Happy. New. and Year.

I had so many expectations for this first post of 2014 that I found myself a bit tongue tied (keyboard tied?) about it all. So instead of trying to write some masterpiece of sorts, I'm just going to ramble a bit to get over the hump of starting a new year of blogging. 

Have you picked a word for your year yet? I love this tradition, but my word has not presented itself to me as of today. The finalists include: clarify, clarity, build, nourish, love, patience (my kids suggested patience - hmmmm...) produce (as in vegetables and to make things) and live. I'm going to give myself another week or two before "committing" in the hopes that the right word is obvious before then. One of my favorite new-to-me artists announced that her word of the year would be "snickerdoodle" - that sounds like a fun direction to consider also.

I have a list of things I want to do this year and I plan to post them here for accountability. Coming soon. I'm also very excited about getting back to blogging. I think I have two readers left (hi Elizabeth! hi Joe!), but with any luck, I'll get that number up to at least 10 (five hundred percent bigger - wow!). Ha! We'll see. I'm definitely bringing back Studio Tour Thursdays - can't wait.

These photos are of a recent paper haul I made in Chicago. Paper Source is opening in St. Louis this April - I can hardly wait. Happy New Year! xo