Does anybody ever manage to keep their New Years Resolutions? I’ve never known anyone besides my friend Jess who could actually keep anything going past January. I’ve given up on the idea working for me. Instead I like to think about what I’m going to learn in the New Year. I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out why that’s any different, why learning a skill is any different than changing a behavior, and I can’t come up with a reason. Maybe because I’ve got a little more time to learn something, and the first time I resort back to my old behavior the resolution is broken. Maybe it’s all in my head, but for some reason there seems to be less pressure this way.
My big new skill this year is: I’m going to learn to draw. My entire family draws beautifully, and it’s one thing I’ve always been lazy about developing in myself. And yet it is the one thing that has really held me back in my career. I have so many designs and plans in my head and between not knowing Photoshop very well and not being able to draw, they’re all trapped in there.
I’ve also been working on a huge list of my crafty goals. With all the house renovations done that we can do by ourselves, and my baby not in the hospital (knock on wood), I should have some time to work on feathering this nest we’ve worked so hard on already. I’m totally going to jinx myself. Everybody wish me luck.
In 2009 I hope to:
- Finish Binding on Tree Skirt
- Make 2009 Christmas Cards
- Finish off my Christmas Work in Progress Box
- Sew a tree skirt for the snowfall tree
- Sew a tree skirt for the 12 days of Christmas tree
- Finish crosstitched ornaments for the 12 days of Christmas tree
- Finish off the projects in my Work in Progress Drawer
- Finish the Satin Quilt (AKA Quilt of Hate) I’ve been working on for years
- Organize my recipes
- Crochet new kitchen washcloths
- Embroider teatowels for the kitchen
- Sew a quilt to go in the guest room
- Decorate towels for the bathroom
- Create art deco inspired art work for wall niches
- Create a big papercutting for the entryway
- Collect and mount plates on the wall in the stairwell
- Plant flowers in the backyard
- Build a headboard
- Build a toybox for the family room
- Create paper mache balls for the big niche
- Make Atti a Christmas stocking
- Create a Halloween themed tree
- Sew a Halloween table runner
- Create an Exotic themed tree
- Update Etsy shop once every season
I may be getting a little overly ambitious here, but I want to try to do two new trees this year. I saw this gorgeous copper tree at my favorite floral design mart, and I think it would be perfect for an exotic inspired tree as well as a Halloween tree. I’ve been wanting to do a Halloween tree forever, but I wanted something with enough branches that I could actually hang plenty of ornaments from it, but something that didn’t just look like a Christmas tree. If I can get my hands on that copper one it will be perfect.
The exotic tree will be full of animal print and feathers, but I’m going to have to be careful to walk that fine line so that it doesn’t veer off into tackyville. Not everything can be leopard print. I’m thinking Morocco, I’m thinking India, I’m thinking the Middle East, all places that are very exotic to me.
We’ve got all the painting completed, but we have nothing up on most of our walls. I’d like to work towards changing that with some of my own work, some family photos, and loads of illustrations from artists around the internet. For the big wall up the stairs I’m going to hang all sorts of vintage plates, but it’s going to take a lot of them, so I have to get busy collecting.
It will be interesting to look back at this list this time next year and see just how wildly divergent my plans were from reality. It sure would be lovely if I could have a year without complications, but come on, what are the chances that’s going to happen?
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