Normally I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. However, 2010 seems like a year to start fresh. I will not call them resolutions… I will call them goals.

Goal 1: Read 52 books this year.

I’ve amassed quite a collection of books, at last count I had over 60 on my to-read shelf. And then for Christmas and my birthday I was given 10 more AND a Kindle. (B to the dizzub, I LOVE my Kindle!) So, in an effort to clear out that list, I will attempt to read 1 book per week. I’ve already finished 1!

Goal 2: Lose 20 lbs.

Yikes. Should I really put that up here? I think this is the area where I’m most afraid of failing. I hope that adding it to my public goals will make me more willing to stick to it. I’ve already lost 3!

Goal 3: Make a dress or a shirt for each woman in my family.

This is my let-slide goal. By that I mean I’m going to strive to achieve this, but if things are too busy, this will be the thing I don’t do. The reason I want to do this is to become better at garment construction and reading patterns. When I make things for myself I have too much trouble with measuring and I give up too easily. Making them to give away to people I love should (hopefully) encourage me to finish. I have 2 great books I’ll be referencing (Sew U and Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified), along with tons of patterns from my collection. There are 5 women in my family. I have not started making anything, but I have started gathering ideas from the girls about what they’d like.

So, I’ll check back in from time to time to let you all know how things are going! Other non-pressing things on my agenda for the year include restoring an old quilt, putting up a tutorial for a stuffed dog toy, and making a 1st year quilt for Dexter. Amongst other things. It’s going to be a crazy year!

So far, going through The Crafter’s Devotional has been a lot of fun. I’m on day 19 (I did a few days all at once in the beginning to get caught up), and it’s been quite an enlightening experience. Today’s task was to think about imagery that pops up in your work over and over, and then to brainstorm about possible interpretations. What I learned about myself and my artwork was quite surprising! They are things I knew, but didn’t realize I was expressing when I paint.

Overall, I’ve really loved going through the book. It’s making me explore crafts I’d never tried, and helping me loosen up and try new techniques. A lot of collage is involved, so one of the big things for me has been stepping outside my comfort zone and cutting up “cherished” magazine clippings I’ve been hoarding for ages. I’m finally doing something with them rather than just sifting through them occasionally for inspiration.

This horribly-captured phone picture is an example of a combination of a few of the collage assignments. I glued the images to a photo box top, and painted over it with varnish. The paper came out all wrinkly, which is regrettable, so I need to learn a better way to decoupage. I’d saved these clippings forever: the woman because of the amazing colors and textures in her clothes, the eggs (which came with the bird) because of the colors and because the eggs reminded me of some of my dripped grid paintings, and the pumpkins, birdhouse, and money jar because I loved the imagery. But without encouragement, I most likely would have still been staring at those clippings when I’m sixty.

I got a new book last night called The Crafter’s Devotional: 365 Days of Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for Unlocking Your Creative Spirit. I’m so pumped about using it.

The only thing that makes me a little sad is that they leave out fine art. It would have been beneficial for me to have painting projects included.

The book is set up with a division of 52 weeks, and each day has a different theme:

Monday- Journaling

Tuesday- Recycle, Reuse, or Revive

Wednesday- Collection, Stash, and Materials

Thursday- Personal History

Friday- Noncraft Inspiration

Saturday + Sunday- Collaborate, Gather, and Experiment (these days are combined for projects that require more time and energy to complete)

Since I bought the book on Wednesday and couldn’t wait for Monday to roll around, I’m going to do multiple entries for a few days to catch up. I love this sort of thing, and anything that inspires me and gives me something to work toward is worth checking into!

PS: If any of you artists are interested in getting the book and working through it at the same time, let me know in the next few days. I’d be willing to wait to let you catch up! It might be fun to share and discuss what we get out of it! (I got it for $25 at Barnes and Noble, but I found that Amazon has it for $16)