Christmas on the 25th - May

Here we are, Christmas on the 25th again! The main reason that I decided to do a "Christmas on the 25th" series all year is that I have so many Christmas projects that I want to do, and when I wait until December...I never get a chance to do them! 

Johanna's Christmas by Johanna Basford

Case in point...I have a stack of Christmas themed coloring books, coloring pages, digital stamps, and traditional stamps. I never have time to color them during the holidays! And, let's face it, I am addicted to buying MORE! 

It took me over two Christmas seasons to finish the above piece. And it is not even complicated! I finally finished it by coloring "out of season."

Sweet and Sugary Snowglobe by Power Poppy Stamps

I ended up finishing this coloring page last July! And I was happy to be coloring it during the HOT season! That is when I started thinking about creating Christmas themed items all year round!

So, I dragged out several coloring WIPs and a few pages I really wanted to start and had a Christmas coloring party for myself...in May. 

I have quite a few of the Teresa Goodridge books, not only Christmas themed books, but lots of others. I buy a few every year and have yet to color even one picture in any of the books! Shameful. I pulled this book out last year during the Christmas season, intending to color at least one page in it. Well...

This is as far as I got. Thankfully I did write down the pencils I was using! It is easy now for me to pull them out and work on this again. I absolutely love everything about this scene. Books, Christmas décor, greenery, perhaps some cookies and hot chocolate waiting inside! Sign me up! 

I was using Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, which were working pretty well on this less than exceptional paper. I have noticed a decrease in the paper quality for coloring books. Creative Haven is a Dover publication and they usually have fairly good paper. But the last few books I purchased had paper that was just really a higher quality printer paper. The book pages are perforated, so I can take the page out and copy it onto better paper if I wish. I prefer to keep the books intact so....I just make it work.  

I picked this book up a few years ago. It is by a German artist. This particular book has pictures from all the seasons, dealing with land creatures, including birds. 

I started this picture right away, and worked on it pretty consistently, then...for some unknown reason I abandoned it! Again, I was wise enough to write down the pencils I was using! I can just pick up again and finish. I am fairly confident that the birds scared me a little. But I think I am ready now to give them a go! 

This is a page from the Johanna's  Christmas book. I keep meaning to start it, and I have  even picked out the pencils, but then never get around to doing it.

I have many, many coloring WIPs that I cannot seem to finish. I am like a kid in a candy store...or a magpie...oh shiny! I keep starting projects and then I get bored or something new comes along and I just start a new project. I really would like to finish some things! 

Thanks for hanging out with me for a bit! I hope I have inspired  you to work on Christmas projects all year long. I also hope I have inspired you to get out some unfinished projects and have a go at finishing one! 

As soon as I make some progress...I will post it here, or on Facebook or Instagram so you can see.