October 1, 2025
20 Things That Made 2023 My Best Year
Content
What Elves Do on Vacation, Holiday Stockings Have Feelings Too, Santa Please Bring Me This Record Player, and more.
Table of contents
Welcome to this very Christmasy edition of Creative Juice! I tried to fit as many holiday season finds as possible this week, so I hope you enjoy. Have a great holiday, and don’t worry—I’ll have another edition ready for the 1st of the year!
Just a heads up, this edition will be brief...
Creative Juice is a weekly newsletter published every Monday morning to start your week feeling creatively inspired. Every Monday I share something gorgeous, a portfolio of the week, three creative finds, one amazing post from social media, and one lesson I learned recently.
If you have an idea of how I can improve Creative Juice, feel free to submit your feedback here.
TL:DR
Something Gorgeous: RYTM. Record Player by Jorge Paez
Portfolio of the Week: Kurt Winter
Holiday Dream by Niceshit & Lobulo
TUI Happy Holidays Ad
Resilience by Mikko Lagerstedt
One Gram: Vintage X-mas Decor is Pretty Sick Actually
One Lesson: Things That Made This Year My Best
SOMETHING GORGEOUS
Santa Please Bring Me This Record Player
At this point, I probably sound like a broken record with all the beautiful objects I want, but let's admit this record player concept by Jorge Paez is absolutely gorgeous.
PORTFOLIO OF THE WEEK
The Power of Social Proof
I like Kurt's portfolio. It's tasteful in content and design, though the header animation is slightly puzzling—it seems to move out of sync with the cursor at times.
What drew me to his portfolio was the testimonial section from coworkers. Even if some of us aren’t freelancers, getting testimonials from colleagues or clients is a great way to build social proof.
I admire efforts like this—it shows there’s always something you can do to stand out.
Score: 7.2/10
Built with: Webflow
Creative Finds
Holiday Stockings Have Feelings Too!
A cute Christmas film shedding light on the real holiday heroes this season.
What Elves Do When on Their Vacations
Elves are party animals! This short ad brings humor to an otherwise boring brand.
"Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow"
Stunning snow-filled photos from Mikko Lagerstedt give me all the holiday vibes.
One Gram
Vintage X-mas Decor is Pretty Sick Actually
Take a trip down memory lane with Magpie’s archive of all things Christmas spanning decades.
One Lesson
20 Things That Made This Year My Best
As the year comes to an end, here are some things that made this year awesome for me. Not a complete list, but hopefully you find one or two helpful:
Doing The Things That People Don't Normally Do
Going Freelance
Making Myself Uncomfortable
Make Myself Comfortable
Moving Slowly
Finding My People
Saying No to Some Things
Saying Yes to Mostly Everything
Asking Myself Why Not
Putting 100% Effort into Friends, Family, and My Work
Traveling
Walking Whenever Possible
Writing More
Sharing Everything That I Possibly Can
Working Out Mostly Everyday
Learning How to Surf
Watching What I Eat
Being Intentional with Who I Make Friends With
Making My Goals, Missions
Playing The Long Game
Happy Holidays!
Thank you for making this year one of my best. I’m excited for the New Year and can’t wait to see where we go.
PS. If you have any questions, I’m always here ❤️
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