What if you could take some meaningful, creative self-care time over the holidays? What if art-making became an opportunity to celebrate the big and small blessings in your life, and invite more magic into the New Year?… Every year, I create a gratitude page and a “word of the year” page in my art journal, or sometimes I combine the two ideas into one!

I share this beautiful process in a workshop called “New Beginnings” and I’d love to see you there. And in the meantime, here is my brand new gratitude page for 2023!

art-making for busy bees!

I’ve got quite a lot on my plate at the moment, as we’re getting ready to put our house on the market next month! We’ll be moving back to our previous (and beautifully wooded) neighborhood next summer, I’m super excited!

When life gets really busy, it’s easy to put our creative practice on the back burner, yet that’s when we need it the most, to reduce stress and show up as our best selves. At such times, art journaling is just the best creative practice: I simply leave my journal open on the table with art supplies at the ready, so I can play for a few minutes here and there: a piece of collage with my morning tea, intuitive doodles while I’m on the phone, a few thoughts quickly journaled before going to bed… little by little, it all adds up and the layers build up!

The holidays can be such a busy time, it's important to give yourself some soul-nurturing, creative self-care ❤

This year, I knew I needed to make things even easier for myself, otherwise my page would never get done. That’s why I decided not to start on a blank page (I rarely do) and instead keep building upon a page I had already started, and already loved.

I always have several in-progress pages in my journal, often started with paint left-overs, and I think I started this one in early spring. It was actually a finished page that I had done for a collaborative project, but it didn't feel really “me”. So I ripped off most of the layers, added a good coat of gesso and started over, ready for a new beginning!

It's fitting that I should choose this one as a starting point for my gratitude page, as this is a time of new beginnings for our family. And in this busy season of life, it felt good to not start from scratch, and give myself the ease of working from a foundation I already loved. 

New Beginnings is also the name of the online workshop where I share this beautiful practice of gratitude pages & New Year art journaling!

Celebrating life’s gifts

The beautiful energy of gratitude is one of the key ingredients that make the holiday season so magical. When you take stock of all the gifts, big and small, that you have received month after month, you realize how much is possible, no matter what.

It's very easy to focus more on the negative.In fact, that's what our brains are wired for, it's a survival instinct. But focusing on the positive is what brings about positive change, and it takes mindfulness and deliberate intention. That's why practicing gratitude is so important!

When I put my gratitude glasses on and look at the past year, it's like all the harder parts suddenly fade away. For sure, there have been challenges, right from the start with my grandma passing on New Year's. There have been some ups and downs, some midlife hiccups, some health glitches, some burn-out and stress... But all of it seems to melt away when I deliberately look for all the gifts. One of them has been finding our future home!

The words below in pink (now mostly covered up) say "Each day I choose joy and appreciation. Each day I choose an attitude of gratitude". And it really is a choice we can make every single day: to look for the (sometimes hidden) gifts, and to celebrate them with a word, a smile, or even with art!

bring on the happy vibes!

This year I really wanted to create a joyful, colorful, happy and childlike page. A lot of the time, we take ourselves way too seriously and it’s good to take a step back, and give some love to our inner creative kiddo! So I wanted both the look of the page, and the process itself, to simply feel fun and easy.

One way I did this was by using these little stickers! Instead of thinking about what words I wanted to write, I simply went through these ready-made ones and picked anything that felt relevant and true to me. Just like that, I had a whole list!

Something else that felt fun and easy, was to use a picture of myself from the garden photoshoot I recently did. I actually worked on the page during the shoot, so this felt just right. It’s so fun to use pictures of yourself in your journal! I haven’t done it much so far, but I think from now on I’ll do it more often. It’s a great way to make your journal that much more personal and meaningful.

join me in “new beginnings”!

I think the holiday season should be a time to nurture our heart and soul. A little bit of creative self-care makes such a difference! As I said, it really helps to leave your art journal open somewhere with some art supplies, so you can steal a few minutes here and there to relax and play. Next up: I’m going to create my “word of the year” page for 2024, stay tuned!

Tell me in a comment: Will you create a gratitude page too? I’d love to know! And if you need a bit of inspiration, I would love for you to join me in the studio for the “New Beginnings” online workshop!

Through 5 art journaling demos and a whole variety of styles, mixed media techniques and wellbeing processes, I will guide you to create:

• a gratitude page to honor the blessings of the past year and close it with love

• a “word of the year” page to make wishes & welcome new beginnings for the year ahead

• or combine the two ideas into a single page!

More than just lessons, these are intimate, creative sessions with me and my art journal. You'll be right by my side in my personal, authentic process, and we will even do a sweet gratitude ritual together (bring some candles!)

I wish you the happiest holiday season. Let’s make it a creative one!

Leave a comment for me!