As I sit here on New Year's Eve day, I've just wrapped up a ginormous project for one of my best clients. It was tons of work and equally tons of fun. One of the perks of what I do has nothing to do with revenue. It's getting to work on projects that are personally rewarding, with people who are also personally invested. The saying, "It's not personal, it's business" doesn't carry any weight around here. It's all personal, because we care about creating something truly great and enormously fun. It was a great way to wrap up the year.

I won't keep you long. I know you want to start celebrating, or maybe you're a recovering Celebrator in your time zone. If you don't read any further, I want to say thank you for being part of what has made 2011 a fantastic year for Sparky Firepants Images. Your comments, Facebook likes, well-wishes, purchases, and enthusiasm for my art keeps this train moving. Thank you.

Was 2011 truly fantastic? Was my year so much better than anyone else's? I think that's really a point of view sort of thing. There were a lot of things this year that I reflect on and think, "Ouch. That was stupid." Or disappointing, stressful, knees-knocking scary, you know the drill. I could very well say good riddance to 2011 for a lot of reasons. I choose not to list them. I choose not to dwell on them as validations of a "bad" year. If I want to find reasons to make it bad, I'm sure I can spin it that way. It's a choice.

Financially, we did not reap untold riches from our efforts in 2011. We are not soaking in a jacuzzi of cash. In fact, we've got a little debt.

So why am I smiling?

I smile at possibilities. Growth makes me happy. Learning from mistakes we make in the mad Firepants laboratory feels good. It's like a tough workout where you can't move your legs the next morning. It's painful, but it's not life-threatening and you know it's making you stronger.

I've learned and accomplished so much in 2011. A few highlights:

• Exhibiting at our first licensing trade shows. Learning what people like about the art and how to make it better.
• Getting our first licensing deal since 1999, only months after deciding to pursue it again. A promising start.
• Working again with the company I left in 2007. Feeling the satisfaction of continually building relationships and finding new ways to help each other.
• Impulsively diving into screen printing and painting skate decks, then realizing that I have a lot to learn. Namely, patience.
• Meeting so many new people and learning how they do what they do and why.
• Getting Pants! into the world, failing at crowd-funding, and discovering that short-term failures don't mean you have to chuck everything. But you do have to chuck what isn't working. Making those discoveries is cause for celebrating. It means you're still in the game.

I think that's really the core of what has been good about 2011. We're still in the game. 

So I don't say good riddance to 2011. I look back with fondness over a year of doubt, confidence, failure, success, being stupid, and learning great lessons. Of course I'm looking for 2012 to be our best year ever. I say that about every year. It always turns out that way, too. So far, 2011 has been our best year ever.

So I wish you the best 2012 you can imagine. And I wish you the best of 2011 to look back on.

What made 2011 fantastic for you?