New Year! New Goals!

Happy New Year, everyone! (I know, super late!). Nevertheless, I hope the new year is treating you well and you're remaining steadfast in your resolutions and creative goals. Since we're already halfway through the first month of the year, I figured I should go ahead and share one of my own creative goals with you!

This year I want to make it a habit to art journal on a regular basis. I love art journaling, but I don't often make much time for it. I often have these creative spurts that fill my heart to the brim, but afterwards I go weeks without creating anything and I start to feel a bit discontent. So, this year I've decided to create 12 art journals for myself, and my goal is to complete one for each month of the year.

I enjoy creating in small-sized notebooks and journals the most, so I made these journals 4.5 x 6 inches in size. I folded four pieces of sketch paper to make about eight full spreads inside, and I used some of my favorite scrapbook papers for the covers. After I added washi tape to the spine, I used a three-hole pamphlet stitch to bind each one.

In December, I signed up for Mindfully You, an art journaling email course that promotes mindfulness and encourages introspective art journaling. Each month a set of prompts and a mini tutorial is sent to your email that promises to inspire your creativity. In this spread, I was reflecting on my one word for the year, Plan. I have dreams, but I need to start planning day to day and create an outline for my life in order to achieve them. I also know that God has a plan for me, one that is greater than my own, and it is my desire to tap into it faithfully and wholeheartedly. First, I smushed watercolors on the page. Then, I used adhesive letters to spell the word "plan" in the center of the spread. Finally, I added a little bit of journaling to complete the page.

This is another introspective art journal spread. Earlier in the day, I was listening to the song "You are Loved" by Stars Go Dim, and I felt inspired to create this page as a little "note to self". For the background I smushed some watercolors around in hues of orange, yellow, and green. All the floral elements were cut out from various scrapbook paper patterns, and I added a few paper doily bits as well. Then, I drew a scribbly line across the page and added a tiny word sticker to tie it all together.

I love that I am making day to day progress in my art journal. I can't wait to share the whole journal with you at the end of the month!

Have you made any New Year's resolutions? Have you chosen a word to guide your year? What are your goals for the year, and how do you plan to tackle them?