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I can’t believe it is the end of 2022. It doesn’t feel like it, though, does it? I feel like I just managed to get into the fall season and then BOOM – 2023!

There is so much that has happened this year. Where to even start?!

I had a new publication, of a new tarot spread book! You can check it out on Amazon here.

I’m really proud of this book. Not only does it contain tarot spreads I made to focus on personal growth and self-care, but also journaling prompts, meditations, and more. They were techniques I used personally and hope others find it as helpful and enlightening as well!

I didn’t get a romance novel out this year, but I do have a few in the works. All contemporary, for now. I have a couple fantasy romance ideas brewing, but I need more marinating time.

This year was also a busy year for author events. I attended SO MANY! There was Indie Author Expo (I did two of those), Romance Rendezvous Book Blast, and attended more as a reader (North Iowa Book Bash and Writers on the River). These events are always so much fun and I can’t wait to do more in 2023.

If you’d like to attend events, but don’t know where to start – I do have a list of ones I will be at on my home page! Be sure to check them out. Facebook is another great place to start to find local events and meet new authors!

I did a LOT of reading this year (101 books for a total of 25,433 pages). I always have such a blast doing reading challenges with friends, keeping up with my romance book club, and reading new authors (especially indie authors).

My goal for 2023 is to read another 100 books (though my big reach goal is 120 books). However, I’m going to give myself a bit of grace considering there are a lot of changes coming in 2023. If you’d like some book recommendations, be sure to check out earlier blog posts for book reviews as well as my Goodreads profile for the books I read this year!

I hope you all had an amazing 2022 with lots of great stories and reads! Feel free to share with me about any books you recommend, those must reads that I need to add to my TBR pile. I hope to have more updates on upcoming publications soon, be sure to keep an eye out!

Happy Reading!

So, if it wasn’t blatantly obvious from the text above, I have a new crafting hobby – THE CRICUT! I have heard about these before, but never had the opportunity to use one until I received mine as a holiday gift. It has been so wonderful!

I have started to experiment a bit, making swag for my table, and learned a bit about myself in the process – mainly that I don’t transfer permanent vinyl so well…it was a bit of a challenge (and a patience issue). I did some drinkware originally, but I was worried about it breaking, so I won’t be doing any more of those.

I recently started doing door hangs!

I’m always a big fan of these when I get them as swag, so I was really excited. I started with the wooden ones — and quickly learned I should not be trusted with spray paint (there is pink an white all over our garage now). So, we tried out the resin ones. They are SUPER cool looking, but they take so much resin — so we will be getting door hangs printed in the future – sorry! But, I will have these ones until they run out, so be sure to stop by my next event, Romance Rendezvous (Cedar Falls, IA) if you want one!

Another resin/cricut/paint hybrid my husband and I have tried are keychains!

These are pretty fun, especially the tarot and zodiac keychains. They are based in resin and then I paint in the grooves; even I can’t mess that up! Though full disclosure, I ended up wearing as much paint as went on the keychains. It’s pretty obvious which ones were the first trial (looking at those strange wooden planks), but these will definitely be an ongoing item you will see at future events!

Next we have some iron on and infusible projects!

These three items are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE to make. Not only are they easy to transfer, but I get to bust out my ironing board as well! We have pencil bags (variety of sizes), tote bags, and coasters! Some items (pencil bags and tote bags) are made with basic iron on fabrics, but the coasters (all but the dark green one) are made with infusible ink! They are so sharp, and in my opinion, the most fun. You can’t tell how it turns out until the very end, so it’s such an exciting time to reveal the items!

As you can see, I also learned how to make stickers! This was a bit of a process, as I still haven’t figured out how to “color in” the images, but I’m making progress! These stickers, and many more (I’ve made over 100 individual style stickers) will be freebies at my table, so be sure to stop by!

Lastly, we have a bookmarks, made by my amazing husband, and stress balls – a fun item we found on a website! They are cute and fun, also available through my swag prize wheel at events!

I hope you enjoyed these sneak peeks at my table swag for this year! We have some other fun ideas in the works (my ttrpg friends will love it!), but that will have to wait for another time.

Which ones are your favorite? Which ones would you want to win when you spin the prize wheel? What other swag items would you like to see?

Let me know, and maybe they will be available next year!

Happy reading – and crafting!

~Shanna

If you haven’t already subscribed to Magpie to get updates when new issues go out, you absolutely should! Not only is it an amazing digital magazine but it also means you get live updates when the next chapter of “A Second Chance” is posted!

If you’d like to go back and re-read all of the previous chapters, you can do so by clicking on the “Stories” page on the website. All previous chapters are linked. Then you can click here to read Chapter 5 of Lucian and Raina’s story!

I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter! Thank you again for all of your support!

Happy Reading!

~Shanna Pikora