Wait! Hear me out first. I was in Walmart. (I know, don’t judge me) I was in a Walmart near the beginning of October here in Houston and they were already fucking  playing Christmas Carols as you walked in the front door! There is no war on Xmas, people. It is alive and thriving and creeping closer and closer towards starting in July. I mean, even Amazon unsuccessfully tried to move Black Friday up into October this year by launching another Prime Day-like event. No. I will not apologize for starting my end of year post the day after Halloween. Deal with it. I have.

So, was 2022 a good year or a bad year? I’d say outside of Instagram it was a great year. Life started to feel like it was getting back to normal, I moved much closer inside Houston to an area I enjoy, and I had one of the most enriching life experiences a dog dad could have. I became a father/grandfather of a dozen dogs after participating and witnessing the birth of eight healthy puppies. The Summer months into Fall were totally void of spare time, but it was worth giving it up despite at times wanting to give up on the situation. (Puppies poop a LOT!)

Puppy Love

As far as Instagram goes and my figure hobbies and all they entail, I went into the year with high hopes. I still managed to produce some favorite items to shoot, but so many things got pushed back to ’23 due to losing about 4 months of time from PUPageddon. Out of the Top 10 posted above, my Top 3 Pics represent a repaint, a toy transformation and my interpretation of an ad campaign.

In no order of preference… The fishing boat would have to be my favorite repaint. I fixed the broken trailer and I think this is the most realistic repaint I’ve completed at this time. Plus, I made so many cool accessories to fill that tackle box!

Transforming a Minions’ toy into a Chinese Dragon puppet for the Year of the Tiger was my favorite new series. I’m planning to keep this going each year by converting another Minions’ toy each year. Turning that dragon into a rabbit for 2023 is going to be a tough task!

Finally, although the complete series was adult oriented, I’m really happy with doing my version of the “got milk?” ad campaign. I will probably do some more advertising setups in the coming year as well after tackling Calvin Klein, Maxell and Milk. I’m thinking either the Morton Salt Girl or Coppertone Girl will be on this year’s radar.

Since the next two months are full of holidays and other celebrations, I decided to post this early and kick off my blog. I’m hoping to get the Western Star Traveler completed by year’s end, but otherwise I only have small projects lined up. But 2023?!?! I’m ready to go with projects lined up from start to finish. I’m not going to share everything, but most of you know I’ve got a 1:6 scale carousel planned along with the relaunch of working on my Row Home Project and my JAWS tribute. One thing you might not have heard me talk about is the Winter Cabin I have planned as soon as the camper gets finished. I’ve had a screenshot of my inspiration for this seasonal build in my phone for about eight months now.

Anyway, thanks for following me in ’22 despite not seeing much from me this year. I’d like to thank all of you for inspiring me to up my game. The things you all post make me want to do get better, take chances, and make it mine. Isn’t this what it’s all about when you think about it though? Let’s keep inspiring each other!

~AmericanTK