Ivy Lily Creative

Goodbye 2016, hello 2017! I started a tradition of yearly recaps in this blog in 2013. So here it is: my 2016 blogging year in review. Read on for my experience in hosting a giveaway, how I use different social media channels, how I make my YouTube video views grow, how I make money with my blog and art, and my goals for 2017.

I made a coloring calendar for 2017! Ethnic portraits, fashion and jewellery with patterns and flowers in the background for adults and children to color. The images are the same as in the coloring books/pages already sold in my shop, but they're cropped and I added a few tribal and floral backgrounds. The name of the month is outlined and can be colored in, too. The calendar is an instant download printable so it would work well as a last minute Christmas present. You can check it out in my Etsy shop .

I was looking for DIY Christmas card ideas and came across Christmas coloring cards: coloring pages in postcard size that you can print out, color and use as Christmas cards. I thought it was such a good idea, I had to make some of my own, too. I'll show you how I made these instant download Christmas coloring cards for my Etsy shop. There are 20 designs for you to print, cut and color to make your own Christmas cards . The pictures vary from Christmas clothes to patterns, candy, animals, crafting supplies, decorations, candles and houses to a Christmas tree, a snowman and a girl in winter clothes. 

My newest acrylic painting is a portrait of La Calavera Catrina or a sugar skull girl. Catrina, a skeleton woman dressed in nice clothes, is the icon for the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos). José Guadalupe Posada's original La Calavera Catrina was a satire of indigenous upper class Mexican people who imitated European style and made their skin look white with makeup, denying their own cultural heritage. Read on to learn about the painting process or watch the time lapse video .

It's almost the end of Inktober 2016! This was my first time taking part in Inktober, which is a 30 day art challenge running every October. Read more about the Inktober challenge and the art supplies I used . My goal was to execute seven ideas and sketches I had into ink drawings and some of them into coloring pages. I didn't set out to make 31 Inktober drawings, because I knew I wouldn't have the time. Not only was I making the ink drawings, I was also scanning and editing them for coloring pages and art prints, taking photos for Instagram and Twitter and filming and editing the inking process for YouTube. It would be fun to make a 31 page coloring book during Inktober, though. Maybe some other year. Have a look at the coloring pages I made and read what I learned from taking part in Inktober.