Scratching an itch

With the new year, it seemed like I had a clean palette...I was itching to create...I had a few bits of ephemera hanging around my workspace that were enticing...but did I have the right composition...should I look for a better focus...consider a larger size...and then I remembered my word for the year - BEGIN
so I did just that-

copper leaf - 3" x 5-1/2"
french game card, book spine, birch leaf,
vintage cloth tape, silk thread

winter in paris - 4" x 4"
corrugated cardboard, paint chip sample, cotton flannel fabric,
chinese fortune, silk thread, seed beads, acrylic paint

parisian mist - 4" x 4"
corrugated cardboard, paint chip sample, paper napkin,
image transfer, original photograph, silk thread, acrylic paint

I've been wanting to incorporate fabric into my collages...and stitching...going back to some of my original ideas when I began four corners design in 1999...interesting how ideas cycle back into your consciousness/sphere of influence/inspiration aura over time...so I thought this was the perfect excercise to see where those ideas would take me...

And I am not alone in feeling a need to scratch an artistic itch at the beginning of this new year...

Dave over at Clearer Reflections has been on a whirlwind artistic bent...creating a photo a day and taking it to a different level...with opportunity for others to join in...read all about it here...

A New York Magpie's Eye has likewise been creating a collage a day...simple and sublime at the same time...see her work here...

Carole Reid has started a daily journal that will be a study in circles...I'm not much of journal writer (the blog substitutes for that) but a visual journal is a unique twist...and certainly scratches an itch...read about her work here...

what itch do you need to scratch?  ...feel free to share...