New Thing to Do
Wow! The month is half way over. Time is flying. I think this post is a little late. Well at least later than I wanted it to be. Let me start off by saying that I’m excited for this year. I want to accomplish so much. Everything seems to be possible in January. So it’s time to harness this energy and do something!
Big plans for 2008, include:
- No sugar in January
- Redesign blog (This might entail learning a bit more about Illustrator)
- Read Les Miserables (I received my own copy for Christmas. I’m ready to go.)
- Make a color inspiration board (What inspires me to create? I think I need to write a whole blog post or a series of blog posts on this topic. More thoughts to come.)
- Complete the Artist’s way (I’m in a bit of a slump/creative block. The creative juices need to flow.)
- Make money on the side (I need to find away to support my fabric buying illness. So much good stuff out there, and I don’t have it.)
- Think about being an entrepeneur (Oh what could I make? Believe it or not several ideas have already come to my head. Sometime you just need to plant the seed of possibility.)
Now, I’ve decided to exclude all my in-progress projects from this list. I’m working on a way to whittle down that list to just a few projects that I can rotate between.
Hopefully, I’m not over doing it. I think I need to take a look at when and how all this is going to get accomplished. Perhaps a monthly check in wouldn’t hurt either. I guess I should add that to the list.
A Reflective Moment
Jan 9, 2008 Life
After the bustle from the holidays, I enjoy taking a few moments to reflect on the past year and the new year that lays before me. I feel motivated to tackle life even though there is nothing but gray skies outside. Personally, I’m OK with New Year’s resolutions or goals. I need direction. I need a beginning and an end. So with that thought, let’s look at what I did with last year’s goals.
- Do not eat any refined sugar during January. This is all about creating a balance. In December, I go to far the other way.
Accomplished! It think everybody should do this. It makes me more accountable for what I put in my mouth.
- Do yoga twice a week.
It took me a few months to get this one going. I had to find a second class that worked with my schedule. Unfortunately, this second class was recently cancelled. So I’m back to searching for a new class. Actually, I found the class. I just need to resign myself to paying the class fee.
- Read six classics this year. So far my list includes Les Miserables, East of Eden, Don Quixote, and 100 years of Solitude. I’ll select others as the year progresses.
Holy cow! What was I thinking? That would be a lot of reading. I started to read Les Miserables, but didn’t get far before I needed to return the book to the library. (sigh) By the way, I now know that these are not library reads. Also I had a hard time reading last year. I guess I had too much going on to feel relaxed enough to read. I’ll reexamine this goal.
- Update my quilt goals (see sidebar) on a monthly basis.
I did really well with this one until we moved. At that point, I guess I was too busy to think about it. Actually I was busy, but not with quilting. think I’m going to change this area of my blog to just show my current projects. If not, there is not end to that list.
- Complete a four generation pedigree chart
I didn’t even start. I really want to do this. I just need to find a bit more motivation.
- Live a greener life. I want to be better about recycling and such.
Moving helped we accomplish this goal. We now have our own recycling bin. I’m not longer at the mercy on the condo’s HOA. However, I still have room for improvement.
- Find out what it would take to get an MFA from the University of Utah. I have a lot to prove, but I think I can do it.
The whole house thing kind of pushed this out of the picture in terms of my time, which is ok. In fact, I’ve really been thinking about my time. I might want to do something else. Details to follow when I post my goals.
Now for all the things that I accomplished that weren’t on my list:
- Passed the ASTD CPLP test
- Bought a new house
OK so that list isn’t very long. In my defense, both of those items took up a lot of my time. My next post: New Things to Do
Elf Clogs
Jan 6, 2008 Sewing
While I didn’t post my crafty doings in December, I did manage to steal of few moments to create a little holiday decor. Jenny from All Sorts posted a fun pattern for Elf Clogs.
Now I couldn’t just make one set on clogs. I’m the proud of four pairs of Elf Clogs to decorate my mantle. I can’t wait to pull them out next year.
New Year—New Project
Jan 1, 2008 Sewing
Yep. That’s right. I decided to start the year off right. I sewed. In fact it was one of the more relaxing days that I’ve had in a while. (Note to self: plan more relaxing sewing days in 2008.)
I needed one more gift. Since this group of friends isn’t gathering until after the holidays, I actually had time to make a gift. So I present my Piping & Striping Shoulder Bag:
More or less, I followed the tutorial on U-handblog. I have to say that the bag turned out better than I imagined. It just looks good. I think the secret to success is lots of interfacing. The pattern calls for both iron-on interfacing and sew-in interfacing. I thought this would be over kill. Yet I decided to follow the pattern and use both interfacings. I don’t regret the decision. Here’s my tips for following this tutorial:
- Use both interfacings
- The instructions where a little vauge regarding the shoulder strap length. I suggest cutting one length of fabric 6.5″ x 44″ (or as close as possible). Then cutting that in half. The length feels comfortable. I’d also consider making the straps a lot long so the bag could carried across the body. (Does that make sense?) I think the bag would kind of feel like a messenger bag.
- I didn’t have time to order the recommended rings. Instead I made due with rings from Joanns which had an inner dimension of 1.25 not the recommended 1.5″. Consequently, I narrowed the width of the should strap and the strap extension things. All went well.
- I really liked the fusible interfacing in the shoulder straps. I wish I had discovered this a while ago.
Now it’s time to move on to the next project.
