looking ahead

New Year's Eve is the perfect time to be reflective, right? I was sitting on the couch watching a live broadcast of fireworks in Boston, it had just turned 7pm and the station cut-in to also show London, where the clock just struck midnight. Happy New Year! I decided it would be fun to join the online conversation and post something to Instagram but didn't really have anything new to share from my phone's gallery (and the light is too dim to snap any pics) so I revisited the archives of my barely functioning home computer.

I found this photo and it kind of stopped me in my tracks. Created in 2011 around the height of my being active on this blog and working tirelessly to build a portfolio of published writing and craft tutorials to support a book proposal. In 2013 my first book Tinkered Treasures was published by CICO Books, followed in 2014 by Seaside Tinkered Treasures, and a few years later came "the IKEA book" in various versions by different publishers. All the while I continued to write home features for shelter magazines. It was a busy time of making and writing and writing about making. So much has happened to me professionally since I wrapped some pencils in photocopies of fabric, topped them with paper roses, and snapped some pics.

I think of the past year and realize I didn't tinker very much with paper and glue. I did spend a lot of time writing, which is a great thing. I also realized that I'm not sharing about making as much and decided to rename my Instagram account to reflect that I'm instead posting more about my life and work and the things I find beautiful – and so with Elyse Major already taken – you can find me on Instagram now at elyse.press.major  It felt strange letting go of my "brand name" but it also seems like a good move forward. The account is still Tinkered Treasures on Facebook. Baby steps, right?

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy year ahead! Thank you for reading!

xo

Elyse