YardGirl Creations

This month I will be sharing my reflections on 2025. The first thing I will be looking back on is my “Firsts” of 2025.

It’s funny to think that even though I’d had my YouTube Channel for years I really started to share content in 2025.

Here’s my Intro Video. (Cringe)

I was pushed into this very uncomfortable position by the instability of my job (like many others in 2025). As a government employee who was part of the RIF I took the opportunity to focus on my business more than I had in the past.

I would love to say that I propelled full force and can now claim success. That’s not the cases at all. I had to force myself into very uncomfortable positions. I had to share aspects of my personal life online. This is something that I had refused to do most of my life. I even created a demo video on how to measure yourself for online shopping while in the throws of uncontrollable, menopausal, weight gain.

I’m so thankful for my friends who really encouraged me to push through and to keep recording and posting. I have to take this time to personally thank two people, in particular.

My friend Burgundy, who started recording her gardening videos at the same time pushed me to actually start posting. I NEVER would have done any of this foolishness if not for her. I guess we can all blame Burgalicious.

My cousin/friend Rae helped me get the followers I needed on Tik Tok to go live by allowing me to talk to her (on speakerphone) during her live-stream while she repeatedly told everyone to follow me as she made her very popular, very fashion forward Junk Socks available on Etsy.

This brings me to another “First.” I started a podcast with Rae. Crafting and Coffee was developed by Rae and myself from our online meetings as we chatted and worked on our creative projects. Most times I’m working on my current project and Rae, who is supposed to also be crafting, is not (lol). Instead she looks like a professional DJ/podcaster and steers the conversation so I don’t go off the rails. This has been a lot of fun barring technical issues which is typical for many new podcasters. Our highlight episode for me was our Met Gala coverage because it was hilarious! We’d both planned to surprise each other by dressing on theme.

Having a partner to record with is easier than doing it alone. 2025 was also the year of my first Live Stream. I did one on Tik Tok and later one on YouTube after I had enough followers to post lives. Live Streams are very complicated for me as I am expected to engage with the viewers while working at the same time. I have not figured this out yet. But I will continue to try this in 2026.

I think I will work live on Tik Tok and do planned Lives on YouTube.

I will go into detail on my creative endeavors of 2025 in another post this month, but I must mention another first as it’s my new obsession. I started creating journals. Mostly junk journals because I focus on recycling / upcycling. I love the creative “no rules” freedom of making these journals. They will be for sale starting this month. They will be available on Etsy as well as via direct purchase via links to my social posts. I love creating these journals with discarded materials and by altering old books.

Looking back at my art journal gave me the idea to do these year in review blog posts. I feel like as a whole 2025 was not a great year. But there have been lots of highlights that were bright spots that make me thankful for old and new friends and my small but strong family.

I hope you will follow my blog to see the rest of my year in review.

Happy New Year!