Life can be so ironic and it certainly seemed to be that way for me in 2017. It was the year I did the least amount of decorating, but it was the year both of our homes were featured in some form. Our Maine house was featured in the Spring/Summer issue of Vintage Style magazine, and our Cleveland home was featured on Design Sponge. It was pretty exciting to say the least.
I opened my Etsy shop in April and I started a 100 day painting challenge. Here is a short video of some of my daily paintings.
Mostly, I spent the year taking back my health by eating cleaner, exercising and removing as many toxins from my daily life as possible. If that is something that interests you, let me know and I can share more about my favorite recipes and ideas.
In 2018, I’m planning on painting more. I started the year off with the Daily Painting Challenge: 31 Patterns to Paint with Lisa Congdon. It’s been amazing learning from Lisa. If you haven’t tried out CreativeBug, it is truly a fun way to learn new craft techniques. I believe they offer a 14 day free trial. In February, I’m going to take a class in person with Jennifer Orkin Lewis of August Wren which I am really excited about. She is one of my artist crushes. I’ve taken her classes on Creative Bug as well. The other place I’ve been taking painting classes from artists I love is Skillshare. It’s another great online learning site and they are offering three months for $0.99. You can’t beat that deal.
I’ll be adding more prints to the shop starting this week. One print is of some apples I painted a few summers ago. and the other is from my painting sketchbook. Both were requested by readers. I’m always happy to take requests.
In other news, we are planning on putting our home on Blue Hill Bay up for sale. We are not sure if it will be the Spring, Summer or Fall, but it is in the plan for the year. I’m a little sad about it, because it is the place were this little blog was born, but it is time. We thought we would get there more than we have in the past few years after our move to Cleveland. It just didn’t work out like we planned. Seasons change.
I’m hoping 2018 will be a year of getting my creativity back on track. Wishing you all the best too.
So absolutely wonderful to see your blog post pop up on my feed!!!! Congratulations on your magazine features – how exciting that must have been. I will be checking out the links you’ve shared (thanks for doing that). These days I’ve been getting into some “projects” like quilting and such but my paints have been neglected for years – maybe even decades! Eek! Sad to hear that you will be selling Blue Hill Bay home but it sounds like you have a positive attitude about that. Here’s to 2018!
Thank you so much for all your kind words, Rosella.
Hi Mary, I was happy to receive an emil notice of your blog post today. It has been a while! Congratulations on being published in two magazines. That is awesome. I’m sorry you have decided to sell your Maine house. I always enjoyed seeing the decor you shared from there when I was actively blogging. I still post now and then, usually monthly, but don’t visit around much. I wish you all the best with your artwork in this new year. I’m enjoying keeping up with you on IG.
Pam
Thank you, Pam. We have mixed feelings about our Maine home, but mostly we would like to see someone be able to use it. It is such a beautiful spot. Time to let someone else enjoy it. Wishing you all the best in this new year, too.
Hi Mary,
I would love to hear about the lifestyle changes you have made. I love your blog so much. Please keep it going.
Diana
Awww … thank you so much Diana!
Hi Mary! I wish you good health in the upcoming years!
Congratulations on the magazine spreads! You’ve really made some cozy and interesting spaces in your homes.
I enjoyed looking at your paintings. It would be awesome to see some of those on fabrics. Have you submitted any to Spoonflower?
Thank you, Tina! I would love to develop some fabrics. It is on my wish list.