January Favorites 🫘

Happy New Year! After hours of driving and flying to spend time with family, I’m ready for hibernation season.

We have one more push of energy before we can relax from our big season of cheer, a jumbo housewarming-engagement-birthday party extravaganza. We’ve been adding last-minute house decor & tidying up any neglected corners. It’s like spring cleaning, but earlier!

This months inspirations are full of hopes and fresh starts:

✹ Starting a New Sketchbook

New year, new sketchbook. Before traveling for the holidays I threw together a quick sketchbook for me to incorporate as my semi-daily drawing practice. For this one, I used thinner pages so I’m forced to stick with simpler mediums. And it’s small so I can fill the pages faster.

I wrote a studio notes blurb about Making a Sketchbook for the New Year 🫘 and created a DIY post on How to Make an Upcycled Sketchbook 🌼.

✹ Money Tracking via Weekly/Monthly Planners

The beginning of the year means a fresh money tracking/budgeting setup. Last year I overhauled my whole system & part of it involves using a weekly/monthly planner that I use to write down daily purchases I make. I discovered if I use a prettier one, I’m more likely to use it & keep my money managing date with myself. 🪴

✹ Ephemera Trays

Along with my revival of memory keeping/junk journaling [See: November Favorites 🫘, December Favorites 🫘, Junk Journaling Our Engagement Chapter 🫘], I want to start a little collection tray for me to empty papers and ephemera that I can use in my journals and scrapbooks.

It’s super handy and reminds me of Marie Kondo and her advice to have everything:“have a home within your home.” There’s something slightly ecclesiastical, or spiritual, about having a small collections tray & offering up tokens of memories to yourself for future safekeeping.

✹ Annotating Books

I’m currently reading The Subversive Stitch by Rozsika Parker [See: TBR Shelf]. My brain is pretty occupied throughout the week, which makes it hard to remember everything each time I pick it up to read again. So I’m quite interested in note taking and annotating to try to retain information better. But actually writing in my books still intimidates me. This tiktok by Saffana is inspiring me to go for it by using sticky notes & to read as if the author is directly speaking to me.

✹ Companion Books

In the same vein, I’m so intrigued by this concept of reading companion books. The basic idea is this: when reading a nonfiction book, pair it with a fiction book to make the concepts come alive through storytelling. The hope is that the two types of books complement each other so you have a deeper understanding & retain the material. My companion books of choice are two by author Tracy Chevalier (see next).

✹ Artisan Period Dramas

Since choosing some companion books, I’ve been reminded how much I love a period drama. I especially love when it features characters who are artists or craftspeople in any way. Whether it’s a film or a book or a show, I’m so delighted by these worlds.

Current interests: The Lady and the Unicorn, A Single Thread (books by Tracy Chevalier), Hamnet (2025) by Chloé Zhao, and Phantom Thread (2017) by Paul Thomas Anderson.

✹ Embossing

From this playdough printing process to refined hojalata brass plates, I’m in love with this tactile pressed form process. It’s inspiring me to make custom everything (bookplates, prints, postcards, business cards, branded goods, etc). During my fall decorating stint I made little embossed candle charms [See: November Favorites 🫘].

This year, I got a die cutting & embossing press for my birthday! I’m so so excited to use this for printing, die cutting, embossing, and letterpress printing. Currently trying to figure out how to use this to create higher quality orchid prints for the shop. I’m also looking forward to utilizing this tool for homemade wedding invitations. Stay tuned! 💐

Update: I embossed our wedding invites and they turned out incredible!

✹ Community Tile Art 🤎

For our big housewarming-engagement-birthday extravaganza, I’m setting up a craft activity to help add color to our walls & act as a sort of party guestbook. I gathered paint samples from nearby hardware stores and used a die cut punch to make perfect 1″ squares for everyone to make unique 4×4 tile mosaics.

Update: this turned out amazing! People loved creating these & we have a super colorful wall in our office that makes us feel warm & fuzzy.