Welcoming 2022 and all it brings

Happy new year! It’s 2022 and I am feeling refreshed after a few weeks of cozy at-home time to begin the year.  I am not sure what 2022 will hold but I look forward to chocolate and art journeys as the year progresses.

2021 was an odd year.  The first year I worked just from home in a long time, more for health reasons than choice.  With the health concerns came a diagnosis of vestibular migraines, though my health team and I are still investigating other options.  I am grateful for the ability to quit my job and focus on figuring out the health stuff.  You may also have noticed that I dove fully into creating chocolate themed art in 2021 as well.  I launched Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers and added several new products to my online shop through Canadian Chocoholic.  Creating art to share has been a joy and I do hope to explore more this year.

Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers has been amazing.  I love creating monthly goodies for you, both digitally for your inbox (learning as I go) and physical products for your mailbox that arrive in an envelope each month.  I am grateful for the support of fellow chocolate lovers.  I have some big plans for 2022 with Happy Mail. I am honestly not sure I can top 2021, but I sure will try.

I have an idea for a blog project that I am hoping will fall into place later this year but I will keep that under wraps for now as well.

I plan to share some basic chocolate stuff for any newbies who find me here as well as dive into deeper topics and tasting ideas, notes, and suggestions.  As always, my go-to chocolate is local to me, thus Canadian, with a side of other chocolate that crosses my path thrown in.

I also plan to bring many DIY projects your way that incorporate chocolate somehow, and I look forward to sharing them with you here and on Instagram.

Now here are a few of my favourite things of 2021.

My favourite bite of 2021 was the Toffee & Nibs bar from Hummingbird Chocolate. They are my local chocolate makers, so I may be a bit biased, but really, I do just love their chocolate. This is one of the few bars I can eat all in one sitting. As soon as I open one up, it disappears.

My favourite piece of art from 2021 is this Advent Calendar made from fabric. It has 24 individual pieces that are added each day of Advent, eventually creating a full cacao tree.

My favourite new piece of jewellery I designed this year was the single origin series in sterling silver, which has pendants, earrings and bracelets with the cacao origin of your choosing. I think it is my favourite because I love using my saw for creating tiny details. Shown here is Peru.

My favourite chocolate moment of 2021 was seeing a cacao tree in bloom at the botanical gardens in Montreal.

My favourite place of 2021 is a tie, between being on the water or in a hammock. Both brought moments of calm in a crazy year and many memories and ideas.

My favourite DIY of 2021 were the 3D cacao pod ornaments. Something chocolatey for my tree for the holidays and now in my office to remind me of where chocolate comes from.

My favourite Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers envelope of 2021 was May. Why? I loved creating one-of-a-kind mini journals using my handmade paper (made from chocolate bar wrappers). I also really enjoyed September’s envelope as well as it had a cacao flower theme. If you want to see what was in it you can check out @HappyMailforChocolateLovers on Instagram.

I would love to know your favourites of 2021, feel free to share in the comments. Wishing you all a great 2022 and hoping you will stop by often to see what’s new here.