Harsh years can, I find, often elicit one of two states. Either you enter the start of a new year browbeaten, worn very nearly to your last nerve, or they stir up a powerful sense of wide-eyed optimism.

Both are understandable, normal, natural.

They are not the only two possible states, of course. I have experienced enough January 1^sts now at this point in my life to know though that they are amongst the most common.

As someone whose ingrained instinct is to see the glass as half full (though, at times, it does depend on whose pouring ), I often veer towards the optimistic side of things.

2021 put me and my husband – along with countless others around the globe – through the wringer and then some.

Was it, mercifully, the most brutal year of our lives? No, thankfully, it was not.

But it was deeply challenging, highly stressful, and a very far cry from ideal.

Like all years that I have thus far experienced, it still housed some positives, too. I’m not sure I would say that they outweighed the difficulties, but they certainly did their part to balance the scales a bit more.

Interestingly, I often find that the rougher and tougher a year was, the more I leap with Labrador puppy enthusiasm into the rebirth of January.

The year’s first month received its English name via Latin. It means the month of the Roman dietary Janus (who presided over doors, entryways, and beginnings).

One particularly noteworthy facet to the God Janus is that he is often depicted and described as having two faces. One looked the past squarely in the eyes, the other stared ahead, always ready to tackle the incoming future.

We as mere mortals down here on earth often embody a similar sense of duality as one year takes its final bow and the next comes barreling into town.

Looking back, we reflect and contemplate the twelve months that we just experienced. We know that all we went through then will contribute to who we are for the rest of our days.

There are some years we wish we could tightly cling to with all of our might and others that we are happy to drop faster than a bad habit.

And certainly, there are a good many that fall somewhere in between.

It can be hard, I readily acknowledge, to embrace January with intense optimism or hope – especially if the year that just transpired was a particularly challenging one.

Yet, much as it is not fair to assume that a new romantic partner might embody negative or undesirable traits or actions of an ex, so too should be given each fresh year a chance to prove itself before we jump to any judgements or conclusions.

We need to give the new year time to show us how different or similar it may be to the last twelve-month calendar we retired.

The first day of January does not, of course, erase all our troubles or set every wrong in the world right (if only!).

But is a fresh start, an intensely powerful liminal period, and the chance to begin again in some respects.

Yesterday evening, as clocks the world over chimed with the sound of midnight being announced, 2021 gave up its ghost.

We must let it go. Passing years are like breaths of air, we only continue onward because they occur.

I was thinking recently about the fact that each year has a ghost of sorts all its own. Some are friendly spectres, whereas others may, sadly, haunt us for the rest of our days.

In reflecting on these points, the idea sprung into my head to make a punny New Year’s card starring phantoms and a graveyard.

And so, as the final days of 2021 ticked away, that is precisely what I did. Creating and photographing the New Year’s card that stars in this post as December was preparing for its inevitable end.

Adorable Happy Boo Year (New Year’s) Card

After the year we just collectively endured, it would not have been out of place to go for a solemn, almost sympathy-like card for a theme such as this.

However, (and here’s that natural propensity for optimism at play again) I wanted instead to convey a sense of cheerfulness and newness.

In this card we see three tremendously cute ghostie friends hovering above a cemetery as snow – one of January’s common features in many parts of the world – waltzes all around them.

These are chipper ghosts. They have no ill intent or malice in them. They’re friendly spirits of the sort that, if one was to spend time with a ghost, you would be happy to call your friends.

The graveyard they are chilling in (winter pun intended) begins with a classic wrought iron fence – as well as a lock.

This lock was placed not in the centre of the gate, but to one side. This signifies that the proverbial gates have been opened on a brand new year (or maybe it also means these darling ghosties have a bit of mischief in them ).

I wanted there to be tombstones on this card, but not for them to steal the show. To achieve this, I stamped some tombstones in two different shades of ink. One barely-there grey, the other black. I then used both a taupe-y grey coloured marker and a silver Wink of Stella pen to outline the black tombstones.

The pale grey grave markers are intended to have a ghostly, shadowy air about them, so were not outlined or otherwise jazzed up.

To help the tombstones look they were grounded, not floating (much like the ghosts themselves) in midair, I hand drew and lightly coloured a hill using an icy shade of blue-grey marker.

The falling snow comes via a paper with that pattern on it. I did not enhance it at all. If you didn’t have a paper like this to hand, you could emboss cardstock or paper with a dotted pattern, hand draw dots with white ink (or paint), or use a polka dot stencil to create a similar effect.

Our precious little ghosties friends were all created using metal dies and white cardstock. I backed them with identical die cuts made from brown cardstock to give them a sense of depth and shadow, then outline each of these three cuties with the same silver Wink of Stella pen.

I’m on a mission this year to weave more techniques I either do not use often or have yet to try before into some of my paper crafting projects.

One technique that I’ve not utilized in a good while is die cutting words from printed paper. I opted to do so here with the word “Boo”, which I cut from the same black, brown, and grey plaid paper that appears in a background layer on this card.

To up the presence of snow all the more on this design, I placed a few silver metallic cardstock snowflakes around the ghosts. I also used AB rhinestone felt-back snowflake embellishments in six spots on this haunted graveyard card.

I adore how this card came together! It houses so many elements that I adore, such as spookiness/ghosts, graveyards (I am a massive taphophile after all), wrought iron, a gothy colour palette, snow (what can I say, I’m Canadian ), plenty of layers, and hits of shimmer and sheen.

Last year we took explored spooky takes on various seasons and holidays. Namely Valoween, Springoween, Summerween, and most recently, Creepmas / Cryptmas.

A spooky, Halloween-influenced New Year’s has yet to become a thing on quite the same level as those happenings, but I for one am really hoping that Boo Year’s will catch on in time as well.

Who knows, perhaps this card itself can help to get that (snow)ball rolling all the more.

If you’re feeling the spirit of this frighteningly charming New Year’s card and wish to create one of your own, read on for a list of all the supplies used as well as detailed step-by-step instructions.

Products used to make a haunted winter graveyard New Year’s card

-Lightly textured (or plain) white cardstock – Snow White cardstock from Colorbok

-Matte black mirror cardstock – Black Velvet Mirror Card from Tonic Studios

-Silver metallic cardstock – Silver Foil Cardstock from Recollections

-Grey kraft cardstock (or a suitable light grey cardstock of your choice – Grey Kraft Cardstock from Recollections

-Light grey cardstock (different from above)

-Sandy brown coloured cardstock

-Grey and plaid print paper – Christmas Plaid 12” x 12” paper pad from Craftsmart (Michael’s brand)

-Grey and white falling snow print paper – White Christmas 12” x 12” paper pad from Craftsmart

-Wrought iron gate die – Graveyard Gate Die Set from Stampin’ Up

-Ornate rectangle nested dies

-Elegant snowflake border die (or a snowflake design paper punch)

-“Boo” word die (or letter dies to spell “boo” with)

-Horizonal oval tag die

-Small ghost dies

-Small snowflake die or paper punch

-Light grey ink – Shadow Grey Archival Ink from Ranger

-Black ink – Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger

-Silver shimmer pen/marker – GI Silver marker from Wink of Stella

-Brown-grey, blue, and grey markers

-“Happy New Year” sentiment stamp (you will be using the “Happy” and “Year” portions on this card)

-Tombstone stamps – Graveyard Gate Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up

-Felt and AB rhinestone snowflake embellishments (sourced from AliExpress)

-Glue gun and glue sticks (optional, but handy for attaching the felt snowflake embellishments)

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make an adorable ghost-filled Happy Boo Year card

Begin by making a card base from white cardstock.

Cut a piece of matte black mirror cardstock ever so slightly narrower but a touch taller than the card base. Adhere.

Cut a piece of brown and grey plaid paper slightly smaller than the matte black mirror cardstock layer. Adhere.

Using white cardstock cut the largest size ornate rectangle from your nested die set.

Using light grey cardstock cut the second largest size ornate rectangle from your nested die set. Adhere the two layers you just die cut together, centering the small die cut on top of the larger one.

Cut this die cut stack in half (unless you’re using a very tall slimline die set that would reach from the top to the bottom of the card) and adhere one half in the upper center of the card (let it jut out a tad beyond the top edge of the card base) and the other on the bottom center of the card.

Next die cut two pairs of ornate snowflake borders from white cardstock and two from silver metallic cardstock (or light grey cardstock, if you prefer). Arrange one of each colour so that the silver is on top of the white. Offset them a little to give a dimensional look.

Adhere each pair of snowflake borders together and then adhere one pair on each side of the center of the card base layers, as shown.

Cut a piece of matte black mirror (or plain black, as desired) cardstock slightly smaller than the piece of grey and brown plaid paper. Adhere to previous base layers.

Next, we’re going to create the snow-covered graveyard scene.

To do so, start by cutting a piece of “falling snow” print paper slightly smaller than the previous matte black mirror cardstock.

Run your silver Wink of Stella pen around the inner edges on all four sides of that piece of paper.

Using stamps from the Stampin’ Up Graveyard Gate Stamp set, stamp a few tombstones with black ink and a few with light grey ink.

Use taupe-grey and grey markers to add dimension to the black tombstones you just stamped, but not the light grey ones.

Using a grey-blue marker, hand draw the top shape of a hill. Use that same marker to lightly colour in the hill, leaving a small border uncoloured around all of the stamped tombstones.

Adhere this layer to the previous base layers.

Die cut three ghost shapes from white cardstock and three matching ghost shapes from brown cardstock.

Edge the ghosts all the way around with your silver Wink of Stela pen. Arrange the white ghost layers on top of the matching brown cardstock ghost layers, offsetting them slightly for added dimension. Adhere ghosts to falling snow layer using dimensional adhesives.

Using silver metallic cardstock, die cut two larger snowflakes and three smaller snowflakes (all sof them hould be on the tiny side though, so as to not steal the show from the ghosts). Adhere them around the ghosts as shown.

Die cut a wrought iron gate from matte black mirror cardstock using the Stampin’ Up Graveyard Gate die. Then, using scissors or a sharp craft knife and a suitable cutting mat, cut vertically down the middle of the gate to create two equal-sized halves of the gate. Adhere each half to the falling snow layer.

Using silver metallic cardstock, die cut a lock from the same Stampin’ Up die set. Attach through the bars of the gate on the left-hand side.

Die cut an oval tag-shaped piece from white cardstock. Rim the edges all the way around with silver Wink of Stella.

Die cut the word (or letters to spell the word) “boo” from the same grey and brown plaid paper we’ve used already on this project.

Center word in the middle of the die and, once you’re happy with the placement, adhere the letters down.

Next, use your “Happy New Year” sentiment stamp and black ink to stamp the words “Happy” and “New Year”. If you have one, I highly suggest using a stamping platform here so as to get the placement of these words right on both sides of the “Boo” die cut.

Adhere sentiment oval in the center bottom of the wrought iron gate die cut.

Lastly, arrange and adhere six felt and rhinestone snowflake embellishments around the card, as shown in the photos throughout this post.

And there you have it, one uber-cute ghost-themed New Year’s card that you can send or give in-person to someone special.

Happy 2^nd birthday to Witchcrafted Life

Precisely two years ago to the day, I launched this blog.

In that time, more than a hundred and fifteen posts have been published, readership and monthly visitor counts have grown substantially, and I have been fortunate to find my blogging voice again (after retiring my previous blog in early 2017).

This time around, the focus is on Paganism and witchcraft, paper crafting, taphophile, books, crafting in general, and more. These subjects are very dear to my heart and I delight in sharing about them here with all of you.

Little did I know when I hit the “publish” button on Witchcrafted Life’s first post that the world would soon be engulfed in a global pandemic that would still be going strong two years later.

I was unaware as well of the myriad fresh challenges (including serious health issues for both myself and my husband) that would lay ahead.

And likewise, I did not yet know that we – like a lot of people – would find ways to cope, grow more resilient, and even find silver linings amongst the profound changes to the way many of our lives had previously been lived.

When we slipped on our first face masks in early 2020, who amongst us could have guessed that the pandemic would keep going for two years and counting?

That it is and, sadly, this brutal illness (and its ever-emerging variants) shows little sign of slowing down any time soon.

Even with Covid still raging though, there is more to life than the pandemic. Serious, of course, as it is though, no two ways about it.

All around the globe, there continue to be births and deaths, weddings, holidays, achievements, heartaches, and reasons to smile.

The moon and sun still greet us daily, the seasons engage in their eternal dance throughout the year. And though it has been greatly altered in some ways, life continues onward.

Our planet takes a beating, but we’re not down for the count yet.

There is still hope, still (if only just barely) time for us as a species to save Mother Earth.

Just as there is hope for this brand new year.

I am anything but naïve or pollyannish. I know that 2022 will not be without its substantial challenges and hardships. Some can be predicted; others will likely hit us like a comet that no one saw coming.

Yet through it all, we will persevere.

It is human nature to keep going, to adapt to just about anything life throws our way, and to hold fast to hope.

Here, on the blogging front, I look forward to continuing to (all things willing!) bring you an average of 4 – 6 new posts per month.

Those entries will cover plenty of fresh craft projects (including monthly #MakeHalloween365 project shares – for which this haunted graveyard card is my first #MakeHalloween365 creation of the year), reviews (be it book or otherwise), interviews with fascinating individuals, self-care related subjects, inspiring ideas, helpful tips, holiday and sabbat happenings, Cemetery Journey adventures, updates on what’s transpiring in my life, and plenty more.

I would also like to collaborate with more companies and indie sellers here as well. If you have a business that you feel would be a good fit for this website’s audience, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me anytime (my email is: autumnzenithwitch@gmail.com).

One very exciting thing that I will be sharing more about here soon is the fact that I was recently asked to write a magazine article for an incredibly beautiful publication. Following which I was invited to become an ongoing content contributor to that magazine. This is a profound honour and something I know will help to enrich 2022 for me.

Whether you have been here since Witchcrafted Life’s first day of life two years ago, are discovering this blog here for the first time now, or anything in between, I thank you from the bottom of my immeasurably grateful heart for the support and kindness you have blessed this blog with.

I view my readers as friends and I am thankful for each and every one of you who shares your time with me in any capacity – be it here, on social media, via email, or otherwise. You are an integral part of the backbone of this blog.

It is safe to say that 2022 is not apt to be a walk in the park for most of us. Hopefully though, when all is said and done, we make it through and be able to join together at this same time next year to look ahead to what another fresh round of twelve months holds in store.

Joyful New Year’s wishes, sweet dears! May this year be a time of wellness, serenity, happiness, safety, creativity, meaningfulness, and no shortage of hope for all of us.

Do you have any predictions or gut feelings about 2022? What kind of content would you be especially interested in seeing here on Witchcrafted Life this year?

The post Adorable Happy Boo Year (New Year’s) Card + Witchcrafted Life’s 2nd Blogging Birthday appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

That much is public knowledge, but what wasn’t shared online back then is that I spent much of January 1, 2020 at the ER of our nearest hospital. My husband’s kidney issues were flaring fiercely at the time and he required emergency care.

In the coming weeks, he would undergo two surgeries, one at that same hospital, the other in Vancouver.

At the time, I was struck by what an unforgettable way to begin the year that was and wondered if it foreshadowed a sense of what 2020 held in-store for us.

Suffice it to say, it did.

There were challenges and stresses, health concerns, our collective new normal, self-isolating, social distancing, and both losing and finding ourselves in myriad ways across the span of a year that felt more like twenty.

As much as I could talk at length about the year that just was, honestly, I think it serves both myself and my readers better if we look ahead.

That said, before we proceed further, I want to take a moment to offer my deepest sympathies to anyone who experienced loss or pain, trauma, heartache, stress, impacts on their health (mental health very much included), struggled in ways they never could have foreseen, or otherwise took a punch in the gut from 2020.

It was brutal and real, flawed and frightening, and utterly, profoundly unforgettable.

If you’re blessed to have made it this far, you were stronger and tougher than 2020. You did incredibly!

It wasn’t easy – isn’t easy still. It wasn’t straightforward or simple, nor was it like anything most of us had ever experienced.

You tried, hoped, held on, cried, lost, and managed to keep going.

In short, you did your best, gave it your all, coped however you could, and held tight as the roller coaster that was 2020 took on a ride that will impact us for the rest of our lives.

I am proud of you. And, moreover, you should be proud of yourself, you warrior, you!

Witchcrafted Life’s 1^st birthday

There is something rather profound and meaningful in a blog reaching its first birthday.

It is proof of concept come to life.

The knowledge that while your site might not be the oldest or most famous or highest trafficked in all the land, it is no longer a brand new babe-in-arms either.

In the tree truck that is a website’s life, you’ve earned your first ring.

Through each difficulty and challenge, tough day and tougher night of 2020, this blog was a rock for me.

There were times, I won’t lie, when I wondered if I could keep going with it.

When my health hit me extra hard, when stress pushed down upon my world, when I was as drained as an empty Olympic swimming pool.

I never questioned the decision to start Witchcrafted Life. I did wonder at times though, if it would live to see its first birthday. And for that matter, if I would either.

Yet, the more the storms of life raged on, the tighter my grip held firm. I let the waves crash over me and accepted when the bad days put me out of commission.

Whether I wrote 6,000 words a day (which I did multiple times) or was lucky to squeeze in 1,000 into a given week, I was, and am, grateful and happy and more than a little bit in love with running this website.

Your supportive comments, both here and on Instagram fuelled me on.

Each new season and sabbat, fuelled me on.

Every craft project I made and shared fuelled me on.

The sense that this was only just the beginning of something even more wonderful (for this blog/my life/my future) fuelled me on.

As did each fresh post idea, email I received from a reader, and spark of inspiration that came my way.

I knew when I began WitchcraftedLife.com that I needed blogging in my world again. What I could never have foreseen one year ago to the day, however, was just how much I would not only needed, but wanted it as well.

And, clearly, as you can see, I didn’t toss in the towel, didn’t let my the roughest present moments rob me of the potential that lies in all of my tomorrows.

I’ve long learned that one rarely knows how long a given blog or website will be online, nor what might cause its eventual conclusion.

It would be foolheartedly to say outright that I plan to run this site for the next ten, twenty, or more years. There is simply no way of knowing if that will be the case

As 2020 drove home more so than ever, all we have in the moment and hope for those that lie ahead.

I am fully committed to this site. Even when, at times, I may question my ability to keep going with it, I am devoted to Witchcrafted Life to the best of my abilities.

It fills me with tremendous joy to reach Witchcrafted Life’s first blogging anniversary. To toast to a year of life under its proverbial belt, and to look forward to what I hope will be an awesome second year of blogging.

Seven things I plan to do for Witchcrafted Life in 2021

1. Keep up my posting frequency of at least 1 new entry per week. I did so every week of 2020, and while I’m accepting that sometimes circumstances (or the conscious choice – such as a mini blogging break, holiday, etc) may prevent that from playing out, my aim is to hit that target as often as possible.

2. Take craft project photos that I’m happier with. If you have been here for a while, you’ve likely heard me gripe a bit about (what I consider to be) the subpar photo quality of my most of my project images.

To date, I’ve been taking my photos with a cell phone camera, usually at night, and using basic (tungsten) overhead lighting in our dimly lit house. Not a winning combo in this instance, let me tell you.

The photos I’ve taken and posted aren’t, IMO, terrible, they’re just not at the level I want them to be.

We (my husband is also a passionate – and very talented – photographer) lost a lifetime’s worth of photography equipment in the arson fire we experienced, and have not been in a position yet to replace most of it.

Little by little though, I’m going to purchase or make (e.g., reflectors, backdrops, etc) what I can in 2021 and beyond, and hope that within a matter of months, I can start sharing project photos here that I’m a lot happier with the quality of (fingers crossed!).

3. Continue to expand the diversity of topics that I cover here. From Graveyard Snow Magick to Ancestral DNA Testing, The Ultimate List of Things to Put in Shaker Cards to 31 Ways to Celebrate Halloween All Year, we definitely covered a wide range of subjects during Witchcrafted Life’s first year.

I hope/plan to bring you even more topic diversity this year and beyond, and am always open to suggestions if there’s anything you’d be interested in seeing me write about here.

4. Make more projects that aren’t “just” cards and scrapbook pages. Like many a paper crafter, these are my top two favourite and most commonly made types of projects.

However, I really enjoy things like tags, mini albums, canvases, handmade gift wrapping, party décor, and much more that falls under the broad header of paper crafting.

In particular, mini albums have been calling my name something fierce lately, so I’m hoping to create some new ones in the coming year.

5. Use photos that I did not take in some of my posts. When I began this blog, I thought it would be both fun and challenging to create the photos for every post (or at least very nearly so) that I publish.

It was, and is. However, I’ve come to realize that sometimes a post might be served just as well, or better, by included images from other people, too.

Always, of course, using public domain, copywrite free, purchased stock, or otherwise legally permissible images, of course.

In doing so, I hope that I can help to provide even more applicable and appealing visuals for the content that I write.

That said, I still plan to create the photos and/or graphics for many (if not most) of my blog posts – especially since I like to have an original photo of my own that I can share on Instagram when discussing a given blog post there.

6. Share more about myself here. I think that, perhaps more than ever these days, a lot of bloggers put a major emphasis on creating evergreen content.

This is understandable and there is nothing wrong with doing so. I too strive to create a fair number of posts that will remain helpful and relevant for ages to come, and which are apt to be well indexed in search engines.

However, I feel that it is important for bloggers to let their personalities and certain facets of their lives shine through in (at least) some of their posts as well.

I’ve done that at times on WCL, and want to keep opening up about who I am and what my life is like here with you even more as this blog embraces its second year of life.

7. Share further content aimed at new witches. Like many a witch who puts themselves out there in the public sphere, I get a lot of emails and DMs from beginner witches or those who are looking to expand their practice.

A number of the same types of questions surface time and time again, so I’m planning to turn some of them into detailed posts that can both help those who are Googling for these subjects and individuals who contact me directly about about a particular topic.

Again, if there’s anything you’d be keen to see a post about, please don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments below (or anytime via email).

Here’s to everything that 2021 holds in store for us

In his beautiful poem “Dreams” the American poet Langston Hughes included the moving words, “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly”.

As much as last year turned many of our lives on their heads, as we bravely step into the fresh new year that is 2021, I encourage you to hold fast to your hopes and dreams.

Be kind and patient with yourself and others. Be safe and try to employ common sense at every turn. Know that while tomorrow is a mystery in some senses, even in the darkest of times, certain universal principles apply to our existence.

Take comfort in the familiar, in the good that remains (and which you can generate), allow yourself to grieve and heal for as long as your soul needs; and remain realistically optimistic that there may be good things waiting in store for us over the next twelve months.

And know that, barring the truly unforeseen, I have every intention to be here, same place, same date, next year for Witchcrafted Life’s 2^nd birthday.

Let’s make 2021 the best, safest, and happiest year that we can.

Together, we’ve got this.

The post Happy 1st birthday, Witchcrafted Life – plus 7 things I’m planning for this blog in 2021 appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.