's always something I do with reverence and respect. Today I want to highlight a few of the books I worked on with Jenny at Paperdoll Review. 

The Nutcracker Ballet by Deanna Williams

This is a lovely book, beautifully illustrated by Deanna Williams. The thing I loved most about this book was the cover design. Sometimes a cover just comes together. With this one, I wanted it to feel like a stage production. There's a lake image that acts like a stage with trees acting as scenery. I really wanted to lean into the winter theme but I didn't want a blue color scheme. Instead, I picked up on the pinks and purples that show up throughout the book while also thinking about the pretty pinks and purples of winter sunrises and sunsets. A snowflake border adds a bit of whimsy to the whole thing.

Girl of Mine by Sandra Vanderpool

For this book, I had the art to work with and not much else. I knew that it was based on a song so I started researching that. I thought it might be fun to add the lyrics to the pages along with floral clip art that was reminiscent of turn-of-the-century scrapbooks. Maybe this was someone's scrapbook of a time they saw this song performed. I also thought the song was rather charming so I included the sheet music on the back page. There's a short period of time after the first World War and the Roaring 20s/Great Depression that has a really lovely aesthetic and I tried to express that here through the colors, fonts, and florals.

Fun Frocks for Flo, Fanny & Fionna by Larry Bassin

I try not to have favorites. Truly. And I love all of the books I work on. But this one was just so special and so unique. When Larry Bassin creates a paper doll, the doll, clothing, and background are often all part of the composition. It's gorgeous but it can make formatting for a book a bit challenging. So what I did is I carefully extracted the dolls and art in Photoshop and rearranged them on pages. Using the comic book aesthetic as inspiration, I added blocks of color to the backgrounds and used a font with an early comic book vibe. Larry was thrilled with how it turned out. Jenny was very pleased. And I'm super happy to get this fantastic art out into the world. It's so colorful and fun and fabulous. There aren't enough words for how much I love this book. 

Deco Dollies by Alina Kolluri

This was another extra special project. I absolutely adore Alina's art and there's something about it that always just clicks with me. Her Monster Party book has one of my favorite cover designs ever and that came out in 2023, too. Deco Dollies was a book design that David Wolfe had worked on. He came up with the composition and concept of the covers and interiors but it was never completed. I took his ideas and worked on them in Adobe Illustrator in order the get the clean, bold lines and colors just right. I often bounce between Photoshop and Illustrator. There are some things that are just easier in a vector format. It was really nice to bring David and Alina's vision for the book all the way to publication. 

There are so many terrific books that came out in 2023 that it would be hard to mention all of them here. Norma Lu Meehan's Victorian Christmas is lovely. Tom Tierney's Women in History Volumes 1 & 2 were a typography challenge and I'm rather pleased with those covers, too. You can keep up with the most current news about Paperdoll Review on Facebook (including a 2024 convention!! YAY!!) and shop for all of these beautiful books at Paperdoll Review.    

Wrap-Up 2023: My Books and a Bonus Book

Sometimes I struggle with art block. It's easy to make other people's art look amazing. I get really excited about that! But sometimes I find myself blocked. Maybe I can't come up with an idea. Or I have an idea that I don't think I can pull off. Or I have part of an idea. Or, what happened a lot this year - I have an idea and can't find the time to pull it off! I lost part of January 2023 in the construction of my studio and I lost a good chunk of October through December. Realistically, I was most active between February and September. I had a hand in three books this year: Everything Eighties, Sisters at Heart, and Styles of the 1920s. 

Styles of the 1920s by Rachel Cohen, colors by Julie Allen Matthews

I want to start with Rachel's book, what I think of as my "bonus" book! I am so unbelievably happy to see this in print! Rachel is a dear friend and I've been an admirer of her blog & paper dolls for years. I love her detailed research and strong linework and she has an endless stream of creative topics. Rachel, Jenny, and I all agreed that I could take a crack at coloring Rachel's delightful drawings. It's not the first time I've colored Rachel's art. It's also not the first (or last) time that I've colored another artist's drawings. 

We were all really pleased with how it came together. I had an absolute blast coloring it. The covers were inspired by magazines of the 1920s and executed in Illustrator with simple shapes and lines. Rachel did a wonderful job of researching and drawing and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! 

Before I move on to the two books I illustrated, I want to take a minute and talk about coloring line art. I've collaborated with several artists and artist estates where I have been asked to color or complete a project. It's humbling and I approach these projects with respect and reverence. I came across a social media post this year totally bashing one of these special projects. It was really hurtful and crushed my confidence. My style isn't for everyone. I get that. And no one has to like it. I believe strongly in constructive criticism and helping each other grow as artists. I could not imagine being that cruel to an artist myself. I continue to remind myself that social media is not real life and I will put more emphasis on those IRL interactions and less on the likes, clicks, and comments. We all should.

Anyway, on to happier projects! 

Everything Eighties, a totally rad paper doll book! 

This book started life as my 2022 holiday paper doll. I loved working on that and just could not stop thinking about it. I picked eight fashion fads from the 1980s and reinterpreted them in my own way. 

Some themes came together really easily. Some were a bit tougher. The cover design came together easily, and the interior borders did, too. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it.

Sisters at Heart, a paper doll book celebrating friendship

This book is so incredibly special! I started attending conventions and paper doll parties a few years ago. If you haven't been to any, I HIGHLY recommend it. It is SO much fun!! I have met so many delightful folks at these events. One of those is Sharry O'Hare. She is a walking ray of sunshine. She had seen a previous commission of mine and asked if I could put together a book of her and her dear friend Laura (who, incidentally, roped me into the real-life paper doll world and I will be forever grateful for it!!!). I don't take a lot of commissions for a variety of reasons. But this one felt like a really natural fit.

Sharry loved it. Laura loved it. Jenny loved it, too, and with everyone in agreement, we went to press with it at Paperdoll Review. It's the story of a real-life friendship, but it could also be the story of any dear friendship. Working on this was one of the highlights of my year. Sharry is one of the co-hosts of the next paper doll convention and, again, I totally recommend going! You can find out more here. 

I have a couple of book ideas in the works for 2024 already. And in my next post, I'll share some of my design highlights from Paperdoll Review.

Wrap-up 2023: Personal Projects

It's hard to believe it's 2024! Holidays with teens & tweens are a bit different than when the boys were little. Fun, but different. I had a very busy 2023 both personally and artistically. My new studio was completed in January and that was HUGE! I have a dedicated space just for me. I also fully transitioned from my Surface Pro 7 to an iPad Pro/Procreate and a shiny new desktop computer. It's exactly what I needed to improve my art.

One of my goals for 2023 was to draw more, especially on paper and from life. There's a local art group that gets together twice a month for clothed model & still-life open sessions. I started going in June and by August, my youngest son started going with me, too. It's been great practice! You can see some of my drawings on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/julieamatthews/). Social media still confounds me, so I don't post all that often.

I'm not great at goal setting. I'm much more task-oriented: what needs to get done and can I do it RIGHT NOW? This post and the next are the things I managed to get done, starting with personal projects. 

First up, I did a study of Fanny Gray (here and here).

While not my favorite project, it was a good way to practice "painting" in Procreate. It was also clear to me after this project that I needed to make observation & drawing more of a priority.

Sparkling Sixties was one of two full-page paper dolls of mine in Paperdoll Review. You can find it on the inside cover of issue 87. 

My other full-page paper doll for Paperdoll Review is my Morticia Addams in issue 88. This was an absolute passion project for me and you can read more about it here. SO much fun! 

At about the same time, I decided to draw a Halloween paper doll just for fun. I thought it would be one page. It isn't. It will likely become a book in 2024. 

I got a bit carried away with Octavia! I'm not sure if I'll keep the title/name, etc, when I turn this into a book. We shall see!!

I had one more submission to Paperdoll Review this year in issue 89, Timeless Sailor Suits. 

It's a total dud and I am not happy with it at all! It was bad timing - my mother had her second total knee replacement surgery in October and most of the last quarter of the year consisted of me helping her out with appointments, etc. I also got the WORST cold and drew this while sick. Definitely do not recommend drawing while sick.

As much as I disliked this little sailor, I had two more projects that were pretty great: my annual holiday card paper doll and a very special project.

My skater has some flaws. I found the face really challenging. There are some perspective issues, too, especially with the back foot. And one of the skirts looks a little too much like tentacles and too little like fabric... Not bad and I'm mostly happy with it. Room to grow! 

And finally, one of the most exciting things I did this year was enter the Edward Gorey House Annual Envelope Art Contest. Every year, the museum has a contest. This year, I found out about it just days before the deadline and put together an Edward Gorey paper doll for the Dressed to Kill theme. It's pen and white gel pen on a kraft paper 6x9 envelope and it was TOUGH! 

I was a finalist in the contest! It's really rare for me to enter contests but I was really into this one! I was sent an official certificate & tickets to visit the museum with my family in the spring. It was a really nice way to cap off my year. 

The next post will focus on the books I illustrated this year and after that, I'll share a little bit about the books I've worked on for Paperdoll Review.

  

More 2022 Paper Doll Wrap-Up

 Today is the last of my 2022 wrap-up posts. I did a lot more in 2022 than I thought! This post is all about Paperdoll Review so there will be lots of links to those projects. I did a lot with Jenny in 2022 and I can't remember ALL of it, but there are a few projects I want to highlight. 

Women of Letters by Tom Tierney with colors by Julie Allen Matthews

 

At the beginning of the year, I had a really unique opportunity. Jenny asked me if I'd like to color a set of Tom Tierney's drawings. Of course!! And then I was hit with a bit of imposter syndrome. How could I ever do this?! Once I started, it was fine. I colored these in Sketchbook Pro on my Surface. It was this project where David Wolfe gave me the feedback that has stuck with me since: push the values. He was absolutely right! I went back in, punched up the lights & darks, and there we go!! Much better. The cover concept came from David, too, and I executed it. There are loads of pictures in the link above.

 

 Victorian Fancy Dress by Brenda Mattox with colors by Julie Allen Matthews

And then, at the other end of 2022, I colored in a set of paper dolls by Brenda Sneathen Mattox! We met at the convention which was a definite highlight for me. This one was so much fun! Again, I felt slightly intimidated. I really love Brenda's soft watercolors and I wanted this to have that feel. I don't think it does, but I'm really happy with it. One of the great advantages of digital art is the variety of colors available. I tried to use this advantage in this book while staying true to the theme and Brenda's art. The cover concept and execution are all mine here. The illustrations were colored in Procreate on my iPad Pro and the covers were "painted" in Sketchbook Pro on my Surface. 

 I also worked on a lot of books in 2022. Some were reproduction clean-ups. Some were new books. Marilyn Henry's Lady Georgiana and Norma Lu Meehan's Fashions of the Regency Era are two of my favorites. David Wolfe's Cut-Out Club was a real labor of love, too. I really, truly LOVE every book I work on, even the ones I haven't mentioned here. 

 

I have also been working on books by Deanna Williams, two of which were a lot of fun to work on.

Eight in the Evening by Deanna Williams

 

I loved putting together Eight in the Evening! I'm absolutely in love with the cover design. Sometimes, things just come together easily and beautifully. This was one of those times! 

Mod Mom by Deanna Williams

 

Mod Mom was a book I had picked away at for a while. I had the art cleaned up & ready to go but I got stuck on the covers and how to make it all flow. What story is this set trying to tell? Motherhood is a really big part of my life so I approached it from that perspective. The set follows a young mother throughout her pregnancy. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it could just be chronological. I wrote up a little story to go with it and that was it! Some 70s/80s inspired color blocked covers and it was good to go. 

 

Miss Hollie Day by Julie Allen Matthews

 

I illustrated one book of my own this year, Miss Hollie Day. This one took a long time! First, I made the initial sketch years ago. I didn't date it so I can only guess at it, somewhere between 2010 and 2015. I should go back and see if I can narrow down that range... Anyway, I turned it into a Halloween doll. It was great! So I pitched the idea of a seasonal paper doll. This was the last full set that I illustrated in Sketchbook Pro. It feels like a transition. During the whole project, I felt like I was hitting a wall, like there was more I wanted to do and couldn't quite get there. It was shortly after this that I took the leap and got an iPad Pro. THAT helped me push those boundaries...which leads me to the next project.

 

All That Glitters by David Wolfe and Julie Allen Matthews

 

 One of the best parts of working on David's projects is his extraordinary imagination! I would never have tackled the subject of glitter on my own. I LOVED this! It's also the first book I completed in Procreate on the iPad and I think it shows just how much I pushed through my own boundaries. David sent me the drawings, layout, and color suggestions. I rendered it all in Procreate with layout and cover designs in Photoshop. It's such a cool book, start to finish!! 

Like I said earlier, that's not a comprehensive list of all of my 2022 projects. Every one was a learning experience and so much fun to work on. Each and every book is my "baby" while I'm working on it, and each one is my "favorite child". I can't express how grateful I am that Jenny and all of the artists who work with her trust me to do this. I look forward to sitting at my desk every single day! 

So what's next? More books, more magazine designs, more of everything!