December is such a busy month and I scratch my head when art challenges pop up for December. Especially when the list hits right before the start date so that you can’t prepare ahead of time. It almost seems sadistic.

Getting off my soapbox….Shannon McNab’s “Daily Sketch Challenge” prompts for December are very helpful and she encourages not spending a lot of time overthinking them but to use the daily prompt for inspiration to illustrate an idea. She is correct when she says if you were looking to create illustrations or art for the holiday season, there’s no better time to do it than during this season.

Christmas is the time of year when you feel the season in so many different ways…the festivities, the food, the visual celebrations of lights and decor, the music, TV specials and ironically, even the stress could be a source of inspiration. Watching Hallmark Christmas movies or listening to holiday music in July doesn’t really capture the moment or ambiance like the living in the season does for providing inspiration to create holiday art.

I discovered another prompt list called Carve December (that I need like a hole in the head) that I could probably incorporate with the Shannon McNab’s list. I am really excited about Carve December because carving stamps and having inspiration to do them is making me very happy. Stamp carving is fun and relaxing and I can do so much with my own stamps in my creations. I have already found that they make cute little gift tags.

Here is my Daily Sketch Challenge and my CarveDecember print.

On a side note, I need to pick up a red ink pad. This one leans toward pink.