Glue Babies January 2025 in Review
a new year begins and a Lunar New Year-heavy January lovely things roundup
Hello all and goodbye January!
I know that a lot of people are trying to be on IG/TikTok/the internet less this year, which I applaud (I’m basically only on it for my job, my finsta covered in a thick layer of virtual dust). One article I read about it was written by a woman whose partner showed her a sort of curated “best of” from the internet each week so she could stay in touch without being chronically online. It made me feel invigorated to keep sharing my finds here, so if you are unplugging and moving more toward slow media like Substacks, printed matter, or zines, this monthly roundup can be a place where you won’t miss out on things you might enjoy if you already like what I make.
Thoughts on January
December into January was a strange mix of relaxation and burnout. I had a hard time working and I had a hard time not working. It lead to me completely changing up my schedule and how I work including, for the first time ever, actual days off. Wild!
When people ask me how I became a successful artist, I’m hesitant to admit the truth: I don’t take time off, ever, and I haven’t for around 4 years now. I push myself until I collapse under the pressure, barely recover, and start all over again. It’s unhealthy, but I am afraid that if I stop working, everything will evaporate and I will lose my job, my art, everything. But then TikTok got banned (for 13 hours) and IG stopped showing my work to people. My “reach” was out of my control. I realized that I could devote years of my life to something and have a computer program take it all away - that my livelihood is largely out of my hands - so I should probably have something in my life besides my job. I just read an article on Substack that said “Success … is god without grace,” and I was like “woah!” that really hit me. You can worship work all you want, but it doesn’t have mercy. So, starting this year, I made myself a schedule, and, while I’m struggling not to work on my days off, I am going to try to relax more. I’ll let you know how it went next month when my first full month is complete.
I also got great news about my eyes this month, my TED (thyroid eye disease) seems to be in remission to the extent that my oculoplastic surgeon officially no longer needs to see me. After 4 years, it’s the end of an era! My eyes still have daily issues that I need to manage, but oculoplastic is a special’s specialist, so it’s a great feeling not to need to see her regularly anymore.
January Lovely Things
And now, here are some lovely, fun, and interesting things from January 2025 that caught my eye.
The Year of the Snake is giving me so much amazing snake art! I signed up for Danny Brito’s Patreon this month because I had to have these snake-themed rewards.
I know I just featured Felicia Chiao but this is top tier snake art. It demands to be shared.
A set of cute Lunar New Year coloring pages by Stevie Shao for their local library and yes! we can download them too.
This little skull vase from Maritza Messer is creepy cute candy catacomb perfection.
Beautiful installation by Amanda Witucki aka The Paper Committee. Her scale/petal style is my favorite but she does lots of different paper arts from folding to weaving, small works to huge installations; if you think this photo is neat, do yourself a favor and check her work out.
Amoeba stained glass from Gold Fever Glass is chef’s kiss.
This fondant sculpture makes me want to pack up my resin and glitter and go home lol like come on, this is amazing. If I made this, it would become my whole personality, “Did you see my fondant sculpture?” “When I was making the fondant sculpture I -” “The key to sculpting in fondant is to -” I would never shut up about it.
Crushingly cute fashion from Vietnamese designer Tu Nghi aka Tui Iconic. If we are bringing back the Y2K FRUiTS/Harajuku aesthetic I am all for it. You all know I have a “more is more” vibe to what I make so I am in love with this.
The Sailor Moon x Mugler connection is so fun. I already knew this but forgot somehow; the high fashion villainy of Sailor Moon makes me love it even more. We just unpacked my books and I spent way too long explaining to my husband why my Sailor Moon art books from the 90s were very important media.
February 2025 Lock Screen and Wallpaper
I posted the lock screen and wallpaper to my Patreon and IG Stories, but thought it would be good to email them out to you all in this newsletter as well! Now it’s even easier to add a touch of Glue Babies to your phone, and we’ll match.
Thank you for reading the January 2025 recap and I will see you again next month!