11/28/2021

A 2021 update and 10 year anniversary

Exactly ten years ago I had the idea to make a digital Advent calendar for my friends and family, after having made them silly, weave-it-yourself Christmas hearts for some years, as printed Christmas cards. I decided to post a new heart online every day from December 1st. to December 24th.

I wasn't quite sure how to do it, and decided on the Blogspot platform a bit randomly - since the interface was super easy to use and customize - and I had a VERY busy month, since I hadn't quite done 24 designs, when I began posting. I started out gently, on November 28th (see the very first post here), with a bit of a warm up. It was lots of fun, and the year after I had to repeat the whole thing with NEW designs, since lots of people insisted, that it was now a most important Christmas tradition!

In 2012, I had prepared a bit more, and posted a variety of paper DIY projects, not only the woven hearts. And gradually it became an actual blog, where I shared a lot of things I find joyful, from graphic design to architecture, fashion and paper art - to the small stories from my everyday life. But as a theme, all year round, I have posted fun paper projects you can print and make yourself, and always for free. I made a practical list of those posts right here - and the rest you can explore in my tag cloud to the left.

The concept is always the same: all you need is household printer paper, some scissors and glue and access to a printer. And the designs can't be too complicated to make - but I always add my own custom design to the printed templates. I love working with patterns and colors, so that's half the fun for me. Origami has become a central thing, and I never tire of looking for new fun ways of making simple, pretty paper decorations.

I don't have a philosophical take on any of this, but still: I would like to encourage you to do seasonal decorations yourself from cheap or repurposed materials, as opposed to buying a lot of new plastic stuff every year. And enjoy yourself while making them.

Blogging frequently became too impossible to combine with work and family, and from 2019 I haven't updated the blog. It will stay where it is, however - lot's of people are visiting still, and I like the idea of that. Recently I gave the blog an Instagram face and when I feel the urge to share a fun paper project in the future, it will happen there.

So why don't you follow @heartheartseason on Instagram?
And thank you for ALL your visits and feedback and sweet comments over the years. 

love, Tina